TED英语演讲稿：我们为什么快乐？

1、TED英语演讲稿：我们为什么快乐？whenyouhave21minutestospeak,twomillionyearsseemslikea reallylongtime.butevolutionarily,twomillionyearsisnot hing.andyetintwomillionyearsthehumanbrainhasnearlytri pledinmass,goingfromtheone-and-a- quarterpoundbrainofourancestorhere,habilis,tothealmos tthree- poundmeatloafthateverybod

2、yherehasbetweentheirears.wha tisitaboutabigbrainthatnaturewassoeagerforeveryoneofu stohaveone?well,itturnsoutwhenbrainstripleinsize,theydon' tjustgetthreetimesbigger;theygainnewstructures.andoneofthem ainreasonsourbraingotsobigisbecauseitgotanewpart,call edthe “ frontallobe. " andparticular

3、ly,apartcalledthe ” pre-frontalcortex. " nowwhatdoesapre- frontalcortexdoforyouthatshouldjustifytheentirearchit ecturaloverhaulofthehumanskullintheblinkofevolutionarytime?well,itturnsoutthepre-frontalcortexdoeslotsofthings,butoneofthemostimportan tthingsitdoesisitisanexperiencesimulator.flightp

4、ilots practiceinflightsimulatorssothattheydon' tmakerealmistakesinplanes.humanbeingshavethismarvelousadaptationt hattheycanactuallyhaveexperiencesintheirheadsbeforeth eytrythemoutinreallife.thisisatrickthatnoneofourances torscoulddo,andthatnootheranimalcandoquitelikewecan.i t ' samarvelousad

5、aptation.it ' suptherewithopposablethu mbsandstandinguprightandlanguageasoneofthethingsthatg otourspeciesoutofthetreesandintotheshoppingmall.now-(laughter)-allofyouhavedonethis.imean,youknow,benandjerry ' sdoes n' thaveliver-and-onionicecream,andit ' snotbecausetheywhippedsomeup,tri

6、editandwent, " yuck. " it ' sbecause,withoutleavingyoura rmchair,youcansimulatethatflavorandsay " yuck " beforey oumakeit.let ' sseehowyourexperiencesimulatorsareworking.let ' s justrunaquickdiagnosticbeforeiproceedwiththerestofthe talk.here ' stwodifferentfutures

7、thatiinviteyoutocontem plate,andyoucantrytosimulatethemandtellmewhichoneyout hinkyoumightprefer.oneofthemiswinningthelottery.thisi sabout314milliondollars.andtheotherisbecomingparapleg ic.so,justgiveitamomentofthought.youprobablydon' erestingly,therearedataont

8、hesetwogroupsofpeople,da taonhowhappytheyare.andthisisexactlywhatyouexpected,i sn' tit?butthesearen ' tthedata.imadetheseup!thesearethedata.youfailedthepopquiz,andyou ' rehardlyf iveminutesintothelecture.becausethefactisthatayearaft erlosingtheuseoftheirlegs,andayearafterwinningthelott o

9、,lotterywinnersandparaplegicsareequallyhappywiththei rlives.now,don' tfeeltoobadaboutfailingthefirstpopquiz,becau seeverybodyfailsallofthepopquizzesallofthetime.theres earchthatmylaboratoryhasbeendoing,thateconomistsandps ychologistsaroundthecountryhavebeendoing,haverevealed somethingreallyquite

10、startlingtous,somethingweca11the " impactbias, " whichisthetendencyforthesimulatortowor kbadly.forthesimulatortomakeyoubelievethatdifferentou tcomesaremoredifferentthaninfacttheyreallyare.fromfie1dstudiesto1aboratorystudies,weseethatwinningo r1osingane1ection,gainingor1osingaromanticpartne

11、r,get tingornotgettingapromotion,passingornotpassingaco11eg etest,onandon,havefar1essimpact,1essintensityandmuch1 essdurationthanpeop1eexpectthemtohave.infact,arecents tudy-thisa1mostf1oorsme- arecentstudyshowinghowmajorlifetraumasaffectpeoplesug geststhatifithappenedoverthreemonthsago,withon1yafewe

