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KeithPayne_2020X-_社会不平等如何促成政治分裂_-
You've probably heard by now that economic inequality is historically high, that the wealthiest one-tenth of one percent in the United States or that the wealthiest eight individuals in the world have as much wealth as the poorest 3.5 billion inhabitants of the planet. 或许你已经听说, 经济不平等到达了历史上的新高, 美国财富排名在前千分之一的有钱人 或者,世界上财富排名前八名的有钱人 拥有的财富 等同于地球上最贫穷的 三十五亿居民的总财富。
But did you know that economic inequality is associated with shorter lifespans , less happiness, more crime and more drug abuse ? 但你知道经济不平等 犯罪增加、 及更多药物滥用都相关吗？
Those sound like problems of poverty , but among wealthy, developed nations those health and social problems are actually more tightly linked to inequality between incomes than to absolute incomes. 这些听起来是贫穷的问题。 但在富有、已开发的国家中, 那些健康和社会问题 其实是和收入不平等有更密切的关系, 而不是绝对收入。
economic:adj.经济的,经济上的;经济学的; historically:adv.历史上地;从历史观点上说; United:adj.联合的; v.联合,团结; (unite的过去分词和过去式) individuals:n.[经]个人;[生物]个体(individual的复数); wealth:n.财富;大量;富有; inhabitants:n.居民(inhabitant的复数); associated:adj.有关联的; v.联想; (associate的过去分词和过去式) lifespans:n.寿命;预期生命期限;预期使用期限; abuse:n.滥用;虐待;辱骂;弊端;恶习,陋习;v.滥用;虐待;辱骂; poverty:n.贫困;困难;缺少;低劣; tightly:adv.紧紧地;坚固地;
And because of that, the United States, the wealthiest and the most unequal of nations, actually fares worse than all other developed countries. 正因如此, 美国这个最富有 且最不平等的国家中的人民 其实过得比所有其他 已开发国家都还要糟。
Surveys show that large majorities of Americans, both Democrats and Republicans , believe inequality is too high and want more equal pay. 调查显示,大部分美国人, 无论是民主党或共和党, 都相信不平等状况太严重, 且希望能有更平等的薪水。
And yet as a society, we don't seem to be able to find the common ground , the consensus , the political will to do anything about it. 然而,整个社会似乎还未能找到共同点、 共识、和政治意愿去处理这个问题。
unequal:adj.不平等的;不规则的;不胜任的;n.不等同的事物; fares:n.票价;[交]车费(fare的复数);照明弹;v.发生;进食;经历(fare的三单形式); Surveys:n.调查(survey的复数); Democrats:n.民主党员(democrat的复数);民主主义者; Republicans:n.共和党,共和党员;(republican的复数形式) common ground:n.共同点; consensus:n.一致;舆论;合意;
Because, as inequality has risen in recent decades, political polarization has risen along with it. 因为,这几十年来, 随着不平等的状况越发严重, 政治两极化也随之而起。
We see those who disagree with us as idiots or as immoral . 我们把意见和我们不同的人 视为白痴或恶人。
Nearly half of Democrats and Republicans now think that the other side is not just mistaken but a threat to the nation. 近一半的民主党和共和党 现在都认为对方不仅是错的, 还是对国家的威胁。
polarization:n.极化;偏振;两极分化; idiots:n.蠢人;笨蛋;白痴;(idiot的复数) immoral:adj.不道德的;邪恶的;淫荡的; mistaken:adj.错误;不正确;被误解的;v.弄错;误解;误会;(mistake的过去分词)
And that animosity prevents us from finding the common ground to change things. 那种憎恶让我们无法找到交集 来改变现状。
I'm a social psychology professor at the University of North Carolina , and I study the effects of inequality on people's thinking and behavior. 我是北卡罗莱纳大学的 社会心理学教授, 我研究不平等对于人的思想 与行为会有什么影响。
I'm going to argue that it's not just an unfortunate coincidence that inequality and political division have risen together. 我主张,不平等 与政治分裂会一起出现, 并非只是不幸的巧合。
animosity:n.憎恶,仇恨,敌意; social psychology:n.社会心理学; Carolina:n.卡罗莱纳州(在美国东南部); coincidence:n.巧合,巧事;同时存在;并存;相同; division:n.师;分配;分开;分歧;
There are good psychological reasons that inequality drives wedges in our politics . 不平等会导致政治上的不和, 背后有充分的心理因素,
That means there are good psychological paths to improve both at once. 那这也意味着 , 可能有心理途径能够同时改善两者。
