TED2002
Emily Levine: A theory of everything
艾米莉•赖文：一个古灵精怪有关一切的理论
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喜剧演员、哲学家艾米莉•赖文对科学、数学、社会以及一切事物相互关联的方法，发表了一些有趣的见解。她是一位天才的恶作剧家，往我们的惯性思维里挖洞，向我们展示隐藏的真理。请准备好，让她来冲击你的头脑吧。
Emily Levine - Philosopher-comic
Humorist, writer and trickster Emily Levine riffs on science and the human condition. Full bio
Humorist, writer and trickster Emily Levine riffs on science and the human condition. Full bio
Double-click the English transcript below to play the video.
00:12
I am going to talk about myself,
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我准备谈一下我自己，
00:15
which I rarely do, because I --
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我很少这么做，有很多原因。
00:18
well for one thing, I prefer to talk about things I know nothing about.
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其一是我更喜欢谈论一些我不知道的事情。
00:23
And secondly, I'm a recovering narcissist.
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另外，我正从自恋中恢复过来。
00:28
(Laughter)
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（笑声）
00:30
I didn't know I was a narcissist actually.
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我原本并不知道自己是一个自恋狂。
00:32
I thought narcissism meant you loved yourself.
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我认为自恋狂意味着你爱你自己。
00:35
And then someone told me there is a flip side to it.
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后来别人告诉我，完全不爱自己也是自恋。
00:37
So it's actually drearier than self-love;
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这比爱自己更令人沮丧。
00:39
it's unrequited self-love.
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这是没有回报的自爱。
00:42
(Laughter)
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（笑声）
00:46
I don't feel I can afford a relapse.
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我大概无法承受旧病复发。
00:49
But I want to, though, explain
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但我还是想来解释一下
00:52
how I came to design my own particular brand of comedy
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我是如何设计自己与众不同的喜剧品牌的，
00:55
because I've been through so many different forms of it.
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因为我曾经用过很多不同的方式。
00:57
I started with improvisation,
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我起步于即兴创作。
00:59
in a particular form of improvisation called theater games,
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采用一种特别的即兴创作形式，叫做剧场游戏。
01:03
which had one rule,
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它有一条规则，
01:05
which I always thought was a great rule for an ethic for a society.
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我认为那是一条对社会道德来说非常伟大的规则。
01:08
And the rule was, you couldn't deny the other person's reality,
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它规定不可以否认其他人的现实存在，
01:12
you could only build on it.
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你的创作必须在其之上。
01:14
And of course we live in a society that's all about
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当然，我们生活在一个
01:17
contradicting other peoples' reality.
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充满与他人现实生活矛盾的社会里。
01:19
It's all about contradiction,
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一切都和矛盾有关，
01:21
which I think is why I'm so sensitive to contradiction in general.
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这也是我认为我为何对矛盾如此敏感的原因。
01:24
I see it everywhere.
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我能到处看到它。
01:26
Like polls. You know, it's always curious to me
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比如投票。有件事情让我一直很好奇，
01:29
that in public opinion polls
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在公众意见投票中，
01:31
the percentage of Americans who don't know the answer to any given question
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对任何问题都不知道如何应答的美国人
01:35
is always two percent.
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总是占到2%。
01:37
75 percent of Americans
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75%的美国人
01:40
think Alaska is part of Canada.
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认为阿拉斯加是加拿大的一部分。
01:42
But only two percent don't know the effect
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但只有2%的人不知道
01:45
that the debacle in Argentina will have on the IMF's monetary policy --
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阿根廷政府瓦解将对国家货币基金组织的货币政策带来什么影响。
01:50
(Laughter)
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（笑声）
01:51
seems a contradiction.
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这多么具有矛盾意味啊。
01:54
Or this ad that I read in the New York Times:
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再比如我在《纽约时报》上读到的：
01:57
"Wearing a fine watch speaks loudly of your rank in society.
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”佩戴一块精致的手表体现你的社会阶层。
02:01
Buying it from us screams good taste."
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购买我们的手表突显卓越的品味。“
02:04
(Laughter)
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（笑声）
02:06
Or this that I found in a magazine called California Lawyer,
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还有我在《加州律师》杂志上看到
02:09
in an article that is surely meant for the lawyers at Enron.
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一篇对安然公司律师们颇具意义的文章。
02:13
"Surviving the Slammer: Do's and Don'ts."
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”监狱求生：该做的和不该做的“
02:17
(Laughter)
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（笑声）
02:18
"Don't use big words."
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”不要使用空洞夸张的词汇。“
02:20
(Laughter)
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（笑声）
02:21
"Learn the lingua franca."
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”学习大家都会的通用语言。“
02:24
(Laughter)
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（笑声）
02:31
Yeah. "Lingua this, Frankie."
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耶！通用这个语言吧。
02:33
(Laughter)
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（笑声）
02:36
And I suppose it's a contradiction that I
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我想如果我谈论科学却不懂数学
02:39
talk about science when I don't know math.
