我所說(shuō)的一切都可能是錯(cuò)的沧奴！
即使你贊同我的觀點(diǎn)痘括，你的生活也不會(huì)因此有任何改變！
除非——你采取了相應(yīng)的行動(dòng)滔吠。

（這是書先生在簡(jiǎn)書的第36篇文章纲菌。本文約3700字，請(qǐng)花8分鐘來(lái)閱讀疮绷。）

本文英文是書先生親弟弟的作品翰舌，中文是書先生翻譯的。書先生的弟弟是香港浸會(huì)大學(xué)的語(yǔ)言學(xué)碩士冬骚。海量閱讀英文原版社科著作椅贱，英文寫作功力深厚。

本文文筆立意俱佳只冻，絕對(duì)值得一讀庇麦。

The Mundanity of Prosperity

繁榮的庸常

About 200,000 years ago, modern humans first appeared on the continent of Africa. They have bigger brains than other homo species. With this advantage, homo sapiens swiftly sweep over the surface of the earth and now there are nearly 7.5 billion of them roaming about on every corner of this blue planet. All other ape-like subspecies went extinct, along with them most of other animals and plants humans deem threatening or useless.

大約20萬(wàn)年前，現(xiàn)代人類第一次出現(xiàn)在非洲大陸上喜德。他們擁有比其他類人物種更大的大腦山橄。攜此優(yōu)勢(shì)，智人迅速席卷了整個(gè)地球表面∩崦酰現(xiàn)在航棱，將近75億他們的后代在這個(gè)藍(lán)色星球的各個(gè)角落游蕩。其它所有類人猿物種都滅絕了贱呐，同他們一起滅絕的還有大多數(shù)人類認(rèn)為是威脅或者無(wú)用的其它動(dòng)物和植物丧诺。

But humans’ expedition of claiming sovereignty over all the continents was long and treacherous. Before the dawn of science, human beings struggled for thousands of years to survive and propagate. There were happy moments, but sufferings and hopelessness seemed to be the theme.

但是人類奪取各個(gè)大陸統(tǒng)治權(quán)的征程漫長(zhǎng)而危險(xiǎn)。在科學(xué)誕生之前的數(shù)千年里奄薇，人類為生存和繁衍而苦苦掙扎驳阎。雖也有一些快樂(lè)的時(shí)光，但是痛苦和絕望似乎才是主旋律馁蒂。

In old times, humans often prayed and they prayed to every object until Jesus said that it was sinful to worship anything other than the God. Why did humans pray? Because they were scared. The caprice of nature, the unexpectedness of diseases and the oftenness of wars could cut a person’s life short in his prime or in his infancy (more often the cases). The state of learned helplessness was the shared mentality of the whole human species until recently. The man may be the wisest of all creatures, but he was also the most haunted one, the price of being wise.

古時(shí)关面，人類常常會(huì)祈禱蠢挡。他們向各種物體祈禱，直到有一天耶穌說(shuō)向上帝以外的任何事物祈禱都是罪過(guò)。為什么人類會(huì)祈禱畏鼓？因?yàn)樗麄兏械胶ε隆７磸?fù)無(wú)常的自然凯正、突如其來(lái)的疾病以及無(wú)休無(wú)止的戰(zhàn)爭(zhēng)都會(huì)讓一個(gè)人的生命在壯年甚至嬰兒時(shí)期（這種情況更是頻繁）就戛然而止。此句英文非常地道芯急，值得學(xué)習(xí)。這種習(xí)得性的無(wú)助狀態(tài)是整個(gè)人類共有的心態(tài)驶俊，直到最近才有所改變娶耍。人類也許是最聰明的物種，但也是最受折磨的物種——這是聰明的代價(jià)饼酿。

But human’s civilizations moved forward against all elements and by making use of many elements. Stone, bronze, iron, and steel stood witness to our growing capacity to reshape the nature to our benefit. But the process was too slow. Any breakthrough in technology or mode of production was like hitting the jackpot. Humans need something more omnipotent than the God to their rescue.

