TED演講：兩種書呆子氣的癡迷相遇

　　Puzzles and magic. I work in what most people think are two distinct fields, but I believe they are the same. I am both a magician and a New York Times crossword puzzle constructor, which basically means I've taken the world's two nerdiest hobbies and combined them into one career. And I believe that magic and puzzles are the same because they both key into one of the most important human drives: the urge to solve. Human beings are wired to solve, to make order out of chaos.

　　猜謎游戲 和魔術(shù)。 我在這大多數(shù)人認(rèn)為是 兩個(gè)不同的領(lǐng)域空間中工作， 但我相信他們是相同的。 我既是一個(gè)魔術(shù)師 亦是紐約時(shí)報(bào)的填字游戲的設(shè)計(jì)者， 這基本上意味著我已經(jīng)拿了 世界上兩個(gè)最書呆的嗜好， 結(jié)合成一個(gè)職業(yè)。 而且我相信，魔術(shù)和謎題是相同的， 因?yàn)樗鼈兌紗l(fā)人類 最重要的驅(qū)動(dòng)力之一： 需要解決的沖動(dòng)。 人類是天生的要解決謎團(tuán)， 要撥亂反正。

　　It's certainly true for me. I've been solving my whole life. High school consisted of epic Scrabble matches in the cafeteria and not really talking to girls, and then at about that time I started learning magic tricks and definitely not talking to girls. There's nothing like starting a conversation with, "Hey, did you know that 'prestidigitation' is worth 20 points in Scrabble?" But back then, I noticed an intersection between puzzles and illusion. When you do the crossword puzzle or when you watch a magic show, you become a solver, and your goal is to try to find the order in the chaos, the chaos of, say, a black-and-white puzzle grid, a mixed-up bag of Scrabble tiles, or a shuffled pack of playing cards. And today, as a cruciverbalist — 23 points — and an illusion designer, I create that chaos. I test your ability to solve.

　　這對(duì)來(lái)我說(shuō)是千真萬(wàn)確的。 我一生都在解謎。 高中大多包括在食堂內(nèi)舉行輝煌的Scrabble拼字游戲， 而不是與女孩子說(shuō)話， 然后在大約在那時(shí)候 我開(kāi)始學(xué)習(xí)魔術(shù)， 更加絕對(duì)沒(méi)有與女孩子說(shuō)話。 沒(méi)有什么拿這當(dāng)開(kāi)場(chǎng)白, 「嘿, 你知否在拼字游戲內(nèi)『prestidigitation(變戲法) 』 是值得20分嗎?」 但當(dāng)時(shí)，我覺(jué)察到的謎題 與幻象之間的交叉點(diǎn)。 當(dāng)你做填字游戲， 或當(dāng)你看一個(gè)魔術(shù)表演， 你就成為一個(gè)解決者， 而你的目標(biāo)是要設(shè)法在混亂找到了秩序， 那混亂，比方說(shuō)，是一個(gè)黑色和白色的格子拼圖， 是一袋混亂了的拼字游戲方塊， 或一迭重洗了的撲克牌。 而在今天，作為一個(gè) cruciverbalist (字謎者)— 23分 — 和幻想設(shè)計(jì)師，我造成了混亂。 我考驗(yàn)?zāi)銈兊慕鉀Q能力。

　　Now, it turns out research tells us that solving is as primal as eating and sleeping. From birth, we are wired to solve. In one UCLA study, newborns still in the hospital were shown patterns, patterns like this: circle, cross, circle, cross. And then the pattern was changed: triangle, square. And by tracking an infant's gaze, we know that newborns as young as a day old can notice and respond to disruptions in order. It's remarkable. So from infancy through old age, the urge to solve unites us all, and I even found this photo on Instagram of pop star Katy Perry solving a crossword puzzle with her morning coffee.

