一些所谓的“知识”，比无知更可怕

Some so-called "knowledge" is more terrible than ignorance

已定稿

今天，我们从中小学到大学的教育，更多的是在教知识、技术、专业，唯独缺少文化。我们培养了很多精致的利己主义者，很多高学历的野蛮人，他们是冷冰冰的。
Today, our education, from primary and secondary schools to universities, is more about teaching knowledge, skills and professions, but only culture is missing. We have cultivated a lot of refined egotists, many highly educated barbarians，who are so cold.
有句很有名的话：知识就是力量。中国人耳熟能详，而且对它很是认同。从历史上看，1840年以后，中国面对西方的科学技术，不堪一击，于是得出一个结论：落后就要挨打。这个落后，就是指科学技术的落后。
There is a very famous saying: knowledge is power. The Chinese are familiar with it and agree with it. Historically, after 1840, China was vulnerable to western science and technology, so a conclusion was then reached: if you fall behind, you will be beaten. This backwardness means the backwardness of science and technology.
从现实上看，如果今天我们不能用知识很好地答出一份标准化试卷，可能就读不了好大学、好专业，找不到好工作，以更好地满足自己物质的欲望。
From the reality, if we can't answer a standardized test paper well with knowledge today, we may not be able to enter a good university, choose a good major and get a good job, so as to better meet our material desires.

无论从历史经验还是现实压力，我们都知道知识太重要了。但是我今天要对大家讲的是，尽管知识确实重要，但知识也有局限性。
Whether from historical experience or realistic pressure, we all know that knowledge is too important. But what I am going to tell you today is that although knowledge is really important, knowledge has limitations.

01/ 这根胡萝卜把他一辈子都拴死了
01 /This carrot has tied him up all his life
首先，知识是无限的。什么叫知识？知识是对这个世界所有事实的认知。既然世界是无限的，那么知识也是无限的，可悲剧的是人生是有限的。庄子就说过：“吾生也有涯，而知也无涯；以有涯随无涯，殆矣。”世界是无限的，我们的生命是有限的，用有限的生命去追求无限世界所包含的无限知识，那我们的人生就会废掉。
First of all, knowledge is infinite. What does it mean to have knowledge? Knowledge is the cognition of all the facts in the world. Since the world is infinite, knowledge is also infinite, but the tragedy is that life is limited. Chuang Tzu has said, "Life is limited, while knowledge is infinite; and it is impossible to pursuit the infinite knowledge with a limited life." The world is infinite, our life is limited, and if we pursue the infinite knowledge contained in the infinite world with limited life, our life will be exhausted.

当知识不成体系时，它是无用的，只是碎片。举个例子，曾有一家报社搞国学知识竞赛，找了一批专家出了一套国学题目。题目出完后，编辑想让我审一下。我看了5分钟，对它的判断就是6个字：无趣、无聊、无用。
When knowledge is not systematic, it is useless, just fragments. For example, a newspaper once held a competition on Sinology knowledge and asked a group of experts to work out a set of Sinology topics. When the title is finished, the editor wanted me to review it. I watched it for five minutes and judged it as three words: uninteresting, boring and useless.
比如有一道题目问：在中国历史上哪一个时代的宦官是可以娶妻的？这是非常严肃的知识。如果你专门研究宦官，把他们的生存状况、心理状态以及他们在中国历史上的地位、影响、作用都搞明白，你将会成为一名了不起的专家。可是假如你的主要精力不在此，这样的知识碎片，对你一点用处都没有。
For example, there is a question: In which era in Chinese history were eunuchs allowed to take wives? This kind of knowledge is very serious. If you specialize in the study of eunuchs and make out their living conditions, psychological state and their status, influence and role in Chinese history, you will become a great expert. But if your main focus is not on this, such a fragment of knowledge like this is not useful to you at all.
还有一道题目：胡萝卜是什么时候传入中国的？如果你能把它变成系统的知识进行分析研究，它是有意义的。但是假如一个人并没有这样的意愿和目标，他只知道胡萝卜是什么时候传入中国的，这样的知识对他不仅没用，还可能产生负面影响。
Another question is: When did the carrots come into China? If you can turn it into systematic knowledge for analysis and research, it is meaningful. However, if a person does not have such intention and goal, and he only knows when the carrots were introduced to China. Such knowledge is not only useless to him, but also may have a negative influence.
因为他知道大多数人都不知道答案，心里一阵窃喜，觉得自己是世界上最牛的人，并且他特别想让别人知道这一点。于是，他天天等着别人提问，以期收获别人的敬佩。为了等到这一天，他可能每次和朋友吃饭的时候都点胡萝卜，别人吃得很香，他却只等着一个问题。
Because he knew that most people didn't know the answer, he felt a burst of joy. He felt that he was the best person in the world, and he especially wanted others to know this. So he waited for others to ask questions every day in order to gain others' admiration. In order to wait for this day, he probably order carrots every time he has dinner with his friends, and while others eat well, but he only waits for one question.
这根胡萝卜把他一辈子都拴死了。
This carrot has tied him up all his life.

