The 4 stories we tell ourselves about death | Stephen Cave

翻译人员: Alex Ho 校对人员: Wang Xiaofu

I have a question:

我要问大家一件事：

Who here remembers when they first realized

在座的各位谁还记得当自己第一次意识到

they were going to die?

自己有一天会死去时那一刻的感受？

I do. I was a young boy,

我还记得， 那时我还是个小男孩

and my grandfather had just died,

我的祖父刚刚过世了，

and I remember a few days later lying in bed at night

记得几天后的一个夜晚，我躺在床上

trying to make sense of what had happened.

是这回想之前所发生的一切

What did it mean that he was dead?

去世到底意味着什么？

Where had he gone?

他去哪了？

It was like a hole in reality had opened up

有点像现实中有个洞打开

and swallowed him.

把他吞了。

But then the really shocking question occurred to me:

但那时对我而言，有个震撼的问题是：

If he could die, could it happen to me too?

如果他会死去，同样的事也会发生在我身上吗？

Could that hole in reality open up and swallow me?

现实中真有个洞打开并把我吞下吗？

Would it open up beneath my bed

它会在我的床底下打开

and swallow me as I slept?

并在我睡着的时候把我吞下吗？

Well, at some point, all children become aware of death.

嗯，某种程度而言，所有的孩子开始意识到死亡。

It can happen in different ways, of course,

当然，它会以不同的方式发生，

and usually comes in stages.

并且通常会在某个阶段到来。

Our idea of death develops as we grow older.

随着我们年龄的增长，我们对死亡的观念逐渐形成。

And if you reach back into the dark corners

并且如果你回想起

of your memory,

你记忆中的最黑暗的角落时，

you might remember something like what I felt

你或许会想起和我感受相同的的一些事情

when my grandfather died and when I realized

在我祖父去世的时侯我意识到

it could happen to me too,

同样事情也会发生在我身上，

that sense that behind all of this

背后所有这一切的感受

the void is waiting.

是空虚的等待。

And this development in childhood

在童年时代的这种发展

reflects the development of our species.

反应了人类的发展。

Just as there was a point in your development

就像你生命中的某一时刻

as a child when your sense of self and of time

还是小孩的时候，对自我和时间的认知

became sophisticated enough

变得十分复杂

for you to realize you were mortal,

你意识到你难逃一死，

so at some point in the evolution of our species,

所有在人类进化的某个时刻，

some early human's sense of self and of time

前人对自我和时间的认知

became sophisticated enough

开始变得复杂

for them to become the first human to realize,

然后成为第一批意识到，

"I'm going to die."

“我终将会死去。”的人们。

This is, if you like, our curse.

如果你能接受，这是我们的诅咒。

It's the price we pay for being so damn clever.

那是我们对料知死亡所付出的代价。

We have to live in the knowledge

我们不得不生活在

that the worst thing that can possibly happen

最坏的的事情将会发生的状态下，

one day surely will,

这一天当然会来，

the end of all our projects,

终结我们所有的计划，

our hopes, our dreams, of our individual world.

我们的希望，梦想，也会带走我们的一片天。

We each live in the shadow of a personal

我们每个人生活在自己的

apocalypse.

末日阴影下。

And that's frightening. It's terrifying.

那时很吓人，很恐怖的。

And so we look for a way out.

所以我们试图寻找一个出路。

And in my case, as I was about five years old,

以我为例，在我5岁左右的时候，

this meant asking my mum.

我去问我的妈妈。

Now when I first started asking

现在当我开始问到

what happens when we die,

我们死亡时会发生什么，

the grown-ups around me at the time

我周围的大人们那个时候

answered with a typical English mix of awkwardness

会带着尴尬的

and half-hearted Christianity,

，基督教的经典语句来回答我，

and the phrase I heard most often

我最常听到的词是

was that granddad was now

祖父现在

"up there looking down on us,"

”在天上看着我们“

and if I should die too, which wouldn't happen of course,

并且如果我也死去，当然现在不会发生，

then I too would go up there,

那时我也会到天上去，

which made death sound a lot like

让死亡听起来像

an existential elevator.

一部存在的升降电梯。

Now this didn't sound very plausible.

现在听起来不在是那么的真实可信。

I used to watch a children's news program at the time,

那时候我通常会看儿童的新闻节目，

and this was the era of space exploration.

那时是个太空探索的时代。

There were always rockets going up into the sky,

经常会有火箭冲向蓝天，

up into space, going up there.

