How craving attention makes you less creative | Joseph Gordon-Levitt

翻译人员: psjmz mz 校对人员: Lipeng Chen

First of all, thank you for your attention.

首先，谢谢大家的关注。

There's nothing quite like being in a room full of people like this,

还没什么比得上在这个 全是人的屋子里面，

where all of you are giving your attention to me.

你们所有人都在关注着我。

It's a powerful feeling, to get attention.

获得关注是一种强大的感觉。

I'm an actor, so I'm a bit of an expert on, well, nothing, really.

我是个演员，所以我对什么都懂得不深，真的。

(Laughter)

（笑声）

But I do know what it feels like to get attention --

但我倒是知道被关注是什么感觉——

I've been lucky in my life

我这一生足够幸运

to get a lot more than my fair share of attention.

得到比我应得的更多的关注。

And I'm grateful for that,

并且我对此充满感激，

because like I said, it's a powerful feeling.

因为如我所说，这是种强大的感觉。

But there's another powerful feeling

但还有另一种强大的感觉

that I've also been lucky to experience a lot as an actor.

是我作为演员也足够幸运 能体验很多东西。

And it's funny, it's sort of the opposite feeling,

这点很有趣，这是一种相反的感觉。

because it doesn't come from getting attention.

因为它不是来自获得关注。

It comes from paying attention.

它来自予以关注。

When I'm acting,

当我表演时，

I get so focused that I'm only paying attention to one thing.

我专注到我只关注一件事情。

Like when I'm on set and we're about to shoot

就像在片场，我们要开始拍摄的时候，

and the first AD calls out "Rolling!"

第一个词叫做“开机！”

And then I hear "speed," "marker," "set,"

然后我听到“录音常速”，“打板”，“就位”，

and then the director calls "Action!"

再然后导演喊“开拍！”

I've heard that sequence so many times,

我已经听过这些好多次了，

like, it's become this Pavlovian magic spell for me.

对我来说这已经是习以为常的魔咒了。

"Rolling," "speed," "marker," "set" and "action."

“开机”，“录音常速”，“打板”， “就位”和“开拍”。

Something happens to me, I can't even help it.

发生在我身上的事情， 我甚至都无法控制。

My attention ...

我的注意力……

narrows.

变窄了。

And everything else in the world,

世界上的其他事物，

anything else that might be bothering me or might grab my attention,

任何可能会打扰我或 吸引我注意力的东西，

it all goes away, and I'm just ... there.

全消失了，我只是……在那里。

And that feeling, that is what I love,

那种感觉，是我所爱的，

that, to me, is creativity.

那，对我而言，就是创造力。

And that's the biggest reason I'm so grateful that I get to be an actor.

这是我非常感激成为演员的最大理由。

So, there's these two powerful feelings.

所以，有两种强大的感觉。

There's getting attention and paying attention.

那就是获得关注和给予关注。

Of course, in the last decade or so,

当然，在过去10多年左右，

new technology has allowed more and more people

新技术已经让越来越多的人

to have this powerful feeling of getting attention.

能够拥有获得关注的强大感觉。

For any kind of creative expression, not just acting.

任何类型的创作表达，不仅限于表演。

It could be writing or photography or drawing, music -- everything.

可以是写作、摄影、绘画、音乐等等。

The channels of distribution have been democratized,

分发渠道已经民主化了，

and that's a good thing.

这真是好事情。

But I do think there's an unintended consequence

但我确实认为，对这个星球上任何一个

for anybody on the planet with an urge to be creative --

渴望创新的人来说， 都产生了意想不到的后果——

myself included, because I'm not immune to this.

包括我在内，因为我也不能免疫。

I think that our creativity

我认为我们的创造力

is becoming more and more of a means to an end --

日渐成为达到目的的手段——

and that end is to get attention.

这个目的是获得关注。

And so I feel compelled to speak up

我觉得有必要说出来，

because in my experience,

因为根据我的经验，

the more I go after that powerful feeling of paying attention,

我追求给予关注的强烈感觉越多，

the happier I am.

