we were playing on top of a bunk bed.

我們在上下舖玩

I was two years older than my sister at the time -

我那時比她大兩歲

I mean, I'm two years older than her now -

現在當然還是比她大兩歲

but at the time it meant she had to do everything that I wanted to do,

小時候我不管做甚麼 她總會跟著做

and I wanted to play war.

我那時想玩戰爭遊戲

So we were up on top of our bunk beds.

我們在上下舖床上

And on one side of the bunk bed,

在床的一側

I had put out all of my G.I. Joe soldiers and weaponry.

我拿出所有《大英雄》的士兵和武器

And on the other side were all my sister's My Little Ponies

另一側,我妹擺滿了她的彩虹小馬

ready for a cavalry charge.

準備發動攻擊

There are differing accounts of what actually happened that afternoon,

那天發生的事,我們說法不一

but since my sister is not here with us today,

既然我妹今天沒有來

let me tell you the true story -

就讓我來說說到底發生了什麼事

(Laughter)

(笑聲)

which is my sister's a little on the clumsy side.

我妹實在有點笨拙

Somehow, without any help or push from her older brother at all,

我這個哥哥也沒做什麼

Amy disappeared off of the top of the bunk bed

艾米不知怎麼地就不見了

and landed with this crash on the floor.

重重摔落到地板上

I nervously peered over the side of the bed

我小心翼翼地望向她那

to see what had befallen my fallen sister

看看她有沒有怎麼樣

and saw that she had landed painfully on her hands and knees

她摔到了手和膝蓋

on all fours on the ground.

痛苦地趴在地上

I was nervous because my parents had charged me

我很緊張,因為爸媽還叮嚀過我

with making sure that my sister and I

要確保跟妹妹玩的時候

played as safely and as quietly as possible.

不要太吵,也不要受傷

And seeing as how I had accidentally broken Amy's arm

而且我在一個禮拜前...

just one week before...

才害愛咪的手臂受傷

(Laughter)

(笑聲)

(Laughter ends)

我自以為很帥地把她移開

...heroically pushing her out of the way of an oncoming imaginary sniper bullet,

想像會有狙擊手的子彈飛過來

(Laughter)

(笑聲)

for which I have yet to be thanked, I was trying as hard as I could -

她到現在都還沒謝謝我

she didn't even see it coming -

我超努力要保護她的

I was trying hard to be on my best behavior.

她甚至不知道會有子彈

And I saw my sister's face,

我很努力做好我該做的

this wail of pain and suffering and surprise

然後我看著我妹的臉

threatening to erupt from her mouth and wake my parents

帶著痛苦和驚訝的哀號

from the long winter's nap for which they had settled.

威脅著要嚎啕大哭 叫醒熟睡的爸媽

So I did the only thing

所以我只做了一件事

my frantic seven year-old brain could think to do to avert this tragedy.

慌張的7歲腦袋為了要挽救悲劇

And if you have children, you've seen this hundreds of times.

如果你有小孩,應該看過很多次了

I said, "Amy, wait. Don't cry. Did you see how you landed?

我說:「艾米,別哭,妳是怎麼摔的?」

No human lands on all fours like that.

「沒有人會臉朝下跌倒的」

Amy, I think this means you're a unicorn."

「我想,那代表妳是獨角獸」

(Laughter)

(笑聲)

Now, that was cheating,

其實我根本是作弊

because there was nothing she would want more

因為那時她最想要的

than not to be Amy the hurt five year-old little sister,

不是當個受傷的五歲妹妹艾米

but Amy the special unicorn.

而就是特別的獨角獸艾米

Of course, this option was open to her brain

當然,她從未這樣想過

at no point in the past.

我可憐的妹妹陷入自我衝突

And you could see how my poor, manipulated sister faced conflict,

小小的腦袋試圖運作起來

as her little brain attempted to devote resources

一面感覺剛剛的痛苦和驚訝

to feeling the pain and suffering and surprise she just experienced,

一面思考一個全新的她-獨角獸

or contemplating her new-found identity as a unicorn.

後者贏了

And the latter won.

