「双语」“吃人”的互联网

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“吃人”的互联网

The Internet Will Be the Death of Us

纽约时报

New York Times

Nora Ephron once wrote a brilliant essay about the trajectory of her and many other people's infatuations with email, from the thrill of discovering this speedy new way of keeping in touch to the hell of not being able to turn it off.

诺拉·埃芙隆(Nora Ephron)曾经写过一篇精彩的文章，讲述她和其他许多人对电子邮件的迷恋，从发现这种快速保持联系的新方法时的兴奋，到发现无法将其关闭时的恐惧。

表示“〔尤指一时的〕迷恋，痴心”，英文解释为“a strong feeling of love for someone or interest in something, especially a feeling that is unreasonable and does not continue for a long time”，举个🌰：

Shaw's infatuation with the actress is evident in his writing.

萧对那位女演员的迷恋在他的著作里表现得十分明显。

同义词：obsession同样表示“迷恋，痴迷，着魔”，英文解释为“an extreme unhealthy interest in something or worry about something, which stops you from thinking about anything else”，如：

an unhealthy obsession with being thin

对瘦的病态追求

I've come to feel that way about the whole of the internet.

我对整个互联网都有这种感觉。

What a glittering dream of expanded knowledge and enhanced connection it was at the start. What a nightmare of manipulated biases and metastasized hate it has turned into.

一开始，它曾是一个多么闪亮的梦想，是关于扩展知识并加强联系的。如今它成了一场受操纵的偏见和被转移的仇恨的噩梦。

在<5岁男孩简历走红网络>一文中刚出现过，

1）表示“闪光的，闪耀的”，英文解释为“giving off many small flashes of light”，如：glittering jewels 璀璨的珠宝

2）表示“辉煌的，非常成功的，光彩夺目的”，英文解释为“very impressive or successful”，如：a glittering career 辉煌的事业

3）表示“盛大的，华丽的；众星云集的”，英文解释为“connected with rich, famous and fashionable people”，如：a glittering array of celebrities 名人云集

文中连续出现了一些精彩的对比表达，自己在阅读过程中可以有意识地进行积累，甚至是仿写。比如，

开头第一段中“从...的兴奋到...的恐惧”：from the thrill of ... , to the hell of ...;

本段中，“从起先...的梦想，变成了如今...的噩梦”：What a glittering dream of ... it was at the start. What a nightmare of ... it has turned into.

expanded knowledge 扩展知识

enhanced connection 加强联系

manipulated biases 受操纵的偏见

metastasized hate 被转移的仇恨

Before he allegedly began mailing pipe bombs to Barack Obama, Hillary Clinton and others, Cesar Sayoc found encouragement online — maybe not in the form of explosives instructions, but in the sense that he could scream his resentments in a theater that did the opposite of repudiating them. It echoed them back. It validated and cultivated them. It took something dark and colored it darker still.

在据称开始向贝拉克·奥巴马(Barack Obama)、希拉里·克林顿(Hillary Clinton)和其他人发送简易炸弹之前，塞萨尔·塞阿克(Cesar Sayoc)在网上发现了鼓励——也许不是以爆炸物制作说明书的形式，但从某种意义上说，他可以在一个剧场中高声叫出自己的怨恨，这个剧场完全没有拒绝它们，而是发出回响。这是在验证并培育他们。它接受了一些黑暗的东西，给它们涂上更黑暗的颜色。

表示“管状炸药”，英文解释为“A pipe bomb is a small bomb in a narrow tube made by someone such as a terrorist.”

表示“怨恨”，英文解释为“Resentment is bitterness and anger that someone feels about something.”，举个🌰：

She expressed resentment at being interviewed by a social worker.

她对于被一个社会工作者面试表示了怨恨。

表示“拒绝，驳斥，否认，批判”，英文解释为“If you repudiate something or someone, you show that you strongly disagree with them and do not want to be connected with them in any way.”，举个🌰：

Leaders urged people to turn out in large numbers to repudiate the violence.

