今早讀過Scott Young訂閱專欄的這一篇文章，覺得在我腦子里點亮了幾只燈泡褥影，跟我這陣子的一些思考有共鳴淋叶。那就先分享下原文和我的翻譯吧～

The Art of Unlearning 擯棄舊知的藝術(shù)

“It ain’t what you don't know that gets you into trouble. It’s what you know for sure that just ain’t so.” – Mark Twain

“讓我們陷入困境的不是無知，而是我們所堅信的實為謬誤伪阶。”——馬克 吐溫

Most people think about learning as adding knowledge and skills. When you learn French, you learn that the word, avoir means “to have.” You now have a new fact in your mind that didn’t exist before.?

大部分人覺得學(xué)習(xí)就是增長知識和技能处嫌。你學(xué)法語的時候栅贴，學(xué)了avoir，意思是“得到”熏迹，你腦子里就收獲了一個從沒有過的新概念檐薯。

Adding knowledge like this, I’d like to argue, is actually the less important case. The most useful learning isn’t usually a strict addition of new knowledge, but first unlearning something false or unhelpful.??

但我覺得，這種新知識的增長，它的重要性其實還在其次坛缕。最有用的學(xué)習(xí)往往并不嚴(yán)格局限在增長新知上墓猎，而是要首先擯棄那些錯誤和無益的舊知識。

To see why unlearning might matter more than strictly additive learning, consider that, for any area of your life in which you operate regularly, you must acquire facts and knowledge about that area. You need to understand your work, where you live, the language you speak, culture you exist in, etc..?

要知道為什么擯棄（錯誤的知識）會比純粹地增加新識更緊要赚楚，不妨這樣看：在你日常生活的方方面面毙沾，你肯定已經(jīng)掌握了每個領(lǐng)域里的事實和知識。你需要了解你的工作宠页，你生活的地方左胞，你所用的語言，你所處的文化举户，等等……

This means that, for the parts of your life that matter for you right now or in the past, you already have quite a bit of knowledge. For new knowledge to come in, and not replace or alter anything you know already, that knowledge either needs to be about a detail in your current life that was too insignificant to merit observation earlier, or it has to be about a domain with which you still have relatively little experience.?

這就意味著烤宙，現(xiàn)在或是從前，在對你重要的那部分生活里俭嘁，你已經(jīng)知道得相當(dāng)多了躺枕。增加的新知識如果不是替換或者改變你已有的知識的話，它們要么是有關(guān)你目前生活的某個細節(jié)的供填，而這個細節(jié)無足輕重到從前你都懶得看上一眼拐云；要么就是關(guān)于你目前還接觸得比較少的領(lǐng)域。

That additive learning must pertain to either unfamiliar domains or relatively unimportant aspects of domains you are familiar with may seem a strange fact. Most of what we learn in school is of this type of additive learning. Yet, by this very assertion, much of it must not be very important for our day-to-day lives.?

新增加的知識一定屬于以下兩類：一捕虽、來自你不熟悉的領(lǐng)域慨丐；二、在你熟悉的領(lǐng)域里不是那么重要的事情泄私。這或許看起來也許有點怪房揭。但我們在學(xué)校學(xué)到的絕大部分知識都具有這樣的屬性。而依照這個論斷晌端，我們新學(xué)的知識中一定有很多內(nèi)容對日常生活并不怎么重要捅暴。

When you first need to unlearn or modify what you currently know, that knowledge must involve something you had already learned. This doesn’t guarantee that it is important, however, since most of our knowledge is acquired for living practically in the world, there’s a higher chance something that must be first unlearned is more important.?

如果你要擯棄或修改現(xiàn)有的認知，它首先一定包含了一些你曾經(jīng)學(xué)過的東西咧纠。這并不說明這些已知的內(nèi)容一定有多重要蓬痒，但既然我們掌握的大部分知識都是為了在現(xiàn)世中實用，那我們需要擯棄的這部分舊認知大概率上會（比全新的知識）對我們的生活來得更加重要漆羔。

Types of Unlearning 擯棄（錯誤知識）的方式

There’s different ways you might unlearn something in light of new information. The first is a straightforward refutation of the old idea. If you thought that Abraham Lincoln was the first American president and then read in a book it was actually George Washington, you might, if you believed the book, completely revise your view.

受益于新信息的出現(xiàn)梧奢，不同的擯棄（錯誤舊）知識的方法應(yīng)運而生。第一種是直接駁倒一個錯誤的觀念演痒。如果你原以為林肯是美國的第一任總統(tǒng)亲轨，之后在一本書里讀到，其實喬治華盛頓才是鸟顺，你要是相信書里說的惦蚊，你就會徹底改寫之前的認知器虾。

This complete refutation is atypical. More likely the new knowledge doesn’t contradict the old one, but it may modify it in some way. If I believe my best friend is very trustworthy, but I learn he is cheating on his wife, I may not completely revise my opinion of him, but I may trust him a bit less or trust him less in marital matters.

