英国卫报:群众的力量(3)

While the pandemic has made exceptional demands of us, even before the Covid-19 lockdown, crowds have been under threat.

尽管流行病对我们提出了特殊要求，但甚至在因新冠病毒禁闭之前，人群聚集就已受到威胁。

We were becoming ever more atomised, and pushed further into our homes,

我们变得越来越分散，越来越深入自己的家园，

and crowds were becoming more domesticated¹, enclosed, surveilled and expensive to be a part of.

人群变得越来越喜欢家庭生活、封闭、监视，加入其中也越来越昂贵。

Our opportunities to gather freely, in both senses of the word, have greatly diminished since the 90s.

自90年代以来，我们自由聚集的机会，无论从何种意义上说，都大大减少了。

And yet, throughout human history, there has always been something pleasingly resilient about the crowd:

然而，纵观人类历史，人群总是有一些令人愉快的复原力：

however many new ways are found to disperse² it, it will always find a way to reconvene.

无论找到多少新的方法来使人分散，人们总会找到重新集会的方法。

Crowds have always had a bad rap: there is no gentle mob, no friendly pack.

人群总是有不好的名声：不温和的暴徒，不友好的群组。

The same disinhibition that allows for moments of great joy can also enable grotesque³ crimes.

释放压抑，给我们带来巨大的快乐，同样也会让我们犯下荒唐的罪行。

The people who gathered to watch lynchings in the US, or recent attacks on Muslims by groups of Hindu nationalists in India,

在美国，有人聚集在一起观看私刑。最近在印度，印度教民族主义者团体袭击了穆斯林。

were not just bystanders but participants. Their presence and acquiescence⁴ helped make the violence possible.

他们不仅是旁观者，而且是参与者。他们的存在和默许使得暴力成为可能。

And just as the people at the back of the crowd empower those at the front, the reverse can be true.

就像后排的人给前排的人力量一样，情况也可能正好相反。

The hooligan firm leader who throws the first cafe chair across a moonlit plaza⁵ on a balmy European away day

在一个温暖的欧洲旅行日，一个流氓公司的领导在洒满月光的广场上放出了第一把咖啡椅，

makes it easier for more timid members of the crowd to cross their own "cooperation threshold" and join in.

使得人群中更胆怯的成员更容易跨越他们自己的“合作门槛”并加入进来。

Even celebratory or worshipful crowds can go wrong, and when they do, they generate an unmatched horror.

即使是欢庆或虔诚的人群也可能出乱子，当他们出乱子时，就会带来无与伦比的惨状。

Few things strike fear like the the idea of mass panic, few words as chilling as "caught up in a stampede" or "trampled⁶ to death".

没有什么比集体恐慌更让人恐惧的了，也没有什么比“被踩踏”或“被踩踏致死”更让人不寒而栗的了。

The horror of the 96 dead at Hillsborough in 1989, or the 21 suffocated⁷ at the 2010 Duisburg Love Parade,

1989年希尔斯堡惨案造成96人死亡，2010年杜伊斯堡爱大游行造成21人窒息，

or the 2,400 killed in a crowd collapse⁸ at the 2015 Hajj, gnaws⁹ at something deep in our psyches¹⁰.

或者2015年朝圣人群倒塌导致2400人死亡的事件，这些恐惧侵蚀着我们内心深处的某些东西。

For some people, even a peaceful and orderly crowd can be scary, triggering intense anxiety or PTSD.

对一些人来说，即使是平和有序的人群也会让人害怕，引发强烈的焦虑或创伤后应激障碍。

Informed by tragedies, uprisings and protests alike, for a long time crowds were seen as inherently dangerous and lobotomising.

在很长一段时间里，人们被悲剧、起义和抗议活动所影响，人群被认为天生就危险，需要进行脑白质切除术。

But during the past couple of decades, thanks to work by social psychologists, behavioural scientists and anthropologists,

但在过去的几十年里，由于社会心理学家、行为科学家和人类学家的工作，

a new understanding of the complexity¹¹ of crowd behaviour has become increasingly influential¹².