To understand why inequality is so powerful, you have to first understand that we are constantly comparing ourselves to other people, and when we do that, we really like to come out on top, and we find it painful to be on the bottom. 若要了解为什么 不平等的力量如此强大, 你首先得要了解,我們經常會一直 把我們自己和他人做比較, 当我们这么做时, 我们会很希望在比较之下高人一等。 矮人一截,让我们会感到很痛苦。
psychological:adj.心理的;心理学的;精神上的; wedges:n.楔形; v.楔入; politics:n.政治;钩心斗角;政治观点;v.(贬)从事政治活动;(politic的第三人称单数) improve:v.改进;改善; constantly:adv.不断地;时常地; comparing:v.比较;对比;(compare的现在分词) painful:adj.痛苦的;疼痛的;令人不快的;
Psychologists call it the "better-than-average effect." 心理学家称之为「优于常人效应」。
Most people believe they're better than average at just about anything they care about, which isn't strictly possible, because that's just what average means. 大部分的人认为, 在他们在乎的事物上, 他们都比平均值更优秀, 那是不可能的事, 因为平均值就是这样。
Psychologists:n.[心理]心理学家(psychologist的复数形式);
(Laughter) （笑声）
But that's the way people feel. 但人们总是会有这种感觉。
Most people think they're smarter than average, harder working than average and more socially skilled . 多数人认为自己的聪明、 自己的努力、 社交技能都在平均之上。
Most people think they're better drivers than average. 多数人也认为自己 开车技术优于常人。
(Laughter) （笑声）
That's true even if you do the study with a sample of people currently hospitalized for a car accident that they caused. 针对目前因为自己肇事 酿成车祸而躺在医院的人所做的研究, 還是會發現同樣的結果。
skilled:adj.熟练的;有技能的;需要技能的; currently:adv.当前;一般地; hospitalized:vt.住院;入院就医;(hospitalize的过去分词);
(Laughter) （笑声）
So we really want to see ourselves as better than average, and if we find out otherwise, it's a painful experience that we have to cope with. 所以我们真的很想看见自己优于平均, 若发现实情并非如此, 我们就得处理这种痛苦的感受。
And we cope with it by shifting how we see the world. 而我们处理的方式就是 转换我们看世界的角度。
To understand how this works, my collaborators and I ran an experiment. 为了了解这背后的机制, 我和同事做了一项实验。
We asked participants to complete a decision-making task to earn some money, and in reality, everyone earned the same amount of money. 我们请受试者做决策性的工作来赚钱, 事实上,每个人赚到的钱都一样多。
cope:v.处理;n.大圆衣; shifting:adj.不断移动的;流动的;v.转移;赶快;快速移动;变换;(shift的现在分词) collaborators:n.[劳经]合作者;投敌者(collaborator的复数); participants:n.参与者(participant的复数形式); decision-making:n.决策;
But we randomly divided them into two groups, and we told one group that they had done better than average, and we told the other group they had done worse than average. 但我们将他们随机分为两组, 我们告诉一组,他们做得比平均好, 告诉另一组,他们做得比平均差,
So now we have one group that feels richer and one group that feels poorer, but for no objective reason. 现在,有一组觉得自己比较有钱, 但都是主观认定,无客观理由。
And then we asked them some questions. 接着我们问他们一些问题。
When we asked them, "How good are you at making decisions?" 当我们问他们: 「你有多擅长做决策？」
randomly:adv.随便地,任意地;无目的,胡乱地;未加计划地; objective:n.目标; adj.客观的;
the better-than-average group said that they were more competent than the below-average group. 相对于比自觉贫穷的那组, 自覺有錢的那組 更會認為自己有能力。
The better-than-average group said that their success was a fair outcome of a meritocracy . 自觉有钱的那组说他们的成功 是英才制度的公平结果。
The below-average group thought the system was rigged , and in this case, of course, they were right. 自觉贫穷的那组认为 体制遭到不正当操纵, 在这个实验里的确是有操纵。
competent:adj.胜任的;有能力的;能干的;足够的; outcome:n.结果,结局;成果; meritocracy:n.英才教育(制度);精英管理的社会; rigged:v.操纵,控制;(给船只)装帆;(秘密地)安装,装配;(rig的过去分词和过去式)
(Laughter) （笑声）
Even though the two groups had the same amount of money, the group that felt richer said we should cut taxes on the wealthy, cut benefits to the poor. 即使这两组人拥有的钱一样多, 觉得自己有钱的那组认为 我们应该对有钱人减少收税, 减少给穷人的福利。
