定制学 L7-U1-P1 On Procrastination

写在前面

原视频来自 TED 讲座 Tim Urban: Inside the mind of a master procrastinator, February 2016，字幕 (subtitle) 参考自官方网站。

注：本文在字幕基础上会有一些笔者个人的笔记，而且字幕会根据笔者听记和具体课程内容进行修改，如有错误敬请告知。

~~吐槽：这次官方字幕的错误率有点高啊，官方听译和校对者除了一些口语表达没有听出来之外，甚至还保留了单词的拼写错误……~~

Introduction: Tim Urban knows that procrastination doesn't make sense, but he's never been able to shake his habit of waiting until the last minute to get things done. In this hilarious and insightful talk, Urban takes us on a journey through YouTube binges, Wikipedia rabbit holes and bouts of staring out the window -- and encourages us to think harder about what we're really procrastinating on, before we run out of time.

导言: Tim Urban 知道拖延并不明智，但他一直没能摆脱他的坏习惯——总是等到最后一刻才把事做好。在这次搞笑却又十分有见地的讲座中，Urban 带我们见识了什么是对 YouTube 的重度沉迷，Wikipedia 又藏着哪些诱人陷入的兔子洞，而我们为什么总是时不时地凝视窗外……同时，他也鼓励我们认真思考一个问题：在浪费完时间之前，我们到底在拖延着什么。

Video 1

本节共 1 小节，时长 00:39。

So in college, I was a government major, which means I had to write a lot of papers.

Now, when a normal student writes a paper, they might spread the work out a little like this.

So, you know,

you get started maybe a little slowly, but you get enough done in the first week that, with some heavier days later on, everything gets done, things stay civil.

spread out 展开，铺开，伸展；分散，传开

And I would want to do that like that.

That would be the plan.

I, I would, uh ... I would have it all ready to go, but then that, then that, that, actually, the paper would, would come along, and then I would kind of do this.

And that would happen to every single paper.

He would try to spread out his workload over time.

workload n. 工作量

Video 2

本节共 2 小节，时长 04:04。

But then came my 90-page senior thesis, a paper you're supposed to spend a year on.

And I knew for a paper like that, my normal workflow was not an option. It was way too big a project.

So I planned things out, and I decided it kind of had to go something like this.

This is how the year would go.

So I'd start off light, and I'd bump it up in the middle months, and then at the end, I would kick it up into high gear just like a little staircase. How hard could it be to walk up the stairs?

No big deal, right?

you pron. 任何人；你，你们
way adv. (表强调) 大大地 (偏离某种状态)；远远地 n. 方法，方式，作风；途径
light adj. 轻便的；淡色的；充满光亮的，明亮的 v. 点燃，开始燃烧；照亮，使明亮 n. 光线，光亮；电灯，光源，发光体
bump up 提高，拔高，突然增加，猛涨 kick up 激起，扬起
kick sth. into high gear 使事态进入更为紧张激烈的状态，使某事进展得如火如荼

But then, the funniest thing happened. Those first few months?

They came and went, and I, I couldn't quite do stuff.

So we had an awesome new revised plan.

And then ... But then those middle months actually went by, and I didn't really write words, and so we were here.

And then two months turned into one month, which turned into two weeks.

And one day I woke up, with three days until the deadline, still not having written a word, and so I did the only thing I could:

I wrote 90 pages over 72 hours, pulling not one but two all-nighters -- humans are not supposed to pull two all-nighters --

sprinted across campus, dove in slow motion, and got it in just at the deadline.

pull an all-nighter 开通宵夜车；熬夜，通宵做某事 (例如学习、参加派对)
sprint v. 短距离快速奔跑，冲刺 n. 短跑，短跑比赛；冲刺
dive v. 冲向，跃向；跳水，潜水；(鸟等动物) 俯冲；(价格、数字等) 突然暴跌 n. 跳水，潜水；冲，扑；(价格、数字等) 骤降；低级酒吧，低级夜总会

此处第八条中的 dove 为美式的 dive 过去式，其英式过去式为 dived，此外其过去分词在美式和英式英语中都为 dived。

I thought that was the end of everything.

But a week later I get a call, and it's the school.

And they say, "Is this Tim Urban?" And I say, "Yeah."

And they say, "We need to talk about your thesis." And I say, "OK."

And they say, "It's the best one we've ever seen."

That did not happen.

It was a very, very bad thesis.

I just wanted to enjoy that one moment when all of you thought, "This guy is amazing!"

