Analogy and Its Methodology 类比及其方法论
In the previous section, the analogy mentioned (that we must continually upgrade our “operating system”) is the most important analogy in “New Life.” So here, it is indeed necessary for us to seriously study the concept of analogy and also sort out the methodology of using analogies.
在上一节中，提到的类比（我们必须不断升级我们的“操作系统”）是“新生活”中最重要的类比。所以在这里，我们确实有必要认真研究类比的概念，也梳理一下类比的方法论。
In general, an analogy is a thinking aid we use to explain or understand something. The process of using it is roughly as follows:
一般来说，类比是我们用来解释或理解某事的思维辅助工具。使用过程大致如下：
To explain an unknown X to someone (or to understand an unknown X oneself), find something similar to X but which the other person already understands, called A, and explain the relationship between X and A: X ≈ A. Explain A (or the similarities between A and X) clearly so that X becomes self-evident.
要向某人解释一个未知的X（或者自己理解一个未知的X），找到与X相似但另一个人已经理解的东西，称为A，并解释X和A之间的关系：X≈A.清楚地解释A（或A和X之间的相似之处），以便X变得不言而喻。
In the classroom or in textbooks, classic analogies help students instantly understand knowledge that is otherwise difficult to comprehend.
在课堂或教科书中，经典的类比可以帮助学生立即理解原本难以理解的知识。
A primary school teacher uses the analogy of a boiled egg to explain the structure of the earth, enabling young students to understand knowledge they cannot experience firsthand—who has the ability to split the earth open and take a look inside? A secondary school teacher uses the structure of the solar system as an analogy for the internal structure of an atom, allowing students to grasp knowledge they cannot personally experience—for a considerable period, not every school has an electron microscope to observe the internal structure of an atom. Even more miraculous is that the understanding of this knowledge by secondary students depends on an experience-based knowledge they cannot obtain through individual experience—the structure of the solar system.
一位小学老师用煮鸡蛋的比喻来解释地球的结构，让小学生了解他们无法亲身体验的知识——谁有能力把地球劈开，看看里面？一位中学老师用太阳系的结构来比喻原子的内部结构，让学生掌握他们无法亲身体验的知识——在相当长的一段时间里，并不是每所学校都有电子显微镜来观察原子的内部结构。更神奇的是，中学生对这些知识的理解取决于他们无法通过个人经验获得的基于经验的知识——太阳系的结构。
However, few people notice that “classic analogies” are actually extremely limited in number, because it is very difficult to find good analogs. They must be similar enough, known to the other party, and the creator must deliberately pay attention—satisfying all three requirements simultaneously is far less likely than satisfying just one of the conditions. Creating an appropriate and even ingenious analogy is definitely a superhuman ability and a demonstration of extraordinary capability.
然而，很少有人注意到，“经典类比”实际上在数量上极其有限，因为很难找到好的类比。它们必须足够相似，为对方所知，并且创作者必须刻意注意——同时满足所有三个要求远比只满足其中一个条件的可能性要小得多。创造一个恰当甚至巧妙的类比绝对是一种超人的能力，也是非凡能力的展示。
Just how rare are good analogies? When somebody encounters a good analogy, they will unconsciously “collect” it—truly, rarity makes things precious. I am such a person and have developed a habit of collecting various ingenious analogies over the years. One of my favorite analogies for many years has been this one:
好的类比到底有多罕见？当有人遇到一个很好的类比时，他们会不自觉地“收集”它——真的，稀有使东西变得珍贵。我就是这样一个人，多年来养成了收集各种巧妙类比的习惯。多年来，我最喜欢的类比之一是这样的：
Education is like a pair of glasses.
教育就像一副眼镜。
Before and after putting on glasses, we actually see the same world; but after putting on the glasses, we can see more clearly.
戴上眼镜前后，我们其实看到的是同一个世界;但是戴上眼镜后，我们看得更清楚了。
Similarly, before and after being educated, we are actually in the same world; but after being educated, we can see more clearly, think more clearly, make more effective choices, and achieve more success.
