What Wikipedia Teaches Us About Balancing Truth and Beliefs | Katherine Maher | TED

翻译人员: J Zhong 校对人员: Yip Yan Yeung

It is lovely to be with you here this evening.

很高兴今晚在此与你们见面。

So as you just heard, my name is Katherine Maher

刚才你们也听到了，我的名字是 凯瑟琳·玛尔（Katherine Maher），

and I used to be, until very recently, the CEO of the Wikimedia Foundation,

在我最近卸任之前， 我在维基媒体基金会担任执行总裁，

which is the organization behind Wikipedia.

该基金会也就是 运营维基百科的组织。

And my tenure coincided with a very strange time for information.

在我的任期里，信息传播 恰好在经历一个微妙的阶段。

A global crisis of fake news and disinformation,

造谣和假新闻在世界范围内泛滥，

which meant that our free-knowledge movement

使得我们的免费知识运动

really sort of stood alone.

显得有些孤立无援。

At the same time, too,

与此同时，

we saw a collapse in public trust around the world

我们见证了世界范围内的 公信力丧失，

in many of our critical civic institutions.

特别是对于一些 重要的公民机制。

And one of the reasons for this collapse in public trust,

公信力丧失，

in things like public science and an independent free press

公共科学及 独立自由言论的消失，

and even perhaps in the idea of democracy itself,

甚至有可能连民主这个概念 本身的崩塌，其中一个原因就是

is that people around the globe are increasingly skeptical

全球各地的人们都越来越

about the ability of these institutions to respond to our future challenges

质疑这些机制对于 未来的挑战和变化的需求

and changing needs.

是否有足够的反应能力。

And yet, during this time,

然而，在这段时间里，

trust in Wikipedia actually went up.

人们对于维基百科的信任上升了。

Something that surprised us as much as anyone.

我们对此也很惊讶。

And so I started wondering, what is it about this organization,

所以我开始思考， 这个组织，

this radical experiment in openness,

这个着眼于透明性、

self-governance and amateurism, volunteerism,

自主性、业余性以及 自愿性的大胆实验

that made it so different?

究竟有什么特别之处？

And I've come to believe that in many ways,

在很多方面上我都相信，

the things that made Wikipedia implausible are actually what prepare it

让维基百科显得如此不可思议的 正是它面对变化的世界，

to respond to our changing world.

有及时反应的能力，

And make it a place that people love and trust.

这也让它变成了一片 我们热爱且信任的净土。

And so one of the things about it, of course,

它能够做到这一点的 一个原因当然是，

is that it is edited entirely by volunteers,

它完全是由志愿者来编辑的，

ordinary people from all over the world.

也就是来自世界各地的普通人们。

All of the decisions about encyclopedic content

所有的决定， 不论是关于百科的内容

and organizational policies

还是组织的政策

take place in a transparent and open fashion.

都是以一种公开透明的方式进行的。

This means that Wikipedia can continue to change

这就保证了维基百科能够一直

as the world changes around it,

随着世界变化而变化，

integrating new ideas and new perspectives.

不停地吸收新的想法和观点。

But I think one of the most critical things

但其中一个关键原因，

that I found really important

我个人认为十分重要，

is that its model pushes us to work together

也就是这种模式 促使我们通力合作，

into deliberation and into conversation

促使我们不停思考， 保持交流，

so that the end result is something

于是最终的结果

that most of us feel is reasonable and fair.

对于大多数人来说都是 合理且公平的。

Now, easy enough for some things,

一些词条相对简单，

like articles on animals with fraudulent diplomas ...

比如关于那些 拥有假文凭的动物的文章……

(Laughter)

（笑声）

Which is a real article on Wikipedia.

维基百科上真的有这篇文章。

But what about the hard things,

但那些更加复杂的事情 该怎么处理呢，

the places where we are prone to disagreement,

那些我们经常争论的领域，

say, politics and religion?

比如政治或宗教？

Well, as it turns out,

结果发现，

not only does Wikipedia's model work there,

维基百科模式 在这方面不仅能行得通，

it actually works really well.

效果还挺好的。

Because in our normal lives,

因为在我们的日常生活中，

these contentious conversations tend to erupt

这些有争议的话题常常会引起

over a disagreement about what the truth actually is.

