1.A year ago, I spoke to you about a book that I was just in the process of completing, that has come out in the interim, and I would like to talk to you today
一年前，我跟你们谈起 一本就快写完的书， 在这期间它出版了。今天我想跟你们谈谈
2.about some of the controversies that that book inspired.
这本书引发的一些争议。
3.The book is called “The Blank Slate,”
这本书名叫《空白的石板》，
4.based on the popular idea that the human mind is a blank slate, and that all of its structure comes from socialization, culture, parenting, experience.
它基于一个流行的观点 即人类的思想是一块空白的石板， 它所有的构造都来自于 社交，文化，养育，经验。
5.The “blank slate” was an influential idea in the 20th century.
在二十世纪里，“空白的石板”是很有影响的观点。
6.Here are a few quotes indicating that: “Man has no nature,” from the historian Jose Ortega y Gasset; “Man has no instincts,” from the
下面有几条表达这个意思的语录： “人无天性”，来自历史学家 Jose Ortega y Gasset; “人无本能”，来自
7.anthropologist Ashley Montagu; “The human brain is capable of a full range of behaviors and predisposed to none,” from the late scientist Stephen Jay Gould.
人类学家Ashley Montagu; “人的大脑有能力做各种行为 但没有任何预先的倾向”，来自已故科学家史蒂芬·古尔德。
8.There are a number of reasons to doubt that the human mind is a blank slate, and some of them just come from common sense.
有几条理由来怀疑人的思想 是一块空白的石板， 其中一些只不过来自于常识。
9.As many people have told me over the years, anyone who’s had more than one child knows that kids come into the world with certain temperaments and talents;
正如这些年里许多人告诉我的那样， 任何有几个小孩的人 孩子带着特定的性情和天赋 来到这个世界；
10.it doesn’t all come from the outside.
这些并非都来自外界。
11.Oh, and anyone who has both a child and a house pet has surely noticed that the child, exposed to speech, will acquire a human language,
噢，任何人要是既有孩子 又有宠物， 一定会注意到，接触到言语的儿童 会习得人类语言，
12.whereas the house pet won’t, presumably because of some innate different between them.
而宠物则不会， 想必是由于他们之间有些先天的差异。
13.And anyone who’s been in a heterosexual relationship knows that the minds of men and the minds of women are not indistinguishable.
任何曾跟异性交往过的人 都知道，男人的思想 跟女人的思想并非难以区分。
14.There are also, I think, increasing results from the scientific study of humans that, indeed, we’re not born blank slates.
我认为在对人的科学研究中 也有越来越多的 结果表明 我们并非生而为白板。
15.One of them, from anthropology, is the study of human universals.
其中之一是来自人类学 对人类共性的研究。
16.If you’ve ever taken anthropology, you know that it’s a — kind of an occupational pleasure of anthropologists to show how exotic other cultures can be,
如果你学过人类学， 你就会知道它是 人类学家的一种职业乐趣， 用来展现其他的文明能有多么奇特，
17.and that there are places out there where, supposedly, everything is the opposite to the way it is here.
据说有些地方 所有事都跟这儿相反。
18.But if you instead look at what is common to the world’s cultures, you find that there is an enormously rich set of behaviors and emotions
但如果你去审视一下 世界上的文明有何共同点， 你会发现有大量的 行为和情绪，
19.and ways of construing the world that can be found in all of the world’s 6,000-odd cultures.
以及解释世界的方式， 都能在世界上的6000多个文化中找到。
20.The anthropologist Donald Brown has tried to list them all, and they range from aesthetics, affection and age statuses all the way down to weaning, weapons, weather,
人类学家Donald Brown试着把它们全部罗列出来， 从审美， 感情，年龄待遇， 一直到断奶，武器，天气，
21.attempts to control, the color white and a world view.
尝试控制，白色， 以及世界观。
22.Also, genetics and neuroscience are increasingly showing that the brain is intricately structured.
