Alison Gopnik: What do babies think?

翻译人员: Chunda Zeng 校对人员: Felix Chen

What is going on

这位宝宝

in this baby's mind?

在想什么？

If you'd asked people this 30 years ago,

如果你在30年前问这个问题，

most people, including psychologists,

大多数人，包括心理学家，

would have said that this baby was irrational,

会告诉你这个小孩没有理性的，

illogical, egocentric --

没逻辑, 以自我为中心——

that he couldn't take the perspective of another person

他不会站在他人的角度思考

or understand cause and effect.

或者不明白因果关系。

In the last 20 years,

在过去的20年里，

developmental science has completely overturned that picture.

发育学彻底地颠覆了这个观念。

So in some ways,

从某些角度来看，

we think that this baby's thinking

这个宝宝的思维

is like the thinking of the most brilliant scientists.

和大多数聪明的科学家的思维相同。

Let me give you just one example of this.

我可以举个这样的例子。

One thing that this baby could be thinking about,

这位宝宝可能在思考某件事，

that could be going on in his mind,

在他的脑袋瓜中，

is trying to figure out

他想要弄清楚

what's going on in the mind of that other baby.

其他婴儿在想些什么。

After all, one of the things that's hardest for all of us to do

毕竟，我们最难办到的一件事

is to figure out what other people are thinking and feeling.

是理解他人的想法和感觉。

And maybe the hardest thing of all

而最难办到的事

is to figure out that what other people think and feel

是理解他人的想法和感觉

isn't actually exactly like what we think and feel.

和我们自己的不完全一致。

Anyone who's followed politics can testify

任何追寻过政治的都可以证明

to how hard that is for some people to get.

了解他人的想法是多么困难。

We wanted to know

我们想要知道

if babies and young children

宝宝和小孩子

could understand this really profound thing about other people.

能否理解其他人的奥秘。

Now the question is: How could we ask them?

目前的问题是: 我们如何与宝宝们沟通呢？

Babies, after all, can't talk,

他们还不会说话，

and if you ask a three year-old

当你问一个三岁的小孩

to tell you what he thinks,

他在想什么时，

what you'll get is a beautiful stream of consciousness monologue

他的回答将会是一串精彩的意识流独白

about ponies and birthdays and things like that.

关于小型木马，生日，或是类似的答案。

So how do we actually ask them the question?

那我们应该如何向他们提问呢？

Well it turns out that the secret was broccoli.

秘密居然是花椰菜。

What we did -- Betty Rapacholi, who was one of my students, and I --

我们用的方法是——我的一个学生，贝蒂拉帕求利和我

was actually to give the babies two bowls of food:

给了这些宝宝们两碗食物：

one bowl of raw broccoli

一碗生的花椰菜

and one bowl of delicious goldfish crackers.

一碗是好吃的金鱼饼干。

Now all of the babies, even in Berkley,

所有的宝宝,包括在柏克莱的那些，

like the crackers and don't like the raw broccoli.

选择了饼干而不是生的花椰菜。

(Laughter)

（笑声）

But then what Betty did

但是贝蒂随后

was to take a little taste of food from each bowl.

品尝了这两种食物。

And she would act as if she liked it or she didn't.

然后作出了喜欢或不喜欢的表情。

So half the time, she acted

有一半的情况，

as if she liked the crackers and didn't like the broccoli --

她的反应和宝宝还有正常人一样——

just like a baby and any other sane person.

喜欢饼干而不喜欢花椰菜的表情。

But half the time,

但另一半情况，

what she would do is take a little bit of the broccoli

她是吃一点花椰菜

and go, "Mmmmm, broccoli.

然后说："Mmmmm，花椰菜。

I tasted the broccoli. Mmmmm."

我吃了花椰菜。"

And then she would take a little bit of the crackers,

然后当她吃到饼干的时候，

and she'd go, "Eww, yuck, crackers.

她说："饼干真难吃。

I tasted the crackers. Eww, yuck."

我居然吃了饼干。真恶心。"

So she'd act as if what she wanted

所以她假装自己喜欢吃的

was just the opposite of what the babies wanted.

和宝宝们喜欢的恰恰相反。

We did this with 15 and 18 month-old babies.

