TED演讲:货币的未来(2)

 In 1932, the Bank of France asked the United States to convert their holdings from dollars into gold. 1932年时，法兰西银行向美国提出申请，希望把银行中的美元兑换成黄金。

But it was too inconvenient¹ to think about actually shipping² all of that gold over to Europe. 但想想看，要把数额巨大的黄金运回欧洲，这是件多么困难的事。

So instead, someone went to where that gold was being stored and they just labeled it as belonging to France now. 最后，有人想出了一个方法，法兰西银行派出工作人员飞往美国黄金储备处，把属于法国的黄金打上标记。

And everyone agreed that France owned the gold. It's just like those Rai stones. 所有人都承认这些黄金是属于法国的，这就像之前提到的石灰岩石币，不是吗？

The point I want to make with these two examples is that there's nothing inherently valuable about a dollar or a stone or a coin. 我提到这两个例子的原因是，没有东西是存在固有价值的，不论是美元、石头还是硬币。

The only reason these things have any value is because we've all decided³ they should. 这些东西拥有价值，只是因为我们赋予了它们价值。

And because we've decided that, they do. 也正是因为我们这样定义，它们才有价值。

Money is about the exchanges and the transactions that we have with each other. Money isn't anything objective. 金钱是存在我们之间、用于交换和交易的东西，钱并不是客观具体存在的事物。

It's about a collective story that we tell each other about value.  它是关于价值的故事的集合，帮助我们互相了解价值。

A collective fiction. And that's a really powerful concept. 也是虚构的集合。这是一种很强大的概念。

In the past two decades, we've begun to use digital money. 在过去二十年里，我们才刚开始使用数字货币。

So I get paid via direct deposit, I pay my rent via bank transfer, I pay my taxes online. 我的工资直接存入我的储蓄账户，我通过银行转账来支付房租、网上缴税。

And every month, a small amount of money is deducted⁴ from my paycheck and invested in mutual⁵ funds in my retirement⁶ account. 每个月我薪水中的一小部分都会存入我退休账户里的互惠基金名下。

All of these interactions are literally⁷ just changing 1's and 0's on computers.  毫不夸张的说，所有这些交易行为只是电脑程序中1和0的改变。

There's not even anything physical, like a stone or a coin.  甚至都没有像石头或者硬币那样的实实在在的物质存在。

Digital money makes it so that I can pay someone around the world in seconds. 数字货币的使用，可以让遥远之外的某人在几秒之内就收到钱。

1 inconvenient   

adj.不方便的，令人感到麻烦的

参考例句：

• You have come at a very inconvenient time.你来得最不适时。
• Will it be inconvenient for him to attend that meeting?他参加那次会议会不方便吗？

2 shipping   

n.船运（发货，运输，乘船）

参考例句：

• We struck a bargain with an American shipping firm.我们和一家美国船运公司谈成了一笔生意。
• There's a shipping charge of ￡5 added to the price.价格之外另加五英镑运输费。

3 decided   

adj.决定了的，坚决的；明显的，明确的

参考例句：

• This gave them a decided advantage over their opponents.这使他们比对手具有明显的优势。
• There is a decided difference between British and Chinese way of greeting.英国人和中国人打招呼的方式有很明显的区别。

4 deducted   

v.扣除，减去( deduct的过去式和过去分词 )

参考例句：

• The cost of your uniform will be deducted from your wages. 制服费将从你的工资中扣除。
• The cost of the breakages will be deducted from your pay. 损坏东西的费用将从你的工资中扣除。 来自《简明英汉词典》

5 mutual   

adj.相互的，彼此的；共同的，共有的

参考例句：

• We must pull together for mutual interest.我们必须为相互的利益而通力合作。
• Mutual interests tied us together.相互的利害关系把我们联系在一起。

6 retirement   

n.退休，退职

参考例句：

• She wanted to enjoy her retirement without being beset by financial worries.她想享受退休生活而不必为金钱担忧。
• I have to put everything away for my retirement.我必须把一切都积蓄起来以便退休后用。

7 literally   

adv.照字面意义，逐字地；确实

参考例句：

• He translated the passage literally.他逐字逐句地翻译这段文字。
• Sometimes she would not sit down till she was literally faint.有时候，她不走到真正要昏厥了，决不肯坐下来。