How Fantasy Worlds Can Spark Real Change | Annalee Newitz | TED

翻译人员: Yuan Shen 校对人员: Bruce Wang

It has been a long few years.

已经过去好些年了。

There are just so many problems in the world,

这个世界 出现了太多问题

so much is going wrong that I just … I can't even anymore.

问题多到我都已经…… 我再也坚持不下去了。

So I'll tell you what I'm going to do.

那么我告诉你我要做什么。

I'm going to run away.

我要逃离这个世界。

I'm going to pick up a book about glamorous wizards on another planet,

我要去读一本书， 里面令人着迷的巫师们生活在另一个星球，

and I'm going to read about how they wear gorgeous bespoke suits

我要看看 他们怎样穿着华丽的定制西装

and have romances, and of course, defeat an evil dictatorship along the way.

展开浪漫的恋情，当然，还少不了 一路上锄奸惩恶、反抗专制。

Now listen, I know how that sounds.

好吧，我知道这听起来是个什么调调。

This is the kind of story

这就是那种故事

that's going to take me away from my problems

只会让我逃避 自己问题

rather than helping me face them.

而并不能帮助我面对现实。

But as a journalist and a science fiction writer,

但是作为一名记者 和科幻小说家，

I've witnessed the way escapist stories

我见证了那些逃避现实的故事

can nourish our relationship with the truth

是如何润滑我们 与真相的关系，

and help us see the real world with fresh eyes.

并且帮助我们 以新的视角看待现实世界。

And I'm here to tell you that your favorite escapist stories

而我要告诉你的是， 你最喜欢的逃避现实的故事

can do the same thing for you,

也可以达成同样的效果，

and maybe set you on the path toward building a better world.

甚至或许能让你走上一条 建设更美好世界的道路。

I want to introduce you

我想向你们介绍

to an amazing group of science fiction fans.

一个了不起的科幻小说 粉丝群体。

They're called the 501st Legion, and they're cosplayers.

他们被称为第 501 军团， 他们就是角色扮演者。

That stands for "costume player,"

这个词的意思是“角色扮演者”，

and in this case that means

在这里就是指

that they dress up like stormtroopers and clone troopers,

他们打扮得 像突击队员和克隆骑兵，

and pretty much any other bad guy from the Star Wars franchise.

或者星球大战系列中 任何其他反派角色。

There's a few good guys thrown in there, too.

当然了，里面 也会有几个正面人物。

Now there's members of the 501st all over the world.

现在 501 的成员 遍布全世界。

Your town might actually have a chapter of it,

你所在的城镇实际上 很可能就参与其中，

and they do typical things that science fiction fans do.

他们做那些科幻迷们 惯常会干的事。

They go to conventions,

他们参加集会，

they march in parades and show off their costumes.

举行游行 展示炫耀自己的服装。

But you know what else they do? Charity.

不过你知道他们还做什么吗？慈善。

They raise money for the Red Cross and the Make-A-Wish Foundation

他们为红十字会 和许愿基金会

and lots of other groups.

以及许多其他团体筹集资金。

And that's not exactly what you expect from bad guys.

而这可不是你预想中 坏人们会做的事。

In fact, it doesn't match our stereotype

实际上，这不符合我们对这种

of fans who go this deep making their own costumes.

如此痴迷于自己制作服装的 粉丝的刻板印象。

We imagine that those people would be hiding away from the world,

我们想象中的这些粉丝 会离这个世界远远的，

but these guys, they've re-engaged with it.

但是这些人， 他们已经重新参与到这个世界里。

This is Andrew Liptak.

这是安德鲁 · 利普塔克。

He's a historian and a member of the 501st.

他是一位历史学家 ， 也是 501 的成员。

And he recently wrote a book called "Cosplay: A History"

他最近写了一本书， 名为《角色扮演：历史》，

where he talks about the origin of these stormtroopers' love of charity.

