演講MP3+雙語文稿:想要更有創(chuàng)造力？可以試試這個方法！

聽力課堂TED音頻欄目主要包括TED演講的音頻MP3及中英雙語文稿，供各位英語愛好者學習使用。本文主要內(nèi)容為演講MP3+雙語文稿:想要更有創(chuàng)造力？可以試試這個方法！，希望你會喜歡！

【演講人】Tim Harford

【演講主題】想要更有創(chuàng)造力，可以試試這個方法

【演講文稿-中英文】

翻譯者 Ivana Korom 校對：Joanna Pietrulewicz

00:05

同時做兩件事則兩件都做不成。 這是對多任務工作方式的一個巨大打擊。這一概念常被認為是羅馬作家普布利留斯·西羅斯提出的，但你也知道這是怎么一回事，他可能從來沒有說過這句話。我感興趣的是，它正確嗎？我想，這一概念應該是正確的，若你在餐桌上發(fā)郵件，或在開車時發(fā)短信，也可能是在TED演講現(xiàn)場推文。但我想說的是，在做一種重要的活動時雙管齊下，甚至是三、四管齊下正是我們應該追求的目標。

"To do two things at once is to do neither." It's a great smackdown of multitasking, isn't it, often attributed to the Roman writer Publilius Syrus, although you know how these things are, he probably never said it. What I'm interested in, though, is -- is it true? I mean, it's obviously true for emailing at the dinner table or texting while driving or possibly for live tweeting at TED Talk, as well. But I'd like to argue that for an important kind of activity, doing two things at once -- or three or even four -- is exactly what we should be aiming for.

00:44

看看愛因斯坦就知道了。1905年，他出版了四篇出色的科學論文。其中一個有關(guān)布朗運動。它提供了原子存在的實證，并闡明了大多數(shù)金融經(jīng)濟學背后的基本數(shù)學原理。另一個是關(guān)于狹義相對論。還有一個有關(guān)光電效應。這就是太陽能電池板的工作原理。這是篇不錯的論文，讓他得了諾貝爾獎。第四篇論文介紹了一個你可能聽說過的方程：E = mc^2，所以你能再告訴我你不應該同時做幾件事情？

Look no further than Albert Einstein. In 1905, he published four remarkable scientific papers. One of them was on Brownian motion, it provided empirical evidence that atoms exist, and it laid out the basic mathematics behind most of financial economics. Another one was on the theory of special relativity. Another one was on the photoelectric effect, that's why solar panels work, it's a nice one. Gave him the for that one. And the fourth introduced an equation you might have heard of: E equals mc squared. So, tell me again how you shouldn't do several things at once.

01:20

現(xiàn)在，很明顯，同時研究布朗運動，特殊相對論和光電效應，這種多任務處理與你在看《西部世界》時發(fā)Snapchat不太一樣。非常不一樣。而且，愛因斯坦，他是愛因斯坦??！他是獨特的，獨一無二的。但愛因斯坦所展示的行為并不獨特。在極具創(chuàng)造力的人中很常見，包括藝術(shù)家和科學家， 我想給它起個名字：慢動作多任務處理。

Now, obviously, working simultaneously on Brownian motion, special relativity and the photoelectric effect -- it's not exactly the same kind of multitasking as Snapchatting while you're watching "Westworld." Very different. And Einstein, yeah, well, Einstein's -- he's Einstein, he's one of a kind, he's unique. But the pattern of behavior that Einstein was demonstrating, that's not unique at all. It's very common among highly creative people, both artists and scientists, and I'd like to give it a name: slow-motion multitasking.

