I grew up in Europe, and World War II caught me when I was between seven and 10 years old. And I realized how few of the grown-ups that I knew were able to withstand the tragedies that the war visited on them -- how few of them could even resemble a normal, contented, satisfied, happy life once their job, their home, their security was destroyed by the war. So I became interested in understanding what contributed to a life that was worth living. And I tried, as a child, as a teenager, to read philosophy and to get involved in art and religion and many other ways that I could see as a possible answer to that question. And finally I ended up encountering psychology by chance.
我在欧洲长大 那时正好是二战时期 我是7岁到10岁的光景 我体会到 身边的大人 没有几个能够经受得起战争带给他们的创伤 很少可以重建起一种正常的、舒心的 满意的、快乐的生活 因为他们的工作、家庭以及 安全都因为战争而失去 于是我开始对 什么元素的注入可以丰富人们的生活这一话题发生兴趣 那是我还是孩子 不过也开始读哲学的书 并且尝试过艺术、宗教等各种我认为 可以为我解开谜团的途径 最终则是意外的与心理学结了缘
I was at a ski resort in Switzerland without any money to actually enjoy myself, because the snow had melted and I didn't have money to go to a movie. But I found that on the -- I read in the newspapers that there was to be a presentation by someone in a place that I'd seen in the center of Zurich, and it was about flying saucers [that] he was going to talk. And I thought, well, since I can't go to the movies, at least I will go for free to listen to flying saucers. And the man who talked at that evening lecture was very interesting. Instead of talking about little green men, he talked about how the psyche of the Europeans had been traumatized by the war, and now they're projecting flying saucers into the sky. He talked about how the mandalas of ancient Hindu religion were kind of projected into the sky as an attempt to regain some sense of order after the chaos of war. And this seemed very interesting to me. And I started reading his books after that lecture. And that was Carl Jung, whose name or work I had no idea about.
那次我去到了瑞士的一个滑雪胜地 身上分文都没有 我是去那玩的 那时雪已消融 我没钱去看电影 但是我从报纸上看到说 将会有一场演讲 地点是苏黎世市中心一个我去过的地方 他要讲的是飞碟 我就想 既然不能去看电影 但至少可以去听一下这个讲飞碟的演讲吧 那晚上的演讲非常有趣 他没有讲绿色皮肤的外星人 他讲到欧洲人的心灵如何因为 二战而受到了创伤 因而就以放飞碟来自娱 他还讲到古代印度的曼荼罗 也是在战后 被人扔到天空 以此来重新建立一种秩序 我对此很感兴趣 于是就开始读相关的书 那人的名字是荣格 而那时我还不知道这个名字
Then I came to this country to study psychology and I started trying to understand the roots of happiness. This is a typical result that many people have presented, and there are many variations on it. But this, for instance, shows that about 30 percent of the people surveyed in the United States since 1956 say that their life is very happy. And that hasn't changed at all. Whereas the personal income, on a scale that has been held constant to accommodate for inflation, has more than doubled, almost tripled, in that period. But you find essentially the same results, namely, that after a certain basic point -- which corresponds more or less to just a few 1,000 dollars above the minimum poverty level -- increases in material well-being don't seem to affect how happy people are. In fact, you can find that the lack of basic resources, material resources, contributes to unhappiness, but the increase in material resources does not increase happiness.
后来就到了美国学习心理学 我开始探寻幸福之本源 这是很多人都展示过的一个结果 有很多个版本 而这一个则显示 自1956年有调查记录以来 有30%的美国受访公民 说他们的生活非常快乐 这一点几乎没有变 但是同一时期的人均收入则增加了 两倍以上 接近三倍 这一统计已经是把通货膨胀算进去了 可是 结果基本是一致的 就是说 到了温饱线之上1000美元之后的某个点 收入的增加不会影响人们的幸福值 而基本生活物资之匮乏 则会导致不幸福 但持续的物质财富之增长并不会带来更大的幸福
So my research has been focused more on -- after finding out these things that actually corresponded to my own experience, I tried to understand: where -- in everyday life, in our normal experience -- do we feel really happy? And to start those studies about 40 years ago, I began to look at creative people -- first artists and scientists, and so forth -- trying to understand what made them feel that it was worth essentially spending their life doing things for which many of them didn't expect either fame or fortune, but which made their life meaningful and worth doing.
