Imagine you're asked to invent something new.
试想一下假如有人让你发明一样东西。
It could be whatever you want made from anything you choose in any shape or size.
它可以是任何你想要的东西，你可以用任何材料去制作，可以把它做成任何形状或大小。
That kind of creative freedom sounds so liberating, doesn't it? Or does it?
这种创造自由听起来很让人感觉到解放，不是吗？但真的是这样吗？
If you're like most people, you'd probably be paralyzed by this task.
如果你像大部分人那样，你或许会对这任务感到无所适从。
Without more guidance, where would you even begin?
在没有更多指引的情况下，你知道从哪里开始着手吗？
As it turns out, boundless freedom isn't always helpful.
事实证明，无限的自由并不总是有用的。
In reality, any project is restricted by many factors, such as the cost,
在现实生活中，任何设计都会受到诸多因素的限制，比如说成本，
what materials you have at your disposal, and unbreakable laws of physics.
手头上有什么材料可供你自由支配，还有不会被打破的物理定律。
These factors are called creative constraints,
这些因素都被称为创造性约束，
and they're the requirements and limitations we have to address in order to accomplish a goal.
这些因素都是要求和限制条件，要想完成目标我们就必须面对它们。
Creative constraints apply across professions, to architects and artists, writers, engineers, and scientists.
创造性约束适用于各类职业，如建筑家和艺术家，作家，工程师和科学家。
In many fields, constraints play a special role as drivers of discovery and invention.
在许多领域中，约束作为探索和发明的驱动因素，都扮演着一个特别的角色。
During the scientific process in particular, constraints are an essential part of experimental design.
尤其是在科学进程中，约束条件是实验设计中必不可少的一部分。
For instance, a scientist studying a new virus would consider,
例如，一位正在研究一种新病毒的科学家会思考，
'How can I use the tools and techniques at hand to create an experiment that tells me how this virus infects the body's cells?
“我应该怎样利用手中现有的工具和技术，去进行一个能够告诉我这个病毒是怎样感染人体细胞的实验呢？
And what are the limits of my knowledge that prevent me from understanding this new viral pathway?'
我现有的知识中有哪些局限性会阻碍我，去理解这个新型病毒性路径？”
In engineering, constraints have us apply our scientific discoveries to invent something new and useful.
在工程领域中，约束条件能让我们把科学发现应用到新颖有用的事物的创造中。
Take, for example, the landers Viking 1 and 2, which relied on thrusters to arrive safely on the surface of Mars.
举一个例子，着陆器维京1号和2号，它们需要依靠推进器才能安全着落于火星表面。
The problem? Those thrusters left foreign chemicals on the ground, contaminating soil samples.
问题是？那些推进器会在火星表面留下外来的化学物质，污染土壤样本。
So a new constraint was introduced.
一个新的约束条件因而产生。
How can we land a probe on Mars without introducing chemicals from Earth?
我们怎样使探测器在登陆火星的同时，又不会把地球的化学物质带到火星上呢？
The next Pathfinder mission used an airbag system to allow the rover to bounce and roll to a halt without burning contaminating fuel.
在下一个探路者任务中就用到一个气囊系统，这个系统可以让探测车弹跳和停止行驶，同时不需要燃烧污染性燃料。

Years later, we wanted to send a much larger rover: Curiosity.
多年后，我们想要发射一个更大的探测车：好奇号。
However, it was too large for the airbag design, so another constraint was defined.
但对于气囊设计而言，好奇号实在太大了，因而另一个约束条件也得以明确。
How can we land a large rover while still keeping rocket fuel away from the Martian soil?
我们怎么让一个大型探测车着落的同时，火箭燃料又能远离火星土壤呢？
In response, engineers had a wild idea. They designed a skycrane.
作为回应，工程师们有一个疯狂的想法。他们设计出一个空中起重机。
Similar to the claw machine at toy stores, it would lower the rover from high above the surface.
它跟玩具店里的抓娃娃机很相像，可以让位于星球表面高空中的探测车降落。
With each invention, the engineers demonstrated an essential habit of scientific thinking
每一个发明，工程师们都展示出一种科学思维的必要习惯
that solutions must recognize the limitations of current technology in order to advance it.
就是解决方法要意识到现有技术的限制，这样才可以促使技术的发展。
Sometimes this progress is iterative, as in, 'How can I make a better parachute to land my rover?'
有时候这样的过程需要重复多次，就像，“我怎样做出一个更好的降落伞让探测车着陆？”
And sometimes, it's innovative, like how to reach our goal when the best possible parachute isn't going to work.
有时候，这样的过程是革新性的，像是在现有最好的降落伞都起不了作用的情况下，怎样实现我们的目标。
In both cases, the constraints guide decision-making to ensure we reach each objective.
在这两种情况下，约束条件指导决策，确保我们达成每一个目标。
Here's another Mars problem yet to be solved.
这里还有一个尚待解决的火星问题。
Say we want to send astronauts who will need water.
那就是我们想把需要水维系生命的宇航员送到火星上。
They'd rely on a filtration system that keeps the water very clean and enables 100% recovery.
他们需要依赖一个可以让水保持纯净的过滤系统，而且这个系统能让水100%回收利用。
Those are some pretty tough constraints, and we may not have the technology for it now.
这些都是相当严苛的约束条件，现在我们的技术也许还不能实现上述情况。
But in the process of trying to meet these objectives, we might discover other applications of any inventions that result.
但在尝试实现这些目标的过程中，我们可能会发现这些发明的其他用途。
Building an innovative water filtration system could provide a solution for farmers working in drought-stricken regions,
建造一个创新性的水过滤系统可以为工作在干旱地区的农民们服务，
or a way to clean municipal water in polluted cities.
或者为水污染城市过滤干净城市用水。
In fact, many scientific advances have occurred when serendipitous failures in one field address the constraints of another.
实际上，很多科技发展都是在一个领域的偶然失败下，需要解决另一个约束条件中产生的。
When scientist Alexander Fleming mistakenly contaminated a Petri dish in the lab,
科学家亚历山大·弗莱明正是因为不小心污染了实验室里的一个培养皿，
it led to the discovery of the first antibiotic, penicillin.
才会发现世界上第一种抗生素，即青霉素。
The same is true of synthetic dye, plastic, and gunpowder.
同样的情况发生在合成染料，塑料，还有火药的发明过程中。
All were created mistakenly, but went on to address the constraints of other problems.
它们都是在偶然情况下被发明出来的，但同时是因解决其他问题的约束条件而发展下去的。
Understanding constraints guides scientific progress, and what's true in science is also true in many other fields.
理解约束能引导科技进程，这不但适用于科学，还适用于很多其他领域。
Constraints aren't the boundaries of creativity, but the foundation of it.
约束不是创造的障碍，而是创造的源泉。