新世纪大学英语综合教程4unit3课逐段文翻译

Unit 3

Text A

知识彩虹

克雷格·拉塞尔

Preface

The acquisition of knowledge is self-contradictory by nature. The more one knows, the more he knows how little he knows. Reading often leads to more questions than answers. Writing opens things up rather than closes them off. The author of the following essay regards truth as a rainbow that cannot be really grasped. He urges us to be humble about what we don't know as we pride ourselves on what we know.

我这辈子四分之三以上的时间（50年中有39年）是在纽约的中小学或大学里度过的，不是在上学，就是在教学。

For more than 3/4 of my life – 39 of my 50 years – I've either studied or taught in a school or a college in New York.

于是，你或许会认为，经过这么长一段时间，我应该了解一些情况，确实知道一些东西，对知识和对生活该会积极地予以把握和肯定了。可是，我却没有做到这一点。事实 上，我知道的东西越多，反倒越觉得自己无知。

You might think, then, that after all this time I'd have some grasp of the situation, that I'd actually know things – that I'd have some positive sense of assurance, of certainty, about knowledge and about life. But I don't. In fact, the more I know, the more I know I don't know.

当然，说自己知道的东西越多，反倒越觉得自己无知，这种说法是矛盾的。然而，现代物理学告诉我们，现实世界本身就是矛盾的。科学家们对物质现实世界研究得越多，就越无法对它进行把握。在某种意义上，他们了解的越多，知道的就越少。

To say that the more I know, the more I know I don't know is, of course, contradictory. But then, modern physics tells us that reality itself is contradictory. The more scientists look into our physical reality, the more it slips away from them. In a way , the more they learn, the less they know.

知识本身就是矛盾的。打个比方，假设你的知识是一个点，就像这个句子末尾的句号一样。请注意这个句号微小的圆周，假设它代表我们已知和未知的分界——换句话说，就是你对自己不知道的东西的认知。

Knowledge itself is contradictory. For example, picture your knowledge as a dot , as perhaps the period at the end of this sentence. Notice the tiny circumference of that period, and let that represent the interface of the known with the unknown – in other words, your awareness of what you don't know.

但现在想象一下那个小小的句号在渐渐扩大，它的黑色部分占据页面越来越多的地方。随着它的扩大，它的周缘也跟着扩大。如果那个正在增大的黑色部分代表你的知识的 话，

在知识增长的同时，你会意识到自己有许多不知道的东西。也就是说，你知道的越多，就越觉得自己无知。

But now imagine that little period growing, its blackness consuming more and more of the page. As it grows, so does its circumference. And if that growing blackness represents knowledge, then as it grows, so does the awareness of what remains unknown. In other words, the more you know, the more you know you don't know.

你在求知过程中肯定有过类似的经历。起初，你甚至并不知道还有某个学科的存在。当然，这个学科是早就存在 的，只是你以前没有注意到而已。1988年有了第一台电脑以后，我去杂志店，想找一些关于电脑操作方面的书，结果发现这类书琳琅满目，让我吃惊。同样，当我有幸获得讲授电影分析这门课的机会时，我发现有关这个领域的专著也多得令我眼花缭乱。

No doubt you have experienced this yourself in your own personal quests for knowledge. At first, you don't even know a field of learning exists. It's been there all along, of course; you just haven't noticed it before. When I got my first computer in 1988, I walked down to the magazine store, hoping to find something about computing and was amazed at the number of choices. Likewise , when I lucked into an opportunity to teach film analysis, I found myself dazzled at the sheer number of books devoted to the subject.

假设你决定研究这一课题。你买了一本有关这一课题的书，一本你能找到的最好也是最全面的（或是你认为是这样的）书，或许你是从图书馆借来了这本书。但你很快就会发

现，阅读这本书只会给你带来更多的问题，而不是要解答你的疑问。

Let's say you decide to learn about this topic. You buy one of these books, the best and most complete one you can find (or so you think), or perhaps you borrow it from the library. But you quickly find that your reading, rather than answering questions, only creates more of them.

