當Dorothy還是一個小女孩的時候，

基礎被動語態

情態副詞

Her father explained to her that fish swim by quickly wagging their tails

她的父親向她解釋魚是透過快速擺動尾巴

Without hesitation, little Dorothy responded,

"Yes, Daddy, and fish swim backwards by wagging their heads."

「爸爸，除了前進，魚還會擺動自己的頭向後游哦!」

In her mind, it was a fact as true as any other.

在她認知當中，這和其他事情一樣都是事實

Fish swim backwards by wagging their heads.

Our lives are full of fish swimming backwards.

而事實上，我們的人生中充斥著「向後游」的現象

We make assumptions and faulty leaps of logic.

我們在做假設時，常常在邏輯上有一些缺陷

We know that we are right, and they are wrong.

我們認為自己永遠都是對的，而拒絕採納他人意見

We tell ourselves what we can and cannot do.

並且一再規範自己能做，以及不能做的事

In our minds, fish swim by in reverse frantically wagging their heads

在我們的思考脈絡中，魚是透過搖動頭部來向反向游

I'm going to tell you five facts about myself.

那麼現在，我要告訴你們五件關於我的事情

One: I graduated from Harvard at 19 with an honors degree in mathematics.

一：我在19歲以優異成績從哈佛大學數學系畢業

Two: I currently run a construction company in Orlando.

二：我目前在奧蘭多擁有一間建築公司

Four: I lost my sight to a rare genetic eye disease.

四：我因為先天基因造成眼睛上的疾病而失明

Five: I served as a law clerk to two US Supreme Court justices.

五：我是美國最高法庭法官助理

At this point, most people really only care about the television show.

通常在這個時候，大部分的人都只在意電視節目的部分

OK, so the show was NBC's "Saved by the Bell: The New Class."

好吧，這個節目是NBC的 Saved by the Bell: The New Class."

who was the sort of dorky, nerdy character on the show,

在劇中差不多就是一個書呆子的腳色，

which made it a very major acting challenge

這也讓它成了一個很難詮釋的角色

Now, did you struggle with number four, my blindness?

現在，你們剛剛有一直在想第四點，我失明的這一項嗎?

We make assumptions about so-called disabilities.

我們常常對於所謂的身障人士做出先見的假設

As a blind man, I confront others' incorrect assumptions

身為一個盲人，我每天都常常遇到

其他人對於我能力的不正確猜測

My point today is not about my blindness, however.

Going blind taught me to live my life eyes wide open.

失明讓我學會如何用更廣闊的視野去過我的人生

It taught me to spot those backwards-swimming fish

You open your eyes and there's the world.

你只要睜開眼，世界就在你面前

Then, from age 12 to 25, my retinas progressively deteriorated.

在我12歲到25歲的這段期間，視網膜的狀況持續的惡化

我的視力開始變得模糊，或者說是奇怪，

carnival funhouse hall of mirrors and illusions.

就像你在一個充斥著鏡子和幻覺的空間之裡看東西一樣

The salesperson I was relieved to spot in a store

在一個店面裡，我認為是店員的人

I suddenly saw it was a urinal I was touching, not a sink,

我才猛然驚覺我碰到的是小便斗而不是洗手槽

A friend described the photograph in my hand,

有一個朋友跟我描述我手中照片的模樣，

and only then I could see the image depicted.

只有這樣我才能知道在我手中的相片看起來如何

Objects appeared, morphed and disappeared in my reality.

所有實體出現後，扭曲，最後消失

要我看清楚東西很困難而且累人

I pieced together fragmented, transitory images,

我必須將破碎、不清晰的影像，

searched for some logic in my crumbling kaleidoscope,

才能將那些像是看萬花筒的畫面拼湊起來

What we see is a unique, personal, virtual reality

我們認為是獨特、個人，或虛擬的生活

that is masterfully constructed by our brain.

不過都是大腦精心製造出來的世界

Let me explain with a bit of amateur neuroscience.

讓我以外行者的身分稍微解釋一下神經學

Your visual cortex takes up about 30 percent of your brain.

外層視覺大約佔了大腦的百分之三十

That's compared to approximately eight percent for touch

相較之下，觸覺只佔了大約百分之八，

Every second, your eyes can send your visual cortex

as many as two billion pieces of information.

都會接收到成千上萬的資訊刺激

The rest of your body can send your brain only an additional billion.

你身體的剩餘部位僅僅能提供一些額外的刺激

So sight is one third of your brain by volume

因此，視覺基本上佔了大腦三分之一的「發言權」

and can claim about two thirds of your brain's processing resources.

此外還能影響其他三分之二部分的處理資訊

that the illusion of sight is so compelling.

視覺能產生的效果是令人矚目的

But make no mistake about it: sight is an illusion.

不過不要在這裡犯下一個邏輯錯誤：視覺等同於幻覺

接下來我們要看為什麼事情這麼有趣

your brain references your conceptual understanding of the world,

你的大腦會引用你對世界的理解、概念、

other knowledge, your memories, opinions, emotions, mental attention.

知識、記憶、想法、情緒，以及專注力等

All of these things and far more are linked in your brain to your sight.

這些元素都被大腦和視覺做了連結

These linkages work both ways, and usually occur subconsciously.

這樣的連結同時有兩種運作方式，而且經常是在潛意識下發生的

and the way you feel can literally change what you see.

以及你的感受可以改變你看到的景象

現實並不是你的感覺，而是你大腦創作出來的。這部演講挑戰我們放棄自己的藉口，假設，和恐懼，對自己的現實負責，創作自己的現實。學這些英文用法：TED,視覺,人生,大腦,事實,世界,事物,被動,幻覺,笑聲,想法,祝福,視力,扭曲,邏輯,現實,認知,創造,產生,影響,潛意識,執行長,認為,內在,選擇,破碎,掌聲,遇到,評價,做出,孤獨,幻想,公司,成功,建造,追求,成就,人士,現象,假設,探索,身為,刺激,看到,學會,屬於,金魚,電視,描述,成為,行動,不安全感,生活,搖動,要求,挑戰,地方,經驗,店面,解釋,優異,清楚,資訊,透視,堡壘,奧蘭多,背包,診斷出,觸覺,盲人,觸碰,視網膜,店員,不確定性,聽覺,呆子,模特兒,烏龜,批判,心胸,專注力,山丘,佛羅里達,隧道,睜開,惱人,相片,盲目,助理,實體,沉重,人際,詮釋,哈佛,法官,批評,運氣,模樣,企業家,悲慘,誤解,終點,身分,理性,決策,心理學家,主持,引用,負擔,藉口,強迫,小女孩,裝飾,分裂,尾巴,謊言,猜猜,成績,沉默,總結,雙手,虛擬,缺陷,實踐,生涯,猜測,男子,走出,碰到,模糊,時機,原則,影像,帶給,失明,廣闊,惡化,神經學,事情,外層,情緒,頭部,節目...