pbs高端访谈:"30 Lessons for Living”老一代的生活经验

 　　JEFFREY BROWN:And finally tonight, navigating¹ the trials of life and aging in the words of those who've experienced them.

　　It's advice spelled out in a new book.

　　Hari Sreenivasan's conversation with its author includes the voices of elderly Americans interviewed for the book.

　　HARI SREENIVASAN:America is on the verge² of losing yet another natural resource. In about 10 years, three-fourths of American's oldest generation will be gone. They will take with them lessons learned about living through illness, failure, poverty, loss, and danger, and more basic things like love, work, parenting, and growing old.

　　Karl Pillemer of Cornell University wondered if all that wisdom could be simplified into a guide for younger people. His new book, "30 Lessons for Living," asks close to 1,500 of American's elders one simple question: What you have learned?

　　Karl Pillemer joins me now.

　　Thanks for being us.

　　KARL PILLEMER, author, "30 Lessons for Living": Well, thanks. It's great to be here.

　　HARI SREENIVASAN:So, I know you have 30 lessons. But, in summary, what have we learned and what are they trying to pass on?

　　KARL PILLEMER:You know, I think we have in America's elders our most credible³ experts on one thing. Even though you might not go to them to learn how to reprogram the VCR, they are the truest experts on living well through hard times.

　　And they really know, I think, how to be happy despite these kind of difficulties and problems. And right now, when we're both involved in wars and going through one of our worst economic times, I think really that's a core of their practical advice for living.

　　HARI SREENIVASAN:So, how did they get through it? How did they get through, say, intense loss or intense grief?

　　KARL PILLEMER:You know, I think if there is one thing they know, it's that you have to be responsible for your own happiness.

　　And that sounds a little like a cliche⁴, but it hit me strongly with one of my first interviewees, who metaphorically⁵ grabbed me by the lapels and said, "Young man"—and it's fun to be called young man at my age—"in my 89 years, I have learned that happiness is a choice, and not a condition."

　　And a lot of the elders experienced a turning point, you know, when they were in despair or devastated⁶, and they turned things around in a moment. They believe that younger people are happy because of things. You know, they're going to be happy or they plan to be happy if something happens.

　　In their view, younger people should learn how to be happy in spite of things, and choose happiness.

　　HELGA BOCK,86: She was my middle child. And at that time, she was 21 years old.

　　And American Airlines—and, somehow, the pilot made an error landing, and he ran into a gas station there at the airport. And I think about 30-odd people, 38 or something like that, got killed. And she was one of them.

　　For two years, I guess I tortured myself and the rest of my family. And then one day, I said to myself, okay, you have to stop this. You have to push it in. It doesn't mean you forget or you let it go. But you have to think of the living ones.

　　HARI SREENIVASAN:What's fascinating is so many of the elders, that they're not necessarily expressing regret, but how much more or how much less risk-averse they are than you think they would be at this age. They are really trying to prescribe that we say yes to opportunities in our life.

　　KARL PILLEMER:Exactly.

　　Having talked to over 1,200 and close to 1,500 older people, there is one lesson they would like to convey to everybody. And it's almost in the form of one of those nightmares where you are yelling and no one can hear you. And that lesson is—it sounds simple, but it is that life is really, really short.

　　And you learn that in your 80s and 90s and beyond. And my 100-year-olds were the most likely to say that life passes by in a nanosecond. They want younger people not to be depressed⁷ by that insight, but rather to use their time more wisely, to be more selective of how they invest their time.

　　HARI SREENIVASAN:At this point in their lives, are their perceptions or relationships with death different than how we perceive it?

　　KARL PILLEMER:There is a striking and fascinating correlation⁸.

　　The older you are, the less panicky or afraid you are about death and dying. And that, for me, really came home in these interviews. In fact, one of the lessons in the book is, as odd as it sounds from very old people, is, don't worry so much about dying.

　　You know, they would say to me things like this: "Oh, the panicky feeling of I'm not going to be here anymore, I mean, that's a 30-year-old's game." They are much more concerned with planning for the end of life, with preparing for the journey and using, again, the sense of limited time to make life richer and more interesting.

　　GERT PANEM,101: I'm not afraid anymore when the time comes to go. I want to go, but not in pain.

　　(LAUGHTER)

　　GERT PANEM:I'll go willingly. I'm not afraid.

