2022年经济学人 做白日梦、散步和开小差都能带来丰厚的回报（2）

Albert Einstein’s breakthrough moments often came via thought experiments in which he let his imagination drift.

阿尔伯特·爱因斯坦的突破性时刻往往来自于他的思想实验，实验中他任自己的想象力漫游。

What would it be like to travel as fast as a light beam?

像光一样快地运动会是什么样子？

What happens if double lightning strikes are observed from different perspectives?

如果从不同的角度观察到两次闪电会怎样？

Einstein is admittedly a pretty high bar, but zoning out can help mere¹ mortals, too.

诚然，爱因斯坦是一个相当高的门槛，但开小差也能帮到普通人。

Research published in 2021 found that tricky² work-related problems sparked more daydreaming⁴ among professional employees, and that this daydreaming in turn boosted creativity.

2021年发表的一项研究发现，工作相关的棘手问题会引发专业员工产生更多幻想，而这种白日梦反过来又会激发创造力。

In similar vein⁵, going for a walk is not just a break from work, but can be a form of it.

同样，散步不只是工作之余的一种休息，它也可以是工作的一种形式。

An experiment from 2014 asked participants to think of creative uses for a common object (a button, say) while sitting down and while walking.

2014年的一项实验要求参与者在坐着或走路的时候思考一个普通物体（比如说一个按钮）的创造性用途。

Perambulation was associated with big increases in creativity.

散步与创造力的大幅增长相关。

Being outside generally seems to improve lateral⁶ thinking.

一般来说，处于户外似乎能提升横向思维。

In another study, hikers who had been yomping away in the wilderness⁷ did much better on a problem-solving task than those who had yet to set off.

在另一项研究中，那些一直在野外负重跋涉的徒步旅行者在解决问题时的表现比那些还没出门的人的表现好得多。

Loafing has clear limits.

游手好闲是有明确限制的。

If you miss a deadline because you were staring soulfully out of the window, you still missed a deadline.

如果你因为深情凝视窗外而错过了任务最后期限，那么你就是没完成任务。

Not every problem requires a backpack and a journey into the countryside.

并不是每个问题都需要一个背包和一次乡村之旅来解决。

If you don’t much like your work in the first place, you are likely to daydream³ about other things.

如果你压根就不太喜欢你的工作，那你很可能会幻想其他事情。

But time to muse⁸ is valuable in virtually every role.

但是，几乎在每一个职位中，用来沉思的时间都很宝贵。

To take one example, customer-service representatives can be good sources of ideas on how to improve a company’s products, but they are often rated on how well they adhere to a schedule of fielding calls.

举个例子，客户服务代表可能会想到改进公司产品的好主意，但对他们的评定通常是基于他们对处理电话的流程的遵守程度。

Reflection is not part of the routine.

反思不是日常工作的一部分。

The post-pandemic rethink of work is focused on "when" and "where" questions.

后疫情时代对工作的反思集中在“何时”和“何处”的问题上。

Firms are experimenting with four-day workweeks as a way to improve retention⁹ and avoid burnout.

公司正在试行每周四天工作制，以提高员工留任率，避免出现工作倦怠。

Asynchronous working is a way for individuals to collaborate¹⁰ at times that suit them.

异步工作是一种让个人可以在适合自己的时间进行协作的方式。

Lots of thought is going into how to make a success of hybrid¹¹ work.

人们对于如何让混合工作取得成功进行了大量的思考。

The "what is work" question gets much less attention.

“什么是工作”这个问题得到的关注要少得多。

The bias¹² towards familiar forms of activity is deeply entrenched¹³.

对熟悉的活动形式的偏向根深蒂固。

But if you see a colleague meandering¹⁴ through the park or examining the ceiling for hours, don’t assume that work isn’t being done.

但是，如果你看到一位同事在公园里闲逛，或者连续几个小时盯着天花板，不要认为他没有在工作。

What looks like idleness may be the very moment when serendipity¹⁵ strikes.

