逆向大脑自行车 - Smarter Every Day 133：英语精读讲义

Hey, it's me Destin.

嘿，我是 Destin。

Welcome back to Smarter Every Day.

欢迎回到 Smarter Every Day（天天变聪明）。

You've heard people say it's just like riding a bike, 習語

你听过人们常说“就像骑自行车一样”，

meaning it's really easy and you can't forget how to do it,

意思是这很简单，你不可能忘记怎么骑，

right?

对吧？

But I did something.

但我做了一件事。

I did something that damaged my mind.

做了件伤害我大脑的事。

It happened on the streets of Amsterdam

事情发生在阿姆斯特丹的街头，

and and I got really scared,

坦白说，当时我真的害怕极了，

honestly.

说真的。

I can't ride a bike like you can anymore.

我再也不能像你那样骑自行车了。

Before I show you the video of what happened,

在给你看事发当时的视频之前，

I I need to tell you the backstory.

我得先告诉你事情的背景。

Like many 6-year-olds with a MacGyver mullet, 文化背景

就像许多留着马盖先式鲻鱼头的小孩一样，

I learned how to ride a bike when I was really young.

我很小的时候就学会了骑自行车。

I had learned a life skill and I was really proud of it.

我学到了一项生活技能，并为此感到自豪。

Everything changed,

然而一切都改变了，

though,

不过，

when my friend Barney called me 25 years later.

就在 25 年后我的朋友 Barney 打电话给我的时候。

Where I work,

在我工作的地方，

the welders are geniuses and they like to play jokes on the engineers. 短語搭配

焊工们都是天才，他们很喜欢对工程师恶作剧。

He had a challenge for me.

他给了我一个挑战。

He had built a special bicycle and he wanted me to try to ride it. 語法

他造了一辆特殊的自行车，想让我试骑一下。

He had only changed one thing.

他只改变了一件事。

When you turn the handlebar to the left,

当你把车把向左转时，

the wheel goes to the right.

轮子会向右转。

When you turn it to the right,

当你向右转时，

the wheel goes to the left.

轮子会向左转。

I thought this would be easy,

我觉得这很简单，

so I hopped on the bike ready to demonstrate how quickly I could conquer this. 短語動詞

于是我跳上车，准备展示我能多快征服它。

And here he is,

各位女士们先生们，

ladies and gentlemen,

他来了，

Mr. Destin Sandlin.

Destin Sandlin 先生。

First attempt riding the bicycle.

第一次尝试骑这辆自行车。

So,

那么，

the faster I go, 語法

我骑得越快，

the better.

越好。

Yeah.

对。

Yeah.

是的。

I couldn't do it.

我做不到。

You can see that I'm laughing,

你能看到我在笑，

but I'm actually really frustrated.

但实际上我非常沮丧。

In this moment,

就在这一刻，

I had a really deep revelation.

我有了很深的顿悟。

My thinking was in a rut. 習語

我的思维陷入了僵局。

This bike revealed a very deep truth to me.

这辆自行车向我揭示了一个非常深刻的真理。

I had the knowledge of how to operate the bike,

我拥有如何操作自行车的知识，

but I did not have the understanding.

但我并没有理解它。

Therefore,

因此，

knowledge is not understanding. 表達脈絡

知识不等于理解。

Look,

听着，

I know what you're probably thinking,

我知道你大概在想什么，

Destin's probably just an uncoordinated engineer and can't do it.

“Destin 肯定只是个四肢不协调的工程师所以做不到。”

But that's not the case at all. 短語搭配

但完全不是这样。

The algorithm that's associated with riding a bike in your brain is just that complicated. 語法

你的大脑里关于骑自行车的算法就是有这么复杂。

Think about it.

想想看。

Downwards force on the pedals,

踩在踏板上的向下力量，

leaning your whole body,

倾斜你整个身体，

pulling and pushing the handlebars,

推拉车把，

gyroscopic precession in the wheels,

车轮的陀螺进动，

every single force is part of this algorithm.

