My students often ask me, "What is sociology?" And I tell them it's the study of the way in which human beings are shaped by things that they don't see. And they say, "So, how can I be a sociologist? How can I understand those invisible forces?" And I say, "Empathy. Start with empathy. It all begins with empathy. Take yourself out of your shoes, put yourself into the shoes of another person."
我的学生常问我 “什么是社会学?” 我说,“社会学研究的是 人类是如何被 无形的东西所塑造。” 然后他们问,“怎么才能成为社会学家? 怎样才能理解那些看不见的力量?” 我说:“换位思考。” 由此开始 一切源自换位思考 从你自己的立场走出 从别人的立场看问题
Here, I'll give you an example. So I imagine my life if, a hundred years ago, China had been the most powerful nation in the world and they came to the United States in search of coal. And they found it, and, in fact, they found lots of it right here. And pretty soon, they began shipping that coal, ton by ton, railcar by railcar, boatload by boatload, back to China and elsewhere around the world. And they got fabulously wealthy in doing so. And they built beautiful cities all powered on that coal. And back here in the United States, we saw economic despair, deprivation. This is what I saw. I saw people struggling to get by, not knowing what was what and what was next. And I asked myself the question: How is it possible that we could be so poor here in the United States, because coal is such a wealthy resource; it's so much money? And I realize: because the Chinese ingratiated themselves with a small ruling class here in the United States, who stole all of that money and all of that wealth for themselves. And the rest of us, the vast majority of us, struggle to get by. And the Chinese gave this small ruling elite loads of military weapons and sophisticated technology in order to ensure that people like me would not speak out against this relationship. Does this sound familiar?
举个例子 我曾设想 如果一百年前 中国成为了世界第一强国 他们来了美国 搜寻煤矿 后来他们发现了,还发现了不少 他们就很快开始了运输那些煤 一吨又一吨 一车接一车 一船挨一船 运回中国和世界各地 他们由此而发家 他们靠着煤炭 建起了美丽的城市 然后回头看看美国 这里经济萧条不景气 我看到了这些 人们勉强糊口度日 无助而没有未来 然后就问问自己 “美国怎么变这么穷了? 煤炭是多么值钱的资源 值这么多钱呢。” 然后我意识到 是中国讨好了 一小部分美国的统治阶级 而这一小部分人得到了所有的好处 其余的大部分人,我们大多数人 都是挣扎糊口 中国给这些统治阶级精英们 大量的军备武器和尖端科技 以保证我们这样的普通民众 不敢公然表示不满 这个故事听着挺耳熟吧?
And they did things like train Americans to help protect the coal. And everywhere, there were symbols of the Chinese -- everywhere, a constant reminder. And back in China, what do they say in China? Nothing! They don't talk about us. They don't talk about the coal. If you ask them, they'll say, "Well, you know, we need the coal. I mean, come on, I'm not going to turn down my thermostat. You can't expect that." And so, I get angry, and I get pissed, as do lots of average people. And we fight back, and it gets really ugly. And the Chinese respond in a very ugly way. And before we know it, they send in the tanks and they send in the troops. And lots of people are dying. And it's a very, very difficult situation.
然后他们就训练了一帮美国人 来保护煤矿 到处都是中国的标志- 遍布每一个角落 再说说中国 中国人对此这么看呢? 只字不提。他们不谈论我们,不谈论煤矿 你要是问问中国人 他们会说:“这个,煤很重要啊,我们需要煤。 你可别指望我调低我家暖气的温度 那绝对不可能。” 于是我火了 气愤了 大多数人都会 我们就开始抗议 愈演愈烈 中国的回应方式也很不友好 我们还没回过神他们就把坦克派过来了 然后派来了军队 很多人战死 状况越来越糟
Can you imagine what you would feel if you were in my shoes? Can you imagine walking out of this building and seeing a tank sitting out there, or a truck full of soldiers? Just imagine what you would feel, because you know why they're here; you know what they're doing here. And you just feel the anger and you feel the fear. If you can, that's empathy. That's empathy. You've left your shoes, and you've stood in mine. And you've got to feel that.