我们对15个月和18个月大的宝宝们做了这个实验。

And then she would simply put her hand out and say,

贝蒂将自己的手伸出说：

"Can you give me some?"

“能给我点吗？"

So the question is: What would the baby give her,

但大家都想知道：宝宝会给她什么，

what they liked or what she liked?

是贝蒂喜欢的还是自己喜欢的？

And the remarkable thing was that 18 month-old babies,

让人惊讶的是18岁大的宝宝，

just barely walking and talking,

虽然还没有开始走路和说话，

would give her the crackers if she liked the crackers,

给了贝蒂饼干如果她喜欢饼干，

but they would give her the broccoli if she liked the broccoli.

但给了她花椰菜如果她喜欢的是花椰菜。

On the other hand,

另一方面，

15 month-olds would stare at her for a long time

15岁大的宝宝会望着贝蒂

if she acted as if she liked the broccoli,

如果她说自己喜欢花椰菜，

like they couldn't figure this out.

宝宝们还是不知道。

But then after they stared for a long time,

但在观察了一段时间之后，

they would just give her the crackers,

他们给了贝蒂饼干，

what they thought everybody must like.

因为觉得所有人都会喜欢，

So there are two really remarkable things about this.

所以这项实验有两个值得关注的发现。

The first one is that these little 18 month-old babies

首先是这些18个月大的孩子

have already discovered

已经开始注意

this really profound fact about human nature,

一个人性的奥秘，

that we don't always want the same thing.

那就是我们想要的东西不同。

And what's more, they felt that they should actually do things

还有, 他们意识到自己应该做点

to help other people get what they wanted.

帮助他人达成愿望的事。

Even more remarkably though,

但更让人值得关注的是，

the fact that 15 month-olds didn't do this

15个月大的宝宝们没有这种意识

suggests that these 18 month-olds had learned

说明18月大的懂得了

this deep, profound fact about human nature

一个人性的奥秘

in the three months from when they were 15 months old.

而当他们3个月前还没有意识到。

So children both know more and learn more

所以宝宝们知道的和学到的

than we ever would have thought.

比我们想象中要多得多。

And this is just one of hundreds and hundreds of studies over the last 20 years

而只是在过去20年里的上百项调查的其中之一

that's actually demonstrated it.

证明了这个观点。

The question you might ask though is:

但是你也许想要问：

Why do children learn so much?

小孩子为什么学到这么多呢？

And how is it possible for them to learn so much

在这么短的时间里

in such a short time?

他们怎么能办得到呢？

I mean, after all, if you look at babies superficially,

我是说, 如果你只从表面来观察这些宝宝，

they seem pretty useless.

他们似乎没什么用。

And actually in many ways, they're worse than useless,

事实上在很多方面，他们比没用还没用。

because we have to put so much time and energy

因为我们需要花如此多的时间和经历

into just keeping them alive.

才能让他们生存。

But if we turn to evolution

如果我们从进化的角度

for an answer to this puzzle

来寻找

of why we spend so much time

我们为什么要花这么多时间

taking care of useless babies,

来照料这些没用的宝宝们的答案时，

it turns out that there's actually an answer.

我们找到了一个答案。

If we look across many, many different species of animals,

如果我们观察各种不同种类的动物，

not just us primates,

不光是灵长类，

but also including other mammals, birds,

包括其它哺乳动物和鸟类，

even marsupials

还有有袋目哺乳动物

like kangaroos and wombats,

比如像袋鼠和袋熊，

it turns out that there's a relationship

结果是

between how long a childhood a species has

动物的孩童时期长度

and how big their brains are compared to their bodies

和它们的脑部大小与身体的比例

and how smart and flexible they are.

还有它们的智慧和灵敏是存在关系的。

And sort of the posterbirds for this idea are the birds up there.

图片上的鸟可以证明这个观点。

On one side

左边是一只

is a New Caledonian crow.

新喀里多尼亚岛的乌鸦。

And crows and other corvidae, ravens, rooks and so forth,

像乌鸦, 其它雅科, 渡鸦, 和秃鼻乌鸦那类的鸟，

are incredibly smart birds.

