Don't eat the marshmallow! | Joachim de Posada

翻译人员: Daqing Chu 校对人员: Ziming Li

I'm here because I have a very important message:

我今天来这里是要传递一个非常重要的信息。

I think we have found

我认为我们已经发现了

the most important factor for success.

走向成功最重要的因素。

And it was found close to here, Stanford.

而这一成果就是在离这不远的斯坦福大学里发现的。

Psychology professor took kids that were four years old

心理学教授找来一些四岁大的幼童

and put them in a room all by themselves.

把孩子自己留在一个房间里。

And he would tell the child, a four-year-old kid,

然后他告诉四岁的孩子，

"Johnny, I am going to leave you here with a marshmallow

“强尼，我要给你一颗棉花糖，

for 15 minutes.

给你十五分钟。

If, after I come back, this marshmallow is here,

如果我回来的时候这颗棉花糖还在这儿，

you will get another one. So you will have two."

你会再得到一颗。这样你就有两颗了。”

To tell a four-year-old kid to wait 15 minutes

告诉一个四岁的小孩要等十五分钟

for something that they like,

才能享受他所喜欢的东西，

is equivalent to telling us, "We'll bring you coffee in two hours."

就如同告诉我们大人，“我们两小时后会给你送咖啡来。”

(Laughter)

（笑声）

Exact equivalent.

这是完全一样的事。

So what happened when the professor left the room?

那么当教授离开后，房间里发生了什么事呢？

As soon as the door closed...

门关上之后...

two out of three ate the marshmallow.

三分之二的小孩把棉花糖吃了。

Five seconds, 10 seconds, 40 seconds, 50 seconds,

五秒，十秒，四十秒，五十秒，

two minutes, four minutes, eight minutes.

两分钟，四分钟，八分钟。

Some lasted 14-and-a-half minutes.

有些孩子坚持了十四分半。

(Laughter)

（笑声）

Couldn't do it. Could not wait.

沒办法不吃。等不了。

What's interesting is that one out of three

有趣的是，有三分之一的小孩

would look at the marshmallow and go like this ...

看着棉花糖，像这个样子...

Would look at it.

盯着它。

Put it back.

将它放回去。

They would walk around. They would play with their skirts and pants.

他们会走来走去。他们会玩他们的裙子或裤子。

That child already, at four, understood

这个孩子，尽管才四岁，就已经懂得

the most important principle for success,

成功最重要的原则。

which is the ability to delay gratification.

这就是「推迟享受」的能力。

Self-discipline:

自律，

the most important factor for success.

成功最重要的因素。

15 years later, 14 or 15 years later,

十五年后，十四到十五年后，

follow-up study.

再做后续研究。

What did they find?

他们发现了什么呢？

They went to look for these kids who were now 18 and 19.

研究人员找到这些已经是十八、十九岁的小孩们。

And they found that 100 percent

他们发现百分之百

of the children that had not eaten the marshmallow were successful.

沒有吃棉花糖的小孩全部都很成功。

They had good grades. They were doing wonderful.

他们学习成绩很好。人生发展得非常好。

They were happy. They had their plans.

他们都很快乐。对未来都有自己的规划。

They had good relationships with the teachers, students.

他们和老师同学关系都很好。

They were doing fine.

他们都生活得很好。

A great percentage of the kids that ate the marshmallow,

而吃了棉花糖的小孩中有很大一部份，

they were in trouble.

都有些问题。

They did not make it to university.

他们沒考上大学。

They had bad grades. Some of them dropped out.

成绩不佳，有些缀学了。

A few were still there with bad grades.

另外一些虽然还在念书，但成绩很差。

A few had good grades.

只有少数人成绩不错。

I had a question in my mind: Would Hispanic kids

我当时有一个想法：西班牙语系国家的儿童

react the same way as the American kids?

跟美国儿童的反应会是相同的吗？

So I went to Colombia. And I reproduced the experiment.

所以我到哥伦比亚去了。我重复了这个试验。

And it was very funny. I used four, five and six years old kids.

结果非常有意思。我找了四、五、六岁年龄不等的孩子。

And let me show you what happened.

现在我给你们看看当时的情况。

(Spanish) (Laughter)

（笑声）

So what happened in Colombia?

那么在哥伦比亚发生了什么呢？

Hispanic kids, two out of three ate the marshmallow;

这些小孩，三分之二吃了棉花糖。

one out of three did not.

三分之一沒有吃。

This little girl was interesting;

这个小女孩非常有趣。

she ate the inside of the marshmallow.

她把棉花糖的芯吃了。

(Laughter)

（笑声）

In other words, she wanted us to think that she had not eaten it, so she would get two.

也就是说，她希望我们以为她沒有吃，这样她就可以得到两颗。

But she ate it.

但她确实吃了。

So we know she'll be successful. But we have to watch her.

所以我们知道她将会成功，但是必须有人监督她。

(Laughter)

（笑声）

She should not go into banking, for example,

比如说，她不应该去银行业上班，

or work at a cash register.

或者做收银员工作。

But she will be successful.

但是她将会成功。

And this applies for everything. Even in sales.

这能应用到很多事情上。甚至在销售上。

The sales person that --

比如一个推销员--

the customer says, "I want that." And the person says, "Okay, here you are."

当客戶說，“我要那个。”这个推销员就说，“好的，给你。”

That person ate the marshmallow.

这个推销员当初一定吃了棉花糖。

If the sales person says, "Wait a second.

如果这个推销员说，“请等一下，

Let me ask you a few questions to see if this is a good choice."

让我问您一些问题，看看这是不是个好的选择。”

Then you sell a lot more.

那样就可以卖更多的东西。

So this has applications in all walks of life.

所以这能应用在生活的各个方面。

I end with -- the Koreans did this.

我现在收尾 -- 讲讲韩国人的做法。

You know what? This is so good

你们猜怎么着？这个试验太好了

that we want a marshmallow book for children.

我们想要一本有关棉花糖的儿童书。

We did one for children. And now it is all over Korea.

我们就为儿童出了一本书。现在这本书风靡全韩国。

They are teaching these kids exactly this principle.

韩国人教给孩子们的就是这个道理。

And we need to learn that principle here in the States,

在美国我们也需要懂得这个道理。

because we have a big debt.

因为我们欠了一屁股的债。

We are eating more marshmallows than we are producing.

我们吃的棉花糖要比我们生产的多。

Thank you so much.

非常感谢大家。