TED英語演講：長大之后想干什么
我們一定都被問過“長大后你想成什么樣的人?”，這個(gè)問題伴隨著我們的成長。它從最初童言無忌的回答到后來讓我們徹夜難眠。這個(gè)問題背后折射出了一種什么樣的文化和社會(huì)現(xiàn)象呢?它對我們有很積極的作用嗎?它適合于所有的人來回答嗎?下面是小編為大家收集關(guān)于TED英語演講：長大之后想干什么，歡迎借鑒參考。
演講者：Emilie Wapnick
演講稿
I want to start by doing an experiment. I'mgoing to play three videos of a rainy day. But I've replaced the audio of oneof the videos, and instead of the sound of rain, I've added the sound of baconfrying. So I want you think carefully which one the clip with the bacon is.
我想用一個(gè)實(shí)驗(yàn)來開始我的演講。我將給你們播放三段雨天的視頻。不過我把其中一個(gè)視頻里的 音頻換成了別的，它不再是下雨的聲音，變成了煎培根的聲音。我想讓你們認(rèn)真聽，找出哪個(gè)視頻里是煎培根聲。
Raise your hand if you've ever been asked the question "What do you want to be when you grow up?"
如果你們曾被問過這個(gè)問題，請舉手“你長大之后想干什么?”
Now if you had to guess, how old would you say you were when you were first asked this question? You can just hold up fingers. Three. Five. Three. Five. Five. OK. Now, raise your hand if the question "What do you want to be when you grow up?" has ever caused you any anxiety.
現(xiàn)在大家回想一下，你們第一次被問這個(gè)問題是多大?你們可以舉手指頭來示意一下。三歲，五歲，三歲，五歲，五歲，好的。接下來，如果剛剛說的這個(gè)問題，“你長大之后想干什么?”曾經(jīng)讓你感到焦慮，請舉手。
Any anxiety at all.
哪怕一點(diǎn)點(diǎn)焦慮。
I'm someone who's never been able to answer the question "What do you want to be when you grow up?"
我永遠(yuǎn)無法回答這個(gè)問題，“你長大之后想干什么?”
See, the problem wasn't that I didn't have any interests -- it's that I had too many. In high school, I liked English and math and art and I built websites and I played guitar in a punk band called Frustrated Telephone Operator. Maybe you've heard of us.
并不是說我沒有興趣愛好，而是我的興趣愛好太多。高中的時(shí)候，我喜歡英語、數(shù)學(xué)和藝術(shù)，建過網(wǎng)站在一個(gè)叫“失意電話話務(wù)員”的朋克樂隊(duì)當(dāng)吉他手。也許你們還聽說過我們樂隊(duì)呢。
This continued after high school, and at a certain point, I began to notice this pattern in myself where I would become interested in an area and I would dive in, become all-consumed, and I'd get to be pretty good at whatever it was, and then I would hit this point where I'd start to get bored. And usually I would try and persist anyway, because I had already devoted so much time and energy and sometimes money into this field. But eventually this sense of boredom, this feeling of, like, yeah, I got this, this isn't challenging anymore -- it would get to be too much. And I would have to let it go.
高中畢業(yè)后我也依舊興趣廣泛，某一天，我發(fā)現(xiàn)自己有一個(gè)行為模式，我會(huì)對某一個(gè)領(lǐng)域感興趣，然后一頭扎進(jìn)去，認(rèn)真鉆研，變得越來越擅長，但到了某一個(gè)階段，我就會(huì)開始覺得無聊。通常我會(huì)繼續(xù)堅(jiān)持下去，因?yàn)槲乙呀?jīng)投入了很多時(shí)間和精力，有時(shí)候還有金錢。但是最終這種無聊的感覺，就像在說，哦，這事我已經(jīng)會(huì)了，已經(jīng)沒有任何挑戰(zhàn)了，再繼續(xù)也不會(huì)有多大成就了。我必須要放手。
But then I would become interested in something else, something totally unrelated, and I would dive into that, and become all-consumed, and I'd be like, "Yes! I found my thing," and then I would hit this point again where I'd start to get bored. And eventually, I would let it go. But then I would discover something new and totally different, and I would dive into that.