都非常的聪明。

They're as smart as chimpanzees in some respects.

它们在一些方面就像猩猩一样聪明。

And this is a bird on the cover of science

这只鸟是科学杂志的封面

who's learned how to use a tool to get food.

它学会了如何用工具来取得食物。

On the other hand,

另一张图片上的鸟，

we have our friend the domestic chicken.

是我们的朋友家养鸡。

And chickens and ducks and geese and turkeys

鸡，鸭，鹅，火鸡

are basically as dumb as dumps.

基本上可以说是笨得不能再笨。

So they're very, very good at pecking for grain,

它们虽然很擅长啄食，

and they're not much good at doing anything else.

但其它方面就不行了。

Well it turns out that the babies,

可这些幼鸟，

the New Caledonian crow babies, are fledglings.

我是说新喀里多尼亚岛的幼年乌鸦，它们刚长羽毛。

They depend on their moms

在长达两年的时间里

to drop worms in their little open mouths

它们完全依赖妈妈来喂它们虫子

for as long as two years,

来喂它们虫子，

which is a really long time in the life of a bird.

而两年对于一只鸟的生命来说是非常长的一段时间。

Whereas the chickens are actually mature

鸡相对来说要成长的较快

within a couple of months.

只需要两个月的时间。

So childhood is the reason

乌鸦成为科学杂志封面的原因

why the crows end up on the cover of Science

是因为它们的童年

and the chickens end up in the soup pot.

而鸡的下场是变成锅里的汤。

There's something about that long childhood

在它们两年的童年里

that seems to be connected

有某些因素

to knowledge and learning.

似乎和知识与学习有关系。

Well what kind of explanation could we have for this?

原因究竟是什么呢?

Well some animals, like the chicken,

像鸡这类的动物,

seem to be beautifully suited

好像只擅长

to doing just one thing very well.

把某一件事做好。

So they seem to be beautifully suited

那件事

to pecking grain in one environment.

就是在一个环境中啄食。

Other creatures, like the crows,

像乌鸦这种动物，

aren't very good at doing anything in particular,

不擅长做好某件事，

but they're extremely good

但在适应不同的环境方面

at learning about laws of different environments.

它们非常擅长。

And of course, we human beings

当然，我们人类在到了像乌鸦那种穷途末路时，

are way out on the end of the distribution like the crows.

我们比它们更能想到解决的办法。

We have bigger brains relative to our bodies

我们的大脑和四肢的比例

by far than any other animal.

目前还没有任何动物能超过。

We're smarter, we're more flexible,

我们有更多的智慧和更强的适应性，

we can learn more,

可以学到更多知识，

we survive in more different environments,

还能在更多不同的环境下生存，

we migrated to cover the world and even go to outer space.

人类在地球各处居住，甚至上了外太空。

And our babies and children are dependent on us

我们的孩子对我们的依赖的时间

for much longer than the babies of any other species.

超过任何动物对父母的依赖，

My son is 23.

我儿子现年23岁。

(Laughter)

（笑声）

And at least until they're 23,

在他们23岁之前，

we're still popping those worms

我们还会把食物

into those little open mouths.

送到他们的嘴里。

All right, why would we see this correlation?

我们为什么看到这样的一个关联？

Well an idea is that that strategy, that learning strategy,

答案是学习的技巧，

is an extremely powerful, great strategy for getting on in the world,

它非常有用，对成功也很有帮助，

but it has one big disadvantage.

但也有它的不利。

And that one big disadvantage

这个不利便是

is that, until you actually do all that learning,

在你学会之前，

you're going to be helpless.

你将无法提供任何帮助。

So you don't want to have the mastodon charging at you

当一只乳齿象向你冲来的时候

and be saying to yourself,

你不会去想

"A slingshot or maybe a spear might work. Which would actually be better?"

“我到底应该用矛来刺还是用弹弓来射？”

You want to know all that

你在乳齿象出现之前

before the mastodons actually show up.

就需要知道应该怎么做。

And the way the evolutions seems to have solved that problem

而进化论似乎已经解决了这个问题

is with a kind of division of labor.

通过劳动分工。

So the idea is that we have this early period when we're completely protected.

