Don＇t Follow the Follower 人生切勿盲跟從
Processionary caterpillars travel in long, undulating lines, one creature behind the other. Jean Hanri Fabre, the French entomologist, once lead a group of these caterpillars onto the rim of a large flowerpot so that the leader of the procession found himself nose to tail with the last caterpillar in the procession, forming a circle without end or beginning.
Through sheer force of habit and, of course, instinct, the ring of caterpillars circled the flowerpot for seven days and seven nights, until they died from exhaustion and starvation. An ample supply of food was close at hand and plainly visible, but it was outside the range of the circle, so the caterpillars continued along the beaten path.
People often behave in a similar way. Habit patterns and ways of thinking become deeply established, and it seems easier and more comforting to follow them than to cope with change, even when that change may represent freedom, achievement, and success.
If someone shouts, “Fire!” it is automatic to blindly follow the crowd, and many thousands have needlessly died because of it. How many stop to ask themselves: Is this really the best way out of here?
So many people “miss the boat” because it's easier and more comforting to follow — to follow without questioning the qualifications of the people just ahead — than to do some independent thinking and checking.
A hard thing for most people to fully understand is that people in such numbers can be so wrong, like the caterpillars going around and around the edge of the flowerpot, with life and food just a short distance away. If most people are living that way, it must be right, they think. But a little checking will reveal that throughout all recorded history the majority of mankind has an unbroken record of being wrong about most things, especially important things. For a time we thought the earth was flat and later we thought the sun, stars, and planets traveled around the Earth.
Both ideas are now considered ridiculous, but at the time they were believed and defended by the vast majority of followers. In the hindsight of history we must have looked like those caterpillars blindly following the follower out of habit rather than stepping out of line to look for the truth.
It's difficult for people to come to the understanding that only a small minority of people ever really get the word about life, about living abundantly and successfully. Success in the important departments of life seldom comes naturally, no more naturally than success at anything — a musical instrument, sports, fly-fishing, tennis, golf, business, marriage, parenthood.
But for some reason most people wait passively for success to come to them — like the caterpillars going around in circles, waiting for sustenance, following nose to tail — living as other people are living in the unspoken, tacit assumption that other people know how to live successfully.
It's a good idea to step out of the line every once in a while and look around to see if the line is going where we want it to go. If it is not, it might be time for a new leader and a new direction.
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列隊爬行的毛蟲通常會一個接着一個地排成長長的隊伍，蜷曲前進。有一次，法國昆蟲家讓-亨利-法布爾把一羣這樣的毛蟲引到了一個大花盆的邊沿上，結果隊伍中領頭的那隻毛蟲追上了在隊伍中排在最後的那隻毛蟲，形成了一個頭尾相接周而復始的圓圈。
純粹出於習慣，當然還有本能，這一圈毛蟲繞着花盆爬行了七天七夜，直到它們精疲力竭、飢餓而死。在不遠處就有顯而易見的充足食物，但由於食物在圓圈的範圍之外，毛蟲們只能沿着固有的路線繼續走下去。
人類也經常會做相似的事情。一旦習慣模式和思維方式根深蒂固，似乎邏輯這種習慣比做出改變更爲容易和舒服，即使這種改變意味着自由和成功。
如果有人大喊：“着火了！” 人們就會不自覺地盲目跟隨人羣移動，無數的人也因此白白送命。有多少人會停下來問問自己：這確實是逃生的最好辦法嗎？
這麼多人錯失良機，是因爲跟隨比獨立思考和驗證更容易，也更令人安心，他們甚至根本不質疑前面的人是否有能力、有資格。
讓大多數人難以完全理解的是，人數如此之衆也會犯下如此之錯，就像明明在不遠處就有食物能讓它們活命，那些毛蟲仍然不停地在花盆邊上繞圈。人們會想，如果大多數人都是以那種方式生活，他們認爲那就一定是正確的。但是，只需稍微查證一下就會發現，在歷史長河中，大部分人對於多數事情都無一例外地判斷錯誤，尤其是那些重要的事情。
人們難以理解的是，其實只有一小部分人真正懂得生活的真諦，懂得如何使人生過得精彩而成功。在生活的重要領域裏，要獲得成功並不容易，絕不會比彈奏樂器、運動、釣魚、打網球、打高爾夫、經商、結婚、爲人父母以及庭院設計等事情來得輕鬆。
然而，人們總是被動地等成功自己找上門來——就像那些毛蟲首尾相連地不斷繞圈，空等食物上門——人們也遵循他人的生活方式，默默認定他人知道如何活得成功。
時不時從常規路線中走出來，往前看一看這是不是我們想要前進的方向，這是一個很好的主意。如果是的話，這想來會是一個好的開始。