　　HARI SREENIVASAN:So how did you come up with this idea? I mean, people have been talking to you and chronicling the elders for so long. But why did you decide to take on this assignment?

　　KARL PILLEMER:I came upon it this way, I think.

　　I have been a gerontologist for 25 years or so. And I came to the revelation one day that I was looking at old people almost entirely⁹ as problems to be solved, as abuse victims, as Alzheimer's patients. And our society does that, too. It sees older people as weak and frail¹⁰ and dependent and in need of care.

　　At the same time, I was personally meeting extraordinarily¹¹ resilient older people. And there was a body of research, which now is quite large, showing that people 70 and beyond are happier than younger people, have higher life satisfaction, in spite of loss and disease.

　　So, I began to ask myself, basically, what's that all about? And I went on this—really a personal quest and a series of scientific studies to find out that—what older people know that we don't.

　　HARI SREENIVASAN:All right, Karl Pillemer from Cornell University, thanks so much for your time.

　　The book is called "30 Lessons for Living."

　　Thanks for being with us.

　　KARL PILLEMER:And thanks very much for having me.

1 navigating   

v.给（船舶、飞机等）引航，导航( navigate的现在分词 )；（从海上、空中等）横越；横渡；飞跃

参考例句：

• These can also be very useful when navigating time-based documents, such as video and audio. 它对于和时间有关的文档非常有用，比如视频和音频文档。 来自About Face 3交互设计精髓
• Vehicles slowed to a crawl on city roads, navigating slushy snow. 汽车在市区路上行驶缓慢，穿越泥泞的雪地。 来自互联网

2 verge   

n.边，边缘；v.接近，濒临

参考例句：

• The country's economy is on the verge of collapse.国家的经济已到了崩溃的边缘。
• She was on the verge of bursting into tears.她快要哭出来了。

3 credible   

adj.可信任的，可靠的

参考例句：

• The news report is hardly credible.这则新闻报道令人难以置信。
• Is there a credible alternative to the nuclear deterrent?是否有可以取代核威慑力量的可靠办法？

4 cliche   

n./a.陈词滥调(的)；老生常谈(的)；陈腐的

参考例句：

• You should always try to avoid the use of cliche. 你应该尽量避免使用陈词滥调。
• The old cliche is certainly true:the bigger car do mean bigger profits.有句老话倒的确说得不假:车大利大。

5 metaphorically   

adv. 用比喻地

参考例句：

• It is context and convention that determine whether a term will be interpreted literally or metaphorically. 对一个词的理解是按字面意思还是隐喻的意思要视乎上下文和习惯。
• Metaphorically it implied a sort of admirable energy. 从比喻来讲，它含有一种令人赞许的能量的意思。

6 devastated   

v.彻底破坏( devastate的过去式和过去分词)；摧毁；毁灭；在感情上（精神上、财务上等）压垮adj.毁坏的；极为震惊的

参考例句：

• The bomb devastated much of the old part of the city. 这颗炸弹炸毁了旧城的一大片地方。
• His family is absolutely devastated. 他的一家感到极为震惊。

7 depressed   

adj.沮丧的，抑郁的，不景气的，萧条的

参考例句：

• When he was depressed,he felt utterly divorced from reality.他心情沮丧时就感到完全脱离了现实。
• His mother was depressed by the sad news.这个坏消息使他的母亲意志消沉。

8 correlation   

n.相互关系，相关，关连

参考例句：

• The second group of measurements had a high correlation with the first.第二组测量数据与第一组高度相关。
• A high correlation exists in America between education and economic position.教育和经济地位在美国有极密切的关系。

9 entirely   

ad.全部地，完整地；完全地，彻底地

参考例句：

• The fire was entirely caused by their neglect of duty. 那场火灾完全是由于他们失职而引起的。
• His life was entirely given up to the educational work. 他的一生统统献给了教育工作。

10 frail   

adj.身体虚弱的；易损坏的

参考例句：

• Mrs. Warner is already 96 and too frail to live by herself.华纳太太已经九十六岁了，身体虚弱，不便独居。
• She lay in bed looking particularly frail.她躺在床上，看上去特别虚弱。

11 extraordinarily   

adv.格外地；极端地

参考例句：

• She is an extraordinarily beautiful girl.她是个美丽非凡的姑娘。
• The sea was extraordinarily calm that morning.那天清晨，大海出奇地宁静。