Sherwin Nuland: A meditation on hope

譯者: Alex M. Chang 審譯者: Lauren Huang

You know, I am so bad at tech

我對科技是一竅不通

that my daughter -- who is now 41 --

我女兒，現在41歲了

when she was five, was overheard by me

在她5歲的時候，我聽到

to say to a friend of hers,

她對朋友說

If it doesn't bleed when you cut it,

任何切下去不會流血的東西

my daddy doesn't understand it.

我老爸是不會懂的

(Laughter)

(眾人大笑)

So, the assignment I've been given

所以，現在我要談的話題，對我來說

may be an insuperable obstacle for me,

也許是項艱鉅的任務

but I'm certainly going to try.

但是我會全力以赴

What have I heard

在這過去四天當中

during these last four days?

我都聽到了些什麼？

This is my third visit to TED.

這是我第三次參加TED大會

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

前兩次，其中一次是TEDMED; 而另一次，就如你們剛剛聽說的

was a regular TED two years ago.

是兩年前的年度TED大會

I've heard what I consider an extraordinary thing

這四天我所聽到的，我認為是非常了不起的

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

在前兩次我並沒有這麼深刻的感覺

and what that is is an interweaving

許多的演講者

and an interlarding, an intermixing,

他們的演講內容中

of a sense of social responsibility

傳達出的社會責任感

in so many of the talks --

交織、交疊、交融在一起

global responsibility, in fact,

實際上，是全球責任感

appealing to enlightened self-interest,

投合其開明的自身利益

but it goes far beyond enlightened self-interest.

但遠遠超脫了開明的自身利益

One of the most impressive things

其中最讓我佩服的事是

about what some, perhaps 10,

有些主講人，也許有10位主講人

of the speakers have been talking about

他們所說的是

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

他們的身體力行。就在你聆聽他們在台上的演說時，他們並不是在告訴大家：

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

「嗯，這是我們該做的；或這是我希望大家做的。」

It's: This is what I have done

而是：「這是我目前已經完成的，

because I'm excited by it,

因為我很熱衷

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

因為這不僅是一個很棒的事，我也從中受益許多

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

而且目前我們也已經成就了不少」

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

其實這就是博愛，一個很古老、來自希臘的概念

of philanthropy in its original sense:

在希臘哲學中的原始解釋是

phil-anthropy, the love of humankind.

博愛：對人類的大愛 (希臘字根phil-:愛; anthropos:人類)

And the only explanation I can have

所以對於過去四天中我們在這裡所體會的

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

我能提供的唯一解釋

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

是這對人類的愛的昇華

And this gives me enormous hope.

而這讓我感到極大的希望

And hope, of course, is the topic

而希望，當然

that I'm supposed to be speaking about,

是我今天應該要談的主題

which I'd completely forgotten about until I arrived.

而我在到這裡之前完全忘的一乾二淨

And when I did, I thought,

當我抵達後，我想

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

喔，我最好去查查字典搞清楚這個詞的意義

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

所以，我和我太太莎拉去了一趟公立圖書館

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

就在離這裡不遠四條街外的太平洋街上。我們查了牛津英文字典

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

我們仔細地查了整本字典，找到了希望的14個定義

none of which really hits you

但是沒有一個讓人覺得是一語道破的

between the eyes as being the appropriate one.

一個簡明且適切的定義

And, of course, that makes sense,

而當然了，那是很自然的

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

因為希望是一個抽象的表現，一個抽象的概念

it's not a concrete word.

不是一個具體的名詞

Well, it reminds me a little bit of surgery.

這倒有些讓我聯想到了手術

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

如果某種疾病只有一種手術，你知道這個手術會有效

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

如果有15種手術，你知道沒一個是保證完全有效的

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

而定義一個詞也是如此

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

如果你得了盲腸炎，醫生開刀切除盲腸，然後你就好了

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

如果你有食道逆流的問題，有15種手術可以選擇

and Joe Schmo does it one way

甲醫師選這一種

and Will Blow does it another way,

乙醫師選另一種

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

可是沒一個可以保證療效的，就像定義希望這個詞的情形一樣

They all come down to the idea of an expectation

所有的定義都指向一種期望

of something good that is due to happen.

期待好事終究會發生

And you know what I found out?

可是你知道我發現了什麼？

The Indo-European root of the word hope

希望這個詞的印歐字源

is a stem, K-E-U --

是KEU這個字根

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

我們拼作K-E-U , 發音是「ㄎㄡ一」

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

跟彎曲(curve)這個詞的字根是一樣的

But what it means in the original Indo-European

而這個字根原本在印歐語言的意義

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

是方向的改變，以不同的方式發展

And I find that very interesting and very provocative,

這讓我感覺十分有趣而且興奮

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

因為在過去幾天大家這裡所聽到的

is the sense of going in different directions:

就是改變方向的概念

directions that are specific and unique to problems.

