Let's talk about sex - John Bohannon and Black Label Movement

Transcriber: Andrea McDonough Reviewer: Bedirhan Cinar

翻译人员: Qiyun Xing 校对人员: 添翼 徐

Let's talk about the facts of life.

让我们来谈谈人生的事实。

You remember that conversation you had when you were a kid

你是否记得当你还是孩子的时候的对话，

about sex

它们关于性，

or drugs

或者关于毒品，

with your parents or some trusted adult?

你会和家长或其他信得过的大人谈论它们？

Probably not

也许你没有

because it's a myth.

因为这很神秘。

You don't talk to kids about that stuff.

你不会和孩子们讨论这种事情。

It's just so embarrassing.

这太令人尴尬了。

And, hey, maybe that's OK.

但是，你看，也许讨论这种事情也是可以的。

We've been outsourcing the facts of life for decades.

我们把这些生命的实情外包出去很久了。

We spend billions of dollars on it.

我们在这上面花了巨款。

So, why talk to kids when you can just turn on the TV?

所以，如果你只需要打开电视就 可以看见这些东西，为什么要亲口告诉孩子们？

I learned about drugs from an egg and a frying pan:

我从一个鸡蛋和煎锅那儿学到了毒品：

"This is drugs,

“这是毒品，

and this is your brain on drugs.

这是你被毒害的大脑。

Pssssssss.

嗞嗞嗞。

Any questions?"

还有任何问题吗？”

Yeah, actually, I did.

是的，事实上，我有。

But it's not about questions.

但这不是关于疑问，

It's about data.

而是关于数据。

In the 1980's when I was growing up,

在我成长的80年代，

those data were terrifying parents:

这些数据把家长吓坏了：

1% of high school seniors had try heroin,

1%的高三学生试过海洛因，

12% hallucinogens,

12%试过迷幻剂，

12% tranquilizers,

12%试过镇定剂，

17% cocaine,

17%试过可卡因，

26% stimulants,

26%试过兴奋剂，

and over 50% of us had tried marijuana.

超过50%的我的同辈人试过大麻。

It was an epidemic!

这简直是流行病！

At least, that's what they told us.

至少，他们告诉我们是这样的。

And marijuana was the gateway drug, leading to all the harder stuff.

大麻是入门毒品， 由此晋级到所有的硬毒品。

Of course, 92% of us were drinking alcohol,

毕竟，当时92%的同辈人喝酒，

and that was killing more of us than all drugs combined.

酒精造成的死亡 超过所有毒品造成的总和。

But, nevermind, it's legal.

但是，不必介意，这是合法的。

So we declared war on drugs!

所以，我们向毒品宣战！

Nancy Reagan was our general.

南希·里根（美国总统里根的妻子 ——译注）是我们的将领。

All drugs will kill you, so just say, "No!"

所有的毒品都会杀了你， 所以说：“不！”

Just say, "No!" to pot.

对大麻说“不！”

Just say, "No!" to cocaine.

对可卡因说“不！”

Just say, "No!" to everything.

对任何毒品说“不！”

So simple!

多简单！

If you want to save kids,

如果你想要拯救孩子，

you have to scare the hell out of them!

你要吓他们说那些东西都很可怕！

And we spent ridiculous amounts of money doing that.

我们在这上面花了极多的钱。

Soon that war on drugs spread to become a war on sex.

不久，这场指向毒品的战争变成了指向性的战争。

We were pushing abstinence on kids to fight AIDS.

我们强迫孩子们禁欲来对付艾滋。

And when all the data finally came home,

当所有的指标出来之后，

guess what:

猜猜是怎样的：

completely ineffective.

完全无效。

We love big solutions to big problems, don't we?

我们喜欢对大问题大动干戈，不是吗？

What if the facts of life don't work that way?

但如果人生不是这样运转的呢？

What if the experience of having that conversation can't be mass-produced?

如果那种谈话不能批量生产怎么办？

What if it can't be scaled up?

问题的解决程度不是线性增长的怎么办？

Well, that would be very frustrating for everyone in this industry, wouldn't it?

呃，相关产业的所有从业人员都会很沮丧的，不是吗？

And, many of them are really trying to help.

而且，很多人也真的很想帮上忙。

Who, then?

那么谁能帮上忙？

Us.

我们。

We have to talk to kids.

