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

咱們來談談性 - John Bohannon 與 Black Label Movement

Transcriber: Andrea McDonough Reviewer: Bedirhan Cinar

譯者: Jephian Lin 審譯者: Coco Shen

Let's talk about the facts of life.

咱們來談談一些人生中的事實。

You remember that conversation you had when you were a kid

你還記得你小時候的對話嗎？

about sex

關於性、

or drugs

或是毒品，

with your parents or some trusted adult?

和你的爸媽或是 其它信得過的大人談的。

Probably not

也許不記得，

because it's a myth.

因為那是個神話。

You don't talk to kids about that stuff.

你不會和小孩談到這些。

It's just so embarrassing.

因為這很害羞。

And, hey, maybe that's OK.

然而，也許這件事情不難。

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

我們已經將這種事委外教育好幾十年了。

We spend billions of dollars on it.

我們在它身上花了幾十億元。

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

你可以要他們看電視就好， 而為什麼要用談的？

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

我是從雞蛋和平底鍋裡 學習毒品的：

"This is drugs,

「這是毒品，

and this is your brain on drugs.

而這是你的大腦 碰到毒品的時候。

Pssssssss.

嘶嘶。

Any questions?"

還有問題嗎？」

Yeah, actually, I did.

對，我的確有問題。

But it's not about questions.

但這無關於問題。

It's about data.

而是關於數據。

In the 1980's when I was growing up,

在 1980 年代，當我正在成長時

those data were terrifying parents:

這些數據嚇壞了家長們：

1% of high school seniors had try heroin,

1% 的高中生試過海洛因，

12% hallucinogens,

12% 試過迷幻藥，

12% tranquilizers,

12% 試過鎮定劑，

17% cocaine,

17% 試過古柯鹼，

26% stimulants,

26% 試過興奮劑，

and over 50% of us had tried marijuana.

而我們之中超過 50% 的人吸過大麻。

It was an epidemic!

它就像瘟疫一樣傳開！

At least, that's what they told us.

至少，父母是這麼告訴我們的。

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

而大麻是入門毒品， 可以延續到所有更強的藥品。

Of course, 92% of us were drinking alcohol,

當然，92% 的人喝過酒，

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

它造成的死亡人數 比所有毒品合起來還要多。

But, nevermind, it's legal.

但不重要，它是合法的。

So we declared war on drugs!

所以我們對毒品宣戰！

Nancy Reagan was our general.

南茜．雷根是我們的統帥。 （譯註：Nancy Reagan 是雷根總統之妻。）

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

所有毒品都會致你於死地， 說「不」就對了。

Just say, "No!" to pot.

向大麻說「不」就對了。

Just say, "No!" to cocaine.

向古柯鹼說「不」就對了。

Just say, "No!" to everything.

所有事都說「不」就對了。

So simple!

如此簡單！

If you want to save kids,

如果你想要拯救你的孩子，

you have to scare the hell out of them!

你必須把他們嚇個半死！

And we spent ridiculous amounts of money doing that.

而我們花了一筆多到荒謬的金錢 來這麼做。

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

很快地，對毒品的戰爭擴展為 對性的戰爭。

We were pushing abstinence on kids to fight AIDS.

我們要孩子禁慾來防範愛滋病。

And when all the data finally came home,

最後所有數據出來了，

guess what:

猜猜看怎麼了：

completely ineffective.

完全沒有效。

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

我們喜歡用大的解決方案 來面對大的問題，對吧？

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

如果人生的事實不吃這套呢？

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

如果這種對話的經驗 是無法複製的呢？

What if it can't be scaled up?

如果它就是無法像工廠一樣提高產量呢？

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

那麼，這產業內的所有人 都會非常失望，對吧？

And, many of them are really trying to help.

但其中有些人是真心想幫忙。

Who, then?

誰呢？

Us.

我們。

We have to talk to kids.

我們必須跟小孩對話。

Openly and honestly.

誠實地敞開心胸。

But are we ready to be honest?

但我們準備好說實話了嗎？

I don't think so.

我不這麼認為。

We mythologize childhood.

我們把童年給神話了。

Mine was in Stone Mountain, Georgia,

我的童年發生在喬治亞州的石頭山 （Stone Mountain），

a completely typical 1980's American suburb.

完全是美國 80 年代的典型郊區。

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

對父母來說，是一個 橋牌與網球的天堂。

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

對小孩來說，我們當時 都在進行一向秘密研究，

and our laboratory was in the woods after school,

我們的實驗室是放學後的森林、

under the covers during sleep-overs,

或是在睡衣派對的掩護下，

really, any opportunity we could take

真的，任何我們可以用來

to peel off our clothes and investigate.

脫掉衣服並探索身體的機會。

What were these things,

這些東西是什麼？

bodies?

身體嗎？

What do they do?

它們如何運作？

We had to figure them out

我們必須找出答案，

and that's childhood.

這就是童年。

It's not just fun and games,

這並不是娛樂或是遊戲，

it's actually a Manhattan project of nakedness.

這根本就是曼哈頓計畫的裸體版。

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

你走進你中學的第一間教室，

and the bomb goes off.

然後炸彈就爆炸了。

You are not just a body any more.

你不再只是一個軀體。

Oh no, now you are grotesque.

噢不，你現在怪誕不經。

That's when the suffering really starts.

而這只是悲劇的開始。

So, yeah, talk to kids.

所以，和小孩談談吧。

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

但如果你先對 你自己的經歷不誠實的話，

everything you say smells like bullshit.

你說的所有事聽起來就像是胡扯。

Don't worry, you can practice

別擔心，你可以練習

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

而且你應該先和 你熟悉的那個孩子談談

you.

──你自己。

What kind of kid were you?

