Sherwin Nuland: A meditation on hope

翻译人员: Chunlei Chang 校对人员: Miao Li

You know, I am so bad at tech

我对科技一无所知,

that my daughter -- who is now 41 --

我女儿, -- 现在41岁了 --

when she was five, was overheard by me

在她五岁的时候,被我无意中听到

to say to a friend of hers,

对她的一个小朋友说,

If it doesn't bleed when you cut it,

任何你切下去不会流血的东西,

my daddy doesn't understand it.

我爸爸是不会理解的.

(Laughter)

(笑声)

So, the assignment I've been given

所以, 我接到的这个任务

may be an insuperable obstacle for me,

对我来说也许非常难以完成,

but I'm certainly going to try.

但我一定要尝试.

What have I heard

在过去的四天里,

during these last four days?

我所到的是什么?

This is my third visit to TED.

这是我第三次来TED.

One was to TEDMED, and one, as you've heard,

一个是TEDMED, 另一个也许你听过,

was a regular TED two years ago.

是两年前的TED常规演讲.

I've heard what I consider an extraordinary thing

我所考虑到的是很特别的事情

that I've only heard a little bit in the two previous TEDs,

我只听说一点之前的两次TED演讲,

and what that is is an interweaving

很多演讲里是一种内容的交织

and an interlarding, an intermixing,

一种混合, 一种思维的碰撞,

of a sense of social responsibility

传达着社会责任感

in so many of the talks --

以及

global responsibility, in fact,

全球的责任感,

appealing to enlightened self-interest,

事实上他们是在启发大家的个人兴趣,

but it goes far beyond enlightened self-interest.

但效果远远超出了兴趣的启发.

One of the most impressive things

印象最深刻的一件事

about what some, perhaps 10,

就是大概有十位讲师,

of the speakers have been talking about

曾经演讲过认识

is the realization, as you listen to them carefully, that they're not saying:

你认真的听他们讲, 他们并不是在讲:

Well, this is what we should do; this is what I would like you to do.

好,这些是我们应该做的,这些是我想让你们去做的.

It's: This is what I have done

而是在讲: 这些是我已经做的

because I'm excited by it,

因为我很热爱它,

because it's a wonderful thing, and it's done something for me

因为它是一个美好的东西, 它对我有着不同的意义,

and, of course, it's accomplished a great deal.

当然, 它们也伴随着不错的成就.

It's the old concept, the real Greek concept,

这是比较古老的希腊概念

of philanthropy in its original sense:

是一种内心深处的善念:

phil-anthropy, the love of humankind.

博爱: 人类之爱.

And the only explanation I can have

对于你过去四天所听到的内容,

for some of what you've been hearing in the last four days

我能给的唯一解释就是

is that it arises, in fact, out of a form of love.

那是爱的起源,实事上, 是爱的其它形势.

And this gives me enormous hope.

这给了我极大的希望.

And hope, of course, is the topic

希望, 当然

that I'm supposed to be speaking about,

是我这次要演讲的主题,

which I'd completely forgotten about until I arrived.

但直到到这里时我才完全想起来.

And when I did, I thought,

然后,我想

well, I'd better look this word up in the dictionary.

好吧,我最好先查查这个词在字典里是什么意思.

So, Sarah and I -- my wife -- walked over to the public library,

所以, 我和Sarah(我老婆) 去了公共图书馆,

which is four blocks away, on Pacific Street, and we got the OED,

离太平洋大街只有四个街区的路, 然后我们拿了OED.

and we looked in there, and there are 14 definitions of hope,

我们查到了希望的14种定义,

none of which really hits you

没有一个合适的解释

between the eyes as being the appropriate one.

能真正打动你.

And, of course, that makes sense,

当然, 这也合情合理,

because hope is an abstract phenomenon; it's an abstract idea,

因为希望是一个抽象的现象和概念,

it's not a concrete word.

并不只是个实词.

Well, it reminds me a little bit of surgery.

这就像一个小的手术.

If there's one operation for a disease, you know it works.

如果一种手术治愈这种疾病,你知道这行的通.

If there are 15 operations, you know that none of them work.

如果有15种手术选择, 你知道这些是没一个能行的.

