最近大火的乘風破浪的姐姐大家都看了嗎？身邊很多盆友說，看著姐姐們青春活力的樣子，年齡似乎真的是個數字，變老也不再可怕了。
確實，也許正直青春的孩子會無所畏懼，可到了25之後，不少人卻會逐漸生出一絲對年齡的恐懼——我們害怕臉上的細紋，害怕時間走得飛快，害怕來不及做很多事情。而今天的主講人Ashton女士，正是希望通過這次TED演講呼籲人們戰勝恐懼，行動起來，反對最後一種社會習以為常的偏見。
她說：衰老不是一個需要解決的問題，也不是一種需要治療的疾病。衰老是自然的、有力的、終身的進程，它將我們聯結在一起。
演說者：Ashton Applewhite
演說題目：讓我們一起終結年齡歧視
What s one thing that every person in this room is going to become? Older. And most of us are scared stiff at the prospect. How does that word make you feel? I used to feel the same way. What was I most worried about? Ending up drooling in some grim institutional hallway.
在座的每個人都會變成什麼樣？變老。而且大多數人一想到變老就嚇壞了。這個詞會讓你產生怎樣的感覺呢？我過去也有這樣的感受。我曾經最擔心的是什麼呢？最終在養老院陰冷的走廊上流著口水。
And then I learned that only four percent of older Americans are living in nursing homes, and the percentage is dropping. What else was I worried about? Dementia. Turns out that most of us can think just fine to the end. Dementia rates are dropping, too. The real epidemic is anxiety over memory loss.
之後我了解到只有4％的美國老年人，居住在養老院。而且這個百分比正在下降。我還曾擔心過什麼呢？失智症。其實大多數人在去世前保持著正常的思考能力。失智症的比例也在下降。真正的流行病是我們對失憶的焦慮。
I also figured that old people were depressed because they were old and they were going to die soon. It turns out that the longer people live, the less they fear dying, and that people are happiest at the beginnings and the end of their lives.
同時，我發現老人們是抑鬱沮喪的。因為他們老了，而且很快就會去世了。其實人活的越長，越無懼死亡。而且人們在生命最初和最末的階段是最開心的。
It s called the U-curve of happiness, and it s been borne out by dozens of studies around the world. You don t have to be a Buddhist or a billionaire. The curve is a function of the way aging itself affects the brain.
這被稱作U型幸福曲線。這個結論是由全世界許多研究產生的。你不需要是佛教徒或者億萬富翁。這個曲線說明了年齡自身對大腦的影響作用。
So I started feeling a lot better about getting older, and I started obsessing about why so few people know these things. The reason is ageism: discrimination and stereotyping on the basis of age. We experience it anytime someone assumes we re too old for something, instead of finding out who we are and what we re capable of, or too young.
所以我開始對變老的觀感沒那麼負面了。然而我開始困擾為什麼很少人明白這些道理。原因是：年齡主義。針對年齡的歧視和刻板印象。每時每刻都有人認為我們太老了，不再適合做很多事情了。而不是了解清楚我們是怎樣的人，我們的能力如何。又或者是太年輕了以至於扛不起某些事。
Ageism cuts both ways. All -isms are socially constructed ideas -- racism, sexism, homophobia -- and that means we make them up, and they can change over time. All these prejudices pit us against each other to maintain the status quo, like auto workers in the US competing against auto workers in Mexico instead of organizing for better wages.
年齡主義對兩方面都有影響。所有「主義」都是社會建構的觀念——種族主義，性別歧視主義，同性戀恐懼症。這意味著我們創造了這些觀念，而且它們能隨時間改變。所有這些偏見使我們針鋒相對，只為維持現狀。就像美國的汽車工人和墨西哥的汽車工人互相競爭，而不是聯合起來，爭取更高的薪酬。
We know it s not OK to allocate resources by race or by sex. Why should it be OK to weigh the needs of the young against the old? All prejudice relies on "othering" -- seeing a group of people as other than ourselves: other race, other religion, other nationality. The strange thing about ageism: that other is us.
我們知道不能根據種族或性別分配資源，那為什麼要將年輕人和年長者的需求對立看待呢？所有的偏見都來自於「他者」 - 將一群人視為「他者」，跟我們自身區別。他們來自其它的種族，宗教信仰，國籍。關於年齡主義，有件很奇怪的事情是：我們終將成為「他者」。
Ageism feeds on denial -- our reluctance to acknowledge that we are going to become that older person. It s denial when we try to pass for younger or when we believe in anti-aging products, or when we feel like our bodies are betraying us, simply because they are changing. Why on earth do we stop celebrating the ability to adapt and grow as we move through life?
