每個人都會避免犯錯，但或許避免犯錯本身就是一種錯誤?請看以下這篇“犯錯家“凱薩琳舒爾茨告訴我們，或許我們不只該承認錯誤，更應該大力擁抱人性中“我錯故我在“的本質。
So it's 1995, I'm in college, and a friend and I go on a road trip from Providence, Rhode Island to Portland, Oregon.
當時是95年 我在上大學 我和一個朋友開車去玩 從羅得島的普羅旺斯區出發 到奧勒岡州的波特蘭市
And you know, we're young and unemployed, so we do the whole thing on back roads through state parks and national forests -- basically the longest route we can possibly take.
我們年輕、無業 ，於是整個旅程都在鄉間小道 經過州立公園 和國家保護森林 我們儘可能繞著最長的路徑
And somewhere in the middle of South Dakota, I turn to my friend and I ask her a question that's been bothering me for 2,000 miles.
在南達科塔州之中某處 我轉向我的朋友 問她一個 兩千英里路途上 一直煩惱我的問題
"What's up with the Chinese character I keep seeing by the side of the road?"
"路邊那個一直出現的中文字到底是什麼?"
My friend looks at me totally blankly.
我的朋友露出疑惑的神情
There's actually a gentleman in the front row who's doing a perfect imitation of her look.
正如現在坐在第一排的這三位男士 所露出的神情一樣
(Laughter) And I'm like, "You know, all the signs we keep seeing with the Chinese character on them."
(笑聲) 我說"你知道的 我們一直看到的那個路牌 寫著中文的那個啊"
She just stares at me for a few moments, and then she cracks up, because she figures out what I'm talking about.
她瞪著我的臉一陣子 突然笑開了 因為她總算知道我所指為何
And what I'm talking about is this.
我說的是這個
(Laughter) Right, the famous Chinese character for picnic area.
(笑聲) 沒錯，這就是代表野餐區的那箇中文字
(Laughter) I've spent the last five years of my life thinking about situations exactly like this -- why we sometimes misunderstand the signs around us,
(笑聲) 過去的五年 我一直在思考 剛剛我所描述的狀況 為什麼我們會對身邊的徵兆 產生誤解
and how we behave when that happens, and what all of this can tell us about human nature.
當誤解發生時我們作何反應 以及這一切所告訴我們的人性
In other words, as you heard Chris say, I've spent the last five years thinking about being wrong.
換句話說，就像 Chris 剛才說的 過去五年的時間 我都在思考錯誤的價值
This might strike you as a strange career move, but it actually has one great advantage: no job competition.
你可能覺得這是個奇異的專業 但有一項好處是不容置疑的： 沒有競爭者。
(Laughter) In fact, most of us do everything we can to avoid thinking about being wrong, or at least to avoid thinking about the possibility that we ourselves are wrong.
(笑聲) 事實上，我們大部分的人 都盡力不思考錯誤的價值 或至少避免想到我們有可能犯錯。
We get it in the abstract.
我們都知道這個模糊的概念。
We all know everybody in this room makes mistakes.
我們都知道這裡的每個人都曾經犯錯
The human species, in general, is fallible -- okay fine.
人類本來就會犯錯 - 沒問題
But when it comes down to me right now, to all the beliefs I hold, here in the present tense, suddenly all of this abstract appreciation of fallibility goes out the window -- and I can't actually think of anything I'm wrong about.
一旦這個想法臨到我們自身 我們現在所有的 所有的信念 對人類可能犯錯的抽象概念隨即被我們拋棄 我無法想到我有哪裡出錯
And the thing is, the present tense is where we live.
但是，我們活在現在
We go to meetings in the present tense; we go on family vacations in the present tense; we go to the polls and vote in the present tense.
我們開會，去家庭旅遊 去投票 全都是現在式
So effectively, we all kind of wind up traveling through life, trapped in this little bubble of feeling very right about everything.
我們就像現在一個小泡泡里 經歷人生 感覺自己總是對的
I think this is a problem.
我認為這是個問題
I think it's a problem for each of us as individuals, in our personal and professional lives, and I think it's a problem for all of us collectively as a culture.
我認為這是每個人私人生活 和職業生活中的問題 我認為我們身為群體，這也造成了文化問題
So what I want to do today is, first of all, talk about why we get stuck inside this feeling of being right.
於是，我今天想做的是 先談談為甚么我們會 陷在這種自以為是的心態中
And second, why it's such a problem.
