Jonathan Haidt: Religion, evolution, and the ecstasy of self-transcendence

翻译人员: yan wang 校对人员: Xiaoqiao Xie

I have a question for you:

我有一个问题问下在坐的各位

Are you religious?

你们有宗教信仰吗？

Please raise your hand right now

请你们举下手

if you think of yourself as a religious person.

如果你认为自己有宗教信仰

Let's see, I'd say about three or four percent.

让我看下。大概有百分之三或四的人

I had no idea there were so many believers at a TED Conference.

我没料到在TED大会上居然有这么多信教者

(Laughter)

观众大笑

Okay, here's another question:

这里还有一个问题

Do you think of yourself as spiritual

你们认为自己有精神个体么？

in any way, shape or form? Raise your hand.

任何种类，任何形式的。请举手

Okay, that's the majority.

好的，这次是绝大多数

My Talk today

我今天演讲的主题就是关于这个问题

is about the main reason, or one of the main reasons,

的主要原因，或者说是主要原因之一

why most people consider themselves

就是为什么大多数人认为

to be spiritual in some way, shape or form.

自己在某些形式上是超越物质的精神个体

My Talk today is about self-transcendence.

因此，我今天演讲的主题就是关于自我超越

It's just a basic fact about being human

这是一个人类最基本的事实

that sometimes the self seems to just melt away.

就是有的时候自我意识似乎消失

And when that happens,

当这种感觉发生的时候

the feeling is ecstatic

这种感觉就是忘我的欣喜的境界

and we reach for metaphors of up and down

我们还可以用“上升和下降”作比喻

to explain these feelings.

来解释这些感觉

We talk about being uplifted

我们所说的是一种上升的感觉

or elevated.

或者说是被提升

Now it's really hard to think about anything abstract like this

现在如果去思考这些抽象的东西对你们来说可能很难

without a good concrete metaphor.

尤其没有一个很好的具体的比喻

So here's the metaphor I'm offering today.

那么今天就让我给大家作个比喻

Think about the mind as being like a house with many rooms,

把思维想像成一栋有很多房间的房子

most of which we're very familiar with.

大多数房间我们都很熟悉

But sometimes it's as though a doorway appears

但是有时候突然有一个门出现

from out of nowhere

不知从哪儿冒出来的

and it opens onto a staircase.

打开门在你面前的是一排楼梯

We climb the staircase

我们走上楼梯

and experience a state of altered consciousness.

并且经历一种意识被改变的过程

In 1902,

1902年

the great American psychologist William James

伟大的美国心理学家威廉·詹姆斯

wrote about the many varieties of religious experience.

写了很多各种不同的宗教信仰里的实践体验

He collected all kinds of case studies.

他搜集了各种案例

He quoted the words of all kinds of people

并引用了不同人的言语

who'd had a variety of these experiences.

那些有不同信仰经历的人的言语

One of the most exciting to me

其中最令我兴奋的是

is this young man, Stephen Bradley,

有一个名叫史蒂芬·柏圣文的年轻男子

had an encounter, he thought, with Jesus in 1820.

他说他在1820年邂逅了耶稣

And here's what Bradley said about it.

以下是柏圣文所说的话

(Music)

（音乐响起）

(Video) Stephen Bradley: I thought I saw the savior in human shape

（视频）史蒂芬·柏圣文说：我想我看到了救世主， 以人的形式展现出来

for about one second in the room,

大概在我房间呆了有一秒左右

with arms extended,

张开双臂

appearing to say to me, "Come."

似乎对我说："来吧"

The next day I rejoiced with trembling.

第二天我欢呼雀跃

My happiness was so great that I said I wanted to die.

我感到无比幸福以至于我说我愿意去死

This world had no place in my affections.

这个世界没有我感情可寄托的地方

Previous to this time,

在这段时间之前

I was very selfish and self-righteous.

我非常自私并且自以为是

But now I desired the welfare of all mankind

但是我现在渴望整个人类的幸福安康

and could, with a feeling heart,

而且希望怀着一颗赤忱的心

forgive my worst enemies.

去原谅我最讨厌的敌人

JH: So note

乔纳森·海特：所以我们不难发现

how Bradley's petty, moralistic self

柏圣文自己的道德观念

just dies on the way up the staircase.

