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JoshuaFoer_2012-_每个人都能掌握的记忆技巧_
I'd like to invite you to close your eyes. 请大家跟我一起闭上眼睛
Imagine yourself standing outside the front door of your home. 想象一下 你站在 自己家门口的外面
I'd like you to notice the color of the door, the material that it's made out of. 请留心一下门的颜色 以及门的材质
Now visualize a pack of overweight nudists on bicycles. 现在请想象一群超重的裸骑者
visualize:vt.形象,形象化;想像,设想;vi.显现; overweight:adj.超重的;过重的;vt.使负担过重;n.超重; nudists:adj.裸体主义的;裸体主义者的;n.裸体主义者;
They are competing in a naked bicycle race, and they are headed straight for your front door. 正在进行一场裸体自行车赛 向你的前门直冲而来
competing:adj.相互冲突的;相互矛盾的;v.竞争;对抗;参加比赛;(compete的现在分词) naked:adj.裸体的;无装饰的;无证据的;直率的;
I need you to actually see this. 尽量让画面想象得栩栩如生近在眼前
They are pedaling really hard, they're sweaty , they're bouncing around a lot. 他们都在奋力地踩脚踏板 汗流浃背 路面非常颠簸
pedaling:vi.踩踏板; n.踏板; vt.骑(自行车); adj.脚的; sweaty:adj.出汗的;吃力的;使人出汗的;
And they crash straight into the front door of your home. 然后径直撞进了你家前门
Bicycles fly everywhere, wheels roll past you, spokes end up in awkward places. 自行车四下飞散 车轮从你身旁滚过 辐条扎进了各种尴尬角落
spokes:n.[车辆]辐条(spoke的复数); awkward:adj.尴尬的;笨拙的;棘手的;不合适的;
Step over the threshold of your door into your foyer , your hallway, whatever's on the other side , and appreciate the quality of the light. 跨过门槛 进到门厅 走廊 和门里的其他地方 室内光线柔和舒适
threshold:n.入口;门槛;开始;极限;临界值; foyer:n.门厅,休息室;大厅; on the other side:另一面;在另一边; appreciate:v.欣赏;感激;感谢;理解;
The light is shining down on Cookie Monster . 光线洒在甜饼怪物身上
Monster:n.怪物;恶魔;庞然大物;adj.巨大的;
Cookie Monster is waving at you from his perch on top of a tan horse. 他坐在一匹棕色骏马的马背上 正向你招手
perch:n.鲈鱼;高处;(鸟的)栖息处;高座;v.栖息;停留;置于(顶上或边上); tan:n.(日晒后皮肤的)黝黑色; vt.鞣(革); vi.晒成棕褐色; adj.黄褐色的;
It's a talking horse. 这匹马会说话
You can practically feel his blue fur tickling your nose. 你可以感觉到他的蓝色鬃毛让你鼻子发痒
practically:adv.实际地;几乎;事实上; tickling:v.(使)发痒;逗乐;使高兴;使满足;(tickle的现在分词)
You can smell the oatmeal raisin cookie that he's about to shovel into his mouth. 你可以闻到他正要扔进嘴里的葡萄燕麦曲奇的香气
oatmeal:n.燕麦粥;燕麦片; raisin:n.葡萄干; shovel:n.铁铲;一铲的量;铲车;v.铲除;用铲挖;把…胡乱塞入;
Walk past him. Walk past him into your living room . 绕过他 绕过他走进客厅
living room:n.客厅;起居室;
In your living room, in full imaginative broadband , picture Britney Spears. 站在客厅里 把你的想象力调到最大档 想象小甜甜布兰妮
imaginative:adj.虚构的;富于想象的;有创造力的; broadband:n.宽频;宽波段;adj.宽频带的;宽波段的;宽频通讯的;
She is scantily clad , she's dancing on your coffee table , and she's singing "Hit Me Baby One More Time." 她衣着暴露 在你咖啡桌上跳舞 并唱着 Hit Me Baby One More Time
scantily:adv.缺乏地;吝啬地;不充足地; clad:adj.穿衣的; vt.在金属外覆以另一种金属; v.穿衣(clothe的过去式和过去分词); coffee table:[家具]咖啡桌;咖啡茶几;
And then follow me into your kitchen. 接下来 跟着我走进你的厨房
In your kitchen, the floor has been paved over with a yellow brick road and out of your oven are coming towards you 厨房的地面被一道黄砖路覆盖 依次钻出你的烤箱向你走来的是
paved:v.(用砖石)铺(地);(pave的过去分词和过去式) oven:n.炉,灶;烤炉,烤箱;
Dorothy, the Tin Man, the Scarecrow and the Lion from "The Wizard of Oz," 《绿野仙踪》里的多萝西 铁皮人 稻草人 和狮子
Scarecrow:n.稻草人,威吓物;衣衫褴褛的人; Wizard:n.男巫;术士;奇才;adj.男巫的;巫术的;
hand-in-hand skipping straight towards you. 他们手挽着手 蹦蹦跳跳地向你走来
hand-in-hand:adj.并进的;手拉手的;亲密的;
Okay. Open your eyes. 好了 睁开眼睛吧
I want to tell you about a very bizarre contest that is held every spring in New York City. 我要给你们讲一个每年春天在纽约 都会举办的奇异竞赛
bizarre:adj.奇异的(指态度,容貌,款式等);
It's called the United States Memory Championship . 叫做全美记忆冠军赛