這種徹底的駁倒并不常見。更多情況下蹦锋，新老認知并不是針尖對麥芒兆沙，前者對后者往往只是某種修改。如果我相信我最好的朋友是個值得信賴的人莉掂，但是他卻背叛了他的配偶葛圃，我不會一下子完全改變我對他的看法，而是會對他減少一些信任或減弱對他在婚姻問題上的信賴巫湘。

Other times new knowledge revises a simpler picture by filling it with more complex details. This is similar to adding new knowledge, although because the older, simpler view of the issue has been overwritten with more detail, there is some unlearning going on. When Albert Einstein discovered special relativity, this overthrew Isaac Newton’s laws of motion. However, this wasn’t a complete refutation, but a modification—Newton’s laws still hold approximately in areas where near light-speed or extreme gravitation aren’t issues.?

其他情況下装悲，新的認知在簡化版的老認知的基礎(chǔ)上加入了更多復(fù)雜的細節(jié)。這類似于之前說的增加新知識尚氛，但因為陳舊诀诊、簡化的老觀念在被重寫時加入了更多的細節(jié)，這個過程里就包含了擯棄舊知識阅嘶。當(dāng)愛因斯坦發(fā)現(xiàn)了狹義相對論属瓣，它就推翻了牛頓的運動定律。但是讯柔，這并不是全盤否定抡蛙，而是修正擴展——在不涉及接近光速或者極端重力的情況下，牛頓的經(jīng)典力學(xué)仍然成立魂迄。

In all of these cases, however, you have to first let go of something you thought you understood to make way for a new understanding. This isn’t always easy to do.

在所有這些情景下粗截，你不得不先放下你以為已經(jīng)懂得的事情，從而給新的認知騰出空間捣炬。但做到這點往往并不容易熊昌。

Difficulties of? Unlearning 擯棄（錯誤知識）的難點??

The first challenge of unlearning is that when something contradicts your current understanding, you are likely to dismiss it. This may be adaptive in a world where many of the things people say or information you encounter are false, or lies constructed to manipulate you. Things that you don’t currently believe are, ceteris paribus, more likely to be false. However, this confirmation bias can make it harder to unlearn when that’s valuable to you.?

擯棄（錯誤知識）的第一個挑戰(zhàn)是，當(dāng)事物與你當(dāng)前的認知相矛盾時湿酸，你很可能會不去理會婿屹。這種做法可能更適用于一個充斥了大量的謬論或者謊言被用來操縱人的世界。你目前不相信的事情推溃，其他條件保持不變昂利，那就更可能是假的。但是你的這種確定性偏見會讓你更加難以擯棄舊知識铁坎，即使擯棄它們確實對你有好處蜂奸。

A deeper problem, I believe, is that human beings tend not to deeply represent doubt and uncertainties in a fine-grained way. That is, the things you believe now, you tend to believe completely, even if provisionally. However, whether those beliefs are near-certain or highly-doubtful, the way they are represented in the brain is much the same.?

我想，更深層次的問題在于人類傾向于不對那些可疑和不確定的事物抽絲剝繭硬萍。你現(xiàn)在相信的事情扩所，你會全然相信，即使它不久后就會變化襟铭。然而，不管事情是接近確鑿或是高度可疑，它們在人腦中的反映都幾乎相同寒砖。

It’s true that a more doubtful belief is more likely to be dismissed than a certain one. If I try to argue that the moon is made of cheese, for instance, I’ll be met with a lot more resistance than if I try to argue something you only believed loosely. However, this revision occurs in an active sense—when one is directly assessing reasons for the belief in question. I believe that, when a belief isn’t being actively considered, it can still inform your thinking in other ways and, that, in those cases the relative certainty of the belief isn’t used.?

確實赐劣，一個比較可疑的觀點會比一個確信的觀點更容易被無視。打個比方哩都，相比起其他沒那么確信的事情魁兼，如果我非說月亮是奶酪做的，我會遇到更大的阻力漠嵌。然而咐汞，這個反應(yīng)是人們在受到這個有爭議的問題的直接挑戰(zhàn)的時候，主動積極地做出的儒鹿。我相信化撕，如果人們沒有主動地考慮過某個觀點，它也會以其他的方式潛入人們的思想约炎，在那樣的情況下植阴，人們對它確不確信就不構(gòu)成（被人接受的）障礙了。

If this view is true, then that means that many of the things we learned aren’t dangerous because they are immune to counterargument, but because they can subtly influence our thinking in adjacent areas when we aren’t being vigilant to how likely they are to be true.?

如果這個觀點成立圾浅，那就意味著我們習(xí)得的很多東西之所以危險掠手，不是因為它們對與其對立的觀點產(chǎn)生了免疫，而是由于在我們對它們真實性不設(shè)防的時候狸捕，它們能對我們腦子里與之相接的想法產(chǎn)生微妙的影響喷鸽。

If this sounds confusing, consider the example I mentioned earlier: a best friend who you discovered was cheating on his spouse. However, suppose you didn’t learn it firsthand, but through a rumor by a third-party. You don’t dismiss the charge outright, but you tentatively accept that there’s some probability that your friend is being unfaithful. If forced to confront this belief directly, through debate or reasoning, you might come to the conclusion that there’s only a minor chance that he is cheating. But, consider instead, if someone asked you, in an unrelated context, of whether your friend ever lies to get what he wants in business. Now, it’s my opinion that this latent, provisional belief that “X cheats on his spouse” may implicitly inform your intuitions about his trustworthiness, even though that belief itself may not be very reliable.?