And that's the way it is with definitions of words.

并且他们有词语的定义.

If you have appendicitis, they take your appendix out, and you're cured.

如果你得了阑尾炎,他们会把阑尾拿掉,你的病就好了.

If you've got reflux oesophagitis, there are 15 procedures,

如果你得了逆流食道炎, 他们有15种治疗方法,

and Joe Schmo does it one way

Joe Schmo 会选这种方法

and Will Blow does it another way,

Will Blow会选另外一种方法,

and none of them work, and that's the way it is with this word, hope.

但是都不确定能治好, 所以, 就有个词形容这种情况, 希望.

They all come down to the idea of an expectation

他们都归结于一个概念,

of something good that is due to happen.

就是好的事情会发生.

And you know what I found out?

你猜我发现了什么?

The Indo-European root of the word hope

希望这个单词在印欧语系中

is a stem, K-E-U --

起源是K-E-U --

we would spell it K-E-U; it's pronounced koy --

我们都可以拼写 K-E-U, 它的发音和koy一样 --

and it is the same root from which the word curve comes from.

它跟单词curve是同一个起源.

But what it means in the original Indo-European

但它在古印欧语系的含义

is a change in direction, going in a different way.

是另一个意思,

And I find that very interesting and very provocative,

我觉得很有意思,很有挑逗性,

because what you've been hearing in the last couple of days

因为你过去听到的一些东西,

is the sense of going in different directions:

都是不同方向的一些概念:

directions that are specific and unique to problems.

针对一些特定问题的方向.

There are different paradigms.

有不同的模型.

You've heard that word several times in the last four days,

过去四天里,你听到好多次模型这个单词,

and everyone's familiar with Kuhnian paradigms.

并且每个人都很熟悉库恩模型.

So, when we think of hope now,

所以,当我们提到希望,

we have to think of looking in other directions

我们必须先从别的方向思考

than we have been looking.

而不是以前的思维定势.

There's another -- not definition, but description, of hope

还有关于希望的另一种解释 -- 没有定义, 但有描述

that has always appealed to me, and it was one by Václav Havel

一直非常吸引我, 是Václav Havel的一个理论,

in his perfectly spectacular book "Breaking the Peace,"

出自于他的著作<打破和平>"Breaking the Peace"

in which he says that hope

在书中他提到

does not consist of the expectation that things will

并不是对事物会朝好的方向发展的期待

come out exactly right,

形成了希望,

but the expectation that they will make sense

而是基于对事物的理性期待.

regardless of how they come out.

与如何发展无关.

I can't tell you how reassured I was

我并不是说我对几天前Dean Kamen幽默华丽的演讲的

by the very last sentence

最后一句话

in that glorious presentation by Dean Kamen a few days ago.

持不同的意见.

I wasn't sure I heard it right,

我当时不确定有没有理解他的意思,

so I found him in one of the inter-sessions.

所以我在休息时去找他.

He was talking to a very large man, but I didn't care.

他当时正在跟一个大块头说话, 我不在意.

I interrupted, and I said, "Did you say this?"

我打断他们,说:"你是这样说的吗?"

He said, "I think so."

他说, "我想是的."

So, here's what it is: I'll repeat it.

所以, 我在这里重复一下他的话.

"The world will not be saved by the Internet."

"世界将不会被保存在互联网之中"

It's wonderful. Do you know what the world will be saved by?

这是对的, 你知道世界应该保存在哪里吗?

I'll tell you. It'll be saved by the human spirit.

我告诉你, 它会被保存在人类的精神之中.

And by the human spirit, I don't mean anything divine,

人类的精神, 我并不是说神赐的,

I don't mean anything supernatural --

也不是指任何超限超自然的东西 --

certainly not coming from this skeptic.

更不是来自于这些怀疑者.

What I mean is this ability

我是指

that each of us has

我们每个人所拥有的

to be something greater than herself or himself;

超越自身的一些能力;

to arise out of our ordinary selves and achieve something

然后自我实现,

that at the beginning we thought perhaps we were not capable of.

取得一些以前认为自己无法实现的成果.

On an elemental level, we have all felt

从最基础的层次看,

that spirituality at the time of childbirth.

我们能感受到出生时的精神.