United:adj.联合的; v.联合,团结; (unite的过去分词和过去式) Championship:n.锦标赛;冠军称号;冠军的地位;
And I had gone to cover this contest a few years back as a science journalist expecting, I guess, that this was going to be like the Superbowl of savants . 几年前我作为一名科技类记者 去报道这项竞赛 心里想着 大概那儿得像 怪才的 超级碗冠军赛 一样热闹吧
journalist:n.新闻工作者;报人;记日志者; savants:n.学者(savant的复数);专家;
This was a bunch of guys and a few ladies, widely varying in both age and hygienic upkeep . 一大堆男人和屈指可数的女性 从小孩儿到老人 有些还不怎么注意个人卫生
a bunch of:一群;一束;一堆; varying:adj.不同的;变化的;v.变化,改变(vary的现在分词); hygienic:adj.卫生的,保健的;卫生学的; upkeep:n.维持;维修费;保养;
(Laughter) (大笑)
They were memorizing hundreds of random numbers, looking at them just once. 有的奋力在只看一次的情况下 记下上百个任意列出的数字
memorizing:n.记忆;熟记;v.熟记;纪念(memorize的现在分词); random:adj.[数]随机的;任意的;胡乱的;n.随意;adv.胡乱地;
They were memorizing the names of dozens and dozens and dozens of strangers. 有的在努力记住成群的陌生人的名字
They were memorizing entire poems in just a few minutes. 有的想在几分钟内努力背下整篇诗歌
They were competing to see who could memorize the order of a shuffled pack of playing cards the fastest. 还有的在比赛谁能以最快速度 记下一整副打乱的牌的顺序
memorize:v.记住;记忆; shuffled:拖曳;搅乱;推诿;洗牌(shuffle的过去式和过去分词);
I was like, this is unbelievable . 我当时觉得 这太不可思议了
unbelievable:adj.(非正式)难以置信的;不可信的
These people must be freaks of nature. 这些人肯定天赋异禀
freaks:n.狂热爱好者; v.(使)强烈反应,震惊,畏惧; (freak的第三人称单数和复数)
And I started talking to a few of the competitors. 所以我开始采访参赛者
This is a guy called Ed Cook who had come over from England where he had one of the best trained memories. 这位叫Ed Cook 是从英格兰来的 他在那儿接受了最好的记忆训练
And I said to him, "Ed, when did you realize that you were a savant?" 我问他 Ed 你是什么时候开始意识到 自己是记忆天才的?
And Ed was like, "I'm not a savant. Ed答道 “我并不是什么专家
In fact, I have just an average memory. 其实 我的记忆力很一般
Everybody who competes in this contest will tell you that they have just an average memory. 来参赛的每一个人 都会告诉你他们的记忆力只是一般水平
competes:竞争;争夺;
We've all trained ourselves to perform these utterly miraculous feats of memory using a set of ancient techniques , techniques invented 2,500 years ago in Greece, the same techniques that Cicero had used to memorize his speeches, that medieval scholars had used to memorize entire books." 我们都在训练自己后才能 完成这些奇迹般的记忆游戏 我们运用了一系列古老的技巧 这些技巧是希腊人在两千五百年前发明的 西塞罗正是用了这些技巧 来记忆他的演讲稿的 中世纪学者用这种技巧来背诵正本书籍的内容
perform:v.表演;执行;履行;演出;工作,运转(好/不好); utterly:adv.完全地;绝对地;全然地;彻底地,十足地; miraculous:adj.不可思议的,奇迹的; feats:n.功勋(feat的复数);特技; techniques:n.技巧;技艺;工艺;技术;(technique的复数)
And I was like, "Whoa. How come I never heard of this before?" 我惊讶不已 哇噻 怎么我从来没听说过呢?
And we were standing outside the competition hall, and Ed, who is a wonderful, brilliant, but somewhat eccentric English guy, says to me, "Josh, you're an American journalist. 我们站在竞技大厅外 聪明过人 令人惊叹 而又稍有些古怪的英国人Ed 对我说 Josh 你是个美国记者
competition:n.竞争;比赛,竞赛; somewhat:n.几分;某物;adv.有点;多少;几分;稍微; eccentric:adj.古怪的,反常的;n.古怪的人;
Do you know Britney Spears?" 你知道小甜甜布兰妮吧?”
I'm like, "What? No. Why?" 我茫然不解 什么? 当然 为什么要问这个?
'"Because I really want to teach Britney Spears how to memorize the order of a shuffled pack of playing cards on U.S. national television. “因为我真的很想在 美国国家电台上教会布兰妮 怎样记住一整副打乱的牌的顺序
It will prove to the world that anybody can do this." 就能证明这是人人都可以做到的了
(Laughter) (哄笑)
I was like, "Well I'm not Britney Spears, but maybe you could teach me. 我说 虽然我不是布兰妮 但你也可以教教我呀
I mean, you've got to start somewhere, right?" 总得找个人开教嘛 不是吗?
