often, actually, on a Sunday evening,

通常發生在禮拜天晚上

just as the sun is starting to set,

隨著夜幕開始低垂

and the gap between my hopes for myself,

自我期盼和生活現實之間的鴻溝

and the reality of my life, start to diverge so painfully

也令人痛苦的開始拉扯擴大

that I normally end up weeping into a pillow.

以至於最後總是以哭泣進入夢鄉,結束了我的週末夜

I'm mentioning all this,

提到這些,

I'm mentioning all this because I think this is not merely a personal problem.

無非因為,這不僅只是個人問題

You may think I'm wrong in this,

或許你不是很同意

but I think that we live in an age when our lives are regularly

我認為,生活在這個世代,你我的人生進行式,常常

punctuated by career crises,

被這些職場危機所中斷

by moments when what we thought we knew,

往往就在我們自以為知道

about our lives, about our careers,

人生為何,何為生涯的時候

comes into contact with a threatening sort of reality.

不期然卻遇上了衝擊 - 現實的威脅.

It's perhaps easier now than ever before to make a good living.

現在要過好日子,是前所未見的簡單

It's perhaps harder than ever before

但能保有一顆平靜心,又能免於生涯焦慮

to stay calm, to be free of career anxiety.

也是史上空前的困難

I want to look now, if I may,

如果能夠的話,我想探索的是

at some of the reasons why

某些問題的答案,譬如:

we might be feeling anxiety about our careers.

是什麼讓我們對生涯感到焦慮

Why we might be victims of these career crises,

為什麼我們成為職場危機的犧牲品

as we're weeping softly into our pillows.

為什麼淪落到以啜泣進入枕頭鄉,週末夜畫上句點?

One of the reasons why we might be suffering

折磨我們的其中一個原因,

is that we are surrounded by snobs.

是因為,身邊到處都是勢利鬼.

In a way, I've got some bad news,

現在我要跟各位說個壞消息

particularly to anybody who's come to Oxford from abroad.

尤其對從國外來訪牛津的各位來說

There is a real problem with snobbery.

勢利真是大問題

Because sometimes people from outside the U.K.

因為在英國以外的人往往都以為

imagine that snobbery is a distinctively U.K. phenomenon

勢利是英國的特產

fixated on country houses and titles.

所聯想到的是鄉間大宅以及爵位頭銜

The bad news is that's not true.

壞消息是,你錯了

Snobbery is a global phenomenon.

勢利無所不在

We are a global organization. This is a global phenomenon.

這是個全球化組織.勢利問題是一個全球現象

It exists. What is a snob?

沒錯,果真如此.但何謂勢利呢?

A snob is anybody who takes a small part of you

勢利就是:任何人,切割了一小部分的你

and uses that to come to a complete vision of who you are.

並且用它取代了「你是誰」的意義

That is snobbery.

這,就是勢利.

The dominant kind of snobbery

現今最主要的勢利

that exists nowadays is job snobbery.

叫做職業勢利

You encounter it within minutes at a party,

去任何宴會,五分鐘之內就會遇見

when you get asked that famous iconic question

這個21世紀初,最具代表性的

of the early 21st century, "What do you do?"

經典問題:「你在哪裡上班?」

And according to how you answer that question,

根據你對該問題的回答

people are either incredibly delighted to see you,

人們要不就是立刻對認識你感到無比的歡愉

or look at their watch and make their excuses.

或者是他們只看一下手錶,就立刻想到一個結束談話的藉口

(Laughter)

(笑聲)

Now, the opposite of a snob is your mother.

再來,勢利鬼的相反呢,就是您的母親

(Laughter)

(笑聲)

Not necessarily your mother, or indeed mine,

並不一定真的是您的母親,或我的母親

but, as it were, the ideal mother,

而是一種理想定義下的完美母親

somebody who doesn't care about your achievements.

她,完全不在乎你的成就高低

But unfortunately, most people are not our mothers.

但不幸的是,不是每個人都是您母親

Most people make a strict correlation between how much time,

大多數人在「該花多少時間和多少...愛」這件事情上,有嚴格定規

and if you like, love -- not romantic love,

我說的不是愛情電影裡那種浪漫的愛

though that may be something --

雖然那也包括在內

but love in general, respect,

但我要說的是比較普通,一般性質的,愛

they are willing to accord us, that will be strictly defined

人們願意分配多少時間和愛給我們,那是嚴格的按照著

by our position in the social hierarchy.

我們所擁有的社會階級來定義的

And that's a lot of the reason why we care so much about our careers

那就是為什麼我們對工作職業那麼在乎的很重要原因

and indeed start caring so much about material goods.

並且我們非常關切物質上的財富

You know, we're often told that we live in very materialistic times,

大家常說我們生活在一個唯物化的時代

that we're all greedy people.

