我们今晚的最后一位演讲者 For our final speaker of the evening
是麦克•普特教授 we have Professor Michael Puett
普特教授是沃尔特•C•克莱因的 Professor Puett is the Walter C. Klein
中国历史学教授 他教授多门课程 professor of Chinese history and teaches several classes
其中包括颇受欢迎的《伦理推理18》 including the popular Ethical Reasoning 18
《中国古典道德和政治理论》 Classical Chinese Ethical and Political Theory
他的研究领域涉及中国历史 His research includes Chinese history
中国宗教以及比较史学等 Chinese religion as well as comparative history
现在让我们一起欢迎 Please join us in
我们今晚的最后一位演讲者 welcoming our final speaker of the evening
普特教授 Professor Puett
教授: 非常感谢主办方 Professor: so my deep thanks (to) the organizers
举办了这次演讲 for putting this together
当然 也非常感谢你们的到来 and of course to all of you for coming
能够站在这里 我感到万分的荣幸 it's a tremendous honor to be here
首先让我带大家进行一个思维试验 To begin, let me take you on a thought experiment
想象一下 现在是100年之后 Let's imagine it's 100 years from now
为了方便论证 and for the sake of argument
我们假设届时这个世界依然存在 let's assume that the world still exists
而人类也仍存在 and that there still is a human species
我们继续假设 and let's continue that assumption
世界上还有历史学家 by saying that there's still historians around
他们书写历史 who are writing histories
我猜想 如果他们真的存在 I suspect if they do exist
他们将会书写美国史上的一个特殊时期 they will write a history of a particular period
也就是20世纪末到21世纪初 的美国历史 of American history, late 20th, early 21st centuries
换言之 我很不好意思地要说 In other words I'm embarrassed to say
就是我这一代 的历史 my generation
接下来我要讲几点 Along something for the following lines
我怀疑他们会说 那是这样一个时代 I suspect they will say this was a generation
那个时代所体现的自满是绝无仅有的 that was kind of unique, unique in its complete complacency
同样 就是这个时代 This was a generation
我本人对我们所留给你们的世界 again I'm speaking of myself deeply apologetic to
我谨以我个人的名义深表歉意 what we have left to you
在这样一个世界 It's a world
我们主要由……形成 in which we were very much formed by
例如1989年 这是个充满爱的日子 for example 1989 this one's love dates
因此他们可能会将那个 So they probably will put that
作为这个时期的起始点 at sort of the beginning point of this period
1989年 柏林墙倒塌 in 1989, the Berlin Wall fell
我们认为我那个年代 and we thought my generation, well
发生了一些灾难性的事情 something cataclysmic has occurred,
19世纪和20世纪最后一个重要的“主义” the last major "ism" of the 19th and 20th century
除却我们美国拥有的东西 现在已经不复存在 apart from what we have in America has now died
在我那个年代有一种很强烈的意识 and there was a strong sense in my generation
认为我们已经基本上将事情处理妥当了 that we basically had figured things out
认为我们已经基本上弄清楚 that we basically had figured out
如何组织经济世界 how to organize the economic world
如何组织政治世界 how to organize the political world
我们以为我们了解了 We thought we understood
人类是如何运转的 how human beings operated
以为我们是一些善良的 理性的人 that we're these good, rational human beings
我们可以理性地主宰我们想要的一切 who decide rationally what we want.
以为我们拥有良好的自我 And we're good autonomous selves.
我们真的以为基本的问题都已经解决完毕了 And we really thought that the basic problems had been solved
事实上此后甚至还出现了一本书 Indeed, there was even a book written very soon thereafter
书名叫《历史的终结》 作者是弗兰西斯•福山 called "The End of History" by Francis Fukuyama
该书因为词藻极其考究而受到了广泛的批判 widely criticized for being rhetorically extreme
然而我认为它捕捉到了那个时代的真谛 But nonetheless I think it captured the sense of the age
那就是从全新的思想层面上来讲 which was that History in the sense of radically new ideas
历史已经走到了尽头 had come to an end
我们基本上解决了所有问题 We basically had solved the problems
同时我还猜想历史学家们还会写道 And I suspect historians will also note that bizarrely
历史匪夷所思地继续着 that continued.
这并不只是发生在1989年 It didn't just occur in 1989
这在很大程度上得到了延续 It's largely continued
而对于整个美国历史而言 And for an entire period of American History
我们真的认为就是那样的情况 we've really thought that to be the case
同时他们可能会说 And meanwhile they will probably say
所有这些证据都已经浮出水面 all of this evidence has emerged
显然任何人都已想到 Clearly, anyone would have thought
去证明 几乎所有那些证据根本就是错误的 proving almost all of that to be at a fundamental level false
例如心理实验非常清楚地证明了 For example, psychological experiments proving quite clearly
大多数人对我们人类是如何运转的理解 that most of our folk understandings of
其实是完全错误的 how we operate as human beings is simply empirically wrong
然而我们似乎并没有真正受到 And yet didn't really seem to
更广泛的文化影响 have much of a wider cultural impact
其他文化逐渐出现 然后变得越来越重要 Other cultures emerging and then becoming more significant
而对此 我们还极其愚昧地认为:恩 那很好 to which we foolishly said: "Well, that's fine
因为他们过去是传统旧世界的一个组成部分 because they used to be part of a traditional world
而我们是现代化的 We are modern
我们已经将事情处理妥当了 We figured out things.
