TED演讲 第22期:说服 让利他精神成为你的准则(2)

 Unfortunately, I heard the billionaire Steve Forbes,  不幸的是，我也曾听到亿万富翁史蒂夫?福布斯

on Fox News, saying exactly the same thing, but seriously.  在福克斯新闻这样说过，

He was told about the rise of the ocean,  当谈到海平面上升问题，他义正言辞地说，

and he said, "I find it absurd to change my behavior today for something that will happen in a hundred years."  为一百年后发生的事情而改变自己今天的所作所为，这简直是荒谬的。

So if you don't care for future generations,  既然你不为后代着想，

just go for it.  就随你去吧。

So one of the main challenges of our times is to reconcile three time scales:  当今我们面临的主要挑战是协调三个时间维度的矛盾：

the short term of the economy,  短期的经济发展问题，

the ups and downs of the stock market, the end-of-the-year accounts;  如股市的涨跌，年终审计；

the midterm of the quality of life what is the quality every moment of our life, over 10 years and 20 years? 中期的生活质量问题,未来10年，20年，我们生活的质量如何？

and the long term of the environment.  以及长期的环境问题。

When the environmentalists speak with economists¹,  环境学家和经济学家对话听起来

it's like a schizophrenic dialogue, completely incoherent.  就像是精神分裂患者的对话， 丝毫没有关联。

They don't speak the same language.  他们没有共同语言。

Now, for the last 10 years, I went around the world meeting economists, scientists, neuroscientists, environmentalists,  过去十年，我游遍世界，与经济学家、科学家、 神经学家、环境学家、

philosophers, thinkers in the Himalayas, all over the place.  哲学家和喜马拉雅地区的思想者对话。

It seems to me, there's only one concept that can reconcile those three time scales.  我意识到，只有一个理念能协调那三个时间维度的矛盾，

It is simply having more consideration for others.  即多为他人考虑一些。

If you have more consideration for others, you will have a caring economics,  如果你能为他人多考虑一些， 我们就会拥有彼此关怀的社会，

where finance is at the service of society and not society at the service of finance.  经济发展为社会服务，而不是社会为经济发展服务；

You will not play at the casino with the resources that people have entrusted² you with.  你就不会辜负社会对你的信任，挥霍资源，在赌场寻欢作乐；

If you have more consideration for others,  如果你能为他人多考虑一些，

you will make sure that you remedy inequality,  你就会致力于消除不平等，

that you bring some kind of well-being³ within society,  将善良与恩惠带给社会，

in education, at the workplace.  带给教育，带给工作。

Otherwise, a nation that is the most powerful and the richest but everyone is miserable⁴, what's the point?  否则，国家繁荣而富强，生活却不堪入目，这样有什么意义呢？

And if you have more consideration for others,  如果你能为他人多考虑一些，

you are not going to ransack⁵ that planet that we have and at the current rate, we don't have three planets to continue that way.  你就不会像现在这样掠取地球的资源，没有三个地球供你挥霍。

So the question is,  问题是，

okay, altruism⁶ is the answer, it's not just a novel ideal,  好，答案是利他思想，这并不是一个新概念，