第二是為甚么這是個問題
And finally, I want to convince you that it is possible to step outside of that feeling, and that, if you can do so, it is the single greatest
最後我想說服大家 克服這種感覺 是可能的 而且一旦你做到了 這將成為你道德上
moral, intellectual and creative leap you can make.
智性上和創意上最大的進步
So why do we get stuck in this feeling of being right?
為甚么我們會陷在 這種自以為是的心態中?
One reason actually has to do with a feeling of being wrong.
事實上這和犯錯的感覺有關
So let me ask you guys something -- or actually, let me ask you guys something, because you're right here: How does it feel -- emotionally --
我想問問你們 讓我問問台上的你們 當你意識到自己犯錯了
how does it feel to be wrong?
你感覺如何?
Dreadful. Thumbs down.
糟透了。很差勁。
Embarrassing. Okay, wonderful, good.
難堪。很好，是的。
Dreadful, thumbs down, embarrassing -- thank you, these are great answers, but they're answers to a different question.
很糟糕，很差勁，很難堪。 謝謝你們提供這些答案 但這些答案沒有回答我的問題
You guys are answering the question: How does it feel to realize you're wrong?
你們回答的問題是： 當你意識到你犯錯的時候，你的感覺如何?
(Laughter) Realizing you're wrong can feel like all of that and a lot of other things, right?
(笑聲) 意識到你犯錯了就會有剛剛所說的這些感覺，不是嗎?
I mean it can be devastating, it can be revelatory, it can actually be quite funny, like my stupid Chinese character mistake.
令人沮喪，暴露了一些真實 有時候甚至有些好笑 像我誤以為路牌是中文字
But just being wrong doesn't feel like anything.
但犯錯本身 事實上毫無感覺
I'll give you an analogy.
讓我給你一個例子
Do you remember that Loony Tunes cartoon where there's this pathetic coyote who's always chasing and never catching a roadrunner?
你記得卡通里 那個總是在追逐 卻從未抓到獵物的土狼嗎?
In pretty much every episode of this cartoon, there's a moment where the coyote is chasing the roadrunner and the roadrunner runs off a cliff,
幾乎在每一集裡 牠的獵物 - 一隻走鵑鳥 都會跳下懸崖
which is fine, he's a bird, he can fly.
反正牠是鳥，牠可以飛
But the thing is, the coyote runs off the cliff right after him.
但土狼也會跟著牠一起跳崖
And what's funny -- at least if you're six years old -- is that the coyote's totally fine too.
那很好笑 如果你是個六歲兒童 土狼也很好
He just keeps running -- right up until the moment that he looks down and realizes that he's in mid-air.
牠就這么繼續跑 直到牠往下看 發現自己漫步在空中
That's when he falls.
這時候他才會往下掉
When we're wrong about something -- not when we realize it, but before that -- we're like that coyote after he's gone off the cliff and before he looks down.
在我們犯錯時 在我們意識到我們犯錯時 我們就像那隻土狼 還沒意識到自己奔出懸崖
You know, we're already wrong, we're already in trouble, but we feel like we're on solid ground.
我們已經錯了 已經惹上麻煩了 但仍然感覺像走在地上
So I should actually correct something I said a moment ago.
我應該改變我之前的說法
It does feel like something to be wrong; it feels like being right.
犯錯的感覺就和 正確的感覺一樣
(Laughter) So this is one reason, a structural reason, why we get stuck inside this feeling of rightness.
(笑聲) 事實上我們這種自以為對的感受 是有構造性的原因的
I call this error blindness.
我稱之為錯誤盲點
Most of the time, we don't have any kind of internal cue to let us know that we're wrong about something, until it's too late.
大部份的時間裡 我們身體裡沒有任何機制 提醒我們錯了 直到木已成舟
But there's a second reason that we get stuck inside this feeling as well -- and this one is cultural.
但還有第二個理由 文化性的理由
Think back for a moment to elementary school.
回想國小時代
You're sitting there in class, and your teacher is handing back quiz papers, and one of them looks like this.
你坐在課堂里 你的老師發回小考考卷 像這樣的小考考卷
This is not mine, by the way.
雖然這張不是我的
(Laughter) So there you are in grade school, and you know exactly what to think about the kid who got this paper.
(笑聲) 你從國小時代 就知道該對拿這張考卷的同學 下甚么評語
It's the dumb kid, the troublemaker, the one who never does his homework.