而现在的情况就是 And all that's occurring is
这些在整个世界范围 these new economies
开始全面壮大的新兴经济体 begin developing around the world
正在摆脱它们的传统 is there throwing off their traditions.
同时他们也开始变得现代化 And they too are becoming modern
他们开始和我们趋同 They're becoming like us
是的 So yeah,
在未来几十年他们可能拥有更高的 they might have a higher GNP
国民生产总值 in a few decades
但他们将向我们靠拢 but they'll be like us
他们将属于我们那个正在扩张的世界 They'll be our world just expanded.
同时其他危机也将逐渐暴露出来 And meanwhile other crises began to emerge
有些生态危机 我们认为应该没什么问题 Some ecological crises to which we thought ok
认为我们可以发明新技术来解决 Well, we'll develop new technologies to solve those too
为此它不会从根本上使我们 And so it's not fundamentally leading us
转而质疑一切 to question anything
我还猜想 这些历史学家 And then I suspect those historians will say
在那一章结束的时候会说 at the very conclusion of that chapter
我们这一代为自己描绘了多么美好的小世界 that nice little world that my generation had painted for itself
该美好的小世界认为 that nice little world of believing that
迄今为止人类 all of human history up until now
一直都活在传统的世界理念之中 had lived in some kind of traditional world view
以至于他们无法理解事物是如何运转的 where they didn't understand how things operated
而最终我们在经历了动荡的 And we now finally after tumultuous 19th
19世纪和20世纪之后 and 20th centuries
迎来了一个正确的意识形态和正确的世界观 came up with a proper ideology, the proper vision of the world
最终我们豁然开朗 we finally figured things out.
我所构想的这个世界 That world I suspect
历史学家将认为它已经瓦解了 historians will say collapsed
可能就在不久的将来 sometime not probably too far in the distant future
它会因为一系列大规模的生态危机而瓦解 It collapsed in the series of massive ecological crises.
或许如果他们是心理历史学家的话 It perhaps if they’re psychological historians
他们将会知道世界从精神层面上已经瓦解了 they will know it collapsed to well psychologically that
人类开始意识到在社会中 humans begin to realize in the society
他们无法真正过上自由自在的生活 that they would not actually living free autonomous lives
他们正在做出全新的决定 where they're making radically new decisions for themselves
事实上却是相反的 In fact they were quite on the contrary
他们正在约束自己 straightjacketing themselves
奇怪的是 他们甚至没有意识到 Bizarrely not even realizing the degree
他们所做的事情达到的严重程度 to which they were doing that
此外 他们还会从全新的视角认为 And, moreover they will say radically new
它本该被消除殆尽了 which should have been clear all along
新的思维方式正在全世界不断浮现 New ways of thinking are emerging all over the world
它们其实没有必要这么新颖 which actually aren't even necessary so new
他们所构建的基础是基于陈旧的经济形态 They're building upon very older forms of economic patterns
陈旧的政治思想 older forms of political thought
其它陈旧的形式和视角 逐渐形成 other older forms and visions of the self coming to the formed,
被重新改造 being reinvented
然后带入一个彻底的 完全不同的新世界 and leading to a radically and dramatically different world
然后他们将结束那一章节 And they will close that chapter
说这个自鸣得意的时代 saying that age of complacency
可能是世界史上一个非同寻常的时期 which could have been an extraordinary period in world history,
其实已经支离破碎了 on the contrary, fell to pieces
然后开始了崭新的一章 And then the next chapter will begin
而这崭新的一章将是极其重要的一章 and that next chapter is going to be an incredibly important one
要么是我们留给你们的危机 Either the crises that we're leaving to you
将会打垮我们坦白地说 are going to overwhelm us and they could frankly
它们是很严重的 they're that serious
要么是你们将完成我们未能完成的任务 or you all will do what we fail to do
你们现在会开始质疑 you all will right now begin to question
你们曾经所意识的东西 理所当然地认为 all that you have ever learnt, taking for granted
它很大程度上可能是错误的 most of it is probably wrong
现在你会开始思考 you will right now begin to think
或许我们人类并没有按照 maybe we as human beings don't operate
我们被告知的那样运转 as we've been told
或许我们当前拥有的经济和政治秩序 maybe the current economic and political order we had
是组织世界的许许多多方法之一 is one of many, many many ways of organizing the world
或许在有些方面是非常好的 perhaps very good in some respects,
而其它方面则比较糟糕 perhaps very bad in other respect
尽管它没有特别现代的东西 And regardless there's nothing particularly modern
或是正确的东西 or proper about it
这是组织世界的一种偶然的方式 it is a contingent way of organizing the world
我们要么尝试着维持现状 要么提出质疑 that we should either try to preserve or question
但是不管将哪种方法视为理所当然的方法 But either way take for granted,
仍有其他完全不同的实施办法 there are other radically different ways of doing it
没人可以为你预留这个世界 and no one is going to pre give this world to you
因为有些处事方法在一定程度上是正确的 as something that is somehow the proper way of doing anything
