PBS高端访谈:如何通过社交媒体来对抗极端心理

 　　But first: the dangers of domestic terrorism, extremism and efforts to counter its use of social media.

　　The attack in Charlottesville underscored just how real this is.

　　As Miles O'Brien explains, experts who study the psychological and technological¹ underpinnings of extremism say neo-Nazis and Islamic terrorists are cut from the same bitter cloth.

　　It is this week's Leading Edge and a co-production with PBS' NOVA.

　　We want to make sure that people can openly talk.

　　At the University of Illinois-Chicago, on this summer morning, a small group of determined² people gathered in a classroom to figure out what they can do about terrorism.

　　My name is Humera Khan. And your name?

　　Humera Khan was schooled as a nuclear engineer. She holds four degrees from MIT.

　　But now she is doing something perhaps more complex, and most certainly less predictable, than splitting atoms.

　　In sessions she calls viral peace, she tries to find ways to battle extremism online using social media to counter the narrative³.

　　The idea is teaching them how to recognize when they are being manipulated, and then teaching them the skill sets for how to respond,

　　should they respond, when should they respond, and using social media to come up with their own campaigns.

　　She thinks stories effectively told on social media can motivate people to turn away from violence.

　　Participants identify flash point issues and underlying⁴ causes of extremism.

　　The problems are posted, sifted⁵ and prioritized.

　　Then they work on their own campaign.

　　The winner gets $1,000 to implement⁶ the idea.

　　But this is not just about Islamic terrorism. It's about all kinds of hate and extremism.

　　My name is Christian⁷ Picciolini. I'm the co-founder of Life After Hate.

　　Christian Picciolini is a former white supremacist skinhead, who was the lead singer in a racist⁸ heavy metal rock band.

　　He ran an organization focused on identifying white supremacists who might be convinced to walk away, de-radicalization.

　　Big place for people who are involved in hate groups to leave.

　　I think it's tough for us as a country to hold a mirror up to ourselves, to address a problem that's inherent in our own population and our own citizens.

　　Jews will not replace us!

　　The ugly scene in Charlottesville made it difficult to avoid that mirror.

　　Charlottesville is a great place that has been very badly hurt.

　　President Trump⁹ was reluctant to blame white supremacists and neo-Nazis for the violence, and offered support for their protest march to save a statue of Robert E. Lee.

　　I think there's blame on both sides.

　　Former Ku Klux Klan grand wizard David Duke said he was thrilled by what the president said.

　　What's scary about Donald Trump and what's happening is not that he's creating racists. I don't believe that.

　　I believe that these people existed. He's created a safe place for them to now vent¹⁰.

　　And he has retweeted messages from neo-Nazis, giving them a global audience.

　　J.M. Berger is a fellow with the International Center for Counter-Terrorism.

　　If you are somebody who believes that white people are being subjected to genocide, and, you know, that desperate measures are required to preserve the existence of the white race,

　　and you get Donald Trump to retweet your content, then, suddenly, you have an audience of millions of people that you didn't have before.

　　Berger studies the links between extremism, terrorism and the Internet. He has carefully tracked the rise of online recruitment and propaganda created by Islamic terrorists.

　　Social media has inherent advantages for extremists that mainstream¹¹ movements don't have. And ISIS is only the first group to realize this.

　　And we're going to see many others. I think we're in for a decade or more of significant instability that can be attributed to the interconnectedness of the world.

　　Social media companies have had some success thwarting¹² the online threat from ISIS, because the message is so extreme and so violent.

　　It is easier for these companies to step on them.

　　White nationalists, while they are marginalized in our society, they are still very much embedded¹³ in our society.

　　And they are currently enjoying a pretty good run of mainstreaming some of their beliefs. If they are not advocating for violence directly, it's a much harder problem.

　　And until we can classify white extremists as terrorism, it won't have the same resources, it won't get the same priority, and won't get the same funding to fight it.

　　The Trump administration has gone in the opposite direction, killing¹⁴ a $400,000 grant for Christian Picciolini's Life After Hate Group.

