she was fascinated by her goldfish.

她對於小金魚深深著迷

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

to propel themselves through the water.

在水中游動的

Without hesitation, little Dorothy responded,

Dorothy毫不猶豫的回答說

"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!」

(Laughter)

(笑聲)

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.

魚擺動頭部向後游

She believed it.

她相信這樣的事情

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 harbor bias.

便造成了誤差

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 fear the worst.

我們總往最壞的地方去想

We strive for unattainable perfection.

我們一直盲目的追求完美

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

and we don't even notice them.

只是我們不曾注意過這件事情

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 fact is not true.

其中有一個是假的

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

Three: I starred on a television sitcom.

三：我是一個電視節目演員

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

Which fact is not true?

你們猜猜看哪一個假的?

Actually, they're all true.

事實上，全部都是真的

Yeah. They're all true.

真的，他們都是事實

(Applause)

(掌聲)

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

(Laughter)

(笑聲)

I know this from experience.

這是我從過去經驗得知的

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."

And I played Weasel Wyzell,

我扮演的是Weasel Wyzell

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

對我這個13歲的男孩來說

for me as a 13-year-old boy.

這也讓它成了一個很難詮釋的角色

(Laughter)

(笑聲)

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?

Why is that?

為什麼?

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

about my abilities every day.

其他人對於我能力的不正確猜測

My point today is not about my blindness, however.

然而今天的重點不在此

It's about my vision.

而是關於我的視野

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

它教導我如何聚焦於那些

that our minds create.

我們想像出來向回游的魚

Going blind cast them into focus.

失明讓他們成為了一個聚焦點

What does it feel like to see?

看的到的感覺怎麼樣?

It's immediate and passive.

它是立即但被動的

You open your eyes and there's the world.

你只要睜開眼，世界就在你面前

Seeing is believing. Sight is truth.

眼見為憑

Right?

對嗎?

Well, that's what I thought.

我過去是這樣想的

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

My sight became an increasingly bizarre

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

was really a mannequin.

其實只是一個人形模特兒

Reaching down to wash my hands,

當我傾身要洗手，

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

在雙手觸碰之後，

when my fingers felt its true shape.

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

It was difficult and exhausting to see.

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，

consciously analyzed the clues,

有條理地分析，

searched for some logic in my crumbling kaleidoscope,

並透過想像，

until I saw nothing at all.

才能將那些像是看萬花筒的畫面拼湊起來

I learned that what we see

但也透過這樣，我才知道

is not universal truth.

我們看到的事物並非普世皆然

It is not objective reality.

那只不過是物體化的存在

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，

and two to three percent for hearing.

而聽覺僅僅占了百分之二到三

Every second, your eyes can send your visual cortex

每一秒鐘，你的外層視覺

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

It's no surprise then

不過，這並不驚人

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

Here's where it gets interesting.

接下來我們要看為什麼事情這麼有趣

To create the experience of sight,

要產生視覺，

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

So for example,

舉例來說，

what you see impacts how you feel,

你對於結果的想法，

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

Numerous studies demonstrate this.

神經學的研究證實了這一點

If you are asked to estimate

又例如，

the walking speed of a man in a video, for example,

如果你被要求要估計一個影片上男子走路的速度，

your answer will be different if you're told to think about cheetahs or turtles.

當你想到豹或烏龜的時候，答案是會有差異的

A hill appears steeper if you've just exercised,

在你剛結束運動之後，一座小山丘可能會變得更陡，

and a landmark appears farther away

如果你背著一個很重的背包

if you're wearing a heavy backpack.

地標看起來會離自己很遠

We have arrived at a fundamental contradiction.

我們都會遇到這些矛盾點

What you see is a complex mental construction of your own making,

你所看到的東西很大的程度上是心理上認知造成的，

but you experience it passively

但我們卻被動的去經驗這些視覺感受，

as a direct representation of the world around you.

並認為這就是所謂真實的世界

You create your own reality, and you believe it.

你創造了你的世界，而你也相信了這就是事實

I believed mine until it broke apart.

在一切破碎之前，我也一直都這麼認為

The deterioration of my eyes shattered the illusion.

