How to recognize a dystopia - Alex Gendler

5,174,252 views ・ 2016-11-15

TED-Ed


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翻译人员: Silas Lee 校对人员: Kai Ma
00:06
Have you ever tried to picture an ideal world?
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你曾尝试想象过一个理想的世界吗?
00:09
One without war, poverty, or crime?
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一个没有战争,贫穷,和犯罪的世界?
00:12
If so, you're not alone.
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如果有,那你并不是一个人
00:14
Plato imagined an enlightened republic ruled by philosopher kings,
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柏拉图想象了一个由顶尖哲学家统治的开化的共和国
00:19
many religions promise bliss in the afterlife,
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许多宗教都期望来世的极乐
00:22
and throughout history,
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并且纵观整个历史,
00:23
various groups have tried to build paradise on Earth.
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许多群体都曾尝试在地球上创建天堂
00:27
Thomas More's 1516 book "Utopia" gave this concept a name,
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托马斯·莫尔在1516年出版的书《乌托邦》 给了这个概念一个名字
00:32
Greek for "no place."
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希腊语指”没有地方“
00:35
Though the name suggested impossibility,
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虽然这个名字暗指了不可能性
00:37
modern scientific and political progress
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但现代科学和政治的进步
00:40
raised hopes of these dreams finally becoming reality.
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使实现这些梦想的希望最终变得现实
00:44
But time and time again, they instead turned into nightmares
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但是一次又一次,它们相反地变成了
00:48
of war, famine, and oppression.
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战争,饥荒和压迫的噩梦
00:50
And as artists began to question utopian thinking,
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并且当艺术家们开始质疑乌托邦的想法时
00:53
the genre of dystopia, the not good place, was born.
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反乌托邦题材--“不好的地方”应运而生
00:58
One of the earliest dystopian works is Jonathan Swift's "Gulliver's Travels."
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乔纳森·斯威夫特的《格列佛游记》 是最早的反乌托邦题材作品之一
01:03
Throughout his journey, Gulliver encounters fictional societies,
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在他的整个旅行过程中,格列佛偶遇了一些虚构的社会
01:06
some of which at first seem impressive, but turn out to be seriously flawed.
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其中有一些起初看起来是使人敬畏的, 但结果却是有严重缺陷的社会
01:11
On the flying island of Laputa,
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在格列佛游记中
01:13
scientists and social planners pursue extravagant and useless schemes
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科学家和社会规划师追寻夸张和无用的计划
01:18
while neglecting the practical needs of the people below.
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而忽视下层人的实际需要
01:22
And the Houyhnhnm who live in perfectly logical harmony
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同时生活在完全合理的和谐中的Houyhnhnm人
01:25
have no tolerance for the imperfections of actual human beings.
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一点也不能忍受人类的缺陷
01:30
With his novel, Swift established a blueprint for dystopia,
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在他的小说中,斯威夫特为反乌托邦构建了一个蓝图
01:33
imagining a world where certain trends in contemporary society
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他想象了一个世界,在这个世界中
01:37
are taken to extremes,
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存在在当代社会的某些趋势走向了极端
01:38
exposing their underlying flaws.
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暴露出了它们潜在的问题
01:42
And the next few centuries would provide plenty of material.
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并且接下来的几个世纪里将会生产大量物资
01:46
Industrial technology that promised to free laborers
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工业技术的进步预示着体力劳动者的解放
01:50
imprisoned them in slums and factories, instead,
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取而代之的却是被关押在贫民窟和工厂
01:54
while tycoons grew richer than kings.
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而与此同时巨头们变得比国王更富有
01:57
By the late 1800's, many feared where such conditions might lead.
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到了19世纪末期 许多人开始担忧这种状况可能成为现实
02:02
H. G. Wells's "The Time Machine" imagined upper classes and workers
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赫伯特·乔治·威尔斯在《时间机器》中 想象上层社会和工人
02:06
evolving into separate species,
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逐步进化成不同的人种
02:09
while Jack London's "The Iron Heel" portrayed a tyrannical oligarchy
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同时杰克·伦敦的《铁蹄》 描绘了一个残暴的寡头政治
02:13
ruling over impoverished masses.
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统治着贫穷的劳动阶层
02:17
The new century brought more exciting and terrifying changes.
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新的世纪带来了更多令人既兴奋又恐惧的变化
02:22
Medical advances made it possible to transcend biological limits
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医疗的进步使跨越生物界限成为可能
02:26
while mass media allowed instant communication
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同时大众传媒使领导者和公众之间的
02:29
between leaders and the public.
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及时交流成为可能
02:31
In Aldous Huxley's "Brave New World", citizens are genetically engineered
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在阿道司·赫胥黎的《美丽新世界》 每个公民的基因都是被设计过的
02:36
and conditioned to perform their social roles.
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并根据社会角色接受相应的训练
02:39
While propaganda and drugs keep the society happy,
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政府宣传和药品让他们保持愉悦
02:42
it's clear some crucial human element is lost.
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显而易见的是 这些人被剥夺了人类最基本的特征
