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MichaelPatrickLynch_2017-_如何超越自我观点并寻求真相_
So, imagine that you had your smartphone miniaturized and hooked up directly to your brain. 想像你把智能手机缩小到 可以直接安装进你脑袋里,
smartphone:n.智能手机; miniaturized:小型化; hooked:adj.弯曲的; v.(使)钩住,挂住; (hook的过去分词和过去式) directly:adv.直接地;立即;马上;正好地;坦率地;conj.一…就;
If you had this sort of brain chip , you'd be able to upload and download to the internet at the speed of thought. 如果你有这样的大脑晶片, 你就能在网上 快速地下载和上传资料。
chip:v.削,凿;削成碎片;剥落;碎裂;n.[电子]芯片;筹码;碎片;(食物的)小片;薄片; upload:v.上传;
Accessing social media or Wikipedia would be a lot like -- well, from the inside at least -- like consulting your own memory. 当你在使用社群媒体或查询维基百科时, 至少是从你脑内读取的, 就像是在咨询你自己的记忆一样。
media:n.媒体;媒质(medium的复数);血管中层;浊塞音;中脉; Wikipedia:维基百科; consulting:adj.咨询的,商议的;v.咨询,请教;商议;(consult的现在分词形式)
It would be as easy and as intimate as thinking. 跟你在思考时一样简单、直接。
intimate:n.知己; v.暗示; adj.亲密的;
But would it make it easier for you to know what's true? 但这样做,能让你 更轻易地辨别出真相吗？
Just because a way of accessing information is faster it doesn't mean it's more reliable , of course, and it doesn't mean that we would all interpret it the same way. 虽然这个方法可以让你 更快速地撷取信息, 却不能代表这些信息 是更可靠的,当然, 也不代表我们每个人的 解读都会一致,
reliable:adj.可信赖的;可依靠的;真实可信的;可靠的; interpret:v.诠释;说明;口译;把…理解为;
And it doesn't mean that you would be any better at evaluating it. 更不代表,你比别人 更会判断信息的重要性。
evaluating:v.估计;评价;评估;(evaluate的现在分词)
In fact, you might even be worse, because, you know, more data, less time for evaluation . 实际上,搞不好更糟糕, 因为信息愈多,你判断的时间愈少。
evaluation:n.评价;[审计]评估;估价;求值;
Something like this is already happening to us right now. 这样的事情现在正在发生。
We already carry a world of information around in our pockets, but it seems as if the more information we share and access online, the more difficult it can be for us to tell the difference between what's real and what's fake . 全球的信息都唾手可得, 但似乎我们在网上 接触、分享愈多的信息, 就越难区分 信息的真伪。
fake:n.假货;骗子;假动作;v.捏造;假装…的样子;adj.伪造的;
It's as if we know more but understand less. 我们变得知道越多,懂得却越少。
Now, it's a feature of modern life, I suppose , that large swaths of the public live in isolated information bubbles . 我想,这就是现代生活的 其中一个特色吧, 一堆人活在孤立的信息泡泡里。
suppose:v.推断:假定:假设:设想: swaths:n.细长的列;收割的刈痕;收割的宽度; isolated:adj.偏远的; v.隔离,孤立,脱离; bubbles:n.泡; v.起泡; (bubble的第三人称单数和复数)
We're polarized : not just over values, but over the facts. 我们不仅对价值观有不一样的认知, 对事实的认知也是呈现对立的状况。
polarized:v.(使)两极化,截然对立; (polarize的过去分词和过去式)
One reason for that is, the data analytics that drive the internet get us not just more information, but more of the information that we want. 原因就是主导网路的 数据分析 , 不仅给了我们更多的信息, 还超出了信息本身的范围。
analytics:n.[化学][数]分析学;解析学;
Our online life is personalized; everything from the ads we read to the news that comes down our Facebook feed is tailored to satisfy our preferences . 人们的网络生活是定制的; 我们所浏览的信息,广告, 到脸书塞给我们的新闻, 都是为了满足我们的个人喜好 而经过修改的。