And that was the beginning of a very strange journey for me. 接着 一段非常奇特的历程在我面前展开了序幕
journey:n.旅行;行程;vi.旅行;
I ended up spending the better part of the next year not only training my memory, but also investigating it, trying to understand how it works, why it sometimes doesn't work and what its potential might be. 结果 第二年的大部分时间 我都花在了训练自己的记忆力 同时调查研究记忆上 我想尝试理解产生记忆的原理 为何有时会记了又忘 及其它到底隐藏着什么样的潜力
investigating:v.调查;研究;审查;(investigate的现在分词) potential:n.潜能;可能性;[电]电势;adj.潜在的;可能的;势的;
I met a host of really interesting people. 途中我遇到了很多有趣的人
This is a guy called E.P. 其中一个叫E.P.
He's an amnesic who had, very possibly, the very worst memory in the world. 他患有健忘症 他的记忆力 恐怕是世界上最差的了
amnesic:adj.遗忘的;失去记忆的;
His memory was so bad that he didn't even remember he had a memory problem, which is amazing. 他的记忆能力差到 甚至记不得自己有健忘症 真的很神奇
And he was this incredibly tragic figure, but he was a window into the extent to which our memories make us who we are. 虽然他是个悲剧角色 但通过他 我们能了解到 记忆在何种程度上塑造了我们的人格
incredibly:adv.难以置信地;非常地; tragic:adj.悲剧的;悲痛的,不幸的; extent:n.程度;范围;长度;
The other end of the spectrum : I met this guy. 情况的另一个极端是 我遇到了这样一个人
spectrum:n.光谱;频谱;范围;余象;
This is Kim Peek . 他叫Kim Peek
Peek:v.窥视;偷看;探出;n.偷看,窥视;看一眼;
He was the basis for Dustin Hoffman's character in the movie "Rain Man." 他是Dustin Hoffman在电影《雨人》里的角色的原型
We spent an afternoon together in the Salt Lake City Public Library memorizing phone books, which was scintillating . 我和他花了一下午 在盐湖城公共图书馆里背电话簿 让我大开眼界
scintillating:adj.才情洋溢的; v.闪光; (scintillate的现在分词)
(Laughter) (大笑)
And I went back and I read a whole host of memory t color=" Black"> treatises , treatises written 2,000-plus years ago in Latin in Antiquity and then later in the t color=" Black"> Middle Ages . 回家后 我读了许多关于记忆的论文 写于两千多年前的论文 用拉丁文写的 从古代 一直到后来中世纪期间
treatises:n.论文,论述(treatise的复数形式);政府论(书名);
And I learned a whole bunch of really interesting stuff . 我学到很多很有意思的事儿
stuff:n.东西:物品:基本特征:v.填满:装满:标本:
One of the really interesting things that I learned is that once upon a time , this idea of having a trained, disciplined , cultivated memory was not nearly so alien as it would seem to us to be today. 其中一个就是 曾经 训练 规束 培养记忆力的这种概念 完全不像如今那样陌生
once upon a time:从前(常用于故事的开头) disciplined:adj.遵守纪律的; v.训练; (discipline的过去式和过去分词) cultivated:adj.栽培的; v.栽培; (cultivate的过去式和过去分词)
Once upon a time, people invested in their memories, in laboriously furnishing their minds. 曾几何时 人们寄希望于自己的记忆 能不遗余力地装饰自己的心灵
invested:v.投资;投入;(invest的过去分词和过去式) laboriously:adv.辛苦地;费力地;不流畅地; furnishing:v.布置家具;向(某人/某事物)供应,提供;(furnish的现在分词)
Over the last few millenia we've invented a series of technologies -- from the alphabet to the scroll to the codex , the printing press , photography , the computer, the smartphone -- that have made it progressively easier and easier for us to externalize our memories, for us to essentially outsource this fundamental human capacity . 近几千年来 人类发明了一系列技术 从字母表到卷轴 到法典 印刷机 摄影技术 电脑 智能手机 让我们能越来越轻松地 外化记忆能力 让我们从根本上 把这种基础的人类能力拱手让出
series:n.系列,连续;[电]串联;级数;丛书; technologies:n.技术;科技(technology的复数); scroll:n.纸卷;卷轴;涡卷形装饰;v.滚屏;滚动; codex:n.法典;古抄本;药典; printing press:n.印刷机; photography:n.摄影;摄影术; smartphone:n.智能手机; progressively:adv.渐进地;日益增多地; externalize:vt.给…以外形;使具体化,使客观化; essentially:adv.本质上;本来; outsource:vt.把…外包;vi.外包; fundamental:n.基础; adj.十分重大的; capacity:n.能力;容量;资格,地位;生产力;
These technologies have made our modern world possible, but they've also changed us. 这些技术让现代生活变为可能 但同时也改变了我们
They've changed us culturally , and I would argue that they've changed us cognitively . 不仅在文化上 我觉得也在认知上
culturally:adv.从文化角度,文化意义上;在人文学方面; cognitively:adv.认知地;
Having little need to remember anymore, it sometimes seems like we've forgotten how. 不再需要费劲去记忆 有时会觉得我们已经忘了如何去记忆
One of the last places on Earth where you still find people passionate about this idea of a trained, disciplined, cultivated memory is at this totally singular memory contest. 在这片地球上已经很少有地方 能让你觉得人们仍热衷于 训练 规束 培养记忆力了 那非同寻常的记忆大赛算是一个
passionate:adj.热情的;热烈的,激昂的;易怒的; singular:adj.单数的;单一的;非凡的;异常的;n.单数;
It's actually not that singular, there are contests held all over the world. 其实它也没有那么非同寻常 世界各地都开始举办这样的竞赛
And I was fascinated, I wanted to know how do these guys do it. 我对此深深着迷 想要知道这些人是怎么做到的
A few years back a group of researchers at University College London brought a bunch of memory champions into the lab. 几年前 伦敦大学学院的一组研究人员 请来一批记忆大赛的冠军接受研究
They wanted to know: 他们想要弄明白
Do these guys have brains that are somehow structurally , anatomically different from the rest of ours? 这些人的大脑 是否跟我们其他人在解剖学上的结构不一样?
