I recently heard a story from Stephen Glenn about a famous scientist who had made several very important medical breakthroughs. He was being interviewed by a newspaper reporter who asked him why he thought he was able to be so much more creative than the average person. What set him so far apart from others?
He responded that, in his opinion, it all came from an experience with his mother that occurred when he was about two years old. He had been trying to remove a bottle of milk from the refrigerator when he lost his grip on the slippery bottle and it fell, spilling its contents all over the kitchen floor—a veritable sea of milk!
When his mother came into the kitchen, instead of yelling at him, giving him a lecture or punishing him, she said, “Robert, what a great and wonderful mess you have made! I have rarely seen such a huge puddle of milk. Well, the damage has already been done. Would you like to get down and play in the milk for a few minutes before we clean it up?”
Indeed, he did. After a few minutes, his mother said, “You know, Robert, whenever you make a mess like this, eventually you have to clean it up and restore everything to its proper order. So, how would you like to do that? We could use a sponge, a towel or a mop. Which do you prefer?” He chose the sponge and together they cleaned up the spilled milk.
His mother then said, “You know, what we have here is a failed experiment in how to effectively carry a big milk bottle with two tiny hands. Let's go out in the back yard and fill the bottle with water and see if you can discover a way to carry it without dropping it.” The little boy learned that if he grasped the bottle at the top near the lip with both hands, he could carry it without dropping it. What a wonderful lesson!
This renowned scientist then remarked that it was at that moment that he knew he didn't need to be afraid to make mistakes. Instead, he learned that mistakes were just opportunities for learning something new, which is, after all, what scientific experiments are all about. Even if the experiment “doesn't work,” we usually learn something valuable from it.
Wouldn't it be great if all parents would respond the way Robert's mother responded to him?
【助读词汇】
-slippery adj. 光滑的
-veritable adj. 真实的，真的
-puddle n. 水池，水坑，地上积水
-sponge n.海绵，海绵状物
-mop n. 拖把
-renowned adj. 有名的，有声誉的
【参考译文】
最近我从斯蒂芬·格伦那听来一个故事，故事的主人翁是位很有名的科学家，在医疗研究方面取得了好几个突破。他在接受一家报纸记者采访时，记者问为什么他的创造力比普通人强那么多。是什么让他如此与众不同？
他回答说，他觉得这是源于两岁那年和母亲遇到的一件小事。当时他正把牛奶瓶从冰箱里拿出来，但是瓶子太滑，他没拿稳，就掉了，牛奶洒得厨房一地都是——简直是牛奶的汪洋。
当他妈妈走进厨房的时候，她没有生气地吼他，没有教训他，也没有惩罚他，而是说：“罗伯特，你看你捅了个多么棒的乱子。我没见过这么大一滩牛奶呢。洒都洒了。你想在打扫干净之前蹲下去好好玩一会儿吗？”
他真的这样做了。几分钟后，他妈妈说：“你知道，罗伯特，只要你把东西弄得一团糟，你就得把它清理干净，把每样东西都回归到原来的地方。你打算怎样做呢？我们可以用海绵、毛巾或拖把，你选哪个？”他选了海绵，两人一起把洒出来的牛奶擦洗干净。
接着他妈妈说：“这是一次如何用两只小手拿稳牛奶瓶的失败实验。来，我们到后院去，把瓶子装上水，看看你能不能想出拿稳的方法。”小男孩发现等他用两手抓紧瓶颈的时候瓶子不会掉。多么棒的一节课！
这位著名的科学家说，就是在那一刻他知道他不用害怕自己会犯错，而且他认识到犯错误是学习的机会，说到底，是科学实验的真谛。即使实验没成功，我们通常也能从中学到有用的东西。
如果家长们都能作出罗伯特母亲那样的反应，那该有多好。
【人生启迪】
为什么我们会害怕犯错误？因为小时候犯了错误的后果是一顿打骂，所以我们养成了行事谨慎的习惯。其实犯犯错又有何妨？你不犯错，如何知道那样做是行不通的？如何想出正确的处理方法？我们不再犯错，也不再观察，真相和事实就在眼前，我们却发现不了。结果我们中大多数人与成功绝缘，平庸一生。