One night in the early part of this century, a dozen guests sat around the dinner table after a weekend hunting trip in Scotland to discuss some famous unsolved crimes. One of the guests, Dr. Joseph Bell, shocked everyone by talking about his deductive detective skills. The famous surgeon's magical reasoning influenced writers Conan Doyle, Robert Louis Stevenson, and dramatist James Barry.
“Most people can look, but not observe,” he said. “In fact, with just a glance, you can tell a person’s nationality from his face, his industry from his hands; All this could be seen in his walk, his mannerisms, the ornaments on his watch chain, and the threads stuck to his clothes.
A patient came into the room where I was teaching some medical students. Gentlemen, I said: "This gentleman served in the Scottish Highland Army, probably as a band member. "I pointed out that he walked with a swagger, like a bagpiper in the Scottish Highland Army; he was short in stature. If he had been in the army, he was probably a band member. But he insisted that he was a shoemaker and had never joined the army.
"I asked him to take off his shirt and saw a small blue 'D' branded into his skin. During the Crimean War, deserters were routinely branded with this mark. He finally admitted to having been a band member in the Highland Forces. Very simple. "
One person heard this and said: "Dr. Bell can almost do Sherlock Holmes. Dr. Bell immediately shouted: "Dear sir, I am Sherlock Holmes." ”
Conan Doyle admitted in his autobiography that he did get inspiration from Dr. Bell to write the immortal detective in the novel.
Holmes’ rules of deduction and analysis This is what Dr. Bell often talks about in real life. "I always teach students to pay attention to the importance of observing people's subtleties. There is infinite meaning in trivial things," Dr. Bell once told a news reporter, "No matter what. Doing any kind of handicraft will almost always leave marks on your hands. The scars on a miner's hands are different from those of a stonemason. The calluses on a carpenter's hands are different from those on a plasterer's hands. The way a soldier walks is different from that of a sailor. Especially for women, observant doctors can often accurately guess which part of her body is sick. "Dr. Bell believed that both doctors and detectives must develop the power of observation, and said that anyone who developed this ability could make life rich and interesting. After his death, his sister Mrs. Steeds recalled: "The family went out on the train. When traveling, he would tell us where the other passengers in the car came from, where they went, and their occupations and habits. He knew everything without having to talk to them. Later he confirmed that his observation was correct and we all thought he was a magician. "
One afternoon, Dr. Bell was working in the Royal Hospital, and suddenly there was a knock on the door. "Come in," he said, and a man came in. Dr. Bell stared at him. "Why are you troubled? "
"How do you know I'm troubled? ”
“When you knock on the door, knock four times. For ordinary people, two knocks are enough, maybe three at most. "
That man is indeed troubled.
Doyle once told a visitor: "Dr. Bell sits in his reception room and likes to speak before the patient speaks. A diagnosis. Tell them about their illnesses and even details about their past lives. Almost perfect. "
Dr. Bell proves to his students every day that observation is not magic, but science. In the Royal Hospital, a man walked in. When he saw it, he said: "He is a shoemaker." ” He later explained to his students: “His trousers were worn on the inside of the knees, a characteristic unique to shoemakers. That's where they kept their shoe anvils. "
When Doyle was young, he was Dr. Bell's student assistant. Once, a patient came in. Dr. Bell asked: "You came from South City today and walked across the golf course. You were very happy. Bar? The patient said, "Hey, have you seen me?" Dr. Bell didn't see him, but explained, "It rained heavily today, so the red mud from the golf course stuck to his boots." There is no such soil anywhere else. "
Doyle once mentioned an example of Dr. Bell's meticulous observation in his autobiography.
The doctor looked at an outpatient patient silently for a while and said: "You used to serve in the Army, attached to the Scottish Highland Force, and retired not long ago."
"Yes."
"Is it a non-commissioned officer, stationed in Barbados?"
"Yes."
