astrangehappening的简单介绍

　　目前的政治情势因爲激烈的分化和对立快要走进死胡同里。Elizabeth Lesser阐述，这种对立是因爲人性内含的多重性格（她称之爲“神秘家”和“战士”）所造成的。她并和我们分享了她个人一个简单的方法来开啓一段对话—请你的“对手”，那些你不认同的人去吃午餐，并问他们三个问题，进而了解他们心中真正的想法。

演说者：Elizabeth Lesser

演说题目：与“异见者”共进午餐

　　滑动查看中英文演讲稿

　　0:15

This room may appear to be holding 600 people, but there's actually so many more, because in each one of us there is a multitude of personalities. I have two primary personalities that have been in conflict and conversation within me since I was a little girl. I call them "the mystic" and "the warrior." I was born into a family of politically active, intellectual atheists. There was this equation in my family that went something like this: if you are intelligent, you therefore are not spiritual. I was the freak of the family. I was this weird little kid who wanted to have deep talks about the worlds that might exist beyond the ones that we perceive with our senses. I wanted to know if what we human beings see and hear and think is a full and accurate picture of reality. So, looking for answers, I went to Catholic mass. I tagged along with my neighbors. I read Sartre and Socrates. And then a wonderful thing happened when I was in high school: Gurus from the East started washing up on the shores of America. And I said to myself, "I wanna get me one of them."

1:35

And ever since, I've been walking the mystic path, trying to peer beyond what Albert Einstein called "the optical delusion of everyday consciousness." So what did he mean by this? I'll show you. Take a breath right now of this clear air in this room. Now, see this strange, underwater, coral reef-looking thing? It's actually a person's trachea, and those colored globs are microbes that are actually swimming around in this room right now, all around us. If we're blind to this simple biology, imagine what we're missing at the smallest subatomic level right now and at the grandest cosmic levels. My years as a mystic have made me question almost all my assumptions. They've made me a proud I-don't-know-it-all.

2:41

Now when the mystic part of me jabbers on and on like this, the warrior rolls her eyes. She's concerned about what's happening in this world right now. She's worried. She says, "Excuse me, I'm pissed off, and I know a few things, and we better get busy about them right now." I've spent my life as a warrior, working for women's issues, working on political campaigns, being an activist for the environment. And it can be sort of crazy-making, housing both the mystic and the warrior in one body. I've always been attracted to those rare people who pull that off, who devote their lives to humanity with the grit of the warrior and the grace of the mystic — people like Martin Luther King, Jr., who wrote, "I can never be what I ought to be until you are what you ought to be. This," he wrote, "is the interrelated structure of reality." Then Mother Teresa, another mystic warrior, who said, "The problem with the world is that we draw the circle of our family too small." And Nelson Mandela, who lives by the African concept of "ubuntu," which means "I need you in order to be me, and you need me in order to be you." Now we all love to trot out these three mystic warriors as if they were born with the saint gene. But we all actually have the same capacity that they do, and we need to do their work now.

4:32

I'm deeply disturbed by the ways in which all of our cultures are demonizing "the Other" by the voice we're giving to the most divisive among us. Listen to these titles of some of the bestselling books from both sides of the political divide here in the U.S. "Liberalism Is a Mental Disorder," "Rush Limbaugh Is a Big Fat Idiot," "Pinheads and Patriots," "Arguing With Idiots." They're supposedly tongue-in-cheek, but they're actually dangerous. Now here's a title that may sound familiar, but whose author may surprise you: "Four-and-a-Half-Years of Struggle Against Lies, Stupidity and Cowardice." Who wrote that? That was Adolf Hitler's first title for "Mein Kampf" — "My Struggle" — the book that launched the Nazi party. The worst eras in human history, whether in Cambodia or Germany or Rwanda, they start like this, with negative other-izing. And then they morph into violent extremism.

5:44

This is why I'm launching a new initiative. And it's to help all of us, myself included, to counteract the tendency to "otherize." And I realize we're all busy people, so don't worry, you can do this on a lunch break. I'm calling my initiative, "Take the Other to Lunch." If you are a Republican, you can take a Democrat to lunch, or if you're a Democrat, think of it as taking a Republican to lunch. Now if the idea of taking any of these people to lunch makes you lose your appetite, I suggest you start more local, because there is no shortage of the Other right in your own neighborhood. Maybe that person who worships at the mosque, or the church or the synagogue, down the street. Or someone from the other side of the abortion conflict. Or maybe your brother-in-law who doesn't believe in global warming. Anyone whose lifestyle may frighten you, or whose point of view makes smoke come out of your ears.

