which was to interview three politicians every day.

一天訪問三個政治人物

And from that much contact with politicians,

從這麼密集的接觸中

I can tell you they're all emotional freaks of one sort or another.

我可以告訴你他們都是某種情緒怪人

They have what I called "logorrhea dementia,"

我形容他們的病徵為多語症

which is they talk so much they drive themselves insane.

簡單來說就是他們多話到自己都抓狂

(Laughter)

（笑聲）

But what they do have is incredible social skills.

但他們的社交能力真的很好

When you meet them, they lock into you,

當他們見到你

they look you in the eye,

他們用眼神鎖死你

they invade your personal space,

他們侵犯你的私人空間

they massage the back of your head.

他們按摩你的後腦勺

I had dinner with a Republican senator several months ago

幾個月前我和一個共和黨議員共進晚餐

who kept his hand on my inner thigh

他一直把手放在我大腿內側

throughout the whole meal -- squeezing it.

整個晚餐都這樣捏我

I once -- this was years ago --

幾年前

I saw Ted Kennedy and Dan Quayle meet in the well of the Senate.

我見到 Ted 甘乃迪和 Dan Quayle 在議會池相遇

And they were friends, and they hugged each other

他們是好朋友，他們互相擁抱

and they were laughing, and their faces were like this far apart.

他們笑著，臉靠這麼近

And they were moving and grinding

他們磨蹭著移動著

and moving their arms up and down each other.

在彼此身上上下其手

And I was like, "Get a room. I don't want to see this."

我想“拜託你們幹嘛不去開個房間，看不下去了”

But they have those social skills.

但他們就是有這種社交手腕

Another case:

另一個例子：

Last election cycle,

上次大選

I was following Mitt Romney around New Hampshire,

我跟著 Mitt Romney 到新罕布夏去

and he was campaigning with his five perfect sons:

他五個完美的兒子

Bip, Chip, Rip, Zip, Lip and Dip.

畢普、齊普、瑞普、吉普、立普和帝普

(Laughter)

（笑聲）

And he's going into a diner.

他走進一個快餐店

And he goes into the diner, introduces himself to a family

他向一個家庭自我介紹

and says, "What village are you from in New Hampshire?"

他說“你從新罕布夏那個小城來的？”

And then he describes the home he owned in their village.

然後他描述他在那個小城裡有的那個房子

And so he goes around the room,

他就這樣走來走去

and then as he's leaving the diner,

到他離開快餐店的時候

he first-names almost everybody he's just met.

他可以叫出所有人的名字

I was like, "Okay, that's social skill."

我心想“這就是真正的社交手腕了。”

But the paradox is,

矛盾的是

when a lot of these people slip into the policy-making mode,

當這些人進入立法模式時

that social awareness vanishes

這些社會敏感度就消失了

and they start talking like accountants.

他們開始用會計師的語調說話

So in the course of my career,

在我的從業生涯中

I have covered a series of failures.

我描寫過一系列的失敗

We sent economists in the Soviet Union

我們把經濟學家送到解體後的蘇聯

with privatization plans when it broke up,

給他們私有化的計劃

and what they really lacked was social trust.

但他們缺乏的是社會信任

We invaded Iraq with a military

我們派兵侵略伊拉克

oblivious to the cultural and psychological realities.

毫不理會他們文化與心理的現狀

We had a financial regulatory regime

我們的金融管制機構

based on the assumptions

把制度建立在

that traders were rational creatures

交易員完全理性

who wouldn't do anything stupid.

不會做任何傻事的預設

For 30 years, I've been covering school reform

三十年來，我報導教育改革

and we've basically reorganized the bureaucratic boxes --

我們重整所有官僚體系的黑箱

charters, private schools, vouchers --

特許證、私立學校、證件

but we've had disappointing results year after year.

但每年的成績仍然教人失望

And the fact is, people learn from people they love.

事實是，人們從所愛的人身上學習

And if you're not talking about the individual relationship

如果你不討論老師與學生

between a teacher and a student,

之間的關係

you're not talking about that reality.

這便偏離了真實狀態

But that reality is expunged

但這些真實被排除在

from our policy-making process.

