思考与写作paulgraham.com编辑精选
你脑海中最重要的那个念头
The Top Idea in Your Mind
2010 — 2020，它一次次回到首页
黑点是上首页（≥ 50 分）的那次投稿，空心点是没冲上去的投稿，点越大分数越高。
导读
保罗·格雷厄姆的随笔：人脑中总有一个占据"置顶"位置的想法，在你不刻意思考时自动运转，它很大程度上决定了你能做出什么。他特别指出关于金钱和纠纷的念头最该避免，因为它们会长期霸占这块最宝贵的心理资源。
为什么经久不衰：它把"你的注意力在后台被什么占据"这个平时看不见的问题讲透了，十几年后无论做研究、创业还是日常生活都仍然适用。
HN 评论精选
用一个"基态"概念补充原文：无人打扰时你自然滑向的活动，决定了你长期能产出什么。
一个密切相关的想法是，大多数人都有一个"基态"：没有别的事情介入时，自然会滑向的那项活动。对很多人来说基态是购物、和朋友聊天或看电视，这没什么问题。有些人的基态是漫无目的地写代码、写作，或在某个圈子里晃荡，这些也没什么问题，还可能是学习和产生想法的好方式。但对极少数人来说，基态专注得多：我认识一些人的基态是写物理或数学论文，他们一年能完成的东西简直难以置信（注意，很少有职业物理学家或数学家属于这一类）。我没创立也没在创业公司工作过，从外部观察，创始人常常要承担许多不同的任务，我怀疑这让他们很难把某件事变成自己的基态任务。
michael_nielsen查看英文原文
A very closely related idea is that most people have a "ground state": an activity that they naturally gravitate toward when nothing else intervenes. For many people, their ground state is shopping, or talking with friends, or watching tv. Nothing wrong with any of these. For some people, their ground state is aimless coding, or writing, or drifting around some community (e.g., the community of actors, or musicians, etc). Again, nothing wrong with any of these, and they may be a useful way of learning, or having ideas. But for a very small number of people their ground state is much more focused. I've known people whose ground state is writing papers about physics or mathematics. And it's simply unbelievable what such people can get done in a year. (Note, mind you, that very few professional physicists or mathematicians fall into this category.) I haven't founded or worked at a startup. My observation-from-the-outside is that founders often have to take on many different tasks. And I wonder how difficult that must make it for any of them to become a ground state task.
把原文的观点搬到组织层面：大公司员工的"置顶想法"是别人怎么看我，这扼杀了创新。
我怀疑大公司无法创新的一个主要原因，是多数员工心头的"置顶想法"是"老板怎么看我"，紧随其后的是"同事怎么看我"。社会认可是一种强大的驱动力，尤其当它关系到你能否保住饭碗时，只有最自信（或最自欺）的人才能完全无视老板的看法去创新。我怀疑谷歌的部分成功来自管理层放手不管的文化：你的考核主要来自同僚，所以一般不怕主管不认可。但另一方面，你仍然在意同事的认可，忽略一群人比忽略一个人容易些，可依然很难。我认为创业公司还能在创新上压过谷歌，部分原因就是它们全神贯注于产品，而不是被园区里的各种福利、项目和人事分心。同样，创业公司的"抠门"不只是省钱，也是避免分心：当你在想自己的生活多棒时，你就没在想产品。
nostrademons查看英文原文
I suspect that one of the major reasons why big companies are incapable of innovating is that the top idea on most employees minds' is "What is my boss thinking about me?" Followed closely by "What are my coworkers thinking about me?" Social approval is a powerful motivator, particularly when that social approval is essential for your continued livelihood. Only the most self-confident (or delusional ;-)) people can completely ignore their boss's opinion and focus on innovating. I suspect that at least some of Google's success has come from the hands-off culture of its management. You don't generally fear your manager's disapproval, since the bulk of your review comes from your peers. OTOH, you're still thinking about your coworkers' approval, and while it's a bit easier to ignore many people than it is to ignore one person, it's still hard. I suspect that one reason why startups can still out-innovate Google comes from an intense focus on their product, instead of being distracted by all the other perks, projects, and people at the Googleplex. Similarly, scrappiness in a startup isn't just a matter of saving money. It's also a matter of avoiding distraction: when you're thinking about how awesome your life is, you aren't thinking about your product. You want enough perks so that employees don't have to have other things intrude on their consciousness (like where to buy lunch or what will happen to them when their COBRA benefits run out), but not so much that the perks distract from the project.
用自身法律经验印证：官司是最典型的"置顶想法"入侵者，代价是金钱加心智。
这里对诉讼也有个教训：官司会同时耗尽你的金钱和内心平静。有时你没法一味忍让，只能应战；为自己或公司挺身而出本身就是一种美德，有些时候不该一走了之。但除非身处这种境地，否则永远要考虑到：这场纠缠会以文中指出的方式让你付出惨重代价——占据你醒着时的思绪，甚至出现在你的梦里，而且花费大量金钱，通常足以拖垮大多数创业公司。所以遇到诉讼要用最好的判断力，但动手前先算清代价。
grellas查看英文原文
There is a lesson here about lawsuits, which will drain you of both money and peace of mind all at the same time. Sometimes you can't turn the other cheek, much as you would like to do so, and have no choice but to fight. Having the guts to stand up for yourself (or for your company) is in itself a virtue and there are times when it is best not to walk away. Unless you are in such a spot, though, always consider that the engagement will cost you dearly in just the ways pointed out in this fine essay - it will consume your waking thoughts and may even pop up in your dreams (or nightmares) (and it will cost lots of money, enough to sink most startups as a matter of course). Therefore, when it comes to lawsuits, use your best judgment but always count the cost before proceeding.
年轻时体会不到，年长后杂事增多，才明白这条建议的分量。
这篇文章真的越陈越香。我第一次读它时还是个孩子，觉得这些建议毫无意义——我本来所有时间都在想物理问题，还能想别的什么？但随着年纪增长，把注意力保持在好东西上变得越来越难。
knzhou查看英文原文
This essay really gets better with age. When I first read it I was a kid who thought the advice was pointless -- I already spent all my time thinking about physics problems, what else was there to do? But focus on the good stuff got harder with age.
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