somehow:adv.以某种方法;莫名其妙地; structurally:adv.在结构上; anatomically:adv.结构上;解剖学上;
The answer was no. 答案是否定的
Are they smarter than the rest of us? 那他们比我们都聪明吗?
They gave them a bunch of cognitive tests, and the answer was not really. 他们给研究对象实施了一系列认知测试 依旧得出了否定结论
There was however one really interesting and telling difference between the brains of the memory champions and the control subjects that they were comparing them to. 但对比受控制的比对目标的大脑 记忆大赛冠军们的大脑 确实有一处很有趣的不同 很说明问题
comparing:v.比较;对比;(compare的现在分词)
When they put these guys in an fMRI machine, scanned their brains while they were memorizing numbers and people's faces and pictures of snowflakes , they found that the memory champions were lighting up different parts of the brain than everyone else. 这些人被送去做功能磁共振 扫描大脑时 当他们在记忆数字或人脸或雪花图案时 研究人员发现记忆大赛冠军们 的大脑激活的区域 跟普通人不太一样
snowflakes:n.雪花;雪片;(snowflake的复数)
Of note, they were using, or they seemed to be using, a part of the brain that's involved in spatial memory and navigation . 值得注意的是 他们看来是在用 脑中在空间记忆和导航时会用到的部分
involved:adj.有关的; v.涉及; (involve的过去式和过去分词) spatial:adj.空间的;存在于空间的;受空间条件限制的; navigation:n.导航;航行;领航;
Why? And is there something the rest of us can learn from this? 为什么? 我们可以从中得出什么样的结论呢?
The sport of competitive memorizing is driven by a kind of arms race where every year somebody comes up with a new way to remember more stuff more quickly, and then the rest of the field has to play catchup . 竞争性记忆的较量 被一种类似军事比赛的方式推向了白热化 每年都会有人 带着更有效的记忆方法现身赛场 而其他人就必须迎头赶上
competitive:adj.竞争的;比赛的;求胜心切的; arms race:n.军备竞赛; catchup:n.番茄酱;调味酱;
This is my friend Ben Pridmore, three-time world memory champion. 这是我的朋友Ben Pridmore 赢得过三次国际记忆大赛冠军
three-time:adj.三次的;
On his desk in front of him are 36 shuffled packs of playing cards that he is about to try to memorize in one hour, using a technique that he invented and he alone has mastered. 在他的台前 有三十六副打乱顺序的牌 他要在一个小时内记下全部 用的是一种他自己发明的 也只有他会的技巧
is about to:眼看就要;即将;正要;行将;
He used a similar technique to memorize the precise order of 4,140 random binary digits in half an hour. 用与此类似的方法 他曾一字不差地背下了 4140个任意排列的二进制数 只用了半个小时
precise:adj.准确的;确切的;精确的;明确的; binary:adj.[数]二进制的;二元的,二态的;
Yeah. 很牛吧
And while there are a whole host of ways of remembering stuff in these competitions , everything, all of the techniques that are being used, ultimately come down to a concept that psychologists refer to as elaborative encoding . 参赛者在这些竞赛中 运用过很多不同的记忆方法 各式各样 被运用到的所有技巧 最终都能归化为一个概念 心理学家称之为 精细编码
competitions:n.比赛,[生态]竞争(competition的复数形式); ultimately:adv.最终;最后;归根结底;终究; psychologists:n.[心理]心理学家(psychologist的复数形式); refer:v.参考;涉及;提到;查阅; encoding:n.[计]编码;v.[计]编码(encode的ing形式);
And it's well illustrated by a nifty paradox known as the Baker/baker paradox, which goes like this: 这个概念能用一则幽默的悖论完美诠释 叫做Baker/baker悖论 简单说来就是
illustrated:v.加插图于;给(书等)做图表;说明,解释;(illustrate的过去分词和过去式) nifty:adj.俏皮的;漂亮的;n.俏皮话; paradox:n.悖论,反论;似非而是的论点;自相矛盾的人或事;
If I tell two people to remember the same word, if I say to you, "Remember that there is a guy named Baker ." 假设我让两个人去记同一个词 我跟你说 记住有个人叫Baker
Baker:n.面包(糕饼)师傅;面包店老板;
That's his name. Baker是人名
And I say to you, "Remember that there is a guy who is a baker." 我又来告诉你 记住有个人是面包师(baker)
And I come back to you at some point later on, and I say, "Do you remember that word that I told you a while back? 过了一段时间我又回来找到你们 问 还记得我之前 叫你们记住的那个词吗?
