In The Brothers Karamazov, Fyodor Dostoevsky wrote,
陀思妥耶夫斯基在《卡拉马佐夫兄弟》这本书中写到
“Above all, don’t lie to yourself.
首先 不要对自己说谎
The man who lies to himself and listens to his own lie
一个对自己说谎并对谎言深信不疑的人
comes to a point that he cannot distinguish the truth within him, or around him,
往往无法看清自己 看清周遭的现实
and so loses all respect for himself and for others.
因此失去自尊 也不会尊重别人
And having no respect he ceases to love.”
在失去所有尊重后 他就不再去爱
There’s a lot in that quote,
这段话很耐人寻味
but I’m interested in one single part of it:
但我对其中一个简单的问题很感兴趣
how lying to yourself prevents you from seeing the truth.
为何对自己说谎 会让我们无法看清真相
What does it mean to lie to ourselves?
对自己说谎意味着什么？
How does that happen?
我们为什么对自己说谎
As usual, I’m gonna explore this idea through a dialogue.
像往常一样 我将通过一段对话来讨论这些问题
For weeks, a young student (S) had been having philosophical conversations
几周来 一名年轻学生（S）一直在与一位退休牧师（P）
with a retired priest (P).
讨论一些哲学问题
The following is one of them.
以下是他们的部分对话
P: When you lie to yourself, you stop being able to see the truth.
P：当你对自己说谎时 你就无法看清真相
S: Is that so?
S：是这样吗？
What does it mean to lie to yourself?
对自己说谎意味着什么呢？
P: At the root of all self-deception is one belief:
P：所有的自欺欺人都根植于一个观念：
knowledge is truth.
知识就是真理
When you mistake your own knowledge for the truth,
当你把自己的知识误认为真理时
that is the moment you lie to yourself.
你就已经在对自己说谎了
The greatest lie is to say, “I know the truth.”
最大的谎言是就是说:“我知道真理”
I think Epictetus said it best when he said,
我认为埃皮克提图说得最好的一句话是:
“it is impossible for a man to learn what he thinks he already knows.”
“一个人不可能学习他认为自己已经知道的东西”
If you think you already know something,
如果你认为 你已经知道某种真理
you prevent yourself from seeing it as it is,
你就不会再去探索它的本来面目
and it may be different from how you know it.
但也许这一真理和你原本认为的并不相同
So thinking you know the truth
所以 在你认为自己知道所谓真理时
is the beginning of all self-deception
恰恰是你自欺欺人的开始
and the end of all learning,
和学习的终点
because it prevents you from seeing the world as it is right now.
因为这个想法使你无法看清现在的世界
S: Wait, but aren’t you contradicting yourself?
S：等一下 你不是自相矛盾吗？
You’re saying that statement like you know it.
你现在说话就像你知道你说的是真理一样
P: What you’re seeing is the limits of language.
P：你说的这个问题源于语言的局限性
Unless you want me to say, “I think,” and “in my opinion,”
除非你想让我在每一句话之前都加上
and “according to my experience,” before every single sentence,
“我认为”“在我看来” “根据我的经验”
I have to talk that way.
不然我就只能这样说话
But I’m just sharing my knowledge with you.
但事实上 我只是与你分享我的观点
I never said it was the truth.
不代表我的话就是真理
Like all knowledge, you have to verify it for yourself.
就像所有的知识 你必须自己去验证它们
Think about examples in your own life,
想想你自己生活中的例子
has mistaking your own knowledge for the truth
你是否曾经因为错误地把自己的知识当成真理
ever prevented you from seeing the world as it was?
而无法认清这个世界的真面目？
For example, have you ever had someone betray you
例如 你是否曾经遭到背叛
and realize that you never paid attention to the warning signs
并意识到 正是因为你曾认为自己了解对方
because you believed you already knew who they were?
所以才忽略了许多危险信号？
S: Unfortunately, I have.
S：不幸的是 我有这样的经历
Mistaking my knowledge for the truth
把自己的知识误认为是真理
has prevented me seeing the world as it is, you’re right.
使我无法看清世界的真相 你说的对
But sometimes my knowledge is the truth, isn’t it?
但有时我的知识确实是真理 不是吗？
P: No, knowledge is never truth,
P：不 知识从来都不是真理
but it can be true sometimes.
但有时知识可能是正确的
That’s a very subtle thing I just said.
我刚才说的话很微妙
Do you understand it?
你可以理解吗？
S: Knowledge is not truth, but it can sometimes be true.
S：知识从来都不是真理 但有时也可能是正确的
So you’re using three terms there: knowledge, truth, and true.
所以你用了三个词：知识 真理 正确
Can you explain them for me?
能给我解释一下它们吗？
P: Truth is the actual way to your destination.
P：真理是你到达目的地的途径
Knowledge is the map you have.
知识是你手中的地图
Sometimes the map can get you to your destination and sometimes it can’t
地图有时可以让你到达目的地 有时却不能
but you only know if the map is correct by testing it.
但你只有通过测试才能知道地图是否正确
If the map leads you to your destination,
如果地图把你带到了目的地
it is true—but only for that moment.
那说明仅仅在这一刻 它是对的
Because in the next moment,
因为在下一秒
the rivers may change the land,
河流可能会吞没土地
an earthquake may swallow the bridge,
地震可能会破坏桥梁
and the old path may no longer work.
