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AlaindeBotton_2011G-_无神论_2_0_
One of the most common ways of dividing the world is into those who believe and those who don't -- into the religious and the atheists . [00:12]
religious:adj.宗教的;虔诚的;严谨的;修道的;n.修道士;尼姑; atheists:n.无神论者;
And for the last decade or so, it's been quite clear what being an atheist means. [00:22]
There have been some very vocal atheists who've pointed out, not just that religion is wrong, but that it's ridiculous . [00:28]
vocal:adj.嗓音的;发声的;大声表达的;直言不讳的;n.(乐曲中的)歌唱部分; ridiculous:adj.可笑的;荒谬的;
These people, many of whom have lived in North Oxford, have argued -- they've argued that believing in God is akin to believing in fairies and essentially that the whole thing is a childish game. [00:37]
akin:adj.类似的;同类的;同族的; fairies:n.精灵(fairy的复数);瓶之仙女; essentially:adv.本质上;本来; childish:adj.幼稚的,孩子气的;
Now I think it's too easy. [00:51]
I think it's too easy to dismiss the whole of religion that way. [00:53]
dismiss:v.不予考虑;摒弃;消除;解雇;
And it's as easy as shooting fish in a barrel . [00:58]
barrel:n.桶;枪管;一桶(的量);v.飞驰;
And what I'd like to inaugurate today is a new way of being an atheist -- if you like, a new version of atheism we could call Atheism 2.0. [01:00]
inaugurate:vt.创新;开辟;开创;举行开幕典礼;举行就职典礼; atheism:n.不信神,无神论;
Now what is Atheism 2.0? [01:10]
Well it starts from a very basic premise : of course, there's no God. [01:12]
premise:n.前提;假定;v.假定;预述(条件等);引导(论述等);;
Of course, there are no deities or supernatural spirits or angels, etc. [01:17]
deities:n.神明,神灵(deity的复数); supernatural:adj.超自然的;神奇的,不可思议的;n.超自然现象;不可思议的事;
Now let's move on; that's not the end of the story, that's the very, very beginning. [01:22]
I'm interested in the kind of constituency that thinks something along these lines: that thinks, "I can't believe in any of this stuff . [01:28]
constituency:n.(选区的)选民;支持者;(一批)顾客; stuff:n.东西:物品:基本特征:v.填满:装满:标本:
I can't believe in the doctrines . [01:35]
doctrines:主义;学说;教义;信条(doctrine的复数);
I don't think these doctrines are right. [01:38]
But," a very important but, "I love Christmas carols . [01:40]
carols:n.颂歌;欢乐的歌(carol的复数);v.欢唱(carol的三单形式);
I really like the art of Mantegna. [01:44]
I really like looking at old churches. [01:47]
I really like turning the pages of the Old Testament ." [01:49]
Old Testament:n.(圣经)《旧约》;
Whatever it may be, you know the kind of thing I'm talking about -- people who are attracted to the ritualistic side, the moralistic , communal side of religion, but can't bear the doctrine. [01:52]
ritualistic:adj.仪式的;固守仪式的;惯例的; moralistic:adj.说教的;道学的;道德家的;注意道德的; communal:adj.公共的;公社的;
Until now, these people have faced a rather unpleasant choice. [02:03]
unpleasant:adj.令人不快的;不舒服的;不客气的
It's almost as though either you accept the doctrine and then you can have all the nice stuff, or you reject the doctrine and you're living in some kind of spiritual wasteland under the guidance of CNN and Walmart . [02:06]
reject:v.排斥;拒收;拒绝接受;不予考虑;n.废品;次品;不合格者;被剔除者; spiritual:n.圣歌(尤指美国南部黑人的);adj.精神的,心灵的; wasteland:n.荒地,不毛之地;未开垦地,荒漠;(精神或文化上的)贫乏; Walmart:n.沃尔玛(世界连锁零售企业);
So that's a sort of tough choice. [02:17]
I don't think we have to make that choice. [02:19]
I think there is an alternative . [02:21]
alternative:adj.供选择的;选择性的;交替的;n.二中择一;供替代的选择;
I think there are ways -- and I'm being both very respectful and completely impious -- of stealing from religions. [02:23]
respectful:adj.恭敬的;有礼貌的; impious:adj.不虔诚的;不孝的;不敬的;
If you don't believe in a religion, there's nothing wrong with picking and mixing , with taking out the best sides of religion. [02:30]
mixing:n.混合;混频;录音;v.混合,掺和,融合;调配;配制;相容;(mix的现在分词)
And for me, atheism 2.0 is about both, as I say, a respectful and an impious way of going through religions and saying, "What here could we use?" [02:37]
The secular world is full of holes. [02:47]