　　事實(shí)證明，研究告訴我們， 解決像飲食睡眠都是原始機(jī)能。 從出生開(kāi)始，我們已經(jīng)在解決。 在一個(gè)加州大學(xué)洛杉磯分校的研究中， 給還未離院的新生兒看圖案模式， 像這樣的圖案，圓形，交叉，圓形，交叉。 然后將圖案改為：三角形，正方形。 并通過(guò)跟蹤嬰兒的目光， 我們知道，年僅一日的新生兒 已可以看到，對(duì)秩序中斷有響應(yīng)。 這是了不起的。 所以，從嬰兒期到老年， 解決的沖動(dòng)把我們團(tuán)結(jié)在一起， 我甚至在Instagram上發(fā)現(xiàn)這張 流行歌星凱蒂•佩里的照片，一邊在解決一個(gè)填字游戲 一邊享用她的早晨咖啡。

　　Like. (Laughter)

　　贊。(笑聲)

　　Now, solving exists across all cultures. The American invention is the crossword puzzle, and this year we are celebrating the 100th anniversary of the crossword puzzle, first published in The New York World. But many other cultures have their signature puzzles as well. China gives us tangrams, which would test solvers' abilities to form shapes from the jumbled pieces. Chaos. Order. Order. And order. That one's my favorite, let's hear it again. Okay. And how about this puzzle invented in 18th-century England: the jigsaw puzzle. Is this not making order out of chaos?

　　然而，所有的文化都有解決存在。 美國(guó)發(fā)明的填字游戲， 今年我們正在慶祝 填字游戲的100周年， 在紐約世界首次出版。 但許多其他文化也有其獨(dú)特的謎題。 中國(guó)給了我們七巧板， 這考驗(yàn)求解者從混亂的 形狀塑造指定形狀的能力。 秩序?；靵y。 秩序。 和秩序。 那一個(gè)是我個(gè)人的最愛(ài)，讓我們?cè)俾?tīng)一遍。 好。 看看這個(gè)發(fā)明于 18世紀(jì)英國(guó)的謎題： 拼圖。 難道這不是在撥亂反正?

　　So as you can see, we are always solving. We are always trying to decode our world. It's an eternal quest. It's just like the one Cervantes wrote about in "Don Quixote," which by the way is the root of the word "quixotry," the highest-scoring Scrabble word of all time, 365 points. But anyway, "Don Quixote" is an important book. You guys have read "Don Quixote," yes? I'm seeing some heads nod. Come on guys, really? Who's read "Don Quixote?" Let's do this. Raise your hands if you've read "Don Quixote." There we go. Smart audience. Who's read "Don Quixote?" Get them up.

　　因此，大家可以看到， 我們一直在解決。 我們一直在試圖將我們的世界解碼。 這是一個(gè)永恒的追求。 這就像塞萬(wàn)提斯在 「Don Quixote (堂吉訶德)」提及， 順便說(shuō)說(shuō)「Quixote」是單詞「quixotry」的字根， Scrabble拼字游戲最高分的字， 365分。 但無(wú)論如何，「堂吉訶德」是一本重要著作。 你們看過(guò)「堂吉訶德」, 是嗎? 我看到一些人在點(diǎn)頭。 好家伙，真的嗎? 誰(shuí)在讀過(guò)「堂吉訶德」?讓我們看看。舉起你的手，如果你讀過(guò)「堂吉訶德」。 看。聰明的觀眾。 誰(shuí)讀過(guò)「堂吉訶德」?讓他們起來(lái)。

　　Okay, good, because I need somebody smart here because now I'm going to demonstrate with the help of one of you just how deeply rooted your urge to solve is, just how wired to solve all of you really are, so I'm going to come into the audience and find somebody to help me. Let's see. Everybody's looking away all of a sudden. Can I? Would you? What is your name? Gwen. I'm not a mind reader, I can see your name tag. Come with me, Gwen. Everyone give her a round of applause, make her feel welcome. Gwen, after you. (Applause)

　　好，好，因?yàn)槲以谶@里需要有聰明人， 因?yàn)楝F(xiàn)在我要你們其中一個(gè)的幫助 來(lái)證明你們需要解決問(wèn)題的沖動(dòng) 是有多么的根深蒂固， 你們是如何天生的要解決， 所以我要進(jìn)入觀眾群內(nèi) 找人來(lái)幫助我。 讓我們來(lái)看看。 現(xiàn)在每個(gè)人都在突然望著別處。 可以嗎?你會(huì)嗎?你叫什么名字?格溫。 我不是讀心術(shù)師，我可以看到你名字的標(biāo)簽。 跟我來(lái)，格溫。大家給她掌聲，讓她感到賓至如歸。 格溫，請(qǐng)。 (掌聲)

　　Are you so excited? Did you know that your name is worth eight points in Scrabble? Okay, stand right here, Gwen, right here.

