ABOUT THE SPEAKER
Alison Gopnik - Child development psychologist
Alison Gopnik takes us into the fascinating minds of babies and children, and shows us how much we understand before we even realize we do.

Why you should listen

What’s it really like to see through the eyes of a child? Are babies and young children just empty, irrational vessels to be formed into little adults, until they become the perfect images of ourselves? On the contrary, argues Alison Gopnik, professor of psychology and philosophy at the University of California at Berkeley.

The author of The Philosophical BabyThe Scientist in the Crib and other influential books on cognitive development, Gopnik presents evidence that babies and children are conscious of far more than we give them credit for, as they engage every sense and spend every waking moment discovering, filing away, analyzing and acting on information about how the world works. Gopnik’s work draws on psychological, neuroscientific, and philosophical developments in child development research to understand how the human mind learns, how and why we love, our ability to innovate, as well as giving us a deeper appreciation for the role of parenthood.

She says: "What's it like to be a baby? Being in love in Paris for the first time after you've had 3 double espressos."

More profile about the speaker
Alison Gopnik | Speaker | TED.com
TEDGlobal 2011

Alison Gopnik: What do babies think?

艾莉森·高普尼克:婴儿在想什么?

Filmed:
4,341,974 views

心理学家艾莉森·高普尼克说:“婴儿和小孩子就像人类的研究部和开发部一样。”她的研究探索了婴儿们在每天玩耍时如何积累智慧和作出抉择。
- Child development psychologist
Alison Gopnik takes us into the fascinating minds of babies and children, and shows us how much we understand before we even realize we do. Full bio

Double-click the English transcript below to play the video.