02:46
But the best known dystopias were not imaginary at all.
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但是众所周知的反乌托邦并不是虚幻的
02:52
As Europe suffered unprecedented industrial warfare,
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就像欧洲经历了空前的工业革命
02:55
new political movements took power.
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新的政治运动取得了统治权
02:57
Some promised to erase all social distinctions,
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一些承诺要消除所有的社会差别
03:01
while others sought to unite people around a mythical heritage.
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另一些则试图用一些虚构的事物 将人们团结起来
03:04
The results were real-world dystopias
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导致的结果就是真实世界的反乌托邦
03:07
where life passed under the watchful eye of the State
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人们一生都活在监视下
03:11
and death came with ruthless efficiency to any who didn't belong.
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不遵守规则的人将会被无情地处死
03:16
Many writers of the time didn't just observe these horrors,
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在那个时代,作家们不仅仅是发现了这些恐惧
03:19
but lived through them.
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还经历了它们
03:22
In his novel "We", Soviet writer Yevgeny Zamyatin described a future
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苏联作家叶夫根尼·萨米尔钦在他的小说《我们》中
03:26
where free will and individuality were eliminated.
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描述了一个自由意志和个体特征都被消灭了的未来
03:30
Banned in the U.S.S.R., the book inspired authors like George Orwell
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尽管苏联将它列为禁书 它仍鼓舞了一些作家
03:34
who fought on the front lines against both fascism and communism.
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比如奋斗在共产主义 和反法西斯主义前线的乔治·奥威尔
03:39
While his novel "Animal Farm" directly mocked the Soviet regime,
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他的小说《动物农场》直接嘲讽了苏维埃政权
03:43
the classic "1984" was a broader critique of totalitarianism, media, and language.
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经典的《1984》则是对 集权主义、媒体、和语言更广泛的批判
03:50
And in the U.S.A., Sinclair Lewis's "It Can't Happen Here"
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并且在美国,辛克莱·刘易斯的《不会发生在这里》
03:54
envisioned how easily democracy gave way to fascism.
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想象了民主政体被法西斯取代是多么容易
03:59
In the decades after World War II,
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在二战后的几十年里
04:01
writers wondered what new technologies
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作家们想知道新科技
04:03
like atomic energy, artificial intelligence, and space travel
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比如原子能,人工智能,太空旅行
04:06
meant for humanity's future.
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将对人类的未来产生怎样的影响
04:09
Contrasting with popular visions of shining progress,
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与广为流传的、赞美科学进步的观点相比
04:12
dystopian science fiction expanded to films, comics, and games.
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反乌托邦科学小说拓展到了电影,喜剧,和游戏
04:18
Robots turned against their creators
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机器人们转向反抗他们的制造者
04:21
while TV screens broadcast deadly mass entertainment.
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与此同时电视上播放着乏味的大众娱乐
04:25
Workers toiled in space colonies above an Earth of depleted resources
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工人们在太空殖民地辛勤工作
04:30
and overpopulated, crime-plagued cities.
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它在资源耗尽,人口过多, 犯罪侵扰城市的地球上空
04:34
Yet politics was never far away.
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然而政治从未消失
04:36
Works like "Dr. Strangelove" and "Watchmen" explored the real threat of nuclear war,
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像《奇爱博士》和《守望者》这样的作品 探究了核战争带来的真正威胁
04:42
while "V for Vendetta" and "The Handmaid's Tale"
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同时《V字仇杀队》和《女仆的故事》
04:44
warned how easily our rights could disappear in a crisis.
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告诫了在危机中我们的权利多么容易丧失
04:49
And today's dystopian fiction continues to reflect modern anxieties
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现今的反乌托邦小说继续反映着当代的焦虑
04:53
about inequality,
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关于不平等
04:54
climate change,
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气候变化
04:55
government power,
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政府权力
04:56
and global epidemics.
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和全球性的流行病
04:58
So why bother with all this pessimism?
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那么他们为什么会想象出如此悲观的世界呢?
05:01
Because at their heart, dystopias are cautionary tales,
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因为在他们心中,反乌托邦的作品都是警示故事
05:04
not about some particular government or technology,
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不是关于一些特定的政府,或技术
05:08
but the very idea that humanity can be molded into an ideal shape.
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而是人类可以被塑造成一个理想的模型这个观点
05:14
Think back to the perfect world you imagined.
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回忆一下你想象中的完美世界
05:17
Did you also imagine what it would take to achieve?
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你思考过要怎么样才能实现吗?
05:20
How would you make people cooperate?
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你怎样让人们合作?
05:24
And how would you make sure it lasted?
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还有你将如何确保它延续下去
05:28
Now take another look.
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现在再想想
05:30
Does that world still seem perfect?
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那个世界依旧看起来完美吗?
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