Peter Doolittle: How your "working memory" makes sense of the world

翻译人员: Lin Piao 校对人员: Jin Ge

So yesterday, I was out in the street

昨天呢，我出门走在

in front of this building,

这幢楼前的大街上。

and I was walking down the sidewalk,

我在人行道上

and I had company, several of us,

和几个朋友同行。

and we were all abiding by the rules

我们都很守规矩地

of walking down sidewalks.

走在人行道上。

We're not talking each other. We're facing forward.

我们什么也不说，就是向前走。

We're moving.

就这样往前走。

When the person in front of me slows down.

走在我前面的人突然减慢了速度。

And so I'm watching him, and he slows down,

我看见他放慢了速度，

and finally he stops.

然后停下了。

Well, that wasn't fast enough for me,

然后我很快就赶上他了。

so I put on my turn signal, and I walked around him,

正好我要在街角转弯，我就绕过他走。

and as I walked, I looked to see what he was doing,

我一边走，一边看他在做什么。

and he was doing this.

他就是这样。

He was texting,

他在发短信。

and he couldn't text and walk at the same time.

因为他不可能一边走路一边打字。

Now we could approach this

现在我们可以

from a working memory perspective

从工作记忆的角度

or from a multitasking perspective.

或从多任务处理的角度来看这件事。

We're going to do working memory today.

我们今天要讲的就是工作记忆的问题。

Now, working memory

工作记忆是

is that part of our consciousness that we are

每天任何一个有意识的片断里

aware of at any given time of day.

我们自我意识的一部分。

You're going it right now.

你现在就有工作记忆。

It's not something we can turn off.

我们不可能随时关闭它。

If you turn it off, that's called a coma, okay?

你要是把它关闭了，那就叫昏迷，对不对?

So right now, you're doing just fine.

所以，你们现在都做得挺好。

Now working memory has four basic components.

工作记忆有四个基本元素。

It allows us to store some immediate experiences

它使我们能够存储一些很直接的体验

and a little bit of knowledge.

和很少的一部分知识。

It allows us to reach back into our long-term memory

它允许我们去追溯我们的长期记忆

and pull some of that in as we need it,

找到我们需要的，

mixes it, processes it

进行组合和处理，

in light of whatever our current goal is.

这主要取决于我们的当前动机是什么。

Now the current goal isn't something like,

那么当前动机不是象

I want to be president or the best surfer in the world.

我想要总统或是做世界最佳冲浪手这样的动机。

It's more mundane. I'd like that cookie,

它更世俗化，比如我要吃那块饼干，

or I need to figure out how to get into my hotel room.

或者我要找到今晚住宿的酒店。

Now working memory capacity

工作记忆的能力

is our ability to leverage that,

是我们能够利用记忆的能力，

our ability to take what we know

是我们利用知识的能力。

and what we can hang onto

我们可以依赖，

and leverage it in ways that allow us to satisfy

可以利用工作记忆能力来达成

our current goal.

我们眼前的目标。

Now working memory capacity

工作记忆能力

has a fairly long history,

有相当长的历史，

and it's associated with a lot of positive effects.

它能带来很多积极效应。

People with high working memory capacity

工作记忆能力强的人

tend to be good storytellers.

一般会很擅长讲故事。

They tend to solve and do well on standardized tests,

他们一般很善于应付标准化测试，

however important that is.

不管是多么重要的考试。

They're able to have high levels of writing ability.

他们很善于写作。

They're also able to reason at high levels.

他们善于提出深层次的问题。

So what we're going to do here is play a little bit with some of that.

那么这里呢，我们来做个 工作记忆能力的小游戏。

So I'm going to ask you to perform a couple tasks,

我会让你们完成两个任务，

and we're going to take your working memory out for a ride.

带你们的工作记忆出来兜兜风。

You up for that? Okay.

你们想玩儿吧？好！

I'm going to give you five words,

我会给你们五个词，

and I just want you to hang on to them.

我要你们记住这些词，

Don't write them down. Just hang on to them.

不是把它们写下来，而是用脑子记住它们。

Five words.

五个词。

While you're hanging on to them, I'm going to ask you to answer three questions.

你记着它们的同时，还要回答我三个问题。

I want to see what happens with those words.

我想看看你们记这五个词儿记得怎么样

So here's the words:

好吧，这五个词儿是：

tree,

树，

highway,

公路，

mirror,

镜子，

Saturn

土星

and electrode.

和电极。

So far so good?

没问题吧？

Okay. What I want you to do

好！现在我要你们

is I want you to tell me what the answer is

回答我的问题，

to 23 times eight.

23乘以8是多少。

Just shout it out.

喊出来就行。

(Mumbling) (Laughter)

(喃喃自语)（笑声）

In fact it's -- (Mumbling) -- exactly. (Laughter)

事实上它等于 — — (喃喃自语) — — 完全正确。（笑声）

All right. I want you to take out your left hand

好吧。那现在我要你们伸出你的左手，

and I want you to go, "One, two, three, four, five,

你们要数：“一、二、三、四、五、

six, seven, eight, nine, 10."