12、 xceptions,ithasnoimpactwhatsoeveronyourhappiness.why?becausehappinesscanbesynthesized.sirthomasbrownwr otein1642, " iamthehappiestmanalive.ihavethatinmethatc anconvertpovertytoriches,adversitytoprosperity.iammor einvulnerablethanachilles;fortunehathnotoneplacetohit me.” whatkindofremarkablemac

13、hinerydoesthisguyhaveinhi shead?well,itturnsoutit ' spreciselythesameremarkablemachine rythatalloffushave.humanbeingshavesomethingthatwemigh tthinkofasa " psychologicalimmunesystem. " asystemofcog nitiveprocesses,largelynon- consciouscognitiveprocesses,thathelpthemchangetheirvi ewsofth

14、eworld,sothattheycanfeelbetterabouttheworldsinwhichtheyfindthemselves.likesirthomas,youhavethismach ine.unlikesirthomas,youseemnottoknowit.(laughter)wesynthesizehappiness,butwethinkhappinessisathingtobe found.now,youdon ' tneedmetogiveyoutoomanyexamplesofpe oplesynthesizinghappiness,isuspect.tho

15、ughi' mgoingtoshowyousomeexperimentalevidence,youdon ' thavetolookver yfarforevidence.asachallengetomyself,sinceisaythisonceinawhileinlectu res,itookacopyofthenewyorktimesandtriedtofindsomeinst ancesofpeoplesynthesizinghappiness.andherearethreeguy ssynthesizinghappiness. " iamsomuchbett

16、eroffphysically ,financially,emotionally,mentallyandalmosteveryotherw ay. ” “ idon ' thaveoneminute ' sregret.itwasagloriousex perience. ” " ibelieveitturnedoutforthebest. ”whoarethesecharacterswhoaresodamnhappy?well,thefirsto neisjimwright.someofyouareoldenoughtoremember:hewasth echair

17、manofthehouseofrepresentativesandheresignedindi sgracewhenthisyoungrepublicannamednewtgingrichfoundou taboutashadybookdealhehaddone.helosteverything.themos tpowerfuldemocratinthecountry,helosteverything.helost hismoney;helosthispower.whatdoeshehavetosayalltheseye arslateraboutit? ” iamsomuchbetterof

18、fphysically,financ ially,mentallyandinalmosteveryotherway. " whatotherway wouldtherebetobebetteroff?vegetably?minerally?animall y?he' sprettymuchcoveredthemthere.moreesebickhamissomebodyyou ' veneverheardof.moreesebi ckhamutteredthesewordsuponbeingreleased.hewas78yearsold.hespent37years

19、inalouisianastatepenitentiaryforacri mehedidn' tcommit.hewasultimatelyexonerated,attheageo f78,throughdnaevidence.andwhatdidhehavetosayabouthise xperience? " idon ' thaveoneminute ' sregret.itwasaglori ousexperience. " glorious!thisguyisnotsaying, “ well,yo uknow,thereweresomen

20、iceguys.theyhadagym. " it ' s" glor ious, " awordweusuallyreserveforsomethinglikeareligiou sexperience.harrys.langermanutteredthesewords,andhe ' ssomebodyyou mighthaveknownbutdidn ' t,becausein1949hereadalittlear ticleinthepaperaboutahamburgerstandownedbythesetwobro thersn

21、amedmcdonalds.andhethought, " that ' sareallyneat idea! ” sohewenttofindthem.theysaid, " wecangiveyouafra nchiseonthisfor3,000bucks. " harrywentbacktonewyork,as kedhisbrotherwho ' saninvestmentbankertoloanhimthe3,00 0dollars,andhisbrother ' simmortalwordswere, " youid

22、iot ,nobodyeatshamburgers. " hewouldn ' tlendhimthemoney,an dofcoursesixmonthslaterraycrochadexactlythesameidea.i tturnsoutpeopledoeathamburgers,andraycroc,forawhile,b ecametherichestmaninamerica.andthenfinally-youknow,thebestofallpossibleworlds- someofyourecognizethisyoungphot00fpetebest,w

23、howastheo riginaldrummerforthebeatles,untilthey,youknow,senthim outonanerrandandsnuckawayandpickedupringoonatour.well ,in1994,whenpetebestwasinterviewed-yes,he ' sstilladrummer;yes,he ' sastudiomusician- hehadthistosay: " i ' mhappierthaniwouldhavebeenwiththe beatles.”okay.there 

