科學(xué)適合所有人包括兒童

BeauLotto+AmyO'Toole:

Scienceisforeveryone,kidsincluded

黃色：藝海拾貝（值得攢起來的好東西）

紫色：文末附英文Notes

音頻見荔枝FM1481275TEDLearning

BeauLotto:So,thisgameisverysimple.Allyouhavetodoisreadwhatyousee.Right?So,I'mgoingtocounttoyou,sowedon'talldoittogether.

Okay,one,two,three.Audience:Canyoureadthis?

BL:Amazing.Whataboutthisone?One,two,three.Audience:Youarenotreadingthis.

BL:Allright.One,two,three.(Laughter)IfyouwerePortuguese,right?Howaboutthisone?One,two,three.

Audience:Whatareyoureading?

BL:Whatareyoureading?Therearenowordsthere.Isaid,readwhatyou'reseeing.Right?Itliterallysays,"Wataroureain?"(Laughter)Right?That'swhatyoushouldhavesaid.Right?Whyisthis?

It'sbecauseperceptionisgroundedinourexperience.Right?Thebraintakesmeaninglessinformationandmakesmeaningoutofit,whichmeansweneverseewhat'sthere,weneverseeinformation,weonlyeverseewhatwasusefultoseeinthepast.Allright?Whichmeans,whenitcomestoperception,we'realllikethisfrog.(Laughter)Right?It'sgettinginformation.It'sgeneratingbehaviorthat'suseful.

(Video)Man:Ow!Ow!(Laughter)(Applause)

BL:Andsometimes,whenthingsdon'tgoourway,wegetalittlebitannoyed,right?Butwe'retalkingaboutperceptionhere,right?Andperceptionunderpinseverythingwethink,weknow,webelieve,ourhopes,ourdreams,theclotheswewear,fallinginlove,everythingbeginswithperception.Nowifperceptionisgroundedinourhistory,itmeanswe'reonlyeverrespondingaccordingtowhatwe'vedonebefore.Butactually,it'satremendousproblem,becausehowcanweeverseedifferently?

Now,Iwanttotellyouastoryaboutseeingdifferently,andallnewperceptionsbegininthesameway.Theybeginwithaquestion.Theproblemwithquestionsistheycreateuncertainty.Now,uncertaintyisaverybadthing.It'sevolutionarilyabadthing.Ifyou'renotsurethat'sapredator,it'stoolate.Okay?(Laughter)Evenseasicknessisaconsequenceofuncertainty.Right?Ifyougodownbelowonaboat,yourinnerearsareyoutellingyouyou'removing.Youreyes,becauseit'smovinginregisterwiththeboat,sayI'mstandingstill.Yourbraincannotdealwiththeuncertaintyofthatinformation,anditgetsill.Thequestion"why?"isoneofthemostdangerousthingsyoucando,becauseittakesyouintouncertainty.Andyet,theironyis,theonlywaywecaneverdoanythingnewistostepintothatspace.

Sohowcanweeverdoanythingnew?Wellfortunately,evolutionhasgivenusananswer,right?Anditenablesustoaddresseventhemostdifficultofquestions.Thebestquestionsaretheonesthatcreatethemostuncertainty.They'retheonesthatquestionthethingswethinktobetruealready.Right?It'seasytoaskquestionsabouthowdidlifebegin,orwhatextendsbeyondtheuniverse,buttoquestionwhatyouthinktobetruealreadyisreallysteppingintothatspace.

Sowhatisevolution'sanswertotheproblemofuncertainty?It'splay.Nowplayisnotsimplyaprocess.Expertsinplaywilltellyouthatactuallyit'sawayofbeing.Playisoneoftheonlyhumanendeavorswhereuncertaintyisactuallycelebrated.Uncertaintyiswhatmakesplayfun.Right?It'sadaptabletochange.Right?Itopenspossibility,andit'scooperative.It'sactuallyhowwedooursocialbonding,andit'sintrinsicallymotivated.Whatthatmeansisthatweplaytoplay.Playisitsownreward.

Nowifyoulookatthesefivewaysofbeing,thesearetheexactsamewaysofbeingyouneedinordertobeagoodscientist.Scienceisnotdefinedbythemethodsectionofapaper.It'sactuallyawayofbeing,whichishere,andthisistrueforanythingthatiscreative.Soifyouaddrulestoplay,youhaveagame.That'sactuallywhatanexperimentis.

Soarmedwiththesetwoideas,thatscienceisawayofbeingandexperimentsareplay,weasked,cananyonebecomeascientist?Andwhobettertoaskthan25eight-to10-year-oldchildren?Becausethey'reexpertsinplay.SoItookmybeearenadowntoasmallschoolinDevon,andtheaimofthiswastonotjustgetthekidstoseesciencedifferently,but,throughtheprocessofscience,toseethemselvesdifferently.Right?

