My quest to defy gravity and fly | Elizabeth Streb

校对人员: Tianji (Homer) Li

Come on:

说实在的，

Hasn't everyone here dreamt of flying?

我们都梦想过飞行吧。

So why haven't humans flown yet?

那为什么人类还没有飞起来呢?

I've been obsessed with learning to fly my whole life.

我一生都沉迷在学习飞行当中。

I grew up a feral, adopted child on the northern shore of Lake Ontario,

我是个被收养的“野孩子“， 长大于安大略湖的北岸

following my bricklayer/fisherman father around.

我的父亲是个泥匠和渔夫， 我是他的跟屁虫。

I was always fascinated by things that moved,

我总是对会动的东西很着迷，

catching small animals, holding them in my hands,

我喜欢抓小动物 并将它们放在手上，

feeling the magic of their movement;

感受它们的动作 像是有魔法一样；

playing with fire,

我喜欢玩火，

thrilled and terrified at its unrelenting force,

它那无情的力量让我 既兴奋又害怕，

accidentally burning my father's barn down --

有一次竟然不小心 烧了我爸爸的谷仓，

just once.

就那一次。

(Laughter)

（笑声）

That was my first brush with real danger,

那是我第一次面对真实的危险，

the fire and my father.

火以及我的爸爸。

When I was about eight or nine years old, I caught a fly in a mason jar.

大约八或九岁的时候， 我用 宽口玻璃罐子捉到了一只苍蝇。

Studying that fly, I thought, "Wow,

我一边研究那只苍蝇 一边想， “哇，

it's changing directions in midair with acute angles,

它在空中改变方向，急转弯，

and it's going so fast, it's a blur.

它飞得太快了，根本看不清楚。

Why can't we do that? Can we?"

我们为什么做不到呢？ 我们能吗？”

Everywhere I looked, there were things moving.

无论我看向何处， 总会有物体在移动。

And these things moved with their very own causal rhythms,

这些事物都以它们自己的节奏 而移动，

their very own mechanistic anatomies.

它们的机体构造引导着它们。

It was clear to me -- and to Newton --

我和牛顿都很清楚，

that things move based on their component parts:

物体的移动基于 它们各自的构造：

worms squirmed, birds flew, kangaroos hopped.

虫子会蠕动，鸟儿会飞 ， 袋鼠会跳跃。

And a human's first bout with flying was falling accidentally, tripping,

而人类的第一次飞翔， 是不小心的摔跤、绊倒，

or slipping on that fabled banana peel.

或是常见的踩到香蕉皮。

Once your ground is dragged out from under you,

一旦把地面从你身体底下拉出，

a world of wonder comes rushing in.

一个神奇的世界会立刻涌现。

I had found my territory.

我找到了自己的领地。

I was seized with a compulsion,

我受到一种强迫感的影响，

a primordial urge to learn how to fly,

迸发出一个原始的 学习飞行的冲动，

like a human.

用人类的姿态。

For the next 10 years, I did my experiments alone,

在接下来的10年里， 我独自做实验

on my own body.

对我自己做实验。

I drove my Honda 350 across the United States

我开着我的本田350横跨美国，

in an "Easy Rider" kind of way.

用电影《逍遥骑士》的方式。

I got my degree in modern dance. I mimicked that fly in the box.

我获得了现代舞学位， 在箱子里模仿飞翔。

I dove horizontally through glass;

我以水平的方式穿过玻璃；

on the way, I punched a hole in it.

在过程当中，我把玻璃 给撞了个洞。

I was trying to figure out something about flight.

我当时在试图理解 关于飞翔的所有事。

When I was 27 years old,

在我27岁的时候，

I found myself in a rat-infested New York City loft,

我在纽约市一间有鼠患的阁楼里，

getting ready to hurl myself off a ladder.

准备从梯子顶端把自己扔下来，

I climbed higher, higher, higher,

我越爬越高，越爬越高，

and I jumped.

然后我跳了下来。

Wham-o! I landed.

啪！我着陆了。

That hurt.

太疼了。

(Laughter)

（笑声）

And it occurred to me that people didn't really enjoy getting hurt,

我觉得人们并不喜欢受伤，

and that maybe the reason that we weren't flying yet

我们还没有飞行的原因

is that we were still attached to that false idea

也许是因为我们仍然坚持 那些错误的想法：

that we would fly the way birds do,

我们会像鸟儿或蝴蝶那样

or butterflies.