之前走过的路也许不再畅通
Do you follow?
你理解了吗？
So knowledge can be true in the moment of testing,
因此 知识在接受检验时可能是正确的
but it is never the truth itself.
但知识本身永远不是真理
S: So truth is the actual way to your destination,
S：所以 真理是通往目的地的实际途径
knowledge is the way you think you can get to your destination,
知识是你认为你能到达目的地的途径
and knowledge is true when the way
而当知识能够带你到达目的地时
you think you can get to your destination works?
知识才是正确的？
Is that right?
这样理解对吗？
P: Exactly.
P：对
So when you say, “I know the truth”,
所以当你说出“我知道真理”
which is the root of all self-deception, you confuse
也就是所有自欺欺人的根源时
you confuse the map with the territory,
你将地图与实际的地方
or you confuse your own knowledge with truth.
或你将知识与真理的这两组概念混淆了
When you think your knowledge is truth,
当你认为你的知识是真理时
you have begun to deceive yourself.
你就开始欺骗自己了
But a mind that has severed this connection between knowledge and truth
但只要你的头脑能分清知识与真理
is unlikely to fool itself.
就不可能自欺欺人
S: And why is that?
S：这又是为什么？
P: Because a mind that has severed the connection between knowledge and truth
P：因为一个能分清知识与真理的头脑
is a mind that does not confuse the map with the territory,
不会混淆地图与实际的地方
the directions with the actual way,
不会混淆方向与实际的途径
a mind that is always seeing the world as it is
他能够认清这个世界的本来模样
and doesn’t hold on too tightly to the world as it was,
又不过分拘泥于当前的世界
and a mind that is always open to testing its own knowledge.
他总是乐于去检验自己的知识
S: Hmm… but what about 1+1 = 2?
S：但是1+1＝2这个问题怎么解释？
Isn’t that a truth I have in my mind that I don’t have to test?
这难道不是不用检验的真理吗？
P: No, that’s a common mistake.
P：不 这是一个常见的错误
1+1=2 means nothing until you actually test it.
1+1=2在经过你实际测试之前没有任何意义
I can say 1 Apple + 1 Apple = 2 Apples.
我可以说1个苹果+1个苹果=2个苹果
And how do I know?
但我是怎么知道的？
By testing it in the real world.
是通过现实世界中的检验
But I could just as easily say 1 Apple + 1 Apple = 1000 Atoms.
我可以很容易地说1个苹果+1个苹果=1000个原子
Do you follow?
你理解了吗？
So in that case, 1+1 would not equal two.
在这个例子里 1+1就不等于2
The answer depends on what you’re looking for,
答案取决于你的目的
and the trueness of the answer is only found in the testing.
并且答案是否正确只有在测试中才能知道
Knowledge, which is anything you can construct using language,
你可以用语言构建出任何的知识
is never truth.
但它永远不是真理
Truth is not something that can be spoken.
真理是无法用语言描述的
In The Brothers Karamazov, Fyodor Dostoevsky wrote,
陀思妥耶夫斯基在《卡拉马佐夫兄弟》这本书中写到
“Above all, don’t lie to yourself.
“首先 不要对自己说谎
The man who lies to himself and listens to his own lie
一个对自己说谎并对谎言深信不疑的人
comes to a point that he cannot distinguish the truth within him, or around him,
往往无法看清自己 或是周遭的现实
and so loses all respect for himself and for others.
因此失去自尊 ​也不会尊重他人
And having no respect he ceases to love,”
在失去所有尊重后 他就不在去爱”
and I explored some of the meaning behind this idea through a dialogue.
我通过对话来探讨这段话背后的一些含义
If truth is the actual way to our destination,
如果真理是我们到达目的地的实际途径
knowledge is the map that we have.
那么知识就是我们拥有的地图
And when the map gets us to our destination,
当地图把我们带到目的地时
we say that knowledge is true.
我们说知识是正确的
But knowledge is never truth,
但是知识从来不是真理
and to confuse the two
混淆这两者的概念
is to confuse the map for the territory,
就像混淆地图与实际的地方
the directions for the actual way,
混淆了方向与道路
what was for what is,
混淆了过去与现在
and to close oneself off to all learning.
这会让一个人停止所有的学习
Mistaking knowledge for truth is the root of all self-deception.
把知识误认为真理是一切自欺欺人的根源
But a mind that separates these two things,
但如果一个人能分清知识与真理
that realizes that knowledge is never truth,
明白知识永远不是真理
that the map is never the territory,
明白地图永远不是脚下的土地
always remains open to change, to testing, to learning,
他就永远乐于去改变 检验 学习
to updating its map in accordance with the territory,
去用现实中的土地修正自己的地图
and because of that, it will never deceive itself.
而正因为如此 他就永远不会欺骗自己
As always, this is just my opinion and understanding of Dostoevsky’s words,
和往常一样 这只是我对陀思妥耶夫斯基的话的见解
not advice.
而不是建议
Feel free to use this information however you like,
你可以自主选择如何利用这些信息
and if you have a different take on Dostoevsky’s words,
如果你对他的话有不同的理解
I’d love to hear your perspective in the comments.
欢迎在评论区留下你的看法