海明威的《老人与海》描写了老人的钓鱼策略:
He kept them straighter than anyone did, so that at each level in the darkness of the stream there would be a bait waiting exactly where he wished it to be for any fish that swam there. Others let them drift with the current and sometimes they were at sixty fathoms when the fishermen thought they were at a hundred. But, he thought, I keep them with precision.
Only I have no luck any more. But who knows? Maybe today. Every day is a new day. It is better to be lucky. But I would rather be exact. Then when luck comes you are ready.
乍看起来,这只不过用钓鱼的例子来说“机会留给有准备的人”,但我感觉的不同。何况,老人那么好的准备,也没等来运气。
这儿写了两种态度,它们在做任何事情时都可能出现。一种是游移或犹豫的,也是灵活的;一种是固定的,坚持不懈的。买彩票中奖的,有的是偶然中了;有的似乎是“必然地”中了,因为他一直买同一个号——实际上都是偶然的,而且概率一样大。(总听说有人研究买彩票的攻略,我不知道他们研究什么。)
不过从心理感觉说,两种态度似乎有主动与被动的区别——哪一个更显主动呢?
换一种观点看,让鱼饵在水中飘荡和把鱼饵固定在不同的深度,只是方向不同——换一个坐标系,结果是一样的(当然,我们不考虑鱼儿在浅水和深水区的分布差异)。
其实,老人的高明在于他信奉的是“准确”——不论取什么方向和态度,I would rather be exact. 这当然是最难的。可是,作者不让那么有准备的老人遇到一点儿运气,不仅不太人道,也违背了自然律。