Name: 孤獨，相聚：技術如何將我們分開 | Henry Williams | TEDxTheMastersSchool (Alone, Together: How Technology Separates Us | Henry Williams | TEDxTheMastersSchool)
Uploaded: 2025-04-09T03:50:11.000Z
Duration: 11 min 38 s

Hi, I'm Henry, and I want to ask you, how much of your time do you spend alone?

你好，我是亨利，我想問你，你有多少時間是一個人度過的？

程度副詞

I'm not just talking about when you're by yourself.

我說的不僅僅是你一個人的時候。

I also want to know how much time you spend surrounded by others, eyes glued to your phones, your focus somewhere else.

我還想知道，你們有多少時間被他人包圍，眼睛盯著手機，注意力不在別處。

I'm talking about when you find yourselves alone together.

我說的是當你們發現自己單獨在一起的時候。

Maybe there was a lull in the conversation, maybe an awkward silence, or you got a text you just couldn't ignore.

也許是談話中的冷場，也許是尷尬的沉默，或者是你收到了一條無法忽視的簡訊。

After all, this is a world designed to exploit our humanity, our need to be accepted and acknowledged.

畢竟，這個世界就是為了利用我們的人性，利用我們被接受、被認可的需求而設計的。

Today, we never have to endure boredom so long as we carry our little magic mirrors everywhere we go.

如今，只要我們隨身攜帶小魔鏡，就再也不用忍受無聊了。

To be alone together is to find a little niche apart from the world, physically separated by inches, but operating in internal spaces miles away.

獨處就是找到一個與世隔絕的小天地，物理上只有幾英寸的距離，但卻在數英里之外的內部空間中活動。

It's a different kind of loneliness, perversion of our human nature, where our desire for togetherness pushes us further and further apart.

這是一種與眾不同的孤獨，是人性的變態，我們對團聚的渴望將我們越推越遠。

Technology has a tendency of shaping us no matter what we try to do to hold it back.

無論我們如何阻止，技術都有一種塑造我們的趨勢。

In ancient Athens, a common saying of Socrates was that the written word would make humanity lazy and forgetful.

在古代雅典，蘇格拉底常說的一句話是：文字會讓人類變得懶惰和健忘。

Somehow, that approach didn't quite work for him since I got that anecdote from a book.

不知為什麼，這種方法對他不太奏效，因為我是從一本書上看到這個軼事的。

So I'm not going to tell you to throw out your phones or even to turn them off.

所以，我不會告訴你們扔掉手機，甚至關掉手機。

Instead, I want to talk about the world we find ourselves with and the ways that our relationship with technology is changing even today.

相反，我想談談我們所處的世界，以及我們與技術的關係在今天發生的變化。

But I have to warn you, it gets worse before it gets better.

但我要提醒你，情況在好轉之前會越來越糟。

So what exactly is the problem with smartphones, social media, and the internet?

那麼，智能手機、社交媒體和互聯網到底有什麼問題呢？

After all, they allow us to talk across massive distances, find people who share our interests, and access the sum of human knowledge in our pockets.

畢竟，它們讓我們能夠跨越遙遠的距離進行交談，找到與我們志同道合的人，並在我們的口袋裡獲取人類知識的總和。

It's easy enough to say that they distract us from the real world, but so do TVs, movies, and, in Socrates' view, books.

說它們分散了我們對現實世界的注意力很容易，但電視、電影以及蘇格拉底認為的書籍也是如此。

The real problem with our technology today is that it is so very good at exploiting our basic human psychology.

當今科技的真正問題在於，它非常善於利用我們人類的基本心理。

How much do you understand about the devices you see every day?

您對日常所見的設備瞭解多少？

We live in a society made up of people who could not design, build, repair, or even operate most of the devices upon which their lives depend.

我們生活在一個由不會設計、製造、維修甚至不會操作大部分生活所依賴設備的人組成的社會中。

In this vastly complex world, we are unable to offer a satisfactory explanation for the many human-made phenomena we see every day.