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这也是一种矛盾。
02:43
You know, because -- and by the way to I was so grateful to Dean Kamen
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要知道，因为，噢顺便我要感谢一下卡门主任，
02:46
for pointing out that one of the reasons,
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他指出原因之一
02:48
that there are cultural reasons
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存在于文化之中
02:50
that women and minorities don't enter the fields of science and technology --
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那就是妇女和少数民族并没有跨入科学和技术领域
02:54
because for instance, the reason I don't do math is,
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比方说我不从事数学领域的原因是
02:57
I was taught to do math and read at the same time.
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我同时学习数学和阅读。
03:01
So you're six years old, you're reading Snow White and the Seven Dwarves,
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因此当你6岁时，你在阅读《白雪公主和7个小矮人》。
03:04
and it becomes rapidly obvious
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一切立刻变得明朗起来，
03:06
that there are only two kinds of men in the world:
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世界上只存在两种男人，
03:08
dwarves and Prince Charmings.
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侏儒和白马王子。
03:10
And the odds are seven to one against your finding the prince.
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找到王子的几率是1比7.
03:13
(Laughter)
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（笑声）
03:16
That's why little girls don't do math. It's too depressing.
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这就是为什么小女孩们不爱数学的原因。它令人太沮丧了。
03:19
(Laughter)
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（笑声）
03:25
Of course, by talking about science
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当然，说到科学
03:27
I also may, as I did the other night,
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我可能会像几天前那个晚上一样
03:29
incur the violent wrath of some scientists
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使一些对我的演讲感到不安的科学家，
03:33
who were very upset with me.
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非常愤慨。
03:36
I used the word postmodern as if it were OK.
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我以为使用后现代这个词不会有什么问题。
03:41
And they got very upset.
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然而他们变得非常焦虑。
03:44
One of them, to his credit, I think really just wanted to engage me
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其中一位，我想他真的很想
03:47
in a serious argument.
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同我认真地辩论一番。
03:49
But I don't engage in serious arguments.
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而我不喜欢正儿八经的辩论。
03:52
I don't approve of them
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我不赞成辩论，
03:54
because arguments, of course, are all about contradiction,
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因为辩论都和矛盾、对立有关，
03:57
and they're shaped by the values that I have questions with.
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而且是由各自不同的价值观引发的。
03:59
I have questions with the values of Newtonian science,
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我质疑牛顿科学的价值体系。
04:03
like rationality. You're supposed to be rational in an argument.
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比方说理性，你应当在一场辩论中保持理性。
04:07
Well rationality is constructed
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而理性是建立在
04:09
by what Christie Hefner was talking about today,
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如今克里斯蒂·海夫纳（花花公子首席执行官）所说的
04:12
that mind-body split, you know?
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头脑和身体分离的基础上的。你们知道吗？
04:14
The head is good, body bad.
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头脑是好的，身体是不好的。
04:17
Head is ego, body id.
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头脑是自我，身体是本能。
04:19
When we say "I," -- as when Rene Descartes said,
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当我说“我”的时候，正如勒奈·笛卡尔说的那样，
04:21
"I think therefore I am," --
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“我思故我在” ——
04:24
we mean the head.
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我们指的是头脑。
04:26
And as David Lee Roth sang in "Just a Gigolo,"
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而正如大卫·李·罗斯在《我只是个牛郎》中所唱的，
04:29
"I ain't got no body."
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“我没有好身材。”
04:32
That's how you get rationality.
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你正是那样获得理性的。
04:36
And that's why so much of humor
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那就是为什么许多幽默
04:38
is the body asserting itself against the head.
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都是身体在反驳头脑
04:42
That's why you have toilet humor and sexual humor.
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这就是为什么你能有关于上厕所的和性的幽默
04:45
That's why you have the Raspyni Brothers
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这就是为什么拉斯皮尼兄弟，
04:47
whacking Richard in the genital area.
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在性器官方面打败了理查德。
04:51
And we're laughing doubly then
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然而我们笑是因为，
04:53
because he's the body, but it's also --
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他不仅是身体，但也是——
04:56
Voice offstage: Richard.
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观众席：理查德
04:57
Emily Levine: Richard. What did I say?
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理查德，我说什么来着？
04:59
(Laughter)
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（笑声）
05:00
Richard. Yes but it's also the head,
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理查德。当然，但是也是头儿。
05:02
the head of the conference.
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是TED的头儿。
05:05
That's the other way that humor --
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这是另一种幽默方式——
05:07
like Art Buchwald takes shots at the heads of state.
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像阿特·包可华（著名幽默家）开美国头头们的玩笑，
05:11
It doesn't make quite as much money as body humor I'm sure --
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但我确定他没身体幽默挣那么多钱
05:14
(Laughter)
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（笑声）
05:16
but nevertheless, what makes us treasure you and adore you.
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然而，这让我们珍惜你又崇拜你。
05:19
There's also a contradiction in rationality in this country though,
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还有一种矛盾存在于这个国家的理性当中。
05:23
which is, as much as we revere the head,
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那便是，我们尊重头脑的同时，
05:26
we are very anti-intellectual.
