双语：我们不需要人生准则

 　　我们不需要人生准则

　　PRINCIPLES FOR LIVING WE COULD ALL DO WITHOUT

　　Ray Dalio is deluded¹, insensitive, emotionally illiterate², simplistic, breathtakingly smug, weird³ and plain wrong.

　　雷蒙德?戴利奥(Ray Dalio)易上当受骗、麻木不仁、情商为零、过分简单化、惊人的自命不凡、古怪、且错得离谱。

　　Harsh words, but I know the founder⁴ of one the world's most successful hedge funds will welcome them. The Bridgewater chief has just made a list of his top 300 rules for life and number 31 is to write down the weaknesses of others. Number 11 is never to say anything about a person you would not say to them directly, while number 22 is to “get over” fretting⁵ about whether comments are positive or negative. All that matters in Dalioland is whether they are accurate or inaccurate⁶.

　　话说的很重，但我知道，作为世界上最成功对冲基金之一的创始人，雷蒙德会喜欢这些词的。这位Bridgewater的掌门人刚刚列了一张单子，罗列出自己最重要的300条人生准则。第31条是写下他人的缺点；第11条是当面不说的话决不在背后乱说；而第22条则是“克制”自己，努力做到荣辱不惊。在雷蒙德的世界里，他只关心准确与否。

　　These rules are contained in the most curious management document I have ever come across. Simply entitled “Principles”, it is being handed out to staff at Bridgewater to help them be as successful as their boss. It is also being passed gleefully from pillar to post on the internet.

　　这些准则包含在我所见过的最奇怪的管理文件中。文件被简单地冠名为“准则”，并分发给了Bridgewater员工，以帮助他们做到像老板一样成功。他们还欣喜地在互联网上四处传播。

　　But this is no mere⁷ staff manual. In it, Mr Dalio spends the first three chapters expounding⁸ on his general philosophy of life, which he says is a bit like skiing. So long as you do what the instructor⁹ tells you, all will go well. There is no ego¹⁰ in the exercise, he assures us: “With increased usage [the principles] will evolve from ‘Ray's principles' to ‘our principles' and Ray will fade out of the picture.”

　　但这不仅仅是员工手册。在其中，雷蒙德将开篇的头三章，都用来详述自己的人生哲学——他形容有一点像滑雪。只要你按照教练的指导做，一切皆会顺利。他向我们保证，在应用中完全没有彰显自我：“随着应用的增多，（这些准则）将从‘雷蒙德的准则'逐渐发展成‘我们的准则'，而雷蒙德的色彩将渐渐褪去。”

　　But for the time being Ray is rather firmly in the picture, writing a work that in its ambition reminds me of Aristotle's Nicomachean Ethics¹¹. Both writers are pretty confident and both believe in principles that are not a priori, but discovered by doing. The main difference is that the Greek philosopher had less of an appetite for words such as “leverage” and “drilldown” than the modern hedge fund chief. And he avoided bogus equations such as

　　但眼下，雷蒙德的个人色彩还相当浓厚。作品中的雄心让我想起了亚里士多德(Aristotle)的《尼各马可伦理学》(Nicomachean Ethics)。两位作者都相当自信，都相信并非由推理得出、而是通过实践发现的准则。二人的主要区别在于，那位希腊哲学家没有当代这位对冲基金经理那么喜欢“杠杆”或“钻取”等词。他也没有用一些伪等式，例如：痛苦+深思=进步。

　　Pain + Reflection = Progress.

　　雷蒙德的哲学是美国梦狂热的原教旨主义版本。他宣称，“人们劳有所得”——如果你坐拥约40亿美元的财富，这个观点还是令人欣慰的。他还认为，“人们赚多少钱，大致反映了他们对社会的付出”——又是一种让雷蒙德安心的想法，但如果我是一名教师，我可能不会同意。

　　Mr Dalio's philosophy turns out to be a fanatical, fundamentalist version of the American dream. “People get what they deserve in life,” he states – a comforting view when you have made a fortune of about $4bn. He also thinks that “how much money people have earned is a rough measure of how much they gave society what it wanted” – again, a reassuring¹³ thought for Ray, though if I were a teacher I might not agree.

　　雷蒙德就这样将社会分了类，沉思人性的善恶。他宣称，任何顺应现实的东西都是好的。因此，他解释道，角马被鬣狗吃掉是好事，因为这推动了进化。

　　Having thus sorted society, Mr Dalio muses¹⁴ on the nature of good and evil, arguing that anything in tune¹² with reality is good. Therefore it is good for the wildebeest to be eaten by the hyena¹⁵, he explains, because that fosters evolution.

　　这种推理的问题在于，它不仅让人怀疑他是否见过角马，甚至会怀疑他到底见没见过人类。大多数我认识的进化人，都不愿成为众矢之的，就像角马肯定不愿被撕得支离破碎一样。

　　The trouble with this reasoning is that it leaves one wondering not only if Mr Dalio has ever met a wildebeest but whether he has met a human being. Most of the evolved humans I know hate being metaphorically¹⁶ ripped limb from limb by public criticism just as the wildebeest surely hates it in reality.