satisfy:vt.满足(要求,需要等):使满意:使确信: preferences:n.偏爱;爱好;喜爱;偏爱的事物;(preference的复数)
And so while we get more information, a lot of that information ends up reflecting ourselves as much as it does reality. 在我们获取更多资讯的同时, 不少信息到最后 会反映出我们自身, 如同反映整个现实一样。
reflecting:v.反映;映出(影像);反射;显示,表明,表达;(reflect的现在分词)
It ends up, I suppose, inflating our bubbles rather than bursting them. 我想,到最后 这些泡泡不但刺不破, 反而越来越大。
inflating:n.充气;加压;v.膨胀;充气(inflate的ing形式);adj.膨胀的;充气的; bursting:adj.充满的;渴望的;v.爆炸;猛然打开;突然开始(burst的现在分词);
And so maybe it's no surprise that we're in a situation, a paradoxical situation, of thinking that we know so much more, and yet not agreeing on what it is we know. 说我们是活在一个 似是而非的世界里, 一点也不令人讶异, 我们懂这么多知识, 但到底懂什么,却看法不一。
paradoxical:adj.矛盾的;诡论的;似非而是的;
So how are we going to solve this problem of knowledge polarization ? 那么要如何解决知识对立的问题？
polarization:n.极化;偏振;两极分化;
One obvious tactic is to try to fix our technology, to redesign our digital platforms , so as to make them less susceptible to polarization. 其中一个很明显的策略是, 试着修复科技, 重新设计我们的数字平台, 以减少看法两极化的现象。
obvious:adj.明显的;显著的;平淡无奇的; tactic:n.策略,战略;adj.按顺序的,依次排列的; redesign:vt.重新设计;n.重新设计;新设计; digital:adj.数字的;手指的;n.数字;键; platforms:n.平台; v.把…放在台上; susceptible:adj.易受影响的;易感动的;容许…的;n.易得病的人;
And I'm happy to report that many smart people at Google and Facebook are working on just that. 我很高兴向各位报告, 谷歌和脸书里优秀的人才 正朝此方向努力。
Google:谷歌;谷歌搜索引擎;
And these projects are vital . 这些研究项目相当重要。
vital:adj.至关重要的;生死攸关的;有活力的;
I think that fixing technology is obviously really important, but I don't think technology alone, fixing it, is going to solve the problem of knowledge polarization. 我认为修复科技显然至关重要, 但我不认为光靠修复科技就能解决 知识对立的问题。
I don't think that because I don't think, at the end of the day, it is a technological problem. 我不这么认为,是因为到头来, 终究不是科技的问题,
technological:adj.技术[工程](上)的;因工艺技术高度发展而引起的;
I think it's a human problem, having to do with how we think and what we value. 而是人的问题, 跟我们如何思考、 和重视的价值有关。
In order to solve it, I think we're going to need help. 为了解决问题, 我们需要各方的协助,
We're going to need help from psychology and political science . 需要心理学与政治科学的辅助。
psychology:n.心理学;心理状态; political science:n.政治学;
But we're also going to need help, I think, from philosophy . 不过我认为, 我们也能从哲学当中获得帮助,
philosophy:n.哲学;哲理;人生观;
Because to solve the problem of knowledge polarization, we're going to need to reconnect with one fundamental , philosophical idea: that we live in a common reality. 因为想要解决认知对立的问题, 我们必须重新思考 一个基本的哲学概念: 我们是活在同一个现实里的。
reconnect:v.使再接合; fundamental:n.基础; adj.十分重大的; philosophical:adj.哲学的(等于philosophic);冷静的;
The idea of a common reality is like, I suppose, a lot of philosophical concepts: easy to state but mysteriously difficult to put into practice . 我觉得活在同一个现实的这个想法 与众多哲学概念类似: 说起来简单, 但做起来却相当困难。
mysteriously:adv.神秘地;故弄玄虚地;难以理解地; put into practice:实行,实施;落实;