是如何在爬上这个楼梯的过程中而消失的

And on this higher level

在这个较高的精神层次中

he becomes loving and forgiving.

他变得怀有仁爱和宽恕之心

The world's many religions have found so many ways

世界上的很多宗教信仰都找到了很多种

to help people climb the staircase.

帮助人们爬上楼梯的方法

Some shut down the self using meditation.

有些人用沉思冥想来忘掉自己

Others use psychedelic drugs.

有些人用迷幻药

This is from a 16th century Aztec scroll

这个是来自于16世纪的阿兹台克滚动

showing a man about to eat a psilocybin mushroom

这里正描述了一个男子在吃裸盖草菇（一种能引起幻觉的蘑菇）

and at the same moment get yanked up the staircase by a god.

与此同时， 他被上帝猛拉着上楼

Others use dancing, spinning and circling

其他人用跳舞，旋转的方式

to promote self-transcendence.

来提升自我超越的能力

But you don't need a religion to get you through the staircase.

但是你并不一定要依靠某个宗教信仰来帮你爬上楼梯

Lots of people find self-transcendence in nature.

很多人在大自然中找到了自我超越的方法

Others overcome their self at raves.

其他人在欢快热舞中找寻自我超越

But here's the weirdest place of all:

但是有一个最为奇怪的地方就是

war.

在战争中

So many books about war say the same thing,

很多有关战争的书籍都提到过同样一件事情

that nothing brings people together

那就是没有任何东西可以像战争一样

like war.

把人们紧密联系在一起。

And that bringing them together opens up the possibility

而这把人们聚集到一起的力量也开启了一种

of extraordinary self-transcendent experiences.

一种非比寻常的自我超越的经历的可能性

I'm going to play for you an excerpt

我给你们放一段视频

from this book by Glenn Gray.

来自格伦·格雷的一本书

Gray was a soldier in the American army in World War II.

格雷是在二战中服役于美国军队的一名士兵

And after the war he interviewed a lot of other soldiers

在战争后，他采访了很多其他士兵

and wrote about the experience of men in battle.

并且写了一本书关于士兵们的所见所闻

Here's a key passage

视频中有一段重要的段落

where he basically describes the staircase.

就是描述这样的楼梯

(Video) Glenn Gray: Many veterans will admit

（视频）格伦·格雷：很多退伍军人会承认

that the experience of communal effort in battle

这种在战役中共同奋斗的经历

has been the high point of their lives.

已经成为他们生活中的重要一部分

"I" passes insensibly into a "we,"

“我”不知不觉地变成了“我们”

"my" becomes "our"

”我的"变成了"我们的"

and individual faith

并且个人信仰

loses its central importance.

也失去了它的核心重要性

I believe that it is nothing less

我相信这完全不亚于

than the assurance of immortality

对永生的信心

that makes self-sacrifice at these moments

而这种信心使自我牺牲在这些场合下

so relatively easy.

变得相对容易

I may fall, but I do not die,

我可以倒下，但不能被毁灭

for that which is real in me goes forward

因为我要继续向前

and lives on in the comrades

并且活在战友们的心中

for whom I gave up my life.

为了他们我牺牲了自己

JH: So what all of these cases have in common

乔纳森·海特：所有这些例子的共同特点就是

is that the self seems to thin out, or melt away,

"自我"这个概念似乎淡化了或者消失了

and it feels good, it feels really good,

而这种感觉很好， 真得很好

in a way totally unlike anything we feel in our normal lives.

完全不同于我们在普通生活中所经历的感觉

It feels somehow uplifting.

你感觉被提升了

This idea that we move up was central in the writing

这种精神上的升华也是

of the great French sociologist Emile Durkheim.

伟大法国社会学家爱米尔·涂尔干的核心内容

Durkheim even called us Homo duplex,

涂尔干又称之为人的双重性

or two-level man.

或是人的双层性

The lower level he called the level of the profane.

他把比较低的一个层次称为世俗层

Now profane is the opposite of sacred.

世俗是神圣的反义词

It just means ordinary or common.

它意味着普通或者平凡

And in our ordinary lives we exist as individuals.

在我们的平常生活中我们以个体存在

We want to satisfy our individual desires.

