聽力課堂TED音頻欄目主要包括TED演講的音頻MP3及中英雙語文稿,供各位英語愛好者學習使用。本文主要內(nèi)容為演講MP3+雙語文稿:內(nèi)向性格的力量,希望你會喜歡!
【演講人】:哈佛學者 蘇珊·凱恩
【演講主題】《內(nèi)向性格的力量》
在社交和外向性格備受推崇的文化中,內(nèi)向的人常常遭遇尷尬,甚至被迫感到羞恥。但根據(jù)統(tǒng)計全世界每兩到三個人中,就有一個是內(nèi)向的。SusanCain用自身成長經(jīng)歷告訴大家,內(nèi)向并不是害羞,更不是軟弱。只要給予內(nèi)向的人適當?shù)淖鹬睾凸膭睿麄儗l(fā)揮無限潛力。
【中英文字幕】翻譯者:TIANHANG HU校對者:AiHack King
當我九歲的時候我第一次去參加夏令營我媽媽幫我整理好了我的行李箱里面塞滿了書這對于我來說是一件極為自然的事情因為在我的家庭里閱讀是主要的家庭活動聽上去你們可能覺得我們是不愛交際的但是對于我的家庭來說這真的只是接觸社會的另一種途徑你們有自己家庭接觸時的溫暖親情家人靜坐在你身邊但是你也可以自由地漫游在你思維深處的冒險樂園里我有一個想法野營會變得像這樣子,當然要更好些(笑聲)我想象到十個女孩坐在一個小屋里都穿著合身的女式睡衣愜意地享受著讀書的過程 When I was nine years old,I went off to summer camp for the first time.And my mother packed me a suitcase full of books,which to me seemed like a perfectly natural thing to do.Because in my family, reading was the primary group activity.And this might sound antisocial to you,but for us it was really just a different way of being social.You have the animal warmth of your family sitting right next to you,but you are also free to go roaming around the adventurelandinside your own mind.And I had this ideathat camp was going to be just like this, but better. 00:43 (笑聲) 00:45 野營這時更像是一個不提供酒水的派對聚會在第一天的時候呢我們的顧問把我們都集合在一起并且她教會了我們一種今后要用到的慶祝方式在余下夏令營的每一天中讓“露營精神”浸潤我們之后它就像這樣繼續(xù)著R-O-W-D-I-E這是我們拼寫“吵鬧"的口號我們唱著“噪音,喧鬧,我們要變得吵一點”對,就是這樣可我就是弄不明白我的生活會是什么樣的為什么我們變得這么吵鬧粗暴或者為什么我們非要把這個單詞錯誤地拼寫(笑聲)但是我可沒有忘記慶祝。我與每個人都互相歡呼慶祝了我盡了我最大的努力我只是想等待那一刻我可以離開吵鬧的聚會去捧起我摯愛的書 Camp was more like a keg party without any alcohol.And on the very first day,our counselor gathered us all togetherand she taught us a cheer that she said we would be doingevery day for the rest of the summer to instill camp spirit.And it went like this:"R-O-W-D-I-E,that's the way we spell rowdie.Rowdie, rowdie, let's get rowdie." 01:35 但是當我第一次把書從行李箱中拿出來的時候床鋪中最酷的那個女孩向我走了過來并且她問我:“為什么你要這么安靜?”安靜,當然,是R-O-W-D-I-E的反義詞“喧鬧”的反義詞而當我第二次拿書的時候我們的顧問滿臉憂慮的向我走了過來接著她重復了關于“露營精神”的要點并且說我們都應當努力去變得外向些 But the first time that I took my book out of my suitcase,the coolest girl in the bunk came up to meand she asked me, "Why are you being so mellow?" --mellow, of course, being the exact oppositeof R-O-W-D-I-E.And then the second time I tried it,the counselor came up to me with a concerned expression on her faceand she repeated the point about camp spiritand said we should all work very hard to be outgoing. 01:57 于是我放好我的書放回了屬于它們的行李箱中并且我把它們放到了床底下在那里它們度過了暑假余下的每一天我對這樣做感到很愧疚不知為什么我感覺這些書是需要我的它們在呼喚我,但是我卻放棄了它們我確實放下了它們,并且我再也沒有打開那個箱子直到我和我的家人一起回到家中在夏末的時候 And so I put my books away,back in their suitcase,and I put them under my bed,and there they stayed for the rest of the summer.And I felt kind of guilty about this.I felt as if the books needed me somehow,and they were calling out to me and I was forsaking them.But I did forsake them and I didn't open that suitcase againuntil I was back home with my family at the end of the summer. 