John Bohannon: Dance vs. powerpoint, a modest proposal

譯者: Joan Liu 審譯者: Jephian Lin

(Music)

（音樂）

Good afternoon.

午安。

As you're all aware, we face difficult economic times.

你們都知道，我們面對著艱難的經濟時代。

I come to you with a modest proposal

我來這裡提出一個謙卑的建議

for easing the financial burden.

來減輕財政負擔。

This idea came to me while talking to

這個想法是在我和一位麻省理工學院

a physicist friend of mine at MIT.

的物理學家朋友聊天時產生的。

He was struggling to explain something to me:

他正在竭力向我解釋

a beautiful experiment that uses lasers to cool down matter.

一個美麗的實驗：利用鐳射冷卻物質。

Now he confused me from the very start,

他從一開始就把我弄糊塗了，

because light doesn't cool things down.

因為光不會降溫。

It makes it hotter. It's happening right now.

光會加熱。像是現在。

The reason that you can see me standing here is because

你可以看到我站在這裡的原因 是因為

this room is filled with more than 100 quintillion photons,

這個房間裡充滿了超過一萬兆顆光子，

and they're moving randomly through the space, near the speed of light.

它們在空間中以接近光速隨機移動。

All of them are different colors,

它們是不同顏色的，

they're rippling with different frequencies,

他們有不同的頻率，

and they're bouncing off every surface, including me,

且他們在各個表面間反彈，包括我在內，

and some of those are flying directly into your eyes,

其中一些會直接進入你的眼睛，

and that's why your brain is forming an image of me standing here.

這就是為什麼你的大腦 形成我站在這裡的圖像。

Now a laser is different.

鐳射是不一樣的。

It also uses photons, but they're all synchronized,

它也使用光子，但它們是同步的，

and if you focus them into a beam,

且如果你把它們集中成一束，

what you have is an incredibly useful tool.

你就有個非常有用的工具。

The control of a laser is so precise

鐳射可以非常精確地被控制，

that you can perform surgery inside of an eye,

讓你可以執行眼內手術，

you can use it to store massive amounts of data,

你可以使用它來存儲大量的資料，

and you can use it for this beautiful experiment

你也可以使用它做這個

that my friend was struggling to explain.

我的朋友正在竭力解釋的美麗實驗。

First you trap atoms in a special bottle.

首先你將原子捕捉在特別的瓶子當中。

It uses electromagnetic fields to isolate the atoms

它使用電磁場來孤立原子

from the noise of the environment.

及環境中的雜訊。

And the atoms themselves are quite violent,

原子本身是相當暴力的，

but if you fire lasers that are precisely tuned to the right frequency,

但如果你非常精確地 調整到合適的頻率，

an atom will briefly absorb those photons

原子會暫時吸收這些光子

and tend to slow down.

而且往往會慢下來。

Little by little it gets colder

慢慢地它會變冷

until eventually it approaches absolute zero.

直到最終接近絕對零度。

Now if you use the right kind of atoms and you get them cold enough,

現在，如果你使用合適的原子且讓它們夠冷，

something truly bizarre happens.

非常奇怪的事情會發生。

It's no longer a solid, a liquid or a gas.

它不再是固體、 液體或氣體。

It enters a new state of matter called a superfluid.

它進入一個叫作超流體的新狀態。

The atoms lose their individual identity,

原子失去了他們原來的特質，

and the rules from the quantum world take over,

接著量子世界的規則接管它們，

and that's what gives superfluids such spooky properties.

這是賦予超流體怪異特質的原因。

For example, if you shine light through a superfluid,

例如，如果你將光線通過超流體，

it is able to slow photons down

它可以減緩光子速度

to 60 kilometers per hour.

到每小時 60 公里。

Another spooky property is that it flows

另一個怪異的特質是它

with absolutely no viscosity or friction,

以一種完全沒有粘度及摩擦的方式流動，

so if you were to take the lid off that bottle,

所以，如果你把瓶子的蓋子拿走，

it won't stay inside.

它不會留在裡面。

A thin film will creep up the inside wall,

一層薄膜會爬上牆內側，

flow over the top and right out the outside.

流到上面並流到外面。

Now of course, the moment that it does hit the outside environment,

現在很顯然的，當它到外部環境的時候，

and its temperature rises by even a fraction of a degree,

它的溫度僅僅上升一點點，

it immediately turns back into normal matter.

它馬上變回正常的物質。

Superfluids are one of the most fragile things we've ever discovered.

