我對於反智主義的抗爭

In a recent blog post, "Waging War on Higher Education," I wrote about the need to encourage students to think critically. The piece triggered a flurry of comments from Huffington Post readers. Most of the comments took on a populist, no-nonsense tone that I found all too familiar. Even so, I found some of the comments disconcerting. My discomfort stemmed not from the critical nature of the comments, but from their widespread disdain for critical thinking. Many of the commentators suggested that critical thinking was a kind of "pie in the sky" activity, a luxury we can no longer afford. In this sociocultural orientation to the world, thinking about fine points of philosophy, art or anthropology is often seen as a waste of time. In this narrative, if you go to college, which these days is a major investment of money, you do so to acquire the set of skills to get a good paying job -- end of story. Indeed, the root of my discomfort came from the fact that I've been hearing these anti-intellectual narratives my whole life.

在最近的博客文章《向高等教育宣戰》中，我寫了鼓勵學生們有必要進行批判性思考。文章在赫芬頓郵報讀者中間掀起軒然大波。大多數評論用了一種平民主義的嚴肅論調，我已經屢見不鮮。儘管如此，有些評論令我困惑。我的困惑主要並非源自評論的批判性本質，而是他們普遍不屑於批判性思考。很多評論者認爲批判性思考是一種“天上掉餡餅”，是我們無法承受的奢侈。在這種世界觀的社會文化定位之下，思考哲學、藝術或人類學，以得出正確觀點總被視爲浪費時間。在這種觀點之下，如果你上大學，當然這是時下一種主要投資手段，你上學，獲得一些技能，找到好工作，故事便結束了。事實上，我困惑的根源在於我這輩子真聽了不少這種反智主義的話。

Many people think that professors are members of the wealthy elite -- people who are disconnected from the economic and social trials of "real life." While it is certainly the case that some professors and other "intellectuals" come from privileged backgrounds, many of us grew up in more modest circumstances. I grew up in lower middle-class household in suburban Washington, D.C. My mother and father graduated from high school. Only a few of my maternal and paternal aunts and uncles had studied at a college. Most of my relatives worked -- and worked hard--in small family-centered businesses. At family gatherings they would encourage me to go to college to get a good job and find "the good life."

很多人認爲大學教授們是一羣有錢的精英們，和“現實生活”中經濟與社會實踐毫無干系。雖然有些教授和其他“知識分子”肯定具有特權階層背景，但我們中很多人在更爲普通的環境里長大。我便成長在華盛頓郊區的中低收入家庭。我父母只有高中學歷。只有父母的幾個兄弟姐妹上過大學。大多數親屬都在小型家族企業裏工作，並且是辛勤勞作。家庭聚會時，他們會鼓勵我上大學，找個好工作，並且過上“好生活”。

If you don't have what it takes to be a doctor or a lawyer, they would tell me, then study accounting -- it's a good profession. People always need accountants, they would advise again and again. In my family's view of the world, the world -- my world -- was filled with limitations. Accordingly, in life it was good to be pragmatic and make choices that would provide for your family. These pragmatic narratives compelled me to study political science with an eye toward law school. By my junior year in college, though, I knew that I wasn't cut out for law or medicine. When I announced to my parents, who only wanted the best for me, that I didn't want to be a lawyer or doctor, my mother cried. My father's unforgettable frown burned into my being.

如果你不想做醫生或律師，他們會建議你學會計，這是個好職業。人們總是會需要會計，他們會一遍又一遍地跟我這樣說。在我家族看來，世界，尤其是我的世界充滿侷限。因此，生活中最好要務實並且爲了家庭着想做出決定。這些務實的建議逼着我學習政治學，期望進入法學院。然而，當我上到大三時，我覺得我不適合從事法律或醫療職業。當我向一心希望我達到最好目標的父母們宣佈我不想當律師或醫生時，我母親哭了。父親皺起眉頭的樣子則讓我經久難忘。

"What are you going to do with yourself?" my father asked.

父親問我“那麼你想做什麼？"

He can always sell insurance like his cousin Ivan," my mother said reassuringly.

媽媽安慰道“可以像他伊萬表哥一樣賣保險。”

"I want to be writer."

“我想成爲作家。”

"What!" My mother exclaimed. "There's no money in that. You're a dreamer," she said shaking her head. She turned to my father. "He could always work with you, I guess."

