Who is a genius? This question has greatly interested humankind for centuries.
谁是天才？几个世纪以来，这个问题一直引起人类的极大兴趣。
Let's state clearly: Einstein was a genius, His face is almost the international symbol for genius. But we want to go beyond one man and explore the nature of genius itself. Why is it that some people are so much more intelligent or creative than the rest of us? And who are they?
让我们明确地说：爱因斯坦是一个天才，他的脸几乎是天才的国际象征。但我们想进一步超越，探索天才本身的特质。为什么有些人比我们更聪明，更有创造力？他们是谁？
In the sciences and arts, those praised as geniuses were most often white men, of European origin. Perhaps this is not a surprise. I's said that history is written by the victors, and those victors set the standards for admission to the genius club. When contributions were made by geniuses outside the club --- women, or people of a different color or belief ---they were unacknowledged and rejected by others.
在科学和艺术领域，那些被誉为天才的往往是欧洲血统的白人。也许这并不奇怪。我说过历史是由胜利者书写的，而那些胜利者为进入天才俱乐部设定了标准。当俱乐部外的天才——女性、不同肤色或信仰的人——做出贡献时，他们会被其他人忽视和拒绝。
A study recently published by Science found that as young as age six, girls are less likely than boys to say that members of their gender are "really, really smart." Even worse,the study found that girls act on that belief: Around age six they start to avoid activities said to be for children who are “really, really smart.” Can our planet afford to have any great thinkers become discouraged and give up? It doesn't take a genius to know the answer: absolutely not.
《科学》杂志最近发表的一项研究发现，在六岁的时候，女孩说自己性别成员“真的很聪明”的可能性比男孩小。更糟糕的是，该研究发现，女孩会根据这种信念行事：在六岁左右，她们开始避免参加据说是为“真的很聪明”的孩子举办的活动。我们的星球能承受得起任何伟大的思想家变得气馁和放弃吗？不需要天才就能知道答案：绝对不能。
Here's the good news. In a wired world with constant global communication, we're all positioned to see flashes of genius wherever they appear. And the more we look, the more we will see that social factors like gender, race, and class do not determine the appearance of genius. As a writer says, future geniuses come from those with "intelligence, creativity, perseverance, and simple good fortune, who are able to change the world.”
在一个保持全球通讯的有线世界里，无论天才出现在哪里，我们都能看到他们的闪光。这是个好消息。我们看得越多，就会越多地看到社会因素，比如性别、种族和阶级并不能决定天才的外表。正如一位作家所说，未来的天才来自那些具有“智慧、创造力和毅力，加上简单的好运，能够改变世界的人。”
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