說我們全是貪婪一族

I don't think we are particularly materialistic.

我不認為我們是特別唯物的世代

I think we live in a society

而我想,是我們所存在的這個社會

which has simply pegged certain emotional rewards

它把一些情感的獎勵

to the acquisition of material goods.

掛鉤在物質的取得上

It's not the material goods we want. It's the rewards we want.

我們要的不是物質財富.其實我們要的是那份掛在上面的獎勵.

And that's a new way of looking at luxury goods.

這使我們對奢侈財有了新的觀點

The next time you see somebody driving a Ferrari

下次看到開法拉利跑車的人

don't think, "This is somebody who is greedy."

不要想:「這傢伙一定是貪心鬼」

Think, "This is somebody who is incredibly vulnerable and in need of love."

你該這麼想:「喔,這個人脆弱到不行,他需要很多愛」

In other words -- (Laughter)

換句話說 -- (笑聲)

feel sympathy, rather than contempt.

要對他有同情心,不要鄙視他

There are other reasons --

還有其他原因 --

(Laughter)

(笑聲)

there are other reasons why it's perhaps harder now

還有一些其他原因,使我們如今比過往更難

to feel calm than ever before.

保有平靜安穩的心

One of these, and it's paradoxical because it's linked to something that's rather nice,

其中一項是-而這相當矛盾,因為這個原因和一種頗為美好的東西連結著

is the hope we all have for our careers.

那是對職業的期盼

Never before have expectations been so high

從來沒有一個時代像現在,人對工作職業能有

about what human beings can achieve with their lifespan.

如此高的期待,一生中能成就這麼多了不起的事情

We're told, from many sources, that anyone can achieve anything.

許多訊息都灌輸:任何人都能成就任何事

We've done away with the caste system.

我們早已擺脫世襲制或種姓制

We are now in a system where anyone can rise

最新的制度是人人都有出頭天

to any position they please.

只要你喜歡,沒什麼能限制你

And it's a beautiful idea.

這想法棒透了

Along with that is a kind of spirit of equality. We're all basically equal.

伴隨而來的是平等精神.人都生而平等

There are no strictly defined

沒有界線限定

kind of hierarchies.

這裡沒有任何的階級

There is one really big problem with this,

這裡只有一個問題

and that problem is envy.

唯一的問題,就是嫉妒

Envy, it's a real taboo to mention envy,

嫉妒真是個禁忌話題,大家都避而不談

but if there is one dominant emotion in modern society, that is envy.

但如果說我們的社會有哪個情感問題非常氾濫,非嫉妒莫數

And it's linked to the spirit of equality. Let me explain.

而它還與平等精神相關.容我解釋.

I think it would be very unusual for anyone here, or anyone watching,

我想現場在座的各位和觀賞影片的各位,應該都很難...

to be envious of the Queen of England.

去嫉妒到-英國女王吧

Even though she is much richer than any of you are.

儘管她比我們大多數人都富有

And she's got a very large house.

並且她家房子真的很大

The reason why we don't envy her is because she's too weird.

我們卻不嫉妒她,因為她真的太怪了.

She's simply too strange.

她真的就是怪

We can't relate to her. She speaks in a funny way.

我們和她扯不上半點關連性.她講話就是那麼令人想笑.

She comes from an odd place.

她又來自一個很怪異的地方

So we can't relate to her. And when you can't relate to somebody, you don't envy them.

我們和她沒有共通點.而當你和某人之間不具任何關聯性,你就不會忌妒他

The closer two people are, in age, in background,

兩個在年齡,在背景上愈接近的人

in the process of identification, the more there is a danger of envy --

就愈可能發生忌妒問題

which is incidentally why none of you should ever go to a school reunion --

提醒你,為什麼大家最好千萬別去參加什麼「同學會」啦

because there is no stronger reference point

因為在學校裡和你一起鬼混的那班同學

than people one was at school with.

你們之間所共有的參照點實在太強了

But the problem, generally, of modern society, is that it turns the whole world

問題是,現代社會卻早已經把全世界都搞成一間超級大的學校了,

into a school. Everybody is wearing jeans, everybody is the same.

每個人都穿牛仔褲,每個人都一樣

And yet, they're not.

其實,每個人又怎可能都相同

So there is a spirit of equality, combined with deep inequalities.

所以這種平等精神,是在深處參混了許多不平等的

Which makes for a very -- can make for a very stressful situation.

於是造成了 -- 或是說「將可能會造成」-- 一種非常緊張的狀態

It's probably as unlikely that you would nowadays

今天你要成為一位像比爾蓋茲ㄧ樣有錢的大人物

become as rich and famous as Bill Gates,

幾乎是不可能

as it was unlikely in the 17th century

即便有此可能,就像你活在17世紀

that you would accede to the ranks of the French aristocracy.