這聽起來似乎有點亂，那我們來看看我之前舉的那個例子：你那個被發(fā)現(xiàn)背叛了配偶的好朋友灸拍。但是做祝，假設(shè)你不是從當(dāng)事人那兒，而是通過別的渠道傳播的謠言知道這件事的株搔。你不會立馬不把這消息當(dāng)回事兒剖淀，而是會姑且接受他在某種程度上不忠的可能。當(dāng)你被迫去直面這個評判纤房，通過爭論或是說理纵隔，那你得出的結(jié)論可能是，他出軌的可能性非常小炮姨。但試想捌刮，如果有人問了你一個與此無關(guān)的問題：你的朋友有沒有為了得到他在生意上想要的東西撒過謊？此時舒岸，以我的觀點來看绅作，“某某劈了腿”這個暫時潛藏在你心里的評判會潛移默化地影響到你在“他是否值得信賴”這個問題上的直覺，即使這個你所依據(jù)的基礎(chǔ)本身可能并不可靠蛾派。

The intuition I want to present is that beliefs, in our capacity to inform us, tend to be a lot more black-and-white as either believed or completely dismissed, rather than, a more accurate picture where many beliefs tend to have middling likelihood of being true. While we can have more nuanced views when the belief is being debated directly, the dangerous case is when they are being used to infer about other topics, yet their doubtful status is simply being ignored to make that inference.?

我想說我的直覺是：信念是基于我們的能力提供的信息俄认，它們明顯地表現(xiàn)出非黑即白的傾向个少，即要么相信要么全然無視；而不是為我們提供一幅更加精確的信息圖眯杏，揭示了很多說法實際上是真假參半的夜焦。一方面，當(dāng)我們直接對一些觀念展開辯論的時候岂贩，我們可以得到一些更加精微的看法茫经；而另一方面，危險的情況往往出現(xiàn)在萎津，當(dāng)這些觀念被用于推斷別的議題的時候卸伞，它們自身的可疑性就立刻被我們忽視了。

The main challenge of unlearning, therefore, is that most of our false or doubtful assumptions about the areas that impact our lives are never examined. We use these assumptions to operate, but because they aren’t actively reflected upon, studied or challenged, they maintain their full force, even if fairly simple arguments could overturn them.?

因此锉屈，擯棄錯誤的舊知識遇到的主要挑戰(zhàn)就是：大部分對我們的生活產(chǎn)生影響的謬論或是可疑的假設(shè)從未被檢驗過荤傲。我們一直在這些假設(shè)的基礎(chǔ)上行事，但由于它們沒有被積極地反思部念、研究或者挑戰(zhàn)過弃酌，于是歷久彌堅，即使駁倒它們其實是可以相當(dāng)容易的儡炼。

Learning as Stamp Collecting Versus Diving into Strangeness??

兩種學(xué)習(xí)方法：集郵式 vs 沉浸入陌生

I see two main views of learning. The first is like stamp collecting. The person wants to collect more and more knowledge, mostly for the purposes of showing it off to people they want to impress. The knowledge here is largely inert and unimportant for their lives—it’s just a collecting hobby accruing more facts and ideas.?

我發(fā)現(xiàn)有兩種主要的認知方式妓湘。第一種是集郵式的。學(xué)習(xí)者想要獲得越來越多的知識乌询，主要是為了在他們想要引起其注意的人那里炫耀榜贴。這里涉及的是大量無用的、對他們的生活不重要的知識——他們不過是有收集事實和觀念的愛好妹田。

There’s nothing wrong with stamp collecting. Knowing facts and ideas, even if they aren’t particularly useful or central to our lives, isn’t a bad thing. It’s probably a superior hobby to many other pursuits, since knowledge can, at least some of the time, spillover to more practical consequences.?

集郵式的學(xué)習(xí)也無可指責(zé)唬党。知道事實和理念，即使它們對我們的現(xiàn)實生活起不到作用或不處于中心位置鬼佣，知道了也不壞驶拱。它很可能是個比其他很多追求更好的愛好，畢竟知識可以——至少有些時候——轉(zhuǎn)化成更實用的成果晶衷。

The other view of learning, however, is centered around unlearning. This is the view that what we think we know about the world is a veneer of sense-making atop a much deeper strangeness. The things we think we know, we often don’t. The ideas, philosophies and truths that guide our lives may be convenient approximations, but often the more accurate picture is a lot stranger and more interesting.

