We all know everybody in this room makes mistakes.

　　我們都知道這里的每個人都曾經(jīng)犯錯

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

　　人類本來就會犯錯 - 沒問題

　　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.

　　一旦這個想法臨到我們自身 我們現(xiàn)在所有的 所有的信念 對人類可能犯錯的抽象概念隨即被我們拋棄 我無法想到我有哪里出錯

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

　　但是，我們活在現(xiàn)在

　　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.

　　我們開會，去家庭旅游 去投票 全都是現(xiàn)在式

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

　　我們就像現(xiàn)在一個小泡泡里 經(jīng)歷人生 感覺自己總是對的

　　I think this is a problem.

　　我認為這是個問題

　　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.

　　我認為這是每個人私人生活 和職業(yè)生活中的問題 我認為我們身為群體，這也造成了文化問題

　　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 先談談為甚么我們會 陷在這種自以為是的心態(tài)中

　　And second, why it's such a problem.

　　第二是為甚么這是個問題

　　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

　　最后我想說服大家 克服這種感覺 是可能的 而且一旦你做到了 這將成為你道德上

　　moral, intellectual and creative leap you can make.

　　智性上和創(chuàng)意上最大的進步

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

　　為甚么我們會陷在 這種自以為是的心態(tài)中?

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

　　事實上這和犯錯的感覺有關

　　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 --

　　我想問問你們 讓我問問臺上的你們 當你意識到自己犯錯了

　　how does it feel to be wrong?

　　你感覺如何?

　　Dreadful. Thumbs down.

　　糟透了。很差勁。

　　Embarrassing. Okay, wonderful, good.

　　難堪。很好，是的。

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

　　很糟糕，很差勁，很難堪。 謝謝你們提供這些答案 但這些答案沒有回答我的問題

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

　　你們回答的問題是： 當你意識到你犯錯的時候，你的感覺如何?

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

　　(笑聲) 意識到你犯錯了就會有剛剛所說的這些感覺，不是嗎?

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

　　令人沮喪，暴露了一些真實 有時候甚至有些好笑 像我誤以為路牌是中文字

　　But just being wrong doesn't feel like anything.

　　但犯錯本身 事實上毫無感覺

　　I'll give you an analogy.

　　讓我給你一個例子

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

　　你記得卡通里 那個總是在追逐 卻從未抓到獵物的土狼嗎?

　　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,

　　幾乎在每一集里 牠的獵物 - 一只走鵑鳥 都會跳下懸崖

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

　　反正牠是鳥，牠可以飛

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

　　但土狼也會跟著牠一起跳崖

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

　　那很好笑 如果你是個六歲兒童 土狼也很好

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

　　牠就這么繼續(xù)跑 直到牠往下看 發(fā)現(xiàn)自己漫步在空中

　　That's when he falls.

　　這時候他才會往下掉

　　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.

　　在我們犯錯時 在我們意識到我們犯錯時 我們就像那只土狼 還沒意識到自己奔出懸崖

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

　　我們已經(jīng)錯了 已經(jīng)惹上麻煩了 但仍然感覺像走在地上

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

　　我應該改變我之前的說法

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

　　犯錯的感覺就和 正確的感覺一樣

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

　　(笑聲) 事實上我們這種自以為對的感受 是有構造性的原因的

　　I call this error blindness.

　　我稱之為錯誤盲點

　　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.

　　大部份的時間里 我們身體里沒有任何機制 提醒我們錯了 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.

　　但還有第二個理由 文化性的理由

　　Think back for a moment to elementary school.

　　回想小學時代

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

　　你坐在課堂里 你的老師發(fā)回小考考卷 像這樣的小考考卷

　　This is not mine, by the way.

　　雖然這張不是我的

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

　　(笑聲) 你從小學時代 就知道該對拿這張考卷的同學 下甚么評語

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

　　笨蛋，搗蛋鬼 從不做功課的壞學生

　　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 --

　　你不過才九歲 你已經(jīng)懂得，首先 那些犯錯的人 都是懶惰、不負責任的傻瓜

　　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 就不要犯錯

　　We learn these really bad lessons really well.

　　我們很早就得到這些錯誤訊息

　　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,

　　而我們 尤其是這個大廳里的許多人 都因此成為好學生 拿全A

　　perfectionists, over-achievers.

　　完美主義、永不滿意

　　Right, Mr. CFO, astrophysicist, ultra-marathoner?

　　不是嗎? 財務長、天體物理學家、超級馬拉松先生們?

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

　　(笑聲) 結果是你們全成了財務長、天體物理學家、跑超級馬拉松

　　Okay, so fine.

　　那很好

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

　　但一旦我們發(fā)現(xiàn)有可能犯錯 就開始手足無措

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

　　因為依照規(guī)定 犯錯 代表我們一定也有甚么不對勁

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

　　于是我們堅持己見 因為那讓我們感覺聰明、得體 安全和可靠

　　So let me tell you a story.

　　讓我告訴你們一個故事