TED Talk >> Malcolm Gladwell: The unheard story of David and Goliath

There's a second piece of this that's important. It's not just that we misunderstand David and his choice of weaponry. It's also that we profoundly misunderstand Goliath. Goliath is not what he seems to be. There's all kinds of hints of this in the Biblical text, things that are in retrospect quite puzzling and don't square with his image as this mighty warrior.

另外還有一點很重要。我們不僅低估了大衛(wèi)，和他選擇的武器。同時我們也極大的高估了哥利亞。哥利亞其實沒有看起來的那么可怕。在圣經(jīng)中有不少的暗示，很多東西回想起來都很疑惑，而且和他強大的戰(zhàn)士的形象并不相符。

So to begin with, the Bible says that Goliath is led onto the valley floor by an attendant. Now that is weird, right? Here is this mighty warrior challenging the Israelites to one-on-one combat. Why is he being led by the hand by some young boy, presumably, to the point of combat?

首先，圣經(jīng)說哥利亞是被一個侍從帶到山谷底下的。這有點奇怪，對吧？ 他可是強壯的戰(zhàn)士，向以色列人單挑的戰(zhàn)士，為什么要由，大概，還是個小男孩的侍從，帶到戰(zhàn)場上呢？

Secondly, the Bible story makes special note of how slowly Goliath moves, another odd thing to say when you're describing the mightiest warrior known to man at that point. And then there's this whole weird thing about how long it takes Goliath to react to the sight of David. So David's coming down the mountain, and he's clearly not preparing for hand-to-hand combat. There is nothing about him that says, "I am about to fight you like this." He's not even carrying a sword. Why does Goliath not react to that? It's as if he's oblivious to what's going on that day. And then there's that strange comment he makes to David: "Am I a dog that you should come to me with sticks?" Sticks? David only has one stick.

第二，圣經(jīng)故事里強調(diào)，哥利亞行動緩慢，這用這來描述當(dāng)時無人不曉的最勇猛的戰(zhàn)士，不是很奇怪嗎。而最奇怪的是，哥利亞花了很長時間才對大衛(wèi)的出現(xiàn)作出反應(yīng)。 大衛(wèi)下山，并沒有準(zhǔn)備徒手搏斗。書中沒有記載說他 “我就準(zhǔn)備這樣和你打”，他甚至連劍都沒帶。哥利亞為什么對此毫無反應(yīng)呢？他好像沒有察覺到那天發(fā)生了什么。還有他對大衛(wèi)奇怪的嘲諷： “我是條狗嗎？你拿這些打狗棒來干啥??？” 這些？大衛(wèi)只帶了一根而已。

Question

1. Why does Gladwell believe Goliath have problem with his eye sight?
   > It takes a long time to notice David approaching.
2. What two pieces of evidence does Gladwell give to support his main argument?
   > David's weapon is much better than people assume and Goliath has health problems.
3. To look at something in retrospect means
   > to examine past events with better understanding
4. Why does Gladwell focus on examining Goliath's behavior?
   > to provide more evidence to support his argument

Well, it turns out that there's been a great deal of speculation within the medical community over the years about whether there is something fundamentally wrong with Goliath, an attempt to make sense of all of those apparent anomalies. There have been many articles written. The first one was in 1960 in the Indiana Medical Journal, and it started a chain of speculation that starts with an explanation for Goliath's height. So Goliath is head and shoulders above all of his peers in that era, and usually when someone is that far out of the norm, there's an explanation for it.

多年來，醫(yī)學(xué)界一直對此頗有猜測，是不是哥利亞本身就有問題。他們試圖去解釋這些明顯的反?，F(xiàn)象。人們寫了不少文章，第一篇發(fā)表在1960年的印第安納醫(yī)學(xué)雜志上，開始了一系列的推測。首先，它解釋了哥利亞的身高。在當(dāng)時，哥利亞比他的同齡人，高出許多。通常來說，如果有人超出規(guī)范如此之多，人們就會對其作出解釋。

So the most common form of giantism is a condition called acromegaly, and acromegaly is caused by a benign tumor on your pituitary gland that causes an overproduction of human growth hormone. And throughout history, many of the most famous giants have all had acromegaly. So the tallest person of all time was a guy named Robert Wadlow who was still growing when he died at the age of 24 and he was 8 foot 11. He had acromegaly.

