讓世界變得更美好的自私理由 —— 利己的利他主義：英語精讀講義

Until recently,

直到最近，

the vast majority of the world population worked on farms 片語搭配

世界上絕大多數人口都在農場工作，

and the total production of the world's economy

而世界經濟的總產出

was mostly the total agricultural output.

絕大部分是農業總產出。

And this output was limited by the fixed size of the land. 文法

這種產出受限於固定的土地面積。

The total output of the economy did not change a lot year by year. 片語搭配

經濟的總產出年復一年變化不大。

The size of the pie was fixed.

大餅的大小是固定的。

The world was a zero-sum game. 用詞

世界是一個零和遊戲。

In such a stagnating world,

在這樣一個停滯的世界裡，

the only way to get better off is if someone else gets worse off. 片語搭配

讓你過得更好的唯一方法就是讓別人過得更糟。

If you take a bigger piece of the pie,

如果你拿了更大的一塊餅，

someone else's gets smaller.

別人分到的就會變小。

If you want more food,

如果你想要更多食物，

then conquering, plundering, and stealing are great strategies.

那麼征服、掠奪和偷竊就是絕佳的策略。

Your neighbor's loss is your gain.

鄰居的損失就是你的收益。

This was the state of things for thousands of years. 片語搭配

幾千年來，情況一直如此。

Societies invaded each other constantly to get more pie.

各個社會為了獲得更多的餅而不斷地相互入侵。

Economic inequality was extreme.

經濟極度不平等。

Some had all the pie they wanted,

有些人擁有他們想要的所有大餅，

while others had to live with the crumbs. 慣用語

而另一些人則只能靠碎屑度日。

Then the Industrial Revolution happened 文化背景

後來工業革命發生了，

and everything changed.

一切都改變了。

We developed machinery,

我們研發出了機械設備、

better crops, better fertilizers.

更好的農作物、更好的肥料。

Agricultural output skyrocketed.

農業產出猛增。

But we didn't just produce more food.

但我們不僅僅生產了更多食物。

Every industrial sector exploded in terms of productivity. 片語搭配

每一個工業部門的生產力都呈爆炸式增長。

From 1700 to 1870,

從1700年到1870年，

the production of iron in Britain increased 137-fold. 用詞

英國的生鐵產量增加了137倍。

The Industrial Revolution led to a previously unimaginable increase in economic output.

工業革命帶來了以前無法想像的經濟產出增長。

This altered the nature of our societies.

這改變了我們社會的本質。

Economic growth changed the world from a zero-sum game to a positive-sum game. 文法

經濟增長將世界從零和遊戲變成了正和遊戲。

We had found a way to create a bigger pie.

我們找到了一種做大這塊餅的方法。

But not only a bigger pie, 文法

而且不僅是更大的餅，

but a pie that was growing bigger each year.

而是一個每年都在變大的餅。

More people could have more at the same time.

更多的人可以同時擁有更多。

This development is spreading and continuing today.

這種發展在今天仍在蔓延和繼續。

Antibiotics kill bacteria.

抗生素殺死細菌。

Power plants deliver energy.

發電廠輸送能源。

Cell phones connect us.

手機將我們聯繫在一起。

Planes let us travel cheaply.

飛機讓我們能以低廉的價格旅行。

Fridges store food.

冰箱儲存食物。

Continuous progress in all sectors of the economy seems normal to us today.

今天，經濟各部門的持續進步對我們來說似乎是常態。

But the change from stagnation to economic growth

但是從停滯到經濟增長的轉變

really was the most drastic shift in human history.

確實是人類歷史上最劇烈的轉變。

How was this possible?

