TEDGlobal 2013
Gavin Pretor-Pinney: Cloudy with a chance of joy
加文·普乐特-宾利: 加文·普乐特-宾利: 快乐从天而降
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无须计划一段异国风情之旅来寻找创意。「你只需要抬头看天就好。」云彩鉴赏协会的创办人，加文·普乐特-宾利这样说。在分享那些迷人的大自然最美的天空之城时，普乐特-宾利呼吁我们从“数位跑步机”走下来，躺下來欣赏天空中的美。
Gavin Pretor-Pinney - Cloudspotter
Cloud Appreciation Society founder Gavin Pretor-Pinney shows how seemingly idle pursuits provide unexpected paths to appreciating overlooked wonders. Full bio
Cloud Appreciation Society founder Gavin Pretor-Pinney shows how seemingly idle pursuits provide unexpected paths to appreciating overlooked wonders. Full bio
Double-click the English transcript below to play the video.
00:12
Clouds.
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云彩。
00:14
Have you ever noticed how much people moan about them?
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大家有没有注意到人们对云彩有多少抱怨吗？
00:17
They get a bad rap.
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他们有个坏名声。
00:19
If you think about it, the English language
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想想看，英语
00:22
has written into it negative associations towards the clouds.
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总是把消极的事物与云连系起来。
00:26
Someone who's down or depressed,
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如果有人意志消沉，
00:28
they're under a cloud.
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他们被“乌云”笼罩着。
00:30
And when there's bad news in store,
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如果有了坏消息，
00:32
there's a cloud on the horizon.
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就是地平线上出现了乌云。（习语，麻烦当前）
00:35
I saw an article the other day.
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有天我看了篇文章。
00:37
It was about problems with computer processing
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它是关于在互联网上的
00:40
over the Internet.
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计算机处理问题的。
00:42
"A cloud over the cloud," was the headline.
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标题是：“笼罩在云计算上的乌云。”
00:47
It seems like they're everyone's default
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好像云彩是每个人默认的用来表达
00:49
doom-and-gloom metaphor.
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厄运和阴郁的比喻。
00:51
But I think they're beautiful, don't you?
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但是我觉得它们很美，你们不觉得吗？
00:53
It's just that their beauty is missed
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只是因为它们无所不在，
00:56
because they're so omnipresent,
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它们的美被忽视了。
00:58
so, I don't know, commonplace,
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所以，我不知道，可能是太普通了，
01:02
that people don't notice them.
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人们都不注意它们。
01:03
They don't notice the beauty, but they don't even notice the clouds
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人们不注意这种美，他们甚至不注意云彩
01:06
unless they get in the way of the sun.
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除非他们挡住了太阳。
01:08
And so people think of clouds as
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因此人们把云彩当作那些
01:11
things that get in the way.
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碍事的东西。
01:13
They think of them as the annoying, frustrating obstructions,
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他们把云彩看作讨厌的、让人抓狂的障碍物，
01:18
and then they rush off and do some blue-sky thinking.
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然后人们行色匆匆的绘制各自的蓝图去了。
01:21
(Laughter)
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（笑声）
01:23
But most people, when you stop to ask them,
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但大多数人，如果你拦住问他们，
01:25
will admit to harboring a strange sort of fondness for clouds.
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会承认他们对云彩有一种奇怪的情愫。
01:30
It's like a nostalgic fondness,
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像是某种怀旧的喜爱之情，
01:33
and they make them think of their youth.
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云彩让他们回想到自己年少的时候。
01:36
Who here can't remember thinking, well,
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在坐的有谁记不起来
01:39
looking and finding shapes in the clouds
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看着云彩在中间寻找不同的形状的
01:42
when they were kids?
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少年时期？
01:43
You know, when you were masters of daydreaming?
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当大家都还是做白日梦大师的时候？
01:50
Aristophanes, the ancient Greek playwright,
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阿里斯托芬， 古希腊的剧作家，
01:53
he described the clouds as the patron godesses
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他在2500年前把云彩形容为
01:56
of idle fellows
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同僚们的
01:58
two and a half thousand years ago,
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守护女神，
01:59
and you can see what he means.
