Hello, humans. My name is Matt and for the next several moments, you are going to listen to me.
你好，人类！我叫马特，接下来的一点时间，你要听我讲。
Mwah, ha, ha, ha, ha. Sorry. I'm just joking. This is my normal voice.
啊哈哈哈哈！抱歉，开个玩笑。这是我正常的声音。
Have you ever taken direction from a mysterious voice on the computer before? No? Perfect!
你有没有接受过来自电脑的神秘声音的指令？没？太好了！
I want to try an experiment with you, but I can't tell you what that experiment entails because if I do, it won't work.
我想和你尝试一个实验，但我不能告诉你实验内容，因为如果我告诉了你，它就没效果了。
You'll just have to trust me. This will all make sense soon, hopefully.
你只要相信我就好。很快你就会明白了，希望如此。
If you're sitting down, stand up from your chair and take a step back.
如果你正在坐着，从椅子上站起来，向后退一步。
In a moment, I'm going to have you twirl around, so give yourself a bit of space.
我待会儿要让你转圈，所以给自己腾出点空间。
Need to move some furniture around? Take your time. I'll wait.
要搬家具？慢慢来，我等你。
On the count of three, you're going to start hopping on one foot.
现在我数到三，你要开始单脚跳跃。
Are you ready? One, two, three! Hop, hop, hop, hop, hop. Nice work!
准备好了吗？一，二，三，跳，跳，跳，跳，跳，很好！
OK, while you're still hopping, I now want you to begin barking like a dog.
好，你保持单脚跳的同时，现在我想请你学狗叫。
Ruff, ruff; ruff, ruff; ruff, ruff. Wow, that's quite a bark! And a few more.
汪汪，汪汪，汪汪，叫得好！再来几次，
Ruff, ruff, ruff. And three, two, one, stop!
汪汪汪。三，二，一，停！
Feel free to relax and sit back down.
现在你可以放松一下，坐下来了。
Now, I want you think about how much time passed between the moment I said, "Go!"
我想请你思考一下，从我说开始，你开始单脚跳的时候，
and you began hopping on one foot to the moment I said, "Stop!" Take a guess.
到我说停的时候，猜一猜用了多少时间。
I'm looking for an exact number of seconds or minutes.
你可以精准到秒或者分钟。
Now, with a pen and paper, write that number down. All done?
现在，用纸笔写下这个数字。好了吗？
The exact time was actually 26 seconds. Did you overestimate? Chances are that you did.
准确时间是26秒。你多估计了吗？很可能是的。
So, what was the culprit? The culprit was time perception.
那么罪魁祸首是谁呢？其实是时间知觉在作怪。
Although we can make shockingly precise time estimates,
尽管我们在估计时间时可以做到令人惊讶的准确，
when we experience something new, unusual, or dynamic,
但当我们尝试新鲜的、不寻常的或者动态的东西时，
like hopping on one foot while taking instructions from a voice on the computer,
例如单脚跳时，当接受来自电脑的声音指令时，
or, say, jumping out of an airplane, we often miscalculate how much time has passed.
或者从飞机上跳下来时，我们经常会算错过去了多少时间。
Meaning, if you bungee jump for the first time,
也就是，如果你头一次蹦极，
your fall to the bottom may seem like it lasted for 10 seconds
你掉到底的过程感觉像10秒钟，
while the recorded time may actually show that the jump only lasted for 5.
但记录的时间可能会显示蹦极只持续了5秒钟。
The reason for this difference is unlike your body's physical drop to the bottom,
有时间差的原因是，和你身体坠落到底不同，
your brain's perception of time does not follow a straight line between two points.
你大脑对时间的认知并不是沿着一条两点之间的直线。
Some scientists even believe your brain follows more of a curved path
有些科学家甚至相信你的大脑更可能沿着曲线运作，
that is dependent on the amount of information you take in as you fall downwards.
这和你坠落时吸取的信息量相关。

For example, David Eagleman, a neuroscientist at Baylor College of Medicine,
举个例子，大卫·伊格曼，一个贝勒医学院的神经学家
believes time perception is heavily influenced by the number of memories and data you record onto your brain.
他认为，时间认知受到你记录进大脑的记忆以及数据多少的很大影响。
When you have a new experience, like jumping off a high dive for the first time, your senses are heightened.
当你有一个新体验时，比如头一次高空跳水时，你的感官更敏感。
You're taking in more details about sights, sounds, and smells than you normally would.
你会接收比平时更多的视觉、听觉和嗅觉上的细节信息。
And you store more data onto your brain in the form of memories.
而且你会以记忆的形式往你大脑中储存更多数据。
So, the more data you store in your brain,
所以你往大脑中储存的数据越多，
like the smell of chlorine as you leapt from the high dive or the color of the water,
比如你从高台跳下时氯的气味或者水的颜色，
the longer your perception of that experience.
你对这个经历的感觉就持续得越久。
Meaning, the number of memories and data you record on your brain
这意味着你往脑中储存的记忆以及数据的数量
has a direct impact on how long you believe that experience to have lasted.
对于你认为这个经历持续了多久有着直接的影响。
Have you ever heard a person recount what it's like to be in a car accident?
你有没有曾经听说一个人回忆身处一场车祸中是什么感觉？
Although automotive accidents typically last seconds, those involved often say they felt the accident lasted far longer.
尽管汽车事故通常只持续数秒，但亲历者经常称他们感觉那场事故持续的时间要长得多。
Time perception can also account for why your childhood may have seem to have lasted forever.
时间知觉也能解释为什么你的童年似乎特别长。
By adulthood, a year can slip by in a heartbeat, but children record more data onto their brains.
对于成年人来说，一年瞬间就溜走了，但小孩往他们的大脑中储存更多的数据。
This occurs because many of the experiences we have as children are new and unfamiliar to us.
这是因为对我们来说，很多事情在我们小时候是新鲜且不熟悉的。
The stack of encoded memories on your brain is so dense
你脑中的这沓编码记忆如此之厚，
that reading them back makes you believe your experiences must have taken forever.
以至于当你回想时你会觉得你所经历的一定花了很久很久。
Additionally, when you're 5 years old, one year is 1/5 of your life.
另外，当你五岁时，一年是你生命的五分之一。
But, when you're 25, one year makes up 1/25, further altering your perception of time.
而当你25岁时，一年只占了二十五分之一，更加改变了你对时间的感知。
And, if you're an adult, think about a trip that you may have taken to a far-away land for the first time.
而且如果你是成年人，回想一下你第一次前往去远方的旅行。
Didn't those two weeks you spent exploring your surroundings seem to have lasted far longer than 14 days?
难道你不觉得你经历的那两周远不只14天吗？
Though time perception is rooted in both hard science and theory,
尽管时间知觉是基于自然科学和理论，
it provides a great lesson for us on how to live our lives.
但它给我们提供了如何好好生活的重要一课。
I'm sure you have all heard that a person shouldn't sit on a couch and let life pass them by.
我相信你们都听说过，人不能坐在沙发上放任时间流逝。
Well, time perception tells us why that is.
时间知觉告诉我们为什么是这样。
If you get up and engage with the world and have new experiences,
如果你站起来拥抱世界，增加新的体验，
and maybe even hop around on one foot and bark like a dog,
甚至是单脚跳跃，学狗叫，
you will literally perceive your own life to have lasted for a longer period of time.
你就真的能感觉到你自己的人生持续了更长的时间。