So what we have is just a standard family portrait, some smiling cat, masterfully drawn rainbows and flowers, and then there's this.

所以我們有的只是一張標準的全家福，一些微笑的貓咪，嫻熟地畫著彩虹和鮮花，然後就是這個。

It's my name written completely backward.

這是我的名字，完全是倒著寫的。

Weird, right?

很奇怪，對吧？

Except I used to do this all the time.

除了我以前經常這樣做。

If it wasn't my full name, it was usually just a random letter or number, like I did with the 'G' in kindergarten.

如果不是我的全名，通常只是一個隨機的字母或數字，就像我在幼兒園裡的 "G "一樣。

It's called mirror writing, and most kids under the age of seven have done it at some point, in some form.

這就是所謂的鏡子寫作，大多數七歲以下的孩子都曾經以某種形式做過。

It seems kind of ridiculous now, but it's completely normal.

現在看來有點可笑，但這完全是正常的。

It's just a sign of how our brains evolved to see the world.

這只是我們的大腦如何進化來看待這個世界的一個標誌。

Learning to write is kind of hard.

學習寫作是一種困難。

First, we have to understand a string of abstract shapes, then, as we learn, we have to understand that, in English, script goes from left to right.

首先，我們要了解一串抽象的圖形，然後，我們在學習的過程中，要明白，在英語中，文字是從左到右的。

Early on, before really understanding which direction to write in, kids like me just wrote where there was empty space available.

很早的時候，還沒真正明白往哪個方向寫，我這樣的孩子就只寫哪裡有空位。

So if I put a 'K' on the right edge of the page, I just wrote the rest of my name into the empty space on the left.

所以，如果我在頁面的右邊邊緣寫上一個 "K"，我就把剩下的名字寫到左邊的空位上。

I would be willing to bet that you started with the letter "K" because you know that "K" is the first letter of your name, and they progressed in the right-to-left direction – writing the "K" backwards, the "I" and the "M" would also be written backwards, but we don't see that because they look exactly the same.

我願意打賭，你是從字母 "K "開始的，因為你知道 "K "是你名字的第一個字母，它們是按照從右到左的方向發展的--把 "K "倒過來寫，"I "和 "M "也會倒過來寫，但我們看不到，因為它們看起來完全一樣。

Rob McIntosh has studied various forms of mirror writing for years.

羅伯-麥金託什多年來一直研究各種形式的鏡子寫作。

Much more common, actually, is just partial mirror writing.

其實更常見的，只是部分鏡像寫作。

Where the script might go in the correct direction, but individual letters will be reversed.

其中劇本可能會走正確的方向，但個別字母會被顛倒。

So maybe the letter "D" is written as a "B" or "B" is written as a "D."

所以，也許 "D "這個字母被寫成了 "B"，或者 "B "被寫成了 "D"。

You might be thinking, "So what? Kids are still learning and just don't understand the shapes yet."

你可能會想："那又怎樣？孩子們還在學習，只是還不明白這些形狀。"

But it's not likely for a kid to take that same letter and flip it completely upside down.

但對於一個孩子來說，不可能把同樣的信，完全顛倒過來。

And we're not talking about them confusing one letter for another entirely.

而且我們不是在說他們完全把一個字母搞混了。

Remember, I didn't use the wrong shapes.

記住，我沒有用錯形狀。

I used the right ones.

我用對了。

In the right order – just backward.

按照正確的順序--就是倒退。

So, how did I manage to do that?

那麼，我是怎麼做到的呢？

The short answer is that children can't tell these mirror images apart at this stage.

簡而言之，現階段的孩子是分不清這些鏡像的。

You know, we tend to think that children are bad at discriminating the mirror images, but we might turn that around and say that actually that children are very good at generalizing across mirror image forms.

你知道，我們傾向於認為孩子們不善於辨別鏡像，但我們可以反過來說，其實孩子們很善於跨鏡像形式的概括。

And it seems to be that that's something the human brain is set up do.

而這似乎是人的大腦所設定的事情。

There's a name for this inability to tell mirror images apart: "mirror generalization" and our adult minds do it all the time too.

這種無法分辨鏡像的現象有個名字叫 "鏡像泛化"。"鏡像泛化"，我們成人的大腦也經常這樣做。

Think of the Statue of Liberty

想想自由女神像

You can probably picture that it's a green statue that holds a torch but...

你大概可以想象出這是一個拿著火炬的綠色雕像，但是... ...

-What hand is the torch in?

-手電筒在哪隻手上？

-I'm trying to think... if I picture...

-我在想... 如果我想象...

-Oh, God.

-哦，天啊

-Oh, I have no idea.

-哦，我不知道

-I mean 50/50 guess, I'm gonna say the right hand.

-我是說五五分成，我猜是右手

-Left?

-左邊？

-Torch is in the right hand.

-火炬在右手邊

-Left.

-左邊

-Are you sure?

-你確定嗎？

-No.

-不

And you can probably describe the Apple logo.

而你大概可以描述一下蘋果的標誌。

-A silhouette of an apple with a bite mark out of it ...

-一個蘋果的剪影，上面有一個咬痕......。

But –

但是...

-Which side is the bite taken out of?

-咬的是哪一邊？

-Oh my god. I look at this every single day.

-哦，我的上帝。我每天都在看這個

-If I'm looking at it?

-如果我看著它？

-Yeah.

-是的

-It's on the left side of the Apple.

-它在蘋果的左側。

-I want to say the right side.

-我想說右邊

-Uh, the left side.

-呃，左邊

-The left side.

-左邊

The trouble is that orientation as in the left or right direction something is facing is rarely committed to memory.

麻煩的是，方向作為東西所面對的左或右的方向，很少會被記憶。

Because in the natural world, it doesn't really matter.

因為在自然界中，這並不重要。

When we see an animal facing to the left, we'll still recognize it as a dog when it turns around.

當我們看到一隻動物面向左邊時，當它轉過身來時，我們還是會認出它是一隻狗。

When I'm sitting to the right of someone, I'm not suddenly shocked when they turn to face me or move to my left.

當我坐在別人的右邊時，當他們轉身面對我或移到我的左邊時，我不會突然感到震驚。

Most objects in nature don't change their identity depending on which way round they're facing.

自然界中的大多數物體不會因為面對的方向不同而改變其身份。

Trees, plants, and animals basically look the same one way or another.

樹木、植物、動物基本上都是一個樣子。

So our brains cut corners to allow us to recognize these things quickly and commit them to memory without focusing on direction.

所以我們的大腦會偷工減料，讓我們快速認識這些東西，並將它們存入記憶中，而不注重方向。

So when it comes to letters and numbers and other things that depend on orientation, we have to work a little harder to remember which way is right.

所以，當涉及到字母、數字和其他依賴方向的東西時，我們要更努力地記住哪種方式是正確的。

We have to sort of suppress the tendency to automatically generalize.

我們必須某種程度上抑制自動泛化的傾向。

Which is actually an amazing feat.

這其實是一個驚人的壯舉。

Our brains have evolved to mirror generalize, and we've taught them when and how to turn that skill off.

我們的大腦已經進化到了鏡像泛化，我們已經教會了他們何時以及如何關閉這個技能。