Smash fear, learn anything | Tim Ferriss

翻译人员: Haohao Chen 校对人员: Jenny Yang

This is Tim Ferriss circa 1979 A.D. Age two.

这是公元1979年的提姆·费里斯，两岁。

You can tell by the power squat, I was a very confident boy --

从这个强力深蹲看得出，我是一个很自信的小孩

and not without reason.

这是有原因的。

I had a very charming routine at the time,

我当时一个很迷人的惯例

which was to wait until late in the evening

就是等到夜深人静时，

when my parents were decompressing from a hard day's work,

当我父母在熬完了一天的辛苦工作之后

doing their crossword puzzles, watching television.

在做填字游戏、看电视的时候。

I would run into the living room, jump up on the couch,

我会冲进客厅，跳上沙发，

rip the cushions off, throw them on the floor,

撕开靠垫，把它们摔到地上，

scream at the top of my lungs and run out

用尽全力地尖叫，然后跑出去

because I was the Incredible Hulk.

因为我是绿巨人。

(Laughter)

（笑声）

Obviously, you see the resemblance.

你能明显地看出相似之处来。

And this routine went on for some time.

这个惯例持续了一段时间。

When I was seven I went to summer camp.

七岁的时候，我参加了夏令营。

My parents found it necessary for peace of mind.

我父母觉得这对他们的内心平静非常必要。

And at noon each day

每天中午，

the campers would go to a pond,

参加夏令营的孩子都会去到湖边

where they had floating docks.

湖边有浮动船坞。

You could jump off the end into the deep end.

你能从船坞尽头跳进湖的深处。

I was born premature. I was always very small.

我是早产儿。我一直个子很小。

My left lung had collapsed when I was born.

从出生起，我的左肺就闭合了。

And I've always had buoyancy problems.

因此我身体的浮力一向不好。

So water was something that scared me to begin with.

我开始时很害怕下水，

But I would go in on occasion.

不过偶尔也会尝试。

And on one particular day,

有一天，

the campers were jumping through inner tubes,

孩子们玩起了跳救生圈游戏。

They were diving through inner tubes. And I thought this would be great fun.

他们跳进水上的救生圈，潜到水里。我觉得这很有趣。

So I dove through the inner tube,

于是我穿过救生圈潜进水里，

and the bully of the camp grabbed my ankles.

这时夏令营里的一个坏孩子抓住了我的脚踝。

And I tried to come up for air,

我想出水换气，

and my lower back hit the bottom of the inner tube.

但后背被救生圈底部顶住了。

And I went wild eyed and thought I was going to die.

我慌得不行，以为自己要完蛋了。

A camp counselor fortunately came over and separated us.

一个夏令营指导员凑巧经过，拉开了我们。

From that point onward I was terrified of swimming.

从那时起，我对游泳产生了恐惧。

That is something that I did not get over.

我一直没能克服它。

My inability to swim has been

身为旱鸭子一直是

one of my greatest humiliations and embarrassments.

最令我不堪和尴尬的事情之一。

That is when I realized that I was not the Incredible Hulk.

那让我意识到，我并不是绿巨人。

But there is a happy ending to this story.

但这个故事有了一个好结局。

At age 31 -- that's my age now --

31岁时，就是我现在的年龄

in August I took two weeks to re-examine swimming,

去年八月，我用了两周时间重新审视游泳，

and question all the of the obvious aspects of swimming.

并对关于游泳的所有 “显而易见” 的方面提出了质疑。

And went from swimming one lap --

从只能像一头落水狗一样

so 20 yards -- like a drowning monkey,

游一泳道，大概18米，

at about 200 beats per minute heart rate --

每分钟心跳 200 下，

I measured it --

我量过，

to going to Montauk on Long Island,

到从长岛的蒙淘克

close to where I grew up,

我长大的地方附近，

and jumping into the ocean and swimming one kilometer in open water,

跃入海里，游上一公里公开水域，

getting out and feeling better than when I went in.

