《歷史的教訓》

兩位當代最偉大思想家的著名論文集，匯集了 5000 多年的歷史

作者：威爾-杜蘭特和阿里爾-杜蘭特

The Lessons of History

The celebrated collection of essays compiling over 5,000 years of history by two of the greatest thinkers of our time

By Will Durant and Ariel Durant

內容簡介

歷史的教訓》（1968 年）概述了人類五千多年的歷史。它涵蓋了道德、宗教以及社會主義和資本主義等政府制度的變化，并追溯了戰爭的歷史趨勢。同時，它還就歷史對當下的意義提供了各種啟示。

Synopsis

The Lessons of History (1968) gives an overview of more than 5,000 years of human history. It covers changes in morality, religion and governmental systems like socialism and capitalism, and traces the historical trends of war. Along the way, it offers a variety of lessons on what history means for the present.

適合人群

* 歷史和政治愛好者

* 對人類進步感興趣的人

Who is it for?

* History and politics enthusiasts

* Anyone interested in human progress

作者簡介

威爾-杜蘭特是作家、歷史學家和哲學家。阿里爾-杜蘭特是一名研究員和作家。這對夫婦最著名的作品是《文明的故事》（The Story of Civilization），這本書共十一卷，概述了所有西方歷史。他們的作品曾獲得普利策一般非小說獎和總統自由獎章。

About the author

Will Durant was a writer, historian and philosopher. Ariel Durant was a researcher and writer. The couple is best known for The Story of Civilization, an eleven-volume overview of all Western history. They were awarded the Pulitzer Prize for General Nonfiction and the Presidential Medal of Freedom for their work.

1, What’s in it for me? Discover what history can teach us about ourselves.

[ 我從下面文章能學到什么？找到那些可以幫助我們理解自己的歷史。]

為什么自由會導致更加的不公？

為什么工業革命加劇了個人主義？

這些問題是我們今天要討論的主要部分，它們本身也是政治、道德和經濟上的大問題。

但如果我們有參考答案來回答這些問題呢？

Why would freedom lead to greater inequality? Why did the Industrial Revolution increase individualism? These are big questions that play a big part in the political, moral and economic discussions we have today. But what if there was a cheat sheet we could use to answer them?

參考答案就是：歷史。

歷史不僅僅是到目前為止人類所發生的事情的記錄；

還是一個理解歷史為什么和如何發生的好方法，一個讓我們知道并理解一件事如何導致了另一件事。

通過回顧過去的五千年，歷史的經驗告訴我們是什么在推動歷史，讓我們推斷出那些可能存在的事物，還有下一步會走向何方。

It turns out there is: history. History isn't just a record of what has happened to humanity thus far; it's a great way to understand why and how it happened, a way for us to learn and understand how one thing led to another. By reviewing the preceding five millennia, The Lessons of History shows what has worked, what seems to be present in all our history and which new paths we could go down.

在這篇文章，你會知道：

- 圖爾（Battle of Tours）戰役是如何改變了歐洲的未來?

- 為什么過去河流和航道會是一個文明的基礎

- 為什么農業導致了父權的建立

In these blinks, you’ll discover

* how the Battle of Tours completely changed Europe’s future;

* why rivers and waterways used to be the foundations of civilization; and

* why agriculture created a need for parental authority.

注：Tours圖爾市，法國城市

2, Geography has a big influence on a civilization, but its influence declines as technology advances.

[?發達的農業對文明的影響巨大，但它同樣會阻礙科技進步 ]

想想你的家鄉, 它是不是靠近一條河，靠海或者靠湖？

是不是有發達的鐵路網？

這些簡單的問題會讓你注意到位置的重要性。

Think about your hometown. Is it near a river, the sea or a lake? Does it have good railway connections? Answering such simple questions can teach you a lot about a place.

因為在城市的發展中，地理條件是非常重要的一個因素。在整個人類歷史中都是這樣的；海洋，綠洲、河流和湖泊吸引著人們定居，不止因為提供了水和食物，還因為提供了方便的運輸和貿易。

That’s because a city’s geographical conditions play a big role in its development. This has been true throughout all of human history; settlers have always been attracted to rivers, lakes, oases and oceans, not only because of the water and food they provide but because of transportation and trade, too.

比如美索不達米亞（Mesopotamia），公認的人類文明的搖籃。它就是在幼發拉底河和底格里斯河兩條河之間有定居者建立的。這些河流之間的空間誕生了了蘇美爾和巴比倫帝國閃耀的文明。

Consider Mesopotamia. Generally accepted as the cradle of human civilization, it was founded on settlements established between two great rivers, the Euphrates and the Tigris. The space between these rivers allowed cultures like the Sumerians and Babylonians to flourish and build their empires.