但之后我可能又會(huì)對另一些事感興趣，跟之前完全不同的領(lǐng)域，我又會(huì)一頭扎進(jìn)去，認(rèn)真鉆研，然后說，“太棒了!這就是我的菜!”之后我又會(huì)達(dá)到那個(gè)階段，開始覺得無聊。最后，我又會(huì)放棄。 之后我又會(huì)發(fā)現(xiàn)新的興趣，不同的領(lǐng)域 然后一頭扎進(jìn)去。
This pattern caused me a lot of anxiety, for two reasons. The first was that I wasn't sure how I was going to turn any of this into a career. I thought that I would eventually have to pick one thing, deny all of my other passions, and just resign myself to being bored. The other reason it caused me so much anxiety was a little bit more personal. I worried that there was something wrong with this, and something wrong with me for being unable to stick with anything. I worried that I was afraid of commitment, or that I was scattered, or that I was self-sabotaging, afraid of my own success.
這種模式讓我非常焦慮，原因有兩點(diǎn)。 一是我不確定 如何才能將這些興趣變成我的職業(yè)。 我覺得自己最終會(huì)從 (這些興趣)里面挑一個(gè)，而對其他愛好忍痛割愛， 做好將來一定會(huì)無聊的心理準(zhǔn)備。 讓我非常焦慮的第二個(gè)原因， 跟我自身有關(guān)。 我擔(dān)心自己的這種行為模式是錯(cuò)的， 自己這么朝三暮四，是不是錯(cuò)了。我是不是害怕做出承諾， 或者自由散漫，破罐子破摔， 懼怕成功。
If you can relate to my story and to these feelings, I'd like you to ask yourself a question that I wish I had asked myself back then. Ask yourself where you learned to assign the meaning of wrong or abnormal to doing many things. I'll tell you where you learned it: you learned it from the culture.
如果你能理解我的故事和我的感受，請你們問自己一個(gè)問題，這個(gè)問題我早就該問自己的。就是，你是從哪里學(xué)到該如何判斷我們的所作所為是錯(cuò)誤的或者不正常的。 我來告訴你答案： 是從我們的文化中學(xué)到的。
We are first asked the question "What do you want to be when you grow up?" when we're about five years old. And the truth is that no one really cares what you say when you're that age.
我們第一次被問到“你長大之后想干什么?”是在差不多五歲的時(shí)候。其實(shí)像你那么大的時(shí)候沒有人會(huì)真的關(guān)心你說了什么。
It's considered an innocuous question, posed to little kids to elicit cute replies, like, "I want to be an astronaut," or "I want to be a ballerina," or "I want to be a pirate." Insert Halloween costume here.
這僅僅是一個(gè)無傷大雅的問題，為的是讓小朋友做出可愛的回應(yīng)，比如，“我想當(dāng)宇航員”，或者“我想當(dāng)芭蕾舞演員”，或者“我想當(dāng)海盜”。此處應(yīng)加萬圣節(jié)服裝的特效。
But this question gets asked of us again and again as we get older in various forms -- for instance, high school students might get asked what major they're going to pick in college. And at some point, "What do you want to be when you grow up?" goes from being the cute exercise it once was to the thing that keeps us up at night. Why?
然而這個(gè)問題，在我們成長的過程中會(huì)不斷被問到形式多種多樣，比如，高中生會(huì)被問到，你們在大學(xué)準(zhǔn)備選什么專業(yè)。突然有一天， “你長大之后想干什么?” 從原本一種秀可愛的方式 變成了讓我們寢食難安的難題。為什么會(huì)這樣?
See, while this question inspires kids to dream about what they could be, it does not inspire them to dream about all that they could be. In fact, it does just the opposite, because when someone asks you what you want to be, you can't reply with 20 different things, though well-meaning adults will likely chuckle and be like, "Oh, how cute, but you can't be a violin maker and a psychologist. You have to choose."