　　You will not replace us!

　　It was part of a broader effort to cut federal funding for campaigns against domestic terrorism.

　　But should the Trump administration treat white extremism differently?

　　Not according to University of Maryland psychologist Arie Kruglanski.

　　There's a universal process that prompts people to the extremes, prompts them to deviate¹⁵ from the mainstream and move to the fringe.

　　And the same process applies to neo-Nazis in Germany, Sri Lankan Tamil Tigers, Muslim extremism, or the militia¹⁶, the far right in the United States.

　　Kruglanski says extremist groups thrive during times of uncertainty¹⁷, offering simple black-and-white answers in a world filled with many shades of gray.

　　Their messages, transmitted via Twitter, Facebook and the like, offer something they crave¹⁸, certainty. The psychological term is cognitive¹⁹ closure.

　　At the psychological level, it's the very same dynamic that gives us ISIS,

　　because ISIS also thrives on a very clear-cut ideology²⁰ that promises the world and promises order and fame and structure, and that's what Trump promises as well.

　　Terrorism expert J.M. Berger believes the Internet is hastening the polarization of our society, and he says there is no easy way to stop it.

　　I don't think that there's a solution is going to come around soon.

　　I think it's going to take quite a while, and I think that identity-based extremists are going to get the most benefit out of these technologies.

　　And I think that we're going to see the things we have seen with ISIS with other groups.

　　But the proliferation of the Internet and social media cuts in both directions.

　　And that is what has brought these people together in Chicago.

　　While there is a lot of misinformation and a lot of recruitment to extremism happening online,

　　it also serves as a wonderful platform for counternarratives, for people to reach others with an alternate message to what the extremists are proposing,

　　and also to link the facts, so people can do their own homework.

　　Humera Khan strongly believes in promoting a counternarrative, stories that can motivate people to turn away from violence.

　　We are talking about a minuscule²¹, less than a percentage, which means we have the numbers on our side,

　　if we can actually mobilize them to actually do good, not just watch, but actually step up and say, OK, I have a role, and I will do it.

　　Extremists have always been among us, and they have always been small in number, but, these days, everyone owns a global megaphone.

　　Because anyone can have a role in bringing others in to the community.

　　In Chicago, I'm Miles O'Brien for the PBS NewsHour. undefined

1 technological   

adj.技术的；工艺的

参考例句：

• A successful company must keep up with the pace of technological change.一家成功的公司必须得跟上技术变革的步伐。
• Today,the pace of life is increasing with technological advancements.当今， 随着科技进步，生活节奏不断增快。

2 determined   

adj.坚定的；有决心的

参考例句：

• I have determined on going to Tibet after graduation.我已决定毕业后去西藏。
• He determined to view the rooms behind the office.他决定查看一下办公室后面的房间。

3 narrative   

n.叙述，故事；adj.叙事的，故事体的

参考例句：

• He was a writer of great narrative power.他是一位颇有记述能力的作家。
• Neither author was very strong on narrative.两个作者都不是很善于讲故事。

4 underlying   

adj.在下面的，含蓄的，潜在的

参考例句：

• The underlying theme of the novel is very serious.小说隐含的主题是十分严肃的。
• This word has its underlying meaning.这个单词有它潜在的含义。

5 sifted   

v.筛( sift的过去式和过去分词 )；筛滤；细查；详审

参考例句：

• She sifted through her papers to find the lost letter. 她仔细在文件中寻找那封丢失的信。 来自《简明英汉词典》
• She sifted thistles through her thistle-sifter. 她用蓟筛筛蓟。 来自《简明英汉词典》

6 implement   

n.(pl.)工具，器具；vt.实行，实施，执行

参考例句：

• Don't undertake a project unless you can implement it.不要承担一项计划，除非你能完成这项计划。
• The best implement for digging a garden is a spade.在花园里挖土的最好工具是铁锹。

7 Christian   

adj.基督教徒的；n.基督教徒

参考例句：

• They always addressed each other by their Christian name.他们总是以教名互相称呼。
• His mother is a sincere Christian.他母亲是个虔诚的基督教徒。