关于真相为何的争论。

But the people who write these articles,

但对于撰写百科的人们来说，

they're not focused on the truth.

真相并不是他们的关注点。

They're focused on something else,

他们在乎的是别的事，

which is the best of what we can know right now.

也就是目前我们所知的一切事实。

And after seven years of working with these brilliant folks,

在与这些优秀的朋友们 共事了七年之后，

I've come to believe that they are onto something.

我开始相信 他们正在追寻着什么东西。

That perhaps for our most tricky disagreements,

有可能他们正在追寻关于那些 每人都各执一词的问题的真相，

seeking the truth

and seeking to convince others of the truth

而这样做的第一步，

might not be the right place to start.

并非是让大众都相信这个真相。

In fact,

事实上，

our reverence for the truth might be a distraction

我们对真相的执着或许对于 达成共识和解决问题

that's getting in the way

of finding common ground and getting things done.

并没有什么帮助。

Now,

我并不是说真相并不存在，

that is not to say that the truth doesn't exist,

nor is it to say that the truth isn’t important.

也不是说真相并不重要。

Clearly, the search for the truth has led us to do great things,

显然，对真相的追求 指引人类完成了许多伟大的成就，

to learn great things.

学到了很多有价值的东西。

But ...

但是，

I think if I were to really ask you to think about this,

我认为如果我们 重新考虑一下这个问题，

one of the things that we could all acknowledge

我们达成的共识之一会是：

is that part of the reason

人类的历史和文化

we have such glorious chronicles to the human experience

如此辉煌的原因之一，

and all forms of culture

是我们承认了 世界上存在多种真相。

is because we acknowledge there are many different truths.

And so in the spirit of that,

所以，秉承着这种精神，

I'm certain that the truth exists for you

我很确信对你来说真相是存在的，

and probably for the person sitting next to you.

对于你邻座的人来说也是这样。

But this may not be the same truth.

但你们的真相有可能是不同的。

This is because the truth of the matter is very often, for many people,

这是因为某件事的真相 对于很多人来说，

what happens when we merge facts about the world

常常是根据我们接受事实的方式

with our beliefs about the world.

以及我们对世界的理解而形成的。

So we all have different truths.

所以我们每个人都相信不同的真相。

They're based on things like where we come from,

它们的形成基于我们的出身、

how we were raised

我们的成长过程

and how other people perceive us.

以及别人对我们的认知。

Now you and your neighbor, who's probably a reasonable person --

现在你和 你看起来非常理智的邻座——

they look like a nice person?

他或她看起来像个好人吧？

Yeah, they're probably a reasonable person.

那就好，他们大概率是理智的人。

(Laughs)

（笑声）

You two can probably get together

你俩有可能发生交谈，

and come to some sort of shared agreement.

然后达成某些共识。

But what happens when a third person joins the conversation

但如果有第三个人加入了对话，

or a fourth or a fifth?

甚至是第四、第五个人，

What happens when we try to expand this out

我们要怎么做才能将这种共识

to the scale of all 7.8 billion of us?

推广给世界上的 78 亿人呢？

The reality is we are a vast and varied world.

事实就是，我们身处在 一个广阔的、多样化的世界里。

And so when we try to use our personal truths

而当我们想将我们个人的真相

to come to conversations

应用到关于重大问题的 集体决议上时，

around collective decision-making on important issues,

we start to run into problems.

我们会遇到各种阻碍。

Because collective decision-making,

因为集体决议，

the sort of thing that we want to do in democratic and open societies

即一个民主公开的社会里 应该有的决议方式，

requires that we get together with common understandings

要求我们最终对于问题的根本

about the root of the problem

达成一种共识，

and some assumptions about how we might get out of it.

以及对于后果的一些预测。

But if we're using our personal truths to do this,

但如果我们想要将 个人的真相强加于此，

we end up having conversations about our values and our identity.

我们最终会展开关于 我们的价值观和身份的争论。

Because remember, our truths come from where we come from.

请记住，这是因为我们相信的真相 和个人的背景密不可分。

And then we're focusing on what divides us

于是我们就开始紧抓着 我们的不同之处不放，

instead of what we can agree upon.