在這個極其複雜的世界裡，我們無法為每天看到的許多人為現象提供令人滿意的解釋。

This is why our technology can control us instead of us controlling it.

這就是為什麼我們的技術可以控制我們，而不是我們控制技術。

The magic qualities of the digital world leave us in the passenger seat, clinging to the little social media walls and websites that we do understand.

數字世界的魔力讓我們只能坐在副駕駛座上，緊緊抓住社交媒體上的小牆和我們瞭解的網站。

In the book Sapiens by Yuval Noah Harari, he explains that early humans evolved to work in groups, to measure their status against other individuals, and to crave social recognition and capital.

在尤瓦爾-諾亞-哈拉里（Yuval Noah Harari）所著的《智人》（Sapiens）一書中，他解釋說，早期人類進化為群體工作，以其他個體來衡量自己的地位，渴望得到社會認可和資本。

These are the ways our brains find a place for us in society, and roles to play in the many relationships that make up our lives.

這就是我們的大腦為我們在社會中找到位置的方式，以及在構成我們生活的眾多關係中扮演的角色。

In the modern world, however, there are multiple overlapping hierarchies of status.

然而，在現代社會中，存在著多重重疊的身份等級。

Money, fame, education, worldliness, and more.

金錢、名利、教育、世俗等等。

This overabundance of status markers and hierarchies in our lives is difficult to navigate.

我們的生活中充斥著過多的身份標記和等級制度，讓人難以駕馭。

And this is where our technology is so enticing.

這正是我們的技術的魅力所在。

Smartphones and social media provide bite-sized, addictive chunks of recognition in the form of points, likes, streaks, followers, views, and more.

智能手機和社交媒體以積分、點贊、連勝、追隨者、瀏覽量等形式，提供令人上癮的小塊認可。

They give us quantifiable numbers on which to compare ourselves, and a constant stream of buzzing, flashing, colorful reminders that we are recognized by those around us.

它們為我們提供了可以比較的量化數字，並不斷髮出嗡嗡聲、閃爍著五顏六色的光芒，提醒我們得到周圍人的認可。

By the way, you can follow me on social media after this performance.

順便說一句，演出結束後，你們可以在社交媒體上關注我。

In the 1990s, British anthropologist Robin Dunbar discovered a correlation between primate brain size and average social group size.

20 世紀 90 年代，英國人類學家羅賓-鄧巴（Robin Dunbar）發現靈長類動物的大腦大小與平均社會群體規模之間存在相關性。

By extrapolating, he found that humans can comfortably maintain about 150 stable relationships, the so-called Dunbar number.

通過推斷，他發現人類可以舒適地維持大約 150 種穩定的關係，即所謂的鄧巴數。

In this increasingly digitized and urbanized world, we all have access to a massive social circle, way larger than the 150 we could ever fully understand.

在這個日益數字化和城市化的世界裡，我們都有機會接觸到一個龐大的社交圈，其規模遠遠超過我們所能完全瞭解的 150 個社交圈。

And the internet is an overwhelming firehose.

而互聯網就是一個鋪天蓋地的大水管。

More than 40 hours of video is posted on YouTube every minute.

YouTube 上每分鐘發佈的視頻超過 40 小時。

This wreaks havoc on our primate brains, but in another way, the internet also provides the answer in the form of the endless subcultures, groups, and communities for interests ranging from Roman literature to memes about alpacas.

這對我們的靈長類大腦造成了嚴重破壞，但從另一個角度看，互聯網也提供了答案，那就是無窮無盡的亞文化、團體和社區，從羅馬文學到關於羊駝的備忘錄，應有盡有。

I know personally, I'm a member of one such group.

就我個人而言，我就是這樣一個團體的成員。

Leaving a culture and joining a subculture is a way for the monkey mind to cope with the modern world.

離開一種文化，加入一種亞文化，是猴子心靈應對現代世界的一種方式。

These subcultures can both nurture and isolate.

這些亞文化既能培養人，也能孤立人。

When I was in middle school, I was a confused and nerdy kid.