此外，遗传学和神经科学 日益表明大脑 是错综复杂地构造起来的。
23.This is a recent study by the neurobiologist Paul Thompson and his colleagues in which they — using MRI — measured the distribution of gray matter —
这是神经生物学家Paul Thompson和他的同事 最近的一项研究， 在研究中他们使用磁共振造像 测量了灰质——
24.that is, the outer layer of the cortex — in a large sample of pairs of people.
——即脑皮层的外层—— 在一个两两成对的人的庞大样本中的分布。
25.They coded correlations in the thickness of gray matter in different parts of the brain using a false color scheme, in which in which no difference is coded as purple,
他们用一种人为的色彩方案 对大脑的不同部分的 灰质厚度的相互关系进行编码， 没有区别的被编码为紫色，
26.and any color other than purple indicates a statistically significant correlation.
除紫色外的其他颜色表示 统计显著的相关性。
27.Well, this is what happens when you pair people up at random.
好了，这是随机把两个人配对的结果。
28.By definition, two people picked at random can’t have correlations in the distribution of gray matter in the cortex.
根据定义，两个随机选出的人 在脑皮层的灰质分布上 是不会有关联的。
29.This is what happens in people who share half of their DNA — fraternal twins.
这是两个有一半相同基因的人 ——异卵双胞胎的结果。
30.As you can see, large amounts of the brain are not purple, showing that if one person has a thicker bit of cortex in that region, so does his fraternal twin.
你可以看到，大脑的许多部分 不是紫色的，说明如果一个人 在那个区域的脑皮层较厚， 那他的异卵双胞胎也一样。
31.And here’s what happens if you get a pair of people who share all their DNA — namely, clones or identical twins.
这是一对DNA完全相同的人 即克隆或者同卵双胞胎 的结果。
32.And you can see huge areas of cortex where there are massive correlations in the distribution of gray matter.
你能看到皮层的大片大片区域中 的灰质分布都显著相关。
33.Now, these aren’t just differences in anatomy, like the shape of your ear lobes, but they have consequences in thought and behavior
其实，不止 解剖结构上有差异， 类似于你耳垂的形状， 它们对思想和行为会产生重大影响，
34.that are well illustrated in this famous cartoon by Charles Addams: “Separated at birth, the Mallifert twins meet accidentally.”
正如在Charles Addams的这幅著名的漫画中很好地展示得那样： “出生时分离，Mallifert双胞胎意外相遇。”
35.As you can see, there are two inventors with identical contraptions in their lap, and they’re meeting in the waiting room of a patent attorney.
你可以看到，两个发明家 膝上有相同的玩意儿， 他们在专利律师的休息室里相遇。
36.Now, the cartoon is not such an exaggeration, because studies of identical twins who were separated at birth and then tested in adulthood
其实，这幅漫画并没有很夸张，因为 对出生时分离， 成年时测试的同卵双胞胎
37.show that they have astonishing similarities.
的研究表明他们有惊人的相似性。
38.And this happens in every pair of identical twins separated at birth ever studied — but much less so with fraternal twins separated at birth.
并且每一对被研究的 出生时分离的同卵双胞胎都是这样—— 但出生时分离的异卵双胞胎就远非如此。
39.My favorite example is of a pair of twins, one of whom was brought up as a Catholic in a Nazi family in Germany, the other brought up in a Jewish family in Trinidad.
我偏爱的一个例子中有一对双胞胎， 一个在德国的一个纳粹家庭里 被养育成一个天主教徒， 另一个在特立尼达的一个犹太家庭中长大。
40.When they walked into the lab in Minnesota, they were wearing identical navy blue shirts with epaulettes, both of them liked to dip buttered toast in coffee,
当他们走进明尼苏达的实验室时， 他们都穿着相同的有肩章的海军蓝衬衫， 他们都喜欢把奶油面包浸在咖啡里，
41.both of them kept rubber bands around their wrists, both of them flushed the toilet before using it as well as after, and both of them liked to surprise people
他们都在手腕上戴着橡皮筋， 他们都要在使用抽水马桶的前后各冲一次水， 他们都喜欢在拥挤的电梯里
42.by sneezing in crowded elevators to watch them jump.