secular:adj.世俗的; n.修道院外的教士,(对宗教家而言的)俗人;
We have secularized badly, I would argue. [02:49]
And a thorough study of religion could give us all sorts of insights into areas of life that are not going too well. [02:52]
thorough:adj.彻底的;十分的;周密的; insights:n.洞察力;眼力;深刻见解(insight的复数);
And I'd like to run through a few of these today. [02:59]
run through:n.贯通;从头到尾读一遍;排练;
I'd like to kick off by looking at education. [03:03]
Now education is a field the secular world really believes in. [03:06]
When we think about how we're going to make the world a better place, we think education; that's where we put a lot of money. [03:10]
Education is going to give us, not only commercial skills, industrial skills, it's also going to make us better people. [03:15]
commercial:adj.贸易的;商业的;赢利的;以获利为目的的;n.(电台或电视播放的)广告; industrial:adj.工业的,产业的; n.工业股票;
You know the kind of thing a commencement address is, and graduation ceremonies, those lyrical claims that education, the process of education -- particularly higher education -- will make us into nobler and better human beings. [03:20]
commencement:n.开始,发端;毕业典礼; lyrical:adj.抒情诗调的;感情丰富的;充满愉悦的; claims:v.宣称; n.声明; (claim的第三人称单数和复数) process:v.处理;加工;列队行进;n.过程,进行;方法,adj.经过特殊加工(或处理)的; particularly:adv.特别地,独特地;详细地,具体地;明确地,细致地; higher education:高等教育(指含大学以上的教育); nobler:adj.高贵的;华丽的;
That's a lovely idea. [03:31]
Interesting where it came from. [03:33]
In the early 19th century, church attendance in Western Europe started sliding down very, very sharply , and people panicked . [03:35]
attendance:n.出席;到场;出席人数; sharply:adv.急剧地;锐利地; panicked:v.(使)惊慌,惊慌失措;(panic的过去分词和过去式)
They asked themselves the following question. [03:42]
They said, where are people going to find the morality , where are they going to find guidance, and where are they going to find sources of consolation ? [03:44]
morality:n.道德;品行,美德; sources:n.来源;出处;起源;根源;原因;v.(从…)获得(source的第三人称单数和复数) consolation:n.安慰;慰问;起安慰作用的人或事物;
And influential voices came up with one answer. [03:51]
influential:adj.有影响的;有势力的;n.有影响力的人物;
They said culture. [03:53]
It's to culture that we should look for guidance, for consolation, for morality. [03:55]
Let's look to the plays of Shakespeare , the dialogues of Plato , the novels of Jane Austen. [04:00]
Shakespeare:n.莎士比亚(英国剧作家); Plato:n.柏拉图(古希腊哲学家); novels:n.小说;(novel的复数)
In there, we'll find a lot of the truths that we might previously have found in the Gospel of Saint John. [04:05]
previously:adv.先前;以前; Gospel:n.真理;信条;adj.传播福音的;福音赞美诗的; Saint:n.圣人;圣徒;道德崇高的人;adj.神圣的;v.成为圣徒;
Now I think that's a very beautiful idea and a very true idea. [04:10]
They wanted to replace scripture with culture. [04:13]
scripture:n.(大写)圣经;手稿;(大写)圣经的一句;
And that's a very plausible idea. [04:16]
plausible:adj.貌似可信的,花言巧语的;貌似真实的,貌似有理的;
It's also an idea that we have forgotten. [04:18]
If you went to a top university -- let's say you went to Harvard or Oxford or Cambridge -- and you said, "I've come here because I'm in search of morality, guidance and consolation; [04:22]
Harvard:n.哈佛大学;哈佛大学学生; Cambridge:n.剑桥(英国城市);坎布里奇(美国马萨诸塞州城市);
I want to know how to live," [04:30]
they would show you the way to the insane asylum . [04:32]
insane:adj.疯狂的;精神病的;极愚蠢的; asylum:n.庇护;收容所,救济院;
This is simply not what our grandest and best institutes of higher learning are in the business of. [04:35]
institutes:n.学院(institute的复数);v.建立(institute的第三人称单数形式);
Why? They don't think we need it. [04:40]
They don't think we are in an urgent need of assistance. [04:42]
urgent:adj.紧急的;急迫的;
They see us as adults, rational adults. [04:45]
rational:n.理性;人类;合理的事物;[数]有理数;adj.合理的;理性的;明智的;理智的;
What we need is information. [04:47]
We need data, we don't need help. [04:49]
Now religions start from a very different place indeed. [04:51]
All religions, all major religions, at various points call us children. [04:54]