而另外一種關(guān)于看待學(xué)習(xí)的角度是關(guān)注在擯棄錯誤知識上的蓝纲。這種觀點認為，我們對世界的已知只不過是一層覆蓋在比它更深奧的未知世界之上的看似合理的裝飾板晌纫。那些我們自以為知道的税迷，我們常常并沒真懂。那些指導(dǎo)我們生活的理念锹漱、哲理和真相可能只是些易于理解的近似概念箭养，但其更精深的內(nèi)涵往往更加陌生更加有趣。

Stamp collecting is more popular than diving into strangeness. For one, it is strictly additive. Every new trivia fact, book of the month and water cooler topic gets added to your collection, which you can whip out in conversations and impress people who want to talk about them.?

集郵式的學(xué)習(xí)方式比浸入未知的學(xué)習(xí)方式更受歡迎哥牍。對某些人來說毕泌，學(xué)習(xí)就是嚴(yán)格地做加法喝检。每一項瑣碎的事物、本月所讀的書以及水冷卻器的相關(guān)話題都被納入收藏撼泛，這些能在交談中成為利器蛇耀，讓談?wù)撍鼈兊娜私o其想要接近的聽者留下好印象。

Diving into strangeness, in contrast, involves a cyclical process of first undermining the things you thought you had learned. Facts, ideas and theories, are no longer a comforting collection, but a temporary foothold as you leave them to try to get to something deeper.?

與集郵式相對的坎弯，深入探索事物的未知，包含了一個循環(huán)的過程译暂，這個循環(huán)過程的第一步就是去懷疑你已經(jīng)學(xué)過的知識抠忘。事實、理念和理論不再是讓你滿足的收藏了外永，而是為你提供了一個暫時的立足之地崎脉，讓你以此為起點繼續(xù)往深處探究。

What is Strange? 是什么如此奇異伯顶？

Almost everything is much, much weirder than it looks at first. Science is the clearest example of this. Subatomic particles aren’t billiard balls, but strange, complex-valued wavefunctions. Bodies aren’t vital fluids and animating impulses, but trillions of cells, each more complex than any machine humans have invented. Minds aren’t unified loci of consciousness, but the process of countless synapses firing in incredible patterns.?

幾乎所有的事物都比它們看上去的古怪得多囚灼。科學(xué)是個最明顯的例子祭衩。亞原子粒子不是臺球灶体，而是奇怪的復(fù)波函數(shù)。人體不是維持生命的體液和生物脈沖掐暮，而是數(shù)以萬億的細胞蝎抽，其中的每一個細胞都比任何一臺人類發(fā)明的機器更加復(fù)雜。頭腦不是統(tǒng)一的意識場所路克，而是無數(shù)突觸以難以置信的模式刺激碰撞的一系列過程樟结。

Science confirms the underlying weirdness, but for most people, knowing science is another kind of stamp collecting. Knowing quantum strangeness doesn’t overlap with most areas of practical life, so it can be an additional fact or idea one knows and can bring out in conversations.?

科學(xué)證實了潛藏在其表面之下的奇特性，但對大多數(shù)人而言精算，學(xué)習(xí)科學(xué)就像另一種“集郵”瓢宦。知道了量子奇異性不會與大部分的現(xiàn)實生活有交集，這就能成為一個人“額外”知道的事實或理念灰羽，也可以把它拿來當(dāng)作談資驮履。

More interesting, for me at least, are all the skills and knowledge that we depend on and use everyday that have hidden weirdness beneath them. When you remember something, did it actually happen that way? When you give a reason for your behavior, did reasoning have anything to do with it? When you think that achieving something will make you happy, will it??

我覺得更有意思的是，在所有日常生活中賴以生存和使用的技能和知識的表面下都藏著吊詭的一面谦趣。當(dāng)你記得什么事疲吸，這件事情真的如你所記地那樣發(fā)生過嗎？當(dāng)你對你的行為作出解釋前鹅，推理歸因的結(jié)果真是那樣嗎摘悴？當(dāng)你覺得做成什么事情會讓你幸福，它真的會嗎舰绘？

Just as science has incredible depths of strangeness underneath, everyday life also floats calmly upon a deeper weirdness that first requires unlearning in order to appreciate.

就像科學(xué)有它深藏的奇異性蹂喻，生活也在它安靜浮動的表象下潛藏著光怪陸離的未知葱椭，要想去欣賞它，首先就得忘掉你學(xué)過的東西口四。

Unlearning and Local Maxima 擯棄舊知識與區(qū)域極限

Unlearning is unpleasant for most people. Finding out something you thought you knew was false, or a misleading simplification, feels bad. Since strangeness tends to predominate, and we manage to get by in our lives without worrying about it most of the time, why bother? Why not just collect stamps and leave the bedrock of our intuitions comfortably untouched??

擯棄所學(xué)對大部分人而言是不愉快的孵运。當(dāng)你發(fā)現(xiàn)你原本以為知道的事情是錯的或者過于簡單化而帶有誤導(dǎo)性，你會感覺很糟糕蔓彩。既然奇特性傾向于更強大治笨，而我們大部分時間都好好地不用擔(dān)心它，那為什么要管它呢赤嚼？為什么不就只“集集郵”讓我們直覺的根基舒舒服服地不被觸碰旷赖？

For most people, this aversion to unlearning may not be so bad. Skillful action exceeds skillful knowledge, so, for most people we manage to get by okay even if our articulated theories of the world are out of sync with a deeper reality.

