追尋歷史發(fā)展趨勢
Deep trends suggest more progress will come in the years ahead, predicts Steven Pinker, Johnstone family professor, Harvard University
本文作者史蒂文?平克(Steven Pinker)認(rèn)為歷史發(fā)展趨勢預(yù)示著我們的世界未來會更加進步。
這里的in the years ahead和文末的in the coming year是一個意思，我們也經(jīng)常講in the near future/in the coming weekend
史蒂文?平克(Steven Pinker)—哈佛大學(xué)約翰斯頓家庭心理學(xué)教授，他在哈佛官網(wǎng)及Twitter上簡介如下：
官網(wǎng)上的簡介Faculty of Arts and Sciences是指哈佛文理學(xué)院，確切的講他應(yīng)該是認(rèn)知心理學(xué)家(cognitive psychologist), 我們平常說自我和社會認(rèn)知，分別就是self-cognition/social-cognition；另外關(guān)于Johnstone family professor通過網(wǎng)絡(luò)檢索了解是由特定人所資助的一個教職。檢索結(jié)果如下：
他今年的新書“Enlightenment Now: The Case for Reason, Science, Humanism and Progress” (Viking, 2018) 暫譯為《現(xiàn)代啟蒙：理性，科學(xué)，人文主義及進步的論述》被The Economist評為2018年non-fiction的年度書。這里的Enlightenment是源自歐洲的啟蒙運動，我們用英文特指這一時期需用the Enlightenment，書的大致內(nèi)容 “It uses statistics to argue that health, prosperity, safety, peace, and happiness have tended to rise worldwide since the Enlightenment. It attributes these positive outcomes to the Enlightenment values of reason, science, and humanism. ”感興趣的同學(xué)還可以看看The Economist及Bill Gates的書評。
The Economist:
https://www.economist.com/books-and-arts/2018/02/24/steven-pinkers-case-for-optimism
Bill Gates:
https://www.gatesnotes.com/Books/Enlightenment-Now?from=groupmessage&isappinstalled=0
總的來說，史蒂文?平克(Steven Pinker)是一位樂觀主義者，我們?nèi)祟愒跉v史的發(fā)展中總會有許多的問題，也生活在一個不完美的世界，但我們可以用智識來不斷使世界變得更美好！他在書的最后這樣寫道 “We will never have a perfect world, and it would be dangerous to seek one. But there is no limit to the betterments we can attain if we continue to apply knowledge to enhance human flourishing.”
更多關(guān)于Steven Pinker的信息可參見
Wikipedia:
https://en.m.wikipedia.org/wiki/Steven_Pinker?wprov=sfti1
TED:
https://www.ted.com/talks/steven_pinker_is_the_world_getting_better_or_worse_a_look_at_the_numbers
YouTube:
https://youtu.be/piUqV0xo8us
https://youtu.be/kKsjUew_Bpc
作者最后總結(jié)了雖然沒有人能預(yù)知是否近幾十年和近幾世紀(jì)的進步將在未來以何種方式發(fā)展下去，但是我們要理解這個世界應(yīng)追尋歷史發(fā)展趨勢，而不是新聞事件頭條。因為Headlines充斥著各種各樣的負面信息。我們更應(yīng)關(guān)注世界積極的一面，正如他調(diào)侃的說很少看到這樣的報道”100,000 AEROPLANES DIDN’T CRASH YESTERDAY”?
No one can predict whether the progress of recent decades and centuries will play out in the coming year. But to understand the world we should follow the trendlines, not the headlines.
這里的play out指to develop in a particular way；另外句首的no one can predict…是一個很實用的表達，如no one can predict the future/no one can predict what/whether/how/when等從句。另外這句“To understand the world we should follow the trendlines, not the headlines.” 我們多讀幾遍相信可以做到脫口而出。
最后，我想說無論你處在人生低谷還是逆境，請保持一顆樂觀積極的心，因為世界總是在變好！
Follow the trendlines 文章出自The Economist —The World in 2019
