TED英文演讲：放慢脚步，走出自己的速度~

在追求效率、追求速度的快时代，我们拼命向前，但有时却忘记了为何奔跑。在今天的演讲中，人类学家Kathryn Bouskill探究了生活在快节奏社会中的矛盾心态，启发我们思考在追求快、再快、更快的同时，放慢步调是何等重要。看完这篇演讲，希望你能给自己一些时间思考，调整自己的步调，再接下来的一年里，走出你的快与慢！

演讲者：Kathryn Bouskill

人类学家、社会科学家，作为一名训练有素的人类学家，Bouskill采用定性和定量的方法来研究一系列社会文化和健康相关的问题。TED视频

https://v.qq.com/txp/iframe/player.html?width=500&height=375&auto=0&vid=s3044fnwb7s

TED演讲稿Do you ever wonder why we're surrounded with things that help us do everything faster and faster and faster? Communicate faster, but also work faster, bank faster, travel faster, find a date faster, cook faster, clean faster and do all of it all at the same time? How do you feel about cramming even more into every waking hour?你纳闷过吗？为什么生活中好多东西，帮助我们更快完成所有事情。沟通得更快、 工作得更快、领钱存钱更快；更快的旅行、更快的遇见心仪对象， 花更少时间烹饪和清理，还要一心多用。一睡醒，事情就塞满了，大家作何感想？
Well, to my generation of Americans, speed feels like a birthright. Sometimes I think our minimum speed is Mach 3. Anything less, and we fear losing our competitive edge. But even my generation is starting to question whether we're the masters of speed or if speed is mastering us.我这一代美国人，觉得一生下来，便要追求速度。有时我觉得，3 马赫是基本要求 再慢，与别人竞争的优势就没了，但连我这代都开始质疑，究竟是我们主宰速度， 还是速度掌控了我们。
I'm an anthropologist at the Rand Corporation, and while many anthropologists study ancient cultures, I focus on modern day cultures and how we're adapting to all of this change happening in the world. Recently, I teamed up with an engineer, Seifu Chonde, to study speed. 我在兰德公司研究人类学，虽然很多人类学家研究古文化，但我致力于研究现代文化，还有我们如何适应一切变动。最近我与 Seifu Chonde 合作， 他是一位工程师，我们研究速度 。We were interested both in how people are adapting to this age of acceleration and its security and policy implications. What could our world look like in 25 years if the current pace of change keeps accelerating? What would it mean for transportation, or learning, communication, manufacturing, weaponry or even natural selection? Will a faster future make us more secure and productive? Or will it make us more vulnerable?我们对于人们如何适应不断加速的时代， 还有加速造成的安全和政策隐忧，特别有兴趣。如果变化来得越来越快， 我们的世界 25 年后会是什么样子？交通学习、沟通，加工业、军备， 甚至是天择又会是什么样子？更快速的未来里， 会更安全、更有生产力吗？或我们只会更脆弱？
In our research, people accepted acceleration as inevitable, both the thrills and the lack of control. They fear that if they were to slow down, they might run the risk of becoming obsolete. They say they'd rather burn out than rust out. Yet at the same time, they worry that speed could erode their cultural traditions and their sense of home. But even people who are winning at the speed game admit to feeling a little uneasy. They see acceleration as widening the gap between the haves, the jet-setters who are buzzing around, and the have-nots, who are left in the digital dust.我们的研究结果指出， 人们无可避免步调变快， 也会感到紧张、没法控制。他们害怕如果放慢脚步 ，便会面临风险，遭到淘汰。他们宁愿筋疲力尽也不要赶不上时代 ，但同时， 人们也担心速度会让传统文化和家的感觉流逝， 即使赢了这个速度竞争， 人们也不免感到忧虑 ，他们认为加快步调会扩大贫富差距 ，富人搭着喷射客机四处移动 ，但穷人却迷失在数字沙漠之中。
Yes, we have good reason to forecast that the future will be faster, but what I've come to realize is that speed is paradoxical, and like all good paradoxes, it teaches us about the human experience, as absurd and complex as it is.我们预计未来步调会更加快速， 这个推测很合理 。但我却渐渐了解到：追求速度是个自相矛盾的行为，就像其他矛盾的事一样， 让我们学到人类的经验本就建立在唐突和复杂之上。