譬如，今年早些时候，我非但不知道自己对技术和自由之间的关系有兴趣，甚至没有意识到这两者之间有可能存在着某种联系。于是，我开始阅读这方面的书籍，越读越意识到技术与自由之间的关系。一方面，比起短短的几个月之 前，现在我对这个课题的了解是多了。但另一方面，所有这些阅读让我看到了自己真正懂得的东西是多么的少，而需要阅读、思考和写作的东西又是多么的多。每读完一本书，我总是觉得需要再读三本书，才能更好地把握这个课题。我的思考和写作也在同时进行。事实上，正是写作让我接触了这一课题。我们通常认为只有那些知识渊博、充满自信的人才会从事写作。然而，在我看来却恰恰相反。写作并不是总 结，而是拓展。

Earlier this year, for example, I not only had no idea that I had any interest at all in the relationship of technology to freedom; I didn't even realize that a connection between them might exist. So I started reading books and became more and more aware of the relationship between technology and freedom. Then, on the one hand, I now know much more about this topic than I did a few short months ago. But on the other hand, all this reading has made me see how little I really know and how much more I need to read and think and write. Once I've finished reading a book, I always feel that I need to read three more to gain a better grasp of the topic. And I think and write at the same time. In fact, it is my writing that has led

me into it. We think often that only people who know and who are sure of themselves write. For me, however, it's just the opposite. Writing doesn't close things off – it opens things up .

身为作家，很长一段时间我都被这个矛盾所困惑——知道的越多，越感到自己无知。我深深领悟了道家的教诲：“知者不言，言者不知。”我对自己该不该写作毫无把握，即使写了，也觉得自己没有资格写。我总觉得自己应该先获得更多的知识。我花了很长一段时间，才解除了这种矛盾对我的禁锢，最终才确信正是写作让我增长了知识，而不是知识让我有资格从事写作。我觉得自己的作品不是文章或者专栏，而是essays，即“随笔”，essays是一个法语词，意思是“尝 试”。我不懂得真理，只是努力要找到它。

For a long time, I, as a writer, was paralyzed by this paradox – the more I know, the more I know I don't know. I was very aware of the teaching from Taoism that said \"those who know don't speak; those who speak don't know.\" I wasn't sure I should write at all, and, even if I did, I didn't believe that I was qualified to do it. I always felt I had to know more first. It took me a long time not to let this paradox freeze me and to believe that it was my writing that would qualify my knowledge, and not the other way around. I think of my work not as articles or as columns but as essays – a word from French, meaning \"to try\". I do not know truth. I only try to find it.

当然，我不是说我们不应该学习，或者不应该阅读、写作、思考和交谈。我也不是说我们不应该去尝试。永无止境的探索并非毫无希望。我只是认为，对知识中矛盾的理解，必然会把我们从教条主义的压迫和僵化中引导出来，迈向个人的灵活和自由。这正如道家所说：“坚强者死之徒，柔弱者生之徒。”

I don't mean, of course, to suggest that we should not learn, or that we should not read and write and think and talk. I do not mean to suggest that we should not try. An infinite quest is not a hopeless one. I only suggest that an understanding will inevitably and doubtlessly lead us away from the force and rigidity of dogmatism and toward the flexibility and freedom of the individual. As Taoism teaches, \"the stiff and unbending is the disciple of death. The gentle and yielding is the disciple of life.\"

我们必须将因知识而生出的自豪感和因无知而生出的谦卑感加以揉和。他们说得好，真理就在那里，但或许就像彩虹一样，我们却永远不能真正地抓住它，也不能把它握在手里并真正地掌握它。正如威廉·詹姆斯所说的那样，我们只能“按照今天得到的真理而生活，并准备明天把它叫做谬论。”

We must temper our pride in knowing with the humility of not knowing. The truth, as they say, is out there, but, maybe, like the rainbow , we can never really grasp it, never hold it in our hands and truly know it. We can only, as William James said, \"live today by what truth we can get today and be ready to call it falsehood tomorrow.\"

Text B

知识传递的障碍 Barriers to Knowledge Transfer

维多利亚·格里菲斯

Preface

We now have easy access to more information than what we ever possibly dreamed of. Huge amounts of data move around the globe at incredible speed. Yet, knowledge transfer requires more than just technology. Lack of trust and resistance to change are the two major barriers to knowledge transfer.