你能换位思考 想象我的感受吗? 你能想象走出大门 见外面停了一辆坦克 或者一卡车士兵? 想象你的感受 你知道他们冲什么来,清楚他们的所为 你肯定感到又气又悲了 如果你能感受到这一点-这就是换位思考了 你从自己的立场转换到我的立场 你就能换位思考了
OK, so that's the warm-up. That's the warm-up. Now we're going to have the real radical experiment. So, for the remainder of my talk, what I want you to do is put yourselves in the shoes of an ordinary Arab Muslim living in the Middle East -- in particular, in Iraq. And so to help you, perhaps you're a member of this middle-class family in Baghdad. What you want is the best for your kids. You want your kids to have a better life. And you watch the news, you pay attention. You read the newspaper, you go down to the coffee shop with your friends, you read the newspapers from around the world. Sometimes you even watch satellite, CNN, from the United States. You have a sense of what the Americans are thinking. But really, you just want a better life for yourself. That's what you want. You're Arab Muslim living in Iraq. You want a better life for yourself.
这是个热身 只是热身 现在我们就要开始 真正激进的试验 下面我希望你们 从一个 居住在中东的普通穆斯林的 角度出发 具体点,就是伊拉克 为了让你进入状态 假设你就来自一个住在巴格达的中产家庭 你希望你的孩子有好的环境 你希望孩子有更好的生活 你看新闻关心时事 你看报纸,和朋友去咖啡厅 阅读世界各地的报纸 有时候还看看卫星电视 美国的CNN 你大概知道美国人的一般观点 但是,你也就只是希望自己过得好点 那才是你想要的 你是住在伊拉克的阿拉伯穆斯林 你想过更好的生活
So here, let me help you. Let me help you with some things that you might be thinking. Number one: this incursion into your land these past 20 years and before -- the reason anyone is interested in your land, and particularly the United States, is oil. It's all about oil; you know that, everybody knows that. People back in the United States know it's about oil. It's because somebody else has a design for your resource. It's your resource -- it's not somebody else's. It's your land; it's your resource. Somebody else has a design for it. And you know why they have a design? You know why they have their eyes set on it? Because they have an entire economic system that's dependent on that oil -- foreign oil, oil from other parts of the world that they don't own.
现在 让我帮你 让我来帮你整理一下 你的思绪 第一,在过去的二十年中 甚至更早,你的祖国遭受入侵 是因为所有人,特别是美国人都盯住了 石油 根源就在石油 天下皆知 美国人也知道是因为石油 因为别人在打着 你的资源的算盘 这资源是你的不是别人的 这是你的国土 你的资源 有人动了心眼儿 他们为什么要打这个算盘? 他们为什么动这个心眼儿? 因为他们的经济体系 建于石油之上 进口石油 从别的国家抢过去的石油
And what else do you think about these people? The Americans, they're rich. Come on, they live in big houses, they have big cars. They all have blond hair, blue eyes. They're happy. You think that. It's not true, of course, but that's the media impression. And that's what you get. And they have big cities, and the cities are all dependent on oil. And back home, what do you see? Poverty, despair, struggle. Look, you don't live in a wealthy country. I mean -- this is Iraq. This is what you see. You see people struggling to get by. It's not easy; you see a lot of poverty. And you feel something about this. These people have designs for your resource, and this is what you see?