Doctor Bell turned to his students and said: "Look Come on, he is a polite man, but he does not take off his hat. If he has been retired for a long time, he should have learned the habits of civilians. As for his appearance, he is obviously Scottish. , he suffered from elephantiasis, which proved that he was stationed in the West Indies." Several years later, Doyle was still very impressed by this incident, and he retell it in detail in Sherlock Holmes's detective novel "The Greek Translation".
Doyle graduated from the University of Edinburgh in 1881. Hang up an eye doctor sign. In the blink of an eye, six years later, there is still no place to go. Eager to increase his income, he switched to writing. He didn't quite get the law at first, but later he was influenced by the French novelists Gabrielle and Edgar Allan Poe and decided to try writing detective novels. He wanted to write a detective who did not fall behind the stereotypes of his predecessors.
“I thought of my teacher Bell,” Doyle recalled in his autobiography. “If he had become a detective, he would have transformed this interesting and unorganized profession into something close to a rigorous science. . The more I thought about it, the more interested I was. What should I name this character?" He thought of the British cricketer and another famous American writer, both named Sherlock Holmes. Named Sherlock Holmes. The first Sherlock Holmes novel, "Pedon's Christmas Almanac," was published in 1887 and did not create an immediate sensation. But it attracted the attention of an American editor, who ordered more Sherlock Holmes novels from him two years later. Since then, the detective has become a literary immortal.
Doyle’s writing style is vivid, and every Sherlock Holmes novel has aroused discussions among countless enthusiastic readers in Europe and the United States. In "The Legend of the Architect of Nou", a nearly crazy young man broke into Holmes's Baker Street apartment and claimed that his name was John Macfarlane. Holmes lazily replied: "You announce your name like this, as if I should have been admiring your name for a long time, but in fact I know very little about you. I only know that you are not married yet, that you are a lawyer, a member of a mutual aid association, and that you have asthma."
Dr. Bell is not always right. of. But he has a sense of humor. Whenever visitors asked him to tell stories about his interpretations, his favorite was the story of his visit to a bedridden patient. "Aren't you a military band member?" Dr. Bell leaned over and asked the patient. "Yes," said the patient. Dr. Bell turned to the students with great dignity and said: "Everyone, you can see it, it's very simple. The paralysis of the muscles on his face is caused by excessive playing of wind instruments. Just ask him to confirm. What instrument do you play?"
The patient propped up his body on his elbows and said: "Doctor, I play the drum!"
Arthur Conan Doyle, an outstanding British detective novelist and playwright, is known as The "Father of Detective Fiction" in England. He was born in Edinburgh, Scotland on May 22, 1859. He was the third child and had two sisters. He has been fond of literature since he was a child. He was able to read English and French literary works at the age of 14. He performed well in poetry creation and edited the school magazine in middle school. In 1882 (23 years old), he graduated from the University of Edinburgh Medical School and began practicing medicine; in 1885, he obtained a doctorate in medicine from the same school.
While practicing medicine in South West, Conan Doyle continued to contribute articles to Cornhill magazine. In order to make the lectures lively and interesting, Joseph Bell, a surgeon at the University Hospital of Edinburgh, encouraged students to make the necessary judgments on patients by making precise observations and logical reasoning, just like a left-handed shoe repairman or a sergeant retired from the Highland Corps. Conan Doyle was greatly inspired and formed a story in his mind: a detective with a highly scientific mind encountered a murder case, and the perpetrator disguised himself as a coachman... This story was the draft of "A Study in Scarlet". After careful consideration, the detective was named Sherlock Holmes.
"The Complete Works of Sherlock Holmes"*** has four novels and 56 short stories: the first novel "A Study in Scarlet" was completed in 1886, and the following year it was collected with other works and published in "Beaton Christmas" annual".
As a novelist, Conan Doyle recognized that his hero must have a foil. In this way, "A Study in Scarlet" is described in the form of Dr. Watson's memories, laying the groundwork for many sided comments in the future.