00:15
What is going on
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这位宝宝
00:17
in this baby's宝宝 mind心神?
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在想什么?
00:19
If you'd asked people this 30 years年份 ago,
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如果你在30年前问这个问题,
00:21
most people, including包含 psychologists心理学家,
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大多数人,包括心理学家,
00:23
would have said that this baby宝宝 was irrational不合理的,
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会告诉你这个小孩没有理性的,
00:26
illogical不通, egocentric自我中心 --
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没逻辑, 以自我为中心——
00:28
that he couldn't不能 take the perspective透视 of another另一个 person
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他不会站在他人的角度思考
00:30
or understand理解 cause原因 and effect影响.
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或者不明白因果关系。
00:32
In the last 20 years年份,
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在过去的20年里,
00:34
developmental发展的 science科学 has completely全然 overturned朝天 that picture图片.
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发育学彻底地颠覆了这个观念。
00:37
So in some ways方法,
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从某些角度来看,
00:39
we think that this baby's宝宝 thinking思维
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这个宝宝的思维
00:41
is like the thinking思维 of the most brilliant辉煌 scientists科学家们.
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和大多数聪明的科学家的思维相同。
00:45
Let me give you just one example of this.
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我可以举个这样的例子。
00:47
One thing that this baby宝宝 could be thinking思维 about,
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这位宝宝可能在思考某件事,
00:50
that could be going on in his mind心神,
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在他的脑袋瓜中,
00:52
is trying to figure数字 out
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他想要弄清楚
00:54
what's going on in the mind心神 of that other baby宝宝.
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其他婴儿在想些什么。
00:57
After all, one of the things that's hardest最难 for all of us to do
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毕竟,我们最难办到的一件事
01:00
is to figure数字 out what other people are thinking思维 and feeling感觉.
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是理解他人的想法和感觉。
01:03
And maybe the hardest最难 thing of all
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而最难办到的事
01:05
is to figure数字 out that what other people think and feel
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是理解他人的想法和感觉
01:08
isn't actually其实 exactly究竟 like what we think and feel.
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和我们自己的不完全一致。
01:10
Anyone任何人 who's谁是 followed其次 politics政治 can testify作证
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任何追寻过政治的都可以证明
01:12
to how hard that is for some people to get.
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了解他人的想法是多么困难。
01:15
We wanted to know
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我们想要知道
01:17
if babies婴儿 and young年轻 children孩子
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宝宝和小孩子
01:19
could understand理解 this really profound深刻 thing about other people.
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能否理解其他人的奥秘。
01:22
Now the question is: How could we ask them?
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目前的问题是: 我们如何与宝宝们沟通呢?
01:24
Babies婴儿, after all, can't talk,
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他们还不会说话,
01:26
and if you ask a three year-old
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当你问一个三岁的小孩
01:28
to tell you what he thinks,
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他在想什么时,
01:30
what you'll你会 get is a beautiful美丽 stream of consciousness意识 monologue独白
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他的回答将会是一串精彩的意识流独白
01:33
about ponies小马 and birthdays生日 and things like that.
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关于小型木马,生日,或是类似的答案。
01:36
So how do we actually其实 ask them the question?
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那我们应该如何向他们提问呢?
01:39
Well it turns out that the secret秘密 was broccoli西兰花.
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秘密居然是花椰菜。
01:42
What we did -- Betty贝蒂 RapacholiRapacholi, who was one of my students学生们, and I --
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我们用的方法是——我的一个学生,贝蒂拉帕求利和我
01:46
was actually其实 to give the babies婴儿 two bowls of food餐饮:
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给了这些宝宝们两碗食物:
01:49
one bowl of raw生的 broccoli西兰花
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一碗生的花椰菜
01:51
and one bowl of delicious美味的 goldfish金鱼 crackers饼干.
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一碗是好吃的金鱼饼干。
01:54
Now all of the babies婴儿, even in Berkley伯克利,
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所有的宝宝,包括在柏克莱的那些,
01:57
like the crackers饼干 and don't like the raw生的 broccoli西兰花.
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选择了饼干而不是生的花椰菜。
02:00
(Laughter笑声)
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(笑声)
02:02
But then what Betty贝蒂 did
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但是贝蒂随后
02:04
was to take a little taste味道 of food餐饮 from each bowl.
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品尝了这两种食物。
02:07
And she would act法案 as if she liked喜欢 it or she didn't.
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然后作出了喜欢或不喜欢的表情。
02:09
So half the time, she acted行动
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有一半的情况,
02:11
as if she liked喜欢 the crackers饼干 and didn't like the broccoli西兰花 --
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她的反应和宝宝还有正常人一样——
02:13
just like a baby宝宝 and any other sane明智的 person.
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喜欢饼干而不喜欢花椰菜的表情。
02:16
But half the time,
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但另一半情况,
02:18
what she would do is take a little bit of the broccoli西兰花
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她是吃一点花椰菜
02:20
and go, "MmmmmMMMMM, broccoli西兰花.
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然后说:"Mmmmm,花椰菜。
02:23
I tasted the broccoli西兰花. MmmmmMMMMM."
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我吃了花椰菜。"
02:26
And then she would take a little bit of the crackers饼干,
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然后当她吃到饼干的时候,
02:28
and she'd go, "EwwEWW, yuck, crackers饼干.
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她说:"饼干真难吃。
02:32
I tasted the crackers饼干. EwwEWW, yuck."
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我居然吃了饼干。真恶心。"
02:35
So she'd act法案 as if what she wanted
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所以她假装自己喜欢吃的
02:37
was just the opposite对面 of what the babies婴儿 wanted.
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和宝宝们喜欢的恰恰相反。
02:40
We did this with 15 and 18 month-old月龄 babies婴儿.
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我们对15个月和18个月大的宝宝们做了这个实验。
02:42
And then she would simply只是 put her hand out and say,
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贝蒂将自己的手伸出说:
02:45
"Can you give me some?"
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“能给我点吗?"
02:47
So the question is: What would the baby宝宝 give her,
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但大家都想知道:宝宝会给她什么,
02:49
what they liked喜欢 or what she liked喜欢?
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是贝蒂喜欢的还是自己喜欢的?
02:51
And the remarkable卓越 thing was that 18 month-old月龄 babies婴儿,
