We all know everybody in this room makes mistakes.

　　我们都知道这里的每个人都曾经犯错

上海419花园 　　The human species, in general, is fallible -- okay fine.

上海419花园 　　人类本来就会犯错 - 没问题

上海419花园 　　But when it comes down to me right now, to all the beliefs I hold, here in the present tense, suddenly all of this abstract appreciation of fallibility 　goes out the window -- and I can't actually think of anything I'm wrong about.

上海419花园 　　一旦这个想法临到我们自身 我们现在所有的 所有的信念 对人类可能犯错的抽象概念随即被我们抛弃 我无法想到我有哪里出错

　　And the thing is, the present tense is where we live.

上海419花园 　　但是，我们活在现在

上海419花园 　　We go to meetings in the present tense; we go on family vacations in the present tense; we go to the polls and vote in the present tense.

上海419花园 　　我们开会，去家庭旅游 去投票 全都是现在式

　　So effectively, we all kind of wind up traveling through life, trapped in this little bubble of feeling very right about everything.

　　我们就像现在一个小泡泡里 经历人生 感觉自己总是对的

　　I think this is a problem.

　　我认为这是个问题

　　I think it's a problem for each of us as individuals, in our personal and professional lives, and I think it's a problem for all of us collectively as a culture.

　　我认为这是每个人私人生活 和职业生活中的问题 我认为我们身为群体，这也造成了文化问题

上海419花园 　　So what I want to do today is, first of all, talk about why we get stuck inside this feeling of being right.

　　于是，我今天想做的是 先谈谈为甚么我们会 陷在这种自以为是的心态中

上海419花园 　　And second, why it's such a problem.

　　第二是为甚么这是个问题

上海419花园 　　And finally, I want to convince you that it is possible to step outside of that feeling, and that, if you can do so, it is the single greatest

　　最后我想说服大家 克服这种感觉 是可能的 而且一旦你做到了 这将成为你道德上

　　moral, intellectual and creative leap you can make.

　　智性上和创意上最大的进步

上海419花园 　　So why do we get stuck in this feeling of being right?

　　为甚么我们会陷在 这种自以为是的心态中?

上海419花园 　　One reason actually has to do with a feeling of being wrong.

　　事实上这和犯错的感觉有关

上海419花园 　　So let me ask you guys something -- or actually, let me ask you guys something, because you're right here: How does it feel -- emotionally --

上海419花园 　　我想问问你们 让我问问台上的你们 当你意识到自己犯错了

上海419花园 　　how does it feel to be wrong?

　　你感觉如何?

上海419花园 　　Dreadful. Thumbs down.

上海419花园 　　糟透了。很差劲。

　　Embarrassing. Okay, wonderful, good.

上海419花园 　　难堪。很好，是的。

　　Dreadful, thumbs down, embarrassing -- thank you, these are great answers, but they're answers to a different question.

上海419花园 　　很糟糕，很差劲，很难堪。 谢谢你们提供这些答案 但这些答案没有回答我的问题

上海419花园 　　You guys are answering the question: How does it feel to realize you're wrong?

上海419花园 　　你们回答的问题是： 当你意识到你犯错的时候，你的感觉如何?

上海419花园 　　(Laughter) Realizing you're wrong can feel like all of that and a lot of other things, right?

　　(笑声) 意识到你犯错了就会有刚刚所说的这些感觉，不是吗?

上海419花园 　　I mean it can be devastating, it can be revelatory, it can actually be quite funny, like my stupid Chinese character mistake.

　　令人沮丧，暴露了一些真实 有时候甚至有些好笑 像我误以为路牌是中文字

　　But just being wrong doesn't feel like anything.

　　但犯错本身 事实上毫无感觉

　　I'll give you an analogy.

上海419花园 　　让我给你一个例子

　　Do you remember that Loony Tunes cartoon where there's this pathetic coyote who's always chasing and never catching a roadrunner?

　　你记得卡通里 那个总是在追逐 却从未抓到猎物的土狼吗?

上海419花园 　　In pretty much every episode of this cartoon, there's a moment where the coyote is chasing the roadrunner and the roadrunner runs off a cliff,

上海419花园 　　几乎在每一集里 牠的猎物 - 一只走鹃鸟 都会跳下悬崖

上海419花园 　　which is fine, he's a bird, he can fly.