To really accept it, 要面对这样的现实,
I think we need to do three things, each of which is a challenge right now. 我们有三件事要做, 目前,每一项都很有挑战性。
First, we need to believe in truth. 首先,我们需要相信真相。
You might have noticed that our culture is having something of a troubled relationship with that concept right now. 大家可能也注意到, 我们的文化对于这样的概念 似乎不太认同。
It seems as if we disagree so much that, as one political commentator put it not long ago, it's as if there are no facts anymore. 就像一位政治评论员不久前所说的, 我们越是不认同对方, 事实就越似不存在一样。
commentator:n.评论员,解说员;实况播音员;时事评论者;
But that thought is actually an expression of a sort of seductive line of argument that's in the air. 但这种想法实际上只是 一种充斥在我们身边、 引人注意的陈述方式而已。
expression:n.表现,表示,表达; seductive:adj.有魅力的;性感的;引人注意的;
It goes like this: we just can't step outside of our own perspectives; we can't step outside of our biases . 有点像是: 我们就是跳脱不出个人的观点, 放不下个人的偏见。
biases:n.偏差,偏见(bias的复数形式);v.偏见(bias的三单形式);
Every time we try, we just get more information from our perspective . 我们每次试着这么做, 只会从个人的观点 产生出更多的信息。
perspective:n.观点;远景;透视图;adj.透视的;
So, this line of thought goes, we might as well admit that objective truth is an illusion , or it doesn't matter, because either we'll never know what it is, or it doesn't exist in the first place . 所以,这样的想法就变成: 我们干脆承认, 客观的事实只是假象, 或者根本不重要, 因为,要么我们无知, 要么就是真相根本就不存在。
might as well:不妨,何妨;还是…的好; objective:n.目标; adj.客观的; illusion:n.幻觉,错觉;错误的观念或信仰; in the first place:首先;起初;
That's not a new philosophical thought -- skepticism about truth. 这不是一个崭兴的哲学思想—— 真相怀疑论。
skepticism:n.怀疑论;怀疑的态度;
During the end of the last century, as some of you know, it was very popular in certain academic circles. 在上世纪末,可能有人知道, 怀疑论在特定学术圈大受欢迎。
academic:adj.学术的;理论的;学院的;n.大学生,大学教师;学者;
But it really goes back all the way to the Greek philosopher Protagoras, if not farther back. 但这要回朔到 希腊哲学家普罗泰戈拉, 应该是他最早提出的。
philosopher:n.哲学家;深思的人;善于思考的人;
Protagoras said that objective truth was an illusion because "man is the measure of all things." 普罗泰戈拉认为, 客观的事实只是假象。 因为 人是丈量万物的准则 。
Man is the measure of all things. 人是丈量万物的准则。
That can seem like a bracing bit of realpolitik to people, or liberating , because it allows each of us to discover or make our own truth. 像是权力政治对人们 灌输的价值观, 深深地烙印在我们身上。 它会让每个人探索或 创造出属于自己的真相。
bracing:n.支撑; adj.令人振奋的; v.绷紧,顶住(brace的现在分词形式); realpolitik:n.现实政治;权力政治;实力政策; liberating:v.解放;使自由;使摆脱约束(或限制);(liberate的现在分词)
But actually, I think it's a bit of self-serving rationalization disguised as philosophy. 但我觉得这其实 就是哲学上所说的—— 把个人的自私合理化 。
self-serving:adj.自私自利的,自私的; rationalization:n.合理化; disguised:v.假扮;装扮;伪装;掩蔽;掩饰(disguise的过去分词和过去式)
It confuses the difficulty of being certain with the impossibility of truth. 它大大地降低了 确认真相的可能性。
confuses:v.使糊涂;使迷惑;(将…)混淆;使更难于理解;(confuse的第三人称单数) impossibility:n.不可能;不可能的事;
