ABOUT THE SPEAKER
Alan Kay - Educator and computing pioneer
One of the true luminaries of personal computing, Alan Kay conceived of laptops and graphical interfaces years before they were realized. At XeroxPARC, Apple, HP and Disney, he has developed tools for improving the mind.

Why you should listen

"The best way to predict the future is to invent it." Alan Kay not only coined this favorite tech-world adage, but has proven its truth several times. A true polymath, as well as inventor, he has combined engineering brilliance with knowledge of child development, epistemology, molecular biology and more.

In the 1960s, Kay joined the computer team at XeroxPARC, where he worked on world-changing inventions like the graphical interface, object-oriented programming, and the personal computer itself. Later, at Apple, Atari, HP, Disney, and now at his own nonprofits, he has helped refine the tools he anticipated long before they were realized.

As the industry has blossomed, however, Kay continues to grapple with the deeper purpose of computing, struggling to create the machine that won't only recapitulate patterns in the world as we know it but will teach both children and adults to think, to see what otherwise is beyond them.

More profile about the speaker
Alan Kay | Speaker | TED.com
TED2007

Alan Kay: A powerful idea about ideas

艾伦·凯演绎非凡创见

Filmed:
851,991 views

艾伦·凯素以睿智和机敏著称,他设想出使用电脑来帮助孩子体验各种事物,而这样的体验,不管是从数学上而言,还是从科学上而言,都是只有计算机才能做得到的。
- Educator and computing pioneer
One of the true luminaries of personal computing, Alan Kay conceived of laptops and graphical interfaces years before they were realized. At XeroxPARC, Apple, HP and Disney, he has developed tools for improving the mind. Full bio