所以 当我发现这些东西与我自身的经历相吻合时 我在后来的研究里 就开始询问 在正常的日常生活中 我们怎么才会感到幸福 研究刚开始的时候 我寻找那些有创意的人士 首先是艺术家、科学家 我尝试找到 是什么让他们感觉自己的一生是值得的 他们做的很多事情都不能带来荣誉和财富 但那样的事情使得他们的人生充满意义
This was one of the leading composers of American music back in the '70s. And the interview was 40 pages long. But this little excerpt is a very good summary of what he was saying during the interview. And it describes how he feels when composing is going well. And he says by describing it as an ecstatic state.
这是1970年代美国最出色的一位作曲家 我跟他的对话记录长达40页 而这一段则是一个很好的总结 是对他的发言的总结 它描绘出作曲家在写曲子时的感受 他讲的时候也是一种狂喜的状态
Now, "ecstasy" in Greek meant simply to stand to the side of something. And then it became essentially an analogy for a mental state where you feel that you are not doing your ordinary everyday routines. So ecstasy is essentially a stepping into an alternative reality. And it's interesting, if you think about it, how, when we think about the civilizations that we look up to as having been pinnacles of human achievement -- whether it's China, Greece, the Hindu civilization, or the Mayas, or Egyptians -- what we know about them is really about their ecstasies, not about their everyday life. We know the temples they built, where people could come to experience a different reality. We know about the circuses, the arenas, the theaters. These are the remains of civilizations and they are the places that people went to experience life in a more concentrated, more ordered form.
而狂喜一词在希腊语里的意思是 站在某个东西的边上 后来就成为一种心智状态的代名词 用来形容非正常的行为 换言之 狂喜就是一种超越寻常的感觉 有趣的是 当我们想起 那些被公认为人类文明之巅峰的文明时 不管是在中国、希腊或者是印度 或玛雅、或埃及 我们所听说的 都是关于他们的狂喜的故事 而不是他们日常生活的琐事 我们知道他们建了大型的殿堂 人们可以去到那样的地方去感受不一样的现实 还有马戏团的故事 斗兽场 戏院 这些都是文明之遗迹 也是当时的人们经常光顾的地方 他们去到那里去体验一种更加紧凑 更具节奏的生活
Now, this man doesn't need to go to a place like this, which is also -- this place, this arena, which is built like a Greek amphitheatre, is a place for ecstasy also. We are participating in a reality that is different from that of the everyday life that we're used to. But this man doesn't need to go there. He needs just a piece of paper where he can put down little marks, and as he does that, he can imagine sounds that had not existed before in that particular combination. So once he gets to that point of beginning to create, like Jennifer did in her improvisation, a new reality -- that is, a moment of ecstasy -- he enters that different reality. Now he says also that this is so intense an experience that it feels almost as if he didn't exist. And that sounds like a kind of a romantic exaggeration. But actually, our nervous system is incapable of processing more than about 110 bits of information per second. And in order to hear me and understand what I'm saying, you need to process about 60 bits per second. That's why you can't hear more than two people. You can't understand more than two people talking to you.