採取不同且獨特的策略去解決問題

There are different paradigms.

針對一個主題的研究可以發展出多種不同的範式

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

「範式」這個詞過去四天來多次被提出

and everyone's familiar with Kuhnian paradigms.

且人人熟悉庫恩的經典理論--跳躍式範型變革

So, when we think of hope now,

所以，現在當我們想到希望

we have to think of looking in other directions

那表示我們必須跳脫在已熟悉的領域之外

than we have been looking.

另尋其他的方向

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

此外 — 不是定義，而是一個關於希望的描述

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

我一直很欣賞，瓦茨拉夫·哈維爾

in his perfectly spectacular book "Breaking the Peace,"

他一本偉大的著作中「打破平靜」

in which he says that hope

在書中他說，希望，

does not consist of the expectation that things will

不在於希冀所有事情

come out exactly right,

一定會有完美的結果

but the expectation that they will make sense

而是期待會有合理的演變發展

regardless of how they come out.

無論最終結果是如何

I can't tell you how reassured I was

我無法形容，我有多感到欣慰

by the very last sentence

就因為Dean Kamen幾天前

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

在他的那場極佳的演說中所說的最後一句話

I wasn't sure I heard it right,

我不確定我當下有沒有聽錯

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

所以在一次中場休息時我去找他

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

他當時在跟很多大人物說話，但是我不管

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

我打斷他，我問：「這是你說的嗎？」

He said, "I think so."

他回答：「 我想是的。」

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

所以，這是他說的，我現在重複一遍

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

他說：「世界並不會被網際網路所拯救」

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

這實在是太美好了。你知道什麼才會拯救這世界嗎？

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

我告訴你，人類精神才會拯救這個世界

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

當我說人類精神，我不是說什麼神聖的

I don't mean anything supernatural --

也不是什麼超自然的

certainly not coming from this skeptic.

當然更不是說什麼多疑的在下本人的任何高見

What I mean is this ability

我指的是，我們每個人

that each of us has

都有這樣的能力

to be something greater than herself or himself;

去成就更高的自我

to arise out of our ordinary selves and achieve something

去提升平凡的自身

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

去成就原本不以為自己有能力達成的目標

On an elemental level, we have all felt

本能上，我們其實都已經體會過

that spirituality at the time of childbirth.

那樣的靈性，打從我們出生後

Some of you have felt it in laboratories;

你們當中有些人已經在實驗室裡體會過

some of you have felt it at the workbench.

有些人是在工作台

We feel it at concerts.

或是在音樂會

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

我曾經在開刀房、在病床邊有過這樣的感受

It is an elevation of us beyond ourselves.

那是一種昇華、超脫自我的感受

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

假以時日，而我想那將會是

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

我們這幾天所感受到的，人類精神的精髓

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

點點滴滴由許多主講者所傳達出的

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

如果有一樣感動已經瀰漫充斥了這個空間

it is precisely that.

那正是人類精神

I'm intrigued by

我很著迷於

a concept that was brought to life

在十九世紀初期

in the early part of the 19th century --

被提出的一個概念

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

更準確的說，十九世紀的第二個十年

by a 27-year-old poet

由一位二十七歲的詩人

whose name was Percy Shelley.

珀西·雪萊 (Percy Shelley) 提出

Now, we all think that Shelley

現在我們都認為雪萊是

obviously is the great romantic poet that he was;

偉大的浪漫主義詩人

many of us tend to forget that he wrote

大多數的的我們常忘記他也寫了

some perfectly wonderful essays, too,

一些極佳的散文

and the most well-remembered essay

最讓人印象深刻的一篇散文

is one called "A Defence of Poetry."

叫做「詩的辯護」

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

這篇散文長約有五至八頁

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

而且大約從第三頁開始略顯艱澀

but somewhere on the second page

但是在第二頁當中

he begins talking about the notion

他開始談論

that he calls "moral imagination."

他稱之「道德想像」的概念

And here's what he says, roughly translated:

這是他所說的，我大約翻譯一下

A man -- generic man --

一個人— 一個普通人

a man, to be greatly good,

要成就不凡

must imagine clearly.

必須清楚的去想望

He must see himself and the world

他必須看清自己及這個世界

through the eyes of another,

透過他人的眼睛

and of many others.

透過眾人的眼睛

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

去瞭解他自己跟這個世界— 不是只有外在的世界，更是看清自己

What is it that is expected of us

去瞭解世上千萬人

by the billions of people

對我們的期待的是什麼

who live in what Laurie Garrett the other day

世上無數人生存於 Laurie Garrett

so appropriately called

貼切形容的所謂「絕望或不公」

despair and disparity?