The first paradox is that we love speed, and we're thrilled by its intensity. But our prehistoric brains aren't really built for it, so we invent roller coasters and race cars and supersonic planes, but we get whiplash, carsick, jet-lagged. 第一个矛盾处：我们追求速度， 也因此紧张兮兮。但我们这史前时期就成形的大脑却没作好准备， 所以人类发明了云霄飞车、赛车和超音速飞机， 自己却常拉伤颈部、晕车、为时差所苦； We didn't evolve to multitask. Rather, we evolved to do one thing with incredible focus, like hunt -- not necessarily with great speed but with endurance for great distance. But now there's a widening gap between our biology and our lifestyles, a mismatch between what our bodies are built for and what we're making them do. It's a phenomenon my mentors have called "Stone Agers in the fast lane."我们一心多用的能力并没进步， 反而愈加擅长极力专注完成一件事。例如打猎，不太用追求速度， 但要能跑好一段距离。现今，生理构造和生活方式有了很大的差距 。我们要自己的身体做不适合的事， 我的导师比拟这现象为 「叫史前人类开车上快车道」。
A second paradox of speed is that it can be measured objectively. Right? Miles per hour, gigabytes per second. But how speed feels, and whether we like it, is highly subjective. So we can document that the pace at which we are adopting new technologies is increasing. For example, it took 85 years from the introduction of the telephone to when the majority of Americans had phones at home. In contrast, it only took 13 years for most of us to have smartphones. 第二个矛盾处：我们能客观量测速度，对吧？时速、秒速 ，但不同速度带来的感觉 ，还有我们对速度的偏好都非常主观。很多数据告诉我们 ，人类要适应新科技越来越快。 举例来说，电话出现 85 年后， 大部分美国人家里才都有电话， 但智能型手机只花了 13 年 ，大家便人手一机。And how people act and react to speed varies by culture and among different people within the same culture. Interactions that could be seen as pleasantly brisk and convenient in some cultures could be seen as horribly rude in others. I mean, you wouldn't go asking for a to-go cup at a Japanese tea ceremony so you could jet off to your next tourist stop. Would you?人们对速度有不同反应， 因文化而异也因人而不尽相同。有时，有些行为稀松平常又方便， 但在其他文化 一样的事情却很没礼貌 。就像是，参加日本茶道宴会时， 大家不会还要求外带才能快点到下个景点， 你不会这样做吧？
A third paradox is that speed begets speed. The faster I respond, the more responses I get, the faster I have to respond again. Having more communication and information at our fingertips at any given moment was supposed to make decision-making easier and more rational. But that doesn't really seem to be happening.第三个矛盾处：速度是连锁反应， 我越是快点响应，就越多人响应我， 这样我又得更快响应， 动动指尖就能沟通或是查询数据 。不论什么时候， 应该要让我们更容易、更理性做决定， 但似乎事与愿违。
Here's just one more paradox: If all of these faster technologies were supposed to free us from drudgery, why do we all feel so pressed for time? Why are we crashing our cars in record numbers, because we think we have to answer that text right away? Shouldn't life in the fast lane feel a little more fun and a little less anxious? 另外还有一个矛盾处， 如果更快速的科技应当免去苦差事， 为什么我们感到时间不足？为什么我们因为要实时回复讯息， 让车祸此起彼落发生？生活在迅速如快车道的环境中， 不是应该充满乐趣而非焦虑吗？German speakers even have a word for this: "Eilkrankheit." In English, that's "hurry sickness." When we have to make fast decisions, autopilot brain kicks in, and we rely on our learned behaviors, our reflexes, our cognitive biases, to help us perceive and respond quickly. Sometimes that saves our lives, right? Fight or flight. But sometimes, it leads us astray in the long run.德语甚至为此造一字 「Eilkrankheit」， 这个字的意思是「仓促不适感」。当我们很快得做出决定， 自控式的大脑开始运转， 我们凭着学来的行为反应、认知偏误更快察觉事物、做出回应 ，我们有时因此捡回小命，对吧？正面迎击或逃之夭夭 ，但这样的机制长时间下来 ，我们有时无所适从。
Oftentimes, when our society has major failures, they're not technological failures. They're failures that happen when we made decisions too quickly on autopilot. We didn't do the creative or critical thinking required to connect the dots or weed out false information or make sense of complexity. 很多时候，我们的社会出现严重纰漏， 问题并非出自于科技 。当大脑自控时，我们太快下决定，才出这些差错。我们面临危急时，无法激荡出办法， 把线索连起来， 或是剔除错误讯息， 或是意识到事情很复杂。That kind of thinking can't be done fast. That's slow thinking. Two psychologists, Daniel Kahneman and Amos Tversky, started pointing this out back in 1974, and we're still struggling to do something with their insights.这种决策急不来， 而是需要慢慢完成。Daniel Kahneman 和 Amos Tversky 这两位心理学家 1974 年就提出这样的想法， 但我们仍无法达到他们所言。