02:22 現(xiàn)在,我向你們講述這個夏令營的故事我完全可以給你們講出其他50種版本就像這個一樣的故事--每當我感覺到這樣的時候它告訴我出于某種原因,我的寧靜和內(nèi)向的風格并不是正確道路上的必需品我應該更多地嘗試一個外向者的角色而在我內(nèi)心深處感覺得到,這是錯誤的內(nèi)向的人們都是非常優(yōu)秀的,確實是這樣但是許多年來我都否認了這種直覺于是我首先成為了華爾街的一名律師而不是我長久以來想要成為的一名作家一部分原因是因為我想要證明自己也可以變得勇敢而堅定并且我總是去那些擁擠的酒吧當我只是想要和朋友們吃一頓愉快的晚餐時我做出了這些自我否認的抉擇如條件反射一般甚至我都不清楚我做出了這些決定 Now, I tell you this story about summer camp.I could have told you 50 others just like it --all the times that I got the messagethat somehow my quiet and introverted style of beingwas not necessarily the right way to go,that I should be trying to pass as more of an extrovert.And I always sensed deep down that this was wrongand that introverts were pretty excellent just as they were.But for years I denied this intuition,and so I became a Wall Street lawyer, of all things,instead of the writer that I had always longed to be --partly because I needed to prove to myself that I could be bold and assertive too.And I was always going off to crowded barswhen I really would have preferred to just have a nice dinner with friends.And I made these self-negating choices so reflexively,that I wasn't even aware that I was making them. 03:10 這就是很多內(nèi)向的人正在做的事情這當然是我們的損失但這同樣也是同事們的損失我們所在團隊集體的損失當然,冒著被指為夸大其詞的風險我想說,更是世界的損失因為當涉及創(chuàng)造和領導的時候我們需要內(nèi)向的人做到最好三分之一到二分之一的人都是內(nèi)向的--三分之一到二分之一你要知道這可意味著每兩到三個人中就有一個內(nèi)向的所以即使你自己是一個外向的人我正在說你的同事和你的配偶和你的孩子還有現(xiàn)在正坐在你旁邊的那個家伙--他們都要屈從于這樣的偏見一種在我們的社會中已經(jīng)扎根的現(xiàn)實偏見我們從很小的時候就把它藏在內(nèi)心最深處甚至都不說幾句話,關于我們正在做的事情 Now this is what many introverts do,and it's our loss for sure,but it is also our colleagues' lossand our communities' loss.And at the risk of sounding grandiose, it is the world's loss.Because when it comes to creativity and to leadership,we need introverts doing what they do best.A third to a half of the population are introverts --a third to a half.So that's one out of every two or three people you know.So even if you're an extrovert yourself,I'm talking about your coworkersand your spouses and your childrenand the person sitting next to you right now --all of them subject to this biasthat is pretty deep and real in our society.We all internalize it from a very early agewithout even having a language for what we're doing. 03:54 現(xiàn)在讓我們來清楚地看待這種偏見我們需要真正了解“內(nèi)向”到底指什么它和害羞是不同的害羞是對于社會評論的恐懼內(nèi)向更多的是你怎樣對于刺激作出回應包括來自社會的刺激其實內(nèi)向的人是很渴求大量的鼓舞和激勵的反之內(nèi)向者最感覺到他們的存在這是他們精力最充足的時候,最具有能力的時候當他們存在于更安靜的,更低調的環(huán)境中并不是所有時候--這些事情都不是絕對的--但是存在于很多時候所以說,關鍵在于把我們的天賦發(fā)揮到最大化這對于我們來說就足夠把我們自己放到對于我們正確又合適的激勵的區(qū)域中去 Now, to see the bias clearly,you need to understand what introversion is.It's different from being shy.Shyness is about fear of social judgment.Introversion is more about,how do you respond to stimulation,including social stimulation.So extroverts really crave large amounts of stimulation,whereas introverts feel at their most aliveand their most switched-on and their most capablewhen they're in quieter, more low-key environments.Not all the time -- these things aren't absolute --but a lot of the time.So the key then to maximizing our talentsis