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你明白他是什么意思。
02:00
It's just that these days, us adults seem reluctant
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可惜现在，我们成年人无法
02:05
to allow ourselves the indulgence
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再让自己纵情于
02:09
of just allowing our imaginations
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让自己的想象力
02:11
to drift along in the breeze, and I think that's a pity.
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随波逐流，我觉得这真是一个遗憾。
02:15
I think we should perhaps do a bit more of it.
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我认为我们也许应该多做一些这样的事情。
02:18
I think we should be a bit more willing, perhaps,
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我觉得我们应该要更愿意
02:21
to look at the beautiful sight of the sunlight bursting out
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欣赏美丽的阳光从云彩后面穿透过来，
02:24
from behind the clouds and go, "Wait a minute,
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然后说，“等等，这多像
02:28
that's two cats dancing the salsa!"
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两只猫在跳骚莎舞啊！“
02:30
(Laughter) (Applause)
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（笑声）（掌声）
02:32
Or seeing the big, white, puffy one up there
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或者是把购物中心上的那个
02:37
over the shopping center looks like
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白白胖胖的云彩看作是
02:39
the Abominable Snowman going to rob a bank.
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一个正要去抢劫银行的雪人。
02:43
(Laughter)
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（笑声）
02:46
They're like nature's version of those inkblot images,
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它们就像是大自然版的墨迹图片，
02:50
you know, that shrinks used to show their patients
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你知道，那些在60年代用来为心理学家的病人做
02:52
in the '60s,
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测试的图片，
02:54
and I think if you consider the shapes you see in the clouds,
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我觉得如果你在云彩中寻找不同的图案的话，
02:57
you'll save money on psychoanalysis bills.
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你会省下一大笔心理咨询费。
03:01
Let's say you're in love. All right?
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比如说你现在正在热恋中， 好吧？
03:03
And you look up and what do you see?
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然后你抬头看，你会看到什么？
03:05
Right? Or maybe the opposite.
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对吧？或者也许正相反。
03:08
You've just been dumped by your partner,
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你刚被交往对象给甩了，
03:10
and everywhere you look, it's kissing couples.
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你所看之处都是在接吻的情侣们。
03:13
(Laughter)
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（笑声）
03:15
Perhaps you're having a moment of existential angst.
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或者你正在焦虑中。
03:19
You know, you're thinking about your own mortality.
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你知道，你在思考自己的死亡。
03:21
And there, on the horizon, it's the Grim Reaper.
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然后在地平线的那边，出现了死神。
03:24
(Laughter)
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（笑声）
03:27
Or maybe you see a topless sunbather.
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或者也许你看到了一个无上装正在晒日光浴的人。
03:31
(Laughter)
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（笑声）
03:32
What would that mean?
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那是什么意思？
03:36
What would that mean? I have no idea.
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这意味着什么？我不知道。
03:41
But one thing I do know is this:
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但是我知道一件事就是：
03:43
The bad press that clouds get is totally unfair.
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云彩得到这些坏名声是非常不公平的。
03:47
I think we should stand up for them,
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我认为我们应该为它们正身，
03:48
which is why, a few years ago,
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这就是为什么几年前，
03:49
I started the Cloud Appreciation Society.
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我发起了云彩鉴赏协会。
03:53
Tens of thousands of members now
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现在已经有成千上万的会员了。
03:55
in almost 100 countries around the world.
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他们遍布于全世界大概100个国家。
03:57
And all these photographs that I'm showing,
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所有这些我在展示的图片，
04:00
they were sent in by members.
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都是会员们拍摄的。
04:02
And the society exists to remind people of this:
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协会的宗旨就是提醒人们：
04:06
Clouds are not something to moan about.
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云彩不是用来发牢骚的。
04:09
Far from it. They are, in fact,
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正好相反，它们实际上代表着
04:11
the most diverse, evocative, poetic aspect of nature.
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大自然最变化无穷、富于感染力和诗意的一面。
04:19
I think, if you live with your head in the clouds
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我认为，如果你让自己时不时的沉浸在云彩中，
04:22
every now and then, it helps you keep your feet on the ground.