今天人人都在谈论“知识时代”，然而，知识是什么？这是一个模糊的概念。我们大多数人都感到知识肯定不仅仅是信息。我2岁的女儿就能告诉你美国的第一任总统是乔治·华盛顿；列奥纳多·达·芬奇创作了《蒙娜丽莎》这幅油画。但是，她真的“知道”这些人物、艺术和政治的一般情况吗？当然不是。电脑尽管很擅长执行某些任务，譬如在网上预订机票，或清理银行账户，可对于那些人类天生俱有的东西，譬如对情感的理解，则特别笨拙。但是，如果说知识不是纯信息，那它就是经验了？经验当然很重要。譬如，只听一个人不停地谈论关于（骑自行车）过程的信息，是不可能学会骑自行车的。

Everyone is talking about the \"knowledge era\" these days. Yet what is knowledge? It is a vague concept. Most of us feel knowledge must be more than just data. My two-year-old will tell you that the first president of the United States was George Washington , and that Leonardo da Vinci painted the Mona Lisa . But does she really \"know\" anything about these men, or art and politics in general? Of course not. Computers, while they excel in performing certain tasks, such as booking airline seats or sorting out bank accounts, are bad at things that come naturally to human beings, such as understanding emotion. But, if knowledge is not pure data, is it experience? Experience is certainly important. It is impossible to learn to ride a bike, for example, simply by hearing someone talk unceasingly

about data on the process.

然而，只有经验也不算有知识。譬如，古代人经历了每天的日出和日落，却不知道地球在绕着太阳转。他们看着人们死于各种疾病，却不知道该如何防止这样的死亡。所以，知识既是经验，又是信息。在美国，教育家们就什么是塑造年轻人心灵的最佳方法争论不休。有些人认为，儿童应该了解事实，譬如，摩洛哥这个国家位于什么地方。其他一些人则认为，儿童应该学会如何发现事物，譬如能运用地图寻找摩洛哥所处的位置。实际上，这两方面的事情儿童都需要 做。聪明人是能够把事实和技能结合在一起的人。知识完全是人类的特性，因为它包括经验。

Yet experience alone is not knowledge, either. The ancients experienced the sun rising and setting every day, for instance, but did not know the earth was moving around the sun. They saw people die of various diseases, but had no idea how to prevent such deaths. Knowledge, then, is both experience and information. In the United States, educators battle over the best way to form young minds. Some people believe children should learn facts, such as where the country of Morocco is located. Others believe children should learn how to discover things, like being able to use a map to discover where Morocco is located. In reality, children need to be able to do both. A wise person is one who can combine facts with know-how . Knowledge is a purely human trait because it includes experience.

遗憾的是，作为知识的唯一持有者，人类把知识从一个大脑传递到另一个大脑的效率却非常低。电脑在几秒钟内就能把大量的信息从一个终端传送到另一个终端。可知识的传递要难得多。传递知识有两大障碍：缺乏信任和对抵制改 变。人类似乎很固执，仅乐意从自己熟悉并信得过的人那里获取知识。17世纪初，伽利略坚持认为地球和其他行星都是绕

着太阳运转的。这个知识不仅不为普通群众所接受，而且伽利略还不得不为自己的见解付出遭受终身软禁的代价。3个世纪以前，意大利人对罗马天主教的信任远远超过对伽利略的信任，于是知识的传递当时就立刻被了。

Unfortunately , humans, the sole vessels of knowledge, are very inefficient at passing it along from one brain to another. In seconds, computers can transfer large quantities of data from one terminal to another. Knowledge is far more difficult to move. There are two major barriers to knowledge transfer : lack of trust and resistance to change. Human beings seem rather stubborn. They only absorb knowledge readily from people they know and trust. In the early 1600s, Galileo argued that the earth and other planets move around the sun. Not only was the knowledge rejected by the general population, but Galileo had to spend the rest of his life under house arrest for his ideas. The Italians three centuries ago trusted the Roman Catholic Church more than they trusted Galileo, so the knowledge transfer was stopped in its tracks.

有时候，文化和语言方面的障碍可以使不信任达到很高的程度，使知识交流成为几乎不可能的事情。1992年，美国国家气象局预报了巴西沿海地区破坏性极大的暴雨，然而却没有想办法把这个信息传递给巴西。他们或许认为这不是他们的责任，或许相信，巴西科学家已经完全掌握了当时的情况。尽管一些巴西的天气预报人员看到了美国的报告，他们却没有把这一信息传递给公众。他们或许对这些报告的准确性表示怀疑，或许并没有认识到即将到来的危险。总而言 之，知识没有得到传递，几十个人做出了不必要的牺牲。

At times, cultural and language barriers can elevate distrust to such an extent that an exchange of knowledge becomes almost impossible. In 1992, the U.S.