Do you remember what it was?" ”还记得是什么词吗?“
The person who was told his name is Baker is less likely to remember the same word than the person was told his job is that he is a baker. 被告知人名是Baker的人 记住这个词的可能性远不如 被告知职业是面包师的那个人
Same word, different amount of remembering; that's weird . 同样的词 导致不同的记忆程度
weird:adj.奇怪的;奇异的;离奇的;n.命运;宿命;命运女神;
What's going on here? 到底是为什么呢
Well the name Baker doesn't actually mean anything to you. 是因为 人名Baker没有任何特殊含义
It is entirely untethered from all of the other memories floating around in your skull . 没法跟你脑海里 零碎繁杂的记忆产生任何联系
untethered:vt.解下拴牛马的绳或链; skull:n.头盖骨,脑壳;
But the common noun baker, we know bakers . 但是面包师(baker)作为一个常用名词 我们都知道面包师是什么
common noun:n.普通名词(如table、cat或sea); bakers:n.面包师;(美)[食品]轻便烘炉(baker的复数);
Bakers wear funny white hats. 面包师带着搞笑的白帽子
Bakers have flour on their hands. 他们手上沾满了面粉
Bakers smell good when they come home from work. 他们下班回到家带着扑鼻的烤面包香
Maybe we even know a baker. 甚至可能有些人有朋友就是面包师
And when we first hear that word, we start putting these associational hooks into it that make it easier to fish it back out at some later date. 我们初次听到这个词时 马上就会产生各种各样的联想 这使我们能在一段时间后还能回忆起来
associational:adj.联想的;协会的; hooks:n.钩子;[机]挂钩(hook的复数);v.[机]钩;钓(hook的第三人称单数);
The entire art of what is going on in these memory contests and the entire art of remembering stuff better in everyday life is figuring out ways to transform capital B Bakers into lower-case B bakers -- to take information that is lacking in context , in significance , in meaning and transform it in some way so that it becomes meaningful in the light of all the other things that you have in your mind. 其实 要理解记忆竞赛中的 一切奥妙 或在日常生活中改善记忆力的秘诀 仅仅在于想办法把Baker中的大写B 变为面包师(baker)中的小写b 把没有前因后果 没有重要性 没有涵义的信息 用某种方法转化为 有意义的内容 跟脑海里的其他记忆串联起来
transform:v.使改变;使改观;使转换;n.[数]变换式;[化]反式; lower-case:adj.小写字母的; context:n.环境;上下文;来龙去脉; significance:n.意义;重要性;意思; meaningful:adj.严肃的;重要的;重大的;意味深长的; in the light of:根据,按照;当作;
One of the more elaborate techniques for doing this dates back 2,500 years to Ancient Greece. 这种精确记忆的技巧 在两千五百年前的古希腊就已出现
elaborate:adj.精心制作的;详尽的;煞费苦心的;v.精心制作;详细描述;变复杂;
It came to be known as the memory palace. 后来将其称为记忆宫殿
The story behind its creation goes like this: 发明这种技巧的过程如下
creation:n.创造,创作;创作物,产物;
There was a poet called Simonides who was attending a banquet . 有个叫做Simonides的诗人 他要去参加一个晚宴
banquet:n.宴会,盛宴;宴请,款待;vt.宴请,设宴款待;vi.参加宴会;
He was actually the hired entertainment, because back then if you wanted to throw a really slamming party, you didn't hire a D.J., you hired a poet. 其实他算是被请去做表演嘉宾的 因为在那个年代 炫酷派对的标准 不是请D.J.来打碟 而是要请诗人来颂诗
slamming:v.(使…)砰地关上;使劲一推;猛烈抨击;(slam的现在分词)
And he stands up, delivers his poem from memory, walks out the door, and at the moment he does, the banquet hall collapses , kills everybody inside. 他站起来 背出了他的全篇诗作 然后潇洒离去 他刚走出门口 晚宴大厅就塌了 砸死了里面所有的人
collapses:v.(突然)倒塌,坍塌;昏倒;坐下;(collapse的第三人称单数)
It doesn't just kill everybody, it mangles the bodies beyond all recognition . 不仅全体死亡 所有的死者都被砸得面目全非
recognition:n.识别;认识;承认;认可;
Nobody can say who was inside, nobody can say where they were sitting. 没人说得清死者都有些谁 没人说得清谁坐在哪儿
The bodies can't be properly buried. 导致死者的尸体没法得到合适的殉葬安置
It's one tragedy compounding another. 这又加重了整件事的悲剧色彩
tragedy:n.悲惨的事;不幸;灾难;悲剧作品; compounding:v.组合;混合(compound的ing形式);
Simonides, standing outside, the sole survivor amid the wreckage , closes his eyes and has this realization , which is that in his mind's eye, he can see where each of the guests at the banquet had been sitting. Simonides站在外面 作为废墟中的唯一幸存者 闭上眼睛 猛然意识到 在他的脑海中 他眼前出现了所有宾客所坐的位置