02/ 你们的知识总量都超过孔子
Section Two/ The total knowledge you have exceeds Confucius
德国哲学家尼采写过一篇文章叫《我为什么这么聪明》。他的结论就一句话：我之所以这么聪明，是因为我从来不在不必要的事情上浪费精力。
The German philosopher Nietzsche wrote an article called Why am I so smart. His conclusion is just one sentence: the reason why I am so smart is that I never waste energy on unnecessary things.
有一次我坐出租车，司机正在收听一档知识竞赛节目。节目中，主持人放了5个音乐片断，每个片断几秒钟，随后提问：这5个音乐片断，有2个片断属于同一首歌，你们谁知道？一个小伙子抢答说他知道，并且回答正确。
Once I took a taxi and the driver was listening to a knowledge contest. In the program, the host plays 5 music clips, each of which takes a few seconds, and then asked: these five music clips, two of them belong to the same song. Who do you know? A young man answered first and said he knew it, answered correctly.
紧接着第二个问题是：其中有2首歌出自同一张音乐专辑，你知道吗？这时我紧张了，我怕他知道。他不知道，说明他还是正常人，如果他知道，他这一辈子可能就废了。但是没想到他真知道。这时我让司机把收音机关掉。司机吓一跳，问为什么？我说：“它在侮辱我们的智商，并且在误导我们生命的流向。”
The second question immediately followed was: two of them are from the same music album, do you know? At that time, I got nervous, I was afraid he would know the answer. If he didn't know, it meant he was still normal, and if he knew it, he might be ruined for life. But I didn't expect him to really know. Then I asked the driver to turn off the radio. The driver was startled and asked why. I said, "It's insulting our intelligence and is misleading the flow of our lives."
这就叫无用的知识，生活中有太多这样无用的知识。比如，很多人关心某个明星喜欢的颜色是什么，星座是什么，结了几次婚，又离了几次婚。当一个人把精力花在这些地方时，他可能获得了知识，并且在饭桌上能与人聊天，但他会变得特别琐碎。
This is called useless knowledge. There are too many such useless knowledge in life. For example, many people care about what color a star likes, what constellation is, how many times they get married and how many times they get divorced. When a person spends his energy on these points, he may acquire knowledge and be able to chat with people at the dinner table, but he will become particularly trivial.
我们的生命本来就不可能占有无限的知识。更可悲的是，无聊的知识会让人生变得无聊，琐碎的知识会让人格变得琐碎，甚至猥琐。
It is impossible for our life to possess unlimited knowledge. What is more sad is that boring knowledge will make life become boring, trivial knowledge will make personality trivial, or even obscene.
孔子的学生子夏早就说：“虽小道，必有可观者焉”，但是“致远恐泥，是以君子不为也”。即使是胡萝卜什么时候传入中国的这样的知识，你可以拿来吹吹牛，但如果你老是把认知集中在这种信息上，你的一生肯定不会有什么成就。你用琐碎的知识把人生变成了碎片，所以君子不为。
Zi Xia, a student of Confucius, said a long time ago, "Although it is small skill, it is of great value and considerable", but "for the lofty career, it will not work, so, the gentleman does not engage in these small skills”. Even when carrots were brought into China, you can boast, but if you always focus your cognition on this information, you will not certainly achieve anything in your life. You use trivial knowledge to turn life into fragments, so a gentleman doesn't do it.
荀子曾提出过对知识的鉴别。
Xunzi once proposed the identification of knowledge.
他说有些知识是无聊的、无用的、无趣的，这样的知识荀子有一个判断，叫“不知，无害为君子；知之，无损为小人。”你知道了这样的知识，并不能够因此成为君子，你不知道这个知识也不会因此成为小人。有的知识对你的人生，一分都没加，又何必耗费精力和时间呢？