All of modern history can be thought of as one spurt of acceleration after another. It's as if we think if we just speed up enough, we can outrun our problems. But we never do. We know this in our own lives, and policymakers know it, too. 整段现代历史都可以视为一次次的加速， 好像只要我们思考得快一些， 所有的事都能迎刃而解， 但我们力有未逮。我们从生活中领悟到这样的事实 ，政府决策者也知道这样的事情 。
So now we're turning to artificial intelligence to help us make faster and smarter decisions to process this ever-expanding universe of data. But machines crunching data are no substitute for critical and sustained thinking by humans, whose Stone Age brains need a little time to let their impulses subside, to slow the mind and let the thoughts flow.因此我们转而追求人工智能 ，帮助我们做出更快、更完善的决定， 处理不停扩张的巨量信息 。但机器再怎么分析数据， 也无法取代人类应付紧急状况或是长远思考。我们这石器时代成形的大脑 ，需要一些时间平静下来 。放慢思考 、让想法自由发展。
If you're starting to think that we should just hit the brakes, that won't always be the right solution. We all know that a train that's going too fast around a bend can derail, but Seifu, the engineer, taught me that a train that's going too slowly around a bend can also derail.如果你觉得我们该紧急煞车， 这样做并非总是妥当 ，我们都知道火车跑得太快 转弯的时候会脱轨 ；但 Seifu，那位工程师告诉我火车转弯太慢，也会脱轨。
So managing this spurt of acceleration starts with the understanding that we have more control over speed than we think we do, individually and as a society. Sometimes, we'll need to engineer ourselves to go faster. We'll want to solve gridlock, speed up disaster relief for hurricane victims or use 3-D printing to produce what we need on the spot, just when we need it. 因此，要主宰速度，我们要先知道， 我们其实比想象中更能掌控速度， 不管是个人或是整个社会。有时候，我们得想得更快、做得更急， 我们想要排解塞车车阵 或是加快救援风灾的脚步， 或是用 3D 打印技术当场制作所需。只要我们需要，就可以做得到 ；Sometimes, though, we'll want to make our surroundings feel slower to engineer the crash out of the speedy experience. And it's OK not to be stimulated all the time. It's good for adults and for kids. Maybe it's boring, but it gives us time to reflect. Slow time is not wasted time.我们有时候却想要让一切慢下来、 处理急忙后的杂乱无章， 偶尔逃离时间压力是不错的， 对成人有益、 对小孩也是。这样可能很无聊， 但我们却有了时间深思， 放慢脚步并非浪费时间。
And we need to reconsider what it means to save time. Culture and rituals around the world build in slowness, because slowness helps us reinforce our shared values and connect. And connection is a critical part of being human. We need to master speed, and that means thinking carefully about the trade-offs of any given technology. 我们必须重新想想节省时间这个概念， 全世界的文化和习惯都经过长时间淬炼， 如此的平缓让我们强化共同的理念和连结， 这种连接是人性重要的一部分。我们必须主宰速度， 在使用任何科技的同时， 必须仔细端详我们牺牲了什么。Will it help you reclaim time that you can use to express your humanity? Will it give you hurry sickness? Will it give other people hurry sickness? If you're lucky enough to decide the pace that you want to travel through life, it's a privilege. Use it. You might decide that you need both to speed up and to create slow time: time to reflect, to percolate at your own pace; time to listen, to empathize, to rest your mind, to linger at the dinner table.某项科技是否真的能节省时间？让你更有人性？还是你会感到「仓促不适感」？或是让周遭的人也为之所苦？如果你有幸能决定自己人生的步调， 这是种特权， 请善加利用。你可能决定有时加快脚步， 有时放慢步调， 用自己感到舒适的步调来检讨、 沉淀、 聆听； 替别人着想， 让心神歇息， 在餐桌旁逗留。
So as we zoom into the future, let's consider setting the technologies of speed, the purpose of speed and our expectations of speed to a more human pace.因此当我们投身未来， 让我们决定科技的速度， 决定加速的目的， 还有建立对速度的实际期待， 让我们活得更有人性。
Thank you.谢谢。
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