天才是怎樣煉成的 The Geography of Genius by Eric Weiner
What makes a genius? Since at least the 19th century, some have said it is down to genetics, while others have argued that upbringing is decisive. More recently, the idea that genius rests on sheer hard work — the “10,000 hours” thesis popularised by the writer Malcolm Gladwell — has gained currency. The latest contribution to the debate comes from the journalist and travel writer Eric Weiner. In The Geography of Genius, he sets out on an epic journey to establish the primacy of place.
天才是怎樣煉成的？至少從19世紀開始，一些人便稱天才取決於基因，而其他人則認爲後天教養纔是決定性因素。近來，有關天才純粹來自辛勤工作的觀點——作家馬爾科姆格拉德威爾(Malcolm Gladwell)所推廣的“10000小時”理論——開始廣泛流傳。對這場辯論最新的貢獻來自記者兼旅行作家艾瑞克傳納(Eric Weiner)。在《尋找天才》(The Geography of Genius)一書中，他踏上了一段史詩般的旅程，來確定人所處的地方對於天才形成的重要作用。
“We hold dear the notion of the solitary creator, courageously overcoming the odds, vanquishing the confederacy of dunces allied against her,” Weiner writes. But a more accurate description, he says, would be that “certain places, at certain times, produced a bumper crop of brilliant minds and good ideas”.
“我們珍視‘孤獨的創造者’的概念，她勇敢地克服不利因素，戰勝與她對抗的傻瓜聯盟，”魏納寫道。但是，他稱，更準確的形容是“特定的地方，特定的時間，會產生大量天才和傑出思想”。
In his previous book, The Geography of Bliss (2008), Weiner sought to find the world’s happiest country. Now, he focuses on seven cities to uncover the circumstances that turned them into hubs of cultural, political and technological progress. His quest includes some obvious candidates — the ancient Athens of Socrates and Plato, Leonardo da Vinci’s Florence and today’s Silicon Valley. Added to these are Enlightenment Edinburgh and the Vienna of 1900.
在他之前所著的《尋找快樂之國》(The Geography of Bliss)中，魏納試圖尋找世界上最幸福的國家。如今，他重點關注7座城市來發現使之成爲文化、政治和技術進步中心的條件。他所探索的城市包括一些顯而易見的候選者——擁有蘇格拉底(Socrates)和柏拉圖(Plato)的古雅典、達芬奇(Leonardo da Vinci)所在的佛羅倫薩以及今天的硅谷。除此之外還包括啓蒙運動時期的愛丁堡和1900年代的維也納。
Weiner looks beyond the west too. He travels to Hangzhou in China and explores its cultural flourishing during the Song Dynasty. Another chapter takes him to Kolkata, where he focuses on Rabindranath Tagore and the Bengal Renaissance, which lasted from 1840 to 1920. In each city, Weiner speaks with local experts — academics, tour guides, artists — and asks them to précis the elements of their city’s success story.
魏納的視線還越過了西方。他前往中國杭州，探索了這座城市在宋朝時的文化繁榮。在另一篇章中，他前往加爾各答(Kolkata)，重點關注泰戈爾(Rabindranath Tagore)和孟加拉文藝復興（從1840年到1920年）。在上述兩座城市，魏納與當地專家（學者、導遊和藝術家）交流，讓他們概述其城市成功故事的要素。
Places of public debate are one common feature that Weiner identifies. The Greeks had their symposia and the Calcuttans organised addas, gatherings where conversation unfolded in a non-linear fashion. The prime example is the Viennese coffeehouse, described by Stefan Zweig as “a sort of democratic club [that] anyone could join... the price of a cheap cup of coffee.” One of the less convincing arguments Weiner makes is that the food of ancient Greece was so bland that it drove Athenians to channel their creative energy into philosophy at dinner.
魏納發現，這些城市的一個共同特點是擁有公開辯論場所。希臘人有他們的座談會，加爾各答人會組織發散式談話的閒聊會。最典型的例子是維也納人的咖啡館，斯蒂芬茨威格(Stefan Zweig)將之形容爲“任何人都可以加入的一種民主俱樂部……只需要付一杯便宜咖啡的價格。”魏納所提出的不那麼令人信服的觀點之一是，古希臘的食物太乏味，以至於雅典人在晚餐時將創造的熱情投向了哲學。
Yet Weiner finds differences too, especially between eastern and western conceptions of creativity in relation to history. Chinese and Hindu thinkers, he argues, valued old truths and their rediscovery over innovations. This contrasts with the deeply ingrained western emphasis on novelty.
不過，魏納也發現了區別，特別是東西方與歷史有關的創造力概念。他認爲，中國和印度的思想家重視古老的真理以及它們在創新上的再發現。這與西方強調新穎的根深蒂固的觀念形成了對比。
Applying DH Lawrence’s insight that all culture is built on a “deep dung of cash”, Weiner discusses the role of money. Most geniuses throughout history have come from the middle and upper-middle classes — those who “had enough money to pursue their passions, but not so much they lapsed into complacency”. Florentine artists thrived thanks to patrons such as the Medicis. Today’s “Medicis of Silicon Valley” are venture capitalists and angel investors. Genius cannot exist in the abstract, argues Weiner — it needs societal recognition and support.
借用勞倫斯(DH Lawrence)觀點——所有文化都“深深紮在金錢的糞堆裏”，魏納討論了金錢的作用。縱觀歷史長河，多數天才都來自中產階級或中上層階級——他們“擁有足夠的金錢來追求他們的信念，但是又沒有富到可以陷入自滿”。多虧了美第奇家族(Medicis)這類資助者的資助，過去佛羅倫薩的藝術家層出不窮。如今“硅谷的美第奇”正是那些風險資本家和天使投資人。魏納認爲，天才不能存在於抽象之中，而需要社會的認可和支持。
Systems of mentorship are important. In Florence, Weiner explores the workshop of the artist Verrocchio, where Leonardo da Vinci was an apprentice and contributed small figures to his master’s paintings. In Silicon Valley, we learn how Mark Zuckerberg asked the advice of veteran investor Roger McNamee when he ran into trouble in the early days of Facebook.
導師體系也很重要。魏納在佛羅倫薩探索了藝術家韋羅基奧(Verrocchio)的工作室，達芬奇曾是那裏的學徒並且參與了導師的少數繪畫作品。在硅谷，我們知道，馬克丠克伯格(Mark Zuckerberg)在Facebook早期遇到困難時曾請教了老牌投資人羅傑麥克納米(Roger McNamee)。
Weiner is skilled at weaving together reportage and academic research. If some of his discoveries seem obvious, he also delivers the occasional counterintuitive insight and is a likeable companion. “It’s an unusual sensation, one that, like most unusual sensations, I first mistake for indigestion,” he observes at one point. Not all the thoughts in this romp through history convince, but the journey is always stimulating.
魏納擅長於將報告文學和學術研究穿插在一起。如果說他的部分發現看起來是顯而易見的，他還表現出了偶爾違反直覺的洞察力，同時是個討人喜歡的朋友。“這是種不同尋常的感覺，就像多數不同尋常的感覺一樣，我最初把這種感覺錯認爲理解障礙，”他一度觀察道。並非所有他在歷史中徜徉時產生的想法都令人信服，但是這種旅行總是令人興奮的。
