无须计划一段异国风情之旅来寻找创意。「你只需要抬头看天就好。」云彩鉴赏协会的创办人，Gavin Pretor-Pinney 这样说。在分享那些迷人的大自然最美的天空之城时，普乐特-宾利呼吁我们从“数位跑步机”走下来，躺下來欣赏天空中的美。 

Clouds. Have you ever noticed how much people moan about them? They get a bad rap. If you think about it, the English language has written into it negative associations towards the clouds. Someone who's down or depressed, they're under a cloud. And when there's bad news in store, there's a cloud on the horizon. I saw an article the other day. It was about problems with computer processing over the Internet. "A cloud over the cloud," was the headline.

云彩。 大家有没有注意到人们对云彩有多少抱怨吗？ 他们有个坏名声。 想想看，英语 总是把消极的事物与云连系起来。 如果有人意志消沉， 他们被“乌云”笼罩着。 如果有了坏消息， 就是地平线上出现了乌云。（习语，麻烦当前） 有天我看了篇文章。 它是关于在互联网上的 计算机处理问题的。 标题是：“笼罩在云计算上的乌云。”

It seems like they're everyone's default doom-and-gloom metaphor. But I think they're beautiful, don't you? It's just that their beauty is missed because they're so omnipresent, so, I don't know, commonplace, that people don't notice them. They don't notice the beauty, but they don't even notice the clouds unless they get in the way of the sun. And so people think of clouds as things that get in the way. They think of them as the annoying, frustrating obstructions, and then they rush off and do some blue-sky thinking.

好像云彩是每个人默认的用来表达 厄运和阴郁的比喻。 但是我觉得它们很美，你们不觉得吗？ 只是因为它们无所不在， 它们的美被忽视了。 所以，我不知道，可能是太普通了， 人们都不注意它们。 人们不注意这种美，他们甚至不注意云彩 除非他们挡住了太阳。 因此人们把云彩当作那些 碍事的东西。 他们把云彩看作讨厌的、让人抓狂的障碍物， 然后人们行色匆匆的绘制各自的蓝图去了。

But most people, when you stop to ask them, will admit to harboring a strange sort of fondness for clouds. It's like a nostalgic fondness, and they make them think of their youth. Who here can't remember thinking, well, looking and finding shapes in the clouds when they were kids? You know, when you were masters of daydreaming?

但大多数人，如果你拦住问他们， 会承认他们对云彩有一种奇怪的情愫。 像是某种怀旧的喜爱之情， 云彩让他们回想到自己年少的时候。 在坐的有谁记不起来 看着云彩在中间寻找不同的形状的 少年时期？ 当大家都还是做白日梦大师的时候？

Aristophanes, the ancient Greek playwright, he described the clouds as the patron godesses of idle fellows two and a half thousand years ago, and you can see what he means. It's just that these days, us adults seem reluctant to allow ourselves the indulgence of just allowing our imaginations to drift along in the breeze, and I think that's a pity. I think we should perhaps do a bit more of it. I think we should be a bit more willing, perhaps, to look at the beautiful sight of the sunlight bursting out from behind the clouds and go, "Wait a minute, that's two cats dancing the salsa!"

阿里斯托芬， 古希腊的剧作家， 他在2500年前把云彩形容为 同僚们的 守护女神， 你明白他是什么意思。可惜现在，我们成年人无法 再让自己纵情于 让自己的想象力 随波逐流，我觉得这真是一个遗憾。 我认为我们也许应该多做一些这样的事情。 我觉得我们应该要更愿意 欣赏美丽的阳光从云彩后面穿透过来， 然后说，“等等，这多像 两只猫在跳骚莎舞啊！

Or seeing the big, white, puffy one up there over the shopping center looks like the Abominable Snowman going to rob a bank.

或者是把购物中心上的那个 白白胖胖的云彩看作是 一个正要去抢劫银行的雪人。

They're like nature's version of those inkblot images, you know, that shrinks used to show their patientsin the '60s, and I think if you consider the shapes you see in the clouds, you'll save money on psychoanalysis bills. Let's say you're in love. All right? And you look up and what do you see? Right? Or maybe the opposite. You've just been dumped by your partner, and everywhere you look, it's kissing couples.

