Grade-two thinking is the detection of contradictions. Grade-two thinkers do not stampede easily, though often they fall into the other fault and lag behind. Grade-two thinking is a withdrawal, with eyes and ears open. It destroys without having the power to create. It set me watching the crowds cheering His Majesty the King and asking myself what all the fuss was about, without giving me anything positive to put in the place of that heady patriotism. But there were compensations. To hear people justify their habit of hunting foxes by claiming that the foxes liked it. To hear our Prime Minister talk about the great benefit we conferred on India by jailing people like Nehru and Gandhi. To hear American politicians talk about peace and refuse to join the League of Nations. Yes, there were moments of delight.
第二級思考是要察覺矛盾。第二級思考者們盡管常常陷入另一個極端，落在他人后面，但他們不會莽撞。第二級思考者是一種退縮或冷漠，但第二級思考者們都看得清楚，聽得明白。它能夠丟掉錯誤的觀念，但卻無法建立正確的觀念。它使我看著向國王陛下歡呼的人群，問自己這所有的混亂喧鬧到底是為了什么，除了那種狂熱的愛國主義之外，似乎沒有任何別的理由來加以解釋了。但我也從中得到了回報。那就是，我聽到了人們通過宣稱狐貍喜歡被人捕獵，從而為自己獵狐的習慣來辯護。我聽到了我們的首相談論我們通過監禁像尼赫魯和甘地這樣的人而給予了印度巨大的好處。我聽到了美國政客們在大談和平的同時卻拒絕加入國際聯盟。是的，的確有快樂的時刻。
But I was growing toward adolescence and had to admit that Mr Houghton was not the only one with an irresistible spring in his neck. I, too, felt the compulsive hand of nature and began to find that pointing out contradiction could be costly as well as fun. There was Ruth, for example, a serious and attractive girl. I was an atheist at the time. And she was a Methodist. But, alas, instead of relying on the Holy Spirit to convert me, Ruth was foolish enough to open her pretty mouth in argument. She claimed that the Bible was literally inspired. I countered by saying that the Catholics believed in the literal inspiration of Saint Jerome's Vulgate, and the two books were different. Argument flagged.
但是，當我進入青春期，我不得不承認霍頓先生并非唯一一位脖子被不可抗拒的彈簧所控制的人。我也感覺到了自然之力的不可抗拒，并開始發現指出矛盾既有趣，但又要付出代價。比如那位既嚴肅又迷人的女孩露絲。那時我是一個無神論者。而她是個循道公會的信徒?？刹恍业氖?，我沒有依靠圣靈來規勸我皈依宗教，而是張開那漂亮的小嘴與我爭辯，她可真傻到家了。她聲稱《圣經》確實是受到圣靈的啟迪的。我反駁說天主教徒相信圣哲羅姆的拉丁文《圣經》才是受神靈的啟示的，而這兩本書是不同的。爭論一下子變得索然無味了。
來源:可可英語 http://www.ccdyzl.cn/daxue/201807/560276.shtml
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