上中學時，我是一個迷茫而又書呆子氣的孩子。

Okay, I'm still a little confused and a lot nerdy.

好吧，我還是有點糊塗，有點書呆子氣。

But back then, I'd get home at three and play video games until late into the night.

但那時，我三點鐘回家，玩電子遊戲到深夜。

I played with strangers from strange lands, most of whom I'd never met in person, of all ages and backgrounds, some of whom didn't even speak my language.

我和來自異國他鄉的陌生人一起玩耍，他們中的大多數人我從未見過面，年齡和背景各不相同，有些人甚至不會說我的語言。

We forged on behind our separate screens because we had a shared love of an online world.

我們在各自的螢幕後繼續前進，因為我們對網絡世界有著共同的熱愛。

Octomoose23, I hope you're watching this.

Octomoose23，希望你能看到這一幕。

In a difficult, shifting middle school social world, that was my lifeline.

在困難重重、風雲變幻的國中社會，這是我的生命線。

But even as that community became like a second family to me, I found myself drifting away from the real world, less able to cope with change and more anxious about human interaction.

但是，就在這個社區成為我第二個家庭的時候，我發現自己卻漸漸遠離了現實世界，無法應對變化，對人際交往更加焦慮。

This world of subcultures has had its largest impact on those who've grown up with it, my generation.

亞文化世界對我們這一代人的影響最大。

The devices that have been placed in our hand from an early age have a huge effect on our lives, and it's making us seriously unhappy.

從小就放在我們手中的設備對我們的生活產生了巨大的影響，這讓我們非常不開心。

According to researcher Jean Twenge, rates of teen depression and suicide have skyrocketed since 2011, the same year that rates of Americans with smartphones crossed 50%.

研究人員讓-特文格（Jean Twenge）指出，自 2011 年以來，青少年抑鬱症和自殺率急劇上升，同年，美國人使用智能手機的比例超過了 50%。

It's not an exaggeration to say that my generation is on the brink of one of the worst mental health crises in decades, and much of this deterioration can be traced to our phones.

毫不誇張地說，我們這一代人正處於幾十年來最嚴重的心理健康危機的邊緣，而這種惡化在很大程度上可以追溯到我們的手機。

Teens today are less likely to work, date, take risks, go out or spend time with friends and family.

現在的青少年不太可能工作、約會、冒險、外出或與朋友和家人共度時光。

Today's 12th graders go out less often than 8th graders do, and the number of teens who say they regularly go out with their friends has decreased by 40% since 2000.

如今，12 年級學生外出的次數比 8 年級學生少，自 2000 年以來，表示經常與朋友外出的青少年人數減少了 40%。

This shift has had a major effect on psyche.

這種轉變對心理產生了重大影響。

According to the National Institute on Drug Abuse, there is a direct correlation between time spent on social media and symptoms of depression, and teens who spend three hours or more per day on electronic devices are 35% more likely to have a risk factor for suicide.

根據美國國家藥物濫用研究所（National Institute on Drug Abuse）的研究，在社交媒體上花費的時間與抑鬱症狀直接相關，每天在電子設備上花費 3 小時或更長時間的青少年，其自殺風險係數要高出 35%。

The irony is that this sadness comes most often from the most social people, the ones with throngs of online friends and digital followers who are therefore pushed to spend more and more time on social media.

具有諷刺意味的是，這種悲哀往往來自於最善於社交的人，他們擁有大量的網絡朋友和數字粉絲，是以被迫在社交媒體上花費越來越多的時間。

Worst of all, we can't know what the long-term effects of growing up like this will be.

最糟糕的是，我們不知道這樣的成長會帶來什麼長期影響。

Adolescence is a key time for the development of social skills and interpersonal relationships, something we're often seriously lacking when tied to a digital niche.

青春期是社交技能和人際關係發展的關鍵時期，而我們往往被數字世界所束縛，嚴重缺乏社交技能和人際關係。

So maybe you think I'm going to tell you the solution is to forego our technology, civilization, and maybe even agriculture altogether and return to humanity's roots in hunting and gathering.