然而視力的惡化讓我了解了這些都是幻覺

You see, sight is just one way

這麼說吧，視覺不過就是

we shape our reality.

我們創造世界的一種方式

We create our own realities in many other ways.

除此之外，我們還運用很多其他的方法去創造屬於自己的事實

Let's take fear as just one example.

接下來我們就舉恐懼為例吧

Your fears distort your reality.

你對於事物的恐懼會扭曲你的世界

Under the warped logic of fear, anything is better than the uncertain.

在某個特定的恐懼邏輯下，任何事情都比不確定性好

Fear fills the void at all costs,

恐懼會以各種方式

passing off what you dread for what you know,

將情緒充斥在你所有已知的事物中，

offering up the worst in place of the ambiguous,

罪遭甚至還會

substituting assumption for reason.

潛意識中對於你的理性決策造成影響

Psychologists have a great term for it: awfulizing.

心理學家對於這個現象有個很好的描述：使惡化

(Laughter)

(笑聲)

Right?

對吧?

Fear replaces the unknown with the awful.

恐懼會以糟糕的事物取代未知的事物

Now, fear is self-realizing.

恐懼只是一種自我理解

When you face the greatest need

當你覺得自己有必要

to look outside yourself and think critically,

從其他角度看自己，並做出評斷，

fear beats a retreat deep inside your mind,

恐懼會在你的腦中敲一記警鐘，

shrinking and distorting your view,

開始影響、扭曲你的看法，

drowning your capacity for critical thought

以各種分裂的情緒，

with a flood of disruptive emotions.

大幅降低你評批性的想法

When you face a compelling opportunity to take action,

當你面臨被迫要採取行動的時機，

fear lulls you into inaction,

恐懼會暫時使你停止行動，

enticing you to passively watch its prophecies fulfill themselves.

引誘你被動的去等待自己的預測被實現

When I was diagnosed with my blinding disease,

當我被診斷出這個會造成視力退化的疾病，

I knew blindness would ruin my life.

我知道失明會毀了我的人生

Blindness was a death sentence for my independence.

這個詞對我來說是很沉重的負擔

It was the end of achievement for me.

它是我追求成就的終點

Blindness meant I would live an unremarkable life,

失明就意味著我不可能會得到成功的人生，

small and sad,

它是隱晦而讓人傷心的，

and likely alone.

也很有可能會讓我孤獨一生

I knew it.

我當時就是這麼覺得

This was a fiction born of my fears, but I believed it.

那是出自於我的幻想，然而我卻相信它了

It was a lie, but it was my reality,

那是我的大腦捏造出來的謊言，但它卻成為了我世界的事實

just like those backwards-swimming fish in little Dorothy's mind.

就像那些在Dorothy想像中反向游泳的魚

If I had not confronted the reality of my fear,

如果我沒有和我自己的恐懼編造出來的現實產生衝突，

I would have lived it.

我的一生也許就真的只能如我想像中一般悲慘黯淡

I am certain of that.

我很確信這一點

So how do you live your life eyes wide open?

那你們又該如何用更廣闊的眼界去生活呢?

It is a learned discipline.

這是可被學習的原則

It can be taught. It can be practiced.

它可以被教授，可以去練習

I will summarize very briefly.

我講簡要的去總結

Hold yourself accountable

對你人生的

for every moment, every thought,

每個時刻、想法

every detail.

以及細節負責

See beyond your fears.

透視你的恐懼

Recognize your assumptions.

認知你的預想

Harness your internal strength.

利用你的內在力量

Silence your internal critic.

使你心中內在的批評沉默

Correct your misconceptions about luck and about success.

導正你關於一些關於運氣和成功連結的誤解

Accept your strengths and your weaknesses, and understand the difference.

接受自己的優缺點，並且比較其中的差異

Open your hearts

帶著廣闊的心胸，

to your bountiful blessings.

面對你所會遇到的問題

Your fears, your critics,

你的恐懼、批判，

your heroes, your villains --

你的英雄，以及敵人

they are your excuses,

全都是你的藉口，

rationalizations, shortcuts,

合理化、抄近路

justifications, your surrender.

辯解，還有你舉著的白旗

They are fictions you perceive as reality.