他們對我們的期待的是什麼

What is it that they have every right

到底是什麼，世界大眾有權力

to ask of us?

去要求我們付出？

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

到底是什麼，為了我們人類及人類精神

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

我們必須去要求自己付出？

Well, you know precisely what it is.

你完全知道答案是什麼

There's a great deal of argument

有一個很大的爭論

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

關於美國，我們這個的強大的國家

should be the policeman of the world,

是否該扮演世界警察這個角色

the world's constabulary,

成為維護世界秩序的力量

but there should be virtually no argument

但是應該幾乎沒有人會有異議

about whether we should be the world's healer.

關於美國是否該承擔起修復治療這世界的的責任

There has certainly been no argument about that

在這過去的四天中，在這大講堂中

in this room in the past four days.

無疑的並沒有這樣的爭議

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

所以，如果我們要成為世界的治療者

every disadvantaged person in this world --

世界上每一個弱勢者 —

including in the United States -- becomes our patient.

包含美國境內 — 都是我們的病人

Every disadvantaged nation, and perhaps our own nation,

每個弱勢的國家，也可能是我們自己的國家

becomes our patient.

都成為我們的病人

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

去細想關於病人(patient)這個詞的來源是很有趣的

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

這個詞的來源是拉丁文patior, 意思是去忍受、遭受痛苦

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

所以，你再回頭看看它的古老的印歐語系來源

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

你會發現其印歐語言字根 paen

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

拼做 P-A-E-N — 等等，這真是太妙了

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

跟憐憫(compassion)是同樣的的字根，P-A-E-N

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

所以，這教訓就非常清楚了。這教訓是我們的病人—

the world, and the disadvantaged of the world --

這世界, 還有世界上的弱勢者—

that patient deserves our compassion.

是我們必須憐憫同情的病人

But beyond our compassion, and far greater than compassion,

但在我們的憐憫心之外，比憐憫心更重要的

is our moral imagination

是我們的道德想像

and our identification with each individual

及我們對世上的

who lives in that world,

每一個個體的同理心

not to think of them as a huge forest,

就像在廣大森林中

but as individual trees.

去關注每一顆樹

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

當然了，今時今日，要特別小心的是

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

不要讓華盛頓特區的

can get in the way.

那叢灌木來礙事 (注：指小布希總統)

(Laughter)

（笑聲）

So, here we are.

所以，現在我們在這裡

We are, should be,

我們應該

morally committed to

義不容辭的獻身

being the healer of the world.

要成為這世界的治療者

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

我們身邊已經有很多的例證

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

在這15分鐘你們才聽到了

of people who have not only had that commitment,

許多人不但身負這樣的使命感

but had the charisma, the brilliance --

甚至兼具領導魅力，還有傑出的才智 —

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

這令我想到在這大堂中滿滿的都是人才，天啊

the brilliance to succeed at least at the beginning

聰明才智至少讓他們有了好的開始

of their quest,

在他們追求目標的路上

and who no doubt will continue to succeed,

而無疑的他們會繼續朝目標邁進

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

只要我們有愈來愈多的人加入他們的行列

Now, if we're talking

現在，既然我們談到

about medicine,

關於醫學

and we're talking about healing,

我們談到治療

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

我想要引用一位尚未被引用過的哲人的著作

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

似乎全世界所有哲人的名言都在這邊被引用過了

Pogo's been quoted;

Pogo被引用過了

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

莎士比亞被正著、反著、從裡到外都引用過了

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

我倒是想要引用我自家的神所說的

I suspect he never really said this,

我懷疑他真的說過這些

because we don't know what Hippocrates really said,

因為我們無從所知希波克拉底(西方醫學之父)到底說過些什麼

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

但我們確信一位偉大的希臘醫師

said the following,

說過這些

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

而被記錄於希式文集的其中

and the book is called "Precepts."

一本書名為「格言」

And I'll read you what it is.

而現在我要唸出來

Remember, I have been talking about,

記住，我一直在談的

essentially philanthropy:

主要都關於博愛：

the love of humankind, the individual humankind

人類的大愛，每個個體對世界的大愛

and the individual humankind

而一個人

that can bring that kind of love

懷著這樣的愛，將之

translated into action,

轉化為行動

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

有些人將這愛轉化為開明的自身利益

And here he is, 2,400 years ago:

兩千四百年前，這位醫者說了：

"Where there is love of humankind,

「哪裡有人類之愛存在的地方，

there is love of healing."

就有療癒的愛的力量。」

We have seen that here today

今日我們已經親眼見證

with the sense,

以理性去理解

with the sensitivity --

以感性去體會

and in the last three days,

在這過去的三天中

and with the power of the indomitable human spirit.

以大無畏的人類精神

Thank you very much.

謝謝大家

(Applause)

（掌聲）