Let them work hard and be responsible for themselves, they said. 他们的说法是让穷人自己 去努力,为自己负责。
These are attitudes that we normally assume are rooted in deeply held values and a lifetime of experience, but a 10-minute exercise that made people feel richer or poorer was enough to change those views. 我们通常会假设这些态度 根源於穩固的價值觀及畢生的經歷中, 但仅仅十分钟的操作, 只是让受试者感觉比较富裕或贫穷, 就足以改变这些观点。
responsible:adj.负责的,可靠的;有责任的; attitudes:n.态度,看法(attitude复数); normally:adv.正常地;通常地,一般地; assume:v.承担;假定;采取;呈现;
This difference between being rich or poor and feeling rich or poor is important, because the two don't always line up very well. 「真正」富裕或贫穷 与「觉得自己」富裕或贫穷 因为这两者不见得一定一致。
You often hear people say with nostalgia , "We were poor, but we didn't know it." 你常会听到有人怀旧地说: 「我们很贫穷,但我们当时不知道。」
That was the case for me growing up, until one day, in the fourth-grade lunch line, we had a new cashier who didn't know the ropes , and she asked me for 1.25 dollars. 我成长过程就是这种状况, 直到有一天,四年级午餐排队时, 有一名状况外的新出纳员, 她跟我要 1.25 美金。
nostalgia:n.乡愁;怀旧之情;怀乡病; cashier:n.出纳员;v.开除…的军籍; know the ropes:知道内情;
I was taken aback , because I had never been asked to pay for my lunch before. 我吃了一惊,因为以前 从来没有人跟我要午餐钱。
I didn't know what to say, because I didn't have any money. 我不知道该说什么, 因为我身上没有钱。
And suddenly, I realized for the first time that we free lunch kids were the poor ones. 突然间,我第一次了解到, 我们这种吃免费午餐的孩子是穷孩子。
That awkward moment in the school lunch line changed so much for me, because for the first time, I felt poor. 在学校排队领午餐的尴尬时刻 为我带来了很大的改变, 因为那是我第一次感到贫穷。
taken aback:惊讶; awkward:adj.尴尬的;笨拙的;棘手的;不合适的;
We didn't have any less money than the day before, but for the first time, 我们那天的钱并没有比前一天少, 但我人生中第一次
I started noticing things differently. 我注意事情的方式开始改变了。
It changed the way I saw the world. 我看世界的角度改变了。
I started noticing how the kids who paid for their lunch seemed to dress better than the free lunch kids. 我开始注意到那些付钱吃午餐的孩子 穿的衣服似乎比 免费午餐的孩子更好。
I started noticing the big yellow blocks of government cheese that showed up at our door and the food stamps my mother would pull out at the grocery store. 我开始注意到我们家门口 总会出现政府配给的大块黄色起士, 也注意到我母亲在杂货店 会拿出政府发的食物券。
I was always a shy kid, but I hardly talked at all after that at school. 我向来是害羞的孩子, 但在那件事之后, 我在学校几乎不说话了。
Who was I to speak up? 我算什么？哪能大声发言？
For decades, social scientists looked for evidence that feeling deprived compared to other people would motivate political action. 数十年来,社会科学家 都在寻找证据证明 自觉和其他人相比之下比较贫困的人 会有动机采取政治行动。
grocery:n.食品杂货店;食品杂货; evidence:n.证据,证明;迹象;明显;v.证明; deprived:adj.缺少食物的;缺乏足够教育的; compared:adj.比较的,对照的; v.相比; (compare的过去式和过去分词) motivate:v.激励;激发;成为…的动机;是…的原因;
They thought it would mobilize protests , strikes, maybe even revolutions . 他们认为这种感受会驱动抗争、 罷工,甚至連革命都有可能。
But again and again what they found was that it paralyzed people, because the truth is, feeling less than other people brings shame. 但他们的发现却总是: 这种感受会让人气馁, 因为,事实是, 自觉劣于他人,会带来羞耻感。
It makes people turn away, disgusted with the system. 这种感觉会让人转身不去面对问题, 对体制感到作恶。
mobilize:v.动员;动员;调动;组织;鼓动;调用; protests:v.抗议;反对(protest的三单形式);n.抗议(protest的复数); revolutions:n.革命,转数(revolution的复数形式); again and again:adv.再三地,反复地; paralyzed:adj.瘫痪的;麻痹的;v.使麻痹;使无力;使失去勇气(paralyze的过去分词); disgusted with:对…感到厌恶;
Feeling better than other people, though -- now that is motivating . 但自觉优于他人…… 那才会变成动力。