所以普遍看法是早期的时候我们是被保护着的。

We don't have to do anything. All we have to do is learn.

我们不需要做任何事。只学就够了。

And then as adults,

但当我们成年后，

we can take all those things that we learned when we were babies and children

可以把幼年和童年时学到的东西加以运用

and actually put them to work to do things out there in the world.

并让这些知识在社会中起到作用。

So one way of thinking about it

第一种解释是

is that babies and young children

婴儿和小孩子

are like the research and development division of the human species.

就好比研究和开发人类的部门一样。

So they're the protected blue sky guys

他们在受保护的人群。

who just have to go out and learn and have good ideas,

只需要寻找和学习新的知识，

and we're production and marketing.

而我们成年人扮演的是制作和营销的角色。

We have to take all those ideas

我们需要把所有

that we learned when we were children

从孩子那里学到的知识

and actually put them to use.

应用到现实生活里。

Another way of thinking about it

另一种解释

is instead of thinking of babies and children

反对把婴儿和小孩子

as being like defective grownups,

当作是有缺陷的成人

we should think about them

而是把他们当作是

as being a different developmental stage of the same species --

处于不同的发展时段但是归类于同一种类

kind of like caterpillars and butterflies --

就像虫蛹和蝴蝶那样

except that they're actually the brilliant butterflies

不过他们是比蝴蝶要智慧得多

who are flitting around the garden and exploring,

因为孩子们可以在花园中游走与探索

and we're the caterpillars

而我们大人就是虫蛹

who are inching along our narrow, grownup, adult path.

在我们狭窄的道路上慢慢地爬行。

If this is true, if these babies are designed to learn --

如果第二种解释是真的。那这些小宝宝天生就是学习的料

and this evolutionary story would say children are for learning,

从进化论来看，他们天生就在学习，

that's what they're for --

学习就是他们的本性——

we might expect

我们可以想象

that they would have really powerful learning mechanisms.

他们可能有非常巧妙的学习技巧

And in fact, the baby's brain

事实上，小孩子的大脑

seems to be the most powerful learning computer

仿佛是整个星球上

on the planet.

最强的计算机.

But real computers are actually getting to be a lot better.

但真正的计算机其实暂时已经无法超越了。

And there's been a revolution

最近，在我们对机器学习的理解上

in our understanding of machine learning recently.

发生了一场革命。

And it all depends on the ideas of this guy,

这场革命完全是靠这个人的想法，

the Reverend Thomas Bayes,

他就是神父托马斯贝斯，

who was a statistician and mathematician in the 18th century.

18世纪时的一个统计学家和数学家。

And essentially what Bayes did

他最大的贡献

was to provide a mathematical way

是通过数学

using probability theory

使用机率定理

to characterize, describe,

描述了科学家探索世界的方式，

the way that scientists find out about the world.

并将其个性化。

So what scientists do

科学家们的方法

is they have a hypothesis that they think might be likely to start with.

是先准备一个假设

They go out and test it against the evidence.

然后为该假设找根据

The evidence makes them change that hypothesis.

根据会使他们改变假设

Then they test that new hypothesis

然后他们就开始新的假设

and so on and so forth.

过程就是这样。

And what Bayes showed was a mathematical way that you could do that.

贝斯将该过程转换为一个数学公式。

And that mathematics is at the core

数学在目前最好的机器学习项目开发中

of the best machine learning programs that we have now.

起了重要作用。

And some 10 years ago,

大约10年前，

I suggested that babies might be doing the same thing.

我提出过小孩的思考过程和科学家相同。

So if you want to know what's going on

所以你想知道在他们漂亮的棕色眼睛下面

underneath those beautiful brown eyes,

是什么样的一个世界，

I think it actually looks something like this.

我有自己的看法。

This is Reverend Bayes's notebook.

这是贝斯神父的笔记。

So I think those babies are actually making complicated calculations

我认为这些小孩子在做复杂的计算

with conditional probabilities that they're revising

通过自定的条件机率

to figure out how the world works.

来理解世间万物。

All right, now that might seem like an even taller order to actually demonstrate.

当然，这个要实际说明很困难。

Because after all, if you ask even grownups about statistics,

因为就算你问大人统计问题，

they look extremely stupid.

