Who are you, really? The puzzle of personality | Brian Little | TED · TED
探讨性格的本质与多样性，了解如何超越固定特质认识自我。适合练习英语听力与口语表达。
What an intriguing group of individuals you are ...
你们真是一群非常有趣的人啊……
to a psychologist.
去找心理学家咨询。
I've had the opportunity over the last couple of days of listening in on some of your conversations
在过去的几天里，我有机会偷听了你们的一些谈话。
and watching you interact with each other.
看着你们彼此互动……
And I think it's fair to say, already, that there are 47 people in this audience,
我认为现在就可以公平地说：在座的听众中已经有 47 位人了。
at this moment, displaying psychological symptoms I would like to discuss today.
此刻，我正在表现出一些心理症状，这些症状正是我想在今天讨论的内容。
And I thought you might like to know who you are.
我想你可能会想知道自己到底是谁。
But instead of pointing at you, which would be gratuitous and intrusive,
但它并没有指向你——因为那样做既没有必要，也会侵犯你的隐私。
I thought I would tell you a few facts and stories, in which you may catch a glimpse of yourself.
我想告诉你们一些事实和故事，通过这些，你们或许能够从中看到自己的影子（即发现自己在这些故事或情境中的相似之处）。
I'm in the field of research known as personality psychology, which is part of a larger personality science which spans the full spectrum,
我从事的研究领域被称为“人格心理学”（Personality Psychology），它是更广泛的“人格科学”（Personality Science）的一部分。这门学科涵盖了人格的各个方面。
from neurons to narratives.
从神经元到叙事……
And what we try to do, in our own way, is to make sense of how each of us --
我们试图以自己的方式去理解：我们每个人究竟是如何……（原句在此处不完整，具体含义需要根据上下文补充。）
each of you -- is, in certain respects, like all other people,
你们每个人在某些方面都与其他所有人一样。
like some other people and like no other person.
像其他一些人一样，同时也像没有任何其他人一样。
Now, already you may be saying of yourself, "I'm not intriguing.
现在，你可能会对自己说：“我并没有什么吸引力（或者说：我并不‘有趣’）。
I am the 46th most boring person in the Western Hemisphere."
我是西半球第46个最无趣的人。
Or you may say of yourself, "I am intriguing, even if I am regarded by most people as a great,
或者你也可以这样评价自己：“我很有魅力；尽管大多数人认为我非常了不起……
thundering twit."
那个该死的蠢货……
But it is your self-diagnosed boringness and your inherent "twitiness" that makes me, as a psychologist, really fascinated by you.
然而，正是你自我认定的“无趣”以及你与生俱来的“愚蠢”特质，让我作为一名心理学家，对你产生了浓厚的兴趣。
So let me explain why this is so.
那么，让我来解释一下为什么会出现这种情况。
One of the most influential approaches in personality science is known as trait psychology, and it aligns you along five dimensions which are normally distributed,
在人格科学领域中，最具影响力的方法之一被称为“特质心理学”（Trait Psychology）。该方法将人的个性特征划分为五个维度，这些维度通常呈正态分布（即数据分布符合某种特定的统计规律）。
and that describe universally held aspects of difference between people.
这些描述了人们之间普遍存在的差异之处。
They spell out the acronym OCEAN.
他们详细解释了这个缩写词“OCEAN”的含义。
So, "O" stands for "open to experience," versus those who are more closed.
因此，“O”代表“乐于接受新体验（open to experience）”，与那些更加封闭（不乐于接受新事物）的人形成对比。
"C" stands for "conscientiousness," in contrast to those with a more lackadaisical approach to life.
C”代表“责任心”（conscientiousness），这与那些对待生活态度较为懈怠的人形成鲜明对比。
"E" -- "extroversion," in contrast to more introverted people.
E”——代表“外向性”，与那些更内向的人形成对比。
"A" -- "agreeable individuals," in contrast to those decidedly not agreeable.
A”代表“令人愉悦的人”，与那些明显令人不悦的人形成对比。
And "N" -- "neurotic individuals," in contrast to those who are more stable.
N”代表“神经质的人”，与那些情绪更稳定的人形成对比。
All of these dimensions have implications for our well-being, for how our life goes.
所有这些因素都会对我们的幸福感以及我们的生活方式产生影响。
And so we know that, for example, openness and conscientiousness are very good predictors of life success,
因此我们知道，例如，开放性和责任心是预测人生成功程度的非常重要的因素。
but the open people achieve that success through being audacious and, occasionally, odd.
但那些思想开放的人之所以能够取得成功，是因为他们敢于冒险，偶尔还会做出一些与众不同、甚至有些“奇怪”的举动。
The conscientious people achieve it through sticking to deadlines, to persevering, as well as having some passion.
那些有责任心的人之所以能够取得成功，是因为他们能够严格遵守截止日期、坚持不懈，并且对自己所做的事情充满热情。
Extroversion and agreeableness are both conducive to working well with people.
外向性和随和性都有助于与他人良好地合作。
Extroverts, for example, I find intriguing.
例如，我发现自己对外向的人非常感兴趣。
With my classes, I sometimes give them a basic fact that might be revealing with respect to their personality:
在我的课堂上，有时我会向学生们透露一些关于他们个性的基本信息——这些信息或许能帮助他们更好地了解自己。
I tell them that it is virtually impossible for adults to lick the outside of their own elbow.
我告诉他们：成年人几乎不可能舔到自己肘部的外侧。
Did you know that?
你知道这个吗？
Already, some of you have tried to lick the outside of your own elbow.
其实，你们中已经有人尝试过去舔自己的肘部外侧了。
But extroverts amongst you are probably those who have not only tried, but they have successfully licked the elbow of the person sitting next to them.
不过，在在座的各位中，那些属于外向型人格的人很可能不仅尝试过，而且还成功地“舔”过了坐在他们旁边的人的肘部……（当然，这里只是开玩笑的说法。）
Those are the extroverts.
那些就是外向的人。