「 來自哈佛大學的所羅門教授，為如何找東西寫了一本書。書名就叫 How to Find Lost Objects，中文可譯為《如何找丟失的東西》。本文為個人翻譯，僅做學習交流之用。」
·Don’t Look for It
先別急著找
·It's Not Lost—You Are
東西真的丟了嗎？還是你迷糊了呢？
·Remember the Three C's
牢記3C原理
·It's Where It's Supposed to Be
東西就在它該在的地方
·Domestic Drift
想想用完放在哪裡了？
·You're Looking Right at It
可能它就在你面前
·The Camouflage Effect
拿走遮擋視線的東西
·Think Back
回想一下放東西的瞬間
·Look Once, Look Well
一個地方只找一次，仔細點
·The Eureka Zone
不在原地，就在附近
·Tail Thyself
場景再現
·It Wasn't You
是不是別人拿走了？
尋物十二法則
By Professor Solomon
01
PRINCIPLE ONE Don't Look for It
Something's lost, and your first thought—your basic instinct—is to look for it. You're ready to start rummaging about. To hunt for it in a random, and increasingly frenetic, fashion. To ransack your own house.
This is the most common mistake people make.
And it can doom their search from the start.
I know you're eager to find that lost item. But not yet. Don't look for it yet.
Wait until you have some idea where to look.
原則一 先別急著找
東西丟了的時候，你的第一反應是立馬去找，然後非常著急地把家裡翻個底朝天。
這是人們最常犯的錯誤，這樣做註定很難找到丟的東西。
我能理解你的心情，但我還是要說：先別急著找。
先等一等，想一想要怎麼找，去哪裡找，有了思路再行動。
02
PRINCIPLE TWO It's Not Lost—You Are
Have you ever stopped to think that maybe it's you that are lost—not those keys or that umbrella?
Because a fundamental truth is this:
There are no missing objects. Only unsystematic searchers.
Accept that—copy it down and tape it to your mirror—and you'll soon be finding things with ease.
原則二 東西真的丟了嗎？還是你迷糊了呢？
你是否想過這樣一個問題：東西其實沒有丟，可能就在原處，只是因為你現在腦子有點混亂，想不起來在哪。
有一個很基本的道理是這樣的：
沒有丟失的東西，只有不會找東西的人。
理解一下這句話，把它抄下來，貼在鏡子上。這樣能幫你輕鬆地找到東西。
03
PRINCIPLE THREE Remember the Three C's
To find a lost object, you must be in the proper frame of mind. And that means paying attention to the Three C's.
They are:
COMFORT
Start by making yourself comfortable in an armchair or sofa. Have a cup of tea, perhaps, or a stick of gum.
CALMNESS
Next, empty your mind of any unsettling thoughts.
Pretend that the sea is lapping at your feet. Or that you're sitting in a garden full of birds and flowers.
CONFIDENCE
Finally, tell yourself you will locate that missing object. (To enhance your confidence, you might want to don a thinking cap. See instructions on how to make one.)
Now you're ready. To begin a systematic search.
原則三 牢記3C原理
要找到丟失的東西，你必須有正確的心態，來了解一下3C原理吧。
3C分別是Comfort(放鬆), Calmness(冷靜), Confidence(自信)
Comfort(放鬆)：
先坐在沙發上喝杯茶放鬆一下，舒緩緊張的神經。
Calmness(冷靜)：
想一些讓你感到愉快的事情，清空你的頭腦中任何不安的想法。
Confidence(自信)：
自我暗示，告訴你自己你會找到那個丟失的東西。
當你按照3C原理準備好時，請按照下面的步驟開始找吧！
04
PRINCIPLE FOUR It's Where It's Supposed to Be
Believe it or not, things are often right where they're supposed to be.
Is there a place where your missing object is normally kept? A particular rack, or shelf, or drawer?
If so, look there first. You may actually have hung up your coat last night. Or put the dictionary back on the shelf. Or returned the tape measure to the tool drawer.
Even if you didn't, someone may have done it for you.