24、9; ssomethingimportanttobelearnedfromthesepe ople,anditisthesecretofhappiness.hereitis,finallytobe revealed.first:accruewealth,power,andprestige,thenlos eit.(laughter)second:spendasmuchofyourlifeinprisonasy oupossiblycan.(laughter)third:makesomebodyelsereally, reallyrich.(laughter)andfinally:neverev

25、erjointhebeatl es.(laughter)ok.nowi,likezefrank,canpredictyournextthought,whichis ,” yeah,right. " becausewhenpeoplesynthesizehappiness, asthesegentlemenseemtohavedone,weallsmileatthem,butwe kindofrolloureyesandsay, " yeahright,youneverreallywan tedthejob. " o ohyeah,right.youreallydi

26、dn ' thavethatmu chincommonwithher,andyoufiguredthatoutjustaboutthetim eshethrewtheengagementringinyourface. ”wesmirkbecausewebelievethatsynthetichappinessisnotoft hesamequalityaswhatwemightcall " naturalhappiness. " wh ataretheseterms?naturalhappinessiswhatwegetwhenwegetw hatwewanted,

27、andsynthetichappinessiswhatwemakewhenwedo n' tgetwhatwewanted.andinoursociety,wehaveastrongbeli efthatsynthetichappinessisofaninferiorkind.whydowehav ethatbelief?well,it ' sverysimple.whatkindofeconomicen ginewouldkeepchurningifwebelievedthatnotgettingwhatwe wantcouldmakeusjustashappyasgetti

28、ngit?withallapologiestomyfriendmatthieuricard,ashoppingmal lfullofzenmonksisnotgoingtobeparticularlyprofitablebe causetheydon ' twantstuffenough.iwanttosuggesttoyoutha tsynthetichappinessiseverybitasrealandenduringasthekindofhappinessyoustumbleuponwhenyougetexactlywhatyouwe reaimingfor.now,i 

29、9; mascientist,soi ' mgoingtodothisnot withrhetoric,butbymarinatingyouinalittlebitofdata.letmefirstshowyouanexperimentalparadigmthatisusedtode monstratethesynthesisofhappinessamongregularoldfolks.andthisisn ' tmine.thisisa50-year-oldparadigmcalledthe " freechoiceparadigm. " it '

30、; sverys imple.youbringin,say,sixobjects,andyouaskasubjecttora hiscase,becauseth eexperimenti ' mgoingtotellyouaboutusesthem,thesearemo netprints.so,everybodycanrankthesemonetprintsfromtheo netheylikethemost,totheonetheyliketheleast.nowwegivey ouachoice: "

31、; wehappentohavesomeextraprintsinthecloset. we' regoingtogiveyouoneasyourprizetotakehome.wehappen tohavenumberthreeandnumberfour, " wetellthesubject.thi sisabitofadifficultchoice,becauseneitheroneispreferre dstronglytotheother,butnaturally,peopletendtopicknumb erthreebecausetheylikeditalitt

32、lebetterthannumberfour.sometimelater-itcouldbe15minutes;itcouldbe15days- thesamestimuliareputbeforethesubject,andthesubjectisa skedtore-rankthestimuli. " tellushowmuchyoulikethemnow. " whatha ppens?watchashappinessissynthesized.thisistheresultth athasbeenreplicatedoverandoveragain.you '

33、; rewatchingha ppinessbesynthesized.wouldyouliketoseeitagain?happine ss! ” theoneigotisreallybetterthanithought!thatotheron eididn ' tgetsucks! ” (laughter)that ' sthesynthesisofha ppiness.nowwhat' stherightresponsetothat? " yeah,right! ” now,h ere ' stheexperimentwedid,andiwoul

34、dhopethisisgoingtoco nvinceyouthat " yeah,right! ” wasnottherightresponse.wedidthisexperimentwithagroupofpatientswhohadanterogr adeamnesia.thesearehospitalizedpatients.mostofthemhav ekorsakoff ' ssyndrome,apolyneuriticpsychosisthat- theydrankwaytoomuch,andtheycan ' tmakenewmemories.ok?t

35、 heyremembertheirchildhood,butifyouwalkinandintroducey ourself,andthenleavetheroom,whenyoucomeback,theydon ' tknowwhoyouare.wetookourmonetprintstothehospital.andweaskedthesepati entstorankthemfromtheonetheylikedthemosttotheonetheyl ikedtheleast.wethengavethemthechoicebetweennumberthre eandnumber

