How to Find Laughter Anywhere | Chris Duffy | TED

翻译人员: Yip Yan Yeung 校对人员: Yanyan Hong

My favorite part about working in an elementary school

在小学工作， 我最喜欢的部分就是

is that I could never predict what was going to happen next.

我永远无法预测接下来会发生什么。

Every day was a new, incredible day.

每天都是崭新、神奇的一天。

There was never a boring moment.

从来没有过无聊的时刻。

Sometimes, you think that you're handing out a worksheet

有时，你以为你给孩子们发试题，

just reviewing the names of shapes.

只是想复习形状的名称。

But then instead of getting back hexagon and octagon,

但是你收回来的不是“六边形”和“八边形”，

you get back this.

而是这些。

["Amy" "Gabriella"]

[“艾米”“加布里埃拉”]

(Laughter)

（笑声）

And I think we can agree that is just correct.

我们也可以同意这是对的。

(Laughter)

（笑声）

That’s right, that is Gabriella.

没错，那就是加布里埃拉。

(Laughter)

（笑声）

Or, another time I was teaching a class

或者还有一次我在上课，

on human biology to my fifth-grade students

给五年级学生上人类生物学，

when one of them afterwards handed in this anonymous question card.

有个学生后来交给我一张匿名的问题卡。

[What are balls for.]

[蛋蛋是干什么用的。]

(Laughter)

（笑声）

And you know what really gets me about this, what kills me,

真正让我扎心、让我心痛的是，

is we had spent so long studying punctuation.

我们花了这么长时间 学习标点符号。

And he still used a period instead of a question mark.

他用的还是句号而不是问号。

“What are balls for.” Period.

“蛋蛋是干什么用的。”句号。

(Laughter)

（笑声）

At the same time that I was teaching elementary school students,

我在给小学生上课的同时，

I was also teaching adults improv comedy at a local theater on the weekends.

周末我也在当地的剧院 教授成人即兴喜剧。

This was a group of retired folks,

他们是一群退休人员、

graduate students and semi-successful business people

研究生和“半成功”的商界人士，

who were paying money to spend their Saturday mornings

他们花钱和我一起在不通风的地下室里 度过周六的早晨。

in an unventilated basement with me.

And most of the exercises that we were doing together

我们一起做的大部分练习

were to get them to let go of the self-critical part of their brain,

都是为了让他们抛弃 自己大脑中批判自我的部分，

to release the idea that there was a "right" answer to find,

放弃必须追寻“正确”答案的想法，

and to instead be more comfortable with their honest, creative,

而是更加接纳自己诚实、有创意、

idiosyncratic thoughts.

特立独行的想法。

Now any elementary school teacher can tell you

随便一位小学老师都会告诉你，

that getting kids to share their honest, unexpected thoughts,

让孩子们分享他们诚实、 出人意料的想法，

that's not something you have to cultivate.

不是你要培养的东西。

They will do that whether you want them to or not.

无论你想不想让他们分享， 他们都会分享。

I mean, here are some real questions that kids asked me out of the blue

我来说几个孩子们突然 没头没脑问出的真实问题，

with no context,

during what was supposed to be a silent work time.

那时我本该在安静地工作。

(Laughter)

（笑声）

"Is it possible to make myself live longer so that I can see the Sun explode?"

“我能不能活得更久一点， 这样能看到太阳爆炸呢？”

(Laughter)

（笑声）

"Are pigs actually prejudiced against women,

“猪真的歧视女性，

or is that just an expression?"

还是只是一种说法？” （指 “pig” 代指粗鲁男性）

(Laughter)

（笑声）

"If your brother isn't married yet,

“如果你哥哥还没结婚，

why doesn't he just marry your mom?"

他为什么不能直接娶了你妈？”

(Laughter)

（笑声）

And actually, that brings up a really important point,

其实这引出了一个非常重要的点，

which is that kids' ideas are not always good.

那就是孩子们的想法并不总是好的。

Sometimes they're very bad.

有时候它们很糟糕。

I'm personally very grateful that my mom and my brother are not married.