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

00:18
A great way to start开始, I think, with my view视图 of simplicity简单
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要谈什么是简单,我想最好的开题方式
00:22
is to take a look at TEDTED. Here you are, understanding理解 why we're here,
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就是看看活跃在TED会场上的头脑 你们现在都能明白自己为何会在这里
00:29
what's going on with no difficulty困难 at all.
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知道现在有什么事情在发生 并且作出这样的判断都是不需费劲的
00:34
The best最好 A.I. in the planet行星 would find it complex复杂 and confusing扑朔迷离,
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而世界上最厉害的人工智能则会认为这是非常复杂、茫然无绪
00:38
and my little dog Watson沃森 would find it simple简单 and understandable可理解
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而我家的小狗则会认为这是简单且容易理解的
00:43
but would miss小姐 the point.
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可是它却根本上歪曲了原意
00:45
(Laughter笑声)
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(笑声)
00:48
He would have a great time.
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它也许很开心
00:51
And of course课程, if you're a speaker扬声器 here, like Hans汉斯 Rosling罗斯林,
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假如你能像汉斯·罗斯林那样讲得有趣生动
00:56
a speaker扬声器 finds认定 this complex复杂, tricky狡猾. But in Hans汉斯 Rosling's罗斯林的 case案件,
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有些人可能会认为这样的复杂性很难理解
01:01
he had a secret秘密 weapon武器 yesterday昨天,
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但是罗斯林却有一套秘密(来帮助你理解)
01:03
literally按照字面, in his sword swallowing吞咽 act法案.
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我说的是 他竟然施起口吞宝剑的绝技来了
01:07
And I must必须 say, I thought of quite相当 a few少数 objects对象
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这让我想到
01:09
that I might威力 try to swallow today今天 and finally最后 gave up on,
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我今天也可以玩一下吞东西的杂技 但我最终还是放弃了
01:14
but he just did it and that was a wonderful精彩 thing.
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但是罗斯林做了 我认为那是很了不起一件事情
01:18
So Puck冰球 meant意味着 not only are we fools傻瓜 in the pejorative贬义 sense,
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所以说 帕克说我们是傻子时不单单是带有嘲笑的口吻
01:23
but that we're easily容易 fooled上当. In fact事实, what Shakespeare莎士比亚
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我们确实很容易被愚弄
01:27
was pointing指点 out is we go to the theater剧院 in order订购 to be fooled上当,
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莎士比亚就曾经说过 我们上剧院 就是为了被戏弄
01:30
so we're actually其实 looking forward前锋 to it.
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我们内心是有这样一种欲望的
01:34
We go to magic魔法 shows节目 in order订购 to be fooled上当.
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我们去看魔术表演也是同样道理
01:36
And this makes品牌 many许多 things fun开玩笑, but it makes品牌 it difficult to actually其实
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这就让很多事情变得有趣 但是这样一来
01:44
get any kind of picture图片 on the world世界 we live生活 in or on ourselves我们自己.
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我们就很难看出世界以及自身的生存状况
01:48
And our friend朋友, Betty贝蒂 Edwards爱德华兹,
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我们的朋友 贝蒂·艾伍兹
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the "Drawing画画 on the Right Side of the Brain" lady淑女, shows节目 these two tables
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她告诉我们要用右脑来画画 并且
01:53
to her drawing画画 class and says,
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给她的学生展示了两张桌子 然后说
01:58
"The problem问题 you have with learning学习 to draw
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画画的一大难题
02:02
is not that you can't move移动 your hand,
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不是你自己不会运笔
02:04
but that the way your brain perceives察觉 images图片 is faulty不完善的.
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而是在于你的大脑观察图像的方式是有错的
02:10
It's trying to perceive感知 images图片 into objects对象
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就是把图像看成是实物
02:12
rather than seeing眼看 what's there."
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而不是单纯的只看到图像本身
02:14
And to prove证明 it, she says, "The exact精确 size尺寸 and shape形状 of these tabletops桌面
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她说 这两个桌面的形状和大小都是一样的
02:19
is the same相同, and I'm going to prove证明 it to you."
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我现在就给大家演示一下
02:22
She does this with cardboard纸板, but since以来 I have
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她是用纸板做演示的
02:25
an expensive昂贵 computer电脑 here
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我这里有一台价格不菲的电脑
02:28
I'll just rotate回转 this little guy around and ...
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我就用电脑做吧 我把它转过来
02:34
Now having seen看到 that -- and I've seen看到 it hundreds数以百计 of times,
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虽然我已经几百次重复这样的演示
02:37
because I use this in every一切 talk I give -- I still can't see
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因为我做的每一次演讲都会用到这个演示
02:41
that they're the same相同 size尺寸 and shape形状, and I doubt怀疑 that you can either.
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可我还是不能相信他们是具有同样的形状和 大小的 我想你也不一定肯定的这么说
02:46
So what do artists艺术家 do? Well, what artists艺术家 do is to measure测量.
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那么艺术家们会怎么做?他们会去测量
02:51
They measure测量 very, very carefully小心.
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他们会测量得非常非常仔细
02:53
And if you measure测量 very, very carefully小心 with a stiff僵硬 arm and a straight直行 edge边缘,
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要是你非常认真的拿着一把直尺、绷紧双臂去量的话
02:57
you'll你会 see that those two shapes形状 are
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你会发现 那两个形状是
02:59
exactly究竟 the same相同 size尺寸.
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完全一样大小的
03:02
And the Talmud塔木德 saw this a long time ago, saying,
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《塔木德》一书很早就有这样的记载
03:07
"We see things not as they are, but as we are."
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我们看到的事物 并不是它们本身的形态 而是他们反映在我们的头脑和思维中的形态
03:10
I certainly当然 would like to know what happened发生 to the person