看似无所事事之时，可能恰恰是意外收获来临的时刻。

1 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。

2 tricky   

adj.狡猾的，奸诈的；(工作等)棘手的，微妙的

参考例句：

• I'm in a rather tricky position.Can you help me out?我的处境很棘手，你能帮我吗？
• He avoided this tricky question and talked in generalities.他回避了这个非常微妙的问题，只做了个笼统的表述。

3 daydream   

v.做白日梦，幻想

参考例句：

• Boys and girls daydream about what they want to be.孩子们遐想着他们将来要干什么。
• He drifted off into another daydream.他飘飘然又做了一个白日梦。

4 daydreaming   

v.想入非非，空想( daydream的现在分词 )

参考例句：

• Stop daydreaming and be realistic. 别空想了，还是从实际出发吧。 来自《现代汉英综合大词典》
• Bill was sitting and daydreaming so his mother told him to come down to earth and to do his homework. 比尔坐着空想， 他母亲要他面对现实，去做课外作业。 来自《现代汉英综合大词典》

5 vein   

n.血管，静脉；叶脉，纹理；情绪；vt.使成脉络

参考例句：

• The girl is not in the vein for singing today.那女孩今天没有心情唱歌。
• The doctor injects glucose into the patient's vein.医生把葡萄糖注射入病人的静脉。

6 lateral   

adj.侧面的，旁边的

参考例句：

• An airfoil that controls lateral motion.能够控制横向飞行的机翼。
• Mr.Dawson walked into the court from a lateral door.道森先生从一个侧面的门走进法庭。

7 wilderness   

n.杳无人烟的一片陆地、水等，荒漠

参考例句：

• She drove the herd of cattle through the wilderness.她赶着牛群穿过荒野。
• Education in the wilderness is not a matter of monetary means.荒凉地区的教育不是钱财问题。

8 muse   

n.缪斯（希腊神话中的女神），创作灵感

参考例句：

• His muse had deserted him,and he could no longer write.他已无灵感，不能再写作了。
• Many of the papers muse on the fate of the President.很多报纸都在揣测总统的命运。

9 retention   

n.保留，保持，保持力，记忆力

参考例句：

• They advocate the retention of our nuclear power plants.他们主张保留我们的核电厂。
• His retention of energy at this hour is really surprising.人们惊叹他在这个时候还能保持如此旺盛的精力。

10 collaborate   

vi.协作，合作；协调

参考例句：

• The work gets done more quickly when we collaborate.我们一旦合作，工作做起来就更快了。
• I would ask you to collaborate with us in this work.我们愿意请你们在这项工作中和我们合作。

11 hybrid   

n.(动，植）杂种，混合物

参考例句：

• That is a hybrid perpetual rose.那是一株杂交的四季开花的蔷薇。
• The hybrid was tall,handsome,and intelligent.那混血儿高大、英俊、又聪明。

12 bias   

n.偏见，偏心，偏袒；vt.使有偏见

参考例句：

• They are accusing the teacher of political bias in his marking.他们在指控那名教师打分数有政治偏见。
• He had a bias toward the plan.他对这项计划有偏见。

13 entrenched   

adj.确立的，不容易改的(风俗习惯)

参考例句：

• Television seems to be firmly entrenched as the number one medium for national advertising.电视看来要在全国广告媒介中牢固地占据头等位置。
• If the enemy dares to attack us in these entrenched positions,we will make short work of them.如果敌人胆敢进攻我们固守的阵地，我们就消灭他们。

14 meandering   

蜿蜒的河流，漫步，聊天

参考例句：

• The village seemed deserted except for small boys and a meandering donkey. 整个村子的人都像是逃光了，只留下了几个小男孩和一头正在游游荡荡的小毛驴。 来自教父部分
• We often took a walk along the meandering river after supper. 晚饭后我们常沿着那条弯弯曲曲的小河散步。

15 serendipity   

n.偶然发现物品之才能；意外新发现

参考例句：

• "It was serendipity all the way,"he says.用他的话说是“一直都很走运”。
• Some of the best effects in my garden have been the result of serendipity.我园子里最珍贵的几件物品是机缘巧合之下意外所得。