一种对群体行为复杂性的新理解已经变得越来越有影响力。

1 domesticated   

adj.喜欢家庭生活的；（指动物）被驯养了的v.驯化( domesticate的过去式和过去分词 )

参考例句：

• He is thoroughly domesticated and cooks a delicious chicken casserole. 他精于家务，烹制的砂锅炖小鸡非常可口。 来自《简明英汉词典》
• The donkey is a domesticated form of the African wild ass. 驴是非洲野驴的一种已驯化的品种。 来自《简明英汉词典》

2 disperse   

vi.使分散；使消失；vt.分散；驱散

参考例句：

• The cattle were swinging their tails to disperse the flies.那些牛甩动着尾巴驱赶苍蝇。
• The children disperse for the holidays.孩子们放假了。

3 grotesque   

adj.怪诞的，丑陋的；n.怪诞的图案，怪人（物）

参考例句：

• His face has a grotesque appearance.他的面部表情十分怪。
• Her account of the incident was a grotesque distortion of the truth.她对这件事的陈述是荒诞地歪曲了事实。

4 acquiescence   

n.默许；顺从

参考例句：

• The chief inclined his head in sign of acquiescence.首领点点头表示允许。
• This is due to his acquiescence.这是因为他的默许。

5 plaza   

n.广场，市场

参考例句：

• They designated the new shopping centre York Plaza.他们给这个新购物中心定名为约克购物中心。
• The plaza is teeming with undercover policemen.这个广场上布满了便衣警察。

6 trampled   

踩( trample的过去式和过去分词 )； 践踏； 无视； 侵犯

参考例句：

• He gripped his brother's arm lest he be trampled by the mob. 他紧抓着他兄弟的胳膊，怕他让暴民踩着。
• People were trampled underfoot in the rush for the exit. 有人在拼命涌向出口时被踩在脚下。

7 suffocated   

（使某人）窒息而死( suffocate的过去式和过去分词 )； （将某人）闷死； 让人感觉闷热； 憋气

参考例句：

• Many dogs have suffocated in hot cars. 许多狗在热烘烘的汽车里给闷死了。
• I nearly suffocated when the pipe of my breathing apparatus came adrift. 呼吸器上的管子脱落时，我差点给憋死。

8 collapse   

vi.累倒；昏倒；倒塌；塌陷

参考例句：

• The country's economy is on the verge of collapse.国家的经济已到了崩溃的边缘。
• The engineer made a complete diagnosis of the bridge's collapse.工程师对桥的倒塌做了一次彻底的调查分析。

9 gnaws   

咬( gnaw的第三人称单数 )； （长时间） 折磨某人； （使）苦恼； （长时间）危害某事物

参考例句：

• Time, whose tooth gnaws away everything else, is powerless against truth. 时间，它的利齿可咬碎万物，但对真理却无能为力。
• The water gnaws at the shoreline. 海水侵蚀海岸线。

10 psyches   

n.灵魂，心灵( psyche的名词复数 )

参考例句：

• You want to fly to haiti for a quickie divorce just for our psyches ? 你想去海地快速离婚是为了我们的精神健康？ 来自电影对白
• Our psyches are naturally attuned to energetic codes and symbolic language. 我们的心灵会自动地与能量和象徵语言共鸣调音。 来自互联网

11 complexity   

n.复杂(性)，复杂的事物

参考例句：

• Only now did he understand the full complexity of the problem.直到现在他才明白这一问题的全部复杂性。
• The complexity of the road map puzzled me.错综复杂的公路图把我搞糊涂了。

12 influential   

adj.有影响的，有权势的

参考例句：

• He always tries to get in with the most influential people.他总是试图巴结最有影响的人物。
• He is a very influential man in the government.他在政府中是个很有影响的人物。