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让人惊讶的是18岁大的宝宝,
02:54
just barely仅仅 walking步行 and talking,
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虽然还没有开始走路和说话,
02:56
would give her the crackers饼干 if she liked喜欢 the crackers饼干,
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给了贝蒂饼干如果她喜欢饼干,
02:59
but they would give her the broccoli西兰花 if she liked喜欢 the broccoli西兰花.
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但给了她花椰菜如果她喜欢的是花椰菜。
03:02
On the other hand,
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另一方面,
03:04
15 month-olds月婴儿 would stare at her for a long time
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15岁大的宝宝会望着贝蒂
03:06
if she acted行动 as if she liked喜欢 the broccoli西兰花,
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如果她说自己喜欢花椰菜,
03:08
like they couldn't不能 figure数字 this out.
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宝宝们还是不知道。
03:11
But then after they stared盯着 for a long time,
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但在观察了一段时间之后,
03:13
they would just give her the crackers饼干,
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他们给了贝蒂饼干,
03:15
what they thought everybody每个人 must必须 like.
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因为觉得所有人都会喜欢,
03:17
So there are two really remarkable卓越 things about this.
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所以这项实验有两个值得关注的发现。
03:20
The first one is that these little 18 month-old月龄 babies婴儿
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首先是这些18个月大的孩子
03:23
have already已经 discovered发现
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已经开始注意
03:25
this really profound深刻 fact事实 about human人的 nature性质,
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一个人性的奥秘,
03:27
that we don't always want the same相同 thing.
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那就是我们想要的东西不同。
03:29
And what's more, they felt that they should actually其实 do things
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还有, 他们意识到自己应该做点
03:31
to help other people get what they wanted.
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帮助他人达成愿望的事。
03:34
Even more remarkably异常 though虽然,
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但更让人值得关注的是,
03:36
the fact事实 that 15 month-olds月婴儿 didn't do this
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15个月大的宝宝们没有这种意识
03:39
suggests提示 that these 18 month-olds月婴儿 had learned学到了
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说明18月大的懂得了
03:42
this deep, profound深刻 fact事实 about human人的 nature性质
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一个人性的奥秘
03:45
in the three months个月 from when they were 15 months个月 old.
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而当他们3个月前还没有意识到。
03:48
So children孩子 both know more and learn学习 more
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所以宝宝们知道的和学到的
03:50
than we ever would have thought.
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比我们想象中要多得多。
03:52
And this is just one of hundreds数以百计 and hundreds数以百计 of studies学习 over the last 20 years年份
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而只是在过去20年里的上百项调查的其中之一
03:56
that's actually其实 demonstrated证明 it.
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证明了这个观点。
03:58
The question you might威力 ask though虽然 is:
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但是你也许想要问:
04:00
Why do children孩子 learn学习 so much?
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小孩子为什么学到这么多呢?
04:03
And how is it possible可能 for them to learn学习 so much
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在这么短的时间里
04:05
in such这样 a short time?
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他们怎么能办得到呢?
04:07
I mean, after all, if you look at babies婴儿 superficially表面上,
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我是说, 如果你只从表面来观察这些宝宝,
04:09
they seem似乎 pretty漂亮 useless无用.
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他们似乎没什么用。
04:11
And actually其实 in many许多 ways方法, they're worse更差 than useless无用,
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事实上在很多方面,他们比没用还没用。
04:14
because we have to put so much time and energy能源
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因为我们需要花如此多的时间和经历
04:16
into just keeping保持 them alive.
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才能让他们生存。
04:18
But if we turn to evolution演化
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如果我们从进化的角度
04:20
for an answer回答 to this puzzle难题
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来寻找
04:22
of why we spend so much time
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我们为什么要花这么多时间
04:24
taking服用 care关心 of useless无用 babies婴儿,
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来照料这些没用的宝宝们的答案时,
04:27
it turns out that there's actually其实 an answer回答.
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我们找到了一个答案。
04:30
If we look across横过 many许多, many许多 different不同 species种类 of animals动物,
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如果我们观察各种不同种类的动物,
04:33
not just us primates灵长类动物,
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不光是灵长类,
04:35
but also including包含 other mammals哺乳动物, birds鸟类,
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包括其它哺乳动物和鸟类,
04:37
even marsupials有袋动物
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还有有袋目哺乳动物
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like kangaroos袋鼠 and wombats袋熊,
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比如像袋鼠和袋熊,
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it turns out that there's a relationship关系
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结果是
04:43
between之间 how long a childhood童年 a species种类 has
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动物的孩童时期长度
04:47
and how big their brains大脑 are compared相比 to their bodies身体
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和它们的脑部大小与身体的比例
04:51
and how smart聪明 and flexible灵活 they are.
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还有它们的智慧和灵敏是存在关系的。
04:53
And sort分类 of the posterbirdsposterbirds for this idea理念 are the birds鸟类 up there.
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图片上的鸟可以证明这个观点。
04:56
On one side
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左边是一只
04:58
is a New Caledonian加里 crow乌鸦.
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新喀里多尼亚岛的乌鸦。
05:00
And crows乌鸦 and other corvidae鸦科, ravens乌鸦, rooks鲁克斯 and so forth向前,
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像乌鸦, 其它雅科, 渡鸦, 和秃鼻乌鸦那类的鸟,
05:03
are incredibly令人难以置信 smart聪明 birds鸟类.
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都非常的聪明。
05:05
They're as smart聪明 as chimpanzees黑猩猩 in some respects尊重.
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它们在一些方面就像猩猩一样聪明。
05:08
And this is a bird on the cover of science科学
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这只鸟是科学杂志的封面
05:10
who's谁是 learned学到了 how to use a tool工具 to get food餐饮.
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它学会了如何用工具来取得食物。
05:13
On the other hand,
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另一张图片上的鸟,
05:15
we have our friend朋友 the domestic国内 chicken.
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是我们的朋友家养鸡。
05:17
And chickens and ducks鸭子 and geese and turkeys火鸡
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鸡,鸭,鹅,火鸡
05:20
are basically基本上 as dumb as dumps转储.
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基本上可以说是笨得不能再笨。
05:22
So they're very, very good at pecking for grain粮食,
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它们虽然很擅长啄食,
05:25
and they're not much good at doing anything else其他.