很多其他帝國都建立在河流旁邊：古埃及就被叫做尼羅河的禮物，還有古羅馬的發展也是由于臺伯河，亞諾河。

Many other empires have been built beside rivers: ancient Egypt has been called the gift of the Nile and ancient Rome grew because of the Tiber, Arno and Po.

不過，地理條件可以改變很多。極度惡劣的氣候使得無數文明遷徙，或使得一些文明受到打擊。當洪水來襲，文明會直接垮掉，比如亞洲中部。當雨量過多，就像在美洲中部部分地區，叢林就會大量生長而侵占城市。

Geographical conditions can change, however. Extreme climates have forced countless civilizations to move and caused others to decline. Civilizations can fall if rain becomes scarce, as happened in parts of Central Asia. When rain becomes too heavy, as it did in parts of Central America, jungles can overgrow and smother cities.

可是科技改變了我們對地理環境的依賴。當貨物運輸技術隨著文明的進步而提高，地理化境的影響就會變小。

But technology has changed our relationship to geography. As a civilization’s technology for transporting goods improves, it becomes less influenced by geographical factors.

汽車、火車，特別是飛機，使得貨物的運輸更加便利。當飛機可以在天上隨便飛的時候，貿易路線就不再受限于河流和海洋。

Cars, trains and especially planes have made it much easier to transport goods. Trade routes aren’t bound to rivers or seas when planes can move goods directly overhead.

這就解釋了為什么之前有商業優勢的國家比如英國和法國在汽車、火車和飛機發明以后，開始下滑，因為它們不再因為它們的海岸線而有獨特優勢。而像一些國家比如巴西、中國、俄羅斯就不再因為它們廣闊的大陸塊而使發展受阻。

This is why the commercial advantage of countries like England and France began declining as cars, trains and planes were developed. England and France no longer have a great advantage because of their coastlines, while countries like Russia, China and Brazil aren’t impeded by their huge land mass.

3, Life is a competition and humans are born unequal.

[?生命是一場競賽，而人生來不平等 ]

在孩童時代，你是否經歷過體育課上選邊的事？身體條件好的會被最先選走。在人類歷史上，和上體育課時類似，也是出生時就開始競爭，而且在每個人的等爭對手都不是公平匹配的。

Did you ever get to pick teams in gym class as a kid? The most athletic children are always chosen first. History, like gym class, is competitive by nature, and not everyone is equally matched.

我們繼承了祖先的競爭天性。對他們來說，活下去就是一件充滿殺戮和戰斗的事。然后他們把這些暴力傾向遺傳給了我們。

We inherited our competitive nature from our ancestors. For them, survival was a matter of fighting and killing, and they passed this proclivity for violence down to us.

人是能夠互相合作的，但這些社會合作仍然存在也是因為這樣形成一個團體競爭的邊界。我們以團體的形式下工作，比如家庭、社團或者民族，因為這使我們可以有能力與其他團體競爭。

Humans can also cooperate with each other, but social cooperation still only exists because it gives the group a competitive edge. We work in groups such as families, communities or nations because it enables us to compete with other groups.

國家也是簡單的團體，組建的目的是為了保護免受其他國家的侵害。國家之間的戰爭只有他們一起加入了某個更大的保護性的團體后，才會結束。

States are simply groups of people that organized so they could protect themselves against other people who organized into states. And states only stop fighting if they join together to become members of an even larger protective group.

我們的競爭性天性帶來了一些事情。首先，我們必須承認不平等是天生的，而只能通過自由為代價才能減少差距。

Our competitive nature entails a few things. First, we must recognize that inequality is natural – and reducing it can only come at the cost of freedom.

遺傳因素給不同的人帶來了不同的身體和精神上的加強或弱化。我們是可以通過訓練提高自己，但我們的基因是無法改變的。這就意味著每個人從剛出生就是不平等的。

Genetics imbue different people with different physical and mental strengths – and weaknesses. We can improve ourselves through training, but our genes can never change. That means everyone is unequal right from the moment of birth.

現代社會正變得越來越復雜，加劇了這種天生的不平等性。越復雜的社會，對特殊能力的人才的需求就更大。所以唯一保持更公正的方法就是限制自由。讓我們來分析一下為什么是這樣。

As society becomes more complex, our inherent inequalities become even greater. Complex societies have a greater demand for people with specialized abilities, so the only way to create more equality is to restrict freedom. Let’s consider why that is.