for us all to put ourselvesin the zone of stimulation that is right for us. 04:32 但是現(xiàn)在偏見出現(xiàn)了我們最重要的那些體系我們的學校和工作單位它們都是為性格外向者設計的并且有適合他們需要的刺激和鼓勵當然我們現(xiàn)在也有這樣一種信用機制我稱它為新型的“團隊思考”這是一種包含所有創(chuàng)造力和生產(chǎn)力的思考方式從一個社交非常零散的地方產(chǎn)生的 But now here's where the bias comes in.Our most important institutions,our schools and our workplaces,they are designed mostly for extrovertsand for extroverts' need for lots of stimulation.And also we have this belief system right nowthat I call the new groupthink,which holds that all creativity and all productivitycomes from a very oddly gregarious place. 04:57 當你描繪今天典型教室的圖案時當我還上學的時候我們一排排地坐著我們靠著桌子一排排坐著就像這樣并且我們大多數(shù)工作都是自覺完成的但是在現(xiàn)代社會,所謂典型的教室是些圈起來并排的桌子--四個或是五個或是六、七個孩子坐在一起,面對面孩子們要完成無數(shù)個小組任務甚至像數(shù)學和創(chuàng)意寫作這些課程這些你們認為需要依靠個人閃光想法的課程孩子們現(xiàn)在卻被期待成為小組會的成員對于那些喜歡獨處,或者自己一個人工作的孩子來說這些孩子常常被視為局外人或者更糟,被視為問題孩子并且很大一部分老師的報告中都相信最理想的學生應該是外向的相對于內(nèi)向的學生而言甚至說外向的學生能夠取得更好的成績更加博學多識據(jù)研究報道(笑聲) So if you picture the typical classroom nowadays:When I was going to school, we sat in rows.We sat in rows of desks like this,and we did most of our work pretty autonomously.But nowadays, your typical classroom has pods of desks --four or five or six or seven kids all facing each other.And kids are working in countless group assignments.Even in subjects like math and creative writing,which you think would depend on solo flights of thought,kids are now expected to act as committee members.And for the kids who prefer to go off by themselves or just to work alone,those kids are seen as outliers oftenor, worse, as problem cases.And the vast majority of teachersreports believing that the ideal student is an extrovertas opposed to an introvert,even though introverts actually get better gradesand are more knowledgeable,according to research. 05:51 好了。同樣的事情也發(fā)生在我們工作的地方現(xiàn)在呢,我們中的絕大多數(shù)都工作在寬闊沒有隔間的辦公室里甚至沒有墻在這里,我們暴露在不斷的噪音和我們同事的凝視目光下工作而當談及領袖氣質的時候內(nèi)向的人總是按照慣例從領導的位置被忽視了盡管內(nèi)向的人是非常小心仔細的很少去冒特大的風險--這些風險是今天我們可能都喜歡的賓夕法尼亞大學沃頓商學院的亞當·格蘭特教授做了一項很有意思的研究這項研究表明內(nèi)向的領導們相對于外向領導而言總是會生產(chǎn)更大的效益因為當他們管理主動積極的雇員的時候他們更傾向于讓有主見的雇員去自由發(fā)揮反之外向的領導就可能,當然是不經(jīng)意的對于事情變得十分激動他們在事務上有了自己想法的印跡這使其他人的想法可能就不會很容易地在舞臺上發(fā)光了 Okay, same thing is true in our workplaces.Now, most of us work in open plan offices,without walls,where we are subject to the constant noise and gaze of our coworkers.And when it comes to leadership,introverts are routinely passed over for leadership positions,even though introverts tend to be very careful,much less likely to take outsize risks --which is something we might all favor nowadays.And interesting research by Adam Grant at the Wharton Schoolhas found that introverted leadersoften deliver better outcomes than extroverts do,because when they are managing proactive employees,they're much more likely to let those employees run with their ideas,whereas an extrovert can, quite unwittingly,get so excited about thingsthat they're putting their own stamp on things,and other people's ideas might not as easily then bubble up to the surface. 