超流體是我們迄今發現最脆弱的東西之一。

And this is the great pleasure of science:

這是科學的極大樂趣：

the defeat of our intuition through experimentation.

我們透過實驗發現我們的直覺是不成立的。

But the experiment is not the end of the story,

但實驗不是這故事的結尾，

because you still have to transmit that knowledge to other people.

因為你仍然要將知識傳給其它人。

I have a Ph.D in molecular biology.

我有個分子生物學的博士學位。

I still barely understand what most scientists are talking about.

我仍只能勉強明白大多數科學家正在談論的東西。

So as my friend was trying to explain that experiment,

所以，當我的朋友試著解釋這個實驗時，

it seemed like the more he said,

感覺起來像他說得越多，

the less I understood.

我懂得越少。

Because if you're trying to give someone the big picture

因為如果你想給某人 一個複雜概念的大架構，

of a complex idea, to really capture its essence,

要真正捕捉其本質，

the fewer words you use, the better.

那麼用越少字越好。

In fact, the ideal may be to use no words at all.

事實上，最理想的是根本不用字。

I remember thinking, my friend could have explained

我記得當時在想，我的朋友能夠

that entire experiment with a dance.

用舞蹈解釋整個實驗。

Of course, there never seem to be any dancers around when you need them.

當然，當你需要舞者的時候身邊總是沒有舞者。

Now, the idea is not as crazy as it sounds.

這個想法沒有聽起來這麼瘋狂。

I started a contest four years ago called Dance Your Ph.D.

我四年前開始一個叫作「舞出你的博士」的比賽。

Instead of explaining their research with words,

科學家用舞蹈而不是文字，

scientists have to explain it with dance.

來解釋它的研究。

Now surprisingly, it seems to work.

意想不到的是，似乎是辦得到的。

Dance really can make science easier to understand.

舞蹈真的可以讓科學更容易理解。

But don't take my word for it.

但不要直接相信我的話。

Go on the Internet and search for "Dance Your Ph.D."

到網路上搜索「舞出你的博士」。

There are hundreds of dancing scientists waiting for you.

有數以百計的舞蹈科學家們在等著你。

The most surprising thing that I've learned while running this contest

我在辦這個比賽時最令我驚訝的是

is that some scientists are now working directly with dancers on their research.

有些科學家現在正直接與舞者們作研究。

For example, at the University of Minnesota,

例如，在明尼蘇達大學

there's a biomedical engineer named David Odde,

有位叫 David Odde 的生物醫學工程師，

and he works with dancers to study how cells move.

和舞者合作研究細胞的移動方式。

They do it by changing their shape.

他們透過改變形狀來這麼做。

When a chemical signal washes up on one side,

當一個化學信號從一側出現，

it triggers the cell to expand its shape on that side,

它會在那一側引發一系列的形狀改變，

because the cell is constantly touching and tugging at the environment.

因為細胞是不斷與環境互動的。

So that allows cells to ooze along in the right directions.

這使細胞可以沿著正確的方向滲出。

But what seems so slow and graceful from the outside

但從外面看來如此緩慢和優雅的事情，

is really more like chaos inside,

在裡面可是非常混沌的，

because cells control their shape with a skeleton of rigid protein fibers,

因為細胞用硬質蛋白纖維骨架來維持其形狀，

and those fibers are constantly falling apart.

且這些纖維組織不斷地解散。

But just as quickly as they explode,

但正當它們炸開的時候，

more proteins attach to the ends and grow them longer,

更多蛋白質連接到尾端並將其增長，

so it's constantly changing

所以它不斷地在變化

just to remain exactly the same.

才能維持原狀。

Now, David builds mathematical models of this and then he tests those in the lab,

David 建立數學模型，然後在實驗室測試，

but before he does that, he works with dancers

但在他測試之前，他與舞者們合作

to figure out what kinds of models to build in the first place.

來建造這些模型。

It's basically efficient brainstorming,

基本上這是有效的集思廣益，

and when I visited David to learn about his research,

且當我訪問 David 來了解他的研究時，

he used dancers to explain it to me

他用舞蹈來給我解釋

rather than the usual method: PowerPoint.

而不是用常用的方法：PowerPoint。

And this brings me to my modest proposal.

這就回到我謙卑的建議。

I think that bad PowerPoint presentations

我認為不好的 PowerPoint 演講

are a serious threat to the global economy.

是對全球經濟的嚴重威脅。

(Laughter) (Applause)

（笑聲）（掌聲）

Now it does depend on how you measure it, of course,

當然這要看你如何衡量它，

but one estimate has put the drain at 250 million dollars per day.