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我们也十分反精英。
05:28
I know this because I read in the New York Times,
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我知道是因为我读了纽约时报
05:32
the Ayn Rand foundation took out a full-page ad
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安.兰登基金会在911之后，
05:35
after September 11,
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发了一整页广告
05:37
in which they said, "The problem is not Iraq or Iran,
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他们说：“这个国家要面对的问题，
05:41
the problem in this country, facing this country
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不在于伊拉克或者伊朗
05:45
is the university professors and their spawn."
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而是大学教授和他们的爪牙”
05:48
(Laughter)
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（笑声）
05:56
So I went back and re-read "The Fountainhead."
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所以我又回过头去读《源泉》
05:58
(Laughter)
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（笑声）
06:00
I don't know how many of you have read it.
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我不知道你们中的多少人读过，
06:02
And I'm not an expert on sadomasochism.
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而我可不是一个虐恋的专家
06:06
(Laughter)
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（笑声）
06:07
But let me just read you a couple of random passages from page 217.
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不过也请允许我随意给你们阅读第217页中的一段
06:12
"The act of a master
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那个主人的方式，
06:14
taking painful contemptuous possession of her,
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享受着她那痛苦又轻蔑的迷恋
06:17
was the kind of rapture she wanted.
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是她所希望的那种着迷。
06:19
When they lay together in bed it was,
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当他们在床上躺在一起的时候，
06:22
as it had to be, as the nature of the act demanded,
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那是，就好像那必须是，这种方式所需要的自然状态，
06:25
an act of violence.
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一种暴力的方式。
06:28
It was an act of clenched teeth and hatred. It was the unendurable.
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是一种恨得咬牙切齿的方式。它是那么不堪忍受。
06:32
Not a caress, but a wave of pain.
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不是一种呵护，而且一股痛楚。
06:35
The agony as an act of passion."
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痛苦是一种激情的行为。
06:38
So you can imagine my surprise
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所以你们就能想象，
06:40
on reading in The New Yorker
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我读纽约客的时候有多吃惊了，
06:43
that Alan Greenspan, Chairman of the Federal Reserve,
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里面提到（前任）联邦储备署主席阿兰.格林斯潘
06:46
claims Ayn Rand as his intellectual mentor.
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把安.兰德称为自己的精神导师。
06:49
(Laughter)
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（笑声）
06:52
It's like finding out your nanny is a dominatrix.
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这就好像发现你的外婆是个施虐狂。
06:55
(Laughter)
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（笑声）
06:57
Bad enough we had to see J. Edgar Hoover in a dress.
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我们不得不看约翰·埃德加·胡佛（原联邦调查局局长）穿裙子，就已经够糟糕了。
07:01
Now we have to picture Alan Greenspan
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现在我们还要去想象阿兰.格林斯潘
07:03
in a black leather corset, with a butt tattoo that says,
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穿着皮衣，屁股上纹着
07:05
"Whip inflation now."
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“现在鞭打通货膨胀！”
07:07
(Laughter)
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（笑声）
07:15
And Ayn Rand of course, Ayn Rand
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当然安.兰德，安.兰德
07:17
is famous for a philosophy called Objectivism,
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是以一种名为“客观主义”的哲学著称的。
07:19
which reflects another value of Newtonian physics,
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反映出了另一种牛顿物理的价值观：
07:22
which is objectivity.
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那就是客观存在。
07:24
Objectivity basically is constructed
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“客观存在”基本上，
07:27
in that same S&M way.
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是由和S和M一样的方式构成的。
07:30
It's the subject subjugating the object.
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就是主观征服客观。
07:33
That's how you assert yourself.
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这就你证实自己的方法。
07:35
You make yourself the active voice.
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你让你成为了那个主动的发声者。
07:37
And the object is the passive no-voice.
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而客观是那个被动的沉默者
07:40
I was so fascinated by that Oxygen commercial.
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我真的被那个氧气的广告迷住了。
07:43
I don't know if you know this but --
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我不知道你们是否知道这个，
07:47
maybe it's different now, or maybe you were making a statement --
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可能现在也不是这样了吧，但是
07:50
but in many hospital nurseries across the country,
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在我们国家许多的护理站里，
07:53
until very recently anyway, according to a book by Jessica Benjamin,
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根据杰西卡.本杰明的书里说，一直到最近，
07:57
the signs over the little boys cribs read,
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男孩儿们的摇篮边，都写着
08:00
"I'm a boy,"
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“我是一个男孩儿。”
08:02
and the signs over the little girls cribs read,
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而在女孩摇篮边的标记则写，
08:04
"It's a girl." Yeah.
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“这是一个女孩儿”，耶~
08:07
So the passivity was culturally
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所以“被动”是在文化上，
08:11
projected onto the little girls.
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就已经映射到女孩儿们身上的。
08:13
And this still goes on as I think I told you last year.