你对这些人有什么想法 这些美国人真有钱 住着大房子 开着好车 个个金发碧眼 快乐似神仙 你这么想么,这不一定是真的 但这是媒体传递的印象,这是你听到看到的 美国有大都市 这些大都市都依靠石油 回了自家,看到是什么? 贫穷,绝望,挣扎 你的国家不富裕 这是伊拉克 这是你每日所见 人们勉强糊口度日 过日子不容易,到处是贫困 对此你肯定有自己的想法 这些人盘算着你的资源 而这是他们的样子
Something else you see that you talk about -- Americans don't talk about this, but you do -- there's this thing, this militarization of the world, and it's centered right in the United States. And the United States is responsible for almost one half of the world's military spending. Four percent of the world's population! And you feel it; you see it every day. It's part of your life. And you talk about it with your friends. You read about it. And back when Saddam Hussein was in power, the Americans didn't care about his crimes. When he was gassing the Kurds and gassing Iran, they didn't care about it. When oil was at stake, somehow, suddenly, things mattered. And what you see, something else: the United States, the hub of democracy around the world -- they don't seem to really be supporting democratic countries all around the world. There are a lot of countries, oil-producing countries, that aren't very democratic, but supported by the United States. That's odd.
这些你谈论的话题 美国人并不谈起 比如,世界的军事化 是以美国为中心 而且美国的军费 占世界军费开支的 二分之一 他们才有世界人口的四分之一 你每天都能看到感受到这些 这是你生活的一部分 你和朋友聊起这些 你读到这些东西 萨达姆・侯赛因当权的时候 美国人可没关心他的罪行 他对库尔人和伊朗人用毒气的时候 他们可一声没吭 一旦出现了石油危机 美国人就突然开始大发慈悲 你就看到了 美国 这个世界民主的中心 他们并不总是 世界各民主国家的后盾 很多产油国 他们不民主,但这不妨碍美国支持他们 这就奇怪了
Oh -- these incursions, these two wars, the 10 years of sanctions, the eight years of occupation, the insurgency that's been unleashed on your people, the tens of thousands, the hundreds of thousands of civilian deaths? All because of oil. You can't help but think that. You talk about it. It's in the forefront of your mind, always. You say, "How is that possible?" And this man, he's everyman -- your grandfather, your uncle, your father, your son, your neighbor, your professor, your student. Once a life of happiness and joy and suddenly, pain and sorrow. Everyone in your country has been touched by the violence, the bloodshed, the pain, the horror -- everybody. Not a single person in your country has not been touched.
这么多次入侵,两次战争 十年制裁 八年占领 对人民发动的反叛 成百上千的 平民死亡 只因石油 你无法不去想这些 谈起这些 在你脑中开始占据主要 你说:“怎么能这样?” 这个人,他可以是任何人- 你的祖父,你的叔叔, 你的父亲,你的儿子, 你的邻居,你的教授,你的学生 曾经有着幸福和快乐 都化为了悲伤和痛苦 你的国家的每一个人 都生活在暴力的阴影下 流血 痛苦 恐惧,笼罩每一个人 你的国家里 无一个人可置身事外
But there's something else. There's something else about these people, these Americans who are there. There's something else about them that you see that they don't see themselves. And what do you see? They're Christians! They're Christians. They worship the Christian God, they have crosses, they carry Bibles. Their Bibles have a little insignia that says "US Army" on them. And their leaders, their leaders: before they send their sons and daughters off to war in your country -- and you know the reason -- before they send them off, they go to a Christian church, and they pray to their Christian God, and they ask for protection and guidance from that god. Why? Well, obviously, when people die in the war, they are Muslims, they are Iraqis -- they're not Americans. You don't want Americans to die -- "Protect Our Troops." And you feel something about that -- of course you do. And they do wonderful things. You read about it, you hear about it. They're there to build schools and help people. That's what they want to do. They do wonderful things, but they also do the bad things, and you can't tell the difference.