01:58

慢動作多任務處理感覺像是一個違反直覺的想法。我在這描述的是同時在承擔多個項目，但你可以隨著自己的心情或情況的變化在項目之間移動。但是它看起來違反常理的原因在于我們習慣于出于絕望而一心多用。我們很著急；我們想同時做所有事情。如果我們愿意放慢多任務處理，我們會發(fā)現(xiàn) 它非常出色。六十年前，一位年輕的心理學家伯妮絲 · 艾杜森開始了一個漫長的研究項目，深入了解40名領(lǐng)先科學家的個性和工作習慣。愛因斯坦已逝世，但她研究的其他四位都得過諾貝爾獎，包括萊納斯·鮑林和理查德·費曼。這項研究持續(xù)了幾十年。事實上，在艾杜森教授去世之后，它仍在繼續(xù)。它回答的一個問題是一些科學家是如何在有生之年不斷從事并出產(chǎn)重要成果？ 這些人到底是怎么回事？是他們的個性？他們的技能？還是他們的日常生活？到底是么？

Slow-motion multitasking feels like a counterintuitive idea. What I'm describing here is having multiple projects on the go at the same time, and you move backwards and forwards between topics as the mood takes you, or as the situation demands. But the reason it seems counterintuitive is because we're used to lapsing into multitasking out of desperation. We're in a hurry, we want to do everything at once. If we were willing to slow multitasking down, we might find that it works quite brilliantly. Sixty years ago, a young psychologist by the name of Bernice Eiduson began a long research project into the personalities and the working habits of 40 leading scientists. Einstein was already dead, but four of her subjects won s, including Linus Pauling and Richard Feynman. The research went on for decades, in fact, it continued even after professor Eiduson herself had died. And one of the questions that it answered was, "How is it that some scientists are able to go on producing important work right through their lives?" What is it about these people? Is it their personality, is it their skill set, their daily routines, what?

03:20

出現(xiàn)的模式很明顯，對一些人來說，也許是令人驚訝的。頂尖的科學家會不斷改變研究主題。他們會不斷變換研究方向在他們發(fā)表的前100篇研究論文中。你想猜猜變了多少次嗎？三次？五次？不對。平均而言，最有創(chuàng)造力的科學家在發(fā)表的前一百篇研究論文中變換了43次主題?？磥?，創(chuàng)造力的秘訣是多任務處理，慢動作地進行。艾杜森的研究表明，我們需要改造多任務處理，并提醒自己它的有用之處。而且她不是唯一發(fā)現(xiàn)這個的人。不同的研究人員使用不同的方法來研究不同的，具有高度創(chuàng)造力的人，他們發(fā)現(xiàn)這些人經(jīng)常會同時進行多個項目，而且他們比我們大多數(shù)人更有可能擁有專業(yè)的愛好。慢動作多任務處理在創(chuàng)意者之間無處不在。那為什么呢？

Well, a pattern that emerged was clear, and I think to some people surprising. The top scientists kept changing the subject. They would shift topics repeatedly during their first 100 published research papers. Do you want to guess how often? Three times? Five times? No. On average, the most enduringly creative scientists switched topics 43 times in their first 100 research papers. Seems that the secret to creativity is multitasking in slow motion. Eiduson's research suggests we need to reclaim multitasking and remind ourselves how powerful it can be. And she's not the only person to have found this. Different researchers, using different methods to study different highly creative people have found that very often they have multiple projects in progress at the same time, and they're also far more likely than most of us to have serious hobbies. Slow-motion multitasking among creative people is ubiquitous. So, why?

04:35

我認為有三個原因，第一個是最簡單的。創(chuàng)意往往出現(xiàn)于把一個想法從原始情景中提取出來，并把它轉(zhuǎn)移到其他地方。跳出固有思維框架會變簡單，若你可以自由移動于已有的多框架之間。例如，考慮最初的尤里卡時刻——阿基米德。他在與一個困難的問題博弈，在一瞬間，他意識到可以用水的位移來解決這個問題。如果你相信那個故事，這是當他泡澡事想到的辦法，降低自己身位，觀察水位上升和下降。如果在泡澡時解決問題還不是多任務處理，我不知道什么是了。

I think there are three reasons. And the first is the simplest. Creativity often comes when you take an idea from its original context and you move it somewhere else. It's easier to think outside the box if you spend your time clambering from one box into another. For an example of this, consider the original eureka moment. Archimedes -- he's wrestling with a difficult problem. And he realizes, in a flash, he can solve it, using the displacement of water. And if you believe the story, this idea comes to him as he's taking a bath, lowering himself in, and he's watching the water level rise and fall. And if solving a problem while having a bath isn't multitasking, I don't know what is.