它们就像是大自然版的墨迹图片， 你知道，那些在60年代用来为心理学家的病人做 测试的图片， 我觉得如果你在云彩中寻找不同的图案的话， 你会省下一大笔心理咨询费。 比如说你现在正在热恋中， 好吧？ 然后你抬头看，你会看到什么？ 对吧？或者也许正相反。 你刚被交往对象给甩了， 你所看之处都是在接吻的情侣们。

Perhaps you're having a moment of existential angst. You know, you're thinking about your own mortality. And there, on the horizon, it's the Grim Reaper.

或者你正在焦虑中。 你知道，你在思考自己的死亡。 然后在地平线的那边，出现了死神。

Or maybe you see a topless sunbather.

或者也许你看到了一个无上装正在晒日光浴的人。

What would that mean? What would that mean? I have no idea.

那是什么意思？ 这意味着什么？我不知道。

But one thing I do know is this: The bad press that clouds get is totally unfair. I think we should stand up for them, which is why, a few years ago, I started the Cloud Appreciation Society. Tens of thousands of members now in almost 100 countries around the world. And all these photographs that I'm showing,they were sent in by members. And the society exists to remind people of this: Clouds are not something to moan about. Far from it. They are, in fact, the most diverse, evocative, poetic aspect of nature. I think, if you live with your head in the clouds every now and then, it helps you keep your feet on the ground. And I want to show you why, with the help of some of my favorite types of clouds.

但是我知道一件事就是： 云彩得到这些坏名声是非常不公平的。 我认为我们应该为它们正身， 这就是为什么几年前， 我发起了云彩鉴赏协会。 现在已经有成千上万的会员了。 他们遍布于全世界大概100个国家。所有这些我在展示的图片， 都是会员们拍摄的。 协会的宗旨就是提醒人们： 云彩不是用来发牢骚的。 正好相反，它们实际上代表着 大自然最变化无穷、富于感染力和诗意的一面。 我认为，如果你让自己时不时的沉浸在云彩中， 它会帮助你让你的生活脚踏实地。 我要借助一些我最喜欢的云彩 来帮助我解释为什么。

Let's start with this one. It's the cirrus cloud, named after the Latin for a lock of hair. It's composed entirely of ice crystals cascading from the upper reaches of the troposphere, and as these ice crystals fall, they pass through different layers with different winds and they speed up and slow down, giving the cloud these brush-stroked appearances, these brush-stroke forms known as fall streaks. And these winds up there can be very, very fierce. They can be 200 miles an hour, 300 miles an hour. These clouds are bombing along, but from all the way down here, they appear to be moving gracefully, slowly,like most clouds. And so to tune into the clouds is to slow down, to calm down. It's like a bit of everyday meditation.

让我们先看看这个。这是卷云， 用拉丁人的一缕头发来命名的。 它完全是由从上面的对流层 级联下来的冰晶组成， 当这些冰晶下落的时候， 它们穿过带有不同的风力的各个大气层 然后它们或加速或减速， 让这片云有了画笔刷过的图案， 这些图案形式被称作“雨幡”。 而这上面的风力可以非常、非常的强。 它们可以达到每小时200或者300英哩。 这些云彩也跟着前进， 但是从我们这里看过去， 它们的运动看上去平和、缓慢， 就像大多数云一样。 所以和云彩同步就意味着慢下来、 沉静下来。 这有点像是每日的冥想一样。

Those are common clouds. What about rarer ones, like the lenticularis, the UFO-shaped lenticularis cloud? These clouds form in the region of mountains. When the wind passes, rises to pass over the mountain, it can take on a wave-like path in the lee of the peak, with these clouds hovering at the crestof these invisible standing waves of air, these flying saucer-like forms, and some of the early black-and-white UFO photos are in fact lenticularis clouds. It's true.

