Unit3AlienationandtheInternet课文翻译综合教程四

Un it 3

Alie nati on and the In ternet

Will Baker

1.

The Internet provides an amaz ing forum for the free excha nge of ideas. Give n the relatively

few restrictions governing access and usage , it is the communications modal equivale nt of intern ati onal waters.1 It is my pers onal belief that the huma n pote ntial can

only be realized by the globalizatio n of ideas. I developed this positi on2 years before the Internet came into wide spread use. And I am excited at the potential for the Internet to dramatically alter our global society for the better. However I am also troubled by the possible uninten ded n egative con seque nces. 2.

There has been much talk about the new information age.\

been the notion that the Internet may be responsible for furthering the fragme ntatio n of society by alie nati ng its in dividual users.3 At first this might sound like an apparent contradiction

: how can something , that is on the one hand responsible for

?

global unification by enabling the free exchange of ideas , alienate the participants 3.

I had a recent discussion with a friend of mine who has what he described as a problem \

the Internet. When I questioned him further he said that he was addicted , \to go off-line. He said that he felt like an alcoholic , in that moderate use of the Internet was just not possible for him.5 I have not

known this fellow to be given to exaggeration

, therefore when he described his internet

, it gave me pause

binges , 6 when he would spend over twenty-four hours on line non-stop to think. He said , the Internet isn

t'real , but I was spending all my time online , so I just

had to stop. \sense of reality , and that it made him feel Ionely and depressed. 4.

The fragme ntati on of society has bee n lame nted for some time no w. It seems to me

that it probably bega n in earn est after World War II when a gen eratio n retur ned from doing great deeds overseas. They won the war

, and by God they were going to win the

peace. Automobile own ership became com mon place and suburbs were created. Progress \their mantra.8 So even prior to the Internet ‘ widespread popularity , folks were already becoming distaneed from their extended families and neighbors. And when we fast-forward to today we see an almost cruel irony in that people can and ofte n do develop on-li ne relatio nships with folks on the other side of the globe

without leaving their homes. But at the expense of the time that would have otherwise

,

been available for involvement in other activities which might foster a sense of

com mun ity in their villages , tow ns and cities. 5.

Last weeke nd my wife and I in vited our exte nded family to our home to celebrate our

daughter ‘birthday. During the celebratio n my young n ephew spe nt the en tire time on my computer play ing a simulated war game. My brother- in-law and I were chatt ing

nearby and it struck us that in generations past , his son , my nephew , would have been outside playing with his friends. But now the little fellow goes on line to play his games aga inst his friends in cyberspace. 6.

It seems to me that the Internet is a powerful tool that prese nts an opport un ity for

, based on my

the advancement of the acquisition and application of knowledge. However

personal experienee I can understand how , as they surf the web some folks might be confron ted with cog nitive overload.9 And I can also un dersta nd how one might have his or her sense of reality distorted in the process. Is the Internet a real place

upon how a “eal place ”s defined it might very well be. At the very least whe n we use the Internet , we are forced to ask fun dame ntal perceive the world about us —perhaps another unintended

? Depending , I believe that

questi ons about how we consequenee. Some would

argue that the virtual existences created by some users who debate , shop , travel and have roma nee on li ne are in fact not real. While others would argue that , si nee in practical terms , folks are debati ng , shopp ing , travelli ng and havi ng roma nee , the con verse is true. 7.

All of this being said , I believe that the key to realizing the potential of the Internet is in

achieving balanee in our lives. This would allow us to maximize its potential without

losing our sense of place.10 However like most things that is easier said than done. It seems to me that we are a society that values immediate gratification above all else

, and

what better place to achieve it than in cyberspace , where the cyber-world is your cyber-oyster.11 The widespread use of the automobile forever changed our society and culture , and perhaps a similar sort of thing is occurring now. I am not at all certain where

the information superhighway \: some say to Utopia , 12 while others feel it s the road to hell. But I do know that we all have the ability to maintain our sense of place in the world. Whether we choose to take advantage of this ability is another matter.