领导们力劝人们集体出面来声讨该暴力。

“By the time he was arrested in Florida on Friday,” The Times reported, “Sayoc appeared to fit the all-too-familiar profile of a modern extremist, radicalized online and sucked into a vortex of partisan furor.”

“当他周五在佛罗里达州被捕时，”时报报道，“塞阿克似乎很符合现代极端分子已经为人所熟悉的特征：在网上很激进，并陷入党派狂热的漩涡。”

表示“〔感情或局势的〕旋涡”，英文解释为“a situation that has a powerful effect on people’s lives and that influences their behaviour, even if they do not want it to”，举个🌰：

the vortex of emotions surrounding the case

围绕这宗案件的感情旋涡

Robert Bowers, accused of murdering 11 Jewish Americans in Pittsburgh the morning after Sayoc's arrest, stoked his madness and nurtured his bloody fantasies in that same online vortex. While Sayoc carved out ugly niches on Facebook and Twitter, Bowers found even safer harbor for his racist, xenophobic and anti-Semitic passions on Gab, a two-year-old social network that has served as a nursery for white nationalists. There they congregated, commiserated and riled up one another with an unfiltered efficiency that simply doesn't exist offline.

在塞阿克被捕后的上午，罗伯特·鲍尔斯(Robert Bowers)被控在匹兹堡谋杀了11名犹太裔美国人，同一个网络漩涡引发了他的疯狂，并且培养了他的血腥幻想。塞阿克在Facebook和Twitter上营造了自己丑陋的小环境，但鲍尔斯在Gab上为他的种族主义、仇外心理和反犹太主义激情发现了一个更加安全的避风港，这是一个有两年历史的社交网络，一度是白人民族主义者的摇篮。他们聚集在那里，以一种网络之外根本没有的、赤裸裸的高效率，互诉同情，发泄愤怒。

本意是“给…添加〔煤、柴火等燃料〕”，英文解释为to add more coal or wood to a fire. 此处表示“加剧，激起”，英文解释为“to cause something to increase”，如：stoke fear/anger/envy，举个🌰：

The scandal has stoked public outrage.

这一丑闻激起了公愤。

/niːʃ; nɪtʃ/

1）表示“（尤指本人合意的）适合的工作（或职位）；称心的工作”，英文解释为“a job or position that is very suitable for someone, especially one that they like”，举个🌰：

2）表示“合宜的小环境”，英文解释为“an area or position that is exactly suitable for a small group of the same type”

表示“靠努力开创出；努力赢得，谋得（尤指职位）”，英文解释为“to successfully create or get something, especially a work position, by working for it”，举个🌰：

He hopes to carve out a niche for himself as a leading researcher in his field of study.

他希望在自己的研究领域里闯出一个学术带头人的地位。

此处也是体现了两者的对比，塞阿克在互联网上的Facebook和Twitter两个社交网络平台上营造了自己的“小空间”（carve out ugly niches），而鲍尔斯则是在另一个平台Gab找到了自己的安全“港湾”（find even safer harbor）。

本来想看看Gab和Facebook等其它社交网络平台有什么不同，发现因为这件事网站暂时被美国司法部（DOJ）和联邦调查局（FBI）关闭调查了。

网站CEO声明如下：

表示“惧外心理，仇外心理〔对外国人的强烈恐惧或憎恨〕”，英文解释为“strong fear or dislike of people from other countries”，经济学人此前的一篇文章我们专门解读了这个词，详见>>>跟着「经济学人」学个词 Xenophobia。

表示“聚合，聚集”，英文解释为“When people congregate, they gather together and form a group.”，举个🌰：

Visitors congregated on Sunday afternoons to view public exhibitions.

游客们周日下午聚集起来观看公开展览。

表示“同情; 怜悯”，英文解释为“If you commiserate with someone, you show them pity or sympathy when something unpleasant has happened to them.”，举个🌰：

You'd better commiserate John on his recent misfortunes.

你最好对约翰最近的不幸表示同情。

It was on the internet, with its privacy and anonymity, that Dylann Roof researched white supremacy and formulated his evil conviction that violence was necessary. He then went into a historic church in Charleston, S.C., and fatally shot nine African-American parishioners in June 2015.