05:24

多任務處理非常有效的第二個原因是，學做一件事常?？梢詭椭阕鰟e的事情。任何運動員都會告訴你交叉訓練的好處。其實你也可以交叉訓練你的頭腦。幾年前，研究人員隨機選擇了18個醫(yī)科學生，讓他們?nèi)ヂ犚婚T在費城藝術(shù)博物館的課程，在那里他們學會了鑒賞視覺藝術(shù)作品。在課程結(jié)束時，這些學生與醫(yī)學院的同窗對照組進行了比較。那些參加藝術(shù)課程的人在分析照片診斷眼部疾病等任務方面完成得更好。他們成為更好的眼科醫(yī)生。因此，如果我們想在自己的工作上變得更好，也許我們應該花一些時間做別的事情，即使這兩個領(lǐng)域看似毫無聯(lián)系，就像是眼科醫(yī)療和藝術(shù)史一樣。

The second reason that multitasking can work is that learning to do one thing well can often help you do something else. Any athlete can tell you about the benefits of cross-training. It's possible to cross-train your mind, too. A few years ago, researchers took 18 randomly chosen medical students and they enrolled them in a course at the Philadelphia Museum of Art, where they learned to criticize and analyze works of visual art. And at the end of the course, these students were compared with a control group of their fellow medical students. And the ones who had taken the art course had become substantially better at performing tasks such as diagnosing diseases of the eye by analyzing photographs. They'd become better eye doctors. So if we want to become better at what we do, maybe we should spend some time doing something else, even if the two fields appear to be as completely distinct as ophthalmology and the history of art.

06:28

如果你想要一個例子—— 讓我們?nèi)タ纯床蝗鐞垡蛩固?，那么極端的例子？好的。邁克爾·克里頓，創(chuàng)造了《侏羅紀公園》和《急診室故事》。在20世紀70年代，他最初受過訓練成為醫(yī)生，但后來他寫了小說，他執(zhí)導了最初的《西部世界》電影。但還有——這不太為人所知—— 他還寫紀實文學，有關(guān)藝術(shù)、醫(yī)藥和計算機編程。所以在1995年，他享受這些的果實，通過書寫了世界上最商業(yè)成功的書籍和創(chuàng)造了世界上最成功的商業(yè)電視劇和商業(yè)電影。1996年，他又做到了。

And if you'd like an example of this, should we go for a less intimidating example than Einstein? OK. Michael Crichton, creator of "Jurassic Park" and "E.R." So in the 1970s, he originally trained as a doctor, but then he wrote novels and he directed the original "Westworld" movie. But also, and this is less well-known, he also wrote nonfiction books, about art, about medicine, about computer programming. So in 1995, he enjoyed the fruits of all this variety by penning the world's most commercially successful book. And the world's most commercially successful TV series. And the world's most commercially successful movie. In 1996, he did it all over again.

07:21

慢動作多任務處理可以幫助解決問題有第三個原因是，當我們陷入困境時，它可以提供幫助。這可以在瞬間發(fā)生。所以想象一下，在玩填字游戲時的感覺你無法想出一個答案。而你想不出的原因是因為錯誤的答案在你腦中揮之不去。這很容易解決。去做別的事情。切換主題，切換環(huán)境。你會忘記錯誤的答案，讓出空間，使正確的答案彈入腦中。

There's a third reason why slow-motion multitasking can help us solve problems. It can provide assistance when we're stuck. This can't happen in an instant. So, imagine that feeling of working on a crossword puzzle and you can't figure out the answer, and the reason you can't is because the wrong answer is stuck in your head. It's very easy -- just go and do something else. You know, switch topics, switch context, you'll forget the wrong answer and that gives the right answer space to pop into the front of your mind.

07:54

但在我感興趣的較慢的時間尺度上，被卡住是一個更嚴重的事情。你的資金申請被拒絕了。你的細胞培育不會生長。你的火箭不斷墜毀。沒有人愿意發(fā)表你的關(guān)于一所巫師學校的奇幻小說?；蛘?，也許你無法找到解決你正在處理的問題的方法。像那樣被卡死，意味著停滯，壓力，甚至抑郁癥。但是，如果你還有另一個令人興奮的、具有挑戰(zhàn)性的項目，被困在一個項目上只是一個做其他事情的機會。

But on the slower timescale that interests me, being stuck is a much more serious thing. You get turned down for funding. Your cell cultures won't grow, your rockets keep crashing. Nobody wants to publish you fantasy novel about a school for wizards. Or maybe you just can't find the solution to the problem that you're working on. And being stuck like that means stasis, stress, possibly even depression. But if you have another exciting, challenging project to work on, being stuck on one is just an opportunity to do something else.