进入太空。

But none of the astronauts when they came back

但是没有一个从太空归来的航天员

ever mentioned having met my granddad

提及我见到了我的祖父

or any other dead people.

或其它死去的人。

But I was scared,

但那时我很害怕，

and the idea of taking the existential elevator

乘坐可能存在的升降电梯

to see my granddad

去见我的祖父

sounded a lot better than being swallowed

相比在我睡梦中巨大的空间吞噬

by the void while I slept.

的想法更容易接受。

And so I believed it anyway,

所以我就相信了，

even though it didn't make much sense.

尽管它没有任何意义。

And this thought process that I went through

我小时候就有这种思考模式

as a child, and have been through many times since,

从那时候起发生过很多次，

including as a grown-up,

长大后也是，

is a product of what psychologists call

这被心理学家称之为

a bias.

偏误。（偏见与误解）

Now a bias is a way in which we systematically

偏误有自己的流程

get things wrong,

让我们按照错误的方式思考事物

ways in which we miscalculate, misjudge,

计算错误，判断错误，

distort reality, or see what we want to see,

扭曲现实，或者只看到了我们想看到的东西。

and the bias I'm talking about

我这里说的偏误

works like this:

是这么回事：

Confront someone with the fact

某些人面对

that they are going to die

他们终将会死去的现实

and they will believe just about any story

他们只会相信

that tells them it isn't true

告诉他们的任何故事都不会是真的

and they can, instead, live forever,

他们可以永久的活着，

even if it means taking the existential elevator.

即便乘坐可能存在的升降电梯。

Now we can see this as the biggest bias of all.

现在我们可以将这个视为最大的偏误。

It has been demonstrated in over 400

它已经被400多项

empirical studies.

实证研究证明。

Now these studies are ingenious, but they're simple.

这些研究设计的很精巧，但非常简单。

They work like this.

它们像这样工作。

You take two groups of people

你找两组

who are similar in all relevant respects,

各个方面都很相似的人，

and you remind one group that they're going to die

并且提醒一组人他们即将死去

but not the other, then you compare their behavior.

而不告诉另一群人，然后比较他们的行为。

So you're observing how it biases behavior

你会观察到

when people become aware of their mortality.

当人们开始意识到他们大限将至，偏误行为是如何产生的。

And every time, you get the same result:

并且你每次都能得到相同的结论：

People who are made aware of their mortality

意识到会死亡的人

are more willing to believe stories

更愿意相信那些

that tell them they can escape death

告诉他们能够摆脱死亡

and live forever.

并能长生不老的故事。

So here's an example: One recent study

因此有下面这个例子：

took two groups of agnostics,

找两组不可知论者，

that is people who are undecided

这些人没有固定

in their religious beliefs.

的宗教信仰。

Now, one group was asked to think about being dead.

现在，其中一组被要求思考死亡。

The other group was asked to think about

而另一种则被要求思考

being lonely.

孤独。

They were then asked again about their religious beliefs.

他们再次被问到他们的宗教信仰。

Those who had been asked to think about being dead

那些被要求死亡的那组人

were afterwards twice as likely to express faith

有两倍的可能性来表达

in God and Jesus.

对上帝和耶稣的信仰。

Twice as likely.

两倍的可能性。

Even though the before they were all equally agnostic.

即使他们之前是同样的不可知论者。

But put the fear of death in them,

但对死亡的恐惧摆在他们面前，

and they run to Jesus.

他们会向耶稣靠拢。

Now, this shows that reminding people of death

这表明向人们提醒死亡

biases them to believe, regardless of the evidence,

会让他们忽视证据，使他们对所相信的事物产生偏误，

and it works not just for religion,

他不仅仅影响到宗教，

but for any kind of belief system

如果没有所有以

that promises immortality in some form,

许诺在某种形式下永生的任何信仰制度，

whether it's becoming famous

无论是否有名

or having children

或有孩子

or even nationalism,

甚至带民族主义形式，

which promises you can live on as part of a greater whole.

承诺你能成为伟大的整体中的一员生活下去。

This is a bias that has shaped

这样的偏误塑造了

the course of human history.

人类的历史。

Now, the theory behind this bias

目前，在这偏误背后

in the over 400 studies

有超过400多项研究

is called terror management theory,

被称之为恐惧管理理论，

and the idea is simple. It's just this.

这个理论很简单，

We develop our worldviews,

我们发展出我们的世界观。

that is, the stories we tell ourselves

即我们告诉自己一个

about the world and our place in it,

关于时间和我们所在地方的故事，

in order to help us manage

以便帮助我们管理

the terror of death.