我就越开心。

But the more I go after the powerful feeling of getting attention,

但我追求获得关注的感觉越强，

the unhappier I am.

我就越不开心。

(One person claps)

（一个人鼓掌）

And -- thanks.

并且——谢谢。

(Laughter)

（笑声）

(Applause)

（鼓掌）

So this is something that goes way back for me.

这对我来说是很久以前的事情了。

I think the first time I can remember using my acting to get attention,

我记得我第一次用表演来博取注意，

I was eight years old at summer camp.

是 8 岁时在夏令营的时候。

And I'd been going on auditions for about a year by then,

那时我已经试镜一年了，

and I'd been lucky to get some small parts

我很幸运地得到了一些电视节目

in TV shows and commercials,

和广告中的小角色，

and I bragged about it a lot, that summer at camp.

在夏令营的时候，我经常吹嘘这一点。

And at first, it worked.

起初，这很凑效。

The other kids gave me a bunch of extra attention,

其他孩子给了我很多额外的关注，

because I had been on "Family Ties."

因为我上过《亲情纽带》。

That's a picture of me on "Family Ties."

那是我在《亲情纽带》的照片。

(Laughter)

（笑声）

Then, the tide turned --

然后，风向变了——

I think I took it too far with the bragging.

我想可能是我吹牛太过了。

And then, the other kids started to make fun of me.

然后，其他孩子开始取笑我。

I remember there was this one girl I had a crush on, Rocky.

我记得我迷恋过一个女孩，洛基。

Her name was Rachel, she went by Rocky.

她名字叫瑞秋，外号洛基。

And she was beautiful, and she could sing,

她很漂亮，她会唱歌，

and I was smitten with her, and I was standing there, bragging.

我被她迷住了，我站在那里吹牛。

And she turned to me and she called me a show-off.

她转向我，说我是个爱炫耀的人。

Which I 100 percent deserved.

她说的百分百没错。

But you know, it still really hurt.

但你懂的，真是很伤。

And ever since that summer,

从那个夏天开始，

I've had a certain hesitance to seek attention for my acting.

我在为自己的表演寻求关注时 会有所犹豫。

Sometimes, people would ask me,

有时候，人们会问我，

"Wait a minute, if you don't like the attention,

“等会，如果你不想被注意，

then why are you an actor?"

那么为什么你要做演员？”

And I'd be like,

我会这样说，

"Because that's not what acting's about, man, it's about the art."

“因为演戏不是为了这个， 伙计，这是艺术。

And they'd be like, "OK, OK, dude."

他们会说：“好吧，好吧，老兄”

(Laughter)

（笑声）

And then Twitter came out.

然后推特出来了。

And I got totally hooked on it, just like everybody else,

就像其他人一样，我完全迷上了，

which made me into a complete hypocrite.

这让我变成了个彻头彻底的伪君子。

Because at that point,

因为那一刻，

I was absolutely using my acting to get attention.

我绝对是在用我的表演博取关注。

I mean, what, did I think I was just getting all these followers

我的意思是，什么，我以为是因为我精彩的推文

because of my brilliant tweets?

才得到这么多粉丝？

I actually did think that -- I was like --

我确实这么想过——我有些——

(Laughter)

（笑声）

"They don't just like me because they saw me in 'Batman,'

“他们不只是因为在《蝙蝠侠》 中看到我才喜欢我，

they like what I have to say, I've got a way with words."

他们喜欢我说的话， 我的文字很有一套。”

(Laughter)

（笑声）

And then in no time at all,

然后很快，

it started having an impact on my dearly beloved creative process.

它开始影响我心爱的创作旅程。

It still does.

它仍然是。

I try not to let it.

我试着不让它发生。

But you know, I'd be sitting there, like, reading a script.

但是，我坐在那里，比如阅读脚本时。

And instead of thinking,

可不是这样想，

"How can I personally identify with this character?"

“我个人如何认同这个角色？”

Or "How is the audience going to relate to this story?"

或者“观众将如何看待这个故事？”

I'm like, "What are people going to say about this movie on Twitter?"