8 racist   

n.种族主义者，种族主义分子

参考例句：

• a series of racist attacks 一连串的种族袭击行为
• His speech presented racist ideas under the guise of nationalism. 他的讲话以民族主义为幌子宣扬种族主义思想。

9 trump   

n.王牌，法宝；v.打出王牌，吹喇叭

参考例句：

• He was never able to trump up the courage to have a showdown.他始终鼓不起勇气摊牌。
• The coach saved his star player for a trump card.教练保留他的明星选手，作为他的王牌。

10 vent   

n.通风口，排放口；开衩；vt.表达，发泄

参考例句：

• He gave vent to his anger by swearing loudly.他高声咒骂以发泄他的愤怒。
• When the vent became plugged,the engine would stop.当通风口被堵塞时，发动机就会停转。

11 mainstream   

n.（思想或行为的）主流；adj.主流的

参考例句：

• Their views lie outside the mainstream of current medical opinion.他们的观点不属于当今医学界观点的主流。
• Polls are still largely reflects the mainstream sentiment.民调还在很大程度上反映了社会主流情绪。

12 thwarting   

阻挠( thwart的现在分词 )； 使受挫折； 挫败； 横过

参考例句：

• The republicans are trying to embarrass the president by thwarting his economic program. 共和党人企图通过阻挠总统的经济计划使其难堪。
• There were too many men resisting his authority thwarting him. 下边对他这个长官心怀不服的，故意作对的，可多着哩。

13 embedded   

a.扎牢的

参考例句：

• an operation to remove glass that was embedded in his leg 取出扎入他腿部玻璃的手术
• He has embedded his name in the minds of millions of people. 他的名字铭刻在数百万人民心中。

14 killing   

n.巨额利润；突然赚大钱，发大财

参考例句：

• Investors are set to make a killing from the sell-off.投资者准备清仓以便大赚一笔。
• Last week my brother made a killing on Wall Street.上个周我兄弟在华尔街赚了一大笔。

15 deviate   

v.(from)背离，偏离

参考例句：

• Don't deviate from major issues.不要偏离主要问题。
• I will never deviate from what I believe to be right.我绝不背离我自信正确的道路。

16 militia   

n.民兵，民兵组织

参考例句：

• First came the PLA men,then the people's militia.人民解放军走在前面，其次是民兵。
• There's a building guarded by the local militia at the corner of the street.街道拐角处有一幢由当地民兵团守卫的大楼。

17 uncertainty   

n.易变，靠不住，不确知，不确定的事物

参考例句：

• Her comments will add to the uncertainty of the situation.她的批评将会使局势更加不稳定。
• After six weeks of uncertainty,the strain was beginning to take its toll.6个星期的忐忑不安后，压力开始产生影响了。

18 crave   

vt.渴望得到，迫切需要，恳求，请求

参考例句：

• Many young children crave attention.许多小孩子渴望得到关心。
• You may be craving for some fresh air.你可能很想呼吸呼吸新鲜空气。

19 cognitive   

adj.认知的，认识的，有感知的

参考例句：

• As children grow older,their cognitive processes become sharper.孩子们越长越大，他们的认知过程变得更为敏锐。
• The cognitive psychologist is like the tinker who wants to know how a clock works.认知心理学者倒很像一个需要通晓钟表如何运转的钟表修理匠。

20 ideology   

n.意识形态，(政治或社会的)思想意识

参考例句：

• The ideology has great influence in the world.这种思想体系在世界上有很大的影响。
• The ideal is to strike a medium between ideology and inspiration.我的理想是在意识思想和灵感鼓动之间找到一个折衷。

21 minuscule   

adj.非常小的；极不重要的

参考例句：

• The human race only a minuscule portion of the earth's history.人类只有占有极小部分地球历史。
• As things stand,Hong Kong's renminbi banking system is minuscule.就目前的情况而言，香港的人民币银行体系可谓微不足道。