她不哭了,我們的遊戲也繼續

Instead of crying or ceasing our play,

爸媽也沒被吵醒

instead of waking my parents,

我不用承受任何後果

with all the negative consequences for me,

艾米笑了

a smile spread across her face

她帶著獨角獸寶寶的驕傲...

and she scrambled back up onto the bunk bed

重新爬上床

with all the grace of a baby unicorn...

(笑聲)

(Laughter)

當然,還有一隻跛了的腳

...with one broken leg.

我們偶然發現一件事

What we stumbled across

在這懵懂的年紀,5歲和7歲

at this tender age of just five and seven -

我們從沒有想過

we had no idea at the time -

這能夠推動科學革命

was was going be at the vanguard of a scientific revolution

也就是在二十年後 影響研究人腦的方式

occurring two decades later in the way that we look at the human brain.

這就叫做正向心理學

We had stumbled across something called positive psychology,

這也是為什麼我今天會在這

which is the reason I'm here today

也是我每天早上起床的原因

and the reason that I wake up every morning.

我開始談論這個研究時

When I started talking about this research

公司和學校都說

outside of academia, with companies and schools,

不要從圖表開始講

the first thing they said to never do is to start with a graph.

但我就是想從圖表開始講

The first thing I want to do is start with a graph.

它看起來很無趣

This graph looks boring,

但卻讓我興奮及早起

but it is the reason I get excited and wake up every morning.

它甚至不代表什麼,資料是假的

And this graph doesn't even mean anything; it's fake data.

我們看到的是...

What we found is -

(笑聲)

(Laughter)

如果拿這份資料研究你們

If I got this data studying you, I would be thrilled,

我會很激動

because there's a trend there,

因為有一個很明顯的趨勢

and that means that I can get published,

且這表示我可以發表這個結果

which is all that really matters.

那真的滿重要的

There is one weird red dot above the curve,

有奇怪的紅點在曲線的上方

there's one weirdo in the room -

就像有個怪人在這個房間

I know who you are, I saw you earlier -

我知道你是誰,也看過你

that's no problem.

那不是問題

That's no problem, as most of you know, because I can just delete that dot.

我大可直接刪掉那個點

I can delete that dot because that's clearly a measurement error.

因為很明顯是測量錯誤

And we know that's a measurement error because it's messing up my data.

那的確是

(Laughter)

因為它弄亂了我的資料

So one of the first things we teach people

(笑聲)

in economics, statistics, business and psychology courses

所以第一件我們教大家的事

is how, in a statistically valid way, do we eliminate the weirdos.

不管是在經濟,統計,商業和心理學

How do we eliminate the outliers so we can find the line of best fit?

就是我們怎麼有效排除怪人

Which is fantastic if I'm trying to find out

要怎麼刪去異常值

how many Advil the average person should be taking - two.

才能得到最好的實驗結果

But if I'm interested in your potential,

我試著要找出

or for happiness or productivity or energy or creativity,

每個人應該吃多少顆安舒疼

we're creating the cult of the average with science.

2顆

If I asked a question like,

但我對大家的潛力很有興趣

"How fast can a child learn how to read in a classroom?"

以及幸福,生產力,能量,創意

scientists change the answer to

我們用科學創造對均值的狂熱

"How fast does the average child learn how to read in that classroom?"

我問你一個問題

and we tailor the class towards the average.

「小孩在班上的閱讀速度多快?」

If you fall below the average,

科學家就會改問

then psychologists get thrilled,

「一般的小孩在班上閱讀速度多快?」

because that means you're depressed or have a disorder,

我們讓數據傾向平均值

or hopefully both.

如果你低於平均值

We're hoping for both because our business model is,

心理學家就會很興奮

if you come into a therapy session with one problem,

那表示你很沮喪,或心理失調

we want to make sure you leave knowing you have ten,

或是像我們所希望的,兩者都有

so you keep coming back.

因為那是商業運作的方式

We'll go back into your childhood if necessary,

你帶著一個困擾來諮詢

but eventually we want to make you normal again.

我們會讓你帶回去十個

But normal is merely average.