他们也会一问三不知。

How could it be that children are doing statistics?

那孩子们怎么可能会做统计呢？

So to test this we used a machine that we have

为了证明这个观点

called the Blicket Detector.

我们用了一个叫做玩具侦探的仪器

This is a box that lights up and plays music

如果你在这个箱子上放一些东西，其它的上面不放

when you put some things on it and not others.

那它可以发光还伴有音乐。

And using this very simple machine,

用这个简单的仪器，

my lab and others have done dozens of studies

我的实验和其它实验做了几十项研究

showing just how good babies are

证明了小孩子们在理解世间万物上

at learning about the world.

是多么得聪明。

Let me mention just one

我举一个例子

that we did with Tumar Kushner, my student.

一个和我学生图玛库什纳做的实验。

If I showed you this detector,

单看这个仪器，

you would be likely to think to begin with

你也许觉得

that the way to make the detector go

让它开始运作的方式是

would be to put a block on top of the detector.

将一块积木摆在上面

But actually, this detector

但这个仪器其实

works in a bit of a strange way.

有点奇怪

Because if you wave a block over the top of the detector,

因为你如果在仪器的上方摇摆一块积木三次，

something you wouldn't ever think of to begin with,

很多人一开始都不会这样做，

the detector will actually activate two out of three times.

那这个仪器会被启动两次。

Whereas, if you do the likely thing, put the block on the detector,

然而，如果你把积木摆在仪器的上面六次，

it will only activate two out of six times.

那只有两次会启动。

So the unlikely hypothesis

所以说看似不大可能发生的假设

actually has stronger evidence.

其实有更有力的证据。

It looks as if the waving

摇摆看起来

is a more effective strategy than the other strategy.

比其它方法更有效

So we did just this; we gave four year-olds this pattern of evidence,

我们做了这样的实验；给了4岁的孩子这个线索

and we just asked them to make it go.

然后问他们怎么才能启动仪器。

And sure enough, the four year-olds used the evidence

这些孩子当然选择用我们提供的线索

to wave the object on top of the detector.

将手中的东西对着仪器摇。

Now there are two things that are really interesting about this.

实验过程中有两个有趣的发现。

The first one is, again, remember, these are four year-olds.

首先，记住这些孩子只有四岁。

They're just learning how to count.

他们才刚刚学会数数。

But unconsciously,

但是在没有意识的情况下，

they're doing these quite complicated calculations

他们会用复杂的计算

that will give them a conditional probability measure.

来算出条件机率。

And the other interesting thing

第二个有趣的发现

is that they're using that evidence

是他们会用提供的线索

to get to an idea, get to a hypothesis about the world,

来寻找一个观点，对世界定一个假设,

that seems very unlikely to begin with.

一个不太能站得住脚的假设。

And in studies we've just been doing in my lab, similar studies,

在我实验室里的类似研究，

we've show that four year-olds are actually better

我们发现4岁的小孩

at finding out an unlikely hypothesis

在相同的任务下，比大人更擅长

than adults are when we give them exactly the same task.

找那个不大可能发生的假设。

So in these circumstances,

在这些情况下，

the children are using statistics to find out about the world,

小孩子用统计来了解世界，

but after all, scientists also do experiments,

但科学家会做实验。

and we wanted to see if children are doing experiments.

所以我们想知道小孩会不会也在做实验。

When children do experiments we call it "getting into everything"

小孩做的实验我们称它为“尝试每一种可能”

or else "playing."

或者是“玩一玩。”

And there's been a bunch of interesting studies recently

最近有很多有意思的研究显示了

that have shown this playing around

孩子的随意尝试

is really a kind of experimental research program.

的确可以作为一个研究项目。

Here's one from Cristine Legare's lab.

这是克里斯汀·勒加雷的一项实验。

What Cristine did was use our Blicket Detectors.

克里斯汀使用了了我们的玩具侦探仪器。

And what she did was show children

她向孩子展示

that yellow ones made it go and red ones didn't,

黄色才能启动仪器，红色不行，

and then she showed them an anomaly.