And like children, they believe that we are in severe need of assistance. [04:59]
severe:adj.极为恶劣的;十分严重的;严厉的;苛刻的;
We're only just holding it together. [05:03]
Perhaps this is just me, maybe you. [05:05]
But anyway, we're only just holding it together. [05:07]
And we need help. Of course, we need help. [05:10]
And so we need guidance and we need didactic learning. [05:12]
didactic:adj.说教的;教诲的;
You know, in the 18th century in the U.K., the greatest preacher , greatest religious preacher , was a man called John Wesley, who went up and down this country delivering sermons , advising people how they could live. [05:15]
preacher:n.牧师;传教士;鼓吹者; sermons:n.布道;讲道;冗长的说教;(sermon的复数) advising:v.劝告;忠告;建议;通知;(advise的现在分词)
He delivered sermons on the duties of parents to their children and children to their parents, the duties of the rich to the poor and the poor to the rich. [05:25]
He was trying to tell people how they should live through the medium of sermons, the classic medium of delivery of religions. [05:31]
live through:度过;经受过; medium:n.(传播信息的)媒介;手段;工具;方法;adj.中等的;中号的; classic:n.名著;优秀的典范;adj.最优秀的;第一流的;有代表性的;典型的; delivery:n.[贸易]交付;分娩;递送;
Now we've given up with the idea of sermons. [05:38]
If you said to a modern liberal individualist , "Hey, how about a sermon?" [05:40]
liberal:adj.宽宏大度的; n.理解且尊重他人意见的人; individualist:n.利己主义者,个人主义者;
they'd go, "No, no. I don't need one of those. [05:44]
I'm an independent , individual person." [05:46]
independent:adj.独立的; n.无党派议员(或候选人等);
What's the difference between a sermon and our modern, secular mode of delivery, the lecture ? [05:48]
lecture:n.演讲;讲座;讲课;谴责;v.开讲座;讲授;讲课;指责;告诫
Well a sermon wants to change your life and a lecture wants to give you a bit of information. [05:53]
And I think we need to get back to that sermon tradition. [05:59]
The tradition of sermonizing is hugely valuable , because we are in need of guidance, morality and consolation -- and religions know that. [06:02]
sermonizing:vi.说教;布道;vt.对…说教;对…布道; valuable:adj.有价值的;贵重的;可估价的;n.贵重物品;
Another point about education: we tend to believe in the modern secular world that if you tell someone something once, they'll remember it. [06:10]
Sit them in a classroom, tell them about Plato at the age of 20, send them out for a career in management consultancy for 40 years, and that lesson will stick with them. [06:17]
career:n.职业;事业;生涯;经历; management:n.管理;管理人员;管理部门;操纵;经营手段; consultancy:n.咨询公司;顾问工作;
Religions go, " Nonsense . [06:24]
Nonsense:n.胡说;废话;adj.荒谬的;int.胡说;
You need to keep repeating the lesson 10 times a day. [06:26]
So get on your knees and repeat it." [06:29]
That's what all religions tell us: "Get on you knees and repeat it 10 or 20 or 15 times a day." [06:31]
Otherwise our minds are like sieves . [06:36]
sieves:[粮食][数]筛;
So religions are cultures of repetition . [06:38]
repetition:n.重复;重做;重说;重做的事;重说的话;
They circle the great truths again and again and again. [06:40]
again and again:adv.再三地,反复地;
We associate repetition with boredom . [06:42]
associate:v.联合:联想:交往:adj.非正式的:副的:联合的:n.伙伴:同事: boredom:n.厌倦;令人厌烦的事物;
'"Give us the new," we're always saying. [06:44]
'"The new is better than the old." [06:46]
If I said to you, "Okay, we're not going to have new TED. [06:48]
We're just going to run through all the old ones and watch them five times because they're so true. [06:50]
We're going to watch Elizabeth Gilbert five times because what she says is so clever," you'd feel cheated. [06:54]
Not so if you're adopting a religious mindset . [07:00]
adopting:v.收养;领养;采用;表决采纳;(adopt的现在分词) mindset:n.心态;倾向;习惯;精神状态;
The other things that religions do is to arrange time. [07:02]
arrange:v.安排;排列;整理;
All the major religions give us calendars . [07:06]
calendars:n.日历;挂历;日程表;记事本;(calendar的复数)
What is a calendar? [07:08]
A calendar is a way of making sure that across the year you will bump into certain very important ideas. [07:10]
