TEDMED 2011
AJ Jacobs: How healthy living nearly killed me
A.J.雅各布斯：为什么健康的生活方式几乎把我害死
Filmed:
Readability: 3.4
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A.J.雅各布斯用了整整一年的时间，遵循他听到的每一条健康建议--从用玻璃杯来抹防晒霜到戴着自行车头盔购物。在TEDMED的演讲台上，雅各布斯与大家分享了他在这个过程中发现的许多让人意想不到的事情。
AJ Jacobs - Author
Immersing himself in alternate lifestyles and long, hilarious experiments (usually with himself the guinea pig), writer AJ Jacobs tests the limits of behavior, customs, culture, knowledge -- and his wife's sense of humor. Full bio
Immersing himself in alternate lifestyles and long, hilarious experiments (usually with himself the guinea pig), writer AJ Jacobs tests the limits of behavior, customs, culture, knowledge -- and his wife's sense of humor. Full bio
Double-click the English transcript below to play the video.
00:15
I've spent the last decade
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过去的10年时间
00:17
subjecting myself to pain and humiliation,
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我一直处于悲伤和羞辱中
00:20
hopefully for a good cause,
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期待着有一个好的理由改变自己
00:22
which is self-improvement.
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这个理由就是自我提高
00:25
And I've done this in three parts.
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于是我从三方面开始做起
00:27
So first I started with the mind.
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首先从心智开始
00:30
And I decided to try to get smarter
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我决定试着让自己聪明点
00:34
by reading the entire Encyclopedia Britannica
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比如阅读大英百科全书
00:36
from A to Z --
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从头到尾通读
00:38
or, more precisely, from "a-ak" to "Zywiec."
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更确切的说是从第一个词"a-ak"读到最后一个词"Zywiec"。
00:41
And here's a little image of that.
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现在已经没什么太大印象了
00:43
And this was an amazing year.
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这是不可思议的一年
00:45
It was really a fascinating journey.
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整个过程很吸引人
00:47
It was painful at times,
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有时也很痛苦
00:50
especially for those around me.
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尤其对我身边的人来说更是如此
00:52
My wife started to fine me one dollar
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每当我在谈话时加入一些在大英百科全书中读到的与谈话无关的事实时
00:55
for every irrelevant fact I inserted into conversation.
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我妻子就会罚我一美元
00:58
So it had its downsides.
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所以说这也有不好的一面
01:02
But after that,
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但这之后
01:04
I decided to work on the spirit.
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我决定在精神层面上做些文章
01:06
As I mentioned last year,
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就像我去年提到的那样
01:08
I grew up with no religion at all.
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我从小就没有宗教信仰
01:10
I'm Jewish,
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我是犹太人
01:12
but I'm Jewish in the same way the Olive Garden is Italian.
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像美式Olive Garden餐厅里做的意大利餐那样，我不像传统的犹太人
01:15
(Laughter)
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（笑声）
01:17
Not really.
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真的不像
01:19
But I decided to learn about the Bible and my heritage
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但是我决定去了解一下圣经和犹太传统文化
01:22
by actually diving in
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通过真正进入到其中
01:24
and trying to live it and immerse myself in it.
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让自己完全融入到那个环境中去
01:26
So I decided to follow all the rules of the Bible.
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所以我决定遵循圣经的所有条例
01:29
And from the Ten Commandments
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从十戒
01:31
to growing my beard --
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到蓄起胡须--
01:33
because Leviticus says you cannot shave.
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因为《利未记》要求人们不许剔除胡须
01:35
So this is what I looked like by the end.
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所以这就是我最后的样子
01:38
Thank you for that reaction.
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谢谢你们对此的反应
01:40
(Laughter)
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（笑声）
01:43
I look a little like Moses, or Ted Kaczynski.
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我看起来有点像摩西，或是泰德·卡钦斯基
01:46
I got both of them.
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都挺像的
01:48
So there was the topiary there.
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这张修剪了一下
01:51
And there's the sheep.
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这就是那只羊
01:54
Now the final part of the trilogy
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最后一步是
01:56
was I wanted to focus on the body
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我希望注重自己的身体
01:59
and try to be the healthiest person I could be,
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尽可能达到最健康的状态
02:01
the healthiest person alive.