06:39 事實上,歷史上一些有改革能力的領袖都是內(nèi)向的人我會舉一些例子給你們埃莉諾·羅斯福,羅沙·帕克斯,甘地 --所有這些人都把自己描述成內(nèi)向,說話溫柔甚至是害羞的人他們?nèi)匀徽驹诹司酃鉄粝录词顾麄儨喩砩舷露几兄麄冋f不要這證明是一種屬于它自身的特殊的力量因為人們都會感覺這些領導者同時是掌舵者并不是因為他們喜歡指揮別人抑或是享受眾人目光的聚焦他們處在那個位置因為他們沒有選擇因為他們行駛在他們認為正確的道路上 Now in fact, some of our transformative leaders in history have been introverts.I'll give you some examples.Eleanor Roosevelt, Rosa Parks, Gandhi --all these people described themselves as quiet and soft-spoken and even shy.And they all took the spotlight,even though every bone in their bodies was telling them not to.And this turns out to have a special power all its own,because people could feel that these leaders were at the helmnot because they enjoyed directing othersand not out of the pleasure of being looked at;they were there because they had no choice,because they were driven to do what they thought was right. 07:14 現(xiàn)在我覺得對于這點我有必要說那就是我真的喜愛外向的人我總是喜歡說我最好的幾個朋友都是外向的人包括我親愛的丈夫當然了我們都會在不同點時偏向內(nèi)向者/外向者的范圍甚至是卡爾·榮格,這個讓這些名詞為大眾所熟知的心理學家,說道世上絕沒有一個純粹的內(nèi)向的人或者一個純粹的外向的人他說這樣的人會在精神病院里如果他存在的話還有一些人處在中間的跡象在內(nèi)向與外向之間我們稱這些人為“中向性格者”并且我總是認為他們擁有世界最美好的一切但是我們中的大多數(shù)總是認為自己屬于內(nèi)向或者外向,其中一類 Now I think at this point it's important for me to saythat I actually love extroverts.I always like to say some of my best friends are extroverts,including my beloved husband.And we all fall at different points, of course,along the introvert/extrovert spectrum.Even Carl Jung, the psychologist who first popularized these terms,said that there's no such thing as a pure introvertor a pure extrovert.He said that such a man would be in a lunatic asylum,if he existed at all.And some people fall smack in the middle of the introvert/extrovert spectrum,and we call these people ambiverts.And I often think that they have the best of all worlds.But many of us do recognize ourselves as one type or the other. 07:57 同時我想說從文化意義上講我們需要一種更好的平衡我們需要更多的陰陽的平衡在這兩種類型的人之間這點是極為重要的當涉及創(chuàng)造力和生產(chǎn)力的時候因為當心理學家們看待最有創(chuàng)造力的人的生命的時候他們尋找到的是那些擅長變換思維的人提出想法的人但是他們同時也有著極為顯著的偏內(nèi)向的痕跡 And what I'm saying is that culturally, we need a much better balance.We need more of a yin and yang between these two types.This is especially importantwhen it comes to creativity and to productivity,because when psychologists look at the lives of the most creative people,what they findare people who are very good at exchanging ideasand advancing ideas,but who also have a serious streak of introversion in them. 08:21 這是因為獨處是非常關鍵的因素對于創(chuàng)造力來說所以達爾文自己一個人漫步在小樹林里并且斷然拒絕了晚餐派對的邀約西奧多·蓋索,更多時候以蘇索博士的名號知名他夢想過很多的驚人的創(chuàng)作在他在加利福尼亞州拉霍亞市房子的后面的一座孤獨的束層的塔形辦公室中而且其實他很害怕見面見那些讀過他的書的年輕的孩子們害怕他們會期待他這樣一位令人愉快的,圣誕老人形象的人物同時又會因發(fā)現(xiàn)他含蓄緘默的性格而失望史蒂夫·沃茲尼亞克發(fā)明了第一臺蘋果電腦一個人獨自坐在他的機柜旁在他當時工作的惠普公司并且他說他永遠不會在那方面成為一號專家但他還沒因太內(nèi)向到要離開那里那個他成長起來的地方 And this is because solitudeis a crucial ingredient often to creativity.So Darwin,he took long walks alone in