出水时感觉比入水时还好。

And I came out,

我出水时

in my Speedos, European style,

穿着欧式的泳衣，

feeling like the Incredible Hulk.

自我感觉像极了绿巨人。

And that's what I want everyone in here to feel like,

我希望当这个演讲结束时，

the Incredible Hulk, at the end of this presentation.

在场的各位都能感觉像绿巨人。

More specifically, I want you to feel like you're capable

具体来说，我希望你能觉得

of becoming an excellent long-distance swimmer,

你有能力成为一个优秀的长距离游泳健将，

a world-class language learner,

一个世界级的语言学者，

and a tango champion.

和一个探戈冠军。

And I would like to share my art.

我还想分享我的艺术。

If I have an art, it's deconstructing things

如果说我擅长一门艺术，那就是解构那些

that really scare the living hell out of me.

能把我吓个半死的东西。

So, moving onward.

好，言归正传。

Swimming, first principles.

游泳，首要原则。

First principles, this is very important.

首要原则非常重要。

I find that the best results in life

我发现生命中本能获得的杰出成就

are often held back by false constructs and untested assumptions.

往往被错误的概念和未经测试的假设所拖累。

And the turnaround in swimming came

学游泳的转机，是当

when a friend of mine said, "I will go a year without any stimulants" --

一个朋友对我说：“我能一年不服用任何兴奋剂…”

this is a six-double-espresso-per-day type of guy --

这是一个每天六杯浓咖啡的家伙

"if you can complete a one kilometer open water race."

“…只要你能完成一公里公开水域游泳赛。”

So the clock started ticking.

倒计时开始了。

I started seeking out triathletes

我开始寻访三项全能运动员们

because I found that lifelong swimmers often couldn't teach what they did.

因为我发现经验丰富的游泳运动员们往往不懂教游泳。

I tried kickboards.

我试过用踢水板

My feet would slice through the water like razors,

我双脚像剃刀一般破开水面。

I wouldn't even move. I would leave demoralized, staring at my feet.

但却丝毫不前进。我看着双脚，感觉很沮丧。

Hand paddles, everything.

划手板什么的我统统试过。

Even did lessons with Olympians -- nothing helped.

还上过奥运会冠军的课，都没有帮助。

And then Chris Sacca, who is now a dear friend mine,

现在成了我的好友的克里斯·沙查，

had completed an Iron Man with 103 degree temperature,

当时刚刚在54度的气温下完成了铁人三项，

said, "I have the answer to your prayers."

说：“我知道你该怎么办。”

And he introduced me to

他将泰瑞.罗克林的作品

the work of a man named Terry Laughlin

介绍了给我。

who is the founder of Total Immersion Swimming.

泰瑞是“完全沉浸游泳”的发明人。

That set me on the road to examining biomechanics.

这使我踏上了探索生物力学的旅程。

So here are the new rules of swimming,

下面是游泳的全新法则，

if any of you are afraid of swimming, or not good at it.

送给你们中害怕游泳或者不善于游泳的人。

The first is, forget about kicking. Very counterintuitive.

第一条是：忘掉踢腿。非常不合常理。

So it turns out that propulsion isn't really the problem.

其实推进力并非问题的关键所在。

Kicking harder doesn't solve the problem

用力踢腿并不能解决问题。

because the average swimmer only transfers about three percent

因为一般游泳的人只将他们所用的能量

of their energy expenditure into forward motion.

中的3%转化为前进的动力。

The problem is hydrodynamics.

关键在于液体动力。

So what you want to focus on instead

因此，你应当注意的是

is allowing your lower body to draft behind your upper body,

让你的下身拖在你上身之后，

much like a small car behind a big car on the highway.

就像高速公路上跟在大车后面的小车一样。

And you do that by maintaining a horizontal body position.