生而貴族,繼承著法國貴族身份一樣的,非常不可能

But the point is, it doesn't feel that way.

但重點是,感覺起來卻不是那麼回事呀

It's made to feel, by magazines and other media outlets,

無論雜誌或各種媒體,都一再的讓你感覺到

that if you've got energy, a few bright ideas about technology,

只要你精力充沛,對科技有一些絕佳的創意點子

a garage, you too could start a major thing.

再配上個車庫,你也可以白手起家搞出一番大事業

(Laughter)

(笑聲)

And the consequences of this problem make themselves felt in bookshops.

這個問題的後續結果在書店裡鮮活的呈現出來,人們也能感受

When you go to a large bookshop and look at the self-help sections,

當你走進大書店走向自我提昇/心理區

as I sometimes do,

這是我自己偶爾也會去逛的那一區

if you analyze self-help books that are produced

如果你分析一下自我/心理架上的那些書

in the world today, there are basically two kinds.

基本上是分為兩類

The first kind tells you, "You can do it! You can make it! Anything is possible!"

第一種跟你說,「你能!你一定會成功!沒有不可能!」

And the other kind tells you how to cope

另一種則敎你的是如何適應,應付一些問題

with what we politely call "low self-esteem,"

一些我們禮貌性的稱之為「自我認知低落」的問題

or impolitely call "feeling very bad about yourself."

或直接講,就是「覺得自己很爛」的問題

There is a real correlationship,

這裡有一種真實的互動性,

a real correlation between a society that tells people that they can do anything

在社會中有一種真實的互動關係存在,他告訴人們你潛力無限

and the existence of low self-esteem.

同時也說你有個低落的自我認知

So that's another way in which something that is quite positive

以致於從某種角度來說,明明是正面的某樣事物

can have a nasty kickback.

結果帶來負面的,反效果

There is another reason why we might be feeling more anxious,

還有一個原因令我們感到焦慮

about our careers, about our status in the world today, than ever before.

在工作上,在社會地位上感到焦慮.並且是當今世代特有,前所未見的

And it is, again, linked to something nice,

而再一次,又是和一些美好的事物相關連

and that nice thing is called meritocracy.

這樣好東西,叫做功績主義

Everybody, all politicians on Left and Right,

政治上無論左派右派

agree that meritocracy is a great thing,

都同意功績-論功行賞-是件好事情

and we should all be trying to make our societies really, really meritocratic.

我們應該非常非常努力,讓我們的社會按照功績原理運作

In other words, what is a meritocratic society?

換句話說,什麼是功績社會呢?

A meritocratic society is one in which

功績社會就是呢

if you've got talent and energy and skill,

只要你有天份有動力有技能

you will get to the top. Nothing should hold you back.

你就會爬到最高階級,沒什麼能擋你的路

It's a beautiful idea. The problem is

這想法好得無比,但問題是:

if you really believe in a society

當你真的相信一個社會之中

where those who merit to get to the top, get to the top,

所有有功勞的人都爬上了最頂的地位

you'll also, by implication, and in a far more nasty way,

同時你也就默認,並且是以一種相當醜惡的方式相信著

believe in a society where those who deserve to get to the bottom

那些在我們社會中處在最底端的人,是活該

also get to the bottom and stay there.

去到那最低下處,並且,活該就讓他們繼續在那兒待著吧.

In other words, your position in life comes to seem not accidental,

也就是說,你看待生命中地位如何,並非偶然而已

but merited and deserved.

而是功績和活該

And that makes failure seem much more crushing.

這為失敗更加增添了支離破碎的面目

You know, in the Middle Ages, in England,

我們都知道,在中世紀英國

when you met a very poor person,

當你碰上了一個非常窮的人

that person would be described as an "unfortunate" --

你會形容他是「不幸」

literally, somebody who had not been blessed by fortune, an unfortunate.

字面意義是,「財富/幸運」沒有眷顧到這個人,他是個「無財富/不幸」的人

Nowadays, particularly in the United States,

現在,特別是在美國

if you meet someone at the bottom of society,

如果你碰到某個來自社會低階級的人

they may unkindly be described as a "loser."

他們被很惡劣的稱為「失敗者」

There is a real difference between an unfortunate and a loser,

其實在不幸者和失敗者之間,是真的有所差異的

and that shows 400 years of evolution in society

這顯示出我們的社會經歷了400年進化後

and our belief in who is responsible for our lives.

對於相信「誰必須對自己的人生負責」的信仰變化

It's no longer the gods, it's us. We're in the driving seat.

不再是神主導,而是自己.那位坐在駕駛座上的人,正是我們自己.