ABOUT THE SPEAKER
AJ Jacobs - Author
Immersing himself in alternate lifestyles and long, hilarious experiments (usually with himself the guinea pig), writer AJ Jacobs tests the limits of behavior, customs, culture, knowledge -- and his wife's sense of humor.

Why you should listen

AJ Jacobs' writings stand at the intersection of philosophy, Gonzo journalism and performance art. Stubbornly curious and slyly perceptive, he takes immersive learning to its irrational and profoundly amusing extreme -- extracting wisdom and meaning after long stints as a self-styled guinea pig. For his widely circulated Esquire article "My Outsourced Life," he explored the phenomenon of outsourcing by hiring a team in Bangalore to take care of every part of his life -- from reading his emails to arguing with his wife to reading bedtime stories to his own son. A previous article, "I Think You're Fat," chronicled a brief, cringe-inducing attempt to live his life in Radical Honesty, telling all the truth, all the time.

Jacobs is author of The Know-It-All, which documents the year he spent reading the Encyclopedia Britannica from A to Z, uncovering both funny and surprising factoids but also poignant insight into history and human nature. In 2007 he released The Year of Living Biblically, in which he attempted to follow every single rule in the Bible as literally as possible for an entire year. His recent book The Guinea Pig Diaries: My Life as an Experiment is a collection of numerous personal experiments. including living according to George Washington's rules of conduct, outsourcing every single task to India, and posing as a woman on an online dating site. 

More profile about the speaker
AJ Jacobs | Speaker | TED.com
TEDMED 2011

AJ Jacobs: How healthy living nearly killed me

A.J. Jacobs: 訴說健康的生活如何幾乎殺了我

Filmed:
2,005,709 views

整整一年,A.J.Jacobs跟從他可以的每一個健康忠告-- 從塗上烈酒杯份量的防曬液到戴自行車頭盔購物。他在TEDMED台上,訴說他了解到的令人吃驚的事情。
- Author
Immersing himself in alternate lifestyles and long, hilarious experiments (usually with himself the guinea pig), writer AJ Jacobs tests the limits of behavior, customs, culture, knowledge -- and his wife's sense of humor. Full bio

