The Right Kind of Stubborn
July 2024 Successful people tend to be persistent.
2024 年 7 月 成功的人往往是坚持不懈的。
New ideas often don't work at first, but they're not deterred.
新想法往往一开始行不通，但它们不会被吓倒。
They keep trying and eventually find something that does.
他们不断尝试并最终找到可行的方法。
Mere obstinacy, on the other hand, is a recipe for failure.
另一方面，仅仅固执就会导致失败。
Obstinate people are so annoying.
固执的人真是太烦人了。
They won't listen.
他们不会听。
They beat their heads against a wall and get nowhere.
他们用头撞墙，却一事无成。
But is there any real difference between these two cases?
但这两种情况有什么真正的区别吗？
Are
是
persistent and obstinate people actually behaving differently?
执着和固执的人实际上表现得不同吗？
Or are they doing the same thing, and we just label them later as persistent or obstinate depending on whether they turned out to be right or not?
或者他们在做同样的事情，而我们后来只是根据他们的结果是否正确来给他们贴上持久或顽固的标签？
If that's the only difference then there's nothing to be learned from the distinction.
如果这是唯一的区别，那么就没有什么可以从这种区别中学到的。
Telling someone to be persistent rather than obstinate would just be telling them to be right rather than wrong,
告诉某人要坚持而不是固执，就等于告诉他们是对的而不是错的，
and they already know that.
他们已经知道了。
Whereas if persistence and obstinacy are actually different kinds of behavior, it would be worthwhile to tease them apart.
然而，如果坚持和固执实际上是不同类型的行为，那么就值得将它们区分开来。
[ 1 ] I've talked to a lot of determined people, and it seems to me that they're different kinds of behavior.
[1] 我和很多意志坚定的人交谈过，在我看来，他们的行为是不同的。
I've often walked away from a conversation thinking either "Wow, that guy is determined" or "Damn, that guy is stubborn," and I don't think I'm just talking about
我经常在结束谈话时想：“哇，那家伙意志坚定”或者“该死，那家伙太固执了”，而且我不认为我只是在谈论
whether they seemed right or not.
不管他们看起来对不对。
That's part of it, but not all of it.
这是其中的一部分，但不是全部。
There's something annoying about the obstinate that's not simply due to being mistaken.
固执的人有一些令人恼火的地方，这不仅仅是因为犯了错误。
They won't listen.
他们不会听。
And that's not true of all determined people.
但并非所有有决心的人都是如此。
I can't think of anyone more determined than the Collison brothers, and when you point out a problem to them, they not only listen, but listen with an almost predatory intensity.
我想不出还有谁比科里森兄弟更坚定，当你向他们指出问题时，他们不仅倾听，而且以一种近乎掠夺性的强度倾听。
Is there a hole in the bottom of their boat?
他们的船底有洞吗？
Probably not, but if there is, they want to know about it.
可能没有，但如果有的话，他们想知道。
It's the same with most successful people.
大多数成功人士都是如此。
They're never more engaged than when you disagree with them.
当你不同意他们的意见时，他们会更加投入。
Whereas the obstinate don't want to hear you.
而固执的人不想听你的。
When you point out problems, their eyes glaze over, and their replies sound like ideologues talking about matters of doctrine.
当你指出问题时，他们的目光呆滞，他们的回答听起来就像空想家在谈论教义问题。
[ 2
[ 2