在任何組織里，個人利益與集體利益這兩種力量哪一種勝出， 取決於該組織的文化，文化又取決於塑造文化的人。但很明顯，集體利益不僅對組織是最好的，對組織里的每個人也是最好的。我將在“工作原則”部分闡述，一起把蛋糕做大的回報大於追求個人利益的回報，這不僅體現在每個人得到的蛋糕的多少，還體現在人類天生追求的讓我們更快樂、更健康的精神回報。
瞭解了人腦迄今為止的進化史之後，我們也許可以通過歷史推測未來，設想未來的人腦進化。顯然，人腦的進化已經從本能、自我關注轉向了更抽象、更普遍的關注。例如，我在前文中描述的人腦進化，已經使我們擁有了從更高的整體層面看待自我和所處環境的能力（有些人的這種能力更強），甚至使一些人具備了更看重所在集體而非自我的能力。
在設想人類思維未來會如何發展時，考慮一下人類自身可能如何改變大腦的執行方式，也是很有意思的。顯然人類已經在利用醫藥和科技這麼做了。基於基因工程的進步，我們可以合理地預測， 在未來，基因工程專家將能搭配組合不同物種的大腦特徵，實現各種目的。例如，假如你想擁有極佳的視力，基因工程專家也許能影響人腦的發育，使之生長出更類似於鳥類的視葉。但因為這樣的事情還比較遙遠，所以我們還是回到現實問題：所有這些對人腦的認識將如何幫助我們更好地對待自身和彼此？
Which of these forces (self-interest or collective interest) wins out in any organization is a function of that organization’s culture, which is a function of the people who shape it. But it’s clear that collective interest is what’s best, not just for the organization but for the individuals who make it up. As I’ll explain in Work Principles, the rewards of working together to make the pie bigger are greater than the rewards of self-interest, not only in terms of how much “pie” one gets but also in the psychic rewards wired into our brains that make us happier and healthier.
Knowing how the brain has evolved thus far, we might extrapolate the past into the future to imagine where it will go. Clearly the evolution of the brain has moved from being nonthinking and self-focused toward being more abstract and more universally focused. For example, the brain evolution that I described has given us (some people more than others) the ability to see ourselves and our circumstances from a higher holistic level and, in some cases, to value the whole that we are part of even more than ourselves.
In imagining what the future of our thinking will be like, it’s also interesting to consider how man himself might change how the brain works. We are certainly doing that with drugs and technology. Given advances in genetic engineering, it’s reasonable to expect that someday genetic engineers might mix and match features of different species’ brains for different purposes – if you want to have a heightened sense of sight, say, genetic engineers might be able to manipulate the human brain so it grows optic lobes more like those of birds. But since such things won’t happen anytime soon, let’s get back to the practical question of how all this can help us better deal with ourselves and each other.
瑞·達利歐官方微信公眾號: raydalio_
《每日原則》為瑞·達利歐(Ray Dalio) 原創，
《原則》團隊翻譯，歡迎分享，轉載請註明出處。