你只能救一个——你会选择谁？ - 道格·麦凯 (Doug MacKay)：英语精读讲义

You are the captain of the Mallory 7,

你是“马洛里 7 号”的船长，

an interstellar cargo transport. 用詞

这是一艘星际货运飞船。

On your way to the New Lindley Spaceport, 短語搭配

在前往“新林德利”太空港的途中，

you receive a distress call. 短語搭配

你收到了一个求救信号。

There's been an explosion on the Telic 12, 語法

“特利克 12 号”上发生了爆炸，

and its passengers are running out of oxygen. 短語動詞

乘客们的氧气快要耗尽了。

As you set a course to intercept, you check the Telic 12's manifest. 表達脈絡

在你设定航向准备拦截时，你查看了“特利克 12 号”的乘客名单。

It's currently transporting 30 middle-aged individuals

飞船上目前载有 30 名中年人，

from some of Earth's poorest districts to the labor center

他们来自地球上最贫困的一些地区，正前往劳务中心，

on New Lindley,

目的地是“新林德利”，

where they'll be assigned jobs on the spaceport. 語法

他们将在那里的太空港被分配工作。

But as you approach the Telic 12,

但当你靠近“特利克 12 号”时，

you receive a second distress call.

你又收到了第二个求救信号。

A luxury space cruiser called the Pareto

一艘名为“帕累托”的豪华太空游轮

has lost a thruster, 語法

失去了一个推进器，

sending them careening towards an asteroid belt. 用詞

导致游轮失控冲向小行星带。

Without your help, 語法

如果没有你的帮助，

the 20 college students headed for vacation 短語搭配

“帕累托”上 20 名去度假的大学生

aboard the Pareto are all doomed.

都将面临灭顶之灾。

So, with only enough time to save one ship, 表達脈絡

那么，在时间只够拯救一艘飞船的情况下，

which one should you choose?

你应该选择哪一艘呢？

This dilemma is an example of a broader class of problems 表達脈絡

这种困境是一大类更广泛问题的缩影，

where a life-saving resource, 語法

在这类问题中，能够拯救生命的资源，

such as a donated organ or vaccine,

比如捐献的器官或疫苗，

is scarce.

都是稀缺的。

There are many schools of thought on how to approach these problems, 短語搭配

关于如何处理这些问题，有许多思想流派，

and one of the most influential is utilitarianism,

其中最有影响力的是功利主义，

an ethical view first systematically developed by Jeremy Bentham and John Stuart Mill. 文化背景

这种伦理观最早由杰里米·边沁和约翰·斯图尔特·密尔系统性提出。

In this view, 表達脈絡

在这种观点看来，

you should choose the action which promises the greatest sum of happiness, 語法

你应该选择能带来最大幸福总和的行动，

though how to define and measure happiness is a difficult question. 表達脈絡

尽管如何定义和衡量幸福是一个难题。

For example,

比如，

hedonists would suggest a happy life contains the most pleasure and the least pain. 文化背景

享乐主义者会认为幸福的生活包含最多的快乐和最少的痛苦。

Others might say it's the life where your desires are most fulfilled. 語法

其他人可能会说，欲望得到最大满足的生活才是幸福的。

However happiness is defined, 表達脈絡

无论如何定义幸福，

most would agree that saving 30 lives

大多数人都会同意，拯救 30 条生命

has the potential to generate more happiness than saving 20. 短語搭配

比拯救 20 条生命有可能产生更多的幸福。

But is it enough to consider how many lives would be saved, 表達脈絡

但是，仅仅考虑拯救了多少条生命就够了吗？

or should you also consider how many life years would be?

还是你也应该考虑拯救了多少“生命年”？

Assuming a life expectancy of 80, 語法

假设预期寿命为 80 岁，

saving the lives of the students with an average age of 20

拯救平均年龄 20 岁的学生的生命，

saves 1,200 life years, 表達脈絡

可以挽救 1200 个生命年；

while saving the workers with an average age of 45

而拯救平均年龄 45 岁的工人的生命，

saves 1,050.

