TED2003
Steven Pinker: Human nature and the blank slate
史蒂芬·平克在白板上写下论题
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史蒂芬·平克（Steven Pinker）的书《空白的石板》主张所有人生来就有一些先天的特质。在这儿，平克谈论了他的论题，以及为何有些人觉得它让人极为不安。
Steven Pinker - Psychologist
Steven Pinker is a professor of cognitive science (the study of the human mind) who writes about language, mind and human nature. Full bio
Steven Pinker is a professor of cognitive science (the study of the human mind) who writes about language, mind and human nature. Full bio
Double-click the English transcript below to play the video.
00:18
A year ago, I spoke to you about a book
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一年前，我跟你们谈起
00:22
that I was just in the process of completing,
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一本就快写完的书，
00:25
that has come out in the interim, and I would like to talk to you today
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在这期间它出版了。今天我想跟你们谈谈
00:28
about some of the controversies that that book inspired.
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这本书引发的一些争议。
00:32
The book is called "The Blank Slate,"
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这本书名叫《空白的石板》，
00:34
based on the popular idea
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它基于一个流行的观点
00:36
that the human mind is a blank slate,
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即人类的思想是一块空白的石板，
00:38
and that all of its structure comes from
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它所有的构造都来自于
00:41
socialization, culture, parenting, experience.
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社交，文化，养育，经验。
00:45
The "blank slate" was an influential idea in the 20th century.
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在二十世纪里，“空白的石板”是很有影响的观点。
00:49
Here are a few quotes indicating that:
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下面有几条表达这个意思的语录：
00:52
"Man has no nature," from the historian
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“人无天性”，来自历史学家
00:54
Jose Ortega y Gasset;
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Jose Ortega y Gasset;
00:56
"Man has no instincts," from the
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“人无本能”，来自
00:58
anthropologist Ashley Montagu;
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人类学家Ashley Montagu;
01:00
"The human brain is capable of a full range of behaviors
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“人的大脑有能力做各种行为
01:03
and predisposed to none," from the late scientist Stephen Jay Gould.
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但没有任何预先的倾向”，来自已故科学家史蒂芬·古尔德。
01:08
There are a number of reasons to doubt that the human mind
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有几条理由来怀疑人的思想
01:10
is a blank slate,
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是一块空白的石板，
01:12
and some of them just come from common sense.
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其中一些只不过来自于常识。
01:14
As many people have told me over the years,
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正如这些年里许多人告诉我的那样，
01:17
anyone who's had more than one child
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任何有几个小孩的人
01:19
knows that kids come into the world
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孩子带着特定的性情和天赋
01:22
with certain temperaments and talents;
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来到这个世界；
01:24
it doesn't all come from the outside.
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这些并非都来自外界。
01:27
Oh, and anyone who
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噢，任何人要是既有孩子
01:29
has both a child and a house pet
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又有宠物，
01:32
has surely noticed that the child, exposed to speech,
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一定会注意到，接触到言语的儿童
01:34
will acquire a human language,
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会习得人类语言，
01:36
whereas the house pet won't,
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而宠物则不会，
01:38
presumably because of some innate different between them.
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想必是由于他们之间有些先天的差异。
01:41
And anyone who's ever been
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任何曾跟异性交往过的人
01:43
in a heterosexual relationship knows that
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都知道，男人的思想
01:45
the minds of men and the minds of women are not indistinguishable.
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跟女人的思想并非难以区分。
01:49
There are also, I think,
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我认为在对人的科学研究中
01:51
increasing results from
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也有越来越多的
01:53
the scientific study of humans
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结果表明
01:55
that, indeed, we're not born blank slates.
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我们并非生而为白板。
01:58
One of them, from anthropology,
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其中之一是来自人类学
02:01
is the study of human universals.
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对人类共性的研究。
02:03
If you've ever taken anthropology, you know that it's a --
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如果你学过人类学，
02:05
kind of an occupational
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你就会知道它是
02:07
pleasure of anthropologists to show
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人类学家的一种职业乐趣，
02:09
how exotic other cultures can be,
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用来展现其他的文明能有多么奇特，
02:12
and that there are places out there where, supposedly,
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据说有些地方
02:14
everything is the opposite to the way it is here.
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所有事都跟这儿相反。
02:17
But if you instead
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但如果你去审视一下
02:19
look at what is common to the world's cultures,
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世界上的文明有何共同点，
02:23
you find that there is an enormously rich set
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你会发现有大量的
02:25
of behaviors and emotions
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行为和情绪，
02:28
and ways of construing the world
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以及解释世界的方式，
02:30
that can be found in all of the world's 6,000-odd cultures.
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都能在世界上的6000多个文化中找到。
02:34
The anthropologist Donald Brown has tried to list them all,
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人类学家Donald Brown试着把它们全部罗列出来，
02:37
and they range from aesthetics,
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从审美，
02:39
affection and age statuses
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感情，年龄待遇，
02:42
all the way down to weaning, weapons, weather,
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一直到断奶，武器，天气，
02:45
attempts to control, the color white
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尝试控制，白色，
02:47
and a worldview.
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以及世界观。
02:49
Also, genetics and neuroscience
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此外，遗传学和神经科学
02:51
are increasingly showing that the brain
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日益表明大脑
02:53
is intricately structured.