却忽视了我们潜在的共同之处。

And that allows us to start having conversations about the truth

这样的交谈方式 让我们开始争论真相为何，

in a way that focuses on what we believe

实际上却是在争论着个人的观点，

rather than what can be known.

而非客观的事实。

And that is a definition that is deeply divisive and harmful.

从根本上来说，这是一种 引起分裂的、有害的交谈方式。

I think about our lack of urgent action on climate change.

我由此联想到了 我们对于气候变化的严重忽视。

We've known for a very long time now

我们很早以前就知道，

about the negative impacts of man-made carbon in the atmosphere.

人为碳排放对大气层 会带来负面影响。

But ...

然而，

[the] implications of that data

这样的数据意味着

challenge our identities, our industries, our communities

我们的自我认知，还有 我们的工业和社群都会受到动摇，

in ways that have led and created resistance and even disinformation,

于是我们拒绝接受， 甚至扭曲这些信息，

and the resulting public debates about the truth of climate change

结果导致了关于气候变化真相的 一系列公开争论，

have prevented us from taking specific and concrete actions

也妨碍了我们采取 真正有效的针对措施，

that could mitigate the harms to us around rising seas,

这些措施本可以缓和海平面上升，

increasingly deadly waves of heat and cold

极端气候冷暖变化，

and powerful storm systems.

以及暴风雨系统对我们的影响。

With such urgent threats ahead of us,

面对着这些迫在眉睫的威胁，

we need better ways to get to a shared understanding.

我们需要用更高效的方式 来达成共识，

Fortunately, I've seen how, at Wikipedia,

幸运的是， 我发现在维基百科，

we can come to cooperative and productive conversations

我们能够用一种 相互配合的、高效的方式交流，

around disagreement and decision making

不论是围绕着争论还是决策，

without using one shared truth as our baseline.

我们都没有执着于 以同一个真相作为底线。

Its generous and accommodating approach

这种海纳百川的方式

offers us a practical way to take it down a notch,

为我们提供了一种 各退一步的实际方案，

focusing on something a little less stressful:

而将重点放在 火药味没那么重的方面：

the best of what can be known right now.

目前我们所知的一切事实。

And the good news is we can know a lot of things.

幸运的是，人能够接收大量信息。

We have high-quality information,

我们能依靠高质量的信息、

facts and data that allow us to do things

事实和数据帮助我们解决问题，

like track the migration of endangered species

比如追踪濒危物种的迁移轨迹

or the spread of a pandemic around the world.

或是疫情在世界范围内的扩散情况。

These are useful tools in our toolbox,

这些都是我们百宝箱里的有用工具，

but they don't necessarily alone change minds

但光靠它们无法改变观念，

or unite disparate views.

或是解决分歧。

So how do we do that?

所以我们究竟该怎么做？

We shift from focusing on one key truth

我们不应执着于一个关键真相，

to instead finding minimum viable truth.

而应该寻找最小可行真相。

Minimum viable truth means getting it right enough

最小可行真相的精髓在于

enough of the time

在有效的时间内

to be useful enough to enough people.

对于足够量的人来说 有足够的说服力。

It means setting aside our bigger belief systems

这意味着暂时 放一放我们的宏观价值观，

and not being quite so fussy about perfection.

也不要过于吹毛求疵。

And this idea of minimum viable truth

最小可行真相的这个概念

is actually a tremendously forgiving idea,

实际上指一种非常宽容的观念，

which is one of the things I love about it the most.

也正是我为何 那么偏爱它的重要原因之一。

It recognizes our messy humanity.

它承认人性是混乱的，

It acknowledges space for uncertainty,

它也给不确定性、

for bias and for disagreement

偏见、不和、

on our way to the search for the answers.

我们寻求答案的方式 预留了空间。

So ...

所以，

one thing you may not know about Wikipedia

你可能不知道维基百科

is that it actually assumes that we are all biased.

实际上假定 我们每个人都是有偏见的。

It is the reason that you are not supposed to write articles about yourselves.