这个人不需要去到这样的地方 这里 这块地方 就像一个古希腊的斗兽场 也是一个狂欢之地 我们参与进去 所体验到的 与日常生活完全不一样 但这并不意味着我们必须去到那样的地方 这位作曲家只需一张纸 就能够把整个乐曲写下来 与此同时 他在脑海里想象 一种从未有过的特殊的声音的组合 只要他开始真正要创作 就像刚才珍妮弗的即兴演奏 他就进入了一种新的现实 进入狂喜 那是不一样的现实 他说 那是一种非常紧凑的体验 他似乎也感觉不到自己的存在 这也许有点夸张 但事实上我们的神经系统是无法 在一秒的时间里同时处理超过110比特的信息 你在听我说话 并且尝试去理解其中的意思 这就相当于处理60比特的信息 所以说 同时听到两个以上的人的会话是不可能的 你不可能同时做到这一点
Well, when you are really involved in this completely engaging process of creating something new, as this man is, he doesn't have enough attention left over to monitor how his body feels, or his problems at home. He can't feel even that he's hungry or tired. His body disappears, his identity disappears from his consciousness, because he doesn't have enough attention, like none of us do, to really do well something that requires a lot of concentration, and at the same time to feel that he exists. So existence is temporarily suspended. And he says that his hand seems to be moving by itself. Now, I could look at my hand for two weeks, and I wouldn't feel any awe or wonder, because I can't compose. (Laughter)
假如你真的是全身心的投入此间 像这位作曲家那样去创造一种新的东西 就不可能再有精力 去感知他的身体在那一刻发生的变化 不知饥饿与劳累 似乎整个躯体都消失了 在他的意识里不再有自己的存在 他没有那么多精力 事实上我们某个人都不可能做得到 因为做那样的事情确实需要全副身心的投入 他就不可能感知自己的存在了 他的存在被暂时遗忘了 他自己也说 他的手似乎能够不由自主的活动 我也许对着自己的手看两个星期 也不能看出有什么不一样的地方 因为我不是作曲家
So what it's telling you here is that obviously this automatic, spontaneous process that he's describing can only happen to someone who is very well trained and who has developed technique. And it has become a kind of a truism in the study of creativity that you can't be creating anything with less than 10 years of technical-knowledge immersion in a particular field. Whether it's mathematics or music, it takes that long to be able to begin to change something in a way that it's better than what was there before. Now, when that happens, he says the music just flows out. And because all of these people I started interviewing -- this was an interview which is over 30 years old -- so many of the people described this as a spontaneous flow that I called this type of experience the "flow experience." And it happens in different realms.
这说明了什么? 访谈当中还提到 这样一个自动的、自发的过程只有可能 发生在一个受过严格训练以及培养了良好的钢琴技艺的人身上 在创造力研究这一领域 有一个接近真理的说法是 没有10年时间的积累 是不可能产生出这类的奇迹的 不管是数学、音乐 都需要这样漫长的时间 来达到这个境界 达到一种全新的升华 而这样的事情一旦发生 他就说 音乐仿佛是流出来了。 而我所采访的这些人 这是一个30年前的会议记录 很多人将此称为“即兴的流动” 这是我给过程起的名字是 它正在不同的领域内发生
For instance, a poet describes it in this form. This is by a student of mine who interviewed some of the leading writers and poets in the United States. And it describes the same effortless, spontaneous feeling that you get when you enter into this ecstatic state. This poet describes it as opening a door that floats in the sky -- a very similar description to what Albert Einstein gave as to how he imagined the forces of relativity, when he was struggling with trying to understand how it worked. But it happens in other activities. For instance, this is another student of mine, Susan Jackson from Australia, who did work with some of the leading athletes in the world. And you see here in this description of an Olympic skater, the same essential description of the phenomenology of the inner state of the person. You don't think; it goes automatically, if you merge yourself with the music, and so forth.
比如 有位诗人如此写到 这是我的一位学生 他采访了美国最杰出的作家、诗人 同样也是一种狂喜的状态 在那种状态下 诗人们可以非常轻松的写出诗来 这位诗人则说 那就有如打开了通往天际之窗 这个跟爱因斯坦所说的 关于相对论的设想非常相像 那时的爱因斯坦也是在苦苦的思考为何那样的事情会发生 在其他的领域也会发生这样的事情 这是我的另一位学生 她叫苏珊·杰克逊,来自澳洲 她采访了世界上顶尖的运动健将 这是关于一位奥林匹克滑冰运动员的的介绍 也是同样的一段现象学的描述 描绘的是一个人的内心活动 你也许会认为那样的事情要自然的发生是不可能的 但只要当你将自己与音乐融为一体之时 就发现那是可能的
It happens also, actually, in the most recent book I wrote, called "Good Business," where I interviewed some of the CEOs who had been nominated by their peers as being both very successful and very ethical, very socially responsible. You see that these people define success as something that helps others and at the same time makes you feel happy as you are working at it. And like all of these successful and responsible CEOs say, you can't have just one of these things be successful if you want a meaningful and successful job. Anita Roddick is another one of these CEOs we interviewed. She is the founder of Body Shop, the natural cosmetics king. It's kind of a passion that comes from doing the best and having flow while you're working.