bump:n.肿块,隆起物;撞击;v.碰撞,撞击;颠簸而行;adv.突然地,猛烈地;
In the Catholic chronology , Catholic calendar, at the end of March you will think about St. Jerome and his qualities of humility and goodness and his generosity to the poor. [07:16]
Catholic:adj.天主教的;宽宏大量的;n.天主教徒;罗马天主教; chronology:n.年表;年代学; humility:n.谦卑,谦逊; generosity:n.慷慨,大方;宽宏大量;
You won't do that by accident; you will do that because you are guided to do that. [07:25]
Now we don't think that way. [07:28]
In the secular world we think, "If an idea is important, I'll bump into it. [07:30]
I'll just come across it." [07:32]
come across:偶然遇见;给人以…的印象;
Nonsense, says the religious world view . [07:34]
world view:n.世界观;
Religious view says we need calendars, we need to structure time, we need to synchronize encounters . [07:36]
structure:n.结构;构造;建筑物;vt.组织;构成;建造; synchronize:vt.使…合拍;使…同步;vi.同步;同时发生; encounters:v.遭遇(encounter的第三人称单数);邂逅;n.遭遇战(encounter的复数);相见;
This comes across also in the way in which religions set up rituals around important feelings. [07:41]
in the way:妨碍;挡道;
Take the Moon. It's really important to look at the Moon. [07:47]
You know, when you look at the Moon, you think, "I'm really small. What are my problems?" [07:50]
It sets things into perspective , etc., etc. [07:54]
perspective:n.观点;远景;透视图;adj.透视的;
We should all look at the Moon a bit more often. We don't. [07:56]
Why don't we? Well there's nothing to tell us, "Look at the Moon." [07:58]
But if you're a Zen Buddhist in the middle of September, you will be ordered out of your home, made to stand on a canonical platform and made to celebrate the festival of Tsukimi, where you will be given poems to read in honor of the Moon and the passage of time and the frailty of life that it should remind us of. [08:01]
Buddhist:n.佛教徒;adj.佛教的; canonical:adj.依教规的;权威的;牧师的;n.牧师礼服; platform:n.平台; v.把…放在台上[放在高处; frailty:n.虚弱;弱点;意志薄弱; remind:v.提醒;使想起;
You'll be handed rice cakes. [08:15]
And the Moon and the reflection on the Moon will have a secure place in your heart. [08:17]
reflection:n.反映;沉思;映像;深思;
That's very good. [08:21]
The other thing that religions are really aware of is: speak well -- [08:23]
I'm not doing a very good job of this here -- but oratory , oratory is absolutely key to religions. [08:27]
oratory:n.雄辩;演讲术; absolutely:adv.绝对地;完全地;
In the secular world, you can come through the university system and be a lousy speaker and still have a great career. [08:32]
lousy:adj.非常糟的;极坏的;恶劣的;
But the religious world doesn't think that way. [08:37]
What you're saying needs to be backed up by a really convincing way of saying it. [08:39]
convincing:adj.令人信服的; v.使确信; (convince的现在分词)
So if you go to an African American Pentecostalist church in the American South and you listen to how they talk, my goodness, they talk well. [08:43]
African American:非洲裔美国人(指美国黑人);
After every convincing point, people will go, "Amen, amen, amen." [08:51]
At the end of a really rousing paragraph, they'll all stand up, and they'll go, "Thank you Jesus , thank you Christ , thank you Savior ." [08:54]
rousing:adj.活泼的;使奋起的;使感动的;v.唤醒;激怒;唤起(rouse的ing形式); all stand:全部起立; Jesus:int.上帝啊:天哪:n.耶稣:耶稣基督: Christ:n.基督;耶稣基督 Savior:n.救世主;救星;救助者;
If we were doing it like they do it -- let's not do it, but if we were to do it -- [08:59]
I would tell you something like, "Culture should replace scripture." [09:04]
And you would go, "Amen, amen, amen." [09:06]
And at the end of my talk, you would all stand up and you would go, "Thank you Plato, thank you Shakespeare, thank you Jane Austen." [09:08]
And we'd know that we had a real rhythm going. [09:12]
rhythm:n.节奏;韵律;
All right, all right. We're getting there. We're getting there. [09:15]
(Applause) [09:17]
The other thing that religions know is we're not just brains, we are also bodies. [09:19]
And when they teach us a lesson, they do it via the body. [09:23]