打喷嚏来吓人一跳。
43.Now — the story might seem to good to be true, but when you administer batteries of psychological tests, you get the same results — namely,
好了—— 这个故事看似异想天开， 但当你进行 各种心理测试时， 你会得到相同的结果——那就是，
44.identical twins separated at birth show quite astonishing similarities.
出生时失散的同卵双胞胎显示出 相当惊人的相似之处。
45.Now, given both the common sense and scientific data calling the doctrine of the blank slate into question, why should it have been such an appealing notion?
好了，既然常识 和科学数据 都质疑白板的教条， 为何它会是个那么有吸引力的主张？
46.Well, there are a number of political reasons why people have found it congenial.
好吧，人们之所以觉得它合意，其中有几个政治原因。
47.The foremost is that if we’re blank slates, then, by definition, we are equal, because zero equals zero equals zero equals zero.
最根本的是，如果我们是空白的石板， 那么根据定义，我们就是平等的， 因为零等于零等于零等于零。
48.But if something is written on the slate, then some people could have more of it than others, and according to this line of thinking, that would justify
但如果白板上写了东西， 那么有些人的就可能比别人写得多， 根据这种思路，就会证明
49.discrimination and inequality.
歧视和不平等是有理的。
50.Another political fear of human nature is that if we are blank slates, we can perfect mankind — the age-old dream of the perfectibility of our species
另一种对于人性的政治担忧是， 如果我们是空白的石板， 我们就能使人类完美—— 通过社会工程来使我们的物种
51.through social engineering.
臻于完美的古老梦想。
52.Whereas if we’re born with certain instincts, then perhaps some of them might condemn us to selfishness, prejudice and violence.
而如果我们有某些与生俱来的本能， 那么也许其中有些会把我们 驱入自私，偏见和暴力。
53.Well, in the book, I argue that these are in fact non sequiturs.
好了，在书中，我主张这些其实都是不当结论。
54.Just to make a long story short: first of all, the concept of fairness is not the same as the concept of sameness.
长话短说吧： 首先，公平的概念 跟相同的概念是不同的。
55.And so when Thomas Jefferson wrote in the Declaration of Independence, “We hold these truths to be self-evident, that all men are created equal,”
因此，当托马斯·杰斐逊 在独立宣言中写道， “我们认为这些真理是不言自明的： 所有人生而平等，”
56.he did not mean “We hold these truths to be self-evident, that all men are clones.”
他的意思并不是“我们认为这些真理是不言自明的： 所有人都是克隆体。”
57.Rather, that all men are equal in terms of their rights, and that every person ought to be treated as an individual, and not prejudged
而是所有人在权利方面是平等的， 每个人应当被作为 个人来对待，而不是根据
58.by the statistics of particular groups that they may belong to.
他们所属的特定群体的 统计数据来做预判。
59.Also, even if we were born with certain ignoble motives, they don’t automatically lead to ignoble behavior.
此外，即使我们生来 有某些卑劣的动机， 它们并不会自动导致卑劣的行为。
60.That is because the human mind is a complex system with many parts, and some of them can inhibit others.
这是因为人的头脑 是一个有许多组成部分的复杂系统， 其中有些可以抑制其他部分。
61.For example, there’s excellent reason to believe that virtually all humans are born with a moral sense, and that we have cognitive abilities that allow us
例如，我们有很好的理由相信 几乎所有人生而具有道德感， 并且我们有
62.to profit from the lessons of history.
从历史的经验教训中获益的认知能力。
63.So even if people did have impulses towards selfishness or greed, that’s not the only thing in the skull, and there are other parts of the mind that can counteract them.
