What adults can learn from kids | Adora Svitak

譯者: Kate Hsu 審譯者: Bu-sheng Lin

Now, I want to start with a question:

我想要用一個問題來開場：

When was the last time you were called "childish"?

你上次被人家說「幼稚」是什麼時候？

For kids like me,

我們小孩

being called childish can be a frequent occurrence.

常被別人說「幼稚」

Every time we make irrational demands,

我們只要有不合理的要求

exhibit irresponsible behavior,

做事不負責任

or display any other signs of being normal American citizens,

或不過做些

一般美國人都會做的事

we are called childish.

我們就被別人說「幼稚」

我真的不喜歡這樣

Which really bothers me.

After all, take a look at these events:

畢竟看看以下這些例子

Imperialism and colonization,

帝國主義、殖民統治

world wars, George W. Bush.

兩次世界大戰、小布希

Ask yourself, who's responsible? Adults.

大家捫心自問，這些該怪誰？大人！

Now, what have kids done?

現在來看看孩子做了些什麼

Well, Anne Frank touched millions

女孩安妮寫下憾動人心的日記

with her powerful account of the Holocaust.

呈現猶太人遭屠殺的歷史

Ruby Bridges helped to end segregation in the United States.

黑人小女孩露比促進美國族群融合

And, most recently,

還有最近

Charlie Simpson helped to raise 120,000 pounds for Haiti,

英國小男孩查理幫海地募到

十二萬英鎊

on his little bike.

他只靠騎著小腳踏車就辦到了

So as you can see evidenced by such examples,

所以, 從這些例子可以看出

age has absolutely nothing to do with it.

年紀小根本不成問題

The traits the word "childish" addresses are seen so often in adults,

所謂的「幼稚」

太常在大人身上看到了

that we should abolish this age-discriminatory word,

所以我們不該再用這個歧視年齡的字眼

when it comes to criticizing behavior associated with irresponsibility

不應該用它來批評那些

不負責任和非理性思考的行為

and irrational thinking.

（觀眾鼓掌）

(Applause)

Thank you.

謝謝

Then again, who's to say that certain types of irrational thinking

還有

誰說非理性思考

aren't exactly what the world needs?

一定不會為世界所需呢？

Maybe you've had grand plans before,

也許你們也曾有過遠大的夢想

but stopped yourself, thinking,

卻裹足不前

"That's impossible," or "That costs too much,"

心想「不可能啦」或是「要花很多錢」

or "That won't benefit me."

或是「這對我沒好處」

For better or worse, we kids aren't hampered as much

無論如何，我們小孩比較不會被綁住

when it comes to thinking about reasons why not to do things.

比較不會找藉口逃避

Kids can be full of inspiring aspirations and hopeful thinking,

小孩有各式各樣的志向

和樂觀的想法

like my wish that no one went hungry,

比方說我希望世上沒有人挨餓

or that everything were free, a kind of utopia.

所有東西都免費，像烏托邦一樣

How many of you still dream like that, and believe in the possibilities?

你們有誰還抱有這樣的夢想？

有誰認為這可能成真？

Sometimes a knowledge of history and the past failures of Utopian ideals

有時候對歷史太了解

加上有美好理想落空的經驗

反而會被束縛住

can be a burden,

because you know that if everything were free,

因為你們知道如果一切都免費

then the food stocks would become depleted and scarce and lead to chaos.

那食物存量將會短缺

然後耗竭，最後造成社會失序

On the other hand, we kids still dream about perfection.

但另一方面

我們小孩還是夢想世上有「完美」存在

And that's a good thing, because in order to make anything a reality,

這樣很好

因為想要讓一件事成真

you have to dream about it first.

得要先有夢想的藍圖。

許多方面來說，小孩因為敢大膽想像

In many ways, our audacity to imagine

helps push the boundaries of possibility.

許多事從不可能變成可能

For instance, the Museum of Glass in Tacoma, Washington,

例如，華盛頓州塔柯馬的玻璃博物館

my home state -- yoohoo, Washington!

我的家鄉-- 耶--華盛頓州！

(Applause)

（觀眾鼓掌）

has a program called Kids Design Glass,

有一門課程叫做「孩童玻璃設計」

and kids draw their own ideas for glass art.