It motivates us to protect that position, and it has important consequences for our politics. 这种感受会驱使我们 去守护优越的地位, 对我们的政治会造成影响。
To see why, consider another experiment. 若要了解为什么, 让我们思考一下另一个实验。
Again, we asked participants to make decisions to earn some money, and we told one group that they had done better than average and the other group that they had done worse than average. 同样的,我们也请受试者 做决策来赚取金钱, 我们告诉一组, 他们做得比平均更好, 告诉另一组,他们做得比平均更差。
motivating:v.激励;刺激;调动…的积极性(motivate的ing形式); motivates:v.促使;刺激;给与动机(motivate的三单形式); consequences:n.后果,结果;影响(consequence的复数);
And again, the better-than-average group said it's a fair meritocracy, cut taxes on the wealthy, cut benefits on the poor. 同样的,比平均更好的那一组 说这是公平的英才制度, 减少对有钱人收税, 减少给穷人的福利。
But this time, we also asked them what did they think about other participants who disagree with them on those issues . 但这次,我们也问他们, 對於在這些議題上 和他們意見相左的受試者 有什么看法。
Are they smart or incompetent ? 这些人是聪明,还是无能？
Are they reasonable or are they biased ? 他们是理性的,还是有偏见？
The better-than-average group said anybody who disagrees with them must be incompetent, biased, blinded by self-interest . 比平均好的那一组说, 和他们意见相左的人 都一定很无能、有偏见、 被自我利益所蒙蔽。
issues:n.重要议题;争论的问题;v.宣布;公布;发出;(issue的第三人称单数和复数) incompetent:adj.无能力的,不胜任的;不合适的;不适当的;无力的;n.无能力者; reasonable:adj.合理的,公道的;通情达理的; biased:adj.有偏见的;结果偏倚的,有偏的; disagrees:v.不同意;有分歧;不符;不一致;(disagree的第三人称单数) self-interest:n.私利;利己主义;
The below-average group didn't assume that about their opponents . 比平均差的那一组 对于对手不会抱持这种假设。
Now, there are lots of psychology studies showing that when people agree with us, we think they're brilliant, and when people disagree with us, we tend to think they're idiots. 有许多心理学研究 证明当别人认同我们时, 我们会觉得他们很出色, 当别人和我们意见相左, 我们可能会认为他们是白痴。
opponents:n.对手(opponent的复数形式);
(Laughter) （笑声）
But this is new because we found it was driven entirely by the group that felt better than average, who felt entitled to dismiss those people who disagree with them. 但我们的新发现是, 这种现象完全只会发生在 自覺比平均好的那一組身上, 他们自觉有资格可以屏弃 和他们不同的意见。
So think about what this is doing to our politics, as the haves and have-nots spread further and further apart. 想想看,随着富人 和穷人的差距越来越大, 这种现象对我们的政治会有什么影响。
Yes, a lot of us think that people on the other side are idiots, but the people politically engaged enough to be yelling at each other about politics are actually mostly the well-off . 是的,很多人都认为 另一边的人是白痴, 但对政治有足够的关注, 多半是富人。
entitled:v.使享有权利;使符合资格;给…命名;(entitle的过去分词和过去式) dismiss:v.不予考虑;摒弃;消除;解雇; haves:n.富人;富国; have-nots:n.穷国;贫民(等于thehavenots); on the other side:另一面;在另一边; politically:adv.政治上; engaged:adj.已订婚的; v.吸引住; (engage的过去分词和过去式) well-off:adj.富裕的;顺利的,走运的;繁荣昌盛的;
In fact, as inequality has grown in recent decades, political interest and participation among the poor has plummeted . 事实上, 穷人对政治的兴趣及参与度都大减。
Again, we see that people who feel left behind aren't taking to the streets to protest or organize voter registration drives. 同样的,我们发现, 觉得自己被遗弃的人 并不会走上街头抗议 或者发动投票登记活动。
Often, they aren't even voting. 通常,他们甚至不会去投票。
participation:n.参与;分享;参股; plummeted:n.[测]铅锤,坠子;vi.垂直落下;(价格,水平等)骤然下跌; organize:v.组织;安排;处理;分配;管理; voter:n.选举人,投票人;有投票权者; registration:n.登记;注册;挂号;
Instead, they're turning away and dropping out. 反之,他们转过身,选择退出。
So if we want to do something about extreme inequality, we have to fix our politics. 对于极端不平等, 如果我们想要做点什么, 我们就得整顿我们的政治。
And if we want to fix our politics, we have to do something about inequality. 如果我们想要整顿政治, 我们就得处理不平等的问题。