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

00:15
I've spent花費 the last decade
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我花了過去十年
00:17
subjecting主體化 myself to pain疼痛 and humiliation屈辱,
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在令自己遭受痛苦和屈辱,
00:20
hopefully希望 for a good cause原因,
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希望是一個好的因由,
00:22
which哪一個 is self-improvement自我提升.
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便是自我改良。
00:25
And I've doneDONE this in three parts部分.
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有三個部分。
00:27
So first I started開始 with the mind心神.
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首先,我由腦部開始。
00:30
And I decided決定 to try to get smarter聰明
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我嘗試變得更聰明,
00:34
by reading the entire整個 Encyclopedia百科全書 Britannica大英百科全書
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我決定閱讀整本大英百科全書,
00:36
from A to Z --
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從A到Z--
00:38
or, more precisely恰恰, from "a-akA-AK" to "Zywiec維茨."
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或者更確切地說,由「A-AK」到「Zywiec」。
00:41
And here's這裡的 a little image圖片 of that.
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這裡便是一張圖像。
00:43
And this was an amazing驚人 year.
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這是了不起的一年。
00:45
It was really a fascinating迷人 journey旅程.
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真是一個迷人的旅程。
00:47
It was painful痛苦 at times,
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有時是痛苦的,
00:50
especially特別 for those around me.
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特別是對我身邊的人。
00:52
My wife妻子 started開始 to fine me one dollar美元
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我的妻子開始每到我們談話中我插入
00:55
for every一切 irrelevant不相干 fact事實 I inserted插入 into conversation會話.
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不相關的知識事實,便我罰我一美元。
00:58
So it had its downsides缺點.
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因此,這個過程有它的缺點。
01:02
But after that,
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在那個過程之後,
01:04
I decided決定 to work on the spirit精神.
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我決定把工作集注在精神上。
01:06
As I mentioned提到 last year,
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正如我去年提到,
01:08
I grew成長 up with no religion宗教 at all.
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我從小沒有宗教。
01:10
I'm Jewish猶太,
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我是猶太人,
01:12
but I'm Jewish猶太 in the same相同 way the Olive橄欖 Garden花園 is Italian意大利.
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但我的猶太人作風差不多是如同Olive Garden是意大利的象徵。
01:15
(Laughter笑聲)
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(笑聲)
01:17
Not really.
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差不多不是。
01:19
But I decided決定 to learn學習 about the Bible聖經 and my heritage遺產
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不過,我決定探悉聖經和我的文化
01:22
by actually其實 diving潛水 in
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以實在置身於其中,
01:24
and trying to live生活 it and immerse沉浸 myself in it.
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嘗試把自己沉浸在這種生活方式。
01:26
So I decided決定 to follow跟隨 all the rules規則 of the Bible聖經.
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因此我決定按照聖經的所有規則。
01:29
And from the Ten Commandments戒律
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從十誡
01:31
to growing生長 my beard鬍子 --
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到鬍子的增長--
01:33
because Leviticus利未記 says you cannot不能 shave刮鬍子.
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因為利未記說你可以不刮鬍子。
01:35
So this is what I looked看著 like by the end結束.
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這便是我在最終的樣子。
01:38
Thank you for that reaction反應.
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謝謝你們這樣的反應。
01:40
(Laughter笑聲)
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(笑聲)
01:43
I look a little like Moses摩西, or Ted攤曬 Kaczynski卡欽斯基.
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我看有點像摩西或特德卡欽斯基(大學炸彈客)。
01:46
I got both of them.
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我捕捉到了他們兩人的影子。
01:48
So there was the topiary修剪 there.
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因此便有了修剪。
01:51
And there's the sheep.
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還有羊。
01:54
Now the final最後 part部分 of the trilogy三部曲
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現在是三部曲的最後一部分,
01:56
was I wanted to focus焦點 on the body身體
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我想著重身體,
01:59
and try to be the healthiest健康 person I could be,
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我想成為在我能力之內最健康,
02:01
the healthiest健康 person alive.
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成為活著最健康的人。
02:03
So that's what I've been doing the last couple一對 of years年份.
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所以這是我過去兩年一直在做的事情。
02:06
And I just finished a couple一對 of months個月 ago.
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我剛剛在兩個月前完成。
02:08
And I have to say, thank God.
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我必須說,感謝上帝。
02:10
Because living活的 so healthily健康 was killing謀殺 me.
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因為健康的生活是要命的。
02:13
(Laughter笑聲)
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(笑聲)
02:15
It was so overwhelming壓倒,
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它是這樣鋪天蓋地,
02:18
because the amount of things you have to do,
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因為你所要做的事情的數量,
02:20
it's just mind-boggling令人難以置信.
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是令人難以置信。
02:22
I was listening to all the experts專家
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我聽着所有專家的建言
02:24
and talking to sort分類 of a board of medical advisers顧問.
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和與一組委員會的醫療顧問交談。
02:26
And they were telling告訴 me
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他們告訴我
02:28
all the things I had to do.
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我所有要做的事情。
02:30
I had to eat right,
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我要吃得健康,
02:32
exercise行使, meditate幽思, pet寵物 dogs小狗,
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要運動,打坐,寵愛狗,
02:35
because that lowers降低 the blood血液 pressure壓力.
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因為這可以降低血壓。
02:37
I wrote the book on a treadmill跑步機,
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我在跑步機上寫這本書,
02:39
and it took me about a thousand miles英里
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我寫這本書
02:41
to write the book.
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花了約一千哩。
02:43
I had to put on sunscreen防曬.
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我要塗好防曬霜。
02:45
This was no small feat功績,
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這是一個不小的壯舉,
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because if you listen to dermatologists皮膚科醫生,
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因為如果你要聽皮膚科醫生的話,
02:49
they say that you should have a shot射擊 glass玻璃 full充分 of sunscreen防曬.
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他們說你應該要塗上一個烈酒杯份量的防曬霜。
02:52