如果放松管制，某些人就可以獲取不公平的經濟能力，從而使得人們變得更加的不平等。比如在19世紀，美國和英國對經濟發展采取不干涉主義，政府盡量少的參與到經濟中來。結果在這段時間內，不平等瘋狂的增長。

The freer people are, the more unequal they become, because freedom allows certain people to gain unfair economic power. In the nineteenth century, for example, England and the United States adopted a laissez-faire policy of economics whereby the government intervened in the economy as little as possible. During this period, inequality increased dramatically.

4, The advancement of a civilization has nothing to do with race.

[?文明的進步和種族完全無關 ]

歐洲先進的科技文明社會是如何出現的？縱觀歷史，許多白人認為是他們的種族天生更加智能。但文明不是種族的產物。文明是地理的產物。

What is it about Europe that enabled such technologically advanced societies to flourish? Throughout history, many white people have assumed that their race made them congenitally more intelligent. But civilization isn’t a product of race. It’s a product of geography.

約瑟夫-亞瑟，戈比諾伯爵，一位法國貴族，小說家，他被認為是近代種族思想之父，他認為不同的種族天生具有不同的身體和精神能力。他認為雅利安種族比所有其他的種族都要先進，文明的創造就要靠他們了。

Joseph Arthur, Comte de Gobineau, the French aristocrat and novelist widely regarded as the father of modern racial thinking, believed that people of different races had inherently different physical and mental abilities. He believed that the Aryan race was superior to all others and responsible for creating civilization.

戈比諾辯稱單獨的環境優勢不能解釋文明的崛起，因為北美洲的土著和古埃及擁有同樣的有利自然條件。他同樣著作表示只靠政治機構也不能創建文明，比如古希臘的民主制和埃及的君主制。

Gobineau argued that environmental advantages alone couldn’t explain the rise of civilization because the Native Americans in North America had the same favorable conditions as the ancient Egyptians. He also wrote that political institutions alone didn’t create civilization, as ancient Greece had democratic systems and Egypt was monarchical.

這樣，根據戈比諾的學說，文明僅僅取決于種族，只能是白人創建文明。他還認為白種人和其他人中結合后，白白種人的文明就會退化：美國的白色人種是優秀的，因為他們沒有和當地土著混合，而不像歐洲的殖民者在拉丁美洲那樣。

Thus, according to Gobineau, civilization was only determined by race, and only the white race could create it. He also believed that white civilization degenerates when white people mix with other races: white people in the United States were superior because they hadn’t mixed with the native population, unlike those European settlers in Latin America who had.

戈比諾的論據很容易被反駁。先進的文化在全球各個地方都存在。中國早在埃及和羅馬之前就有了高度發達的文明，還有很多記錄下的文明，包括印加文明、瑪雅文明和在美國中部和南部的印第安文明。

Gobineau’s arguments are easy to disprove. Advanced cultures have existed in all parts of the globe. China had a highly developed civilization long before Egypt or Rome, and the great civilizations of the Incas, Mayans and Indians in Central and South America are well documented.

實際上，大部分的古希臘和古羅馬文明根源于遠東地區。在公元前2千年時，古希臘受到了很多小亞細亞（現在的土耳其）的影響。依次的，這些文化也被傳到了羅馬。

In fact, much of Ancient Greek and Roman civilization had roots further east. In the second millennium BC, Ancient Greece drew a lot of influence from Asia Minor (present-day Turkey). In turn, this culture was passed on to the Romans.

5, Our personalities, morals and social customs are a product of the time and culture we’re raised in.

[?我們的性格、品德和社會習慣是時代和我們所生存的文化所導致 ]

現在人們會很難認同生古代文化中的人，他們看起來完全不同。但整個歷史看下來，人類的自然本性變化并不大。這些差異是由我們生長所處的文化的產物。

It’s hard to imagine identifying with the people who lived in ancient cultures; they just seem fundamentally different. Throughout history, however, human nature hasn’t changed that much. It’s always been a product of the culture we grew up in.

進化論告訴我們，我們居住繁衍在地球上的數千年中，人性可能已經發生變化了，但這一些基本的人的本能，吃、睡和繁衍，這些都還保持一樣。僅僅是我們的科學技術發生了翻天覆地的變化。

Evolution tells us that human nature has probably changed over the thousands of years that we’ve populated the planet, but our basic instincts to eat, sleep and reproduce have stayed the same. It’s only our technology that’s radically different.

如果某個古希臘的人時間旅行穿越到現在社會，他的身體結構和我們是很相似的，但文化差異上會非常顯著。人類的進化是社會上的，而不是生物學上的。

If someone from Ancient Greece traveled in time to our modern world, they’d be quite similar to us physically, but dramatically different culturally. Human evolution has been social, not biological.

