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Science in English, 01a. Daniel Tammet: Different ways of knowing. Part 1.

01a. Daniel Tammet: Different ways of knowing. Part 1.

I'm a savant, or more precisely, a high-functioning autistic savant.

It's a rare condition. And rarer still when accompanied, as in my case, by self-awareness and a mastery of language. Very often when I meet someone and they learn this about me, there's a certain kind of awkwardness. I can see it in their eyes. They want to ask me something. And in the end, quite often, the urge is stronger than they are and they blurt it out: "If I give you my date of birth, can you tell me what day of the week I was born on? "(Laughter) Or they mention cube roots or ask me to recite a long number or long text. I hope you'll forgive me if I don't perform a kind of one-man savant show for you today. I'm going to talk instead about something far more interesting than dates of birth or cube roots -- a little deeper and a lot closer, to my mind, than work. I want to talk to you briefly about perception.

When he was writing the plays and the short stories that would make his name, Anton Chekhov kept a notebook in which he noted down his observations of the world around him -- little details that other people seem to miss. Every time I read Chekhov and his unique vision of human life, I'm reminded of why I too became a writer. In my books, I explore the nature of perception and how different kinds of perceiving create different kinds of knowing and understanding. Here are three questions drawn from my work.

Rather than try to figure them out, I'm going to ask you to consider for a moment the intuitions and the gut instincts that are going through your head and your heart as you look at them. For example, the calculation: can you feel where on the number line the solution is likely to fall? Or look at the foreign word and the sounds: can you get a sense of the range of meanings that it's pointing you towards? And in terms of the line of poetry, why does the poet use the word hare rather than rabbit? I'm asking you to do this because I believe our personal perceptions, you see, are at the heart of how we acquire knowledge. Aesthetic judgments, rather than abstract reasoning, guide and shape the process by which we all come to know what we know. I'm an extreme example of this. My worlds of words and numbers blur with color, emotion and personality.

As Juan said, it's the condition that scientists call synesthesia, an unusual cross-talk between the senses. Here are the numbers one to 12 as I see them -- every number with its own shape and character. One is a flash of white light. Six is a tiny and very sad black hole. The sketches are in black and white here, but in my mind they have colors. Three is green. Four is blue. Five is yellow. I paint as well.

And here is one of my paintings. It's a multiplication of two prime numbers. Three-dimensional shapes and the space they create in the middle creates a new shape, the answer to the sum. What about bigger numbers? Well you can't get much bigger than Pi, the mathematical constant. It's an infinite number -- literally goes on forever. In this painting that I made of the first 20 decimals of Pi, I take the colors and the emotions and the textures and I pull them all together into a kind of rolling numerical landscape.


01a. Daniel Tammet: Different ways of knowing. Part 1. 01a. Daniel Tammet: Verschiedene Arten des Wissens. Teil 1. 01a. Daniel Tammet: Diferentes formas de conocer. Part 1. 01a. Daniel Tammet : Les différentes façons de savoir. Partie 1. 01a. Daniel Tammet: Diversi modi di conoscere. Parte 1. 01a.ダニエル・タメット知ることのさまざまな方法。パート1. 01a. 다니엘 타멧: 다양한 방식의 정보 파악. 1부. 01a. Daniel Tammet: Różne sposoby poznania. Część 1. 01a. Daniel Tammet: Diferentes formas de saber. Parte 1. 01a. Дэниел Таммет: Различные способы познания. Часть 1. 01a. Daniel Tammet: Bilmenin farklı yolları. Bölüm 1. 01a. Даніель Таммет: Різні способи пізнання. Частина 1. 01a. Daniel Tammet:不同的认识方式。第1部分。 01a. Daniel Tammet:不同的認識方式。第1部分。

I’m a savant, or more precisely, a high-functioning autistic savant. Soy un sabio, o más precisamente, un sabio autista de alto funcionamiento. 私はサヴァン、より正確には高機能自閉症のサヴァンです。 我是一名专家,或更准确地说,是一位功能强大的自闭症专家。

