TED演讲:为什么要制造无用的东西(4)

One of those things was puberty. Beautiful time indeed. But moreover¹,

其中一件是青春期的到来。非常美丽的时期。但除此之外，

I got interested in building robots, and I wanted to teach myself about hardware³.

我开始对搭建机器人感兴趣，我还想自学硬件知识。

But building things with hardware, especially if you're teaching⁴ yourself, is something that's really difficult to do.

但搭建需要硬件的东西，尤其是当你是在自学的时候，是一件非常困难的事情。

It has a high likelihood⁵ of failure and moreover, it has a high likelihood of making you feel stupid.

失败几率非常高，并且，这很有可能让你觉得自己超级智障。

And that was my biggest fear at the time. So I came up with a setup that would guarantee success 100 percent of the time.

而那就是我当时最大的恐惧。所以我做了一个一定能保证100%成功率的设定。

With my setup, it would be nearly impossible to fail.

根据我的设定，失败可能性几乎为零。

And that was that instead of trying to succeed, I was going to try to build things that would fail.

我打算再试着获得成功，我要制作一个肯定失败的机器。

And even though I didn't realize it at the time, building stupid things was actually quite smart,

尽管我当时并没有意识到，但实际上，制作一无是处东西其实还是个挺聪明的点子，

because as I kept on learning⁶ about hardware, for the first time in my life, I did not have to deal with my performance anxiety⁷.

因为当我对硬件的学习更加深入的时候，我人生中第一次，不用应对自我表现方面的焦虑。

And as soon as I removed all pressure and expectations from myself,

并且当我卸除了所有对自己的压力与期待后，

that pressure quickly got replaced by enthusiasm⁸, and it allowed me to just play.

压力很快就被热情取代，我就可以只是瞎玩了。

So as an inventor, I'm interested in things that people struggle with.

所以，作为一个发明者，我对人们很难做到的事情很感兴趣。

It can be small things or big things or medium-sized things.

可以是小事，大事，或者二者之间的事。

And something like giving a TED² talk presents this whole new set of problems that I can solve.

而做一场TED演讲，带来了一系列我能解决的全新问题。

And identifying a problem is the first step in my process of building a useless machine.

而发现问题则是搭建一个无用机器的第一步。

So before I came here, I sat down and I thought of some of the potential problems I might have in giving this talk.

在我来这里之前，我坐下来好好思考了一番演讲时可能遇到的问题。

Forgetting what to say. That people won't laugh, that's you.

忘词。没人笑，说的就是你哦。

Or even worse, that you'll laugh at the wrong things, that was an OK part to laugh at, thank you.

或者更糟的是，你们笑错地方了，这里你们其实是可以笑的，谢谢。

1 moreover   

adv.再有，此外，而且

参考例句：

• The rent is reasonable, and moreover,the location is perfect.这房租合理，而且地点优越。
• The task is difficult, and moreover,time is pressing.任务艰巨，并且时间紧迫。

2 ted   

vt.翻晒，撒，撒开

参考例句：

• The invaders gut ted the village.侵略者把村中财物洗劫一空。
• She often teds the corn when it's sunny.天好的时候她就翻晒玉米。

3 hardware   

n.重型武器；五金器具；硬件

参考例句：

• He bought a pot and other hardware at the store. 他从商店买了一个壶和其他金属制品。
• That family has carried on a hardware business for five generations.那家已经经营五金生意五代了。

4 teaching   

n.教学，执教，任教，讲授；(复数)教诲

参考例句：

• We all agree in adopting the new teaching method. 我们一致同意采取新的教学方法。
• He created a new system of teaching foreign languages.他创造了一种新的外语教学体系。

5 likelihood   

n.可能，可能性

参考例句：

• We must try our best to reduce the likelihood of war.我们必须尽最大努力减少战争的可能性。
• I don't think there is any likelihood of his agreeing to it.我认为不会有他同意那件事情的可能。

6 learning   

n.学问，学识，学习；动词learn的现在分词

参考例句：

• When you are learning to ride a bicycle,you often fall off.初学骑自行车时，常会从车上掉下来。
• Learning languages isn't just a matter of remembering words.学习语言不仅仅是记些单词的事。

7 anxiety   

n.忧虑，担心，挂念，焦急；渴望，热望

参考例句：

• Tom's anxiety to succeed led him to work hard.汤姆对成功的渴望使他更加努力。
• He received the news of his father's sickness with great anxiety.他得知父亲生病的消息时焦急万分。

8 enthusiasm   

n.热情，激情；巨大兴趣；热衷的事物

参考例句：

• We set about our task at once with great enthusiasm.我们立刻兴致勃勃地干起来。
• A team which is full of enthusiasm is more likely to win.情绪高涨的球队更可能获胜。