The role of human emotions in science and research | Ilona Stengel

翻译人员: Hong Li 校对人员: Yolanda Zhang

I'm a scientist,

我是一名科学家，

and I'm a big fan of Star Trek,

也是《星际迷航》的死忠粉，

especially of Mr. Spock.

尤其喜欢史波克先生。

Mr. Spock is a scientist as well,

史波克先生也是一名科学家，

and at the same time, he's the first [officer]

同时，他也是星际战舰

of the starship Enterprise,

企业号的大副，

and during the adventures of the Enterprise crew,

在企业号的冒险过程中，

he and his colleagues are dealing a lot

由于史波克先生时有时无的情感，

with the presence or absence of Mr. Spock's emotions.

他和他的同伴们发生了许多故事。

Mr. Spock is half-human and half-Vulcan,

史波克先生是人类和瓦肯人的混血，

and Vulcans are an alien race

瓦肯人是外星种族，

who learn to control and suppress their feelings

他们学习控制和压抑自己的情感，

and to act purely out of logic.

完全按照纯粹的逻辑行事。

As Mr. Spock is only half-Vulcan,

因为史波克先生 只有一半瓦肯人血统，

he sees himself constantly in conflict in between logic and emotions,

因此他不断在逻辑和情感之间纠结，

and as he's part of a team,

又因为他是团队中的一员，

the whole crew is struggling with,

因此整个舰队成员都很抓狂，

is analyzing,

喜欢分析他，

and is making fun of this conflict.

也喜欢拿他的纠结开玩笑。

And also the fans of Star Trek watch with amusement

《星际迷航》的粉丝们也很喜欢

this seemingly contradictory behavior.

他这种充满矛盾的行为。

They find it quite fascinating.

粉丝们觉得这很迷人。

And the matter is a golden thread

而这是一条很棒的主线，

贯穿于整个星舰迷航的电视剧和电影， 从60年代直到今天。

through the whole Star Trek series and movies from the '60s until today.

And that's actually what I want to talk about today:

这正是我今天想谈的话题，

the role of emotions in science.

情感在科学中扮演的角色。

We tend to think that science is all about facts and logic

我们倾向于认为， 科学就是事实和逻辑，

and human feelings are often neglected or considered an obstacle to get rid of.

而人类的情感往往被忽略， 或者被认为是要去除的障碍。

I would like to suggest that emotions are as important in science

但我认为，情感在科学中同样重要，

as they are in any other part of our lives.

跟它在我们生活的其他方面一样。

Science is made by humans,

科学是人类发明的，

and as human beings,

作为人类，

even if we try hard, we cannot get rid of our emotions.

无论我们多么努力， 都无法消除我们的情感。

So instead of fighting them,

因此，与其与之斗争，

I believe that even in science, we should make use of our feelings,

不如善加利用， 包括在科学领域，

because for breakthroughs and innovation,

因为对于突破和创新而言，

they are equally important as facts and logic.

情感跟事实和逻辑一样重要。

I will come back to Mr. Spock,

我们一会儿再来聊史波克先生，

but first let me share my experience on the role of emotions in science,

首先我来分享一下自己的经历， 关于情感在科学中所起的作用，

and one story in particular kept me thinking about it

这件事让我在过去的几年里，

for the last couple of years.

一直在思考这个问题。

I'm working in research on organic light-emitting diodes,

我是研究有机发光二极管的，

so-called OLEDs.

也就是OLED。

This is how you might know them,

你们也许听说过，

as new generation of displays.

它是新一代的显示技术。

OLEDs are more and more used in smartphone displays and TV screens.

OLED被越来越多的用在 智能手机和电视屏幕上。

They make them appear bright, truly colorful and bendable.

让屏幕更加明亮， 颜色更真，还可以弯曲。

This is how they look like

这是我物理学同事的

in the research lab of my physicist colleagues.

实验室里OLED器件。

And this is what I, as a chemist,

而作为一名化学家的我，

have in mind when I think about them.

想起它的时候是这样的。

I've loved it ever since I started to work on it.

我从研究它的第一天开始 就爱上了它。

So I didn't really like the news

因此当我听到

when the company I had been working for --

我当时所在的公司，

that was my previous employer --

上一家公司，

announced that they wanted to stop OLED research.

宣布他们要停止研究 OLED的时候，我很不开心。

At the time, the management had reasons for this decision,

当时，管理层做出 这个决定是有原因的，

and the company handled it very well, actually.

而且公司其实处理得很好。

Nobody lost their jobs,

没有人失业，

and everybody was rewarded for their performed work.

