Perceptions: cultural, historical, and biological. Our perceptions colour our experiences, influence our judgments and shape our interactions with other people.
感知：文化、历史和生物学。 我们的感知影响了我们的经历，影响了我们的判断，并塑造了我们与他人的互动。
An oft-quoted anecdote runs that in 1972, Chinese premier Zhou Enlai was asked about the impact of the French Revolution. “Too early to say,” he replied. Given that the French Revolution of 1789 had occurred nearly 200 years before, Zhou Enlai was giving a long view of history in a big picture way; he looked at the event as one ripple on the surface of the pond of history. It is also pleasingly witty and reminds us of our small place in the universe.
一个被引用的轶事是，1972年，中国总理周恩来被问及法国大革命的影响。 “说还为时过早，”他回答道。 鉴于1789年的法国大革命发生在近200年前，周恩来以大局的方式对历史进行了长远的看法；他将这一事件视为历史池塘表面的涟漪。 它也令人愉快地诙谐，提醒了我们在宇宙中的渺小位置。
We can see the wisdom of it, especially when applied to politics. A criticism of Western democracies is that politicians are unable to focus beyond the 4- or 5-year election cycle – their policies, promises and perceptions of what is important are determined in large part by the need to win votes. China and other places with more long-term governance can think and plan beyond this.
我们可以看到它的智慧，特别是当应用于政治时。 对西方民主国家的批评是，政客们无法专注于4年或5年的选举周期——他们的政策、承诺和对重要事物的看法在很大程度上取决于赢得选票的必要性。 中国和其他拥有更长期治理的地方可以对此进行思考和规划。
The perception of the Chinese in the West was affected too: the quote was used as proof that the Chinese were a patient, planning nation who thought about the future in terms of decades and centuries, not years and flipping leading parties.
西方对中国人的看法也受到了影响：这句话被用来证明中国人是一个耐心、有计划的国家，他们用几十年和几个世纪来思考未来，而不是用几年和翻转的领导党派来思考未来。
So, I was disappointed to learn that the quote was a misunderstanding. Historical records and the translator who was with Zhou Enlai on this trip subsequently confirmed that while Zhou Enlai did reply to a question about the French Revolution, it was not the famously guillotine-happy 1789 one.
因此，得知这句话是一个误解，我感到很失望。 历史记录和与周恩来一起旅行的翻译随后证实，虽然周恩来确实回答了关于法国大革命的问题，但这不是著名的1789年断头台。
It was the 1968 student uprising in Paris. This civil unrest in France in 1968 started as a student protest, but quickly included industrial workers and shut the country down for a few weeks in the summer. Calls for government reforms were rife, and the issue was relevant in France for many years.
那是1968年巴黎的学生起义。 1968年法国的这场内乱始于学生抗议，但很快就包括了工业工人，并在夏天关闭了该国几周。 政府改革的呼聲盛行，这个问题在法国已经相关多年了。
In 1972, then, Zhou Enlai, was responding to a question about a 1968 protest that was still having effects a few years later. His response was wholly proportionate, and he was not taking the long view of European history.
1972年，周恩来正在回答一个关于1968年抗议活动的问题，该抗议活动在几年后仍然有效果。 他的回应是完全相称的，他没有从长远的角度看待欧洲历史。
My perceptions altered on finding out my misunderstanding and I’m sure many readers have felt the same. When we learn that something we have believed for a long time is either wrong or, worse, that we were wrong, it can have a profound impact on us. Our confidence can be shaken, and our beliefs may need to be reforged.
在发现我的误解时，我的看法发生了变化，我相信许多读者也有同样的感觉。 当我们得知我们长期以来相信的事情要么是错误的，或者更糟的是，我们错了，这会对我们产生深远的影响。 我们的信心可能会被动摇，我们的信念可能需要被重塑。
Luckily, learning I and many others were hoodwinked by a miscommunication hasn’t rocked the core of my being. But changing perceptions closer to home can, as anyone who has been let down by a friend or family member knows. The English expression “to reveal your true colours” uses our never-ending wellspring of metaphor to capture the feeling. Handily, this experience can be positive or negative. Someone coming through for us in times of troubles may appear wreathed in light, while being let down by a friend makes them dull, fuzzy, and grey to our inner sight.
幸运的是，得知我和其他许多人被沟通不畅所欺骗，并没有动摇我的核心。 但任何被朋友或家人失望的人都知道，在离家更近的地方改变看法是可能的。 英语表达“揭示你的本色”用我们永无止境的隐喻源泉来捕捉这种感觉。 轻松的是，这种经历可以是积极的，也可以是消极的。 在困難時期，有人为我们挺身而出，而被朋友失望，在我們內心的眼中，他們變得沉悶、模糊和灰色。
Interestingly, colour perception itself is not an objective reality but rather a subjective experience that varies from person to person. Our biology leads us to literally see the world in different ways from our fellow man. The human eye contains specialised cells called cones that are responsible for detecting and distinguishing different waves of light. There are three types of cones, each sensitive to a different range of wavelengths associated with red, green, and blue. Variations in the number and sensitivity of cones among individuals can lead to differences in colour perception.
