Roughly 43,000 years ago,

（音樂）

a young cave bear died in the rolling hills

約在四萬三千年以前

on the northwest border of modern day Slovenia.

一隻年輕的洞熊

A thousand years later, a mammoth died in southern Germany.

死於現今斯洛維尼亞 西北邊界的山巒中

A few centuries after that, a griffon vulture also died

一千年後，一頭長毛象 死於德國的南部

in the same vicinity.

幾個世紀過後，一隻西域兀鷲

And we know almost nothing about how these animals met their deaths,

也在附近死去

but these different creatures dispersed across both time and space

我們對這些動物的死亡原因 幾乎一無所知

did share one remarkable fate.

但這些不同的生物 跨越時空和不同地點

After their deaths, a bone from each of their skeletons

卻有著同樣不同凡響的命運

was crafted by human hands

在牠們死後，身上的骨頭

into a flute.

經由人類的手製成

Think about that for a second.

一隻笛子

Imagine you're a caveman, 40,000 years ago.

想像自己是

You've mastered fire.

四萬年前的山頂洞人

You've built simple tools for hunting.

很會用火

You've learned how to craft garments from animal skins

也會製造些簡單的狩獵工具

to keep yourself warm in the winter.

也知道如何用動物皮毛製成衣服

What would you choose to invent next?

在冬天時保持溫暖

It seems preposterous that you would invent the flute,

接下來你會想發明什麽？

a tool that created useless vibrations in air molecules.

發明笛子聽起來很荒謬

But that is exactly what our ancestors did.

只是一種讓空氣分子 震盪的無用工具

Now this turns out to be surprisingly common

但這就是我們祖先曾經做的事

in the history of innovation.

在人類的發明史中

Sometimes people invent things

出乎意料是相當常見的

because they want to stay alive or feed their children

人們發明的原因

or conquer the village next door.

不外乎是為了要求生存 或者餵飽孩子

But just as often,

或是攻占隔壁村莊

new ideas come into the world

但很多時候

simply because they're fun.

世界上的一些新發明

And here's the really strange thing:

僅僅出自於好玩

many of those playful but seemingly frivolous inventions

而真正奇怪的是

ended up sparking momentous transformations

很多用於玩樂、看似沒用的發明

in science, in politics and society.

最後卻能在科學、政治和社會上

Take what may be the most important invention of modern times:

產生重大的轉變

programmable computers.

舉一個當今世代最重要的發明

Now, the standard story is that computers descend from military technology,

可程式電腦

since many of the early computers were designed specifically

一般來說電腦一開始沿用軍方科技

to crack wartime codes or calculate rocket trajectories.

早期許多電腦都是專門設計

But in fact, the origins of the modern computer

在戰爭時用來破解密碼 或計算火箭運輸軌道

are much more playful,

但事實上，現代電腦的始祖

even musical,

起源是因為有趣的活動

than you might imagine.

非常具有音樂性的

The idea behind the flute,

跟你想的不一樣

of just pushing air through tubes to make a sound,

笛子的發明

was eventually modified to create the first organ

僅是透過管子 推動空氣來產生聲音而已

more than 2,000 years ago.

改良加工之後成為

Someone came up with the brilliant idea of triggering sounds

兩千多年前的第一個風琴

by pressing small levers with our fingers,

有人想出了一個能製造出聲音的好主意

inventing the first musical keyboard.

藉由我們的手指按壓槓桿來產生聲音

Now, keyboards evolved from organs to clavichords to harpsichords

發明了第一個鍵盤樂器

to the piano,

鍵盤從管風琴發展到翼琴 衍生到大鍵琴

until the middle of the 19th century,

到今日的鋼琴

when a bunch of inventors finally hit on the idea

直到十九世紀中期

of using a keyboard to trigger not sounds but letters.

一群發明家終於想到

In fact, the very first typewriter

使用鍵盤敲打出文字而非彈出聲音

was originally called "the writing harpsichord."

事實上，第一台打字機

Flutes and music led to even more powerful breakthroughs.

原名則是「寫字大鍵琴」

About a thousand years ago,

笛子加上音樂 給生活帶來了更多的轉變

at the height of the Islamic Renaissance,

大約一千年以前

three brothers in Baghdad designed a device

在伊斯蘭復興運動的高峰期間

that was an automated organ.

在巴格達的三兄弟設計了一個裝置

They called it "the instrument that plays itself."

即為自動風琴

Now, the instrument was basically a giant music box.

他們稱它做「會自己演奏的樂器」

The organ could be trained to play various songs by using instructions

那個樂器基本上就是一個大型音樂盒

encoded by placing pins on a rotating cylinder.

樂器能自己奏出許多不同樂曲

And if you wanted the machine to play a different song,

藉由金屬片撥動 編碼在圓筒上的點而產生音樂

you just swapped a new cylinder in with a different code on it.

如果你想換一首曲子

This instrument was the first of its kind.

只需要換上一個新的 編碼過的圓筒就行了

It was programmable.

這樂器是第一個被發明出來

Now, conceptually, this was a massive leap forward.

可以程式的

The whole idea of hardware and software

從概念上來說 這是一個非常大的進步

becomes thinkable for the first time with this invention.

這個發明裡面軟硬體結合的想法

And that incredibly powerful concept

讓人覺得有很大的想像空間

didn't come to us as an instrument of war or of conquest,

這個不可思議的想像空間

or necessity at all.