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我很想知道 当初认识到这一点的人
03:12
who had that insight眼光 back then,
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假如他能够将这种想法付诸实践的话
03:15
if they actually其实 followed其次 it to its ultimate最终 conclusion结论.
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最终将得到什么启示
03:21
So if the world世界 is not as it seems似乎 and we see things as we are,
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假如说世界并非如我们所观察到的那个样子 而是我们自身按照自己的理解来看待这个世界
03:23
then what we call reality现实 is a kind of hallucination幻觉
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那么我们所言的现实 就是一种幻觉
03:29
happening事件 inside here. It's a waking醒来 dream梦想,
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它就发生在大脑里 我们都沉醉于梦国
03:32
and understanding理解 that that is what we actually其实 exist存在 in
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而要意识到这样一种生存状况
03:37
is one of the biggest最大 epistemological认识论 barriers障碍 in human人的 history历史.
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就是人类历史上最大的知识论局限
03:42
And what that means手段: "simple简单 and understandable可理解"
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那就意味着:所谓的“简单、可理解”
03:44
might威力 not be actually其实 simple简单 or understandable可理解,
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可能事实上既不简单 又不容易理解
03:47
and things we think are "complex复杂" might威力 be made制作 simple简单 and understandable可理解.
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而那些我们认为是复杂的事物则是由简单、可理解的事物组成的
03:53
Somehow不知何故 we have to understand理解 ourselves我们自己 to get around our flaws破绽.
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我们需要理解自我 才能走出我们自身的一些缺陷
03:57
We can think of ourselves我们自己 as kind of a noisy嘈杂 channel渠道.
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我们可以把自己当成是一种噪声信道
03:59
The way I think of it is, we can't learn学习 to see
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我认为 除非我们承认自己是盲的
04:04
until直到 we admit承认 we're blind.
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否则我们不能学会看东西
04:06
Once一旦 you start开始 down at this very humble谦卑 level水平,
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一旦你从这样谦卑的位置开始做
04:10
then you can start开始 finding发现 ways方法 to see things.
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你就可以掌握看事情的办法
04:13
And what's happened发生, over the last 400 years年份 in particular特定,
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特别是在过去的400年里
04:18
is that human人的 beings众生 have invented发明 "brainletsbrainlets" --
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人类发明了“脑挂”(brainlet)
04:21
little additional额外 parts部分 for our brain --
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就是各种对大脑的辅助装置
04:25
made制作 out of powerful强大 ideas思路 that help us
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这些装置帮助我们
04:27
see the world世界 in different不同 ways方法.
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去以一种不一样的眼光 去看待这个世界
04:29
And these are in the form形成 of sensory感觉的 apparatus仪器 --
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它们通常是作为人体感官之辅助出现
04:32
telescopes望远镜, microscopes显微镜 -- reasoning推理 apparatus仪器 --
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比如望远镜、显微镜
04:37
various各个 ways方法 of thinking思维 -- and, most importantly重要的,
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以及各种思维上的辅助工具
04:41
in the ability能力 to change更改 perspective透视 on things.
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以及更重要的 就是以全新的视角去看待同样的问题
04:45
I'll talk about that a little bit.
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我今天要谈的就是这个问题
04:46
It's this change更改 in perspective透视
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恰恰是这种视野上的改变
04:48
on what it is we think we're perceiving感知
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以及我们看待事物的态度
04:51
that has helped帮助 us make more progress进展 in the last 400 years年份
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使得我们得以在过去的400年里取得了巨大的进步
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than we have in the rest休息 of human人的 history历史.
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这是人类历史上未曾有过的
04:58
And yet然而, it is not taught in any K through通过 12 curriculum课程 in America美国 that I'm aware知道的 of.
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可是 这样的理念却没有在任何一间幼儿园到中学的课堂上得以呈现
05:11
So one of the things that goes from simple简单 to complex复杂
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我们做事情做得越来越多的时候
05:13
is when we do more. We like more.
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事情就会从简单变为复杂 人喜欢更多的东西
05:16
If we do more in a kind of a stupid way,
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假如我们是以一种傻乎乎的方式去做事
05:19
the simplicity简单 gets得到 complex复杂
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那么简单的事情也会变得复杂
05:22
and, in fact事实, we can keep on doing it for a very long time.
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事实上 我们可以长期做这样的事情
05:27
But Murray穆雷 Gell-Mann盖尔曼 yesterday昨天 talked about emergent应急 properties性能;
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默里·盖尔曼昨天就提到了一个叫“涌现”的特征
05:30
another另一个 name名称 for them could be "architecture建筑"
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其另一名字就是“建筑”
05:34
as a metaphor隐喻 for taking服用 the same相同 old material材料
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就是把同样的古老的材料
05:38
and thinking思维 about non-obvious非显而易见性, non-simple非简单 ways方法 of combining结合 it.
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通过不寻常的、不简单的方式来加以组合
05:45
And in fact事实, what Murray穆雷 was talking about yesterday昨天 in the fractal分形 beauty美女 of nature性质 --
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事实上 盖尔曼昨天提到的自然的分形之美
05:53
of having the descriptions说明
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就是指可以在不同的层次
05:55
at various各个 levels水平 be rather similar类似 --
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存在结构类似的解释
05:59
all goes down to the idea理念 that the elementary初级 particles粒子
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而所有的一切皆可归结到基本粒子的解释
06:04
are both sticky and standoffish冷淡,
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这些粒子既是相吸的,又是相斥的
06:07
and they're in violent暴力 motion运动.
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同时又处于不断的变化状态