对死亡的恐惧。

And these immortality stories

而这些永生的故事

have thousands of different manifestations,

有上千种不同的表现形式，

but I believe that behind the apparent diversity

但我相信在这些多样化的面目下

there are actually just four basic forms

实际只有四种基本形式

that these immortality stories can take.

是这些永生故事都有的。

And we can see them repeating themselves

并且我们能发现他们

throughout history, just with slight variations

在历史中不断重复，仅仅只有细微的差异

to reflect the vocabulary of the day.

用来反应当时的语言。

Now I'm going to briefly introduce these four

下面我会简要介绍这四种

basic forms of immortality story,

永生故事的基本形式，

and I want to try to give you some sense

并且我希望让你们知道

of the way in which they're retold by each culture

在各个文化

or generation

或在不同时代中

using the vocabulary of their day.

使用当时的语言传播的方式。

Now, the first story is the simplest.

第一个故事是最简单的。

We want to avoid death,

我们想要逃避死亡，

and the dream of doing that in this body

并且梦想着这身躯

in this world forever

能永久留存在世上

is the first and simplest kind of immortality story,

是第一个最简单的永生故事，

and it might at first sound implausible,

一开始听起来有些难以置信，

but actually, almost every culture in human history

但事实上，在人类历史上的每一种文化

has had some myth or legend

都流传着一些神话或传说

of an elixir of life or a fountain of youth

关于长生药或者不老泉

or something that promises to keep us going

或者能让我们一直

forever.

活下去的东西。

Ancient Egypt had such myths,

古埃及有这种传说，

ancient Babylon, ancient India.

古巴比伦，古印度。

Throughout European history, we find them in the work of the alchemists,

纵观这个欧洲历史，在炼金术师的工作中可以发现它，

and of course we still believe this today,

直到今天我们依旧相信它，

only we tell this story using the vocabulary

只不过我们使用科学的语言

of science.

来讲这个故事。

So 100 years ago,

所以100年前，

hormones had just been discovered,

荷尔蒙被发现了，

and people hoped that hormone treatments

人们希望荷尔蒙治疗

were going to cure aging and disease,

能使我们永葆青春和治愈疾病，

and now instead we set our hopes on stem cells,

现在我们则是希望干细胞，

genetic engineering, and nanotechnology.

基因工程，和纳米技术。

But the idea that science can cure death

但科学能够治愈死亡的观点

is just one more chapter in the story

只是神奇的灵丹妙药故事的

of the magical elixir,

又一个章节，

a story that is as old as civilization.

和古文明一样古老的故事。

But betting everything on the idea of finding the elixir

但把所有的赌注都压在寻找灵丹妙药

and staying alive forever

和长生不老上面

is a risky strategy.

这样风险未免太大。

When we look back through history

当我们回顾整个历史

at all those who have sought an elixir in the past,

所有那些在过去寻找灵丹妙药的人

the one thing they now have in common

都有个共通点

is that they're all dead.

是他们都难逃一死。

So we need a backup plan, and exactly this kind of plan B

所以我们需要个备用方案，精确讲叫B方案

is what the second kind of immortality story offers,

也就是第二类永生的故事，

and that's resurrection.

那就是复活。

And it stays with the idea that I am this body,

概念是我有这个身躯，

I am this physical organism.

是一个有机体。

It accepts that I'm going to have to die

我是会死去的

but says, despite that,

但不论这些，

I can rise up and I can live again.

我可以再次活过来的。

In other words, I can do what Jesus did.

换句话说，我能和耶稣一样。

Jesus died, he was three days in the [tomb],

耶稣死后，有三天在[墓里]，

and then he rose up and lived again.

然后又活过来了。

And the idea that we can all be resurrected to live again

能够复活的这个概念

is orthodox believe, not just for Christians

不单源于东正教

but also Jews and Muslims.

也属于犹太教和穆斯林的。

But our desire to believe this story

但我们渴望去相信这个故事

is so deeply embedded

是深植在我们的内心

that we are reinventing it again

而到了科学时代

for the scientific age,

我们又重新将它提了出来，

for example, with the idea of cryonics.

比如，人体冷冻。

That's the idea that when you die,

意思是当你死后，

you can have yourself frozen,

你可以把自己冷冻起来，

and then, at some point when technology

然后，直到有一天，科技

has advanced enough,

高度发达的时候，

you can be thawed out and repaired and revived

你可以把自己解冻和修复

and so resurrected.