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是错综复杂地构造起来的。
02:56
This is a recent study by the neurobiologist Paul Thompson
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这是神经生物学家Paul Thompson和他的同事
02:58
and his colleagues in which they --
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最近的一项研究，
03:00
using MRI --
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在研究中他们使用磁共振造像
03:02
measured the distribution of gray matter --
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测量了灰质——
03:05
that is, the outer layer of the cortex --
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——即脑皮层的外层——
03:08
in a large sample of pairs of people.
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在一个两两成对的人的庞大样本中的分布。
03:11
They coded correlations in the thickness
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他们用一种人为的色彩方案
03:15
of gray matter in different parts of the brain
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对大脑的不同部分的
03:17
using a false color scheme, in which
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灰质厚度的相互关系进行编码，
03:20
no difference is coded as purple,
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没有区别的被编码为紫色，
03:23
and any color other than purple indicates
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除紫色外的其他颜色表示
03:25
a statistically significant correlation.
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统计显著的相关性。
03:27
Well, this is what happens when you pair people up at random.
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好了，这是随机把两个人配对的结果。
03:30
By definition, two people picked at random
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根据定义，两个随机选出的人
03:33
can't have correlations in the distribution
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在脑皮层的灰质分布上
03:35
of gray matter in the cortex.
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是不会有关联的。
03:38
This is what happens in people who share
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这是两个有一半相同基因的人
03:41
half of their DNA -- fraternal twins.
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——异卵双胞胎的结果。
03:44
And as you can see, large amounts of the brain
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你可以看到，大脑的许多部分
03:46
are not purple, showing that if one person
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不是紫色的，说明如果一个人
03:49
has a thicker bit of cortex
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在那个区域的脑皮层较厚，
03:52
in that region, so does his fraternal twin.
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那他的异卵双胞胎也一样。
03:55
And here's what happens if you
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这是一对DNA完全相同的人
03:59
get a pair of people who share all their DNA --
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即克隆或者同卵双胞胎
04:01
namely, clones or identical twins.
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的结果。
04:04
And you can see huge areas of cortex where there are
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你能看到皮层的大片大片区域中
04:08
massive correlations in the distribution of gray matter.
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的灰质分布都显著相关。
04:11
Now, these aren't just
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其实，不止
04:13
differences in anatomy,
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解剖结构上有差异，
04:15
like the shape of your ear lobes,
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类似于你耳垂的形状，
04:17
but they have consequences in thought and behavior
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它们对思想和行为会产生重大影响，
04:21
that are well illustrated in this famous cartoon by Charles Addams:
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正如在Charles Addams的这幅著名的漫画中很好地展示得那样：
04:25
"Separated at birth, the Mallifert twins meet accidentally."
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“出生时分离，Mallifert双胞胎意外相遇。”
04:30
As you can see, there are two inventors
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你可以看到，两个发明家
04:32
with identical contraptions in their lap, meeting
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膝上有相同的玩意儿，
04:34
in the waiting room of a patent attorney.
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他们在专利律师的休息室里相遇。
04:36
Now, the cartoon is not such an exaggeration, because
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其实，这幅漫画并没有很夸张，因为
04:39
studies of identical twins who were separated at birth
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对出生时分离，
04:42
and then tested in adulthood
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成年时测试的同卵双胞胎
04:44
show that they have astonishing similarities.
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的研究表明他们有惊人的相似性。
04:47
And this happens in every pair of identical twins
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并且每一对被研究的
04:50
separated at birth ever studied --
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出生时分离的同卵双胞胎都是这样——
04:52
but much less so with fraternal twins separated at birth.
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但出生时分离的异卵双胞胎就远非如此。
04:55
My favorite example is a pair of twins,
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我偏爱的一个例子中有一对双胞胎，
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one of whom was brought up
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一个在德国的一个纳粹家庭里
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as a Catholic in a Nazi family in Germany,
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被养育成一个天主教徒，
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the other brought up in a Jewish family in Trinidad.
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另一个在特立尼达的一个犹太家庭中长大。
05:08
When they walked into the lab in Minnesota,
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当他们走进明尼苏达的实验室时，
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they were wearing identical navy blue shirts with epaulettes;
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他们都穿着相同的有肩章的海军蓝衬衫，
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both of them liked to dip buttered toast in coffee,
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他们都喜欢把奶油面包浸在咖啡里，
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both of them kept rubber bands around their wrists,
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他们都在手腕上戴着橡皮筋，
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both of them flushed the toilet before using it as well as after,
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他们都要在使用抽水马桶的前后各冲一次水，
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and both of them liked to surprise people
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他们都喜欢在拥挤的电梯里
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by sneezing in crowded elevators to watch them jump.
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打喷嚏来吓人一跳。
05:30
Now --
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好了——
05:32
the story might seem to good to be true,
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这个故事看似异想天开，
05:34
but when you administer
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但当你进行
05:36
batteries of psychological tests,
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各种心理测试时，
05:39
you get the same results -- namely,
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你会得到相同的结果——那就是，
05:41
identical twins separated at birth show
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出生时失散的同卵双胞胎显示出
05:43
quite astonishing similarities.
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相当惊人的相似之处。
05:45
Now, given both the common sense
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好了，既然常识
05:47
and scientific data
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和科学数据
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calling the doctrine of the blank slate into question,
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都质疑白板的教条，
05:51
why should it have been such an appealing notion?
