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Our brains are not designed to remember people's names.
我们的大脑并不是用来记住别人的名字的。
These are abstract concepts. They live in neurological cul-de-sacs.
名字都是抽象的概念。他们生活在神经学的死胡同里。
Ultimately, there's only one way into that house that lives at the end of that street, and there's no other way to get there.
最终，只有一条路可以进入那条街尽头的房子，除此之外别无他路。
So can we supply more associations to the person's name to give us a chance?
那我们能否提供更多与这个人的名字相关的东西来试试呢?
In psychology, this is called the 'Baker-Baker Paradox.'
在心理学上，这被称作“Baker/baker悖论”。
If I'm trying to remember your name and your name is Mr. Baker, that's really tough for me to remember- abstract concept.
如果我想记住你的名字，而你叫贝克先生，这对我来说真的很难记住——一个抽象的概念。
But if I were asked to remember the word "baker," I can picture him wearing an apron, and he's got flour on his face and, "Oh, I remember the bakery I used to love as a kid and we used to get danishes there on Sundays."
但如果让我记住“面包师”这个词，我可以想象他穿着围裙，脸上沾着面粉，“哦，我记得我小时候喜欢的那家面包店，我们经常在周日去那里吃丹麦菜。”
So now I've got all of these associations in my brain, attaching to that word "baker," and gives me a chance to hook into it.
现在我脑子里有了这些联想，和“baker”这个词联系在一起，就有可能去理解它。
For all of these memories, they benefit from repetition.
对所有记忆而言，它们都受益于重复。
The more we repeat, the more we practice, the more we rehearse a memory, we are strengthening those neural connections, making that neural circuit stronger, and more likely to be fully retrieved.
我们重复得越多，练习得越多，排练得越多，就越能加强这些神经连接，使神经回路更强大，更有可能被完全检索到。
One of the ways that we can repeat a memory is by writing it down.
重复记忆的方法之一就是把它写下来。
If I've experienced a certain number of things today, and I keep a journal- what I've chosen to write down will become a stronger, more reinforced memory in my brain.
如果我今天经历了一些事情，而且我会写日记--我写下来的东西会变成大脑中更加强大和牢固的记忆。
I will also have the opportunity to revisit that memory by reading it later.
以后我也可以阅读这些内容来重温那段记忆。
So many people come up to me, so worried, saying, "If I don't write what I need to do later down, I'm gonna forget to do it.
很多人来找我，非常担心地说，“如果我不把需要做的事情写下来，就会忘记去做。
That's gotta mean I'm getting Alzheimer's."
这肯定说明我得老年痴呆症了。”
And I tell all of them, "No, it's your prospective memory. It's terrible. It's not cheating to write it down. It's actually good practice."
我会告诉他们:“不，那是你的前瞻性记忆。它很不好。写下来不是作弊。这实际上是很好的练习。”
Airline pilots do not rely on their brains and their prospective memories to remember to lower the wheels before landing the plane.
航空公司的飞行员并不依靠他们的大脑和前瞻记忆来记住要在飞机着陆前放下轮子。
They outsource the job to a to-do list, a checklist.
他们把工作外包给待办事项清单。
We should all write it down, put it in your phones, put it in your calendar alerts, make to-do lists.
我们都应该把它写下来，放在你的手机里，放在你的日历提醒里，做一个待办事项清单。
If you wanna remember to pick up milk at the grocery store, write it down.
如果你想记得去杂货店买牛奶，那就把它写下来。
Another way to better remember this information has to do with self-testing.
另一种更好地记住这些信息的方法与自我测试有关。
If I'm trying to consolidate something into memory, and I'm only putting the information in, I'm traveling one way on the neurons.
如果我想把一些东西巩固到记忆中，我把信息放进去，这是神经元上的单向移动。
If I then try to recall the information, I'm pulling the information out- now I'm going the other way.
如果我想要回忆这些信息，我是在把信息拉出来，这在神经元上就是另一个方向的移动。
Going over those circuits in both directions will help reinforce and make that memory stronger.
神经元上的双向移动有助于加强和增强记忆。
Okay, having a word stuck on the tip of your tongue is a normal glitch in memory retrieval.
话到嘴边却又想不起来是什么，这种现象是记忆检索中的正常故障。
It's just a byproduct of how our brains are organized.
这只是我们大脑组织方式的副产品。
So looking up a word, Googling a word that's on the tip of your tongue isn't cheating.
所以查词，去谷歌一个到了嘴边却说不出来的词并不是作弊。
It will not cause digital amnesia.
它不会导致数字健忘症。
It will not make your memory weaker in any way. It frees you up.
它不会让你的记忆力变弱。它会让你自由。
We can Google anything that we can't remember in a moment's notice, and then use that information to continue thinking, to continue the conversation, to learn more.
我们可以在一瞬间谷歌任何我们不记得的东西，然后利用这些信息继续思考，继续对话，了解更多。
You have my permission to Google it and look it up.
你可以去谷歌查一下。
What I would love for you to take away from all of this is that your memory is amazing.
我希望你能从这一切中学到的是你的记忆力是惊人的。
It is limitless in what it's capable of remembering if you supply it with the right kind of information, if you supply it with the right kind of tools and associations.
如果你传递的是合适的信息，如果你使用正确的工具和联想，你的记忆能力就是无限的。
And it's wildly imperfect, and that's just the price of owning a human brain.
而且你的记忆力并不完美，这就是拥有人类大脑需要承受的代价。
Forgetting is a normal part of being human.
遗忘是人类正常的一部分。