年齡主義建立在否認之上 - 我們不願意承認，我們終有一天也將成為老人。我們假裝自己還年輕，我們相信抗衰老產品，我們感覺身體背叛了自己，其實只是因為身體衰老了。我們究竟為什麼不再讚美自己在展示進入生命新階段時適應成長狀語從句：的能力呢？
Why should aging well mean struggling to look and move like younger versions of ourselves? It s embarrassing to be called out as older until we quit being embarrassed about it, and it s not healthy to go through life dreading our futures. The sooner we get off this hamster wheel of age denial, the better off we are.
為什麼變老意味著努力保持年輕時的容貌，像年輕時一樣行動？被別人稱作老年人是件很尷尬的事情，除非我們不再因為衰老而感到難為情。而且對未來感到恐懼也不是健康的生活方式。我們越早放下對衰老循環般的恐懼，我們的生活就會越好。
Stereotypes are always a mistake, of course, but especially when it comes to age, because the longer we live, the more different from one another we become. Right? Think about it. And yet, we tend to think of everyone in a retirement home as the same age: old --
當然，刻板印象總是一個錯誤，但特別是到了一定年齡，因為我們越年長，就越來越不同於他人。對嗎？想想看。但是我們還是傾向於認為養老院的所有人都是一樣的年紀：老年人。
when they can span four decades. Can you imagine thinking that way about a group of people between the ages of 20 and 60? When you get to a party, do you head for people your own age? Have you ever grumbled about entitled millennials? Have you ever rejected a haircut or a relationship or an outing because it s not age-appropriate?
儘管他們的年齡跨度有四十年。你能想像用這種方式來對待一群20歲到60歲之間的人嗎？當你參加聚會的時候，是否會去尋找和你年紀相仿的人？你是否吐槽過千禧世代？你是否拒絕過一種髮型，一段感情或者一次出遊，因為年齡不合適？
For adults, there s no such thing. All these behaviors are ageist. We all do them, and we can t challenge bias unless we re aware of it. Nobody s born ageist, but it starts at early childhood, around the same time attitudes towards race and gender start to form, because negative messages about late life bombard us from the media and popular culture at every turn. Right? Wrinkles are ugly. Old people are pathetic. It s sad to be old.
對於成年人來說，這些事情不會發生。這些都是歧視年齡的行為。我們都有這些歧視行為。我們無法挑戰這種偏見，除非我們認識到它的存在。沒有人是天生的年齡歧視者，但年齡歧視在童年早期就已發生，在種族，性別意識產生的同時。因為關於老年的信息對我們進行狂轟濫炸，每時每刻都要來自媒體和流行文化的轟炸。對嗎？皺紋是醜的。老年人是可憐的。衰老令人悲傷。
Look at Hollywood. A survey of recent Best Picture nominations found that only 12 percent of speaking or named characters were age 60 and up, and many of them were portrayed as impaired. Older people can be the most ageist of all, because we ve had a lifetime to internalize these messages and we ve never thought to challenge them.
看看好萊塢，關於最佳影片提名的一項調查顯示，影片中有12％的主要角色是60歲以上的老年人，而且許多角色被描繪成有缺陷的，受損害的。老年人自己可能是年齡歧視最強有力的支持者。因為我們有一生的時間來內化這些歧視的信息，而且從未想過要挑戰它們。
I had to acknowledge it and stop colluding. "Senior moment" quips, for example: I stopped making them when it dawned on me that when I lost the car keys in high school, I didn t call it a "junior moment."
我不得不承認而且退出這種集體歧視。比如說：老糊塗。我不再使用這些諷刺性的詞語，因為我發現當我在高中丟失了車鑰匙的時候，我並沒有將它稱為「青年人的糊塗」。
I stopped blaming my sore knee on being 64. My other knee doesn t hurt, and it s just as old. We are all worried about some aspect of getting older, whether running out of money, getting sick, ending up alone, and those fears are legitimate and real.
我不再將膝蓋疼歸歸於64歲高齡，我的另一個膝蓋並不疼，但它也一樣變老了。我們都會對變老的某些方面感到擔憂，也許是經濟上的困難，也許是疾病，孤老終生，而且這些恐懼都是合情合理的，真實存在的。
But what never dawns on most of us is that the experience of reaching old age can be better or worse depending on the culture in which it takes place. It is not having a vagina that makes life harder for women. It s sexism.
但是我們大多數人沒有發現的是，衰老的過程是幸福還是痛苦，取決於你所屬的文化。並不是陰道讓女性的生活更加艱難。是性別歧視。
It s not loving a man that makes life harder for gay guys. It s homophobia. And it is not the passage of time that makes getting older so much harder than it has to be. It is ageism. When labels are hard to read or there s no handrail or we can t open the damn jar, we blame ourselves, our failure to age successfully, instead of the ageism that makes those natural transitions shameful and the discrimination that makes those barriers acceptable.