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为何它会是个那么有吸引力的主张？
05:54
Well, there are a number of political reasons why people have found it congenial.
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好吧，人们之所以觉得它合意，其中有几个政治原因。
05:57
The foremost is that if we're blank slates,
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最根本的是，如果我们是空白的石板，
06:00
then, by definition, we are equal,
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那么根据定义，我们就是平等的，
06:02
because zero equals zero equals zero.
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因为零等于零等于零等于零。
06:05
But if something is written on the slate,
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但如果白板上写了东西，
06:07
then some people could have more of it than others,
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那么有些人的就可能比别人写得多，
06:09
and according to this line of thinking, that would justify
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根据这种思路，就会证明
06:11
discrimination and inequality.
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歧视和不平等是有理的。
06:14
Another political fear of human nature
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另一种对于人性的政治担忧是，
06:17
is that if we are blank slates,
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如果我们是空白的石板，
06:19
we can perfect mankind --
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我们就能使人类完美——
06:21
the age-old dream of the perfectibility of our species
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通过社会工程来使我们的物种
06:24
through social engineering.
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臻于完美的古老梦想。
06:26
Whereas, if we're born with certain instincts,
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而如果我们有某些与生俱来的本能，
06:28
then perhaps some of them might condemn us
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那么也许其中有些会把我们
06:30
to selfishness, prejudice and violence.
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驱入自私，偏见和暴力。
06:34
Well, in the book, I argue that these are, in fact, non sequiturs.
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好了，在书中，我主张这些其实都是不当结论。
06:38
And just to make a long story short:
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长话短说吧：
06:40
first of all, the concept of fairness
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首先，公平的概念
06:42
is not the same as the concept of sameness.
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跟相同的概念是不同的。
06:45
And so when Thomas Jefferson wrote
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因此，当托马斯·杰斐逊
06:47
in the Declaration of Independence,
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在独立宣言中写道，
06:49
"We hold these truths to be self-evident,
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“我们认为这些真理是不言自明的：
06:51
that all men are created equal,"
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所有人生而平等，”
06:54
he did not mean "We hold these truths to be self-evident,
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他的意思并不是“我们认为这些真理是不言自明的：
06:56
that all men are clones."
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所有人都是克隆体。”
06:59
Rather, that all men are equal in terms of their rights,
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而是所有人在权利方面是平等的，
07:02
and that every person ought to be treated
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每个人应当被作为
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as an individual, and not prejudged
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个人来对待，而不是根据
07:07
by the statistics of particular groups
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他们所属的特定群体的
07:09
that they may belong to.
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统计数据来做预判。
07:12
Also, even if we were born
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此外，即使我们生来
07:14
with certain ignoble motives,
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有某些卑劣的动机，
07:16
they don't automatically lead to ignoble behavior.
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它们并不会自动导致卑劣的行为。
07:19
That is because the human mind
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这是因为人的头脑
07:21
is a complex system with many parts,
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是一个有许多组成部分的复杂系统，
07:23
and some of them can inhibit others.
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其中有些可以抑制其他部分。
07:26
For example, there's excellent reason to believe
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例如，我们有很好的理由相信
07:29
that virtually all humans are born with a moral sense,
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几乎所有人生而具有道德感，
07:33
and that we have cognitive abilities that allow us
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并且我们有
07:36
to profit from the lessons of history.
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从历史的经验教训中获益的认知能力。
07:38
So even if people did have impulses
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因此，即使人们
07:40
towards selfishness or greed,
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对自私或贪婪有冲动，
07:42
that's not the only thing in the skull,
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那也不是头颅中仅有的东西，
07:44
and there are other parts of the mind that can counteract them.
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头脑中还有其他部分可以抵消它们。
07:47
In the book, I
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在书中，我
07:49
go over controversies such as this one,
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审视了诸如此类的争论，
07:51
and a number of other hot buttons,
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以及其他一些敏感问题，
07:54
hot zones, Chernobyls, third rails, and so on --
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敏感区域，切尔诺贝利，第三条轨道等等，
07:57
including the arts, cloning, crime,
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包括艺术，克隆，犯罪，
07:59
free will, education, evolution,
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自由意志，教育，进化，
08:01
gender differences, God, homosexuality,
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性别差异，上帝，同性恋，
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infanticide, inequality, Marxism, morality,
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杀婴，不平等，马克思主义，道德，
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Nazism, parenting, politics,
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纳粹主义，养育子女，政治，
08:08
race, rape, religion, resource depletion,
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种族，宗教，资源枯竭，
08:10
social engineering, technological risk and war.
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社会工程，技术风险和战争。
08:13
And needless to say, there were certain risks
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不用说，讨论这些主题
08:15
in taking on these subjects.
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是有一定风险的。
08:19
When I wrote a first draft of the book,
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当我写了书的初稿时，
08:22
I circulated it to a number of colleagues for comments,
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我分发给一些同事征求意见，
08:24
and here are some of
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这里是我得到的
08:27
the reactions that I got:
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一些反应：
08:29
"Better get a security camera for your house."
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“最好给你的房子装个保安摄像头。”
08:33
"Don't expect to get any more awards, job offers
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“你别指望还能得到什么奖项、工作机会
08:36
or positions in scholarly societies."
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或在学术社团里的位置。”
08:39
"Tell your publisher not to list your hometown
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“告诉你的出版商别在你的个人小传里
08:41
in your author bio."
