It's their sense that nothing is at stake in their behavior towards others that leads them to ignore the rules of politeness and humanity, and to kick people as if they were plated in armor.

因為他們覺得自己的行為不會對他人造成任何的影響，讓他們忽略了應該遵從的禮貌與人性的守則，彷彿對方全副武裝一樣地全力攻擊他人。

They are, in this respect, paying homage to childhood.

在某方面來說，他們是在複製童年時的行為。

Think of the situation of a young child, of perhaps six, who has fun mocking a parent's double chin or the wrinkles around their eyes.

試著想像一名大約只有六歲的孩子，總是會取笑父母的雙下巴或是眼睛周圍的皺紋。

To this child, the parent is still, in many ways, an invulnerable deity.

對這個孩子來說，他的父母在許多方面來說仍是無懈可擊的神靈般的存在。

They live in a remote, impressive world of work, credit cards, driving and the news.

他們生活在一個對孩子來說遙遠而令人印象深刻的世界中，裡頭充斥著公事、信用卡、開車和新聞。

How could someone of such stature be hurt by a comment about their less than perfect physique by a tiny person who can't spell properly?

這麼有地位的人怎麼會被由一名連字都拚不好的小小孩，所說出來對於他們不甚完美體態的批評給傷害到呢？

But the child is missing the point. Their words do hurt. They can make their parents cry in private.

但是，孩子們錯了。他們的話語確實是會傷到人的。他們確實會讓他們的父母在私底下偷偷哭泣。

The child simply can't grasp how desperate and anxious their parent might be,

孩子根本無法理解他們的父母可能是多麼的絕望和焦慮，

how every morning they might stare in dismay into the bathroom mirror at the visible signs of ageing that speak to them relentlessly of a wrongly lived-life.

每天早上，他們可能會沮喪地盯著浴室的鏡子，看著那些告訴自己垂垂老矣的明顯跡象，無情地告訴他們自己過著錯誤的生活方式。

The parent, out of dignified generosity, has shielded their child from their own fragility.

出自於自尊心導致的慷慨心態，家長在孩子面前選擇把自己脆弱的一面給隱藏起來。

And now their child is paying them a beautiful if misguided, compliment: a belief that they are beyond suffering.

於是他們的孩子便對家長們有種美麗卻誤解了的崇敬心態：認為家長們是不會感到痛苦的。

Something related may happen when employees get together to gossip about the person they work for.

這種狀況有時也會在員工們聚在一起聊老闆的八卦時出現。

In their imagination, the boss is so far above them that it couldn't possibly matter what they say about them.

在他們的想象中，老闆的地位遠遠高於他們，而他們所說的話不可能對老闆產生任何的影響。

It's only when they themselves move to senior positions that they start to realize how vulnerable the person in charge might feel,

只有當他們自己升到高階職位時，他們才會開始意識到高處不勝寒的道理，

how completely normal it is to want to be liked even if you have a seat on the board,

而就算已經成為了董事，想要受眾人所喜愛仍是非常正常的事情，

and how imperfect your self-esteem might be.

還有自己的自尊可能是多麼的不完美。

This idea casts a useful light on the activity of particularly dangerous people online.

我們可以把這個概念套用在網路上特別兇狠的人們身上。

Their venom isn't the expression of a feeling of power.

他們的毒液般的惡意並不是因為覺得自己手握大量權力。

Rather, the troll tends to feel like a medieval vagabond outside a heavily fortified city,

相反的，酸民們通常會覺得自己就像是中世紀時的一名遊民，站在一座固若金湯的城池前面，

hurling insults and threats at what they take to be comfortable inhabitants sleeping behind meters of stone walls lined by vigilant troops.

對著那些舒舒服服睡在數公尺城牆後方，有著戒備森嚴的部隊守護著的居民們語帶侮辱與威脅地謾罵叫囂。

They want to hurt, but they don't in any way actually imagine they can; that is what renders them quite so vicious.

他們確實想要傷害別人，但他們並不覺得自己真的會傷到他人；而這就是他們的言語如此惡毒的原因。

True kindness may require us to take on board a very unfamiliar idea:

要真正地成為仁慈的人，我們或許需要擁抱一個極為陌生的想法：

However young we are, however forgotten and ignored we feel we are, we have a power to cause other people serious damage.

不論我們有多年幼，不論我們覺得自己多麼渺小或被忽視，我們其實都有能對他人造成嚴重傷害的能力。

It isn't because we aren't wealthy or revered in elite circles that we thereby lose a capacity either to comfort or to wound strangers.

這不是因為我們並不富有或是沒有在菁英圈子裡受人尊敬，使我們失去了安慰或傷害陌生人的能力。

We become properly moral, and properly adult, when we understand that we may all, whoever we may be, ruin someone's day, and on occasion, through a few incautious and misplaced words, their life.

我們必須了解自己不論是怎麼樣的人，都有可能會毀了某人的一天；某些情況下，若是用上了不謹慎的用詞，甚至可能毀了某人的一生。只有如此，我們才能培養出合格的道德觀，並成為一個合格的成年人。

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