还有件事 在伊拉克的这些美国人 这些人还有个特征 这个特征你看到了而他们没有意识到 你发现了吗,他们是基督徒 他们是基督徒 他们崇拜基督教之神,他们带着十字架和圣经 他们的圣经上有一个 写着“美军”的徽章 他们的领导者 在他们把他们的儿女 送上你的国家的战场- 而你深知原因- 在他们出发之前 他们去教堂,向基督的神祈祷 祈求他们的神的指引和保护 为什么? 显然,战争肯定会死人 死的是穆斯林,是伊拉克人- 他们不是美国人 他们可不希望美国人死,得祈求保护他们的军队 你会感受到这些- 肯定会 美军做了些好事 你读到听说了 他们建造学校,帮助人们,这是他们想做的 他们做了好事,但也做了坏事 你看不出区别 当你看到一个像这个威廉姆・博金上尉的人
And this guy, you get a guy like Lt. Gen. William Boykin. Here's a guy who says that your god is a false god. Your god's an idol; his god is the true god. The solution to the problem in the Middle East, according to him, is to convert you all to Christianity -- just get rid of your religion. And you know that. Americans don't read about this guy. They don't know anything about him, but you do. You pass it around. You pass his words around. I mean, this is serious. You're afraid. He was one of the leading commanders in the second invasion of Iraq. And you're thinking, "My God, if this guy is saying that, then all the soldiers must be saying that." And this word here -- George Bush called this war a crusade. Man, the Americans, they're just like, "Ah, crusade. Whatever. I don't know what that means." You know what it means -- it's a holy war against Muslims. Look, invade, subdue them, take their resources. If they won't submit, kill them. That's what this is about. And you're thinking, "My God, these Christians are coming to kill us." This is frightening. You feel frightened. Of course you feel frightened.
说你的神是虚假的 你的神只是个偶像,他的神才是真正的神 他的解决中东问题的方案 就是把你们所有人都变成基督徒- 背弃你自己的宗教 你知道这些 美国人不知道 他们对他一无所知,但你知道 你告诉别人他说的话 你十分害怕 这个人是第二次对伊拉克入侵的一个指挥官 你想:“天啊,要是这个家伙这么想 那他的手下肯定也都是这么想的。” 这个词 乔治・布什称这场入侵为十字军东征 美国人一听,“哦,圣战啊 管他呢。” 但你知道圣战意味着什么 这是对穆斯林的圣战 看着吧,侵略了他们,降服他们,夺走他们的资源 不屈就杀 这就是圣战 你想,“天哪,这些基督徒要来取我们性命。” 这是多么可怕 你吓坏了,肯定吓坏了
And this man, Terry Jones: I mean here's a guy who wants to burn Qurans, right? And the Americans: "Ah, he's a knucklehead. He's a former hotel manager; he's got three dozen members of his church ..." They laugh him off. You don't laugh him off, because in the context of everything else, all the pieces fit. Of course this is how Americans think. So people all over the Middle East, not just in your country, are protesting. "He wants to burn Qurans, our holy book. These Christians -- who are these Christians? They're so evil, they're so mean -- this is what they're about?" This is what you're thinking as an Arab Muslim, as an Iraqi. Of course you're going to think this.
这个人,泰瑞・琼斯: 他要烧了所有的古兰经 美国人说:“他是个蠢货。 他以前是个酒店经理, 他的教堂只有三十来个人。” 他们付之一笑,你不会 因为在那个环境下 这说辞十分有道理 当然那只是美国人的想法 但在中东,不仅仅是你的国家 都在抗议 “他要烧了我们的圣经古兰经 这些基督徒当他们是谁? 他们太邪恶卑鄙了- 这些人就是这样的。” 这就是你作为一个阿拉伯穆斯林的想法 作为一个伊拉克人 你当然会这么想
And then your cousin says, "Hey coz, check out this website. You've got to see this -- Bible Boot Camp. These Christians are nuts! They're training their little kids to be soldiers for Jesus. They take little kids and run them through these things till they teach them how to say, 'Sir! Yes, sir!' and things like 'grenade toss' and 'weapons care and maintenance.' And go to the website -- it says 'US Army' right on it. I mean, these Christians, they're nuts. How can they do this to their little kids?" And you're reading this website. And of course, Christians in the United States, or anybody, says, "This is some little church in the middle of nowhere." You don't know that. For you, this is like, all Christians. It's all over the Web: "Bible Boot Camp." And look at this. They even teach their kids -- they train them in the same way the US Marines train. Isn't that interesting. And it scares you, and it frightens you.
