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保罗·格雷厄姆:天才的车票理论·第3则
保罗·格雷厄姆《《天才的车票理论》》· The Bus Ticket Theory of Genius · 领导 · 投资
The bus ticket theory is similar to Carlyle's famous definition of genius as an infinite capacity for taking pains. But there are two differences. The bus ticket theory makes it clear that the source of this infinite capacity for taking pains is not infinite diligence, as Carlyle seems to have meant, but the sort of infinite interest that collectors have. It also adds an important qualification: an infinite capacity for taking pains about something that matters. So what matters? You can never be sure. It's precisely because no one can tell in advance which paths are promising that you can discover new ideas by working on what you're interested in. But there are some heuristics you can use to guess whether an obsession might be one that matters.
出处:
https://paulgraham.com/genius.html
定位:Essay, additional excerpt 3 · 核对日期:2026-10-19 · 核验:短摘录
白话
公交车票理论和卡莱尔对天才的著名定义相似:天才就是无限吃苦的能力。但有两个区别。第一,车票理论说明,这种无限吃苦能力的来源不是无限的勤勉(卡莱尔似乎这么认为),而是收藏者那种无限的兴趣。第二,它加了一个重要限定:对重要的事情有无限吃苦的能力。那么什么算重要?你永远无法确定。正因为没人能事先判断哪条路有前途,你才可能通过做自己感兴趣的事发现新想法。不过有一些启发式方法,可以帮你猜测某个痴迷是否可能重要。
上下文
格雷厄姆对比卡莱尔的天才定义,强调兴趣而非勤勉是持久付出的根源,并承认判断重要性很难。
今日一问
你能否用几个启发式问题,检验自己当前的痴迷是否可能指向重要的事?
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