評論
打印
And the question to me becomes:
對我來說，問題就變成了：
What do we do,
我們要做什么
as our science gets to be so good
當我們的科學在解剖學上
in looking at anatomy,
如此先進的時候
that we reach the point where we have to admit
我們已經到了不得不承認
that a democracy that's been based on anatomy
基于解剖學上的人的民主
might start falling apart?
也許正在崩潰的時候
I don't want to give up the science,
我不想對科學失去希望
but at the same time it kind of feels sometimes
但是同時，有的時候隱約覺得
like the science is coming out from under us.
科學的發展是受到我們影響的
So where do we go?
因此我們將走向何方？
It seems like what happens in our culture
看起來我們的社會
is a sort of pragmatic attitude:
有著一種實用主義的態度：
"Well, we have to draw the line somewhere,
“好，我必須在某處畫一條界限，
so we will draw the line somewhere."
那么我就在那畫一條界限”
But a lot of people get stuck in a very strange position.
但是很多人會因此陷在一個非常尷尬的位置
So for example,
舉個例子
Texas has at one point decided
德克薩斯州有一個決定
that what it means to marry a man
嫁給一個男人
is to mean that you don't have a Y chromosome,
意味著你沒有Y染色體
and what it means to marry a woman means you do have a Y chromosome.
同時如果你娶一個女人意味著你有Y染色體
Now in practice they don't actually test people for their chromosomes.
現實中，他們實際上不會去檢測染色體
But this is also very bizarre,
但是這也非常奇怪
because of the story I told you at the beginning
因為我一開始告訴了大家那個關于
about androgen insensitivity syndrome.
雄激素不敏感綜合征的故事
If we look at one of the founding fathers of modern democracy,
如有我們看一下現代民主制度的奠基人之一
Dr. Martin Luther King,
馬丁·路德·金，博士
he offers us something of a solution in his "I have a dream" speech.
在他的“我有一個夢想”的演講中，為我們提供了一個解決方法
He says we should judge people "based not on the color of their skin,
他認為我們“不應該根據一個人的膚色
but on the content of their character,"
而是應該根據他的品格”去評判一個人
moving beyond anatomy.
摒棄人種差異
And I want to say, "Yeah, that sounds like a really good idea."
我想說“是的，那聽起來確實是個好方法”
But in practice, how do you do it?
但實際操作中，你怎么去做？
How do you judge people based on the content of character?
你如何根據他的品德去評判他？
I also want to point out
我還想指出
that I'm not sure that is how we should distribute rights in terms of humans,
我不太確定我們應該如何分配人類的權利
because, I have to admit, that there are some golden retrievers I know
因為，我不得不承認，有些黃金獵犬
that are probably more deserving of social services
比起我知道的一些人似乎更應該
than some humans I know.
得到社會的幫助
I also want to say there are probably also some yellow Labradors that I know
我還想說，我知道有些拉布拉多似乎
that are more capable of informed, intelligent, mature decisions
比有些40歲左右的人在性關系問題上
about sexual relations than some 40-year-olds that I know.
更慎重，更聰明，更能作出成熟的決定
So how do we operationalize
因此我們如何去衡量
the question of content of character?
品德的問題？
It turns out to be really difficult.
結果證明是非常困難的
And part of me also wonders,
我還想知道
what if content of character
如果品德的好壞
turns out to be something that's scannable in the future --
在未來可以被掃描出來——
able to be seen with an fMRI?
也許可以用核磁共振成像看見？
Do we really want to go there?
我們真的愿意走到那一步嗎？
I'm not sure where we go.
我不確定我們將走向何方
What I do know is that it seems to be really important
我知道的是應該思考一下
to think about the idea of the United States being in the lead
美國所引領的民主存在的問題
of thinking about this issue of democracy.
看起來是非常重要的
We've done a really good job struggling with democracy,
我們在爭取民主的問題上已經做得非常好了
and I think we would do a good job in the future.
我認為今后同樣會做的更好
We don't have a situation that Iran has, for example,
我們情況和伊朗不同，比如
where a man who's sexually attracted to other men
一個男人在性方面對其他男人有吸引力
is liable to be murdered,
那么他是可以被殺的
unless he's willing to submit to a sex change,
除非他愿意改變自己的性取向
in which case he's allowed to live.
那么他將可以活下來
We don't have that kind of situation.
我們沒有那樣的情況
I'm glad to say we don't have the kind of situation with --
我非常高興的說我們沒有那樣的情況--
a surgeon I talked to a few years ago
對一位外科醫生說，那是在數年之前
who had brought over a set of conjoined twins
他帶來一個連體嬰兒
in order to separate them, partly to make a name for himself.
希望可以幫助他們分離，某種程度上也想讓自己出名
But when I was on the phone with him,
但是當我跟他通電話時
asking why he was going to do this surgery --
問他為什么希望做這個手術——
this was a very high-risk surgery --
因為這是個危險性很高的手術——
his answer was that, in this other nation,
他答道，在這個國家
these children were going to be treated very badly, and so he had to do this.
這樣的孩子將會被殘忍的對待，因此他必須要幫助他們這么做
My response to him was, "Well, have you considered political asylum
我對他的回答是，“恩，你為他們考慮過政治避難
instead of a separation surgery?"
而不是進行手術嗎？”
The United States has offered tremendous possibility
美國為像這樣的孩子保持他們自己的特征
for allowing people to be the way they are,
提供了很大的可能
without having them have to be changed for the sake of the state.
他們從不用為了國家改變自己的身體
So I think we have to be in the lead.
因此我認為我們應該要引領這種思想
