Silicon Valley is a magnet to which numerous talented engineers, scientists and entrepreneurs from overseas flock in search of fame and fast money and to participate enthusiastically in a technological revolution whose impact on mankind will surely surpass the epoch-making European Renaissance and Industrial Revolution of the bygone age.// The valley's professionals are among the most hardworking people anywhere. A 15-hour day and 7-day week is not uncommon, especially during the start-up stage. They would give up social life, and curtail their family life too, in order to pursue the pot of gold at the end of the rainbow. It is this single-minded pursuit of excellence, supported by strong ethos of teamwork and esprit de corps, that sustain them until their mission is accomplished.// Paper qualification, though useful, is not a be-all-and-end-all. More weight is given to a candidate's proven abilities and aptitude for the job. This is amply demonstrated by industry icons like Apple's Jobs and Wozniak and Microsoft's Gates, all college dropouts who might not have emerged in a qualification-conscious community.// While racial prejudice no doubt still exists in the United States, it is hardly discernible in the Valley. What counts most is one's vision and track record, and not one's nationality, skin color or creed. This, together with its multiracial society, informal lifestyle and agreeable climate, lures foreigners to its shores.//

　　硅谷猶如一塊磁鐵，把許許多多天資聰穎的工程師、科學(xué)家、企業(yè)家從世界各地吸引到這里。他們來(lái)此尋求功名，希望快速致富，積極投身于技術(shù)革命，而這場(chǎng)革命所帶來(lái)的影響必將超 過(guò)昔日具有劃時(shí)代意義的歐洲文藝復(fù)興運(yùn)動(dòng)和產(chǎn)業(yè)革命。// 硅谷人的工作之勤奮，舉世罕見(jiàn)。一天工作15 個(gè)小時(shí)，一周工作七天，這樣的工作日程安排在硅谷卻是司空見(jiàn)慣的現(xiàn)象，尤其在創(chuàng)業(yè)初期更是如此。硅谷人放棄社交生活，減少與家人一起生活的時(shí)間，努力去尋求事業(yè)彩虹盡頭處的那一桶金。正是這種孜孜不求卓越的精神，加上優(yōu)良的團(tuán)隊(duì)精神，支持著硅谷人的奮斗理念，他們不達(dá)目的絕不罷休。//在硅谷，文憑雖然有用，卻不是一切，一紙定不了終身，硅谷更看重求職者的真才實(shí)學(xué)和崗位資質(zhì)。最具有說(shuō)服力的例子莫過(guò)于行業(yè)的偶像人物，如蘋(píng)果公司的創(chuàng)始人喬布斯和沃茨尼亞克，微軟的創(chuàng)始人蓋茨，他們都是一些大學(xué)輟學(xué)者，在講究學(xué)歷的社會(huì)很可能永無(wú)出頭之日。//毫無(wú)疑問(wèn)，美國(guó)人雖然存在著宗族歧視，但這種現(xiàn)象在硅谷卻難尋蹤影。硅谷人最看中的是人才視野和成長(zhǎng)歷程，而不是國(guó)籍，膚色或宗教信仰。這種觀念加上硅谷多宗族的社會(huì)、不拘禮儀的生活方式、舒適宜人的氣候，使外國(guó)人近悅遠(yuǎn)來(lái)。//