这些是很普通的云。 那些比较罕见的云呢？比如说荚状云， 形似外星飞船的荚状云？ 这些云在山区形成。当风经过上升来翻过大山， 它会在山峰的背风处形成一个浪头式的路径， 这些云彩徘徊在这些无形的风波的最顶端， 这些飞碟状的形态， 而早期的一些黑白外星飞船照片 就是荚状云。 真的。

A little rarer are the fallstreak holes. All right? This is when a layer is made up of very, very cold water droplets, and in one region they start to freeze, and this freezing sets off a chain reaction which spreads outwards with the ice crystals cascading and falling down below, giving the appearance of jellyfish tendrils down below.

有点更罕见的是云洞（雨雪幡洞）， 好吧？ 这是当某个云层由非常寒冷的水滴组成， 在某个局部地区水滴开始结冰， 然后形成一种向外扩散的 伴随着冰晶向下坠落的链式反应， 使之呈现一种水母的须状表象。

Rarer still, the Kelvin–Helmholtz cloud. Not a very snappy name. Needs a rebrand. This looks like a series of breaking waves, and it's caused by shearing winds -- the wind above the cloud layer and below the cloud layer differ significantly, and in the middle, in between, you get this undulating of the air,and if the difference in those speeds is just right, the tops of the undulations curl over in these beautiful breaking wave-like vortices.

更稀奇的还是，开尔文 - 亥姆霍兹云。 并不是个非常响亮的名字。需要换一个。 它就像是一排浪花， 这是由剪断阻隔风力 － 在云层上方和下方的风速 有很大的不同，而在中间层， 就出现了这中波浪起伏的气层，如果上下的风速正合适的话， 波浪的顶端就会卷曲过来 形成这种美丽的排浪式的漩涡。

All right. Those are rarer clouds than the cirrus, but they're not that rare. If you look up, and you pay attention to the sky, you'll see them sooner or later, maybe not quite as dramatic as these, but you'll see them. And you'll see them around where you live. Clouds are the most egalitarian of nature's displays, because we all have a good, fantastic view of the sky. And these clouds, these rarer clouds,remind us that the exotic can be found in the everyday. Nothing is more nourishing, more stimulating to an active, inquiring mind than being surprised, being amazed. It's why we're all here at TED, right? But you don't need to rush off away from the familiar, across the world to be surprised. You just need to step outside, pay attention to what's so commonplace, so everyday, so mundane that everybody else misses it.

好了，这些是比较少见的云彩， 但是它们其实不是那个罕见。 如果你抬头看，注视天空， 你总有机会看到它们， 也许不会像这些这么戏剧化，但是你会看到它们。 并且你也会在自己居住的附近看到它们。 云彩是自然界里 分布最平均的，因为我们都可以 很好的看到天空。 而这些云，这些少见的云， 会提醒我们新奇的事物在日常生活中随处可见。 没有什么比让一个活跃、好奇的头脑 获得惊喜更滋养、更受益匪浅的了。 这也是我们为什么来TED的原因，不是吗？ 但是你不用行色匆匆的 远离熟悉的环境，周游世界 来获得惊喜。你只需要走出去， 注意每天生活中那些如此普通， 平凡到每个人都忽略的事物。

One cloud that people rarely miss is this one: the cumulonimbus storm cloud. It's what's produces thunder and lightning and hail. These clouds spread out at the top in this enormous anvil fashion stretching 10 miles up into the atmosphere. They are an expression of the majestic architecture of our atmosphere. But from down below, they are the embodiment of the powerful, elemental force and power that drives our atmosphere. To be there is to be connected in the driving rain and the hail, to feel connected to our atmosphere. It's to be reminded that we are creatures that inhabit this ocean of air.We don't live beneath the sky. We live within it. And that connection, that visceral connection to our atmosphere feels to me like an antidote. It's an antidote to the growing tendency we have to feel that we can really ever experience life by watching it on a computer screen, you know, when we're in a wi-fi zone.