而是有点像这样，“人们在推特上 会怎么评价这部电影？”

And "What will I say back

以及“我怎么回复才能让

that will be good and snarky enough to get a lot of retweets,

这些话足够好，足够尖锐， 能得到很多转发，

but not too harsh,

但又不会太刻薄，

because people love to get offended, and I don't want to get canceled?"

因为人们喜欢被冒犯， 并且我可不想被取消关注？”

These are the thoughts that enter my mind

当我本该阅读脚本， 努力做一个演员时，

when I'm supposed to be reading a script, trying to be an artist.

全是这些思想涌入我的头脑。

And I'm not here to tell you

我在这里并非告诉你们，

that technology is the enemy of creativity.

技术是创造力的敌人。

I don't think that.

我不这样认为。

I think tech is just a tool.

我认为技术只是个工具。

It has the potential to foster unprecedented human creativity.

它有潜力培育人类 前所未有的创造力。

Like, I even started an online community called HITRECORD,

像是，我甚至建立了一个叫做 HITRECORD 的在线社区，

where people all over the world

那里有来自全球各地的人

collaborate on all kinds of creative projects,

参与各类创意项目的协作，

so I don't think that social media or smartphones or any technology

因此我不认为社交媒体 或智能手机或任何技术

is problematic in and of itself.

本身就是有问题的。

But ...

但是……

if we're going to talk about the perils of creativity

如果我们要讨论创造力

becoming a means to get attention,

成为吸引注意力的手段的危险，

then we have to talk about the attention-driven business model

那么我们就得谈谈今天 最大的社交媒体公司

of today's big social media companies, right?

注意力驱动的商业模型，是吧？

(Applause)

（鼓掌）

This will be familiar territory for some of you,

这是你们一些人的熟悉领域，

but it's a really relevant question here:

但这确实是一个相关的问题：

How does a social media platform

一个社交媒体平台

like, for example, Instagram, make money?

比如，Instagram，如何赚钱？

It's not selling a photo-sharing service --

它不是在售卖照片分享服务——

that part's free.

这部分是免费的。

So what is it selling?

那么它在卖什么？

It's selling attention.

它在卖注意力。

It's selling the attention of its users to advertisers.

它把自己用户的注意力卖给广告主。

And there's a lot of discussion right now

今天有很多关于我们给予了

about how much attention we're all giving to things like Instagram,

Instagram 这样的东西很多注意力的讨论，

but my question is:

但我的问题是：

How is Instagram getting so much attention?

Instagram 是如何获得 如此多的注意力的？

We get it for them.

我们给以它们的。

Anytime somebody posts on Instagram,

每次人们在 Instagram 上发照片时，

they get a certain amount of attention from their followers,

他们从关注者中获得 一定数量的注意力，

whether they have a few followers or a few million followers.

不管他们有几个粉丝还是几百万粉丝。

And the more attention you're able to get,

你能博取越多的注意力，

the more attention Instagram is able to sell.

Instagram 就能卖出去更多的注意力。

So it's in Instagram's interest

所以对 Instagram 有利的事情是

for you to get as much attention as possible.

让你尽可能获得多的关注。

And so it trains you to want that attention,

所以它训练你想要获得那种关注，

to crave it, to feel stressed out when you're not getting enough of it.

渴望关注，当你没有得到 足够关注的时候感到压力。

Instagram gets its users addicted

Instagram 让它的用户对

to the powerful feeling of getting attention.

获得关注的强烈感觉上瘾。

And I know we all joke, like, "Oh my God, I'm so addicted to my phone,"

我知道我们都开玩笑说，“老天， 我太沉迷于手机了。”

but this is a real addiction.

但这是个真正的上瘾。

There's a whole science to it.

这是有科学依据的。

If you're curious, I recommend the work of Jaron Lanier,

如果你好奇，我推荐杰伦·拉尼尔，

Tristan Harris, Nir Eyal.

特里斯坦·哈里斯，尼尔·埃亚尔的作品。

But here's what I can tell you.

但这是我要告诉你的，

Being addicted to getting attention

对获得关注上瘾

is just like being addicted to anything else.