我们想满足我们的各种个人欲望

We pursue our individual goals.

我们追寻我们的个人目标

But sometimes something happens

但是有时候有些事情发生了

that triggers a phase change.

从而引发了升级

Individuals unite

个体团结起来

into a team, a movement or a nation,

成为一个团队，一个运动团体或者一个国家

which is far more than the sum of its parts.

这种组织的力量远远超过这些个体的总和

Durkheim called this level the level of the sacred

涂尔干称这种层面是神圣的层面

because he believed that the function of religion

因为他相信宗教的功能

was to unite people into a group,

就是团结人们成为一个团体

into a moral community.

成为一个精神上高度统一的团体

Durkheim believed that anything that unites us

涂尔干认为任何使我们团结在一起的东西

takes on an air of sacredness.

都以一种神圣的色彩呈现出来

And once people circle around

一旦人们围在

some sacred object or value,

神圣的有形物品或是无形的价值观念周围

they'll then work as a team and fight to defend it.

他们便会团结起来一同抵抗外界的势力。

Durkheim wrote

涂尔干曾提到过

about a set of intense collective emotions

一种强烈的集体情感

that accomplish this miracle of E pluribus unum,

可以凝聚成神奇的“合众为一"的力量

of making a group out of individuals.

也就是变成一个强大的集体而非个人

Think of the collective joy in Britain

大家可以回想一下在英国历史上的一次集体快乐感

on the day World War II ended.

就是在二次世界大战结束后的那天

Think of the collective anger in Tahrir Square,

再回想下在开罗塔利尔广场上的人们集体的愤怒

which brought down a dictator.

从而打倒了独裁者

And think of the collective grief

再回想下一种集体的悲痛

in the United States

在美国

that we all felt, that brought us all together,

我们都感觉到的，把我们大家凝聚在一起的

after 9/11.

911恐怖袭击

So let me summarize where we are.

所以让我来总结下我们已经讨论的

I'm saying that the capacity for self-transcendence

我说到我们这种自我超越的能力

is just a basic part of being human.

只是我们人类最基本的一部分

I'm offering the metaphor

我给大家作了一个比喻

of a staircase in the mind.

就好比是我们头脑中的楼梯

I'm saying we are Homo duplex

我又说了我们都是双重人

and this staircase takes us up from the profane level

而且这个楼梯把我们从世俗的层面提升到

to the level of the sacred.

神圣的层面

When we climb that staircase,

当我们在爬上这座楼梯的时候

self-interest fades away,

自我利益的意识慢慢淡化

we become just much less self-interested,

我们变得不那么自私

and we feel as though we are better, nobler

而且我们觉得我们似乎变得更好，更高尚

and somehow uplifted.

而且不知怎么被提升了

So here's the million-dollar question

有一个非常重要的问题

for social scientists like me:

尤其对于像我这样的社会学家

Is the staircase

上述所说的楼梯

a feature of our evolutionary design?

是我们进化过程中的一个设计吗？

Is it a product of natural selection,

它是不是像我们的手一样

like our hands?

是自然选择的产物？

Or is it a bug, a mistake in the system --

又或者，这是整个体系中的一个小故障

this religious stuff is just something

这种宗教信仰就好比

that happens when the wires cross in the brain --

是在大脑血管堵塞时突然发生的

Jill has a stroke and she has this religious experience,

吉尔中风时也有过宗教信仰的经历

it's just a mistake?

这仅仅是一个错误吗？

Well many scientists who study religion take this view.

很多研究宗教学的科学家持有这样的观点

The New Atheists, for example,

比如新无神论者

argue that religion is a set of memes,

认为宗教是一系列模因

sort of parasitic memes,

一种寄生模因

that get inside our minds

存在于我们的大脑里面

and make us do all kinds of crazy religious stuff,

而且迫使我们做各种各样疯狂的宗教事情

self-destructive stuff, like suicide bombing.

各种自毁的事情比如自杀爆炸事件

And after all,

但是最终

how could it ever be good for us

“失去自我”又怎么会

to lose ourselves?

对我们有好处呢？

How could it ever be adaptive

任何有机体

for any organism

是怎么学会适应

to overcome self-interest?

克服自私的？

Well let me show you.