每个人已经完成的工作 也拿到了相应的报酬。

What I want to show you today

我今天想分享的，

is what happened with my scientist colleagues and me

是我的科学家同事们和我，

during the time in between the announcement

从听到这个消息，到项目最后一天，

and the last working day on our project.

这段时间里发生的事情。

Consider it a small case study on emotions in science.

可以把它看成情感在科学中作用的 一个小的研究案例吧。

In 2015, our research team had grown to more than 80 people,

2015年，我们的 研究团队超过了80人，

and even after the announcement that our project was discontinued,

即便在项目要终止的消息宣布之后，

we could not stop working from one day to another.

我们还在一天天的继续工作。

It took several months to bring all activities to a sound end

从我们完成手头所有工作， 到在公司内部找到新工作，

and to find new jobs within the company for everyone.

前后花了几个月的时间。

Here's what happened.

这中间发生了什么呢。

Even though we knew that we were working on a project

即便我们知道我们的项目

that was to be stopped,

马上要被叫停，

during those months our output hit the roof.

但这几个月里我们的产出却十分惊人。

We were actually working on two different OLED projects:

我们甚至同时在做2个OLED的项目：

first, the development of materials for blue-shining OLEDs,

第一个，开发蓝光OLED材料，

which had started in 2001;

是从2001年开始的；

and second, materials for green OLEDs, which had started in 2014.

第二个，绿光OELD材料， 是从2014年开始的。

And the results I show you here concern the green OLED project.

我给大家展示的 是绿光OLED的成果。

In the graph, you can see how the lifetime,

这张图表显示的是使用寿命，

which is a crucial measure for the durability of our devices,

也就是我们设备耐久度的主要指标，

developed over time.

如何随着时间的推移而发展。

In 2015, just half a year into the project,

2015年，这个项目刚进行到1年半，

we were told to scale down,

我们被告知要缩小规模，

to stop working on the project as soon as possible

让我们尽快停止这个项目，

and to start over in other jobs.

开始去做其他工作。

Nevertheless, from this time on,

尽管如此，从那时候开始，

our results continued to improve rapidly.

我们依然进展迅速。

How did that happen?

这是怎么回事呢？

After the announcement, pretty quickly, colleagues started leaving the team,

在消息宣布后， 同事们开始陆续离开团队，

and soon, we were left in a small group,

很快就只剩下几个人，

all pretty much sharing the same attitude of,

大家都抱着同样的想法，

"I'm going to be the last person leaving the ship."

“我将是最后一个弃船的人。”

What I mean is,

我想说的是，

while the number of scientists working on the project was decreasing,

尽管参与项目的科学家人数在减少，

the dedication of people remaining grew dramatically.

但是留下来的人的奉献精神 却在大幅增长。

And also, a new and more intense team spirit formed.

同时还形成了新的、 更加积极的团队精神。

We all shared the same passion for our work,

我们对工作都抱有同样的热情，

we all were sad that it was about to end,

我们对项目行将结束感到难过，

and we all wanted to show that we could turn our ideas into reality.

我们都想证明， 我们的想法是可以实现的。

We felt that we belonged to something bigger.

我们觉得自己能成就更大的事业。

And furthermore,

除此之外，

our project was less and less in the focus of the management,

管理层对我们项目的 关注越来越少，

because they started to think about new projects,

因为他们开始转向了新的项目，

restructuring and so on.

思考重组等事项。

This resulted in additional freedom

这让我们有更大的自由

and the possibility to take a few things into our own hands.

有更大的自主权。

Of course, more freedom also means more responsibility,

当然，更多自由 也意味着更大的责任，

which we were happy to take, because we believed in our work.

我们也很愿意承担， 因为我们相信自己从事的工作。

We felt empowered.

我们感到更加自主。

And these three pillars --

这三个因素：

dedication, belonging and empowerment --

奉献精神、归属感和自主权，

worked together in a kind of self-reinforcing cycle,

相辅相成，相互促进，

and the closer we got to shutdown,

越是临近项目停止，

the better our output became.

我们的成果越显著。

So we were working with such personal engagement

我们不断自我激励，把心血

on a project already sentenced to death

倾注在这个即将终结的项目上，

because we felt connected to something meaningful.

因为我们觉得这件事意义重大。

Of course, it was also a hard and sometimes frustrating time,

当然，也会有许多艰难 甚至熬不下去的时刻，

but we were sitting together in the lab,

但我们围坐在实验室，

or occasionally in the café,

或者有时候在餐厅，

sharing our sadness about the end of our project

分享项目即将被终结的悲伤，

as well as the joy in our work.

或者工作中的乐趣。

So overall, we had a very intense and mesmerizingly exciting time.

