TED演讲:科学可以回答道德问题(14)

 　　A lot of people want to believe in this concept of moral progress. 许多人想要相信道德进步的这个概念

　　But can you reconcile that?  但是这有可能达到和谐吗？

　　I think I understood you to say that you could  我想我了解你所说的

　　reconcile that with a world that doesn't become one dimensional, where we all have to think the same. 不要让世界变得只有一种道德，也不需要大家都只有一种想法

　　Paint your picture of what rolling the clock 50 years forward, 你可以告诉我们，如果我们快转到50年后

　　100 years forward, how you would like to think of the world, balancing moral progress with richness. 100年后，你希望我们的世界能如何在道德进步和多元文化中找到平衡

　　Well, I think once you admit that we are on the path toward understanding our minds 一旦我们承认我们走在解构理性的路上

　　at the level of the brain in some important detail,  以理解大脑运作的方法

　　then you have to admit that we are going to understand all of the positive 那么你也必须承认，我们将会更明白

　　and negative qualities of ourselves in much greater detail. 我们身上的这些正面和负面的特质

　　So, we're going to understand positive social emotion like empathy and compassion¹, 我们会理解正面的社群特质，像是同情心、仁爱心

　　and we're going to understand the factors that encourage it -- whether they're genetic², 我们将会了解是怎样的元素，帮助我们有这些特质--无论是基因

　　whether they're how people talk to one another, whether they're economic systems, 是人们对话的方式，是经济体系

　　and insofar as we begin to shine light on that we are inevitably³ going to converge⁴ on that fact space. 我们正要开始发现并无可避免的步向这些事实

　　So, everything is not going to be up for grabs.  我们不能再自由心证

　　It's not going to be like veiling my daughter from birth 为了得到男人的青睐，就让我刚出生的女儿蒙头

　　is just as good as teaching her to be confident and well-educated 或是教导她成为一个自信而有教养的女性

　　in the context of men who do desire women.  是完全不同的两件事

　　I mean I don't think we need an NSF grant to know that compulsory⁵ veiling is a bad idea -- 我想我们不需要国家科学基金会特别拨款，才能发现强制女人蒙头很不好

　　but at a certain point we're going to be able to scan the brains of everyone involved and actually interrogate⁶ them. 到了某种程度，我们可以扫描每个人的头脑并研究它们

　　Do people love their daughters just as much in these systems? 人们真的爱它们的女儿吗，就算在那样的文化下？

　　And I think there are clearly right answers to that.  我想这些问题是有正确答案的。

1 compassion   

n.同情，怜悯

参考例句：

• He could not help having compassion for the poor creature.他情不自禁地怜悯起那个可怜的人来。
• Her heart was filled with compassion for the motherless children.她对于没有母亲的孩子们充满了怜悯心。

2 genetic   

adj.遗传的，遗传学的

参考例句：

• It's very difficult to treat genetic diseases.遗传性疾病治疗起来很困难。
• Each daughter cell can receive a full complement of the genetic information.每个子细胞可以收到遗传信息的一个完全补偿物。

3 inevitably   

adv.不可避免地；必然发生地

参考例句：

• In the way you go on,you are inevitably coming apart.照你们这样下去，毫无疑问是会散伙的。
• Technological changes will inevitably lead to unemployment.技术变革必然会导致失业。

4 converge   

vi.会合；聚集，集中；(思想、观点等)趋近

参考例句：

• The results converge towards this truth.其结果趋近于这个真理。
• Parallel lines converge at infinity.平行线永不相交。

5 compulsory   

n.强制的，必修的；规定的，义务的

参考例句：

• Is English a compulsory subject?英语是必修课吗？
• Compulsory schooling ends at sixteen.义务教育至16岁为止。

6 interrogate   

vt.讯问，审问，盘问

参考例句：

• The lawyer took a long time to interrogate the witness fully.律师花了很长时间仔细询问目击者。
• We will interrogate the two suspects separately.我们要对这两个嫌疑人单独进行审讯。