小孩用自己的想法來做玻璃藝術

The resident artist said they got some of their best ideas

駐館的藝術家就說

他們許多很棒的點子都來自這門課

from the program, because kids don't think about the limitations

因為孩子們不會為自己設限

of how hard it can be to blow glass into certain shapes,

不會去想吹玻璃塑型有多難

他們只會去想些好點子

they just think of good ideas.

Now, when you think of glass, you might think of colorful Chihuly designs,

想到玻璃

你們可能想到藝術家奇葫里多彩的設計

or maybe Italian vases,

或是義大利式花瓶

but kids challenge glass artists to go beyond that,

但小孩向玻璃藝術師下戰帖

into the realm of brokenhearted snakes

做出了超乎想像的「心碎之蛇」

and bacon boys, who you can see has meat vision.

還有「培根男孩」，注意他有「肉視」的能力喔！

（觀眾笑聲）

(Laughter)

Now, our inherent wisdom doesn't have to be insider's knowledge.

其實，所謂的智慧

不一定是指學者專家的知識

Kids already do a lot of learning from adults,

小孩已經從大人身上學到很多了

我們也有很多東西想跟大人分享

and we have a lot to share.

I think that adults should start learning from kids.

我想大人應該要開始跟小孩學習

Now, I do most of my speaking

我現在常在教育界人士面前演講

in front of an education crowd -- teachers and students,

有老師有學生，我很喜歡以下這個說法：

and I like this analogy:

It shouldn't be a teacher at the head of the class,

不該只有老師站在教室前面

告訴學生做這做那

telling students, "Do this, do that."

The students should teach their teachers.

學生也應該來教老師

大人和小孩之間

Learning between grown-ups and kids should be reciprocal.

應該彼此學習

The reality, unfortunately, is a little different,

但現實卻和理想有些差距

and it has a lot to do with trust, or a lack of it.

這和信不信任對方有關，或可說彼此缺乏信任。

Now, if you don't trust someone, you place restrictions on them, right?

如果不信任某人，就會對那個人多加限制，對吧？

If I doubt my older sister's ability to pay back the 10 percent interest

如果我覺得我姐姐還不了

向我借來的錢那10％利息

I established on her last loan,

這個我訂下的利率

I'm going to withhold her ability to get more money from me,

我就不會再借錢給她

until she pays it back.

除非她把錢還我(觀眾笑聲)

(Laughter)

True story, by the way.

對了, 這件事完全屬實。

Now, adults seem to have

大人好像

a prevalently restrictive attitude towards kids,

都喜歡管小孩

from every "Don't do that, don't do this" in the school handbook,

只要是任何違反校規的事

都不能做

to restrictions on school Internet use.

連學校上網也有限制

As history points out, regimes become oppressive

自古以來，許多政權之所以高壓統治

when they're fearful about keeping control.

是因為怕管不住人民

And although adults may not be quite at the level

雖然大人還說不上是

of totalitarian regimes,

完全的「極權」

kids have no or very little say in making the rules,

但是小孩對規定也幾乎無權過問

when really, the attitude should be reciprocal,

儘管態度應該是互相的

meaning that the adult population should learn

也就是說大人應該要學著

把小孩的願望

and take into account the wishes of the younger population.

也納入考量

Now, what's even worse than restriction,

有一件比管教更嚴重的事

is that adults often underestimate kids' abilities.

就是大人常常低估小孩的能力

We love challenges, but when expectations are low,

我們喜歡挑戰，但大人如果期望不高

我保證，我們小孩就會爛給你看

trust me, we will sink to them.

My own parents had anything but low expectations

我的爸媽從不會看輕

for me and my sister.

我和我姊

Okay, so they didn't tell us to become doctors or lawyers or anything like that,

他們沒有叫我們以後要當醫生

或是律師之類的

but my dad did read to us about Aristotle and pioneer germ-fighters,

但我爸以前會讀故事給我們聽

像是亞里斯多德的故事

和「抗菌先鋒」的故事。

when lots of other kids were hearing

相較之下，同齡小孩那時多半在聽

"The Wheels on the Bus Go Round and Round."

「哥哥爸爸真偉大」之類的

Well, we heard that one too, but "Pioneer Germ Fighters" totally rules.

其實我們也聽兒歌，但「抗菌先鋒」比較讚

（觀眾笑聲）

(Laughter)

I loved to write from the age of four, and when I was six,

打從四歲起，我就喜歡寫東西

我六歲時

my mom bought me my own laptop equipped with Microsoft Word.