And you have to reapply重新申請 it every一切 two to four hours小時.
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你必須每兩到四個小時重新搽上。
02:54
So I think half of my book advance提前
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我認為我寫書預支付款的一半
02:56
went into sunscreen防曬.
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都是花費在防曬霜上。
02:58
I was like a glazed有光 doughnut甜甜圈
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我當時一年中大部分時間
03:00
for most of the year.
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都看起來像釉面甜甜圈。
03:02
There was the washing洗滌 of hands.
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還有洗手。
03:04
I had to do that properly正確.
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我不得不正確做。
03:06
And my immunologist免疫學家 told me
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我的免疫學家告訴我,
03:08
that I should also wipe擦拭 down
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我應要擦拭我家的
03:11
all of the remote遠程 controls控制 and iPhonesiPhone手機 in my house,
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所有的遙控器和iPhone,
03:14
because those are just orgies狂歡 of germs病菌.
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因為這些是細菌酒池肉林的地方。
03:17
So that took a lot of time.
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這花了很多時間。
03:19
I also tried試著 to be the safest最安全 person I could be,
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我亦想試過當最安全的人,
03:22
because that's a part部分 of health健康.
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因為這是健康的一部分。
03:24
I was inspired啟發
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我的靈感來自
03:26
by the Danish丹麥 Safety安全 Council評議會.
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丹麥安全局。
03:28
They started開始 a public上市 campaign運動
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他們啟動了一個公開活動,
03:30
that says, "A walking步行 helmet頭盔 is a good helmet頭盔."
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說:「步行頭盔是一個很好的頭盔。」
03:33
So they believe you should not just wear穿 helmets頭盔 for biking騎自行車,
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他們相信你不應該只是在騎自行車時佩戴頭盔,
03:37
but also for walking步行 around.
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走路時都應戴頭盔。
03:40
And you can see there
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你可以看到他們
03:43
they're shopping購物 with their helmets頭盔.
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一邊戴着頭盔一邊購物。
03:45
(Laughter笑聲)
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(笑聲)
03:47
Well yeah, I tried試著 that.
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是啊,我試過了。
03:51
Now it's a little extreme極端, I admit承認.
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我承認, 這是有點極端。
03:53
But if you think about this,
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但是,如果你想想,
03:55
this is actually其實 -- the "Freakonomics魔鬼經濟學" authors作者 wrote about this --
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這實際上是 -- 〈魔鬼經濟學〉作者對此寫道 --
03:58
that more people die on a per mile英里 basis基礎
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死於酒後醉着走的人
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from drunk walking步行
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每英里基礎上比
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than from drunk driving主動.
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酒後駕車死去的人更多。
04:05
So something to think about tonight今晚
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因此這是你今晚需要想想的,
04:07
if you've had a couple一對.
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如果你喝了一兩杯的話。
04:10
So I finished,
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所以我完成了,
04:12
and it was a success成功 in a sense.
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在某些意義上它是成功的。
04:14
All of the markers標記 went in the right direction方向.
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所有的里程碑都是向着正確的方向。
04:17
My cholesterol膽固醇 went down, I lost丟失 weight重量,
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我的膽固醇降低,我減去了重量,
04:20
my wife妻子 stopped停止 telling告訴 me that I looked看著 pregnant.
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我的妻子不再告訴我看起來像懷孕。
04:24
So that was nice不錯.
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所以這是很好的。
04:27
And it was successful成功 overall總體.
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整體來說它是成功的。
04:30
But I also learned學到了 that I was too healthy健康,
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但我也了解到我太健康,
04:32
and that was unhealthy不良.
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而這是不健康的。
04:34
I was so focused重點 on doing all these things
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我是如此專注於做所有這些事情,
04:37
that I was neglecting何罪? my friends朋友 and family家庭.
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我忽視了我的朋友和家人。
04:40
And as Dan Buettner巴特納 can tell you,
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Dan Buettner可以告訴你,
04:42
having a strong強大 social社會 network網絡
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擁有一個強大的社交網絡,
04:44
is so crucial關鍵 to our health健康.
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對我們的健康至關重要。
04:46
So I finished.
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所以我終止了。
04:48
And I kind of went overboard落水
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我在項目結束後的
04:51
on the week after the project項目 was over.
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一週實在有些過火。
04:54
I went to the dark黑暗 side,
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我墮進了黑暗的一面,
04:56
and I just indulged沉迷 myself.
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我只是放縱着自己。
04:58
It was like something out of Caligula卡利古拉.
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就像出於卡里古拉(羅馬帝國艷情史)的東西。
05:00
(Laughter笑聲)
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(笑聲)
05:02
Without沒有 the sex性別 part部分.
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沒有性的那部分。
05:04
Because I have three young年輕 kids孩子,
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因為我有3個年幼的孩子,
05:06
so that wasn't happening事件.
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所以那部分沒有發生。
05:09
But the over-eating過度進食 and over-drinking過度飲酒, definitely無疑.
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但過量進食和過度飲酒,絕對有。
05:12
And I finally最後 have stabilized穩定.
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我終於進入了穩定。
05:17
So now I'm back
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我現在重返
05:19
to adopting採用 many許多 -- not all; I don't wear穿 a helmet頭盔 anymore --
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採取許多 -- 不是所有的,我不戴頭盔了 --
05:22
but dozens許多 of healthy健康 behaviors行為
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但数十個我在
05:25
that I adopted採用 during my year.
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我一年中採取的健康行為。
05:28
It was really a life-changing改變生活 project項目.
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它實際上是一個改變生活的項目。
05:31
And I, of course課程, don't have time to go into all of them.
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而我當然沒有時間深入說明所有。
05:34
Let me just tell you two really quickly很快.
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讓我很快的告訴你們其中兩個。
05:37
The first is -- and this was surprising奇怪 to me;
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首先是 -- 這是我感到驚訝的,