　　你是很興奮嗎? 你知道你的名字在拼字游戲 值8分嗎? 好吧，站在這里，格溫，就在這。

　　Now, Gwen, before we begin, I'd like to point out a piece of the puzzle, which is here in this envelope, and I will not go near it. Okay? And over here we have a drawing of some farm animals. You can see we have an owl, we have a horse, a donkey, a rooster, an ox, and a sheep, and then here, Gwen, we have some fancy art store markers, colors like, can you see that word right there? Gwen: Cobalt. David Kwong: Cobalt, yes. Cobalt. But we have a silver, a red, an emerald, and an amber marker, and Gwen, you are going to color this drawing just like you were five years old, one marker at a time. It's going to be a lot of fun. But I'm going to go over here. I don't want to see what you're doing. Okay, so don't start yet. Wait for me to get over here and close my eyes. Now Gwen, are you ready?

　　現(xiàn)在，格溫，在我們開(kāi)始之前， 我想指出的一塊拼圖， 就是在這里的信封內(nèi)， 我不會(huì)去接近它。好? 而在這里，我們有一些農(nóng)場(chǎng)動(dòng)物的圖畫。 你可以看到我們有一只貓頭鷹，我們有一匹馬， 一頭驢，一只公雞，一只牛和一只羊， 那么在這里，格溫，我們有一些 考究的藝術(shù)水筆， 顏色像，你能看到這個(gè)在那里的字嗎? 格溫：鈷藍(lán)。戴維：鈷藍(lán)，是的。鈷藍(lán)。 但我們有一枝銀色，紅色，翠綠色 和琥珀色的水筆， 格溫，你要為這些圖畫繪色， 就像你五歲的時(shí)候， 一次用一枝水筆。 這將會(huì)很有趣。 但我會(huì)去這里。 我不希望看到你在做什么。 好了，暫不要開(kāi)始。 等我過(guò)到這里，并閉上雙眼。 現(xiàn)在，格溫，你準(zhǔn)備好了嗎?

　　Pick up just one marker, pick up just one marker, and why don't you color in the horse for me? Color in the horse — big, big, big scribbles, broad strokes, don't worry about staying in the lines. All right. Great. And why don't you take that marker and recap it and place it on the table for me. Okay, and pick up another marker out of the cup and take off the cap and color in the donkey for me, color in the donkey. Big scribbles. Okay, cool, and re-cap that marker and place it on the table. And pick up another marker for me and take off the cap. Isn't this fun? And color in the owl for me. Color in the owl. Okay, and recap that marker and pick up another marker out of the cup and color in the rooster for me, color in the rooster. Good, good, good, good, good. Big, big, big strokes. Good, good. Pick up another marker out of the cup and color in the ox for me. Color in the ox. Okay, good. A lot of color on that, and recap, and place it on the table, and pick up another marker out of the cup. Oh, I'm out? Okay, I'm going to turn around. Did I forget? Oh, I forgot my purple marker. This is still going to work, though. I think this is still going to work, mostly.

　　只拿起一枝筆， 請(qǐng)?zhí)嫖医o馬填色好嗎? 給馬填色 — 大刀闊斧， 大大筆的上色，不用擔(dān)心要填在線內(nèi)。 好。挺好。 請(qǐng)你把筆蓋回筆套 并幫我把它放在桌子上。 好，從杯內(nèi)拿起另一枝筆, 脫掉筆蓋, 然后替我給驢填顏色。 涂抹便行。 好吧，請(qǐng)把筆蓋回筆套 并把它放在桌子上。 再拿起另一枝筆, 脫掉筆蓋。好玩嗎? 替我給貓頭鷹填顏色。 給貓頭鷹填顏色 好，蓋回筆套， 從杯內(nèi)拿起另一枝筆出來(lái) 給公雞填色。 好，好，挺好。 大大筆的。好，好。 再?gòu)谋瓋?nèi)拿起另一枝筆出來(lái) 給牛填顏色。 好了，好。 這個(gè)有很多顏色，蓋回筆套，并把它放在桌子上， 再?gòu)谋瓋?nèi)拿起另一枝筆。 哦，沒(méi)有了?好吧，我轉(zhuǎn)身了。 我忘了?哦，我忘了我紫色的筆。 這應(yīng)該仍然可行。 應(yīng)該大多仍然可行。