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但其它方面就不行了。
05:28
Well it turns out that the babies婴儿,
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可这些幼鸟,
05:30
the New Caledonian加里 crow乌鸦 babies婴儿, are fledglings幼鸟.
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我是说新喀里多尼亚岛的幼年乌鸦,它们刚长羽毛。
05:32
They depend依靠 on their moms妈妈
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在长达两年的时间里
05:34
to drop下降 worms蠕虫 in their little open打开 mouths嘴巴
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它们完全依赖妈妈来喂它们虫子
05:37
for as long as two years年份,
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来喂它们虫子,
05:39
which哪一个 is a really long time in the life of a bird.
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而两年对于一只鸟的生命来说是非常长的一段时间。
05:41
Whereas the chickens are actually其实 mature成熟
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鸡相对来说要成长的较快
05:43
within a couple一对 of months个月.
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只需要两个月的时间。
05:45
So childhood童年 is the reason原因
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乌鸦成为科学杂志封面的原因
05:48
why the crows乌鸦 end结束 up on the cover of Science科学
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是因为它们的童年
05:50
and the chickens end结束 up in the soup pot.
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而鸡的下场是变成锅里的汤。
05:52
There's something about that long childhood童年
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在它们两年的童年里
05:55
that seems似乎 to be connected连接的
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有某些因素
05:57
to knowledge知识 and learning学习.
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似乎和知识与学习有关系。
05:59
Well what kind of explanation说明 could we have for this?
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原因究竟是什么呢?
06:02
Well some animals动物, like the chicken,
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像鸡这类的动物,
06:05
seem似乎 to be beautifully精美 suited合适的
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好像只擅长
06:07
to doing just one thing very well.
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把某一件事做好。
06:09
So they seem似乎 to be beautifully精美 suited合适的
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那件事
06:12
to pecking grain粮食 in one environment环境.
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就是在一个环境中啄食。
06:14
Other creatures生物, like the crows乌鸦,
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像乌鸦这种动物,
06:16
aren't very good at doing anything in particular特定,
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不擅长做好某件事,
06:18
but they're extremely非常 good
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但在适应不同的环境方面
06:20
at learning学习 about laws法律 of different不同 environments环境.
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它们非常擅长。
06:22
And of course课程, we human人的 beings众生
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当然,我们人类在到了像乌鸦那种穷途末路时,
06:24
are way out on the end结束 of the distribution分配 like the crows乌鸦.
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我们比它们更能想到解决的办法。
06:27
We have bigger brains大脑 relative相对的 to our bodies身体
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我们的大脑和四肢的比例
06:29
by far than any other animal动物.
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目前还没有任何动物能超过。
06:31
We're smarter聪明, we're more flexible灵活,
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我们有更多的智慧和更强的适应性,
06:33
we can learn学习 more,
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可以学到更多知识,
06:35
we survive生存 in more different不同 environments环境,
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还能在更多不同的环境下生存,
06:37
we migrated迁移 to cover the world世界 and even go to outer space空间.
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人类在地球各处居住,甚至上了外太空。
06:40
And our babies婴儿 and children孩子 are dependent依赖的 on us
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我们的孩子对我们的依赖的时间
06:43
for much longer than the babies婴儿 of any other species种类.
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超过任何动物对父母的依赖,
06:46
My son儿子 is 23.
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我儿子现年23岁。
06:48
(Laughter笑声)
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(笑声)
06:50
And at least最小 until直到 they're 23,
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在他们23岁之前,
06:52
we're still popping those worms蠕虫
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我们还会把食物
06:54
into those little open打开 mouths嘴巴.
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送到他们的嘴里。
06:57
All right, why would we see this correlation相关?
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我们为什么看到这样的一个关联?
07:00
Well an idea理念 is that that strategy战略, that learning学习 strategy战略,
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答案是学习的技巧,
07:04
is an extremely非常 powerful强大, great strategy战略 for getting得到 on in the world世界,
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它非常有用,对成功也很有帮助,
07:07
but it has one big disadvantage坏处.
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但也有它的不利。
07:09
And that one big disadvantage坏处
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这个不利便是
07:11
is that, until直到 you actually其实 do all that learning学习,
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在你学会之前,
07:14
you're going to be helpless无助.
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你将无法提供任何帮助。
07:16
So you don't want to have the mastodon乳齿象 charging充电 at you
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当一只乳齿象向你冲来的时候
07:19
and be saying to yourself你自己,
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你不会去想
07:21
"A slingshot弹弓 or maybe a spear might威力 work. Which哪一个 would actually其实 be better?"
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“我到底应该用矛来刺还是用弹弓来射?”
07:25
You want to know all that
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你在乳齿象出现之前
07:27
before the mastodons乳齿象 actually其实 show显示 up.
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就需要知道应该怎么做。
07:29
And the way the evolutions变阵 seems似乎 to have solved解决了 that problem问题
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而进化论似乎已经解决了这个问题
07:32
is with a kind of division of labor劳动.
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通过劳动分工。
07:34
So the idea理念 is that we have this early period when we're completely全然 protected保护.
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所以普遍看法是早期的时候我们是被保护着的。
07:37
We don't have to do anything. All we have to do is learn学习.
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我们不需要做任何事。只学就够了。
07:40
And then as adults成年人,
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但当我们成年后,
07:42
we can take all those things that we learned学到了 when we were babies婴儿 and children孩子
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可以把幼年和童年时学到的东西加以运用
07:45
and actually其实 put them to work to do things out there in the world世界.
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并让这些知识在社会中起到作用。
07:48
So one way of thinking思维 about it
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第一种解释是
07:50
is that babies婴儿 and young年轻 children孩子
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婴儿和小孩子
07:52
are like the research研究 and development发展 division of the human人的 species种类.
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就好比研究和开发人类的部门一样。
07:55
So they're the protected保护 blue蓝色 sky天空 guys
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他们在受保护的人群。
07:58
who just have to go out and learn学习 and have good ideas思路,
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只需要寻找和学习新的知识,