换句话说 如果你现在质疑一切 In other words, if you now question everything
并理所当然地认为我们这个美好的传统特性 take for granted that our nice little traditional identity
的叙述几乎可以确定是错误的 narrative’s almost assuredly absurdly wrong
以至于你们将看到的这个世界 that much of the world you'll see
将由完全不同的时期组成 is going to consist of radically different again often times
陈旧的思想又一次涌现出来 very old visions once again coming to the fore,
从而产生完全不同的自我思考方式 leading to radically different ways of thinking about the self
思考经济和政治秩序的方式 of thinking about economic and political orders
甚至是思考一切的方式 of thinking about absolutely everything
如果你现在开始认真地构建 and if you now start building a cosmopolitan world
国际化的世界 taking those seriously
其实指的是从其他文化所吸取的东西 and actually saying what would it mean to actually
所包含的意义 反之亦然 learn from other cultures and vice versa
质疑现有的世界组织方式 what would it mean to actually question
所隐含的意义 反之亦然 current ways of organizing the world and vice versa
开始面对我们愚蠢的小故事之外的危机 begin to actually face up to crises outside of our stupid little
这些故事是我们的时代一直在告诉你的 narratives that our generation have been telling you
如果你现在行动 将得以书写下一个篇章 If you do that now, that next chapter will be written
而该篇章将是 And that next chapter will be a chapter
难以置信的 激动人心的一章 that will be incredibly exciting, an exciting chapter
也就是下一代构建一个国际化的世界 of building a cosmopolitan world of a new generation
他们直面事物 质疑一切 facing up to things, questioning everything
构建了一个难以置信的强大的国际化的世界 building an incredibly cosmopolitan powerful world
而那将是难以置信的 激动人心的篇章 and that would be an unbelievably exciting chapter to write
如果你们失败了 换句话讲 And if you fail, in other words
如果你们不断和我们趋同 if you're like us
那么就不会再有新的篇章 there may not be another chapter
老实讲 目前 honestly at this stage
我们给你们留下了危机 we've left you crises that our world view
我们的世界观无法把你们从中拯救出来 isn't going to save you from
如果你们和我们趋同 If you're like us
一百年后就不会再有历史学家 there won't be historians 100 years from now
他们可能不复存在了 They may not exist
或者说人类或世界不复存在了 or human species or world
总之 我要告诉你们的就是以下几点: In short, what I'd like to leave you with is the following
我们遗留给了你们一个恐怖的世界 we have left you a horrible world
很抱歉 Sorry
我们留给了你们一个非常 非常愚蠢的自满的 we've left you a very, very foolishly complacent way
思考这个世界的方式 of thinking about the world
我们曾在学校隐约教过你们 We have taught you in the schools
甚至不要认为我们曾那么做 implicitly not even thinking we were doing it
承认我们正这么做 acknowledging we're doing it
甚至意识到我们曾那么做 even realizing we were doing it
那是一个有关我们已经克服并变得现代化的 A nice little neat narrative about a traditional world view
传统世界观的漂亮的小故事 that we've overcome and become modern
简而言之 我们给你们灌输了一个世界观 We have in short, instilled in you a world view
这个世界观已经在引导你们的方向 that has led you
如果你按照我们说的来做:不思考 不创新 If you follow us to not think, to not innovate
不接受新的体验 to not be open to experiences
不接受新的思想 to not be open to new ideas
反而是旧思想不断涌现 or rather often old ideas coming once again to the fore
未能听取任何事物 to fail to listen to anything
未能创新 to fail to innovate
未能走向世界 to fail to be open to the world
不断告诉自己 All the while telling yourselves
你是自由的 自主的 that you're free and autonomous
不存在任何的问题 and there's no problem
这就是我们遗留给你的世界 That's the world we've left you
摆脱那个世界观 Break out of that world view
摆脱荒谬的自满的意识 break out of that sense of absurd complacency
现在就行动起来 书写新的篇章 Do it now. Write that next chapter
确保一百年后还有历史学家 Ensure that there will be historians 100 years from now
他们将能够忆写新的篇章 who will actually be able to write the chapter
叙述我们这一代对世界做出了 saying what disastrous things
什么样的毁灭性的事情 our generation did to the world
能够真正的书写新的篇章 and can actually write that new chapter
述说并看待这些难以相信的 saying and look at the incredibly innovative things
下一代用我们这一代无法企及的想象力 that next generation did with a level of imagination
所完成的创新 that my generation could not even begin to achieve
我希望我出生在你们这个时代 I wish I were in your generation
对于我对你们所作的一切 I am sorry
更准确地说是我们那一代人所作的一切 for what I have done to you
我深感歉意 or rather what my generation has done
但是我们留给你们的世界 尽管如此的糟糕 But the world we've left you with, bad as it is
它必须获得拯救 it should be saved
必须安然存在 live well.
去做那些不可思议的事情 反思一切 Do incredible things, re think everything
请拯救我们留给你们的世界吧 and please save the world that we have left you
谢谢大家 Thank you so much