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列出你的家乡。”
08:44
"Do you have tenure?"
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“你有终身教职了吗？”
08:46
(Laughter)
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(笑声)
08:48
Well, the book came out in October,
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唔，这本书在10月份出版了，
08:50
and nothing terrible has happened.
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还没有发生什么可怕的事。
08:55
I -- I like --
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我——我喜欢——
08:58
There was indeed reason to be nervous,
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的确有理由紧张，
09:00
and there were moments in which I did feel nervous,
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在某些时刻我确实也感到紧张了，
09:02
knowing the history
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因为我知道
09:04
of what has happened to people
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那些在行为科学中
09:06
who've taken controversial stands
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持争议立场
09:08
or discovered disquieting findings
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或有令人不安的发现的人
09:11
in the behavioral sciences.
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的下场的历史。
09:13
There are many cases, some of which I talk about in the book,
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有很多这样的事例，有些我在书中谈到了，
09:16
of people who have been slandered, called Nazis,
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关于人们因为偶然发现
09:20
physically assaulted, threatened with criminal prosecution
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或者争论有争议的发现，
09:23
for stumbling across or arguing
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而被诽谤，被称为纳粹，
09:27
about controversial findings.
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殴打，胁以刑事起诉。
09:30
And you never know when you're going to
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你永远不知道你何时
09:32
come across one of these booby traps.
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会踏入这样的一个陷阱。
09:34
My favorite example is a pair of psychologists
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我最喜欢的例子
09:36
who did research on left-handers,
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是两个研究左撇子的心理学家，
09:39
and published some data showing that left-handers are, on average,
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他们发表了一些数据，表明平均而言，
09:42
more susceptible to disease, more prone to accidents
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左撇子更容易受到疾病的侵害，更容易发生意外，
09:45
and have a shorter lifespan.
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寿命也更短。
09:47
It's not clear, by the way, since then,
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顺便说一句，从那以后
09:49
whether that is an accurate generalization,
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还不清楚这是否是准确的概括，
09:52
but the data at the time seemed to support that.
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但当时的数据似乎支持这个说法。
09:55
Well, pretty soon they were barraged
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好了，他们很快受到了猛烈攻击
09:57
with enraged letters,
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包括愤怒的信件，
10:00
death threats,
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死亡威胁，
10:02
ban on the topic in a number of scientific journals,
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禁止在一些科学期刊上讨论这个主题，
10:05
coming from irate left-handers
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来自愤怒的左撇子
10:08
and their advocates,
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和他们的拥护者，
10:10
and they were literally afraid to open their mail
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他们简直不敢拆开信件，
10:13
because of the venom and vituperation
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由于他们无意中
10:16
that they had inadvertently inspired.
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激起的怨恨和谩骂。
10:19
Well,
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嗯，
10:21
the night is young, but the book has been out
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黑夜未央，但这本书已经
10:23
for half a year,
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出版半年了，
10:25
and nothing terrible has happened.
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并没有发生什么可怕的事。
10:27
None of the dire professional consequences
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那些可怕的职业后果
10:29
has taken place --
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一个都没发生——
10:31
I haven't been
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我还没被
10:33
exiled from the city of Cambridge.
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驱逐出剑桥市。
10:36
But what I wanted to talk about
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但我想谈的是
10:38
are two of these hot buttons
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在《空白的石板》收到的
10:41
that have aroused the strongest response
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80多篇评论里，
10:45
in the 80-odd reviews
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激起了最强烈的反应的
10:47
that The Blank Slate has received.
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敏感问题中的两个。
10:50
I'll just put that list up for a few seconds,
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我只把这个列表放上几秒钟，
10:53
and see if you can guess which two
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看看你们能否猜出是哪两个
10:55
-- I would estimate that probably two of these topics
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——我估计这些主题中的两个
10:57
inspired probably 90 percent
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引起了各种评论
11:00
of the reaction in the various reviews
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和电台采访中
11:03
and radio interviews.
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百分之九十的反应。
11:05
It's not violence and war,
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不是暴力和战争，
11:07
it's not race, it's not gender,
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不是种族，不是性别，
11:09
it's not Marxism, it's not Nazism.
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不是马克思主义，也不是纳粹主义。
11:12
They are: the arts and parenting.
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它们是：艺术和养育子女。
11:15
(Laughter)
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（笑声）
11:17
So let me tell you what
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那么让我来告诉你们是什么
11:19
aroused such irate responses,
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引起了这些愤怒的反应，
11:21
and I'll let you decide if whether they --
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我会让你们决定——
11:24
the claims are really that outrageous.
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这些论点是否真的那么离谱。
11:26
Let me start with the arts.
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让我先从艺术开始。
11:29
I note that among the long list of human universals
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我注意到我在几张幻灯片前
11:31
that I presented a few slides ago
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提出的人类共性的列表中的
11:34
are art.
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其中一项就是艺术。
11:36
There is no society ever discovered
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在已发现的所有社会里，
11:39
in the remotest corner of the world that has not had something
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即使在世界最偏远的角落，没有一个没有一些
11:42
that we would consider the arts.
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我们会认为是艺术的东西。
11:46
Visual arts -- decoration of surfaces and bodies --
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视觉艺术——物体表面和身体的装饰——
11:48
appears to be a human universal.