via:prep.通过;经由;n.道路;[医]管道;
So for example, take the Jewish idea of forgiveness . [09:27]
Jewish:adj.犹太人的;犹太族的; forgiveness:n.宽恕;原谅;宽宏大量
Jews are very interested in forgiveness and how we should start anew and start afresh . [09:31]
anew:重新,再 afresh:adv.重新;再度;
They don't just deliver us sermons on this. [09:35]
They don't just give us books or words about this. [09:37]
They tell us to have a bath. [09:39]
So in Orthodox Jewish communities , every Friday you go to a Mikveh. [09:41]
Orthodox:adj.正统的;传统的;惯常的;东正教的;n.正统的人;正统的事物; communities:n.社区;社会;团体;共有(community的复数)
You immerse yourself in the water, and a physical action backs up a philosophical idea. [09:44]
immerse:vt.沉浸;使陷入; physical:adj.[物]物理的;身体的;物质的;符合自然法则的;n.体格检查; philosophical:adj.哲学的(等于philosophic);冷静的;
We don't tend to do that. [09:49]
Our ideas are in one area and our behavior with our bodies is in another. [09:51]
Religions are fascinating in the way they try and combine the two. [09:54]
fascinating:adj.极有吸引力的;迷人的;v.深深吸引;迷住;(fascinate的现在分词)
Let's look at art now. [09:56]
Now art is something that in the secular world, we think very highly of. We think art is really, really important. [09:58]
highly:adv.高度地;非常;非常赞许地;
A lot of our surplus wealth goes to museums, etc. [10:04]
surplus:n.剩余;[贸易]顺差;盈余;过剩;adj.剩余的;过剩的; wealth:n.财富;大量;富有;
We sometimes hear it said that museums are our new cathedrals , or our new churches. [10:07]
cathedrals:教堂;
You've heard that saying. [10:12]
Now I think that the potential is there, but we've completely let ourselves down. [10:14]
potential:n.潜能;可能性;[电]电势;adj.潜在的;可能的;势的;
And the reason we've let ourselves down is that we're not properly studying how religions handle art. [10:18]
handle:n.[建]把手;柄;手感;口实;v.处理;操作;运用;买卖;触摸;
The two really bad ideas that are hovering in the modern world that inhibit our capacity to draw strength from art: [10:26]
hovering:v.翱翔;盘旋;踌躇;靠近(某事物);处于不稳定状态(hover的现在分词) inhibit:vt.抑制;禁止; capacity:n.能力;容量;资格,地位;生产力;
The first idea is that art should be for art's sake -- a ridiculous idea -- an idea that art should live in a hermetic bubble and should not try to do anything with this troubled world. [10:33]
sake:n.目的;利益;理由;日本米酒; hermetic:adj.密封的;与外界隔绝的;不透气的;炼金术的;n.炼金术士; bubble:n.泡;气泡;肥皂泡;一点感情;v.起泡;冒泡;洋溢着(某种感情);
I couldn't disagree more. [10:42]
The other thing that we believe is that art shouldn't explain itself, that artists shouldn't say what they're up to, because if they said it, it might destroy the spell and we might find it too easy. [10:44]
That's why a very common feeling when you're in a museum -- let's admit it -- is, "I don't know what this is about." [10:53]
But if we're serious people, we don't admit to that. [10:59]
But that feeling of puzzlement is structural to contemporary art. [11:01]
puzzlement:n.迷惑;费解; structural:adj.结构的;建筑的; contemporary:n.同时代的人;同时期的东西;adj.当代的;同时代的;属于同一时期的;
Now religions have a much saner attitude to art. [11:07]
saner:心智健全的;神智正常的(sane的比较级); attitude:n.态度;看法;意见;姿势;
They have no trouble telling us what art is about. [11:09]
Art is about two things in all the major faiths. [11:11]
Firstly , it's trying to remind you of what there is to love. [11:13]
Firstly:adv.首先(主要用于列举条目,论点时);第一;
And secondly, it's trying to remind you of what there is to fear and to hate. [11:17]
And that's what art is. [11:21]
Art is a visceral encounter with the most important ideas of your faith . [11:23]
visceral:adj.内脏的;出于本能的;发自肺腑的;粗俗的; faith:n.信心;信任;宗教信仰;
So as you walk around a church, or a mosque or a cathedral, what you're trying to imbibe , what you're imbibing is, through your eyes, through your senses, truths that have otherwise come to you through your mind. [11:26]
mosque:n.清真寺; imbibe:vt.吸收,接受;喝;吸入; imbibing:n.吸液;v.吸入;吸取(imbibe的ing形式);
Essentially it's propaganda . [11:36]
propaganda:n.宣传;传道总会;