但一項估計每天損失約 2 億 5000 萬美金。

Now that assumes half-hour presentations

那是假定半小時的演講，

for an average audience of four people

觀眾約四人，

with salaries of 35,000 dollars,

每人薪水 35,000 美元，

and it conservatively assumes that

且它保守估計

about a quarter of the presentations are a complete waste of time,

約有四分之一的演講是完全浪費時間的，

and given that there are some apparently

有鑒於一天大約有

30 million PowerPoint presentations created every day,

3 千萬個 PowerPoint 演講產生，

that would indeed add up to an annual waste

這樣會累積成每年

of 100 billion dollars.

一千億美金的損失。

Of course, that's just the time we're losing

當然，這只是我們聽演講

sitting through presentations.

所浪費的時間。

There are other costs, because PowerPoint is a tool,

還有其他費用，因為 PowerPoint 是一個工具，

and like any tool, it can and will be abused.

就像任何其它工具，它可以被濫用。

To borrow a concept from my country's CIA,

借用我國中央情報局的概念，

it helps you to soften up your audience.

它可以幫你讓聽眾放鬆。

It distracts them with pretty pictures, irrelevant data.

它用漂亮的圖片和無關的資料來分散注意力，

It allows you to create the illusion of competence,

它創造一個完整的幻象、

the illusion of simplicity,

一個簡易的假像，

and most destructively, the illusion of understanding.

更糟的是建造一個認知的錯覺。

So now my country is 15 trillion dollars in debt.

所以現在我的國家有 15 兆美元的債務。

Our leaders are working tirelessly to try and find ways to save money.

我們的領導人努力地尋找省錢的方法。

One idea is to drastically reduce public support for the arts.

其中一個是大量減少藝術的支援。

For example, our National Endowment for the Arts,

例如，國家藝術基金會有

with its $150 million budget,

一億五千萬元的預算，

slashing that program would immediately reduce the national debt

砍掉這個預算可以馬上減少國家債務

by about one one-thousandth of a percent.

的千分之一個百分比。

One certainly can't argue with those numbers.

這當然是個不爭的事實。

However, once we eliminate public funding for the arts,

然而，一旦我們移除藝術發展的公共資金，

there will be some drawbacks.

會有一些缺點。

The artists on the street will swell the ranks of the unemployed.

街上的藝術家會大幅增加失業人口。

Many will turn to drug abuse and prostitution,

大部份會轉去吸毒和賣淫，

and that will inevitably lower property values in urban neighborhoods.

無法避免地，土地價值將降低。

All of this could wipe out the savings we're hoping to make in the first place.

這一切可能花去我們原本想要的儲蓄金。

I shall now, therefore, humbly propose my own thoughts,

所以我現在要謙卑地提出我的想法，

which I hope will not be liable to the least objection.

希望不會有任何反對。

Once we eliminate public funding for the artists,

當我們移除藝術家的公共資金時，

let's put them back to work

我們讓他們重新投入工作，

by using them instead of PowerPoint.

就是使用他們而不用 PowerPoint。

As a test case, I propose we start with American dancers.

作為測試案例，我提議我們從用美國的舞者開始。

After all, they are the most perishable of their kind,

畢竟，他們是同類中最容易凋零的，

prone to injury and very slow to heal

容易受傷且 由於我們的衛生保健制度

due to our health care system.

傷勢癒合緩慢。

Rather than dancing our Ph.Ds,

不只是跳我們的博士研究，

we should use dance to explain all of our complex problems.

我們應該用舞蹈來解釋所有我們複雜的問題。

Imagine our politicians using dance

想像一下我們的政治家用舞蹈

to explain why we must invade a foreign country

來解釋為什麼我們必須侵入外國

or bail out an investment bank.

或紓困一家投資銀行。

It's sure to help.

這一定有幫助的。

Of course someday, in the deep future,

當然很久後的某一天，

a technology of persuasion

一種比 PowerPoint 更強大地說服技術

even more powerful than PowerPoint may be invented,

可能會被發明，

rendering dancers unnecessary as tools of rhetoric.

讓舞者不再被需要用作為演講工具。

However, I trust that by that day,

不過，我相信當那天到來時，

we shall have passed this present financial calamity.

我們應該已經過了現在的金融風暴。

Perhaps by then we will be able to afford the luxury

或許那時後我們能夠奢侈地

of just sitting in an audience

只坐在觀眾席、

with no other purpose

沒有其他目的地

than to witness the human form in motion.

欣賞人體運動。

(Music)

（音樂）

(Applause)

（掌聲）