How Your Childhood Toys Tell Your Life Story | Chris Byrne | TED

翻译人员: Xu XinYue 校对人员: Bruce Wang

Hey.

嘿。

I have a question.

我有一个问题。

Can you come out and play?

你能出来玩吗？

Does that sound like fun, like exciting,

听起来是不是很有趣、很兴奋，

maybe there’s a little bit of adventure.

甚至带点冒险的感觉。

Does that bring back some memories for you?

这会勾起你的一些回忆吗？

I sure hope it does.

我希望是的。

I know it does for me.

对我来说确实如此。

Now I am a toy historian.

现在我是一名玩具历史学家。

You've probably never met one before because there aren't that many of us.

你可能从未遇到过这样的人， 因为我们的数量并不多。

The toy industry doesn't pay much attention to history,

玩具行业对历史的关注不 多，

and the industry is all about what's selling today.

而 这个行业只关注当今的畅销产品。

So over the past nearly 40 years,

因此，在过去的将近40年中，

I've had the opportunity to play with kids in many different ways.

我有机会 以许多不同的方式和孩子们一起玩耍。

And I've learned one thing: that toys don't change.

我学到一件事：玩具的本质不会变。

But I love toy history

但我热爱玩具历史，

because I think that when we look back,

因为我认为，当我们回顾过去，

we can see a clear view of our culture and our values

我们能清晰看到，

某个时代的文化与价值观。

at a specific point in time.

And it's more than just what was fun,

这不仅仅是“好玩”而已，

because toys really help prepare kids

因为玩具确实可以帮助孩子，

to enter a culture as adults at a specific time.

为融入特定时代的成人社会做准备。

And it all begins with one question.

而这一切都始于一个问题。

It starts in the imagination when we say, “What if?”

“如果……会怎样？” —— 始于想象力的魔法。

Right? So I mentioned that the role of play doesn't change.

对吧？ 所以我提到“玩耍的功能不变”。

The toys, however, do.

但玩具本身会变。

Widely popular toys are sometimes the first shared cultural experience

广受欢迎的玩具往往是孩子们

many children ever have,

最早的共同文化体验，

and they can become cultural events as well.

甚至可能成为文化现象。

Think back of the fads of the past decades.

回想一下过去几十 年的潮流：

We had Rubik's Cube, we had Cabbage Patch,

魔方、椰菜娃娃、

Zhu Zhu Pets, Pet Rock, right?

电子仓鼠、宠物石，对吧？

And now we're in the middle of Squishmallows.

现在则是“捏捏乐”（Squishmallows）。

But I truly think that when we look back at what we loved,

但我坚信，当我们回顾自己曾经热爱的玩具时，

we can see the seeds of who we were going to become,

能看到未来自我的种子 ——

personally and professionally.

无论是个人还是职业层面。

Now I grant you,

现在我承认，

this is much more an art than a science,

这更像艺术而非科学，

but I believe that each of us has an inherent play style

但每个人独特的“玩耍风格”，

that's as unique as our fingerprints.

正如指纹般独一无二。

So very often when I meet somebody,

因此，当我见到某人时，

I will ask them,

我经常会问他们：

"What was your favorite toy as a child?"

“你小时候最喜欢的玩具是什么？”

I have heard some of the most amazing answers over time,

答案总是令我惊叹。

and I think it's really important

我认为重要的是，

that we look at what those are for ourselves,

我们要重新审视这些玩具，

because we grow up and we lose sight of that playful person that was inside us.

因为我们长大后会看不见 内心那个顽皮的人。

And I think that person is still there.

而那个孩子从未消失 ——

And when we embrace the sense of play and adventure,

当我们拥抱 玩乐和冒险的感觉时，

we can have joy every day.

我们每天都能获得快乐。

Now my favorite toy was Matchbox cars.

现在我最喜欢的玩具是火柴盒小汽车。

I loved them, I loved collecting them, playing with them, organizing them.