因此，即使人们 对自私或贪婪有冲动， 那也不是头颅中仅有的东西， 头脑中还有其他部分可以抵消它们。
64.In the book, I go over controversies such as this one, and a number of other hot buttons, hot zones, Chernobyls, third rails, and so on,
在书中，我 审视了诸如此类的争论， 以及其他一些敏感问题， 敏感区域，切尔诺贝利，第三条轨道等等，
65.including the arts, cloning, crime, free will, education, evolution, gender differences, God, homosexuality, infanticide, inequality, Marxism, morality,
包括艺术，克隆，犯罪， 自由意志，教育，进化， 性别差异，上帝，同性恋， 杀婴，不平等，马克思主义，道德，
66.Nazism, parenting, politics, race, religion, resource depletion, social engineering, technological risk and war.
纳粹主义，养育子女，政治， 种族，宗教，资源枯竭， 社会工程，技术风险和战争。
67.And needless to say, there were certain risks in taking on these subjects.
不用说，讨论这些主题 是有一定风险的。
68.When I wrote a first draft of the book, I circulated it to a number of colleagues for comments, and here are some of the reactions that I got:
当我写了书的初稿时， 我分发给一些同事征求意见， 这里是我得到的 一些反应：
69.”Better get a security camera for your house.”
“最好给你的房子装个保安摄像头。”
70.”Don’t expect to get any more awards, job offers or positions in scholarly societies.”
“你别指望还能得到什么奖项、工作机会 或在学术社团里的位置。”
71.”Tell your publisher not to list your hometown in your author bio.”
“告诉你的出版商别在你的个人小传里 列出你的家乡。”
72.”Do you have tenure?”
“你有终身教职了吗？”
73.(Laughter) Well, the book came out in October, and nothing terrible has happened.
(笑声) 唔，这本书在10月份出版了， 还没有发生什么可怕的事。
74.I — I like — There was indeed reason to be nervous, and there were moments in which I did feel nervous, knowing the history of what has happened to people
我——我喜欢—— 的确有理由紧张， 在某些时刻我确实也感到紧张了， 因为我知道 那些在行为科学中
75.who’ve taken controversial stands or discovered disquieting findings in the behavioral sciences.
持争议立场 或有令人不安的发现的人 的下场的历史。
76.There are many cases, some of which I talk about in the book, of people who have been slandered, called Nazis, physically assaulted, threatened with criminal prosecution
有很多这样的事例，有些我在书中谈到了， 关于人们因为偶然发现 或者争论有争议的发现，
77.for stumbling across or arguing about controversial findings.
而被诽谤，被称为纳粹， 殴打，胁以刑事起诉。
78.And you never know when you’re going to come across one of these booby traps.
你永远不知道你何时 会踏入这样的一个陷阱。
79.My favorite example is a pair of psychologists who did research on left-handers, and published some data showing that left-handers are, on average,
我最喜欢的例子 是两个研究左撇子的心理学家， 他们发表了一些数据，表明平均而言，
80.more susceptible to disease, more prone to accidents and have a shorter lifespan.
左撇子更容易受到疾病的侵害，更容易发生意外， 寿命也更短。
81.It’s not clear, by the way, since then, whether that is an accurate generalization, but the data at the time seemed to support that.
顺便说一句，从那以后 还不清楚这是否是准确的概括， 但当时的数据似乎支持这个说法。
82.Well, pretty soon they were barraged with enraged letters, death threats, ban on the topic in a number of scientific journals, coming from irate left-handers
好了，他们很快受到了猛烈攻击 包括愤怒的信件， 死亡威胁， 禁止在一些科学期刊上讨论这个主题， 来自愤怒的左撇子
83.and their advocates, and they were literally afraid to open their mail because of the venom and vituperation that they had inadvertently inspired.
和他们的拥护者， 他们简直不敢拆开信件， 由于他们无意中 激起的怨恨和谩骂。
84.Well, the night is young, but the book has been out for half a year, and nothing terrible has happened.
嗯， 黑夜未央，但这本书已经 出版半年了， 并没有发生什么可怕的事。
85.None of the dire professional consequences has taken place — I haven’t been exiled from the city of Cambridge.