书中讲述了这些突击队员 对热衷慈善的缘起。

And he explained that it started out

他解释了这事最开始

because groups of these fans would get together

只是因为粉丝们 会聚在一起

and they'd swap tips on how to build armor

交换分享如何制作盔甲

and what to do when your armor is falling apart.

和盔甲破碎散架了要 如何保养的小窍门。

But they began to realize that people in the group

但是他们开始意识到 这个粉丝群体里

couldn't all afford the fancy injection-molded plastic

并不是所有人都买得起 昂贵的注射成型塑料

that they needed to build these costumes,

来制作这些服装，

and they started raising money for each other.

于是他们开始 为彼此筹集资金。

And then they started thinking about other communities

然后他们开始想到 其他社群

that could use money and resources, too.

也会需要用到钱和资源。

And that's how they reimagined their community

这就是他们如何重新构想 自己的社群

as going way beyond Star Wars fans into groups of strangers.

突破了《星球大战》的粉丝范围， 向陌生人施以援手。

And this is how escapist stories can help us reimagine our relationships

逃避现实的故事就是 这样帮助我们重新构建彼此

with each other and other communities.

和其他社群之间的关系的。

Now I want to introduce you to a character I created

现在我想向你们介绍 一个我为自己的科幻小说

for my science fiction novel, "The Terraformers."

《地球改造者》 创作的角色。

Their name is Scrubjay, and they're a sentient flying train.

他们的名字叫 Scrubjay， 是一列有知觉的飞行火车。

Now they come from a distant future on another planet

它们来自另一个未来时空的 遥远星球，

where autonomous vehicles are people,

那里的自动驾驶汽车是人，

and in fact, Scrubjay is part of a worker-owned cooperative

实际上，Scrubjay 是一个 工人合作社旗下所属的

of other sentient flying trains

其他有知觉的飞行列车的一部分，

that bargain collectively with cities about how to provide the best service,

这些列车联合起来与城市 就如何提供最好的服务、最舒适的列车

most comfortable trains.

进行商讨。

And when I was creating the character of Scrubjay,

当我创作 Scrubjay 这个角色时，

there were certain things I knew for sure that would be true about them.

我能肯定 他们一定会做某些事情。

Like, I knew that they were going to fall in love

比如，我知道他们 将会爱上

with an investigative journalist who's a cat, because obviously.

一只调查记者猫， 很明显吧。

But what I didn't know was what Scrubjay the train would do for fun.

但是我不知道的是 Scrubjay 这列火车会为了找乐子干出什么事来。

So I emailed the head of the Department of Public Transit in San Francisco,

于是我给旧金山老家的 公共交通部部长

my hometown,

发了电子邮件，

and I said, "Would you talk to me about train consciousness?"

我说：“你能跟我聊聊 火车的自我意识吗？”

And luckily he said yes.

幸运的是他说好啊。

His name is Jeff Tumlin, and he's a science fiction fan.

他的名字叫杰夫 · 塔姆林， 他是个科幻小说迷。

And it turns out he'd been thinking his whole life

结果原来 他这一生都在思考

about what trains would be like if they were people.

如果火车是人 那该是什么样子。

So what would trains do for fun?

那么火车会找什么乐子呢？

Jeff said they'd play strategy games

杰夫说他们会玩战略游戏，

because of course, they're constantly thinking

因为很显然， 他们一直在思考

about how to optimize their routes

如何优化路线

and how to get from one place to another in the most efficient way possible.

以及如何以最有效的方式 从一个地方到另一个地方。

So strategy games, definitely it.

所以他们会玩战略游戏，这绝对没得说。

Now I think that Jeff and I had this admittedly odd meeting of the minds

现在我得说 Jeff 和我的 心有灵犀能古怪到这份上，

partly because he and I are both engaged in the same project.

有部分原因是他和我 都在参与同一个项目。

We both want the public to understand

我们都希望公众明白一点

that transit is part of a healthy human future.