縱觀歷史，我們人類這個種族，在政治上、經濟上、智力上和道德上都經歷了很多變化。但請記住：文化環境決定了社會行為。所以如果一個古希臘的嬰兒被收養在現代的法國，長大后就會和現代法國居民一樣。

Throughout history, our species has undergone a great deal of economic, political, intellectual and moral change. But remember: cultural environment determines social behavior. So if a baby could be adopted from Ancient Greece into present-day France, they’d grow up to behave like a modern-day citizen of France.

那文化革新是如何發生的？是嘗試和糾錯的結果。一些富有創新精神的的個體，給社會帶來新的思想，如果社會主體喜歡這些新東西，就會接收。如果不喜歡，這些新思想就會被拋棄。

So how does cultural innovation occur? As a result of trial and error. Innovative individuals put new ideas into society, and if the majority of people like them, they’ll follow them. If not, the ideas are discarded.

先知默罕默德為眾多民眾指點迷津，他創建的宗教發展成了世界上最大的。拿破侖、馬克思和列寧也是一些特殊個體的例子，改變了生者社會歷史進程。一些思想，如穆罕默德的思想，與社會緊密相連，而另一些思想，如拿破侖的思想，最終被拋在了后面。

The prophet Mohammed inspired people so much that the religion he founded grew to become the biggest in the world. Napoleon, Marx and Lenin are some other examples of individuals who changed the course of societal history. Some ideas, like Mohammed’s, stuck with society, while others, like Napoleon's, were eventually left behind.

6, Ethical values are a product of historical conditions and they change over time.

[?道德價值觀是歷史背景的產物，隨著時間的推移而變化 ]

一個中世紀的人肯定不會有今天這樣的道德價值觀。例如，他們可能會說，用巫術燒死某人是完全可以接受的。為什么會這樣？

A person from the Middle Ages certainly wouldn’t have the same moral values as we have today. For instance, they might say it’s perfectly acceptable to burn someone for witchcraft. Why is this?

道德標準隨著時間的推移而演變；他們不是一成不變的。人類道德隨著歷史和環境條件的變化而變化。

Moral standards evolve over time; they aren’t set in stone. Human morality changes according to historical and environmental conditions.

在人類歷史的三個主要經濟階段：狩獵、農業和工業，我們的道德準則經歷了巨大的變化。

Our moral code underwent big changes during the three major economic phases of human history: hunting, agriculture and industry.

在狩獵時代，男性有狩獵的責任，因此男性的死亡率較高。這意味著男性數量減少，因此一個男性應該和幾個女性一起生育。在那個時期，貪婪、殘忍和性侵犯是男人生活中有利生存的品性。

In the hunting phase, males had the responsibility to hunt, so the death rate among males was higher. That meant there were fewer men, so a man was expected to reproduce with several women. In that period, greed, brutality and sexual aggressiveness were advantageous survival traits in a man’s life.

然而，新的美德在農業時代變得很重要。男性必須勤勞、合作、和平，而不是勇敢、好斗和暴力。兒童是家庭的經濟資產，因此重婚和任何防止懷孕或流產的企圖都是不倡導的。家庭是農場的生產單位，父母的權威至關重要：孩子們服從父母，與父母一起工作。

New virtues became important in the era of agriculture, however. Males had to be industrious, cooperative and peaceful rather than brave, aggressive and violent. Children were an economic asset to a family, so bigamy and any attempts to prevent or abort pregnancies were discouraged. The family was the unit of production on a farm and parental authority was vital: children obeyed their parents and worked with them.

工業革命再次改變了道德。在工業時代，孩子們長大后離開家，作為個體去找工作。團結并不重要——個性才是。生育更多的孩子也不再是一種經濟優勢，所以婚姻變得不那么重要了。城市不鼓勵為了結婚而結婚，而是開始鼓勵自由戀愛。

The Industrial Revolution changed morality again. During the industrial period, children grew up to leave their homes and go find work as individuals. Unity wasn’t as important – individuality was. It was also no longer an economic advantage to have more children, so marriage became less important. Cities discouraged marriage and began encouraging free love instead.

我們的現代道德標準仍在不斷變化，一如以往。100年后，人們可能會對什么是對什么是錯有完全不同的看法。

Our modern moral standards are still subject to change, like they’ve always been. It’s possible that in 100 years people will have completely different opinions on what’s right and wrong.

7, The Catholic Church has lost its moral authority, but it survives because it provides hope for the desperate.