　　同样，进化人喜欢雷蒙德世界里违法的事情。在人背后嚼舌头——在他看来，这是仅次于监守自盗的坏事——在任何机构中都必不可少，这样做既可以消遣，还可以圆滑处事。如果雷蒙德认为自己的下属从不在背后对他说三道四，他也太容易被哄骗了。

　　Equally the evolved human loves things that are illegal in Ray's world. Talking behind peoples' backs – which he says is second-worst thing to having your hand in the till – is vital in any organisation¹⁷, both for recreational and diplomatic purposes. If Mr Dalio thinks his underlings never bad-mouth him behind his back, he is dangerously deluded.

　　只有将那些唬人的哲学空话从“准则”中剔除，部分准则才有可能让人耳目一新。在戴利奥的世界里，并不存在“人才”和“我们”的力量之类空洞的废话。相反，你要雇用绝顶聪明的人，并积极管理他们——这在一定程度上解释了他的公司为何能取得成功。

　　If only one could take out the philosophical¹⁸ claptrap from “Principles”, some of the rules might make refreshing¹⁹ reading. There is no wishy-washy crud about “talent” and the power of “we”. Instead, in Mr Dalio's world, you hire super-bright people and manage them actively²⁰ – which partly explains why his business is a success.

　　但就在我隐约感到一丝振奋时，我看到了其中一条准则，教导经理们将下属想象成棒球卡。这一条比其它准则都更能说明，“准则”为何毫无价值。雷蒙德或许是一位出色的投资者，但在情感上，他仍只是一个孩子。对于成年人而言，管理并不像搜集棒球卡。人才无法在棒球场上交换，严格按照安打率和失误率进行评级。相反，他们是理性、无理性、情感、抱负、懒惰、善良和恶意的复杂混合体。

　　Yet just as I was feeling vaguely²¹ invigorated, I came upon a rule that tells managers to think of their underlings like baseball cards. This, more than any of the others, explains why “Principles” is such a dud. Ray might be a brilliant investor²², but he is still a little boy in emotional terms. For grown-ups, managing is not like collecting baseball cards. People cannot be swapped²³ in playgrounds, graded exactly according to batting averages and errors. Instead they are complicated mixtures of rationality, irrationality²⁴, emotion, ambition, laziness, goodness and spite.

　　仿佛是担心雷蒙德的世界会被视为缺乏人情，第114条准则教导经理们要“真心实意地关心为你工作的人。尽量参加他们婚礼、分娩和葬礼”。这是最恐怖的准则。我立即把这一条记了下来：有谁敢当面贬损我，或像对待棒球卡一样对待我的人，都不会受邀参加我的葬礼。

　　As if fearing that Ray's World might be seen as lacking in human warmth, Principle 114 instructs managers to “sincerely care about the people who work for you. Try to be there for weddings, births and funerals”, he orders. This is the most chilling principle of all. I'm putting this on the record right now: anyone who tells me I'm rubbish to my face and views me like a baseball card is not invited to my funeral.

1 deluded   

v.欺骗，哄骗( delude的过去式和过去分词 )

参考例句：

• Don't be deluded into thinking that we are out of danger yet. 不要误以为我们已脱离危险。
• She deluded everyone into following her. 她骗得每个人都听信她的。 来自《简明英汉词典》

2 illiterate   

adj.文盲的；无知的；n.文盲

参考例句：

• There are still many illiterate people in our country.在我国还有许多文盲。
• I was an illiterate in the old society,but now I can read.我这个旧社会的文盲，今天也认字了。

3 weird   

adj.古怪的，离奇的；怪诞的，神秘而可怕的

参考例句：

• From his weird behaviour,he seems a bit of an oddity.从他不寻常的行为看来，他好像有点怪。
• His weird clothes really gas me.他的怪衣裳简直笑死人。

4 Founder   

n.创始者，缔造者

参考例句：

• He was extolled as the founder of their Florentine school.他被称颂为佛罗伦萨画派的鼻祖。
• According to the old tradition,Romulus was the founder of Rome.按照古老的传说，罗穆卢斯是古罗马的建国者。

5 fretting   

n. 微振磨损 adj. 烦躁的, 焦虑的

参考例句：

• Fretting about it won't help. 苦恼于事无补。
• The old lady is always fretting over something unimportant. 那位老妇人总是为一些小事焦虑不安。

6 inaccurate   

adj.错误的，不正确的，不准确的

参考例句：

• The book is both inaccurate and exaggerated.这本书不但不准确，而且夸大其词。
• She never knows the right time because her watch is inaccurate.她从来不知道准确的时间因为她的表不准。

7 mere   

adj.纯粹的；仅仅，只不过

参考例句：

• That is a mere repetition of what you said before.那不过是重复了你以前讲的话。
• It's a mere waste of time waiting any longer.再等下去纯粹是浪费时间。