然后复活。

And so some people believe an omnipotent god

并且有些人相信万能的神

will resurrect them to live again,

会人他们重新活过来，

and other people believe an omnipotent scientist will do it.

还有人则相信万能的科学。

But for others, the whole idea of resurrection,

但是对某些人，对复活的这个看法，

of climbing out of the grave,

从坟墓里爬出来，

it's just too much like a bad zombie movie.

太像一部摆烂的僵尸电影。

They find the body too messy, too unreliable

他们发现自己的身躯腐朽，也不大可能复活，

to guarantee eternal life,

无法拥有永恒的生命，

and so they set their hopes on the third,

所有他们有第三类型的故事，

more spiritual immortality story,

更偏向于精神上的永生故事，

the idea that we can leave our body behind

就是我们能够离开我们的身躯

and live on as a soul.

但灵魂永久长存。

Now, the majority of people on Earth

目前，地球上绝大多数的人

believe they have a soul,

认为他们是有灵魂的，

and the idea is central to many religions.

这个观念是许多宗教的核心，

But even though, in its current form,

即便是这样，在现有的形式下，

in its traditional form,

在传统的形式下，

the idea of the soul is still hugely popular,

灵魂的观念依旧受到了广泛欢迎，

nonetheless we are again

在当今的数字化时代

reinventing it for the digital age,

再次提起它，

for example with the idea

比如

that you can leave your body behind

你可以离开你的身体

by uploading your mind, your essence,

你的心智，你的本质，

the real you, onto a computer,

真正的你，上传到了电脑中，

and so live on as an avatar in the ether.

以化身活在乙太的世界。

But of course there are skeptics who say

但是当然，有人会怀疑说

if we look at the evidence of science,

如果我们察看科学的依据，

particularly neuroscience,

特别是神经系统科学，

it suggests that your mind,

提及你的心智，

your essence, the real you,

你的本质，真正的你，

is very much dependent on a particular part

非常依赖你身体上一个特别的部分，

of your body, that is, your brain.

也就是，你的大脑。

And such skeptics can find comfort

这样的怀疑者

in the fourth kind of immortality story,

有着第四类型的永生的故事，

and that is legacy,

那就是遗传的传说。

the idea that you can live on

你可以长存在世

through the echo you leave in the world,

透过你遗留在世上的事物,

like the great Greek warrior Achilles,

就像古希腊战士阿基里斯，

who sacrificed his life fighting at Troy

他在特洛伊的战斗中牺牲了自己的生命

so that he might win immortal fame.

使他赢得了不朽的名声。

And the pursuit of fame is as widespread

追求这样的名声从古至今

and popular now as it ever was,

都一样流行，

and in our digital age,

在当今的数字时代，

it's even easier to achieve.

它更容易实现。

You don't need to be a great warrior like Achilles

你不必要成为像阿基里斯这样的勇士

or a great king or hero.

或者一个伟大的国王或者英雄。

All you need is an Internet connection and a funny cat. (Laughter)

你只要能上网和一只有趣的猫。（笑）

But some people prefer to leave a more tangible,

但有些人希望留下后代----

biological legacy -- children, for example.

子孙。

Or they like, they hope, to live on

或是他们想要，希望

as part of some greater whole,

成为整个整体中的一部分活下去，

a nation or a family or a tribe,

一个名族，或者一个家庭或者一个部落，

their gene pool.

他们的基因库。

But again, there are skeptics

但有人会怀疑

who doubt whether legacy

这些遗产是否

really is immortality.

真的能永久流传下去。

Woody Allen, for example, who said,

比如，伍迪 艾伦，曾说过，

"I don't want to live on in the hearts of my countrymen.

“我不想活在我同胞的心里。

I want to live on in my apartment."

我想活在我的公寓里。“

So those are the four

所以那些都是四种

basic kinds of immortality stories,

基本的永生的故事，

and I've tried to give just some sense

我试着说明这些故事

of how they're retold by each generation

如何一代一代流传着

with just slight variations

但也都大同小异

to fit the fashions of the day.

以迎合当今时代的潮流。

And the fact that they recur in this way,

事实上这些故事不停的被传述，

in such a similar form but in such different belief systems,

在不同的信仰中有着相似的形式，

suggests, I think,

我觉得，

that we should be skeptical of the truth

我们应该对

of any particular version of these stories.

所有这些故事的真实性要有所怀疑，

The fact that some people believe

事实上有些人民相信

an omnipotent god will resurrect them to live again

一个万能的神能让他们复活

and others believe an omnipotent scientist will do it

还有一些人相信万能的科学能使他们复活

suggests that neither are really believing this

这说明人们在确凿的证据面前

on the strength of the evidence.