National Weather Service predicted devastating rains along the coast of Brazil. The American scientists made little effort to pass the information to Brazil, however. Perhaps they thought it was not their responsibility, or perhaps they believed the Brazilian scientists had known the situation. While some Brazilian forecasters saw the U.S. bulletins, they failed to pass the information to the public. Perhaps they doubted the accuracy of these reports, or perhaps they did not realize the danger at hand. In any case, the knowledge failed to transfer, and dozens of people died unnecessarily.

人类抵制改变——这是知识传递的另一大障碍。管理理论学家彼得·德鲁克曾认为，这种抵制最终会损害大多数公司的利益。新知识一直在不断出现，所以，要想成功，人们必须不断在混乱、多变的世界里体验生活，不断对过去的所作所为提出置疑。如果做不到这一点，该组织就倒闭了。譬 如，曾一度是电脑公司中“大哥大”的数码设备公司，由于没有弄懂个人电脑会取代处理机这一知识并根据这一知识采取行动，结果这个公司衰败了，并最终被该行业一个后起之秀——康柏——收购。

Human beings are resistant to change – another major barrier to knowledge transfer. The management theorist Peter Drucker once argued that this very resistance eventually undermines most corporations . New knowledge is always emerging, so to be successful, people must constantly live in a chaotic , changing world , constantly questioning past practices. When this does not happen, the organization collapses . Thus, Digital Equipment Corporation , the once-great computer company, failed to understand and act on knowledge that the personal computer would replace the mainframe (处理机). The corporation faltered and was eventually bought by a relative newcomer to the industry – Compaq .

几年前，美孚石油公司一家炼油厂的工人提出了一种更好的炼油方法，这一新方法节约了几百万美元，所以，这些工人期望其他炼油厂也能随时采用这一方法。于是，他们向其他炼油厂的经理们寄发了报告，解释了操作程序，然而什么动静也没有。美孚的高级行政人员对这一问题采取了进一步的行动，亲自给这些经理们发信。这些炼油厂中只有10％—20％采用了新方法。于是，美孚制作了录像带，就这个方法对人们进行采访，还对节省多少钱进行解释。两年后，该公司只有38％的炼油厂进行了革新。美孚公司问这是为什 么，大多数普遍的回答都是：“在那里也许行得通，可在这里行不通。”缺乏信任和抵制改变阻碍了知识的传递。

Workers at a Mobil Oil Corporation plant a few years ago came up with a better way to refine oil. The new process saved millions of dollars, and the workers expected it would be readily adopted by its other plants. So they sent a report to the managers of other refineries , explaining the process. Nothing happened. Mobil senior executives took up the issue and sent their own letter out to the managers. Only between ten and twenty percent of the factories installed the new process. So Mobil made a video , interviewing people about the process and explaining how much money it saved. After two years, just 38 percent of the corporation's oil refineries had complied (服从) with the change. Mobil asked why. The most common response was: \"It may have worked there, but it won't work here.\" Lack of trust and resistance to change undermined the knowledge transfer.

从上述例子中可以看出，人类似乎习惯于在与别人的接触中学习知识。有人甚至预言说，因特网会减少人们的出 行；然而网络空间看来在这方面却起到了促进人们出行的作用。这是因为知识传递中的许多基本元素主要是通过人与人的接触才成为可能的。尽管电脑和数字通讯本身并不能完成知识传递的任务，它们却能舒缓知识传递的负担。例如，它们能

帮我们与某一领域中有共同兴趣的专家或同行建立联 系。数字网络也许还能为我们提供可以从中得出结论的可靠信息。但是，真正的知识传递是人类的现象，受人类生活条件中各种问题的制约，譬如说缺乏信任，不肯变革等因素。因为知识传递非常困难，就算我们进入了“知识时代”，知识传递仍将是一个难题。

As is seen from the above examples, human beings seem accustomed to learning from personal contact with others. Some even predicted the Internet would reduce travel; however, cyberspace actually appears to have boosted it . That is because many of the basic elements of knowledge transfer are possible mainly through personal contact. Computers and digital communications, while they cannot accomplish knowledge transfer themselves, can ease the way. They can, for instance, put us in touch with experts or colleagues with a shared interest in a specific field. Digital networks might also provide us with reliable data from which to draw conclusions. Yet true knowledge transfer is a human phenomenon, limited by the problems of the human condition – lack of trust and resistance to change. Because it is so difficult, knowledge transfer will continue to be a tough problem, even as we move into the \"knowledge era\".