笨蛋，搗蛋鬼 從不做功課的壞學生
So by the time you are nine years old, you've already learned, first of all, that people who get stuff wrong are lazy, irresponsible dimwits --
你不過才九歲 你已經懂得，首先 那些犯錯的人 都是懶惰、不負責任的傻瓜
and second of all, that the way to succeed in life is to never make any mistakes.
第二 想要在人生中成功 就不要犯錯
We learn these really bad lessons really well.
我們很早就得到這些錯誤訊息
And a lot of us -- and I suspect, especially a lot of us in this room -- deal with them by just becoming perfect little A students,
而我們 尤其是這個大廳里的許多人 都因此成為好學生 拿全A
perfectionists, over-achievers.
完美主義、永不滿意
Right, Mr. CFO, astrophysicist, ultra-marathoner?
不是嗎? 財務長、天體物理學家、超級馬拉松先生們?
(Laughter) You're all CFO, astrophysicists, ultra-marathoners, it turns out.
(笑聲) 結果是你們全成了財務長、天體物理學家、跑超級馬拉松
Okay, so fine.
那很好
Except that then we freak out at the possibility that we've gotten something wrong.
但一旦我們發現有可能犯錯 就開始手足無措
Because according to this, getting something wrong means there's something wrong with us.
因為依照規定 犯錯 代表我們一定也有甚么不對勁
So we just insist that we're right, because it makes us feel smart and responsible and virtuous and safe.
於是我們堅持己見 因為那讓我們感覺聰明、得體 安全和可靠
So let me tell you a story.
讓我告訴你們一個故事
A couple of years ago, a woman comes into Beth Israel Deaconess medical center for a surgery.
幾年前 一個女人到 Beth Israel Deaconess 診所做手術
Beth Israel's in Boston.
Beth Israel 在波士頓
It's the teaching hospital for Harvard -- one of the best hospitals in the country.
是哈佛大學的教學附屬醫院 全國數一數二的醫療中心
So this woman comes in and she's taken into the operating room.
這個女人被送進開刀房
She's anesthetized, the surgeon does his thing -- stitches her back up, sends her out to the recovery room.
麻醉，外科醫生做完手術 縫合，將她送進恢復室
Everything seems to have gone fine.
一切看上去都很好
And she wakes up, and she looks down at herself, and she says, "Why is the wrong side of my body in bandages?"
她醒來，往自己身上一看 說“為甚么我的左腿綁著繃帶?”
Well the wrong side of her body is in bandages because the surgeon has performed a major operation on her left leg instead of her right one.
她應該接受治療的是右腿 但為他做手術的外科醫生 卻把刀開在左腿
When the vice president for health care quality at Beth Israel spoke about this incident, he said something very interesting.
當副院長出來為醫院的醫療質量 和這次意外做出解釋時 他說了句很有趣的話
He said, "For whatever reason, the surgeon simply felt that he was on the correct side of the patient."
他說“無論如何 這位外科醫生感覺 他開下的刀是在正確的一側”
(Laughter) The point of this story is that trusting too much in the feeling of being on the correct side of anything can be very dangerous.
(笑聲) 故事的重點是 相信自己的判斷力 相信自己站在對的一邊 是非常危險的
This internal sense of rightness that we all experience so often is not a reliable guide to what is actually going on in the external world.
我們心中時常感覺到的 理直氣壯的感覺 在真實世界中 並不是個可靠的嚮導。
And when we act like it is, and we stop entertaining the possibility that we could be wrong, well that's when we end up doing things
當我們依此行事 不再思考我們是否犯錯 我們就有可能
88.like dumping 200 million gallons of oil into the Gulf of Mexico, or torpedoing the global economy.
把兩百灣加侖的石油倒進墨西哥灣 或是顛覆世界經濟
So this is a huge practical problem.
這是個很實際的問題
But it's also a huge social problem.
這也是個很大的社會問題
Think for a moment about what it means to feel right.
“感覺對”究竟是什麼意思
It means that you think that your beliefs just perfectly reflect reality.
這代表著你認為你的信念 和真實是一致的
And when you feel that way, you've got a problem to solve, which is, how are you going to explain all of those people who disagree with you?
當你有這種感覺的時候 你的問題就大了 因為如果你是對的 為甚么還有人和你持不同意見?
It turns out, most of us explain those people the same way, by resorting to a series of unfortunate assumptions.
於是我們往往用同一種 思考方式去解釋這些異議
The first thing we usually do when someone disagrees with us is we just assume they're ignorant.
第一是當他人不同意我們的說法 我們便覺得他們無知
They don't have access to the same information that we do, and when we generously share that information with them, they're going to see the light and come on over to our team.