有了互联网的隐私与匿名性，迪兰·鲁夫(Dylann Roof)才得以在互联网上研究白人至上主义，并制定了他的邪恶信条：暴力是必要的。然后，他于2015年6月进入了南卡罗来纳州查尔斯顿一座历史悠久的教堂，射杀了九名非洲裔美国教民。

表示“〔尤指定期参加教区教堂活动的〕教区居民”，英文解释为“someone who lives in a parish, especially someone who regularly goes to a Christian church there.”

It was on the internet — on Facebook, to be exact — that Alek Minassian posted a pledge of allegiance to the “incel rebellion,” which refers to the resentments of “involuntarily celibate” men who can't interest the women around them in sex. He then used a van to mow down and kill 10 people in Toronto in April.

正是在互联网上——确切地说是在Facebook上——阿利克·米纳西安(Alek Minassian)宣布效忠“非自愿处男的起义”(incel rebellion)，这是“非自愿禁欲”男人的怨恨，他们无法令周围的女性对他们产生性方面的兴趣。然后，他在四月开着一辆面包车，在多伦多撞倒并杀死了10人。

表示“(为宗教信仰而) 独身的; 禁欲的”，英文解释为“Someone who is celibate does not marry or have sex, because of their religious beliefs.”

表示“(用车辆或炮) 残杀”，英文解释为“If someone is mowed down, they are killed violently by a vehicle or gunfire.”，举个🌰：

He was mowed down on a pedestrian crossing.

他被撞死在人行横道上。

Enclaves of the internet warped the worldviews of all of these men, convincing them of the primacy and purity of their rage. Most of us had never heard the term “incel” before the Toronto massacre. But it was the indelible centerpiece of Minassian's life.

互联网的小块聚集地扭曲了所有这些人的世界观，使他们相信，他们的愤怒是纯洁的，具有至高无上的地位。在多伦多大屠杀之前，我们大多数人从未听过“非自愿处男”一词。但它是米纳西安生活中不可磨灭的核心。

表示“使反常；使有偏见，曲解”，英文解释为“to influence someone in a way that has a harmful effect on how they think or behave”，举个🌰：

You mustn't allow your dislike of her to warp your judgement.

你不能因为不喜欢她而使自己的判断受到影响。

Most of us were unfamiliar with HIAS, the shorthand for a Jewish group that resettles refugees. But those initials dominated Bowers's anti-Semitic conspiracy theories. And that reflects the internet's power to cast rogue grievances as legitimate obsessions and give prejudices the shimmer of ideals.

我们大多数人都不熟悉HIAS，这是一个重新安置难民的犹太团体的简写。但这些首字母主导了鲍尔斯的反犹太主义阴谋理论。这反映了互联网将异常的不满变为正当痴迷的能力，以及给偏见带来理想光环的能力。

表示“阴谋”，英文解释为“A conspiracy is an agreement between a group of people which other people think is wrong or is likely to be harmful.”

Technology has always been a coin with two sides: potential and peril. That's what Mary Shelley explored in “Frankenstein,” which is celebrating its 200th birthday this year, and it has been the main theme of science fiction ever since.

科技一直是一把具有潜力和危险两面性的双刃剑。这就是玛丽·雪莱(Mary Shelley)在今年迎来200周年的小说《弗兰肯斯坦》(Frankenstein)中所探讨的，自该书出版以来，这种两面性一直是科幻小说的主题。

这句很常见了，... has always been a coin with two sides: ... and ....

包括下面这一段讲互联网的两面性，也写得非常棒！

The internet is the technology paradox writ more monstrous than ever. It's a nonpareil tool for learning, roving and constructive community-building. But it's unrivaled, too, in the spread of lies, narrowing of interests and erosion of common cause. It's a glorious buffet, but it pushes individual users toward only the red meat or just the kale. We're ridiculously overfed and ruinously undernourished.