我热爱它们，我爱收集、摆弄、整理它们。

And I especially loved the Models of Yesteryear series

尤其痴迷“昔日模型”系列，

because I loved the cars

因为我喜爱这些汽车，

but I was also fascinated by the history of the people

但我也被

who might have driven them.

那些可能驾驶过它们的人的历史 所吸引。

So there are two characteristics that I can trace back to that.

因此， 我可以追溯到两个特征。

I love order,

我喜欢秩序，

and I'm fascinated by history.

我对历史着迷。

A couple of years ago, I wrote a book about the playwright Terrence McNally.

几年前，我写了一本 关于剧作家特伦斯·麦克纳利的书。

And Terrence had a puppet theater in his garage.

而且特伦斯的车 库里有一个木偶剧院。

And he also loved the TV show "Kukla, Fran and Ollie,"

他还喜欢电视节目 《库克拉、弗兰和奥利》，

where Fran Allison, a human,

在该节目中，人类弗兰·艾里森与小丑库克拉，

interacted with Kukla, a clown, and Ollie, a dragon,

还有一条叫奥利的龙互动，

and they were puppets.

他们都是木偶。

And Terrence told me that playing with his puppets

特伦斯告诉我， 与他的木偶玩耍

and watching that show

和观看那个节目

was some of the best theater training he ever had.

是他有史以来最好的 戏剧训练。

Basketball great Sue Bird told me that she was obsessed -- obsessed! --

篮球巨星苏·伯德告诉我她很着迷“蹦蹦球”

with her pogo ball.

——甚至痴迷！

Now that came out in 1969, but it would have become a fad mid-80s,

现在它是在1969年问世的， 但它本来会在80年代中期流行，

about the time that Sue would have discovered it.

差不多是苏 发现它的时候。

The pogo ball was an inflatable ball,

“蹦蹦球”是一个充气球，

and it had a platform around the middle,

它的中间有一个平台，

and you clenched it between your ankles

需要你夹紧在脚踝间，

and you jumped.

然后跳起来。

It wasn't easy.

这并不容易。

Sue went on to become the winningest player in the WNBA,

苏后来成为 WNBA中获胜最多的球员，

and I believe that her passion for practice

我相信她对练习的热情

and her dedication to mastery

和对球技的追求，

served her well on the playground

使得她在赛场上表现出色，

and translated into her careers at UConn and in the professional world.

成就了她在康涅狄格大学的事业，在专业领域也是如此。

Three-time Tony-winning costume designer Gregg Barnes told me

曾三次获得托尼奖的服装设计师格雷格·巴恩斯告诉我，

that he loved to play with Barbies, he loved to make clothes for them.

他喜欢和芭比娃娃一起玩，他喜欢为他们做衣服。

But this was in the 1960s

但是在20世纪60年代，

when playing with Barbie was taboo for boys.

与芭比娃娃一起玩 是男孩们的禁忌。

Gregg did it anyway,

无论如何，格雷格还是坚持这样做了，

and later he had a dream-come-true job

后来他找到了一份梦想的工作，

when he designed the costumes for Barbie and Fairytopia,

他为芭比和Fairytopia设计了服装，

the tour and the doll.

还有巡回演出和娃娃。

Composer and lyricist Stephen Sondheim

作曲家兼作词家斯蒂芬·桑德海姆

loved puzzles and games,

喜欢拼图和游戏，

and especially games like Scrabble.

尤其是像拼字游戏那样的游戏。

And those of us who love musical theater know where word play landed him.

而我们当中那些热爱音乐剧的人 都知道文字游戏将他带到了哪里。

(Laughter)

（笑声）

Right?

对吧？

And guess what? This works for us ordinary mortals as well.

你猜怎么着？这对我们这样的普通人同样适用。

When you think about the toys that you loved as a child,

当你想起你小时候喜欢的玩具时，

you didn't think about, "Why do I love this?"

你不会想到 ：“我为什么喜欢这个？”

You just did, right?

