The Strangest Idea in the World
I wrote a book!
我写了一本书！
It’s called The Strangest Idea in the World and you can get it here and looks like this:
它被称为世界上最奇怪的想法，你可以在这里得到它，看起来像这样：
If you’re in the UK, you can get it here and it looks like this 1 :
如果您在英国，您可以在这里获取它，它看起来像这样 1 ：
A few years ago, I got obsessed with a question: why did it take humans 300,000 years to invent the toilet?
A few years ago, I got obsessed with a question: why did it take humans 300,000 years to invent the toilet?
By which I mean, why did it take so long to discover and invent everything that we’ve discovered and invented?
我的意思是，为什么我们花了这么长时间才发现和发明我们发现和发明的一切？
How does low-hanging fruit go unpicked for centuries?
How does low-hanging fruit go unpicked for centuries?
(For example, the first randomized-controlled trial wasn’t run until 1948.
（例如，第一个随机对照试验直到 1948 年才进行。
That idea is younger than my grandparents .) Come to think of it, how does anyone discover anything?
这个想法比我的祖父母还年轻。）想想看，怎么会有人发现任何东西呢？
And why does the data suggest that we’re getting worse at discovering things today—that more time, money, and people go in, but fewer breakthroughs come out?
为什么数据表明我们今天发现事物的能力越来越差——投入了更多的时间、金钱和人力，但取得的突破却越来越少？
What the heck is going on here, and is there anything we can do about it?
What the heck is going on here, and is there anything we can do about it?
I have gone slightly insane trying to answer these questions.
I have gone slightly insane trying to answer these questions.
But I’ve come to think that you must go slightly insane, because the answers are strange.
But I’ve come to think that you must go slightly insane, because the answers are strange.
Humans did not evolve to do science, it’s a miracle that we can at all, and it’s unsurprising that we aren’t better.
Humans did not evolve to do science, it’s a miracle that we can at all, and it’s unsurprising that we aren’t better.
But we can be, if we’re willing to get ~~~weird~~~ .
But we can be, if we’re willing to get ~~~weird~~~ .
In the book, I lay out the five steps that ultimately lead to discovery, why those steps don’t come to us naturally, and how they could.
In the book, I lay out the five steps that ultimately lead to discovery, why those steps don’t come to us naturally, and how they could.
Making breakthroughs requires using the mind to do something it was never meant to do, and if you do it right, it’ll drive you nuts.
要想取得突破，就需要用头脑去做一些原本不该做的事情，如果你做得对，它会让你发疯。
The future depends on us going nuts in just the right way.
The future depends on us going nuts in just the right way.
A book that argues for a weird way of thinking should itself be weird.
A book that argues for a weird way of thinking should itself be weird.
And so it is: The Strangest Idea in the World is, as far as I can tell, the world’s first choose-your-own adventure nonfiction book.
And so it is: The Strangest Idea in the World is, as far as I can tell, the world’s first choose-your-own adventure nonfiction book.
2 There are secret pages, multiple endings, and a bunch of other special features that I won’t spoil.
2 有秘密页面、多个结局和一堆其他特殊功能，我不会剧透。
Here’s a peek inside:
这是里面的一瞥：
(This is a prototype paperback; the real thing will be in hardcover)
(This is a prototype paperback; the real thing will be in hardcover)
There’s another reason why this isn’t just a regular book.
这不仅仅是一本普通的书还有另一个原因。
From the moment I started writing it, I’ve been conscious of a rather inconvenient fact: many nonfiction books should have been blog posts.
From the moment I started writing it, I’ve been conscious of a rather inconvenient fact: many nonfiction books should have been blog posts.
And that’s fine—I love blog posts!
这很好——我喜欢博客文章！
But if someone can get the gist of your book from its intro or an interview, why not just stick it on Substack and save yourself some trees?
But if someone can get the gist of your book from its intro or an interview, why not just stick it on Substack and save yourself some trees?
So I wanted to write a book that had to be a book.
So I wanted to write a book that had to be a book.
I wanted to do things with paper and ink that I can’t do with pixels on a screen.
I wanted to do things with paper and ink that I can’t do with pixels on a screen.
3 We’ll see whether this experiment ultimately works, but I’ve poured my soul into this thing, and I can’t wait to show it to you.
3 We’ll see whether this experiment ultimately works, but I’ve poured my soul into this thing, and I can’t wait to show it to you.
Plus, I’m extremely pleased with how the look of the book turned out.
另外，我对这本书的外观非常满意。
Take a look at some of these pages 4 :
看一下其中一些页面 4 ：
If any of this sounds cool to you, consider preordering it!
If any of this sounds cool to you, consider preordering it!
Preorders are everything in the book world, because booksellers decide what to stock based on what’s already selling.