交通是人类 健康未来的一部分。

You know, the mobility provided by public transit,

你们都知道，公共交通 提供出行方式，

it brings communities together,

将社群联系起来，

it helps people get to work or have a fun vacation or trip,

帮助人们通勤上班 或度过愉快的假期和旅行，

even if they can't afford to own and maintain a car,

即使他们无法负担 购买和维护汽车的费用，

or if they don't want to

又或者出于

because they don't like what cars are doing to the environment.

对环境的考虑 而不想乘坐私家车。

Now as a writer,

我作为一名作家，

I can invite my readers to value public transit

可以让我的读者 对公共交通重视起来，

by personifying it,

办法就是把交通工具拟人化，

by creating a character who is lovable and kind,

创造一个讨人喜欢的 善良的角色，

and has a cute cat companion.

再为它设定一个可爱的猫伴侣。

But Jeff, he has to go into rooms

但是杰夫呢，他必须进到

full of city representatives and stakeholders,

挤满市民代表 和利益相关者的房间里，

and ask them to put resources

要求他们

into our public transit system in San Francisco,

为我们旧金山的公共交通系统 投入资金资源，

which, by the way, desperately needs it.

我得插一句，旧金山急需这些资源。

But when he talks to those stakeholders,

但当他与这些利益相关者交谈时，

he takes inspiration from science fiction

他从科幻小说中汲取灵感，

because he tells them a story about how the city will become healthier

因为他讲了个故事 描绘了这个城市会怎样变得更健康

if they invest now in transit

如果他们现在给交通部门投资

that will continue to function for ten years, or maybe even 100 years.

这个系统就会持续 运行 10 年甚至 100 年都不出岔子。

Now luckily, San Francisco is putting some resources

幸运的是，旧金山今年 正在投入一些资源

into upgrading our transit this year, and hopefully next year too.

来升级我们的交通系统， 希望明年也能这样。

And that's not because

这并不是因为

all of our public servants are reading science fiction,

我们所有的公务员 都在读科幻小说，

although that would be nice.

虽然那样也不错。

It's because they're taking inspiration from this vision of a future

这是因为他们从这个愿景中 汲取了灵感，

that doesn't exist yet,

而这个愿景尚未成真，

a future that could come to pass,

这是一个可以实现的未来，

where public transit is robust and allows the city to be a healthier,

这时候公共交通系统稳定耐用， 城市变得更健康、

more connected place.

各个地区联系更加紧密。

And this is a way that escapist stories allow us to reimagine our relationship

这就是逃避现实的故事 如何让我们重新构想

with the places where we live

与居住地的关系，

and reimagine the kinds of services

重新构想我们想要

we want to offer to the people who live there.

为生活在那里的人们 提供的服务。

Let me give you another example.

让我再举一个例子。

I recently was lucky enough to hang out with a group of researchers

最近有次我很幸运能 和一群研究人员出去玩，

who are studying how to mitigate the effects of coastal flooding

他们正在研究如何减轻 沿海洪水的影响，

that comes from storms that will be coming more often due to climate change.

因为气候变化，更加频繁的暴风雨 意味着更多洪灾。

They’re building an engineering marvel called the Emerald Tutu,

他们正在建造一个 名为 Emerald Tutu 的工程奇迹，

and it was inspired by an escapist internet aesthetic known as goblincore.

其灵感来自一种名为哈比系的 逃避现实的网络美学。

Now before we get to the goblins,

那在继续讨论哥布林之前，

let's talk a little bit about the engineering.

让我们先浅谈一下 工程学。

So the Emerald Tutu is a distributed network of floating gardens

这个 Emerald Tutu 是 一个分布式网络的浮动花园，

that flare outward from the coastline like a ruffly tutu skirt.

外形如同荷叶边的芭蕾舞短裙 以海岸线为基准向外铺展。

And when coastal flooding comes, this acts as a permeable barrier.