然后又向孩子们展示了一个奇怪现象。

And what you'll see

你等一下就可以看到

is that this little boy will go through five hypotheses

这个小男孩会在两分钟内

in the space of two minutes.

测试五个假设。

(Video) Boy: How about this?

（视频) 这个怎么样？

Same as the other side.

这边也一样。

Alison Gopnik: Okay, so his first hypothesis has just been falsified.

所以他的第一个假设已经被否认了。

(Laughter)

（笑声）

Boy: This one lighted up, and this one nothing.

这个亮了，这个没有。

AG: Okay, he's got his experimental notebook out.

看到没有，他开始记笔记了。

Boy: What's making this light up.

这盏灯为什么亮呢。

(Laughter)

（笑声）

I don't know.

我不知道。

AG: Every scientist will recognize that expression of despair.

科学家们都见过这种绝望的表情。

(Laughter)

（笑声）

Boy: Oh, it's because this needs to be like this,

我知道了。这个要这样，

and this needs to be like this.

然后这个是这样。

AG: Okay, hypothesis two.

第二个假设。

Boy: That's why.

我知道了。

Oh.

哦。

(Laughter)

（笑声）

AG: Now this is his next idea.

他有了第三个想法。

He told the experimenter to do this,

他告诉实验者这样做，

to try putting it out onto the other location.

试着把它放在一边。

Not working either.

还是不行

Boy: Oh, because the light goes only to here,

男孩：啊，因为只有这里会亮，

not here.

这里不会

Oh, the bottom of this box

盒子下面呢

has electricity in here,

这里有电，

but this doesn't have electricity.

但这边没电。

AG: Okay, that's a fourth hypothesis.

他的第四个假设。

Boy: It's lighting up.

男孩：亮了。

So when you put four.

你要在上面放四个。

So you put four on this one to make it light up

你在这上面摆四个

and two on this one to make it light up.

这上面摆两个。

AG: Okay,there's his fifth hypothesis.

测试他的第五个假设。

Now that is a particularly --

这个小男孩——

that is a particularly adorable and articulate little boy,

特别可爱，说话也很清楚，

but what Cristine discovered is this is actually quite typical.

但是克里斯汀的发现其实很正常。

If you look at the way children play, when you ask them to explain something,

如果你在小孩玩的时候观察他们，或是要他们回答某个问题，

what they really do is do a series of experiments.

他们会做一系列的尝试。

This is actually pretty typical of four year-olds.

这对于四岁的儿童来说很普遍。

Well, what's it like to be this kind of creature?

当小孩子是什么样一种经历呢？

What's it like to be one of these brilliant butterflies

像那些聪明的蝴蝶一样

who can test five hypotheses in two minutes?

在两分钟内测试五个假设？

Well, if you go back to those psychologists and philosophers,

如果你问心理学家和哲学家，

a lot of them have said

他们大部分说了

that babies and young children were barely conscious

婴儿和小孩子几乎在他们的意识

if they were conscious at all.

方面没有任何意识。

And I think just the opposite is true.

而我的看法确恰恰相反。

I think babies and children are actually more conscious than we are as adults.

我认为小孩子的意识事实上比我们大人的要强得多。

Now here's what we know about how adult consciousness works.

我们知道的一些关于大人的意识的事情。

And adults' attention and consciousness

大人的注意力和意识

look kind of like a spotlight.

就像一盏聚光灯。

So what happens for adults

但是大人

is we decide that something's relevant or important,

会自己决定哪些事有关，哪些事重要，

we should pay attention to it.

哪些事值得我们注意。

Our consciousness of that thing that we're attending to

我们对所关注事情的意识

becomes extremely bright and vivid,

变得非常明亮，非常清晰，

and everything else sort of goes dark.

其它事就反而比较暗淡。

And we even know something about the way the brain does this.

我们甚至大概知道我们的大脑为什么指挥我们这样做。

So what happens when we pay attention

那当我们集中精力时

is that the prefrontal cortex, the sort of executive part of our brains,

前额的皮层，在我们大脑中起着执行的作用，

sends a signal

发出一个信号

that makes a little part of our brain much more flexible,

让我们脑部的一小部分变得更灵活，

more plastic, better at learning,

更柔软，更会学习，

and shuts down activity

让脑部的其它部分

in all the rest of our brains.