就跟对其他东西上瘾一样。

It's never enough.

永远都不够。

You start out and you're thinking,

你一开始会想，

"If only I had 1,000 followers, that would feel amazing."

“如果我有 1 千粉丝，那一定让我感觉惊奇。”

But then you're like, "Well, once I get to 10,000 followers,"

然后你就会想，“一旦我达到 1 万粉丝，”

and, "Once I get to 100 --

再继续是，“如果我有 100——

Once I get to a million followers, then I'll feel amazing."

一旦我有百万粉丝，那么我一定感觉惊奇。”

So I have 4.2 million followers on Twitter --

于是我在推特上有 420 万粉丝——

it's never made me feel amazing.

这从没让我感到惊奇。

I'm not going to tell you how many I have on Instagram,

我不打算告诉你们 我在 Instagram 上有多少粉丝，

because I feel genuine shame about how low the number is,

因为我对这个数字如此之低 感到非常羞愧，

because I joined Instagram after "Batman" came out.

因为我是在《蝙蝠侠》上映后 才加入 Instagram 的。

(Laughter)

（笑声）

And I search other actors,

并且我搜索了其他演员，

and I see that their number is higher than mine,

我看到他们的粉丝数比我高，

and it makes me feel terrible about myself.

这让我对自己感觉很糟糕。

Because the follower count

因为粉丝数

makes everybody feel terrible about themselves.

让人人都对自己感觉糟糕。

That feeling of inadequacy is what drives you to post,

这种不满足的感觉是促使你发帖的原因，

so you can get more attention,

这样你才能获得更多的注意力，

and then that attention that you get is what these companies sell,

然后你获得的注意力是这些公司卖的东西，

that's how they make their money.

它们就是这样赚钱的。

So there is no amount of attention you can get

所以不存在这样的地方，

where you feel like you've arrived,

在那你会觉得你达到了目标，

and you're like, "Ah, I'm good now."

你会觉得，“啊，我现在就很好。”

And of course, there are a lot of actors who are more famous than I am,

当然，也有很多比我出名的演员

have more followers than I do,

粉丝比我多，

but I bet you they would tell you the same thing.

但我敢打赌他们会告诉你同样的事情。

If your creativity is driven by a desire to get attention,

如果你的创作是被 获得关注的欲望驱使，

you're never going to be creatively fulfilled.

你永远不会有创作的成就感。

But I do have some good news.

但我的确有一些好消息。

There is this other powerful feeling.

还有另一种强大的感觉。

Something else you can do with your attention

你可以用你的注意力做其他事情，

besides letting a giant tech company control it and sell it.

除了让大型科技公司 控制和出售它外。

This is that feeling I was talking about,

这正是我在谈论的那种感觉，

why I love acting so much --

我为什么如此喜欢表演——

it's being able to pay attention to just one thing.

它能让人把注意力放到一件事情上。

Turns out there's actually some science behind this too.

原来这背后确实也有科学原理支撑。

Psychologists and neuroscientists --

心理学家和神经学家——

they study a phenomenon they call flow,

他们研究了一种他们 称之为“心流”的现象，

which is this thing that happens in the human brain

这是当人们把注意力只放在 一件事上，比如创意，

when someone pays attention to just one thing,

并且尽量不被其他事情分心时，

like something creative,

会发生在人类大脑中的现象。

and manages not to get distracted by anything else.

And some say the more regularly you do this, the happier you'll be.

有说法说，你越经常这样做， 你就会越快乐。

Now I'm not a psychologist or a neuroscientist.

我现在并不是个心理学家 或神经科学家。

But I can tell you, for me, that is very true.

但我可以告诉你们，对我而言，这非常真实。

It's not always easy, it's hard.

并非那么容易，它很难。

To really pay attention like this takes practice,

像这样真正地集中注意力需要练习，

everybody does it their own way.

每个人都有自己的方法。

But if there's one thing I can share

但有个事情我可以分享，

that I think helps me focus and really pay attention, it's this:

我认为它帮助了我专注 并真正集中注意力，它是：

I try not to see other creative people as my competitors.