No, no, it was very, very bad.

Anyway, today I'm a writer-blogger guy. I write the blog Wait But Why.

And a couple of years ago, I decided to write about procrastination.

My behavior's always perplexed the non-procrastinators around me, and I wanted to explain to the non-procrastinators of the world

what goes on in the heads of procrastinators, and why we are the way we are.

procrastination /prəˌkræstɪˈneɪʃn/ n. 拖延；拖延症 procrastinator n. 拖延症患者，拖拉的人
perplex v. 使困惑，使为难；使复杂化

Now, I had a hypothesis that is, the brains of procrastinators were actually different than the brains of other people.

And to test this, I found an MRI lab that actually let me scan both my brain and the brain of a proven non-procrastinator, and I, so I could compare them.

And I actually brought them here to show you today. And I want you to take a look carefully to see if you can notice a difference. And I know that if you're not a trained brain expert, it's not that obvious, but just take a look, OK?

So here's the brain of a non-procrastinator.

Now ... here's my brain.

此处第一条中的 different than 常用于美式英语，其等价表达是 different from。除了在句法结构上有一定不同外，两者含义是一样的，这里的句法结构不同体现在它们后面能接的句子形式上。
此处第二条中的 MRI 指 Magnetic Resonance Imaging (核磁共振成像)，一种造影技术，常用于绘制物体 (例如人体) 内部结构图象。

There is a difference.

Both brains have a Rational Decision-Maker in them, but the procrastinator's brain also has an Instant Gratification Monkey.

Now, what does this mean for the procrastinator? Well, it means everything's fine until this happens. [RDM: "This is a perfect time to get some work done." IGM: "Nope!"]

So the Rational Decision-Maker will make the rational decision to ... do something productive, but the Monkey doesn't like that plan, so he actually takes the wheel,

and he says, "Actually, let's read the entire Wikipedia page of the Nancy Kerrigan-Tonya Harding scandal, because I just remembered that that happened.

Then ... then we're going to go over to the fridge, we're going to see if there's anything new in there since 10 minutes ago.

After that, we're going to go on a YouTube spiral that starts with videos of Richard Feynman talking about magnets and ends much, much later with us watching interviews with Justin Bieber's mom.

"All of that's going to take a while, so we're not going to really have room on the schedule for any work today. Sorry!"

rational adj. 理性的，明智的，清醒的；合理的 n. 有理数
gratification n. 满足，喜悦，满意，快感；令人满意之事 instant gratification 即时满足 delayed gratification 延迟满足
take the wheel 掌控方向，开车

此处第四条中的 Nancy Kerrigan-Tonya Harding scandal 指 1994 Cobo Arena attack (1994 年科布体育馆袭击事件)。事件中 Nancy Kerrigan 在花样滑冰练习赛结束下场时于右腿下部受到重击并无法参与接下来的比赛，随后其主要对手 Tonya Harding 获得女子锦标赛冠军。调查发现，Tonya Harding 的前夫为这起事件的主谋之一，他供认说 Tonya Harding 事前已知晓这一计划，最终 Tonya Harding 当年的成绩被取消，其本人也被永久禁赛。(注：本文读者大概不需要知道这么细……)
此处第六条中的 YouTube spiral 指一种沉迷于刷视频的现象，即不断地在 YouTube 上观看相关推荐视频，直到最后才发现已经荒废了大量时间。
此处第六条中的 Richard Feynman (1918-1988) 是一名美籍犹太裔理论物理学家。由于对量子电动力学有重大贡献，他于 1965 年被授予诺贝尔物理奖。

Video 3

本节共 2 小节，时长 04:39。

Now, what is going on here?

The Instant Gratification Monkey does not seem like a guy you want behind the wheel. He lives entirely in the present moment.

He has no memory of the past, no knowledge of the future, and he only cares about two things: easy and fun.

Now, in the animal world, that works fine.

If you're a dog and you spend your whole life doing nothing other than easy and fun things, you're a huge success!

And to the Monkey, humans are just another animal species. You have to keep well-slept, well-fed and propagating into the next generation, which in tribal times might have worked OK.

propagate v. 繁殖，增殖；传播，宣传，鼓吹
tribal adj. 部落的，种族的

But, if you haven't noticed, now we're not in tribal times. We're in an advanced civilization, and the Monkey does not know what that is.

Which is why we have another guy in our brain, the Rational Decision-Maker, who gives us the ability to do things no other animal can do.

We can visualize the future. We can see the big picture.