所以你才會繼續來

And positive psychology posits that if we study what is merely average,

需要的話,會探索你的童年

we will remain merely average.

最後我們想讓你變回正常

Then instead of deleting those positive outliers,

但是,正常也僅僅是平均值而已

what I intentionally do is come into a population like this one

正向心理學斷定

and say, why?

如果我們研究"僅僅是平均值"

Why are some of you high above the curve

那還是只會得到"僅僅是平均值"

in terms of intellectual, athletic, musical ability,

我不想刪掉那些正面的異常值

creativity, energy levels,

所以我來到一群人面前,就像今天

resiliency in the face of challenge, sense of humor?

提出我的疑問

Whatever it is, instead of deleting you, what I want to do is study you.

為什麼有些人可以高於曲線

Because maybe we can glean information,

不論是智慧,運動及音樂能力

not just how to move people up to the average,

創意,活力

but move the entire average up in our companies and schools worldwide.

面對挑戰的彈性,還有幽默感?

The reason this graph is important to me

不管是什麼

is, on the news, the majority of the information is not positive.

我不排除你,反而要研究你

in fact it's negative.

因為我們可能可以蒐集資訊

Most of it's about murder, corruption, diseases, natural disasters.

不只是讓你高於平均

And very quickly, my brain starts to think

也拉高全世界公司和學校的平均

that's the accurate ratio of negative to positive in the world.

這張圖表對我很重要

This creates "the medical school syndrome."

新聞上,大多數資訊都不是正面的

During the first year of medical training,

事實上,都很負面

as you read through a list of all the symptoms and diseases,

大多是關於 謀殺,貪汙,疾病,自然災害

suddenly you realize you have all of them.

我當下很快地就認為

(Laughter)

那就是世界上精確的負正面比例

I have a brother in-law named Bobo, which is a whole other story.

而這也創造了「醫學院的症狀」

Bobo married Amy the unicorn.

在醫學院的第一年

Bobo called me on the phone -

你讀過一系列症狀和疾病

(Laughter)

突然你發現你全部都中標

from Yale Medical School,

(笑聲)

and Bobo said, "Shawn, I have leprosy."

我妹夫,波波,其實又有另一個故事

(Laughter)

他跟獨角獸艾米結婚

Which, even at Yale, is extraordinarily rare.

有一天他打給我

But I had no idea how to console poor Bobo

(笑聲)

because he had just gotten over an entire week of menopause.

他在耶魯醫學院

(Laughter)

波波說:「尚恩,我有痲瘋病」

We're finding it's not necessarily the reality that shapes us,

(笑聲)

but the lens through which your brain views the world that shapes your reality.

即使是在耶魯,這還是很少見

And if we can change the lens, not only can we change your happiness,

我完全不知道要怎麼安慰波波

we can change every single educational and business outcome at the same time.

他才剛熬過一整個禮拜的更年期

I applied to Harvard on a dare.

(笑聲)

I didn't expect to get in, and my family had no money for college.

所以不一定是現實塑造了我們

When I got a military scholarship two weeks later, they let me go.

而是頭腦感觀的世界塑造了你

Something that wasn't even a possibility became a reality.

如果可以改變觀點,不只能變快樂

I assumed everyone there would see it as a privilege as well,

也能使教育和商業變得不一樣

that they'd be excited to be there.

我當時不知好歹去申請哈佛

Even in a classroom full of people smarter than you,

從沒想過我會進去,家裡也沒錢

I felt you'd be happy just to be in that classroom.

兩周後我拿到軍用獎學金 他們就讓我去念

But what I found is, while some people experience that,

原本根本不可能的事竟然成真了

when I graduated after my four years

我以為那裡的人覺得有殊榮

and then spent the next eight years living in the dorms with the students -

也很興奮可以念哈佛

Harvard asked me to; I wasn't that guy.

教室裡的所有人都比你聰明

(Laughter)

光是處在那間教室就覺得開心

I was an officer to counsel students through the difficult four years.