最稀疏平常的云彩是这个： 积雨云的风暴云. 它负责制造雷、电和冰雹。 这些云在顶端像一块巨大的铁砧一样 摊开来并绵延10英里向上进入大气层。 它们是我们的大气层宏大建筑的 一种表达。 但是从下面我们的角度看，它们象征着 一种推动着大气层的强大的、 势如破竹的力量。 此时我们与风雨和冰雹连系起来， 让我们感觉与我们的大气层连系起来。 这提醒着我们是生活在 这空气之海中的生灵。 我们不是在天空下生活着。我们被它环绕着。 而这种连系，这种内外相连的感觉 对我来说是一种宽慰和解放。 这是一种对日趋增长的认为 盯着电脑屏幕就可以体驗人生 的想法的解放，你知道， 当你有无线网可用的时候。

But the one cloud that best expresses why cloudspotting is more valuable today than ever is this one, the cumulus cloud. Right? It forms on a sunny day. If you close your eyes and think of a cloud, it's probably one of these that comes to mind. All those cloud shapes at the beginning, those were cumulus clouds. The sharp, crisp outlines of this formation make it the best one for finding shapes in. And it reminds us of the aimless nature of cloudspotting, what an aimless activity it is. You're not going to change the world by lying on your back and gazing up at the sky, are you? It's pointless. It's a pointless activity, which is precisely why it's so important.

但是一个最好的证明 为什么赏云在今天比以往更宝贵的云彩 就是这个，积云。 不是吗？我们在一个晴天就能看到它。 如果你闭上眼睛想象一朵云彩， 很有可能你会想到这样一朵云彩。 所有那些最先看到的云彩形状， 它们都是积云。 它锐利、清晰的轮廓 让它最合适从中找到各种形状。 而这也提醒我们 赏云的无目的性。 这是一个多么没有目标的活动啊。 你不会凭着 舒服地躺下盯着天空而改变世界， 会吗？ 多么没有意义。这是一个没有意义的活动， 这也是为什么赏云这么重要的原因。

The digital world conspires to make us feel eternally busy, perpetually busy. You know, when you're not dealing with the traditional pressures of earning a living and putting food on the table, raising a family,writing thank you letters, you have to now contend with answering a mountain of unanswered emails,updating a Facebook page, feeding your Twitter feed. And cloudspotting legitimizes doing nothing.

数位世界让我们感觉 不停的、永远忙碌着。 当你不再处理过去那种 生活压力、赚钱买必需的食物、 养家糊口、 写感谢信， 你现在得面对 回答无数的未回邮件、 更新脸书页面和 发布推特信息。 而赏云则崇尚无所事事。

Sometimes we need excuses to do nothing. We need to be reminded by these patron goddesses of idle fellows that slowing down and being in the present, not thinking about what you've got to do and what you should have done, but just being here, letting your imagination lift from the everyday concerns down here and just being in the present, it's good for you, and it's good for the way you feel. It's good for your ideas. It's good for your creativity. It's good for your soul.

有时我们需要借口来无所事事。 我们需要用这些 悠闲的同僚们的守护女神 提醒自己慢下来 并体会当下的那个时刻，不要思考 你还需要做什么和你本应该完成什么， 但就在此时此地，让你的想象力 从日常关注中脱离出来 只关注现在， 这对你有好处， 对你的感性有好处。 它对你的想法和创造力也有好处。 对你的灵魂也有益。

So keep looking up, marvel at the ephemeral beauty, and always remember to live life with your head in the clouds.

保持抬头看， 惊叹于那短暂的美丽吧， 永远记住带着赏云的思想生活。

Thank you very much.

非常感谢

为探求新知：

每天推送最新的TED Talk及TEDxBohaiBay(渤海湾)的最新消息。

Follow us:

微信号： tedxbohaibay

参与微博互动：@tedxbohaibay

官方豆瓣：TEDxBohaiBay

人人主页：TEDxBohaiBay

Facebook：TEDxBohaiBay

官方网站：www.tedxbohaibay.com

官方邮箱：tedxbohaibay@gmail.com

TEDxBohaiBay由TED官方授权，致力于挖掘并传播当地创新与优秀文化的力量。