06:11
Those three things give rise上升 to all the different不同 levels水平
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在此三者之上 即可诞生出这个世界上的
06:14
of what seem似乎 to be complexity复杂 in our world世界.
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千姿百态的复杂
06:20
But how simple简单?
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但是何为简单?
06:22
So, when I saw Roslings'Roslings' GapminderGapminder stuff东东 a few少数 years年份 ago,
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几年前我看到罗斯林的Gapminder演示的时候
06:27
I just thought it was the greatest最大 thing I'd seen看到
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我认为那是我见过的最好的演示
06:29
in conveying输送 complex复杂 ideas思路 simply只是.
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它很好的把复杂的东西简单化了
06:34
But then I had a thought of, "Boy男孩, maybe it's too simple简单."
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可是转念一想 似乎也做得太简单了
06:37
And I put some effort功夫 in to try and check
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于是我决定去验证一下图上显示出来的数据走势
06:42
to see how well these simple简单 portrayals写照 of trends趋势 over time
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是否与实际相吻合
06:46
actually其实 matched匹配 up with some ideas思路 and investigations调查 from the side,
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事实表明 图上的数据确实是与实际一致的
06:51
and I found发现 that they matched匹配 up very well.
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并且关联度非常大
06:53
So the RoslingsRoslings have been able能够 to do simplicity简单
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所以说 罗斯林能够在保证数据不被破坏的情况下
06:58
without removing去除 what's important重要 about the data数据.
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做出形象化的展示
07:02
Whereas the film电影 yesterday昨天 that we saw
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而在我们昨天看到的那部电影里
07:06
of the simulation模拟 of the inside of a cell细胞,
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那是一个关于细胞内部的模拟
07:08
as a former前任的 molecular分子 biologist生物学家, I didn't like that at all.
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我曾经是一位分子生物学家 但是我不喜欢它的描述
07:14
Not because it wasn't beautiful美丽 or anything,
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不是说它不美
07:16
but because it misses错过 the thing that most students学生们 fail失败 to understand理解
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而是说它没能把大多数学生关于分子生物学
07:21
about molecular分子 biology生物学, and that is:
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感觉难以理解的东西说清楚
07:24
why is there any probability可能性 at all of two complex复杂 shapes形状
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那就是 为何两个不同的复杂形状
07:29
finding发现 each other just the right way
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能够知道对方就是自己需要的伙伴
07:31
so they combine结合 together一起 and be catalyzed催化?
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并且能够相互结合 产生化学作用?
07:34
And what we saw yesterday昨天 was
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我们昨天看得到的就是
07:36
every一切 reaction反应 was fortuitous偶然;
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每一次反应都是相当随机的
07:39
they just swooped猛扑 in the air空气 and bound, and something happened发生.
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他们在空中飞舞 而后奇迹就发生了
07:43
But in fact事实, those molecules分子 are spinning纺织 at the rate of
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但事实上 这些分子是以
07:47
about a million百万 revolutions革命 per second第二;
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每秒100万次的速度在旋转
07:50
they're agitating搅拌 back and forth向前 their size尺寸 every一切 two nanoseconds纳秒;
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每隔一分钟 他们就会改变自身的大小
07:56
they're completely全然 crowded together一起, they're jammed卡住,
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它们都是笼聚在一起的 像是塞车的车龙
07:59
they're bashing up against反对 each other.
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相互摩擦
08:02
And if you don't understand理解 that in your mental心理 model模型 of this stuff东东,
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假如你不能理解这样的一个模型
08:05
what happens发生 inside of a cell细胞 seems似乎 completely全然 mysterious神秘 and fortuitous偶然,
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简而言之 发生在细胞内部的一切事情是充满神秘感与随意的
08:10
and I think that's exactly究竟 the wrong错误 image图片
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但这恰恰是一个错误的看法
08:12
for when you're trying to teach science科学.
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假如你是教学生科学的话
08:18
So, another另一个 thing that we do is to confuse迷惑 adult成人 sophistication诡辩
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我们做的另一件事情 就是利用一些具体的例证
08:23
with the actual实际 understanding理解 of some principle原理.
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来破除成年人某些误解
08:28
So a kid孩子 who's谁是 14 in high school学校
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一个14岁的孩子
08:30
gets得到 this version of the Pythagorean毕达哥拉斯 theorem定理,
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在学校里学会了这样一套关于勾股定理的方法
08:36
which哪一个 is a truly subtle微妙 and interesting有趣 proof证明,
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这是一个非常微妙而有趣的证明
08:39
but in fact事实 it's not a good way to start开始 learning学习 about mathematics数学.
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但这并非学习数学的一个很好的门路
08:46
So a more direct直接 one, one that gives you more of the feeling感觉 of math数学,
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有一种更直接的方式,它可以让你更好的体验到数学之乐趣
08:51
is something closer接近 to Pythagoras'毕达哥拉斯 own拥有 proof证明, which哪一个 goes like this:
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毕达哥拉斯自己采用的就是类似的证明方法
08:55
so here we have this triangle三角形, and if we surround环绕 that C square广场 with
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这里有一个三角形 假如我们在正方形周围
09:01
three more triangles三角形 and we copy复制 that,
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放几个小三角形
09:04
notice注意 that we can move移动 those triangles三角形 down like this.
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大家注意 我可以这样子移动这几个三角形
09:09
And that leaves树叶 two open打开 areas that are kind of suspicious可疑 ...
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就在画面中留下两处空白区 看上去似乎有点奇怪
09:12
