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Wills, as these things go, there are layers of issues.
关于遗嘱 这个问题是多层次的
So a will is not sort of a simple, one piece of paper kind of document.
遗嘱并不仅仅是一张简单的书面文件而已
There are many different kinds of wills.
遗嘱有很多种
There's wills to handle your things.
有如何处理你的身后物的遗嘱
There's wills to handle your body.
有如何护理你的遗体的遗嘱
And there are wills to handle your legacy, in a way.
还有如何处理你的遗产的遗嘱
There are complications. We have layered in systems and structures and legalities and all sorts of paperwork to this subject.
有很多种情况 我们在制度、结构、法律和各种文书方面对这个问题进行了分层
So, if we have some old-fashioned notion that death is natural, it'll come, society absorbs death all the time,
所以 如果我们有一些过时的观念 认为死亡是自然的 它总会到来 社会一直有死亡
family members absorb eath all the time, that we can just kind of let nature take its course,
家庭成员一直面临着死亡 我们可以顺其自然
well, again, we've supervened in nature in too many ways by now.
还是那句话 我们已经在很多方面影响了自然
So if you don't prepare, if you don't do your will, if you don't set up a trust, if you don't do your advance directives, et cetera,
所以如果你不做准备 不立遗嘱 不建立委托 不提前立下指令 等等
then you fall into these default mechanisms in our systems that aren't necessarily always commonsensical.
那你就陷入了我们不一定符合常识的系统中的那些默认机制里
So one thing that happens all the time -- and it happens at every level of society -- I mean, most recently, Prince famously died and had not done his will.
经常会发生的一种事情是 这在社会各界都存在 最近 王子去世了 但他却没有立遗嘱
And it's left an enormous mess for his family and his estate.
这给他的家人和财产留下了巨大的麻烦
And they'll be fighting in that family for I don't know how long, for a long time.
他的家人们会为此争论很久很久
And so much of that could have been obviated by doing a will, putting it in a trust.
如果他立了遗嘱 并交给委托机构 那这一切都可以避免
It's not fun. But it's also not that difficult.
立遗嘱不是件有意思的事 但它也没那么难
You just have to take time to do it.
只需要你花点时间就可以
So this is sort of one of the ways that death goes from difficult to feeling impossible, or difficult to feeling almost cruel.
这种方式可以让死亡从困难变成觉得不可能 或从困难变成觉得残酷
The pain that we layer on top of our grief can be profound.
我们叠加在悲伤上的痛苦很深刻
And it's often for the lack of these very simple things, like you just didn't do your paperwork.
这通常都是因为我们没有做这些简单的事 比如你没有立下文书
Or a common scenario is someone takes the time to put their estate into a trust--
或者一种常见的现象是 有人会花时间把财产交给委托机构
if you put into a trust, your family gets to avoid probate,
如果你交给了委托机构 你的家人就可以免去遗嘱认证
which is a hellish legal process that goes on for years, generally speaking.
遗嘱认证是通常会持续几年的法律程序 让人望而却步
But they'll set up a trust but they'll forget to put their assets into the trust.
但他们会成立委托机构 却忘记把财产交给委托机构
Or they'll forget to sign a piece of paper.
或者是忘记签署文件
Or they'll do their will, and then not tell anyone where it is.
或者他们会立遗嘱 但却没有告诉任何人遗嘱放在哪里
These kinds of things are really common.
这些现象都很普遍
And you can imagine, it's a simple mistake.
你可以想象一下 这是个很简单的错误
I mean, there's an advance care directive, which is often also called a living will.
我的意思是 有一种提前关怀指令 通常也被称为生前遗嘱
And that's where you stipulate your wishes for how do you want to be treated if -- when you're at the end of your life,
你可以在那里面说明 当你的生命即将结束的时候
who do you want to be your health care proxy, making decisions for you if you can't?
你想让谁成为你的医保代理人 让谁在你没有行为能力的时候帮你做决定?
That is probably the single most important thing any of us can do, is to name our health care proxy.
这可能是我们所有人能做到的最重要的一件事 就是指定我们的医保代理人
And that's a relatively easy process.
这个过程相对简单一些
So you've got the living will slash advance directive -- naming your proxy, naming your durable power of attorney for finances.
所以有生前遗嘱/预立指令 指定代理人 指定你财产的预立代理人
And then you can get into things like who gets what after you're gone, et cetera.
然后你就可以说明在你死后 谁能得到什么等等
So there's that bundle of paperwork that also will often cover what's called code status.
所以有一堆文件 会涉及到所谓的代码状态
So if you die, when you die, do you want medical effort to try to revive you, resuscitate you?
如果你死了 当你死的时候 你希望医疗努力来拯救你吗?
Or do you want to let people make you comfortable and let you go?
还是想让大家放手 让你舒舒服服地走？
You can make those kinds of stipulations in your will and your advance directive.
你可以在遗嘱和预立指令中规定这些东西
So those are sort of the mechanical pieces -- like what to do with your stuff,
这些都是物质部分 如何处理你的物品
and what do you want done with your body, and sort of navigating the material world.
或者如何处理你的遗体 主要围绕的是物质世界
And then there's this other thing around a legacy and what any human leaves behind --
关于遗产或者人们留下的东西 还有另一个板块儿
and of course, especially if we have family, but anyone, friends, anyone that you care about,
当然了 尤其是我们有家人 朋友 或者任何你在乎的人的时候
if you want to pass along tips of wisdom or things you've learned,
如果你想传递智慧或你学到的东西
or pass along the narrative of your life as you see it,
或者传递你眼中的自传
or what you think of yourself in the world or people in the world,
或者你对自己或这世上的人们有何见解
or what you hope for for your heirs or for the future --
或者你对你的继承人或未来有何期冀
these, much more spiritual, philosophical, those issues, you can also transmit those.
这些 更偏向精神、哲学类的东西 你也可以传递这些
Certainly, like in an oral tradition, you can talk to people you love, and you can make yourself known that way.
当然了 就像在口头传统中 你可以和你爱的人说话 你可以让别人了解你
But there is this really beautiful ancient thing, this ancient process called an ethical will.
但是有一种非常古老的东西 这个古老的程序叫做道德遗嘱
And they're gaining some traction again.
它又引起了一些人的注意
These have been around for millennia.
它已经存在了上千年
This is sort of a way to document your story and all the things I just mentioned -- all of what you might want to pass along, things you've learned, et cetera.
它是记录你的故事和我刚才提到的所有事情的方式——所有你想要传递的东西 你学过的东西 等等
And there's a format for this.
而且它还有格式
And you can lay out your feelings, really, your thinking in an ethical will.
你可以在道德遗嘱中列出你的感受、思想
And you can pass that on to anyone you wish to as well.
还可以把它传递给任何你想给的人
That's a beautiful thing to do.
这种做法真的太好了
I mean, most people, sure, when my parents go, I'm sure I'd love that old ashtray that my grandfather used all the time.
多数人 当然了 等我父母去世的时候 我很想要我爷爷以前一直用的那个旧烟灰缸
Or I wouldn't mind what cash they have left or whatever.
或者我并不介意他们留下了多少金钱
But I would really love to know what my parents think of themselves in the world, or think of the world more broadly,
但我真的很想知道我父母对他们自己 对这个世界有何感想
or think of me or wish for me or hope for me in the world -- that kind of thing.
或者对我 对我的未来有何希冀 这一类的想法
And that's an ethical will.
这就叫道德遗嘱
And I would love it if we all did that.
我希望大家都能这么做
