人生百态之善与恶The good and the bad

Two articles in the October 9 issue of China Daily show the good and bad sides of human behavior.

10月9日刊登在《中国日报》上的两篇文章揭示了人类行为善恶的两面。

First the bad. In the city of Xi’an in northwest China’s Shaanxi province, a university professor, surnamed Ge, beat a woman street cleaner picking up trash because her garbage truck was blocking his car. She was photographed crying with blood on her face. Ge’s female companion yelled at the worker—“Do you know how much money I earn and how much you earn? You are wasting my time.”

首先是恶的一面。在中国陕西省西安市，一位姓葛的大学教授殴打了一位环卫女工，只因为垃圾清运车不小心挡住了他的车辆通行。视频里，满脸是血的环卫女工嚎啕大哭。和葛教授同行的女人朝环卫女工叫嚣道——“我挣多少钱，你挣多少钱，你挡着我挣钱！”

Amazingly, Ge spent only 10 days in detention and was fined only 500 yuan, about $75, for beating up the woman.

令人诧异的是，葛某的违法行为只被处以拘留10天和罚款500元的处罚。

The brand of car driven by Professor Ge was not reported, but it is a good bet that it was a luxury vehicle. A well-known 2013 study by psychologists at the University of California, Berkeley, found that drivers of expensive cars are much more likely than other drivers to engage in illegal behavior. They cut off other drivers and seldom stop for pedestrians in crosswalks. The research team concluded that “unethical behavior in the service of self-interest that enhances the individual’s wealth and rank may be a self-perpetuating dynamic that exacerbates economic disparities in society.” In other words, rich car drivers think it is okay for them to break the rules and endanger others.

新闻并没有提到葛教授驾驶的汽车品牌，但很可能是一辆豪车。美国加州大学伯克利分校的心理学家在2013年做过一项著名研究，发现豪车司机比其他司机更容易违法。他们肆意插车，在人行横道上也很少礼让行人。研究小组得出结论称，“追求自身利益能够增加个人财富和地位，这种为一己私利服务的不道德行为是自我延续的动力，它加剧社会贫富差距。”换句话说，豪车司机认为他们可以违反规则，危及他人。

According to the World Health Organization, more than 1,200,000 people worldwide are killed each year in car crashes. Four to five times that number are seriously injured. We euphemistically call these crashes “accidents,” but 95 percent are the result of reckless or negligent driving.

据世界卫生组织统计，全球每年有超过120万人死于车祸。四到五倍的人严重受伤。我们委婉地称这些撞车为“事故”，但95%都是由于鲁莽或疏忽驾驶造成的。

Luxury car drivers are the worst, but psychological research shows that just being behind the wheel of a car leads drivers to become more angry, aggressive, and anti-social than they in other situations. Psychologists use the term “de-individuation” to refer to a situation where a person feels anonymous and not constrained by social norms. A 1970 study by psychologist Philip Zimbardo kicked off this field of research when he showed that anonymous students are willing to administer twice the level of electric shock to other students that they would if their names were known or their faces could be seen.

豪车司机最为糟糕，但心理学研究表明，开车时被甩在后面会让司机比在其他情况下更为生气、好斗和反社会。心理学家用“去个性化”一词来形容一个人感到自己可以匿名且不受社会规范约束的情况。1970年，心理学家菲利普·津巴多(Philip Zimbardo)的一项研究拉开了这一领域研究的序幕。他指出，如果他们的名字不被人知道，或者他们的脸不会被人看到，匿名的学生愿意给其他学生施加两倍的电击电流。

Similarly, anonymous car drivers are willing to risk lives by speeding, threatening pedestrians in crosswalks, or buzzing bicycle riders. Many drivers continue to text and phone, even though they know it endangers their own lives and those of others. Many of these same people would not even think of so threatening another’s life in any other situation.

同样，匿名的司机愿意冒生命危险超速行驶，这威胁着人行横道上的行人和骑行者。即使知道会危及自己和他人的生命，许多司机依然在行驶途中发短信打电话。这些人中的许多人甚至不认为这样会威及他人的生命。

Studies show that people drive more carefully if there is a passenger in the car. They are no longer anonymous.

研究表明，如果车上有乘客，人们就会更加小心驾驶。他们不再是匿名的。

But, all is not lost. The same edition of China Daily also has an inspiring story about Mao Zhaomu, an 18-year-old motorcycle delivery man working in the city of Chongqing, in Southwest China. He dropped out of school to earn money for his family, but continued to study English while waiting for customers. For practice, he would send English texts to university students who ordered food. Teachers and students at a local university gave him books and one teacher from Shanghai gave him lessons online. Now, he has been able to begin his studies at Sichuan International Studies University.

但是，希望依然存在。《中国日报》同一版也刊登了一则鼓舞人心的故事，那就是中国西南重庆市的18岁送餐小哥毛召木。早年辍学挣钱养家，在等顾客之余他坚持学习英语。为了练习，他会给那些订餐的大学生发送英文短信。当地一所大学的老师和学生赠给了他一些书籍，一位上海的老师也在网上给他授课。现在，他已经被四川外国语大学录取，并开始他的学业了。

China’s economy is supported by a great many admirable workers such as Mao and the street cleaner who was beat up. I’ve found them to be extremely honest, hard-working and capable. They are striving to improve their lives and support their families. They give me hope for the future of humanity.

中国的经济由许多可敬的工作者所支撑，如毛召木和被打的女环卫工。他们非常诚实，勤劳能干。他们正在努力改善他们的生活，养活他们的家庭。他们让我对人类的未来又有了希望。