2020年经济学人 悲观情绪VS科技发展(1)

 

Leaders

来源于《社论》版块

Pessimism¹ v progress

悲观VS技术进步

Contemporary worries about the impact of technology are part of a historical pattern

当代对技术影响的担忧是历史模式的一部分

Faster, cheaper, better—technology is one field many people rely upon to offer a vision of a brighter future. But as the 2020s dawn, optimism is in short supply. The new technologies that dominated the past decade seem to be making things worse. Social media were supposed to bring people together. In the Arab spring of 2011 they were hailed as a liberating² force. Today they are better known for invading privacy, spreading propaganda and undermining democracy. E-commerce, ride-hailing and the gig economy may be convenient, but they are charged with underpaying workers, exacerbating³ inequality and clogging⁴ the streets with vehicles. Parents worry that smartphones have turned their children into screen-addicted zombies.

更快、更便宜、更好的技术是许多人所依赖的一个领域，以提供对更光明未来的展望。但在21世纪20年代即将来临之际，乐观情绪却少之又少。在过去十年中占主导地位的新技术似乎让事情变得更糟。社交媒体本应让人们走到一起。在2011年的阿拉伯之春，他们被誉为一股解放力量。如今，他们更出名的是侵犯隐私、传播宣传和破坏民主。电子商务、网约车和零工经济可能很方便，同时也受到批评：工人工资过低、加剧了不平等、车辆堵塞街道。家长们担心智能手机已经把他们的孩子变成了沉迷于屏幕的低头族。

The technologies expected to dominate the new decade also seem to cast a dark shadow. Artificial intelligence (AI) may well entrench⁵ bias⁶ and prejudice, threaten your job and shore up authoritarian⁷ rulers. 5G is at the heart of the Sino-American trade war. Autonomous⁸ cars still do not work, but manage to kill people all the same. Polls show that internet firms are now less trusted than the banking⁹ industry. At the very moment banks are striving to rebrand themselves as tech firms, internet giants have become the new banks, morphing from talent magnets to pariahs¹⁰. Even their employees are in revolt.

预计将主导下一个十年的技术似乎也蒙上阴影。人工智能(AI)很可能会加深偏见和歧视，威胁到你的工作，支持独裁统治者。5G是中美贸易战的核心。自动驾驶汽车仍然不能正常使用，但仍然可以杀人。民意调查显示，互联网公司现在比银行业更不受信任。就在各大银行努力将自己打造成科技公司的同时，互联网巨头却成为了新型银行，从吸引人才的“磁铁”变成了“社会弃儿”。甚至其员工也在反抗。

The New York Times sums up the encroaching gloom. “A mood of pessimism”, it writes, has displaced “the idea of inevitable¹¹ progress born in the scientific and industrial revolutions.” Except those words are from an article published in 1979. Back then the paper fretted¹² that the anxiety was “fed by growing doubts about society’s ability to rein¹³ in the seemingly runaway¹⁴ forces of technology”.

《纽约时报》总结了这种蔓延的悲观情绪。报告中写道，“悲观情绪”已经取代了“科学革命和工业革命必然带来进步的观点”。除了这些词来自1979年发表的一篇文章。当时，《纽约时报》担心，这种焦虑“源于人们越来越怀疑社会是否有能力控制看似失控的科技力量”。

1 pessimism   

n.悲观者，悲观主义者，厌世者

参考例句：

• He displayed his usual pessimism.他流露出惯有的悲观。
• There is the note of pessimism in his writings.他的著作带有悲观色彩。

2 liberating   

解放，释放( liberate的现在分词 )

参考例句：

• Revolution means liberating the productive forces. 革命就是为了解放生产力。
• They had already taken on their shoulders the burden of reforming society and liberating mankind. 甚至在这些集会聚谈中，他们就已经夸大地把改革社会、解放人群的责任放在自己的肩头了。 来自汉英文学 - 家（1-26） - 家（1-26）

3 exacerbating   

v.使恶化，使加重( exacerbate的现在分词 )

参考例句：

• This pedagogical understretch is exacerbating social inequalities. 这种教学张力不足加重了社会不平等。 来自互联网
• High fertilizer prices are exacerbating the problem. 高涨的肥料价格更加加剧了问题的恶化。 来自互联网

4 clogging   

堵塞，闭合

参考例句：

• This process suffers mainly from clogging the membrane. 这种过程的主要问题是滤膜的堵塞。
• And you know that eyewitness that's been clogging up the airwaves? 你知道那个充斥着电视广播的目击证人？

5 entrench   

v.使根深蒂固；n.壕沟；防御设施

参考例句：

• A series of measures were designed to entrench democracy and the rule of law.采取一系列措施旨在巩固民主和法制。
• These dictators have entrenched themselves politically and are difficult to move.这些独裁者在政治上已经站稳了脚跟，很难推翻他们。

6 bias   

n.偏见，偏心，偏袒；vt.使有偏见

参考例句：

• They are accusing the teacher of political bias in his marking.他们在指控那名教师打分数有政治偏见。
• He had a bias toward the plan.他对这项计划有偏见。

7 authoritarian   

n./adj.专制(的)，专制主义者，独裁主义者

参考例句：

• Foreign diplomats suspect him of authoritarian tendencies.各国外交官怀疑他有着独裁主义倾向。
• The authoritarian policy wasn't proved to be a success.独裁主义的政策证明并不成功。

8 autonomous   

adj.自治的；独立的

参考例句：

• They proudly declared themselves part of a new autonomous province.他们自豪地宣布成为新自治省的一部分。
• This is a matter that comes within the jurisdiction of the autonomous region.这件事是属于自治区权限以内的事务。

9 banking   

n.银行业，银行学，金融业

参考例句：

• John is launching his son on a career in banking.约翰打算让儿子在银行界谋一个新职位。
• He possesses an extensive knowledge of banking.他具有广博的银行业务知识。

10 pariahs   

n.被社会遗弃者( pariah的名词复数 )；贱民

参考例句：

• Despite the trading frenzy, Fannie and Freddie have become pariahs. 尽管他们仍旧被疯狂的交易着，但是两房已经沦为末流。 来自互联网
• This effect remains until the Pariahs are eliminated. 直到贱民的这一个效果残余物被除去。 来自互联网

11 inevitable   

adj.不可避免的，必然发生的

参考例句：

• Mary was wearing her inevitable large hat.玛丽戴着她总是戴的那顶大帽子。
• The defeat had inevitable consequences for British policy.战败对英国政策不可避免地产生了影响。

12 fretted   

焦躁的，附有弦马的，腐蚀的

参考例句：

• The wind whistled through the twigs and fretted the occasional, dirty-looking crocuses. 寒风穿过枯枝，有时把发脏的藏红花吹刮跑了。 来自英汉文学
• The lady's fame for hitting the mark fretted him. 这位太太看问题深刻的名声在折磨着他。

13 rein   

n.疆绳，统治，支配；vt.以僵绳控制，统治

参考例句：

• The horse answered to the slightest pull on the rein.只要缰绳轻轻一拉,马就作出反应。
• He never drew rein for a moment till he reached the river.他一刻不停地一直跑到河边。

14 runaway   

n.逃走的人，逃亡，亡命者；adj.逃亡的，逃走的

参考例句：

• The police have not found the runaway to date.警察迄今没抓到逃犯。
• He was praised for bringing up the runaway horse.他勒住了脱缰之马受到了表扬。