“什麼？”媽媽大喊道“這掙不到錢。你在做夢。”她邊說邊搖着頭。她轉向父親說“我猜，他起碼還能去跟着你工作。”

No one in my family could have ever imagined that I would spend seven years of my life in West Africa and learn to speak foreign languages, let alone become a professor who publishes essays and books. That narrative just didn't compute in my family. In my case, a perfect storm of circumstances -- the draft, the war in Vietnam, and the potential of a Peace Corps deferment -- propelled me to the Republic of Niger and eventually a life as scholar, a person who has spent a lot of time reading books, thinking about what's he's read, and then writing texts about those ideas.

我家裏沒有人曾想到我會花上7年時間呆在西非，學習外語，更不用說成爲一名教授，發表一些散文和出版書籍。這種事我家裏根本想不到。對於我，一場環境的完美風暴，包括：出書、越戰以及有可能美國和平工作隊的暫緩派遣，都推動我來到尼日爾共和國，最終過上學者生活，成爲一個花上大量時間閱讀，思考以及寫出自己想法的人。

"And they pay him for this," my mother would say in wonder. 'He could have done better in law or business."

“他們僱他做這些，”媽媽好奇的問道“但如果幹法律工作或者從商，收入可能更高。”

Even after I had been teaching for several years, my parents did not understand what I did for a living. I felt -- falsely as it turned out -- that my career choice had profoundly disappointed them. Eventually they came to better understand what I did and read every one of my books, proudly showing them off to family and neighbors.

即使我已經教了好幾年的書，我父母還是不能理解我靠什麼過活。我感到這種錯誤的結果——我的職業選擇讓他們深深失望。最終，他們深深地理解了我的做法，並且讀了我寫的每一本書，並且自豪的向親屬和鄰居們炫耀。

So what happened to steer me away from the narrow life path that the circumstances of my birth had shaped. For the, college had a profound impact on my life. I stumbled upon professors who took an interest in me. They became mentors who exposed me to the wonders of the world, who convinced me that my life was full of possibilities, and who told me that I had the potential to teach at a university.

因此，是什麼令我走出了成長環境爲我塑造的這條狹窄道路呢。原因是大學生活深深影響了我的生活。我偶然間碰到了對我感興趣的教授們。他們成爲我的導師，引發我對世界的好奇。他們令我相信生活充滿了各種可能，告訴我我有潛力在大學裏教書育人。

You should at least try to follow your dreams, they advised. Maybe things will work out for you. Maybe they won't. But try to follow a different path. Who knows what you'll find

他們建議我說，你至少要追逐自己的夢想。或許環境會磨練你，或許不會。但努力找到一條不同的路。誰知道你會發現什麼？

There is a deep tradition of anti-intellectualism in American cultural and political life. It has a long history, spreading its messages into every nook and cranny of American social and political life. We are the "can-do" nation that values "common-sense" solutions to our problems. We are suspicious of "egg heads," dreamers and "pointy-headed" intellectuals who drive Volvos, like French food, and drink frothy cappuccinos. Such notions, of course, are gross fabrications that lead to a dangerous ignorance.

美國文化和政治領域存在着很深的反智主義傳統。長期的歷史擴散到美國社會和政治領域的方方面面。我們是“萬能”的國度，崇尚用“普遍意識”解決我們的問題。我們總是對那些書呆子、夢想家、酸文人臭老九心存疑慮，覺得他們就是開沃爾沃，吃法國菜，喝溢滿泡沫的卡布奇諾的人。當然，這種觀念是粗俗的，危險的是還會使人無知。

In the past, "can do" pragmatism was the fuel of America prosperity. But that pragmatism was reinforced with an abiding respect for knowledge and critical thinking. In the past we knew that it was hard to do anything in a place devoid of new ideas, a place where dreamers are discouraged from dreaming. That's why in the present it's important to combat the anti-intellectualism of the public sphere and support enlightened higher education, a space where mentors, to borrow from one of my readers, don't teach students what to think but show them how to think -- a skill that prepares them for a productive life in the world, a skill that moves all of us forward.

過去，“萬能”的實用主義爲美國的繁榮充滿動力。但堅持對知識的尊重和批判性思考會強化實用主義。過去我們知道，在缺乏新理念的地方，在夢想家無法追逐夢想的地方，很難做好任何事情。這就是現在很重要的是要戰勝公衆中反智主義思想和支持進步高等教育的原因。這個世界裏，借鑑我的一位讀者的經驗，希望導師們不要教導學生去思考什麼，而是教他們如何去思考。這種技能令學生們能夠在世界中創造豐富多彩的生活，這種技能令我們所有人繼續前進。