我們的立法程序以外

And so that's led to a question for me:

於是我心中油然生出這個問題：

Why are the most socially-attuned people on earth

為甚麼地球上最人情練達的一群人

completely dehumanized

一想到法令

when they think about policy?

就變得如此不人性？

And I came to the conclusion,

我的結論是

this is a symptom of a larger problem.

這是一個更大的問題造成的症狀

That, for centuries, we've inherited a view of human nature

幾世紀以來我們沿襲一種對人性的看法

based on the notion

我們認為

that we're divided selves,

我們都是分開的個體

that reason is separated from the emotions

理性和感性各自分開

and that society progresses

社會進步到一個程度以後

to the extent that reason can suppress the passions.

理性就能壓抑激情

And it's led to a view of human nature

我們對人性的觀點就是

that we're rational individuals

我們是理性的個體

who respond in straightforward ways to incentives,

這些看法直接變成獎勵方法

and it's led to ways of seeing the world

也變成了我們看世界的角度

where people try to use the assumptions of physics

當人們嘗試用物理的假設

to measure how human behavior is.

去衡量人類的行為舉止

And it's produced a great amputation,

便刪除了許多重要的部份

a shallow view of human nature.

形成了一種對人性的膚淺看法

We're really good at talking about material things,

我們很會談論物質

but we're really bad at talking about emotions.

但談到情緒便顯得笨拙

We're really good at talking about skills

我們很會談論技能

and safety and health;

安全和健康

we're really bad at talking about character.

但我們不擅討論人格

Alasdair MacIntyre, the famous philosopher,

著名哲學家 Alasdair Maclntyre

said that, "We have the concepts of the ancient morality

說，”我們仍有古老的道德概念

of virtue, honor, goodness,

美德、榮譽、良善

but we no longer have a system

但我們沒有一個制度

by which to connect them."

來聯繫它們。“

And so this has led to a shallow path in politics,

這不但讓政治走上一條膚淺的道路，

but also in a whole range of human endeavors.

也影響了各種層面的做法

You can see it in the way we raise our young kids.

你可以從我們撫養孩子的方式中窺其一二

You go to an elementary school at three in the afternoon

下午三點到小學去

and you watch the kids come out,

看孩子出來

and they're wearing these 80-pound backpacks.

他們背著八十磅重的背包

If the wind blows them over, they're like beetles stuck there on the ground.

一陣風吹來，他們就會像甲蟲一樣翻倒在地

You see these cars that drive up --

你看見這些豪華轎車

usually it's Saabs and Audis and Volvos,

可能是 Saab、奧迪或富豪

because in certain neighborhoods it's socially acceptable to have a luxury car,

這些好車在某些社區被接受

so long as it comes from a country hostile to U.S. foreign policy --

只要不是來自那些抵觸美國外交政策的國家

that's fine.

就可以

They get picked up by these creatures I've called uber-moms,

他們被這些我稱作超級母親的生物接走

who are highly successful career women

這些生物不但事業成功

who have taken time off to make sure all their kids get into Harvard.

也不忘拿出時間確保她的孩子進哈佛

And you can usually tell the uber-moms

你很容易辨識出超級母親

because they actually weigh less than their own children.

因為她們通常比孩子還瘦

(Laughter)

（笑聲）

So at the moment of conception,

在生產的當下

they're doing little butt exercises.

她們擺擺屁股

Babies flop out,

嬰兒滑出

they're flashing Mandarin flashcards at the things.

她們拿出中文字卡要他們學習

Driving them home, and they want them to be enlightened,

載孩子回家的路上，她們希望孩子變得懂事

so they take them to Ben & Jerry's ice cream company

於是帶他們去吃 Ben & Jerry 冰淇淋

with its own foreign policy.

也算一種政治態度

In one of my books,

我在一本書裡嘲弄

I joke that Ben & Jerry's should make a pacifist toothpaste --

說 Ben & Jerry's 應該製造和平主義牙膏

doesn't kill germs, just asks them to leave.

不殺菌，溫和地請它們離開

It would be a big seller.