那些可怕的职业后果 一个都没发生—— 我还没被 驱逐出剑桥市。
86.But what I wanted to talk about are two of these hot buttons that have aroused the strongest response in the 80-odd reviews that The Blank Slate has received.
但我想谈的是 在《空白的石板》收到的 80多篇评论里， 激起了最强烈的反应的 敏感问题中的两个。
87.I’ll just put that list up for a few seconds, and see if you can guess which two — I would estimate that probably two of these topics
我只把这个列表放上几秒钟， 看看你们能否猜出是哪两个 ——我估计这些主题中的两个
88.inspired probably 90 percent of the reaction in the various reviews and radio interviews.
引起了各种评论 和电台采访中 百分之九十的反应。
89.It’s not violence and war, it’s not race, it’s not gender, it’s not Marxism, it’s not Nazism.
不是暴力和战争， 不是种族，不是性别， 不是马克思主义，也不是纳粹主义。
90.They are: the arts and parenting.
它们是：艺术和养育子女。
91.(Laughter) So let me tell you what aroused such irate responses, and I’ll let you decide if whether they — the claims are really that outrageous.
（笑声） 那么让我来告诉你们是什么 引起了这些愤怒的反应， 我会让你们决定—— 这些论点是否真的那么离谱。
92.Let me start with the arts.
让我先从艺术开始。
93.I note that among the long list of human universals that I presented a few slides ago are art.
我注意到我在几张幻灯片前 提出的人类共性的列表中的 其中一项就是艺术。
94.There is no society ever discovered in the remotest corner of the world that has not had something that we would consider the arts.
在已发现的所有社会里， 即使在世界最偏远的角落，没有一个没有一些 我们会认为是艺术的东西。
95.Visual arts — decoration of surfaces and bodies — appears to be a human universal.
视觉艺术——物体表面和身体的装饰—— 似乎是一个人类的共性。
96.The telling of stories, music, dance, poetry — found in all cultures, and many of the motifs and themes that — are– give us pleasure in the arts
讲故事，音乐， 舞蹈，诗歌在所有文化中被发现， 以及许多在艺术中 给我们愉悦的 主旨和主题
97.can be found in all human societies: a preference for symmetrical forms, the use of repetition and variation, even things as specific as the fact
能在所有人类社会中被找到： 对于对称形式的偏好， 对重复和变异的使用， 甚至具体到这样一个事实：
98.that in poetry all over the world, you have lines that are very close to three seconds long, separated by pauses.
世界各地的诗歌 每句句子都非常接近 3秒钟长，由停顿隔开。
99.Now, on the other hand, in the second half of the 20th century, the arts are frequently said to be in decline.
而在另一方面， 在20世纪下半叶， 艺术常被说成是在衰败。
100.And I have a collection, probably 10 or 15 headlines, from highbrow magazines deploring the fact that the arts are in decline in our time.
我从格调高雅的杂志上 收集了大概10到15条头条， 哀叹我们时代的 艺术在衰败这一事实。
101.I’ll give you a couple of representative quotes: “We can assert with some confidence that our own period is one of decline, that the standards of culture are lower
我给你们一些代表性的引述： “我们可以有信心地断言，我们的时代 是个衰败的时代，文化的标准
102.than they were 50 years ago, and that the evidences of this decline are visible in every department of human activity.”
比50年前要低，这一衰败的证据 在人类活动的方方面面都显而易见。”
103.That’s a quote from T. S. Eliot, little more than 50 years ago.
这是50多年前艾略特的一段话。
104.And a more recent one: “The possibility of sustaining high culture in our time is becoming increasing problematical.
近一点的一条： “在我们这个时代保持高雅文化的可能性 已经越来越成问题。
105.Serious book stores are losing their franchise, nonprofit theaters are surviving primarily by commercializing their repertory, symphony orchestras are diluting their programs,
严肃的书店正在失去他们的专营权， 非盈利性剧院主要依靠 把他们的轮演剧目商业化来生存， 交响乐团在稀释他们的节目单，
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