当沿海洪水侵袭时， 这种设计能作为一个可渗透的屏障。

And so as the waves come towards shore, it dampens their force,

因此当海浪冲向岸边时， 它会削弱海浪的力量，

preventing the kinds of floods that ruin infrastructure and claim lives.

防止洪水泛滥到 破坏基础设施、造成伤亡的程度。

I was lucky enough to be there when the Emerald Tutu team was testing out

当 Emerald Tutu 团队 测试这个项目中的一部分组件时，

one of the pieces of the Emerald Tutu.

我很幸运在场。

Each of those gardens that's tied together in a network

每个通过整体网络 连接在一起的花园

is made from a giant blob of biomass.

都是由一大堆生物质组成的。

The team nicknamed it the “chungus.”

团队给它起了个绰号叫 “chungus”。

Here you can see the chungus at a lab that I visited last year,

这儿，你可以看到 chungus 这是我去年访问过的一个实验室，

the O.H. Hinsdale Wave Research Lab at Oregon State University in Corvallis.

O.H. Hinsdale 海浪研究实验室， 位于科瓦利斯的俄勒冈州立大学。

And they were testing out the chungus

他们正在实验室

in one of the lab's coolest pieces of equipment.

最酷的设备之一里面 测试这些生物质。

This is a 104-meter-long cement flume full of water,

这是一个104米长的 水泥槽，里面装满了水，

and at one end there are these huge robotic paddles

一头是这些 巨大的机械船桨，

that can create massive storm waves.

可以产生巨大的风暴浪潮。

So what the team wanted to know was,

那么这个研究团队想知道的是，

is this potential floating garden

这个未来的浮动花园

going to be able to actually dampen the force of storm waves?

真的拥有能够 抑制风暴时浪潮冲击的力量吗？

So they used those paddles to unleash huge waves.

所以他们用那些船桨 来释放巨大的海浪。

And it worked.

这个屏障起效了。

The waves washed past and through the chungus,

层层海浪扑上岸来 穿过生物质屏障之后，

and they became smaller.

劲头变小了。

And by the time they hit the synthetic shoreline at the other end,

当他们撞上 另一端的人造海岸线时，

they were just this gentle lapping tidal bore.

它们已经变成了 缓缓拍打岸边的潮汐。

Now here you can see Louiza Wise, one of the engineers.

现在你看到的是其中一位工程师， 路易莎 · 怀斯。

She's in the boat.

她在船上。

And what she's doing is she's attaching these thick pieces of plastic ribbon

而她正在做的是将 这些厚厚的塑料丝带

to what will be the bottom of the chungus.

固定在生物质的底部。

And that's to simulate the seaweed and grasses

这是为了模拟 最终生物质的外层

that will eventually grow on the outside of this biomass.

会长出来的 一些海藻和草类。

And what they found was

他们发现

the more that seaweed and grasses grow on it,

上面生长的海藻 和草类越多，

the better it is at dampening wave force.

它抑制海浪的效果就越好。

So the greener and more beautiful it becomes,

因此，它变得越绿、 越漂亮，

the more effective it is at preventing storm surges.

它抑制风暴潮的效果 就越好。

And I had just never seen technology like this before.

我以前从未见过 这样的技术。

So I asked the team's architect, Gabe Cira,

于是我就去问研究团队的建筑师 加布 · 西拉，

who you can see there in the water with brown hair,

就是那个水里 留着棕色头发的人，

and I said, how did you get this idea to do this weird thing?

然后我说，你是怎么想到 要做这件奇怪的事情的？

And he said, "Oh, it was goblincore."

然后他说：“哦，那是哈比系。”

And --

那这就回到正题了。

Now if you're very online, you may have heard of goblincore.

如果你经常在网上冲浪， 或许知道哈比系这个说法。

It is a fashion and design aesthetic that's intended to evoke

这是一种时尚和设计美学， 旨在唤起人们

the kind of cozy, bucolic world of Hobbiton,

对霍比屯那种闲适 田园般世外桃源的记忆，

where the hobbits live in "Lord of the Rings,"

也就是《指环王》中 霍比特人生活的地方，

or maybe the mystical, magical cities of "Dungeons and Dragons."

