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爱因斯坦似未说 “如果仅有一小时处理某个问题,他会花55分钟定义问题,5分钟解决问题”
陈昌春
中外文文献及网页中普遍存在所谓“爱因斯坦说,如果有1个小时,他会花 55 分钟确定问题,然后 5 分钟解决问题 (I Would Spend 55 Minutes Defining the Problem and then Five Minutes Solving It) 或类似的说法。然而,英文”引语调查者“网站的质疑文章认为,爱因斯坦的直接文献中并无此类表述,而是他人的传说( There is no substantive evidence that Einstein ever made a remark of this type. It is not listed in the comprehensive collection “The Ultimate Quotable Einstein” from Princeton University Press.(2010) https://quoteinvestigator.com/2014/05/22/solve/ )。
”引语调查者“网站的文章指出:“在试图解决问题之前先打好基础的重要性,在一个流行的说法中得到了强调,这通常归功于科学名人阿尔伯特·爱因斯坦。这里有三个版本:1、如果我只有一个小时来拯救世界,我会花55分钟来定义问题,只花5分钟找到解决方案。2、如果我有一个小时来解决一个问题,我会花55分钟思考问题,5分钟思考解决方案。3、如果给我一个小时来拯救地球,我会花59分钟来理解这个问题,用一分钟来解决它。因为有这么多不同的变体,我不太相信这是这位备受赞誉的天才所说的。没有任何实质性证据表明爱因斯坦曾经说过这样的话。它没有被列在普林斯顿大学出版社的综合文集《终极引用爱因斯坦》中。调查者找到的最早相关证据出现在1966年关于制造业的文章集中。不锈钢加工公司的一位名叫威廉·H·马克尔(William H.Markle)的员工写了一篇题为《制造经理的技能》(the Manufacturing Manager's Skills)的文章,其中包含了与正在调查的说法的有力匹配。然而,这句话被归功于耶鲁大学一位不具名的教授,而不是爱因斯坦。此外,该小时分为40分钟和20分钟,而不是55分钟和5分钟。摘录中增加了粗体字:‘几年前,耶鲁大学工业工程系主任说:“如果我只有一个小时来解决一个问题,我会花三分之二的时间来定义问题是什么。”’阿尔伯特·爱因斯坦于1955年去世,到了1973年,这句话的一个版本在位于印度新德里的《发明情报》杂志上发表了一篇文章。有趣的是,这一小时被分成了三部分而不是两部分。没有给出归因的支持数据:‘通常给出的问题是误导性的,您必须通过大量数据来定义真正的问题。通常,这一步骤比导出解决方案花费更多的时间。爱因斯坦说:“如果给我一个小时的时间来做一个我生命所依赖的问题,我会花40分钟研究它,15分钟复习它,5分钟解决它。”1986年,爱因斯坦在国际质量界协会会议录上发表的一篇论文中引用了这句话。这一小时分为两部分。“据报道,爱因斯坦说过”这句话表明作者对这一归属没有太大信心:“据报道,爱因斯坦曾说过,如果他只有一个小时来解决一个问题,他会花55分钟来定义问题,而剩下的5分钟则是常规解决问题。通常给出的问题是误导性的,您必须通过大量数据来定义真正的问题。通常,这一步骤比导出解决方案花费更多的时间。爱因斯坦说:“如果给我一个小时的时间来做一个我生命所依赖的问题,我会花40分钟研究它,15分钟复习它,5分钟解决它。”(陈昌春注:本段借助百度翻译,未作什么润色)
“The Ultimate Quotable Einstein”, 2019年有了中译本《《爱因斯坦语录(终极版)》》https://book.douban.com/subject/30426667/):”这本语录已出过三版,这是第四版,也是编者编集的末版了。该版共收语录约1600条,除原有反映爱因斯坦多彩人生与事业成就的丰富内容、弗里曼·戴森的权威序言和编者所作的出处详注之外,本版新增三大板块:孩子篇,论种族与种族歧视和爱氏韵文小集。
网络上还有书评(https://mp.weixin.qq.com/s?__biz=MzAwNTA5NTYxOA==&mid=2650860737&idx=2&sn=7002d4e7aab41166ff35b79cea2cb610&chksm=80d5a56cb7a22c7a91880d2e8d2be7604e08c204bc008537d4f37fcf75d350e32d1d5c991fdb&scene=27):”爱因斯坦曾说过......等等,你确定他真的说过?“(《爱因斯坦语录》(The Ultimate Quotable Einstein, 2011) 一书的编辑爱丽丝·卡普拉斯(Alice Calaprice)指出:“从爱因斯坦庞大的档案资料中似乎可以挖掘出来无限的语录宝藏。”这不由得令人心惊 。确实,爱因斯坦可能是历史上最常被引述的科学家。据维基语录(Wikiquote)网站显示,关于爱因斯坦的条目比亚里士多德、伽利略、牛顿、达尔文或者霍金还要多,甚至比爱因斯坦同时代的丘吉尔和萧伯纳还多。”但是这么多语录当中实际有多少真的出自这位物理学家之口呢?)
