打开爱迪生的正确方式丨5个方法教你战胜不可能
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老桑说
托马斯·爱迪生
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「 朋友，你好，我是老桑。」
很多中国人都会起个英文名，我遇到的许多人都自称Edison（爱迪生）。也许他们是在效仿美国著名发明家托马斯·爱迪生，想要展示爱迪生的创造力和发明创造。虽然Edison作为姓更为常见，但其作为英文名字也越来越受欢迎。
托马斯·爱迪生(1847-1931)最著名的发明是留声机和incandescent（白炽）灯，但他也创造了一种新的发明途径：工业研发实验室。他与团队中的其他科学和技术人员一道，改进了自己发明的留声机，创造了电影，镍铁碱性蓄电池以及许多其他技术。
托马斯·爱迪生国家历史公园——主实验室
托马斯·爱迪生国家历史公园——留声机室
现如今我们把科技研发当作理所当然的事，因为许多公司有着庞大的研发部门和预算。例如，中国在研发上投入数十亿美元，建立了数十个旨在推广人工智能、机器人和大数据等高新技术的产业园和incubator（孵化器）。然而，这种工业化的创新只是最近的发展。
1876年，爱迪生在新泽西州的门洛帕克建立了世界上第一个incorporate（包含）多个科学和技术领域的工业研究设施。后来他于1887年在新泽西州西奥兰治建成了一个更大的实验室，在那里他发明了许多东西，包括用来查看X光片的透视镜、制造化学品的方法以及浇筑混凝土建筑的工艺。
托马斯·爱迪生像
爱迪生的实验室
在爱迪生之前，发明家通常是独立工作的。然而，爱迪生相信利用团队合作带来的指数价值。在他的实验室里，他把基于团队的解决问题和技术相结合。他把自己的实验室称为“发明工厂”。
今天，爱迪生的西奥兰治研发中心已转变为托马斯·爱迪生国家历史公园。为了更多地理解爱迪生和他的发明，我最近来到了这个历史公园，meander（漫步）于建筑物之间，探索美国社会灵感和创新的根源。
托马斯·爱迪生国家历史公园——重工程车间
托马斯·爱迪生国家历史公园——冶金实验室
深入思考之后，我得出了一些如何将爱迪生发明的原则应用到我们自己生活中的方法。
There is no such thing as failure
我从未失败过。我只是刚刚发现了10000种行不通的方法。——托马斯·爱迪生
”爱迪生一生中共获得1093项专利——比迄今为止的任何人都多。然而，这些发明并不是凭空创造出来的。他总是需要尝试很多次才能有最后的成果。接受尝试的过程，相信错误的答案并非失败，坚信那只是找到正确解决方案的必经之路。
例如，爱迪生在发明灯泡的过程中出现过1000次失败的尝试。当一位记者问道:“失败1000次是什么感觉?”爱迪生回答说:“我没有失败一千次。灯泡是一项有1000步的发明。”
爱迪生认为消极的结果和积极的结果一样好。他想知道什么是没用的，从而能够看清什么是最有效的。当犯错误时，他没有批评自己和他的团队，而是简单地说:“我知道这行不通!”对他来说，失败是成功之母，是一次至关重要的学习机会。
这对我们来说是一个教训。我们也许会因失败而气馁，也可以把它看作是迈向成功的一步。可能需要1000次才能找到合适的工作，1000次才能戒烟，1000次才能减肥，或者1000次才能找到目标。当我们在这条道路上，别轻言放弃，我们也可以像爱迪生一样说，“我从这次尝试中学到了一些东西。下一个目标我来了!”