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似乎是一个人类的共性。
11:50
The telling of stories, music,
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讲故事，音乐，
11:52
dance, poetry -- found in all cultures,
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舞蹈，诗歌在所有文化中被发现，
11:55
and many of the motifs and themes
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以及许多在艺术中
11:58
that
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给我们愉悦的
12:01
give us pleasure in the arts
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主旨和主题
12:03
can be found in all human societies:
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能在所有人类社会中被找到：
12:07
a preference for symmetrical forms,
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对于对称形式的偏好，
12:10
the use of repetition and variation,
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对重复和变异的使用，
12:12
even things as specific as the fact
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甚至具体到这样一个事实：
12:14
that in poetry all over the world,
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世界各地的诗歌
12:16
you have lines that are very close
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每句句子都非常接近
12:19
to three seconds long, separated by pauses.
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3秒钟长，由停顿隔开。
12:22
Now, on the other hand,
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而在另一方面，
12:24
in the second half of the 20th century,
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在20世纪下半叶，
12:26
the arts are frequently said to be in decline.
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艺术常被说成是在衰败。
12:29
And I have a collection,
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我从格调高雅的杂志上
12:31
probably 10 or 15 headlines, from highbrow magazines
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收集了大概10到15条头条，
12:34
deploring the fact that
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哀叹我们时代的
12:36
the arts are in decline in our time.
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艺术在衰败这一事实。
12:39
I'll give you a couple of representative quotes:
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我给你们一些代表性的引述：
12:42
"We can assert with some confidence that our own period is
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“我们可以有信心地断言，我们的时代
12:44
one of decline, that the standards of culture are lower
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是个衰败的时代，文化的标准
12:47
than they were 50 years ago, and that the evidences of this decline
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比50年前要低，这一衰败的证据
12:50
are visible in every department of human activity."
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在人类活动的方方面面都显而易见。”
12:53
That's a quote from T. S. Eliot, a little more than 50 years ago.
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这是50多年前艾略特的一段话。
12:56
And a more recent one:
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近一点的一条：
12:58
"The possibility of sustaining high culture in our time
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“在我们这个时代保持高雅文化的可能性
13:00
is becoming increasing problematical.
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已经越来越成问题。
13:03
Serious book stores are losing their franchise,
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严肃的书店正在失去他们的专营权，
13:05
nonprofit theaters are surviving primarily
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非盈利性剧院主要依靠
13:07
by commercializing their repertory,
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把他们的轮演剧目商业化来生存，
13:09
symphony orchestras are diluting their programs,
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交响乐团在稀释他们的节目单，
13:11
public television is increasing its dependence
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公共电视台越来越依赖于
13:13
on reruns of British sitcoms,
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英国情景喜剧的重播，
13:16
classical radio stations are dwindling,
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古典电台在减少，
13:18
museums are resorting to blockbuster shows, dance is dying."
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博物馆诉诸于轰动性展览，舞蹈在死亡。“
13:20
That's from Robert Brustein,
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这是著名的戏剧评论家和导演
13:22
the famous drama critic and director,
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Robert Brustein大约5年前
13:25
in The New Republic about five years ago.
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写在《新共和国》杂志里的一段话。
13:28
Well, in fact, the arts are not in decline.
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好了，事实上，艺术并没有衰败。
13:31
I don't think this will as a surprise to anyone in this room,
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我不认为这间房子里的任何人会感到惊讶，
13:34
but by any standard
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但以任何标准衡量，
13:36
they have never been flourishing
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它们从没有更大规模地
13:38
to a greater extent.
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蓬勃发展。
13:40
There are, of course, entirely new art forms
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当然有些全新的艺术形式
13:43
and new media, many of which you've heard
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和新媒体，其中许多
13:45
over these few days.
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你们在这几天里都听说了。
13:48
By any economic standard,
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按任何经济标准，
13:50
the demand for art of all forms
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对所有形式的艺术的需求
13:53
is skyrocketing,
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正在飞涨，
13:55
as you can tell from the price of opera tickets,
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从歌剧票价，
13:57
by the number of books sold,
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图书销售量，
13:59
by the number of books published,
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出版的图书数量，
14:01
the number of musical titles released,
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发行的音乐剧数量，
14:04
the number of new albums and so on.
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以及新专辑的数量等等都能看得出来。
14:07
The only grain of truth to this
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有关艺术在衰败这句抱怨的
14:09
complaint that the arts are in decline
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唯一一点儿真实性
14:11
come from three spheres.
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来自于三个方面。
14:15
One of them is in elite art since the 1930s --
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其中之一是来自于20世纪30年代以来的精英艺术——
14:18
say, the kinds of works performed
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比如，著名的交响乐团
14:20
by major symphony orchestras,
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演出的那些作品，
14:22
where most of the repertory is before 1930,
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他们的大部分保留剧目出自1930年之前，
14:26
or the works shown in
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或是著名的画廊和博物馆
14:28
major galleries and prestigious museums.
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展出的那些作品。
14:32
In literary criticism and analysis,
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还有来自于文学批评和分析，
14:34
probably 40 or 50 years ago,
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大概在40年或50年前，
14:36
literary critics were a kind of cultural hero;
332
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文学评论家有点像是文化英雄，
14:39
now they're kind of a national joke.
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现在他们有点像是全国性玩笑。
14:41
And the humanities and arts programs
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还有大学中的人文和艺术课程
14:44
in the universities, which by many measures,
335
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按很多衡量标准，
14:46
indeed are in decline.