對多數(shù)人來說，對擯棄舊知識的厭惡可能也不是那么強烈更卒。高超的行為技巧超越了精妙的書本知識等孵，因此，即使教化我們的理論與這個世界更深的真相不相符蹂空，我們中的大多數(shù)也都還在現(xiàn)實生活中搞得定俯萌。

The main advantage, I see, of trying to get a deeper picture is that it helps climb out of local maxima. Theories can, to the extent they are accurate, shine a light on potential things we could do, change or experience that are outside what we’ve experienced directly before. Theories help us make predictions about whether those unseen places are good places to be or not.?

我覺得，想辦法看得更深入的主要好處在于上枕，它能幫我們爬出眼前的區(qū)域極限（去到更大的區(qū)域）咐熙。理論，在某種程度上是精確的辨萍，它啟發(fā)我們看到在我們已親身經(jīng)歷過的事情之外我們還有哪些可以做的糖声、可以改變或經(jīng)歷的。

A powerful algorithm for machine learning is gradient descent. It has a complex mathematical formulation involving vector calculus and partial derivatives, but the intuitive picture of what it is doing is quite simple to understand. Imagine yourself standing at the edge of a valley. Your goal is to get to the lowest possible spot you can. However, the terrain is quite complex, and you aren’t sure exactly what it looks like. What should you do?

在機器學(xué)習(xí)里有一種強大的算法叫梯度下降分瘦。它有一個復(fù)雜的數(shù)學(xué)公式蘸泻，涉及到矢量微積分和偏導(dǎo)數(shù)，但這個算法的直觀畫面很容易理解嘲玫。想象下你自己站在一個山谷邊上悦施。你的目標(biāo)是要盡可能地達到你能去的最低點。但是去团，山谷的地形相當(dāng)復(fù)雜抡诞，你不確定它到底是怎樣的。你該怎么辦土陪？

The gradient descent algorithm is simple: go downhill. If you always walk in the direction of steepest decline, you’ll eventually reach a spot where every direction goes uphill again. This must be a low spot in the terrain.?

這個梯度下降的算法很簡單：下山昼汗。如果你總是往最陡的下行方向走，那最終你會到達一個點鬼雀，從這里起所有的方向都開始是上坡顷窒。那這個點就肯定是這個區(qū)域的最低點。

The problem with gradient descent is that you can get stuck in little pockets where, to go further downhill, you must go uphill for awhile at first. 梯度下降帶來的問題在于，你會困在一些小的洼地鞋吉，你在這些地方的時候鸦做，如果想下山，你必須先往上山的方向走一陣子谓着。

This is a computer analogy, but I believe that human learning methods for acquiring many practical skills through experience work in a similar way. We are pushed and pulled by our intuitions to reach a local maxima of “goodness” in how our lives could be. Although we aren’t always at this equilibrium, if our lives are relatively stable, we tend to return to it.?

這是用計算機打的比方泼诱，但我相信人類通過實際經(jīng)驗習(xí)得的很多實操經(jīng)驗的方法跟這個類似。我們被我們的直覺或推或拉以達到我們生活所能達到的“好”的區(qū)域極大值赊锚。雖然我們無法總是處于這種平衡的理想狀態(tài)治筒，但一旦生活相對穩(wěn)定了，我們就會想要回歸理想態(tài)的平衡舷蒲。

The problem with our lives is the same as with computers, however. Many people get “stuck” in local maxima. The person who is addicted to alcohol is in a local maxima. Drinking less causes pain, to make things better, they first have to feel worse.??

而人類遇到的問題竟然也和計算機的一樣矢炼。很多人會被困在區(qū)域極限里。嗜酒者處于某個區(qū)域的極限上阿纤。少喝酒會引發(fā)疼痛，但為了讓他們身體狀況好轉(zhuǎn)一些（即走出眼前的區(qū)域極限夷陋，向更大的區(qū)域極限走）欠拾，他們首先就得少喝酒疼一陣。

Procrastination is a local maxima. Starting work first involves pushing through an unpleasant feeling about the task at hand. However, as anyone who procrastinates often knows, the state of procrastination isn’t particularly good, in an absolute sense. It feels awful, it’s just that any immediate action you anticipate makes you feel a little worse than that, so you stay stuck.

“ 拖延癥”是一個區(qū)域極限骗绕。開始工作時首先要應(yīng)付一種對手中的任務(wù)產(chǎn)生的不良情緒藐窄。而每個拖延的人都知道，拖延的感覺不太好酬土，絕對是這樣荆忍。這感覺糟透了，只是任何即時行動的預(yù)想都會讓你感覺比現(xiàn)在的更糟一些撤缴，所以你就限在里面刹枉，一直拖延。

What’s the connection between unlearning and local maxima? Well one way you can get out of local maxima is if you have some notion of what the terrain is shaped like. If you know, for a fact, that you are sitting in a locally optimal, but globally awful, position, you can push against your intuitions and accept transitional badness in hopes of longer-term goodness.?