盡管這個(gè)問題鼓勵(lì)小朋友想象自己將來要做什么，但它并未給小朋友充分想象的自由。恰恰相反，它限制了小朋友想象的自由，因?yàn)橛腥藛柲汩L大后想做什么，你不可能回答20種不同的職業(yè)，盡管有些善良的大人會(huì)笑呵呵地說，“哦，你太可愛了，但是你不能同時(shí)成為小提琴制作家和心理學(xué)家啊。你必須選一個(gè)。”
This is Dr. Bob Childs -- and he's a luthier and psychotherapist. And this is Amy Ng, a magazine editor turned illustrator, entrepreneur, teacher and creative director. But most kids don't hear about people like this. All they hear is that they're going to have to choose. But it's more than that. The notion of the narrowly focused life is highly romanticized in our culture. It's this idea of destiny or the one true calling, the idea that we each have one great thing we are meant to do during our time on this earth, and you need to figure out what that thing isand devote your life to it.
這位是鮑勃·柴爾茲博士，他是一名弦樂器工匠和心理醫(yī)生。這位是艾米·恩，之前是雜志編輯，后來成為插畫作家，企業(yè)家教師和創(chuàng)意總監(jiān)。但大部分孩子都沒聽說過他們。他們聽到的只是要他們進(jìn)行選擇和取舍。 事情遠(yuǎn)不止這么簡單。 一生都心無旁騖的這一觀念， 在我們的文化中被過分浪漫化了。 這種命運(yùn)論或者說 “命中注定的職業(yè)”的概念， 意思是我們每個(gè)人都有一份 命中注定的偉大事業(yè)，我們需要找到它， 并為之奮斗一生。
But what if you're someone who isn't wired this way? What if there are a lot of different subjects that you're curious about, and many different things you want to do? Well, there is no room for someone like you in this framework. And so you might feel alone. You might feel like you don't have a purpose. And you might feel like there's something wrong with you. There's nothing wrong with you. What you are is a multipotentialite.
但如果你不是這樣的人呢?如果你對很多事都有好奇心，想去嘗試各種各樣的職業(yè)呢?那么在現(xiàn)有體系中，你很難有容身之處。你也許會(huì)感到孤獨(dú)。你也許會(huì)覺得自己沒有目標(biāo)。你也許會(huì)覺得自己是不是有問題。你沒有問題。你是一名“多重潛力者”。
A multipotentialite is someone with many interests and creative pursuits. It's a mouthful to say. It might help if you break it up into three parts: multi, potential, and ite. You can also use one of the other terms that connote the same idea, such as polymath, the Renaissance person. Actually, during the Renaissance period, it was considered the ideal to be well-versed in multiple disciplines. Barbara Sher refers to us as "scanners." Use whichever term you like, or invent your own. I have to say I find it sort of fitting that as a community, we cannot agree on a single identity.
“多重潛力者”擁有多種興趣并且追求創(chuàng)新。聽起來很費(fèi)解吧。如果把它拆成三部分可能比較好理解：多重的，有潛力的，人。你也可以用其他詞來表述類似的意思，比如“博學(xué)者”，或者“文藝復(fù)興者”。實(shí)際上，在文藝復(fù)興時(shí)代，精通多個(gè)學(xué)科是非常被推崇的。芭芭拉·謝爾稱我們?yōu)?ldquo;掃描儀”。你可以選擇一個(gè)自己喜歡的詞，或者創(chuàng)造一個(gè)新的。我感覺自己找到了組織，因?yàn)槲覀儫o法接受只有一種身份。
It's easy to see your multipotentiality as a limitation or an affliction that you need to overcome. But what I've learned through speaking with people and writing about these ideas on my website, is that there are some tremendous strengths to being this way. Here are three multipotentialite super powers.
人們很容易把多重潛力視為一種局限或者痛苦，需要克服。但我通過與人們交流，以及把這些觀點(diǎn)發(fā)到我的網(wǎng)站上，我發(fā)現(xiàn)多重潛力者有很多優(yōu)點(diǎn)。多重潛力者擁有三種“超能力”。
One: idea synthesis. That is, combining two or more fields and creating something new at the intersection.Sha Hwang and Rachel Binx drew from their shared interests in cartography, data visualization, travel, mathematics and design, when they founded Meshu. Meshu is a company that creates custom geographically-inspired jewelry. Sha and Rachel came up with this unique idea not despite, but because of their eclectic mix of skills and experiences. Innovation happens at the intersections. That's where the new ideas come from. And multipotentialites, with all of their backgrounds, are able to access a lot of these points of intersection.