有趣的是，色彩感知本身不是客观现实，而是一种因人而异的主观体验。 我们的生物学使我们以与人类不同的方式看待世界。 人眼包含称为视锥体的特殊细胞，负责检测和区分不同的光波。 有三种类型的锥体，每种都对与红色、绿色和蓝色相关的不同波长范围敏感。 个体之间锥体的数量和灵敏度的变化会导致颜色感知的差异。
Colour-blindness is a relatively widespread phenomenon. People with colour vision deficiencies can struggle to differentiate between certain colours. Red-green colour-blindness is the most common, and people with an anomaly in these cones of their eyes can have reduced ability to perceive these colours accurately. It does make me wonder why there are not more accidents at traffic lights.
色盲是一种相对普遍的现象。 有色覺缺陷的人可能難以區分某些顏色。 红绿色盲是最常见的，眼睛的这些视锥有异常的人可能会降低准确感知这些颜色的能力。 这确实让我想知道为什么红绿灯处没有更多的事故。
A fascinating, and poorly understood subset of this is synaesthesia. Some individuals experience this, where their discrete senses meld and blend in unusual ways. Synaesthetes (as they are known) may perceive a sound as having a particular colour, may associate colours with particular words, or may even experience a feeling of taste or smell when seeing certain patterns.
一个引人入胜且鲜为人知的子集是协同感觉。 有些人经历了这一点，他们的离散感官以不寻常的方式融合在一起。 联觉者（众所周知）可能会将声音感知为具有特定颜色，可能会将颜色与特定单词联系起来，甚至在看到某些模式时可能会体验到味觉或嗅觉。
Imagine my delight when, explaining this to a class of students, a face lit up and I was told that yes, to this student the numbers 1-10 had, for her, a distinct colour.
想象一下，当我向一班学生解释这一点时，我的脸亮了起来，我被告知是的，对这个学生来说，数字1-10对她来说有着鲜明的颜色。
A logical step is to cover the Sapir-Whorf hypothesis, also known as linguistic determination. This theory suggests that the language we speak shapes our cognition and worldview. Each different word language, with its unique vocabular and grammar, offers a distinct lens through which speakers of that language perceive and organise their experiences.
一个合乎逻辑的步骤是涵盖Sapir-Whorf假说，也称为语言决定。 这个理论表明，我们所说的语言塑造了我们的认知和世界观。 每种不同的单词语言都有其独特的词汇和语法，提供了一个独特的视角，通过该语言的使用者感知和组织他们的体验。
For example, there are languages which have more words for and rely more heavily on absolute real-world directions (north, south, east, west).
例如，有些语言有更多的单词，并且更依赖绝对的现实世界方向（北、南、东、西）。
Then there are languages that lean more on relative positioning in directions (left, right, front, back). There are studies that suggest speakers of languages with strong absolute coordinates tend to be better at orientating and navigating than speakers of languages with relative coordinates.
然后，有些语言更倾向于方向（左、右、前、后）的相对定位。 有研究表明，具有强绝对坐标的语言使用者往往比具有相对坐标的语言使用者更倾向于定向和导航。
Additionally, some languages treat time like space: terms like “in front” or “behind” are used to describe when something happened.
此外，一些语言将时间视为空间：“在前面”或“后面”等术语用于描述事情发生的时间。
Alternatively, other languages focus more on the self’s movement through time: terms like “I’m looking to the future” or “he’s stuck in the past” are used.
或者，其他语言更关注自我随着时间的推移而移动：使用“我展望未来”或“他停留在过去”等术语。
An extreme form of this idea is used in the movie “Arrival”. As the main character breaks down barriers of communication and learns to speak to an alien race, she begins to see the universe as they do. Without spoiling too much of the movie, it leads to some pretty wild outcomes!
电影《到达》中使用了这种想法的极端形式。 当主角打破沟通障碍并学会与外星种族交谈时，她开始像他们一样看待宇宙。 在不破坏电影太多的情况下，它导致了一些相当疯狂的结果！
Ultimately, understanding that we may not all share the same perceptions is key. Be it due to culture, history, language or even biology, the way we move through the world is unique to everyone.
歸根結底，理解我們可能沒有相同的看法是關鍵。 无论是由于文化、历史、语言甚至生物学，我们穿越世界的方式对每个人来说都是独一无二的。
Remembering this, especially on a miserable Monday morning, can surely help us foster empathy and realise that the mosaic of human perception is richer for its diversity.
记住这一点，特别是在一个悲惨的周一早晨，肯定可以帮助我们培养同理心，并意识到人类感知的马赛克因其多样性而更加丰富。