It’s a rare condition. Es una condición poco común. まれな状態です。 这是一种罕见的情况。 And rarer still when accompanied, as in my case, by self-awareness and a mastery of language. Y más raro aún cuando se acompaña, como en mi caso, de la autoconciencia y el dominio del lenguaje. そして、私の場合のように、自己認識と言語の習得を伴う場合は、さらにまれです。 像我这样,伴随着自我意识和对语言的掌握,这种情况还很少见。 Very often when I meet someone and they learn this about me, there’s a certain kind of awkwardness. Muy a menudo, cuando conozco a alguien y se entera de esto, hay un cierto tipo de incomodidad. 私が誰かに会い、彼らが私についてこれを知ったとき、ある種の厄介さがあります。 Çoğu zaman biriyle tanıştığımda ve hakkımda bunu öğrendiklerinde, belli bir gariplik oluyor. Дуже часто, коли я знайомлюся з кимось і вони дізнаються про це, виникає певна незручність. 很多时候,当我遇到某人并且他们了解到我的情况时,会有某种尴尬。 I can see it in their eyes. Puedo verlo en sus ojos. 私は彼らの目にそれを見ることができます。 Bunu gözlerinde görebiliyorum. They want to ask me something. Quieren preguntarme algo. 彼らは私に何かを聞きたがっています。 他们想问我一些事情。 And in the end, quite often, the urge is stronger than they are and they blurt it out: "If I give you my date of birth, can you tell me what day of the week I was born on? Y al final, con bastante frecuencia, el impulso es más fuerte que ellos y lo sueltan: "Si te doy mi fecha de nacimiento, ¿puedes decirme en qué día de la semana nací?" そして結局、衝動は彼らよりも強く、彼らはそれをぼんやりさせます。「私があなたに私の生年月日を与えるならば、あなたは私が生まれた曜日を教えてくれますか? Ve sonunda, çoğu zaman, dürtü onlardan daha güçlüdür ve ağızlarından kaçırırlar: "Size doğum tarihimi verirsem, bana haftanın hangi günü doğduğumu söyleyebilir misiniz? 最后,很多时候,这种冲动比他们更强烈,他们脱口而出:“如果我告诉你我的出生日期,你能告诉我我是星期几出生的吗? "(Laughter) Or they mention cube roots or ask me to recite a long number or long text. "(Risas) O mencionan raíces cúbicas o me piden que recite un número largo o un texto largo. 「(笑い)あるいは、彼らは立方根について言及したり、長い数字や長いテキストを暗唱するように私に頼んだりします。 "(Gülüşmeler) Ya da küp köklerden bahsediyorlar ya da benden uzun bir sayı ya da uzun bir metin okumamı istiyorlar. “(众笑)或者他们提到立方根,或者让我背诵一个长号或长文本。 I hope you’ll forgive me if I don’t perform a kind of one-man savant show for you today. Espero que me perdonen si hoy no presento una especie de espectáculo de sabio unipersonal. 今日、私があなたのために一種の一人のサバントショーを行わないならば、あなたが私を許してくれることを願っています。 Bugün sizin için tek kişilik bir gösteri yapmazsam beni affedeceğinizi umuyorum. 如果我今天不为您表演单人表演,希望您能原谅我。 I’m going to talk instead about something far more interesting than dates of birth or cube roots -- a little deeper and a lot closer, to my mind, than work. En cambio, voy a hablar de algo mucho más interesante que las fechas de nacimiento o las raíces cúbicas, un poco más profundo y mucho más cercano, a mi mente, que el trabajo. 代わりに、生年月日や立方根よりもはるかに興味深いことについて話します。仕事よりも少し深く、私の心にはるかに近いものです。 Bunun yerine doğum tarihlerinden veya küp köklerinden çok daha ilginç bir şeyden bahsedeceğim - bana göre işten biraz daha derin ve çok daha yakın. 相反,我将谈论比出生日期或立方根更有趣的事情-对我而言,比工作更深入,更紧密。 I want to talk to you briefly about perception. Quiero hablarles brevemente sobre la percepción. 知覚について簡単に話したいと思います。 Sizinle kısaca algı hakkında konuşmak istiyorum. 我想简单地与您谈谈感知。