擯棄錯誤知識與區(qū)域極限的聯(lián)系在哪里屈呕？一個是如果你對這個地形有些了解微宝，你可以找到超越區(qū)域極限的更大值，如果你知道虎眨，你在區(qū)域內(nèi)最優(yōu)蟋软，但在國際上排不上號，你就能挑戰(zhàn)下你的舒適區(qū)嗽桩，接受過渡性的“壞”岳守，以期獲得長期的“好”。

Knowing what the terrain is shaped like, however, depends on having an accurate picture of the very facts and knowledge that are closest and most fundamental to your life right now. If those facts are wrong, your ability to make guesses about what places further from your immediate vicinity are actually like diminishes rapidly. Depending on how large the local maxima is that surrounds you, it may not be possible to see a better future when one does exist, or there may appear to be one which is actually a mirage.

然而碌冶，知道地形地貌取決于你精確地知道離你當(dāng)下生活最近的最基本的事實和知識湿痢。如果這些事實錯了，你對從離你最近的地方往外走會遇到什么的預(yù)測能力就會迅速減弱扑庞。僅僅根據(jù)你周圍的區(qū)域極大值蒙袍，你也許不能看到一個更好的未來俊卤，盡管它的確真實存在；抑或你會看見害幅，但那不過只是海市蜃樓罷了消恍。

In many ways, unlearning has the same properties of the local maxima problem for your overall life situation. To get a more accurate picture, you have to first sacrifice some certainty in the things you take for granted. This sacrifice involves going against your natural local-optimization inclinations.?

很多時候，擯棄舊知識在你普遍的人生場景里所起的影響和作用與區(qū)域極大值的問題所具有的屬性相同以现。為了得到更精確的認知圖狠怨，你必須先得犧牲掉一些你在習(xí)以為常的事物上形成的理所應(yīng)當(dāng)?shù)拇_定感。這種犧牲有時會與你尋求“區(qū)域最優(yōu)化”的本能傾向背道而馳邑遏。

Strangeness, Randomness and Unlearning 奇異未知佣赖、隨機嘗試和擯棄舊知

So far, I’ve spoken about one method for overcoming the local maxima problem: having a better theory of what unvisited places in the vast space of possible life experiences might be like. This helps spot genuine opportunities for improvement and avoids mirages of hope-inspiring, but ultimately illusory directions to follow.?

以上我講到了一種克服區(qū)域極限帶來的問題的方法：去找一種更好的理論，去看看在生命可能體驗到的遼闊版圖上還未被涉足的領(lǐng)域會是什么樣子记盒。它會有助于發(fā)現(xiàn)改善的真正機會憎蛤，同時為你避開了一些由希望激發(fā)但最終會變?yōu)榕萦暗奶摕o縹緲的方向番捂。

Unlearning fits into this because, unlikely with the stamp collecting of purely additive learning, we all have pre-existing theories of what the terrain of nearby life spaces is already like.?

擯棄舊知識就屬于這個方法召庞，不像集郵式地純粹收集新知識，我們對我們生活的外延是怎樣的已經(jīng)有了一套自己的基礎(chǔ)理論纲熏。

Another method, however, for getting out of local maxima is simply randomness.Programmers often use some amount of random motion in their gradient descent algorithms. This randomness means that their solutions don’t snag on relatively insignificant dips.?

而另一種超越區(qū)域極限的方法就是隨機嘗試碾盟。程序員經(jīng)常在他們的梯度下降的算法里使用一定數(shù)量的隨機測試棚辽。這些隨機測試讓他們的解法不至于落入一些相對無意義的方向。

Human beings can use randomness too to avoid the same problem. Exposing yourself to a larger variety of experiences can pull you out of temporary snags. The main disadvantage of this approach is that randomness can sometimes be destructive. Trying heroin, cheating on your spouse or joining a cult may all offer unique experiences, but their dangers may not be worth the payoff.

人類也可以利用隨機性來避免同樣的問題冰肴。把你自己暴露在更多樣的體驗中就能把你從暫時的困境中拉出來屈藐。這種方法的主要弊端在于它有時候具有破壞性。嘗試海洛因熙尉、背叛你的配偶或是加入某個邪教都能帶給你獨特的體驗联逻，但他們對你的危害會遠遠大于收獲。

Unlearning, to me, proposes a relatively safer way of exploring larger swaths of the terrain of life possibilities. It may create a mental discomfort and instability, as you contend with the fact that many of the things you took for granted before may not be true. However, this is often a lot less dangerous than undirected randomness may have on your life.?