but can it be a real, pragmatic solution?  但利他思想可以转化为真实可行的出路吗？

And first of all, does it exist,  首先要弄明白的是，真正的利他思想存在吗？

true altruism, or are we so selfish?  还是我们都是自私的？

So some philosophers thought we were irredeemably selfish.  有些哲学家认为我们的自私无可救药。

But are we really all just like rascals⁷?  但我们真的就这么像无赖吗？

That's good news, isn't it?  好消息是，不是吗？

Many philosophers, like Hobbes, have said so.  很多哲学家，如霍布斯，给出的答案是：不是。

But not everyone looks like a rascal⁸.  并不是所有人都像无赖。

Or is man a wolf for man?  人对于他人就像豺狼吗？

But this guy doesn't seem too bad.  但这个人看起来不那么坏，

He's one of my friends in Tibet.  他是我在西藏的好朋友，

He's very kind.  他很和善。

So now, we love cooperation.  我要说的是，我们热爱合作。

There's no better joy than working together, is there?  没什么比合作带来更多的幸福感，没错吧？

And then not only humans.  不只是人类。

Then, of course, there's the struggle for life,  当然，生活也有艰辛的一面，

the survival of the fittest, social Darwinism.  适者生存，达尔文主义。

But in evolution, cooperation,though competition exists, of course cooperation has to be much more creative to go to increased levels of complexity⁹.  但在进化的过程中，合作,尽管竞争存在，没有疑问,合作对于生命的复杂演变发挥了更大的作用。

We are super-cooperators and we should even go further.  人类是伟大的合作者， 而且我们要进一步加强合作。

So now, on top of that, the quality of human relationships.  这其中最重要的是人类彼此关系的质量。

The OECD did a survey among 10 factors, including income, everything.  OECD曾做过一个调查， 列举了十个因素，如收入等等。

The first one that people said, that's the main thing for my happiness,  调查显示，影响幸福感的首要因素，

is quality of social relationships.  是社会关系的质量。

Not only in humans.  不仅仅是人类社会关系。

And look at those great-grandmothers.  再看看这些曾祖母们吧。

So now, this idea that if we go deep within,  剖析地够深就会发现

we are irredeemably selfish,  人类是无可救药的自私，

this is armchair science.  这种说法是空穴来风，

There is not a single sociological study,  没有任何一个社会学

psychological study, that's ever shown that.  或心理学研究支持这种说法。

Rather, the opposite.  事实是相反。

1 economists   

n.经济学家，经济专家( economist的名词复数 )

参考例句：

• The sudden rise in share prices has confounded economists. 股价的突然上涨使经济学家大惑不解。
• Foreign bankers and economists cautiously welcomed the minister's initiative. 外国银行家和经济学家对部长的倡议反应谨慎。 来自《简明英汉词典》

2 entrusted   

v.委托，托付( entrust的过去式和过去分词 )

参考例句：

• He entrusted the task to his nephew. 他把这任务托付给了他的侄儿。
• She was entrusted with the direction of the project. 她受委托负责这项计划。 来自《简明英汉词典》

3 well-being   

n.安康，安乐，幸福

参考例句：

• He always has the well-being of the masses at heart.他总是把群众的疾苦挂在心上。
• My concern for their well-being was misunderstood as interference.我关心他们的幸福，却被误解为多管闲事。

4 miserable   

adj.悲惨的，痛苦的；可怜的，糟糕的

参考例句：

• It was miserable of you to make fun of him.你取笑他，这是可耻的。
• Her past life was miserable.她过去的生活很苦。

5 ransack   

v.彻底搜索，洗劫

参考例句：

• He began to ransack his mother's workbox for a piece of thread.他要找一根线,开始翻腾妈妈的针线盒。
• She ransack my apartment for the bankbook.她在我公寓里到处搜索寻找存折。

6 altruism   

n.利他主义，不自私

参考例句：

• An important feature of moral behaviour is altruism.道德行为一个重要特点就是利他主义。
• Altruism is crucial for social cohesion.利他主义对社会的凝聚是至关重要的。

7 rascals   

流氓( rascal的名词复数 )； 无赖； （开玩笑说法）淘气的人（尤指小孩）； 恶作剧的人

参考例句：

• "Oh, but I like rascals. "唔，不过我喜欢流氓。
• "They're all second-raters, black sheep, rascals. "他们都是二流人物，是流氓，是恶棍。

8 rascal   

n.流氓；不诚实的人

参考例句：

• If he had done otherwise,I should have thought him a rascal.如果他不这样做，我就认为他是个恶棍。
• The rascal was frightened into holding his tongue.这坏蛋吓得不敢往下说了。

9 complexity   

n.复杂(性)，复杂的事物

参考例句：

• Only now did he understand the full complexity of the problem.直到现在他才明白这一问题的全部复杂性。
• The complexity of the road map puzzled me.错综复杂的公路图把我搞糊涂了。