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它会帮助你让你的生活脚踏实地。
04:25
And I want to show you why, with the help of
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我要借助一些我最喜欢的云彩
04:27
some of my favorite types of clouds.
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来帮助我解释为什么。
04:29
Let's start with this one. It's the cirrus cloud,
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让我们先看看这个。这是卷云，
04:31
named after the Latin for a lock of hair.
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用拉丁人的一缕头发来命名的。
04:34
It's composed entirely of ice crystals
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它完全是由从上面的对流层
04:36
cascading from the upper reaches of the troposphere,
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级联下来的冰晶组成，
04:38
and as these ice crystals fall,
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当这些冰晶下落的时候，
04:40
they pass through different layers with different winds
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它们穿过带有不同的风力的各个大气层
04:42
and they speed up and slow down,
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然后它们或加速或减速，
04:44
giving the cloud these brush-stroked appearances,
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让这片云有了画笔刷过的图案，
04:47
these brush-stroke forms known as fall streaks.
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这些图案形式被称作“雨幡”。
04:50
And these winds up there can be very, very fierce.
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而这上面的风力可以非常、非常的强。
04:52
They can be 200 miles an hour, 300 miles an hour.
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它们可以达到每小时200或者300英哩。
04:55
These clouds are bombing along,
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这些云彩也跟着前进，
04:56
but from all the way down here,
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但是从我们这里看过去，
04:58
they appear to be moving gracefully, slowly,
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它们的运动看上去平和、缓慢，
05:01
like most clouds.
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就像大多数云一样。
05:03
And so to tune into the clouds is to slow down,
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所以和云彩同步就意味着慢下来、
05:07
to calm down.
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沉静下来。
05:09
It's like a bit of everyday meditation.
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这有点像是每日的冥想一样。
05:11
Those are common clouds.
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这些是很普通的云。
05:13
What about rarer ones, like the lenticularis,
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那些比较罕见的云呢？比如说荚状云，
05:15
the UFO-shaped lenticularis cloud?
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形似外星飞船的荚状云？
05:18
These clouds form in the region of mountains.
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这些云在山区形成。
05:20
When the wind passes, rises to pass over the mountain,
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当风经过上升来翻过大山，
05:23
it can take on a wave-like path in the lee of the peak,
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它会在山峰的背风处形成一个浪头式的路径，
05:26
with these clouds hovering at the crest
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这些云彩徘徊在这些无形的风波
05:29
of these invisible standing waves of air,
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的最顶端，
05:32
these flying saucer-like forms,
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这些飞碟状的形态，
05:34
and some of the early black-and-white UFO photos
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而早期的一些黑白外星飞船照片
05:37
are in fact lenticularis clouds. It's true.
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就是荚状云。 真的。
05:40
A little rarer are the fallstreak holes. All right?
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有点更罕见的是云洞（雨雪幡洞）， 好吧？
05:44
This is when a layer is made up of very, very cold
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这是当某个云层由非常寒冷的水滴组成，
05:46
water droplets, and in one region they start to freeze,
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在某个局部地区水滴开始结冰，
05:49
and this freezing sets off a chain reaction which spreads outwards
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然后形成一种向外扩散的
05:52
with the ice crystals cascading and falling down below,
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伴随着冰晶向下坠落的链式反应，
05:55
giving the appearance of jellyfish tendrils down below.
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使之呈现一种水母的须状表象。
05:59
Rarer still, the Kelvin–Helmholtz cloud.
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更稀奇的还是，开尔文 - 亥姆霍兹云。
06:04
Not a very snappy name. Needs a rebrand.
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并不是个非常响亮的名字。需要换一个。
06:07
This looks like a series of breaking waves,
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它就像是一排浪花，
06:11
and it's caused by shearing winds -- the wind
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这是由剪断阻隔风力 －
06:13
above the cloud layer and below the cloud layer
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在云层上方和下方的风速
06:15
differ significantly, and in the middle, in between,
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有很大的不同，而在中间层，
06:18
you get this undulating of the air,
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就出现了这中波浪起伏的气层，
06:20
and if the difference in those speeds is just right,
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如果上下的风速正合适的话，
06:22
the tops of the undulations curl over
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波浪的顶端就会卷曲过来
06:24
in these beautiful breaking wave-like vortices.