第一是產(chǎn)生創(chuàng)意。就是說，結(jié)合兩個(gè)或兩個(gè)以上領(lǐng)域從結(jié)合處尋求創(chuàng)新。黃沙和瑞秋·賓克斯找到了共同的興趣愛好，像制圖，數(shù)據(jù)可視化，旅行，數(shù)學(xué)和設(shè)計(jì)，之后他們創(chuàng)辦了Meshu。 Meshu是一家定制珠寶公司，專門制作具有地域特色的珠寶。黃沙和瑞秋之所以能產(chǎn)生這個(gè)獨(dú)特的創(chuàng)意，正是因?yàn)樗麄z博學(xué)多才，經(jīng)歷豐富。創(chuàng)新來源于交叉處。新創(chuàng)意(大都)來源于此。而多重潛力者，擁有豐富的(知識(shí))背景，能夠在各領(lǐng)域交叉處找到突破點(diǎn)。
The second multipotentialite superpower is rapid learning. When multipotentialites become interested in something, we go hard. We observe everything we can get our hands on. We're also used to being beginners, because we've been beginners so many times in the past, and this means that we're less afraid of trying new things and stepping out of our comfort zones. What's more, many skills are transferable across disciplines, and we bring everything we've learned to every new area we pursue, so we're rarely starting from scratch.
多重潛力者的第二種超能力是快速學(xué)習(xí)。 當(dāng)多重潛力者對某件事產(chǎn)生興趣時(shí)， 我們會(huì)全身心投入。 我們仔細(xì)觀察，勤于實(shí)踐。 我們已經(jīng)習(xí)慣于當(dāng)初學(xué)者，因?yàn)槲覀冞^去曾當(dāng)過無數(shù)次初學(xué)者， 我們不怕嘗試新事物， 勇于走出舒適區(qū)。 除此以外，很多能力在各個(gè)學(xué)科都是通用的， 我們將之前所學(xué)用于新領(lǐng)域， 而不用從零開始。
Nora Dunn is a full-time traveler and freelance writer. As a child concert pianist, she honed an incredible ability to develop muscle memory. Now, she's the fastest typist she knows.
諾拉·鄧恩是一位全職旅行家和自由作家。作為一名兒童鋼琴演奏家，她磨練出了非凡的能力來發(fā)展肌肉記憶。因此，她是她所有認(rèn)識(shí)的人中打字最快的。
Before becoming a writer, Nora was a financial planner. She had to learn the finer mechanics of sales when she was starting her practice, and this skill now helps her write compelling pitches to editors. It is rarely a waste of time to pursue something you're drawn to, even if you end up quitting. You might apply that knowledge in a different field entirely, in a way that you couldn't have anticipated.
在當(dāng)作家之前，諾拉是一名理財(cái)師。在初入這行的時(shí)候，她不得不學(xué)習(xí)一些高明的銷售技巧，如今這項(xiàng)技能被她用來給編輯寫精彩的推薦語。追求你感興趣的東西并不是浪費(fèi)時(shí)間，即使最后你并沒有堅(jiān)持到底。也許將來你會(huì)把這些知識(shí)用在一個(gè)完全不同的領(lǐng)域，用一種你完全預(yù)料不到的方式。
The third multipotentialite superpower is adaptability; that is, the ability to morph into whatever you need to be in a given situation. Abe Cajudo is sometimes a video director, sometimes a web designer, sometimes a Kickstarter consultant, sometimes a teacher, and sometimes, apparently, James Bond.
第三種“超能力”是適應(yīng)性。 也就是說，如果有需要， 你能變成任何角色， 以適應(yīng)不同的情況。 艾比·卡胡多有時(shí)候是視頻導(dǎo)演， 有時(shí)候是網(wǎng)站設(shè)計(jì)師， 有時(shí)候是眾籌顧問， 有時(shí)候是老師， 有時(shí)候，很明顯，是詹姆斯·邦德。
He's valuable because he does good work. He's even more valuable because he can take on various roles,depending on his clients' needs. Fast Company magazine identified adaptability as the single most important skill to develop in order to thrive in the 21st century. The economic world is changing so quickly and unpredictably that it is the individuals and organizations that can pivot in order to meet the needs of the market that are really going to thrive.
