Chapter 4 The Value of Suffering
一、問(wèn)答
1. Use three sentences to describe Onoda’s story.
Onoda, a Japanese Lieutenant, didn’t believe his country had surrendered. He transferred to the Jungles in Philippine and continued to fight. Thirty years later, found by an adventurer Suzuki, Onoda returned to Japan and felt his fighting meant nothing, so he moved to Brazil, where he remained until he died.
2. What can we learn from the Rock Star problems?
He adopted a crappy values based on the comparison to the success of others. This value gave him awful problems. Even though he had achieved great fame and glory, he still felt like a loser.
3. Can you name some values that you hold dear?
Honesty, responsibility and persistence.
4. Do you have any good/bad values stated in the book? How those values affect your life?
I have honesty, responsibility and self-respect. These values helped me to achieve my goals and get a better life.
二、感想
本章主要闡述價(jià)值觀的重要性。
To both men, their suffering meant something; it fulfilled some greater cause. And because it meant something, they were able to endure it, or perhaps even enjoy it.
本章作者首先講了兩個(gè)故事。日本軍士Onoda，因不知道日本已宣布投降或拒絕承認(rèn)這個(gè)事實(shí)，躲在菲律賓叢林中繼續(xù)為天皇作戰(zhàn)，一呆就是三十年；探險(xiǎn)家Suzuki，用四年時(shí)間穿越亞洲、中東和非洲，最后消失在喜馬拉雅雪山中。這兩個(gè)例子都告訴我們，一個(gè)人為了自己的夢(mèng)想和信仰，無(wú)論多苦多難，都會(huì)堅(jiān)持下去，并且無(wú)怨無(wú)悔。因?yàn)樗麄冋J(rèn)為自己做的事是正確的，值得為此付出。
Let’s say the first layer of the self-awareness onion is a simple understanding of one’s emotions.
作者把自我認(rèn)知的過(guò)程比作剝洋蔥，第一層是對(duì)自己情感的簡(jiǎn)單認(rèn)知，比如說(shuō)這個(gè)事讓我感到開(kāi)心，那個(gè)事讓我難過(guò)。
The second layer of the self-awareness onion is an ability to ask why we feel certain emotions.
第二層是我們要知道為什么會(huì)產(chǎn)生這樣的情感，也就是說(shuō)我們難過(guò)或開(kāi)心的原因是什么。
The third level is our personal values: Why do I consider this to be success/failure? How am I choosing to measure myself? By what standard am I judging myself and everyone around me?
第三層是我們的價(jià)值觀：我們?cè)鯓觼?lái)評(píng)判成功/失敗？我們?cè)鯓觼?lái)評(píng)價(jià)自己？我們?cè)u(píng)判自己和他人的標(biāo)準(zhǔn)是什么？這個(gè)是最難做到也是最重要的，因?yàn)槲覀兊膬r(jià)值觀決定我們對(duì)問(wèn)題的看法，我們對(duì)問(wèn)題的看法決定我們的生活質(zhì)量。
The question is not whether we evaluate ourselves against others; rather, the question is by what standard do we measure ourselves?
作者又給我們講述了Mustaine的故事，告誡我們不要盲目地和別人攀比。Mustaine 是個(gè)吉他手，被原來(lái)樂(lè)隊(duì)踢了出來(lái)。為一雪前恥，他勵(lì)精圖治，組建自己樂(lè)隊(duì)，拼命工作。幾年后，樂(lè)隊(duì)已小有規(guī)模，成為當(dāng)?shù)刈詈玫闹亟饘贅?lè)隊(duì)。但他總是和原來(lái)樂(lè)隊(duì)相比，認(rèn)為自己不如他們，所以他一直不開(kāi)心，郁郁寡歡，總覺(jué)得自己是個(gè)失敗者。
If you want to change how you see your problems, you have to change what you value and/or how you measure failure/success.
所以作者指出，有時(shí)候我們覺(jué)得生活中存在這樣那樣的問(wèn)題，究其根源，是我們的價(jià)值觀有問(wèn)題，是我們衡量成功與否的標(biāo)準(zhǔn)有問(wèn)題。
This is why these values—pleasure, material success, always being right, staying positive—are poor ideals for a person’s life. Some of the greatest moments of one’s life are not pleasant, not successful, not known, and not positive.
作者提到，有些人把以下標(biāo)準(zhǔn)當(dāng)成自己的價(jià)值觀：高興、財(cái)富、總看事情好的方面而忽視不好的。 然而，這些標(biāo)準(zhǔn)都是空洞的、毫無(wú)意義的。因?yàn)椋覀兩械闹卮髸r(shí)刻有時(shí)并不是我們成功的時(shí)候，高興的時(shí)候，或是出人頭地的時(shí)候。
Good values are 1) reality-based, 2) socially constructive, and 3) immediate and controllable. Bad values are 1) superstitious, 2) socially destructive, and 3) not immediate or controllable.
大體上講，好的價(jià)值觀應(yīng)該是在現(xiàn)實(shí)基礎(chǔ)上，有助于社會(huì)發(fā)展，直接可控的。
不好的價(jià)值觀是迷信的，對(duì)社會(huì)發(fā)展有害的，非直接可控的。在接下來(lái)的章節(jié)，作者將陸續(xù)講到幾種反直覺(jué)的，但卻很有指導(dǎo)意義的價(jià)值觀，姑且拭目以待。
As Freud once said, “One day, in retrospect, the years of struggle will strike you as the most beautiful.”
最后，用我非常喜歡的一句話來(lái)結(jié)束本章。
“總有一天，當(dāng)你回首往事，曾經(jīng)付出的努力和奮斗都將變成美好的回憶。”——佛洛依德
三、字詞
1．Their economy was floundering, their military overstretched across half of Asia, and the territories they had won throughout the Pacific were now toppling like dominoes to U.S. forces.
If something is floundering, it has many problems and may soon fail completely. 陷入困境
If someone or something topples somewhere or if you topple them, they become unsteady or unstable and fall over. 倒下
flounder 在此表示二戰(zhàn)后日本經(jīng)濟(jì)陷入困境；topple 在此表示日本侵占的大片土地像多米諾骨牌一樣倒下。
2. Why do you feel lethargic and uninspired?
If you are lethargic, you do not have much energy or enthusiasm. 沒(méi)精打采的
If you describe something or someone as uninspired, you are criticizing them because they do not seem to have any original or exciting qualities.? 無(wú)靈感的；缺乏創(chuàng)見(jiàn)的；平凡的
這兩個(gè)詞用來(lái)描述一個(gè)人無(wú)精打采，沒(méi)有靈感的精神狀態(tài)
3. Then everything based upon those values—the thoughts, the emotions, the day-to-day feelings—will all be out of whack.
If something is out of whack, it is not working properly, often because its natural balance has been upset. 出問(wèn)題
這句話是說(shuō)如果我們的價(jià)值觀是不正確的，那么基于這個(gè)價(jià)值觀的所有想法、情感和感受都是有問(wèn)題的。
4. “Because it feels like he doesn’t give a shit about me.”
前幾天剛看到not give a shit 的用法，今天就派上用場(chǎng)，是指一點(diǎn)都不在乎，如: She doesn't give a shit if he comes or not.?
5. They close themselves off to new and important information.
Close off自我封閉，拒絕接受新信息
6. The point is to nail down some good values and metrics, and pleasure and success will naturally emerge as a result.
If you nail down something unknown or uncertain, you find out exactly what it is. 弄清
如：It would be useful if you could nail down the source of this tension.
