TED英語演講：你在為自己創造著怎樣的現實

現實不是一種認知，而是內心的一種創造——“藉口、假設和恐懼”也是如此。我們創造著現實，並對此深信不疑，到底是怎麼一回事呢?下面是小編為大家收集關於TED英語演講：你在為自己創造著怎樣的現實，歡迎借鑑參考。

演講者：Isaac Lidsky 艾薩克

| 中英對照演講稿 |

When Dorothy was a little girl, she wasfascinated by her goldfish. Her father explained to her that fish swim byquickly wagging their tails to propel themselves through the water. Withouthesitation, little Dorothy responded, "Yes, Daddy, and fish swim backwardsby wagging their heads."

當多蘿西還是一個小女孩的時候，她被她的金魚迷住了。她的父親向她解釋，魚是通過快速搖尾推動自己在水中前進。毫無猶豫地，小多蘿西回答道，“是的，爸爸，而且魚會通過搖頭來後退。”

In her mind, it was a fact as true as anyother. Fish swim backwards by wagging their heads. She believed it.

在她的心裡，這是一個確切的事實。魚通過搖頭來後退。她堅信如此。

Our lives are full of fish swimmingbackwards. We make assumptions and faulty leaps of logic. We harbor bias. Weknow that we are right, and they are wrong. We fear the worst. We strive forunattainable perfection. We tell ourselves what we can and cannot do. In ourminds, fish swim by in reverse frantically wagging their heads and we don'teven notice them.

我們的生活中充滿著倒遊的魚。我們製造假設和錯誤跳躍的邏輯。我們心懷偏見。我們知道我們是對的，而他們是錯的。我們害怕最糟糕的。我們力求無法獲得的完美。我們告訴自己什麼是我們能做的和不能做的。在我們心裡，魚是通過往相反方向瘋狂搖頭來游泳的，而我們甚至不曾察覺過它們。

I'm going to tell you five facts aboutmyself. One fact is not true. One: I graduated from Harvard at 19 with anhonors degree in mathematics. Two: I currently run a construction company inOrlando. Three: I starred on a television sitcom. Four: I lost my sight to arare genetic eye disease. Five: I served as a law clerk to two US Supreme Courtjustices. Which fact is not true? Actually, they're all true. Yeah. They're alltrue.

我想告訴你們五件關於我的事實。其中有一件不是真的。第一：我19歲的時候以數學榮譽學士學位畢業於哈佛大學。第二：我現在在奧蘭多經營著一家建築公司。第三：我主演過一部電視情景劇。第四：我因為患上一種罕有的遺傳性眼疾而失去了視力。第五：我曾經給兩位美國最高法院的法官當過法律助手。哪一個不是真的呢?事實上，它們都是真的。是的，它們都是真的。

At this point, most people really only careabout the television show.

這時候，大部分人其實都只關心那部電視劇。

I know this from experience. OK, so theshow was NBC's "Saved by the Bell: The New Class." And I playedWeasel Wyzell, who was the sort of dorky, nerdy character on the show, whichmade it a very major acting challenge for me as a 13-year-old boy.

這是經驗告訴我的。好吧，那部電視劇是NBC的“SavedbytheBell:TheNewClass."而我飾演了WeaselWyzell，一個在劇中帶點笨拙書呆子性格的角色，對於13歲的我來說，這是一個很重大的演出挑戰。

Now, did you struggle with number four, myblindness? Why is that? We make assumptions about so-called disabilities. As ablind man, I confront others' incorrect assumptions about my abilities everyday. My point today is not about my blindness, however. It's about my g blind taught me to live my life eyes wide open. It taught me to spotthose backwards-swimming fish that our minds create. Going blind cast them intofocus.

現在，你是否糾結於第四個事實，我的失明?為什麼會這樣呢?我們對所謂的殘疾做出一些假設。作為盲人，我每天都面對別人對我能力的錯誤假設。然而，我今天的重點不在於我的失明。而是在於我的視野。失明教會我用開闊的眼界去生活。它教會我去發現那些倒遊的魚，我們內心創造出來的魚。失明使它們變成了焦點。

What does it feel like to see? It'simmediate and passive. You open your eyes and there's the world. Seeing isbelieving. Sight is truth. Right? Well, that's what I thought.