我尽量不把其他有创造力的人 视为我的竞争对手。

I try to find collaborators.

我试着寻找协作者。

Like, if I'm acting in a scene,

比如，我在一个场景中表演，

if I start seeing the other actors as my competitors, and I'm like,

如果我开始把其他演员当成 我的竞争对手，我会有些：

"God, they're going to get more attention than I am,

“老天，他们获得的关注会超过我，

people are going to be talking about their performance more than mine" --

人们会更多地讨论他们的表现多于我”——

I've lost my focus.

我就失去了专注。

And I'm probably going to suck in that scene.

我可能会搞砸那个场景。

But when I see the other actors as collaborators,

但当我把其他演员当作协作者时，

then it becomes almost easy to focus,

然后事情就变得更容易专注了，

because I'm just paying attention to them.

因为我只需把注意力放在他们身上。

And I don't have to think about what I'm doing --

我不需要去想我在做什么——

I react to what they're doing,

我对他们做的做出反应，

they react to what I'm doing,

他们对我做的做出反应，

and we can kind of keep each other in it together.

我们可以彼此专注。

But I don't want you to think it's only actors on a set

但我不希望你认为只有片场的演员

that can collaborate in this way.

才能以这种方式合作。

I could be in whatever kind of creative situation.

我可以在任何创作的情况下这样做。

It could be professional, could be just for fun.

它可以在专业场合，也可以只是为了好玩。

I could be collaborating with people I'm not even in the same room with.

我甚至可以和不在一个房间里的人合作。

In fact, some of my favorite things I've ever made,

事实上，我做过的一个最爱的事情是

I made with people that I never physically met.

我和从未见过面的人协作。

And by the way,

顺便说一句，

this, to me, is the beauty of the internet.

对我来说，这就是互联网之美。

If we could just stop competing for attention,

如果我们能够停止竞争注意力，

then the internet becomes a great place to find collaborators.

那么互联网就会变成寻找 协作者的伟大地方。

And once I'm collaborating with other people,

一旦我和其他人协作，

whether they're on set, or online, wherever,

不管他们在片场，或在线，任何地方，

that makes it so much easier for me to find that flow,

这让我更容易找到那种心流，

because we're all just paying attention

因为我们都在集中注意力到

to the one thing that we're making together.

我们共同做的一件事情上。

And I fell like I'm part of something larger than myself,

我感到我是比我自己更伟大 的东西的一部分，

and we all sort of shield each other

我们是彼此的盔甲，

from anything else that might otherwise grab our attention,

挡开任何其他可能夺走 我们注意力的东西，

and we can all just be there.

我们全部人都能真正投入。

At least that's what works for me.

至少这对我有效。

Sometimes.

有时候。

Sometimes -- it doesn't always work.

有时候——它不总是有效。

Sometimes, I still totally get wrapped up in that addictive cycle

有时候，我仍然完全沉浸在想要获取关注的

of wanting to get attention.

上瘾怪圈中。

I mean, like, even right now,

我意思是，即便现在，

can I honestly say there's not some part of me here who's like,

我能真诚地说，我身上 没有一丁点这样想：

"Hey, everybody, look at me, I'm giving a TED Talk!"

“嘿，你们看，我在做 TED 演讲！”吗？

(Laughter)

（笑声）

There is -- there's, you know, some part.

这是，你懂的，多少有一些。

But I can also honestly say

但我可以真诚地说

that this whole creative process of writing and giving this talk,

这整个写作和演讲的整个创作过程，

it's been a huge opportunity for me to focus

真是一个巨大的机会让我聚焦于

and really pay attention to something I care a lot about.

以及真正把注意力放在 我非常关心的事情上。

So regardless of how much attention I do or don't get as a result,

所以不管我能否从中得到多少关注，

I'm happy I did it.

我很高兴我这样做了。

And I'm grateful to all of you for letting me.

我很感激你们让我这样做。

So thank you, that's it,

所以谢谢你们，就这样，

you can give your attention to someone else now.

现在你可以把注意力放在其他事情上了。

Thanks again.

再次感谢。

(Applause)

（鼓掌）