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而这种情况，像我去年说的那样，仍在继续
08:16
There's a poll that proves --
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有一个调查证实了——
08:18
there was a poll that was given by Time magazine,
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这个调查来自时代周刊，
08:22
in which only men were asked, "Have you ever had sex
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只有男人被问到，“你是否曾经，
08:25
with a woman you actively disliked?"
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和你不喜欢的女人发生过关系？”
08:29
And well, yeah.
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好吧，是这样的。
08:31
Well, 58 percent said yes,
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那么，其中58%
08:33
which I think is overinflated though
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我觉得这个数字有点水份，
08:35
because so many men if you just say,
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因为好多男人，只要听见你问，
08:37
"Have you ever had sex ... " "Yes!"
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“你曾经发生过性行为……” “是的！”
08:39
They don't even wait for the rest of it.
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他们甚至都不听完剩下的半句话。
08:41
(Laughter)
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（笑声）
08:44
And of course two percent did not know whether they'd had --
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当然，他们其中还有2%不知道他们是不是有过……
08:47
(Laughter)
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（笑声）
08:50
That's the first callback,
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这是我尝试四个“回笼”笑话
08:52
of my attempted quadruple.
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的第一个。
08:54
(Laughter)
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（笑声）
08:57
So this subject-object thing,
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而这个主体--客体的问题，
09:00
is part of something I'm very interested in
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是我很感兴趣的一部分内容。
09:03
because this is why, frankly, I believe in political correctness.
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因为这就是，坦率的说，我相信政治正确性的原因。
09:09
I do. I think it can go too far.
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我真的信。而且我觉得它的影响力可能会过大。
09:11
I think Ringling Brothers may have gone too far
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我想铃灵兄弟（历史上著名马戏团）可能有点儿过火了，
09:14
with an ad they took out in the New York Times Magazine.
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当他们在《纽约时报》上的广告里说，
09:16
"We have a lifelong emotional and financial
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“我们对我们亚洲的大象同伴们，
09:19
commitment to our Asian Elephant partners."
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在感情上和物质上，都有终身的承诺。”
09:23
(Laughter)
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（笑声）
09:25
Maybe too far. But you know --
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可能是过了。但是你知道——
09:27
I don't think that
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我不认为，
09:32
a person of color making fun of white people
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一个有色人种取笑白种人，
09:34
is the same thing as a white person making fun of people of color.
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和一个白人取笑有色人种是一回事。
09:37
Or women making fun of men is the same as men making fun of women.
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或者女人取笑男人和男人取笑女人一样……
09:41
Or poor people making fun of rich people, the same as rich people.
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又或者是穷人开富人的玩笑，和反过来……
09:43
I think you can make fun of the have but not the have-nots,
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我觉得我们可以开富人的玩笑，但是不能取笑穷人。
09:46
which is why you don't see me making fun of
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这就是为什么我没有取笑
09:49
Kenneth Lay and his charming wife.
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肯尼思·莱（安然丑闻主角）和他那美丽的太太。
09:52
(Laughter)
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（笑声）
09:53
What's funny about being down to four houses?
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同时被四个法院判罪有意思吗？
09:56
(Laughter)
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（笑声）
09:58
And I really learned this lesson
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而我真的从克林顿的性丑闻里，
10:01
during the sex scandals of the Clinton administration or,
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吸取了教训。
10:05
Or as I call them, the good ol' days.
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或者我喜欢叫它，“美好的旧时光”。
10:07
(Laughter)
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（笑声）
10:10
When people I knew, you know, people who considered themselves liberal,
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当我认识的人，他们认为自己是自由主义者，
10:13
and everything else,
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或者其它的政治信仰，
10:16
were making fun of Jennifer Flowers and Paula Jones.
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当他们取笑珍妮弗.花和波拉.琼斯的时候
10:19
Basically, they were making fun of them for being
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其实，他们也是在取笑自己，
10:23
trailer trash or white trash.
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说自己是拖车废物或者是白色废物。
10:26
It seems, I suppose, a harmless prejudice
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这好象是，我认为，一种无伤大雅的偏见，
10:29
and that you're not really hurting anybody.
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人们也不会因此受伤。
10:31
Until you read, as I did, an ad in the Los Angeles Times.
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直到人们像我一样读到一个《洛杉矶时报》的广告，
10:36
"For sale: White trash compactor."
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“出售：白色废物压缩机。”
10:40
(Laughter)
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（笑声）
10:48
So this whole subject-object thing
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所以这个客体——主体的问题，
10:51
has relevance to humor in this way.
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是这样和幽默联系上的。
10:55
I read a book by a woman named Amy Richlin,
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我读过一个叫艾米.里希林的女人写的一本书，
10:59
who is the chair of the Classics department at USC.
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她是加州大学古典学院的院长。
11:02
And the book is called "The Garden of Priapus."
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书名叫“普里阿普斯的花园”。
11:04
And she says that Roman humor
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她说到罗马式幽默，
11:08
mirrors the construction of Roman society.
