Five years ago, I experienced a bit of what it must have been like to be Alice in Wonderland.
五年前,我曾有过一个有如漫游爱丽丝仙境的经历。
Penn State asked me, a communications teacher, to teach a communications class for engineering students.
宾夕法尼亚州立大学让我这个教沟通学的老师给工程系的学生上沟通学课。
And I was scared. Really scared.
我被吓到了。我真的被吓坏了。
Scared of these students with their big brains and their big books and their big, unfamiliar words.
这些学生发达的大脑,还有他们所读的巨著及他们使用的又长又生僻的词语通通都吓到我了。
But as these conversations unfolded,
不过随着对话的展开,
I experienced what Alice must have when she went down that rabbit hole and saw that door to a whole new world.
我的经历就如爱丽丝一样,顺着那个兔子洞下去,看到了那扇通往一个全新世界的大门。
That's just how I felt as I had those conversations with the students.
这就是我和那些学生们对话时的感受。
I was amazed at the ideas that they had, and I wanted others to experience this wonderland as well.
我对他们的想法感到惊奇,而且我希望其他人也能体验这种在仙境中的感觉。
And I believe the key to opening that door is great communication.
我相信打开那扇门的关键就是要有很好的交流与沟通。
We desperately need great communication from our scientists and engineers in order to change the world.
为了改变世界,我们迫切需要从我们的科学家和工程师那里得到良好的沟通。
Our scientists and engineers are the ones that are tackling our grandest challenges,
我们的科学家和工程师们解决的都是我们所面临的最大的难题,
from energy to environment to health care, among others, and if we don't know about it and understand it,
从能源到环境再到卫生保健,等等。如果我们不明白也不理解的话,
then the work isn't done, and I believe it's our responsibility as non-scientists to have these interactions.
他们的工作对我们就没有什么意义了,并且我相信,我们作为非科学家们有责任与他们进行互动交流。
But these great conversations can't occur if our scientists and engineers don't invite us in to see their wonderland.
可是如果我们的科学家和工程师们不把我们领进门去看看他们的仙境的话,我们之间也就不可能有很好的交流。
So scientists and engineers, please, talk nerdy to us.
所以科学家和工程师们,请跟我们说说高科技是什么吧。