让我来告诉你们

In "The Descent of Man,"

在《人类的起源》一书中

Charles Darwin wrote a great deal

查尔斯·达尔文写了很多

about the evolution of morality --

关于道德演化的内容

where did it come from, why do we have it.

比如道德从何而来，为什么我们会有

Darwin noted that many of our virtues

达尔文认为我们很多美德

are of very little use to ourselves,

几乎不用在我们自己身上

but they're of great use to our groups.

但是它们用在我们的团体组织中

He wrote about the scenario

他描述了一个情景

in which two tribes of early humans

里面有两个早期人类部落

would have come in contact and competition.

他们互相联系和竞争

He said, "If the one tribe included

他说：“如果一个部落拥有

a great number of courageous, sympathetic

足够多的勇气，同情心

and faithful members

以及具有强烈信念的部落成员

who are always ready to aid and defend each other,

他们总是时刻准备着互相帮助互相保卫。

this tribe would succeed better

那么这个部落成功的几率就比较大

and conquer the other."

并最终打败另一方”

He went on to say that "Selfish and contentious people

他接着阐述了：“自私和好辩的人们

will not cohere,

不能和谐相处

and without coherence

那么如果缺乏这种凝聚性

nothing can be effected."

就没什么能影响他们”

In other words,

换句话说

Charles Darwin believed

查尔斯·达尔文相信

in group selection.

这种群体选择理论

Now this idea has been very controversial for the last 40 years,

然而这个观点40多年来一直备受争议

but it's about to make a major comeback this year,

但是这个观念在今年又将“重出江湖”

especially after E.O. Wilson's book comes out in April,

尤其在生物学家威尔逊的书4月出版发行后

making a very strong case

将会是一个强有力的证据

that we, and several other species,

我们以及其他物种

are products of group selection.

都是群体选择理论的产物

But really the way to think about this

但是正确地思考这个问题的角度

is as multilevel selection.

是它是一种多层次的选择

So look at it this way:

所以让我们这样来看：

You've got competition going on within groups and across groups.

你们要在群体内部以及群体之间相互竞争

So here's a group of guys on a college crew team.

这是一组大学划艇队

Within this team

在这组团队中

there's competition.

存在竞争

There are guys competing with each other.

这些人将互相竞争

The slowest rowers, the weakest rowers, are going to get cut from the team.

最慢的或是最弱的划手都将被淘汰出局

And only a few of these guys are going to go on in the sport.

这些人中只有几个人会入选体育比赛团队

Maybe one of them will make it to the Olympics.

可能他们中只有一个人能进军奥运会

So within the team,

所以在这个团队中

their interests are actually pitted against each other.

利益事实上是相互冲突的，从而构成竞争

And sometimes it would be advantageous

但是有时这也有利

for one of these guys

因为这些人中的某个人

to try to sabotage the other guys.

会尝试努力破坏其他人

Maybe he'll badmouth his chief rival

比如可能他会说竞争对手的坏话

to the coach.

向教练打小报告

But while that competition is going on

但是当竞争

within the boat,

在自己组内存在的同时

this competition is going on across boats.

也存在于与其他船队比赛时

And once you put these guys in a boat competing with another boat,

一旦把这些人放在一条船上与别的船队竞争

now they've got no choice but to cooperate

那么他们就别无选择只有合作了

because they're all in the same boat.

因为他们的利益拴在同一条船上

They can only win

只有合作他们才能赢

if they all pull together as a team.

因为他们组成一个团队

I mean, these things sound trite,

这些东西听起来有点陈词滥调

but they are deep evolutionary truths.

但是他们却是演化论的核心真理

The main argument against group selection

反对群体选择的主要论据

has always been

一直以来

that, well sure, it would be nice to have a group of cooperators,

诚然，鼓励群体合作那是再好不过了

but as soon as you have a group of cooperators,

但是一旦有了这么一群合作者

they're just going to get taken over by free-riders,

就会被一群“爱搭顺风车的人”所利用

individuals that are going to exploit the hard work of the others.

这些人喜欢利用别人努力劳动的成果

Let me illustrate this for you.

让我来给你们举一个例子

Suppose we've got a group of little organisms --

假如我们有这样一组小小的有机体

they can be bacteria, they can be hamsters; it doesn't matter what --

可能是细菌，可能是仓鼠的，这都无关紧要

and let's suppose that this little group here, they evolved to be cooperative.