有些人可能是有這樣的經歷

And in my research and my teaching,

但我大學四年畢業後

I found that these students, no matter how happy they were

又花了八年,跟學生住在宿舍

with their original success of getting into the school,

那是哈佛要求的,不是我想要的

two weeks later their brains were focused, not on the privilege of being there,

(笑聲)

nor on their philosophy or physics,

我提供大學生諮詢

but on the competition, the workload,

在我的研究和教學中

the hassles, stresses, complaints.

我發現,不管這些學生開不開心

When I first went in there, I walked into the freshmen dining hall,

即使他們成功來到哈佛

which is where my friends from Waco, Texas, which is where I grew up -

兩周後,他們不再感到錄取的殊榮

I know some of you know this.

也不鑽研哲學或物理

When they'd visit, they'd look around,

反而是專注在競賽,負荷量

and say, "This dining hall looks like something out of Hogwart's."

困難,壓力及抱怨

It does, because that was Hogwart's and that's Harvard.

我第一次走進新生的餐廳時

And when they see this,

我朋友,跟我一樣來自德州

they say, "Why do you waste your time studying happiness at Harvard?

我知道有些人已經知道

What does a Harvard student possibly have to be unhappy about?"

朋友來找我,看看四周

Embedded within that question

他們說:「這餐廳很像電影哈利波特的 霍格華茲出來的」

is the key to understanding the science of happiness.

的確是, 這是霍格華茲

Because what that question assumes

這是哈佛

is that our external world is predictive of our happiness levels,

看到這景象

when in reality, if I know everything about your external world,

他們說: 「你幹嘛浪費時間在哈佛研究幸福?」

I can only predict 10% of your long-term happiness.

「哈佛學生在不開心什麼?」

90 percent of your long-term happiness is predicted not by the external world,

這個問題

but by the way your brain processes the world.

正是了解幸福科學的關鍵

And if we change it,

這個問題假設

if we change our formula for happiness and success,

外在世界可以預測人的幸福程度

we can change the way that we can then affect reality.

但在現實中

What we found is that only 25% of job successes are predicted by I.Q.,

如果你的外在世界我都瞭若指掌

75 percent of job successes

我只能預測你10%的長期幸福

are predicted by your optimism levels, your social support

90%的長期幸福 不是從外在世界預測

and your ability to see stress as a challenge instead of as a threat.

是看你的大腦怎麼處理這個世界

I talked to a New England boarding school, probably the most prestigious one,

如果我們去改變

and they said, "We already know that.

改變快樂和成功的公式

So every year, instead of just teaching our students, we have a wellness week.

就能改變現實

And we're so excited. Monday night we have the world's leading expert

智商只預測25%的成功事業

will speak about adolescent depression.

剩下的75%

Tuesday night it's school violence and bullying.

全看你的樂觀程度,社會的支持

Wednesday night is eating disorders.

還有視壓力為挑戰非威脅的能力

Thursday night is illicit drug use.

我跟新英格蘭的寄宿學校這麼說

And Friday night we're trying to decide between risky sex or happiness."

可能是名聲最響亮的寄宿學校

(Laughter)

他們說:「我們早就知道了」

I said, "That's most people's Friday nights."

「每年除了正規課,我們還有健康週」

(Laughter)

「我們很興奮」

(Applause)

「週一晚上有專家講青少年憂鬱症」

Which I'm glad you liked, but they did not like that at all.

「週二晚上主題是學校暴力和霸凌」

Silence on the phone.

「週三晚上是飲食失衡」

And into the silence, I said, "I'd be happy to speak at your school,

「週四晚上是非法使用毒品」

but that's not a wellness week, that's a sickness week.

「週五晚上看是要講 危險性關係還是幸福」

You've outlined all the negative things that can happen,

(笑聲)

but not talked about the positive."

我說,那就是大多數人的週五晚上

The absence of disease is not health.

(笑聲)

Here's how we get to health:

(掌聲)

We need to reverse the formula for happiness and success.

很高興你們喜歡

In the last three years, I've traveled to 45 countries,

他們可一點也不喜歡

working with schools and companies in the midst of an economic downturn.

電話那頭一陣沉默