What's the Point? · Ali Abdaal
通过玩《战神》反思效率思维，探讨工作与生活的真正意义。适合练习批判性思维和自我反思。
At the other day, I was reclining on the couch, playing God of War 2018 on the PS5.
前几天，我躺在沙发上，用 PS5 玩《战神 2018》。
I'm a few hours into the game, and I find myself at a crossroads, literally and metaphorically.
我已经玩了这个游戏几个小时了，现在发现自己处在一个十字路口上——无论是字面意义上的十字路口，还是比喻意义上的“选择的关键时刻”。
I could choose to row my boat left and progress the main storyline,
我可以选择让船向左划行，从而推动主线剧情的发展。
or I could choose to row my boat right and do a side quest that seems interesting, but that wouldn't really progress the main story.
或者，我也可以选择划船前往某个特定的地点，去完成一个看起来很有趣的支线任务；不过这个支线任务并不会对主线剧情的发展产生实质性的影响。
I noticed that my default thought process is, we've got to go left because that'll get us moving through the storyline faster.
我注意到自己的默认思维模式是：“我们必须向左走，因为这样能让我们更快地推进故事的发展。
But then I stop and notice that thought.
但随后我停了下来，注意到了那个念头。
I think, hmm, that's interesting.
我觉得，嗯，这挺有意思的。
I'm playing a video game here.
我正在玩一款电子游戏。
Why do I feel the need to play it efficiently?
为什么我觉得有必要高效地完成这件事（或玩游戏）呢？
Why does my first thought go to?
为什么我的第一个念头总是会想到某件事呢？
What's the fastest way to progress the game?
最快通关这款游戏的方法是什么？
And after some thinking, I land on the question.
经过一番思考后，我最终确定了要探讨的问题。
What's actually the point of playing this video game?
玩这款电子游戏的真正意义是什么呢？
And the answer comes pretty quickly.
答案很快就出现了。
Obviously, the point is to simply enjoy the journey of playing it.
显然，关键就在于享受玩游戏的过程本身。
There is no cosmic significance to my playing God of War.
我玩《战神》这款游戏，并没有任何宇宙层面的意义（或者说，这个行为并不具备任何深远的、与宇宙或宏观现象相关的意义）。
It's not an exercise in self -improvement.
这并不是一种自我提升的练习。
The points or levels that I earn in the game have less than zero impact on my life.
我在游戏中获得的分数或等级对我的生活几乎没有任何实际影响（或者说，这些分数或等级对我的生活毫无实际意义）。
It's simply an arbitrary video game that I'm playing at an arbitrary difficulty level, purely for the purposes of passing the time and doing something enjoyable.
这不过是一款普通的电子游戏罢了；我只是以自己选择的难度级别来玩这款游戏，纯粹是为了打发时间、享受游戏的乐趣而已。
So I decide to turn right and take the more scenic route, doing the side quest that has no bearing on the main storyline,
于是我决定向右转，选择一条风景更优美的路线去完成那个与主线剧情无关的支线任务。
but enjoying myself with the attitude of leaning back, relaxing, and enjoying the challenge of this arbitrary video game.
不过，我依然很享受这种放松的心态——既不急于追求结果，也不过分紧张，而是以一种轻松的态度去面对这个“随意设计的”电子游戏所带来的挑战。
The following morning, I'm in the office with the team and I'm working on some designs for our new productivity app.
第二天早上，我和团队一起在办公室里，正在为我们的新生产力应用程序设计一些相关方案。
And I find myself feeling a tad on edge with how little time I've got available to work on it.
由于可用于完成这项工作的时间实在太少了，我感到有些焦虑不安。
I've just got a few hours of deep work before the next meeting, and then it's lunch time,
在下次会议之前，我只有几个小时的时间来进行深入的工作；之后就是午餐时间了。
and then my afternoons packed with the gym, followed by a couple of more meetings with the dev team,
然后我的下午时间都安排在了健身房里；之后我还与开发团队进行了几次会议。
and I find myself approaching these designs with an air of franticness, an air of feeling like I'm running out of time,
当我面对这些设计时，总会感到一种急切、焦虑的情绪，仿佛时间正在一分一秒地流逝……
and therefore I've got to make progress on this quickly.
因此，我必须尽快在这方面取得进展。
But then I remember the feeling when playing God of War, the feeling of trying to do things efficiently.
但随后我想起了玩《战神》时的那种感觉——那种努力高效地完成各种任务的冲动。
So I ask myself that question again.
于是我又问了自己那个问题。
What's actually the point of us building this productivity app?
我们开发这款提高工作效率的应用程序，究竟有什么意义呢？
Sure, if the app does well, it'll mean more money for the business,
当然，如果这款应用表现良好，那么它将为该公司带来更多的收入。
and it would be cool to be building an app that lots of people around the world use,
如果能够开发出一个被全世界许多人使用的应用程序，那就太酷了。
and it helps them manage their time and achieve their goals.
这有助于他们更好地管理时间并实现自己的目标。
But in the grand scheme of things, a few decades from now, if not way sooner, the app will be completely forgotten.
但从长远来看，再过几十年（甚至可能更早），这款应用程序就会被彻底遗忘。
A few more decades from now, me and our entire team will be dead,
再过几十年，我和我们整个团队的人都将去世。
and no one will particularly care about this random app that we spent a few years building on planet Earth.
而且，根本不会有人特别在意这个我们花了几年时间在地球上开发出来的、毫无实用价值的应用程序。
This app that I'm spending all this time and energy working on actually has zero cosmic significance.
这个我花费了大量时间和精力去开发的应用程序，实际上根本没有任何重要的意义（或者说：它在宇宙层面或人类历史进程中没有任何实质性的影响）。
So what's the point?
那么，这一切的意义是什么呢？
Well, I realize that much like a video game, the point is primarily to enjoy the experience of building the thing.
嗯，我意识到，就像玩电子游戏一样，关键在于享受构建某个东西的过程本身所带来的乐趣。
If we build it well, it'll hopefully have a little more impact on our lives than literally spending those hours playing more video games,
如果我们能把它做好，那么它对我们生活的影响，应该会比单纯地花那些时间去玩更多的电子游戏要大一些。