Philip Zimbardo: The psychology of time

翻译人员: Qu Wei 校对人员: Chaoran Yu

I want to share with you

我想跟你们分享一些

some ideas about the secret power of time,

对时间的神秘力量的看法

in a very short time.

当然是在很短的时间内

Video: All right, start the clock please. 30 seconds studio.

视频：好的，开始计时。30秒倒计时

Keep it quiet please. Settle down.

保持安静。

It's about time. End sequence. Take one.

注意时间。结束倒计时。

15 seconds studio.

15秒倒计时

10, nine, eight, seven,

10，9，8，7

six, five, four, three, two ...

6，5，4，3，2......

Philip Zimbardo: Let's tune into the conversation

Philip Zimbardo: 让我们来看看这段对话

of the principals in Adam's temptation.

是有关“亚当的诱惑”

"Come on Adam, don't be so wishy-washy. Take a bite." "I did."

快，亚当，别磨磨唧唧的，就咬一口，我已咬过了

"One bite, Adam. Don't abandon Eve."

就一口，亚当。不要放弃夏娃

"I don't know, guys.

我不知道啊

I don't want to get in trouble."

我真的不想惹麻烦

"Okay. One bite. What the hell?"

好吧，就一口。能怎么样？

(Laughter)

（笑声）

Life is temptation. It's all about yielding, resisting,

生活中充满了诱惑。而且到处都是：屈服或反抗

yes, no, now, later, impulsive, reflective,

是、不是、现在、随后、冲动、沉稳

present focus and future focus.

专注现在和展望未来

Promised virtues fall prey to the passions of the moment.

激情时刻一旦到来，道德束缚将皆被打破

Of teenage girls who pledged sexual abstinence and virginity until marriage --

那些承诺婚前无性行为的女孩

thank you George Bush --

– 这里感谢下小布什总统

the majority, 60 percent, yielded to sexual temptations within one year.

大多数，大概百分之六十的人在一年之内就违背了自己的承诺

And most of them did so without using birth control.

而这些人几乎没采取任何“安全措施”

So much for promises.

多么多的承诺啊

Now lets tempt four-year-olds, giving them a treat.

现在我们来试试引诱4岁的孩子，拿他们来做个试验

They can have one marshmallow now. But if they wait

他们现在有一个棉花糖，如果他们能够

until the experimenter comes back, they can have two.

等到实验员回来再吃的话，就可以得到2个棉花糖

Of course it pays, if you like marshmallows, to wait.

这当然是需要付出的，如果你真喜欢吃棉花糖的话，那就等着

What happens is two-thirds of the kids give in to temptation.

但结果是3分之2的孩子屈服于诱惑

They cannot wait. The others, of course, wait.

他们等不了。当然，其它的孩子都得到了第二个棉花糖

They resist the temptation. They delay the now for later.

因为他们抵抗了诱惑。他们甘于先苦后甜。

Walter Mischel, my colleague at Stanford,

沃特米塞奇，是我在斯坦福大学的同事

went back 14 years later,

他在14年后

to try to discover what was different about those kids.

重新找到这些孩子并去勘察他们现时的情况

There were enormous differences between kids who resisted

结果发现这两组孩子在各个方面

and kids who yielded, in many ways.

都有着巨大的差异

The kids who resisted scored 250 points higher on the SAT.

那些等到了第二个棉花糖的孩子在SAT中比另一组得分平均高250分

That's enormous. That's like a whole set of different IQ points.

这是多么大的差异啊！这根本就是两组智商水平不同的孩子啊

They didn't get in as much trouble. They were better students.

他们都没有任何问题，都是好学生

They were self-confident and determined. And the key for me today,

他们自信而且果断。那么今天我所要说的关键是

the key for you,

同样也是你们的关键点

is, they were future-focused rather than present-focused.

就是由“面向现在”转变为“展望未来”

So what is time perspective? That's what I'm going to talk about today.

那什么是时间洞察力呢？这将是我下面要讲的

Time perspective is the study of how individuals,

时间洞察力是研究个人

all of us, divide the flow of your human experience

包括我们在内，如何以时间区域或时间类别为单位

into time zones or time categories.

划分自身的经历体验。

And you do it automatically and non-consciously.

其实我们一直都在自然而然地做着

They vary between cultures, between nations,

而影响我们划分方式的因素有很多，包括不同的文化背景、国家

between individuals, between social classes,

个人、社会阶层

between education levels.

以及不同的教育背景

And the problem is that they can become biased,

问题是由于这些因素的存在，最终导致时间洞察力都具是片面的

because you learn to over-use some of them and under-use the others.

因为你学会经常使用其中的一些，而其他的则被很少使用

What determines any decision you make?

是什么促使你做出那些选择？

You make a decision on which you're going to base an action.

你所做的决定是基于你怎么采取行动的

For some people it's only about what is in the immediate situation,

对一些人来说，这个决定只是基于现状

what other people are doing and what you're feeling.

另一些人是基于他们的直觉。

And those people, when they make their decisions in that format --

对于那些基于现状而做决定的人

we're going to call them "present-oriented,"

我们称呼他们为：“面向现在”

because their focus is what is now.

因为他们专注于现正发生的事情

For others, the present is irrelevant.

对于另一些人来说，现正发生什么并不重要

It's always about "What is this situation like that I've experienced in the past?"

就好像是说：“我以前好像经历过类似的事情”一样

So that their decisions are based on past memories.

所以，他们基于过去的经验来做决定

And we're going to call those people "past-oriented," because they focus on what was.

我们称呼这些人为：“观望过去”，因为他们专注于过去

For others it's not the past, it's not the present,

还有一部分人，他们的考虑不是基于现在，也不是过去

it's only about the future.