六、 七、 八、 九，十"。

It's a neurological test, just in case you were wondering.

它是一个神经功能测试，如果你想知道。

All right, now what I want you to do

好吧，我现在要你们

is to recite the last five letters

倒着读出来

of the English alphabet backwards.

英语字母表中的最后五个字母。

You should have started with Z.

要从 Z 开始读。

(Laughter)

（笑声）

All right. How many people here are still pretty sure

好吧。这里有多少人

you've got all five words?

还记得我刚才给出的那五个单词？

Okay. Typically we end up with about less than half,

好吧。通常会有不到一半的人还记得。

right, which is normal. There will be a range.

没错，这是很正常的。就是这么个范围。

Some people can hang on to five.

有些人可以记住五个。

Some people can hang on to 10.

有些人可以记住十个。

Some will be down to two or three.

有的人只能记住两三个。

What we know is this is really important to the way we function, right?

我们知道，这个对大脑功能确实很有用，对吧？

And it's going to be really important here at TED

在TED尤其重要，

because you're going to be exposed to so many different ideas.

因为你会接触到很多不同的想法。

Now the problem that we have

现在我们的问题是

is that life comes at us,

我们迎面而来的生活，

and it comes at us very quickly,

它来得非常快。

and what we need to do is to take that amorphous

我们需要做的是收集那些模糊的

flow of experience and somehow

体验，然后

extract meaning from it

用工作记忆来提炼

with a working memory

它的意义所在。

that's about the size of a pea.

差不多一个豌豆大小。

Now don't get me wrong, working memory is awesome.

别搞错，工作记忆是很不简单的。

Working memory allows us

它允许我们

to investigate our current experience

在继续前行时

as we move forward.

检视我们当前的体验。

It allows us to make sense of the world around us.

它让我们理解我们周围的世界。

But it does have certain limits.

但它确实是有极限的。

Now working memory is great for allowing us to communicate.

工作记忆让我们能够和人交流。

We can have a conversation,

我们可以谈话，

and I can build a narrative around that

我可以通过叙述来说明

so I know where we've been and where we're going

我们讲到哪儿了，要说什么

and how to contribute to this conversation.

以及怎么说。

It allows us to problem-solve, critical think.

它让我们解决问题，慎重思考。

We can be in the middle of a meeting,

我们可能在一个会议期间，

listen to somebody's presentation, evaluate it,

听别人的发言，评价它，

decide whether or not we like it,

决定我们是否喜欢它，

ask follow-up questions.

然后提出问题。

All of that occurs within working memory.

所有这一切都是在工作记忆的范畴里。

It also allows us to go to the store

它让我们去商店

and allows us to get milk and eggs and cheese

买牛奶、鸡蛋和奶酪，

when what we're really looking for

当我们真正想买的

is Red Bull and bacon. (Laughter)

是红牛饮料和培根时。（笑声）

Gotta make sure we're getting what we're looking for.

要确保我们知道我们要找的是什么。

Now, a central issue with working memory

现在，工作记忆的一个主要问题是

is that it's limited.

它的局限性。

It's limited in capacity, limited in duration,

它的能力和时长都是有局限的。

limited in focus.

它的聚焦点也有局限。

We tend to remember about four things.

我们一般可以记住四件事情。

Okay? It used to be seven,

对吧？以前说是七件，

but with functional MRIs, apparently it's four,

但用功能性核磁共振成像检测，其实是四件

and we were overachieving.

我们以前是逞强了。

Now we can remember those four things

现在我们在大约10到20秒时间内

for about 10 to 20 seconds

可以记住四件事，

unless we do something with it,

如果我们利用它，

unless we process it, unless we apply it to something,

处理它，应用它，

unless we talk to somebody about it.

讨论它。

When we think about working memory,

我们谈到工作记忆的时候

we have to realize that this limited capacity

我们需要意识到它的局限性

has lots of different impacts on us.

对我们的影响。

Have you ever walked from one room to another

你以前有没有从一个房间走到另个房间

and then forgotten why you're there?

突然忘了你要干什么？

You do know the solution to that, right?

你知道怎么解决这样的事，对吧？

You go back to that original room. (Laughter)

你就回到原来的那个房间去想想。（笑声）

Have you ever forgotten your keys?

你曾经忘记过你的钥匙吧？

You ever forgotten your car?

你曾经忘记过你的车吧?

You ever forgotten your kids?

你曾经忘记过你的孩子吧？

Have you ever been involved in a conversation,

你有没有在聊天时，

and you realize that the conversation to your left

意识到你左边那人的谈话

is actually more interesting? (Laughter)

其实更有趣？（笑声）

So you're nodding and you're smiling,

嗯，你在点头，你在笑，

but you're really paying attention to this one over here,

你一直很专心地听我讲

until you hear that last word go up,

直到你听到我说的最后一个字音调升高，

and you realize,

你才意识到，

you've been asked a question. (Laughter)

我是在问你一个问题。（笑声）

And you're really hoping the answer is no,

然后你们希望答案是否定的。

because that's what you're about to say.