這怎麼可能呢？

At the very core of this massive transformation stand new ideas that lead to innovation. 文法

這場巨大變革的核心是帶來創新的新思想。

Innovation has many different definitions,

創新有許多不同的定義，

but in the context of this video, 片語搭配

但在本影片的語境下，

we mean better solutions to existing problems

我們指的是對現有問題的更好解決方案，

and solutions to problems we didn't know we had. 文法

以及解決我們甚至不知道存在的問題的方案。

The more you innovate, 文法

你越是創新，

the more complex and interesting problems you discover

隨著你的願望和需求的發展，

as your wishes and needs evolve.

你就會發現越複雜和有趣的問題。

The average citizen in Norway 250 years ago

250年前的挪威普通公民

might have wanted some really good shoes.

可能想要一雙真正的好鞋。

150 years ago,

150年前，

maybe a bicycle.

可能是一輛自行車。

80 years ago,

80年前，

a car.

一輛汽車。

30 years ago,

30年前，

cheap air travel.

廉價的航空旅行。

And so on.

等等。

Once we get what we want,

一旦我們得到了我們想要的，

we don't stop.

我們不會停歇。

We can see how we can improve things even more

我們能看到如何進一步改進事物，

and how to make things even better.

以及如何讓事物變得更好。

The new positive-sum world has existed for 0.1% of human history

這個新的正和世界只存在了人類歷史的0.1%，

and we have yet to get used to it. 講解

而我們還沒有習慣它。

It has a consequence that feels really unintuitive.

它帶來了一個感覺極其違反直覺的後果。

In a positive-sum world,

在一個正和世界中，

it's in your personal, selfish best interest 片語搭配

地球上每個人都過得好，

that every human on planet Earth is well off.

是符合你個人的自私的最大利益的。

It's good for you if people in obscure parts of countries

如果某些國家偏僻地區的人們過得越來越好，對你也有好處，

you've never heard of are prospering. 片語搭配

哪怕那些國家你從未聽說過。

There is a genuine selfish argument for making the world a better place. 片語搭配

讓世界變得更美好，其實有一個真正自私的理由。

In a positive-sum world,

在一個正和世界中，

the more people are well off,

越多人過得好，

the better your own life is.

你自己的生活就越好。

This is because of the nature of innovation.

這是因為創新的本質。

It is fundamentally driven by supply and demand. 片語搭配

它從根本上是由供需驅動的。

The supply increases

當更多人有自由和受教育的機會來做出貢獻時，

when more people have the freedom and education to contribute.

供應就會增加。

They become inventors, researchers, engineers,

他們成為發明家、研究人員、工程師

or thinkers that come up with new ideas. 片語動詞

或提出新想法的思想家。

The demand for ideas increases as people get richer

隨著人們變得更富裕

and can pay for new solutions.

並且能夠為新的解決方案買單，對想法的需求就會增加。

They increase the size of the market for innovations.

他們擴大了創新市場的規模。

Innovation follows incentives. 用詞

創新追隨誘因。

So naturally,

因此自然而然地，

if many people want and can pay for something,

如果許多人想要並且有能力購買某樣東西，

it will get the innovator's attention and energy.

它就會吸引創新者的關注和精力。

Improving the lives of those who are worse off

改善那些生活較差的人的生活

has a multiplying effect. 片語搭配

具有乘數效應。

It increases demand for ideas

它增加了對創意的需求，

while at the same time making it easier for ideas to be produced. 文法

同時使創意更容易產生。

Let's take an example that interests all of us, 表達脈絡

讓我們舉一個大家都感興趣的例子，

a cure for cancer.

治癒癌症的方法。

If there are 1 billion people in the world that have the wealth to pay for cancer treatments,

如果世界上有10億人擁有支付癌症治療費用的財富，

innovation will follow this demand.

創新就會順應這一需求。

So hundreds of billions of dollars have been invested in medical research. 文法

因此，數千億美元已被投入到醫學研究中。

This had a huge effect,

這產生了巨大的影響，

but we're still nowhere near to curing all forms of cancer. 慣用語

但我們距離治癒所有形式的癌症還差得很遠。

Today,

今天，

every sixth person in the world dies of cancer 用詞

世界上每六個人中就有一人死於癌症，

and you might be one of them.

