John Bohannon: Dance vs. powerpoint, a modest proposal

翻译人员: Qianxi Xiao 校对人员: dahong zhang

(Music)

（音乐）

Good afternoon.

下午好。

As you're all aware, we face difficult economic times.

众所周知，我们正处经济困难时期。

I come to you with a modest proposal

今天我带来了一个小小的建议

for easing the financial burden.

可以消除财政负担。

This idea came to me while talking to

这个想法来自我和

a physicist friend of mine at MIT.

麻省理工学院一个朋友的谈话，他是物理学家。

He was struggling to explain something to me:

他当时绞尽脑汁地给我解释：

a beautiful experiment that uses lasers to cool down matter.

运用激光冷却物质的伟大实验

Now he confused me from the very start,

不得不说他一开始就把我弄得晕头转向，

because light doesn't cool things down.

因为光并不能使东西变冷。

It makes it hotter. It's happening right now.

反而使东西变得更热。这一现象现在就在发生。

The reason that you can see me standing here is because

大家之所以能看见我站在台上

this room is filled with more than 100 quintillion photons,

是因为这个房间充满了超过一万亿亿光子。

and they're moving randomly through the space, near the speed of light.

它们正在这个空间里以接近光的速度随机运动。

All of them are different colors,

它们的颜色各不相同，

they're rippling with different frequencies,

频率各异，

and they're bouncing off every surface, including me,

它们正在物体表面反弹，也在我的身上反弹，

and some of those are flying directly into your eyes,

其中一些光子直接飞入了你的眼里，

and that's why your brain is forming an image of me standing here.

所以，你的脑海里才呈现出我站在这里的图像。

Now a laser is different.

然而，激光却非如此。

It also uses photons, but they're all synchronized,

激光也运用光子，但是这些光子是同步的，

and if you focus them into a beam,

如果把这些光子聚焦成一束光线，

what you have is an incredibly useful tool.

它的作用将是无比强大的。

The control of a laser is so precise

激光的控制之精准

that you can perform surgery inside of an eye,

可用以在眼中做手术，

you can use it to store massive amounts of data,

也可以用来储存大量数据，

and you can use it for this beautiful experiment

也可以用来做这项伟大的实验

that my friend was struggling to explain.

就是当时我朋友绞尽脑汁给我解释的实验。

First you trap atoms in a special bottle.

首先，把原子囚禁在一个特殊的瓶子里。

It uses electromagnetic fields to isolate the atoms

瓶子将运用电磁场把原子

from the noise of the environment.

和周围的噪声隔开。

And the atoms themselves are quite violent,

原子本身的运动很剧烈，

but if you fire lasers that are precisely tuned to the right frequency,

但是如果把调到正确频率的激光射入瓶中，

an atom will briefly absorb those photons

原子就会慢慢地吸收这些光子

and tend to slow down.

原子的运动就会变慢。

Little by little it gets colder

原子会一点点地变冷

until eventually it approaches absolute zero.

直到达到绝对零度（约 -273.16℃）。

Now if you use the right kind of atoms and you get them cold enough,

如果使用正确的原子，并让其足够冷却，

something truly bizarre happens.

奇迹就会发生。

It's no longer a solid, a liquid or a gas.

这些原子不再属于固体、液体或气体。

It enters a new state of matter called a superfluid.

这些原子进入一种新的物质状态，叫做超流体。

The atoms lose their individual identity,

原子失去自己的个体性，

and the rules from the quantum world take over,

量子的规则取而代之，开始发挥作用，

and that's what gives superfluids such spooky properties.

这就让超流体拥有了可怕了属性。

For example, if you shine light through a superfluid,

比如，如果你把光通过超流体，

it is able to slow photons down

超流体可把光子变慢

to 60 kilometers per hour.

到60千米每小时。

Another spooky property is that it flows

另一个可怕的属性是超流体

with absolutely no viscosity or friction,

流动时没有粘性或摩擦力，

so if you were to take the lid off that bottle,

所以，如果你打开瓶盖，

it won't stay inside.

它不会留在里面。

A thin film will creep up the inside wall,

一层薄膜会从内壁往上爬，

flow over the top and right out the outside.

翻过瓶口流出来。

Now of course, the moment that it does hit the outside environment,

当然，它接触到外部环境的那一刻，

and its temperature rises by even a fraction of a degree,

它的温度就会上升哪怕一丁点，

it immediately turns back into normal matter.

它就会立刻转化回常态物质。

Superfluids are one of the most fragile things we've ever discovered.