[?天主教會已經失去了它的道德權威，但它仍然存在，因為它為絕望的人提供了希望 ]

天主教會在現代世界中可能看起來是一個過時的機構，但它仍然有成千上萬的信徒，并且仍然很強大。這其中有幾個原因。

The Catholic Church might seem like an outdated institution in the modern world, but it still has thousands of believers and remains strong. There are a few reasons for this.

盡管教會最初努力促進道德和慈善，但它在中世紀變得腐敗了。在中世紀早期，教會反對奴隸制、家族爭斗以及其他民族沖突和暴力形式，但是，他們逐漸扭轉了對此類問題的立場。

Though the Church originally strove to promote morality and charity, it became corrupt in the Middle Ages. In the early Middle Ages, the Church fought against slavery, family feuding and other national conflicts and forms of violence, but, gradually, they reversed their stance on such issues.

天主教會很快就與那些可以利用它作為政治工具來獲得更多權力的腐敗領導人結盟。最終，教會變得專注于通過宗教裁判所促進正統和宗教教義，而不是專注于培養道德和善意。

The Catholic Church soon became aligned with corrupt leaders who could use it as a political tool to gain more power. Eventually, the Church became focused on promoting orthodoxy and religious doctrine through the Inquisition, rather than focusing on fostering morality and goodwill.

這就是為什么教會未能在現代世界最重要的道德問題之一：廢除奴隸制中發揮作用。其他團體和機構--通常由哲學家帶頭--反而在這方面起了帶頭作用。

This is why the Church failed to play a role in one of the most important moral issues of the modern world: the abolition of slavery. Other groups and institutions – often spearheaded by philosophers – took the lead on that instead.

盡管天主教會不像以前那樣強大，但它今天仍然強大，因為它給人們帶來了希望。在我們的現代世界，人們比以往任何時候都更加世俗化，教會在他們的日常生活中幾乎沒有影響。法律不再來自于上帝；而是由政治家制定的。經過學術培訓的教師已經取代了牧師的位置，教會每天都在失去更多的追隨者。

Even though the Catholic Church isn’t as powerful as it used to be, it remains strong today because of the hope it affords people. In our modern world, people are more secularized than ever and the Church has little influence in their daily lives. Laws no longer come from God; they’re created by politicians instead. Academically trained teachers have taken the place of priests, and the Church loses more followers every day.

盡管如此，教會為人們提供了安慰，給他們帶來了對未來的希望。人們總能從中找到慰藉，即使他們的社會經歷了巨大的變化。天主教會不太可能很快就會消失。

Despite this, the Church provides people with comfort and gives them hope for the future. People will always find solace in that, even if their society undergoes vast changes. It is unlikely that the Catholic Church will disappear anytime soon.

8, Concentration of wealth is natural and can only be prevented through compulsory redistribution.

[?財富的集中是自然的，只有通過強制性的再分配才能防止 ]

眾所周知，稅收的存在是為了讓一個社會能夠重新分配其財富。讓我們看看歷史在這方面能教給我們什么。

Taxes, as everyone knows, exist so a society can redistribute its wealth. Let’s look at what history can teach us about this.

在社會中，財富在不同程度上集中在需要人們施展必要技能和能力的地方。生活是一場競爭，你擁有的技能和能力越多，你的競爭力就越強。這自然會導致少數人掌握大部分的財富。

In society, wealth concentrates, to varying degrees, wherever people bring the requisite skills and abilities to bear. Life is a competition, and the more skills and abilities you have, the better you’ll compete. This naturally results in a minority of people commanding the majority of the wealth.

然而，一個社會的財富分配是由其道德價值觀和經濟自由決定的。而民主是允許最高程度自由的政府形式，它也加速了最多財富落入少數人手中。

However, a society’s wealth distribution is determined by its moral values and economic freedom. And as democracy is the form of government that allows for the highest degree of freedom, it also hastens the most wealth into the hands of the minority.

這就是為什么在1968年的美國，存在著只有在帝國羅馬的精英城市才有可能超越的貧富差距。

That’s why, in the United States in 1968, there existed a gap between rich and poor that had only ever been surpassed in the elitist city of imperial Rome.

然而，當一個社會的財富集中達到一個臨界點時，必須進行再分配。歷史告訴我們，當窮人的人數優勢使他們能夠與富人的力量相抗衡時，無論這種再分配是通過法律改革還是通過武力實現的，都會發生再分配。

However, when a society’s concentration of wealth hits a critical point, redistribution must occur. History tells us that redistribution occurs when the poor’s strength in numbers allows them to rival the power of the wealthy, whether that redistribution comes about by legal reformation or by force.