然后你堂兄弟说 “兄弟,看看这个网站 圣经训练营 这些基督徒真是疯了 他们在训练自己的小孩成为上帝的士兵 他们把那些想法灌输给小孩子 让他们只会言听计从 还教他们怎么扔手榴弹和维护武器 然后继续看网站 上头写着”美国军队“ 这些基督徒真是疯了,他们怎么能这么对待孩子?” 你看着这个网站 而美国的基督徒,或者随便谁 只会说:“这是个荒唐名不见经传的小小教堂” 但你可不知道 对你来说这就代表了所有基督徒 网上铺天盖地都是,圣经训练营 再看看这个 他们甚至教小孩子 他们用美国海军陆战队的方法来训练小孩 这真是开了眼了 这吓坏你了
So these guys, you see them. You see, I, Sam Richards -- I know who these guys are. They're my students, my friends; I know what they're thinking. You don't know. When you see them, they're something else. They're something else. That's what they are to you. We don't see it that way in the United States, but you see it that way. So here. Of course, you've got it wrong. You're generalizing. It's wrong. You don't understand the Americans. It's not a Christian invasion. We're not just there for oil; we're there for lots of reasons. You have it wrong. You've missed it. And of course, most of you don't support the insurgency; you don't support killing Americans; you don't support the terrorists. Of course you don't. Very few people do. But -- some of you do. And this is a perspective. OK. So now, here's what we're going to do.
你看到这些人 我,山姆・理查茲,我知道这些人 他们是我的学生,我的朋友 我知道他们在想什么,但你一无所知。 你看到他们 就变成了别的什么 他们对你来说是这个 在美国我们不这么看 但是你会 那么 当然,你意会错了 你一般化了你的推理,你错了 你不了解美国人 这不是基督徒入侵 我们取那儿不光为了石油,还有其他很多原因 你想错了 当然,很多人不支持武装暴动 你并不支持杀掉美国人 也不支持恐怖分子 你当然不,很少有人支持暴力 但有些人支持 这是一个看法 好的,现在我们要做的
Step outside of your shoes that you're in right now, and step back into your normal shoes. So everyone's back in the room. OK? Now here comes the radical experiment. So we're all back home. This photo: this woman -- man, I feel her. I feel her. She's my sister, my wife, my cousin, my neighbor. She's anybody to me. These guys standing there, everybody in the photo -- I feel this photo, man. So here's what I want you to do.
就是放开 你现在的立场 回到你正常的角色中 大家都回到这个屋子来 激进的试验来了 我们都回了家 这张照片,这个女人 我能感受她的感受 我理解她 她是我的姐妹 我的妻子,我的堂姐,我的邻居 她是我周围的人 照片里的每一个人 我都能设身处地地理解他们 接下来我要你们做的
Let's go back to my first example, of the Chinese. I want you to go there. It's all about coal, and the Chinese are here in the United States. What I want you to do is picture her as a Chinese woman receiving a Chinese flag because her loved one has died in America in the coal uprising. And the soldiers are Chinese, and everybody else is Chinese. As an American, how do you feel about this picture? What do you think about that scene?
就是回到第一个中国的例子 希望你想像一下 中国人在美国攫取煤矿 你们把她想像成一个中国女人 她正在接收中国国旗 因为她爱的人在美国的煤矿起义中 死去了 士兵都是中国人 其他也是中国人 作为一个美国人,你对这样照片作何感想? 你怎么去看这个场景?
OK, try this. Bring it back. This is the scene here. It's an American, American soldiers, American woman who lost her loved one in the Middle East, in Iraq or Afghanistan. Now, put yourself in the shoes, go back to the shoes of an Arab Muslim living in Iraq. What are you feeling and thinking about this photo, about this woman?