你刚刚想了，对吧？

Perhaps you watched the TV show “Blue’s Clues.”

也许你看过电视节目《蓝色斑点狗》。

Or you played with your Tonka truck.

或者你在玩你的Tonka卡车。

Or you had cuddled up to a Care Bear.

或者你曾经拥抱过一只爱心熊。

Or played that iconic game, Hungry Hungry Hippos.

或者玩过那个标志性的游戏《饥饿的河马》。

Yeah. I see --

是啊。我明白了——

(Laughter)

（笑声）

I grew up in Delaware,

我在特拉华州长大，

and all the girls in the neighborhood played Barbie.

附近所有的女孩 都玩芭比娃娃。

Barbie was from Malibu, California,

芭比娃娃来自加利福尼亚的马里布，

and Wilmington was about as far away from that as you could get.

威尔明顿也差不多是你能到的最远的地方。

But in the late 1960s,

但是在1960年代后期，

Barbie play all followed the prescribed cultural path for girls:

芭比娃娃都遵循 为女孩规定的文化道路：

dating, love, marriage.

约会、爱情、婚姻。

My nieces and their friends played Barbie very differently.

我的侄女和她们的朋友 玩芭比娃娃的方式大不相同。

They were inspired by the 1985 commercial, “We Girls Can Do Anything,”

她们受1985年 “我们女孩无所不能” 广告的影响，

that encouraged them to imagine themselves as independent and empowered women.

该广告鼓励她们将自己想象成独立的、有能力的女性。

And that was just the time that more and more professional women

而那正是越来越多的职业女性

were entering the workforce.

涌入劳动力市场的时候。

Today, Barbie has left the beach behind.

如今，芭比不再局限于海滩。

Sort of.

有点像。

She’s now every girl, and Ken’s there too.

她现在是每个女孩， 肯也在场。

Broad cultural representation is now baked into the brand,

现在，该品牌融入了多元文化，

and our conversations with Gen Alpha kids and their parents

indicate that this is a core value for them in their play.

表明包容性已成为他们玩乐中的核心价值。

Barbie is still relevant

芭比仍然很重要

because she reflects the world the players see.

因为她映射孩子眼中的世界，

And that’s really the secret

这确实是芭比

that's kept Barbie so popular for the past 65 years.

在过去65年中一直如此受欢迎的秘密。

Her play is grounded in the present

她的剧本立足于当下，

while encouraging kids to imagine possibilities for the future.

同时鼓励孩子们 畅想未来的可能性。

I had another friend who was not so much into Barbie,

我还有另一个不太 喜欢芭比娃娃的朋友，

but she loved her Teenage Mutant Ninja Turtles.

但她很喜欢《忍者神 龟》。

She loved being a superhero, and she loved the iconoclastic humor.

她喜欢成为超级英雄， 也喜欢颠覆传统的幽默。

As a child, she had a serious accident,

小时候，她发生了严重的事故，

and the doctor who treated her eased her fears with comedy.

治疗她的医生用喜剧 缓解了她的恐惧。

That inspired her to go into medicine, because he became a superhero to her,

这让她立志进入医学领域， 因为他成了她的超级英雄，

and now she's a hero to her patients.

而现在她是病人的英雄。

Oh, and she's done improv comedy because you cannot lose the humor.

哦对，她还坚持做即兴喜剧因为幽默永不退场。

(Laughter)

（笑声）

All of this has a dark side as well.

所有这一切也有阴暗面。

Have any of you ever cheated at a board game?

你们当中有人 在棋盘游戏中作弊过吗？

Yeah. Right. Right. I’ve heard the stories.

是啊。对。对。 我听过这些故事。

Well, here’s the thing about board games.

好吧，这是关于棋盘游戏的问题。

Board games are all about rules and structure

棋盘游戏都是关于 规则和结构的，

and operating within those rules and structure.

并在 这些规则和结构内运作。

And it's one of the first times

这是

we as kids ever experience a moral compass

我们小时候第一次

in the context of our family and our society.