我们必须很孩子们谈。

Openly and honestly.

开放的，诚实的谈谈。

But are we ready to be honest?

但我们准备好表现诚实了吗？

I don't think so.

我不觉得。

We mythologize childhood.

我们神话了童年。

Mine was in Stone Mountain, Georgia,

我的童年在佐治亚州的石山。

a completely typical 1980's American suburb.

一个非常典型的80年代美国郊区。

For the parents, a wholesome paradise of bridge parties and tennis games.

对于家长来说是一个桥牌和网球的天堂。

For us kids, we were all working on a secret research project,

对我们孩子来说，我们都在研究一个秘密课题，

and our laboratory was in the woods after school,

我们的实验室是放学后的小树林。

under the covers during sleep-overs,

借着寄宿的掩护，

really, any opportunity we could take

真的，抓住任何机会去

to peel off our clothes and investigate.

剥掉我们的衣服并检视。

What were these things,

这都是些什么东西，

bodies?

身体部分吗？

What do they do?

它们可以干嘛？

We had to figure them out

我们要弄明白。

and that's childhood.

这就是童年。

It's not just fun and games,

它不仅仅是欢乐和游戏，

it's actually a Manhattan project of nakedness.

这其实是裸体的曼哈顿计划 （二战时期美国的原子弹计划代称——译注）

And then you walk into your first class in middle school,

然后你走进了中学第一节课的课堂，

and the bomb goes off.

然后核弹爆炸了。

You are not just a body any more.

你不仅仅只是一个肉体了。

Oh no, now you are grotesque.

哦不，现在你很奇怪，

That's when the suffering really starts.

这是折磨真正开始的时候。

So, yeah, talk to kids.

所以，是的，和孩子们谈谈。

But if you are not honest about your own experiences first,

但是如果你在你个人的经历上不诚实，

everything you say smells like bullshit.

那你所有的说辞都毫无意义。

Don't worry, you can practice

不要担心，你可以练习。

and you should start by talking to the one kid you definitely know:

你应该从一个你绝对了解的孩子开始：

you.

你自己。

What kind of kid were you?

你曾是一个什么样的孩子？

What troubled you?

什么是困扰着你？

For me, it was age 13.

对我来说，那是在我13岁的时候，

That was the worst year.

这是最糟糕的一年。

I was obsessively curious about sex

我对性有难以抑制的好奇，

and also deeply ashamed by it.

又深深地对此感到羞耻。

It wasn't my only problem, of course, not by a long shot,

当然，长远看来， 这不是我唯一的问题。

but it was the beginning of a downward spiral.

但这是情况急转直下的开端。

And my bad luck was to hit bottom

我的坏运气终于在

while watching "The Wall" by Pink Floyd,

看了平克·弗洛伊德的《迷墙》之后达到了谷底，

which is a bad idea for a miserable 13-year old high on weed.

看这作品对一个吸大麻的13岁悲惨少年来说 真是个坏主意。

So, that night, for whatever reason,

所以，那晚，不管出于什么原因，

it seemed like good idea to shave off my eyebrows,

剃掉眉毛，

and then try to kill myself by swallowing all the pills in the bathroom,

吞掉浴室里所有的药片来自杀似乎挺不错的。

which was not at all fatal,

药片不致死，

but everyone noticed the eyebrows.

但所有人都注意到了我的眉毛。

And that made middle school extra fun.

这让中学时代相当好玩。

So, what was your low point?

那么，你的低谷是什么呢？

And if you could build a time machine to travel back and talk to that kid,

如果你可以造一个时间机器 穿越回去和那个孩子交谈，

what would you say to yourself?

你会对自己说什么呢？

For me, it was easy.

我的话，很简单，

All I really needed was someone to reassure me

我最需要的仅仅是有个人安慰

that somehow I was a normal part of the universe.

告诉我我只是宇宙中的小小分子。

But I didn't feel like I could talk to anyone.

但是我当时觉得我无人可交谈。

And yet weirdly, I fully expected a time traveler

然而奇怪的事，我一直期待一个时间旅行者

to materialize at any time

在任何时候现身

because I was a geek.

因为我是个怪胎。

I didn't know if it would be my unborn son

我不知道时间旅行者会是我还未出生的儿子

or a T-101 cyborg.

