TED演讲之生与死:生死自知(4)
The fact that some people believe
事实上有些人民相信
an omnipotent god will resurrect them to live again
一个万能的神能让他们复活
and others believe an omnipotent scientist will do it
还有一些人相信万能的科学能使他们复活
suggests that neither are really believing this
这说明人们在确凿的证据面前
on the strength of the evidence.
并不相信永生这回事儿
Rather, we believe these stories
我们相信这些故事
because we are biased to believe them,
只是因为偏见，
and we are biased to believe them
我们偏误去相信这些故事
because we are so afraid of death.
因为我们恐惧死亡。
So the question is,
所以问题是，
are we doomed to lead the one life we have
是否我们的人生注定生活在
in a way that is shaped by fear and denial,
对恐惧的抗拒和支配，
or can we overcome this bias?
还是我们能够克服偏误？
Well the Greek philosopher Epicurus
古希腊哲学家伊比鸠鲁
thought we could.
认为我们可以克服。
He argued that the fear of death is natural,
他主张我们对死亡的恐惧是天生的，
but it is not rational.
但不是理性的。
"Death," he said, "is nothing to us,
他说，”死亡对我们来说不算什么
because when we are here, death is not,
因为但我们在的时候，死亡不在，
and when death is here, we are gone."
而当死亡在这里的时候，我们不在了。“
Now this is often quoted, but it's difficult
这句话常被引用，但很难
to really grasp, to really internalize,
抓住精髓和真正的内在化，
because exactly this idea of being gone
因为所谓的（不存在）
is so difficult to imagine.
是很难想象的。
So 2,000 years later, another philosopher,
所以两千年之后，另一位哲学家，
Ludwig Wittgenstein, put it like this:
路德维格·维根斯坦，这样说：
"Death is not an event in life:
“死亡并非人生中的大事：
We do not live to experience death.
我们活着不是为了经历死亡，
And so," he added,
所以”他补充到，
"in this sense, life has no end."
“从这个角度来看，生命是没有终点的。“
So it was natural for me as a child
当我还小的时候，
to fear being swallowed by the void,
很自然的对在空虚中被吞噬产生恐惧，
but it wasn't rational,
但这并非理性，
because being swallowed by the void
因为在空虚中被吞噬
is not something that any of us
不是任何人
will ever live to experience.
会活着能够经历到的事情。
Now, overcoming this bias is not easy because
目前，克服偏误不是那么容易的因为
the fear of death is so deeply embedded in us,
对死亡的恐惧已经在我们心底生根发芽
yet when we see that the fear itself is not rational,
但当我们了解这些恐惧是不理性的，
and when we bring out into the open
当我们可以在台面上提出来
the ways in which it can unconsciously bias us,
这恐惧会无意识的让我们偏误，
then we can at least start
那么至少我们已经开始
to try to minimize the influence it has
尝试去减小它
on our lives.
对我们生活的影响。
Now, I find it helps to see life
目前，我发现可以将生命
as being like a book:
视为一本书：
Just as a book is bounded by its covers,
书的开头和结尾
by beginning and end,
都被书皮包裹着，
so our lives are bounded by birth and death,
所以我们的生命被出生和死亡所固定，
and even though a book is limited by beginning and end,
即便这本书受到开头和结尾的限制，
it can encompass distant landscapes,
它能带我们去遥远的地方，
exotic figures, fantastic adventures.
异国的风情，奇异的冒险。
And even though a book is limited by beginning and end,
即便这本书受到开头和结尾的限制，
the characters within it
书里面的人物
know no horizons.
是不会被限制的，
They only know the moments that make up their story,
它们当下活出他们的故事，
even when the book is closed.
即便这本书被合上。
And so the characters of a book
书中的人物
are not afraid of reaching the last page.
不会害怕走到最后一页。
Long John Silver is not afraid of you
约翰·西弗不会害怕
finishing your copy of "Treasure Island."
你读完《金银岛》。
And so it should be with us.
所以我们也应当如此。
Imagine the book of your life,
想象关于你生命的一本书，
its covers, its beginning and end, and your birth and your death.
它的书皮，开头和结局和出生和死亡。
You can only know the moments in between,
而你只知道生死之间
the moments that make up your life.
活出你生命的时刻。
It makes no sense for you to fear
这不会让你
what is outside of those covers,
对书皮之外的事产生恐惧，
whether before your birth
无论是你出生之前
or after your death.
还是，死亡之后。
And you needn't worry how long the book is,
你不必担心这本书有多厚，
or whether it's a comic strip or an epic.
无论它是本连环画还是部史诗。
The only thing that matters
唯一重要的
is that you make it a good story.
是你活得精彩！
Thank you.
谢谢。
演讲简介：
哲学家史蒂芬·凯夫以一个黑暗但又引人注目的问题作为开头：你在什么时候第一次意识到自己会死亡的？更有意思的是：为什么人们总是在抗拒死亡的必然性？在这个精彩的演说中，凯夫探索了4种-横跨各个文明之间-为的是能处理我们对死亡的恐惧。
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