在家庭和社会的背景 下体验“是非观”。

So that at least is the way it's supposed to work.

因此，至少 它理论上是这样。

Years ago, I worked with a guy

几年前，我和一个人一起工作，

who was so proud of how he used to cheat at Monopoly

他为自己过去如何

by stealing money from the bank.

通过《大富翁》中的银行偷钱从而作弊，感到非常自豪。

(Laughter)

（笑声）

I hear people -- you've done that?

我听见某个人的声音 —— 你也做过？

And wait, because he bragged about --

等等，因为他在吹牛 ——

He did that to his children as well.

他也这样对待他自己的孩子。

Because winning was everything for him.

因为胜利对他来说就是一切。

And for me, I can remember doing that once as a kid

对我而言，我记得小时候 曾作孽过一次，

and feeling rotten about it the entire next day.

因而内疚了一整天。

Well, not this guy,

好吧，不是这个人，

because he felt no compunction about cheating our clients.

因为他毫无负担地欺骗我们的客户，

And I think our working relationship collapsed

而我们的合作关系也因此破裂。

because our play styles were completely different.

之所以破裂，是因为我们的游戏风格 完全不同。

Now I'm not saying that if you cheated at a game,

现在我并不是说 如果你在游戏中作弊，

you’re going to become a crook.

你就会变成骗子。

But I am saying that our characters are shaped in part

但我要说的是，我们的性格 在一定程度上

by how we internalize our play experiences.

源于我们如何内化游戏中的经历。

So it's never about the piece of plush or the plastic

因此，赋予玩具力量的

that gives the toy its power.

It's the narratives we tell

而是在我们的文化

related to that toy in the context of our culture

和经历交织的背景下，

and our experience.

That's really how we learn to be ourselves.

我们正是这样学会成为自己。

So take a look back

所以回过头来

and think about, you know,

想一想，你知道，

how you became who you became.

你如何成为现在的你。

The stories, as Pleasant Rowland used to tell me --

这些故事，正如普莱森特·罗兰曾经告诉我的那样 ——

she founded American Girl --

她创立了美国女孩娃娃——

and Pleasant always said, "Story over stuff."

而普莱森特总是说： “故事胜过物品。”

Now you may have heard

现在你可能听说过

of the pioneering educator Maria Montessori.

开创性的教育家 玛丽亚·蒙特梭利。

Maria and her colleagues popularized the idea

玛丽亚和 她的同事们普遍认为

that play is the work of a child.

玩耍是儿童的工作，

And the goal of that work is to emerge into society

这项工作的目标 是

as a completely integrated and participating adult.

作为一个完全融入社会 和参与的成年人走向社会。

So once again, look back and think about how much of who you are today

因此，再回顾一下，想一 想你今天的身份中有多少

began in the playroom.

是从游戏室开始的。

Now this is not some Calvinist notion of predestination,

现在这不是加尔文主义 的命中注定的观念，

but I do think it's so much fun to look back for clues

但我真的认为回过头 来寻找线索

as to how we became who we are

以了解我们是如何成为自己

and who we might yet be.

以及我们可能成为谁确实充满乐趣。

It's a little like Harry Potter, right?

有点像哈利波特，对吧？

But we're the wizards.

但是我们是巫师。

We're the wizards,

我们是巫师，

and our powerful spells are the stories that we tell

我们强大的法术 是我们讲述的故事

and the actions that we take.

和我们采取的行动。

We become what we play.

我们变成了我们玩耍的样子。

Best of all, you never have to stop.

最重要的是，你永远不必停下来。

Because when we play,

因为当我们玩游戏时，

we get to experience the joy of new discoveries,

我们可以体验新发现 的乐趣，

have fun and embrace the adventure.

享受乐趣，拥抱冒险。

And best of all, enjoy the ride.

最重要的是，享受旅程的乐趣。

Thank you.

谢谢。

(Applause)

（掌声）