We can make long-term plans. And he wants to take all of that into account.

And he wants to just have us do whatever makes sense to be doing right now.

the big picture 大局，大蓝景；重点

Now, sometimes it makes sense to be doing things that are easy and fun, like when you're having dinner or going to bed or enjoying well-earned leisure time.

That's why there's an overlap.

Sometimes they agree.

But other times, it makes much more sense to be doing things that are harder and less pleasant, for the sake of the big picture.

And that's when we have a conflict.

And for the procrastinator, that conflict tends to end in a certain way every time, leaving him spending a lot of time in this orange zone, an easy and fun place that's entirely out of the Makes Sense circle.

I call it the Dark Playground.

well-earned adj. 应得的，理所应当的；劳动所得的，凭自己力量工作得来的

Now, the Dark Playground is a place that all of you procrastinators out there know very well.

It's where leisure activities happen at times when leisure activities are not supposed to be happening.

The fun you have in the Dark Playground isn't actually fun, because it's completely unearned, and the air is filled with guilt, dread, anxiety, self-hatred -- all of those good procrastinator feelings.

And the question is, in this situation, with the Monkey behind the wheel, how does the procrastinator ever get himself over here to this blue zone, a less pleasant place, but where really important things happen?

Well, it turns out that the procrastinator has a guardian angel, someone who's always looking down on him and watching over him in his darkest moments -- someone called the Panic Monster.

at times 时不时地，间或；偶尔
unearned adj. 不劳而获的，非劳动所得的；不相称的
dread n. 恐惧；可怕的人或物 v. 害怕，担忧
self-hatred n. 自我厌恶，自我憎恨
angel /ˈeɪndʒl/ n. 守护神；天使；善人
watch over 看守，监视；照看，照料
panic n. 恐慌，惊恐；人心惶惶的局面 v. (使) 惊慌失措

Now, the Panic Monster is dormant most of the time, but he suddenly wakes up anytime a deadline gets too close or there's a danger of public embarrassment, a career disaster or some other scary consequence.

And importantly, he's the only thing that the Monkey is terrified of.

Now, he became very relevant in my life pretty recently, because the people of TED reached out to me about six months ago and invited me to do a TED Talk.

Now, of course, I said yes. It's always been a dream of mine to have done a TED Talk in the past.

dormant adj. 休眠的，静止的，隐匿的

But in the middle of all this excitement, the Rational Decision-Maker seemed to have something else in his mind.

He was saying, "Are we clear on what we just accepted?

Do we, do we get what's going to be now happening one day in the future? We need to sit down and work on this right now."

And the Monkey said, "Totally agree, but also let's just open Google Earth and let's zoom in to the bottom of India, like 200 feet above the ground, and we're going to scroll up for two and a half hours till we get to the top of the country, so we can get a better feel for India."

scroll v. (在计算机屏幕上的文本中) 滚动 n. (写有文字的) 卷轴

So that's what we did that day.

As six months turned into four and then two and then one, the people of TED decided to release the speakers.

And I opened up the website, and there was my face staring right back at me. And guess who woke up?

So the Panic Monster starts losing his mind, and a few seconds later, the whole system's in mayhem.

And the Monkey -- remember, he's terrified of the Panic Monster -- boom, he's up the tree!

And finally, finally, the Rational Decision-Maker can take the wheel and I can start working on the talk.

lose one's mind (某人) 失去理智，精神错乱，不能自制
mayhem n. 骚乱，混乱

Video 4

本节共 2 小节，时长 04:17。

Now, the Panic Monster explains all kinds of pretty insane procrastinator behavior, like how someone like me could spend two weeks unable to start the opening sentence of a paper,

and then miraculously find the unbelievable worth, work ethic to stay up all night and write eight pages.

And this entire situation, with the three characters -- this is the procrastinator's system.

It's not pretty, but in the end, it works.

And this is what I decided to write about on the blog just a couple of years ago.

miraculously /mɪˈrækjələsli/ adv. 奇迹般地，出乎意料地，神奇地，非凡地 miracle /ˈmɪrəkl/ n. 奇迹，惊人的事例
work ethic 职业道德，职业操守 ethic n. 道德观念 ethics pl. 道德准则，行为准则

Now, when I did, I was amazed by the response.

Literally thousands of emails came in, from all different kinds of people from all over the world, doing all different kinds of things.

These are people who were nurses, and bankers, and painters, and engineers and lots and lots of PhD students.

And they were all writing, saying the same thing: "I have this problem too."