可以挽救 1050 个生命年。

All things being equal, 表達脈絡

在其他条件同等的情况下，

a longer life should promise a greater sum of happiness 短語搭配

较长的寿命应该比较短的寿命

than a shorter one.

能带来更多的幸福总和。

So perhaps saving the smaller ship 表達脈絡

所以也许拯救较小的那艘飞船，

actually has the potential to generate the most happiness.

实际上有可能产生最大的幸福感。

If all these calculations feel a bit cold, 語氣意圖

如果所有这些计算让人感觉有些冷酷，

you may want to consider a different approach.

你可能想考虑一种不同的方法。

The philosopher Derek Parfit argues we should give priority to the worse off, 短語搭配

哲学家德里克·帕菲特主张，我们应该优先考虑处境较差的人，

since benefits to those groups matter more than equivalent benefits to the well-off. 語法

因为对这些群体的帮助，比对富裕群体的同等帮助更有意义。

In this view,

在这种观点看来，

it's more urgent to help those whose basic needs aren't met, 語法

帮助那些基本需求得不到满足的人更为迫切，

even if they're harder to help than those who are flourishing. 表達脈絡

即使他们比那些生活富足的人更难帮助。

But often determining which group is truly worse off can get complicated fast. 表達脈絡

但通常，要确定哪个群体真正处境更差，很快就会变得复杂。

In our case,

在我们这个案例中，

Earth is still beset by drastic inequalities in wealth and opportunity. 用詞

地球仍然受到财富和机会急剧不平等的困扰。

And those able to afford a vacation on New Lindley 語法

那些负担得起去“新林德利”度假

and transport on a luxury cruiser

还能乘坐豪华游轮的人，

are no doubt among the most well-off people on the planet. 短語搭配

毫无疑问是地球上最富裕的人。

The workers, by contrast, 表達脈絡

相比之下，那些工人

are among the most disadvantaged,

则属于最弱势的群体，

traveling away from home for months at a time to perform service work. 語法

他们为了从事服务工作，一次离家就是几个月。

With fewer resources and opportunities, 語法

由于资源和机会较少，

it's likely they've experienced more hardship in their lives than the vacationers.

他们生活中经历的艰难困苦很可能比那些度假者更多。

So maybe they're more deserving of rescue. 用詞

所以也许他们更值得被拯救。

On the other hand, 表達脈絡

另一方面，

the students have experienced less life overall, 表達脈絡

学生们体验的人生整体上还很少，

so perhaps they're worse off.

所以也许他们的处境更差。

Or maybe none of these variables should influence our decision. 表達脈絡

或者，也许这些变量都不应该影响我们的决定。

The philosopher John Taurek famously argued that in these types of cases, 短語搭配

哲学家约翰·托雷克曾提出过一个著名的观点：在这些类型的案例中，

the numbers don't count. 習語

人数并不重要。

Each person is deserving of equal concern and respect, 短語搭配

每个人都值得平等的关怀与尊重，

so the best way to decide which passengers to save is to flip a coin. 語法

所以决定拯救哪些乘客的最好方法就是抛硬币。

While this might seem arbitrary at first, 表達脈絡

虽说这乍一听似乎很随意，

this approach treats all parties equally, 表達脈絡

但这种方法平等地对待了所有各方，

giving each individual an equal chance of being rescued.

给了每个人同等获救的机会。

Could any passenger argue that they're being treated unfairly by a coin flip? 語氣意圖

会有乘客因为被抛硬币决定生死而抱怨受到了不公平的对待吗？

It's tough to say, 語氣意圖

这很难说，

but how they and you feel about the result may be another dilemma altogether. 表達脈絡

但他们以及你对这个结果的感受，可能完全是另一个困境了。

Start practicing for tough decisions

开始练习做出艰难的决定吧，

using these five tips to improve your critical thinking.

运用这五个技巧来提高你的批判性思维。

Or if you've ever wanted to understand why people make irrational decisions,

或者，如果你曾想弄明白为什么人们会做出不理智的决定，

this video might be for you.

这个视频可能很适合你。