　　So Gwen, I'm going to hand you this envelope. Don't open it yet. Do not open it yet, but I am going to write down your choices so that everybody can see the choices that you made. Okay, great. So we have a cobalt horse, amber owl, a silver ox, yes, okay, a red donkey, and what was the emerald color? A rooster. An emerald rooster. Okay.

　　格溫，現(xiàn)在我會(huì)交這個(gè)信封給你。 先不要打開(kāi)它。先不要打開(kāi)它， 但是我現(xiàn)在要會(huì)寫下你的選擇， 使每個(gè)人都可以看到。 你所做的選擇。 好，太好了。所以我們有一匹鈷色的馬， 琥珀色的貓頭鷹， 一頭銀色的牛， 是的，好，一頭紅色的驢， 什么是翡翠色的?公雞。 翡翠色的公雞。好。

　　Now for the moment of truth, Gwen, we're going to take a look in that envelope. Why don't you open it up and remove the one piece of paper from inside and hand it to me, and we will see if it matches your choices. Yes, I think it does. We have a cobalt horse, we have a red donkey, we have an amber owl, we have an emerald rooster, a silver ox, I forgot my purple marker so we have a blank sheep, but that's a pretty amazing coincidence, don't you think? Gwen, well done. That's beautiful. (Applause) I'll take that back from you.

　　現(xiàn)在是緊張的時(shí)刻, 格溫， 我們看看信封。 請(qǐng)你打開(kāi)它， 并從里面取出一張紙 交給我， 我們會(huì)看它是否符合您的選擇。 是的，我認(rèn)為是對(duì)的。 我們有一匹鈷藍(lán)色的馬，我們有一頭紅色的驢， 我們有一只琥珀色的貓頭鷹，一只翡翠公雞，一頭銀牛， 我忘了我的紫色筆記，所以我們有一只空白的羊， 但是這是一個(gè)非常驚人的巧合，你認(rèn)為是嗎? 格溫，你做得很好。很不錯(cuò)。 (掌聲) 請(qǐng)交回給我。

　　So ladies and gentlemen, how is this possible? How is this possible? Well, could it be that Gwen's brain is so wired to solve that she decoded hidden messages? Well this is the puzzle I present to you. Could there be order in the chaos that I created? Let's take a closer look. Do you recall when I showed you these puzzle pieces? What image did it ultimately become? A cobalt horse. The plot thickens. And then we played a game of tangrams with an emerald rooster. That one's my favorite. And then we had an experiment with a silver ox. And Katy Perry drinks her morning coffee out of an amber owl. Thank you, Katy, for taking that photo for me. Oh, and there's one more, there's one more. I believe you colored a red donkey, Gwen. Ladies and gentlemen, could you raise your hands for me if you've read "Don Quixote?" Who's read "Don Quixote?" (Laughter) But wait, but wait, wait, wait, wait, there's more. There's more. Gwen, I was so confident that you were going to make these choices that I made another prediction, and I put it in an even more indelible place, and it's right here. Ladies and gentlemen, we have today's New York Times. The date is March 18th, 2014. Many of you in the first couple of rows have it underneath your seats as well. Really dig. We hid them under there. See if you can fish out the newspaper and open up to the arts section and you will find the crossword puzzle, and the crossword puzzle today was written by yours truly. You can see my name above the grid. I'm going to give this to you, Gwen, to take a look. And I will also put it up on the screen. Now let's take a look at another piece of the puzzle. If you look at the first clue for 1-across, it starts with the letter C, for corrupt, and just below that we have an O, for outfielder, and if you keep reading the first letters of the clues down, you get cobalt horse, amber owl, silver ox, red donkey, and emerald rooster. (Applause) That's pretty cool, right? It's The New York Times. But wait, wait, wait, wait. Wait. Oh, Gwen, do you recall how I forgot my purple marker, and you were unable to color the sheep? Well, if you keep reading starting with 25-down, it says, "Oh, by the way, the sheep can be left blank." (Laughter) (Applause) But wait, wait, wait, there's one more thing, there's one more thing, there's one final piece of the puzzle. Gwen, I am so grateful for your choices because if we take a look at the first letters of your combinations, we get "C-H-A-O-S" for chaos and "O-R-D-E-R" for order. That's chaos and order. We've all made order out of chaos.