他們不像我們懂得這么多 當我們慷慨地和他們分享我們的知識 他們便會理解，並加入我們的行列
When that doesn't work, when it turns out those people have all the same facts that we do and they still disagree with us, then we move on to a second assumption,
如果不是這樣 如果這些人和我們獲得的信息一樣多 卻仍然不認同我們 我們便有了下一個定論
which is that they're idiots.
那就是他們是白痴
(Laughter) They have all the right pieces of the puzzle, and they are too moronic to put them together correctly.
(笑聲) 他們已經有了所有的信息 卻笨到無法拼湊出正確的圖像
And when that doesn't work, when it turns out that people who disagree with us have all the same facts we do and are actually pretty smart,
一旦第二個定論也不成立 當這些反對我們的人 和我們有一樣的信息 又聰明
then we move on to a third assumption: they know the truth, and they are deliberately distorting it for their own malevolent purposes.
我們便有了第三個結論 他們知道事實是甚么 但卻為了自己的好處 故意曲解真實。
So this is a catastrophe.
這真是個大災難
This attachment to our own rightness keeps us from preventing mistakes when we absolutely need to and causes us to treat each other terribly.
我們的自以為是 讓我們在最需要的時候 無法預防犯錯 更讓我們互相仇視
104.But to me, what's most baffling and most tragic about this is that it misses the whole point of being human.
對我來說 最大的悲劇是 它讓我們錯失了身為人的珍貴意義
It's like we want to imagine that our minds are just these perfectly translucent windows and we just gaze out of them and describe the world as it unfolds.
那就像是想像 我們的心靈之窗完全透明 我們向外觀看 描述在我們之前展開的世界
And we want everybody else to gaze out of the same window and see the exact same thing.
我們想要每個人和我們有一樣的窗子 對世界做出一樣的觀察
That is not true, and if it were, life would be incredibly boring.
那不是真的 如果是，人生將會多么無聊
The miracle of your mind isn't that you can see the world as it is.
心靈的神奇之處 不在你懂得這個世界是甚么樣子
It's that you can see the world as it isn't.
而是去理解那些你不懂的地方
We can remember the past, and we can think about the future, and we can imagine what it's like to be some other person in some other place.
我們記得過去 思考未來 我們想像 自己成為他人，在他方
And we all do this a little differently, which is why we can all look up at the same night sky and see this and also this and also this.
我們的想像都有些不同 於是當我們抬頭看同一個夜空 我們看到這個 這個 和這個
And yeah, it is also why we get things wrong.
這也是我們搞錯事情的原因
1,200 years before Descartes said his famous thing about "I think therefore I am,"
在笛卡兒說出那句有名的”我思故我在“ 的一千兩百年前
this guy, St. Augustine, sat down and wrote "Fallor ergo sum" -- "I err therefore I am."
聖奧古斯丁，坐下來 寫下"Fallor ergo sum" "我錯故我在"
Augustine understood that our capacity to screw up, it's not some kind of embarrassing defect in the human system, something we can eradicate or overcome.
奧古斯丁懂得 我們犯錯的能力 這並不是人性中 一個令人難堪的缺陷 不是我們可以克服或消滅的
It's totally fundamental to who we are.
這是我們的本質
Because, unlike God, we don't really know what's going on out there.
因為我們不是上帝 我們不知道我們之外究竟發生了甚么
And unlike all of the other animals, we are obsessed with trying to figure it out.
而不同於其它動物的是 我們都瘋狂地想找出解答
To me, this obsession is the source and root of all of our productivity and creativity.
對我來說 這種尋找的衝動 就是我們生產力和創造力的來源
Last year, for various reasons, I found myself listening to a lot of episodes of the Public Radio show This American Life.
因為一些緣故 去年我在廣播上 聽了很多集的"我們的美國人生"
And so I'm listening and I'm listening, and at some point, I start feeling like all the stories are about being wrong.
我聽著聽著 突然發現 這些故事全和犯錯有關
And my first thought was, "I've lost it.
我的第一個念頭是 “我完了
I've become the crazy wrongness lady.
我寫書寫瘋了
I just imagined it everywhere,"
四處都看到有關犯錯的幻覺”
which has happened.
說真的是這樣
But a couple of months later, I actually had a chance to interview Ira Glass, who's the host of the show.
但幾個月後 我訪問了那個廣播節目的主持人 Ira Glass
And I mentioned this to him, and he was like, "No actually, that's true.
