TED演讲:创意隐藏在哪里(10)

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And as I said, my mother did not believe in randomness¹. What is the nature of accidents? 如我所说，我母亲从不相信偶然。那意外又是什么？

And how are we going to assign what the responsibility and the causes are, outside of a court of law? 对于那些法律以外的事件，我们又该如何处理面对它们的责任归属？

I was able to see that in a firsthand way, when I went to beautiful Dong village, in Guizhou, the poorest province of China. 我有一个切身的经验，我曾经到中国最贫穷的贵州省里的侗族。

And I saw this beautiful place. I knew I wanted to come back. 我看见这个美丽的地方。我知道我想再回来。

And I had a chance to do that, when National Geographic² asked me if I wanted to write anything about China. 当《国家地理》杂志问我想不想写一些有关中国的文章，我知道我的机会来了。

And I said yes, about this village of singing people, singing minority. 我说好，我想写这个唱歌的少数民族。

And they agreed, and between the time I saw this place and the next time I went, there was a terrible accident. 它们同意了，就在我两次拜访中间，一个悲惨的意外发生了。

A man, an old man, fell asleep, and his quilt dropped in a pan of fire that kept him warm. 一个老人在睡眠中把被子掉在了暖炉上。

60 homes were destroyed, and 40 were damaged. Responsibility was assigned to the family. 六十户人家全毁，四十户遭到损坏。这个家庭得担负责任。

The man's sons were banished³ to live three kilometers away, in a cowshed. 老人的儿子被放逐到三公里外的牛棚。

And, of course, as Westerners, we say, "Well, it was an accident. That's not fair. It's the son, not the father." 西方人会说：“但那是个不过是个意外，这不公平。父债不该子还。”

When I go on a story, I have to let go of those kinds of beliefs. 但当我下笔写这个故事的时候，我得放弃那些原来的想法。

It takes a while, but I have to let go of them and just go there, and be there. 这得花上一些时间，但是我必须克服自己，纯粹得去那里亲身经历。

And so I was there on three occasions, different seasons. 所以我在不同的季节里去了三次。

And I began to sense something different about the history, 在这个贫穷的村庄里，我开始对历史，

and what had happened before, and the nature of life in a very poor village, 之前发生的事件和人生的本质有了不同的感受，

and what you find as your joys, and your rituals⁴, your traditions, your links with other families. 什么是让你感到快乐的，你的仪式，你的传统，我们和其他家庭产生关系的方式。

And I saw how this had a kind of justice, in its responsibility. 我开始明白这样的责任归属中，有它自己的正义。

I was able to find out also about the ceremony that they were using, a ceremony they hadn't used in about 29 years. 我也开始了解他们使用的仪式。一个二十九年没用过的仪式。

And it was to send some men -- a Feng Shui master sent men down to the underworld on ghost horses. 让一个风水师送一些人乘着鬼马进阴间。

Now you, as Westerners, and I, as Westerners, would say well, that's superstition⁵. 你，身为一个西方人，如我，身为一个西方人，会说：那不过是迷信。

But after being there for a while, and seeing the amazing things that happened, 但在那里待了一段时间以后，亲眼见识到这些神奇的事，

you begin to wonder whose beliefs are those that are in operation in the world, determining how things happen. 你开始想，究竟是谁的信仰运作在这个世界上，决定事情该如何发生。

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