　　先生女士們，這是怎么可能? 這是怎么可能呢?嗯，這可能是 格溫的大腦是如此興奮地想解決問(wèn)題 以至于她解碼了隱藏的信息? 嗯，這是我給你們的難題。 莫不是在我造成的 混亂中帶有秩序? 讓我們來(lái)仔細(xì)看看。 你們還記得當(dāng)我向你們展示了這些拼圖嗎? 它最終成為什么樣的形象?一匹鈷藍(lán)色的馬。 情節(jié)開(kāi)始高脹。 然后我們玩翡翠公雞的 七巧板游戲。 那一個(gè)是我的最愛(ài)。 然后我們有一頭銀牛實(shí)驗(yàn)。 然后凱蒂•佩里喝她的早晨咖啡 有琥珀色的貓頭鷹。 謝謝你，凱蒂，為我拍照。 哦，還有一個(gè)，還有一個(gè)。 你填紅色的驢，格溫。 先生女士們，你可以給我舉高你的手， 如果你讀過(guò)「堂吉訶德」? 誰(shuí)在讀過(guò)「堂吉訶德」?(笑聲) 但等等，但等等，等等，等等，等等，還有。 還有。 格溫，我是如此的有信心， 你要做出這些選擇， 我做了另外一個(gè)預(yù)言， 我把它放在一個(gè)更加不可磨滅的地方， 就是這里。 先生女士們， 我們有今天的紐約時(shí)報(bào)。 日期是2014年3月18日， 在你們中前幾排許多人有它, 在你們的座位底下。 找找看。我們把它們藏在那里。 看看你能不能找到報(bào)紙 翻到藝術(shù)專欄， 然后你會(huì)看到填字游戲， 而今天的填字游戲的作者 正是本人。 你可以在格子的上方看到我的名字。 我打算把這個(gè)交給你，格溫，看一看。 我也把它顯示在屏幕上。 現(xiàn)在讓我們來(lái)看看 另一個(gè)謎。 如果你看看第一條線索1 - 橫， 它以字母C開(kāi)頭，Corrupt 的C， 在下面我們有一個(gè)O，Outfielder 的O， 如果你繼續(xù)看線索的第一個(gè)字母， 你會(huì)得到鈷藍(lán)馬， 琥珀貓頭鷹，銀牛， 紅驢，和翡翠公雞。 (掌聲) 這很酷，對(duì)吧? 這是紐約時(shí)報(bào)。 但是，等等，等等，等等。 哦，格溫， 你還記得我忘了我的紫色筆， 而你無(wú)法給羊填顏色? 如果你繼續(xù)由 25向下開(kāi)始看， 它說(shuō)， 「哦，對(duì)了， 羊可以留空?！?(笑聲)(掌聲) 但是，等等，等等，等等，還有一件事， 有一件事， 有一個(gè)最后的謎。 格溫，我很感激你的選擇， 因?yàn)槿绻覀儊?lái)看看 你的組合的第一個(gè)字母， 我們得到「C-H-A-O-S」的「混亂」 和「O-R-D-E-R」的秩序。 這是混亂和秩序。 我們都在混亂中找到了秩序。

　　So ladies and gentlemen, the next time you find yourself with a puzzle, whether it's in your life or in your work, or maybe it's at the Sunday morning breakfast table with The New York Times, remember, you are all wired to solve.

　　因此，先生女士們，下一次 你發(fā)現(xiàn)自己有一個(gè)謎， 無(wú)論是在你的生活中還是在工作， 或者是在星期天早餐桌上 你的紐約時(shí)報(bào)， 記住，你們都是天生的要解決謎團(tuán)。

　　Thank you. (Applause)

　　謝謝。(掌聲)