08:00
and we're production生产 and marketing营销.
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而我们成年人扮演的是制作和营销的角色。
08:02
We have to take all those ideas思路
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我们需要把所有
08:04
that we learned学到了 when we were children孩子
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从孩子那里学到的知识
08:06
and actually其实 put them to use.
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应用到现实生活里。
08:08
Another另一个 way of thinking思维 about it
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另一种解释
08:10
is instead代替 of thinking思维 of babies婴儿 and children孩子
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反对把婴儿和小孩子
08:12
as being存在 like defective缺陷 grownups大人,
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当作是有缺陷的成人
08:14
we should think about them
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而是把他们当作是
08:16
as being存在 a different不同 developmental发展的 stage阶段 of the same相同 species种类 --
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处于不同的发展时段但是归类于同一种类
08:18
kind of like caterpillars毛毛虫 and butterflies蝴蝶 --
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就像虫蛹和蝴蝶那样
08:21
except that they're actually其实 the brilliant辉煌 butterflies蝴蝶
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不过他们是比蝴蝶要智慧得多
08:23
who are flitting飞来飞去 around the garden花园 and exploring探索,
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因为孩子们可以在花园中游走与探索
08:26
and we're the caterpillars毛毛虫
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而我们大人就是虫蛹
08:28
who are inching微调 along沿 our narrow狭窄, grownup长大, adult成人 path路径.
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在我们狭窄的道路上慢慢地爬行。
08:31
If this is true真正, if these babies婴儿 are designed设计 to learn学习 --
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如果第二种解释是真的。那这些小宝宝天生就是学习的料
08:34
and this evolutionary发展的 story故事 would say children孩子 are for learning学习,
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从进化论来看,他们天生就在学习,
08:37
that's what they're for --
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学习就是他们的本性——
08:39
we might威力 expect期望
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我们可以想象
08:41
that they would have really powerful强大 learning学习 mechanisms机制.
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他们可能有非常巧妙的学习技巧
08:43
And in fact事实, the baby's宝宝 brain
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事实上,小孩子的大脑
08:46
seems似乎 to be the most powerful强大 learning学习 computer电脑
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仿佛是整个星球上
08:48
on the planet行星.
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最强的计算机.
08:50
But real真实 computers电脑 are actually其实 getting得到 to be a lot better.
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但真正的计算机其实暂时已经无法超越了。
08:53
And there's been a revolution革命
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最近,在我们对机器学习的理解上
08:55
in our understanding理解 of machine learning学习 recently最近.
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发生了一场革命。
08:57
And it all depends依靠 on the ideas思路 of this guy,
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这场革命完全是靠这个人的想法,
09:00
the Reverend牧师 Thomas托马斯 Bayes贝叶斯,
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他就是神父托马斯贝斯,
09:02
who was a statistician统计员 and mathematician数学家 in the 18th century世纪.
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18世纪时的一个统计学家和数学家。
09:05
And essentially实质上 what Bayes贝叶斯 did
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他最大的贡献
09:08
was to provide提供 a mathematical数学的 way
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是通过数学
09:10
using运用 probability可能性 theory理论
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使用机率定理
09:12
to characterize表征, describe描述,
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描述了科学家探索世界的方式,
09:14
the way that scientists科学家们 find out about the world世界.
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并将其个性化。
09:16
So what scientists科学家们 do
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科学家们的方法
09:18
is they have a hypothesis假设 that they think might威力 be likely容易 to start开始 with.
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是先准备一个假设
09:21
They go out and test测试 it against反对 the evidence证据.
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然后为该假设找根据
09:23
The evidence证据 makes品牌 them change更改 that hypothesis假设.
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根据会使他们改变假设
09:25
Then they test测试 that new hypothesis假设
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然后他们就开始新的假设
09:27
and so on and so forth向前.
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过程就是这样。
09:29
And what Bayes贝叶斯 showed显示 was a mathematical数学的 way that you could do that.
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贝斯将该过程转换为一个数学公式。
09:32
And that mathematics数学 is at the core核心
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数学在目前最好的机器学习项目开发中
09:34
of the best最好 machine learning学习 programs程式 that we have now.
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起了重要作用。
09:36
And some 10 years年份 ago,
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大约10年前,
09:38
I suggested建议 that babies婴儿 might威力 be doing the same相同 thing.
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我提出过小孩的思考过程和科学家相同。
09:42
So if you want to know what's going on
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所以你想知道在他们漂亮的棕色眼睛下面
09:44
underneath those beautiful美丽 brown棕色 eyes眼睛,
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是什么样的一个世界,
09:46
I think it actually其实 looks容貌 something like this.
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我有自己的看法。
09:48
This is Reverend牧师 Bayes's贝叶斯 notebook笔记本.
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这是贝斯神父的笔记。
09:50
So I think those babies婴儿 are actually其实 making制造 complicated复杂 calculations计算
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我认为这些小孩子在做复杂的计算
09:53
with conditional有条件的 probabilities概率 that they're revising修订
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通过自定的条件机率
09:56
to figure数字 out how the world世界 works作品.
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来理解世间万物。
09:58
All right, now that might威力 seem似乎 like an even taller order订购 to actually其实 demonstrate演示.
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当然,这个要实际说明很困难。
10:02
Because after all, if you ask even grownups大人 about statistics统计,
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因为就算你问大人统计问题,
10:04
they look extremely非常 stupid.
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他们也会一问三不知。
10:06
How could it be that children孩子 are doing statistics统计?
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那孩子们怎么可能会做统计呢?
10:09
So to test测试 this we used a machine that we have
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为了证明这个观点
10:11
called the BlicketBlicket Detector探测器.
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我们用了一个叫做玩具侦探的仪器
10:13
This is a box that lights灯火 up and plays播放 music音乐
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如果你在这个箱子上放一些东西,其它的上面不放
10:15
when you put some things on it and not others其他.
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那它可以发光还伴有音乐。
10:18
And using运用 this very simple简单 machine,
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用这个简单的仪器,
10:20
my lab实验室 and others其他 have doneDONE dozens许多 of studies学习
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我的实验和其它实验做了几十项研究
10:22
showing展示 just how good babies婴儿 are
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证明了小孩子们在理解世间万物上