同样，在受教育之前和之后，我们实际上是在同一个世界里;但经过教育，我们能看得更清楚，想得更清楚，做出更有效的选择，取得更大的成功。
Another analogy I particularly like is:
我特别喜欢的另一个比喻是：
Science is indeed made up of information, just as a house is built with bricks. However, just as we cannot call a pile of bricks a house when they are just sitting there, a pile of information is called science, which is a bit absurd.
科学确实是由信息组成的，就像房子是用砖头建造的一样。然而，就像我们不能把一堆砖头当成房子一样，一堆信息被称为科学，这有点荒谬。
Conversely, if you observe carefully, you will find that clever people are better at using analogies—because creating analogies itself is a highly difficult activity that most people cannot do:
相反，如果你仔细观察，你会发现聪明的人更善于使用类比——因为创造类比本身就是一项非常困难的活动，大多数人都做不到：
First, they must have enough knowledge and information reserves to find the most appropriate and most appropriate “reference” when understanding new things.
首先，他们必须有足够的知识和信息储备，才能在理解新事物时找到最合适、最合适的“参考”。
The reason they can find the most appropriate one is not only to find the most “similar,” but also to carefully understand what the “dissimilar” aspects are, in order to avoid deviation when transmitting information.
他们之所以能找到最合适的，不仅是要找到最“相似”的，还要仔细了解“不同”的方面是什么，以避免在传递信息时出现偏差。
Therefore, creating an “ingenious analogy” is an extremely complex process, requiring far more effort than the listener needs to understand. A particularly appropriate analogy is often “accidentally obtained,” and it is almost impossible to find another “equally matched” one.
因此，创造一个“巧妙的类比”是一个极其复杂的过程，需要付出的努力远远超过听众需要理解的努力。一个特别合适的类比往往是“偶然获得的”，几乎不可能找到另一个“同样匹配”的类比。
Therefore, a person who can use ingenious analogies is “smarter” than those who can understand them. Those who cannot even understand ingenious analogies are relatively “less smart.”
因此，一个能够使用巧妙类比的人比那些能够理解它们的人“更聪明”。那些连巧妙的类比都听不懂的人相对来说“不那么聪明”。
At the beginning of 2015, I watched YC Startup Class (CS183B) repeatedly, and it was a fantastic course with powerful sharing. It’s interesting that almost all the speakers in the course are particularly good at using analogies.
2015年初，我反复观看了YC创业班（CS183B），这是一门精彩的课程，分享力很强。有趣的是，课程中几乎所有的演讲者都特别擅长使用类比。
In the third lesson, Paul used many analogies and metaphors, many of which were impressive:
在第三课中，保罗用了许多比喻和比喻，其中许多都令人印象深刻：
(Customers) They’re like sharks, sharks are too stupid to fool, you can’t wave a red flag and fool it, it’s like meat or no meat.
（客户）他们就像鲨鱼，鲨鱼太傻了，骗不了，你不能挥舞红旗来骗它，这就像肉或没有肉。
In the fifth lesson, Peter Thiel said, “all happy families are alike and all unhappy families are unhappy in their own special way,” which is not true in business, where I think all happy companies are different because they’re doing something very unique. All unhappy companies are alike because they failed to escape the essential sameness in competition. (This is a reverse analogy—so, don’t think they’re the same, they’re just the opposite…)
在第五课中，彼得·泰尔（Peter Thiel）说，“所有幸福的家庭都是相似的，所有不幸福的家庭都以自己独特的方式不幸福”，这在商业中并非如此，我认为所有幸福的公司都是不同的，因为他们正在做一些非常独特的事情。所有不快乐的公司都是一样的，因为它们未能摆脱竞争中本质的相同性。（这是一个相反的类比——所以，不要以为它们是一样的，它们恰恰相反……
In the seventh lesson, Kevin Hale compared new users to dating partners and old users to married partners; in the ninth lesson, Marc Andreessen compared limited investment capabilities to a card that cannot be punched a few times… In the fourteenth lesson, Keith Rabois used a lot of analogies and metaphors:
在第七课中，凯文·黑尔（Kevin Hale）将新用户与约会伴侣进行了比较，将老用户与已婚伴侣进行了比较;在第九课中，马克·安德森（Marc Andreessen）将有限的投资能力比作一张打不了几下牌……在第十四课中，基思·拉布瓦（Keith Rabois）使用了很多类比和比喻：
So basically what you are doing when building a company is building an engine.