He said that some knowledge is boring, useless and uninteresting. For such knowledge, Xunzi has a judgment that “you know such knowledge, you may not become a gentleman; you do not know this knowledge, you will not therefore become a villain.” There is knowledge that adds nothing to your life, so why do you spend your energy and time on it?
但是在生活中，确实有不少人专心致志、兴高采烈、兴趣盎然地用琐碎的知识，把自己的人生切割成碎片。
But in life, there are indeed many people who concentrate on it, with great joy and interest, to cut their own life into pieces with trivial knowledge.
实际上，在知识之外有一种更重要的东西。
In fact, there is something more important than knowledge.
《列子》里面有篇文章叫《两小儿辩日》，在座的都读过。两个小孩辩论说，太阳早晨离我们近，还是中午离我们近。两个人都有根据，说早晨近是因为早晨的太阳比中午大；说中午近是因为中午的太阳比早晨热。
There is an essay in the book of Liezi called "Two Little Children Arguing about the Sun", which all of us here have read. Two children debated whether the sun was nearer to us in the morning or at noon. Both of them have their own arguments, saying that the morning is nearer because the sun is bigger in the morning than in the noon; and the noon is nearer because the sun is hotter in the noon than in the morning.
孔子活得真有压力，他几乎是那时候的“谷歌”和“百度”，大家有什么问题都跑去问他。两个小儿问孔子，但孔子没法判断。于是作者就借小孩的口吻讽刺孔子：“谁说你知识多？”作者大概是想，只要否定孔子的知识多，那就否定了孔子的价值。
Confucius lived under great pressure. He was almost the 'Google' and 'Baidu' at that time and everyone went to ask him any questions. The two children asked Confucius about it, but Confucius could not judge it. So the author mocked Confucius in the child's tone: "who says you have more knowledge?" The author probably thought that as long as he denied Confucius has more knowledge, he denied the value of Confucius.
这个思路显然是错误的。在人生知识的考场上，谁能站到最后？我今天跟大家打个赌，我可以出一套100分的知识类题目，每道都有标准答案，但我能让在座所有人都得零分。反过来，你们也可以给我出100分的知识类题目，让我一分都得不到。
The idea is clearly wrong. In the examination room of life knowledge, who can stand to the end? I'll bet it with you today that I can give a 100-point set of knowledge questions, each with a standard answer, but I can give everyone here zero points. In turn, you can also give me 100 points of knowledge questions, so that I can't get a point
比如，复旦大学自主招生出过一道题，老师对学生提一个要求：“你现在问我一个问题，必须满足两个条件，第一是要我回答不出来，第二是你必须要有标准答案。”很多人说这个题目太雷人了，可我就觉得出得很好。因为它告诉我们，在知识的考场上，没有人可以站到最后。有一个聪明的学生马上问：“老师，你知道我祖父的名字吗？”
For example, Independent enrollment of Fudan University once issued a question. The teacher asked the students: "if you ask me a question now, you must meet two conditions. The first is that I can't answer it, and the second is that you must have a standard answer." Many people say this topic is too shocking, but I just think it comes out very well. Because it tells us that in the exam room of knowledge, no one can stand at the end. A clever student immediately asked, "Sir, can you tell my grandfather's name?"
我也可以按照这个思路给大家出题，不需要费劲，就能让大家都得零分。你们知道我祖父的名字吗？知道我祖母的名字吗？知道我祖父的二大爷的名字吗？在座的谁能答出来，今晚我请客。可见，知识可以把任何一个人打倒。