我向他提到這件事 他回答我“事實上
In fact," he says, "as a staff, we joke that every single episode of our show has the same crypto-theme.
你是對的”他說 “我們這些工作人員總是 開玩笑說每集節目之中的 秘密主題都是一樣的
And the crypto-theme is: 'I thought this one thing was going to happen and something else happened instead.' And thing is," says Ira Glass, "we need this.
這個秘密主題就是 "我以為這件事會這樣發生 結果其它事情發生了" 他說"但是，這就是我們需要的
We need these moments of surprise and reversal and wrongness to make these stories work."
我們需要這些意外 這些顛倒和錯誤 這些故事才能成立。"
And for the rest of us, audience members, as listeners, as readers, we eat this stuff up.
而我們身為觀眾 聽眾、讀者 我們吸收這些故事
We love things like plot twists and red herrings and surprise endings.
我們喜歡故事轉折 令人驚訝的結局
When it comes to our stories, we love being wrong.
我們喜歡在故事裡 看到犯錯
But, you know, our stories are like this because our lives are like this.
但，故事會這樣寫 是因為人生就是這樣
We think this one thing is going to happen and something else happens instead.
我們以為某些事情會這樣發生 發生的卻是其它事
George Bush thought he was going to invade Iraq, find a bunch of weapons of mass destruction, liberate the people and bring democracy to the Middle East.
小布希以為他入侵伊拉克 會找到大規模毀滅性武器 解放中東百姓，為他們帶來民主自由
And something else happened instead.
但卻不是這樣
And Hosni Mubarak thought he was going to be dictator of Egypt for the rest of his life, until he got too old or too sick and could pass the reigns of power onto his son.
穆巴拉克以為 他到死都會是埃及的獨裁的人 一直到他年老或臥病 再把他的權力交給下一代
And something else happened instead.
但卻不是這樣
And maybe you thought you were going to grow up and marry your high school sweetheart and move back to your home town and raise a bunch of kids together.
或許你想過 你會長大、嫁給你的初戀情人 搬回老家，生一群孩子
And something else happened instead.
但卻不是這樣
And I have to tell you that I thought I was writing an incredibly nerdy book about a subject everybody hates for an audience that would never materialize.
我必須說 我以為我寫的是一本很冷僻的書 有關一個人人討厭的主題 為一些從不存在的讀者
And something else happened instead.
但卻不是這樣
(Laughter) I mean, this is life.
(笑聲) 我們的人生
For good and for ill, we generate these incredible stories about the world around us, and then the world turns around and astonishes us.
無論好壞 我們創造了啦 那包圍我們的世界 而世界轉過頭來，令我們大吃一驚
No offense, but this entire conference is an unbelievable monument to our capacity to get stuff wrong.
說真的，這整個會議 充斥著這樣難以置信的時刻 我們一次又一次地意識到自己的錯誤
We just spent and entire week talking about innovations and advancements and improvements, but you know why we need all of those innovations
我們花了整整一周 討論創新，進步 和改善 你知道我們為甚么需要這些創新
and advancements and improvements?
進步和改善嗎?
Because half the stuff that's the most mind-boggling and world altering -- TED 1998 -- eh.
因為其中有一半 來自最應該改變世界的 98年的TED 呃
(Laughter) Didn't really work out that way, did it.
(笑聲) 真是出人意料之外啊，不是嗎
(Laughter) Where's my jet pack, Chris?
(笑聲) 我的逃生火箭在哪，Chris?
(Laughter) (Applause) So here we are again.
(笑聲) (掌聲) 於是我們又在這裡
And that's how it goes.
事情就是這樣
We come up with another idea.
我們重新想出其它點子
We tell another story.
我們有了新的故事
We hold another conference.
我們開了另一個會議
The theme of this one, as you guys have now heard seven million times, is the rediscovery of wonder.
這次的主題是 如果你還沒有聽到耳朵出油的話 是重新找到想像的力量
And to me, if you really want to rediscover wonder, you need to step outside of that tiny, terrified space of rightness and look around at each other
對我來說 如果你真的想重新找到想像的力量 你需要離開 那個小小的、自我感覺良好的小圈圈 看看彼此
and look out at the vastness and complexity and mystery of the universe and be able to say, "Wow, I don't know.
看看宇宙的 廣大無垠 複雜神秘 然後真正地說 “哇，我不知道
Maybe I'm wrong."
或許我錯了。”
Thank you.
謝謝各位
(Applause) Thank you guys.
(掌聲) 謝謝