我最近写了一本书,里面也提到这样的例子 书名是《优良商业》 我采访了一些公司的总裁 同行们都认为那些人是非常成功的 并且他们做企业非常讲道德、有社会责任 他们关于成功的定义是这样的 既帮助他人的同时 使自己乐在其中 这些成功并且富有社会责任的总裁也说到 单单有其中一样是不足以令你成功的 假如你要的是有意义的工作、成功的工作 安妮塔·罗迪克是其中一位受访的总裁 她创建了Body Shop,那是一个化妆品企业 她自己则成为了天然化妆品之母 这正是一种热情 它源自一个人对最高价值的追求 并且在工作中体会到一种“流动”
This is an interesting little quote from Masaru Ibuka, who was at that time starting out Sony without any money, without a product -- they didn't have a product, they didn't have anything, but they had an idea. And the idea he had was to establish a place of work where engineers can feel the joy of technological innovation, be aware of their mission to society and work to their heart's content. I couldn't improve on this as a good example of how flow enters the workplace.
这是井深大说过的一句话 他那时手无分文,却创建了索尼 他们那时甚至连产品也拿不出来 可谓一无所有 但是他们有一个理念 即他要创建一个工作环境 使得工程师可以体验到技术创新带来的快乐 同时也意识到自身对于社会的使命 以最大的热情工作 直到自己内心满意为止 再也没有比这个更好的例子了 “流动”就是这样走进公司的
Now, when we do studies -- we have, with other colleagues around the world, done over 8,000 interviews of people -- from Dominican monks, to blind nuns, to Himalayan climbers, to Navajo shepherds -- who enjoy their work. And regardless of the culture, regardless of education or whatever, there are these seven conditions that seem to be there when a person is in flow. There's this focus that, once it becomes intense, leads to a sense of ecstasy, a sense of clarity: you know exactly what you want to do from one moment to the other; you get immediate feedback. You know that what you need to do is possible to do, even though difficult, and sense of time disappears, you forget yourself, you feel part of something larger. And once the conditions are present, what you are doing becomes worth doing for its own sake.
而我们在做研究的时候 我们与世界其他地区的研究员一起 访问了8000人,他们有的是多米尼加的和尚 失明的尼姑、喜马拉雅山攀登者、納瓦霍牧羊人 他们都喜欢自己的工作 不管他们身处什么地方 不管他们的教育背景如何 只要存在以下的七个条件 我们就能感受到“流动”的存在 首先是精神的集中 集中到一定程度 就会走向狂喜 清醒 可以很清楚的知道自己下一刻该做什么 因为你能够得到即时的反馈 你知道自己将要做的 是可以做的 尽管会遇到不少困难 时间感也消失了 你甚至忘却了自我 似乎能感到自己属于某个更大的整体 而一旦有了那样的征兆 你做的事情本身也会变得有意义
In our studies, we represent the everyday life of people in this simple scheme. And we can measure this very precisely, actually, because we give people electronic pagers that go off 10 times a day, and whenever they go off you say what you're doing, how you feel, where you are, what you're thinking about. And two things that we measure is the amount of challenge people experience at that moment and the amount of skill that they feel they have at that moment. So for each person we can establish an average, which is the center of the diagram. That would be your mean level of challenge and skill, which will be different from that of anybody else. But you have a kind of a set point there, which would be in the middle.