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反映了罗马社会的结构。
11:12
So that Roman society was very top/bottom,
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罗马社会当时是非常严格地至上而下的，
11:15
as ours is to some degree.
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和我们（现在的社会）在某种程度上很像。
11:17
And so was humor.
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所以幽默也相像。
11:19
There always had to be the butt of a joke.
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我们总有个关于屁股的笑话。
11:21
So it was always the satirist,
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说所以总是像
11:24
like Juvenal or Martial,
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朱文利和马歇尔这样的讽刺作家，
11:27
represented the audience,
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代表着听众，
11:30
and he was going to make fun of the outsider,
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而他们会取笑一个不相干的人，
11:33
the person who didn't share that subject status.
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这个人没有那种主观的身份
11:37
And in stand-up of course,
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而相声当然，
11:40
the stand-up comedian is supposed to dominate the audience.
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相声演员应该控制观众。
11:44
A lot of heckling is the tension
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多次大声的质疑是一种，
11:47
of trying to make sure that the
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尝试去确定
11:50
comedian is going to be able to dominate,
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演员有能力控制观众，
11:53
and overcome the heckler.
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和克服质疑的张力。
11:57
And I got good at that when I was in stand up.
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当我是相声演员的时候，我擅长这个。
11:59
But I always hated it because they were
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但我一直都不喜欢它，
12:01
dictating the terms of the interaction,
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因为它控制了交流的时间。
12:04
in the same way that engaging in a serious argument
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同样地，参与一个严肃的讨论，
12:07
determines the content, to some degree,
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某种程度上，也决定了讨论的内容，
12:10
of what you're talking about.
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决定了你要说什么。
12:12
And I was looking for a form
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我就在找一个，
12:15
that didn't have that.
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没有这种东西的形式。
12:17
And so I wanted something that was more interactive.
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我想要有一种更多互动的方式。
12:24
I know that word is so debased now
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我知道现在这词已经被
12:28
by the use of it by Internet marketers.
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网络营销者给滥用了。
12:32
I really miss the old telemarketers now, I'll tell you that.
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我告诉你们，我现在真是很怀念以前的电话促销员。
12:36
(Laughter)
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（笑声）
12:37
I do, because at least there you stood a chance. You know?
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是真的。因为你至少还有一点机会，你知道吗？
12:39
I used to actually hang up on them.
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事实上，我以前总挂他们电话。
12:43
But then I read in "Dear Abby" that that was rude.
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但是我在《亲爱的艾比》那读到，那太粗鲁了。
12:45
So the next time that one called
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所以下一次有人打电话来，
12:48
I let him get halfway through his spiel and then I said,
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我让他自圆其说到一半，我就说，
12:50
"You sound sexy."
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“您的声音真性感。”
12:52
(Laughter)
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（笑声）
12:56
He hung up on me!
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结果他挂了我的电话！
12:58
(Laughter)
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（笑声）
13:06
But the interactivity allows the audience
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但是互动使得观众，
13:09
to shape what you're going to do as much as
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能够改变你要表演的东西，
13:12
you shape their experience of the world.
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而也也能改造他们对世界的想法。
13:16
And that's really what I'm looking for.
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这个就是我真正在找的。
13:18
And I was sort of, as I was starting to analyze
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我就某种程度上，开始分析，
13:21
what exactly it is that I do,
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我在做的到底是什么。
13:23
I read a book called "Trickster Makes This World," by Lewis Hyde.
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我读到一本“变戏法的人创造了这个世界”，作者刘易斯.海德
13:28
And it was like being psychoanalyzed.
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感觉像是被精神分析了。
13:30
I mean he had laid it all out.
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他把什么都阐述明白了。
13:32
And then coming to this conference,
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来到这个会上，
13:34
I realized that most everybody here
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我意识到这里大多数的人
13:37
shared those same qualities
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都有着这些共同的特质。
13:39
because really what trickster is
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因为变戏法的人，
13:41
is an agent of change.
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其实是一个转变的催化剂。
13:43
Trickster is a change agent.
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变戏法的人是转变的动因。
13:45
And the qualities that I'm about to describe
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而我将要描述的特质，
13:47
are the qualities that make it possible
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是让转变有可能发生
13:50
to make change happen.
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的特质。
13:52
And one of these is boundary crossing.
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而其中一种就是跨越界限。
13:56
I think this is what so, in fact, infuriated the scientists.
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我想，这事实上是个激怒科学家们的东西。
13:59
But I like to cross boundaries.
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不过我喜欢跨过界限。
14:01
I like to, as I said, talk about things I know nothing about.
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我说过的，我喜欢谈论些自己一窍不通的东西。
14:05
(Phone Ringing)
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（电话铃响）
14:07
I hope that's my agent,
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我希望那个是我经理人，
14:10
because you aren't paying me anything.
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因为你都没付钱给我。
14:12
(Laughter)
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（笑声）
14:14
And I think it's good to talk about things I know nothing about
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而我觉得，谈论些我不知道的事情是好事儿，
14:17
because I bring a fresh viewpoint to it, you know?
