Practical Experience is Superiorto Empty Theories

实际经验胜于理论空谈

In ancient China, a general was dying and the king asked him, “After your demise, who would be an appropriate successor to you?” Then, instead of his own son, the general recommended someone else.

以前中国有一位大将军，他临终时，国王问他：“你死了以后，谁能接替你的工作呢？”这位将军没有向国王推荐自己的儿子，而推荐另外一个人。

Surprised, the king asked, “Your son has comprehensively studied military books since childhood. His strategic analyses are very convincing. Wouldn’t he be the most suitable candidate?”

“No! No! That son of mine can only talk big,” said the general. “Although he’s well-versed in military theories, he has absolutely no practical experience on the battlefield. This is why I don’t recommend him.”

国王听了很惊讶，问道：“你的儿子从小熟读兵书，谈起兵法来头头是道，不是他最合适吗？”将军回答：“不、不！我那个儿子只会讲大话，他虽然懂得兵法的理论，但完全没有实际上战场的经验，所以我不推荐他。”

However, when the general died the king didn’t follow his advice. He firmly believed that the general’s son would be superb, given his fluent responses and familiarity with strategic deployments and appointed him general. As a result, the son suffered defeat after defeat, much unlike his invincible father because he had no practical experience in warfare, and relied solely on military books for his knowledge.

后来将军往生以后，国王没有听从他的建议，仍执意认为他的儿子很优秀，对兵法一清二楚，能够对答如流，所以就任用他的儿子为大将。结果这个儿子果真百战百败，不像他的父亲一样百战百胜，因为他完全没有实地上战场的经验，只是光靠念书而已。

Conditions on a battlefield change constantly and can’t be countered by theories learned from books.

Furthermore, geographical settings and climates differ from place to place so how can military theories apply to every battle? The enemy forces are different each time. The morale and physical state of our armies are affected by the climate and terrain at different sites so we can’t always “go by the books” when conducting a battle. The general’s son had never fought alongside his father and had no practical experience of his own so a victory was beyond him.

在战场上，各种情况千变万化，不是光靠死背出来的理论就可以应对，更何况每个地方的地理形势、风水和气候都不一样，如果每次打仗都在那边套用书上的理论，怎么行呢？还有，每次面对的敌方军队也不一样，而且我方军队的士气和身体状况，有时候也会随着各地不同的风土而有所差异，所以不能随便这样依样画葫芦。这位将军的儿子从不曾跟随他的父亲去打仗，没有亲自学习那种实际的经验，所以无法打胜仗。

The same applies to everything else we do. The more we do it, the better our natural responses become, and this gradually develops into a habit.

我们做任何工作也是一样，我们做越多，自然反应的能力会越来越好，然后逐渐训练成一种习惯。