So what do we do? 我们要怎么做？
The wonderful thing about spirals is that you can interrupt at any point in the cycle. 螺旋式的每况愈下有个好处, 就是你可以在螺旋上的任何一点 切断这个循环。
extreme:adj.极端的;极度的;偏激的;尽头的;n.极端;末端;最大程度;极端的事物; spirals:螺旋;盘旋; interrupt:v.中断;打断;插嘴;妨碍;n.中断;
I think our best bet starts with those of us who have benefited the most from inequality's rise, those of us who have done better than average. 我想,希望会寄托在 我们当中因为不平等加剧 而受益最多的人, 我们当中表现比平均更好的人。
If you've been successful, it's natural to chalk up your success to your own hard work. 如果你很成功, 很自然会把你的成功 归功于你自己的努力。
But, like the studies I showed you, everybody does that, whether or not it really was the hard work that mattered most. 但就像我刚才提到的研究, 每个人都会做同样的努力, 不论努力是不是成功的最大因素。
bet:n.打赌;赌注;预计;估计;v.下赌注(于);用…打赌;敢说;八成儿; whether or not:是否…;
Every successful person I know can think of times when they worked hard and struggled to succeed. 我认识的所有成功人士 都能想出他们在何时 很努力挣扎迈向成功。
They can also think of times when they benefited from good luck or a helping hand but that part is harder. 他们也都能想出 何时他们因为好运 或因他人相助而获益, 但这部分比较难想到。
Psychologists Shai Davidai and Tom Gilovich call it the "headwind-tailwind asymmetry ." 心理学家夏大卫戴 和汤姆吉洛维奇称之为 「逆风—顺风的不对称性」。
struggled:v.奋斗;努力;争取;艰难地行进;抗争;(struggle的过去式和过去分词) asymmetry:n.不对称;
When you're struggling against headwinds , those obstacles are all you can see. 当你逆风挣扎时, 你眼中只有那些障碍。
It's what you notice and remember. 你只会注意到、记住那些障碍。
But when the wind's at your back and everything's going your way, all you notice is yourself and our own amazing talents. 但当风从你背后吹来, 一切都顺着你时, 你所注意到的就只有你自己, 和你自己的惊世才华。
headwinds:n.逆风;顶头风; obstacles:n.障碍;障碍物;阻碍;(obstacle的复数形式)
So we have to stop and think for a minute to recognize those tailwinds helping us along. 我们得要停下来好好想想, 才能意识到一路上有顺风的协助。
It's so easy to see what's wrong with people who disagree with you. 注意到和你意见相左的人 有什么缺点很容易。
Some of you decided that I was an idiot in the first two minutes, because I said inequality was harmful. 开始的两分钟内, 在座就有人认定我是白痴, 只因为我说不平等是有害的。
for a minute:一会儿; recognize:v.认识;认出;辨别出;承认;意识到; tailwinds:n.顺风;
(Laughter) （笑声）
The hard part is to recognize that if you were in a different position, you might see things differently, just like the subjects in our experiments. 困难的部分在于要承认 如果你的立场不同, 你的看法可能也会不同, 就像我们实验中的受试者一样。
So if you're in the above-average group in life -- and if you're watching a TED talk, you most likely are -- 所以,若你在人生中 是属于优于平均的那组, 若你会看 TED 演说, 基本上你就是那组。
(Laughter) （笑声）
then I leave you with this challenge: the next time you're tempted to dismiss someone who disagrees with you as an idiot, think about the tailwinds that helped you get where you are. 那么我想给你个挑战: 下次当你很想将某个 和你意见相左的人 贬为白痴时, 想想协助你走到今天这一步的顺风。
above-average:平均以上;在一般水准以上; tempted:adj.想做…的; v.引诱; (tempt的过去分词和过去式)
What lucky breaks did you get that might have turned out differently? 你得到过什么好运？ 若没有那好运,一切可能会不同。
What helping hands are you grateful for? 你感激哪些援手？
Recognizing those tailwinds gives us the humility we need to see that disagreeing with us doesn't make people idiots. 意识到这些顺风,会让我们谦卑, 让我们了解到和我们意见不同 并不等同于白痴。
The real hard work is in finding common ground, because it's the well-off who have the power and the responsibility to change things. 真正困难之处在于找到交集, 因为富人有权力 和责任来做出改变。
Thank you. 谢谢。
(Applause) （掌声）
Recognizing:v.认识;认出;承认;接受,赞成(recognize的现在分词) humility:n.谦卑,谦逊; disagreeing:n.不同意;v.不同意(disagree的现在分词);