TED演讲:游戏创造美好生活(8)

 Now, I also agree that that is rational, for now. 现在我依然觉得这很理性。

But it is not, by any means, an optimal¹ situation. 但是，无论如何，这不是最佳选项。

We have to start making the real world more like a game. 我们不得不从现在开始把现实社会构建得像一个游戏。

So, I take my inspiration from something that happened 2,500 years ago. 因此，我从发生于2500年前的一些事情中获取灵感。

These are ancient dice², made out of sheep's knuckles³. Right? 这些是古老的骰子，由羊的关节骨制作而成。

Before we had awesome⁴ game controllers,we had sheep's knuckles. 在我们设计出游戏控制器前，我们人类已经拥有了羊关节制作的骰子。

And these represent the first game equipment designed by human beings. 这就是人类设计出的最早的游戏器械。

And if you're familiar with the work of the ancient Greek historian Herodotus, you might know this history,which is the history of who invented games and why. 如果你对古希腊历史学家的作品比较熟悉的话，如古希腊历史学家希罗多德，你就会了解这段历史游戏发明的历史是什么以及原因是什么呢。

Herodotus says that games, particularly dice games,were invented in the kingdom of Lydia during a time of famine. 希罗多德说游戏，特别是骰子游戏是由Lydia（小亚细亚西部的富裕古国）王国在一次大饥荒中发明的。

Apparently⁵, there was such a severe famine that the king of Lydia decided⁶ that they had to do something crazy. 显然，历史上曾经有过这么一次严重的饥荒，Lydia国王决定做一些他们不得不做的疯狂的事情。

People were suffering. People were fighting. 当时人民在遭受痛苦，互相争斗。

It was an extreme situation, they needed an extreme solution. 形式非常危机。他们需要一个极端的解决方案。

So, according to Herodotus, they invented dice games and they set up a kingdom-wide policy: 据希罗多德说，他们因此而发明了骰子游戏并且制定了一个全国范围内的政策：

On one day, everybody would eat,and on the next day, everybody would play games. 某一天，所有人可以吃东西，但是第二天，所有人就只能玩游戏。

And they would be so immersed in playing the dice games because games are so engaging,and immerse us in such satisfying blissful productivity,they would ignore the fact that they had no food to eat. 人们专心的玩骰子游戏，因为游戏极具吸引力，可以使我们沉浸在如此自我满足的幸福“生产”活动中，人们就会忘掉他们没有食物可吃的事实。

And then on the next day, they would play games;and on the next day, they would eat. 第二天人们就会通过玩游戏度日，接下来的第二天他们就会去吃东西。

And according to Herodotus,they passed 18 years this way,surviving through a famine by eating on one day and playing games on the next. 据希罗多德所说，Lydia国的人民用这种方式度过了18年，用吃一天、玩游戏玩一天的方式，他们顺利的度过了大饥荒。

Now, this is exactly, I think,how we're using games today. 这也是现如今我们，如何看待游戏的。

We're using games to escape real-world suffering. 我们通过玩游戏逃避现实中的痛苦。

We're using games to get away from everything that's broken in the real environment, everything that's not satisfying about real life, 我们通过玩游戏来避开现实环境中那些，残缺不全、不能令人满意的东西。

and we're getting what we need from games. 同时从中获取我们所需的东西。

1 optimal   

adj.最适宜的；最理想的；最令人满意的

参考例句：

• What is the optimal mix of private and public property rights in natural resources?私人和国家的自然资源产权的最适宜的组合是什么？
• Optimal path planning is a key link for the sailing contest.帆船最优行驶路径规划是帆船比赛取胜的关键环节。

2 dice   

n.骰子；vt.把（食物）切成小方块，冒险

参考例句：

• They were playing dice.他们在玩掷骰子游戏。
• A dice is a cube.骰子是立方体。

3 knuckles   

n.（指人）指关节( knuckle的名词复数 )；（指动物）膝关节，踝v.（指人）指关节( knuckle的第三人称单数 )；（指动物）膝关节，踝

参考例句：

• He gripped the wheel until his knuckles whitened. 他紧紧握住方向盘，握得指关节都变白了。
• Her thin hands were twisted by swollen knuckles. 她那双纤手因肿大的指关节而变了形。 来自《简明英汉词典》

4 awesome   

adj.令人惊叹的，难得吓人的，很好的

参考例句：

• The church in Ireland has always exercised an awesome power.爱尔兰的教堂一直掌握着令人敬畏的权力。
• That new white convertible is totally awesome.那辆新的白色折篷汽车简直棒极了.

5 apparently   

adv.显然地；表面上，似乎

参考例句：

• An apparently blind alley leads suddenly into an open space.山穷水尽，豁然开朗。
• He was apparently much surprised at the news.他对那个消息显然感到十分惊异。

6 decided   

adj.决定了的，坚决的；明显的，明确的

参考例句：

• This gave them a decided advantage over their opponents.这使他们比对手具有明显的优势。
• There is a decided difference between British and Chinese way of greeting.英国人和中国人打招呼的方式有很明显的区别。