好的 我们再回来 这个场景 一个美国人,美国士兵 一个在中东-伊拉克或阿富汗 失去了爱人的美国女人 现在把你自己 放回到 一个伊拉克的阿拉伯穆斯林角度去看 你对这张照片的 和这个女人 有何看法
OK, now follow me on this, because I'm taking a big risk here. And so I'm going to invite you to take a risk with me. These gentlemen here, they're insurgents. They were caught by the American soldiers, trying to kill Americans. And maybe they succeeded. Maybe they succeeded. Put yourself in the shoes of the Americans who caught them. Can you feel the rage? Can you feel that you just want to take these guys and wring their necks? Can you go there? It shouldn't be that difficult. You just -- oh, man. Now, put yourself in their shoes. Are they brutal killers or patriotic defenders? Which one? Can you feel their anger, their fear, their rage at what has happened in their country? Can you imagine that maybe one of them, in the morning, bent down to their child and hugged their child and said, "Dear, I'll be back later. I'm going out to defend your freedom, your lives. I'm going out to look out for us, the future of our country." Can you imagine that? Can you imagine saying that? Can you go there? What do you think they're feeling? You see, that's empathy. It's also understanding.
好的 现在跟着我 因为我在冒很大的险 我也邀请你和我一起冒险 这两名男子,他们是叛乱分子 他们要杀美国士兵 被抓住了 也许他们成功了,也许没有 把你自己想像成 抓他们的士兵 你感到愤怒吗? 你会想抓住他们 并扭断他们的脖子吗? 你能做到吗? 这并不会太难 你就是恨得牙痒痒 现在,假设你是叛乱者 他们是野蛮的杀手 亦或是爱国者? 哪个? 能感受到他们的愤怒 恐惧 还有愤慨吗 对发生在他们国家的一切的怒火吗? 你能否想像 也许他们中的一个 早上弯下身拥抱自己的孩子 说:“宝贝,待会儿见。 我要去保护你的自由,你的生命。 我去保护我们自己 保护国家的未来。” 你能想象吗? 你能想象去说这些吗? 能吗? 你觉得他们是怎么想的 你看,这就是换位思考 也是理解
[understand]
现在你也许会问
Now, you might ask, "OK, Sam, so why do you do this sort of thing? Why would you use this example of all examples?" And I say, because. You're allowed to hate these people. You're allowed to just hate them with every fiber of your being. And if I can get you to step into their shoes and walk an inch -- one tiny inch -- then imagine the kind of sociological analysis that you can do in all other aspects of your life. You can walk a mile when it comes to understanding why that person's driving 40 miles per hour in the passing lane; or your teenage son; or your neighbor who annoys you by cutting his lawn on Sunday mornings. Whatever it is, you can go so far. And this is what I tell my students: step outside of your tiny, little world. Step inside of the tiny, little world of somebody else. And then do it again and do it again and do it again. And suddenly, all these tiny, little worlds, they come together in this complex web. And they build a big, complex world. And suddenly, without realizing it, you're seeing the world differently. Everything has changed. Everything in your life has changed. And that's, of course, what this is about.
“山姆,你这么干是为什么? 为什么要用这两个例子?” 我说,因为 你可以憎恨这些人 你可以用全身每一点力气 去恨他们 如果我能让你们 设身处地 从他们的角度 做些许思考 那么假设你能把这样的社会学分析 运用到你生活的各方面 你就能做到更多 如果你能理解 为什么那人以四十迈的速度 超车 或者你十来岁的儿子 或者你的邻居 在周日早上割草烦到了你 不管是什么,你能运用换位思考 这就是我告诉学生的 走出你自己的小世界 走进别人的 小世界 不停地尝试 最终这些小世界 就会交织成一张大网 他们构成了一个巨大的复杂的世界 突然间,不知不觉中 世界在眼中就不同了 一切都变了 你生命里的每一件事都变了 这当然是我的目的所在
Attend to other lives, other visions. Listen to other people, enlighten ourselves. I'm not saying that I support the terrorists in Iraq. But as a sociologist, what I am saying is: I understand. And now perhaps -- perhaps -- you do, too.
关注别人的生活 别人的视角 倾听别人 启迪自我 我不是说 我支持伊拉克的恐怖分子 而是作为一名社会学家 我是说 我能够理解 也许,也许,现在你也可以了
Thank you.
谢谢
(Applause)
(掌声)