每一种力量都是这个算法的一部分。

And if you change any one part,

如果你改变其中的任何一部分，

it affects the entire control system.

就会影响整个控制系统。

I do not make definitive statements that often, 表達脈絡

我不常做这么绝对的结论，

but I'm telling you right now,

但我现在就告诉你，

you cannot ride this bicycle.

你不可能骑得好这辆自行车。

You might think you can, 表達脈絡

你可能觉得你能行，

but you can't.

但你真不行。

I know this because I'm often asked to speak at universities and conferences

我之所以这么清楚，是因为我常受邀在大学和会议上演讲，

and I take the bike with me.

而且我会带上这辆自行车。

It's always the same.

结果总是一样的。

People think they're going to try some trick or they're just going to power through it. 短語動詞

人们总想着耍点小聪明，或者打算强行克服它。

It doesn't work.

根本行不通。

Your brain cannot handle this.

你的大脑处理不了。

For instance,

比如说，

this guy,

这家伙，

I offered him $200 just to ride this bike 10 ft across the stage.

我提出只要他能骑着这车横穿舞台 10 英尺，我就给他 200 美元。

Everybody thought he could do it.

所有人都觉得他能做到。

No,

不，

you don't understand.

你不明白。

You don't understand.

你不明白。

So,

好了，

this way.

这边走。

All right,

好的，

so

那么

whenever you're ready.

你准备好了就开始。

No, no,

不，不，

you have to keep your feet on

你的脚得踩在——

All right,

好了，

keep it together.

稳住。

Wait,

等等，

wait, wait.

等等，等等。

Like,

那个，

you've gotta start rolling at least.

你至少得先让车子滚起来。

And go.

走。

Oh, no!

哦，不！

All right,

好吧，

back up.

退后。

Keep your feet on the pedal.

把脚放在踏板上。

Go.

走。

Just keep your feet on the pedals.

把脚放在踏板上就好。

Handlebars

抓好车把

Yeah,

对，

come on.

加油。

All right,

好了，

one more time.

再来一次。

One more time.

再来一次。

Once you have a rigid way of thinking in your head,

一旦你的大脑里形成了一种僵化的思维方式，

sometimes you cannot change that

有时你就无法改变它，

even if you want to. 語法

即使你想改变也不行。

So,

于是，

here's what I did.

我是这么做的。

It was a personal challenge.

这是个个人挑战。

I stayed out here in this driveway and I practiced about 5 minutes every day.

我每天在这车道上待着，练习大约 5 分钟。

My neighbors made fun of me. 習語

我的邻居们都取笑我。

I had many wrecks,

我摔了无数次，

but after 8 months,

但是 8 个月后，

this happened.

奇迹发生了。

One day I couldn't ride the bike and the next day I could. 表達脈絡

某天我还骑不了这车，第二天我就会了。

It was like I could feel some kind of pathway in my brain that was now unlocked.

感觉就像我脑海里的某条通路突然被打通了。

It was really weird,

不过这真的很奇怪，

though.

可是。

It's like there's this trail in my brain,

就像我大脑里有一条小路，

but if I wasn't paying close enough attention to it, 短語搭配

但如果我不全神贯注，

my brain would easily lose that neural path and jump back onto the old road it was more familiar with. 習語

我的大脑很容易就会失去那条神经通路，然后跳回它更熟悉的旧路上。

Any small distractions at all,

任何一点小小的分心，

like a cell phone ringing in my pocket,

比如口袋里的手机响了，

would instantly throw my brain back to the old control algorithm and I would wreck.

都会瞬间让我的大脑回到旧的控制算法，然后我就会摔倒。

But at least I could ride it.

但至少我会骑了。

My son is the closest person to me genetically and he's been riding a normal bike for 3 years.

我儿子在基因上跟我最接近，他骑普通自行车已经 3 年了。

That's over half his life.