原則四 東西就在它該在的地方
你的書應該就在書架上，衣服就在衣櫃裡。
你的東西應該放在什麼地方，你就去那個地方找。
可能你昨天隨手就放在那裡了，或者你的家人幫你放在那兒了。
05
PRINCIPLE FIVE Domestic Drift
Many objects do have a designated or customary place where they are kept. But the reality is that they aren't always returned there. Instead, they are left wherever last used.
Such objects have undergone Domestic Drift. They could be anywhere in the house, or out in the yard.
Relax. Get comfortable. Pour yourself a cup of coffee.
Now try to remember. Where were you last using that pliers, or tape measure, or fountain pen? Where did you last have it?
Because that's precisely where it still may be.
原則五 想想用完放在哪裡了？
如果還是找不到，想一想你什麼時候用過它？最後一次使用的時候放在了哪裡呢？
他們可能在家裡的任何地方。
不要著急，放鬆一點。
嘗試回憶一下，你最後一次拿著它的時候是在什麼地方？
那正是它可能還在的地方。
06
PRINCIPLE SIX You're Looking Right at It
All right. You checked where it's supposed to be, where it was last used, or where it might have been casually tossed. And it wasn’t there.
Or…was it?
It is possible to look directly at a missing object and not see it. This is due to the agitated state of mind that often accompanies a misplacement. Go back and look again. It may be staring you in the face.
Occasionally, our distress is such that not only do we overlook an object—we forget what we’re looking for! To avoid this, repeatedly murmur the name of the object. (「Potholder, potholder, potholder.」)
But why the agitation? Have we forgotten the second C? Return to your armchair and get calm.
原則六 可能它就在你面前
你檢查了剛剛提到的所有地方，但還是找不到。
這時別忘了有個詞叫做「燈下黑」，可能要找的東西就在你面前，但你心情太緊張所以沒注意到。
為了避免這種情況，我建議你一邊找，一邊小聲念出你要找的東西，不斷提醒自己在找什麼。
切記，一定要放鬆，牢記3C原理：放鬆、冷靜、自信。
07
PRINCIPLE SEVEN The Camouflage Effect
Don't be fooled. Your object may be right where you thought it was—but it has become hidden from view. Be sure to check under anything that could be covering your object, having inadvertently been placed on top of it.
I call this the Camouflage Effect. Among the most common offenders are newspapers and sombreros.
原則七 拿走遮擋視線的東西
你要找的東西是不是被擋住了呢？比如鑰匙可能壓在手套下面，手機可能夾在書裡了。
仔細檢查一下，把遮擋視線的東西拿開。
08
PRINCIPLE EIGHT Think Back
You were there at the scene of the misplacement.
You were there when the object was put down—was left in an obscure location—was consigned to oblivion.
You were there—because you did it!
So you must have a memory—however faint—of where this happened.
Are you prepared to think back, and retrieve that memory?
If so, you may soon be crying out 「Of course!」 and making a beeline to that forgotten place.
原則八 回想一下放東西的瞬間
你是否還能想起你放下東西那一刻？
這件事是你做的，所以你肯定有印象。
放鬆下來，
回想一下，找回記憶了嗎？
如果想起來了，馬上去那個被遺忘的地方找找看吧。
09
PRINCIPLE NINE Look Once, Look Well
Don't go around in circles. Once you've checked a site, don't go back and check again. No matter how promising a site—if the object wasn't there the first time, it won't be there the second.
Assuming, of course, that your first check was thorough.
原則九 一個地方只找一次，仔細點
一旦你檢查了一個地方，不要再回去檢查。
不管你覺得在那個地方找到的可能性有多大，如果第一次找不到，第二次也不會有。
當然，你第一次找的時候必須很仔細、很徹底。
10
PRINCIPLE TEN The Eureka Zone
The majority of lost objects are right where you figure—once you take a moment to stop and figure.
Others, however, are in the immediate vicinity of that place. They have undergone a displacement—a shift in location that, although minor, has served to render them invisible.
Some examples:
A pencil has rolled beneath a typewriter.
A tool has been shoved to the rear of a drawer.