7:04

A couple of weeks ago, I took a Conservative Tea Party woman to lunch. Now on paper, she passed my smoking ears test. She's an activist from the Right, and I'm an activist from the Left. And we used some guidelines to keep our conversation elevated, and you can use them too, because I know you're all going to take an Other to lunch. So first of all, decide on a goal: to get to know one person from a group you may have negatively stereotyped. And then, before you get together, agree on some ground rules. My Tea Party lunchmate and I came up with these: don't persuade, defend or interrupt. Be curious; be conversational; be real. And listen.

8:00

From there, we dove in. And we used these questions: Share some of your life experiences with me. What issues deeply concern you? And what have you always wanted to ask someone from the other side? My lunch partner and I came away with some really important insights, and I'm going to share just one with you. I think it has relevance to any problem between people anywhere. I asked her why her side makes such outrageous allegations and lies about my side. "What?" she wanted to know. "Like we're a bunch of elitist, morally-corrupt terrorist-lovers." Well, she was shocked. She thought my side beat up on her side way more often, that we called them brainless, gun-toting racists, and we both marveled at the labels that fit none of the people we actually know. And since we had established some trust, we believed in each other's sincerity.

9:11

We agreed we'd speak up in our own communities when we witnessed the kind of "otherizing" talk that can wound and fester into paranoia and then be used by those on the fringes to incite. By the end of our lunch, we acknowledged each other's openness. Neither of us had tried to change the other. But we also hadn't pretended that our differences were just going to melt away after a lunch. Instead, we had taken first steps together, past our knee-jerk reactions, to the ubuntu place, which is the only place where solutions to our most intractable-seeming problems will be found.

10:03

Who should you invite to lunch? Next time you catch yourself in the act of otherizing, that will be your clue. And what might happen at your lunch? Will the heavens open and "We Are the World" play over the restaurant sound system? Probably not. Because ubuntu work is slow, and it's difficult. It's two people dropping the pretense of being know-it-alls. It's two people, two warriors, dropping their weapons and reaching toward each other. Here's how the great Persian poet Rumi put it: "Out beyond ideas of wrong-doing and right-doing, there is a field. I'll meet you there."

10:55

(Applause)0:15

这个会场看起来 能容纳600人， 但事实上这里却有更多人， 因为我们中的每一个人 都有多重性格。 从我还是个小女孩时起，我就有两个主要性格。 这两个性格在我体内 不断有冲突与对话。 我把它们称为“神秘者” 和“战士”。 我出身于一个 在政治上十分活跃 并信仰无神论的知识分子家庭。 在我家有这样一个公式： 如果你有才智， 那么你就不会是个精神丰富的人。 我是家里的怪人。 我是一个奇特的小孩， 我想与 可能存在的另一个世界展开深入对话， 它超越了我们所能感知到的这个世界。 我想知道 我们人类所看到、 听到和想到的， 是不是与事物的真相 一模一样。 为了寻找答案， 我做过天主教弥撒； 我尾随过我的邻居； 我读过萨特和苏格拉底。 当我上高中时， 一件神奇的事情发生了： 东方的精神导师 开始席卷美国沿岸。 我对自己说， “我想成为他们中的一员。”

1:35

自从那以后， 我一直在神秘的道路上行进， 努力摆脱 爱因斯坦所说的 “日常生活中的 错觉幻象。” 他这是指什么呢？让我展示给你。 请呼吸， 吸入房间里的新鲜空气。 现在，看到这个奇怪的， 生活在水下， 看上去像是珊瑚礁的东西了吗？ 这其实是人的气管。 而这些彩色水珠 实际上是微生物， 它们现在就在这房间里， 就在我们周围。 如果我们对这种基础的生物学一无所知， 想想看我们会错过多少 在最微小的亚原子间 和在最壮观的宇宙间的发现。 我作为一个神秘者的岁月 几乎使我对自己所有的假设 都产生了疑问。 它们让我勇于承认自己的无知。

2:41

当我身上的神秘部分 含糊地这么说时， 战士翻了一下眼睛。 她现在关心 这世上发生的事。 她很担忧。 她说，“对不起，我很生气， 我知道一些事， 现在我们最好忙于此事。” 我到目前为止都是一个战士， 为妇女权利而努力， 从事政治活动， 成为一名保护环境的积极分子。 这可能有点疯狂， 让神秘者和战士同时存在 于我的身体内。 我一直被那些 杰出人物所吸引。 他们把自己的一生 都奉献给人道事业， 并能集战士的毅力 和神秘者的魅力于一身。 像马丁·路德·金， 他写道，“我永远无法成为 我要成为的人， 直到你成为了 你想要成为的人。 这就是真理之间 相互关联的结构。“ 又例如特雷莎修女，另一个神秘家兼战士， 她说，“这个世界上的问题 是我们对家人的定义 太小了。” 又比如纳尔逊·曼德拉， 他一直都信奉 非洲的Ubuntu概念， 意思是我需要你 才能成为我， 你也需要我来完善你自己。 我们所有人都爱拿 这三个神秘者兼战士举例， 好像他们自出生 就带有圣徒的印记。 但是事实上我们每个人都有 和他们一样的能力， 我们现在需要 继续他们的工作。