我本人很庆幸我妈妈没有和我哥结婚。

(Laughter)

（笑声）

There's some research that suggests that for many of us,

有一些研究表明，对于许多人来说，

fifth grade is close to the peak of this kind of wildly free,

五年级已经接近这种极度自由、

uninhibited, creative thinking.

无拘无束、创造性思维的顶峰了。

But that does not have to be the case.

但不一定是这样。

In my experience, the difference between people with an amazing sense of humor

根据我的经验，具有惊人幽默感的人

and those without is often just whether they are willing to accept

和没有幽默感的人之间的区别 通常在于他们是否愿意接受

and notice their honest reactions,

和注意到自己的诚实反应，

or whether they try their hardest to fit them into a box.

还是他们会尽全力拘束他们的反应。

And that can shift over time.

这可能会随时间的推移发生变化。

I saw that shift with my adult improv students.

我在我的成人即兴表演学生身上 看到了这种转变。

At first, when we would do an exercise

刚开始我们做一个练习，

where they were asked to name seven things in a given category

要求他们尽快、发挥最大创意地 说出给定类别中的七样东西，

as quickly and creatively as possible,

many of them would get stuck.

许多人会陷入困境。

One guy, Rick, a corporate tax lawyer,

有个人，公司税律师里克，

answered the prompt,

回答了这个问题：

"Seven weird types of shoes"

“七种奇怪的鞋子”，

by saying, "Brown shoes, white shoes,

他说：“棕色的鞋子、白色的鞋子、

black shoes, gray shoes."

黑色的鞋子、灰色的鞋子。”

I'm not going to name all the shoes,

我不想全部说一遍，

it was all a lot of boring shoes, you get it.

就是一大堆无聊的鞋子，你懂的。

But then, after we practiced celebrating our more bizarre thoughts

但是，在我们练习 鼓励我们更奇怪的想法，

instead of repressing them,

而不是压抑这些想法之后，

Rick eventually came up with a list a list that included things like,

里克最终想出了一系列鞋子，比如：

"Shoes covered in mud, shoes covered in gold,

“沾满泥巴的鞋子、金子包裹的鞋子、

shoes covered in the blood of my enemies.”

沾满我仇人鲜血的鞋子”等等。

Which is like, that’s a lot, Rick,

厉害了，里克，

actually, that's a lot, it's really a lot.

真的厉害了。

But it's also definitely more interesting.

但是绝对更有趣了。

And I think that's the point.

我认为这就是重点。

When we turn off our self-judgment

当我们停止自我判断，

and we just notice the things that stand out to us,

注意到那些令我们印象深刻

or that we think,

或者我们思考的东西，

we can surprise ourselves in ways that are hilarious and delightful.

我们就能以滑稽、怡人的方式 给自己一个惊喜。

Every comedian that I know has a notebook or some sort of document

我认识的每位喜剧演员都 有一本笔记本或某种记录，

where they keep track of all the little odd things

用来记下一天之中 注意到或者想到的小奇思。

that they notice or think throughout the day.

And what you find, when you start keeping track,

你会发现，你开始记录以后，

is that there is no shortage of material out there.

就不会缺少素材。

There [is] so much to laugh at.

有太多值得一笑的素材了。

And if you have a little bit of courage to allow yourself to be laughed at

如果你有一些勇气让别人笑你、

and to laugh at yourself,

嘲笑自己，

you can make discoveries

你就会发现一些 本不会发现的东西，对吧？

that you never would have otherwise, right?

If you want to know what balls are for, sometimes you've got to ask.

如果你想知道蛋蛋是干什么用的， 有时候你得问出来。

I have found that you can find laughter in even the driest places

我发现你甚至 能在最枯燥的地方找到笑点，

if you bring some of that mischievous fifth-grade energy

如果你能把淘气的五年级能量

to the instructions and to what you're "supposed" to be doing, right?

带到教学中和你“本该”做的事中，对吧？

It doesn't have to be geometry class.

不一定是几何课堂。

It can be an opportunity for you

这可能是你和你的好朋友 加布里埃拉一起出去玩的机会。

to hang out with your good friend Gabriella.

Now I have had the most fun when I applied these lessons

最开心的莫过于将这些

that I got from my fifth graders to self-serious adult spaces.