sole:n.鞋底; adj.仅有的; v.给(鞋)换底; amid:prep.在…过程中;在…中;四周是; wreckage:n.(失事船或飞机等的)残骸;(船只等的)失事; realization:n.实现;领悟;
And he takes the relatives by the hand and guides them each to their loved ones amid the wreckage. 他就牵着亲属们的手 穿过废墟 把他们带到了亲人身边
relatives:n.亲戚;亲属;同类事物;(relative的复数)
What Simonides figured out at that moment is something that I think we all kind of intuitively know, which is that, as bad as we are at remembering names and phone numbers Simonides当时猛然醒悟的事 大概我们大家也都猜到了 其实是 不管我们 有多不善于记住姓名 电话号码
intuitively:adv.直观地;直觉地;
and word-for-word instructions from our colleagues , we have really exceptional visual and spatial memories. 或是同事的每句指令 我们都拥有异常敏锐的视觉或空间记忆能力
word-for-word:adj.逐字的;逐字翻译的; colleagues:n.同事;同行(colleague的复数); exceptional:adj.异常的,例外的;n.超常的学生;
If I asked you to recount the first 10 words of the story that I just told you about Simonides, chances are you would have a tough time with it. 要是我让你们逐字逐句地重述 我刚才讲的Simonides故事的前十个字 应该没几个人会记得
recount:v.叙述;重新计算;n.重算;
But I would wager that if I asked you to recall who is sitting on top of a talking tan horse in your foyer right now, you would be able to see that. 但我敢打赌 如果我让你们现在回想下 在你的门厅里 坐在会讲话的棕色骏马上的 是谁 你们就明白我刚才说的意思了
wager:n.赌注;赌博;赌物;v.打赌;下赌注; recall:v.记起;回想起;使想到;勾起;召回;n.记忆力;记性;回归请求;回收令;
The idea behind the memory palace is to create this imagined edifice in your mind's eye and populate it with images of the things that you want to remember -- the crazier, weirder , more bizarre, funnier, raunchier, stinkier the image is, the more unforgettable it's likely to be. 记忆宫殿的原理 就是在你的脑海里建立一栋想象大厦 并让你想记住的东西 的影像充满其中 越是疯狂 古怪 奇诡 荒诞搞笑 乱七八糟 招人厌恶的影像 就越容易记住
edifice:n.大厦;大建筑物; populate:vt.居住于;构成人口;移民于;殖民于; images:n.印象;声誉;形象;画像;雕像;(image的第三人称单数和复数) weirder:怪诞的(weird的比较级);神秘而可怕的;超然的;古怪的; unforgettable:adj.难忘的;
This is advice that goes back 2,000-plus years to the earliest Latin memory treatises. 这个建议来自于两千多年前 拉丁最早的记忆学者
So how does this work? 那么 这种说法的原理到底是什么呢
Let's say that you've been invited to TED center stage to give a speech and you want to do it from memory, and you want to do it the way that Cicero would have done it if he had been invited to TEDxRome 2,000 years ago. 假设你被邀请 站上TED的中心讲台演讲 而你想脱稿完成 如西塞罗在两千年前在TEDx罗马上的演讲一般 他就会这么霸气走一回 而你也想这样
What you might do is picture yourself at the front door of your house. 你要做的就是 想象自己站在自家门前
And you'd come up with some sort of an absolutely crazy, ridiculous , unforgettable image to remind you that the first thing you want to talk about is this totally bizarre contest. 然后凭空想象出 一段完全荒诞疯狂难忘的景象 用来提示你上台要提的第一件事 就是这场诡异的裸骑大赛
come up with:提出;想出;赶上; absolutely:adv.绝对地;完全地; ridiculous:adj.可笑的;荒谬的; remind:v.提醒;使想起;
And then you'd go inside your house, and you would see an image of Cookie Monster on top of Mister Ed. 然后你走进房子里 想到甜饼怪物 坐在Ed先生背上的样子
And that would remind you that you would want to then introduce your friend Ed Cook. 这个景象会提醒你 要介绍你的朋友Ed Cook
And then you'd see an image of Britney Spears to remind you of this funny anecdote you want to tell. 然后你脑海里出现了小甜甜布兰妮的样子 你就会想起要讲那个关于布兰妮的小故事
anecdote:n.轶事;奇闻;秘史;
And you go into your kitchen, and the fourth topic you were going to talk about was this strange journey that you went on for a year, and you have some friends to help you remember that. 然后你走进厨房 你要说到的第四个话题是 你花了一整年走过的奇妙历程 通过绿野仙踪就可以联想得到
This is how Roman orators memorized their speeches -- not word-for-word, which is just going to screw you up, but topic-for-topic. 这就是罗马演说家背诵演讲稿的秘诀 并非一字不差 逐字背诵只会平添麻烦 而是记住一个个主题
Roman:n.罗马人;古罗马语;adj.罗马的;罗马人的; orators:n.演说家;演讲者(orator的复数); memorized:v.记忆;记住(memorize的过去分词和过去式) screw:v.旋,拧;压榨;强迫;n.螺旋;螺丝钉;吝啬鬼;
In fact, the phrase "topic sentence," 其实 短语 主题句