and bingo答对了. That is all you have to do.
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好 我们就这么做可以了
09:19
And this kind of proof证明 is the kind of proof证明
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这样的证明就是你在学习数学的时候
09:21
that you need to learn学习 when you're learning学习 mathematics数学
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应该学习的证明的方式
09:24
in order订购 to get an idea理念 of what it means手段
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就是首先弄明白原理的实质
09:27
before you look into the, literally按照字面, 1,200 or 1,500 proofs样张
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而不是首先去看前人得出的
09:31
of Pythagoras'毕达哥拉斯 theorem定理 that have been discovered发现.
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那1500多个证明的思路
09:37
Now let's go to young年轻 children孩子.
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好 我们现在谈谈青年
09:40
This is a very unusual异常 teacher老师
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这是一位相当特殊的老师
09:42
who was a kindergarten幼儿园 and first-grade一年级 teacher老师,
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她是一位幼儿园和小学一年级的老师
09:46
but was a natural自然 mathematician数学家.
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还是一位天生的数学家
09:48
So she was like that jazz爵士乐 musician音乐家 friend朋友 you have who never studied研究 music音乐
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她就像一些爵士乐音乐家一样,从未学过器乐
09:53
but is a terrific了不起 musician音乐家;
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但却是为杰出的音乐家
09:55
she just had a feeling感觉 for math数学.
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她自身对于数学有一种感情
09:57
And here are her six-year-olds六岁的孩子,
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她面对的是6岁的学生
10:00
and she's got them making制造 shapes形状 out of a shape形状.
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她让孩子玩拼图游戏
10:05
So they pick a shape形状 they like -- like a diamond钻石, or a square广场,
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他们选了自己喜欢的一个形状 比如钻石型 比如方形
10:07
or a triangle三角形, or a trapezoid梯形 -- and then they try and make
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比如三角形 或平行四边形
10:10
the next下一个 larger shape形状 of that same相同 shape形状, and the next下一个 larger shape形状.
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让孩子在此基础上搭建出一个更大的形状
10:14
You can see the trapezoids梯形 are a little challenging具有挑战性的 there.
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对于孩子而言 平行四边形是一个极大的挑战
10:18
And what this teacher老师 did on every一切 project项目
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这位老师所做的
10:21
was to have the children孩子 act法案 like first it was a creative创作的 arts艺术 project项目,
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就是让孩子感知到 那是一个创意艺术的项目
10:26
and then something like science科学.
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而后才是科学知识的学习
10:28
So they had created创建 these artifacts文物.
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他们制作了这些仿制品
10:30
Now she had them look at them and do this ... laborious费力的,
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老师叫学生看着他们的创作 并且让他们观察很久
10:34
which哪一个 I thought for a long time, until直到 she explained解释 to me was
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我想了很久 不懂 直到她跟我说
10:38
to slow them down so they'll他们会 think.
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她这么做 目的在于让孩子停下来去思考
10:41
So they're cutting切割 out the little pieces of cardboard纸板 here
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他们从卡纸上把小纸片剪下来
10:44
and pasting粘贴 them up.
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然后贴在这里
10:46
But the whole整个 point of this thing is
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而这一切的目的在于
10:50
for them to look at this chart图表 and fill it out.
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让他们看到这个表 并且填好它
10:53
"What have you noticed注意到 about what you did?"
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你注意到了什么?
10:57
And so six-year-old六十岁 Lauren劳伦 there noticed注意到 that the first one took one,
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6岁的罗伦注意到 第一格需要一个纸片
11:01
and the second第二 one took three more
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第二格则需要额外的3个
11:06
and the total was four on that one,
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总计需要4个
11:08
the third第三 one took five more and the total was nine on that one,
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第三个则需要额外的5个 加起来是9个
11:12
and then the next下一个 one.
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以此类推
11:13
She saw right away that the additional额外 tiles瓷砖 that you had to add
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她马上就发现 所需的额外纸片数量总是以2为基准增加
11:18
around the edges边缘 was always going to grow增长 by two,
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到了边缘的时候就肯定是以2为基数增加
11:22
so she was very confident信心 about how she made制作 those numbers数字 there.
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她对此非常自信
11:25
And she could see that these were the square广场 numbers数字 up until直到 about six,
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她发现一直去到数字6 都会出现平方数
11:30
where she wasn't sure what six times six was
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她还不知道6乘以6等于多少
11:33
and what seven times seven was,
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也不知7乘以7等于多少
11:35
but then she was confident信心 again.
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但她马上又变得自信起来了
11:38
So that's what Lauren劳伦 did.
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这就是罗伦的故事
11:40
And then the teacher老师, Gillian阿娇 Ishijima石岛, had the kids孩子
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她的老师 Gillian Ishijima
11:44
bring带来 all of their projects项目 up to the front面前 of the room房间 and put them on the floor地板,
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要求孩子把所有的作业拿到课室前面 扔在地板上
11:47
and everybody每个人 went batshitbatshit: "Holy shit拉屎! They're the same相同!"
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大家都乐了 原来大家得到的是同样的结果
11:55
No matter what the shapes形状 were, the growth发展 law is the same相同.
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不管大家拿的是什么形状的纸片 最终得出的增长规律是一致的
11:59
And the mathematicians数学家 and scientists科学家们 in the crowd人群