Rembrandt is a propagandist in the Christian view. [11:38]
propagandist:n.宣传者;传播者;adj.宣传的;传道的;
Now the word "propaganda" sets off alarm bells. [11:42]
We think of Hitler, we think of Stalin . Don't, necessarily . [11:44]
Stalin:n.斯大林(前苏联领导人); necessarily:adv.必要地;必定地,必然地;
Propaganda is a manner of being didactic in honor of something. [11:46]
And if that thing is good, there's no problem with it at all. [11:49]
My view is that museums should take a leaf out of the book of religions. [11:52]
And they should make sure that when you walk into a museum -- if I was a museum curator , [11:56]
curator:n.馆长;监护人;管理者;
I would make a room for love, a room for generosity. [12:00]
All works of art are talking to us about things. [12:03]
And if we were able to arrange spaces where we could come across works where we would be told, use these works of art to cement these ideas in your mind, we would get a lot more out of art. [12:05]
Art would pick up the duty that it used to have and that we've neglected because of certain mis-founded ideas. [12:15]
neglected:adj.被忽略的; v.忽略; (neglect的过去分词和过去式)
Art should be one of the tools by which we improve our society. [12:21]
improve:v.改进;改善;
Art should be didactic. [12:25]
Let's think of something else. [12:28]
The people in the modern world, in the secular world, who are interested in matters of the spirit, in matters of the mind, in higher soul-like concerns , tend to be isolated individuals . [12:30]
concerns:n.关注; v.使关心(concern的三单形式); isolated:adj.偏远的; v.隔离,孤立,脱离; individuals:n.[经]个人;[生物]个体(individual的复数);
They're poets, they're philosophers , they're photographers, they're filmmakers . [12:41]
philosophers:n.哲学家(philosopher的复数); filmmakers:n.制片人(filmmaker的复数);
And they tend to be on their own. [12:44]
They're our cottage industries. They are vulnerable , single people. [12:46]
cottage:n.小屋;村舍;(农舍式的)小别墅; vulnerable:adj.易受攻击的,易受…的攻击;易受伤害的;有弱点的;
And they get depressed and they get sad on their own. [12:49]
depressed:adj.沮丧的; v.使抑郁; (depress的过去式和过去分词)
And they don't really change much. [12:51]
Now think about religions, think about organized religions. [12:53]
organized:adj.有组织的; v.组织; (organize的过去分词和过去式)
What do organized religions do? [12:55]
They group together, they form institutions . [12:57]
institutions:n.机构;慈善机构;风俗习惯,制度;(institution的复数)
And that has all sorts of advantages . [13:00]
advantages:n.有利条件; v.有利于;
First of all , scale , might. [13:02]
First of all:adv.首先; scale:n.规模;比例;鳞;刻度;天平;数值范围;v.衡量;攀登;剥落;生水垢;
The Catholic Church pulled in 97 billion dollars last year according to the Wall Street Journal . [13:05]
according to:根据,据说; Wall Street:n.华尔街(美国纽约金融中心和证券交易所所在地); Journal:n.杂志;日记;日志;(用于报纸名)…报;
These are massive machines. [13:10]
massive:adj.大量的;巨大的,厚重的;魁伟的;
They're collaborative , they're branded , they're multinational , and they're highly disciplined . [13:12]
collaborative:adj.合作的,协作的; branded:adj.名牌商标的; v.铭刻; (brand的过去式和过去分词); multinational:adj.跨国公司的;多国的;n.跨国公司; disciplined:adj.遵守纪律的; v.训练; (discipline的过去式和过去分词)
These are all very good qualities. [13:17]
We recognize them in relation to corporations . [13:19]
recognize:v.认识;认出;辨别出;承认;意识到; corporations:n.[贸易]公司,[经]企业(corporation的复数形式);
And corporations are very like religions in many ways, except they're right down at the bottom of the pyramid of needs. [13:21]
They're selling us shoes and cars. [13:25]
Whereas the people who are selling us the higher stuff -- the therapists , the poets -- are on their own and they have no power, they have no might. [13:27]
Whereas:conj.然而;鉴于;反之; therapists:n.治疗专家(therapist的复数);
So religions are the foremost example of an institution that is fighting for the things of the mind. [13:35]
foremost:adj.最重要的;最先的;adv.首先;居于首位地;
Now we may not agree with what religions are trying to teach us, but we can admire the institutional way in which they're doing it. [13:41]