看得見是怎麼樣的一種感覺?是即時並且被動的。你睜開雙眼，世界就在你眼前。看見什麼相信什麼。眼見為實。對吧?好吧，我當初是這麼想的。

Then, from age 12 to 25, my retinasprogressively deteriorated. My sight became an increasingly bizarre carnivalfunhouse hall of mirrors and illusions. The salesperson I was relieved to spotin a store was really a mannequin. Reaching down to wash my hands, I suddenlysaw it was a urinal I was touching, not a sink, when my fingers felt its trueshape.

接著，從12歲到15歲，我的視網膜逐漸衰弱。我的視像變成了愈加奇異的嘉年華遊樂場裡的哈哈鏡。我在商店裡好不容易發現的銷售員實際上是一個人體模型。俯下身去洗手，當我的手指感受到它的真實形狀，我意識到我去觸控的是小便池，而不是洗手池。

A friend described the photograph in my hand, and only then I could seethe image depicted. Objects appeared, morphed and disappeared in my reality. Itwas difficult and exhausting to see. I pieced together fragmented, transitoryimages, consciously analyzed the clues, searched for some logic in my crumblingkaleidoscope, until I saw nothing at all.

一位朋友向我描述我手中的照片，只有在那時候我才能明白影象描畫了些什麼。物體在我的現實中出現、變形和消失。看見成為了一件困難的使我筋疲力盡的事情。我把支離破碎的、片刻的影象拼接起來，憑感覺分析線索，在我破碎的萬花筒中尋找符合邏輯的對應，直到我什麼都看不見。

I learned that what we see is not universaltruth. It is not objective reality. What we see is a unique, personal, virtualreality that is masterfully constructed by our brain.

我認識到我們所看到的並不即是普遍真理。並不是客觀現實。我們所看到的是獨一無二的虛擬現實，它是由我們的大腦巧妙地構造出來的。

Let me explain with a bit of amateurneuroscience. Your visual cortex takes up about 30 percent of your 's compared to approximately eight percent for touch and two to threepercent for hearing. Every second, your eyes can send your visual cortex as manyas two billion pieces of information. The rest of your body can send your brainonly an additional billion. So sight is one third of your brain by volume andcan claim about two thirds of your brain's processing resources. It's nosurprise then that the illusion of sight is so compelling. But make no mistakeabout it: sight is an illusion.

請讓我以外行的身份解釋一遍神經系統學。你的視覺皮層佔據了你腦部的大概30%。相比於觸覺的8%以及聽覺的2-3%。每一秒鐘，你的雙眼能夠向你的視覺皮層傳達多達二十億的資訊片段。其餘的身體部分加起來也僅能夠傳達另外的十億。所以視覺佔據了你腦部容量的三分之一併且佔用了你腦部中三分之二的資訊處理資源。因此意想得到的是視覺幻象是多麼的令人信服。但是別誤會了：我們所看到的只是一種幻象。

Here's where it gets interesting. To createthe experience of sight, your brain references your conceptual understanding ofthe world, other knowledge, your memories, opinions, emotions, mentalattention. All of these things and far more are linked in your brain to yoursight. These linkages work both ways, and usually occur subconsciously. So for example, what you see impacts how you feel, and the way you feel can literally change what you see.

這是事情變得有趣的地方。為了製造視覺經驗，你的大腦參考了你對這個世界的概念性理解，其它知識、你的記憶、看法、情緒和心理關注。所有的這些東西和以及其它的都連結於你的大腦和視覺景象之間。這些連結是雙向作用的，並且常常在潛意識中發生。舉例子來說，你所看到的會影響到你的感覺，而你的感覺又能夠直接改變你所看到的。

Numerous studies demonstrate this. If you are asked toestimate the walking speed of a man in a video, for example, your answer willbe different if you're told to think about cheetahs or turtles. A hill appearssteeper if you've just exercised, and a landmark appears farther away if you'rewearing a heavy backpack. We have arrived at a fundamental contradiction.

