E05 亨特·汤普森：是随波逐流，还是为目标奋力前行

E05 亨特·汤普森：是随波逐流，还是为目标奋力前行

课程导读

在生命的大海中是随波逐流还是乘风破浪呢？我们该如何找到自己的人生目标呢？20岁的亨特·汤普森虽然年轻，却为友人完美解答了这些疑问。今天让我们跟着老师一起聆听汤普森的建议吧，相信你也一定会对生活多一些新的领悟。

▍背景介绍：

亨特·汤普森（Hunter S. Thompson）美国传奇作家，“刚左”新闻（Gonzo Journalism）的开创者，旗帜鲜明地反对传统新闻报道观念中的客观、中立、真实原则。他早年参加空军，后来成为了一名记者，长期给滚石杂志供稿。汤普森一生中做过很多疯狂的事情，写过很多疯狂的报道，《恐惧与憎恶》就是他写过的系列故事。

英文原文

Hunter S. Thompson

April 22, 1958
Dear Hume,

You ask advice: ah, what a very human and very dangerous thing to do! For to give advice to a man who asks what to do with his life implies something very close to egomania, but I respect your sincerity in asking my advice.

"To be, or not to be: that is the question: Whether 'tis nobler in the mind to suffer the slings and arrows of outrageous fortune, or to take arms against a sea of troubles... "

And indeed, that IS the question: whether to float with the tide, or to swim for a goal.

But why not float if you have no goal? It is unquestionably better to enjoy the floating than to swim in uncertainty. So how does a man find a goal? How can a man be sure he's not after the "big rock candy mountain," the enticing sugar-candy goal that has little taste and no substance?

The answer—and, in a sense, the tragedy of life—is that we seek to understand the goal and not the man. When you were young, let us say that you wanted to be a fireman. I feel reasonably safe in saying that you no longer want to be a fireman. Why? Because your perspective has changed. It's not the fireman who has changed, but you.

Every man is the sum total of his reactions to experience. As your experiences differ and multiply, you become a different man, and hence your perspective changes. This goes on and on. So it would seem foolish, would it not, to adjust our lives to the demands of a goal we see from a different angle every day?

The answer, then, must not deal with goals at all, or not with tangible goals, anyway.

So we do not strive to be firemen, we do not strive to be bankers, nor policemen, nor doctors. WE STRIVE TO BE OURSELVES. A man has to BE something; he has to matter.

As I see it then, the formula runs something like this: a man must choose a path which will let his ABILITIES function at maximum efficiency toward the gratification of his DESIRES.

In short, he has not dedicated his life to reaching a pre-defined goal, but he has rather chosen a way of life he KNOWS he will enjoy.

Let's assume that you think you have a choice of eight paths to follow. And let's assume that you can't see any real purpose in any of the eight. THEN—and here is the essence of all I've said—you MUST FIND A NINTH PATH.
Naturally, it isn't as easy as it sounds.

But a man who procrastinates in his CHOOSING will inevitably have his choice made for him by circumstance—you have no choice but to accept things as they are, or to seriously seek something else. But beware of looking for goals: look for a way of life. Decide how you want to live and then see what you can do to make a living WITHIN that way of life.

And that's it for now. Until I hear from you again, I remain,

Your friend
Hunter