【遠見X浩爾】畢業即就業?加拿大總理杜魯多教你先破除「同溫層」

關鍵時刻,英文總是卡住?《遠見》與口譯專家「浩爾」強強聯手,帶你三分鐘升級英語競爭力!

浩爾所主持、每週一次的YouTube節目《英語溝通小學堂》,精采內容將收錄在《遠見》平台、每週二刊出,陪你一起找對方法學英語。

許多人在畢業後,不急著就業而是去壯遊,例如加拿大總理杜魯多(Justin Trudeau)。雖然疫情阻礙出遊,但杜魯多在2018年在紐約大學(NYU)的畢業演講中,也鼓勵畢業生先跳脫同溫層,走出分眾/部落心態。


大學畢業後,我該去壯遊,還是直接工作?

(此段影片教學▼點我▼)

Now, maybe some of you have talked about doing something like a great trip like that after graduation. But I’d be willing to bet one of the first things you heard was a warning: “You can’t do that in this day and age. It’s not safe!”

一開始,杜魯多就提到你們之中,有許多人可能會想要在畢業後展開壯遊,但是免不了會聽到一些警告是:你在這個年頭不可以做這樣的事,因為不安全。

浩爾也提到,這段有兩個值得學習的口語用法,壯遊Do a great trip,以及in this day and age 在這個年代/時代。

But here’s my question: Is it really just the issue of physical safety that makes our loved ones so anxious at the idea of us getting out there, or is it the threat that if we look past our frames — the frames of our own lives, of our own community’s structured values and belief systems — to truly engage with people who believe fundamentally different things, we could perhaps be transformed into someone new and unfamiliar to those who know and love us?

接續,杜魯多也提到為什麼家人會擔心你出去壯遊呢?第一個,可能是physical safety物理上的安全性,會讓你的家人擔心的決定。而浩爾也分析這裡的「loved ones」可以作為親愛家人、你愛的人/愛你的人的意思,這在口語中非常實用,也可以說friends and family。

僅情境配圖。取自Unsplash by Erik Odiin。
僅情境配圖。取自Unsplash by Erik Odiin。

僅情境配圖。取自Unsplash by Erik Odiin。

our own community’s structured values and belief systems(各社群的既有價值觀和信念體系),這裡浩爾也舉例,大家對於學生的期待,可能是好好讀書,盡量不要兼顧其他事等諸如此類的信念價值。所以說,杜魯多這裡想表達壯遊是不是不太符合親友們的所期待我們的信念與價值。

而engage 雖然有訂婚的意思,但在這裡的脈絡中,engage with是有一群人交流的意義。如果和你價值觀根本性不同的人互動在一起,其實多少都會有些衝突。

See, there’s no question that today’s world is more complex than it was in the mid-1990s. There are serious and important problems that we are grappling with and will continue to grapple with.

這段所提到的the mid-1990s.(1990年中期),浩爾也提醒年代要加the。後面說到的grappling with有解決的意思,其他可替換的有deal with,以及handle。

不要把自己作繭自縛在同溫層裡

(此段影片教學▼點我▼)

But we are not going to arrive at mutual respect, which is where we solve common problems, if we cocoon ourselves in an ideological, social or intellectual bubble. Now, we can see it all around us — there’s a peculiar fascination with dystopia in our culture today.

這裡提到arrive at mutual respect,有「達成互相尊重」,mutual有共同、相互的意思。這裡浩爾也補充到口語也常會用mutual friend,指的是共同朋友。

杜魯多也在這段表示要是作繭自縛,把自己困在意識形態、社會或智識的泡泡(同溫層)裡(if we cocoon ourselves in an ideological, social or intellectual bubble)。

而cocoon,是比較難的字,有把自己包覆起來、作繭自縛,名詞則是繭。Bubble有同溫層的意思,另外也可用Echo chamber(回音室),把自己困在一個過濾泡泡內和其他人有相似的聲音。另外,杜魯多也提到現代社會流行「反烏托邦」dystopia,dys-字根 有反面的意思。

僅情境配圖。取自pexels。
僅情境配圖。取自pexels。

僅情境配圖。取自pexels。

杜魯多:全人類必須對抗「分眾心態」

(此段影片教學▼點我▼)

Humanity has to fight our tribal mindset. We go to the same church? Cool, you’re in my tribe. You speak my language? You’re in my tribe. You’re an NYU alumni? You’re in my tribe. You play Pokémon Go? You’re a vegetarian? You like the Yankees? You go to the gun range? You’re pro-choice? Tribe, tribe, tribe.

整段演講的主軸,就是強調Humanity has to fight our tribal mindset.(全人類必須對抗分眾心態)

這裡Humanity 大寫作為全人類,小寫則是人性的意思,複數為人文社會學的。後面所說的tribal mindset小眾/分眾型態。杜魯多將我們心態比喻成一群群的部落。接著他開始舉例,去同個教會、說著共同語言、同樣是NYU校友等都讓人覺得彼此有著共同經驗,進而分成了不同小眾。

But of course, its not the “belonging” part that is the problem, it’s the corollary: You are part of my tribe, and they are not.(問題不是歸屬感,而是分眾的必然結果:「切分你我」)

這段杜魯多也表示belonging「歸屬感」,並不是真正的問題,而是分眾這件事就成為corollary必然產生的結果/推斷的結果。也就是說,分眾必然產生的問題就是排擠到沒有共同經驗的人。

Whether it’s race, gender, language, sexual orientation, religious or ethnic origin, or our beliefs and values themselves — diversity doesn’t have to be a weakness. It can be our greatest strength. Now often, people talk about striving for tolerance. Now, don’t get me wrong: there are places in this world where a little more tolerance would go a long way, but if we’re being honest right here, right now, I think we can aim a little higher than mere tolerance.

種族、性別、性別認同、宗教或族裔、價值觀都可能是爭點,多元性不應該成為我們的弱點,而應該是大家的強項。

本文轉載自遠見雜誌