来自五年级学生的经验 运用到“自视甚高”的成人领域了。

To places where I maybe feel intimidated or like I don't necessarily belong.

运用到我可能会感到恐惧 或没有什么归属感的地方。

So, for example, for me personally, LinkedIn.

举个例子， 就我个人而言，领英。

Terrifying.

太可怕了。

I've never had a professional resume,

我从来没有过专业的简历，

I've never been comfortable with business networking,

我也一直无法适应商业社交，

but I've also always been kind of fascinated by LinkedIn.

但我一直对领英有点着迷。

Like, they let you make a profile,

他们可以让你创建档案，

and they don't verify that you work at the place you say you work.

他们也不会验证 你是不是在你号称的地方工作。

So I decided I was going to test this out and have some fun.

所以我决定去试用一下，玩一玩。

I made a profile on LinkedIn

我在领英上创建了一个档案，

where I said that I was the CEO of LinkedIn.

我说我是领英的 CEO。

(Laughter)

（笑声）

And I didn't think they would even let me do that.

我都不觉得他们会同意我这么写。

But not only did they, after I made the profile,

但他们不仅让我创建了， 还在我创建之后

one of the most incredible things

发生了我这辈子最神奇的一件事。

that has ever happened in my entire life happened.

Which is that LinkedIn sent this email to everyone in my contact list.

领英把这封邮件 发给了我联系人里的每一个人。

They sent that email.

他们发送了那封电子邮件。

(Laughter)

（笑声）

"Congratulate Chris on the new job.

“恭喜克里斯找到了新工作。

Chris Duffy is now CEO of LinkedIn."

克里斯·达菲（Chris Duffy） 现在是领英的 CEO。”

(Laughter)

（笑声）

That's a better joke than anything I could ever write in my entire life.

这比我这辈子能写出的任何笑话都好。

(Laughter)

（笑声）

I was the CEO of LinkedIn on LinkedIn for one year.

我曾在领英上 担任过一年的领英 CEO。

(Laughter)

（笑声）

And at that one-year mark,

在一周年之际，

LinkedIn sent yet another email to everyone in my contact list

领英又向我的每位联系人 发了一封邮件，

asking them to congratulate me on my work anniversary.

让他们祝贺我的工作周年纪念日。

(Laughter)

（笑声）

And at that point,

当时，

I received a message from a woman named Faith

我收到了一位 名叫菲丝的女士的来信，

who worked on LinkedIn's Trust and Security team.

她就职于领英的信任与安全团队。

(Laughter)

（笑声）

She said my account was being locked due to concerns about its inaccuracy.

她说我的账号被封了， 因为担心账号信息不实。

So I sent her back a photo of my license,

所以我给她发了一张我的驾照的

front and back,

正反两面的照片，

to prove that my name was, in fact, Chris Duffy.

用于证明我的名字 确实是克里斯·达菲。

(Laughter)

（笑声）

Faith responded.

菲丝回复了。

"The thing that we are concerned about is not that your name is not Chris Duffy.

“我们担心的不是 你的名字不是克里斯·达菲。

It's that you are claiming to be the CEO of LinkedIn."

问题是你自称你是领英的 CEO。”

So I responded,

于是我回复：

"Faith, you are taking a pretty disrespectful tone

“菲丝，你作为一个 为我打工的人，说话很不客气。”

for someone who works for me."

(Laughter)

（笑声）

10 seconds later, she permanently deactivated my account.

10 秒钟后，她永久停用了我的账户。

(Laughter)

（笑声）

It was a short but glorious stint, running my own personal social network.

这是我运营个人社交网络的短暂高光。

(Laughter)

（笑声）

And now, what am I up to these days?

那我最近在干些什么呢？

I'm so glad you asked.

很高兴你问了这个问题。

I'm more than just a fifth-grade graduate.

我不仅是一名五年级毕业生。

I'm actually,

其实，

I'm the founder and owner of TED.

我是 TED 的创始人和所有者。

(Laughter)

（笑声）

Congratulate me, you know you want to.

恭喜我吧，你知道你想的。

Thanks for coming to my conference.

感谢你们来参加我的大会。

(Applause and cheers)

（掌声和欢呼）