你通过保持身体水平做到这一点。

The only way you can do that

你能做到这一点的唯一方法

is to not swim on top of the water.

就是不游在水面上。

The body is denser than water. 95 percent of it would be,

人体比水密度大。身体至少95%部分

at least, submerged naturally.

会自然地沉在水面下。

So you end up, number three,

结果就是，第三点，

not swimming, in the case of freestyle,

当游自由式时，你并不是想大多数人想象的

on your stomach, as many people think, reaching on top of the water.

浮在水面上，面朝下地游

But actually rotating from streamlined right

而是从右流线型到

to streamlined left,

左流线型地交替

maintaining that fuselage position as long as possible.

尽可能久地保持那个身体姿势。

So let's look at some examples. This is Terry.

我们来看一些例子。这是泰瑞。

And you can see that he's extending his right arm

你看他向头部以下

below his head and far in front.

伸展出他的右臂。

And so his entire body really is underwater.

因此他全身其实都在水下。

The arm is extended below the head.

手臂向头部以下伸出。

The head is held in line with the spine,

头部和脊柱保持直线，

so that you use strategic water pressure to raise your legs up --

令你能够利用水压抬起你的双腿。

very important, especially for people with lower body fat.

这点非常重要，尤其是对于身体脂肪含量少的人来说。

Here is an example of the stroke.

这是一个击水的例子。

So you don't kick. But you do use a small flick.

你并不踢水，而是轻微地拨水。

You can see this is the left extension.

这是左前伸。

Then you see his left leg.

你看他的左腿

Small flick, and the only purpose of that

轻微地拨水，这样做的唯一目的

is to rotate his hips so he can get to the opposite side.

是为了旋转他的臀部，好让他转向另一侧。

And the entry point for his right hand -- notice this,

然后，注意他右手的切入点

he's not reaching in front and catching the water.

他并不是伸手向前破水

Rather, he is entering the water

而是将前臂以45度

at a 45-degree angle with his forearm,

切入水中，

and then propelling himself by streamlining -- very important.

带动身体流线型前进， 这点很重要。

Incorrect, above, which is what almost every swimming coach will teach you.

上图不正确，不过几乎所有游泳教练都会这么教你。

Not their fault, honestly.

老实说，这不能怪他们。

And I'll get to implicit versus explicit in a moment.

我一会儿会谈内隐和外显的区别。

Below is what most swimmers

下图是能让大多数泳者

will find enables them to do what I did,

也能做我所做到的，

which is going from 21 strokes per 20-yard length

那就是从每18米21次击水，

to 11 strokes

进步到11次击水，

in two workouts with no coach, no video monitoring.

只用两次练习，不用教练，不用录影。

And now I love swimming. I can't wait to go swimming.

现在我爱极了游泳。我等不及再去游泳。

I'll be doing a swimming lesson later, for myself, if anyone wants to join me.

我一会儿会亲自开一堂游泳课，如果有人想参加。

Last thing, breathing. A problem a lot of us have, certainly, when you're swimming.

最后，呼吸，一个我们大多数人在游泳时会遇到的问题。

In freestyle, easiest way to remedy this is

游自由式时，最简单的补救方法

to turn with body roll,

就是随着身体转动

and just to look at your recovery hand as it enters the water.

看着你入水的手

And that will get you very far.

这能让你游上很远。

That's it. That's really all you need to know.

到此为止。你要知道的真的只有这些。

Languages. Material versus method.

语言。教材对方法。

I, like many people, came to the conclusion

我和许多人一样认为

that I was terrible at languages.

我没有学语言的天分。

I suffered through Spanish for junior high, first year of high school,

我初中和高一时，西班牙语学得痛苦极了。

and the sum total of my knowledge

我最后记得的就只有一句

was pretty much, "Donde esta el bano?"

"Donde esta el bano"（厕所在哪里？）

And I wouldn't even catch the response. A sad state of affairs.