10:24
at learning学习 about the world世界.
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是多么得聪明。
10:26
Let me mention提到 just one
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我举一个例子
10:28
that we did with TumarTumar Kushner库什纳, my student学生.
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一个和我学生图玛库什纳做的实验。
10:30
If I showed显示 you this detector探测器,
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单看这个仪器,
10:32
you would be likely容易 to think to begin开始 with
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你也许觉得
10:34
that the way to make the detector探测器 go
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让它开始运作的方式是
10:36
would be to put a block on top最佳 of the detector探测器.
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将一块积木摆在上面
10:39
But actually其实, this detector探测器
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但这个仪器其实
10:41
works作品 in a bit of a strange奇怪 way.
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有点奇怪
10:43
Because if you wave a block over the top最佳 of the detector探测器,
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因为你如果在仪器的上方摇摆一块积木三次,
10:46
something you wouldn't不会 ever think of to begin开始 with,
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很多人一开始都不会这样做,
10:49
the detector探测器 will actually其实 activate启用 two out of three times.
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那这个仪器会被启动两次。
10:52
Whereas, if you do the likely容易 thing, put the block on the detector探测器,
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然而,如果你把积木摆在仪器的上面六次,
10:55
it will only activate启用 two out of six times.
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那只有两次会启动。
10:59
So the unlikely不会 hypothesis假设
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所以说看似不大可能发生的假设
11:01
actually其实 has stronger evidence证据.
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其实有更有力的证据。
11:03
It looks容貌 as if the waving挥手
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摇摆看起来
11:05
is a more effective有效 strategy战略 than the other strategy战略.
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比其它方法更有效
11:07
So we did just this; we gave four year-olds岁的孩子 this pattern模式 of evidence证据,
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我们做了这样的实验;给了4岁的孩子这个线索
11:10
and we just asked them to make it go.
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然后问他们怎么才能启动仪器。
11:12
And sure enough足够, the four year-olds岁的孩子 used the evidence证据
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这些孩子当然选择用我们提供的线索
11:15
to wave the object目的 on top最佳 of the detector探测器.
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将手中的东西对着仪器摇。
11:18
Now there are two things that are really interesting有趣 about this.
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实验过程中有两个有趣的发现。
11:21
The first one is, again, remember记得, these are four year-olds岁的孩子.
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首先,记住这些孩子只有四岁。
11:24
They're just learning学习 how to count计数.
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他们才刚刚学会数数。
11:26
But unconsciously不知不觉,
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但是在没有意识的情况下,
11:28
they're doing these quite相当 complicated复杂 calculations计算
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他们会用复杂的计算
11:30
that will give them a conditional有条件的 probability可能性 measure测量.
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来算出条件机率。
11:33
And the other interesting有趣 thing
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第二个有趣的发现
11:35
is that they're using运用 that evidence证据
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是他们会用提供的线索
11:37
to get to an idea理念, get to a hypothesis假设 about the world世界,
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来寻找一个观点,对世界定一个假设,
11:40
that seems似乎 very unlikely不会 to begin开始 with.
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一个不太能站得住脚的假设。
11:43
And in studies学习 we've我们已经 just been doing in my lab实验室, similar类似 studies学习,
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在我实验室里的类似研究,
11:46
we've我们已经 show显示 that four year-olds岁的孩子 are actually其实 better
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我们发现4岁的小孩
11:48
at finding发现 out an unlikely不会 hypothesis假设
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在相同的任务下,比大人更擅长
11:51
than adults成年人 are when we give them exactly究竟 the same相同 task任务.
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找那个不大可能发生的假设。
11:54
So in these circumstances情况,
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在这些情况下,
11:56
the children孩子 are using运用 statistics统计 to find out about the world世界,
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小孩子用统计来了解世界,
11:59
but after all, scientists科学家们 also do experiments实验,
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但科学家会做实验。
12:02
and we wanted to see if children孩子 are doing experiments实验.
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所以我们想知道小孩会不会也在做实验。
12:05
When children孩子 do experiments实验 we call it "getting得到 into everything"
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小孩做的实验我们称它为“尝试每一种可能”
12:08
or else其他 "playing播放."
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或者是“玩一玩。”
12:10
And there's been a bunch of interesting有趣 studies学习 recently最近
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最近有很多有意思的研究显示了
12:13
that have shown显示 this playing播放 around
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孩子的随意尝试
12:16
is really a kind of experimental试验 research研究 program程序.
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的确可以作为一个研究项目。
12:18
Here's这里的 one from CristineCristine Legare'sLegare的 lab实验室.
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这是克里斯汀·勒加雷的一项实验。
12:21
What CristineCristine did was use our BlicketBlicket Detectors探测器.
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克里斯汀使用了了我们的玩具侦探仪器。
12:24
And what she did was show显示 children孩子
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她向孩子展示
12:26
that yellow黄色 ones那些 made制作 it go and red ones那些 didn't,
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黄色才能启动仪器,红色不行,
12:28
and then she showed显示 them an anomaly不规则.
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然后又向孩子们展示了一个奇怪现象。
12:31
And what you'll你会 see
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你等一下就可以看到
12:33
is that this little boy男孩 will go through通过 five hypotheses假设
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这个小男孩会在两分钟内
12:36
in the space空间 of two minutes分钟.
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测试五个假设。
12:39
(Video视频) Boy男孩: How about this?
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(视频) 这个怎么样?
12:43
Same相同 as the other side.
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这边也一样。
12:46
Alison艾莉森 Gopnik高普尼克: Okay, so his first hypothesis假设 has just been falsified伪造.
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所以他的第一个假设已经被否认了。
12:55
(Laughter笑声)
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(笑声)
12:57
Boy男孩: This one lighted发光的 up, and this one nothing.
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这个亮了,这个没有。
13:00
AGAG: Okay, he's got his experimental试验 notebook笔记本 out.
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看到没有,他开始记笔记了。
13:06
Boy男孩: What's making制造 this light up.
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这盏灯为什么亮呢。
13:11
(Laughter笑声)
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(笑声)
13:20
I don't know.
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我不知道。
13:22