专利赋予了发明者排他性的权利，在一定期限内，发明者通过专利可以阻止他人未经许可使用、制造或销售自己的发明。为了获得这项权利，发明者必须披露有关他们发明的详细信息。如果想要取得专利的资格，该项发明必须是全新而具有实用性价值的。
早期灯泡
Persistence
我和公园里的许多导游都交谈过，询问他们究竟是什么让爱迪生变得那么伟大。他们给出的答案几乎趋于一致：坚持不懈。
爱迪生没有被挑战cow（吓倒），而是一直在努力。他打趣说，成功没有什么魔力。他说:“如果你遇到任何你不明白的东西，不要停下来，直到你能完成它为止。”换句话说，爱迪生认为，如果我们坚持不懈地寻找解决方案，认为不可能的事情就能变为现实。
爱迪生从不休息。他是个工作狂，不知疲倦地工作，直到84岁去世前不久。他每天都像他的员工一样打卡上班，下班后又打卡下班。他喜欢每天工作18个小时。他经常比他的同事工作更长时间。对他来说，任何不做发明的时间都是在浪费时间。
早期照相室
Curiosity
我在之前的文章里写了很多关于坚持的内容，但是我想知道是什么推动着爱迪生的坚持。志愿博物馆导游亚瑟·戈丹(Arthur Gordon)用一个词为我解答了疑惑：curiosity（好奇心）。他说爱迪生对每件事都很好奇，这给了他能量和动力，让他快速从所谓的失败中吸取教训，专注于寻找解决方案。
为了满足好奇心，爱迪生喜欢坐着思考。他说:“不下决心培养思考习惯的人，就失去了人生最大的乐趣。一切进步，一切成功，都源于思考。”
如果你处在一种觉得自己没有取得进步的状态之下，或者你正与挑战作斗争，想要放弃，那就试着表现出一些好奇心。我为什么会这样?是什么导致了这种情况的发生?问这类问题，并思考各种可能性。像爱迪生一样，你可能会有一种需要克服的心态。
发明，你需要好的想象力和一堆垃圾。——爱迪生
托马斯·爱迪生国家历史公园——化学实验室
Your past is not your future
爱迪生是自学成才的，他很小就从公立学校退学了。他的老师说他“笨得什么都学不会”。然后他离开了学校，他的母亲在家里教他。12岁时，他开始在铁路上工作，后来成为一名电报员。
电报员是一份menial（卑微的）工作，就像今天许多低级别的工作一样。他基本上只需要在一定的时间内按下按钮来发送信息。然而，他并不是简单地做他的日常工作，而是对它充满了好奇心。他第一次出名是成为行业中最好的电报员之一。然后，他继续发明更好更快的机器。
我的主要目的是赚到足够的钱来创建更多的发明。——托马斯·爱迪生
”爱迪生故居
Your handicap is an asset
我很惊讶地得知爱迪生是个聋子，不管从什么实际的角度来说。他很年轻的时候就失去了听力，左耳完全失聪，右耳几乎完全失聪。他说话简短，如果你想和他口头交流，就得对着他的右耳大声叫喊。
然而爱迪生并不认为他的耳聋是一种残疾。他也不只是试着忍受痛苦，而是充分地利用它。相反，他认为这是一笔巨大的财富。他得以把世界的喧嚣抛诸脑后，专注于自己的工作。而他的谈话简短扼要，在工作中的讨论也仅限于发明的进展和结果，没有闲聊。他完全接受了自己的失聪。
在中文里，我们说：“家家都有本难念的经“。但爱迪生鼓励我们把“问题”这个词改成“财富”。“残疾对自己能有什么好处?”有人可能会说，如果爱迪生没有残疾，他就不会成为一位多产的发明家。
如果我们能完成好自己能做好的事情，就一定会让自己大吃一惊的.... ——托马斯·爱迪生
”水塔
我的朋友，托马斯·爱迪生有自己的想法、抱负和非凡的勇气。在完成最终产品之前，他进行过数千次实验。彻底、坚持和对细节的关注促使他走向成功。他证明了没有什么是不可能的，这彰显着我们自己的可能性——即我们所有人的无限可能。
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Thomas Edison:
5 ways to unleash YOUR possibilities
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「 Hello, my friend！
I'm John Smagula. 」
Many Chinese choose an English name, and many men I meet have chosen Edison. Perhaps taking after famous American inventor Thomas Edison, they want to project Edison’s creativity and inventiveness. Although more commonly a last name, it is growing in popularity as a first name in English as well.
Thomas Edison (1847-1931) is best known for the phonograph and incandescent lamp, but he also invented a new way to invent: the industrial research and development (R&D) laboratory. With his teams of scientists and technicians, he perfected his phonograph and developed motion pictures, a nickel-iron-alkaline storage battery, and many other technologies.