而是未来

Their focus is always about anticipated consequences.

他们专注于预期的结果

Cost-benefit analysis.

就像成本效益分析一样

We're going to call them "future-oriented." Their focus is on what will be.

我们称呼这些人为：展望未来。因为他们专注于将来会是怎么样的

So, time paradox, I want to argue,

那么，时间悖论，这里我要讨论的是：

the paradox of time perspective,

时间洞察力的悖论

is something that influences every decision you make,

会不会有某个因素影响你做出的每一个决定

you're totally unaware of.

而你又完全不知？

Namely, the extent to which you have one of these

那你就具有某种程度上的

biased time perspectives.

片面的时间洞察力

Well there is actually six of them. There are two ways to be present-oriented.

实际上是有六种时间洞察力，其中两个属于“面向现在”

There is two ways to be past-oriented, two ways to be future.

两个属于“观望过去”，还有两个属于“展望未来”

You can focus on past-positive, or past-negative.

你可以专注于“积极经历”或“消极经历”

You can be present-hedonistic,

也可以专注于“享受现在”

namely you focus on the joys of life, or present-fatalist --

指的是你专注于生活中的快乐，或者自身宿命

it doesn't matter, your life is controlled.

这些都无所谓，因为你的生活尽在掌握

You can be future-oriented, setting goals.

当然，你也可以“展望未来”，设定一个目标

Or you can be transcendental future:

或者超越未来

namely, life begins after death.

指的是：生命在死后重新开始

Developing the mental flexibility to shift time perspectives fluidly

通过增强精神灵活性来顺利地提升时间洞察力

depending on the demands of the situation,

这有赖于环境的需求

that's what you've got to learn to do.

这就是你要学着去做的

So, very quickly, what is the optimal time profile?

那么，什么是最佳的时间洞察力呢？

High on past-positive. Moderately high on future.

高度依赖于“积极经历”，适度依赖于未来

And moderate on present-hedonism.

适度依赖于”享受现在“

And always low on past-negative

永远不考虑“消极经历”

and present-fatalism.

和“宿命论”

So the optimal temporal mix is what you get from the past --

其实，最佳的时间洞察力是由你过去的经历

past-positive gives you roots. You connect your family, identity and your self.

“积极经历”奠定了基础，你和你的家庭，独立自主

What you get from the future is wings

从未来得到是

to soar to new destinations, new challenges.

值得奋斗的目标，新的挑战

What you get from the present hedonism

从“享受现在”中得到的是动力

is the energy, the energy to explore yourself,

去探索自身

places, people, sensuality.

世界、他人以及原始需求

Any time perspective in excess has more negatives than positives.

任何时间洞察力中总是负性多于正性的

What do futures sacrifice for success?

举个例子：为了将来的成功我们需要牺牲些什么呢？

They sacrifice family time. They sacrifice friend time.

我们需要牺牲和家庭在一起的时光，需要牺牲和朋友在一起的时光

They sacrifice fun time. They sacrifice personal indulgence.

需要牺牲那些快乐的时光，需要牺牲个人嗜好

They sacrifice hobbies. And they sacrifice sleep. So it affects their health.

需要牺牲业余爱好，需要牺牲睡眠时间。因此会影响身体健康

And they live for work, achievement and control.

他们的生活中只有工作、成就和控制欲

I'm sure that resonates with some of the TEDsters.

我保证你们在座的一些人会对此引起共鸣

(Laughter)

（笑声）

And it resonated for me. I grew up as a poor kid in the South Bronx ghetto,

这些与我引起了共鸣，我出生于南布朗克斯贫民窟中的一个贫困的

a Sicilian family -- everyone lived in the past and present.

西西里岛人的家庭中。每个人都是在沉湎过去和活在当下

I'm here as a future-oriented person

在这里，我，作为一位“展望未来”的人

who went over the top, who did all these sacrifices

拜我的老师所赐，我做出了以上所有的牺牲

because teachers intervened, and made me future oriented.

并将我改变成为一位“展望未来”的人。

Told me don't eat that marshmallow,

告诉我不要那个棉花糖

because if you wait you're going to get two of them,

因为如果你等待的话，就能吃到2个

until I learned to balance out.

直到我学会了如何平衡舍与得的关系。

I've added present-hedonism, I've added a focus on the past-positive,

现在我学会了“享受现在”，同时也学会了观望“积极经历”

so, at 76 years old, I am more energetic than ever, more productive,

因此，在我76岁的时候，我感觉到从没有过的精力、动力

and I'm happier than I have ever been.

现在的我比以前任何时候都要快乐！

I just want to say that we are applying this to many world problems:

这里，我只是想说：要应用这个原理去解决世界上的很多问题

changing the drop-out rates of school kids,

改变学校的退学率

combating addictions, enhancing teen health,

打击毒品，增强青少年健康

curing vets' PTSD with time metaphors -- getting miracle cures --

用时间隐喻法治疗那些患有创伤后应激障碍的老兵 — 创造医学奇迹

promoting sustainability and conservation,

促进可持续发展和保护

reducing physical rehabilitation where there is a 50-percent drop out rate,

在具有50%退出率的医院内减缓身体康复

altering appeals to suicidal terrorists,

改变那些呼吁自杀的恐怖分子

and modifying family conflicts as time-zone clashes.

将家庭矛盾转化为时间区域的冲突

So I want to end by saying:

最后我想说的是

many of life's puzzles can be solved

如果真正理解自身的以及其他人的时间观点的话

by understanding your time perspective and that of others.

生活中的许多困惑都会被解开

And the idea is so simple, so obvious,

道理是简单且显而易见的

but I think the consequences are really profound.

但结论是深奥的

Thank you so much.

谢谢！

(Applause)

（掌声）