我们的研究得出的结果是 人们的日常行为可以分为以下几大类 我们可以非常准确的去测量 我们会给参与测试的人发电子纸 那样的纸每天会发出十次叫声 它一叫 你就马上说自己正在干什么 你在哪里 你正在想的是什么 我们测量的,一是人们在某一刻所面临的挑战的难度 另一个是那一刻人们的技能熟练程度 靠的是参与者自己说明 对于每一位参与者 我们都能找到一个中间线 即图表中的中线 那是平均挑战难度以及技能熟练程度 这个会与其他人的不一样 同样 在中间的地方会有一个固定的点
If we know what that set point is, we can predict fairly accurately when you will be in flow, and it will be when your challenges are higher than average and skills are higher than average. And you may be doing things very differently from other people, but for everyone that flow channel, that area there, will be when you are doing what you really like to do -- play the piano, be with your best friend, perhaps work, if work is what provides flow for you. And then the other areas become less and less positive.
假如我们能够知道这个固定的点在哪里 我们就能大致预测出你何时会走进“流动”的状态 那就是挑战大于平均值 技能熟练程度也大于平均值的时候 你做的事情也许和其他人做的很不一样 但是,对于每一个人,流动的出现 通常都是在你做自己真正热爱的事情的时候才出现 比如弹钢琴、跟好友在一起、甚或是工作 假如你可以在工作中感受到“流动”的话 而其他的区域则变得相对更加消极
Arousal is still good because you are over-challenged there. Your skills are not quite as high as they should be, but you can move into flow fairly easily by just developing a little more skill. So, arousal is the area where most people learn from, because that's where they're pushed beyond their comfort zone and to enter that -- going back to flow -- then they develop higher skills. Control is also a good place to be, because there you feel comfortable, but not very excited. It's not very challenging any more. And if you want to enter flow from control, you have to increase the challenges. So those two are ideal and complementary areas from which flow is easy to go into.
觉醒还是好的,因为你在那一点上还是有较大的挑战 尽管你的技能熟悉程度不是很高 但是可以很容易的进入“流动” 只要增强一下技能就行了 觉醒是大多数人学习的地方 他们在那样的区域就被迫走出舒适圈 而后走进流动 学会更高级的技能 “控制”也是一个不错的地方 因为你能感到舒服 虽然不是很激动 挑战也不是很强烈 假如要从那里走进“流动” 就要增强挑战的程度 这两者是理想化的、相互补充的区域 从这些地方可以很容易的进入“流动”
The other combinations of challenge and skill become progressively less optimal. Relaxation is fine -- you still feel OK. Boredom begins to be very aversive and apathy becomes very negative: you don't feel that you're doing anything, you don't use your skills, there's no challenge. Unfortunately, a lot of people's experience is in apathy. The largest single contributor to that experience is watching television; the next one is being in the bathroom, sitting. Even though sometimes watching television about seven to eight percent of the time is in flow, but that's when you choose a program you really want to watch and you get feedback from it.
而挑战与技能的其他搭配 则会显得越来越消极 休息是好的 因为你还能感到舒适 但厌倦就会产生反作用了 而冷漠则会带来非常消极的后果 因为你觉得自己根本就没有干出什么实际的事情 你没有在使用好你的技能 也没有什么挑战 遗憾的是 很多人所经历的 大多是冷漠 而导致这种情绪的元凶 就是看电视 其次则是蹲茅厕 虽然有时候看电视 也有7%-8%的时间是处于“流动” 但那是在你挑选了一个你真正喜欢的频道的时候 你能够得到即时的反馈
So the question we are trying to address -- and I'm way over time -- is how to put more and more of everyday life in that flow channel. And that is the kind of challenge that we're trying to understand. And some of you obviously know how to do that spontaneously without any advice, but unfortunately a lot of people don't. And that's what our mandate is, in a way, to do.
因此 我们要问的问题是 如何使得我们的生活更多的处于“流动”的状态 我们正在慢慢的解开其中的秘密 你们当中有人懂得如何去做 哪怕我不给你任何提示 可惜大多数人都不会 而我们的任务之一 就是帮助那些人寻找到做事情的方法
Thank you.
谢谢大家
(Applause)
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