全部休息。

So we have a very focused, purpose-driven kind of attention.

我们的注意力非常集中，有目的。

If we look at babies and young children,

如果对婴儿和小孩注意力的进行观察，

we see something very different.

我们会发现他们完全和我们不一样。

I think babies and young children

我觉得婴儿和小孩

seem to have more of a lantern of consciousness

他们意识更像一盏灯笼

than a spotlight of consciousness.

而不像聚光灯。

So babies and young children are very bad

所以他们不擅长

at narrowing down to just one thing.

将问题简化。

But they're very good at taking in lots of information

但他们非常在行在同一时间里

from lots of different sources at once.

吸收不同来源提供的信息。

And if you actually look in their brains,

如果你研究他们的大脑，

you see that they're flooded with these neurotransmitters

你就会看到里面有大量的神经传递素

that are really good at inducing learning and plasticity,

这些传递素对学习和柔软性方面都有很大帮助，

and the inhibitory parts haven't come on yet.

而且我们尚未发现任何带阻止性的元素。

So when we say that babies and young children

当我们说这些孩子

are bad at paying attention,

注意力不够集中时，

what we really mean is that they're bad at not paying attention.

其实是说他们在分散注意力方面不擅长。

So they're bad at getting rid

那就意味着他们很难

of all the interesting things that could tell them something

将注意力只集中在重要问题上

and just looking at the thing that's important.

而遗漏那些为他们提供线索的事情。

That's the kind of attention, the kind of consciousness,

这是一种注意力，一种知觉，

that we might expect

我们从那些生来就会学习的蝴蝶身上

from those butterflies who are designed to learn.

见过的知觉。

Well if we want to think about a way

如果我们大人

of getting a taste of that kind of baby consciousness as adults,

也想体验一下小孩的那种知觉，

I think the best thing is think about cases

我认为我们可以想象一下

where we're put in a new situation that we've never been in before --

给自己一个从未遇到过的状况——

when we fall in love with someone new,

比如说当我们有了新的恋人，

or when we're in a new city for the first time.

或是来到一个新城市。

And what happens then is not that our consciousness contracts,

结果不是我们的知觉收缩，

it expands,

它反而扩大，

so that those three days in Paris

在巴黎的三天

seem to be more full of consciousness and experience

充满了更多的感觉和经历

than all the months of being

而整个月的走路，谈话，同事开会，

a walking, talking, faculty meeting-attending zombie back home.

还有僵尸般的回家路相对变得模糊。

And by the way, that coffee,

另外，咖啡，

that wonderful coffee you've been drinking downstairs,

你常在楼下喝的咖啡，

actually mimics the effect

其实有类似

of those baby neurotransmitters.

婴儿神经传递素的效应。

So what's it like to be a baby?

当小孩到底是什么感觉？

It's like being in love

它就像在第一次来到巴黎

in Paris for the first time

在你喝了三杯双份浓缩咖啡之后

after you've had three double-espressos.

恋爱了。

(Laughter)

（笑声）

That's a fantastic way to be,

这种幻觉很棒，

but it does tend to leave you waking up crying at three o'clock in the morning.

但它会在凌晨三点中把你叫醒，哭泣。

(Laughter)

（笑声）

Now it's good to be a grownup.

当大人也很好。

I don't want to say too much about how wonderful babies are.

小孩子有多好我也不多说了。

It's good to be a grownup.

总之当大人很好。

We can do things like tie our shoelaces and cross the street by ourselves.

我们可以绑自己的鞋带还能自己过马路。

And it makes sense that we put a lot of effort

可以理解为什么我们花这么多时间

into making babies think like adults do.

让小孩以大人的方式思考。

But if what we want is to be like those butterflies,

但我们需要像这些小蝴蝶学习。

to have open-mindedness, open learning,

才能思想开放，灵活学习，

imagination, creativity, innovation,

加强想象力，创造力，还有创新，

maybe at least some of the time

至少在某些时候

we should be getting the adults

我们需要让大人

to start thinking more like children.

开始学习小孩的思考方式。

(Applause)

(掌声)