that comes from the Greek word " topos ," 就来源于希腊词 topos
topos:n.(修辞学上的)惯用语句;(文学创作的)传统的主题;
which means "place." 意思是 地点
That's a vestige of when people used to think about oratory and rhetoric in these sorts of spatial terms. 这是古时候 人们谈到演讲或是修辞时 会用到的空间术语
vestige:n.残留部分;遗迹;(通常用于否定句)丝毫,一点儿; oratory:n.雄辩;演讲术; rhetoric:n.修辞,修辞学;华丽的词藻;adj.花言巧语的;
The phrase " in the first place ," 短语 第一
in the first place:首先;起初;
that's like in the first place of your memory palace. 就意味着你的记忆宫殿的第一层
I thought this was just fascinating , and I got really into it. 这简直太有意思了 我对这起了很大的兴趣
fascinating:adj.极有吸引力的;迷人的;v.深深吸引;迷住;(fascinate的现在分词)
And I went to a few more of these memory contests. 后来我又去了更多记忆大赛
And I had this notion that I might write something longer about this subculture of competitive memorizers. 我开始萌发了要更详细描写 这种竞技记忆文化的念头
notion:n.观念;信念;理解; subculture:n.亚文化群;vt.作再次培养;
But there was a problem. 但有一个问题
The problem was that a memory contest is a pathologically boring event. 问题是记忆大赛 其实过程很无聊的
pathologically:adv.病理上,病理地; boring:adj.无聊的;令人厌烦的;n.钻孔;v.使厌烦;钻孔;(bore的现在分词)
(Laughter) (大笑)
Truly, it is like a bunch of people sitting around taking the SATs. 真的 就像一群人坐那儿高考一样
I mean, the most dramatic it gets is when somebody starts massaging their temples. 最最激动人心的时刻 也不过就是有人揉了揉太阳穴
dramatic:adj.突然的;巨大的;令人吃惊的;激动人心的; massaging:v.按摩;推拿;美化(事实);虚报(数量);粉饰;(massage的现在分词)
And I'm a journalist, I need something to write about. 我是个记者 总得有东西可写呀
I know that there's this incredible stuff happening in these people's minds, but I don't have access to it. 我知道这些人脑子里肯定是惊涛骇浪 但我作为外人无法得见
incredible:adj.难以置信的,惊人的;
And I realized, if I was going to tell this story, 我意识到 若我真的想报道这事儿
I needed to walk in their shoes a little bit. 一定得亲身体验才行
And so I started trying to spend 15 or 20 minutes every morning before I sat down with my New York Times just trying to remember something. 所以我开始尝试着每天早上坐下来看纽约时报前 花上十五到二十分钟 尝试记忆一些事
Maybe it was a poem. 背背小诗
Maybe it was names from an old yearbook that I bought at a flea market . 背背我在跳蚤市场买来的 旧年鉴里的人名
yearbook:n.年鉴;年刊;(每年出版的)校刊;学校年刊; flea market:跳蚤市场;廉价市场;
And I found that this was shockingly fun. 我惊奇地发现这其实非常带劲
shockingly:adv.怕人地,非常地;不正当地;
I never would have expected that. 要不去尝试根本想不到
It was fun because this is actually not about training your memory. 有趣在于 其实目标并不是要通过训练提高记忆力
What you're doing is you're trying to get better and better and better at creating, at dreaming up, these utterly ludicrous , raunchy , hilarious and hopefully unforgettable images in your mind's eye. 而是你在努力培养改善 创造力 想象力 在你的脑海里凭空造出 那些完全滑稽荒诞胡乱 最好是难忘的影像
ludicrous:adj.滑稽的;荒唐的; raunchy:adj.邋遢的,不修边幅的;猥亵的; hilarious:adj.欢闹的;非常滑稽的;喜不自禁的;
And I got pretty into it. 而它成为了我的乐趣
This is me wearing my standard competitive memorizer's training kit . 这是我戴着标准竞赛记忆者训练套装的样子
standard:n.标准;水准;旗;度量衡标准;adj.标准的;合规格的;公认为优秀的; kit:v.装备;n.成套工具;配套元件;成套设备;全套衣服及装备;
It's a pair of earmuffs and a set of safety goggles that have been masked over except for two small pinholes , because distraction is the competitive memorizer's greatest enemy. 它有一对耳塞 一副护目镜 镜面全部遮黑 就留了两个小孔 因为竞技记忆者最大的敌人就是注意力分散
earmuffs:n.耳套;护耳; goggles:n.护目镜;风镜;游泳镜;v.瞪大眼睛看;(goggle的第三人称单数和复数) pinholes:n.[电子]针孔;[纺][冶]小孔(pinhole的复数);梢孔;气孔; distraction:n.注意力分散;消遣;心烦意乱;
I ended up coming back to that same contest that I had covered a year earlier. 最后 我再次回到了一年前报道的那场竞赛场上
And I had this notion that I might enter it, sort of as an experiment in participatory journalism . 我一时冲动 也想报名参加 就当做参与性新闻报道的实验了
participatory:adj.供人分享的;吸引参与的; journalism:n.新闻业,新闻工作;报章杂志;
It'd make, I thought, maybe a nice epilogue to all my research. 我当时想 到时能在前言里调侃一下自己也好