Some of you have felt it in laboratories;

有些能从实验室中感受到;

some of you have felt it at the workbench.

有些能从工作台上感受到.

We feel it at concerts.

有些从音乐会上感受到.

I've felt it in the operating room, at the bedside.

我曾经在手术室,护理室里感受到.

It is an elevation of us beyond ourselves.

这是我们超越自己的一种提升.

And I think that it's going to be, in time,

再需要一些时间

the elements of the human spirit that we've been hearing about

我想, 这就是过去几天,我们这么多演讲者所传达出的

bit by bit by bit from so many of the speakers in the last few days.

点点滴滴的人类的精神.

And if there's anything that has permeated this room,

如果有一样东西在这个房间里弥漫

it is precisely that.

这正是人类的精神.

I'm intrigued by

我一直着迷于

a concept that was brought to life

19世纪早期

in the early part of the 19th century --

所提出的一个概念.

actually, in the second decade of the 19th century --

实际上, 在19世纪20年代 --

by a 27-year-old poet

一个名叫Percy Shelley

whose name was Percy Shelley.

的27岁诗人.

Now, we all think that Shelley

我们都认为那是Shelley,

obviously is the great romantic poet that he was;

显然是一个伟大的浪漫主义诗人;

many of us tend to forget that he wrote

我们中很多人往往忘记他曾写过的

some perfectly wonderful essays, too,

一些完美的,美丽的散文,

and the most well-remembered essay

在那些琅琅上口的散文中

is one called "A Defence of Poetry."

有一篇叫做<为诗辩护>"A Defence of Poetry."

Now, it's about five, six, seven, eight pages long,

大概有七八页长,

and it gets kind of deep and difficult after about the third page,

在第三页里,内容深入并比较难懂,

but somewhere on the second page

但第二页的某个地方

he begins talking about the notion

他开始讨论一个概念,

that he calls "moral imagination."

这个被他称为"道德想像力."

And here's what he says, roughly translated:

他的诗,简单的翻译为:

A man -- generic man --

一个男人 -- 正常的男人 --

a man, to be greatly good,

一个男人, 为了更好更强大,

must imagine clearly.

必须清晰的想像.

He must see himself and the world

他必须能从别人的眼中去观察

through the eyes of another,

自己和这个世界,

and of many others.

从很多人的眼中.

See himself and the world -- not just the world, but see himself.

从别人眼中看自己和这个世界 -- 不只是这个世界, 更看清他自己.

What is it that is expected of us

这就是去了解几十亿人类

by the billions of people

对我们的期待是什么

who live in what Laurie Garrett the other day

Laurie Garrett那天贴切描述的

so appropriately called

所谓的

despair and disparity?

绝望或不公?

What is it that they have every right

到底是什么让世界有权去

to ask of us?

要求我们付出?

What is it that we have every right to ask of ourselves,

到底是什么让我们有权要求我们自己

out of our shared humanity and out of the human spirit?

为了我们共同的人性和人类的精神而付出?

Well, you know precisely what it is.

你知道答案是什么.

There's a great deal of argument

那里有很多争论

about whether we, as the great nation that we are,

关于我们作为一个大国,

should be the policeman of the world,

应不应该作为世界警察

the world's constabulary,

维护世界和平,

but there should be virtually no argument

但应该没有关于我们是否应该

about whether we should be the world's healer.

成为世界的治疗者的争吵.

There has certainly been no argument about that

过去的四天里, 在这个房间里

in this room in the past four days.

更不会有那样的争吵.

So, if we are to be the world's healer,

所以,如果我们成为世界的治疗者,

every disadvantaged person in this world --

世界上的每一个弱势群体 --

including in the United States -- becomes our patient.

包括美国 -- 都成为我们的病人.

Every disadvantaged nation, and perhaps our own nation,

每个弱势的国家, 也可能包括我们的国家,

becomes our patient.

成为我们的病人.

So, it's fun to think about the etymology of the word "patient."

单词病人"patient"在语源学的意思很有趣.

It comes initially from the Latin patior, to endure, or to suffer.

它起源于拉丁语(patior), 愿意是容忍和忍受.