A book on a shelf has gotten lodged behind other books.
A folder has been misfiled, several folders away from where it belongs.
Objects are apt to wander. I have found, though, that they tend to travel no more than eighteen inches from their original location. To the circle described by this eighteen-inch radius I have given a name. I call it the Eureka Zone.
With the aid of a ruler (or a Eureka-Stik—see later), determine the Eureka Zone of your lost object. Then explore it. Meticulously.
原則十 不在原地，就在附近
大多數丟失的東西如果不在原地，就在那個地方附近。
它們可能移動了一點位置，比如說：
鉛筆滾動到了桌子下面，打火機被擠到了抽屜角落。
這些輕微的移動很容易發生。不過，我發現它們的移動距離往往不超過半米。
你可以在丟東西的地方畫一個半徑為0.5米的圓，然後仔細地找。
11
PRINCIPLE ELEVEN Tail Thyself
If you still haven't found your object, it may be time to Recreate the Crime.
Remove your thinking cap and don your detective's cap. For you are about to follow your own trail.
Let's create a typical scenario. You come home from work and find a letter in the mail. Some time later you're ready to read it…but it's missing. You're perturbed and perplexed. Where's that letter?
Okay, start at the door and retrace your steps since returning home. Where in the house did you go?
To what specific locations? Stop at each of them and look for the letter.
Hmm, a coat thrown across a chair. You were here.
(Check under the coat and in its pockets.)
A depression in the sofa. You were here.
On the kitchen counter, a glass. You were here.
On the table by the armchair, candy wrappers and a novel. You were here.
And marking your place in the novel—aha! That missing letter.
Good work, gumshoe.
原則十一 場景再現
如果還沒有找到你的物品，那就試試場景再現吧。
想一想昨天你丟東西的時候都做了什麼事情，一步一步再去做一遍，按照自己的思維習慣推理自己可能做出的行為。
12
PRINCIPLE TWELVE It Wasn't You
When all else has failed, explore the possibility that your object hasn’t been misplaced. Rather, it's been misappropriated.
Perhaps someone you know has borrowed your umbrella. Or eaten your doughnut. Or taken your magazine into another room.
Approach that person and inquire if such might not be the case. (「Have you by any chance seen my…?」 is a tactful way to phrase this.)
原則十二 是不是別人拿走了？
當你按照上面的十一個原則找了一遍，卻還是沒找到。
這時需要想想你的東西是不是被別人拿走了。
也許是你的家人或者朋友拿去用了，或者放在了別處。
找身邊人禮貌地問一下。
One More
One More Principle The following principle is a special one
I call it the THIRTEENTH PRINCIPLE. And I have kept it apart from the others to underscore its use in a certain dire situation only.
The situation is this: You've applied each of the Twelve Principles, and still haven't found your object.
That should rarely happen. But when it does, you have a recourse—the THIRTEENTH PRINCIPLE.
Have you been applying the Principles? If so, you should have found your object by now.
But occasionally, Fate chooses to separate us from one of our possessions. When that seems to be the case, it’s time to call off the search.
Your missing object may eventually turn up. Until then, accept that you are being offered a lesson: in patience…or humility…or nonattachment to the things of this world.
And if not, so what? Lost keys, books, eyeglasses— even elephants!—can be replaced. Such losses areinconvenient and vexing. Yet surely they have their place in the inscrutable economy of the Universe.
You』ve done what you can. So relax, and—with a shrug of resignation—accept the fate of your object.
Qué será, será. What will be, will be.
特殊原則 第十三原則
我把它與其他原則分開，是因為這條原則只在一種情況下使用：
你已經應用了12條原則中的每一條，但是仍然沒有找到你的東西。
這種情況應該很少發生，但當它發生時，你就可以求助於第十三條原則：
有時，命運會讓我們放下一些東西。如果是這樣的話，是時候停止你的尋找了。
你丟失的東西可能還會出現。但在那之前，請保持耐心，接受現實。
你已經努力去尋找過了，所以放鬆下來，接受現在，擁抱未來。