好運(yùn)如何“從天而降”？

By Carlin Flora

在這個(gè)世界上，我們總期待自己能走運(yùn)，有時(shí)候我們還會(huì)把希望寄托在某些事物上，比如說(shuō)四葉草，傳說(shuō)能給擁有它的人帶來(lái)好運(yùn)。那么好運(yùn)到底是從天而降、他物所予還是能刻意制造呢？讓我們?cè)谶@篇文章中來(lái)找答案吧。

In 1992， Archie Karas， then a waiter， headed out to1 Las Vegas. By 1995， he had turned $50 into $40 million， in what has become known as the biggest winning streak in gambling history.2 Most of us would call it an instance3 of great luck， or we might say of Archie himself： “What a lucky guy！” The cold-hearted statistician would laugh at our superstious notions， and instead describe a series of chance processes that happened to work out for Karas.4 In the larger landscape where randomness reigns， anything can happen at any given casino.5 Calling its beneficiaries lucky is simply sticking a label on it after the fact.6

To investigate luck is to take on one of the grandest7 of all questions： how can we explain what happens to us， and whether we will be winners， losers or somewhere in the middle at love， work， sports， gambling and life overall？ As it turns out， new findings suggest that luck is not a phenomenon that appears exclusively in hindsight， like a hail storm on your wedding day.8 Nor is it an expression of our desire to see patterns where none exist， like a conviction that your yellow sweater is lucky.9 The concept of luck is not a myth.

Instead， the studies show， luck can be powered by past good or bad luck， personality and， in a meta-twist10， even our own ideas and beliefs about luck itself. Lucky streaks are real， but they are the product of more than just blind fate.11 Our ideas about luck influence the way we behave in risky situations. We really can make our own luck， though we dont like to think of ourselves as lucky—a descriptor that undermines other qualities， like talent and skill.12 Luck can be a force， but its one we interact with， shape and cultivate. Luck helps determine our fate here on Earth， even if you think its ultimate cause divine13.

Luck is perspective and point of view： if a secular man happened to survive because he took a meeting outside his office at the World Trade Center on the morning of 11 September 2001， he might simply acknowledge random chance in life without assigning a deeper meaning.14 A Hindu might conclude he had good karma.15 A Christian might say God was watching out for him so that he could fulfill a special destiny in His service. The mystic could insist he was born under lucky stars， as others are born with green eyes.16

Traditionally， the Chinese think luck is an inner trait， like intelligence or upbeat mood，17 notes Maia Young， a management expert at the University of California， Los Angeles. “My mom always used to tell me， ‘You have a lucky nose， because its particular shape was a lucky one， according to Chinese lore18.” Growing up in the American Midwest， it dawned on Young that the fleeting luck that Americans often talked about19—a luck that seemed to visit the same person at certain times （“I got lucky on that test！”） but not others （“I got caught in traffic before my interview！”）—was not equivalent20 to the unchanging， stable luck her mother saw in her daughter， her nose being an advertisement of its existence within.

“Its something that I have， thats a possession of mine， that can be more relied upon than just dumb luck21，” says Young. The distinction22 stuck with her. You might think someone with a lucky nose wouldnt roll up their sle eves to work hard—why bother？—but heres another cultural difference in perceptions of luck.23 “In Chinese culture，” she says， “hard work can go hand-in-hand with being lucky. The belief system accommodates24 both.”

On the other hand， because Westerners see effort and good fortune as taking up opposite corners of the ring， they are ambivalent about luck.25 They might pray for it and sincerely wish others they care about “Good luck！” but sometimes they just dont want to think of themselves as lucky. Theyd rather be deserving26. The fact that they live in a society that is neither random nor wholly meritocratic makes for an even messier slamdance between “hard work” and “l(fā)uck”.27 Case in point： when a friend gets into a top law or medical school， we might say： “Congratulations！ Youve persevered. You deserve it.” Were she not to get in， we would say： “Acceptance is arbitrary. Everyones qualified these days—its the luck of the draw.”28