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你知道吗？因为我会给它带来一种全新的观点，
14:19
I'm able to see the contradiction
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我能看到的矛盾，
14:21
that you may not be able to see.
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未必你也能看到。
14:23
Like for instance a mime once --
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就拿哑剧来做例子，
14:25
or a meme as he called himself.
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或者是他把自己叫做哑剧演员。
14:27
He was a very selfish meme.
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他是个自私的哑剧演员。
14:31
And he said that I had to show more respect
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他就说我必须对他表示尊敬，
14:35
because it took up to 18 years
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因为他花了将近18年，
14:37
to learn how to do mime properly.
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学习怎么去演好哑剧。
14:40
And I said, "Well, that's how you know only stupid people go into it."
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我就说，“哦，所以你知道，只有笨人才会去学。”
14:44
(Laughter)
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（笑声）
14:45
It only takes two years to learn how to talk.
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学说话才花两三年。
14:48
(Laughter)
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（笑声）
14:52
(Applause)
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（掌声）
14:54
And you know people, this is the problem with
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就像你们知道的，这就是，
14:57
quote, objectivity, unquote.
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引号，客观存在，引号，的问题了。
14:59
When you're only surrounded by people
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当你周围的人，
15:01
who speak the same vocabulary as you,
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都跟你用同样的词汇说话，
15:03
or share the same set of assumptions as you,
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或者和你的使用同样的假设。
15:06
you start to think that that's reality.
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你就开始认为那是真实的世界。
15:09
Like economists, you know, their definition of rational,
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就像经济学家，你知道，他们对“理性”下的定义是，
15:12
that we all act out of our own economic self-interest.
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“我们的一切行为是为了自己的经济利益。”
15:16
Well, look at Michael Hawley,
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那么，看看迈克尔.哈雷，
15:18
or look at Dean Kamen,
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或者丁.卡门，
15:20
or look at my grandmother.
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又或者我的祖母，
15:22
My grandmother always acted in other people's interests,
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她做事总是为了别人的利益，
15:25
whether they wanted her to or not.
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无论那些人希不希望她这么做。
15:27
(Laughter)
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（笑声）
15:29
If they had had an Olympics in martyrdom,
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而如果真有殉难的“奥林匹克”竞赛，
15:32
my grandmother would have lost on purpose.
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我祖母又会故意输掉比赛。
15:34
(Laughter)
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（笑声）
15:41
"No, you take the prize.
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“不不，你把奖杯拿走吧。
15:43
You're young. I'm old. Who's going to see it?
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你还年轻，我老了，谁还会看到啊？
15:45
Where am I going? I'm going to die soon."
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而我呢？我很快就要死了”
15:47
(Laughter)
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（笑声）
15:50
So that's one -- this boundary crossing,
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所以，这是其中一个——跨越界限。
15:53
this go-between which --
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那个中间人，
15:55
Fritz Lanting, is that his name,
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弗里茨·朗，他是叫这个名字吗？
15:57
actually said that he was a go-between.
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他也说过他是个中间人。
15:59
That's an actual quality of the trickster.
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这恰恰是变戏法的特质。
16:01
And another is, non-oppositional strategies.
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而另外一个是，不对立策略
16:05
And this is instead of contradiction.
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而这不是矛盾，
16:08
Where you deny the other person's reality,
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你不会否认别人的现实世界，
16:11
you have paradox
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你会发现悖论，
16:13
where you allow more than one reality to coexist,
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你会让不同的现实世界同时存在。
16:16
I think there's another philosophical construction.
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我想这就是另一种哲学架构了。
16:20
I'm not sure what it's called.
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我不确定这叫什么。
16:23
But my example of it is a sign that I saw in a jewelry store.
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我举的例子是我在一个珠宝店看到的牌子，
16:26
It said, "Ears pierced while you wait."
337
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上面说，“您在等的时候，耳洞就已经扎好了。”
16:30
(Laughter)
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（笑声）
16:34
There the alternative just boggles the imagination.
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另外的情况都让人胆战心惊。
16:37
(Laughter)
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（笑声）
16:39
"Oh no. Thanks though, I'll leave them here. Thanks very much.
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“噢，不，谢谢您了。我让它们好好呆着。谢谢了。
16:42
I have some errands to run. So I'll be back to pick them up
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我还有事儿呢，我会大概5点左右来取，
16:45
around five, if that's OK with you.
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可以吗？
16:48
Huh? Huh? What? Can't hear you."
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啊？啊？什么？我听不见啦。”
16:50
(Laughter)
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（笑声）
16:56
And another attribute of the trickster
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这又是另一个变戏法的特质：
16:58
is smart luck.
347
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聪明的运气。
17:01
That accidents, that Louis Kahn, who talked about accidents,
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路易斯·卡恩（著名建筑师）说意外的方式，
17:05
this is another quality of the trickster.
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是一种变戏法的素质。
17:07
The trickster has a mind that is prepared for the unprepared.