因为那是你要说的。

All of that talks about working memory,

我们讲的就是这些工作记忆，

what we can do and what we can't do.

我们能做什么，不能做什么。

We need to realize that working memory

我们必须认识到工作记忆

has a limited capacity,

的能力是有限的。

and that working memory capacity itself is how we negotiate that.

工作记忆的能力在于我们怎么平衡它。

We negotiate that through strategies.

我们通过一些策略来平衡。

So what I want to do is talk a little bit about a couple of strategies here,

我现在想讲的就是两个策略。

and these will be really important

这两个确实很重要。

because you are now in an information target-rich environment

因为接下来的几天

for the next several days.

你将处在一个信息爆炸的环境里。

Now the first part of this that we need to think about

首先我们需要思考

and we need to process our existence, our life,

我们需要整理我们的体验，

immediately and repeatedly.

迅速地和反复地。

We need to process what's going on

我们需要处理正在发生的事情

the moment it happens, not 10 minutes later,

就在当下，而不是十分钟后，

not a week later, at the moment.

更不是一周后，就在当下。

So we need to think about, well, do I agree with him?

我们需要考虑，嗯，我同意他吗？

What's missing? What would I like to know?

不足的地方有那些？我想知道有哪些？

Do I agree with the assumptions?

我同意这个假设吗？

How can I apply this in my life?

我怎么把它用到我这儿？

It's a way of processing what's going on

我们就这么处理正在发生的事情

so that we can use it later.

然后就可以利用它。

Now we also need to repeat it. We need to practice.

那么，我们还需要重复它，需要实践。

So we need to think about it here.

所以需要不断琢磨它。

In between, we want to talk to people about it.

同时需要和别人谈论它。

We're going to write it down, and when you get home,

回家后还要写下它。

pull out those notes and think about them

然后拿出那些记录，再考虑考虑它。

and end up practicing over time.

就这样结束记忆的训练。

Practice for some reason became a very negative thing.

为某些原因而重复记忆是一件非常消极的事。

It's very positive.

但它其实有非常积极的意义。

The next thing is, we need to think elaboratively

下一件事就是，我们需要考虑如何精练

and we need to think illustratively.

和如何阐述我们的记忆。

Oftentimes, we think that we have to relate new knowledge to prior knowledge.

很多时候，我们将新知识和旧知识联系起来。

What we want to do is spin that around.

把它们融会贯通。

We want to take all of our existence

我们想要把所有我们旧的体验

and wrap it around that new knowledge

都围绕着新的知识展开，

and make all of these connections and it becomes more meaningful.

让新旧知识融合在一起使它变得更有意义。

We also want to use imagery. We are built for images.

我们还需要运用图像。人类对图像天生敏感。

We need to take advantage of that.

我们需要利用这一点。

Think about things in images,

思考图像里面的事实，

write things down that way.

把它记下来。

If you read a book, pull things up.

如果你在读一本书，从里面提炼出想要的东西。

I just got through reading "The Great Gatsby,"

我以前通读过《伟大的盖茨比》，

and I have a perfect idea of what he looks like

我很清楚地知道他是怎样的人。

in my head, so my own version.

在我的脑海里，我有我自己的看法。

The last one is organization and support.

最后一个就是组织和支持。

We are meaning-making machines. It's what we do.

人天生喜欢追寻意义。我们做的也就是这个。

We try to make meaning out of everything that happens to us.

我们努力从任何事情中寻求意义所在。

Organization helps, so we need to structure

大脑的组织整理功能帮助我们，所以我们要

what we're doing in ways that make sense.

让做的事情更加合情合理。

If we are providing knowledge and experience,

如果我们提供知识和经验，

we need to structure that.

就需要去构建它。

And the last one is support.

最后一个是支持。

We all started as novices.

我们都是从初学者起步的。

Everything we do is an approximation of sophistication.

我们做的一切都是一点点趋向成熟。

We should expect it to change over time. We have to support that.

这就需要时间使我们成熟起来。我们需要支持体系。

The support may come in asking people questions,

这个支持体系通过问人们问题，

giving them a sheet of paper that has an organizational chart on it

给他们有表格的纸张，

or has some guiding images,

或一些提示性图片，

but we need to support it.

我们需要这样的支持体系。

Now, the final piece of this, the take-home message

现在，最后我要说的就是

from a working memory capacity standpoint is this:

从工作记忆能力的角度来看是这样的：

what we process, we learn.

我们整理思考什么信息，就学习什么。

If we're not processing life, we're not living it.

我们不整理思考人生，我们就是行尸走肉。

Live life. Thank you.

过好你的人生。谢谢。

(Applause)

（掌声）