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在座的数学家和科学家应该知道
12:02
will recognize认识 these two progressions级数
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这两种演变之名称分别为
12:04
as a first-order第一个订单 discrete离散的 differential微分 equation方程
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一阶微分方程
12:07
and a second-order二阶 discrete离散的 differential微分 equation方程,
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和二阶微分方程
12:12
derived派生 by six-year-olds六岁的孩子.
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而这居然被6岁的孩子发现了
12:16
Well, that's pretty漂亮 amazing惊人.
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实在是妙不可言
12:17
That isn't what we usually平时 try to teach six-year-olds六岁的孩子.
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这可不是我们惯常的教6岁小孩的方法
12:20
So, let's take a look now at how we might威力 use the computer电脑 for some of this.
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接下来让我们看看电脑如何帮助我们实现同样的目的
12:27
And so the first idea理念 here is
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首先我想给大家看看
12:31
just to show显示 you the kind of things that children孩子 do.
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孩子通常会怎么玩
12:35
I'm using运用 the software软件 that we're putting on the $100 laptop笔记本电脑.
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我用的是OLPC笔记本电脑上的软件
12:40
So I'd like to draw a little car汽车 here --
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我先画一辆小小的车
12:46
I'll just do this very quickly很快 -- and put a big tire on him.
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我画得很快 还要加上大大的轮胎
12:59
And I get a little object目的 here and I can look inside this object目的,
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好了 现在我有一个东西在这里了 我还能看出其内部之组成
13:03
I'll call it a car汽车. And here's这里的 a little behavior行为: car汽车 forward前锋.
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我把它成为汽车 我还定义了一个行为 那就是汽车前进
13:08
Each time I click点击 it, car汽车 turn.
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我点击它 它就会动
13:11
If I want to make a little script脚本 to do this over and over again,
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要是我要通过脚本来反复实现这样的功能的话
13:13
I just drag拖动 these guys out and set them going.
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只需要把这些东西拖出来就行了
13:20
And I can try steering操舵 the car汽车 here by ...
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我还能让汽车转弯
13:23
See the car汽车 turn by five here?
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看到它稍微转了个弯吗?
13:25
So what if I click点击 this down to zero?
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要是我把这一数值降到零呢
13:28
It goes straight直行. That's a big revelation启示 for nine-year-olds九岁的孩子.
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汽车就会一直往前走 这对于9岁的孩子而言就是莫大的启示
13:33
Make it go in the other direction方向.
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还可以让汽车走其他的方向
13:35
But of course课程, that's a little bit like kissing接吻 your sister妹妹
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但是 单单会开一辆汽车跟
13:37
as far as driving主动 a car汽车,
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给你的妹妹一个亲吻没有两样
13:40
so the kids孩子 want to do a steering操舵 wheel;
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孩子想要自己的一个方向盘
13:43
so they draw a steering操舵 wheel.
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于是他们自己画一个
13:46
And we'll call this a wheel.
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我们将其命名为方向盘
13:51
See this wheel's车轮 heading标题 here?
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看到方向盘的走势吗?
13:55
If I turn this wheel, you can see that number over there going minus减去 and positive.
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要是我拨弄一下这方向盘 你会看到那个数字在上下波动
14:00
That's kind of an invitation请帖 to pick up this name名称 of
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我们通过这样的方式
14:02
those numbers数字 coming未来 out there
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让孩子学会这些数字
14:05
and to just drop下降 it into the script脚本 here,
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他们只需要把数字拉到这里就行了
14:07
and now I can steer驾驶 the car汽车 with the steering操舵 wheel.
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现在我就能通过方向盘控制整个汽车了
14:12
And it's interesting有趣.
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真的很好玩
14:14
You know how much trouble麻烦 the children孩子 have with variables变量,
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孩子们对于变量这个概念很难把握
14:17
but by learning学习 it this way, in a situated位于 fashion时尚,
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而假如他们是在类似的情景下去学习
14:19
they never forget忘记 from this single trial审讯
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他们永远也不会忘记自己所做的实验
14:22
what a variable变量 is and how to use it.
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不会忘记何为变量 也不会忘记变量的使用方法
14:25
And we can reflect反映 here the way Gillian阿娇 Ishijima石岛 did.
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我们可以回想一下 Gillian Ishijima 的那个做法
14:27
So if you look at the little script脚本 here,
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假如你看看这一脚本
14:29
the speed速度 is always going to be 30.
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上面写 速度总是保持30英里不变
14:31
We're going to move移动 the car汽车 according根据 to that over and over again.
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我们将按照那个规则来驱动车子前进
14:36
And I'm dropping落下 a little dot for each one of these things;
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每走一段我都会让车子留下点印迹
14:40
they're evenly spaced间隔 because they're 30 apart距离.
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每两段之间的距离是均等的 都是30
14:43
And what if I do this progression级数 that the six-year-olds六岁的孩子 did
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6岁的孩子就会问
14:46
of saying, "OK, I'm going to increase增加 the speed速度 by two each time,
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要是我每次增加2英里 又会出现什么?
14:51
and then I'm going to increase增加 the distance距离 by the speed速度 each time?
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那个路程上又会增加多少呢?
14:54
What do I get there?"
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究竟会发生些什么事情?
14:58