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变戏法的人有一种以不变应万变的头脑。
17:12
That, and I will say this to the scientists,
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我将会对科学家们说，那就是，
17:16
that the trickster has the ability to hold
352
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他们能够轻松地看待
17:20
his ideas lightly
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他们原有的想法，
17:22
so that he can let room in for new ideas
354
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所以他们能留给新想法以空间。
17:26
or to see the contradictions or the hidden problems
355
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或者能看到矛盾，隐藏的问题
17:29
with his ideas.
356
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等等。
17:31
I had no joke for that.
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我不是开玩笑的。
17:33
I just wanted to put the scientists in their place.
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我只是把科学家放到他们的位置上。
17:36
(Laughter)
359
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（笑声）
17:41
But here's how I think I like to make change,
360
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不过这就是我想我喜欢做出改变的原因，
17:45
and that is in making connections.
361
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在于建立联系。
17:47
This is what I tend to see
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相比起矛盾，
17:49
almost more than contradictions.
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（联系）是我更愿意看到的。
17:51
Like the, what do you call those toes of the gecko?
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就像，你们把壁虎的脚趾叫什么？
17:55
You know, the toes of the gecko,
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你知道的，那些壁虎的脚趾，
17:57
curling and uncurling like the fingers of Michael Moschen.
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蜷缩和直的，像迈克尔.莫舜的手指。
18:01
I love connections.
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我爱这些联系。
18:03
Like I'll read that one of the two attributes
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就像我会读到牛顿宇宙学里面的，
18:05
of matter in the Newtonian universe --
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物体的两大特性，
18:08
there are two attributes of matter in the Newtonian universe --
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牛顿的宇宙学里面物体都有俩特性——
18:11
one is space occupancy. Matter takes up space.
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一个是空间占有。物质占有空间。
18:14
I guess the more you matter the more space you take up,
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我想，你越重要，你占的空间就越大，
18:17
which explains the whole SUV phenomenon.
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这就解释了SUV的现象。
18:19
(Laughter)
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（笑声）
18:22
And the other one though is impenetrability.
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另一特性就是“不可渗透性”。
18:25
Well, in ancient Rome, impenetrability
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好，在古罗马时期，不可渗透性，
18:28
was the criterion of masculinity.
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是“雄性，男子气概”的标准。
18:31
Masculinity depended on you
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“男子气概”需要，
18:33
being the active penetrator.
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你是一个积极主动的穿入者。
18:36
And then, in economics, there's an active producer
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而在经济学里，有一个积极的生产者，
18:40
and a passive consumer,
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和一个消极的消费者。
18:42
which explains why business always has to
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这就解释了为什么生意上
18:44
penetrate new markets.
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老是要“渗透”新市场。
18:47
Well yeah, I mean why we forced China
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是啊，我的意思是我们强迫中国，
18:49
to open her markets.
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开放她的市场。
18:52
And didn't that feel good?
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这种感觉爽吧？
18:54
(Laughter)
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（笑声）
18:57
And now we're being penetrated.
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而现在我们反而被“渗透”了。
18:59
You know the biotech companies are actually going inside us
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你知道那些生物技术的公司真的进入我们体内，
19:02
and planting their little flags on our genes.
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在我们的基因上插上了小旗。
19:05
You know we're being penetrated.
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你知道我们被他们入侵了。
19:07
And I suspect, by someone who actively dislikes us.
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我怀疑，那是讨厌我们的人干的。
19:10
(Laughter)
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（笑声）
19:14
That's the second of the quadruple.
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这是第二个回笼的笑话。
19:17
Yes of course you got that. Thank you very much.
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当然你们明白了，非常感谢你们！
19:19
I still have a way to go.
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我还有好多要说呢。
19:21
(Laughter)
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（笑声）
19:25
And what I hope to do, when I make these connections,
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而我希望，当我建立联系的时候，
19:28
is short circuit people's thinking.
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能使人们的思维走捷径。
19:32
You know, make you not follow your usual
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你知道，
19:35
train of association,
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使人们不按照惯例去联想，
19:37
but make you rewire.
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使人们重新建立联系。
19:40
It literally -- when people say about the shock of recognition,
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它实际上，当人们提到对认可的冲击，
19:43
it's literally re-cognition, rewiring how you think --
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它实际上是重新认可，重新联系你所想的。
19:53
I had a joke to go with this and I forgot it.
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我本来有个笑话的，我忘了，
19:56
I'm so sorry. I'm getting like
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不好意思，快想起来了，
19:59
the woman in that joke about --
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这是个关于一个女人的笑话——
20:01
have you heard this joke about the woman driving with her mother?
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你们听过一个关于女人和她妈妈一起开车的笑话吗？
20:04
And the mother is elderly.
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她的妈妈年纪比较大了。
20:06
And the mother goes right through a red light.
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她妈妈完全无视红灯，冲了过去
20:08
And the daughter doesn't want to say anything.
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她女儿不想说什么。
20:11
She doesn't want to be like, "You're too old to drive."