institutional:adj.制度的;
Books alone, books written by lone individuals, are not going to change anything. [13:48]
We need to group together. [13:53]
If you want to change the world, you have to group together, you have to be collaborative. [13:55]
And that's what religions do. [13:58]
They are multinational, as I say, they are branded, they have a clear identity , so they don't get lost in a busy world. [14:00]
identity:n.身份;同一性,一致;特性;恒等式;
That's something we can learn from. [14:07]
I want to conclude . [14:09]
conclude:v.断定:得出结论:终止:达成:缔结(协定)
Really what I want to say is for many of you who are operating in a range of different fields, there is something to learn from the example of religion -- even if you don't believe any of it. [14:11]
If you're involved in anything that's communal, that involves lots of people getting together, there are things for you in religion. [14:22]
involved:adj.有关的; v.涉及; (involve的过去式和过去分词) involves:v.包含;需要;牵涉;牵连;影响;(使)参加,加入(involve的第三人称单数)
If you're involved, say, in a travel industry in any way, look at pilgrimage . [14:28]
pilgrimage:n.漫游;朝圣之行;vi.朝拜;漫游;
Look very closely at pilgrimage. [14:33]
We haven't begun to scratch the surface of what travel could be because we haven't looked at what religions do with travel. [14:35]
scratch the surface of:浅尝即止;
If you're in the art world, look at the example of what religions are doing with art. [14:41]
And if you're an educator in any way, again, look at how religions are spreading ideas. [14:45]
You may not agree with the ideas, but my goodness, they're highly effective mechanisms for doing so. [14:51]
effective:adj.有效的,起作用的;实际的,实在的;给人深刻印象; mechanisms:n.机制;[机]机构(mechanism的复数);机械;[机]机构学;
So really my concluding point is you may not agree with religion, but at the end of the day, religions are so subtle , so complicated , so intelligent in many ways [14:56]
concluding:adj.结束的;最后的; subtle:adj.微妙的;精细的;敏感的;狡猾的;稀薄的; complicated:adj.复杂的;难懂的;v.使复杂化;(complicate的过去分词和过去式) intelligent:adj.有才智的;悟性强的;聪明的;有智力的
that they're not fit to be abandoned to the religious alone; they're for all of us. [15:06]
abandoned:adj.被抛弃的放纵的;v.抛弃;丢弃,离开;放弃;(abandon的过去分词和过去式)
Thank you very much. [15:11]
(Applause) [15:13]
Chris Anderson: Now this is actually a courageous talk, because you're kind of setting up yourself in some ways to be ridiculed in some quarters. [15:30]
courageous:adj.有胆量的,勇敢的; ridiculed:v.嘲笑;奚落;讥笑;(ridicule的过去分词和过去式)
AB: You can get shot by both sides. [15:36]
You can get shot by the hard-headed atheists, and you can get shot by those who fully believe. [15:38]
hard-headed:adj.头脑冷静的;
CA: Incoming missiles from North Oxford at any moment. [15:43]
Incoming:n.进来;收入;adj.新当选的;新任的; missiles:n.导弹;发射物;投掷物;(missile的复数)
AB: Indeed. [15:45]
CA: But you left out one aspect of religion that a lot of people might say your agenda could borrow from, which is this sense -- that's actually probably the most important thing to anyone who's religious -- of spiritual experience, of some kind of connection with something that's bigger than you are. [15:47]
aspect:n.方面;层面;外观;方位; agenda:n.议事日程;
Is there any room for that experience in Atheism 2.0? [16:04]
AB: Absolutely. I, like many of you, meet people who say things like, "But isn't there something bigger than us, something else?" [16:07]
And I say, "Of course." And they say, "So aren't you sort of religious?" [16:15]
And I go, "No." Why does that sense of mystery, that sense of the dizzying scale of the universe, need to be accompanied by a mystical feeling? [16:18]
dizzying:adj.使人眩晕的;使人头昏眼花的; accompanied:v.陪同;陪伴;与…同时发生;为…伴奏;(accompany的过去式和过去分词) mystical:adj.神秘的;神秘主义的;
Science and just observation gives us that feeling without it, so I don't feel the need. [16:27]
observation:n.观察;观测;监视;(尤指据所见、所闻、所读而作的)评论;