08:34

有時候我們都會被卡住，愛因斯坦也是這樣。在我剛剛描繪的奇跡年的十年后，愛因斯坦在把他的廣義相對論的碎片理論拼湊在一起，這是他最大的成就，但也讓他疲憊不堪。于是，他轉(zhuǎn)向了一個較容易的問題。他提出了受激發(fā)射（SER），你可能知道，它的縮寫就激光（laser）中的”ser“。 他為激光束奠定了理論基礎。然后，當他正研究這個時，他又回去研究廣義相對論，他恢復精神振作起來。他明白了理論所暗示的，即宇宙不是靜止的。它是不斷擴大的。這是一個如此驚人的想法，多年，愛因斯坦自己都不相信它。你看，如果你卡住了，你得在激光束上下下功夫，這樣你的狀態(tài)會相當不錯。

We could all get stuck sometimes, even Albert Einstein. Ten years after the original, miraculous year that I described, Einstein was putting together the pieces of his theory of general relativity, his greatest achievement. And he was exhausted. And so he turned to an easier problem. He proposed the stimulated emission of radiation. Which, as you may know, is the S in laser. So he's laying down the theoretical foundation for the laser beam, and then, while he's doing that, he moves back to general relativity, and he's refreshed. He sees what the theory implies -- that the universe isn't static. It's expanding. It's an idea so staggering, Einstein can't bring himself to believe it for years. Look, if you get stuck and you get the ball rolling on laser beams, you're in pretty good shape.

09:39

（笑聲）

（Laughter）

09:41

所以，慢動作多任務就是這樣。我并不能保證它會把你變成愛因斯坦。我甚至沒法保證它會把你變成邁克爾·克里頓，但它是一個有效的方式來組織我們的創(chuàng)意生活。

So, that's the case for slow-motion multitasking. And I'm not promising that it's going to turn you into Einstein. I'm not even promising it's going to turn you into Michael Crichton. But it is a powerful way to organize our creative lives.

09:55

但有一個問題。當所有項目變得完有些難以應付時，我們怎么來阻止它呢？我們?nèi)绾螌⑺羞@些想法保持在腦海中？這里有一個簡單的解決方案，這是來自偉大的美國編舞家崔拉·夏普的實用方案。在過去的幾十年里，她跨界，混合流派，獲獎無數(shù)，她伴隨著從菲利普·格拉斯到比利·喬爾的音樂起舞。她寫了三本書。我的意思是，她是一個慢動作多任務機，當然，她是。她說，“你必須成為一切。為什么要排除呢？你必須成為一切?！毕钠詹蛔屵@些不同的項目使她喘不過氣的方法很簡單。她給每個項目一個大的紙箱，在盒子側(cè)面寫上項目的名稱，她把DVD、書籍、雜志剪報、戲劇單，各種物品扔進去，任何會成為靈感源泉的物品。她寫道：“盒子意味著我永遠不必擔心遺忘。對于一個有創(chuàng)造力的人的最大的恐懼是一些絕妙的主意會被忘記因為你沒有把它寫下來，并把它保存下來。我不用擔心，因為我知道在哪里可以找到它。都在盒子里?！蹦憧梢酝ㄟ^這種方式管理許多想法，無論是在盒子還是利用電子設備。

But there's a problem. How do we stop all of these projects becoming completely overwhelming? How do we keep all these ideas straight in our minds? Well, here's a simple solution, a practical solution from the great American choreographer, Twyla Tharp. Over the last few decades, she's blurred boundaries, mixed genres, won prizes, danced to the music of everybody, from Philip Glass to Billy Joel. She's written three books. I mean, she's a slow-motion multitasker, of course she is. She says, "You have to be all things. Why exclude? You have to be everything." And Tharp's method for preventing all of these different projects from becoming overwhelming is a simple one. She gives each project a big cardboard box, writes the name of the project on the side of the box. And into it, she tosses DVDs and books, magazine cuttings, theater programs, physical objects, really anything that's provided a source of creative inspiration. And she writes, "The box means I never have to worry about forgetting. One of the biggest fears for a creative person is that some brilliant idea will get lost because you didn't write it down and put it in a safe place. I don't worry about that. Because I know where to find it. It's all in the box." You can manage many ideas like this, either in physical boxes or in their digital equivalents.

