Ted英语演讲：少一点东西，多一点快乐
Graham Hill在Ted的演讲，推广“精简生活”的理念，称房间小一点，东西少一点，快乐多一点。
Graham Hill: Less stuff, more happiness
少点东西，多点快乐
What’s in the box? Whatever it is must be pretty important, because I’ve traveled with it, moved it, from apartment to apartment to apartment.
猜猜看这个箱子里有什么？至少是些要紧的东西吧毕竟不管我去哪儿，搬到哪儿都带着这个箱子呢
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Sound familiar? Did you know that we Americans have about three times the amount of space we did 50 years ago? Three times. So you’d think, with all this extra space, we’d have plenty of room for all our stuff. Nope. There’s a new industry in town, a 22 billion-dollar, 2.2 billion sq. ft. industry: that of personal storage. So we’ve got triple the space, but we’ve become such good shoppers that we need even more space. So where does this lead? Lots of credit card debt, huge environmental footprints, and perhaps not coincidentally, our happiness levels flat-lined over the same 50 years.
你们也干过差不多的事儿吧？说起来你们知不知道跟50年前的美国人相比，我们有了3倍多的空间？整整三倍啊！那你可能会说，既然空间更多了，那肯定够我们放各种东西了。非也非也。要知道现在有个新兴产业价值220亿美元、累计占地22亿平方英尺，而作用就是为客户提供存储空间。虽然我们有了三倍多的空间，但我们的消费能力增长得更快，因此我们实际上需要更多的空间。那这一切的后果有哪些呢？比如大量的信用卡贷款对环境的巨大影响，还有这50年里停滞不前的幸福水平，而这最后一点，恐怕并非无巧不成书。
Well I’m here to suggest there’s a better way, that less might actually equal more. I bet most of us have experienced at some point the joys of less: college — in your dorm, traveling — in a hotel room, camping — rig up basically nothing, maybe a boat. Whatever it was for you, I bet that, among other things, this gave you a little more freedom, a little more time. So I’m going to suggest that less stuff and less space are going to equal a smaller footprint. It’s actually a great way to save you some money. And it’s going to give you a little more ease in your life.
所以我想说，其实有一种更好的生活方式：在这里少一些，在别处就多一些。我相信我们大部分人都或多或少地体验过“少”的乐趣。校园里——我们只需要一间宿舍；旅途中——我们只需要一间客房；野营时——基本用不着什么东西可能要一条船。我相信，和其它事物相比，这些会给你带来多一点点自由和多一点点时间，所以我想说少用点东西、少占点空间就意味着对环境少些影响，也能为你节省一些花销，而且，你的生活也会变得更加轻松。
So I started a project called Life Edited at lifeedited.org to further this conversation and to find some great solutions in this area. First up: crowd-sourcing my 420 sq. ft. apartment in Manhattan with partners Mutopo and Jovoto.com. I wanted it all — home office, sit down dinner for 10, room for guests, and all my kite surfing gear. With over 300 entries from around the world, I got it, my own little jewel box. By buying a space that was 420 sq. ft. instead of 600, immediately I’m saving 200 grand. Smaller space is going to make for smaller utilities — save some more money there, but also a smaller footprint. And because it’s really designed around an edited set of possessions — my favorite stuff — and really designed for me, I’m really excited to be there.
因此，我开始做这个名为LifeEdited（精简生活）的项目。在网站lifeedited.org上，一方面推广我的理念，另一方面寻找一些解决方案。首先，我和Mutopo及Jovoto.com合作众包我在曼哈顿的420平方英尺的公寓，我希望它能拥有以下所有的功能：家庭办公室、10人餐桌留宿客人的空间，还有我全套的风筝冲浪设备。从世界各地发来的300条建议中，我找到了这个最优方案。我买了420平方英尺（约39平米）而不是600平方英尺的房子，仅此一项我就省了二十万美元。更小的空间意味着更小的用具。在这方面，我们不光能够省点钱，也能给环境少带来些影响。正因为这些用具都是围绕着我最想要的功能专门为我设计的，我自然很向往能够住到那里。
So how can you live little? Three main approaches. First of all, you have to edit ruthlessly. We’ve got to clear the arteries of our lives. And that shirt that I hadn’t worn in years? It’s time for me to let it go. We’ve got to cut the extraneous out of our lives, and we’ve got to learn to stem the inflow. We need to think before we buy. Ask ourselves, "Is that really going to make me happier? Truly?" By all means, we should buy and own some great stuff. But we want stuff that we’re going to love for years, not just stuff.