假设这群组织将演化成互相合作的模式

Well that's great. They graze, they defend each other,

那很好。它们会互相磨合，保卫对方

they work together, they generate wealth.

它们一起工作，一起创造财富

And as you'll see in this simulation,

你们可以在模拟中看到

as they interact they gain points, as it were, they grow,

在互相交流中它们都达到目的，迅速成长

and when they've doubled in size, you'll see them split,

当它们长大2倍大的时候，你看见它们分裂

and that's how they reproduce and the population grows.

这就是它们如何繁殖，数量是如何增加的

But suppose then that one of them mutates.

但是假如它们其中一个产生突变

There's a mutation in the gene

一种基因突变

and one of them mutates to follow a selfish strategy.

而其中的这一个往自私的方向突变

It takes advantage of the others.

它总是占别人便宜

And so when a green interacts with a blue,

所以当你看到绿色与蓝色交流时

you'll see the green gets larger and the blue gets smaller.

你会发现绿色变的越来越大，蓝色越来越小

So here's how things play out.

这就是事情是如何发展而结束的

We start with just one green,

我们只是从一个小小的绿色开始

and as it interacts

当它在与其蓝色互动中

it gains wealth or points or food.

它得到了财富，食物以及其他想要的东西

And in short order, the cooperators are done for.

但是很快，这些合作者就不中用了

The free-riders have taken over.

而被那些“爱搭便车者”所取代

If a group cannot solve the free-rider problem

如果一个群体不能解决这样“搭便车”的问题

then it cannot reap the benefits of cooperation

那就不能从合作中得到好处

and group selection cannot get started.

那么群体选择也将不能够进行下去

But there are solutions to the free-rider problem.

但是有很多方法可以解决“搭便车”的现象

It's not that hard a problem.

这不是一个很困难的问题

In fact, nature has solved it many, many times.

事实上，自然界已经解决它好多次

And nature's favorite solution

自然界最喜欢用的方法

is to put everyone in the same boat.

就是把所有人放在同一条船上

For example,

比如，

why is it that the mitochondria in every cell

为什么每个细胞内的线粒体

has its own DNA,

都有它自己的DNA

totally separate from the DNA in the nucleus?

与核中的DNA完全分开

It's because they used to be

那是因为它们曾经就一直

separate free-living bacteria

是独立的自生细菌

and they came together

然后它们聚集在一起

and became a superorganism.

变成了超个体

Somehow or other -- maybe one swallowed another; we'll never know exactly why --

可能一个吞了另一个，我们永不知道为什么

but once they got a membrane around them,

但是一旦它们周围有了一层薄膜

they were all in the same membrane,

它们就都在同一个薄膜里

now all the wealth-created division of labor,

现在，所有的劳动财富分配

all the greatness created by cooperation,

所有由合作带来的伟大性

stays locked inside the membrane

都被密封在薄膜里面

and we've got a superorganism.

于是我们有了这样一个超个体

And now let's rerun the simulation

现在让我们回到这个模型中来

putting one of these superorganisms

把这些超个体中的一个

into a population of free-riders, of defectors, of cheaters

放到一个“爱搭便车”的这样一群背叛者群体中

and look what happens.

让我们来看一下会发生什么

A superorganism can basically take what it wants.

一个超个体可以索取它们所想的

It's so big and powerful and efficient

这是一个如此有强大和高效的个体

that it can take resources

它可以利用一切资源

from the greens, from the defectors, the cheaters.

从这些绿色中，欺骗者当中获取所要的

And pretty soon the whole population

很快，整个群体数量

is actually composed of these new superorganisms.

事实上由这些新的超个体而组成

What I've shown you here

我在这里展示给你们的

is sometimes called a major transition

在演化历史上有时被称为

in evolutionary history.

一次重大的转变

Darwin's laws don't change,

达尔文的定律没有改变

but now there's a new kind of player on the field

但是现在有一些新的东西在这个领域产生

and things begin to look very different.

并且这些东西看起来非同寻常

Now this transition was not a one-time freak of nature

这种自然界的转变不是一次性的，反自然的

that just happened with some bacteria.