When he was writing the plays and the short stories that would make his name, Anton Chekhov kept a notebook in which he noted down his observations of the world around him -- little details that other people seem to miss. Cuando estaba escribiendo las obras de teatro y los cuentos que harían su nombre, Anton Chekhov llevaba un cuaderno en el que anotaba sus observaciones del mundo que lo rodeaba, pequeños detalles que otras personas parecen pasar por alto. アントン・チェーホフは、彼の名を冠する戯曲や短編小説を書いているときに、自分の周りの世界の観察を書き留めたノートを保管していました。 Anton Çehov, adını duyuracak oyunlarını ve kısa öykülerini yazarken, etrafındaki dünyaya dair gözlemlerini -diğer insanların gözden kaçırdığı küçük ayrıntıları- not ettiği bir defter tutardı. 安东·契plays夫(Anton Chekhov)在写剧本和短篇小说以取名时,记着一个笔记本,记下了他对周围世界的观察,而其他人似乎没什么细节。 Every time I read Chekhov and his unique vision of human life, I’m reminded of why I too became a writer. Cada vez que leo a Chéjov y su visión única de la vida humana, recuerdo por qué yo también me convertí en escritor. チェーホフと彼の人間生活のユニークなビジョンを読むたびに、私も作家になった理由を思い出します。 Çehov'u ve onun insan yaşamına dair eşsiz vizyonunu her okuduğumda, ben de neden yazar olduğumu hatırlıyorum. In my books, I explore the nature of perception and how different kinds of perceiving create different kinds of knowing and understanding. En mis libros, exploro la naturaleza de la percepción y cómo los diferentes tipos de percepción crean diferentes tipos de conocimiento y comprensión. 私の本では、知覚の性質と、さまざまな種類の知覚がさまざまな種類の知識と理解をどのように生み出すかを探っています。 Kitaplarımda algının doğasını ve farklı algılama biçimlerinin nasıl farklı bilme ve anlama biçimleri yarattığını araştırıyorum. Here are three questions drawn from my work. Aquí hay tres preguntas extraídas de mi trabajo. これが私の仕事から引き出された3つの質問です。 İşte çalışmalarımdan derlediğim üç soru.

Rather than try to figure them out, I’m going to ask you to consider for a moment the intuitions and the gut instincts that are going through your head and your heart as you look at them. En lugar de tratar de descifrarlos, le pediré que considere por un momento las intuiciones y los instintos que pasan por su cabeza y su corazón cuando los mira. それらを理解しようとするのではなく、あなたがそれらを見ているときにあなたの頭とあなたの心を通り抜けている直感と本能を少し考えてみてください。 Onları anlamaya çalışmak yerine, onlara bakarken aklınızdan ve kalbinizden geçen sezgileri ve içgüdüleri bir an için düşünmenizi isteyeceğim. For example, the calculation: can you feel where on the number line the solution is likely to fall? Por ejemplo, el cálculo: ¿puedes sentir en qué parte de la recta numérica es probable que caiga la solución? たとえば、計算:数直線のどこに解が落ちる可能性があるかを感じることができますか? Örneğin, hesaplama: Çözümün sayı doğrusunda nereye düşeceğini hissedebiliyor musunuz? Or look at the foreign word and the sounds: can you get a sense of the range of meanings that it’s pointing you towards? O mira la palabra extranjera y los sonidos: ¿puedes hacerte una idea de la variedad de significados hacia los que te está apuntando? または、外国語と音を見てください。それがあなたを指している意味の範囲を理解できますか? Ya da yabancı kelimeye ve seslere bakın: size işaret ettiği anlam yelpazesi hakkında bir fikir edinebiliyor musunuz? And in terms of the line of poetry, why does the poet use the word hare rather than rabbit? Y en términos de la línea de la poesía, ¿por qué el poeta usa la palabra liebre en lugar de conejo? そして、詩のラインに関して、なぜ詩人はウサギではなくウサギという言葉を使うのですか? I’m asking you to do this because I believe our personal perceptions, you see, are at the heart of how we acquire knowledge. Le pido que haga esto porque creo que nuestras percepciones personales, como ve, están en el corazón de cómo adquirimos conocimiento. 私たちの個人的な認識が私たちが知識を獲得する方法の中心であると信じているので、私はあなたにこれをするように頼んでいます。 Aesthetic judgments, rather than abstract reasoning, guide and shape the process by which we all come to know what we know. Los juicios estéticos, más que el razonamiento abstracto, guían y dan forma al proceso mediante el cual todos llegamos a conocer lo que sabemos. 抽象的推論ではなく、審美的な判断が、私たち全員が自分の知っていることを知るようになるプロセスを導き、形作ります。 I’m an extreme example of this. Soy un ejemplo extremo de esto. 私はこれの極端な例です。 Ben bunun uç bir örneğiyim. My worlds of words and numbers blur with color, emotion and personality. Mi mundo de palabras y números se difumina con el color, la emoción y la personalidad. 私の言葉と数字の世界は、色、感情、個性でぼやけています。 Kelimeler ve sayılardan oluşan dünyam renk, duygu ve kişilikle bulanıklaşıyor.