Look -- of course it's difficult to be certain about anything; we might all be living in "The Matrix ." 大家想想, 要确认真相的确很困难; 我们可能都活在 《黑客帝国》的世界里。
Matrix:n.[数]矩阵;模型;[生物][地质]基质;母体;子宫;[地质]脉石;
You might have a brain chip in your head feeding you all the wrong information. 你的大脑被植入晶片, 错误的信息被灌输在你的大脑里。
But in practice , we do agree on all sorts of facts. 但实际上,我们却认同 各式各样的事实。
in practice:在实践中;实际上,事实上;
We agree that bullets can kill people. 我们认同子弹能杀人,
bullets:n.子弹;弹丸;(bullet的复数)
We agree that you can't flap your arms and fly. 我们认同人不能 挥挥手臂就飞起来,
flap:n.拍打,拍打声; v.拍动; (帽边等)垂下;
We agree -- or we should -- that there is an external reality and ignoring it can get you hurt. 我们认同--——或我们应该认同—— 外面还有一个“现实世界 , 若你视而不见的话,可能会受伤。
external:n.外部;外观;形式;外部情况;adj.外部的;外面的;外界的;外来的; ignoring:v.忽略,忽视;(ignore的现在分词);
Nonetheless , skepticism about truth can be tempting , because it allows us to rationalize away our own biases. 但怀疑真相会令人着迷, 因为这样可以合理化我们的偏见。
Nonetheless:adv.尽管如此,但是; tempting:adj.吸引人的;诱惑人的;v.引诱;(tempt的现在分词); rationalize:vt.使…合理化;使…有理化;为…找借口;vi.实行合理化;作辩解;合理地思考;
When we do that, we're sort of like the guy in the movie who knew he was living in "The Matrix" 当我们这么做,就像电影中的男主角, 知道他自己活在《黑客帝国》里,
but decided he liked it there, anyway. 但最后却决定留在里面。
After all, getting what you want feels good. 毕竟,得到你想要的 会让你快乐。
Being right all the time feels good. 老觉得自己是对的,让你感觉良好。
So, often it's easier for us to wrap ourselves in our cozy information bubbles, live in bad faith , and take those bubbles as the measure of reality. 所以,对我们来说, 通常这样比较容易: 把自己浸泡在舒适的信息泡泡中, 活在错误的信仰中、 将这些泡泡当作衡量现实的标准。
wrap:v.缠绕;隐藏;掩护;包起来;缠绕;穿外衣;n.外套;围巾; cozy:n.保温罩;v.蒙骗;抚慰;adj.舒适的;安逸的; faith:n.信心;信任;宗教信仰;
An example, I think, of how this bad faith gets into our action is our reaction to the phenomenon of fake news. 举个例子,我们对假新闻事件的反应, 会深深地影响我们的行为。
reaction:n.反应,感应;反动,复古;反作用; phenomenon:n.现象;杰出的人;非凡的人(或事物);
The fake news that spread on the internet during the American presidential election of 2016 was designed to feed into our biases, designed to inflate our bubbles. 在2016美国总统大选期间, 散布于网络上的假新闻 就是被设计用来加深我们的偏见, 膨胀我们的泡泡的。
presidential:adj.总统的;首长的;统辖的; inflate:vt.使充气;使通货膨胀;vi.膨胀;充气;
But what was really striking about it was not just that it fooled so many people. 但真正令人讶异的 不只是假新闻愚弄了许多人,
What was really striking to me about fake news, the phenomenon, is how quickly it itself became the subject of knowledge polarization; so much so, that the very term -- the very term -- "fake news" 真正令我讶异的是, 假新闻现象 很快地成为了认知对立的议题; 结果,＂假新闻＂这个词,
now just means: "news story I don't like." 现在却演变成:＂我讨厌的新闻＂。
That's an example of the bad faith towards the truth that I'm talking about. 这就是我所说的对真相失去信仰的例子。
But the really, I think, dangerous thing about skepticism with regard to truth is that it leads to despotism . 不过我想更危险的是, 对真相的怀疑 会演变成＂专制独裁＂。
despotism:n.专制,独裁;专制政治;
'"Man is the measure of all things" ＂人是丈量万物的准则＂,
