人类误判心理学 芒格 双语（一）
2016-09-21 14:07阅读：
PREFACE
When I read transcripts of my psychology talks given about fifteen
years ago, I realized that I could now cre-ate a more logical but
much longer talk, including most of what I had earlier said. But I
immediately saw four big disadvantages.
前言
当我阅读我在15年前做过的心理学讲座的讲稿时，我觉得我现在可以写一篇逻辑性更强但是篇幅也更长的“讲稿”，将我以前讲过的大部分内容都囊括在内。但我立刻发现这么做有四个缺点。
First, the longer talk, because it was written out with more
logical completeness, would be more boring and confusing to many
people than any earlier talk. This would happen because I would use
idiosyncratic defini-tions of psychological tendencies in a manner
re
minis-cent of both psychology textbooks and Euclid. And who reads
textbooks for fun or revisits Euclid?
第一，由于我在撰写这篇更长的“讲稿”时更为追求逻辑的完整性，所以在许多人看来，和早前的讲稿相比，它会显得更加枯燥和难懂。这是因为我给那些心理倾向所下的定义会让人想起心理学教科书和欧几里德。谁会在阅读教科书或者重读欧几里德中找到乐趣呢？
Second, because my formal psychological knowl-edge came only from
skimming three psychology text-books about fifteen years ago, I
know virtually nothing about any academic psychology later
developed. Yet, in a longer talk containing guesses, I would be
criticizing much academic psychology. This sort of intrusion into a
professional territory by an amateur would be sure to be resented
by professors who would rejoice in finding my errors and might be
prompted to respond to my pub-lished criticism by providing theirs.
Why should I care about new criticism? Well, who likes new
hostility from articulate critics with an information
advantage?
第二，我只在15年前浏览过三本心理学教材，我对正式的心理学的了解就这么多，所以后来学院派心理学取得了什么进展我基本上是不了解的。然而，在这篇更长的讲稿中，我将会对学院派心理学提出许多批评。这种班门弄斧的做法肯定会引起许多心理学教授的反感，若是发现我有错误之处，他们将会非常高兴，说不定还会写文章来批评我，以此回应我对他们的批评。我为什么会在意新的批评呢？嗯，谁喜欢与那些拥有信息优势的尖锐批评家结下新的梁子呢？
Third, a longer version of my ideas would surely draw some
disapproval from people formerly disposed to like me. Not only
would there be stylistic and sub-stantive objections, but also
there would be perceptions of arrogance in an old man who displayed
much disre-gard for conventional wisdom while popping-off on a
subject in which he had never taken a course. My old Harvard Law
classmate, Ed Rothschild, always called such a popping-off the shoe
button complex, named for the condition of a family friend who
spoke in oracu-lar style on all subjects after becoming dominant in
the shoe button business.
第三，这篇更长的文章肯定会让某些本来喜欢我的人感到不满。他们不但会对我的文风和内容提出异议，而且还会觉得我是个目中无人的老头，对传统的智慧不够尊敬，“大言不惭”地谈论一门他从来没有上过课的学科。我在哈佛大学法学院的老同学艾德·罗思柴尔德（Ed
Rothschild）总是把这种大言不惭称为“鞋扣情结”。这个名字来自他的一位世交，那人在鞋扣行业取得领先地位之后，不管聊到什么话题总是一副无所不知的口气。
Fourth, I might make a fool of myself. Despite these four very
considerable objections, I decided to publish the much-expanded
version. Thus, after many decades in which I have succeeded mostly
by restricting action to jobs and methods in which I was unlikely
to fail, I have now chosen a course of action in which (1) I have
no significant personal benefit to gain, (2) I will surely give
some pain to family members and friends, and (3) I may make myself
ridiculous. Why am I doing this?
第四，我也许会让自己显得像个傻瓜。尽管考虑到这四个缺点，我还是决定发表这篇内容增加甚多的文章。这几十年来，我基本上只做那些我有把握能够做好的工作和事情，而现在我却选择了这样的行动，它非但不会给我个人带来重大的好处，而且有可能让我的亲人和朋友感到痛苦，更有可能让我自己丢人现眼。我到底为什么要这样做呢？
One reason may be that my nature makes me in-cline toward
diagnosing and talking about errors in con-ventional wisdom. And
despite years of being smoothed out by the hard knocks that were
inevitable for one with my attitude, I dont believe life ever
knocked all the boys brashness out of the man.
这也许跟我的性格有关，我向来喜欢指出和谈论传统智慧中的错误。虽然这些年来我因为这种脾气而吃了不少苦头，但是江山易改，本性难移，我并没有因为吃了生活中的苦头而改掉自以为是的性格。
A second reason for my decision is my approval ofthe attitude of
Diogenes when he asked: Of what use is a philosopher who never
offends anybody?
我出这个决定的第二个原因是，我赞成第欧根尼（Diogenes）的说法。第欧根尼说过：“从来不得罪人的哲学家有什么用呢？”
My third and final reason is the strongest. I have fallen in love
with my way of living out psychology be-cause it has been so useful
for me. And so, before I die, I want to imitate to some extent the
bequest practices of three characters: the protagonist in John
Bunyans Pil-grims Progress, Benjamin Franklin, and my first
em-ployer, Ernest Buffett. Bunyans character, the knight
wonderfully named Old Valiant for Truth, makes the only practical
bequest available to him when he says at the end of his life: My
sword I leave to him who can wear it. And like this man, I dont
mind if I have mis-appraised my sword, provided I have tried to see
it cor-rectly, or that many will not wish to try it, or that some
who try to wield it may find it serves them not. Ben Franklin, to
my great benefit, left behind his autobiogra-phy, his Almanacks,
and much else. And Ernest Buffett did the best he could in the same
mode when he left behind How to Run a Grocery Store and a Few
Things I Have Learned about Fishing. Whether or not this last
contribution to the genre was the best, I will not say. But I will
report that I have now known four genera-tions of Ernest Buffetts
descendants and that the results have encouraged my imitation of
the founder.
第三个(也是最后一个)原因是最重要的。我爱上了我这种编排心理学知识的方法，因为它一直以来对我很有用。所以呢，在去世之前，我想在某种程度上效仿三位人物，给世人留点东西。这三位人物分别是：约翰·班扬的《天路历程》的主角、本杰明·富兰克林，以及我的第一位雇主恩尼斯特·巴菲特。班扬笔下的人物，也就是那位外号“真理剑客”的骑士，在临终时留下了这样的遗嘱：“我的剑留给能挥舞它的人。”跟这个人一样，只要我曾经试图正确地对待我的剑，我并不在乎我对它的赞美是对还是错，也不在乎许多人并不愿意使用它，或者使用之后发现它对他们来讲完全没有用。对我帮助极大的本杰明·富兰克林给世人留下了他的自传——《穷理查年鉴》——和其他许多东西。恩尼斯特·巴菲特也尽他最大的努力，同样留下了“如何经营杂货店（的知识），以及我了解的一些垂钓知识”。他的遗赠发挥的作用是不是最大，我在这里就不说啦。但我想告诉大家的是，我认识恩尼斯特·巴菲特的四代后裔，我对他们的了解促使我决定效仿他们的先人。
