大脑里的一切都存在于网络之中，每个任务都会被拆分成很多子任务，而后经过大脑对流程的自动优化，尽快完成。毫无疑问，大脑肯定是多线程工作的，不然就会被拖死。

Mastery Means Unloading the Burden

Everything in the brain exists within a network. Each task is broken down into many subtasks, and then, through the brain's automatic process optimization, it gets completed as quickly as possible. There's no doubt that the brain works in a multi - threaded way; otherwise, it would be overwhelmed.

可问题在于，注意力更多情况下是单线程的。它常常一次只能注意一个东西，如果有多个需要注意，那么它就得挨个来…… 有时候它也可能同时注意两个甚至三个东西（更多肯定不行了），但，只要其中一个足够突出，其它的就会瞬间沉入背景。

However, the problem is that attention is mostly single - threaded. It can often only focus on one thing at a time. If there are multiple things to pay attention to, it has to deal with them one by one... Sometimes it might be able to focus on two or even three things simultaneously (definitely not more), but as long as one of them stands out enough, the others will instantly fade into the background.

看看 1970 年认知心理学先驱尤里克·奈瑟（Ulric Neisser）的实验就知道了。一群人在舞台上传球，观看者被要求对传球的次数计数…… 在这个过程中有个打扮成大猩猩的人出现在舞台，做了几个夸张的动作，才走下去 —— 结果，所有人都没看到那只大猩猩，因为大家的注意力都被引导到那只传来传去的球上了。

We can understand this by looking at the 1970 experiment by Ulric Neisser, a pioneer in cognitive psychology. A group of people were passing a ball on a stage, and the viewers were asked to count the number of passes... During this process, a person dressed as a gorilla appeared on the stage, made a few exaggerated moves, and then left. As a result, no one saw the gorilla because everyone's attention was directed to the ball being passed around.

当我们习得一个新技能的时候，它可能需要我们完成多个任务，并且多个任务之间还可能需要相互协调。比如，蛙泳，这个对初学者相对最友好的游泳姿势。它需要起码三个动作的协调，上臂的动作，下肢的动作，用嘴巴呼吸的动作。这时候，我们的大脑就会忙不过来，因为关注这个的时候，就顾不上那个，关注那个的时候，又忘了这个……

When we acquire a new skill, it may require us to complete multiple tasks, and these tasks may need to be coordinated with each other. For example, breaststroke, which is relatively friendly to beginners. It requires at least three coordinated movements: the movement of the upper arms, the movement of the lower limbs, and the movement of breathing through the mouth. At this time, our brain can get overwhelmed because when we focus on one, we can't pay attention to the others, and when we focus on those, we forget this one...

我们逐个练，然后再尝试组合其中的两个 —— 这需要很长时间…… 直至熟练之后，再尝试组合所有动作 —— 这还需要很长时间…… 终于能熟练组合这三个动作了之后呢？就能游得很好很快吗？显然并非如此。这时候才发现，还有更多的细节需要注意，每个细节的微调都可能需要很多的时间。

We practice each movement separately, and then try to combine two of them - this takes a long time... Until we're proficient, and then try to combine all the movements - this also takes a long time... After finally being able to skillfully combine these three movements, can we swim well and fast? Obviously not. At this point, we find that there are more details to pay attention to, and fine - tuning each detail may take a lot of time.

幸运的是，这时候我们已经有余力注意那些细节了 —— 但，更准确的说法是，熟悉就是卸载负担。但，熟练不是尽头，因为 精通就是无负担。

Fortunately, at this time, we have the capacity to notice those details - but, more accurately, familiarity means unloading the burden. However, proficiency is not the end, because mastery means having no burden.

当我们对一个流程足够熟悉之后（当然是通过短时间内足量重复），还需要大量的重复（当然还是通过短时间内足量重复）…… 终于，完成这个流程就可以下意识完成甚至无意识完成了，不用再像最初那样，要记住步骤，注意衔接，核实质量…… 于是，我们那几乎只能单线程的注意力就相当于把这一部分负担彻底卸载掉了，同时需要做别的事情的时候，就会感觉轻松自如。

When we're familiar enough with a process (of course, through sufficient repetition in a short time), we still need a large amount of repetition (again, through sufficient repetition in a short time)... Eventually, we can complete this process subconsciously or even unconsciously. We don't need to remember the steps, pay attention to the transitions, and check the quality as we did at the beginning... Thus, our almost single - threaded attention is equivalent to completely unloading this part of the burden. When we need to do other things at the same time, we'll feel relaxed and at ease.

虽然我们的注意力几乎只能单线程工作，可实际上，这世界所有最重要的活动，本质上来看都是多线程的。

Although our attention can almost only work in a single - threaded way, in fact, all the most important activities in the world are multi - threaded in nature.

天下最大的技巧，只有少数人最终能掌握的所谓神技，本质上来看，其实都一样，都只不过是把多线程中的每一个线程都逐步通过大量的重复将其变成下意识甚至无意识即可完成的工作。就好像电脑上的现代操作系统那样，把大量的线程彻底变成后台任务。