We get a visual视觉 pattern模式 of what these nine-year-olds九岁的孩子 called acceleration促进.
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于是我们就得出了“加速”这个概念 这是9岁的孩子想得到的概念
15:05
So how do the children孩子 do science科学?
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我们会问 孩子怎么会懂得这样的科学?
15:08
(Video视频) Teacher老师: [Choose选择] objects对象 that you think will fall秋季 to the Earth地球 at the same相同 time.
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这些物体你们也许认为它们会同时掉到地上
15:11
Student学生 1: Ooh, this is nice不错.
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不错
15:18
Teacher老师: Do not pay工资 any attention注意
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不要管其他人
15:20
to what anybody任何人 else其他 is doing.
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在做什么
15:35
Who's谁是 got the apple苹果?
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谁拿到苹果了?
15:37
Alan艾伦 Kay: They've他们已经 got little stopwatches秒表.
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他们有小型秒表
15:44
Student学生 2: What did you get? What did you get?
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你拿到什么了?
15:46
AKAK: Stopwatches秒表 aren't accurate准确 enough足够.
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但是那样的秒表不够准备
15:49
Student学生 3: 0.99 seconds.
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0.99秒
15:52
Teacher老师: So put "sponge海绵 ball" ...
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好,我们把海绵球扔下去
15:56
Student学生 4l: [I decided决定 to] do the shot射击 put and the sponge海绵 ball
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一个是铅球,一个是海绵球
15:59
because they're two totally完全 different不同 weights权重,
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两个的重量完全不同
16:02
and if you drop下降 them at the same相同 time,
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假如同时扔下去
16:04
maybe they'll他们会 drop下降 at the same相同 speed速度.
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也许它们的速度是一样的
16:06
Teacher老师: Drop下降. Class: Whoa!
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扔吧
16:10
AKAK: So obviously明显, Aristotle亚里士多德 never asked a child儿童
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很明显 亚里斯多德从没有
16:13
about this particular特定 point
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问过一个孩子这个问题
16:16
because, of course课程, he didn't bother doing the experiment实验,
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因为他自身并不觉得这个问题很有趣
16:18
and neither也不 did St. Thomas托马斯 Aquinas阿奎那.
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托马斯·亚奎那也没有问
16:20
And it was not until直到 Galileo伽利略 actually其实 did it
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直到加利略做出这个实验
16:22
that an adult成人 thought like a child儿童,
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年长一辈才学会了像孩子那样去想问题
16:25
only 400 years年份 ago.
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而这一切仅仅发生在400年以前
16:28
We get one child儿童 like that about every一切 classroom课堂 of 30 kids孩子
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每一个30人的教室里就有一位孩子懂得这样问问题
16:32
who will actually其实 cut straight直行 to the chase.
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有这样的睿智挖掘到事物之根蒂
16:35
Now, what if we want to look at this more closely密切?
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要是我们想看得更深入一层呢?
16:38
We can take a movie电影 of what's going on,
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我们可以拍一个短片
16:41
but even if we single stepped加强 this movie电影,
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但即使我们每秒拍一次
16:43
it's tricky狡猾 to see what's going on.
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也很难看出实际发生了什么
16:45
And so what we can do is we can lay铺设 out the frames side by side
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不过我们可以把拍下来的帧片逐一晒出来
16:48
or stack them up.
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或者是垒在一起
16:50
So when the children孩子 see this, they say, "Ah! Acceleration促进,"
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孩子们看到这个 他们就会说 这不就是加速吗
16:55
remembering记忆 back four months个月 when they did their cars汽车 sideways侧身,
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因为他们记得四个月前做过汽车的实验
16:58
and they start开始 measuring测量 to find out what kind of acceleration促进 it is.
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并且动手去测量 看到底加速是如何演进的
17:04
So what I'm doing is measuring测量 from the bottom底部 of one image图片
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我现在就从一个照片的底部
17:10
to the bottom底部 of the next下一个 image图片, about a fifth第五 of a second第二 later后来,
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丈量到下一张照片的底部 这是五分之一秒的间距
17:15
like that. And they're getting得到 faster更快 and faster更快 each time,
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并且会变得越来越快
17:17
and if I stack these guys up, then we see the differences分歧; the increase增加
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要是我们把它们堆起来 就可以发现
17:27
in the speed速度 is constant不变.
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速度上的增长量是不变的
17:30
And they say, "Oh, yeah. Constant不变 acceleration促进.
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他们就会惊呼 哦 不就是恒定变速吗?
17:32
We've我们已经 doneDONE that already已经."
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我们已经做过这样的实验了
17:34
And how shall we look and verify校验 that we actually其实 have it?
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那么我们如何验证这一假设呢
17:42
So you can't tell much from just making制造 the ball drop下降 there,
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单单是扔一个球是很难看出效果的
17:47
but if we drop下降 the ball and run the movie电影 at the same相同 time,
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假如我们在抛出球的同时 播放短片
17:53
we can see that we have come up with an accurate准确 physical物理 model模型.
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我们就能发现 我们得出了一个非常准确的物理模型
18:00
Galileo伽利略, by the way, did this very cleverly巧妙
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而加利略则非常巧妙的
18:04
by running赛跑 a ball backwards向后 down the strings字符串 of his lute琵琶.
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让球沿着他的鲁特琴逆向滚动
18:07
I pulled out those apples苹果 to remind提醒 myself to tell you that
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我拿出这些苹果 是想告诉大家
18:12