在這個關鍵時刻，統治集團的領導人有時會自己實施改革以重新分配財富。這種情況發生在公元前594年的雅典，當時下層階級開始考慮造反。富人準備用武力自衛，但雅典的貴族政治家索倫隨后被選為改革制度的代表。他使貨幣貶值，減少債務，使經濟上更容易生存，從而避免了一場革命。

At this critical point, leaders of the ruling group sometimes implement reform to redistribute wealth themselves. That happened in Athens in 594 BC, when the lower classes began considering a revolt. The wealthy prepared to defend themselves with force, but Solon, an Athenian noble statesman, was then elected to reform the system. He devalued the currency, reduced debt and made it easier to survive economically, thus averting a revolution.

然而，當富人拒絕分享他們的財富時，事情就不一樣了。當羅馬元老院在類似的關鍵時刻拒絕重新分配財富時，導致羅馬被一場階級內戰蹂躪，這場戰爭從公元前133年一直持續到公元前30年。

When the rich refuse to share their wealth, however, things go differently. When the Roman Senate refused to redistribute wealth at a similarly critical point, it resulted in Rome being ravaged by a class civil war that ground on from 133 BC until 30 BC.

9, Socialist experiments have failed throughout history, but they may work if paired with capitalism.

[?社會主義實驗在歷史上已經失敗，但如果與資本主義搭配，它們可能會奏效 ]

許多社會都嘗試過通過社會主義對財富進行再分配。但它總是失敗。社會主義本身并不奏效，但如果與其他概念搭配，它可以奏效。為什么呢？

The redistribution of wealth through socialism has been attempted by many societies. But it has always failed. Socialism doesn’t work on its own, but it can work when paired with other concepts. Why?

縱觀歷史，所有的社會主義實驗都失敗了。我們今天知道的社會主義是現代的，但類似的制度在過去也存在過，而且沒有一個是成功的。

Throughout history, all socialist experiments have failed. The socialism we know today is modern, but similar systems have existed in the past, and none have been successful.

例如，南美洲的印加人建立了他們的社會，相信他們的君主是太陽神的代表。為了換取安全和食物，所有印加人都認為自己是國家的雇員，國家控制并跟蹤所有的農業、勞動和貿易。

The Incas in South America, for example, founded their society on the belief that their sovereign was the delegate of the Sun God. In exchange for security and food, all Incas considered themselves employees of the state, which controlled and tracked all agriculture, labor and trade.

這種社會主義和君主制的搭配一直持續到1533年皮薩羅征服秘魯。

This pairing of socialism and monarchy lasted until Pizarro’s conquest of Peru in 1533.

1917年的俄國革命是最經典的社會主義實驗，但它的成功只是因為國家被圍困了，而且在當時，國家安全比個人自由更重要。革命之所以能夠持續，是因為人們對戰爭的持續恐懼。一代人的和平侵蝕了政府，1989年，蘇聯解體。

The Russian Revolution of 1917 is the most classic socialist experiment, but it only succeeded because the country was under siege and because, at that time, national security was more important than individual freedom. The revolution lasted because of people’s continued fear of war. A generation of peace eroded the government and, in 1989, the USSR fell.

然而，如果社會主義思想能夠與資本主義一起運作，它們可能有機會。合并這兩個概念可能會創造一個更可持續的社會體系。

Socialist ideas may have a chance if they can be made to work alongside capitalism, however. Merging the two concepts might create a more sustainable social system.

現代社會主義允許人們有更多的身體和智力自由，這刺激了生產。另一方面，資本主義社會限制了他們的一些絕對經濟自由，并鼓勵通過社會福利重新分配財富。

Modern socialism allows people more physical and intellectual freedom, which stimulates production. Capitalist societies, on the other hand, have limited some of their absolute economic freedom and encouraged the redistribution of wealth through the welfare state.

資本主義的威脅鼓勵社會主義思想家擴大自由，而社會主義的威脅則鼓勵資本主義思想家增加平等。在未來，我們可能會看到這兩種制度的合并。

The threat of capitalism has encouraged socialist thinkers to broaden freedom and the threat of socialism has encouraged capitalist thinkers to increase equality. In the future, we may see a merging of the two systems.

10, Democracy is the best form of government. But it is fragile and requires an educated population.

[?民主是最好的政府形式。但它是脆弱的，需要有受過教育的人口 ]

今天，大多數西方國家都是以民主方式治理的。然而，民主在人類歷史上是一個比較新的概念。讓我們研究一下人類以前經歷的一些政府系統。

Today, most of the West is democratically governed. Democracy, however, is a relatively new concept in human history. Let’s examine some of the previous governmental systems humans have developed.