或者是一个T-101型号的机械人。

But either one would be awesome!

但是任何一种情况都会很棒！

Hey, it's me, yourself from the future, in the year 2012.

“嘿，是我啊，在2012与你相遇的未来的你自己。”

I have crucial information for you, but not about the future, about the past,

我有一些要紧的事要告诉你， 关于过去而不是关于未来。

a billion years in the past, when this planet was covered with nothing but cells

十亿年前，当地球表面只有一些细胞时，

and all they did was fight, eat, and divide;

这些细胞所做的不过是争斗，进食和分裂；

fight, eat, and divide.

争斗，进食和分裂。

Except for one.

除了一个细胞。

And that's your ancestor.

那个是你的祖先。

This cell enslaved other ones,

这个细胞统治了余下所有细胞，

but master and slave became one.

但是统治者和被统治者合二为一。

And then those cells invented sex,

然后这些细胞创造了性，

and then they invented the first bodies

他们创造了第一批肉体，

with each cell doing a different job,

每个细胞各司其职，

some smelling,

一些四处嗅，

some moving,

一些负责移动，

some eating.

一些只管吃吃吃，

And the job of sex went to a special cell called the gamete.

性的重任落在了一种特殊的细胞——配子身上。

And those bodies became giant.

然后这些细胞变大。

The distance to the next body was vast so they had to swim.

到另一个细胞的距离大到 需要游泳。

Most would be lost and die so they were mass-produced.

许多细胞迷路甚至死亡所以他们被大量生产。

Soon the oceans were a non-stop riot of sex and death

很快这片海洋变成无休止的性和死亡的混乱

until 500 million years ago, when the first beast crawled onto land.

直到5亿年前，当第一只野兽爬上大地。

Land is hard

陆地上生活艰难

because bodies are heavy.

因为它们的身体很重。

And the sun kills gametes.

阳光也能杀死配子。

To keep them safe,

为了保护在身体深处

so deep inside of a body,

的配子安全，

the mother builds a tiny ocean.

母体创造了一小片海洋

Outside are events of unimaginable violence.

隔绝外部无法想象的危险。

Whole new forms of life are being created

新生命正在被创造

only to be wiped away.

也许仅仅昙花一现。

Millions of years are flashing by.

数百万年已经过去，

But in here, it's always the same.

但是在母体的海洋里却毫无波动。

Peace.

平静安详。

Just peace.

非常平静。

Maybe we will never know why,

也许我们永远不会知道，

but of all the possible bodies that have appeared on this planet,

在这个星球上所有可能出现的生命体中，

it was this one,

是这个，

bilaterally symmetric,

两侧对称，

warm-blooded,

恒温的，

bigger than a mouse,

比老鼠大，

smaller than a horse,

比马小，

2 legs, 10 toes,

两条腿，10个指头，

no tail,

没有尾巴，

big brain,

大脑发达，

language,

精通语言，

technology,

掌握科技，

and civilization

rising and falling for thousands of years.

创造了数千年

兴衰的文明。

And here you are,

你，

a 13-year old human

一个13岁的人

perplexed and embarrassed about sex.

对性感到迷惑和尴尬。

That's what I came here to tell you:

我在这想告诉你：

we don't know why sex evolved nor why it persists.

我们不知道为什么性会进化或者延续。

Why don't we just clone ourselves like all life did a billion years ago?

为何我们不像十亿年前的其他生命一样无性繁殖呢？

It's so much more efficient.

无性繁殖更加高效。

We would all have babies, no mates.

我们都会有子嗣却不需要伴侣。

It could be that children who are genetically different from each other are protected from disease.

有可能是因为带有不同基因的孩子更易抵御疾病。

And that is still our best guess.

而这已经是我们最好的猜想了。

So be comforted to know that even in the distant future,

所以放心吧，即使是在遥远的未来，

in the year 2012,

在2012年，

we still don't know what sex is for.

我们依然无法解释性的目的。

It is perplexing.

这很复杂。

You shouldn't be embarrassed by it.

你也不应为此感到尴尬。

Sex is a beautiful puzzle.

性是一个美丽的谜。

And without it, you simply would not be here.

没有性，也就没有你。

By the way,

此外，

be nice to your little sister.

对你的小姊妹好点。

She's your best friend. You'll see.

她是你最好的朋友——你会发现的。