超流体是我们发现的最脆弱的物态之一。

And this is the great pleasure of science:

科学的乐趣在于：

the defeat of our intuition through experimentation.

运用实验战胜我们的直觉。

But the experiment is not the end of the story,

但是实验不是故事的终点，

because you still have to transmit that knowledge to other people.

因为我们仍然需要把这些知识介绍给他人。

I have a Ph.D in molecular biology.

我是分子生物学博士。

I still barely understand what most scientists are talking about.

但我还是不大懂多数科学家在说什么。

So as my friend was trying to explain that experiment,

就像我朋友当时解释那项实验一样，

it seemed like the more he said,

我感觉他说的越多，

the less I understood.

我懂得越少。

Because if you're trying to give someone the big picture

因为如果你要给某人描述

of a complex idea, to really capture its essence,

一个复杂想法的轮廓，让他懂得其精髓，

the fewer words you use, the better.

话说的越少越好。

In fact, the ideal may be to use no words at all.

事实上，理想状态是根本不用语言。

I remember thinking, my friend could have explained

我总是在想，我朋友当时应该

that entire experiment with a dance.

用一支舞蹈来给我解释那个实验。

Of course, there never seem to be any dancers around when you need them.

当然，我们需要舞蹈演员时他们似乎总不在身边。

Now, the idea is not as crazy as it sounds.

其实，这个想法并不像听起来那么恐怖。

I started a contest four years ago called Dance Your Ph.D.

四年前，我创办了一场比赛，叫 “舞动博士”

Instead of explaining their research with words,

科学家不能用语言来解释他们的研究，

scientists have to explain it with dance.

而必须用舞蹈来解释。

Now surprisingly, it seems to work.

令人惊奇地是，这似乎很有用。

Dance really can make science easier to understand.

舞蹈真的可以让科学变得更加容易理解。

But don't take my word for it.

但是不要相信我的一面之词。

Go on the Internet and search for "Dance Your Ph.D."

上网去搜 "Dance Your Ph.D."

There are hundreds of dancing scientists waiting for you.

成百上千的跳舞的科学家在等着你。

The most surprising thing that I've learned while running this contest

举办这项赛事，最让我惊讶的是

is that some scientists are now working directly with dancers on their research.

一些科学家现在就在和舞蹈演员直接合作开展研究。

For example, at the University of Minnesota,

比如，在明尼苏达大学，

there's a biomedical engineer named David Odde,

一位名叫大卫·奥迪的生物医学工程师

and he works with dancers to study how cells move.

和舞蹈演员合作研究细胞的运动。

They do it by changing their shape.

他们通过改变细胞的形状进行研究。

When a chemical signal washes up on one side,

当化学信号出现时，

it triggers the cell to expand its shape on that side,

就会刺激细胞朝那边扩展，

because the cell is constantly touching and tugging at the environment.

因为细胞总是不停地和周围的环境接触

So that allows cells to ooze along in the right directions.

这使得细胞可沿正确的方向流动。

But what seems so slow and graceful from the outside

但是表面舒缓优雅，

is really more like chaos inside,

内部却如混沌不堪，

because cells control their shape with a skeleton of rigid protein fibers,

因为细胞通过一层硬蛋白质纤维控制形状，

and those fibers are constantly falling apart.

而这些纤维又总是在脱落。

But just as quickly as they explode,

但是和纤维快速爆炸一样，

more proteins attach to the ends and grow them longer,

更多的蛋白质附着在末端，使其增长，

so it's constantly changing

不断的变化

just to remain exactly the same.

就是为了保持原样。

Now, David builds mathematical models of this and then he tests those in the lab,

大卫先创建数学模型，然后再到实验室测试，

but before he does that, he works with dancers

但是在这之前，他和舞蹈演员一起

to figure out what kinds of models to build in the first place.

研究首先需要创建哪种模型。

It's basically efficient brainstorming,

这属于高效的头脑风暴。

and when I visited David to learn about his research,

我去拜访大卫了解他的研究时，

he used dancers to explain it to me

他运用舞蹈演员给我解释

rather than the usual method: PowerPoint.

而不是常用的办法：幻灯片。

And this brings me to my modest proposal.

下面我就谈谈我的小小建议。

I think that bad PowerPoint presentations

我认为，用幻灯片做的那些糟糕的报告

are a serious threat to the global economy.

是全球经济的严重威胁。

(Laughter) (Applause)

（笑声）（掌声）

Now it does depend on how you measure it, of course,

当然，这要取决于你如何衡量这件事，

but one estimate has put the drain at 250 million dollars per day.