336
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都确实在下降。
14:48
Students are staying away in droves,
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学生们纷纷敬而远之，
14:50
universities are disinvesting
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大学则从艺术和人文领域
14:52
in the arts and humanities.
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和人文领域撤资。
14:54
Well, here's a diagnosis.
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好了，这儿有个诊断。
14:57
They didn't ask me, but by their own admission,
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他们没有要求我，但是他们自己也承认，
14:59
they need all the help that they can get.
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他们需要他们可以得到的所有帮助。
15:02
And I would like to suggest that it's not a coincidence
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我想指出，精英艺术和批评的
15:04
that this supposed decline
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被信以为真的衰败，
15:06
in the elite arts and criticism
345
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与对人性的普遍否认，
15:09
occurred in the same point in history in which
346
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在历史上的同一点发生，
15:11
there was a widespread denial of human nature.
347
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这并不是一个巧合。
15:14
A famous quotation can be found --
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如果你上网搜索，
15:16
if you look on the web, you can find it in
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就能在大量的
15:18
literally scores
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英语教学大纲里
15:20
of English core syllabuses --
351
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找到这样一句名言－
15:23
"In or about December 1910,
352
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“大约在1910年12月，
15:26
human nature changed."
353
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人性改变了。”
15:28
A paraphrase of a quote by Virginia Woolf,
354
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这是弗吉尼亚·沃尔夫的一句引言的另述，
15:31
and there's some debate
355
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而对她到底是什么意思
15:33
as to what she actually meant by that.
356
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还有一些争论。
15:35
But it's very clear, looking at these syllabuses,
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但是看这些教学大纲是很清楚的，
15:37
that -- it's used now
358
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——现在它被
15:39
as a way of saying that all forms
359
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4000
用来表示，
15:43
of appreciation of art
360
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存在了几百、几千年的
15:45
that were in place for centuries, or millennia,
361
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所有艺术欣赏形式，
15:49
in the 20th century were discarded.
362
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3000
在20世纪时被抛弃了。
15:52
The beauty and pleasure in art --
363
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艺术中的美与乐——
15:54
probably a human universal --
364
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可能是一种人类共性——
15:56
were -- began to be considered saccharine,
365
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开始被认为是甜稠的、
15:58
or kitsch, or commercial.
366
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媚俗的、商业的。
16:01
Barnett Newman had a famous quote that "the impulse of modern art
367
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巴内特·纽曼有一句名言，现代艺术的冲动
16:04
is the desire to destroy beauty" --
368
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是想要毁灭美，
16:07
which was considered bourgeois or tacky.
369
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它被认为是资产阶级的或是俗气的。
16:10
And here's just one example.
370
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这里有个例子。
16:12
I mean, this is perhaps a representative example
371
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我的意思是，这也许是对
16:15
of the visual depiction of the female form
372
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15世纪女性形态的视觉描绘的
16:18
in the 15th century;
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典型示例；
16:20
here is a representative example
374
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而这里是对20世纪女性形态的
16:22
of the depiction of the female form in the 20th century.
375
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3000
描绘的典型示例。
16:26
And, as you can see, there -- something has changed
376
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如你所见，精英艺术
16:28
in the way the elite arts
377
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迎合感官的方式
16:30
appeal to the senses.
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已经改变了。
16:32
Indeed, in movements of modernism
379
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确实，在现代主义
16:34
and post-modernism,
380
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2000
和后现代主义运动里，
16:36
there was visual art without beauty,
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有着无美感的视觉艺术，
16:38
literature without narrative and plot,
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没有叙述和情节的文学，
16:40
poetry without meter and rhyme,
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没有韵律的诗歌，
16:42
architecture and planning without ornament,
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没有装饰、人性化、绿色空间
16:44
human scale, green space and natural light,
385
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和自然光的建筑和规划，
16:47
music without melody and rhythm,
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没有旋律和节奏的音乐，
16:49
and criticism without clarity,
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不明晰、不注意美学、
16:51
attention to aesthetics and insight into the human condition.
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对人类处境毫无洞察的批评。
16:54
(Laughter)
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（笑声）
16:56
Let me give just you an example to back up that last statement.
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让我举一个例子来支持最后一个说法。
16:59
But here, there -- one of the most famous literary
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我们时代最著名的
17:01
English scholars of our time
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文学英语学者之一
17:03
is the Berkeley professor,
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是伯克利的教授
17:05
Judith Butler.
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朱迪思·巴特勒。
17:07
And here is an example of
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这里她的分析
17:09
one of her analyses:
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的一个例子：
17:12
"The move from a structuralist account in which capital
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“从资本被认为
17:14
is understood to structure social relations
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以一种同权力关系
17:16
in relatively homologous ways
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注定重复、合流、重新表达的
17:18
to a view of hegemony in which power relations are subject to repetition,
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霸权比较类似的方式构建社会关系的
17:21
convergence and rearticulation
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结构主义诠释的转出，
17:23
brought the question of temporality into the thinking of structure,
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将临时性的问题带到了对结构的思考中，
17:26
and marked a shift from the form of Althusserian theory
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并标志着从把结构整体性作为理论对象的
17:28
that takes structural totalities as theoretical objects ..."
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阿尔都塞理论的形式的转变……“
17:31
Well, you get the idea.
