演讲文本

It's the Second World War. A German prison camp.

这是二战期间，一个德国集中营。

And this man, Archie Cochrane, is a prisoner of war and a doctor, and he has a problem.

这个人，阿奇·卡克伦，是战俘也是一名医生，他遇到了一个问题。

The problem is that the men under his care are suffering from an excruciating and debilitating condition that Archie doesn't really understand.

这个问题是他看护的人们正在承受病痛和衰弱的煎熬。阿奇不明白是怎么回事。

The symptoms are this horrible swelling up of fluids under the skin.

这种症状是皮肤下面有可怕水肿。

But he doesn't know whether it's an infection, whether it's to do with malnutrition.

他不知道这是一种感染，还是营养不良造成的。

He doesn't know how to cure it. And he's operating in a hostile environment.

他不知道怎样提供治疗。他是在一个充满敌意的环境里工作。

And people do terrible things in wars. The German camp guards, they've got bored.

而人们常常在战争期间做可怕的事情。德国集中营的守卫无聊的时候。

They've taken to just firing into the prison camp at random for fun.

他们会对着集中营随意扫射，来寻开心。

On one particular occasion, one of the guards threw a grenade into the prisoners' lavatory while it was full of prisoners.

特别是有一次，一个守卫朝犯人的厕所里扔了枚手榴弹，里面满是犯人。

He said he heard suspicious laughter.

他说他听到了可疑的笑声。

And Archie Cochrane, as the camp doctor, was one of the first men in to clear up the mess.

而阿奇·卡克伦，作为集中营的医生，是第一个进去处理惨状的人。

And one more thing: Archie was suffering from this illness himself.

另外， 阿奇自己也受着这个疾病的困扰，

So the situation seemed pretty desperate.

所以情况是非常危急。

But Archie Cochrane was a resourceful person.

但是阿奇·卡克伦 是一个足智多谋的人。

He'd already smuggled vitamin C into the camp, and now he managed to get hold of supplies of marmite on the black market.

他已经将维生素C带到了集中营，现在他又想办法从黑市上弄到了一些马麦。

Now some of you will be wondering what marmite is.

你们中的一些人也许会问马麦是什么。

Marmite is a breakfast spread beloved of the British.

马麦是英国人热爱的早餐面包酱。

It looks like crude oil. It tastes ... zesty.

它看上去象天然油。味道很浓。

And importantly, it's a rich source of vitamin B12.

更重要的是，它含有丰富的维他命B12。

视频及简介

演讲简介：

经济作家提姆·哈福德研究复杂的系统，他在成功的事例中发现了意想不到的链接：它们都经历了试验和不断排除错误的过程。 在这个精彩的TEDGlobal 2011 演讲中，他呼吁我们接纳随机性并开始学会犯些有益的错误。