並不是同性之愛讓男同志的生活更加困苦。是同性戀恐懼症。並不是時間的流逝讓衰老更加艱辛。是年齡歧視。當我們很難看清標籤的時候，或者是沒有欄杆的時候，或者是打不開可惡的罐頭時，我們譴責自己，我們把失敗歸於年齡，而不是歸於年齡歧視，它使人羞辱於年齡的自然更替。也沒有歸于于年齡歧視，它讓人們接受這些壁壘。
You can t make money off satisfaction, but shame and fear create markets, and capitalism always needs new markets. Who says wrinkles are ugly? The multi-billion-dollar skin care industry. Who says perimenopause and low T and mild cognitive impairment are medical conditions? The trillion-dollar pharmaceutical industry.
你無法從人們對生活的滿足感中賺錢，但是羞愧和恐懼能夠創造市場，而且資本主義總是需要新的市場。誰說皺紋是醜陋的？那些價值數十億美元的皮膚保養產業這樣說。誰說近更年期，睪丸素偏低，輕度認知障礙是醫學上的疾病呢？這都是那些上萬億的製藥產業說的。
The more clearly we see these forces at work, the easier it is to come up with alternative, more positive and more accurate narratives. Aging is not a problem to be fixed or a disease to be cured. It is a natural, powerful, lifelong process that unites us all.
我們越清楚這些力量如何運作，就越容易找到替代方法，找到更積極，準確的敘述方式。衰老不是一個需要解決的問題，也不是一種需要治療的疾病。它是自然的，有力的，終身的進程，它將所有人聯結在一起。
Changing the culture is a tall order, I know that, but culture is fluid. Look at how much the position of women has changed in my lifetime or the incredible strides that the gay rights movement has made in just a few decades, right?
我知道改變文化是很困難的，但是文化是流動的。看看在我的一生中，女性的地位得到了多麼大的提升。或者是同志平權運動取得的驚人飛躍，僅僅發生在過去的幾十年中，對嗎？
Look at gender. We used to think of it as a binary, male or female, and now we understand it s a spectrum. It is high time to ditch the old-young binary, too. There is no line in the sand between old and young, after which it s all downhill.
看看性別議題。我們以前認為性別是二元的，男性或女性，我們現在了解到性別是連續的光譜。現在也是時候拋棄老人與年輕人的二元對立了。老人與年輕人之間沒有明確的分界線，這樣想一切都容易多了。
And the longer we wait to challenge that idea, the more damage it does to ourselves and our place in the world, like in the workforce, where age discrimination is rampant. In Silicon Valley, engineers are getting Botoxed and hair-plugged before key interviews -- and these are skilled white men in their 30s, so imagine the effects further down the food chain.
我們越晚挑戰這個觀點，它對我們自身和我們在世界的定位就傷害越大。比如在工作場所，在那裡年齡歧視猖獗 。在矽谷，工程師打醫療美容針，做人工植髮，來迎接重要的面試。而且他們是技術高超的，三十多歲的白人男性，所以可以想像食物鏈下遊所受的影響。
The personal and economic consequences are devastating. Not one stereotype about older workers holds up under scrutiny. Companies aren t adaptable and creative because their employees are young; they re adaptable and creative despite it. Companies --We know that diverse companies aren t just better places to work; they work better. And just like race and sex, age is a criterion for diversity.
個人的，經濟上的後果是非常沉重的。現在許多關於老年工作者的刻板印象需要仔細斟酌。公司不會因為年輕員工而具有適應能力和創造力。沒有年輕員工，公司也能保有適應能力和創造力。公司──多元化的公司不僅是適合工作的地方，而且它們工作得更好。和種族，性別一樣，年齡也是檢驗多樣性的標準。
A growing body of fascinating research shows that attitudes towards aging affect how our minds and bodies function at the cellular level. When we talk to older people like this (Speaks more loudly) or call them "sweetie" or "young lady" -- it s called elderspeak -- they appear to instantly age, walking and talking less competently. People with more positive feelings towards aging walk faster, they do better on memory tests, they heal quicker, and they live longer.
越來越多很有吸引力的研究顯示，關於衰老的態度會在細胞層面上影響我們的大腦和身體的運作。當我們這樣與老年人溝通（音量提高） 或者稱他們為「親愛的」或者「年輕的女士」 - 這種溝通方式被稱作「老人語 」 - 他們似乎會立即衰老。步伐不再矯健，不再談吐自信那些對衰老持有積極態度的人，他們走得更快，他們在記憶測試上的表現更好 ，他們康復得更快，而且他們活得更久。
Even with brains full of plaques and tangles, some people stayed sharp to the end. What did they have in common? A sense of purpose. And what s the biggest obstacle to having a sense of purpose in late life? A culture that tells us that getting older means shuffling offstage. That s why the World Health Organization is developing a global anti-ageism initiative to extend not just life span but health span.