縱觀歷史，政府大多由少數精英組成，如寡頭政治和君主制。這些人的權力與生俱來（貴族制和君主制是這樣的），其他人的權力來自于宗教機構，如神權制。

Throughout history, governments have mostly comprised people in elite minorities, as in oligarchies and monarchies. Such people derived their power from birth (aristocracies and monarchies work this way) and others were granted power from religious institutions, as in theocracies.

歷史上的大多數 "民主國家 "都不是真正的民主，因為普選權直到二十世紀才確立。在民主起源的古希臘阿提卡地區，315,000名公民中只有43,000人被允許投票。婦女、奴隸和幾乎所有的勞動人口都被排除在外。

Most “democracies” in history were not truly democratic, as universal suffrage wasn’t established until the twentieth century. In Attica, the region of Ancient Greece where democracy originated, only 43,000 of the 315,000 citizens were allowed to vote. Women, slaves and almost all of the working population were excluded.

然而，民主總是被證明是更有益的，即使是在大多數人口被剝奪了投票權的民主國家。民主允許科學和企業蓬勃發展，因為它為科學和學術研究提供了必要的自由。

However, democracy has always proven to be more beneficial, even in democracies where most of the population was denied the right to vote. Democracy allows science and enterprise to flourish, because it provides the freedom necessary for scientific and academic research.

民主還使人們更容易在社會等級制度中晉升，使更多聰明人有機會發展和分享他們的想法。

Democracy also makes it easier for people to move up in the social hierarchy, affording more intelligent people the chance to develop and share their ideas.

民主是重要的，但它也是脆弱的。它很容易破裂，需要得到維護。即使是穩定的民主社會也總是面臨著被獨裁者推翻的威脅。

Democracy is important, but it’s also fragile. It can break apart easily and needs to be maintained. Even stable democratic societies are always under the threat of being overthrown by a dictator.

如果一個國家受到戰爭或經濟危機的威脅，那么個人就會更容易利用它，在民主社會中上位。教育是一個民主社會對此的唯一防御。人們抵制這種腐敗的領導人的方法只有接受教育去理解正在發生的事情。

If a country is threatened by war or an economic crisis, it’s easier for an individual to take advantage of it and rise to power in a democracy. Education is a democratic society’s only defense against this. People can only resist such corrupt leaders if they have the education to understand what’s going on.

11, War has been constant throughout history and peace is unnatural.

[?戰爭在歷史上一直存在，和平是反常的 ]

在所有有記載的人類歷史中，人類在地球上只有10%的時間沒有戰爭。戰爭似乎是人類的一種自然狀態。但為什么呢？

Throughout all of recorded human history, only 10 percent of humanity’s time on earth has been free of war. War seems like a natural condition for humans. But why?

國家的行為就像個人，但沒有更大的社會強加給他們的相同約束。個人為了食物、土地和住所等資源而相互競爭，但今天沒有那么多暴力的需要，因為國家為大多數人提供了基本的保護。作為交換，個人接受其社會的行為準則，如道德和法律。

States behave like individuals, but without the same restraints imposed on them by a larger society. Individuals compete with each other for resources like food, land and shelter, but there’s not as much need for violence today because the state provides most people with basic protection. In exchange, individuals accept their society’s behavioral codes, such as morals and laws.

國家也有同樣的生存需求，卻沒有基本的保護。沒有超級國家、國際法或道德準則可以保護國家，阻止它們相互爭斗。而由于國家沒有任何國際限制，戰爭是它們追求利益的自然方式。

States have the same survival needs and none of the basic protection. There’s no superstate, international law or moral code that can protect states and stop them from fighting with each other. And because states don’t have any international restrictions, war is the natural way for them to pursue their interests.

然而，戰爭并不只是為了確保國家的資源。有些沖突過于復雜，無法通過談判解決，因此國家就會訴諸戰爭。

War isn’t just about securing resources for the state, however. Some conflicts are too complex to be resolved through negotiation, and so states resort to war.

例如，公元732年，查理-馬特爾在圖爾戰役中擊敗了倭馬亞軍隊，從而制止了伊斯蘭教對法國和西歐的入侵。如果他沒有訴諸于使用戰爭，我們今天所知的歐洲可能會非常不同。

In 732 AD, for example, Charles Martel defeated the Umayyad army in the Battle of Tours, thus halting the Islamic invasion of France and Western Europe. If he hadn’t resorted to using war, Europe as we know it today would probably be very different.

戰爭是我們世界的一個基本組成部分--和平才是反常的。各國只有在面臨共同的威脅時才會團結起來，彼此和平相處。事實上，如果所有國家都以某種方式和平地組合在一起，競爭將逐漸消失，全球聯盟遲早會從內部被顛覆。

War is a fundamental part of our world – it’s peace that’s unnatural. States only unite and behave peacefully with each other when they’re facing a common threat. In fact, if all states were to somehow group together peacefully, competition would gradually disappear and, sooner or later, the global alliance would be subverted from within.