但是人類文明在對(duì)抗自然和利用自然中滾滾向前榕酒。這句話一定要讀英文，以書先生的翻譯功底故俐，都翻不出原文elements的雙關(guān)想鹰。石頭、銅药版、鐵和鋼都見證了我們不斷增長(zhǎng)的按照自己的需求改造自然的能力辑舷。但是，這個(gè)過(guò)程太緩慢了刚陡。技術(shù)上或者生產(chǎn)方式上的任何突破都和中頭彩的幾率差不多惩妇。想要拯救自己，人類需要一個(gè)比上帝更全能的東西筐乳。

By chance or by destiny, we met Science. To put it more precisely, we met Scientific Methods. Humans had accumulated knowledge about the world for thousands of years and we were born with the ability to reason, but without scientific methods, the two led to nowhere. Tools are really essential to human civilizations!! Science enables us to verify our hypotheses quickly in a controllable environment - labs. We no longer needed to wait for our next Eureka moment. This world is never the same.

偶然抑或命運(yùn)歌殃，我們與科學(xué)相遇了。更準(zhǔn)確的說(shuō)蝙云，我們與科學(xué)方法相遇了氓皱。關(guān)于這個(gè)世界的知識(shí)，人類已經(jīng)積累了幾千年勃刨，我們也天生就具有推理的能力波材。但是，沒(méi)有科學(xué)的方法身隐，這二者沒(méi)有發(fā)揮任何實(shí)質(zhì)性的作用廷区。工具對(duì)人類文明真是至關(guān)重要！贾铝！科學(xué)使我們能夠在可控的環(huán)境中——實(shí)驗(yàn)室里——快速驗(yàn)證我們的假設(shè)隙轻。我們無(wú)需再等待下一個(gè)靈感迸發(fā)時(shí)刻了。世界已經(jīng)不一樣了垢揩。

People’s lives in AD 1100 were basically the same as those in 100 years earlier. However, now we have lost our confidence to predict people’s lives in AD 2117 because everything is changing so fast even humanity. Zuckerberg and his wife said they were confident that humans could destroy all diseases at the turn of next century. Their confidence mainly came from our deepening understanding of the human genome and the evolution of AI. Theoretically, we can get rid of all diseases and even fool death.

公元1100年的人類玖绿，其生活狀態(tài)同更早100年的人類相比，基本沒(méi)有區(qū)別叁巨。然而斑匪，現(xiàn)在我們可沒(méi)有把握預(yù)測(cè)2117年人類生活會(huì)是什么樣子，因?yàn)橐磺卸甲兊锰炝朔嫔祝踔寥祟愖陨硎慈场Ｔ瞬窈退钠拮勇暦Q他們有信心人類可以在下個(gè)世紀(jì)初消滅所有疾病狡蝶。他們的信心主要來(lái)自我們對(duì)人類基因和人工智能日益深刻的理解。理論上贮勃，我們能夠擺脫所有疾病牢酵，甚至掙脫死亡的束縛。

For scientists, possibility in theory is certainty in reality. So it is more than very likely that humans can be immortal in future. It is also a fact that resources in the universe are inexhaustible. So every person on the earth can enjoy abundance without any scruple.

對(duì)科學(xué)家來(lái)說(shuō)衙猪，理論上的可能性就意味著現(xiàn)實(shí)的確定性。因此布近，未來(lái)的人類非常有可能永生垫释。宇宙中的資源是用之不竭的，這也是一個(gè)事實(shí)撑瞧。所以棵譬，地球上的每個(gè)人都可以毫無(wú)顧忌地享受充裕。

Economics is founded on the concept of scarcity. But scarcity will be wiped out in future since theoretically we can produce anything, even planets. You should know it if you have read Hitchhiker's Guide to the Galaxy. Being immortal and being exempted from the fear of diseases and hunger are within human’s reach, the first time in history.

經(jīng)濟(jì)學(xué)的基礎(chǔ)就是稀缺的概念预伺，但是未來(lái)稀缺將不復(fù)存在订咸，因?yàn)槔碚撋衔覀兡軌蛑圃烊魏螙|西，甚至制造星球酬诀。如果你讀過(guò)《銀河系漫游指南》脏嚷，肯定會(huì)知道這一點(diǎn)。歷史上第一次瞒御，永生不死父叙、無(wú)疾病饑餓之虞對(duì)人類來(lái)說(shuō)觸手可及。

Abundance also makes this world more democratic and renders dictatorship archaic. Hungary and scared people are obedient while those with full stomach and certainty about the future are defiant. And power deprived of the ability to make people suffer is really boring therefore not even worth the efforts. Modern history, to a great extent, is about people’s uprisings against tyranny and fighting for liberty. Science has killed tyranny, along with it, the modern history. In future, what should we fight for?