After the editor of "Lippincott's Magazine" saw this novel, he invited Conan Doyle to continue writing a detective story about Sherlock Holmes. The "Four Signatures" published in 1890 objectively reflected the colonial plunder of India and achieved great success. Gradually, Sherlock Holmes immediately became a famous figure in British literature. Conan Doyle wrote six short stories in a row: "The Secret History of Wave Palace", "The Red-Haired Society", "The Case of Identity", "The Mystery of Boscombe Valley", "The Five Orange Cores" and "The Crooked Story". Lip Man", these stories aroused great interest and had a profound impact. Shore Magazine asked Conan Doyle to write more stories like this for them. So Conan Doyle began writing the second batch of stories. The second batch of six articles, together with the first batch, was compiled into "History of Adventures" in 1892. At the same time, "Seaside Magazine" also invited Conan Doyle to write articles. In 1892, 12 stories headed by "The Silver Horse" were published one after another, and in 1894 they were compiled into "Memoirs" and published.
At this time, Conan Doyle was determined to stop writing such stories, so in "The Final Case", Holmes fell into the abyss and died. This move caused an uproar among readers. More than 20,000 people canceled their subscriptions to The Strand Magazine, which serialized stories. Even his mother protested.
In 1901, Conan Doyle heard a friend tell the legend of Dartmoor, so he conceived the magical story of a family being chased by a ghostly hound. This was the third book published in 1902. The novel "The Hound of the Baskervilles" successfully aroused the hopes of readers and publishers in Sherlock Holmes. In 1903, at the age of 44, Conan Doyle finally arranged the return of Sherlock Holmes in "The Empty House" and completed 12 short stories. In 1905, it was compiled into "Return". "Uncanny Valley" is his fourth novel, completed in 1915; "Last Regards" compiled in 1917 contains 8 short stories. Because the background of the story fully combined with the political and economic situation at that time, it became a sensation after its release. Many people even thought that there was a real story. Its people and its events. "New Detectives" published in 1927 was his last work in his later years, consisting of 12 short stories; after that, Conan Doyle "arranged" for Holmes to "live in seclusion in the countryside of southern England and concentrate on the study of beekeeping."
In 1900, Conan Doyle went to South Africa as a military doctor to participate in the Bore War. He was knighted for his outstanding performance in the field hospital. Passed away on July 7, 1930, at the age of 71.
Southern Network News When Conan Doyle revealed on page 18 of "A Study in Scarlet" how Holmes knew at first sight that Dr. Watson had been to Afghanistan, my curiosity was already as high as Like Watson, he was so aroused that he couldn't help but feel itchy. But to be honest, I was a little dissatisfied with Holmes's answer. He said this: "This gentleman has the demeanor of a medical worker, but he has the air of a soldier..." Although he later used words such as the color of his skin, etc. It is a very "realistic" observation, but the words "demeanor" and "magnitude" are too vague, which makes people feel that this is a pretentious trick out of the author's helplessness.
This idea of ??mine was challenged after several years of working. For example, I am a student who graduated from a science and engineering university and entered the journalism world, while most of my university classmates are engaged in professional-related research, technology or business jobs. When we got together again three years later, I discovered the "different characteristics" of each other due to our "occupations."
Because of my work, I often need to interact with many people, so I will not wear the professional attire of white-collar workers in office buildings, but I will not be too careless. I wear clothes that are casual but not too casual, and the height of my leather heels is never more than three centimeters. My classmates who went on to graduate school in school were dressed vaguely. For example, a dark green cotton-padded jacket and a purple woolen sweater, underneath are corduroy pants that have long been out of date and have been somewhat deformed due to being worn for too long.
Although my classmate who is engaged in business activities will not wear a sharp suit at a class reunion, he may take off his tie or wear a casual suit that does not require a tie, or he may wear a good-quality woolen sweater and a windbreaker. But it will neither be weird nor vague, and the leather shoes will always be clean and shiny.