總而言之，世界和平是一個崇高的目標，但除非所有國家都被迫聯合起來對抗外部危險，否則它可能永遠不會實現。

All in all, world peace is a noble goal, but unless all countries are compelled to unite against an external danger, it will probably never be achieved.

12, Civilizations fall but their achievements live on and provide the foundation for new civilizations.

[?文明會隕落，但其成就會保留，并作為新文明的根基 ]

想象一下，如果我們每隔100年就要重新發明車輪或印刷術。如果我們這樣做，民主和社會也會每次都回到零。幸運的是，情況并非如此：歷史和知識都可以被記錄下來并在此基礎上發展。

Imagine if we had to reinvent the wheel or the printing press every 100 years. If we did, democracy and society would also go back to zero each time. Fortunately, this isn’t the case: both history and knowledge can be recorded and built upon.

即使文明隕落，他們的一些成就也會繼續存在。沒有一個偉大的古代文明仍然存在，但他們的許多發明在我們的社會中繼續存在。我們仍然使用火、車輪和書寫系統。農業、道德和慈善都不是現代概念--它們來自古代世界。我們今天擁有的知識基礎是幾千年來人類創新的產物。

Even if civilizations fall, some of their achievements live on. None of the great ancient civilizations still exist but many of their inventions live on in our society. We still use fire, the wheel and writing systems. Agriculture, morality and charity aren’t modern concepts – they come from the ancient world. The knowledge base we have today is the product of thousands of years of human innovation.

因此，雖然人類在生物學上沒有什么變化，但今天出生的人類受益于過去的所有成就。這些成就包括人權和平等，透明的司法系統，以及宗教和知識自由。

So even though they haven’t changed much biologically, humans born today benefit from all the achievements of the past. These achievements include human rights and equality, transparent judicial systems, and religious and intellectual freedom.

而且這些成就中有許多已經得到了改進。

And many of these achievements have been improved upon.

例如，現代英國的民主比古希臘的民主要先進得多。而且，當今歐洲的人們通常可以自由地表達他們的政治觀點，而不必擔心自己的生命安全--這對黑暗時代的人們來說是一種奢侈。

Modern British democracy is much more advanced than the democracy of Ancient Greece, for example. And people in present-day?

Europe are generally free to express their political views without fearing for their life – a luxury foreign to people in the Dark Ages.

教育曾經是為富人和權貴保留的，但現在它向公眾開放。今天，平均知識水平比人類歷史上的任何時候都要高。

Education used to be reserved for the rich and powerful, but it’s now open to the public. Today, the average level of knowledge is higher than at any other point in human history.

在本書出版的時候，許多國家的教育是強制性的。為大眾提供免費教育的目標仍然是一個比較新的追求。如果進展順利，未來每個人可能都能輕松獲得教育。

At the time of this book’s publication, education was compulsory in many countries. The goal of free education for the masses is still a relatively new pursuit. If it goes well, everyone might have easy access to education in the future.

與過去出生的人相比，我們并不具有任何固有的優勢，但我們出生時擁有更豐富的遺產。這種遺產代表了文明的進步。而隨著每一代新人的到來，我們的遺產會變得更加豐富。

We aren’t born with any inherent advantages over anyone born in the past, but we are born with a richer heritage. That heritage represents the progress of civilization. And with every new generation, our heritage becomes richer.

13, Final summary [??最后總結 ]

本文中的關鍵信息：

歷史會重演，但只是指一般方式。文明周而復始，但我們能夠把我們的知識傳給新生代的每個人，隨著時間的推移，豐富了人類的知識和技術。每一代人都面臨著新的挑戰，并在之前所有人類的遺產的基礎上發展。隨著教育向大眾普及，未來幾代人將更加受益。

The key message in this book:

History repeats itself, but only in a very general way. Civilizations may come and go, but we’re able to pass our knowledge on to each new generation, enriching human knowledge and technology over time. Each generation faces new challenges and builds upon the heritage of all humans who came before. As education becomes available to the masses, future generations will benefit all the more.

Suggested further reading: A Brief History of Time by Stephen Hawking

A Brief History of Time takes a look at both the history of scientific theory and the ideas that form our understanding of the universe today. From big bangs and black holes to the smallest particles in the universe, Hawking offers a clear overview of both the history of the universe and the complex science behind it, all presented in a way that even readers who are being introduced to these ideas for the first time will understand.

個人總結：人、社會和文明