So, you go back to the old Indo-European root again,

所以, 你再看看古印欧语系的根源,

and what do you find? The Indo-European stem is pronounced payen --

你就会发现 --古印欧语系发间为payen --

we would spell it P-A-E-N -- and, lo and behold, mirabile dictu,

我们可以拼写为 P-A-E-N --, 然后看吧,

it is the same root as the word compassion comes from, P-A-E-N.

这个字跟同情这个单词有相同的词根, P-A-E-N.

So, the lesson is very clear. The lesson is that our patient --

所以, 这节课很清楚. 这节课就是我们的病人 --

the world, and the disadvantaged of the world --

这个世界, 以及世界上的弱势群体 --

that patient deserves our compassion.

这些病人值得我们去同情.

But beyond our compassion, and far greater than compassion,

但有些东西远远超越于同情怜悯之心,

is our moral imagination

那就是我们的道德想像力

and our identification with each individual

和我们对生活在这个世界上的

who lives in that world,

其他人的认同感,

not to think of them as a huge forest,

不是他们当成一大片森林,

but as individual trees.

而是一颗一颗独立的树.

Of course, in this day and age, the trick is not to let each tree

当然, 目前来说, 重要的是

be obscured by that Bush in Washington that can get --

不要让华盛顿政府的那些树木(指布什总统的政府) --

can get in the way.

碍事.

(Laughter)

(笑声)

So, here we are.

所以, 我们现在在这里,

We are, should be,

我们在这里,

morally committed to

应该在道德上把自己置于

being the healer of the world.

世界的治疗者的身份.

And we have had examples over and over and over again --

我们有一次又一次发生的例子 --

you've just heard one in the last 15 minutes --

你仅听听过去的15分钟 --

of people who have not only had that commitment,

人们不仅有这样的使命,

but had the charisma, the brilliance --

而且相当有领袖风采和才华横溢 --

and I think in this room it's easy to use the word brilliant, my God --

我觉得在这间屋子大家都才华横溢, -- 天啊

the brilliance to succeed at least at the beginning

才华横溢至少让这些人在追寻成功的路上有着

of their quest,

非常好的开局,

and who no doubt will continue to succeed,

并且毫不犹豫的继续追求成功,

as long as more and more of us enlist ourselves in their cause.

直到越来越多的人加入他们.

Now, if we're talking

现在, 如果我们讨论

about medicine,

医学,

and we're talking about healing,

我们讨论治疗别人,

I'd like to quote someone who hasn't been quoted.

我想要引用一个从来没被引用过的作家.

It seems to me everybody in the world's been quoted here:

对我来说,世界上的每个人都在这里被引用过:

Pogo's been quoted;

Pogo经常被引用;

Shakespeare's been quoted backwards, forwards, inside out.

莎士比亚被各种引用.

I would like to quote one of my own household gods.

我想引用我自家的神灵的话.

I suspect he never really said this,

我怀疑他是不是真的说过,

because we don't know what Hippocrates really said,

因为我不知道希波克拉底(西方版李时珍)说过什么,

but we do know for sure that one of the great Greek physicians

但我知道一个伟大的希腊物理学家

said the following,

曾经说过,

and it has been recorded in one of the books attributed to Hippocrates,

被记录于希波克拉底著作的

and the book is called "Precepts."

一本名为<格言>"Precepts."的书

And I'll read you what it is.

我会给你读出来.

Remember, I have been talking about,

记住,我一直谈论的是

essentially philanthropy:

博爱:

the love of humankind, the individual humankind

人类的爱,

and the individual humankind

人与人之间

that can bring that kind of love

转化为行动的

translated into action,

那种爱,

translated, in some cases, into enlightened self-interest.

在某些情况下, 转化为自身的利益.

And here he is, 2,400 years ago:

这就是他, 两千四百年前:

"Where there is love of humankind,

"凡是有人类之爱存在的地方,

there is love of healing."

就是治疗的爱的力量"

We have seen that here today

今天我们在这里已经亲眼见证

with the sense,

带着理性,

with the sensitivity --

带着敏感的心 --

and in the last three days,

在过去的三天里,

and with the power of the indomitable human spirit.

带着坚忍不拔的人类的精神的力量.

Thank you very much.

非常感谢.

(Applause)

(掌声)