这就是为什么 你不应该撰写关于你自己的百科。

Because can any of you truly be neutral

因为有多少人能够真正客观地

about how brilliant and remarkable you are?

认识到自己的优秀和伟大呢？

(Laughter)

（笑声）

I didn't think so.

我觉得没多少。

But when we are forced to defend our biases,

但在我们不得不 为我们的偏见辩护的时候，

when we are forced to go into the data and the citations

我们只好开始浏览那些数据和引证，

and really engage,

仔细推敲，

grapple with the intellectual struggle

还会因为见识了其他人的偏见

that comes from meeting up against other people's biases,

而发生一些思想上的挣扎和搏斗。

our horizons can expand

由此，我们能够开拓视野，

and we can get to new and better understandings about the world.

对这个世界产生一些更新、 更好的理解。

How does this work?

这背后的原理是什么呢？

Well, in 2019,

2019 年，

a group of researchers released a study

一群学者发布了一项研究，

looking at how Wikipedia writers take on the most contentious

聚焦于维基百科作者们处理那些 最具有争议性的、

and difficult topics.

最棘手的话题的方法。

And what they found

他们发现，

was that the system actually works really well.

维基百科的机制在 解决这个问题上相当有效。

These are some of the best articles on Wikipedia.

而这些文章恰恰是维基百科上 最高质量的一些。

And many of them are written by people

而且大多数这样的文章 是由意见相左的人合作写就的。

who fundamentally disagree with one another.

They also found something interesting,

学者们还发现了一个有趣的现象：

which is that the more that these polarized contributors

这些意见相左的知识贡献者们 在深入对话的过程中，

engaged in conversation,

the more balanced and productive their contributions became.

他们的知识产出会变得 越来越客观，越来越丰富。

Which means that Wikipedia may be one of the only places on the internet

这就说明在互联网上，

where disagreement actually makes you more agreeable.

维基百科有可能是唯一一个 用分歧来促进和平的地方。

Now, I knew instinctively this is true

我从前就有这种预感，

because I’ve seen how productive friction can really get us places,

因为我知道有效的冲突 能促进问题的解决，

how mistakes and debate actually brings people into the conversation.

我知道失误和争辩 实际上能够促进我们的交流。

You don’t sit back when you disagree with someone,

你不同意他人观点的时候， 你不会坐视不管，

because engaging offers you the chance

因为参与意味着 你能够修缮公共档案。

to shape the public record.

Through that process,

在这个过程中，

ideas become sharper, better and more understandable

观点被打磨得更加清晰、 更加完善、更加易于理解。

In this way, the seeds of our disagreement

这样，我们分歧的种子

can actually become the roots of our common purpose.

才会长成我们共同目的的根基。

All of this is very well and good,

我说的这些理念都很理想，

but what does it mean and how do we actually apply it

但它们意味着什么， 而我们又该如何将它应用于

to other organizations and institutions

其他我们参与的组织、 机构和系统，

and systems that we are a part of,

in order to increase trust and reduce polarization

做到建构信任，减少两极化，

and perhaps get some important things done?

最终完成一些伟大的事业？

Well, I've already talked a little bit about productive friction,

我之前已经提到过有效冲突了，

the good kind that makes our ideas better.

也就是良性的冲突， 能够完善我们的观点。

That is possible because of a few things:

这种冲突在以下几点前提上存在：

notably, clear rules

最首先的是明确的规则，

and strong community norms.

接下来是坚实的社群规范。

Clear rules help us engage on the substance of the issue

明确的规则能让我们 专注在问题的本质上，

rather than debating the identity of the author.

而不是在作者的身份问题上 争论不休。

Those rules are not upheld by any one individual on high.

这些规则不是由一个 高高在上的个体制定的。

They're actually maintained and uplifted by the entire community.

它们实际上是由整个社群 来维护和遵守的。

So we all have a shared sense of responsibility for success.

所以我们每个人对这份规则的 成功施行都会有共同的责任感，

The other piece of this is

另一方面，

that it is essential that decisions are not just made

重大决策不能是由任意人员制定的，

by those who show up in the room.

这点很重要。

You have to be intentional about bringing all the voices in.