有中文网页称:“爱因斯坦曾经说,如果他有一个小时来拯救世界,他会花55分钟来定义问题,再花5分钟来寻找解决方案。看来有点夸张,不过这正好说明了定义问题的重要性。”(https://cloud.tencent.com/developer/article/2068246 )
下面继续介绍一些外文著作的中文译本的有关文字,至于原著中的外文表述,我不清楚:
《最困难的问题总有最简单的答案》((西)阿兰·珀西著;陈慧瑛译. 2019)称:
附1:https://quoteinvestigator.com/2014/05/22/solve/
Albert Einstein? A Yale Professor? Apocryphal?
附2:https://www.aboutwayfair.com/careers/tech-blog/product-management-defining-the-problem
“If I were given one hour to save the planet, I would spend 59 minutes defining the problem and one minute resolving it.” - Albert Einstein.
附3:https://www.barrypopik.com/index.php/new_york_city/entry/if_i_had_an_hour_to_solve_a_problem
Entry from May 06, 2014
“If I had an hour to solve a problem, I would spend 55 minutes thinking about the problem”
Entry in progress—B.P.
Wikiquote: Talk:Albert Einstein
If I had only one hour to save the world, I would spend fifty-five minutes defining the problem, and only five minutes finding the solution.
. I found LOTS of attributions of this quote including many books, but I couldn’t find any that gave a source. Some references cite the ratio as 59:1. The furthest variation I found was here in another quote database. --WBTtheFROG 14:40, 10 January 2012 (UTC)
. Searching on google books shows it appears in a lot of business books and books on “creativity” but there don’t seem to be any historical or scientific ones among them. Earliest I found was the 1995 book Creative Problem Solving and Opportunity Finding by J. Daniel Cougar, where it appears on p. 178. Hypnosifl 21:57, 10 January 2012 (UTC)
19 March 1995, The Orange County Register (Santa Ana, CA), “Companies: More firms are looking for new ideas,” Business sec., pg. 5, col. 4:
“When Einstein was asked how he would save the world in one hour, he said he’d spend 55 minutes defining the problem and five minutes solving it,” Basadur said.
Google Books
Creativity & Innovation in Information Systems Organizations
By J. Daniel Couger
Danvers: Boyd & Fraser
1996
Pg. 105:
Albert Einstein was even more emphatic about the importance of the definition of the problem. He was once asked: “If you have one hour to save the world, how would you spend that hour?” He replied, “I would spend 55 minutes defining the problem and then five minutes solving it.”
Google Groups: alt.usage.english
The problem is, is…
Stephen Toogood
2/12/02
(...)
It’s a truism that when two philosophers argue for an hour they spend 55 minutes agreeing the definitions and five on the argument. There may be a little of that here.
Google Books
Tip and the Gipper:
When Politics Worked
By Chris Matthews
New York, NY: Simon & Schuster
2013
Pg. 259:
“If I had an hour to solve a problem, I would spend 55 minutes thinking about the problem and five minutes thinking about solutions.” —Albert Einstein
Computer Weekly
Five things I’ve learned about building an innovative technology company
By Kayleigh Bateman on April 23, 2014 12:19 PM
(...)
“If I had an hour to solve a problem I’d spend 55 minutes thinking about the problem and 5 minutes thinking about solutions.” Albert Einstein
附4:https://customerthink.com/cxs-biggest-problem-is-finding-the-right-problem/?ct_subscriber=yes
As Albert Einstein once said, “given one hour to save the world, I would spend 55 minutes defining the problem and 5 minutes finding the solution.” Good advice.
附5:
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