inevitably becomes "The Man is the measure of all things." 无可避免地会变成, ＂那个人＂就是丈量万物的准则,
inevitably:adv.不可避免地;必然地;
Just as "every man for himself" 像是＂每个人都能生存＂,
always seems to turn out to be "only the strong survive." 会演变成＂只有强者才能生存＂。
At the end of Orwell's "1984," 在英国作家乔治·欧威尔的小说 《一九八四》的故事结尾,
the thought policeman O'Brien is torturing the protagonist Winston Smith into believing two plus two equals five. 思想警察欧布莱恩虐待主角史密斯, 让主角相信二加二等于五。
torturing:v.拷打;拷问;使痛苦;使苦恼;(torture的现在分词) protagonist:n.主角,主演;主要人物,领导者;
What O'Brien says is the point, is that he wants to convince Smith that whatever the party says is the truth, and the truth is whatever the party says. 欧布莱恩所说的观点在于, 他想说服史密斯相信, 凡是党说的就真相, 真相就是党说了算。
convince:v.使确信;使相信;说服,劝说;
And what O'Brien knows is that once this thought is accepted, critical dissent is impossible. 因为欧布莱恩知道, 一旦这个思想被接受了, 异议者就不可能存在。
critical:adj.鉴定的;[核]临界的;批评的,爱挑剔的;危险的;决定性的;评论的; dissent:vi.不同意;不信奉国教;n.异议;(大写)不信奉国教;
You can't speak truth to power if the power speaks truth by definition . 如果当权者诠释了什么是真相, 你就不能跟当权者说, 什么才是真相。
definition:n.定义;清晰度;(尤指词典里的词或短语的)释义;解释;
I said that in order to accept that we really live in a common reality, we have to do three things. 为了彻底接受我们活在现实里, 必须做三件事情。
The first thing is to believe in truth. 第一就是相信真相,
The second thing can be summed up by the Latin phrase that Kant took as the motto for the Enlightenment : "Sapere aude," 第二,则能用一句拉丁文总结, 康德视之为启蒙时期的座右铭, ＂Sapere aude＂,
summed:v.归纳;总计;总结,概括;(sum的过去分词和过去式) motto:n.座右铭,格言;箴言; Enlightenment:n.启迪;启蒙运动;教化;
or "dare to know." 或是＂勇于求知＂,
Or as Kant wants, "to dare to know for yourself." 或如康德所说的,＂勇于为自己求知＂。
I think in the early days of the internet, a lot of us thought that information technology was always going to make it easier for us to know for ourselves, and of course in many ways, it has. 在网络诞生的早期, 许多人认为 更了解自己。 当然从很多方面来说,确实如此。
early days:初期;为时尚早;前期; information technology:n.信息技术;
But as the internet has become more and more a part of our lives, our reliance on it, our use of it, has become often more passive . 不过,当网络渐渐渗透人们的生活, 让人们更依赖网络, 这会让人们更被动。
reliance:n.信赖;信心;受信赖的人或物; passive:adj.被动的,消极的;被动语态的;n.被动语态;
Much of what we know today we Google-know. 众所周知,如今我们都 使用谷歌查询信息。
We download prepackaged sets of facts and sort of shuffle them along the assembly line of social media. 我们下载事先包装的事实, 并重新在社群媒体上分享。
prepackaged:adj.预先包装好的;v.预先包装(prepackage的过去分词); shuffle:v.洗牌; n.洗牌,洗纸牌; assembly line:na.装配线;
Now, Google-knowing is useful precisely because it involves a sort of intellectual outsourcing . 没错,谷歌搜寻很有用, 这都要归功于谷歌收集了 很多外部的资源。
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) intellectual:n.知识分子;脑力劳动者;adj.智力的;脑力的;理智的;有才智的; outsourcing:n.外包;外购;外部采办;
We offload our effort onto a network of others and algorithms. 我们投入很多精力在 别人的网络与算法当中。
offload:vt.卸下;卸货;adj.卸载的;
And that allows us, of course, to not clutter our minds with all sorts of facts. 当然,它能让我们的脑袋 不被各类事实所淹没。