那超过了他一半的人生。

I wanted to know how long it would take him to learn how to ride a backwards bike, 語法

我想知道他学会骑反向自行车需要多长时间，

so I told him if he learned how to ride a backwards bike,

所以我告诉他，如果他学会骑反向自行车，

he could go with me to Australia and meet a real astronaut.

就可以和我去澳大利亚见真正的宇航员。

Are you going to give up?

你要放弃了吗？

No.

不。

Go ahead. 語氣意圖

继续。

This is how it starts.

一开始就是这样。

Look at this.

看看这个。

This is such a big deal. 習語

这可是件大事。

Get up,

站起来，

you got it.

你能行的。

Did you see his brain get it?

你们看到他的大脑开窍了吗？

So,

那么，

he

他

in

在

how many weeks have we been doing this?

我们练了几个星期了？

Two weeks?

两个星期？

In 2 weeks,

仅仅 2 个星期，

he did something that took me 8 months to do,

他就做到了我花了 8 个月才做到的事，

which demonstrates that a child has more neuroplasticity. 講解

这表明孩子的大脑具有更强的神经可塑性。

Am I even saying that right? 語氣意圖

我这词说对了吗？

Than an adult.

相比于成年人。

It's clear from this experiment that children have a much more plastic brain than adults. 表達脈絡

这个实验清楚地表明，孩子的大脑比成年人的更具可塑性。

That's why the best time to learn a language is when you're a young child.

这就是为什么学习语言的最佳时机是在你还是个孩子的时候。

All right,

好了，

today's bike log.

今天的骑行日志。

I can ride smooth,

我能骑得很平稳，

I can ride fast.

我能骑得很快。

I'm thinking the experiment is over.

我想实验结束了。

Okay,

好吧，

now I'm in Amsterdam,

现在我在阿姆斯特丹，

a city that has more bicycles than people.

一个自行车比人还多的城市。

The question is,

问题是，

can I ride a normal bike now?

我现在还能骑普通自行车吗？

I mean,

我的意思是，

I've spent all this time unlearning how to ride a bike. 講解

我花了这么多时间去忘掉怎么骑自行车。

If I go back and try to ride a normal one,

如果我现在回去尝试骑一辆普通的，

will my brain mess up?

我的大脑会混乱吗？

So,

于是，

I've tweeted a Smarter Every Day meetup,

我在推特上发起了一个 Smarter Every Day 粉丝聚会，

if you will, 語氣意圖

也可以这么说，

and I'm going to see if somebody brings a bicycle and I'm going to try to ride a normal bike.

我想看看是否有人会带自行车来，我要试骑一下普通自行车。

It's backwards.

是反的。

It's backwards.

它是反过来的。

This was one of the most frustrating moments of my life.

这是我人生中最令人沮丧的时刻之一。

I had ridden a normal bike since I was six,

我从 6 岁起就骑普通自行车，

but in this moment,

但在这一刻，

I couldn't do it anymore.

我竟然骑不了了。

I had set out to prove that I could free my brain from a cognitive bias. 講解

我本来想证明我可以把大脑从认知偏见中解放出来。

But at this point,

但在这一刻，

I'm pretty sure that all I proved is that I can only re-designate that bias. 語法

我很确定我只证明了，我只能重新设定那个偏见。

So,

那么，

what you're not seeing

你们没看到的是

is just a group of people here looking at me,

周围有一群人看着我，

looking at the strange American

看着这个奇怪的美国人，

that can't ride a bike because they think I'm dumb.

居然不会骑自行车，他们大概觉得我很蠢。

But I'm actually two levels deep into this because I've learned and unlearned

但实际上我进入了第二层境界，因为我经历了学习与遗忘，

all right.

好吧。

After 20 minutes of making a fool out of myself, 習語

在出了 20 分钟的洋相之后，

suddenly my brain clicked back into the old algorithm. 習語

突然我的大脑又切换回了旧的算法。

I can't explain it,

我无法解释，

but it happened in a very specific moment.