I could also follow this idea to give you questions. It doesn't take much effort to make you get zero points. Can you tell my grandfather's name? Can you tell my grandmother's name? Can you tell the name of my grandfather's second uncle? Whoever here can answer it? I will pay for Dinner tonight. It is obvious that knowledge can bring down anyone.
如果要算知识的总量，我相信今天在座的人，你们的知识总量都超过孔子。比如说，我可以出计算机、物理、英语、数学之类的题目，孔子肯定答不过你们。
If you want to count the total amount of knowledge, I believe that all of you here today have more total knowledge than Confucius. For example, I can give questions on computers, physics, English, mathematics and so on, and Confucius will not definitely be able to reply to these questions as you.
但我们就比孔子的境界高吗？这就要思考另一个问题了：决定孔子境界的不是知识的总量，而是另外一种东西。孔子自己早就说过：“吾有知乎哉？无知也。”我有知识吗？不，没有。苏格拉底也曾经说：“我比别人多知道的那一点，就是我知道自己是无知的。”
But are we even at a higher level than Confucius? We have to think about another question: it is not the total amount of knowledge that determines Confucius' realm, but something else. Confucius himself said long ago, "Do I have knowledge? No, I have not”. Socrates also once said, " What I know more than others is that I know I am ignorant."
他们说这些不是谦虚，只不过说出了一种真相。面对世界的无限，我们短暂生命里的知识可以忽略不计。所以，我们应该允许自己的无知，也应该宽容别人的无知。
They are not modest in saying this, they are simply telling a truth. Facing the infinite world, the knowledge in our short life can be negligible. Therefore, we should allow our own ignorance and should also tolerate the ignorance of others.
你看我不顺眼，给我出一道数学题。我为了防备下一次再有人给我出数学题，于是我天天学数学，学了10年以后，解放日报文化讲坛大概已经到6800期了，我终于有勇气上台演讲，突然又有人说：“鲍老师，我这有一套物理题。”你不会这样干，对不对？因为你们会宽容我的无知，我们也会宽容他人的无知，但是有种情况是不能宽容的，那是什么呢？没有良知。
You don't like me and give me a mathematical problem. I studied the maths every day in order to prepare for someone to give me similar questions next time. After 10 years of study, the cultural forum of Liberation Daily has probably issued 6800. I finally have the courage to speak on stage, and suddenly someone said " Mr. Bao, I have a set of physics problems." You wouldn't do that, would you? Because you will tolerate my ignorance, and we will also tolerate the ignorance of others, but there is a situation that cannot be tolerated. What is that? No conscience.
03/ 没有知识可以被宽容，没有良知不可以被宽容
03 /No knowledge can be tolerated, no conscience can not be tolerated
没有知识可以被宽容，没有良知不可以被宽容。我们遇到标准化的试卷，回答不好没有问题，但是涉及良知判断、是非判断、善恶美丑判断，如果出了问题，那就是大问题。
No knowledge can be tolerated, no conscience can not be tolerated. When we encounter standardized test papers, there are no questions if we can't answer well, but it relates to the judgement of conscience, right or wrong, good or evil, beauty or ugliness, if something goes wrong, that is a big problem.
我讲一个故事。有一位父亲发现15岁的女儿不在家，留下一封信，上面写着：
I will tell a story. one father found that his 15-year-old daughter was not at home, leaving a letter, saying:
“亲爱的爸爸妈妈，今天我和兰迪私奔了。兰迪是个很有个性的人，身上刺了各种花纹，只有42岁，并不老，对不对？我将和他住到森林里去，当然，不只是我和他两个人，兰迪还有另外几个女人，可是我并不介意。我们将会种植大麻，除了自己抽，还可以卖给朋友。我还希望我们在那个地方生很多孩子。在这个过程里，也希望医学技术可以有很大的进步，这样兰迪的艾滋病可以治好。”
"Dear Mom and Dad, I eloped with Randy today. Randy is a very characterful man with all kinds of tattoos, and is only 42 years old, not old, is he? I will be living with him in the forest. Of course, Here’s not just he and I. Randy has a few other women, but I don't mind it. We will grow marijuana, and besides smoking it ourselves, we can also sell it to our friends. I also hope that we will have lots of children in that place. During this period, I also hope that medical technology will make great progress so that Randy's AIDS can be cured."
父亲读到这里，已经崩溃了。然而，他发现最下面还有一句话：“未完，请看背面。”
The father had broken down as he read this. However, he found another sentence at the bottom: "Before the end, see the back.
背面是这样写的：
On the back, it says.
“爸爸，那一页所说的都不是真的。真相是我在隔壁同学家里，期中考试的试卷放在抽屉里，你打开后签上字。我之所以写这封信，就是告诉你，世界上有比试卷没答好更糟糕的事情。你现在给我打电话，告诉我，我可以安全回家了。”
Dad, none of what that page says is true. The truth is that I am at my classmate's home next door. The mid-term exam paper is in the drawer and you open it and sign it. The reason why I write this letter is to tell you that there is worse thing in the world than not answering the test paper well. You call me now and tell me that I can go home safely."
这封信说明，一个人在知识的试卷上可以犯错，甚至不止一次犯错，一辈子犯错，我们到老了都是无知的。但是在良知问题上，可能犯一次错，我们就万劫不复了。所以，比事实判断更重要的是价值判断。事实判断，我们做不到什么都懂，但是做人要有良知，要有价值判断力，这一点还是应该尽量做到的。
This letter shows that one can make a mistake on a test paper of knowledge, even more than once, and even make mistakes for a lifetime, and we may be ignorant until we are old. But in matters of conscience, it is possible to make one mistake, and we will be doomed. Therefore, value judgment is more important than fact judgment. We cannot know everything about factual judgments, but we should try to behave with a conscience and have value judgments, which should be done as much as possible

今天中国社会的一个问题，就是缺乏判断力。中国教育的一个问题，就是缺乏文化素养。比如，为了抵制日货，很多年轻人走到大街上砸同胞的车，甚至伤害同胞的身体。他们带着一腔热血，以为在爱国，但实际上却是在“碍国”。
One of the problems in Chinese society today is the lack of judgement. One problem of Chinese education is the lack of cultural literacy. For example, in order to boycott Japanese goods, many young people go to the streets to smash their compatriots' cars, and even hurt their compatriots' bodies. They think they are patriotic, but in fact, they are "obstructing the country".

为什么一个带着良好爱国热情的人，会去做妨碍国家、损伤中国人形象的事？他们缺少的是什么呢？良知。
Why does a person with good patriotic enthusiasm do something that hinders the country and damages the image of Chinese people? What is they lack of? Conscience.
知识就是力量，但我要告诉大家，良知才是方向。我们常常说落后就要挨打，我还要告诉大家，野蛮也会招打。
Knowledge is power, but I would like to tell you that conscience is the way to go. We often say that backwardness invites beating, but I would also like to tell you that barbarism also invites beating.

备注
翻译人：安度（陈洪臻）
校对：Koala
2022/4/15