會大賣

(Laughter)

（笑聲）

And they go to Whole Foods to get their baby formula,

他們去 Whole Foods 買嬰兒食品

and Whole Foods is one of those progressive grocery stores

Whole Foods 是一種比較進步的大雜貨店

where all the cashiers look like they're on loan from Amnesty International.

店員

(Laughter)

（笑聲）

They buy these seaweed-based snacks there

他們去那裡買海藻作成的零食

called Veggie Booty with Kale,

叫甘藍寶貝菜

which is for kids who come home and say,

因為家裡的孩子會說

"Mom, mom, I want a snack that'll help prevent colon-rectal cancer."

“媽！我要那些能預防冒號直腸癌的零食！“

(Laughter)

（笑聲）

And so the kids are raised in a certain way,

這些孩子跳過一個又一個的訓練圈

jumping through achievement hoops of the things we can measure --

都是些可衡量的成績

SAT prep, oboe, soccer practice.

SAT考試、雙簧管、足球練習

They get into competitive colleges, they get good jobs,

進好學校、有好工作

and sometimes they make a success of themselves

有時候靠著自己的力量得到膚淺的成功

in a superficial manner, and they make a ton of money.

賺許多許多錢

And sometimes you can see them at vacation places

你會在度假勝地看到他們

like Jackson Hole or Aspen.

各種豪華滑雪度假村

And they've become elegant and slender --

他們更優雅、更修長

they don't really have thighs;

他們沒有大腿

they just have one elegant calve on top of another.

只有一條優雅的小腿疊在另一條優雅的小腿上

(Laughter)

（笑聲）

They have kids of their own,

他們有了自己的孩子

and they've achieved a genetic miracle by marrying beautiful people,

以娶嫁美麗人士達成基因奇蹟

so their grandmoms look like Gertrude Stein,

奶奶看上去像女作家斯泰因

their daughters looks like Halle Berry -- I don't know how they've done that.

女兒卻像女明星荷莉貝瑞 － 我不知道他們怎麼辦到的

They get there and they realize

他們到了滑雪勝地發現

it's fashionable now to have dogs a third as tall as your ceiling heights.

有條像樓層三分之一高的狗很時尚

So they've got these furry 160-pound dogs --

於是他們買來那些一百六十磅的毛毛狗

all look like velociraptors,

看上去像迅猛龍

all named after Jane Austen characters.

給牠們取珍奧絲汀書裡的小說人名

And then when they get old, they haven't really developed a philosophy of life,

當他們逐漸老去，也沒有發展出甚麼人生哲學

but they've decided, "I've been successful at everything;

但他們想“我已達成了所有成功

I'm just not going to die."

我不死了。”

And so they hire personal trainers;

於是他們請私人教練

they're popping Cialis like breath mints.

吃犀利士像吃口香糖

You see them on the mountains up there.

他們就在那些山上

They're cross-country skiing up the mountain

他們滑遍各處的山

with these grim expressions

帶著那樣冰冷的神情

that make Dick Cheney look like Jerry Lewis.

嚴肅的政治人物與其相比根本就是諧星

(Laughter)

（笑聲）

And as they whiz by you,

當他們從你身邊滑過

it's like being passed by a little iron Raisinet

就像有塊鋼鐵小餅乾

going up the hill.

從你身邊無聲飛過

(Laughter)

（笑聲）

And so this is part of what life is,

這的確是人生的一部分

but it's not all of what life is.

但不是人生的全部

And over the past few years,

過去幾年

I think we've been given a deeper view of human nature

我們開始看到一些有關人性的深層研究

and a deeper view of who we are.

有關我們究竟是誰

And it's not based on theology or philosophy,

不是來自神學或哲學

it's in the study of the mind,

而是來自思想研究

across all these spheres of research,

從不同層次的學術界

from neuroscience to the cognitive scientists,

從神經科學到認知科學

behavioral economists, psychologists,

行為經濟學、心理學

sociology,

社會學

we're developing a revolution in consciousness.

這是意識的革命

And when you synthesize it all,

當你縱觀以上全部

it's giving us a new view of human nature.

