The Beautiful Paradoxes of a Multicultural Identity | Farhad Mohit | TED

翻译人员: HsinMeng Hung 校对人员: Yanyan Hong

I am so honored to be onstage

我很荣幸能登台

representing TED's growing recognition

代表 TED 对其

of the importance of its immigrant diaspora community.

移民社群重要性的日益认可。

I am an Iranian-American,

我是一名伊朗裔美国人，

a kind of free-range Iranian,

一个自由放养的伊朗人，

lucky to be here with all of you

很幸运能和你们一起来到这里，

and free to embrace all my native culture’s positive elements:

每天都能自由地接受我本土

文化中所有积极的元素： 诗歌、音乐、 哲学和热情好客，

the poetry, the music, philosophy and hospitality,

every day, in ways that many Iranians inside Iran cannot.

这是伊朗境内 许多伊朗人无法做到的。

But I also love having the bow of my identity stretched

但我也喜欢 在 “伊朗人” 和 “美国人” 这两个看似对立的两极

between two seemingly opposed poles of "Iranian" and "American,"

之间伸出自己的身份之弓，

because that gives the arrow of my life a unique perspective on things.

因为这使我的生命之箭对事物 有了独特的视角。

I want to share a couple of American ideals

我想分享几个美国理想，

that explicate this multicultural dichotomy in me.

这些理想解释了 我内心这种多元文化的二分法。

The first is independence.

首先是独立。

In America, independence is foundational,

在美国，独立是基础， 是我们自由的基石，

the bedrock of our freedom

它使我们所有人，

that makes us all, all us Americans, feel exceptional.

所有美国人，都感到与众不同。

Unlike my Iranian side, where everyone is in everyone's business,

与我的伊朗方面不同，在伊朗

每个人都参与彼此的生意，

I'm free, maybe even driven, to pursue my own happiness,

我在这里是自由的，甚至有动力 去追求自己的幸福，

and that feels so liberating.

这感觉太解放了。

The other is continuous improvement,

另一个是持续改进，

the idea that you can always do better.

即你总能做得更好。

America is a do-ocracy that is always inventing, reinventing herself.

美国是一个一直在 发明、重塑自我的民主政体。

We make mistakes, and keep on growing and growing.

我们会犯错误， 并不断成长和成长。

That's why it's so exciting to be an entrepreneur in America --

这就是为什么在美国成为 一名企业家如此令人兴奋——

we're free to try to build anything our hearts desire.

我们可以自由地尝试打造 任何我们内心渴望的东西。

For me, these days, it's taking on our corrupt political duopoly

对我来说，如今，它正在取代 我们腐败的政治双头垄断，

and working to democratize democracy itself.

努力实现民主本身的民主化。

Isn't it amazing that as an American,

作为美国人，

I just get to do that, without fear or permission?

我能在没有恐惧或允许的情况下 做到这一点，这难道不奇怪吗？

But I'm Iranian too,

但我也是伊朗人，

and I have the ancient wisdom of Iranian mystics,

伊朗神秘主义诗人们

Ferdowsi, Hafez and Rumi,

费尔多西、哈菲兹和鲁米的古老智慧

running through my veins.

流淌在我的血液里。

So each of these American traits

因此，所有这些美国特征都

give my Iranian psyche cause for pause and reflection.

使我的伊朗人心灵有 理由停顿和反思。

For instance, independence is great,

例如，独立性很棒，

but if I'm truly independent,

但是如果我真的很独立，

then I don't need anything or anyone.

那么我就不需要任何东西或任何人。

That's kind of lonely.

这有点孤独。

Iranians are congenitally hospitable and tribal.

伊朗人天生热情好客， 是群居的代表。

In fact, the word Iran itself is a portmanteau

实际上，伊朗这个词本身就是

of the word “Ir” and “An,”

“Ir” 和 “An” 这两个词的组合，

where “Ir” comes from the word “yar,” literally “friendship” or “love,”

其中 “Ir” 来自 “yar” 一词 意味着 “友谊” 或 “爱”，

and “an” comes from “ostan,” or “land of.”

“an” 来自 “ostan” 或 “land of”。

Shout-out to our cultural cousins from Ireland, another land of love.