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成为世上最健康的人
02:03
So that's what I've been doing the last couple of years.
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所以过去几年内我做了刚才提到的那些事情
02:06
And I just finished a couple of months ago.
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我几个月前才刚刚停下来
02:08
And I have to say, thank God.
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我必须要说，谢天谢地终于结束了
02:10
Because living so healthily was killing me.
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因为那种健康的生活方式快要害死我了
02:13
(Laughter)
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（笑声）
02:15
It was so overwhelming,
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太让人受不了了
02:18
because the amount of things you have to do,
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因为有许多你不得不做的事情
02:20
it's just mind-boggling.
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数量多的让人难以置信
02:22
I was listening to all the experts
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我听取了所有专家的意见
02:24
and talking to sort of a board of medical advisers.
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和许多医疗顾问交流
02:26
And they were telling me
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他们告诉我
02:28
all the things I had to do.
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所有必需做的事情
02:30
I had to eat right,
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我必须正确膳食
02:32
exercise, meditate, pet dogs,
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锻炼，冥想，养宠物
02:35
because that lowers the blood pressure.
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因为那样可以降低血压
02:37
I wrote the book on a treadmill,
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我在跑步机上写书
02:39
and it took me about a thousand miles
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为了这本书，我跑了
02:41
to write the book.
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近1000公里
02:43
I had to put on sunscreen.
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我必须涂防晒霜
02:45
This was no small feat,
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这可是个大工程
02:47
because if you listen to dermatologists,
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因为如果你严格遵医嘱的话
02:49
they say that you should have a shot glass full of sunscreen.
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皮肤专家会告诉你，你要准备满满一玻璃杯的防晒霜
02:52
And you have to reapply it every two to four hours.
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同时，必须每2-4个小时再涂一次
02:54
So I think half of my book advance
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所以我觉得我的书的前一半都是
02:56
went into sunscreen.
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关于防晒霜的
02:58
I was like a glazed doughnut
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我一年中大部分时间就像个
03:00
for most of the year.
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光滑的甜甜圈
03:02
There was the washing of hands.
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关于洗手方面
03:04
I had to do that properly.
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必须洗的正确
03:06
And my immunologist told me
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免疫学家告诉我
03:08
that I should also wipe down
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我必须仔细擦拭
03:11
all of the remote controls and iPhones in my house,
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家里所有的遥控器和iPhone
03:14
because those are just orgies of germs.
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因为它们滋生大量的细菌
03:17
So that took a lot of time.
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这件事花费了我大量时间
03:19
I also tried to be the safest person I could be,
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我还尽我所能做个最安全的人
03:22
because that's a part of health.
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因为这也是健康的一部分
03:24
I was inspired
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我受到
03:26
by the Danish Safety Council.
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丹麦安全委员会的启发
03:28
They started a public campaign
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他们发起一个公益活动
03:30
that says, "A walking helmet is a good helmet."
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口号是：“步行专用头盔是个好头盔”
03:33
So they believe you should not just wear helmets for biking,
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他们认为不仅仅要在骑单车的时候戴头盔
03:37
but also for walking around.
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走路的时候同样需要
03:40
And you can see there
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如你所见
03:43
they're shopping with their helmets.
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他们连购物都带着头盔
03:45
(Laughter)
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（笑声）
03:47
Well yeah, I tried that.
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恩，我也尝试了
03:51
Now it's a little extreme, I admit.
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我承认这看来有些极端
03:53
But if you think about this,
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但是如果你想一下
03:55
this is actually -- the "Freakonomics" authors wrote about this --
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这实际上是因为--《魔鬼经济学》的作者写到过--
03:58
that more people die on a per mile basis
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以一英里为基准，死于酒后步行的人
04:01
from drunk walking
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多过
04:03
than from drunk driving.
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死于酒后驾驶的人
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So something to think about tonight
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如果你已经结婚了
04:07
if you've had a couple.
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你应该思考一下这个问题
04:10
So I finished,
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所以我完成了这些事情
04:12
and it was a success in a sense.
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某种程度上说是成功的
04:14
All of the markers went in the right direction.
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所有的指标都变得正常了
04:17
My cholesterol went down, I lost weight,
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我的胆固醇下降了，体重减轻了
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my wife stopped telling me that I looked pregnant.