As Juan said, it’s the condition that scientists call synesthesia, an unusual cross-talk between the senses. Como dijo Juan, es la condición que los científicos llaman sinestesia, una conversación cruzada inusual entre los sentidos. フアンが言ったように、それは科学者が共感覚、感覚間の異常なクロストークと呼ぶ条件です。 Juan'ın da dediği gibi, bilim insanlarının sinestezi olarak adlandırdığı durum, duyular arasında alışılmadık bir çapraz konuşma. Here are the numbers one to 12 as I see them -- every number with its own shape and character. Aquí están los números del uno al 12 como yo los veo, cada número con su propia forma y carácter. これが私が見ている1から12までの数字です-すべての数字は独自の形と特徴を持っています。 İşte benim gördüğüm şekliyle 1'den 12'ye kadar olan sayılar - her sayının kendine has bir şekli ve karakteri var. One is a flash of white light. Uno es un destello de luz blanca. 1つは白色光の閃光です。 Six is a tiny and very sad black hole. Six es un agujero negro diminuto y muy triste. シックスは小さくてとても悲しいブラックホールです。 Altı, küçük ve çok üzücü bir kara deliktir. The sketches are in black and white here, but in my mind they have colors. Los bocetos están aquí en blanco y negro, pero en mi mente tienen colores. スケッチはここでは白黒ですが、私の心の中では色があります。 Eskizler burada siyah beyaz ama benim zihnimde renkleri var. Three is green. Tres es verde. 3つは緑です。 Four is blue. Cuatro es azul. 4つは青です。 Five is yellow. Cinco es amarillo. I paint as well. Yo también pinto. 私もペイントします。 Ben de resim yapıyorum.

And here is one of my paintings. Y aquí está uno de mis cuadros. Ve işte resimlerimden biri. It’s a multiplication of two prime numbers. Es una multiplicación de dos números primos. これは2つの素数の乗算です。 İki asal sayının çarpımıdır. Three-dimensional shapes and the space they create in the middle creates a new shape, the answer to the sum. Las formas tridimensionales y el espacio que crean en el medio crean una nueva forma, la respuesta a la suma. 立体的な形とその真ん中につくる空間が、和の答えである新しい形を生み出します。 Üç boyutlu şekiller ve ortada yarattıkları boşluk, toplamın cevabı olan yeni bir şekil yaratır. What about bigger numbers? ¿Qué pasa con los números más grandes? Well you can’t get much bigger than Pi, the mathematical constant. Bueno, no puedes ser mucho más grande que Pi, la constante matemática. 数学定数である円周率よりも大きくなることはできません。 Matematiksel sabit olan Pi sayısından daha büyük olamazsınız. It’s an infinite number -- literally goes on forever. Es un número infinito, literalmente es eterno. それは無限の数です-文字通り永遠に続きます。 In this painting that I made of the first 20 decimals of Pi, I take the colors and the emotions and the textures and I pull them all together into a kind of rolling numerical landscape. En esta pintura que hice con los primeros 20 decimales de Pi, tomo los colores y las emociones y las texturas y los junté en una especie de paisaje numérico ondulado. 円周率の最初の20桁で作成したこの絵では、色、感情、テクスチャを取り入れて、それらをすべてまとめて、一種の回転する数値の風景にします。 Pi sayısının ilk 20 ondalık diliminden yaptığım bu resimde renkleri, duyguları ve dokuları alıp hepsini bir araya getirerek bir tür inişli çıkışlı sayısal manzara oluşturuyorum.