因特网与人际之疏远

威尔贝克

1 因特网为思想的自由交流提供了一个非凡的平台。 由于登录和使用互联网的限制相对较

少，它的作用就等同于通讯传播中的公海。 我个人认为人类潜能只有通过思想的全球化才能

我为因特网给全球社会的更好发 展带来

实现。在因特网广为应用之前许多年我就有了这样的立场。

的巨大变化振奋不已。然而，我也为预料之外的负面后果感到困扰。

2 关于 “新的信息时代 ”人们谈论得很多。 但是， 互联网使网民之间彼此疏远，从而导致社 会的进一

步土崩瓦解， 对这方面的报道却少得多。 乍听起来这似乎相互矛盾： 一种东西怎么 会既能让人们自由地交流思想，从而使全球融为一体，同时又让参与者彼此疏远呢？

3 我一位朋友自称使用因特网出了 “问题 ”，最近我和他讨论了这个问题。 我进一步追问时 他说他有

“网瘾 ”，经常得 “强制 ”自己离线下网。他觉得自己像个酒鬼，因为他就是无法有节 制地上网。 据我所知，此人不喜欢夸大其词， 因此当他描述自己的网瘾，说常常连续泡网一 天一夜时，这引起了我的思考。他说： “网络世界不是真实的，但我还偏偏把自己所有时间 花在网络上，所以我不得不悬崖勒马。 ”他接着说他在网上花的那么多时间使他扭曲了现实 感，让他觉得孤单压抑，郁郁寡欢。

4 大家哀叹社会的四分五裂由来已久。在我看来，这种分裂真正始于第二次世界大战结 束后， 当时一代

人在海外完成宏伟事业之后荣归故里。他们打赢了战争，面对上帝，他们还 要赢得和平。小汽车变得普及，人们建起了郊区。 “进步 ”是时常挂在他们嘴边的口号。于是 甚至早于因特网大行其道之时， 人们早就疏远了大家庭的其他成员和左邻右舍。 我们把场景 快进到今天， 见到的情景几乎可以说是残酷的讽刺： 人们足不出户就经常能和远在地球另一 端的人建立网络关系， 但这样做的代价是： 他们花掉了很多时间， 而这些时间本来可以在他 们自己的村子和城镇里投身于各项活动，从而培养社区观念。

5 上周末我们夫妻邀请大家庭的其他成员来家里庆祝我女儿的生日。 整个庆祝过程中， 小 外甥把全部时

间都花在我电脑上玩一个模拟战争的游戏。 我和妹夫就坐在边上聊天。 我们都 认识到，要是像几代前的先辈那样，他儿子，也就是我外甥，一定在外头和朋友玩耍。但如 今这小家伙不在外头玩，而是上网和虚拟空间的朋友玩游戏。

6 对我来说，因特网似乎是个强大的工具，它给人们提供一个不断获取和应用知识的机 会。然而， 通过

我自己的亲身经历， 我能够理解当某些人上网的时候， 是如何面临认知超载 的。我也同样明白一个人的现实感在上网过程中如何被扭曲。 网络空间是真实的吗？按照界 定“真实处所 ”的定义，网络空间很可能是真实的。退一万步说，我相信上网时，我们会被迫 拷问自己一些基本问题，比如我们如何感知周围的世界 ——或许这是另一个预料之外的后 果。有人或许会说，用户在网上唇枪舌剑、购物旅游、谈情说爱的虚拟存在并不真实；而另 一些人主张说，按实际的说法，人们确实在网上唇枪舌剑、购物旅游、谈情说爱，那么网络 世界就应该是真实的。

7 说了这么多， 我认为发挥因特网潜能的关键在于在生活中取得平衡。 这能使我们最大程 度地挖掘网络

潜能而不迷失自己。然而，就像大多数事理那样，说易行难。在我看来，我们 这个社会似乎最崇尚及时行乐， 要实现这一点， 还有比网络空间更好的场所吗？在网络上你 可以想干什么就干什么。 汽车的广泛使用永远改变了我们的社会和文化， 类似的事情现在也 在发生。我压根不确定 “信息高速公路 ”将会把我们引向何方： 有人说它会把我们带入乌托邦， 而另一些人觉得它是通往地狱之路。 但我确信我们都有能力保持我们在世界上的方位感。 但 是我们能否选择利用这种能力却是另外一回事。