Thefirststepwastoaskaquestion.

Now,Ishouldsaythatwedidn'tgetfundingforthisstudybecausethescientistssaidsmallchildrencouldn'tmakeausefulcontributiontoscience,andtheteacherssaidkidscouldn'tdoit.Sowediditanyway.Right?Ofcourse.

So,herearesomeofthequestions.Iputtheminsmallprintsoyouwouldn'tbotherreadingit.Pointisthatfiveofthequestionsthatthekidscameupwithwereactuallythebasisofsciencepublicationthelastfiveto15years.Right?Sotheywereaskingquestionsthatweresignificanttoexpertscientists.

Nowhere,Iwanttosharethestagewithsomeonequitespecial.Right?Shewasoneoftheyoungpeoplewhowasinvolvedinthisstudy,andshe'snowoneoftheyoungestpublishedscientistsintheworld.Right?Shewillnow,onceshecomesontostage,willbetheyoungestpersontoeverspeakatTED.Right?Now,scienceandaskingquestionsisaboutcourage.Nowsheisthepersonificationofcourage,becauseshe'sgoingtostanduphereandtalktoyouall.SoAmy,wouldyoupleasecomeup?

(Applause)(Applause)SoAmy'sgoingtohelpmetellthestoryofwhatwecalltheBlackawtonBeesProject,andfirstshe'sgoingtotellyouthequestionthattheycameupwith.Sogoahead,Amy.

AmyO'Toole:Thankyou,Beau.Wethoughtthatitwaseasytoseethelinkbetweenhumansandapesinthewaythatwethink,becausewelookalike.Butwewonderedifthere'sapossiblelinkwithotheranimals.It'dbeamazingifhumansandbeesthoughtsimilar,sincetheyseemsodifferentfromus.Soweaskedifhumansandbeesmightsolvecomplexproblemsinthesameway.Really,wewantedtoknowifbeescanalsoadaptthemselvestonewsituationsusingpreviouslylearnedrulesandconditions.Sowhatifbeescanthinklikeus?Well,it'dbeamazing,sincewe'retalkingaboutaninsectwithonlyonemillionbraincells.Butitactuallymakesalotofsensetheyshould,becausebees,likeus,canrecognizeagoodflowerregardlessofthetimeofday,thelight,theweather,orfromanyangletheyapproachitfrom.

BL:Sothenextstepwastodesignanexperiment,whichisagame.Sothekidswentoffandtheydesignedthisexperiment,andso--well,game--andso,Amy,canyoutelluswhatthegamewas,andthepuzzlethatyousetthebees?

AO:Thepuzzlewecameupwithwasanif-thenrule.Weaskedthebeestolearnnotjusttogotoacertaincolor,buttoacertaincolorfloweronlywhenit'sinacertainpattern.Theywereonlyrewardediftheywenttotheyellowflowersiftheyellowflowersweresurroundedbytheblue,oriftheblueflowersweresurroundedbytheyellow.Nowthere'sanumberofdifferentrulesthebeescanlearntosolvethispuzzle.Theinterestingquestionis,which?Whatwasreallyexcitingaboutthisprojectwaswe,andBeau,hadnoideawhetheritwouldwork.Itwascompletelynew,andnoonehaddoneitbefore,includingadults.

BL:Includingtheteachers,andthatwasreallyhardfortheteachers.It'seasyforascientisttogoinandnothaveacluewhathe'sdoing,becausethat'swhatwedointhelab,butforateachernottoknowwhat'sgoingtohappenattheendoftheday--somuchofthecreditgoestoDaveStrudwick,whowasthecollaboratoronthisproject.Okay?SoI'mnotgoingtogothroughthewholedetailsofthestudybecauseactuallyyoucanreadaboutit,butthenextstepisobservation.Soherearesomeofthestudentsdoingtheobservations.They'rerecordingthedataofwherethebeesfly.

(Video)DaveStrudwick:Sowhatwe'regoingtodo—Student:5C.

DaveStrudwick:Isshestillgoinguphere?Student:Yeah.

DaveStrudwick:Soyoukeeptrackofeach.Student:Henry,canyouhelpmehere?

BL:"Canyouhelpme,Henry?"Whatgoodscientistsaysthat,right?

Student:There'stwoupthere.Andthreeinhere.