所以基本上你在建立一家公司时所做的就是建立一个引擎。
Keith Rabois also used “editing” as a metaphor to describe the so-called management:
Keith Rabois也用“编辑”作为比喻来形容所谓的管理：
So one of the most important things I
所以最重要的事情之一
This is like when a teacher is discussing the structure of the Earth in class and a student shouts, “Teacher! The Earth is nothing like an egg! If the crust were as fragile as an eggshell, we would be in big trouble…” It’s just mischievous, maybe even disruptive. It’s cute when children do this, but it’s a bit inappropriate for adults who can’t distinguish between the important and trivial.
这就像老师在课堂上讨论地球的结构时，一个学生喊道：“老师！地球一点也不像鸡蛋！如果地壳像蛋壳一样脆弱，我们就有大麻烦了……”这只是恶作剧，甚至可能是破坏性的。当孩子这样做时很可爱，但对于无法区分重要和琐碎的成年人来说，这有点不合适。
One thing that needs to be particularly noted, and even deliberately remembered, is:
需要特别注意甚至刻意记住的一件事是：
The logic of analogies focuses on “likeness” rather than “equality”;
类比的逻辑侧重于“相似性”而不是“平等性”;
“≈” is not ” = ” or “≡ “;
“≈”不是“=”或“≡”;
Most listeners lack deliberate training in this area, so they tend to ignore the difference between “approximately equal” and “equal” and their logic, which seems very natural to them. They may express their thoughts this way: “Yes, I know that approximately equal does not equal equal, but doesn’t approximately equal indeed equal…”
大多数听众缺乏这方面的刻意训练，因此他们往往会忽略“大致相等”和“相等”之间的区别以及他们的逻辑，这对他们来说似乎很自然。他们可能会这样表达自己的想法：“是的，我知道近似相等不等于相等，但近似相等确实相等……”
It’s a natural and difficult to refute logic!
这是一个自然而难以反驳的逻辑！
For those who accidentally confuse “likeness” with “equality”, the next mistake they make when trying to understand new things through analogies is “overgeneralization” — because the new thing has become the same as the old thing, there seems to be no need to “understand” it! There is no need to continue studying it…
对于那些不小心把“相似性”和“平等性”混为一谈的人来说，他们在试图通过类比来理解新事物时，下一个犯的错误就是“过度概括”——因为新事物已经变得和旧事物一样了，似乎没有必要去“理解”它！没有必要继续研究它……
Since analogy is a tool for auxiliary understanding and explanation, using it is just a process of exploration, not a result. After understanding the “likeness” part, it is necessary to continue to explore the “unlikeness,” because the reason the new thing is new is because of those “unlikeness” compared to the old thing!
由于类比是辅助理解和解释的工具，使用类比只是一个探索的过程，而不是结果。在了解了“相似性”部分之后，有必要继续探索“不相似性”，因为新事物之所以是新的，是因为那些与旧事物相比的“不相似性”！
This is a particularly subtle trap that many people are not aware of. When facing new things, I always remind myself to temporarily restrain the impulse to seek analogies, because an inappropriate analogy is worse than no analogy. In fact, an inappropriate analogy is equivalent to being poisonous, and it can numb our brains and hinder us from thinking effectively.
这是一个特别微妙的陷阱，很多人都没有意识到。面对新事物时，我总是提醒自己暂时克制住寻求类比的冲动，因为一个不恰当的类比比没有类比更糟糕。事实上，一个不恰当的类比就等同于有毒，它会麻痹我们的大脑，阻碍我们有效思考。
I always believe that it is not too late to look for analogies once you have a sufficient understanding of the new thing. Having a sufficient understanding of the new thing is also a prerequisite for having the ability to find exquisite analogies. If you find one, you can use it to help explain it to others or as an auxiliary tool to help others understand. It is also normal not to find a very good analogy.