必须有意识地倾听各方的声音。

When Wikipedia first started,

维基百科刚刚建立的时候，

the majority of its authors were Western white men,

作者群体大多由 西方白人男性组成，

which led to some really significant biases and gaps

因此导致了这类文章和 它们传达的观点中

in the types of articles that were written

存在非常显著的偏见和缺口。

and the slant of those articles.

Recognizing this by being intentional about undoing some of these systems

认识到这一点， 我们有意识地取消了一些

that were actively excluding people

带有排外性的机制，

and doing the hard work of actually rebuilding them

并且积极地重建新的机制，

so that more people would feel welcome in the conversation,

以便让更多人 能够参与到对话中来，

we are now able to have a better reflection of the known world.

这样维基百科才能够反映出 更加真实的世界现状。

The next piece of this is really about interdependence.

除此之外，互助性也十分重要。

The way that the system works is that you cannot go it alone.

在这个体制里， 你是不可能单靠自己的。

In order for your contributions to stick,

如果你贡献了知识，

they have to earn the agreement of your fellow contributors,

它们还得通过同僚作者们的 评定才能够保存下来，

which is a powerful forcing mechanism for people to work together.

这种机制极大地促进了 作者们相互合作。

Next is the idea of shared power.

接下来，我要说一说 共同权力的概念。

All of those debates result in 350 edits a minute to Wikipedia,

每分钟，维基百科会 被编辑 350 次。

这就是自由争论的结果。

which means that no one person can be in charge of the whole thing.

这也意味着没有哪个个体 是能够全权管理这个百科的。

You have to let go of power.

你必须放弃对权力的执着。

You have to give it to other people.

你必须将其分享给他人。

You have to trust in their ability

你要相信那些人有能力管理 他们的专业和兴趣领域。

to manage the areas of their own expertise and interests.

And by doing so,

这样做，

you earn their commitment and agency to make this project work.

你才能获得让这个项目 运转起来的付出和帮助。

It also requires humility

谦逊也很重要，

because you're going to get it wrong some of the times.

因为有时候你也会犯错。

But getting it wrong some of the time

但为了在大多数时候不犯错，

is worth it for getting it right most of the time.

时不时犯错也是值得的。

And speaking of time,

说到时间，

you have to have a very different relationship to urgency.

你还得与快速流逝的时间 培养出一种独特的关系。

So much in the world is about moving fast.

因为整个世界的节奏都变快了。

But moving fast has actually broken a lot of things.

但快节奏实际上破坏了很多事情。

It's broken our trust.

它破坏了我们之间的信任。

It has undermined our confidence in many of our systems of governance,

它破坏了我们对于许多 管理系统的信心，

perhaps even our faith in democracy itself.

甚至是我们对于民主 这个观念本身的信念。

By slowing down a little bit

如果你静下心来，

and bringing the conversation in,

深入交流，

by listening with sincerity,

真诚倾听，

debating with respect,

谦逊交流，

consulting widely

广泛学习，

and weighing difficult decisions with candor,

在重大决策上公开透明，

you can actually build systems that endure.

你就能够构建出一个 能经受住这个时代挑战的系统。

But most importantly, you can build trust,

但最重要的是，你能够构建信任，

that quality that is in such short supply right now.

信任在这个时代尤为宝贵。

And trust in one another is what we need

我们需要的正是相互信任，

in order to weather uncertainty and take brave action.

才能够直面不确定性， 采取大胆的行动。

So what I'm asking all of you today

所以今天我在这里呼吁，

is to set aside your own personal truth for just a minute,

是时候暂时放下个人的真相了，

for the opportunity to sit in someone else's.

这样我们才能够理解别人。

It's to endure the productive friction

要跟你或许并不认同

of coming to common agreement

甚至并不喜欢的人

with someone who you may not agree with or perhaps even like.

经历有效冲突， 最终得到共识。

And with just enough rules and a little bit of time,

只需要适量的规则和一些时间，

I believe that you can do it.

我相信你你能做到。

And you just might find,

而你可能会发现，

we all just might find,

或者说我们大家都会发现，

that the most important things that we do

那些最重要的成就

are the ones that we do together.

都是大家通力合作完成的。

Thank you.

谢谢大家。

(Applause)

（掌声）