而且我连回答都听不懂。凄凉得很。

Then I transferred to a different school sophomore year, and

然后，我高二时转了校。

I had a choice of other languages. Most of my friends were taking Japanese.

我可以选一门别的语言课。我的大多数朋友都选了日语。

So I thought why not punish myself? I'll do Japanese.

我想：我为什么不也折腾我自己一下呢？于是我选了日语。

Six months later I had the chance to go to Japan.

半年后，我有一个去日本的机会。

My teachers assured me, they said, "Don't worry.

我的老师们鼓励我说：“别担心。

You'll have Japanese language classes every day to help you cope.

你每天都会上日语课，帮你适应。

It will be an amazing experience." My first overseas experience in fact.

这会是一次难忘的经历。” 事实上这也是我的第一次海外生活。

So my parents encouraged me to do it. I left.

我的父母也鼓励我去。于是我上路了。

I arrived in Tokyo. Amazing.

我来到了东京。难忘啊。

I couldn't believe I was on the other side of the world.

我不敢相信我来到了世界的另一端。

I met my host family. Things went quite well I think,

我和我的寄宿家庭会面了。我觉得

all things considered.

总体来说，一切进展得很顺利

My first evening, before my first day of school,

第一个晚上，我开学前的一天，

I said to my mother, very politely,

我很有礼貌地对寄宿妈妈说：

"Please wake me up at eight a.m."

“请在早上八点叫醒我。”

So, (Japanese)

也就是（日语）

But I didn't say (Japanese). I said, (Japanese). Pretty close.

但是我没有说（日语）。我说成了（日语）。很接近。

But I said, "Please rape me at eight a.m."

但是我说的是：“请在早上八点强奸我。”

(Laughter)

（笑声）

You've never seen a more confused Japanese woman.

你找不到比她更一头雾水的日本女人了。

(Laughter)

（笑声）

I walked in to school.

我走进学校。

And a teacher came up to me and handed me a piece of paper.

一位老师走过来，递给我一张纸。

I couldn't read any of it -- hieroglyphics, it could have been --

我一个字也不认识 ── 那都是象形文字

because it was Kanji,

那是汉字，

Chinese characters adapted into the Japanese language.

日语中使用的中国文字。

Asked him what this said.

我问他这上面说的是什么。

And he goes, "Ahh, okay okay,

他说：“啊，没问题，

eehto, World History, ehh, Calculus,

嗯…世界历史…嗯…微积分

Traditional Japanese." And so on.

传统日语…” 依此类推。

And so it came to me in waves.

一波波地向我涌来。

There had been something lost in translation.

事实上翻译中出了错。

The Japanese classes were not Japanese instruction classes, per se.

日语课不是教日语的课

They were the normal high school curriculum for Japanese students --

而且为一般日本高中生开设的日常课程。

the other 4,999 students in the school, who were Japanese, besides the American.

也就是学校里另外4999名日本学生，除了我这个美国人。

And that's pretty much my response.

我的反应大概就像这样。

(Laughter)

（笑声）

And that set me on this panic driven search for the perfect language method.

这恐慌使我开始寻找完美的学语言方法。

I tried everything. I went to Kinokuniya.

我试遍了所有方法。我跑到纪伊国屋书店、

I tried every possible book, every possible CD.

试遍了每一本书，每一套CD。

Nothing worked until I found this.

什么都没有用，直到我发现了这个。

This is the Joyo Kanji. This is a Tablet rather,

这是《常用汉字表》。这张表上

or a poster of the 1,945 common-use characters

有1945个最常用的汉字

as determined by the Ministry of Education in 1981.

是由教育部在1981年修订的。

Many of the publications in Japan limit themselves to these characters,

日本的许多出版社限定只使用这些字

to facilitate literacy -- some are required to.

以方便人们认读。

And this became my Holy Grail, my Rosetta Stone.

这成了我的圣杯，我的罗塞塔石碑

As soon as I focused on this material,

当我专注学习这份材料后，

I took off.

