Jeg er vant til at tænke på TED's publikum som en vidunderlig samling af nogle af de mest effektive, intelligente intellektuelle, kyndige sofistikerede og innovative mennesker i verden. Og jeg mener, at det er rigtigt. Men, jeg har også grund til at tro at mange, hvis ikke de fleste af jer faktisk snører jeres sko forkert.
I'm used to thinking of the TED audience as a wonderful collection of some of the most effective, intelligent, intellectual, savvy, worldly and innovative people in the world. And I think that's true. However, I also have reason to believe that many, if not most, of you are actually tying your shoes incorrectly.
(Latter)
(Laughter)
Jeg ved det lyder sindssygt. Jeg ved det lyder sygt. Og tro mig, jeg levede det samme triste liv indtil for cirka tre år siden. Og det der skete for mig var, at jeg købte et, for mig, meget dyrt par sko. Men de sko havde runde nylon snørebånd, og jeg kunne ikke få dem til at holde. Så jeg gik tilbage til butikken og sagde til ejeren, "Jeg elsker skoene, men jeg hader snørebåndene." Han kikkede på dem og sagde, "Åh, du snører dem forkert." Op til det øjeblik, ville jeg have troet at, i en alder af 50, ville en af livets færdigheder, som jeg virkelig havde lært være at snøre mine sko. Men der tog jeg fejl -- lad mig demonstrere.
Now I know that seems ludicrous. I know that seems ludicrous. And believe me, I lived the same sad life until about three years ago. And what happened to me was I bought, what was for me, a very expensive pair of shoes. But those shoes came with round nylon laces, and I couldn't keep them tied. So I went back to the store and said to the owner, "I love the shoes, but I hate the laces." He took a look and said, "Oh, you're tying them wrong." Now up until that moment, I would have thought that, by age 50, one of the life skills that I had really nailed was tying my shoes. (Laughter)
But not so -- let me demonstrate.
Dette er måden som de fleste af os blev lært at snøre vores sko på. Det viser sig -- tak, tak. Vent, der er mere. Det viser sig,
This is the way that most of us were taught to tie our shoes. Now as it turns out -- thank you. (Applause) Wait, there's more. As it turns out --
at der er en stærk og en svag form af denne knude, og vi blev lært at knytte den svage form. Og sådan her man kan se det. Hvis du trækker i båndene ved roden af knuden, vil du se at sløjfen orienterer sig selv langs den lange akse af skoen. Det er den svage form af knuden.
(Laughter) there's a strong form and a weak form of this knot, and we were taught the weak form. And here's how to tell. If you pull the strands at the base of the knot, you will see that the bow will orient itself down the long axis of the shoe. That's the weak form of the knot.
Men ingen grund til panik. Hvis vi starter forfra og bare går den anden vej rundt om sløjfen, får vi dette, den stærke form af knuden. Og hvis du trækker i båndene under knuden vil du se at sløjfen orienterer sig langs den tværgående akse af skoen. Dette er en stærkere knude. Den går sjældnere op. Den svigter dig sjældnere. Og ikke bare det, den ser også bedre ud.
But not to worry. If we start over and simply go the other direction around the bow, we get this, the strong form of the knot. And if you pull the cords under the knot, you will see that the bow orients itself along the transverse axis of the shoe. This is a stronger knot. It will come untied less often. It will let you down less, and not only that, it looks better.
Vi gør det lige en gang til. (Bifald) Start som normalt, gå den den anden vej rundt om løkken. Det her er lidt svært for børn, men jeg tror, I kan klare det. Træk i knuden. Der er den: den stærke form af knuden.
We're going to do this one more time. (Applause) Start as usual -- (Applause) go the other way around the loop. This is a little hard for children, but I think you can handle it. Pull the knot. There it is: the strong form of the shoe knot.
Og for at holde mig til dagens tema, vil jeg gerne pointere -- og noget I alle sammen ved fra før -- at nogle gange kan en lille fordel ét sted i livet føre til et enormt resultat et andet sted.
Now, in keeping with today's theme, I'd like to point out -- something you already know -- that sometimes a small advantage someplace in life can yield tremendous results someplace else.
Lev længe og trives.
(Laughter)
Live long and prosper.
(Bifald)
(Applause)