8 expounding   

论述，详细讲解( expound的现在分词 )

参考例句：

• Soon Gandhi was expounding the doctrine of ahimsa (nonviolence). 不久甘地就四出阐释非暴力主义思想。
• He was expounding, of course, his philosophy of leadership. 当然，他这是在阐述他的领导哲学。

9 instructor   

n.指导者，教员，教练

参考例句：

• The college jumped him from instructor to full professor.大学突然把他从讲师提升为正教授。
• The skiing instructor was a tall,sunburnt man.滑雪教练是一个高高个子晒得黑黑的男子。

10 ego   

n.自我，自己，自尊

参考例句：

• He is absolute ego in all thing.在所有的事情上他都绝对自我。
• She has been on an ego trip since she sang on television.她上电视台唱过歌之后就一直自吹自擂。

11 ethics   

n.伦理学；伦理观，道德标准

参考例句：

• The ethics of his profession don't permit him to do that.他的职业道德不允许他那样做。
• Personal ethics and professional ethics sometimes conflict.个人道德和职业道德有时会相互抵触。

12 tune   

n.调子；和谐，协调；v.调音，调节，调整

参考例句：

• He'd written a tune,and played it to us on the piano.他写了一段曲子，并在钢琴上弹给我们听。
• The boy beat out a tune on a tin can.那男孩在易拉罐上敲出一首曲子。

13 reassuring   

a.使人消除恐惧和疑虑的，使人放心的

参考例句：

• He gave her a reassuring pat on the shoulder. 他轻拍了一下她的肩膀让她放心。
• With a reassuring pat on her arm, he left. 他鼓励地拍了拍她的手臂就离开了。

14 muses   

v.沉思，冥想( muse的第三人称单数 )；沉思自语说（某事）

参考例句：

• We have listened too long to the courtly muses of Europe. 欧洲那种御用的诗才，我们已经听够了。 来自辞典例句
• Shiki muses that this is, at least, probably the right atmosphere. 志贵觉得这至少是正确的气氛。 来自互联网

15 hyena   

n.土狼，鬣狗

参考例句：

• African hyena noted for its distinctive howl.非洲鬣狗，以其特别的嚎叫而闻名。
• The hyena's public image is not aided by its ridiculous appearance.鬣狗滑稽的外表无助于改善它在公众心中的形象。

16 metaphorically   

adv. 用比喻地

参考例句：

• It is context and convention that determine whether a term will be interpreted literally or metaphorically. 对一个词的理解是按字面意思还是隐喻的意思要视乎上下文和习惯。
• Metaphorically it implied a sort of admirable energy. 从比喻来讲，它含有一种令人赞许的能量的意思。

17 organisation   

n.组织，安排，团体，有机休

参考例句：

• The method of his organisation work is worth commending.他的组织工作的方法值得称道。
• His application for membership of the organisation was rejected.他想要加入该组织的申请遭到了拒绝。

18 philosophical   

adj.哲学家的，哲学上的，达观的

参考例句：

• The teacher couldn't answer the philosophical problem.老师不能解答这个哲学问题。
• She is very philosophical about her bad luck.她对自己的不幸看得很开。

19 refreshing   

adj.使精神振作的，使人清爽的，使人喜欢的

参考例句：

• I find it'so refreshing to work with young people in this department.我发现和这一部门的青年一起工作令人精神振奋。
• The water was cold and wonderfully refreshing.水很涼，特别解乏提神。

20 actively   

adv.积极地，勤奋地

参考例句：

• During this period all the students were actively participating.在这节课中所有的学生都积极参加。
• We are actively intervening to settle a quarrel.我们正在积极调解争执。

21 vaguely   

adv.含糊地，暖昧地

参考例句：

• He had talked vaguely of going to work abroad.他含糊其词地说了到国外工作的事。
• He looked vaguely before him with unseeing eyes.他迷迷糊糊的望着前面，对一切都视而不见。

22 investor   

n.投资者，投资人

参考例句：

• My nephew is a cautious investor.我侄子是个小心谨慎的投资者。
• The investor believes that his investment will pay off handsomely soon.这个投资者相信他的投资不久会有相当大的收益。

23 swapped   

交换（工作）( swap的过去式和过去分词 )； 用…替换，把…换成，掉换（过来）

参考例句：

• I liked her coat and she liked mine, so we swapped. 我喜欢她的外套，她喜欢我的外套，于是我们就交换了。
• At half-time the manager swapped some of the players around. 经理在半场时把几名队员换下了场。

24 irrationality   

n. 不合理，无理性

参考例句：

• Such stoppages as are observed in practice are thus attributed to mistakes or even irrationality. 在实际情况中看到的这些停工，要归因于失误或甚至是非理性的东西。
• For all its harshness and irrationality, it is the only world we've got. 尽管它严酷而又不合理，它终究是我们具有的唯一的世界。