但它就发生在一个非常具体的时刻。

I got it.

我找到了。

I got it.

我找到感觉了。

I got it.

我找回来了。

I'm back.

我恢复了。

Oh,

哦，

it clicked.

咔哒一下。

It clicked.

开窍了。

Hold on,

等等，

it clicked.

咔哒一下。

I got it.

找到了。

I got it.

找到了。

Okay,

好了，

there it is.

就是这个。

There was the moment.

就是这个瞬间。

Okay,

好了，

I can ride a bike.

我会骑自行车了。

I tried to explain this to the people around me and they just didn't get it.

我试图向周围的人解释，但他们根本听不懂。

They thought I was faking the previous 20 minutes and I couldn't get anybody to believe me. 語法

他们以为我前 20 分钟是装的，我没法让任何人相信我。

That looked like I faked it, didn't it?

看起来就像我装的，不是吗？

Just a fake.

就是个骗子。

You think I'm faking.

你觉得我在装。

You don't believe me.

你不相信我。

You think I'm lying, 語法

你认为我在说谎，

don't you?

是吧？

I'm not lying.

我没有说谎。

I felt like the only person on the planet who had ever unlearned how to ride a bike

我觉得自己是这个地球上唯一一个学会“忘掉怎么骑自行车”的人，

and I couldn't articulate it to anyone because everybody just knew that you can't forget how to ride a bike. 用詞

并且我无法向任何人解释，因为大家都深信你是不可能忘记怎么骑车的。

So,

所以，

I learned three things from this experiment.

我从这个实验中学到了三件事。

I learned that welders are often smarter than engineers.

我学到了焊工通常比工程师聪明。

I learned that knowledge does not equal understanding.

我学到了知识不等于理解。

And I learned that truth is truth no matter what I think about it. 講解

我还学到，无论我怎么想，真理就是真理。

So,

那么，

be very careful how you interpret things because you're looking at the world with a bias

当你解读事物时要非常小心，因为你是带着偏见在看世界，

whether you think you are or not. 語法

不管你承不承认。

I'm Destin.

我是 Destin。

You're getting smarter every day.

你每天都在变得更聪明。

Have a good one. 語氣意圖

祝你愉快。

Okay,

好了，

if you want to support Smarter Every Day,

如果你想支持 Smarter Every Day，

you can download a free audiobook at audible.com/smarter.

你可以在 audible.com/smarter 免费下载一本有声书。

I recommend Commander Hadfield's book,

我推荐 Hadfield 指挥官的书，

which is an astronaut's guide to life on Earth.

书名是《宇航员的地球生活指南》。

I read it.

我读过。

It was awesome.

非常棒。

If you think about it,

想想看，

I had to learn how to ride a different kind of bicycle and my son did as well.

我不得不学习如何骑另一种自行车，我儿子也是。

But,

但是，

Commander Hadfield had to learn how to ride a different spaceship.

Hadfield 指挥官不得不住在不同的宇宙飞船上。

Not only that, 表達脈絡

不仅如此，

but a different type of space station.

还有不同类型的空间站。

He was on Mir

他去过和平号空间站，

and

以及

the International Space Station.

国际空间站。

Anyway,

总之，

if you're interested in supporting Smarter Every Day,

如果你有兴趣支持 Smarter Every Day，

audible.com/smarter

访问 audible.com/smarter

An Astronaut's Guide to Life on Earth.

获取《宇航员的地球生活指南》。

I'm Destin.

我是 Destin。

Getting smarter every day.

每天变聪明。

Have a good one.

祝你愉快。

Everything's wrong.

全都错了。

My instinctive reaction's wrong.

我的本能反应是错的。

Why don't you ride it?

你怎么不骑一下？

You just built it?

不是你刚造的吗？

I can't ride it.

我骑不了。

I just built it.

我只是造了它。