他們全是被你創造出來的自己的現實

Choose to see through them.

你要選擇去看透他們

Choose to let them go.

選擇去看淡一切

You are the creator of your reality.

你是你世界的創造者

With that empowerment comes complete responsibility.

絕對的權力帶來絕對的責任

I chose to step out of fear's tunnel into terrain uncharted and undefined.

我選擇走出恐懼的隧道而去探索未被定義及定域的地方

I chose to build there a blessed life.

我選擇在這個待探索的地方建造屬於我自己的成功人生

Far from alone,

相對於孤獨一人，

I share my beautiful life with Dorothy,

我和Dorothy，我的老婆，

my beautiful wife,

共享了我的人生，

with our triplets, whom we call the Tripskys,

以及我們稱為Tripskys的三個小孩，

and with the latest addition to the family,

以及家族新成員，

sweet baby Clementine.

Clementine

What do you fear?

你害怕什麼?

What lies do you tell yourself?

你對自己說了什麼謊?

How do you embellish your truth and write your own fictions?

你怎麼裝飾自己的事實並打造自己的幻想堡壘?

What reality are you creating for yourself?

你為自己建造了怎麼樣的現實?

In your career and personal life, in your relationships,

在你的職業生涯以及個人生活中，在你的人際關係裡，

and in your heart and soul,

甚至在你的心中或靈魂裡，

your backwards-swimming fish do you great harm.

那隻向後游的魚持續地在對你造成影響

They exact a toll in missed opportunities and unrealized potential,

它們確切地讓你失去機會，讓你無法實踐自己的潛能

and they engender insecurity and distrust

他們在你想有所成就之處

where you seek fulfillment and connection.

產生不安全感以及不信任感

I urge you to search them out.

我強烈要求你們一定要找出自己的恐懼

Helen Keller said that the only thing worse than being blind

海倫凱勒曾經說過，

is having sight but no vision.

比失明更糟的是沒有視野

For me, going blind was a profound blessing,

對我來說，失明是對我最大的祝福，

because blindness gave me vision.

因為它帶給我更廣闊的見解

I hope you can see what I see.

我希望你們也能夠看到我所見

Thank you.

謝謝

(Applause)

(掌聲)

Bruno Giussani: Isaac, before you leave the stage, just a question.

Bruno Ginssani:Isaac, 在你下台之前，我有一個問題

This is an audience of entrepreneurs, of doers, of innovators.

來自企業家、實幹家、創新者

You are a CEO of a company down in Florida,

你是一個在佛羅里達公司的執行長，

and many are probably wondering,

很多人可能會有疑問，

how is it to be a blind CEO?

身為一位視障人士，執行長的工作怎麼樣?

What kind of specific challenges do you have, and how do you overcome them?

你有遇過什麼特別的挑戰嗎? 你又怎麼去克服他們

Isaac Lidsky: Well, the biggest challenge became a blessing.

Isaac Lidsky: 最大的挑戰等同於祝福

I don't get visual feedback from people.

我並不會對於人們有視覺上的評價

(Laughter)

(笑聲)

BG: What's that noise there? IL: Yeah.

BG:那最惱人的是什麼?

So, for example, in my leadership team meetings,

IL:其實，舉例來說，在我主持幹部會議時，

I don't see facial expressions or gestures.

我不會看見每個人的表情或者動作

I've learned to solicit a lot more verbal feedback.

我學會去從聲音做出評價

I basically force people to tell me what they think.

基本上，我都會強迫大家說出自己的想法

And in this respect,

就此而論，

it's become, like I said, a real blessing for me personally and for my company,

它已經成為，就向我說的，一種對於我個人，或是公司的祝福，

because we communicate at a far deeper level,

因為我們能夠透過更深層的方式來互動，

we avoid ambiguities,

我們必須避免模稜兩可的想法，

and most important, my team knows that what they think truly matters.

最重要的是，我的團隊能夠清楚知道什麼是核心的需求

BG: Isaac, thank you for coming to TED. IL: Thank you, Bruno.

BG:Isaac, 謝謝你來到TED所分享的演講 IL:謝謝你, Bruno

(Applause)

(掌聲)