物質(zhì)的充裕也使得世界更加民主肴裙，獨(dú)裁變得不合時(shí)宜趾唱。饑餓和恐懼的人順從權(quán)威，而那些不愁吃穿對(duì)未來(lái)篤定的人蔑視權(quán)威蜻懦。同時(shí)甜癞，權(quán)力一旦同讓人痛苦的能力分開，就變得無(wú)趣因此甚至都不值得去追求⊥鹉耍現(xiàn)代歷史的主題悠咱，在很大程度上，是人們反抗暴政烤惊、爭(zhēng)取自由乔煞。科學(xué)已經(jīng)殺死了暴政柒室，同時(shí)也殺死了現(xiàn)代歷史渡贾。未來(lái)，我們還可以為什么而戰(zhàn)雄右？

Perhaps history has come to its end - when people don’t struggle for survival and fight for dignity, what is left of history? When there are no wars, what is the point in writing history? Great prosperity means great mundanity. Homer’s Odyssey will fade into oblivion; mundanity of everyday living will go into infinite loop.

也許歷史已經(jīng)走到盡頭——當(dāng)人們不再為生存和尊嚴(yán)而戰(zhàn)斗空骚，歷史還剩下什么呢纺讲？當(dāng)戰(zhàn)爭(zhēng)已經(jīng)不復(fù)存在，撰寫歷史還有什么意義呢囤屹？偉大的繁榮意味著高度的庸常熬甚。荷馬的《奧德賽》終將被束之高閣；日常生活的庸常將會(huì)走進(jìn)無(wú)盡的循環(huán)肋坚。

For thousands of years, we celebrate and commemorate the deeds of heroes. Heroes can be the knights who save princesses in danger in fairy tales; heroes can also be the lords who protect the serfs from being slaughtered by barbarians. In a world in which people’s lives were always at stake, heroes were called for. If we are always safe and well, heroes are useless to us. From now on, we should prepare for living in a world without heroes and heroic deeds.

幾千年來(lái)乡括，我們慶祝和歌頌英雄的事跡。英雄可以是童話里拯救公主于危難的騎士智厌；英雄也可以是保護(hù)平民免受野蠻人屠殺的領(lǐng)主诲泌。在一個(gè)人們的生命總是受到威脅的世界，人們召喚英雄铣鹏。如果我們總是安全健康敷扫，英雄對(duì)我們毫無(wú)用處。從現(xiàn)在起诚卸，我們應(yīng)該為生活在一個(gè)沒(méi)有英雄葵第、也沒(méi)有英雄事跡的世界而做好準(zhǔn)備。

Similarly, we should also prepare for living in a world without family. The societal unit - family, is created by humans to protect individuals by offering them food, clothes, and shelter. Parents are breadwinners so parents are very important. But in the future world where materials are greatly abundant and people don’t need to labor to get their mouths full, what is the point of having parents?

基于同樣的理由合溺，我們也應(yīng)該為生活在一個(gè)沒(méi)有家庭的世界做好準(zhǔn)備卒密。人們創(chuàng)造家庭這個(gè)社會(huì)單位，正是為了保護(hù)個(gè)體棠赛，為他們提供食物栅受、衣服和住所。父母需要養(yǎng)家恭朗，所以父母很重要屏镊。但是，在未來(lái)的世界痰腮，物質(zhì)極大豐富而芥，人們不再需要為吃飽肚子而勞作，擁有父母還有什么意義呢膀值？

Perhaps parents can function as playmates. Wait, robots are much better playmates because they are patient and don’t lecture. But some may argue that people will always need intimate relationships. I agree. People will go on falling in love and searching for a spiritual bond. But it is not necessarily a thing only between humans.

也許父母可以充當(dāng)玩伴棍丐。等等，機(jī)器人是好得多的玩伴沧踏，因?yàn)樗麄冇心托母璺辏覐牟徽f(shuō)教。但是翘狱，有人會(huì)說(shuō)人們總是需要親密關(guān)系的秘案。這我同意。人們會(huì)繼續(xù)陷入愛河，追求靈魂的結(jié)合阱高。但是赚导，這并不一定非要發(fā)生在人與人之間。

People can fall in love with anything. Many Japanese men are crazy about their virtual girlfriends on cell phones and show no interest in women in the real world. No, they are not escaping or in fact feeling empty deep in their hearts, rather, they truly feel happy and fulfilled. Remember, our brains can fool us into believing anything. When every lust of ours can be met in virtual reality, what is the point in living in reality? For the future, I can only be sure about one thing: most of the people will choose not to wake up in the Matrix.