那我们怎样才能活得精简呢？有三条大道。第一，你必须铁面无情地去开始精简工作，就像去除掉我们身上的动脉瘤一样毫不留情。比如那件我好几年都没穿过的T恤嘛……是时候让它去了。我们得把生活中无关紧要的细枝末节修剪掉，并且学会逆潮流而动。我们应该三思而后消费，买东西之前问问自己：“买了它我真的能更加开心吗？”诚然我们应该购买并拥有一些很棒的东西，但我们更需要那些我们对其的喜爱经久不衰的东西，而不仅仅是任何物品。
Secondly, our new mantra: small is sexy. We want space efficiency. We want things that are designed for how they’re used the vast majority of the time, not that rare event. Why have a six burner stove when you rarely use three? So we want things that nest, we want things that stack, and we want it digitized. You can take paperwork, books, movies, and you can make it disappear — it’s magic.
第二，也是我们的新口号：小也有魅力。我们想要高空间利用率。我们想要的用具应该是依据多数情形下它们的使用方来设计的，而不是专为少数情形而设计的。就好比一般你连三个灶头都很少同时使用，为什么要去买六灶头的燃气灶？我们需要的器具应该能够大的套小的，或者能够层叠放置的。如果一样东西能数字化，那就更好了。那样你可以把所有文件书籍、电影等等都化为无形——就像变戏法一样。
Finally, we want multifunctional spaces and housewares — a sink combined with a toilet, a dining table becomes a bed — same space, a little side table stretches out to seat 10. In the winning Life Edited scheme in a render here, we combine a moving wall with transformer furniture to get a lot out of the space. Look at the coffee table — it grows in height and width to seat 10. My office folds away, easily hidden. My bed just pops out of the wall with two fingers. Guests? Move the moving wall, have some fold-down guest beds. And of course, my own movie theater.
最后，我们需要多功能的空间利用与多功能家具——比如一体化的水斗和坐便器、餐桌与床的两用。同样的空间里，这个小小的桌子可以伸展为能坐10个人的大桌子。“精简生活”的一个优胜设计把一堵墙和“变形金刚”式的家具有机结合，从而高效地利用了有限的空间。看看这个咖啡桌：它可以拉长、抬高，使得能够容纳10个人同时就座。我的个人工作台能够方便地折叠并隐藏，只用两个手指就能把床从墙壁里变出来。家里来客人了？动一下这堵墙里面有折叠式的客床。当然，它也能变成我的家庭影院。
So I’m not saying that we all need to live in 420 sq. ft. But consider the benefits of an edited life. Go from 3,000 to 2,000, from 1,500 to 1,000. Most of us, maybe all of us, are here pretty happily for a bunch of days with a couple of bags, maybe a small space, a hotel room. So when you go home and you walk through your front door, take a second and ask yourselves, "Could I do with a little life editing? Would that give me a little more freedom? Maybe a little more time?"
我不是说每个人都应该只住在420平方英尺(约39平方米)的空间里，但精简生活的确能带来诸多好处。比如从3000平方英尺到2000平方英尺，或者从1500到1000平方英尺。我们中的大多数，也可能是所有人，在这几天都过得很愉快。虽然我们只随身带了几个包，并且住在一个小小的旅店房间里。所以你这次回家、踏入房门之后，不妨问问自己“怎么样把我的生活也精简一番呢？”“那样是不是会带来更多自由——”“更多时间呢？”
What’s in the box? It doesn’t really matter. I know I don’t need it. What’s in yours? Maybe, just maybe, less might equal more. So let’s make room for the good stuff.
我这个箱子里装了什么？这其实并不重要。因为我不需要它们。你的包袱里装了什么？还是有那么一些可能性使得“少”也能意味着某种“多”。所以让我们把有限的空间都留给重要的东西吧。
Thank you.
谢谢
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