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好了，你明白我的意思了。
17:34
By the way, this is one sentence --
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顺便说一下，这只是一句句子——
17:36
you can actually parse it.
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你其实可以解析它。
17:40
Well, the argument in "The Blank Slate"
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唔，在《空白的石板》中的论点是，
17:42
was that elite art and criticism
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精英艺术
17:44
in the 20th century,
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与20世纪的批评，
17:46
although not the arts in general,
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而不是总体上的艺术，
17:48
have disdained beauty, pleasure,
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鄙弃了美丽、快乐、
17:50
clarity, insight and style.
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清晰、洞察和风格。
17:53
People are staying away from elite art and criticism.
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人们正在远离精英艺术和批评。
17:57
What a puzzle -- I wonder why.
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多么让人困惑——这到底是为什么呢？
18:00
Well, this turned out to be probably
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唔，结果这变成了书中
18:02
the most controversial claim in the book.
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可能最有争议的论点。
18:04
Someone asked me whether I stuck it in
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有人问我，我是不是为了转移
18:06
in order to deflect ire
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来自性别、纳粹主义
18:09
from discussions of gender and Nazism
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和种族等的讨论中的愤怒，
18:12
and race and so on. I won't comment on that.
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才把它插进来。对此我无可奉告。
18:16
But it certainly inspired
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但它肯定激起了
18:19
an energetic reaction
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许多大学教授的
18:22
from many university professors.
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热烈反应。
18:25
Well, the other hot button is parenting.
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好了，另一个敏感问题是养育子女。
18:28
And the starting point is the -- for that discussion
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该讨论的出发点是——
18:31
was the fact that we have all
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我们都经常收到
18:33
been subject to the advice
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来自于养育子女
18:35
of the parenting industrial complex.
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产业联合体的建议。
18:38
Now, here is -- here is a
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唔，这儿有一条
18:40
representative quote from a besieged mother:
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来自一位倍感烦恼的母亲的代表性语录：
18:43
"I'm overwhelmed with parenting advice.
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“我被抚养子女的意见所淹没。
18:45
I'm supposed to do lots of physical activity with my kids
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我应该跟我的孩子做很多身体活动，
18:47
so I can instill in them a physical fitness habit
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来给他们灌输一个身体健康的习惯，
18:50
so they'll grow up to be healthy adults.
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这样他们就会成长为健康的成年人。
18:52
And I'm supposed to do all kinds of intellectual play
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我应该做各种智力游戏，
18:54
so they'll grow up smart.
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这样他们就会成长为聪明的人。
18:56
And there are all kinds of play -- clay for finger dexterity,
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还有各种各样的游戏——玩黏土以锻炼手指灵活性，
18:59
word games for reading success, large motor play,
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玩文字游戏以达到阅读成功，大幅度运动游戏，
19:02
small motor play. I feel like I could devote my life
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小幅度运动游戏。我觉得我可以为了
19:04
to figuring out what to play with my kids."
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搞清楚要跟孩子玩什么而献出我的生活。”
19:07
I think anyone who's recently been a parent can sympathize
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我想最近为人父母者
19:09
with this mother.
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都能与这位母亲产生共鸣。
19:12
Well, here's some sobering facts about parenting.
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唔，这里有些发人深省的关于养育子女的事实。
19:15
Most studies of parenting on which this advice is based
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这条建议所基于的关于养育子女的研究中的大部分
19:19
are useless. They're useless because they don't control
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都是毫无用处的。它们没用是因为它们没有控制
19:22
for heritability. They measure some correlation
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遗传性。它们衡量了父母做什么
19:25
between what the parents do, how the children turn out
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与子女变得如何之间的一些相关性，
19:28
and assume a causal relation:
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并假定一个因果关系：
19:30
that the parenting shaped the child.
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即父母的养育塑造了子女。
19:32
Parents who talk a lot to their kids
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父母对孩子说得很多，
19:34
have kids who grow up to be articulate,
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孩子长大就能说会道，
19:36
parents who spank their kids have kids who grow up
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父母打孩子，孩子长大
19:38
to be violent and so on.
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就很暴力，诸如此类。
19:40
And very few of them control for the possibility
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其中很少控制了
19:43
that parents pass on genes for --
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父母遗传给孩子
19:46
that increase the chances a child will be articulate
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增加其善言或暴力概率
19:48
or violent and so on.
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的基因的可能性。
19:50
Until the studies are redone with adoptive children,
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在这些研究在提供环境而非基因的
19:53
who provide an environment
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被收养的孩子的身上
19:55
but not genes to their kids,
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重做之前，
19:57
we have no way of knowing whether these conclusions are valid.
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我们无法知道这些结论是否有效。
20:00
The genetically controlled studies
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控制了遗传性的研究
20:02
have some sobering results.
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有一些发人深省的结果。
20:04
Remember the Mallifert twins:
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还记得Mallifert双胞胎吧：
20:06
separated at birth, then they meet in the patent office --
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出生时失散，他们在专利局相遇——
20:09
remarkably similar.
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两人非常相似。
20:11
Well, what would have happened if the Mallifert twins had grown up together?
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唔，要是Mallifert双胞胎一起长大会怎么样呢？
20:14
You might think, well, then they'd be even more similar,
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你可能会想，他们会更相似，
20:17
because not only would they share their genes,
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因为他们不仅共享了基因，
20:19
but they would also share their environment.
