SEtalk: The Hidden Gift of a Near Miss

Who do you think is happier: the silver medallist or the bronze?

大家觉得谁更开心：银牌得主，还是铜牌得主？

Most people say silver, which seems perfectly logical.

大多数人会说银牌，这似乎再合理不过了。

Yet in a famous 1995 study, the bronze medallists looked happier!

然而在1995年一项著名的研究中，铜牌得主看起来反而更开心！

Silver means you almost won, and bronze means you nearly got nothing.

银牌意味着差一点就赢了，而铜牌意味着差一点就什么都没有。

I'd argue that a near miss is worth more than it feels.

我认为，“差一点”的价值远比它给人的感觉要大。

Twelve years ago, I applied for my first big research grant.

12年前，我申请了人生中第一笔大型科研经费。

I'd spent eight months on the application, and I felt confident.

我为这份申请花了8个月，当时信心满满。

I missed the cut-off by a single point, and I was crushed.

我只差一分没过线，整个人都崩溃了。

What hurt most wasn't the rejection itself, but how close I'd come.

最让我难受的不是被拒本身，而是我离成功曾那么近。

For a week, I seriously considered leaving science, and I nearly did.

那一周，我认真考虑过离开科研界，而且差点就真的离开了。

Years later, I found a study that made me rethink that week.

多年以后，我发现了一项研究，让我重新审视了那一周。

Researchers at Northwestern looked at young scientists applying for major grants.

Northwestern的研究人员考察了申请大型科研经费的年轻科学家。

They compared those who'd only just missed out

他们把那些以微弱差距落选的人

with those who'd only just made it.

和那些勉强入选的人做了比较。

Understandably, some near misses gave up, and they left science for good.

可以理解的是，一些差一点成功的人放弃了，从此彻底离开了科研界。

But those who stayed went on to publish more highly cited work

但那些留下来的人，后来发表的高被引论文

than the narrow winners did over the next ten years!

在之后的10年里比险胜者还要多！

You might assume the weaker scientists had simply dropped out.

大家可能会以为，只是能力较弱的科学家退出了而已。

The researchers suspected that too,

研究人员也这么怀疑过，

but even when they allowed for it, the gap remained.

但即使把这一点考虑进去，差距依然存在。

What doesn't kill you, it seems, may genuinely make you stronger.

看来，“杀不死你的，终将使你更强大”，也许真是如此。

In 2016, a Princeton professor named Johannes Haushofer did something unusual.

2016年，Princeton一位名叫Johannes Haushofer的教授做了一件不寻常的事。

He published a CV listing every job and award he hadn't got.

他公开了一份简历，列出了所有他没能得到的职位和奖项。

It went viral, and he joked that it outshone all his actual research!

结果它在网上爆红，他还开玩笑说，这比他所有真正的研究都要出名！

Were more of us to share our failures, we'd feel far less alone.

如果有更多人愿意分享自己的失败，我们就不会感到那么孤单了。

We only ever see each other's successes,

我们看到的永远只是彼此的成功，

so we assume our own setbacks are unusual.

所以总以为自己的挫折是不寻常的。

As for me, I rewrote that application, and I sent it again.

至于我，我重写了那份申请，又提交了一次。

A year later, it was funded, and it shaped my entire career!

一年后，它获得了资助，而且影响了我的整个职业生涯！

The more openly I talk about it, the less it stings.

我越是坦然地谈论它，它就越不刺痛。

I now keep my own CV of failures, and it's growing nicely.

现在我也有一份自己的失败简历，而且它正在稳步变长。

Next time you fall just short, resist the urge to hide it.

下次大家差一点就成功时，请忍住想要隐藏它的冲动。

Write it down, share it, and ask what it can teach you.

把它写下来，分享出去，并问问自己能从中学到什么。

A near miss isn't the end of the story.

差一点成功，并不是故事的结局。

Often, it's the beginning of a better one.

它往往是一个更好故事的开始。

Thank you.

谢谢大家。