4:32

我对于通过 我们自身的文化来妖魔化那些 与己不同的文化而深感不安， 我们恶语相向， 在我们之中造成最大的分歧。 听听这些 畅销书的书名， 它们来自美国政治立场 的两方面。 《自由主义是一种精神缺陷》 《拉什·林堡是个大白痴》 《笨蛋与爱国者》 《与白痴争论》 它们大概是挖苦人的， 但这么说却很危险。 下面这个书名听上去或许觉得耳熟， 但它的作者可能会把你吓一跳： 《对抗谎言、愚蠢 和胆怯 的四年半》 这是谁写的？ 这是阿道夫·希特勒 《我的奋斗》的最初书名， 一本由纳粹党发行的书。 人类历史上最糟糕的年代， 无论是在柬埔寨、德国 或者卢旺达， 都是通过丑化异见人士而开始。 这之后就会升级 成为暴力的极端主义。

5:44

这也是我有一个新举动的原因。 它对我们所有人都有益处， 包括我自己， 它可以抵消我们 排斥异见者的趋势。 我意识到我们都是非常忙的人， 所以不必担心，你可以在午休时做这件事。 我把这个举动称为 “与异见者共进午餐”。 如果你是 一个共和党人， 你可以和一个民主党人一起吃午饭； 又比如说 你是个民主党人， 那就和一个共和党人一起吃午饭吧。 如果和这些人一起吃午饭的想法 会使你失去胃口， 我建议你从身旁的人开始， 因为你的左邻右舍中并不缺少 和你意见不同的人。 或许是一个 在清真寺做礼拜的人； 或许是一个基督徒或犹太教徒； 或许那个人和你 对于堕胎持有不同意见； 甚至可能是你姐姐的那位 不相信全球变暖的丈夫； 或者一个与你的生活方式截然不同的人； 或者是一个人，他的观点 让你听了后会怒不可遏。

7:04

几个星期前， 我与一个参加茶话会的保守党女人共进午餐。 从表面上看，她的观点会让我怒不可遏。 她是一个右翼活动家， 而我是一个左翼活动家。 我们使用一些原则 使得我们的对话进行下去， 你也可以使用它们， 因为我知道大家都会 与持有不同观点的人共进午餐。 首先，确定一个目标： 那就是要去了解一个人， 并且你对他所在的团体有成见。 然后，在你们见面之前， 就这些基本原则达成一致。 我的午饭伙伴和我 一同想出这些原则： 不要试图说服、捍卫 或者中途打断。 要保有好奇， 要有真诚的交流， 要聆听。

8:00

达成一致后，我们用下面几个问题 开始深入交流： 请和我分享一些你的生活经历。 你最关注 哪些事件？ 你一直想从与你不同的人 身上了解什么？ 我和我午饭伙伴 得出一些重要的启示， 我想和大家分享其中的一个。 我想这个观点 与人们之间的问题 无论何时何地都有关联。 我问她为什么她所在的阵营 对我们进行无理的指控 以及编造谎言。 她想知道具体的例子。 “好像我们是一群 道德败坏 爱好恐怖主义的精英。” 她相当震惊。 她认为是我们 更经常地抨击他们。 比如我们称他们为无脑的 持枪种族主义者。 我们都惊讶于 这些标签 不适用于 我们认识的任何一个人。 因为我们已建立起某种信任， 我们相信彼此的真诚。

9:11

我们都同意当下次 在自己所在的阵营里听到 可能造成伤害或过于偏执 甚至被别有用心的人利用 进而煽动人群的排他言论时， 我们要出言制止 这种情况。 在我们的午餐结束时， 我们感谢彼此的坦诚。 我们谁也不试图去改变对方。 但我们也不必假装 彼此间的差异会随着午餐而 消失不见。 相反，我们一同 迈出了第一步， 突破我们的下意识反应， 来到一个Ubuntu的境界， 只有这样， 我们才能找到 解决表面上最棘手的问题 的方法。

10:03

那么你会和谁共进午餐呢？ 下一次当你碰到 某种排他行为时， 那会是一个提示。 在你午饭时会发生什么？ 天堂会敞开吗？ 音响里会传来“四海一家”的音乐吗？ 很可能不会。 因为Ubuntu的进程十分缓慢， 并且很难。 要有两个人 解除无所不知 的伪装； 要有两个人， 两个战士， 放下他们的武器 彼此互相接近。 伟大的波斯诗人鲁米是这么说的： “超越思想上的 坏与好， 有一片天地， 你我将会相遇。”

10:55

（掌声）

　　本公众号每天准时更新

　　各种双语视频&中英对照文章，

　　让你轻松提升英语能力。

　　学习更地道英语！