并不相信永生这回事儿

Rather, we believe these stories

我们相信这些故事

because we are biased to believe them,

只是因为偏见，

and we are biased to believe them

我们偏误去相信这些故事

because we are so afraid of death.

因为我们恐惧死亡。

So the question is,

所以问题是，

are we doomed to lead the one life we have

是否我们的人生注定生活在

in a way that is shaped by fear and denial,

对恐惧的抗拒和支配，

or can we overcome this bias?

还是我们能够克服偏误？

Well the Greek philosopher Epicurus

古希腊哲学家伊比鸠鲁

thought we could.

认为我们可以克服。

He argued that the fear of death is natural,

他主张我们对死亡的恐惧是天生的，

but it is not rational.

但不是理性的。

"Death," he said, "is nothing to us,

他说，”死亡对我们来说不算什么

because when we are here, death is not,

因为但我们在的时候，死亡不在，

and when death is here, we are gone."

而当死亡在这里的时候，我们不在了。“

Now this is often quoted, but it's difficult

这句话常被引用，但很难

to really grasp, to really internalize,

抓住精髓和真正的内在化，

because exactly this idea of being gone

因为所谓的（不存在）

is so difficult to imagine.

是很难想象的。

So 2,000 years later, another philosopher,

所以两千年之后，另一位哲学家，

Ludwig Wittgenstein, put it like this:

路德维格 维根斯坦，这样说：

"Death is not an event in life:

“死亡并非人生中的大事：

We do not live to experience death.

我们活着不是为了经历死亡，

And so," he added,

所以”他补充到，

"in this sense, life has no end."

“从这个角度来看，生命是没有终点的。“

So it was natural for me as a child

当我还小的时候，

to fear being swallowed by the void,

很自然的对在空虚中被吞噬产生恐惧，

but it wasn't rational,

但这并非理性，

because being swallowed by the void

因为在空虚中被吞噬

is not something that any of us

不是任何人

will ever live to experience.

会活着能够经历到的事情。

Now, overcoming this bias is not easy because

目前，克服偏误不是那么容易的因为

the fear of death is so deeply embedded in us,

对死亡的恐惧已经在我们心底生根发芽

yet when we see that the fear itself is not rational,

但当我们了解这些恐惧是不理性的，

and when we bring out into the open

当我们可以在台面上提出来

the ways in which it can unconsciously bias us,

这恐惧会无意识的让我们偏误，

then we can at least start

那么至少我们已经开始

to try to minimize the influence it has

尝试去减小它

on our lives.

对我们生活的影响。

Now, I find it helps to see life

目前，我发现可以将生命

as being like a book:

视为一本书：

Just as a book is bounded by its covers,

书的开头和结尾

by beginning and end,

都被书皮包裹着，

so our lives are bounded by birth and death,

所以我们的生命被出生和死亡所固定，

and even though a book is limited by beginning and end,

即便这本书受到开头和结尾的限制，

it can encompass distant landscapes,

它能带我们去遥远的地方，

exotic figures, fantastic adventures.

异国的风情，奇异的冒险。

And even though a book is limited by beginning and end,

即便这本书受到开头和结尾的限制，

the characters within it

书里面的人物

know no horizons.

是不会被限制的，

They only know the moments that make up their story,

它们当下活出他们的故事，

even when the book is closed.

即便这本书被合上。

And so the characters of a book

书中的人物

are not afraid of reaching the last page.

不会害怕走到最后一页。

Long John Silver is not afraid of you

约翰 西弗不会害怕

finishing your copy of "Treasure Island."

你读完《金银岛》。

And so it should be with us.

所以我们也应当如此。

Imagine the book of your life,

想象关于你生命的一本书，

its covers, its beginning and end, and your birth and your death.

它的书皮，开头和结局和出生和死亡。

You can only know the moments in between,

而你只知道生死之间

the moments that make up your life.

活出你生命的时刻。

It makes no sense for you to fear

这不会让你

what is outside of those covers,

对书皮之外的事产生恐惧，

whether before your birth

无论是你出生之前

or after your death.

还是 死亡之后。

And you needn't worry how long the book is,

你不必担心这本书有多厚，

or whether it's a comic strip or an epic.

无论它是本连环画还是部史诗。

The only thing that matters

唯一重要的

is that you make it a good story.

是你活得精彩！

Thank you.

谢谢。

(Applause)

（掌声）