TED演讲：内向性格的力量(8)

 　　Now if all this is true, then why are we getting it so wrong? 如果这一切都是真的，我们为何错的一塌糊涂？

　　Why are we setting up our schools this way, and our workplaces? 我们为何把学校跟职场架设成这样？

　　And why are we making these introverts¹ feel so guilty about wanting to just go off by themselves some of the time? 我们为何要让这些内向者，因为想有独立自处的时间而感到无所适从？

　　One answer lies deep in our cultural history. 有个答案深植在我们的社会文化里。

　　Western societies, and in particular the U.S., have always favored the man of action over the "man" of contemplation. 我们西方社会，特别是在美国，总是赞扬有行动力的人，而非有沉思能力的人，有沉思能力的“男人”。

　　But in America's early days, we lived in what historians call a culture of character, 但在美国早期，历史学家称之文化性格时期，

　　where we still, at that point, valued people for their inner selves and their moral rectitude. 那时人们仍尊重公正清廉，有内在涵养的人。

　　And if you look at the self-help books from this era, they all had titles with things like "Character, the Grandest Thing in the World." 综观那时的励志书籍，几乎都会有像是“品格是世上最珍贵的东西”等头衔。

　　And they featured role models like Abraham Lincoln, who was praised for being modest and unassuming. 例如亚伯拉罕·林肯，因其谦逊与不装腔作势的性格，而被群众颂扬。

　　Ralph Waldo Emerson called him "A man who does not offend by superiority." 拉尔夫·沃尔多·爱默生称其“不被优越感驾驭的男人”。

　　But then we hit the 20th century, and we entered a new culture that historians call the culture of personality. 然而随着二十世纪到来，我们进入了一个新的纪元，历史上称之为文化人格时期。

　　What happened is we had evolved an agricultural economy to a world of big business. 我们从农村经济演变为大型贸易体制，

　　And so suddenly people are moving from small towns to the cities. 突然间人们从小乡镇涌入大城市。

　　And instead of working alongside people they've known all their lives, now they are having to prove themselves in a crowd of strangers. 所以人们不再只是跟一起长大的人共事，而必须在强者四伏的环境中，积极的证明自己的能力。

　　So, quite understandably, qualities like magnetism² and charisma³ suddenly come to seem really important. 因此，不难理解，具有吸引力的个人魅力变得格外的重要。

　　And sure enough, the self-help books change to meet these new needs and they start to have names like "How to Win Friends and Influence People." 自然地，励志书籍也改变路线了，开始出现像是“如何赢得朋友和影响他人”等这样的书名。

　　And they feature as their role models really great salesmen. 成功的推销员，变成人们楷模的对向。

　　So that's the world we're living in today. That's our cultural inheritance. 这就是我们所生活的今天，我们的文化传承于此。

1 introverts   

性格内向的人( introvert的名词复数 )

参考例句：

• Extroverts tend to lack self-discipline while introverts lack courage. 性格外向的人缺乏自我约束力，而性格内向的人则缺乏勇气。
• I an introvert and introverts get drawn in. 我是个内向的人而且内向是天生的。

2 magnetism   

n.磁性，吸引力，磁学

参考例句：

• We know about magnetism by the way magnets act.我们通过磁铁的作用知道磁性是怎么一回事。
• His success showed his magnetism of courage and devotion.他的成功表现了他的胆量和热诚的魅力。

3 charisma   

n.(大众爱戴的)领袖气质，魅力

参考例句：

• He has enormous charisma. He is a giant of a man.他有超凡的个人魅力，是个伟人。
• I don't have the charisma to pull a crowd this size.我没有那么大的魅力，能吸引这么多人。