Preorders are everything in the book world, because booksellers decide what to stock based on what’s already selling.
Plus, all preorders count as first-week sales, and that’s a book’s best shot at making onto the bestseller lists.
Plus, all preorders count as first-week sales, and that’s a book’s best shot at making onto the bestseller lists.
And if this book really pops off, it means I might get to come to a bookstore near you.
And if this book really pops off, it means I might get to come to a bookstore near you.
One last thing.
最后一件事。
If you’ve supported this blog in any way over the past four years—if you’ve subscribed or left a comment or hit that little heart button or forwarded a post to your grandpa—thank you.
如果您在过去四年中以任何方式支持这个博客 - 如果您订阅或发表评论或点击那个小心形按钮或将帖子转发给您的爷爷 - 谢谢您。
Publishing a book like this is a risky proposition, and I only got the chance to do it because you guys took a chance on me.
Publishing a book like this is a risky proposition, and I only got the chance to do it because you guys took a chance on me.
I feel really, really fortunate and grateful.
I feel really, really fortunate and grateful.
That’s why I’ve worked my brain into a little nub trying to write something worth reading.
这就是为什么我绞尽脑汁试图写出一些值得一读的东西。
So if you do preorder the book, hang on to your receipt.
So if you do preorder the book, hang on to your receipt.
If you’re an Experimental History subscriber and you order in advance, I’ve got a few surprises coming for you between now and the publication date, with some extra stuff for paid subscribers in particular.
如果您是《实验历史》订阅者并且提前订购，那么从现在到出版日期，我会为您带来一些惊喜，特别是为付费订阅者提供一些额外的内容。
Stay tuned, and stay strange.
Stay tuned, and stay strange.
A few people have emailed me to ask whether it matters where you preorder from, and it doesn’t!
A few people have emailed me to ask whether it matters where you preorder from, and it doesn’t!
They’re all good, so support your favorite bookseller.
They’re all good, so support your favorite bookseller.
There will also be versions in Dutch, Portuguese, Spanish, German, Hungarian, and Korean, but I don’t have those covers yet.
There will also be versions in Dutch, Portuguese, Spanish, German, Hungarian, and Korean, but I don’t have those covers yet.
Okay technically some of the official Choose-Your-Own-Adventure books cover nonfiction topics (including, uh, the life of Neil Patrick Harris), but I’ll go out on a limb and say we’re working in different genres.
好吧，从技术上讲，一些官方的“选择你自己的冒险”书籍涵盖了非小说类主题（包括，呃，尼尔·帕特里克·哈里斯的生活），但我会冒险说我们正在研究不同的类型。
Some of these features will also show up in the audiobook and the e-book, and some won’t—those formats will have their own twists.
Some of these features will also show up in the audiobook and the e-book, and some won’t—those formats will have their own twists.
Many of these images come from alchemical manuscripts from the 1600s, in particular those by Robert Fludd .
Many of these images come from alchemical manuscripts from the 1600s, in particular those by Robert Fludd .
"Experimental science is one of the most unlikely products of history.
"Experimental science is one of the most unlikely products of history.
Magicians, priests, warriors, and shepherds have swarmed everywhere at will.
Magicians, priests, warriors, and shepherds have swarmed everywhere at will.
But this fauna of experimental man requires, as it seems, a set of conditions more unusual to produce than those that engender the unicorn."
但这种实验人类动物群似乎需要一系列比产生独角兽的条件更不寻常的条件。”
I was looking at a shop of an independent bookseller in Urbino (Italy) recently and marveling at how creative children's books have become -- I wanted to be a child again; or the child in me was rejoicing (pick your favorite sentiment) -- and thought 'why couldn't books be more inventive?
最近，我在意大利乌尔比诺一家独立书店的商店里，惊叹于儿童读物的创意——我想再次成为一个孩子； or the child in me was rejoicing (pick your favorite sentiment) -- and thought 'why couldn't books be more inventive?
Then @Adam Mastroianni goes ahead and actually does it.
Then @Adam Mastroianni goes ahead and actually does it.
My library is awesome (I may recommend it to them, as I'm a frequent borrower), but this could be the time I actually buy a new book even though I'm in the midst of radical retrenching on physical possessions.
我的图书馆很棒（我可能会向他们推荐它，因为我是经常借阅的人），但这可能是我真正购买一本新书的时候，尽管我正在大幅削减物质财产。
I love the idea(s) and applaud the initiative.
I love the idea(s) and applaud the initiative.
Do Italian, please.
请学意大利语。
They still buy and read books in the peninsula, in fact, bookstores are aplenty in every city, many worth visiting...
他们还在半岛买书看书，其实每个城市都有书店，很多值得一去...