許多的研究證明了這一點。如果你被要求去估計視訊中人物的行走速度，舉例來說，在被告知去想著獵豹或者烏龜的情況下，你的答案將會不一樣。如果你剛剛運動完，你會感覺山變陡峭了，如果你揹著一個很重的揹包，眼前的目的地看起來距離更遠。我們在這裡遇到了一種基本的矛盾。

What you see is a complex mental construction of your own making, but you experienceit passively as a direct representation of the world around you. You createyour own reality, and you believe it. I believed mine until it broke apart. Thedeterioration of my eyes shattered the illusion.

你肉眼所看到的東西是你自己創造的一種複雜的心智建造，但是你被動地經歷著它讓它作為你周遭世界的一種直接呈現。你創造了屬於你自己的現實並且深信著它。我深信於我的現實直到它瓦解了。我雙眼的衰退粉碎了這種幻象。

You see, sight is just one way we shape ourreality. We create our own realities in many other ways. Let's take fear asjust one example. Your fears distort your reality. Under the warped logic offear, anything is better than the uncertain. Fear fills the void at all costs,passing off what you dread for what you know, offering up the worst in place ofthe ambiguous, substituting assumption for reason. Psychologists have a greatterm for it: awfulizing.

你看，視覺只是我們認識世界的一種途徑。我們可以通過許多其它的方式去創造屬於我們自己的現實。讓我們來舉恐懼作為一個例子。你的恐懼扭曲了你的現實。在扭曲的恐懼邏輯影響下，任何事情都比未知要好。恐懼不惜一切代價填補空白，把你所懼怕的冒充成你所知道的，讓最糟糕取代了不明確，使假設代替了原因。心理學家對此有一個很好的術語：往壞處想。

Right? Fear replaces the unknown with theawful. Now, fear is self-realizing. When you face the greatest need to lookoutside yourself and think critically, fear beats a retreat deep inside yourmind, shrinking and distorting your view, drowning your capacity for criticalthought with a flood of disruptive emotions. When you face a compellingopportunity to take action, fear lulls you into inaction, enticing you topassively watch its prophecies fulfill themselves.

對吧?恐懼把未知的替換成了可怕的。現在，恐懼在自我實現著。當你非常迫切的需要去客觀看待自己並進行批判性思考的時候，恐懼在你的內心深處打起了退堂鼓，收縮並扭曲你的觀點，以洪水般湧現的破壞性情緒淹沒你批判思考的能力。當你面對一個極具吸引力的機會去採取行動時，恐懼誤導你去無所作為，誘使你被動地看著它的預言一個個實現成真。

When I was diagnosed with my blindingdisease, I knew blindness would ruin my life. Blindness was a death sentencefor my independence. It was the end of achievement for me. Blindness meant Iwould live an unremarkable life, small and sad, and likely alone. I knew was a fiction born of my fears, but I believed it. It was a lie, but itwas my reality, just like those backwards-swimming fish in little Dorothy'smind. If I had not confronted the reality of my fear, I would have lived it. Iam certain of that.

當我被診出患有致盲眼疾時，我料到失明將會毀了我的生活。失明對我的獨立能力判了死刑。它是我一生成就的終點。失明意味著我將度過平凡的一生，渺小且悽慘，極有可能孤獨終老。我就知道會這樣。這是我因為恐懼帶來的胡編亂造，但我相信了。它是一個謊言，但它曾是我的現實。就像小多蘿西內心那些倒遊的魚一樣。如若我不曾面對過我內心恐懼創造出來的現實，我會就那樣活著。我很確定。

So how do you live your life eyes wideopen? It is a learned discipline. It can be taught. It can be practiced. I willsummarize very briefly.

所以你們如何去以開闊的眼界生活呢?這是一個需要學習的學科。它能被傳授。它能被練習。我簡單地總結一下。

Hold yourself accountable for every moment,every thought, every detail. See beyond your fears. Recognize your ess your internal strength. Silence your internal critic. Correct yourmisconceptions about luck and about success. Accept your strengths and yourweaknesses, and understand the difference. Open your hearts to your bountifulblessings.

讓自己學會負責，對每一時刻，每個想法，每個細節。超越你內心的恐懼。識別出你所作的假設。展現你內在的能力。消除你內心的批判。修正你對於運氣和成功的錯誤概念。接受自己的長處和短處，並清楚認識它們之間的區別。開啟你的心扉去迎接對你滿滿的祝福。

Your fears, your critics, your heroes, yourvillains -- they are your excuses, rationalizations, shortcuts, justifications,your surrender. They are fictions you perceive as reality. Choose to seethrough them. Choose to let them go. You are the creator of your reality. Withthat empowerment comes complete responsibility.