擯棄錯誤的舊知識對我來說是一種相對安全的方式去在更大的人生版圖里體驗更多的可能性检痰。你可能會經(jīng)歷一個情緒不適和不穩(wěn)的過程遣妥，直到你充分接受了一個事實，那就是很多你曾經(jīng)認為理所應(yīng)當(dāng)?shù)氖虑槎加锌赡懿皇钦娴呐氏浮５@也會比毫無引導(dǎo)的隨意冒險對你生命可能造成的殺傷力要弱得多箫踩。

How to Unlearn Things 如何擯棄錯誤的知識

How do you go about unlearning the things you think you know? This isn’t a trivial task. Simply throwing your hands up and admitting you know nothing may be a Zen kind of solution, but it doesn’t really offer a way forward to true knowledge. It simply admits ignorance of any theory for explaining the terrain, rather than trying to come up with more useful ones.?

你要如何擯棄你認為已知的東西呢？這可不是一項瑣碎無意義的工作谭贪。直接雙手投降承認你什么都不懂可能是一種禪修的解決之道境钟，但這實際上不能為靠近真知提供任何出路。這只不過表了個態(tài)俭识，無視所有為解釋此事所產(chǎn)生的理論慨削，但沒有努力去尋找一種更有效的解法。

One way to begin unlearning is to seek additive knowledge in familiar areas and then use that new knowledge to start pulling up and modifying old knowledge. For me, learning about psychology and cognitive science often had this effect: I would start with a particular belief that seemed reasonable about myself, and then digging deeper, I would encounter careful arguments that showed why those beliefs were probably false. From that point of tension, I could start reworking some of my old beliefs.?

擯棄舊知識的方法之一：是在熟悉的領(lǐng)域探尋增補的知識，然后用這新的知識去提升修改舊的知識缚态。對我來說磁椒，學(xué)習(xí)心理學(xué)和認知科學(xué)經(jīng)常有這個效果：從一個我覺得合理的具體的理念開始，逐漸深入玫芦，然后我會遇到嚴(yán)謹(jǐn)?shù)霓q論浆熔，看清為什么這些理念很可能是錯的。從這個拉鋸點開始桥帆，我就能開始動手修改一些我的舊觀念了医增。

This approach can work, but it’s difficult and it requires a lot more patience for theory and academic learning than most people have an appetite for. Another approach is to seek other people’s experiences of the world. Other people may not give you *the* theory for understanding the world, but the more diverse their experiences are from yours, the more likely they are situated in a different position in the space of life possibilities and how their lives differ from your expectations can itself give you information about your own thinking.

這第一種方法可以奏效，但是很難老虫，它要求你在理論和學(xué)術(shù)研究上有比大多數(shù)人更多的耐心叶骨。另一種方法是尋求別人的經(jīng)驗。其他人可能給不了你認識世界的具體理論祈匙，但是他們的經(jīng)歷與你的越不相同忽刽，他們越有可能在生命可能性的空間中處于一個不同的位置。他們的人生經(jīng)歷與你的設(shè)想之間的差別本身會帶給你有關(guān)你自己想法的信息夺欲。

Travel, in this way, can be a potent form of unlearning. For me, the best travel experiences of my life haven’t been going to a place that exceeded my expectations, but going to ones which deeply undermined them. I’ve written about how going to China forced me to radically rethink that place. But talking to people in different places has also shown me how arbitrary many of my own culturally-specific views are of things.?

旅行跪帝，就屬于這第二種，它可以是一種有力的擯棄舊知識的方式洁闰。我人生中最好的旅行體驗不是去了哪個超出我預(yù)期的地方，而是在所到之處深度探索万细。我寫過我的中國之行如何迫使我理智地重新思考那個地方扑眉。但是與世界各地的人交談也讓我看到了自己的文化視角在很多事物上的武斷。

This kind of travel means actually talking to people. Learning languages helps because you’re more likely to encounter people who differ from you more dramatically. The normal process of sightseeing and taking Instagram-worthy photos of famous landmarks is fine, but it’s stamp collecting, not acquiring model-altering insights. 這樣的旅行意味著要實實在在地與人們交談赖钞。學(xué)習(xí)語言對這點有幫助腰素，因為你會更有可能遇到和你截然不同的人。常見的觀光雪营、在Instagram上發(fā)著名景點的照片不錯弓千，但這是“集郵”的方式，不會讓你獲得改變格局的眼界献起。

A third approach to unlearning is to be more varied and bold in your experiments in life.Pure randomness can have a destructive quality to it. However, if you avoid obvious risks, many directions in life can be explored more thoroughly than most people do.?

擯棄舊知識的第三種方法是在你的生活中做出更豐富更大膽的嘗試洋访。純粹的隨意亂來會有破壞性。但如果你規(guī)避掉顯而易見的風(fēng)險谴餐，你就能在很多人生方向上探索得比大部分人徹底姻政。

I think the main drawback of this third approach is that it depends on a kind of self-confidence that itself tends to depend on having had positive experiences venturing outside your safe, little local maxima in the past. Without confidence, people have an instinctive aversion to explore, and so this approach to getting out of life’s local maxima has a feedback component to it. The more successful your unlearning and exploration of life’s possibility space, the more likely you’ll take larger leaps on theory rather than direct experience alone.?