我始终相信，一旦你对新事物有了充分的了解，寻找类比还为时不晚。对新事物有充分的了解，也是有能力找到精妙类比的先决条件。如果你找到一个，你可以用它来帮助向他人解释它，或者作为帮助他人理解的辅助工具。找不到一个很好的类比也很正常。
Good and exquisite analogies are super cool, but you still need to be careful, because analogies really do affect our thinking.
好的、精致的类比是超级酷的，但你还是要小心，因为类比确实会影响我们的思维。
For example, people like to use “climbing” to illustrate the path to success. Perhaps the word “climbing” itself gives people an impression of “enterprising”.
例如，人们喜欢用“攀登”来说明成功之路。也许“攀登”这个词本身就给人一种“进取”的印象。
For a long time, I have felt that all the successes and breakthroughs I have encountered seemed more like breaking through ice. I always feel like I’m standing on an ice field, eager to break the ice beneath my feet…
很长一段时间以来，我一直觉得自己遇到的所有成功和突破，似乎更像是破冰而入。我总觉得自己站在冰原上，渴望打破脚下的冰……
No matter how hard I stomp or roll around, I always fail to succeed or break through instantly. Unless I change my perspective or someone provides me with an X-ray vision, I really don’t know how thick the ice is…
无论我如何努力跺脚或滚来滚去，我总是无法立即成功或突破。除非我改变视角，或者有人为我提供X射线视觉，否则我真的不知道冰有多厚……
It’s like I’m wandering around the ice field, pounding and chiseling in all directions, sometimes deep, sometimes shallow, and sometimes I can even see the water beneath the ice from the cracks or holes, but the ice is just so solid that I can’t break through…
就像我在冰原上徘徊，向四面八方敲打凿凿，时而深，时而浅，有时甚至能从裂缝或洞口看到冰下的水，但冰实在是太坚实了，我无法突破……
Do you remember how the main character in the TV series “Prison Break” used Hooke’s law to chisel through that thick, “indestructible” wall?
你还记得电视剧《越狱》中的主角是如何利用胡克定律凿开那堵厚厚的、“坚不可摧”的墙的吗？
The moment the ice finally breaks, I feel that all the pounding and chiseling I’ve done in the past, the cracks, and the holes, have finally, in some way (almost certainly in a way I never knew before), formed a triangle, and the principles of mechanics instantly kick in, and the ice breaks over a large area all at once… So, I finally “plunge in”.
当冰终于破裂的那一刻，我觉得我过去所做的所有敲击和凿凿，裂缝和孔洞，终于以某种方式（几乎可以肯定是以一种我以前从未知道的方式）形成了一个三角形，力学原理立即发挥作用，冰块一下子破裂了一大片区域……于是，我终于“投身其中”了。
When I struggled to join New Oriental years ago, it was a breakthrough for me. I won an award for learning a bit of programming as a kid, but I didn’t get into Tsinghua University despite having some computer knowledge; I studied a major in accounting that I didn’t like, but I gained the most important knowledge: probability and statistics; because my major was not outstanding, I could only go into sales after graduation, but it sharpened my public speaking skills – these three points made me the most popular teacher after my breakthrough. The breakthrough was not exactly “designed”, but it was not entirely “accidental” either.
几年前，当我努力加入新东方时，这对我来说是一个突破。我小时候学过一点编程，但没能考上清华大学，尽管我有一些计算机知识;我学了一个我不喜欢的会计专业，但我获得了最重要的知识：概率和统计;因为我的专业并不突出，毕业后只能进入销售行业，但磨练了我的公开演讲技巧——这三点让我成为突破后最受欢迎的老师。这一突破并不完全是“设计”的，但也并非完全“偶然”。
Later, creating “Treating Time as a Friend” was also a breakthrough for me. Teaching writing was not in my plans and design, but as someone who taught reading, I obeyed the arrangement of the leaders to teach a course that no one wanted to teach – no one wanted to teach writing, and everyone thought it was laborious and not rewarding. To teach well, I had to learn well and write well. After writing a large number of English articles, surprisingly, my Chinese writing became clearer than before, and I hadn’t expected that. The ultimate refinement of “time management” actually flashed into my mind during the writing process – you can tell from the title I initially chose for that series of articles: “Managing My Time”… Repeatedly struggling to reach a place that could not be seen or imagined before.