the woodsand emphatically turned down dinner-party invitations.Theodor Geisel, better known as Dr. Seuss,he dreamed up many of his amazing creationsin a lonely bell tower office that he hadin the back of his house in La Jolla, California.And he was actually afraid to meet the young children who read his booksfor fear that they were expecting him this kind of jolly Santa Claus-like figureand would be disappointed with his more reserved persona.Steve Wozniak invented the first Apple computersitting alone in his cubicle in Hewlett-Packardwhere he was working at the time.And he says that he never would have become such an expert in the first placehad he not been too introverted to leave the housewhen he was growing up. 09:08 當然了這并不意味著我們都應該停止合作--恰當?shù)睦幽兀鞘返俜颉の制澞醽喛撕褪返俜颉滩妓沟闹?lián)手創(chuàng)建蘋果電腦公司--但是這并不意味著和獨處有重大關系并且對于一些人來說這是他們賴以呼吸生存的空氣事實上,幾個世紀以來我們已經(jīng)非常明白獨處的卓越力量只是到了最近,非常奇怪,我們開始遺忘它了如果你看看世界上主要的宗教你會發(fā)現(xiàn)探尋者--摩西,耶穌,佛祖,穆罕默德 --那些獨身去探尋的人們在大自然的曠野中獨處,思索在那里,他們有了深刻的頓悟和對于奧義的揭示之后他們把這些思想帶回到社會的其他地方去沒有曠原,沒有啟示 Now, of course,this does not mean that we should all stop collaborating --and case in point, is Steve Wozniak famously coming together with Steve Jobsto start Apple Computer --but it does mean that solitude mattersand that for some people it is the air that they breathe.And in fact, we have known for centuries about the transcendent power of solitude.It's only recently that we've strangely begun to forget it.If you look at most of the world's major religions,you will find seekers --Moses, Jesus, Buddha, Muhammad --seekers who are going off by themselves alone to the wilderness,where they then have profound epiphanies and revelationsthat they then bring back to the rest of the community.So, no wilderness, no revelations. 09:57 盡管這并不令人驚訝如果你注意到現(xiàn)代心理學的思想理論它反映出來我們甚至不能和一組人待在一起而不去本能地模仿他們的意見與想法甚至是看上去私人的,發(fā)自內(nèi)心的事情像是你被誰所吸引你會開始模仿你周圍的人的信仰甚至都覺察不到你自己在做什么 This is no surprise, though,if you look at the insights of contemporary psychology.It turns out that we can't even be in a group of peoplewithout instinctively mirroring, mimicking their opinions.Even about seemingly personal and visceral thingslike who you're attracted to,you will start aping the beliefs of the people around youwithout even realizing that that's what you're doing. 10:17 還曾跟隨群體的意見跟隨著房間里最具有統(tǒng)治力的,最有領袖氣質的人的思路雖然這真的沒什么關系在成為一個卓越的演講家還是擁有最好的主意之間--我的意思是“零相關”那么...(笑聲)你們或許會跟隨有最好頭腦的人但是你們也許不會可你們真的想把這機會扔掉嗎?如果每個人都自己行動或許好得多發(fā)掘他們自己的想法沒有群體動力學的曲解接著來到一起組成一個團隊在一個良好管理的環(huán)境中互相交流并且在那里學習別的思想 And groups famously follow the opinionsof the most dominant or charismatic person in the room,even though there's zero correlationbetween being the best talker and having the best ideas --I mean zero.So -- 10:54 如果說現(xiàn)在這一切都是真的那么為什么我們還得到這樣錯誤的結論?為什么我們要這樣創(chuàng)立我們的學校,還有我們的工作單位?為什么我們要讓這些內(nèi)向的人覺得那么愧疚對于他們只是想要離開,一個人獨處一段時間的事實?