BL:Right?Sowe'vegotourobservations.We'vegotourdata.Theydothesimplemathematics,averaging,etc.,etc.Andnowwewanttoshare.That'sthenextstep.Sowe'regoingtowritethisupandtrytosubmitthisforpublication.Right?Sowehavetowriteitup.Sowego,ofcourse,tothepub.Allright?(Laughter)Theoneontheleftismine,okay?(Laughter)

Now,Itellthem,apaperhasfourdifferentsections:anintroduction,amethods,aresults,adiscussion.Theintroductionsays,what'sthequestionandwhy?Methods,whatdidyoudo?Results,whatwastheobservation?Andthediscussionis,whocares?Right?That'sasciencepaper,basically.(Laughter)

Sothekidsgivemethewords,right?Iputitintoanarrative,whichmeansthatthispaperiswritteninkidspeak.It'snotwrittenbyme.It'swrittenbyAmyandtheotherstudentsintheclass.Asaconsequence,thissciencepaperbegins,"Onceuponatime..."(Laughter)Theresultssection,itsays:"Trainingphase,thepuzzle...duhduhduuuuuhhh."Right?(Laughter)Andthemethods,itsays,"Thenweputthebeesintothefridge(andmadebeepie),"smileyface.Right?(Laughter)Thisisasciencepaper.We'regoingtotrytogetitpublished.Sohere'sthetitlepage.Wehaveanumberofauthorsthere.Alltheonesinboldareeightto10yearsold.ThefirstauthorisBlackawtonPrimarySchool,becauseifitwereeverreferenced,itwouldbe"Blackawtonetal,"andnotoneindividual.Sowesubmitittoapublicaccessjournal,anditsaysthis.Itsaidmanythings,butitsaidthis."I'mafraidthepaperfailsourinitialqualitycontrolchecksinseveraldifferentways."(Laughter)Inotherwords,itstartsoff"onceuponatime,"thefiguresareincrayon,etc.(Laughter)

Sowesaid,we'llgetitreviewed.SoIsentittoDalePurves,whoisattheNationalAcademyofScience,oneoftheleadingneuroscientistsintheworld,andhesays,"ThisisthemostoriginalsciencepaperIhaveeverread"—(Laughter)—"anditcertainlydeserveswideexposure."LarryMaloney,expertinvision,says,"Thepaperismagnificent.Theworkwouldbepublishableifdonebyadults."

Sowhatdidwedo?Wesenditbacktotheeditor.Theysayno.SoweaskedLarryandNatalieHempeltowriteacommentarysituatingthefindingsforscientists,right,puttinginthereferences,andwesubmitittoBiologyLetters.Andthere,itwasreviewedbyfiveindependentreferees,anditwaspublished.Okay?(Applause)(Applause)

Ittookfourmonthstodothescience,twoyearstogetitpublished.(Laughter)Typicalscience,actually,right?SothismakesAmyandherfriendstheyoungestpublishedscientistsintheworld.Whatwasthefeedbacklike?Well,itwaspublishedtwodaysbeforeChristmas,downloaded30,000timesinthefirst

day,right?ItwastheEditors'ChoiceinScience,whichisatopsciencemagazine.It'sforeverfreelyaccessiblebyBiologyLetters.It'stheonlypaperthatwilleverbefreelyaccessiblebythisjournal.Lastyear,itwasthesecond-mostdownloadedpaperbyBiologyLetters,andthefeedbackfromnotjustscientistsandteachersbutthepublicaswell.AndI'lljustreadone.

"Ihaveread'BlackawtonBees'recently.Idon'thavewordstoexplainexactlyhowIamfeelingrightnow.Whatyouguyshavedoneisreal,trueandamazing.Curiosity,interest,innocenceandzealarethemostbasicandmostimportantthingstodoscience.Whoelsecanhavethesequalitiesmorethanchildren?Pleasecongratulateyourchildren'steamfrommyside."

SoI'dliketoconcludewithaphysicalmetaphor.CanIdoitonyou?(Laughter)Ohyeah,yeah,yeah,comeon.Yeahyeah.Okay.Now,scienceisabouttakingrisks,sothisisanincrediblerisk,right?(Laughter)Forme,notforhim.Right?Becausewe'veonlydonethisoncebefore.(Laughter)Andyouliketechnology,right?

ShimonSchocken:Right,butIlikemyself.

BL:Thisistheepitomeoftechnology.Right.Okay.Now...(Laughter)Okay.(Laughter)

Now,we'regoingtodoalittledemonstration,right?Youhavetocloseyoureyes,andyouhavetopointwhereyouhearmeclapping.Allright?

Okay,howaboutifeveryoneoverthereshouts.One,two,three?

Audience:(Shouts)(Laughter)

Brilliant.Now,openyoureyes.We'lldoitonemoretime.Everyoneoverthereshout.(Shouts)Where'sthesoundcomingfrom?(Laughter)(Applause)

Thankyouverymuch.(Applause)

What'sthepoint?Thepointiswhatsciencedoesforus.Right?Wenormallywalkthroughliferesponding,butifweeverwanttodoanythingdifferent,wehavetostepintouncertainty.Whenheopenedhiseyes,hewasabletoseetheworldinanewway.That'swhatscienceoffersus.Itoffersthepossibilitytosteponuncertaint