巨人癥最常見的癥狀，叫做肢端肥大癥。肢端肥大癥是由位于腦下垂體的良性腫瘤，過多分泌人類生長激素而導(dǎo)致的?？v觀歷史，許多著名的巨人都患有肢端肥大癥。世界上有史以來最高的，是一個叫Robert Wadlow的人，他在24歲離世時仍然在長個子，當(dāng)時身高是2米72，他患有肢端肥大癥。

Do you remember the wrestler André the Giant? Famous. He had acromegaly. There's even speculation that Abraham Lincoln had acromegaly. Anyone who's unusually tall, that's the first explanation we come up with. And acromegaly has a very distinct set of side effects associated with it, principally having to do with vision. The pituitary tumor, as it grows, often starts to compress the visual nerves in your brain, with the result that people with acromegaly have either double vision or they are profoundly nearsighted.

你們還記得摔跤手巨人André嗎？ 很有名。他也患有肢端肥大癥 甚至有人猜測Abraham Lincoln也有肢端肥大癥。只要有誰特別高，我們首先都會想到這種解釋。肢端肥大癥的副作用非常獨特，主要和視力有關(guān)。腦下垂體腫瘤生長到一定程度時，常會壓迫到大腦里的視覺神經(jīng)，導(dǎo)致肢端肥大癥患者要么復(fù)視，要么嚴重近視。

So when people have started to speculate about what might have been wrong with Goliath, they've said, "Wait a minute, he looks and sounds an awful lot like someone who has acromegaly." And that would also explain so much of what was strange about his behavior that day. Why does he move so slowly and have to be escorted down into the valley floor by an attendant? Because he can't make his way on his own. Why is he so strangely oblivious to David that he doesn't understand that David's not going to fight him until the very last moment? Because he can't see him. When he says, "Come to me that I might feed your flesh to the birds of the heavens and the beasts of the field," the phrase "come to me" is a hint also of his vulnerability. Come to me because I can't see you. And then there's, "Am I a dog that you should come to me with sticks?" He sees two sticks when David has only one.

所以當(dāng)人們猜測，哥利亞哪里出了毛病的時候，他們都會說，“等一下，他看起來很像是患上了肢端肥大癥?！边@就解釋了那天哥利亞很多奇怪的舉動。為什么他行動遲緩，而且必須要由人護送他到山谷下呢？ 因為他沒法自己走下去。為什么他如此無視大衛(wèi)，不明白大衛(wèi)不到最后一刻，是不會與他交手的呢？ 因為他看不見大衛(wèi)。當(dāng)他說，“過來吧，我要把你的肉獻給天上的鳥兒和地里的野獸”時，這句“過來吧”也暴露了他的弱點。過來吧，因為我看不見你，另外，“我是條狗嗎？你拿這些打狗棒來干啥？” 大衛(wèi)只拿了一根棒，而他看見的是兩根。

So the Israelites up on the mountain ridge looking down on him thought he was this extraordinarily powerful foe. What they didn't understand was that the very thing that was the source of his apparent strength was also the source of his greatest weakness.

所以以色列人在山脊上往下看時，以為他是無比強大的敵人。他們不知道的是，巨人外表強大的根源，也是他弱點的根源。

And there is, I think, in that, a very important lesson for all of us. Giants are not as strong and powerful as they seem. And sometimes the shepherd boy has a sling in his pocket.

我認為，這個故事給我們所有人都上了一課。巨人并不像看起來那么強大，有時牧童的口袋里，還有一根投石繩。

Question

1. What is the main point of Gladwell's presentation?
   > If people assume without thinking, they may not see things as they really are.
2. What might have been responsible for Goliath's sights?
   > a hormone unbalance
3. What evidence suggest that Goliath had growth disorder?
   > his unusual height and vision problems
4. Why does Gladwell think the phrase "come to me" suggests Goliath's vulnerability?
   > It suggests Goliath can't see David when he's far away.
5. What medical condition might Goliath have had?
   > giantism
6. To speculate about something means
   > to form a theory about it without solid evidence

Game: Speaking

1. If Goliath were as powerful as the story says, he would be able to move and react to things faster.
2. Although Goliath was wearing heavy armor all over his body, he was vulnerable between his eyes.
3. David is considered an underdog because he appears less powerful than Goliath.
4. The Bible says that Goliath is led onto the valley floor by an attendant.
5. Had David not used a sling, he would have likely been defeated by his stronger opponent.
6. The stopping power of heavy rock fired from a sling is roughly equal to that of a handgun.