你的恐懼，你的批判，你的英雄，你的敵人——他們都是你的藉口、合理化作用、捷徑、辯護、屈服。它們是你錯認為現實的小說。嘗試選擇看穿它們。嘗試讓它們遠離自己。你是自我現實的創造者。伴隨這種權利而來的是你需要負起全部的責任。

I chose to step out of fear's tunnel intoterrain uncharted and undefined. I chose to build there a blessed life. Farfrom alone, I share my beautiful life with Dorothy, my beautiful wife, with ourtriplets, whom we call the Tripskys, and with the latest addition to thefamily, sweet baby Clementine.

我選擇走出恐懼的隧道，步入了未知的領域。我選擇在那裡構建幸福的人生。遠離孤單，我分享我的美好生活，與多蘿西，我美麗的妻子，與我們的三胞胎，我們稱之為“Tripskys”，還有新添的家庭成員，可愛的寶貝克萊蒙蒂。

What do you fear? What lies do you tellyourself? How do you embellish your truth and write your own fictions? Whatreality are you creating for yourself?

你在害怕什麼?你在欺騙自己什麼?你是如何修飾自己的真相，編寫自己的小說?你在為自己創造著怎麼樣的現實?

In your career and personal life, in yourrelationships, and in your heart and soul, your backwards-swimming fish do yougreat harm. They exact a toll in missed opportunities and unrealized potential,and they engender insecurity and distrust where you seek fulfillment andconnection. I urge you to search them out.

在你的職業生涯和個人生活中，在你的人際關係中，在你的內心和靈魂中，倒遊的魚給你帶來巨大的傷害。它們使你為錯失的機會以及尚未實現的潛能付出代價。它們在你尋求滿足與聯絡時引起你的不安以及不信任。我呼籲大家把它們找出來。

Helen Keller said that the only thing worsethan being blind is having sight but no vision. For me, going blind was aprofound blessing, because blindness gave me vision. I hope you can see what Isee.

海倫·凱勒曾說過，唯一比失明更糟糕的是擁有視力，卻沒有遠見。失明對我來說是一種深深的祝福，因為失明給予了我遠見。我衷心希望你們也能看見我所看見的。

Thank you.(Applause)

謝謝。(掌聲)

Bruno Giussani: Isaac, before you leave thestage, just a question. This is an audience of entrepreneurs, of doers, ofinnovators. You are a CEO of a company down in Florida, and many are probablywondering, how is it to be a blind CEO? What kind of specific challenges do youhave, and how do you overcome them?

布魯諾·朱薩尼：艾薩克，在你離開之前，我想問一個問題。在座的各位都是創業者、實幹家、創新者。你是佛羅里達一家公司的執行總裁，很多人大概都會好奇，身為一名失明的執行總裁究竟是怎麼樣的呢?這使你面臨哪些具體的挑戰，而你又是怎麼克服它們的呢?

Isaac Lidsky: Well, the biggest challengebecame a blessing. I don't get visual feedback from people.

艾薩克·利德斯基：好吧，最大的挑戰成了一種祝福。我看不到別人的反應。

BG: What's that noise there? IL: Yeah. So,for example, in my leadership team meetings, I don't see facial expressions orgestures. I've learned to solicit a lot more verbal feedback. I basically forcepeople to tell me what they think. And in this respect, it's become, like Isaid, a real blessing for me personally and for my company, because wecommunicate at a far deeper level, we avoid ambiguities, and most important, myteam knows that what they think truly matters.

布：有什麼聲音在哪裡嗎?艾：是的。比如說在我的領導團隊的會議中，我無法看到別人的表情或者手勢。我學會去徵求更多的言語反饋。我基本都要求人們把他們的想法告訴我。正因如此，它成為了，如我所說，對我個人還有我公司的一種真正的祝福。因為我們獲得了更深層次的溝通。我們避免了歧義，還有更重要的，我的團隊清楚知道他們的想法是真的要緊的。

BG: Isaac, thank you for coming to TED. IL:Thank you, Bruno.

布：艾薩克，感謝你來到了TED。艾：謝謝你，布魯諾。