11:40

所以，我想力勸大家接受慢動作多任務工作，不是因為你想匆忙完成一件事，而是因為你根本不著急。

So, I would like to urge you to embrace the art of slow-motion multitasking. Not because you're in a hurry, but because you're in no hurry at all.

11:53

我想給你們最后一個例子，我最喜歡的例子：查爾斯·達爾文，他的慢動作多任務處理能力非常驚人，我需要一個圖表來向你解釋一切。

And I want to give you one final example, my favorite example. Charles Darwin. A man whose slow-burning multitasking is so staggering, I need a diagram to explain it all to you.

12:08

我們知道達爾文在不同的時間做了不同的事，因為創(chuàng)造力研究人員霍華德·格魯伯和薩拉·戴維斯分析了他的日記和他的筆記本。所以當他18歲離開學校時，他最初對兩個領(lǐng)域感興趣：動物學和地質(zhì)學。不久，他報名成為小獵犬船上的博物學家。這艘船最終花了五年時間。在地球的南部海洋中航行，?？吭诩永粮晁?，穿過印度洋。當他在小獵犬號上時，他開始研究珊瑚礁。這讓他在研究動物學和地質(zhì)學之間有了巨大協(xié)同作用，并開始讓他 思考緩慢進程。但是當他的航程結(jié)束后，他的興趣開始進一步擴大，心理學，植物學，他的余生，他就在這些不同的領(lǐng)域之間移動。他從來沒有拋棄過任何一項。

We know what Darwin was doing at different times, because the creativity researchers Howard Gruber and Sara Davis have analyzed his diaries and his notebooks. So, when he left school, age of 18, he was initially interested in two fields, zoology and geology. Pretty soon, he signed up to be the onboard naturalist on the "Beagle." This is the ship that eventually took five years to sail all the way around the southern oceans of the Earth, stopping at the Galápagos, passing through the Indian ocean. While he was on the "Beagle," he began researching coral reefs. This is a great synergy between his two interests in zoology and geology, and it starts to get him thinking about slow processes. But when he gets back from the voyage, his interests start to expand even further: psychology, botany; for the rest of his life, he's moving backwards and forwards between these different fields. He never quite abandons any of them.

13:08

1837年，他開始了兩個非常有趣的項目，其中之一，蚯蚓，另一個則是名為《物種的演變》的筆記本。然后，達爾文開始研究我的領(lǐng)域，經(jīng)濟學。 他讀了一本經(jīng)濟學家托馬斯·馬爾薩斯的書，他有了他的尤里卡。一瞬間，他意識到物種如何能夠通過適者生存緩慢地出現(xiàn)和進化。當想到這一切時，他把這些都寫下來——進化論的每一個重要元素，他都寫進了筆記本里。

In 1837, he begins work on two very interesting projects. One of them: earthworms. The other, a little notebook which he titles "The transmutation of species." Then, Darwin starts studying my field, economics. He reads a book by the economist Thomas Malthus. And he has his eureka moment. In a flash, he realizes how species could emerge and evolve slowly, through this process of the survival of the fittest. It all comes to him, he writes it all down, every single important element of the theory of evolution, in that notebook.

13:51

但隨后，他又有了一個新的項目：他的兒子威廉的誕生。這是一個很自然的實驗——你可以觀察一個人類嬰兒的發(fā)育。因此，達爾文立即開始做筆記。 當然，他同時還在研究進化論，以及人類嬰兒的生長。但同時，他意識到自己對分類學的了解不夠。于是，他開始研究這個，最后他花了8年時間成為世界領(lǐng)先的藤壺專家。

But then, a new project. His son William is born. Well, there's a natural experiment right there, you get to observe the development of a human infant. So immediately, Darwin starts making notes. Now, of course, he's still working on the theory of evolution and the development of the human infant. But during all of this, he realizes he doesn't really know enough about taxonomy. So he starts studying that. And in the end, he spends eight years becoming the world's leading expert on barnacles.