不是為了戰爭或征服而發明

It came from the strange delight of watching a machine play music.

也不是什麼生活必需品

In fact, the idea of programmable machines

僅是來自於欣賞音樂盒 播放音樂時的美妙樂趣

was exclusively kept alive by music for about 700 years.

事實上，可程式機器的概念

In the 1700s, music-making machines

存在於音樂世界中已經有七百多年

became the playthings of the Parisian elite.

在十八世紀，能奏出音樂的機器

Showmen used the same coded cylinders

成了巴黎貴族們的收藏玩物

to control the physical movements of what were called automata,

雜耍藝人使用相同的編碼圓筒

an early kind of robot.

去控制稱為「Automata」 自動機的各種動作

One of the most famous of those robots

就是機器人最早的雛形

was, you guessed it, an automated flute player

這些機器人中最著名的

designed by a brilliant French inventor

各位猜到了嗎？

named Jacques de Vaucanson.

是一個能演奏笛子的機器人

And as de Vaucanson was designing his robot musician,

由傑出的法國發明家 賈奎茲‧迪‧沃康松設計出來

he had another idea.

當在設計他的機器人音樂家時

If you could program a machine to make pleasing sounds,

他萌生了另外一個想法

why not program it to weave delightful patterns of color out of cloth?

如果可以透過程式 讓機器產生令人愉悅的音樂

Instead of using the pins of the cylinder to represent musical notes,

為什麽不能透過程式讓它在 衣服上編織出色彩斑斕的圖案呢？

they would represent threads with different colors.

原本圓筒上面代表的音符

If you wanted a new pattern for your fabric,

能否試試用不同顏色的線來代替

you just programmed a new cylinder.

如果想編織一塊新的樣式

This was the first programmable loom.

只需要換上新程式的圓筒

Now, the cylinders were too expensive and time-consuming to make,

第一台自動織布機就此產生

but a half century later,

但當時這種圓筒相當昂貴 製造過程也很耗時

another French inventor named Jacquard

但半個世紀之後

hit upon the brilliant idea of using paper-punched cards

另一個名叫查卡的法國發明家

instead of metal cylinders.

想到了一個絕佳點子 用紙做的「打孔卡」

Paper turned out to be much cheaper and more flexible

來代替金屬圓筒

as a way of programming the device.

紙張的多種用途加上便宜的價格

That punch card system inspired Victorian inventor Charles Babbage

在可程式設備的發展史中幫助很大

to create his analytical engine,

打孔卡系統啟發了維多利亞時期的 發明家查爾斯·巴貝奇

the first true programmable computer

發明了他的第一台分析機

ever designed.

史上第一台電腦

And punch cards were used by computer programmers

史無前例的發明

as late as the 1970s.

這些打孔卡仍被電腦程式人員廣泛使用

So ask yourself this question:

直到二十世紀 1970 年代末

what really made the modern computer possible?

所以，試想一下

Yes, the military involvement is an important part of the story,

究竟是什麽造就了現代電腦？

but inventing a computer also required other building blocks:

沒錯，軍方的介入 的確是一個重要因素

music boxes,

但發明一台電腦還需要其他組件

toy robot flute players,

音樂箱

harpsichord keyboards,

玩具笛子演奏機器人

colorful patterns woven into fabric,

大鍵琴的鍵盤

and that's just a small part of the story.

彩色圖案編織布

There's a long list of world-changing ideas and technologies

這都是故事的一小部分

that came out of play:

還有一堆能改變世界的想法和科技

public museums, rubber,

都來自於娛樂

probability theory, the insurance business

公眾博物館、橡膠球

and many more.

機率理論、保險業務

Necessity isn't always the mother of invention.

許許多多

The playful state of mind is fundamentally exploratory,

需要並不總是發明之母

seeking out new possibilities in the world around us.

腦中愛玩的性格才是探索的基礎

And that seeking is why so many experiences

在周圍的世界裡，探索那些新的可能

that started with simple delight and amusement

而這種單純探索娛樂的動機

eventually led us to profound breakthroughs.

正是許多實驗的開端

Now, I think this has implications for how we teach kids in school

最終引領我們成就更大的突破

and how we encourage innovation in our workspaces,

我認為，這裡面蘊涵 我們要如何在學校教育孩子

but thinking about play and delight this way

如何在我們的工作場所鼓勵創新

also helps us detect what's coming next.

而就在我們這樣 尋找娛樂和開心的路上

Think about it: if you were sitting there in 1750

也幫助了我們預測未來會發生的事

trying to figure out the big changes coming to society

想像一下穿越時空回到 1750 年

in the 19th, the 20th centuries,

想了解即將於十九世紀 二十世紀社會發生的重大改變

automated machines, computers,

那些自動機器、電腦

artificial intelligence,

人工智慧

a programmable flute

自動演奏的笛子

entertaining the Parisian elite

娛樂了巴黎上等社會

would have been as powerful a clue as anything else at the time.

就是一個非常強而有力的線索證明

It seemed like an amusement at best,

發明看起來也許只適用於娛樂

not useful in any serious way,

沒有什麽正經的用途

but it turned out to be the beginning of a tech revolution

但最後成為改變世界科技革命的開端

that would change the world.

娛樂帶給人們未來的發展無限可能

You'll find the future

wherever people are having the most fun.