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我妻子也不说我看上去像个孕妇了
04:24
So that was nice.
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这非常棒
04:27
And it was successful overall.
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总的来说是成功的
04:30
But I also learned that I was too healthy,
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但是我同样意识到，我过于健康了
04:32
and that was unhealthy.
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这本身也是不健康的
04:34
I was so focused on doing all these things
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我过度专注于做那些事情
04:37
that I was neglecting my friends and family.
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却忽视了我的朋友和家庭
04:40
And as Dan Buettner can tell you,
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就像丹·布特纳告诉大家的那样
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having a strong social network
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拥有一个广泛的社交网
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is so crucial to our health.
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对我们的健康至关重要
04:46
So I finished.
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我于是停止了这些健康计划
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And I kind of went overboard
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健康计划中止后的一周
04:51
on the week after the project was over.
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我让自己稍微放纵了一下
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I went to the dark side,
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开始了不健康的生活方式
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and I just indulged myself.
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尽情放任自己
04:58
It was like something out of Caligula.
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有点像《罗马帝国艳情史》里那样
05:00
(Laughter)
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（笑声）
05:02
Without the sex part.
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当然这里可没有关于性的部分
05:04
Because I have three young kids,
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因为我已经有三个孩子了
05:06
so that wasn't happening.
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因此不是你想的那样
05:09
But the over-eating and over-drinking, definitely.
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不过大吃大喝是肯定要有的
05:12
And I finally have stabilized.
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最后就稳定下来了
05:17
So now I'm back
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我现在又回到从前的我了
05:19
to adopting many -- not all; I don't wear a helmet anymore --
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我保留了许多过去一年中尝试过的方法--当然不是全部
05:22
but dozens of healthy behaviors
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我再也不带头盔了
05:25
that I adopted during my year.
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但是还是保留了不少健康的生活习惯
05:28
It was really a life-changing project.
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这真是个能够改变生活的计划
05:31
And I, of course, don't have time to go into all of them.
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当然，我没有足够的时间去逐个体验
05:34
Let me just tell you two really quickly.
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我只简单告诉大家两件事
05:37
The first is -- and this was surprising to me;
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首先是--一件让我感到惊讶的事情
05:39
I didn't expect this to come out --
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我之前并没有抱这个期望--
05:41
but I live a much quieter life now.
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但现在我却有了一个更安静的生活
05:44
Because we live in such a noisy world.
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我们生活在一个嘈杂的世界
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There's trains and planes and cars
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充斥着火车、飞机、汽车
05:51
and Bill O'Reilly, he's very noisy.
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和比尔·奥雷利（美国时事评论员），他吵死了
05:54
(Laughter)
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（笑声）
05:57
And this is a real underestimated, under-appreciated health hazard --
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这的确是一个被低估、被忽视的健康隐患--
06:02
not just because it harms our hearing, which it obviously does,
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不仅仅是因为它有损听力，这点是毫无疑问的
06:05
but it actually initiates
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它实际上还会让人产生
06:08
the fight-or-flight response.
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“攻击或逃离”这个心理应急机制
06:10
A loud noise will get your fight-or-flight response going.
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高分贝噪声会让你启动应急机制
06:13
And this, over the years,
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这样持续数年
06:16
can cause real damage, cardiovascular damage.
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会造成真正的损伤，心血管损伤
06:19
The World Health Organization just did a big study
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世界卫生组织做了一个大型研究
06:22
that they published this year.
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并于今年出版
06:24
And it was done in Europe.
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研究在欧洲进行
06:26
And they estimated
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他们预计
06:28
that 1.6 million years of healthy living
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人类过去160万年形成的健康生活方式
06:32
are lost every year in Europe
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在欧洲逐年减少
06:35
because of noise pollution.
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这正是由于噪音污染
06:38
So they think it's actually very deadly.
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他们认为噪音污染的确是非常致命的
06:41
And by the way,
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同时
06:43
it's also terrible for your brain.
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它还对人的大脑非常有害
06:46
It really impairs cognition.
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噪音污染会损害认知能力
06:49
And our Founding Fathers knew about this.