后来，创作《把时间当朋友》对我来说也是一个突破。教写作不在我的计划和设计中，但作为一个教阅读的人，我听从领导的安排，教一门没人想教的课——没人想教写作，大家都觉得费力，没有回报。为了教好书，我必须好好学习，好好写作。在写了大量的英文文章后，令人惊讶的是，我的中文写作变得比以前更清晰了，我没想到会这样。在写作过程中，“时间管理”的终极提炼实际上在我的脑海中闪现——你可以从我最初为该系列文章选择的标题中看出：“管理我的时间”……反复挣扎着到达一个以前看不见或想象不到的地方。
Creating Knewone, cashing in large amounts of bitcoin, establishing a Bitcoin fund, participating in several startup projects, and even a third-party Telegram client, Dove, which seemed like playing a game… These are the reasons why I am currently working on an educational community, but the analogy is the same: it is breaking through, not climbing. Even in October 2015, I did not completely understand what the end product would be like. The entire process of breaking the ice began in November 2015, and then I saw a world that was completely unimaginable before…
创建 Knewone，兑现大量比特币，建立比特币基金，参与多个创业项目，甚至还有第三方 Telegram 客户端 Dove，看起来像是在玩游戏……这就是我目前在教育社区工作的原因，但类比是一样的：它是突破，而不是攀登。即使在 2015 年 10 月，我也没有完全理解最终产品会是什么样子。整个破冰过程始于2015年11月，然后我看到了一个以前完全无法想象的世界……
There is a slight difference between using climbing as an analogy and using breaking through as an analogy. When using climbing as an analogy, we cannot help but believe that “breaking through” is something visible – because the mountaintop is right there. When using breaking through as an analogy, I naturally pay less attention to the visible and understandable target, and confidently understand: I am going to a place that cannot be seen now, but it is definitely a different world.
使用攀登作为类比和使用突破作为类比之间略有不同。当用攀岩作为类比时，我们不禁相信“突破”是可见的——因为山顶就在那里。当用突破作为类比时，我自然会不太关注看得见、可理解的目标，自信地理解：我要去的是一个现在看不见的地方，但绝对是另一个世界。
Analogies influence thinking, and since they can influence thinking, they can also influence action, and actions make up our lives. So, when using analogies, one must be careful. Finding more appropriate and accurate analogies is not just a matter of “just a way of speaking” as many people assume – because the way of speaking is not important at all; what’s important is what the way of speaking or thinking may lead to: actions.
类比影响思维，既然它们可以影响思维，它们也可以影响行动，而行动构成了我们的生活。因此，在使用类比时，必须小心。找到更合适、更准确的类比并不像许多人认为的那样只是“只是一种说话方式”的问题——因为说话方式根本不重要;重要的是说话或思考的方式可能导致什么：行动。
Apart from this, analogies are also often a means of achieving “integrative understanding”. This involves a particularly important learning technique:
除此之外，类比也常常是实现“综合理解”的一种手段。这涉及到一个特别重要的学习技巧：
After learning any concept or theory, you have to ask yourself: where else can this principle be applied?
在学习了任何概念或理论之后，你必须问自己：这个原则还能应用在哪里？
Fundamentally, this is a form of reverse analogy application. With this kind of thinking, the ability to “see through the surface to the essence” arises naturally. The analogy made between “acceleration due to gravity” and “speed of making money” is the result of this kind of thinking mode.
从根本上说，这是一种反向类比应用形式。有了这种思维，“透过表面看透本质”的能力自然而然地产生了。“重力加速度”和“赚钱速度”之间的类比就是这种思维模式的结果。
Originally posted 2024-04-05 12:16:41.