向来自爱尔兰的文化表亲欢呼， 爱尔兰是另一片充满爱意的土地。

Anyway, where does this love and friendship

无论如何，这种爱与友谊

fit into my Statue-of-Liberty-esque,

在我的自由女神像风格、

freedom-loving American psyche?

热爱自由的美国人心中何去何从？

Love requires connection and interdependence,

爱需要联系和相互依偎，

as we found out earlier.

正如我们之前发现的那样。

And interdependence is, well, kind of un-American.

好吧，相互依存， 有点不像美国人。

After all, Americans never had a Declaration of Interdependence.

毕竟，美国人从未 有过“相互依存宣言”。

(Laughter)

（笑声）

So my Iranian side begs for me to differ here.

所以我的伊朗方面 恳求我在这里有所不同。

As my beloved Sufi uncle Behzad used to say,

正如我心爱的苏菲派叔叔 贝扎德曾经说过的那样，

"Love is the ether the universe swims in."

“爱是宇宙中涌入的‘以太’。”

So without love, we literally have nothing.

因此，没有爱， 我们真的什么都没有。

So to be independent, or to be in love?

所以要独立，还是要相爱？

That is the cross-cultural question for me.

对我来说，这是跨文化的问题。

And what about the American ideal of continuous improvement?

那么美国持续改进的理想呢？

That seems downright productive, if you ask my American side.

如果你问一下我的美国方面， 这似乎很有成效。

But again, my Iranian side disagrees.

但是，我的伊朗方面再次不同意。

I remember a magnet on my mom's fridge:

我记得妈妈冰箱上有一块磁铁：

“If you’re ever going to be happy, you must be happy now.”

“如果你想快乐， 你现在一定要开心。”

Hinting at a tiny existential problem:

隐喻了一个微妙的存在问题：

it's always "now."

永远是 “现在”。

And of course, we have the Iranian mystic poet Rumi imploring us in ode after ode

当然，我们还有伊朗神秘诗人鲁米 在一首又一首的颂歌中

to get drunk and out of our minds

恳求我们喝醉然后失去理智，这样我们

so we can become blissfully present in the wow of now.

才能幸福地活在当下的 充满“惊奇”的此刻。

So should I work to create a better future,

那么，我应该 努力创造更美好的未来，

or be drunk and happy now?

还是现在喝醉且快乐？

Another multicultural paradox.

另一个多元文化的悖论。

(Laughter)

（笑声）

Or is it? Maybe I've been setting up a false dichotomy all along.

还是这样？也许我一直在设置 一个错误的二分法。

There’s no real Iranian or American on this stage, here in me.

在这个舞台上， 我身上没有真正的伊朗人或美国人。

After all, I'm not some LLM

毕竟，我不是在实验室里

trained in a lab on a discrete set of cultural memes.

受过一组离散文化模因 培训的大融合模型。

I am that still magical, mystical, fractal of universal consciousness

我还是那个宇宙意识的神奇、神秘的分形，

known as human being.

也就是人类。

I am a point -- thank you --

我是——谢谢——

a point at the center and circumference of the infinite sphere,

我是一个位于无限球体中心和周长的点。

as my favorite author, the Argentinian Jorge Luis Borges once wrote.

正如我最喜欢的作家、阿根廷人 豪尔赫·路易斯·博尔赫斯曾经写过的那样，

And as a magical, mystical life -- an MML --

我作为一种神奇、神秘的生物—— MML——

we humans are uniquely free to embody whatever useful paradoxes we find,

我们人类能够在任何适合自己的时候，

自由地展现我们发现的任何有用的悖论。

whenever it suits us.

We can choose to be culturally American or Iranian or both,

无论我们来自哪里，

我们都可以选择是美国 文化或伊朗文化，

no matter where we are from,

and can even have a favorite author who is neither.

或者两者兼而有之，甚至可以 有一位两者都不喜欢的作家。

And as an MML, we can simultaneously be both independent and free,

作为一个MML，我们可以同时 保持独立和自由，

while deeply connected by love to everyone and everything,

同时通过爱 与所有人和事物深深地联系在一起，

always striving for a better future, while also happy together,

不断为更美好的未来而努力， 同时也可以一起快乐，

here, now, wow.

在这里，现在，哇。

(Cheers and applause)

（欢呼和掌声）