The universe is large and we are tiny, without the need for further religious superstructure . [16:33]
superstructure:n.上层建筑;上部构造;
So one can have so-called spiritual moments without belief in the spirit. [16:39]
so-called:adj.所谓的;号称的;
CA: Actually, let me just ask a question. [16:43]
How many people here would say that religion is important to them? [16:45]
Is there an equivalent process by which there's a sort of bridge between what you're talking about and what you would say to them? [16:51]
equivalent:adj.等价的,相等的;同意义的;n.等价物,相等物;
AB: I would say that there are many, many gaps in secular life and these can be plugged . [16:59]
gaps:n.差异,缺口;缝隙(gap的复数形式);v.裂开;使豁裂(gap的第三人称单数形式); plugged:v.堵塞;封堵;补充;供给;推广;(plug的过去分词和过去式)
It's not as though, as I try to suggest, it's not as though either you have religion and then you have to accept all sorts of things, or you don't have religion and then you're cut off from all these very good things. [17:03]
It's so sad that we constantly say, "I don't believe so I can't have community , so I'm cut off from morality, so I can't go on a pilgrimage." [17:14]
constantly:adv.不断地;时常地; community:n.社区;[生态]群落;共同体;团体;
One wants to say, "Nonsense. Why not?" [17:23]
And that's really the spirit of my talk. [17:25]
There's so much we can absorb . [17:27]
absorb:v.吸收;使并入;吞并;同化;理解;吸收;耗费;承受;
Atheism shouldn't cut itself off from the rich sources of religion. [17:29]
CA: It seems to me that there's plenty of people in the TED community who are atheists. [17:32]
But probably most people in the community certainly don't think that religion is going away any time soon and want to find the language to have a constructive dialogue [17:37]
constructive:adj.建设性的;推定的;构造上的;有助益的;
and to feel like we can actually talk to each other and at least share some things in common. [17:47]
Are we foolish to be optimistic about the possibility of a world where, instead of religion being the great rallying cry of divide and war, that there could be bridging? [17:51]
optimistic:adj.乐观的;乐观主义的; rallying cry:n.(团结众人的)战斗口号;
AB: No, we need to be polite about differences. [18:02]
Politeness is a much-overlooked virtue . [18:05]
Politeness:n.有礼貌;优雅; virtue:n.美德;优点;贞操;功效;
It's seen as hypocrisy . [18:07]
hypocrisy:n.虚伪;伪善;
But we need to get to a stage when you're an atheist and someone says, "Well you know, I did pray the other day ," [18:09]
the other day:不久前某一天;几天以前;
you politely ignore it. [18:14]
ignore:v.驳回诉讼;忽视;不理睬;
You move on. [18:16]
Because you've agreed on 90 percent of things, because you have a shared view on so many things, and you politely differ. [18:18]
And I think that's what the religious wars of late have ignored . [18:25]
ignored:v.忽视;对…不予理会;佯装未见;不予理睬;(ignore的过去分词和过去式)
They've ignored the possibility of harmonious disagreement. [18:29]
harmonious:adj.和谐的,和睦的;协调的;悦耳的;
CA: And finally , does this new thing that you're proposing that's not a religion but something else, does it need a leader, and are you volunteering to be the pope ? [18:33]
finally:adv.终于;最终;(用于列举)最后;彻底地; proposing:v.提议;建议;打算;计划;求婚;(propose的现在分词) volunteering:v.自愿做;义务做;无偿做;当志愿兵(volunteer的现在分词) pope:n.教皇,罗马教皇;权威,大师;
(Laughter) [18:41]
AB: Well, one thing that we're all very suspicious of is individual leaders. [18:43]
suspicious:adj.可疑的;怀疑的;多疑的;
It doesn't need it. [18:47]
What I've tried to lay out is a framework and I'm hoping that people can just fill it in. [18:49]
I've sketched a sort of broad framework. [18:54]
sketched:v.画素描;画速写;概述;简述;(sketch的过去分词和过去式)
But wherever you are, as I say, if you're in the travel industry, do that travel bit. [18:56]
If you're in the communal industry, look at religion and do the communal bit. [18:59]
So it's a wiki project. [19:02]
wiki:n.维基百科(网站名);
(Laughter) [19:04]
CA: Alain, thank you for sparking many conversations later. [19:06]
sparking:n.发火花;点火;v.导致(spark的现在分词);发出火星;使大感兴趣;
(Applause) [19:09]