我进步飞速。

I ended up being able to read Asahi Shinbu, Asahi newspaper,

6个月之后，也就是一共11个月之后，

about six months later -- so a total of 11 months later --

我已经能够看懂《朝日新闻》了

and went from Japanese I to Japanese VI.

从日语1级进步到日语4级。

Ended up doing translation work at age 16 when I returned to the U.S.,

我回到美国后，从16岁就开始从事翻译工作，

and have continued to apply this material

并不断地使用这种 “材料优于方法”的方式

over method approach to close to a dozen languages now.

学习了近12种语言。

Someone who was terrible at languages,

从一个学不好语言的人，

and at any given time, speak, read and write five or six.

到同时说、读、写五六种语言。

This brings us to the point,

这告诉我们：

which is, it's oftentimes what you do,

往往你做什么，

not how you do it, that is the determining factor.

而不是你怎么做，是关键所在。

This is the difference between being effective -- doing the right things --

这是有效能（做正确的事情）和

and being efficient -- doing things well whether or not they're important.

有效率（做好事情，不管它们是否重要）之间的区别。

You can also do this with grammar.

你能够将这个原则应用在语法上。

I came up with these six sentences after much experimentation.

我在实验之后得出这六个句子。

Having a native speaker allow you to deconstruct their grammar,

让一个本地人将这些句子翻译成过去，现在，和将来式，

by translating these sentences into past, present, future,

就能使你解析他们的语法

will show you subject, object, verb,

找到主语、宾语、动词、

placement of indirect, direct objects, gender and so forth.

间接和直接宾语的位置、语法性别，等等。

From that point, you can then, if you want to,

从那里起，如果你愿意，你就能学习多种语言

acquire multiple languages, alternate them so there is no interference.

灵活转换而不相互影响。

We can talk about that if anyone in interested.

如果有人感兴趣，我们可以深入谈。

And now I love languages.

现在，我爱极了语言。

So ballroom dancing, implicit versus explicit --

然后，交谊舞，內隐对外显

very important.

这很重要。

You might look at me and say, "That guy must be a ballroom dancer."

你看到我，或许会说：“这家伙交谊舞肯定跳得不错。”

But no, you'd be wrong

但你错了

because my body is very poorly designed for most things --

因为我的身体构造很不适合做许多事情

pretty well designed for lifting heavy rocks perhaps.

可能倒是很适合扛大石头。

I used to be much bigger, much more muscular.

我之前很壮实，有很多肌肉。

And so I ended up walking like this.

导致我走起路来像这样。

I looked a lot like an orangutan, our close cousins, or the Incredible Hulk.

看上去很像我们的近亲大猩猩，或者说像绿巨人。

Not very good for ballroom dancing.

实在是不适合跳交谊舞。

I found myself in Argentina in 2005,

2005年，我去到阿根廷。

decided to watch a tango class -- had no intention of participating.

决定去旁听一堂探戈舞课，根本没打算实际跳

Went in, paid my ten pesos,

付了10比索入场费，

walked up -- 10 women two guys, usually a good ratio.

进去一看，10位女士2位男士，本当是个不错的比例。

The instructor says, "You are participating."

结果教练说：“你也来跳。”

Immediately: death sweat.

马上，一身冷汗。

(Laughter)

（笑声）

Fight-or-flight fear sweat, because I tried ballroom dancing in college --

挺身而出还是逃之夭夭？我在大学时试过交谊舞

stepped on the girl's foot with my heel. She screamed.

结果脚跟踩到了女孩脚上。她尖叫起来。

I was so concerned with her perception of what I was doing,

我很在意她对我的看法，

that it exploded in my face,

急得一脸通红，

never to return to the ballroom dancing club.

之后再也不踏入交谊舞池。

She comes up, and this was her approach, the teacher.

教练走上来。她的教学方式是这样的：

"Okay, come on, grab me."