AGAG: Every一切 scientist科学家 will recognize认识 that expression表达 of despair绝望.
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科学家们都见过这种绝望的表情。
13:26
(Laughter笑声)
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(笑声)
13:29
Boy男孩: Oh, it's because this needs需求 to be like this,
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我知道了。这个要这样,
13:35
and this needs需求 to be like this.
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然后这个是这样。
13:37
AGAG: Okay, hypothesis假设 two.
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第二个假设。
13:40
Boy男孩: That's why.
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我知道了。
13:42
Oh.
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哦。
13:44
(Laughter笑声)
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(笑声)
13:49
AGAG: Now this is his next下一个 idea理念.
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他有了第三个想法。
13:51
He told the experimenter实验者 to do this,
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他告诉实验者这样做,
13:53
to try putting it out onto the other location位置.
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试着把它放在一边。
13:57
Not working加工 either.
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还是不行
14:02
Boy男孩: Oh, because the light goes only to here,
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男孩:啊,因为只有这里会亮,
14:06
not here.
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这里不会
14:09
Oh, the bottom底部 of this box
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盒子下面呢
14:12
has electricity电力 in here,
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这里有电,
14:14
but this doesn't have electricity电力.
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但这边没电。
14:16
AGAG: Okay, that's a fourth第四 hypothesis假设.
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他的第四个假设。
14:18
Boy男孩: It's lighting灯光 up.
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男孩:亮了。
14:20
So when you put four.
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你要在上面放四个。
14:26
So you put four on this one to make it light up
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你在这上面摆四个
14:29
and two on this one to make it light up.
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这上面摆两个。
14:31
AGAG: Okay,there's his fifth第五 hypothesis假设.
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测试他的第五个假设。
14:33
Now that is a particularly尤其 --
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这个小男孩——
14:36
that is a particularly尤其 adorable可爱的 and articulate说出 little boy男孩,
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特别可爱,说话也很清楚,
14:39
but what CristineCristine discovered发现 is this is actually其实 quite相当 typical典型.
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但是克里斯汀的发现其实很正常。
14:42
If you look at the way children孩子 play, when you ask them to explain说明 something,
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如果你在小孩玩的时候观察他们,或是要他们回答某个问题,
14:45
what they really do is do a series系列 of experiments实验.
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他们会做一系列的尝试。
14:48
This is actually其实 pretty漂亮 typical典型 of four year-olds岁的孩子.
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这对于四岁的儿童来说很普遍。
14:51
Well, what's it like to be this kind of creature生物?
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当小孩子是什么样一种经历呢?
14:54
What's it like to be one of these brilliant辉煌 butterflies蝴蝶
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像那些聪明的蝴蝶一样
14:57
who can test测试 five hypotheses假设 in two minutes分钟?
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在两分钟内测试五个假设?
15:00
Well, if you go back to those psychologists心理学家 and philosophers哲学家,
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如果你问心理学家和哲学家,
15:03
a lot of them have said
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他们大部分说了
15:05
that babies婴儿 and young年轻 children孩子 were barely仅仅 conscious意识
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婴儿和小孩子几乎在他们的意识
15:07
if they were conscious意识 at all.
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方面没有任何意识。
15:09
And I think just the opposite对面 is true真正.
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而我的看法确恰恰相反。
15:11
I think babies婴儿 and children孩子 are actually其实 more conscious意识 than we are as adults成年人.
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我认为小孩子的意识事实上比我们大人的要强得多。
15:14
Now here's这里的 what we know about how adult成人 consciousness意识 works作品.
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我们知道的一些关于大人的意识的事情。
15:17
And adults'成人 attention注意 and consciousness意识
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大人的注意力和意识
15:19
look kind of like a spotlight聚光灯.
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就像一盏聚光灯。
15:21
So what happens发生 for adults成年人
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但是大人
15:23
is we decide决定 that something's什么是 relevant相应 or important重要,
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会自己决定哪些事有关,哪些事重要,
15:25
we should pay工资 attention注意 to it.
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哪些事值得我们注意。
15:27
Our consciousness意识 of that thing that we're attending出席 to
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我们对所关注事情的意识
15:29
becomes extremely非常 bright and vivid生动,
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变得非常明亮,非常清晰,
15:32
and everything else其他 sort分类 of goes dark黑暗.
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其它事就反而比较暗淡。
15:34
And we even know something about the way the brain does this.
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我们甚至大概知道我们的大脑为什么指挥我们这样做。
15:37
So what happens发生 when we pay工资 attention注意
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那当我们集中精力时
15:39
is that the prefrontal前额叶 cortex皮质, the sort分类 of executive行政人员 part部分 of our brains大脑,
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前额的皮层,在我们大脑中起着执行的作用,
15:42
sends发送 a signal信号
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发出一个信号
15:44
that makes品牌 a little part部分 of our brain much more flexible灵活,
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让我们脑部的一小部分变得更灵活,
15:46
more plastic塑料, better at learning学习,
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更柔软,更会学习,
15:48
and shuts启闭 down activity活动
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让脑部的其它部分
15:50
in all the rest休息 of our brains大脑.
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全部休息。
15:52
So we have a very focused重点, purpose-driven目标导向 kind of attention注意.
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我们的注意力非常集中,有目的。
15:56
If we look at babies婴儿 and young年轻 children孩子,
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如果对婴儿和小孩注意力的进行观察,
15:58
we see something very different不同.
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我们会发现他们完全和我们不一样。
16:00
I think babies婴儿 and young年轻 children孩子
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我觉得婴儿和小孩
16:02
seem似乎 to have more of a lantern灯笼 of consciousness意识
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他们意识更像一盏灯笼
16:04
than a spotlight聚光灯 of consciousness意识.
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而不像聚光灯。
16:06
So babies婴儿 and young年轻 children孩子 are very bad
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所以他们不擅长
16:09
at narrowing变窄 down to just one thing.
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将问题简化。
16:12
But they're very good at taking服用 in lots of information信息
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但他们非常在行在同一时间里
16:15
from lots of different不同 sources来源 at once一旦.