05:39
I didn't expect期望 this to come out --
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我完全沒有想到這個 --
05:41
but I live生活 a much quieter安靜 life now.
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但我現在是有一個更安靜的生活。
05:44
Because we live生活 in such這樣 a noisy嘈雜 world世界.
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因為我們是生活在這樣一個嘈雜的世界裡。
05:47
There's trains火車 and planes飛機 and cars汽車
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有火車和飛機,
05:51
and Bill法案 O'Reilly奧賴利, he's very noisy嘈雜.
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汽車和Bill O'Reilly,他非常嘈雜。
05:54
(Laughter笑聲)
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(笑聲)
05:57
And this is a real真實 underestimated低估, under-appreciated低估 health健康 hazard冒險 --
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這是一個真正被低估和不被重視的健康危害問題--
06:02
not just because it harms危害 our hearing聽力, which哪一個 it obviously明顯 does,
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不僅是因為它顯然是損害我們的聽力,
06:05
but it actually其實 initiates同修
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但它實際上是發起了
06:08
the fight-or-flight戰鬥或逃跑 response響應.
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攻擊或逃離的反應機制。
06:10
A loud noise噪聲 will get your fight-or-flight戰鬥或逃跑 response響應 going.
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一聲巨響會讓你的戰鬥或逃跑反應揭發出來。
06:13
And this, over the years年份,
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而多年來, 這一點
06:16
can cause原因 real真實 damage損傷, cardiovascular心血管 damage損傷.
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可以造成真正的損害,心血管損害。
06:19
The World世界 Health健康 Organization組織 just did a big study研究
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世界衛生組織剛做了一個大型的研究,
06:22
that they published發表 this year.
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今年出版的。
06:24
And it was doneDONE in Europe歐洲.
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在歐洲進行。
06:26
And they estimated預計
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他們估計,
06:28
that 1.6 million百萬 years年份 of healthy健康 living活的
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每年在歐洲
06:32
are lost丟失 every一切 year in Europe歐洲
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噪音污染令160萬年的
06:35
because of noise噪聲 pollution污染.
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健康生活失去。
06:38
So they think it's actually其實 very deadly致命.
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所以他們認為它實際上是非常致命的。
06:41
And by the way,
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順便說一下,
06:43
it's also terrible可怕 for your brain.
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它對你的大腦也是可怕的。
06:46
It really impairs也妨礙 cognition認識.
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它真正損害認知能力。
06:49
And our Founding創建 Fathers父親 knew知道 about this.
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而我們的開國元勳們知道這一點。
06:51
When they wrote the Constitution憲法,
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當他們在寫憲法,
06:53
they put dirt污垢 all over the cobblestones鵝卵石 outside the hall大廳
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他們把大廳會堂外的鵝卵石上覆蓋着泥土,
06:57
so that they could concentrate集中.
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使他們可以集中精力。
07:00
So without noise噪聲 reduction減少 technology技術,
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因此,假如沒有降噪技術,
07:03
our country國家 would not exist存在.
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我們的國家便不會存在。
07:06
So as a patriot愛國者,
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因此,作為一個愛國者,
07:08
I felt it was important重要 to --
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我覺得這是非常重要的 --
07:10
I wear穿 all the earplugs耳塞 and the earphones耳機,
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我戴着所有耳塞和耳機,
07:12
and it's really improved改善 my life
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它以驚訝和意想不到的方式,
07:15
in a surprising奇怪 and unexpected意外 way.
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真正改善了我的生活。
07:18
And the second第二 point I want to make, the final最後 point,
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第二點,最後一點,我想說的是 --
07:21
is that -- and it's actually其實 been a theme主題 of TEDMEDTEDMED --
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它實際上是一個TEDMED的主題 --
07:26
that joy喜悅 is so important重要 to your health健康,
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喜樂是對你的健康非常重要的,
07:30
that very few少數 of these behaviors行為
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這些行為很少會
07:34
will stick with me
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讓我堅持,
07:36
unless除非 there's some sense of pleasure樂趣 and joy喜悅 in them.
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除非它們有某種意義的樂趣和喜悅。
07:41
And just to give you one instance of this:
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給你這方面的一個實例:
07:44
food餐飲.
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食物。
07:46
The junk破爛 food餐飲 industry行業
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垃圾食品行業
07:49
is really great
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是真正精巧的
07:51
at pressing緊迫 our pleasure樂趣 buttons鈕扣
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能夠弄清楚什麼是最有樂趣的,
07:53
and figuring盤算 out what's the most pleasurable愉快的.
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以至可以觸及我們的快樂按鈕。
07:56
But I think we can use their techniques技術
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但我認為我們可以利用他們的技術
07:58
and apply應用 them to healthy健康 food餐飲.
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應用在健康食品上。
08:00
To give just one example,
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舉一個例子,
08:02
we love crunchiness酥脆, mouthfeel口感.
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我們愛脆的口感。
08:05
So I basically基本上 have tried試著 to incorporate合併 crunchiness酥脆
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所以我基本上嘗試將我的食譜
08:09
into a lot of my recipes食譜 --
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納入了很多脆的東西 --
08:11
throw in some sunflower向日葵 seeds種子.
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加入一些葵花籽。
08:13
And you can almost幾乎 trick yourself你自己
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你幾乎可以欺騙自己,
08:15
into thinking思維 you're eating Doritos多力多滋.
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以為你在吃多力多滋。
08:17
(Laughter笑聲)
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(笑聲)
08:19
And it has made製作 me a healthier健康 person.
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它便使我成為一個更健康的人。
08:21
So that is it.
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就是這樣。
08:23
The book about it comes out in April四月.
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關於它的書在4月發行。
08:25
It's called "Drop下降 Dead Healthy健康."
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稱為〈Drop Dead Healthy〉(健康砸不死)。
08:27
And I hope希望 that I don't get sick生病 during the book tour遊覽.
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我希望我不會在書宣傳期間病倒。
08:29
That's my greatest最大 hope希望.
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這是我最大的希望。
08:31
So thank you very much.
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非常感謝你們。
08:33
(Applause掌聲)
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(掌聲)
Translated by Ana Choi
Reviewed by Regina Chu