我想這第三種方法的主要障礙在于它得靠一種你之前在一些安全的小范圍之外成功探索而培養(yǎng)出來的自信。缺了自信岂嗓，人們對探索會有本能的厭惡——那么“自信”就是跳出區(qū)域極限的這種方法系統(tǒng)的一個反饋環(huán)節(jié)汁展。（即成功跳出區(qū)域極限后，產(chǎn)生自信，自信反饋回系統(tǒng)食绿，促成再一次跳出區(qū)域極限侈咕。）你在擯棄舊知識和對生命可能性的探索上做得越成功，你就越有可能在理論的層面超越得越遠器紧，而不單單只是直接的生活體驗了耀销。

Being Comfortable with Mystery 適應(yīng)神秘感

A good meta-belief to this whole unlearning endeavor is to be comfortable with the idea that everything you know is provisional, and that underneath what you know is likely a more complex and stranger picture.?

與整個摒棄壞知識的努力匹配的本質(zhì)信念是：你所知道的事物都只是暫時的，而且在你所知的事物表面之下很可能有一個更復(fù)雜奇異的畫面品洛∈饕蹋”。

Human beings seem to be naturally afraid of this groundless view of things. I’m not quite sure why that is. It may be that this kind of epistemic flexibility might start to question societal norms and rules of conduct, and so people who think too much about things may have an amoral character. That’s certainly the perspective of many traditional religious viewpoints on things, which discourages open-ended inquiry in favor of professing allegiance to dogma.?

人類似乎本能地害怕這種不設(shè)底線桥状、缺乏定性的看待事物的理念帽揪。我不太清楚這背后的原因。也許是因為這種認識的靈活性可能會引發(fā)對社會規(guī)范和行為準(zhǔn)則的質(zhì)疑辅斟，再就是转晰，人們認為對事物思考得過多的人可能有人格異常。這當(dāng)然也是傳統(tǒng)的宗教觀念看待很多事物的角度士飒，為了宣稱忠于教條而不鼓勵開放式的詢問查邢。

However, there’s probably a more basic level aversion to groundlessness rooted in a feeling that uncertainty is bad and that certainty is good. Like most aversions, however, I think this is something you can condition yourself to be comfortable with via exposure.?

然而，可能還有一種更本質(zhì)的酵幕、植根于情感的對于這種不設(shè)限不定性的厭惡扰藕，他讓人覺得不確定是壞的，確定是好的芳撒。而就像大多數(shù)厭惡邓深，我想人們是能狗通過暴露在這種情緒中而逐漸適應(yīng)接受它的。

I used to be very afraid of heights. When I was a child, I had a hard time even going near the window if I was in a tall building. Sometime around my late teens, however, I started pushing myself to be exposed to more heights. First roller coasters, then ziplining and paragliding. Last year, I went skydiving for the first time and, although it was scary, I felt a lot less anxious than I used to feel with much less extreme exposures to heights.?

我曾經(jīng)特別恐高笔刹。小時候芥备，如果是在高樓上，我會特別害怕靠近窗戶舌菜。但自從青春末期萌壳，我就迫使自己更多地暴露在很高的環(huán)境中了。先是過山車日月，接著是空中索道袱瓮，還有滑翔傘。去年爱咬，我第一次嘗試了空中跳傘懂讯，雖然還是很害怕，但我當(dāng)時的焦慮感台颠，比起我之前暴露在沒這么高的環(huán)境中所體會到的褐望，要好多了勒庄。

Psychologists have known for some time that progressive exposure can remove many conditioned fears and aversions to things. Sometimes, if the exposure gets paired with a reward, something initially aversive can eventually become desirable as spicy-food eaters and adrenaline junkies can attest to.?

心理學(xué)家們早已發(fā)現(xiàn)，循序漸進地暴露在（厭惡瘫里、恐懼等的）情境中实蔽，會消除很多由環(huán)境條件引起的恐懼和對事物的厭惡。有時谨读，如果在暴露的過程中加入獎勵局装，一些原本讓人厭惡的事物反而會變得讓人有欲求，嗜辣的人和腎上腺素的癮君子劳殖，他們都能證明這點铐尚。

Similarly, I think exposure to the unknown, to unlearning comfortable old beliefs about things, to the deeper mystery of things for which our current knowledge is only a temporary foothold, can be something that can switch from we shy away from to something you enjoy. The thrills of finding a new, more accurate, way of looking at things, start to eclipse the aversion to uprooting a previously stable way of thinking.

類似地，我想哆姻，暴露于未知中宣增，擯棄讓我們舒適但已經(jīng)錯誤過時的信念，擁抱那些以當(dāng)前已知的事物作為暫時踏板的更為深奧未知的事物矛缨，這會是件讓你從回避變成熱愛的事情爹脾。那種從找到一種更新、更準(zhǔn)確的看待事物的方式中獲得的興奮感會逐漸化解掉因為推翻之前穩(wěn)定的思維方式而產(chǎn)生的厭惡箕昭。