Thomas Edison
Today, we take R&D for granted, as many companies have large R&D departments and budgets. China, for example, spends billions of dollars on R&D, having established dozens of new high-tech industrial parks and incubators aimed at promoting technologies such as artificial intelligence, robotics, and big data. Yet, such industrialized innovation is a recent development.
In 1876, Edison built the world’s first industrial research facility incorporating several fields of science and technology in Menlo Park, New Jersey. In 1887, he opened a larger lab in West Orange, New Jersey, where he invented many things, including a fluoroscope to view x-ray images, methods for manufacturing chemicals, and a technique for poured concrete buildings.
Building 11 and Courtyard
Before Edison, inventors often operated independently. Edison, however, believed in harnessing the exponential value that comes from teamwork. In his labs, he brought together team-based problem solving and team-based technology. He referred to his laboratories as an “invention factory.”
Today, Edison’s West Orange R&D complex is now the Thomas Edison National Historical Park. To learn more about Edison and his inventions, I recently visited this historical park to meander the buildings and explore the roots of American inspiration and innovation. And by extension, I learned how we can apply some of Edison’s principles to our own lives.
Arthur Gordon
Black Maria
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There is no such thing as failure
I have not failed. I've just found 10,000 ways that won't work. –Thomas Edison
”Edison earned 1,093 patents in his lifetime—more than anyone else to date. Yet he didn’t pull these inventions out of thin air. He tried many times to get it right. He embraced the process, believing that wrong answers were not failures, but simply part of the process of getting to the right solution.
For example, Edison made 1,000 unsuccessful attempts at inventing the light bulb. When a reporter asked, "How did it feel to fail 1,000 times?" Edison replied, "I didn’t fail 1,000 times. The light bulb was an invention with 1,000 steps."
Edison believed that negative results are just as good as positive. He wanted to know what didn’t work in order to know what would work best. When he made a mistake, rather than criticize himself and his team, he simply said, “I learned this didn’t work!” To him, failure was the mother of success, a crucial learning opportunity.
And this is a lesson for us. We can be discouraged by failure, or view it as one step toward success. It may take 1,000 times to find the right job, 1,000 times to quit smoking, 1,000 times to lose weight, or 1,000 times to find your purpose. When on this path, rather than giving up, we can be like Edison and say, “I learned something from this attempt. Next!”
A patent gives inventors the right to exclude others, for a limited period of time, from using, making, or selling their inventions without permission. In exchange for this right, inventors are required to disclose detailed information about their inventions. To qualify for a patent, the invention must be new and useful.
Early Light Bulb
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Persistence
I spoke with many of the guides at the park, asking what they think made Edison great. They each gave variations of the same answer: persistence.
Edison was not cowed by challenges. He just kept putting effort into them. He quipped that there’s nothing magic about success. He said, “If you come across anything you don’t understand, don’t rest until you run it down.” In other words, Edison was saying that what we think is impossible could be made possible if we persevere at finding a solution.
Edison did not rest. He was a workaholic, having worked tirelessly until shortly before his death at 84 years old. He punched in to work every day, just like his employees, and punched out at the end of the day. He enjoyed working 18-hour days. Often, he logged more hours than his colleagues. To him, any time not inventing was a waste of time.
Pattern Shop
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Curiosity
I have written a lot about persistence in my blog, but I wanted to know what fueled Edison’s. Volunteer museum guide Arthur Gordan summed it up for me in one word: curiosity. He said that Edison was curious about everything, and this gave him the energy and drive to whiz through so-called failures and focus on finding solutions.
To engage his curiosity, Edison loved to sit and think. He said, “The man who doesn’t make up his mind to cultivate the habit of thinking misses the greatest pleasure in life. All progress, all success, springs from thinking.”
If you are in a situation and feeling that you are not making progress, or if you are struggling with a challenge and want to give up, try showing some curiosity about it. Why am I like this? What is causing this to happen? Ask these kinds of questions and think about the possibilities. Like Edison, you may achieve a mindset to overcome.
To invent, you need a good imagination and a pile of junk. –Thomas Edison
”Chemistry Laboratory
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Your past is not your future
Edison was self-educated, having been pulled out of public school. His teachers said he was “too stupid to learn anything.” He then left school, and his mother taught him at home. Then, at the age of 12, he went to work on the railroads, and later became a telegraph operator.