所以，也許你認為我會告訴你，解決辦法就是放棄我們的科技、文明，甚至是農業，回到人類狩獵和採集的根源。

I like binging Netflix a little too much to give it up.

我太喜歡看 Netflix 了，所以不想放棄。

The example of Socrates proves that crusading against change is unlikely to change anything.

蘇格拉底的例子證明，討伐變革不可能改變任何事情。

Instead, I think there are reasons to be optimistic and ways that our relationship to technology is changing.

相反，我認為我們有理由感到樂觀，我們與技術的關係正在發生變化。

In the words of technology writer Guern, society looked at objectively has a lot of downsides.

用科技作家格恩的話說，客觀地看社會有很多弊端。

If someone really finds a place in their subculture which gives them mental ease and physical health, what right do the rest of us have to interfere and drag them into the main culture?

如果有人真的在自己的亞文化中找到了一個能讓他們精神舒暢、身體健康的地方，我們其他人又有什麼權利去幹涉他們，把他們拉進主流文化呢？

In this way, subcultures better provide a space for kids like me with a specific niche interest, people who find places of acceptance and love outside of the social norm.

這樣，亞文化就能更好地為像我這樣有特殊興趣的孩子提供一個空間，讓他們在社會規範之外找到被接納和被愛的地方。

Culture is by definition vast and unspecialized.

顧名思義，文化是廣闊而非專業化的。

Culture can't cater to individual interests, but subcultures can.

文化不能滿足個人興趣，但亞文化可以。

A world of subcultures may actually help us cope with the complexity we see in our day-to-day lives.

亞文化的世界實際上可以幫助我們應對日常生活中的複雜性。

Just as we're adapting to our technology, it too is adapting to us.

就像我們在適應我們的技術一樣，技術也在適應我們。

The devices of today can predict our emotions from our words, diagnose our sleep habits from our movements, and bit by bit, technology is learning how we act online when we feel alone.

如今的設備可以從我們的言語中預測我們的情緒，從我們的動作中診斷我們的睡眠習慣，技術正在一點一點地學習我們在感到孤獨時如何在網上行動。

The devices of the future, instead of crudely exploiting our psychology, are starting to act like little digital psychologists, asking us how we feel and catering our digital experience to enlighten and enliven us instead of inspiring anxiety and frustration.

未來的設備不再粗暴地利用我們的心理，而是開始像一個小小的數字心理學家，詢問我們的感受，迎合我們的數字體驗，啟迪和活躍我們，而不是激發焦慮和沮喪。

For example, a Stanford researcher has recently created a program called Wobot, a digital therapist for use in messaging clients that has shown huge advances in improving mood and diagnosing depression.

例如，斯坦福大學的一名研究人員最近創建了一個名為 Wobot 的程序，這是一個用於向客戶發送信息的數字治療師，在改善情緒和診斷抑鬱症方面取得了巨大進步。

Technology companies continue to advance these approaches because they too know that the status quo is unsustainable.

技術公司繼續推進這些方法，因為它們也知道現狀是不可持續的。

As technology comes to understand us better, I hope that we humans will continue to work on understanding ourselves.

隨著科技對我們的瞭解越來越深入，我希望我們人類也能繼續努力瞭解自己。

I hope that every one of you leaves this room with a better understanding of why it is that social technology so appeals to us as humans.

我希望在座的每一位都能更好地理解為什麼社交技術如此吸引我們人類。

The next time you feel the need to look down at your phone, I want to challenge you to look up instead.

下一次，當你覺得需要低頭看手機時，我想挑戰你抬頭看。

At the people around you or in the next room or outside on the street.

對著周圍的人、隔壁房間的人、外面街上的人。

The next time you feel alone, I want you to look for another human being and know that what you're looking for isn't found in your pocket.

下次當你感到孤獨時，我希望你能尋找另一個人，並知道你要找的東西並不在你的口袋裡。