媽媽就買了裝有微軟Word作業系統的筆電給我

Thank you, Bill Gates, and thank you, Ma.

要謝謝比爾蓋茲，也要謝謝老媽！

I wrote over 300 short stories on that little laptop,

我寫的三百多則短篇故事

都是用那台筆電完成

and I wanted to get published.

我後來想出書

Instead of just scoffing at this heresy that a kid wanted to get published,

我爸媽不但沒笑我

說小孩子還想出書這類的話

or saying wait until you're older,

也沒要我長大再說

my parents were really supportive.

反而很支持我

Many publishers were not quite so encouraging.

但找了很多出版社都碰壁

One large children's publisher ironically said

一家規模很大的童書出版社竟然說

that they didn't work with children.

他們不跟小孩合作

Children's publisher not working with children?

童書出版社不跟孩童合作？

I don't know, you're kind of alienating a large client there.

不知道耶，但不就失去我這棵搖錢樹了。

(Laughter)

（觀眾笑聲）

One publisher, Action Publishing, was willing to take that leap and trust me,

有一家出版社叫「行動出版社」

決定放手一搏，相信我

and to listen to what I had to say.

願意聽我的想法

They published my first book, "Flying Fingers," you see it here.

他們出版了我第一本書《飛舞的手指》，就是這本

And from there on, it's gone to speaking at hundreds of schools,

從那時起，我就受邀到上百所學校演講

keynoting to thousands of educators,

在數千個教育工作者發表演說

and finally, today, speaking to you.

也才會有今天的演講

I appreciate your attention today,

很感謝你們今天的聆聽

because to show that you truly care, you listen.

因為真正在乎的人

才懂得傾聽

But there's a problem with this rosy picture

不過問題是

of kids being so much better than adults.

小孩雖然好像比大人優秀

Kids grow up and become adults just like you.

但小孩還是會長大，不就成為像你們一樣的大人了

(Laughter)

（觀眾笑聲）

Or just like you? Really?

但真的是這樣嗎？

The goal is not to turn kids into your kind of adult,

真正的目標不是要讓小孩成為你們♫

而是要超越你們

but rather, better adults than you have been,

which may be a little challenging, considering your guys' credentials.

雖然可能有點困難

畢竟你們學經歷都滿了不起的

(Laughter)

But the way progress happens,

不過世界之所以會進步

is because new generations and new eras

就是因為新的世代、新的時代

grow and develop and become better than the previous ones.

不斷成長發展，進而比上個世代更好

It's the reason we're not in the Dark Ages anymore.

這也是為什麼我們能脫離黑暗時代

No matter your position or place in life,

不論你們現在的地位為何

it is imperative to create opportunities for children,

一定要幫孩子們創造機會

so that we can grow up to blow you away.

好讓我們長大後能打敗你們

(Laughter)

（觀眾笑聲）

Adults and fellow TEDsters,

所有大人和TED的成員

you need to listen and learn from kids,

請傾聽小孩的聲音並向小孩學習

and trust us and expect more from us.

並且相信我們，對我們期望高一點

You must lend an ear today,

你們現在得耐心傾聽

because we are the leaders of tomorrow, which means

因為未來是我們小孩作主

也就是說以後是我們要照顧你們

we're going to take care of you when you're old and senile.

不然你們老了怎麼辦，好啦開玩笑的

No, just kidding.

(Laughter)

不過，我們這個世代

No, really, we are going to be the next generation,

將會帶領這個世界前進

the ones who will bring this world forward.

And in case you don't think that this really has meaning for you,

如果還認為這不重要

remember that cloning is possible,

記得有所謂複製人的技術

and that involves going through childhood again,

你們有機會重回童年

in which case you'll want to be heard, just like my generation.

到時你們也會希望自己的聲音不被忽視

就像我們一樣

Now, the world needs opportunities for new leaders and new ideas.

現今世界各國都需要把機會

交給未來主人翁，讓他們展現新穎的想法

Kids need opportunities to lead and succeed.

小孩需要這些機會學習領導和體驗成功的滋味

Are you ready to make the match?

你們準備好把機會交給我們了嗎？

Because the world's problems shouldn't be the human family's heirloom.

因為當今世界上各種問題

應該不會是人類想留給子孫的遺產才對

Thank you.

謝謝

(Applause)

（觀眾鼓掌）

Thank you. Thank you.

謝謝大家