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ABOUT THE SPEAKER
AJ Jacobs - Author
Immersing himself in alternate lifestyles and long, hilarious experiments (usually with himself the guinea pig), writer AJ Jacobs tests the limits of behavior, customs, culture, knowledge -- and his wife's sense of humor.

Why you should listen

AJ Jacobs' writings stand at the intersection of philosophy, Gonzo journalism and performance art. Stubbornly curious and slyly perceptive, he takes immersive learning to its irrational and profoundly amusing extreme -- extracting wisdom and meaning after long stints as a self-styled guinea pig. For his widely circulated Esquire article "My Outsourced Life," he explored the phenomenon of outsourcing by hiring a team in Bangalore to take care of every part of his life -- from reading his emails to arguing with his wife to reading bedtime stories to his own son. A previous article, "I Think You're Fat," chronicled a brief, cringe-inducing attempt to live his life in Radical Honesty, telling all the truth, all the time.

Jacobs is author of The Know-It-All, which documents the year he spent reading the Encyclopedia Britannica from A to Z, uncovering both funny and surprising factoids but also poignant insight into history and human nature. In 2007 he released The Year of Living Biblically, in which he attempted to follow every single rule in the Bible as literally as possible for an entire year. His recent book The Guinea Pig Diaries: My Life as an Experiment is a collection of numerous personal experiments. including living according to George Washington's rules of conduct, outsourcing every single task to India, and posing as a woman on an online dating site. 

More profile about the speaker
AJ Jacobs | Speaker | TED.com