clutter:n.杂乱;杂乱的东西;v.凌乱地塞满;乱堆放;
We can just download them when we need them. 我们只有在需要这些信息时才会下载,
And that's awesome . 这是很棒的事情。
awesome:adj.令人敬畏的;使人畏惧的;可怕的;极好的;
But there's a difference between downloading a set of facts and really understanding how or why those facts are as they are. 但下载一整套的事实与 透彻辨析这些真相, 两者之间还是有差距的。
Understanding why a particular disease spreads, or how a mathematical proof works, or why your friend is depressed , involves more than just downloading. 了解为何某个疾病会散播, 了解数学验证如何运作, 或了解你的朋友为何忧郁, 其意义都远超过单纯的下载动作。
disease:n.病,[医]疾病;弊病;vt.传染;使…有病; mathematical:adj.数学的,数学上的;精确的; proof:n.证据;证实;adj.能抵御;可防护; depressed:adj.沮丧的; v.使抑郁; (depress的过去式和过去分词)
It's going to require, most likely, doing some work for yourself: having a little creative insight; using your imagination; getting out into the field; doing the experiment; working through the proof; talking to someone. 前者更需要 你自己也要下点功夫, 多一点创造巧思、 运用想像力、 亲身实践、 做点小实验、 引经据典验证、 与人聊聊。
creative:adj.创造性的;
Now, I'm not saying, of course, that we should stop Google-knowing. 当然我不是要大家停止谷歌搜寻,
I'm just saying we shouldn't overvalue it, either. 我是说, 我们不该太看重搜寻结果。
overvalue:vt.对…估价过高;过分重视;
We need to find ways of encouraging forms of knowing that are more active, and don't always involve passing off our effort into our bubble. 我们需设法鼓励更积极的求知方式, 别老是让自己待在信息泡泡里,
Because the thing about Google-knowing is that too often it ends up being bubble-knowing. 因为谷歌知识最后多半变成, 泡泡知识,
And bubble-knowing means always being right. 而泡泡知识总认为自己是对的。
But daring to know, daring to understand, means risking the possibility that you could be wrong. 但是勇于求知, 勇于理解, 意味着你要冒可能搞错的风险,
It means risking the possibility that what you want and what's true are different things. 意味着到头来有可能, 你想知道的事和真相有出入。
Which brings me to the third thing that I think we need to do if we want to accept that we live in a common reality. 这就引出了如果我们想直面现实世界 就必须要做的第三件事。
That third thing is: have a little humility . 那就是谦卑一点,
humility:n.谦卑,谦逊;
By humility here, I mean epistemic humility, which means, in a sense , knowing that you don't know it all. 我指的是知识上的谦卑。 也就是说, 明白你其实不是万事通。
epistemic:adj.知识的;认识的,与认识有关的; in a sense:在某种意义上;
But it also means something more than that. 但这也进一步意味着,
It means seeing your worldview as open to improvement by the evidence and experience of others. 借由佐证与他人交流的经验, 开启你的世界观,且精益求精。
worldview:n.世界观; improvement:n.改进,改善; evidence:n.证据,证明;迹象;明显;v.证明;
Seeing your worldview as open to improvement by the evidence and experience of others. 借由佐证与他人交流的经验, 开启你的世界观,且精益求精。
That's more than just being open to change. 这不只是打开心胸、拥抱改变,
It's more than just being open to self-improvement. 也不只是打开心胸、自我进步,
It means seeing your knowledge as capable of enhancing or being enriched by what others contribute . 而是要明白你个人的知识, 能透过他人的贡献而有所提升。