互联网是一个科技吊诡，比以往任何时候都更加骇人听闻。在学习、游览和良性社区建设方面，它是一个非常有用的工具。但它在谎言的传播、兴趣的狭隘化和对共同事业的侵蚀方面也是无与伦比的。这是一个丰盛的自助餐，但它推动个人用户只吃红肉或羽衣甘蓝。可笑的是，我们吃得太撑，同时又营养不良。

It creates terrorists. But well shy of that, it sows enmity by jumbling together information and misinformation to a point where there's no discerning the real from the Russian.

它制造了恐怖分子。但是它一面回避这一点，一面将信息和不实信息混为一谈，以至于我们分辨不出真实和俄罗斯的区别。

表示“使混乱，使杂乱”，英文解释为“to mix things together in an untidy way, without any order”，举个🌰：

He's making a new film by jumbling together bits of his other movies.

他正通过混杂自己其他电影的片段来制作一部新电影。

Don't take it from me. Take it from a Silicon Valley giant whose wares depend on our internet addiction. Speaking at a conference in Brussels, Tim Cook, the chief executive of Apple, warned, “Platforms and algorithms that promised to improve our lives can actually magnify our worst human tendencies.”

不要把它从我手中拿走。把它从硅谷巨头手里拿走吧，他们的产品完全依赖于我们的网络成瘾。苹果首席执行官蒂姆·库克(Tim Cook)在布鲁塞尔的一次会议上发表讲话时警告称，“承诺改善我们生活的平台和算法，实际上可以放大我们人性中最恶劣的倾向。”

“Rogue actors and even governments have taken advantage of user trust to deepen divisions, incite violence and even undermine our shared sense of what is true and what is false,” he added.

“不轨之徒甚至是政府都利用用户信任来加深分歧、煽动暴力，甚至破坏我们对真实和虚假的共同认识，”他补充说。

deepen divisions 加深分歧

incite violence 煽动暴力

undermine our shared sense of what is true and what is false 破坏我们对真实和虚假的共同认识

This was a week ago — before Sayoc's arrest, before Bowers's rampage, before Jair Bolsonaro, a far-right populist, won Brazil’s presidential election. As The Times reported, pro-Bolsonaro forces apparently tried to hurt his opponents and help him by flooding WhatsApp, the messaging application owned by Facebook, “with a deluge of political content that gave wrong information on voting locations and times.”

这发生在一个星期前——在塞阿克被逮捕之前，在鲍尔斯肆意撞人之前，在极右翼民粹主义者雅伊尔·博尔索纳罗(Jair Bolsonaro)赢得巴西总统选举之前。正如《时报》报道的那样，支持博尔索纳罗的力量使用Facebook旗下的消息应用程序WhatsApp，“发送大量政治内容，提供关于投票地点和时间的错误信息，”以此来伤害对手并帮助他。

可以作名词也可以作动词，表示“横冲直撞”，英文解释为“rushing about in a wild and violent way, often causing damage.”

That same Times article noted that a search for the word “Jews” on the photo-sharing site Instagram on Monday led to 11,696 posts with the hashtag “#jewsdid911,” insanely blaming them for the attacks that brought down the World Trade Center, along with similarly grotesque images and videos that demonized Jews. Anti-Semitism may be ancient, but this delivery system for it is entirely modern.

同一篇时报的文章指出，周一在照片共享网站Instagram上搜索“犹太人”这个词时，有11696个帖子带有“#jewsdid911”（911是犹太人干的）的标签，疯狂地指责犹太人袭击了世界贸易中心，同时还有奇怪的图像和视频，把犹太人的形象妖魔化。反犹太主义可能很古老，但这种传播系统完全是现代的。

/ɡrəʊ'tesk,groˋtɛsk/

表示“怪诞的，荒唐的，丑陋的”，英文解释为“unpleasant, shocking, and offensive.”

And utterly terrifying. I don't know exactly how we square free speech and free expression — which are paramount — with a better policing of the internet, but I'm certain that we need to approach that challenge with more urgency than we have mustered so far. Democracy is at stake. So are lives.

令人恐惧的是，我们还不确定如何对自由言论和自由表达进行适当的监管。但我确信，我们需要以比目前更紧迫的态度来应对这一挑战。民主在受到威胁。生命也是如此。

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