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形成这种美丽的排浪式的漩涡。
06:28
All right. Those are rarer clouds than the cirrus,
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好了，这些是比较少见的云彩，
06:30
but they're not that rare.
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但是它们其实不是那个罕见。
06:32
If you look up, and you pay attention to the sky,
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如果你抬头看，注视天空，
06:35
you'll see them sooner or later,
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你总有机会看到它们，
06:37
maybe not quite as dramatic as these, but you'll see them.
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也许不会像这些这么戏剧化，但是你会看到它们。
06:40
And you'll see them around where you live.
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并且你也会在自己居住的附近看到它们。
06:42
Clouds are the most egalitarian
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云彩是自然界里
06:44
of nature's displays, because we all have a good,
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分布最平均的，因为我们都可以
06:47
fantastic view of the sky.
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很好的看到天空。
06:50
And these clouds, these rarer clouds,
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而这些云，这些少见的云，
06:52
remind us that the exotic can be found in the everyday.
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会提醒我们新奇的事物在日常生活中随处可见。
06:56
Nothing is more nourishing, more stimulating
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没有什么比让一个活跃、好奇的头脑
06:59
to an active, inquiring mind than being surprised,
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获得惊喜更滋养、更受益匪浅的了。
07:02
being amazed. It's why we're all here at TED, right?
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这也是我们为什么来TED的原因，不是吗？
07:06
But you don't need to rush off
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但是你不用行色匆匆的
07:09
away from the familiar, across the world
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远离熟悉的环境，周游世界
07:11
to be surprised.
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来获得惊喜。
07:13
You just need to step outside,
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你只需要走出去，
07:16
pay attention to what's so commonplace, so everyday,
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注意每天生活中那些如此普通，
07:18
so mundane that everybody else misses it.
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平凡到每个人都忽略的事物。
07:22
One cloud that people rarely miss is this one:
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最稀疏平常的云彩是这个：
07:25
the cumulonimbus storm cloud.
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积雨云的风暴云.
07:28
It's what's produces thunder and lightning and hail.
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它负责制造雷、电和冰雹。
07:30
These clouds spread out at the top in this enormous
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这些云在顶端像一块巨大的铁砧一样
07:33
anvil fashion stretching 10 miles up into the atmosphere.
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摊开来并绵延10英里向上进入大气层。
07:36
They are an expression of the majestic architecture
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它们是我们的大气层宏大建筑的
07:39
of our atmosphere.
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一种表达。
07:41
But from down below, they are the embodiment
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但是从下面我们的角度看，它们象征着
07:45
of the powerful, elemental force and power
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一种推动着大气层的强大的、
07:49
that drives our atmosphere.
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势如破竹的力量。
07:51
To be there is to be connected in the driving rain
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此时我们与风雨和冰雹连系起来，
07:55
and the hail, to feel connected to our atmosphere.
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让我们感觉与我们的大气层连系起来。
07:58
It's to be reminded that we are creatures
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这提醒着我们是生活在
08:00
that inhabit this ocean of air.
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这空气之海中的生灵。
08:02
We don't live beneath the sky. We live within it.
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我们不是在天空下生活着。我们被它环绕着。
08:06
And that connection, that visceral connection to our atmosphere
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而这种连系，这种内外相连的感觉
08:10
feels to me like an antidote.
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对我来说是一种宽慰和解放。
08:12
It's an antidote to the growing tendency we have
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这是一种对日趋增长的认为
08:15
to feel that we can really ever experience life
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盯着电脑屏幕就可以体驗人生
08:19
by watching it on a computer screen, you know,
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的想法的解放，你知道，
08:21
when we're in a wi-fi zone.
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当你有无线网可用的时候。
08:24
But the one cloud that best expresses
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但是一个最好的证明
08:26
why cloudspotting is more valuable today than ever
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为什么赏云在今天比以往更宝贵的云彩
08:29
is this one, the cumulus cloud.
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就是这个，积云。
08:32
Right? It forms on a sunny day.