A telegraph operator was a menial job, like many low-level jobs of today. He basically just had to press buttons in a certain amount of time to transmit messages. Yet rather than simply do his workaday job, he had a curiosity about it. He first distinguished himself as becoming one of the best telegraphers in the trade. And then, he went on to invent better and faster machines.
My main purpose in life is to make enough money to create ever more inventions. –Thomas Edison
”Thomas and Mina Edison's Grave
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Your handicap is an asset
I was surprised to learn that Edison was deaf, for all practical purposes. He lost his hearing at a young age, becoming totally deaf in his left hear, and almost completely deaf in his right. He kept conversations short, and you had to yell into his right ear if you wanted to communicate anything to him verbally.
Yet Edison did not consider his deafness a disability. He also didn’t just try to suffer through and make the best of it. Rather, he considered it a great asset. He tuned out the noise of the world and focused on his work. He kept conversations short and to the point. His discussions at work were limited to progress and results, with no small talk. He fully embraced his deafness.
In Chinese, we say that “we all have our problems.” Indeed. But Edison encourages us to change the word “problem” to “asset.” How can your handicap benefit you? Some might say that Edison would not have become such a prolific inventor if he had the ability to hear.
If we all did the things we are really capable of doing, we would literally astound ourselves…. –Thomas Edison
”Glenmont - Edison's Home
My friend, Thomas Edison had ideas, ambition, and monumental nerve. He conducted thousands of experiments before arriving at the final product. Thoroughness, persistence, and attention to detail propelled him to success. He proved that the impossible could become possible, which is a testament to our possibilities—all of ours.
{ 今日英文速记卡 }
1.Incandescent
\ ˌin-kən-ˈde-sᵊnt \
a)含义：adj. 辉煌的；炽热的
b)例句：
i.Thomas Edison (1847-1931) is best known for the phonograph and incandescent lamp, but he also invented a new way to invent: the industrial research and development (R&D) laboratory.
托马斯·爱迪生(1847-1931)最著名的发明是留声机和白炽灯，但他也发明了一种新的发明途径：工业研发实验室。
ii.But they also generated the beautiful word "incandescent", or at least put it into common use.
但是它们也创造了这个美丽的词汇“炽热”，或者至少使这个词成为了常用词。
c)近义词： lucent, luminous, shining
2.Incorporate
\ in-ˈkȯr-pə-ˌrāt \
a)含义：v. 包含；合并
b)例句：
i.In 1876, Edison built the world’s first industrial research facility incorporating several fields of science and technology in Menlo Park, New Jersey.
1876年，爱迪生在新泽西州的门洛帕克建立了世界上第一个包含多个科学和技术领域的工业研究设施。
ii.The new car design incorporates all the latest safety features.
新的汽车设计包括了所有最新的安全配备。
c)近义词： absorb, assimilate, integrate
3.Meander
\ mē-ˈan-dər \
a)含义：v. 漫步；闲逛
b)例句：
i.To learn more about Edison and his inventions, I recently visited this historical park to meander the buildings and explore the roots of American inspiration and innovation.
为了更多地理解爱迪生和他的发明，我最近参观了这个历史公园，漫步于建筑物之间，探索美国社会灵感和创新的根源。
ii.They tumble down mountain sides; they meander through flat farmlands.
它们滚滚冲下山脊，蜿蜒穿过平坦的农田。
c)近义词： roam, traipse, wander
4.Cow \ ˈkau̇ \
a)含义：v. 威胁；吓倒
b)例句：
i.Edison was not cowed by challenges.
爱迪生没有被挑战吓倒。
ii.She was easily cowed by people in authority.
她很容易被有权势的人吓住。
c)近义词： browbeat, intimidate, strong-arm
5.Menial \ ˈmē-nē-əl \
a)含义：adj. 卑贱的
b)例句：
i.A telegraph operator was a menial job, like many low-level jobs of today.
电报员是一份卑贱的工作，就像今天许多低级别的工作一样。
ii.They run in the rain, and they smile through the most menial tasks.
他们可在暴雨中奔跑，也能微笑面对最卑微的工作。
c)近义词： abject, base, humble
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