capable:adj.能干的,能胜任的;有才华的; enhancing:n.优化,增强;暖色加重效果;v.增强(enhance的现在分词); enriched:v.使丰富;使饱含(某物);使富有;(enrich的过去分词和过去式) contribute:v.贡献,出力;投稿;捐献;
That's part of what is involved in recognizing there's a common reality that you, too, are responsible to . 这就是认同现实世界存在 必须经历的一个过程, 而你也要负起责任。
involved:adj.有关的; v.涉及; (involve的过去式和过去分词) recognizing:v.认识;认出;承认;接受,赞成(recognize的现在分词) responsible to:负责;
I don't think it's much of a stretch to say that our society is not particularly great at enhancing or encouraging that sort of humility. 我认为说我们的社会 不擅于提高或鼓励这种谦卑 其实毫不夸张。
stretch:v.伸展;延伸;伸出;舒展;n.伸展;弹性;舒展;一片;adj.有弹力的; particularly:adv.特别地,独特地;详细地,具体地;明确地,细致地;
That's partly because, well, we tend to confuse arrogance and confidence . 部分原因是由于, 我们分不清自大与自信,
arrogance:n.自大;傲慢态度; confidence:n.信心;信任;秘密;adj.(美)诈骗的;骗得信任的;
And it's partly because, well, you know, arrogance is just easier. 有部分是因为, 自大比自信来得容易。
It's just easier to think of yourself as knowing it all. 认为自己是万事通可简单多了,
It's just easier to think of yourself as having it all figured out. 认为自己能了解一切也简单多了。
But that's another example of the bad faith towards the truth that I've been talking about. 但这是我刚才提到 对真相有错误信仰的另一个例子。
So the concept of a common reality, like a lot of philosophical concepts, can seem so obvious, that we can look right past it and forget why it's important. 所以现实世界的概念 与很多哲学概念雷同, 看起来很显眼, 但我们却视而不见, 并忘掉其重要性。
Democracies can't function if their citizens don't strive , at least some of the time, to inhabit a common space, a space where they can pass ideas back and forth when -- and especially when -- they disagree. 人民若不努力,民主就无法运作, 至少有时候是这样, 如果人民不努力 在共有的时空里交流意见, 尤其是, 当大家想法不一致时。
Democracies:民主; strive:v.力求;斗争;反抗;(strive的第三人称单数) inhabit:v.居住在;栖居于; back and forth:前后移动的,来回的,反复的; especially:adv.尤其;特别;格外;十分;
But you can't strive to inhabit that space if you don't already accept that you live in the same reality. 但如果你还没接受, 大家是处在同一个现实里, 你就无法待在那个时空里。
To accept that, we've got to believe in truth, we've got to encourage more active ways of knowing. 想要接受的话, 我们就必须相信真相, 我们必须鼓励更积极的求知方法,
And we've got to have the humility to realize that we're not the measure of all things. 我们同时也必须保持谦卑, 才能认识到我们不是丈量万物的准则。
We may yet one day realize the vision of having the internet in our brains. 也许脑袋里配备网络的想法 会有实现的一天。
vision:n.视力;美景;幻象;想象力;v.想象;显现;梦见;
But if we want that to be liberating and not terrifying , if we want it to expand our understanding and not just our passive knowing, we need to remember that our perspectives , as wondrous , as beautiful as they are, are just that -- perspectives on one reality. 但如果我们想要解放思想, 并无所惧地执行, 如果我们想扩展视野, 不只是被动地汲取知识, 我们就要记住,我们的观点 是如此奇妙、美丽, 只要我们认同—— 我们是活在同一个现实世界里。
terrifying:adj.令人恐惧的;骇人的;极大的;v.使害怕,使恐怖;(terrify的现在分词) expand:v.扩张;使膨胀;详述;发展;张开,展开; perspectives:n.[数]透视,远景,看法;构面;观点展示(perspective的复数形式); wondrous:adj.奇妙的;令人惊奇的;非常的;
Thank you. 谢谢各位！
(Applause) (掌声)