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不是吗？我们在一个晴天就能看到它。
08:34
If you close your eyes and think of a cloud,
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如果你闭上眼睛想象一朵云彩，
08:36
it's probably one of these that comes to mind.
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很有可能你会想到这样一朵云彩。
08:39
All those cloud shapes at the beginning,
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所有那些最先看到的云彩形状，
08:41
those were cumulus clouds.
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它们都是积云。
08:43
The sharp, crisp outlines of this formation
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它锐利、清晰的轮廓
08:47
make it the best one for finding shapes in.
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让它最合适从中找到各种形状。
08:50
And it reminds us
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而这也提醒我们
08:52
of the aimless nature of cloudspotting,
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赏云的无目的性。
08:56
what an aimless activity it is.
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这是一个多么没有目标的活动啊。
08:58
You're not going to change the world
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你不会凭着
09:00
by lying on your back and gazing up at the sky, are you?
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舒服地躺下盯着天空而改变世界， 会吗？
09:04
It's pointless. It's a pointless activity,
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多么没有意义。这是一个没有意义的活动，
09:06
which is precisely why it's so important.
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这也是为什么赏云这么重要的原因。
09:11
The digital world conspires to make us feel
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数位世界让我们感觉
09:15
eternally busy, perpetually busy.
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不停的、永远忙碌着。
09:18
You know, when you're not dealing with
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当你不再处理过去那种
09:20
the traditional pressures of earning a living
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生活压力、赚钱买必需的食物、
09:23
and putting food on the table, raising a family,
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养家糊口、
09:25
writing thank you letters,
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写感谢信，
09:27
you have to now contend with
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你现在得面对
09:30
answering a mountain of unanswered emails,
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回答无数的未回邮件、
09:34
updating a Facebook page,
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更新脸书页面和
09:35
feeding your Twitter feed.
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发布推特信息。
09:38
And cloudspotting legitimizes doing nothing.
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而赏云则崇尚无所事事。
09:42
(Laughter)
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（笑声）
09:44
And sometimes we need —
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有的时候我们需要 －－
09:46
(Applause)
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（掌声）
09:52
Sometimes we need excuses to do nothing.
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有时我们需要借口来无所事事。
09:56
We need to be reminded by these
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我们需要用这些
09:59
patron goddesses of idle fellows
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悠闲的同僚们的守护女神
10:02
that slowing down
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提醒自己慢下来
10:05
and being in the present, not thinking about
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并体会当下的那个时刻，不要思考
10:09
what you've got to do and what you should have done,
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你还需要做什么和你本应该完成什么，
10:12
but just being here, letting your imagination
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但就在此时此地，让你的想象力
10:15
lift from the everyday concerns down here
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从日常关注中脱离出来
10:17
and just being in the present, it's good for you,
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只关注现在， 这对你有好处，
10:20
and it's good for the way you feel.
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对你的感性有好处。
10:22
It's good for your ideas. It's good for your creativity.
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它对你的想法和创造力也有好处。
10:26
It's good for your soul.
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对你的灵魂也有益。
10:29
So keep looking up,
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保持抬头看，
10:32
marvel at the ephemeral beauty,
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惊叹于那短暂的美丽吧，
10:35
and always remember to live life with your head in the clouds.
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永远记住带着赏云的思想生活。
10:38
Thank you very much.
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非常感谢
10:39
(Applause)
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（掌声）
ABOUT THE SPEAKER
Gavin Pretor-Pinney - CloudspotterCloud Appreciation Society founder Gavin Pretor-Pinney shows how seemingly idle pursuits provide unexpected paths to appreciating overlooked wonders.
Why you should listen
As co-founder of The Idler magazine, Gavin Pretor-Pinney is a longtime advocate of the joys of time ill-spent. In The Cloudspotter's Guide and The Cloud Collector's Handbook, he tackles the idlest pursuit of all: cloudwatching.
Pretor-Pinney’s blend of tranquil appreciation and hard science have floated his cloud books to the top of bestseller lists. For Pretor-Pinney, clouds illustrate how mundane phenomena reveal the complex vectors that connect the natural wonders around us.
Pretor-Pinney is also the author of The Wavewatcher's Companion.
Gavin Pretor-Pinney | Speaker | TED.com