总而言之，我们度过了一段 紧张而又兴奋的时间。

And the lifetime we finally obtained for our materials

最后，我们材料的寿命

was on one level with already commercialized materials

与已经商业化生产的 绿光OLED的寿命

for green OLEDs at the time,

达到了同一水平，

and we achieved this within just one year.

而做到这一点， 我们仅用了一年时间。

And those results helped our employer

这一成果让我们的老板

to sell the patents for real value.

卖了个好价钱。

Now, let me tell you the same story

下面我来讲一个类似的故事，

with different characters and a slightly different operation.

只是角色和采取的方式 有些许不同。

The story is part of Star Trek.

这个故事出自《星际迷航》。

And sorry for those of you who haven't seen the movies,

对于那些还没看过的人，

but I need to introduce a spoiler here.

抱歉我要剧透了。

After Mr. Spock sacrificed himself to save the starship Enterprise

史波克先生牺牲自己， 拯救了星际战舰企业号，

at the end of Star Trek II,

这是《星际迷航2》结尾的情节，

Captain Kirk and his core team

柯克船长和他的

were determined to hunt through the universe to search for Spock,

核心团队成员决定 穿梭宇宙来寻找史波克，

even though they could see only very little chance

尽管史波克还活着的希望

in finding him alive.

非常渺茫。

And Starfleet Command did not give them permission

星际舰队的指挥官

nor a starship to do so,

并不允许他们这么做，

so they took it very passionately into their own hands

于是他们慷慨激昂的 将这件事扛上肩，

to travel out to find Spock.

出发寻找史波克。

And after dealing with great challenges, they eventually found Spock,

历尽千辛万苦之后， 他们找到了史波克，

and he happily and gratefully joined the team again.

他开心而又感恩地归队了。

He could feel the dedication and the connection of his team

他能感受到团队 对于目标的热情与执着，

towards their project, which was to save him

而正是这个目标：救他回来，

and to hold the crew together.

让团队凝聚不散。

And over the years, over the episodes of the saga,

随着时间推移，剧情发展，

Mr. Spock came to realize

史波克先生认识到，

that the combination of both logic and emotions

逻辑和情感的结合，

is crucial for facing challenges and exploring new worlds,

对于战胜挑战， 探索新世界尤为重要，

and there was no contradiction anymore.

他不再纠结与彷徨。

So the storyline here for both our OLED story and Star Trek

因此，无论是我们的OLED， 还是《星际迷航》，

is actually the basic setting for a lot of breakthrough stories,

跟许多充满戏剧性的故事一样， 有相同的情节设定，

in and out of science.

无论它是不是关于科学。

The main characters are all part of a great team.

主角都是一支伟大团队的一员。

All team members show a huge dedication towards reaching their goal.

所有成员对于实现目标 都有巨大的热情。

They strive to seize all the freedom they can get,

他们牢牢抓住所有的自主权，

and they take the responsibility they need to take.

勇于承担应有的责任。

During the time our OLED project was nearing the end,

在我们的OLED项目 临近结束的时候，

I received one piece of advice several times.

我不断听到劝导的声音。

"Don't take it to your heart.

“别太上心了。

You can work on something else."

你可以换个项目来做。”

If I had followed it,

如果我听了这些劝告，

it would have saved me several depressed evenings

可能会让我少一些沮丧，

and many tears,

少流一些眼泪，

but at the same time,

但与此同时，

I would have failed to gain a great deal in personal development and happiness.

我也会失去一个个人发展的良机， 失去得到快乐的机会。

And as the same is true for my colleagues and our whole project,

对于我们整个团队 和项目而言也是如此，

we would have achieved far less.

我们的成就将小得多。

So of course, science should be based on facts and logic.

因此，毫无疑问， 科学应该基于事实和逻辑。

When I say we should use our emotions in science,

当我说，我们应该在科学中 加入情感的时候，

I do not suggest we should use feelings instead of facts.

我并不是说，我们应该 用感觉来代替事实。

But I say we should not be afraid of using our feelings

而是要勇于运用我们的感情，

to implement and to catalyze fact-based science and innovation.

来促进基于事实的科学和创新。

Emotions and logic do not oppose each other.

感情和逻辑并不矛盾。

They complement each other,

它们相互补充，

and they reinforce each other.

相互促进。

The feeling of being dedicated to something meaningful,

对于有意义事情的全情投入，

of belonging to something bigger

对于更高目标的责任感，

and of being empowered

和更多的自主权，

is crucial for creativity and innovation.

对于创造和创新都很重要。

Whatever you are working on,

无论你做什么，

make sure that it matters,

一定要确保它是重要的，

and take it to your heart as much as you like.

并且全心全意的热爱它。

Thank you.

谢谢大家。

(Applause)

（掌声）