The reason that I’m so passionate about conversation and meaningful communication is because of this thing called the connection crisis.

我之所以对谈话和有意义的交流很有热情 都是因为这个叫做连接危机的东西

And I am not being hyperbolic when I call it a crisis.

我称之为危机一点都不夸张

So AARP did a study in 1970 and they found out that 20 percent of their members identified as being lonely.

AARP（美国退休者协会）在1970年做了一项研究 发现他们有20%的成员都很孤独

They did that same study again in 2010, and the number had more than doubled to 45 percent—45 percent of their members that were identifying as lonely.

2010年他们又做了同样的研究 那个数字已经翻了两倍多 变成了45%——有45%的成员都很孤独

So the General Social Survey came out a few years ago and it found out that

几年前成立了综合社会调查 发现

the most common response when people were asked, “How many friends do you have?”—wait for it—zero.

人们被问到“你有多少朋友”的时候 最常见的回答是——等一下——零个

Zero. That number has tripled over recent decades.

一个都没有 这几十年来 这个数字已经翻了三倍

Imagine going through life without a single confidant.

想象一下连一个密友都没有的生活

And this dearth of relationships is not just making us sad, it’s literally making us sick.

这种关系的终结不仅会让我们难过 还会让我们生病

It is killing us. Because what happens when we have weak social ties?

会杀了我们 如果我们的社会关系很薄弱 会发生什么呢？

We have increased inflammation; it decreases the body’s natural immune response.

我们的炎症会加重 它会降低身体的自然免疫反应

There was a recent meta-analysis of 300,000 patients and it found that

近来 有人对30万病人进行了荟萃分析 发现

having weak social ties was as harmful to your health as being an alcoholic, and twice as harmful as having obesity.

社会关系薄弱对人身体的伤害相当于嗜酒对人的伤害 而且是肥胖伤害的两倍

So these wild things are happening, but so often people are left to their own devices to figure out how to communicate, how to connect.

这种疯狂的事情正在发生 但人们却往往要独自解决如何沟通 如何跟人产生联系的问题

We spend 15 years studying something like social studies and we don’t even spend 15 minutes on social skills.

我们会花15年来研究社会学科之类的东西 却不愿意花15分钟去研究社会技能

And communication is the fundamental building block of creating these important relationships,

而沟通正是这些重要关系的基石

which are so important for our personal lives and also our professional success.

它对我们的个人生活和事业成功至关重要

So that’s why we need to be intentional about communication, because with a little bit of practice and a little bit of focus

所以我们需要刻意与人交流 因为有了练习和注意后

anyone can connect more deeply with the people they meet and the people they love.

任何人都能与他们认识和相爱的人有更深的联系

And when you think about that, if you don’t have friends that is what opens you up for extremism;

想想这些 如果你没有朋友 你就会渐渐走向极端主义

it’s that when you don’t belong you will do anything to belong, you know what I mean?

当你不属于任何一个关系的时候 你就会不择手段去进入一段关系 明白我什么意思吗？

So that's why providing frameworks for people to connect is such a vital thing.

因此 为人们提供连接框架非常重要