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我们的建国先父们认识到了这些
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When they wrote the Constitution,
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他们制定宪法的时候
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they put dirt all over the cobblestones outside the hall
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把泥土涂满白宫外面的鹅卵石
06:57
so that they could concentrate.
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这样他们就可以集中精力
07:00
So without noise reduction technology,
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因此没有消除噪音技术
07:03
our country would not exist.
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我们的国家就不会存在
07:06
So as a patriot,
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作为一名爱国者
07:08
I felt it was important to --
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我觉得这非常重要
07:10
I wear all the earplugs and the earphones,
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我戴着耳塞和耳机
07:12
and it's really improved my life
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这对我的生活确实很有帮助
07:15
in a surprising and unexpected way.
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出乎我的意料，超出了我的期望
07:18
And the second point I want to make, the final point,
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我想说的第二点，也是最后一点
07:21
is that -- and it's actually been a theme of TEDMED --
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实际上就是TEDMED的主题--
07:26
that joy is so important to your health,
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快乐对人的健康非常重要
07:30
that very few of these behaviors
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要不是这些行为可以带给我快乐和愉悦的感觉
07:34
will stick with me
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我很难
07:36
unless there's some sense of pleasure and joy in them.
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能坚持下来
07:41
And just to give you one instance of this:
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举一个例子
07:44
food.
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食物
07:46
The junk food industry
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垃圾食品行业
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is really great
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特别擅长
07:51
at pressing our pleasure buttons
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开启我们的愉悦感
07:53
and figuring out what's the most pleasurable.
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并带给我们最快乐的感受
07:56
But I think we can use their techniques
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但是我想我们可以将他们的技术
07:58
and apply them to healthy food.
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应用到健康食品领域
08:00
To give just one example,
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比如说
08:02
we love crunchiness, mouthfeel.
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我们喜欢脆脆的口感
08:05
So I basically have tried to incorporate crunchiness
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于是我试着把这种脆脆的口感加入到
08:09
into a lot of my recipes --
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我的许多食谱中--
08:11
throw in some sunflower seeds.
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比如放一些葵花籽进去
08:13
And you can almost trick yourself
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你就会有像吃多力多滋（玉米片）
08:15
into thinking you're eating Doritos.
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一样的口感
08:17
(Laughter)
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（笑声）
08:19
And it has made me a healthier person.
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这使我变得更健康
08:21
So that is it.
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就是这些
08:23
The book about it comes out in April.
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这本书四月面世
08:25
It's called "Drop Dead Healthy."
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书名叫做“不要盲目追求健康”
08:27
And I hope that I don't get sick during the book tour.
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我希望新书宣传的时候我不要病倒
08:29
That's my greatest hope.
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这是我最大的愿望
08:31
So thank you very much.
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非常感谢大家
08:33
(Applause)
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（掌声）
ABOUT THE SPEAKER
AJ Jacobs - AuthorImmersing himself in alternate lifestyles and long, hilarious experiments (usually with himself the guinea pig), writer AJ Jacobs tests the limits of behavior, customs, culture, knowledge -- and his wife's sense of humor.
Why you should listen
AJ Jacobs' writings stand at the intersection of philosophy, Gonzo journalism and performance art. Stubbornly curious and slyly perceptive, he takes immersive learning to its irrational and profoundly amusing extreme -- extracting wisdom and meaning after long stints as a self-styled guinea pig. For his widely circulated Esquire article "My Outsourced Life," he explored the phenomenon of outsourcing by hiring a team in Bangalore to take care of every part of his life -- from reading his emails to arguing with his wife to reading bedtime stories to his own son. A previous article, "I Think You're Fat," chronicled a brief, cringe-inducing attempt to live his life in Radical Honesty, telling all the truth, all the time.
Jacobs is author of The Know-It-All, which documents the year he spent reading the Encyclopedia Britannica from A to Z, uncovering both funny and surprising factoids but also poignant insight into history and human nature. In 2007 he released The Year of Living Biblically, in which he attempted to follow every single rule in the Bible as literally as possible for an entire year. His recent book The Guinea Pig Diaries: My Life as an Experiment is a collection of numerous personal experiments. including living according to George Washington's rules of conduct, outsourcing every single task to India, and posing as a woman on an online dating site.
AJ Jacobs | Speaker | TED.com