有一個答案在我們的文化史中埋藏已久西方社會特別是在美國總是偏愛有行動的人而不是有深刻思考的人有深刻思考的“人”但是在美國早期的時候我們生活在一個被歷史學家稱作“性格特征”的文化那時我們?nèi)匀?,在這點上,判斷人們的價值從人們的內(nèi)涵和道義正直而且如果你看一看這個時代關于自立的書籍的話它們都有這樣一種標題:“性格”,世界上最偉大的事物并且它們以亞伯拉罕·林肯這樣的為標榜一個被形容為謙虛低調的男人拉爾夫·瓦爾多·愛默生稱他是“一個以‘優(yōu)越’二字形容都不為過的人” Now if all this is true,then why are we getting it so wrong?Why are we setting up our schools this way, and our workplaces?And why are we making these introverts feel so guiltyabout wanting to just go off by themselves some of the time?One answer lies deep in our cultural history.Western societies,and in particular the U.S.,have always favored the man of action over the "man" of contemplation.But in America's early days,we lived in what historians call a culture of character,where we still, at that point, valued peoplefor their inner selves and their moral rectitude.And if you look at the self-help books from this era,they all had titles with things like"Character, the Grandest Thing in the World."And they featured role models like Abraham Lincoln,who was praised for being modest and unassuming.Ralph Waldo Emerson called him"A man who does not offend by superiority." 11:50 但是接著我們來到了二十世紀并且我們?nèi)谌肓艘环N新的文化一種被歷史學家稱作“個性”的文化所發(fā)生的改變就是我們從農(nóng)業(yè)經(jīng)濟發(fā)展為一個大商業(yè)經(jīng)濟的世界而且人們突然開始搬遷從小的城鎮(zhèn)搬向城市并且一改他們之前的在生活中和所熟識的人們一起工作的方式現(xiàn)在他們在一群陌生人中間有必要去證明自己這樣做是非常可以理解的像領袖氣質和個人魅力這樣的品質突然間似乎變得極為重要那么可以肯定的是,自助自立的書的內(nèi)容變更了以適應這些新的需求并且它們開始擁有名稱像是《如何贏得朋友和影響他人》(戴爾?卡耐基所著《人性的弱點》)他們的特點是做自己的榜樣不得不說確實是好的推銷員所以這就是我們今天生活的世界這是我們的文化遺產(chǎn) But then we hit the 20th century,and we entered a new culturethat historians call the culture of personality.What happened is we had evolved an agricultural economyto a world of big business.And so suddenly people are moving from small towns to the cities.And instead of working alongside people they've known all their lives,now they are having to prove themselves in a crowd of strangers.So, quite understandably,qualities like magnetism and charisma suddenly come to seem really important.And sure enough, the self-help books change to meet these new needsand they start to have nameslike "How to Win Friends and Influence People."And they feature as their role models really great salesmen.So that's the world we're living in today.That's our cultural inheritance. 12:36 現(xiàn)在沒有誰能夠說社交技能是不重要的并且我也不是想呼吁大家廢除團隊合作模式但仍是相同的宗教,卻把他們的圣人送到了孤獨的山頂上仍然教導我們愛與信任還有我們今天所要面對的問題像是在科學和經(jīng)濟領域是如此的巨大和復雜以至于我們需要人們強有力地團結起來共同解決這些問題但是我想說,越給內(nèi)向者自由讓他們做自己他們就做得越好去想出他們獨特的關于問題的解決辦法 Now none of this is to say that social skills are unimportant,and I'm also not calling for the abolishing of teamwork at all.The same religions who send their sages off to lonely mountain topsalso teach us love and trust.And the problems that we are facing todayin fields like science and in economicsare so vast and so complexthat we are going to need armies of people coming togetherto solve them working together.But I am saying that the more freedom that we give introverts to be themselves,the more likely that they areto come up with their own unique solutions to these problems.