36、four.likeeverybodyelse,theysaid, " gee,thank sdoc!that ' sgreat!icoulduseanewprint.i ' lltakenumbert hree. " weexplainedwewouldhavenumberthreemailedtothem. wegatheredupourmaterialsandwewentoutoftheroom,andcoun tedtoahalfhour.backintotheroom,wesay, " hi,we ' reback. "

37、thepatients,blessthem,say, " ah,doc,i ' msorry,i ' veg otamemoryproblem;that ' swhyi ' mhere.ifi ' vemetyoubefo re,idon ' tremember. " r really,jim,youdon ' tremember?i wasjustherewiththemonetprints? ” s sorry,doc,ijustdon 'thaveaclue. ” " noproblem,jim

38、.alliwantyoutodoisrankt heseformefromtheoneyoulikethemosttotheoneyoulikethele ast.whatdotheydo?well,let ' sfirstcheckandmakesurethey ' re reallyamnesiac.weasktheseamnesiacpatientstotelluswhic honetheyown,whichonetheychoselasttime,whichoneistheir s.andwhatwefindisamnesiacpatientsjustguess.the

39、seareno rmalcontrols,whereifididthiswithyou,allofyouwouldknow whichprintyouchose.butifidothiswithamnesiacpatients,t heydon ' thaveaclue.theycan ' tpicktheirprintoutofaline up.here ' swhatnormalcontrolsdo:theysynthesizehappiness.r ight?thisisthechangeinlikingscore,thechangefromthefir stti

40、metheyrankedtothesecondtimetheyranked.normalcontr olsshow-thatwasthemagicishowedyou;nowi ' mshowingittoyouingrap hicalform-" theoneiownisbetterthanithought.theoneididn' town,theoneileftbehind,isnotasgoodasithought. " amnesiacsdoex actlythesamething.thinkaboutthisresult.thesepeoplel

41、ikebettertheonetheyown,buttheydon ' tknowt heyownit. " yeah,right " isnottherightresponse!whatthes epeopledidwhentheysynthesizedhappinessistheyreally,tr ulychangedtheiraffective,hedonic,aestheticreactionsto thatposter.they ' renotjustsayingitbecausetheyownit,be causetheydon ' t

42、knowtheyownit.now,whenpsychologistsshowyoubars,youknowthattheyaresh owingyouaveragesoflotsofpeople.andyet,allofushavethis psychologicalimmunesystem,thiscapacitytosynthesizehap piness,butsomeofusdothistrickbetterthanothers.andsome situationsallowanybodytodoitmoreeffectivelythanothers ituationsdo.ittu

43、rnsoutthatfreedom- theabilitytomakeupyourmindandchangeyourmind-isthefriendofnaturalhappiness,becauseitallowsyoutocho oseamongallthosedeliciousfuturesandfindtheonethatyouw ouldmostenjoy.butfreedomtochoose- tochangeandmakeupyourmind- istheenemyofsynthetichappiness.andi ' mgoingtoshowyouw hy.dilber

44、talreadyknows,ofcourse.you ' rereadingthecartoon asi ' mtalking. " dogbert ' stechsupport.howmayiabuseyou ?” “ myprinterprintsablankpageaftereverydocument. ” “ whywouldyoucomplainaboutgettingfreepaper? ” “ free?are n' tyoujustgivingmemyownpaper? ” e egad,man!lookattheq ualityoft

45、hefreepapercomparedtoyourlousyregularpaper!o nlyafooloraliarwouldsaythattheylookthesame!” “ ah!nowthatyoumentionit,itdoesseemalittlesilkier!” w whatareyoudoing? ” “ i ' mhelpingpeopleacceptthethingstheycann otchange. " indeed.thepsychologicalimmunesystemworksbestwhenwearetotally stuck,whenw

46、earetrapped.thisisthedifferencebetweendati ngandmarriage,right?imean,yougooutonadatewithaguy,and hepickshisnose;youdon ' tgooutonanotherdate.you ' remar riedtoaguyandhepickshisnose?yeah,hehasaheartofgold;do n' ttouchthefruitcake.right?(laughter)youfindawaytobe happywithwhat ' shappen

