TED演讲:游戏创造美好生活(4)

 And there are also tons of collaborators. Everywhere you go, hundreds of thousands of people ready to work with you to achieve your epic¹ mission. 并且游戏世界里有很多的人可以协作。 不论你到了哪里，都会有成千上万的人等着和你合作去完成那些艰巨的任务。

That's not something that we have in real life that easily,this sense that at our fingertips are tons of collaborators. 在现实生活中就没有这么轻松了，这种在我们指尖间就有成千上万合作伙伴的感觉在现实生活中就没有这么简单了。

And also there is this epic story, this inspiring story of why we're there, and what we're doing. 在游戏中会有美妙的故事情节，而这些情节吸引了我们，并且激励着我们的所作所为。

And then we get all this positive feedback. 同时，对于我们所做出的任何努力都会有一个积极肯定的回应。

You guys have heard of leveling up and plus-one strength,and plus-one intelligence. 你们肯定听说过等级提升，伴随着等级提升力量加一点同时智力加一点。

We don't get that kind of constant feedback in real life. 而我们在现实生活中就没有这种持续的回馈。

When I get off this stage I'm not going to have plus-one speaking, and plus-one crazy idea,plus-20 crazy idea. 比如说，当我走下这个舞台的时候，我不会有演说能力加一，疯狂的创意能力加一更不用说疯狂的创意能力加20了。

I don't get that feedback in real life. 在现实生活中我没有得到任何奖励。

Now, the problem with collaborative online environments like World of Warcraft is that it's so satisfying to be on the verge² of an epic win all the time that we decide to spend all our time in these game worlds. 在网络虚拟环境中，比如《魔兽世界》和别人协作是一件非常惬意的事情，因为我们可以不停得向最终的胜利冲击，也正是因为如此我们才会一直沉醉于游戏世界中。

It's just better than reality. 因为它比现实更好。

So, so far, collectively all the World of Warcraft gamers have spent 5.93 million years solving the virtual problems of Azeroth. 到目前为止，《魔兽世界》的游戏玩家们已经花费了总数为593万年的时间去解决艾泽拉斯里面的各种虚拟的问题。

Now, that's not necessarily a bad thing. 这不是一件坏事。

It might sound like it's a bad thing. But to put that in context: 不过听起来像是一件坏事。 我们把这些数字写下来：

5.93 million years ago was when our earliest primate³ human ancestors stood up. 593万年前，我们人类的祖先灵长类开始了直立行走。

That was the first upright primate. 这是第一种直立行走的灵长类动物。

Okay, so when we talk about how much time we're currently investing in playing games, the only way it makes sense to even think about it is to talk about time at the magnitude of human evolution,which is an extraordinary thing. 因此，当我们谈论我们在游戏上花费了那么多时间时，唯一让这件事情合理的理解方式就是：去想一想在人类进化进程中，我们所花费的时间有多少，而且这是一件多么不同寻常的事情！

But it's also apt. Because it turns out that by spending all this time playing games,we're actually changing what we are capable of as human beings. 这样去想是恰当的，因为你会发现，通过花费大量的时间去玩游戏，我们能改变我们做人的能力。

We are evolving to be a more collaborative and hearty⁴ species. 我们正不断发展成为一个更具有协作精神和更强健的物种。

This is true. I believe this. 这是真的，我深信不疑。

So, consider this really interesting statistic;it was recently published by a researcher at Carnegie Mellon University. 来看一个有趣的调查，这份调查结果是由一位来自卡内基梅隆大学的研究者发布的。

1 epic   

n.史诗，叙事诗；adj.史诗般的，壮丽的

参考例句：

• I gave up my epic and wrote this little tale instead.我放弃了写叙事诗，而写了这个小故事。
• They held a banquet of epic proportions.他们举行了盛大的宴会。

2 verge   

n.边，边缘；v.接近，濒临

参考例句：

• The country's economy is on the verge of collapse.国家的经济已到了崩溃的边缘。
• She was on the verge of bursting into tears.她快要哭出来了。

3 primate   

n.灵长类（目）动物，首席主教；adj.首要的

参考例句：

• 14 percent of primate species are highly endangered.14%的灵长类物种处于高度濒危状态。
• The woolly spider monkey is the largest primate in the Americas.绒毛蛛猴是美洲最大的灵长类动物。

4 hearty   

adj.热情友好的；衷心的；尽情的，纵情的

参考例句：

• After work they made a hearty meal in the worker's canteen.工作完了，他们在工人食堂饱餐了一顿。
• We accorded him a hearty welcome.我们给他热忱的欢迎。