Of course, more differences are reflected in the topics we care about, the angles and views on the same things, and the language habits and tone when speaking. The above are combined into "fuzzy words" such as "temperament" and "demeanor". We cannot say that as "college classmates", our original temperaments and demeanor are the same or similar, but there is no doubt that people's changes in this aspect after entering the working stage are more related to their careers. And when you go deep into a professional field, this kind of shaping is not only a change in appearance, but also reflected in your views on things and your perspective and approach to the same thing.
Cui Jian gave the example of "Bodyguard" in the dialogue of "Free Style". He said that the bodyguard finally blocked the bullet with his body and he would say: "This is my profession, I should die before you." In the eyes of others, the same thing may be said to be because of love or "you are a great musician." This actually means that in the same situation, if you are not a bodyguard, it is logical for you not to block the bullet; if you are a bodyguard and do not block the bullet, you are at least not the best bodyguard. This is professional ethics.
A friend of mine, her husband is a photojournalist for Xinhua News Agency, has been stationed in Hong Kong for two and a half years, and will be able to go home to be with his wife and their lovely two-year-old son in another half year. But after the "9/11" incident, when the United States launched an attack on Afghanistan, he was directly transferred to Afghanistan by the Asia-Pacific Bureau. It doesn't matter to him whether he hopes or is willing to be a war reporter whose life is in danger at any time. What really determines his mission is that he is a reporter and needs to obey the arrangements of his profession.
This kind of professional characteristics does not have as strict influence on people as the law, but it is a professional standard to determine whether you are qualified or excellent. For example, when the United States bombed Yugoslavia, all reporters were ordered to evacuate. Only CNN reporters voluntarily stayed in the bombing zone. No one blamed the evacuated reporters for being inappropriate or wrong, but almost everyone admired the professional ethics of CNN reporters. That is to regard news as the first life. In the same way, people respect the firefighters who rushed into the fire on 9/11 because they followed their professional ethics at that moment. People may respect them, but to them, they are just following their professional ethics. It's that simple.
People increasingly use "professional ethics" to measure a person or a thing, and in different professions, the emphasis on "professional ethics" shapes the different personalities of different people, and even some , it shapes the way you think.
A Taiwanese friend of mine studied computer science in college, or information management to be precise—helping companies design management software, such as financial management, personnel management, etc. She said that after learning, she found that this is not only a technical problem, but a problem of the way you think about and solve problems, and it is related to the world view and methodology. For example, when she helps a company design information management software, she first needs to understand the company's management model, and then use a method to analyze it to establish a software model suitable for that management method. She can choose to use the "STRUCTURE" method or the "OBJECT" method. These are two completely different methods, and these two methods actually change or shape the way you look at and solve problems. This is what a career teaches you.
Coincidentally, another friend of mine who studied acting later completely changed his career and became a director and producer, and he stayed there for ten years. His experience is: I am originally a perceptual person. Although performances also have theories, more often than not, performers rely not on theories, but on feelings, or even intuitive understanding of the characters. And sometimes, when you deliberately analyze a character, you will find that the original passion for performance is gone, and the performance is not as good as without analysis.
Of course this is not completely absolute, "but for a good actor, it is absolutely necessary to maintain and mobilize the passion for performance at any time." He said. But when he turned his direction to production work, he found that the absolute emotionality in the past was gradually transformed into rationality - this transformation was not only the consciousness of career choice, but also the training given to him in terms of professional characteristics. "This change is painful, but it is very beneficial. I think if I go back to being an actor today, I will do better than before - better adjust the contradiction between sensibility and rationality, and make better use of And play to their strengths. If I had been an actor and was content with just being an actor, I might not be as trained as I am now. And in fact, that's why a good actor is often the one who can maintain the passion for acting. , and at the same time be able to think about the reasons for the problem like a director."
The change of a person, the shaping of personality characteristics, cannot come entirely from career. It may be more accurate to use the word "life". some. But there is no doubt that people usually define their social roles based on their profession, rather than applying them to an empty life. In a society that is entering professionalization, career has a more specific and accurate representation than life. We can even say that when a person chooses his career, he chooses his own life and what kind of person he wants to be. (Editor: dickie)