飞翔。

Maybe we needed to assumption-bust,

也许我们需要打破假设，

to ask a different kind of question --

问一个不同的问题

about duration, for instance.

比如说，关于飞翔的持续时间。

Humans in the air? A few seconds.

人类在空中停留多久？ 几秒钟。

Birds and butterflies? Minutes, maybe hours.

鸟和蝴蝶呢？几分钟， 也许几个小时。

And what about fear?

那么恐惧呢？

I think fear is complex and personal.

我认为恐惧很复杂 而且因人而异。

I really think it has to do with curiosity

我认为这跟好奇心有关，

and not taking yourself so seriously.

和不要把自己当回事有关。

We might need to get a little hurt,

我们可能需要受一点伤，

just not too hurt.

只是不要太受伤就好。

And pain: redefine it.

还有痛苦：去重新定义它。

Rather than "pain," say, "another rather interesting, foreign sensation."

与其说“痛苦”， 不如称“另一种相当 有趣的外部引起的感觉。”

Something like that.

诸如此类。

I realized then that to learn to fly, we were going to have to learn to land.

那时我意识到要学会飞翔， 我们必须学会着陆。

My hero, Evel Knievel -- one of them -- said,

我的英雄之一埃维尔·克尼维尔说

"Anyone can jump a motorcycle.

“任何人都能够让摩托车跳起来

The trouble begins when you try to land it."

但麻烦是你让它落地的时候。”

(Laughter)

（笑声）

Landing hurts.

降落很痛。

I was curious, though.

不过，我一直保持着好奇心。

I thought, "Well, why don't we invent an impact technique?

我心想，“我们为什么 不发明一种冲击技术呢？”

Why don't we just expand our base of support?"

我们为什么不扩大我们的 身体基底的面积呢？”

I had seen pieces of plywood fall,

我曾经看过胶合板落下,

and they didn't flinch on the way down.

在落下的过程中它们并不会畏惧.

So I made my body into a perfect line

所以我把我的身体 摆成一条完美的直线

and tilted back.

然后向后倾斜。

Whaft!

砰！

It was a totally different sound than "wham-o."

比起我跳下梯子时 这是一个完全不同的声音。

And I rushed out onto the streets of New York City

我冲到纽约街头，

and went up to complete strangers,

向陌生人走去，

and I said -- well, I thought --

我说，好吧，我心想，

"I did a backfall today. Did you?"

“我今天向后跌了一次，你有吗？”

In 1985, we started to tour all over the world a little bit,

1985年，我们开始了 全世界的巡回演出，

and I started my company,

我创立了我自己的公司，

called STREB EXTREME ACTION.

叫做“streb极端动作”。

In 2003, we were invited to go to Kitty Hawk

2003年，我们应邀去基蒂霍克，

to celebrate the 100th anniversary of flight with the Wright Brothers.

庆祝莱特兄弟飞行一百周年。

We had gotten very good at landing;

我们已经非常擅长降落了，

now we needed to get up into the air.

现在我们需要想办法起飞。

And like them, we wanted to stay there longer.

和莱特兄弟一样，我们也想 要在天上呆久一点。

I came across this quote by Wilbur:

我偶尔看到威尔伯·莱特的这句话，

"If you are looking for perfect safety, you will do well to sit on a fence

“如果你在寻找绝对的安全，

你最好坐在栅栏上看鸟儿；

and watch the birds;

but if you really wish to learn, you must mount a machine

但如果你真的想要学习 ， 你必须要爬上一台机器

and become acquainted with its tricks by actual trial."

并通过实际的试验 来掌握它的诀窍。”

Ah, machines.

啊，机器。

It incited the hardware junkie inside of me.

它刺激了我体内的 那个硬件狂热者。

And if we did want to go or travel to unhabitual places in space --

如果我们真的想去太空旅行 或者去不寻常的地方，

to that banana peel spot that confuses us;

那使我们迷惑的香蕉皮所在之处，

to that place outside our vertical comfort zone,

到我们的垂直舒适区之外的地方，

where we encounter unexpected turbulence

我们会遇到意想不到的乱流，

and get accelerated oddly,

并得到惊人的加速，

where the ground changes and moves out from under us --

在那里，地面会改变 不再位于我们下方，

like the composer who is trying to hit a note

就像作曲家，试图想要达到一个

higher than the human voice can sing,

比人类能唱出的 还要更高的音，

he invents a piccolo or a flute,

所以人类发明了短笛和长笛。

I set about the invention of my prototypic machines.