“好，来吧，抓住我。”

Gorgeous assistant instructor.

迷人的助理教练。

She was very pissed off that I had pulled her from her advanced practice.

她对我打断她的进阶练习很是不满。

So I did my best. I didn't know where to put my hands.

于是我尽力而为，但我连手放哪儿都不知道。

And she pulled back, threw down her arms,

她退开，两手一甩，

put them on her hips, turned around and yelled across the room,

插到腰间，转过身对一房间的人喊道：

"This guy is built like a god-damned mountain of muscle,

“这家伙一身的横肉，

and he's grabbing me like a fucking Frenchman,"

还像个该死的法国人一样抓我，”

(Laughter)

（笑声）

which I found encouraging.

这激励了我。

(Laughter)

（笑声）

Everyone burst into laughter. I was humiliated.

全场大笑，我尴尬极了。

She came back. She goes, "Come on. I don't have all day."

她走回来，说：“来吧，别浪费时间。”

As someone who wrestled since age eight, I proceeded to crush her,

作为一个八岁起练摔跤的人，

"Of Mice and Men" style.

我一不小心又把她压倒了。

And she looked up and said,

她抬起头说：

"Now that's better."

“这回好多了。”

So I bought a month's worth of classes.

于是我买了一个月的课程。

(Laughter)

（笑声）

And proceeded to look at --

接下来就是

I wanted to set competition so I'd have a deadline --

我打算参加竞赛，好让自己有一个截止日期。

Parkinson's Law,

帕金森定理

the perceived complexity of a task will expand to fill the time you allot it.

待办事项的复杂程度会因你为其安排的时间而变。

So I had a very short deadline for a competition.

于是我报名参加了一个竞赛，把截止日期定得很短。

I got a female instructor first,

我先请了一名女教练，

to teach me the female role, the follow,

教我女方跟舞，

because I wanted to understand the sensitivities and abilities

因为我想弄明白跟舞所需要培养的

that the follow needed to develop, so I wouldn't have a repeat of college.

感觉和技能，这样之后我就不用重学一遍。

And then I took an inventory of the characteristics,

然后，我和她一起，

along with her, of the

收集整理了许多探戈冠军

of the capabilities and elements of different dancers who'd won championships.

能力和特点。

I interviewed these people because they all taught in Buenos Aires.

他们都在布宜诺斯艾利斯教课，于是我采访了他们。

I compared the two lists,

我对比了两张单子，

and what you find is that there is explicitly,

发现其中有外显的：

expertise they recommended, certain training methods.

他们推荐的技能，一些练习的方法。

Then there were implicit commonalities

然后还有内隐的共同点，

that none of them seemed to be practicing.

但似乎没有人练习。

Now the protectionism of Argentine dance teachers aside,

抛开阿根廷舞蹈教练的保护主义不谈，

I found this very interesting. So I decided to focus on three of those commonalities.

我觉得这很有趣。于是我决定专注于其中三个共性。

Long steps. So a lot of milongueros --

大步子。很多 milongueros 探戈舞者

the tango dancers will use very short steps.

步子很小

I found that longer steps were much more elegant.

我觉得长步好看多了。

So you can have --

也就是这样

and you can do it in a very small space in fact.

就是在很小的空间里也能用。

Secondly, different types of pivots.

第二点，不同的轴转，

Thirdly, variation in tempo.

第三点，节奏的变化。

These seemed to be the three areas that I could exploit to compete

要是我打算和练习了二三十年的老手同场竞技，

if I wanted to comptete against people who'd been practicing for 20 to 30 years.

这似乎是我能探索、完善的三个方面。

That photo is of the

那张相片是四个月后，

semi-finals of the Buenos Aires championships, four months later.

布宜诺斯艾利斯冠军赛半决赛。

Then one month later, went to the world championships,

然后一个月后，参加了世界冠军赛，

made it to the semi-final. And then set a world record, following that,

一路冲入了半决赛。随后在两星期后，

two weeks later.