而你也可能成為其中之一。

Now, imagine if demand were higher. 文法

現在，想像一下如果需求更高。

Imagine instead of 1 billion people being able to pay for a cure for cancer,

想像一下，如果能支付癌症治療費用的不是10億人，

there were 4 billion or 7 billion.

而是40億或70億人。

Imagine how far medicine could have developed 文法

想像一下如果我們在治療癌症上投入7倍的資金，

if we'd invested seven times as much in curing cancer.

醫學能發展到什麼程度。

On top of that, 表達脈絡

最重要的是，

there's so much human potential being wasted right now.

現在有大量的人類潛力被浪費了。

The work of a poor farmer in a developing nation is not useful to you, 用詞

開發中國家貧困農民的工作對你沒有用處，

but if he becomes better off,

但如果他變得富裕，

his children might spend their time in university

他的孩子們可能會在大學裡度過他們的時光，

developing things that are useful to you.

開發對你有用的東西。

Instead of having some hotspots of innovation in the developed world, 慣用語

我們的世界將不會只有已開發國家的幾個創新熱點，

we would have many hotspots all over the world.

而是在世界各地都有許多創新熱點。

The research output of humanity

人類的研究產出

would be many times what it is right now.

將是現在的許多倍。

Could we have cured cancer by now if that were the case?

如果是這樣的話，我們現在能治癒癌症了嗎？

Well, maybe.

嗯，也許吧。

If we spent seven times as much on research, 文法

如果我們在研究上花費7倍的錢，

had seven times as many people working on it,

有7倍的人參與這項工作，

and a global network of medical research,

並建立一個全球醫學研究網絡，

things would certainly be further ahead than they are now. 文法

情況肯定會比現在領先得多。

And this is the core of the argument. 表達脈絡

而這就是該論點的核心所在。

The more people want the same thing that you want,

想要和你一樣東西的人越多，

the more likely you are to get it.

你就越有可能得到它。

That is what it means to live in a positive-sum world.

這就是生活在正和世界中的意義。

You don't gain more pie if poor places stay poor.

如果貧困地區保持貧困，你分到的餅不會變大。

Instead, you get more pie if poor places get richer,

相反，如果貧困地區變得更富有，

contribute ideas,

貢獻了創意，

and grow the global pie.

並做大了全球的餅，你就會分到更多的餅。

Do you like space travel?

你喜歡太空旅行嗎？

Imagine there were billions of people in Africa and Asia

想像一下，非洲和亞洲有數十億人

with their own space programs

擁有他們自己的太空計畫，

and demand for satellites and moon bases and cities on Mars.

以及對衛星、月球基地和火星城市的需求。

Do you like being alive? 語氣意圖

你喜歡活著嗎？

A few billion people paying for medical research

幾十億人為醫學研究買單

could literally save your life.

實際上可以拯救你的生命。

It's in your interest for people around the world to become better off. 文法

全世界的人都過得好，這符合你的利益。

The faster we get to this version of the world,

我們越快到達這個版本的世界，

the better for you personally.

對你個人來說就越好。

No matter what your motivation is, 文法

無論你的動機是什麼，

working on a better world is a very good thing to do.

為建設一個更好的世界而努力是一件非常好的事情。

For others and for you.

為了別人，也為了你。

This video was a collaboration with Max Roser and Our World in Data

這部影片是與 Max Roser 和 Our World in Data 合作製作的，

and supported by the Bill and Melinda Gates Foundation.

並獲得了比爾及梅琳達·蓋茲基金會的支持。

If you want to help us stay afloat and make more videos, 慣用語

如果你想幫助我們維持營運並製作更多影片，

you can support us on Patreon or get some of our fancy posters.

你可以在 Patreon 上支持我們，或購買我們精美的海報。