epilogue:n.结语,收场白;尾声,后记;
Problem was the experiment went haywire . 问题是 实验最后得到了意想不到的结果
haywire:n.[电]临时电线;捆干草用的铁丝;adj.乱糟糟的,乱七八糟的;疯狂的;
I won the contest, which really wasn't supposed to happen. 那场竞赛我赢了 真是完全出乎我预料之外
supposed:adj.误信的;所谓的;v.认为;假设;设想;(suppose的过去分词和过去式)
(Applause) (鼓掌)
Now it is nice to be able to memorize speeches and phone numbers and shopping lists, but it's actually kind of beside the point . 对我来说现在 背演讲稿 电话号码 或是购物单 都是小菜一碟 倒是很不错 但其实这些都不重要了
beside the point:adv.离题,不中肯;无关紧要;
These are just tricks. 这些都是小伎俩
They are tricks that work because they're based on some pretty basic principles about how our brains work. 这些记忆伎俩之所以有效 是因为它们依仗人类大脑运转的 一些基本原理
principles:n.原则;主义;本质;政策;(principle的复数)
And you don't have to be building memory palaces or memorizing packs of playing cards to benefit from a little bit of insight about how your mind works. 并不用真的去建立记忆宫殿 或记下几副牌的顺序 你也完全可以从了解大脑运转原理中 获得一些益处
insight:n.洞察力;洞悉;
We often talk about people with great memories as though it were some sort of an innate gift, but that is not the case. 我们总会议论记忆力很好的人 总觉得那些人是天赋异禀 事实并不是这样
innate:adj.先天的;固有的;与生俱来的;
Great memories are learned. 强大的记忆力是可以习得的
At the most basic level, we remember when we pay attention. 从最根本的说起 专心致志就能记住
At the most:至多,不超过;
We remember when we are deeply engaged . 全心投入时就能记住
engaged:adj.已订婚的; v.吸引住; (engage的过去分词和过去式)
We remember when we are able to take a piece of information and experience and figure out why it is meaningful to us, why it is significant , why it's colorful, when we're able to transform it in some way that it makes sense 只要能想办法把信息和经历 转化为有意义的事 就能记住 想它为何重要 为何多彩 当我们能把它转化成为 有前因后果的事
significant:adj.重大的;有效的;有意义的;值得注意的;意味深长的;n.象征;有意义的事物;
in the light of all of the other things floating around in our minds, when we're able to transform Bakers into bakers. 并跟我们脑海中繁杂琐碎的其他事产生联想时 当我们能把人名Baker转化为面包师baker时
The memory palace, these memory techniques, they're just shortcuts . 记忆宫殿 或是那些记忆技巧 都只是捷径而已
shortcuts:n.近路;捷径;快捷方式(图标);(shortcut的复数)
In fact, they're not even really shortcuts. 其实 说到底它们都不能算捷径
They work because they make you work. 这方法有效是因为它迫使你思考
They force a kind of depth of processing , a kind of mindfulness , that most of us don't normally walk around exercising. 它迫使你往更深层次去想 让你更加专注 大部分人平时并不会费力去训练这个
processing:v.加工;处理;审核;数据处理;v.列队行进;缓缓前进;(process的现在分词) mindfulness:n.留心,警觉; normally:adv.正常地;通常地,一般地;
But there actually are no shortcuts. 其实捷径并不存在
This is how stuff is made memorable . 这一直就是我们能记住事物的原因
memorable:adj.显著的,难忘的;值得纪念的;
And I think if there's one thing that I want to leave you with, it's what E.P., the amnesic who couldn't even remember that he had a memory problem, left me with, which is the notion that our lives are the sum of our memories. 有一件事我希望你们能记住 就是E.P. 那个连自己患了健忘症都想不起来的人 让我深思 得出了一个感想 人生就是我们个人记忆的合集
How much are we willing to lose from our already short lives by losing ourselves in our Blackberries , our iPhones, by not paying attention to the human being across from us who is talking with us, by being so lazy that we're not willing to process deeply? 在短暂的人生里 你还愿意因为黑莓 iPhone 丧失多少瞬间 忽略对面坐着的人 在跟我们交谈的人 变得越发懒惰 不愿意 深究任何事？
Blackberries:n.[园艺]黑莓(blackberry的复数);
I learned firsthand that there are incredible memory capacities latent in all of us. 通过亲身经历 我发现 我们的身体里潜藏着 不可思议的记忆能力
firsthand:adj.直接的;直接采购的;直接得来的;adv.直接地; capacities:n.能力;容量;性能;生产量(capacity的复数); latent:adj.潜在的;潜伏的;隐藏的;
But if you want to live a memorable life, you have to be the kind of person who remembers to remember. 但若你想活得难忘 就得做那种 记得时常记忆的人
Thank you. 谢谢
(Applause) (鼓掌)