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她不想说，“你太老了，不适合开车。”
20:14
And the mother goes through a second red light.
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她妈妈又冲了第二个红灯。
20:17
And the daughter says, as tactfully as possible,
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她女儿就尽量巧妙地说，
20:20
"Mom, are you aware that you just went through two red lights?"
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“妈妈，你意识到你冲了两个红灯了吗？”
20:24
And the mother says, "Oh! Am I driving?"
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那个妈妈说，“噢！我在开车吗？”
20:27
(Laughter)
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（笑声）
20:33
And that's the shock of recognition
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而这就是对认识的冲击里，
20:35
at the shock of recognition.
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对认识的冲击。
20:37
That completes the quadruple.
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这就完成了4个回笼笑话。
20:40
(Laughter)
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（笑声）
20:42
I just want to say two more things.
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我只是想再说两件事情。
20:46
One is, another characteristic of trickster
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一个是，变戏法的人的另一种个性——
20:50
is that the trickster has to
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就是他们必须学会面对，
20:52
walk this fine line.
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这种艰难的困境。
20:54
He has to have poise.
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他必须泰然自若。
20:56
And you know the biggest hurdle for me,
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你知道对我来说，
20:59
in doing what I do,
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最大的障碍是——
21:01
is constructing my performance
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组织我的表演，
21:03
so that it's prepared and unprepared.
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让它可以是有准备的也可以是即兴的。
21:06
Finding the balance between those things
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在这些因素中间寻找平衡，
21:09
is always dangerous
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总是危险的。
21:11
because you might tip off too much in the direction of unprepared.
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因为你可能在即兴的时候，暗示得太多
21:14
But being too prepared doesn't leave room
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但是太有准备了，又不能给意外的发生，
21:17
for the accidents to happen.
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留下空间。
21:19
I was thinking about what Moshe Safdie
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我在想昨天莫什.萨夫迪
21:24
said yesterday about beauty
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关于“美丽”所说的。
21:26
because in his book, Hyde says that
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因为在海德的书里，他说，
21:30
sometimes trickster can tip over into beauty.
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有时候变戏法的人可能会倒向美丽的一边。
21:35
But to do that you have to
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不过，要做到的话，
21:38
lose all the other qualities
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你必须先丧失其他的特质，
21:40
because once you're into beauty
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因为一旦你追求的是美，
21:42
you're into a finished thing.
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那你就已经在追求一个完成了的东西。
21:44
You're into something that
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你就在追求，
21:46
occupies space and inhabits time.
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占有空间和时间的东西。
21:48
It's an actual thing.
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它是一个真实的物体。
21:50
And it is always extraordinary to see a thing of beauty.
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能看到美的东西总是很棒的。
21:55
But if you don't do that,
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但是如果你不这么做，
21:57
if you allow for the accident to keep on happening,
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如果你一直让意外发生着，
22:01
you have the possibility of getting on a wavelength.
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那你就有可能得到一个波长。
22:04
I like to think of what I do as a probability wave.
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我总喜欢把我做的事情看做一个概率波。
22:11
When you go into beauty the probability wave
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当你去追求美的时候，这段概率的波，
22:13
collapses into one possibility.
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就会变成一种可能性。
22:16
And I like to explore all the possibilities
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而我却喜欢探索所有这些可能性，
22:19
in the hope that you'll be on the wavelength of your audience.
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并希望你可以在你的听众的波长上。
22:24
And the one final quality I want to say about trickster is
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最后一个关于变戏法的人的特质，
22:27
that he doesn't have a home.
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就是他没有一个家
22:29
He's always on the road.
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他一直都在路上。
22:31
I want to say to you Richard, in closing,
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我想在最后对你说，理查德，
22:35
that in TED you've created a home.
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在TED你创造了一个家。
22:41
And thank you for inviting me into it.
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谢谢你邀请我加入。
22:43
Thank you very much.
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非常感谢。
22:45
(Applause)
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（掌声）
ABOUT THE SPEAKER
Emily Levine - Philosopher-comicHumorist, writer and trickster Emily Levine riffs on science and the human condition.
Why you should listen
Humorist Emily Levine works a heady vein of humor, cerebral and thoughtful as well as hilarious. Oh, she's got plenty of jokes. But her work, at its core, makes serious connections -- between hard science and pop culture, between what we say and what we secretly assume ... She plumbs the hidden oppositions, the untouchable not-quite-truths of the modern mind.
Levine's background in improv theater, with its requirement to always say "yes" to the other actor's reality, has helped shape her worldview. Always suspicious of sharp either/or distinctions, she proposes "the quantum logic of and/and" -- a thoroughly postmodern, scientifically informed take on life that allows for complicated states of being. Like the one we're in right now.
For more on Levine's thoughts about life and death, read her blog, "The Yoy of Dying," at EmilysUniverse.com, along with updates on "Emily @ the Edge of Chaos" and pronouncements from Oracle Em.
Emily Levine | Speaker | TED.com