上海419花园 　　反正牠是鸟，牠可以飞

　　But the thing is, the coyote runs off the cliff right after him.

上海419花园 　　但土狼也会跟着牠一起跳崖

　　And what's funny -- at least if you're six years old -- is that the coyote's totally fine too.

　　那很好笑 如果你是个六岁儿童 土狼也很好

上海419花园 　　He just keeps running -- right up until the moment that he looks down and realizes that he's in mid-air.

　　牠就这么继续跑 直到牠往下看 发现自己漫步在空中

上海419花园 　　That's when he falls.

　　这时候他才会往下掉

　　When we're wrong about something -- not when we realize it, but before that -- we're like that coyote after he's gone off the cliff and before he looks down.

　　在我们犯错时 在我们意识到我们犯错时 我们就像那只土狼 还没意识到自己奔出悬崖

上海419花园 　　You know, we're already wrong, we're already in trouble, but we feel like we're on solid ground.

上海419花园 　　我们已经错了 已经惹上麻烦了 但仍然感觉像走在地上

　　So I should actually correct something I said a moment ago.

上海419花园 　　我应该改变我之前的说法

　　It does feel like something to be wrong; it feels like being right.

　　犯错的感觉就和 正确的感觉一样

　　(Laughter) So this is one reason, a structural reason, why we get stuck inside this feeling of rightness.

上海419花园 　　(笑声) 事实上我们这种自以为对的感受 是有构造性的原因的

　　I call this error blindness.

　　我称之为错误盲点

　　Most of the time, we don't have any kind of internal cue to let us know that we're wrong about something, until it's too late.

　　大部份的时间里 我们身体里没有任何机制 提醒我们错了 直到木已成舟

　　But there's a second reason that we get stuck inside this feeling as well -- and this one is cultural.

　　但还有第二个理由 文化性的理由

　　Think back for a moment to elementary school.

　　回想小学时代

上海419花园 　　You're sitting there in class, and your teacher is handing back quiz papers, and one of them looks like this.

上海419花园 　　你坐在课堂里 你的老师发回小考考卷 像这样的小考考卷

上海419花园 　　This is not mine, by the way.

　　虽然这张不是我的

上海419花园 　　(Laughter) So there you are in grade school, and you know exactly what to think about the kid who got this paper.

　　(笑声) 你从小学时代 就知道该对拿这张考卷的同学 下甚么评语

　　It's the dumb kid, the troublemaker, the one who never does his homework.

　　笨蛋，捣蛋鬼 从不做功课的坏学生

上海419花园 　　So by the time you are nine years old, you've already learned, first of all, that people who get stuff wrong are lazy, irresponsible dimwits --

　　你不过才九岁 你已经懂得，首先 那些犯错的人 都是懒惰、不负责任的傻瓜

　　and second of all, that the way to succeed in life is to never make any mistakes.

　　第二 想要在人生中成功 就不要犯错

上海419花园 　　We learn these really bad lessons really well.

　　我们很早就得到这些错误讯息

上海419花园 　　And a lot of us -- and I suspect, especially a lot of us in this room -- deal with them by just becoming perfect little A students,

　　而我们 尤其是这个大厅里的许多人 都因此成为好学生 拿全A

上海419花园 　　perfectionists, over-achievers.

　　完美主义、永不满意

上海419花园 　　Right, Mr. CFO, astrophysicist, ultra-marathoner?

　　不是吗? 财务长、天体物理学家、超级马拉松先生们?

　　(Laughter) You're all CFO, astrophysicists, ultra-marathoners, it turns out.

上海419花园 　　(笑声) 结果是你们全成了财务长、天体物理学家、跑超级马拉松

　　Okay, so fine.

　　那很好

　　Except that then we freak out at the possibility that we've gotten something wrong.

上海419花园 　　但一旦我们发现有可能犯错 就开始手足无措

上海419花园 　　Because according to this, getting something wrong means there's something wrong with us.

上海419花园 　　因为依照规定 犯错 代表我们一定也有甚么不对劲

　　So we just insist that we're right, because it makes us feel smart and responsible and virtuous and safe.

　　于是我们坚持己见 因为那让我们感觉聪明、得体 安全和可靠

上海419花园 　　So let me tell you a story.

　　让我告诉你们一个故事