14:27

還有《自然選擇》這本書，他的余生持續(xù)在寫這本書，但他從來沒有完成它?！段锓N起源》出版于達爾文開始列出基本原理的二十年后。之后《人類的由來》這本極具爭議的書出版了。接下來是一本關(guān)于人類嬰兒發(fā)育的書，這本書的靈感來自于他所觀察到他的兒子威廉在客廳地板上爬來爬去。當這本書出版時，威廉已經(jīng)是37歲了，這一切發(fā)生時，達爾文一直在研究蚯蚓。他在臺球室里放滿了玻璃罩罐子里的蚯蚓。他把燈照在它們身上，看它們是否會回應。他把劍葉蘭在它們旁邊看看它們是否會移動。

Then, "Natural Selection." A book that he's to continue working on for his entire life, he never finishes it. "Origin of Species" is finally published 20 years after Darwin set out all the basic elements. Then, the "Descent of Man," controversial book. And then, the book about the development of the human infant. The one that was inspired when he could see his son, William, crawling on the sitting room floor in front of him. When the book was published, William was 37 years old. And all this time, Darwin's working on earthworms. He fills his billiard room with earthworms in pots, with glass covers. He shines lights on them, to see if they'll respond. He holds a hot poker next to them, to see if they move away. He chews tobacco and --

15:19

（吹氣聲）

（Blows）

15:20

他咀嚼煙草，并向蚯蚓吹氣看看它們是否有嗅覺。他甚至為蚯蚓吹奏巴松管。

He blows on the earthworms to see if they have a sense of smell. He even plays the bassoon at the earthworms.

15:28

我喜歡想像這個偉人，當他累了、有壓力時，他很擔心他的書《人類的起源》會受到歡迎。你我感到壓力時，可能會刷臉書或看電視。達爾文則會走進入臺球室，通過深入研究蚯蚓來放松。達爾文的最后一件偉作是《腐植土的產(chǎn)生與蚯蚓的作用》，這一點也不足為奇。

I like to think of this great man when he's tired, he's stressed, he's anxious about the reception of his book "The Descent of Man." You or I might log into Facebook or turn on the television. Darwin would go into the billiard room to relax by studying the earthworms intensely. And that's why it's appropriate that one of his last great works is the "Formation of Vegetable Mould Through The Action of Worms."

16:00

（笑聲）

（Laughter）

16:01

他在那本書上工作了44年。我們不再生活在19世紀了。我不認為我們?nèi)魏稳丝梢栽谖覀兊膭?chuàng)意或科學項目上花44年。但是，我們確實要向那些偉大的慢動作多任務者學習，從愛因斯坦和達爾文，到邁克爾·克里頓和崔拉·夏普?，F(xiàn)代世界似乎給我們一個選擇。如果我們不打算在瀏覽器窗口之間快速切換，我們就得像隱士一樣生活——專注于一件事，排除一切。我認為這是一個虛假的困境。我們可以讓多任務工作幫主我們，釋放我們的自然創(chuàng)造力。我們只需要慢下來。 He worked upon that book for 44 years. We don't live in the 19th century anymore. I don't think any of us could sit on our creative or scientific projects for 44 years. But we do have something to learn from the great slow-motion multitaskers. From Einstein and Darwin to Michael Crichton and Twyla Tharp. The modern world seems to present us with a choice. If we're not going to fast-twitch from browser window to browser window, we have to live like a hermit, focus on one thing to the exclusion of everything else. I think that's a false dilemma. We can make multitasking work for us, unleashing our natural creativity. We just need to slow it down.

16:54

所以，列出你的項目。放下你的手機。拿起幾個紙箱。開始吧！

So ... Make a list of your projects. Put down your phone. Pick up a couple of cardboard boxes. And get to work.

17:07

非常感謝

Thank you very much.

17:08

（掌聲）

（Applause）