他擁有出色的工作能力。更重要的是他可以隨時(shí)切換自己的角色，來滿足客戶的需要?！犊旃尽冯s志認(rèn)為，要想在21世紀(jì)取得成功，適應(yīng)性是最重要的一項(xiàng)技能。經(jīng)濟(jì)界的變化如此迅速且無法預(yù)測，那些能夠根據(jù)市場需要進(jìn)行調(diào)整的個(gè)人和公司才有可能取得成功。
Idea synthesis, rapid learning and adaptability: three skills that multipotentialites are very adept at, and three skills that they might lose if pressured to narrow their focus. As a society, we have a vested interest in encouraging multipotentialites to be themselves. We have a lot of complex, multidimensional problems in the world right now, and we need creative, out-of-the-box thinkers to tackle them.
產(chǎn)生創(chuàng)意，快速學(xué)習(xí)和適應(yīng)性是多重潛力者非常擅長的三種能力，如果強(qiáng)迫他們縮小自己的關(guān)注范圍，這三種能力也許就會(huì)喪失。作為一個(gè)社會(huì)，鼓勵(lì)多重潛力者保持本色對我們有利。我們?nèi)缃衩媾R許多復(fù)雜問題，涉及許多方面， 我們需要有創(chuàng)意的、能破除思維定式的 思想者來解決這些問題。
Now, let's say that you are, in your heart, a specialist. You came out of the womb knowing you wanted to be a pediatric neurosurgeon. Don't worry -- there's nothing wrong with you, either.
我們假設(shè)，內(nèi)心深處，你是一名專家。你從打娘胎里出來就知道你想當(dāng)一名兒童神經(jīng)外科醫(yī)生。別擔(dān)心，即使這樣你也挺正常的。
In fact, some of the best teams are comprised of a specialist and multipotentialite paired together. The specialist can dive in deep and implement ideas, while the multipotentialite brings a breadth of knowledge to the project. It's a beautiful partnership. But we should all be designing lives and careers that are aligned with how we're wired. And sadly, multipotentialites are largely being encouraged simply to be more like their specialist peers.
事實(shí)上，一些頂尖團(tuán)隊(duì)就是由專家和多重潛力者搭配組成。專家可以深入研究，實(shí)踐想法，而多重潛力者可以為項(xiàng)目帶來更廣泛的知識(shí)支持。這是一種美妙的合作。但是我們都應(yīng)該根據(jù)自己的天賦來規(guī)劃與之相適應(yīng)的人生和職業(yè)。不幸的是，多重潛力者往往被要求成為(剛剛提到的)團(tuán)隊(duì)中的那個(gè)專家。
So with that said, if there is one thing you take away from this talk, I hope that it is this: embrace your inner wiring, whatever that may be. If you're a specialist at heart, then by all means, specialize. That is where you'll do your best work. But to the multipotentialites in the room, including those of you who may have just realized in the last 12 minutes that you are one --
所以，如果你從今天的演講中學(xué)到了一件事的話，我希望會(huì)是： 接受你內(nèi)心的真實(shí)想法。 如果你是專家型的人， 那就用盡一切辦法，成為專家。你會(huì)干得非常不錯(cuò)。 但對于在座的多重潛力者們， 包括那些在過去的12分鐘里 剛剛意識(shí)到自己是多重潛力者的人。
To you I say: embrace your many passions. Follow your curiosity down those rabbit holes. Explore your intersections. Embracing our inner wiring leads to a happier, more authentic life. And perhaps more importantly -- multipotentialites, the world needs us.Thank you.
我要對你們說：接受你的眾多愛好。保持你的好奇心。探索(不同領(lǐng)域的)交叉地帶。讓真實(shí)的自我引領(lǐng)我們?nèi)ミ^更快樂、更真實(shí)的人生。也許更重要的是，(我們是)多重潛力者，這個(gè)世界需要我們。謝謝大家。
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