我开始着手发明自己的机器原型，

And if we wanted to go higher, faster, sooner, harder,

如果我们想去到更高、更快、 更早、条件更艰苦的地方

it was necessary that we create our very own spaceships.

我们有必要制造我们 自己的宇宙飞船，

And we did.

我们这么做了。

And we did travel to unknown, invisible, dangerous territories,

我们确实去了未知的、 不可见的危险地带，

and it changed us.

它改变了我们。

If any of you want to try this, let me know.

如果你们中有人想 试试这个，请告诉我。

(Laughter)

（笑声）

In 2012, we brought all of our best machines to London

2012年，我们把所有 最好的设备带到了伦敦，

and put them in their most iconic places.

把它们放在当地最具代表性的地方。

We got on the London Eye.

我们上到了伦敦眼

It was 443 feet above the earth.

它离地高度是 443 英尺。

And as we reached the zenith, we unlocked our brake and fell --

当我们到达最高点时， 我们放掉了刹车，落下，

200 feet on the radius,

半径 200 英尺，

on the spoke that we were attached to.

那是与我们连接在一起的轮辐半径。

We reached as far up as heaven that day,

那天，我们上到了天堂那么高，

I'm pretty sure of it.

这一点我非常的确信。

And then I and two of my dancers

然后，我和我的两个舞者，

walked down the outside of London's City Hall.

沿着伦敦市政厅的外沿走下来。

As I stood up there, 300 feet above the ground,

我站在离地300英尺高的地方，

and looked down,

往下看，

I saw 2,000 eyes staring up at me,

我看见2000只眼睛向上盯着我看。

and they saw what they usually do -- the sky, a bird, a plane -- and then us.

他们看到了他们通常会看见的东西— 天空、鸟、飞机—然后是我们。

And we were just a tiny speck up there.

我们看起来只是在上面的一个小点。

And I realized that action is for everybody.

我意识到，动作是给每个人的。

Now we have our very own mason jar in Williamsburg, Brooklyn.

现在我们在布鲁克林区威廉斯堡 有自己的工作室。

It's called SLAM: STREB Lab for Action Mechanics.

它叫做SLAM：SRIB动作机制的缩写

It was a former mustard seed factory.

那里先前是一个芥菜种子工厂。

And I designed it after the use of a petri dish,

我根据使用培养皿的方式来设计它

and in that petri dish,

在那个培养皿里

I put Kid Action, STREB EXTREME ACTION

我放入孩子的动作，Strub极端动作

and circus arts,

以及马戏团艺术，

and we all learned to fly, fall and land and invent extreme action together.

我们全都一起学会了飞翔、降落 和着陆，并一起创造极端动作。

And you know what we found?

你知道我们发现了什么吗？

In comes everyone --

每个人都来了。

every size, shape, age, capacity,

各种体型、身材、年龄、职业。

every nationality, every race, every class, all genders,

各种国际、种族、阶级、性别。

the timid and the bold, the outcast and the cool,

胆怯、大胆、放逐和冷酷的人，

the risk avoiders and the risk obsessives.

风险规避者和风险偏好者。

And these buildings exist all over the world,

这些建筑遍布世界各地，

and every one of them can be a flying training center.

每一栋都可以成为飞行训练中心。

And you know, as it turns out,

你知道，事实证明，

people don't want to just dream about flying,

人们不只梦想能够飞翔，

nor do they want to watch us fly.

他们也不只想看我们飞翔，

They want to do it, too, and they can.

他们也想这样做，他们也能做到。

And with a little training,

只要稍加训练，

they learn to relish the hit and the impact,

他们学会享受撞击和冲击。

and, I guess even more, getting up afterwards.

我猜在站起来以后甚至会更想。

I've found that the effect of flying causes smiles to get more common,

我发现飞行的影响使 微笑变得更加常见，

self-esteem to blossom,

让自尊能绽放，

and people get just a little bit braver.

大家也变得更勇敢一些。

And people do learn to fly,

人类确实在学习飞翔，

as only humans can.

以只有人类能做到的方式。

So can you.

你们也可以。

Come fly with us.

来和我们一起飞翔吧。

（掌声）

(Applause)

(Music)

（音乐）

Thank you. Thank you. Thank you.

谢谢，谢谢，谢谢。

(Applause)

（掌声）