47、ed.nowwhatiwanttoshowyouisthatp eopledon ' tknowthisaboutthemselves,andnotknowingthisc anworktooursupremedisadvantage.here ' sanexperimentwedidatharvard.wecreatedaphotograp hycourse,ablack-and-whitephotographycourse,andweallowedstudentstocomeinan dlearnhowtouseadarkroom.sowegavethemcameras;t

48、heywenta roundcampus;theytook12picturesoftheirfavoHteprofesso rsandtheirdormroomandtheirdog,andalltheotherthingsthe ywantedtohaveharvardmemoriesof.theybringusthecamera;w emakeupacontactsheet;theyfigureoutwhicharethetwobestp ictures;andwenowspendsixhoursteachingthemaboutdarkroo ms.andtheyblowtwoofthe

49、mup,andtheyhavetwogorgeouseight -by- 10glossiesofmeaningfulthingstothem,andwesay, " whichon ewouldyouliketogiveup? ” theysay, " ihavetogiveoneup? ” “oh,yes.weneedoneasevidenceoftheclassproject.soyouha vetogivemeone.youhavetomakeachoice.yougettokeepone,an digettokeepone. ”now,therearetwocon

50、ditionsinthisexperiment.inonecase,t hestudentsaretold, “ butyouknow,ifyouwanttochangeyourm ind,i ' llalwayshavetheotheronehere,andinthenextfourda ys,beforeiactuallymailittoheadquarters,i' llbegladto” -(laughter)-yeah, " headquarters ” -"i ' llbegladtoswapitoutwithyou.infact,i&#

51、39; llcometoyourdormroomandgive-justgivemeanemail.betteryet,i ' 11checkwithyou.youever wanttochangeyourmind,it ' stotallyreturnable." theotherhalfofthestudentsaretoldexactlytheopposite:" makeyourchoice.andbytheway,themailisgoingout,gosh,intwominut es,toengland.yourpicturewillbewing

52、ingitswayovertheatl antic.youwillneverseeitagain. " now,halfofthestudentsi neachoftheseconditionsareaskedtomakepredictionsabouth owmuchthey' regoingtocometolikethepicturethattheykeep andthepicturetheyleavebehind.otherstudentsarejustsent backtotheirlittledormroomsandtheyaremeasuredoverthenex

53、tthreetosixdaysontheirliking,satisfactionwiththepict ures.andlookatwhatwefind.firstofall,here ' swhatstudentsthinkisgoingtohappen.th eythinkthey ' regoingtomaybecometolikethepicturetheych osealittlemorethantheonetheyleftbehind,butthesearenot statisticallysignificantdifferences.it' savery

54、smallincrease,anditdoesn ' tmuchmatterwhethertheywereintherev ersibleorirreversiblecondition.wrong- o.badsimulators.becausehere ' swhat' sreallyhappening. bothrightbeforetheswapandfivedayslater,peoplewhoarest uckwiththatpicture,whohavenochoice,whocanneverchanget heirmind,likeitalot!andpe

55、oplewhoaredeliberating- " shouldireturnit?haveigottentherightone?maybethisisn 'tthegoodone?maybeileftthegoodone? ” - havekilledthemselves.theydon ' tliketheirpicture,andin factevenaftertheopportunitytoswaphasexpired,theystill don' tliketheirpicture.why?becausethereversiblecondit ion

56、isnotconducivetothesynthesisofhappiness.sohere ' sthefinalpieceofthisexperiment.webringinawhol enewgroupofnaiveharvardstudentsandwesay, " youknow,we 'redoingaphotographycourse,andwecandoitoneoftwoways.wecoulddoitsothatwhenyoutakethetwopictures,you ' dhave fourdaystochangeyourmind,or

57、we ' redoinganothercoursewh ereyoutakethetwopicturesandyoumakeupyourmindrightaway andyoucanneverchangeit.whichcoursewouldyouliketobein?" duh!66percentofthestudents,two- thirds,prefertobeinthecoursewheretheyhavetheopportuni tytochangetheirmind.hello?66percentofthestudentschoosetobeinthecourseinwhichtheywillultimatelybedeeplydiss atisfiedwiththepicture.becausetheydonotknowtheconditi onsunderwhichsynthetichappinessgrows.thebardsaideverythingbest,ofcourse