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吸收不同来源提供的信息。
16:17
And if you actually其实 look in their brains大脑,
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如果你研究他们的大脑,
16:19
you see that they're flooded with these neurotransmitters神经递质
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你就会看到里面有大量的神经传递素
16:22
that are really good at inducing感应 learning学习 and plasticity可塑性,
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这些传递素对学习和柔软性方面都有很大帮助,
16:24
and the inhibitory抑制 parts部分 haven't没有 come on yet然而.
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而且我们尚未发现任何带阻止性的元素。
16:27
So when we say that babies婴儿 and young年轻 children孩子
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当我们说这些孩子
16:29
are bad at paying付款 attention注意,
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注意力不够集中时,
16:31
what we really mean is that they're bad at not paying付款 attention注意.
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其实是说他们在分散注意力方面不擅长。
16:35
So they're bad at getting得到 rid摆脱
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那就意味着他们很难
16:37
of all the interesting有趣 things that could tell them something
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将注意力只集中在重要问题上
16:39
and just looking at the thing that's important重要.
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而遗漏那些为他们提供线索的事情。
16:41
That's the kind of attention注意, the kind of consciousness意识,
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这是一种注意力,一种知觉,
16:44
that we might威力 expect期望
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我们从那些生来就会学习的蝴蝶身上
16:46
from those butterflies蝴蝶 who are designed设计 to learn学习.
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见过的知觉。
16:48
Well if we want to think about a way
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如果我们大人
16:50
of getting得到 a taste味道 of that kind of baby宝宝 consciousness意识 as adults成年人,
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也想体验一下小孩的那种知觉,
16:54
I think the best最好 thing is think about cases
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我认为我们可以想象一下
16:56
where we're put in a new situation情况 that we've我们已经 never been in before --
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给自己一个从未遇到过的状况——
16:59
when we fall秋季 in love with someone有人 new,
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比如说当我们有了新的恋人,
17:01
or when we're in a new city for the first time.
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或是来到一个新城市。
17:04
And what happens发生 then is not that our consciousness意识 contracts合同,
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结果不是我们的知觉收缩,
17:06
it expands展开,
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它反而扩大,
17:08
so that those three days in Paris巴黎
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在巴黎的三天
17:10
seem似乎 to be more full充分 of consciousness意识 and experience经验
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充满了更多的感觉和经历
17:12
than all the months个月 of being存在
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而整个月的走路,谈话,同事开会,
17:14
a walking步行, talking, faculty学院 meeting-attending会议,参加 zombie僵尸 back home.
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还有僵尸般的回家路相对变得模糊。
17:18
And by the way, that coffee咖啡,
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另外,咖啡,
17:20
that wonderful精彩 coffee咖啡 you've been drinking downstairs楼下,
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你常在楼下喝的咖啡,
17:22
actually其实 mimics模仿 the effect影响
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其实有类似
17:24
of those baby宝宝 neurotransmitters神经递质.
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婴儿神经传递素的效应。
17:26
So what's it like to be a baby宝宝?
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当小孩到底是什么感觉?
17:28
It's like being存在 in love
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它就像在第一次来到巴黎
17:30
in Paris巴黎 for the first time
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在你喝了三杯双份浓缩咖啡之后
17:32
after you've had three double-espressos双特浓咖啡.
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恋爱了。
17:34
(Laughter笑声)
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(笑声)
17:37
That's a fantastic奇妙 way to be,
413
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这种幻觉很棒,
17:39
but it does tend趋向 to leave离开 you waking醒来 up crying哭了 at three o'clock in the morning早上.
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但它会在凌晨三点中把你叫醒,哭泣。
17:43
(Laughter笑声)
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(笑声)
17:46
Now it's good to be a grownup长大.
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当大人也很好。
17:48
I don't want to say too much about how wonderful精彩 babies婴儿 are.
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小孩子有多好我也不多说了。
17:50
It's good to be a grownup长大.
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总之当大人很好。
17:52
We can do things like tie领带 our shoelaces鞋带 and cross交叉 the street by ourselves我们自己.
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我们可以绑自己的鞋带还能自己过马路。
17:55
And it makes品牌 sense that we put a lot of effort功夫
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可以理解为什么我们花这么多时间
17:57
into making制造 babies婴儿 think like adults成年人 do.
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让小孩以大人的方式思考。
18:01
But if what we want is to be like those butterflies蝴蝶,
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但我们需要像这些小蝴蝶学习。
18:04
to have open-mindedness开明, open打开 learning学习,
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才能思想开放,灵活学习,
18:07
imagination想像力, creativity创造力, innovation革新,
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加强想象力,创造力,还有创新,
18:09
maybe at least最小 some of the time
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至少在某些时候
18:11
we should be getting得到 the adults成年人
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我们需要让大人
18:13
to start开始 thinking思维 more like children孩子.
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开始学习小孩的思考方式。
18:15
(Applause掌声)
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(掌声)
Translated by Chunda Zeng
Reviewed by Felix Chen

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ABOUT THE SPEAKER
Alison Gopnik - Child development psychologist
Alison Gopnik takes us into the fascinating minds of babies and children, and shows us how much we understand before we even realize we do.

Why you should listen

What’s it really like to see through the eyes of a child? Are babies and young children just empty, irrational vessels to be formed into little adults, until they become the perfect images of ourselves? On the contrary, argues Alison Gopnik, professor of psychology and philosophy at the University of California at Berkeley.

The author of The Philosophical BabyThe Scientist in the Crib and other influential books on cognitive development, Gopnik presents evidence that babies and children are conscious of far more than we give them credit for, as they engage every sense and spend every waking moment discovering, filing away, analyzing and acting on information about how the world works. Gopnik’s work draws on psychological, neuroscientific, and philosophical developments in child development research to understand how the human mind learns, how and why we love, our ability to innovate, as well as giving us a deeper appreciation for the role of parenthood.

She says: "What's it like to be a baby? Being in love in Paris for the first time after you've had 3 double espressos."

More profile about the speaker
Alison Gopnik | Speaker | TED.com