你是什麼樣的小孩？

What troubled you?

你的困擾是什麼？

For me, it was age 13.

對我來說，是在十三歲的時候。

That was the worst year.

那是最糟的一年。

I was obsessively curious about sex

我對於性 著魔地好奇，

and also deeply ashamed by it.

同時也對它感到無比羞愧。

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

這當然不只是我自己的問題， 一點也不，

but it was the beginning of a downward spiral.

但這正是向下沉淪的開始。

And my bad luck was to hit bottom

而當我看到平克．佛洛伊德（Pink Floyd）的 《迷牆》（The Wall）的時候

while watching "The Wall" by Pink Floyd,

我的不幸正掉到谷底，

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

這對一個十三歲染上毒癮的高中生來說 不是個好主意。

So, that night, for whatever reason,

所以那晚， 不管原因是什麼，

it seemed like good idea to shave off my eyebrows,

我覺得剃掉我的眉毛 似乎是個好主意，

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

然後呑下所有在浴室的藥丸，

which was not at all fatal,

雖然那數量一點也不致命，

but everyone noticed the eyebrows.

但每個人都注意到我的眉毛了。

And that made middle school extra fun.

這讓我的中學經驗增色不少。

So, what was your low point?

所以，你的低潮在哪？

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

如果你有一架時光機， 能回到過去和他談談，

what would you say to yourself?

你會和你自己說些什麼？

For me, it was easy.

對我來說很簡單。

All I really needed was someone to reassure me

我只是需要有人可以保證

that somehow I was a normal part of the universe.

我是這宇宙中正常的一份子。

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

但當時我沒有任何人可以談。

And yet weirdly, I fully expected a time traveler

然而很奇怪地，

to materialize at any time

我一直都期待時光機會隨時出現

because I was a geek.

因為我是個怪胎。

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

我並不知道出現的會是 我還沒出生的兒子、

or a T-101 cyborg.

還是 T-101 生化人。 （譯註：魔鬼終結者。）

But either one would be awesome!

但不管是哪個都酷斃了！

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

嘿，是我，就是未來 2012 年的你。

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

我有重要的消息要跟你說， 但不是關於未來，而是關於過去，

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

十億年前的過去， 這星球還只有細胞生物的時候，

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

它們每天所做的不外乎就是 競爭、進食、還有分裂；

fight, eat, and divide.

競爭、進食、還有分裂。

Except for one.

除了一位。

And that's your ancestor.

那就是你的祖先。

This cell enslaved other ones,

這個細胞奴役其它細胞，

but master and slave became one.

但主人和奴隸合而為一。

And then those cells invented sex,

接著這群細胞發明了性，

and then they invented the first bodies

然後發明了第一具身體，

with each cell doing a different job,

身上每個細胞都負責不同的工作，

some smelling,

有些負責嗅覺、

some moving,

有些負責移動、

some eating.

有些負責進食。

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

而性的這個工作 落到叫做配子的細胞身上。

And those bodies became giant.

而這身體漸漸變大。

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

要到另一個身體的距離大到 它們必須游泳。

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

大部份的會迷路或死亡， 所以它們被大量製造。

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

很快地這片海洋變成 無止盡的性與死亡的暴亂，

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

一直到五千萬年前， 第一隻野獸爬上陸地時才停止。

Land is hard

因為身體很重，

because bodies are heavy.

陸地的生活變得艱困。

And the sun kills gametes.

而太陽殺死了配子。

To keep them safe,

為了讓它們活下來，

so deep inside of a body,

在身體深處，

the mother builds a tiny ocean.

母體建立了一片小海洋。

Outside are events of unimaginable violence.

外界是滿滿無法想像的狂風暴雨。

Whole new forms of life are being created

全新的生命形態被創造出來，

only to be wiped away.

但只有被滅絕一途。

Millions of years are flashing by.

幾百萬年匆匆流逝。

But in here, it's always the same.

但在這裡面，總是一樣。

Peace.

寧靜。

Just peace.

就是寧靜。

Maybe we will never know why,

也許我們永遠不會知道原因，

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

但這星球上所有可能出現的個體中，

it was this one,

就是這位，

bilaterally symmetric,

左右對稱、

warm-blooded,

帶有體溫、

bigger than a mouse,

比老鼠大、

smaller than a horse,

比馬小、

2 legs, 10 toes,

兩隻腳、十隻手指、

no tail,

沒有尾巴、

big brain,

大的大腦、

language,

有語言、

technology,

有科技、

and civilization

rising and falling for thousands of years.

還有幾千年以來

盛衰興亡的文明。

And here you are,

而這就是你，

a 13-year old human

一位十三歲的人類，

perplexed and embarrassed about sex.

對於性感到困惑及羞恥。

That's what I came here to tell you:

這是為什麼我要來到這並告訴你：

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

我們不知道性為什麼會發展 也不知道為什麼它一直存在。

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

為什麼我們不要像 幾十億年前的生物一樣，複製就好？

It's so much more efficient.

那有效率多了。

We would all have babies, no mates.

我們全都會有孩子， 但沒有伴侶。

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

也許是孩子身上基因的不同 可以避免疾病的侵害。

And that is still our best guess.

這仍然是我們最合理的猜測。

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

所以你安心吧， 就算在遙遠的未來，

in the year 2012,

2012 年，

we still don't know what sex is for.

我們仍然不知道性是做什麼用的。

It is perplexing.

它令人迷惑。

You shouldn't be embarrassed by it.

你不應該為此感到羞恥。

Sex is a beautiful puzzle.

性是個美麗的謎。

And without it, you simply would not be here.

如果沒有它，你根本不會在這。

By the way,

順帶一提，

be nice to your little sister.

善待你的妹妹。

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

你會發現，她是你最要好的朋友。