即使是在充滿了斑塊和纏結的大腦裡，有些人直到去世前頭腦依然敏銳。他們有什麼共同點呢？目標明確 。在晚年生活中，什麼會嚴重阻礙人們保有目標呢？一種文化，認定衰老即走下人生舞臺。這是為什麼世界衛生組織開展全球反對年齡歧視的倡議。不僅增加壽命，還能延續健康。
Women experience the double whammy of ageism and sexism, so we experience aging differently. There s a double standard at work here -- shocker --
女性經歷著雙重打擊，來自年齡主義和性別歧視主義，所以我們對衰老有不同的體會。這裡運作著雙重標準-震驚-
the notion that aging enhances men and devalues women. Women reinforce this double standard when we compete to stay young, another punishing and losing proposition. Does any woman in this room really believe that she is a lesser version -- less interesting, less fun in bed, less valuable -- than the woman she once was?
衰老讓男性增值，卻使女性貶值。當女性爭著保持年輕的時候，這樣的雙重標準得以增強。保持年輕是艱苦的，註定失敗的想法。這個房間裡難道真的有女人相信衰老後的她了成為次等品── 不再有趣，不再性感，不再有價值──和年輕時的她相比起來？
This discrimination affects our health, our well-being and our income, and the effects add up over time. They are further compounded by race and by class, which is why, everywhere in the world, the poorest of the poor are old women of color.
這樣的歧視影響著我們的健康，我們的幸福和收入，而且影響與日俱增。種族和階級因素使這種歧視雪上加霜，這就是為什麼在世界上每一個角落，最窮的人往往是有色人種的老年婦女。
What s the takeaway from that map? By 2050, one out of five of us, almost two billion people, will be age 60 and up. Longevity is a fundamental hallmark of human progress. All these older people represent a vast unprecedented and untapped market.
我們能從這張地圖上了解到什麼知識呢？到2050年，五個人中就會有一個，大概總計二十億人，是60歲以上的老年人。長壽是人類進步的重要標誌。年長者代表著一個巨大的，史無前例的，從未被牽涉的市場。
And yet, capitalism and urbanization have propelled age bias into every corner of the globe, from Switzerland, where elders fare the best, to Afghanistan, which sits at the bottom of the Global AgeWatch Index. Half of the world s countries aren t mentioned on that list because we don t bother to collect data on millions of people because they re no longer young.
然而，資本主義和城市化把年齡偏見推進到世界的每一個角落，從瑞士，在那裡老年人得到了最好的照顧，到阿財汗，在全球老年觀察指數中墊底。世界上近半數的國家沒有出現在排行榜中，因為我們不屑於收集進兩百萬人的數據，因為他們不再年輕。
Almost two-thirds of people over 60 around the world say they have trouble accessing healthcare. Almost three-quarters say their income doesn t cover basic services like food, water, electricity, and decent housing. Is this the world we want our children, who may well live to be a hundred, to inherit? Everyone -- all ages, all genders, all nationalities -- is old or future-old, and unless we put an end to it, ageism will oppress us all. And that makes it a perfect target for collective advocacy.
在全球60歲以上的老年人中，近三分之二認為他們獲得醫療衛生服務是困難的。進四分之三的老年人認為他們的收入無法支付基本生活費用，比如食物，水，電和像樣的住房。這真的是我們想讓子孫後代繼承的世界嗎？他們可能會活到100多歲。每個人不分年齡，性別，國籍，已衰老或終將衰老，如果我們不終結它，年齡歧視將會壓迫我們每一個人。這讓它成為了集體倡議的最佳目標。
Why add another -ism to the list when so many, racism in particular, call out for action? Here s the thing: we don t have to choose. When we make the world a better place to grow old in, we make it a better place in which to be from somewhere else, to have a disability, to be queer, to be non-rich, to be non-white.
為什麼又把一個「主義」加入到鬥爭的行列中？特別是種族歧視主義，還沒有得到徹底根除。事情是這樣的：我們不需要進行選擇。當我們把世界變成適合老年人居住的地方，我們也把它變成了適合他人居住的地方，適宜殘疾人居住， 適宜與眾不同的，貧困的，甚至是有色人種居住。
And when we show up at all ages for whatever cause matters most to us -- save the whales, save the democracy -- we not only make that effort more effective, we dismantle ageism in the process.
當我們在不同年齡階段，為其它重要的事情奮鬥時 - 拯救海豚，拯救民主- 我們不僅使那個倡議更加有效，同時也解決了年齡歧視的問題。
Longevity is here to stay. A movement to end ageism is underway. I m in it, and I hope you will join me.Thank you. Let s do it! Let s do it!
長壽現象將一直存在，終結年齡歧視的運動正在開展。我身處其中，希望你能加入這項運動。謝謝。讓我們一起行動起來吧！
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