它給我們一種新的角度看人性

And far from being a coldly materialistic view of nature,

不只是冷冰冰的維物觀

it's a new humanism, it's a new enchantment.

而是一種新的人道主義

And I think when you synthesize this research,

當你整合這些研究

you start with three key insights.

你會有三種理解

The first insight is

第一

that while the conscious mind writes the autobiography of our species,

當意識為我族類寫下自傳

the unconscious mind does most of the work.

潛意識卻做了大部分的工作

And so one way to formulate that is

簡單說來

the human mind can take in millions of pieces of information a minute,

人腦一分鐘可以處理百萬個細節

of which it can be consciously aware of about 40.

但意識到的大概有40個

And this leads to oddities.

許多怪事由此發生

One of my favorite is that people named Dennis

我最喜歡的是許多叫丹尼的成了牙醫

are disproportionately likely to become dentists,

（英語的丹尼音近牙醫）

people named Lawrence become lawyers,

叫羅倫斯的成了律師

because unconsciously we gravitate toward things

只因潛意識裡我們傾向和音似的事物

that sound familiar,

靠近

which is why I named my daughter President of the United States Brooks.

這就是我把女兒取名做美國總彤的原因

(Laughter)

（笑聲）

Another finding is that the unconscious,

另外一個發現是

far from being dumb and sexualized,

潛意識不如人們想的那樣愚笨與飢渴

is actually quite smart.

事實上它很聰明

So one of the most cognitively demanding things we do is buy furniture.

舉例來說，買傢具一直是件困難的事

It's really hard to imagine a sofa, how it's going to look in your house.

我們很難想像新沙發在房子裡看上去會是甚麼模樣

And the way you should do that

解決方法是，

is study the furniture,

仔細看清傢具的模樣

let it marinate in your mind, distract yourself,

把它沈浸在腦海，先別想它

and then a few days later, go with your gut,

幾天以後，以你的直覺去買

because unconsciously you've figured it out.

因為潛意識已經為你解決了這個問題

The second insight

第二

is that emotions are at the center of our thinking.

情緒是我們思考的中心

People with strokes and lesions

中風和在在情緒處理部份

in the emotion-processing parts of the brain

發生機能損害的人

are not super smart,

並不聰明

they're actually sometimes quite helpless.

事實上他們很無助

And the "giant" in the field is in the room tonight

研究這領域的巨人就在我們當中

and is speaking tomorrow morning -- Antonio Damasio.

Antonio Damasio － 他的演講在明天早上

And one of the things he's really shown us

他的研究告訴我們

is that emotions are not separate from reason,

情緒並不和理性分開

but they are the foundation of reason

情緒其實是理性的基礎

because they tell us what to value.

它告訴我們甚麼是重要的

And so reading and educating your emotions

理解和訓練你的情緒

is one of the central activities of wisdom.

是通往智慧的道路

Now I'm a middle-aged guy.

身為一個中年男子

I'm not exactly comfortable with emotions.

我並不喜歡談論我的情緒

One of my favorite brain stories described these middle-aged guys.

我最喜歡的腦故事便以中年男子為例

They put them into a brain scan machine --

把中年男子放進腦掃描機器裡

this is apocryphal by the way, but I don't care --

這沒甚麼根據，但無所謂

and they had them watch a horror movie,

讓這些中年男子看恐怖電影

and then they had them describe their feelings toward their wives.

再讓他們敘述他們面對妻子的感受

And the brain scans were identical in both activities.

兩者的腦掃描結果是一樣的

It was just sheer terror.

絕對的恐懼

So me talking about emotion

讓我們談情緒

is like Gandhi talking about gluttony,

就像叫甘地談論暴食

but it is the central organizing process

但情緒幫助我們

of the way we think.

整理思緒

It tells us what to imprint.

它告訴我們應該記得甚麼

The brain is the record of the feelings of a life.

大腦紀錄我們一生經歷過的感受

And the third insight

第三是

is that we're not primarily self-contained individuals.

我們不是獨立的個體

We're social animals, not rational animals.

我們是社群動物，不是理性動物

We emerge out of relationships,