但是一种估算是每天损失两亿五千万美元。

Now that assumes half-hour presentations

假设平均每四个人

for an average audience of four people

听半小时的报告

with salaries of 35,000 dollars,

四人年薪共三万五千美元

and it conservatively assumes that

保守估计

about a quarter of the presentations are a complete waste of time,

四分之一的报告纯属浪费时间，

and given that there are some apparently

而且如果每天约有

30 million PowerPoint presentations created every day,

三千万个用幻灯片做的报告，

that would indeed add up to an annual waste

那么，年损失金额将高达

of 100 billion dollars.

一千亿美元。

Of course, that's just the time we're losing

当然，这还只是我们浪费的时间，

sitting through presentations.

全程听完报告的时间。

There are other costs, because PowerPoint is a tool,

还有其他费用，因为幻灯片是一个工具，

and like any tool, it can and will be abused.

和其他工具一样，幻灯片可以也将会被人滥用。

To borrow a concept from my country's CIA,

借用美国中央情报局的话说，

it helps you to soften up your audience.

这有助于软化你的观众。

It distracts them with pretty pictures, irrelevant data.

炫丽的图片，无关紧要的数据，让他们眼花缭乱。

It allows you to create the illusion of competence,

有助于创造称职的假象，

the illusion of simplicity,

简明的假象，

and most destructively, the illusion of understanding.

最要命地，理解的假象。

So now my country is 15 trillion dollars in debt.

现在美国欠有十五万亿债务。

Our leaders are working tirelessly to try and find ways to save money.

我们的领导人们正不辞辛劳地寻求省钱之道。

One idea is to drastically reduce public support for the arts.

一种办法是大规模削减对艺术的公共支持。

For example, our National Endowment for the Arts,

比如，美国艺术捐赠基金会的预算为

with its $150 million budget,

一亿五千万美元，

slashing that program would immediately reduce the national debt

砍掉这一项目将为国债削减

by about one one-thousandth of a percent.

约十万分之一。

One certainly can't argue with those numbers.

我们当然不能和这些数字争论。

However, once we eliminate public funding for the arts,

然而，一旦我们消除给艺术的资金支持，

there will be some drawbacks.

就会出现一些弊端。

The artists on the street will swell the ranks of the unemployed.

街上流浪的艺术家会使失业率猛增。

Many will turn to drug abuse and prostitution,

很多人转而会去吸毒、卖淫。

and that will inevitably lower property values in urban neighborhoods.

这将不可避免地降低城区的房屋价值。

All of this could wipe out the savings we're hoping to make in the first place.

所有这些都将首先导致我们的储蓄挥霍殆尽。

I shall now, therefore, humbly propose my own thoughts,

所以，今天我谨提出我的观点，

which I hope will not be liable to the least objection.

希望不会遭到反对。

Once we eliminate public funding for the artists,

一旦我们消除对艺术家的资金支持，

let's put them back to work

他们可以重返工作岗位

by using them instead of PowerPoint.

让他们取代幻灯片。

As a test case, I propose we start with American dancers.

作为测试，我建议先从美国的舞蹈演员开始。

After all, they are the most perishable of their kind,

毕竟，他们是同行中最脆弱的，

prone to injury and very slow to heal

容易受伤，还好得超慢

due to our health care system.

拜我们的医疗体制所赐。

Rather than dancing our Ph.Ds,

除了舞动博士，

we should use dance to explain all of our complex problems.

我们还应该用舞蹈解释所有复杂问题。

Imagine our politicians using dance

想象一下，我们的政治家用舞蹈

to explain why we must invade a foreign country

解释我们为何必须入侵他国

or bail out an investment bank.

或拯救投资银行。

It's sure to help.

一定有用。

Of course someday, in the deep future,

当然，将来的某一天，

a technology of persuasion

比幻灯片更强大的劝说技术

even more powerful than PowerPoint may be invented,

会问世流传，

rendering dancers unnecessary as tools of rhetoric.

舞蹈演员作为雄辩工具将不再重要。

However, I trust that by that day,

然而，我相信，到那天，

we shall have passed this present financial calamity.

我们已经度过了目前的财政灾难。

Perhaps by then we will be able to afford the luxury

也许那时，我们才能有幸

of just sitting in an audience

坐在观众席上

with no other purpose

心无旁骛

than to witness the human form in motion.

全心观赏动感的人类形体。

(Music)

（音乐）

(Applause)

（掌声）