又或者可能是《龙与地下城》中 神秘而魔幻的城市。

It’s a little bit like cottagecore, which is a bucolic, simple aesthetic

这有点像田园核心风格， 一种醉心乡村生活、崇尚简朴的美学，

but with more bugs and mushrooms, and dirt, and messiness.

不过会出现更多的虫子和蘑菇， 还有泥土和各种脏乱的场景。

It's the perfect aesthetic for urbanites

对于现在大部分城市里

who are sick of seeing all of the hard, gray edges of concrete and steel

那些厌倦了混凝土和钢铁结构 硬邦邦灰扑扑边缘的市民们来说，

that you see in most cities.

这是正是他们需要的美学。

And it was goblincore that inspired the Emerald Tutu team

正是哈比系 激发了 Emerald Tutu 团队的灵感，

to think about using nature to deal with the problems of storm surges

从而想到利用大自然 来应对的波士顿港风暴潮灾，

in Boston Harbor, near where they work.

就他们工作地点的附近。

And here you can see they’re testing out a larger sample of the Emerald Tutu

这里你可以看到他们正在 波士顿港测试

right now in Boston Harbor.

一个更大的 Emerald Tutu 样本。

This is a new design for the chungus.

这是针对生物质的一个新设计。

So it's not a bag of biomass.

因此它不是一袋简单的生物质。

It's a kind of snail-shaped woven biomass mat.

它是一种形似蜗牛的 生物质织垫。

You can see the grass growing on top of it.

你可以看到 最上层的部位长着草。

They call this the “cinnamon roll.”

他们称之为 “肉桂卷”。

And they're not the only group that's exploring this idea

而且，他们并不是唯一一个 研究团队在探索这种

of soft, green infrastructure.

软性绿色基础设施的概念。

There are groups of city planners and engineers all over the world

世界各地都有许多城市规划师 和工程师们

who are trying to bring nature into cities,

正在努力 将自然融入到城市中，

kind of creating like a plug-and-play ecosystem

就像建立 一个即插即用的生态系统

or an instant wetland.

或是临时湿地一样。

And the Emerald Tutu team could not have gotten there without goblincore.

如果没有哈比系的概念支撑 Emerald Tutu 的研究团队无法走到这一步。

So this is a weird but crucial lesson to keep in mind,

所以这是一条有些奇怪 但必须牢记的至关重要的经验，

because changing the world doesn't start

因为改变世界的开始并不是

the moment that you break ground on a new infrastructure project

一个新的基础设施项目 动工的那一刻，

or put resources toward building a better train.

又或是投入资源 修建更好的列车的那一刻。

It starts with a fantasy.

它的出发点是一个幻想。

It starts with imagining another world

从构想另一个世界开始，

and believing that things don't have to be the way that they are now.

相信事物不一定是 它们现在的样子。

So the next time you're reading about sentient flying trains

所以下次当你读到书里 出现有知觉的飞行列车，

or watching a movie about wizards on other planets

或者看到电影 有来自其他星球的巫师，

or enjoying whatever kind of escapist stories give you happiness,

或者品味任何能带给你 快乐的逃避现实的故事，

hold that sense of infinite possibility in mind

记住那种 有无限可能的感觉，

and put it into practice in your life.

并将其付诸实践。

Find a community that you can reach out to and provide help or resources.

找一个你能联系到 并能提供帮助和资源的社群。

Get involved in a local project in your city

参与到 你的城市正在举行的项目，

to mitigate the effects of climate change.

助力减轻气候变化的影响。

Because remember, sometimes we have to escape from our problems

因为请记住，有时候 我们只有逃避问题

in order to solve them.

才能解决问题。

Thank you.

谢谢大家。

(Applause)

（掌声）