或者只发生在一些细菌身上的

It happened again

这个大概在

about 120 or a 140 million years ago

1.2亿或者1.4亿年前就已出现了

when some solitary wasps

当一些孤独的黄蜂

began creating little simple, primitive

创造他们小小，简单而粗糙的

nests, or hives.

巢或者说蜂房时就发生了

Once several wasps were all together in the same hive,

一旦好多个黄蜂在同一个蜂房聚集起来时

they had no choice but to cooperate,

它们别无他法只能合作

because pretty soon they were locked into competition

因为它们很快就要陷入

with other hives.

与别的蜂房竞争的状况下

And the most cohesive hives won,

最后最具凝聚力的蜂房获胜

just as Darwin said.

正如达尔文所说的

These early wasps

这些早期的黄蜂

gave rise to the bees and the ants

最后演变成了蜜蜂和蚂蚁

that have covered the world

散落在世界各地

and changed the biosphere.

并且改变了生物圈

And it happened again,

而这种状况再次发生

even more spectacularly,

甚至更加壮观

in the last half-million years

是在最近的50万年间

when our own ancestors

当我们的祖先

became cultural creatures,

变成了具有文化特征的生物

they came together around a hearth or a campfire,

他们聚集在火炉边或者篝火边

they divided labor,

他们分工劳作

they began painting their bodies, they spoke their own dialects,

他们彩绘自己的身体，说自己的方言

and eventually they worshiped their own gods.

到最后敬拜自己的神

Once they were all in the same tribe,

一旦他们在同一个部落

they could keep the benefits of cooperation locked inside.

他们就全面合作

And they unlocked the most powerful force

打开一股前所未有的

ever known on this planet,

最强大的力量

which is human cooperation --

这就是人类的合作

a force for construction

一种可以建设世界

and destruction.

同时可以毁坏世界的强大力量

Of course, human groups are nowhere near as cohesive

当然，人类群体的凝聚力

as beehives.

远不如蜂房

Human groups may look like hives for brief moments,

人类群体像蜂房那样团结的时间很短

but they tend to then break apart.

很快他们就开始瓦解

We're not locked into cooperation the way bees and ants are.

我们不受困于蜜蜂蚂蚁那样的合作方式

In fact, often,

事实上，经常，

as we've seen happen in a lot of the Arab Spring revolts,

我们在阿拉伯起义中发现

often those divisions are along religious lines.

这种分裂往往与宗教有关

Nonetheless, when people do come together

然而，当人们团结在一起

and put themselves all into the same movement,

并把他们都放到同一个活动中

they can move mountains.

他们的力量大到可以移动一座山

Look at the people in these photos I've been showing you.

请看一下这些照片

Do you think they're there

你觉得他们在那里

pursuing their self-interest?

是追寻自己的利益吗？

Or are they pursuing communal interest,

还是在追寻共同的利益

which requires them to lose themselves

并逐渐使他们失去自我利益

and become simply a part of a whole?

变成整体中的一部分？

Okay, so that was my Talk

好了，这就是我今天的演讲

delivered in the standard TED way.

以TED最标准的方式告诉大家

And now I'm going to give the whole Talk over again

现在我将再概括一下我今天演讲的内容

in three minutes

在最后3分钟内

in a more full-spectrum sort of way.

以更完整的角度展现出来

(Music)

（音乐响起）

(Video) Jonathan Haidt: We humans have many varieties

（视频）乔纳森·海特:我们人类有各种各样

of religious experience,

的宗教体验

as William James explained.

正如哲学家威廉·詹姆斯所解释的

One of the most common is climbing the secret staircase

最常见的就好比我们在攀登精神的秘密楼梯

and losing ourselves.

在攀登过程中我们失去了自我

The staircase takes us

这个楼梯把我们

from the experience of life as profane or ordinary

从一个世俗的或是普通的底层

upwards to the experience of life as sacred,

带到了一个神圣的高度

or deeply interconnected.

或是更深层次相连的高度

We are Homo duplex,

我们都有双重性

as Durkheim explained.

正如涂尔干所说的

And we are Homo duplex

我们具有双重性

because we evolved by multilevel selection,

是因为我们由多层次的选择中进化过来的

as Darwin explained.