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也共享了环境。
20:22
That would make them super-similar, right?
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这将会使他们超级相似，对吗？
20:24
Wrong. Identical twins, or any siblings,
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错了。在出生时失散的同卵双胞胎或任何兄弟姐妹，
20:27
who are separated at birth are no less similar
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即使一起长大，
20:31
than if they had grown up together.
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也不会更加相似。
20:33
Everything that happens to you in a given home
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在一个特定家庭里
20:35
over all of those years
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这么多年发生在你身上的所有事，
20:37
appears to leave no permanent stamp
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似乎都没在你的个性或智力上
20:39
on your personality or intellect.
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留下任何永久的印记。
20:42
A complementary finding, from a completely different methodology,
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采用完全不同的方法找到的补充性发现，
20:45
is that adopted siblings reared together --
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显示了与同卵双胞胎相对的
20:49
the mirror image of identical twins reared apart,
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被收养的兄弟姐妹，
20:51
they share their parents, their home,
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他们共享了父母、家庭、邻里，
20:53
their neighborhood,
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但没共享基因——
20:55
don't share their genes -- end up not similar at all.
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结果成长为了毫不相似的人。
20:58
OK -- two different bodies of research with a similar finding.
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好了，两个不同的研究体获得了相似的发现。
21:01
What it suggests is that children are shaped
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这表示，长期来看
21:03
not by their parents over the long run,
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孩子并不是由父母塑造的，
21:06
but in part -- only in part -- by their genes,
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而是部分地——仅仅是部分地——由基因塑造，
21:09
in part by their culture --
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部分由文化塑造——
21:11
the culture of the country at large
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该国总体的文化，
21:13
and the children's own culture, namely their peer group --
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和孩子自己的文化，即他们的同伴——
21:15
as we heard from Jill Sobule earlier today,
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正如今天早些时候Jill Sobule所言，
21:18
that's what kids care about --
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那才是孩子们关心的——
21:21
and, to a very large extent, larger than most people are prepared to acknowledge,
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并且，在很大程度上，超出大多数人愿意承认的程度，
21:24
by chance: chance events in the wiring of the brain in utero;
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由偶然所塑造：在子宫中大脑连接时发生的偶然事件；
21:27
chance events as you live your life.
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你漫步人生中的偶然事件。
21:31
So let me conclude
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那就让我用一句话
21:33
with just a remark
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来回到选择的主题
21:35
to bring it back to the theme of choices.
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以作为结尾。
21:38
I think that the sciences of human nature --
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我认为，人性的科学——
21:40
behavioral genetics, evolutionary psychology,
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行为遗传学，进化心理学，
21:43
neuroscience, cognitive science --
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神经科学，认知科学——
21:45
are going to, increasingly in the years to come,
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将在未来的岁月里，
21:48
upset various dogmas,
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日益扰乱各种教条、
21:51
careers and deeply-held political belief systems.
506
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事业和深入人心的政治信仰体系。
21:54
And that presents us with a choice.
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这把一个选择放在了我们面前。
21:56
The choice is whether certain facts about humans,
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这个选择是，关于人类的某些事实
21:59
or topics, are to be considered taboos,
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或议题，是否要被认为是禁忌、
22:03
forbidden knowledge, where we shouldn't go there
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被禁止的知识，我们不该去探讨，
22:05
because no good can come from it,
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因为毫无益处，
22:07
or whether we should explore them honestly.
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或者我们是否应该诚实地探索它们。
22:10
I have my own
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对这个问题，
22:12
answer to that question,
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我有我自己的答案，
22:14
which comes from a great artist of the 19th century,
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来自于19世纪伟大的艺术家
22:17
Anton Chekhov, who said,
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安东·契诃夫，他说道：
22:20
"Man will become better when you show him
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“当你向一个人展示他是什么样的人时，
22:22
what he is like."
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他会变得更好。”
22:24
And I think that the argument
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我认为，这个论点
22:26
can't be put any more eloquently than that.
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没法说得更有力了。
22:29
Thank you very much.
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非常感谢。
22:32
(Applause)
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（掌声）
ABOUT THE SPEAKER
Steven Pinker - PsychologistSteven Pinker is a professor of cognitive science (the study of the human mind) who writes about language, mind and human nature.
Why you should listen
Steven Pinker grew up in the English-speaking community of Montreal but has spent his adult life bouncing back and forth between Harvard and MIT. He is interested in all aspects of human nature: how we see, hear, think, speak, remember, feel and interact.
To be specific: he developed the first comprehensive theory of language acquisition in children, used verb meaning as a window into cognition, probed the limits of neural networks and showed how the interaction between memory and computation shapes language. He has used evolution to illuminate innuendo, emotional expression and social coordination. He has documented historical declines in violence and explained them in terms of the ways that the violent and peaceable components of human nature interact in different eras. He has written books on the language instinct, how the mind works, the stuff of thought and the doctrine of the blank slate, together with a guide to stylish writing that is rooted in psychology.
In his latest book, Enlightenment Now: The Case for Reason, Science, Humanism, and Progress, he writes about progress -- why people are healthier, richer, safer, happier and better educated than ever. His other books include The Language Instinct, How the Mind Works, The Blank Slate: The Modern Denial of Human Nature, The Stuff of Thought, and The Better Angels of Our Nature.
Steven Pinker | Speaker | TED.com