人們能夠愛上任何東西赤惊。很多日本男性瘋狂迷戀手機(jī)里的虛擬女友吼旧，而對(duì)現(xiàn)實(shí)中的女性毫無(wú)興趣。不未舟，他們不是在逃避圈暗，也不是內(nèi)心空虛。相反裕膀，他們真正感到快樂(lè)滿足厂置。記住，我們的大腦能夠讓我們相信任何東西魂角。如果我們所有的欲望都能在虛擬世界得到滿足，生活在現(xiàn)實(shí)里又有什么意義呢智绸？對(duì)于未來(lái)野揪，我唯一能夠確定的是：大多數(shù)人都會(huì)選擇不從“母體”中醒來(lái)。

The future world will be very prosperous and people will be free from all kinds of sufferings. It is like Heaven. The Bible says that in Heaven people live in eternal happiness and the only thing they do is worshiping the God. What a boring picture! If you ask me, I will definitely refuse to go to Heaven. But science seems to have put all of us on the trip to Heaven, and it is a one-way trip. So sad!

未來(lái)世界將會(huì)非常繁榮瞧栗，人們將不再有任何痛苦斯稳，就像天堂〖？郑《圣經(jīng)》里說(shuō)挣惰，在天堂里，人們生活在永恒的幸福中殴边，他們只做一件事——崇拜上帝憎茂。多么無(wú)趣的景象！如果你問(wèn)我锤岸，我肯定拒絕上天堂竖幔。但是科學(xué)似乎已經(jīng)把我們送上了前往天堂的路，而且是單程旅途是偷。真是讓人悲傷拳氢！

I may be too pessimistic and hypocritical. Isn’t it a good thing that humans finally reach the point of grasping the ultimate happiness? But I really don’t like it. I don’t think that human’s ultimate goal is to be immortal and live in the Elysian Fields.

我也許太過(guò)悲觀和吹毛求疵。人類終于快要觸到終極的幸福了蛋铆，這難道不是一件好事嗎馋评？但我真的不喜歡。我不認(rèn)為人類的終極目標(biāo)就是在極樂(lè)世界中永生刺啦。

What makes us homo sapiens is our insatiable desires to explore the unknown. Luckily, the unknowns in the universe is unknown. I have the faith that there are always some people in the world who have unquenchable thirst in exploring the universe. They will leave the earth and embark on a precarious journey to the outer space. When this world becomes the symbol of mundanity, only exploring other worlds can send our adrenaline rushing again.

讓我們成為萬(wàn)物之靈的正是我們永不滿足留特、探索未知的欲望。所幸，宇宙中還有未知的秘密磕秤。我深信乳乌，世界上總有人在探索宇宙方面有無(wú)法遏制的渴望。他們會(huì)離開地球市咆，踏上通往外太空的危險(xiǎn)旅程汉操。當(dāng)這個(gè)世界變成了庸常的象征，只有探索另外的世界才能讓我們的腎上腺素再次飆升蒙兰。

Epilogue
I embrace prosperity but I hate mundanity. But since my brain can fool me into believing anything, I may feel ecstatic in the Mundanity of Prosperity. But I pray to the God: Please Don’t Make Me Go To Heaven!!

尾聲
我擁抱繁榮磷瘤，但是憎恨庸常。但是搜变，因?yàn)槲业拇竽X能夠欺騙我采缚，讓我相信任何事情，也許我會(huì)在繁榮的庸常中感到興奮挠他。但是扳抽，我向上帝祈禱：請(qǐng)不要讓我上天堂。

【作者簡(jiǎn)介】 萬(wàn)卷書和萬(wàn)里路殖侵，80后大學(xué)教師一對(duì)贸呢。 書先生語(yǔ)言老司機(jī)，玩轉(zhuǎn)英語(yǔ)拢军、德語(yǔ)楞陷、Python計(jì)算機(jī)編程； 路夫人旅游達(dá)人茉唉，足跡遍及歐洲固蛾、美洲、亞洲和大洋洲度陆！ 讀萬(wàn)卷書艾凯、行萬(wàn)里路、過(guò)精彩人生懂傀！