this is actually其实 probably大概 a Newton牛顿 and the apple苹果 type类型 story故事,
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这是一个牛顿的苹果的故事
18:17
but it's a great story故事.
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但这个故事很伟大
18:19
And I thought I would do just one thing
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我今天只做一件事
18:21
on the $100 laptop笔记本电脑 here just to prove证明 that this stuff东东 works作品 here.
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就是用OLPC向大家演示一下 证明这东西是可行的
18:31
So once一旦 you have gravity重力, here's这里的 this --
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有了重力
18:34
increase增加 the speed速度 by something,
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于是速度会按照一定的规律增加
18:36
increase增加 the ship's船舶 speed速度.
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使得船的速度增加
18:39
If I start开始 the little game游戏 here that the kids孩子 have doneDONE,
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要是我演示一下孩子玩过的这个游戏
18:42
it'll它会 crash紧急 the space空间 ship.
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可以看到苹果会撞毁飞机
18:44
But if I oppose反对 gravity重力, here we go ... Oops哎呀!
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假如是反重力呢 噢
18:48
(Laughter笑声)
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(笑声)
18:50
One more.
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再来一个
18:54
Yeah, there we go. Yeah, OK?
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就这样子 不是吗
18:59
I guess猜测 the best最好 way to end结束 this is with two quotes报价:
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我想最好是引用两个人的话,来结束这个演讲
19:06
Marshall马歇尔 McLuhan麦克卢汉 said,
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Marshall McLuhan曾言
19:08
"Children孩子 are the messages消息 that we send发送 to the future未来,"
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“孩子是我们交给未来的信息。”
19:12
but in fact事实, if you think of it,
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但事实上 只要你认真想想
19:14
children孩子 are the future未来 we send发送 to the future未来.
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孩子就是我们交给未来的希望
19:16
Forget忘记 about messages消息;
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不要管什么信息了
19:19
children孩子 are the future未来,
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孩子就是未来
19:22
and children孩子 in the first and second第二 world世界
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生活在第一、第二世界的孩子
19:24
and, most especially特别, in the third第三 world世界
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还有生活在第三世界的孩子
19:27
need mentors导师.
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都需要导师 后者对此需求更大
19:29
And this summer夏季, we're going to build建立 five million百万 of these $100 laptops笔记本电脑,
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这个夏季 我们将生产500万台这样的儿童笔记本
19:34
and maybe 50 million百万 next下一个 year.
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下一年也许会增加到5000万
19:36
But we couldn't不能 create创建 1,000 new teachers教师 this summer夏季 to save保存 our life.
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但是我们不可能仅仅通过一个暑假培训出1000名教师
19:43
That means手段 that we, once一旦 again, have a thing where we can put technology技术 out,
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换而言之 现在工具有了
19:49
but the mentoring师徒 that is required需要 to go
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但是 相匹配的老师不够
19:52
from a simple简单 new iChat我聊天 instant瞬间 messaging消息 system系统
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iChat这样的聊天工具
19:57
to something with depth深度 is missing失踪.
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要发展出更深刻的应用 这样的应用暂时还没有找得到
19:59
I believe this has to be doneDONE with a new kind of user用户 interface接口,
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我相信 通过新一代的交互界面 这样的愿望可以实现
20:02
and this new kind of user用户 interface接口 could be doneDONE
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这样的交互界面
20:06
with an expenditure支出 of about 100 million百万 dollars美元.
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用一亿美金就可以开发出来了
20:11
It sounds声音 like a lot, but it is literally按照字面 18 minutes分钟 of what we're spending开支 in Iraq伊拉克 --
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看似很多钱 但事实上 美军在伊拉克每18分钟就花去一亿美金
20:18
we're spending开支 8 billion十亿 dollars美元 a month; 18 minutes分钟 is 100 million百万 dollars美元 --
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我们在伊拉克每个月花去80亿美金 每18分钟花去一亿
20:23
so this is actually其实 cheap低廉.
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所以说这笔钱不算多
20:25
And Einstein爱因斯坦 said,
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爱因斯坦曾说
20:29
"Things should be as simple简单 as possible可能, but not simpler简单."
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事物应当使之趋近简单,但要简单得适度。
20:32
Thank you.
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谢谢大家。
Translated by Tony Yet
Reviewed by Zachary Lin Zhao

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ABOUT THE SPEAKER
Alan Kay - Educator and computing pioneer
One of the true luminaries of personal computing, Alan Kay conceived of laptops and graphical interfaces years before they were realized. At XeroxPARC, Apple, HP and Disney, he has developed tools for improving the mind.

Why you should listen

"The best way to predict the future is to invent it." Alan Kay not only coined this favorite tech-world adage, but has proven its truth several times. A true polymath, as well as inventor, he has combined engineering brilliance with knowledge of child development, epistemology, molecular biology and more.

In the 1960s, Kay joined the computer team at XeroxPARC, where he worked on world-changing inventions like the graphical interface, object-oriented programming, and the personal computer itself. Later, at Apple, Atari, HP, Disney, and now at his own nonprofits, he has helped refine the tools he anticipated long before they were realized.

As the industry has blossomed, however, Kay continues to grapple with the deeper purpose of computing, struggling to create the machine that won't only recapitulate patterns in the world as we know it but will teach both children and adults to think, to see what otherwise is beyond them.

More profile about the speaker
Alan Kay | Speaker | TED.com