1. head out to： 起身去，出發(fā)去。

2. winning streak： 連勝紀(jì)錄，一連串的勝利； gambling： 賭博。

3. instance： 實(shí)例，例證。

4. 鐵石心腸的統(tǒng)計(jì)學(xué)家們會(huì)嘲笑我們的迷信觀念，在他們看來(lái)，這只是發(fā)生在卡拉斯身上的一連串偶然事件。statistician： 統(tǒng)計(jì)學(xué)家；superstious notion： 迷信觀念；chance process： 文中指“偶然事件”；work out： 產(chǎn)生結(jié)果，成功。

5. 縱觀由隨機(jī)性主導(dǎo)的那些場(chǎng)合，任何事情都有可能在任一賭場(chǎng)發(fā)生。landscape： 風(fēng)景，景觀，文中指“場(chǎng)合”；randomness ： 隨機(jī)性，隨機(jī)事件；reign： 支配，主宰；given： 特定的，指定的；casino： 賭場(chǎng)。

6. beneficiary： 受益人；label： 標(biāo)簽。

7. grand： 大的，重要的。

8. 新的調(diào)查研究結(jié)果表明，運(yùn)氣并不像婚禮上突如其來(lái)的冰雹，事后才有所覺(jué)悟。exclusively： 僅僅地，專有地； in hindsight： 事后看，之后的跡象表明；hail storm： 冰雹風(fēng)暴。

9. 運(yùn)氣也不是我們對(duì)于自身愿望的表達(dá)，即去尋求一個(gè)其實(shí)根本不存在的規(guī)則，比如堅(jiān)信你的黃色毛衣能給你帶來(lái)好運(yùn)。conviction： 信念，主張。

10. meta-twist： meta 在希臘語(yǔ)里指“在……之后”，twist指重要轉(zhuǎn)折和機(jī)緣，在這里meta-twist指的是某次重大轉(zhuǎn)折之后。

11. 生活中確有好運(yùn)當(dāng)頭，但是這不僅僅是天命所為。lucky streak： 一連串幸運(yùn)的事，好運(yùn)當(dāng)頭，和前面winning streak可對(duì)應(yīng)；blind fate： 無(wú)法控制的命運(yùn)。

12. 我們的確可以給自己制造好運(yùn)，雖然我們通常不認(rèn)為自己很幸運(yùn)，因?yàn)檫@一說(shuō)法本身就削弱了我們的其他品質(zhì)，如天賦和技能。undermine： 削弱，損害。

13. divine： 天賜的。

14. perspective： 觀點(diǎn)，看法；secular： 俗界的，無(wú)宗教的； assign： 分派，賦予。

15. Hindu： 印度教徒；good karma： 善報(bào)。

16. mystic： 神秘主義者，神秘主義主張從外部世界返回到內(nèi)心，在靜觀、沉思的心理狀態(tài)中與神或者某種最高原則結(jié)合；green eye： 嫉妒。

17. inner trait： 內(nèi)在特征；upbeat： 樂(lè)觀的，快樂(lè)的。

18. lore： 學(xué)問(wèn)，傳說(shuō)。

19. dawn on sb.： 使某人開(kāi)始理解；fleeting： 稍縱即逝的。

20. equivalent： 相等的，相當(dāng)?shù)摹?/p>

21. dumb luck： 偶然的運(yùn)氣，也有作品中譯為狗屎運(yùn)。

22. distinction： 區(qū)別，差別。

23. roll up ones sleeves： 卷起衣袖（大干）；perception： 觀念，看法。

24. accommodate： 容納。

25. 另一方面，因?yàn)槲鞣饺税雅秃眠\(yùn)看成是完全對(duì)立的，所以他們對(duì)運(yùn)氣的心態(tài)是矛盾的。opposite corners of the ring： 競(jìng)技場(chǎng)對(duì)立的兩個(gè)區(qū)，這里指完全對(duì)立的；ambivalent： 矛盾的，搖擺不定的。

26. deserving： 值得的，應(yīng)得的。

27. meritocratic： 賢能統(tǒng)治的；messy： 凌亂的；slamdance：（伴隨搖滾樂(lè)）狂舞，文中引申為“搖擺不定”之意。

28. 如果她未被學(xué)校錄取，我們會(huì)說(shuō)：“決定是否錄取是隨意的，現(xiàn)在每個(gè)人都有資格，這要看運(yùn)氣。”arbitrary： 任意的，隨意的；the luck of the draw： 偶然性，運(yùn)氣。