But what struck me was the contrast between the light tone of the post and the heaviness of these emails.

These people were writing with intense frustration about what procrastination had done to their lives, about what this Monkey had done to them.

And I thought about this, and I said, "Well, if the procrastinator's system works, then what's going on?

Why are all these people in such a dark place?" Well, it turns out that there's two kinds of procrastination.

frustration /frʌˈstreɪʃn/ n. 沮丧，懊恼；令人沮丧的事物；挫折，挫败

此处第三条中的 PhD 指 Doctor of Philosophy (哲学博士学位)，注意这里的哲学不是指一定要修读 “哲学”，而是说对与特定的学术范畴有相当的认识，能在该范畴内进行独立研究并对学术界有所建树。基本上任何学科的博士毕业生都是被授予哲学博士学位的，只是在工程学、教育学等学科存在例外。
此处第八条中的 there's + 复数名词 是口语化的非正式表达，建议在正式表达中使用 there are。

Everything I've talked about today, the examples I've given, they all have deadlines. And when there's deadlines, the effects of procrastination are contained to the short term because the Panic Monster gets involved.

But there's a second kind of procrastination that happens in situations when there is no deadline.

So if you want to have a career where you're going to be a self-starter, something in the arts, something entrepreneurial,

there's no deadlines on those things at first, because nothing's happening at first, not until you've gone out and done the hard work to get some momentum, to get things going.

There's also all kinds of important things outside of your career that don't involve any deadlines, like seeing your family, or exercising and taking care of your health ... working on your relationship, or getting out of a relationship that isn't working.

effect n. 效果，影响，作用；印象；个人财物 v. 实现，使产生，达到目的
be contained to 被遏制到 (某种程度)
self-starter n. 做事主动的人，有主见的人；电动式起动装置，自动起动器
entrepreneurial adj. 具有企业家精神的，具有创业性质的
momentum n. 动力，冲力；动量；势头

此处第一条、第四条和第五条中的 there's + 复数名词 是口语化的非正式表达，建议在正式表达中使用 there are。

Now if the procrastinator's only mechanism of doing these hard things is the Panic Monster, that's a problem, because in all of these non-deadline situations, the Panic Monster doesn't show up. He has nothing to wake up for,

so the effects of procrastination, they're not contained; they just extend outward forever.

And it's this long-term kind of procrastination that's much less visible and much less talked about than the funnier, short-term deadline-based kind.

It's usually suffered quietly and privately.

And it can be the source of a huge amount of long-term unhappiness, and regrets.

And I thought, you know, that's why those people are emailing, and that's why they're in such a bad place.

It's not that they're cramming for some ... project.

It's that long-term procrastination has made them feel like a spectator, at times, in their own lives.

You know, the frustration is not that they couldn't achieve their dreams; it's just that they weren't even able to start chasing them.

cram v. (为应付某事) 突击准备，(为应考) 死记硬背；填满，挤满，塞满，把 ... 塞进

So, I ... read these emails and I had a little bit of an epiphany that I don't think non-procrastinators exist.

That's right. I think all of you were procrastinators.

Now, you might not all be a mess, like some of us, and some of you may have a healthy relationship with deadlines,

but remember: the Monkey's sneakiest trick is when the deadlines aren't there.

epiphany n. (对事物真谛的) 顿悟
sneaky trick 诡计 sneaky adj. 鬼鬼祟祟的，暗中的；卑鄙的

Now, I want to show you one last thing.

I call this a Life Calendar.

That's one box for every week of a 90-year life.

That's not that many boxes, especially since we've already used a bunch of those.

So I think we need to all take a long, hard look at that calendar.

We need to think about what we're really procrastinating on, because everyone is procrastinating on something in life.

We need to stay aware of the Instant Gratification Monkey.

That's a job for all of us.

And because there's not that many boxes on there, it's a job that should probably start today.

Well, maybe not "today", but, you know, sometime soon. Thank you.

此处第九条中的 there's + 复数名词 是口语化的非正式表达，建议在正式表达中使用 there are。

What is the main purpose of Urban's presentation?

presentation (美) /ˌpriːzenˈteɪʃn/ (英) /ˌpreznˈteɪʃn/ n. 讲座，展示，陈述，介绍；授予，颁奖仪式；外观

Grammar & Speaking

If someone is losing their mind, they are going mad.

mad adj. 疯的，神经错乱的；很生气的，气愤的；有精神病的；极愚蠢的，很不明智的 v. 使疯狂

洒洒水啦～