TED演讲之败中求胜 温和的成功哲学(3)
There are other reasons why it’s perhaps harder now to feel calm than ever before.
还有一些其他理由让我们比过去更难获得平静。
One of these, and it’s paradoxical, because it’s linked to something that’s rather nice, is the hope we all have for our careers.
有些矛盾，因为拥有自己的事业是一件不错的事，
Never before have expectations been so high about what human beings can achieve with their lifespan.
但同时人们也从未对自己的短暂一生有过这么高的期待。
We’re told, from many sources, that anyone can achieve anything.
这个世界用许多方法告诉我们，我们无所不能。
We’ve done away with the caste system, we are now in a system where anyone can rise to any position they please.
我们不再受限于阶级，而是只要靠着努力就能攀上我们想到的高度。
And it’s a beautiful idea. Along with that is a kind of spirit of equality; we’re all basically equal.
这是个美丽的理想。出于一种生而平等的精神，我们基本上是平等的。
There are no strictly defined hierarchies.
没有任何明显的阶级存在。
There is one really big problem with this, and that problem is envy.
这造成了一个严重的问题，这个问题是嫉妒。
Envy, it’s a real taboo to mention envy, but if there’s one dominant emotion in modern society, that is envy.
嫉妒在今日是一种禁忌话题，但这个社会上最普遍的感受，便是嫉妒。
And it’s linked to the spirit of equality.
嫉妒来自生而平等的精神。
Let me explain. I think it would be very unusual for anyone here, or anyone watching, to be envious of the Queen of England.
这么说吧。我想在场的各位或是观看这个影片的众位，很少有人会嫉妒英国女皇。
Even though she is much richer than any of you are,
虽然她比我们都更加富有，
and she’s got a very large house, the reason why we don’t envy her is because she’s too weird.
住在一个巨大的房子里，我们不会嫉妒她的原因是她太怪异了。
She’s simply too strange. We can’t relate to her, she speaks in a funny way, she comes from an odd place.
她太怪了。我们无法想象自己与她扯上关系，她的语调令人发噱，来自一个奇怪的地方。
So we can’t relate to her, and when you can’t relate to somebody, you don’t envy them.
我们与她毫无关联，当你认为你与这个人毫无关联时，你便不会嫉妒。
The closer two people are — in age, in background, in the process of identification — the more there’s a danger of envy,
越是两个年龄、背景相近的人，越容易陷入嫉妒的苦海，
which is incidentally why none of you should ever go to a school reunion,
所以千万避免去参加同学会，
because there is no stronger reference point than people one was at school with.
因为没有比同学更强烈的参照点了。
The problem of modern society is it turns the whole world into a school.
今日社会的问题是，它把全世界变成了一个学校。
Everybody’s wearing jeans, everybody’s the same. And yet, they’re not.
每个人都穿着牛仔裤，每个人都一样。但并非如此。
So there’s a spirit of equality combined with deep inequality, which can make for a very stressful situation.
当生而平等的概念遇上现实中悬殊的不平等，巨大的压力就出现了。
演讲简介：
阿兰·德波顿检视我们对成功和失败的看法，质疑它们所代表的意义。成功都是配得的吗？失败呢？听他机智地解答我们对成功的迷思，帮助我们摆脱势利，重新寻回对工作的热情。