创下了一项世界纪录。

I want you to see part of what I practiced.

我想让你看一下我是怎样练习的。

I'm going to jump forward here.

我快进一下。

This is the instructor that Alicia and I chose for the male lead.

这是我和艾莉西亚选的男方领舞教练。

His name is Gabriel Misse.

他叫加布里·米赛。

One of the most elegant dancers of his generation,

他那一代人中最杰出的舞者之一，

known for his long steps, and his tempo changes

以他的长步、节奏变换、和轴转

and his pivots.

而闻名。

Alicia, in her own right, very famous.

艾莉西亚也颇有名气。

So I think you'll agree, they look quite good together.

所以我想你们也会同意：他们看上去很融洽。

Now what I like about this video

我尤其喜欢这段影片

is it's actually a video of the first time they ever danced together

这实际上是他们第一次共舞。

because of his lead. He had a strong lead.

因为他的领舞很强。

He didn't lead with his chest, which requires you lean forward.

他并不用胸领舞，那样你要前倾。

I couldn't develop the attributes in my toes,

我没办法锻炼我的脚趾，

the strength in my feet, to do that.

以达到那样的强度。

So he uses a lead that focuses on

因此他用另一种领舞，

his shoulder girdle and his arm.

专注于肩带和手臂。

So he can lift the woman to break her, for example.

因此他能抱起女方，比如说。

That's just one benefit of that.

那仅仅是其中的一个优点。

So then we broke it down.

然后，我们将其分解。

This would be an example of one pivot.

这是一个单轴转的例子。

This is a back step pivot.

这是一个后步轴转。

There are many different types.

轴转有许多不同类型。

I have hundreds of hours of footage --

我拍了上百小时的录像。

all categorized, much like George Carlin

全部归类，就像乔治·卡林

categorized his comedy.

归类他的喜剧一样。

So using my arch-nemesis,

用我的宿敌 —— 西班牙语

Spanish, no less, to learn tango.

学习探戈。

So fear is your friend. Fear is an indicator.

恐惧是你的朋友。恐惧是一个指标。

Sometimes it shows you what you shouldn't do.

有时候它告诉你不该做什么。

More often than not it shows you exactly what you should do.

但更多时候，它恰恰告诉你该做什么

And the best results that I've had in life,

我生命中获得的最好成就，

the most enjoyable times, have all been from asking a simple question:

最美好的时光，都源于问一个简单的问题：

what's the worst that can happen?

“最坏的可能是什么？”

Especially with fears you gained when you were a child.

尤其是对于你从小时候就有的恐惧。

Take the analytical frameworks,

用理性思维，将你的能力

the capabilities you have, apply them to old fears.

运用在克服陈年的恐惧上。

Apply them to very big dreams.

借助它们实现伟大的梦想。

And when I think of what I fear now, it's very simple.

我思考现在我害怕什么，答案很简单。

When I imagine my life,

当我想象我的人生

what my life would have been like

如果我没有机会接受教育，

without the educational opportunities that I had,

会是如何地不同。

it makes me wonder.

这令我深思。

I've spent the last two years trying to deconstruct

我在过去的两年中

the American public school system,

尝试解构美国公共教育系统，

to either fix it or replace it.

以将其修复或取代。

And have done experiments with about 50,000 students thus far --

至今，我已经用五万名学生做了试验，

built, I'd say, about a half dozen schools,

建立了六所学校，

my readers, at this point.

我的读者们，现在。

And if any of you are interested in that,

如果你们对此感兴趣，

I would love to speak with you.

我希望能和你们交流。

I know nothing. I'm a beginner.

我一无所知。我是个初学者。

But I ask a lot of questions, and I would love your advice.

但我会问许多问题，也欢迎你们的建议。

Thank you very much.

谢谢。

(Applause)

（鼓掌）