正如达尔文所解释的

I can't be certain if the staircase is an adaptation

楼梯是一种同化适应的过程

rather than a bug,

而不是个错误，我并不确定

but if it is an adaptation,

但是如果是一种同化

then the implications are profound.

那么其含义也是深远的

If it is an adaptation,

如果这是一个同化适应的过程

then we evolved to be religious.

那么我们就是进化成具有宗教信仰的人

I don't mean that we evolved

我并不是说我们进化

to join gigantic organized religions.

是为了加入一个庞大的的宗教组织

Those things came along too recently.

这些事情是最近才产生的

I mean that we evolved

我的意思是我们进化

to see sacredness all around us

是为了看到圣神的东西围绕在我们身边

and to join with others into teams

然后加入他们变成一个团队

and circle around sacred objects,

然后围在某个神圣的物品旁

people and ideas.

或者圣神的人又或是一些观点想法

This is why politics is so tribal.

这也是为什么政治是如此具有集团意识

Politics is partly profane, it's partly about self-interest,

政治在某中程度上是世俗，是多少与自我利益有关

but politics is also about sacredness.

但是政治也具有神圣性

It's about joining with others

它是与其他人一起

to pursue moral ideas.

追求精神上的统一观点

It's about the eternal struggle between good and evil,

也是关于在善与邪恶之间永久的斗争

and we all believe we're on the good team.

而且我们都相信我们处在善的一队

And most importantly,

最重要的是，

if the staircase is real,

如果这个楼梯是真实的

it explains the persistent undercurrent

它意味着对现实生活的

of dissatisfaction in modern life.

对现代社会的不满

Because human beings are, to some extent,

因为人类，在某种程度上说

hivish creatures like bees.

是类蜂的，也就是像蜜蜂一样的生物

We're bees. We busted out of the hive during the Enlightenment.

对的，我们是蜜蜂。我们在启蒙运动中从蜂房中被解脱出来

We broke down the old institutions

我们打破了旧系统

and brought liberty to the oppressed.

自由取代了原来的压迫

We unleashed Earth-changing creativity

我们释放出了那些改变地球的想象力

and generated vast wealth and comfort.

并创造了大量财富和安康的生活

Nowadays we fly around

如今，我们像一只只独立的个体蜜蜂一样

like individual bees exulting in our freedom.

自由飞翔

But sometimes we wonder:

但是，有时候我们迷茫：

Is this all there is?

这些就是所有我们想要的嘛？

What should I do with my life?

我应该怎样度过我的一生？

What's missing?

我们缺失了些什么？

What's missing is that we are Homo duplex,

作为双重性的我们少了些什么？

but modern, secular society was built

但是现代的，世俗的社会

to satisfy our lower, profane selves.

满足了我们较低的世俗的层次

It's really comfortable down here on the lower level.

处在这样较低的层次中会感觉非常安逸舒适

Come, have a seat in my home entertainment center.

就像我们常说的：来我家的娱乐中心玩玩。

One great challenge of modern life

我们现代生活中的一个重要挑战

is to find the staircase amid all the clutter

就是在纷繁世俗中找到通往更高层次的楼梯

and then to do something good and noble

然后做一些善事一些高尚的事情

once you climb to the top.

一旦当你爬到了顶端后

I see this desire in my students at the University of Virginia.

我在弗吉尼亚大学讲学时看到我学生们眼中的这种渴望

They all want to find a cause or calling

他们都想找寻一个诱因或是一个召唤

that they can throw themselves into.

可以带他们找到这个楼梯

They're all searching for their staircase.

他们都在找寻他们自己的楼梯

And that gives me hope

这些都给予了我希望

because people are not purely selfish.

因为人们不完全都是自私的

Most people long to overcome pettiness

大多数人渴望克服自己心胸狭窄的气量

and become part of something larger.

成为一个更大组织中的一部分

And this explains the extraordinary resonance

而下面这句话用了一个简单的比喻

of this simple metaphor

来解释了我们这种特别的共鸣

conjured up nearly 400 years ago.

大约在400年前就已被召唤出来了

"No man is an island

“人不是岛

entire of itself.

本身并不完备

Every man is a piece of the continent,

每个人都是大洲的一部分

a part of the main."

是大陆的一块”（John Donne的《沉思录》）

JH: Thank you.

谢谢

(Applause)

掌声响起