Well, then, suppose my auto repairman devised questions for an intelligence test. Or suppose a carpenter did, or a farmer, or, indeed, almost anyone but an academician. By every one of those tests, I'd prove myself a moron. And I'd be a moron, too. In a world where I could not use my academic training and my verbal talents but had to do something intricate or hard, working with my hands, I would do poorly. My intelligence, then, is not absolute. Its worth is determined by the society I live in. Its numerical evaluation is determined by a small subsection of that society which has managed to foist itself on the rest of us as an arbiter of such matters.
那好,假定讓我的汽車修理師來為智力測驗設計題目。或者讓一位木匠、一個農夫或者是除了學究以外的幾乎任何一個人來設計題目。按每一次這類的測驗來衡量,我都會表明自己是一個笨蛋,而且我也會真的成為一個笨蛋。在一個我無法運用我所受過的學校訓練和我在詞語方面的才能,而不得不用雙手工作,做一些復雜或艱苦的事情的世界上,我會干得很差勁。因此,我的智力并不是絕對的。它的價值是由我生活在其中的社會所決定的。它的數值是由那個社會中的一小部分人決定的,他們作為這類事情的仲裁人已設法把他們的意志強加在我們身上。
Consider my auto repairman, again. He had a habit of telling me jokes whenever he saw me. One time he raised his head from under the automobile hood to say: "Doc, a deaf-and-dumb guy went into a hardware store to ask for some nails. He put two fingers together on the counter and made hammering motions with the other hand. The clerk brought him a hammer. He shook his head and pointed to the two fingers he was hammering. The clerk brought him nails. He picked out the sizes he wanted, and left. Well, doc, the next guy who came in was a blind man. He wanted scissors. How do you suppose he asked for them?"
再來考慮一下我的汽車修理師吧。他有個習慣,每次見到我都要跟我講些笑話。有一次他從汽車引擎罩下面抬起頭來說:“博士,有一個又聾又啞的人走進一家五金店買釘子。他把兩個手指頭一起放在柜臺上,用另一只手做了幾次錘擊動作。店員給他拿來一把錘子。他搖搖頭,指了指他正在敲擊的那兩個手指頭。店員給他拿來了釘子。他選出了自己需要的尺寸,然后就走了。聽好,博士,接著進來的是一個瞎子。他要買剪刀。你猜他是怎么表示的呢?”
I lifted my right hand and made scissoring motions with my first two fingers. Whereupon my auto repairman laughed heartily and said, "Why, you dumb fool, he used his voice and asked for them." Then he said, smugly, "I've been trying that on all my customers today." "Did you catch many?" I asked. "Quite a few," he said, "but I knew for sure I'd catch you." "Why is that?" I asked. "Because you're so goddamned educated, doc, I knew you couldn't be very smart."
我舉起右手,用食指和中指做了幾次剪切動作。我的汽車修理師一看就開心地哈哈大笑起來。“啊,你這個笨蛋,他是用他的嗓子說他要買剪刀的。”接著他又沾沾自喜地說:“今天我用這個問題把我所有的主顧都考了一下。”“上當的人多嗎?”我問:“不少,”他說。“但我事先就吃準你一定會上當。”“那為什么?”我問。“因為你受的教育太多了,博士,我知道你不會太精明的。”
And I have an uneasy feeling he had something there.
我有一種不安的感覺:他的話不無道理。