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I'm a political and social psychologist.
我是一名政治和社会心理学家。
I study how people understand the world and what this means for society and for democracy... which, as it turns out, is quite a lot.
我研究人们如何理解这个世界，以及这对社会和民主意味着什么，而事实证明，二者存在着极其重要的关联。
Some people see the world as safe and good, and this allows them to be OK with uncertainty and to take time to explore and play.
有些人认为这个世界是安全的、美好的，让他们可以接受不确定，并尽情去探索和享受。
Others are acutely aware of threats in their environment, so they prioritize order and predictability over openness and experimentation.
其他人则对他们周围的威胁很敏锐，所以他们把秩序和可预测性放在开放性和实验前面。
In my academic research, I study how these two approaches shape how we think and feel about everything from art to politics.
在我的学术研究里，我研究这两种方法如何塑造我们对从艺术到政治的一切事物的思考和感受。
I also explore how political elites and partisan media use these very differences to engender hatred and fear
我也探索政治精英和党派媒体是如何利用这一差别去引发厌恶和恐惧，
and how the economics of our media system exploit these same divides.
以及我们媒体系统的经济体系如何利用同样的分裂以牟利。
But after studying this, I have come away not with a sense that we are doomed to be divided
但经过一番研究，我并没有感觉到我们注定要分裂，
but that it's up to us to see both sets of traits as necessary and even valuable.
而是应该把这两套特征都看成是必要的，甚至是有价值的。
Take for example two men who have been so influential in my own life.
用我生活中最有影响力的两个男人举个例子。
First, my late husband, Mike. He was an artist who saw the world as safe and good.
首先，我已故的丈夫，迈克。他生前是个艺术家，他眼中的世界就是安全和美好的。
He welcomed ambiguity and play in his life.
他对不确定性和享乐来者不拒。
In fact, we met through improv comedy where he taught improvisers to listen and be open
事实上，我们是通过即兴喜剧认识的，他教授即兴演奏的人如何倾听和敞开心扉，
and to be comfortable not knowing what was going to happen next.
面对未知的未来，依然能感到从容自在。
After we got married and had our baby boy, Mike was diagnosed with a brain tumor.
在我们结婚并有了儿子以后，迈克被诊断出患有脑瘤。
And through months of hospitalizations and surgeries, I followed Mike's lead,
经过几个月的住院和手术，我跟随迈克的脚步，
trying to practice being open, trying to be OK not knowing what was going to happen next.
尝试练习让心态变得更开放，尝试接受未来的不确定性。
It was Mike's tolerance for ambiguity that allowed me to survive those months of uncertainty,
正是迈克对不确定性的宽容，让我得以撑过接下来的几个月，
and that helped me explore new ways to rebuild my life after he died.
并帮助了我在他去世后去寻找重塑生活的新途径。
About a year and a half after Mike passed away, I met my current husband, PJ.
在迈克去世的一年半后，我遇到了我现在的丈夫，PJ。
PJ is a criminal prosecutor who sees the world as potentially good provided that threats are properly managed.
PJ是位刑事检察官，他认为如果威胁会被妥善处理，这个世界就是美好的。
He also is someone who embraces order and predictability in his daily routine, in the foods that he eats, in his selection of wardrobe.
他也更偏向秩序和可预测性，这些都体现在他的日常作息里，他的食物里，他的日常衣着选择里。
And PJ has a vicious wit, but he's also morally very serious with a strong sense of duty and purpose.
PJ有一种邪恶的智慧，但他在道德上非常严肃，有着强烈的责任感和使命感。
And he values tradition, loyalty and family,
他重视传统、忠诚和家庭，
which is why at the age of 28 he did not hesitate to marry a widow, adopt her baby boy and raise him as his son.
这也就是为什么他在28岁的时候毫不犹豫地娶了一个寡妇，领养了她的小儿子，然后把他当作亲儿子养。
It was PJ's need for certainty and closure that brought stability to our lives.
正是PJ对确定性和完整性的需求，给我们的生活带来了稳定。
I share these two stories of Mike and PJ not just because they're personal,
我分享关于迈克和PJ的故事，不仅是因为这些是我的个人经历，
but because they illustrate two things that I have found in my own research.
同时也因为它们说明了我在我的研究中发现的两件事。
First, that our psychological traits shape how we engage with the world,
首先，我们的心理特征塑造了我们与世界互动的方式，
and second, that both of these approaches make all of our lives possible.
其次，这两种方法都给予了我们的生命更多可能。
Tragically though, political and economic incentives of our media environment seek to exploit these differences to get us angry,
但不幸的是，我们周围媒体环境中的政治和经济刺激正试图利用这些差异来激怒我们，
to get our attention, to get clicks and to turn us against one another.
引起我们的注意力，获得点击量，并使我们互相反目。
And it works. It works in part because these same sets of traits are related to core political and cultural beliefs.
然而它的确很有效。其中的部分原因是，这些相同的特质与核心的政治和文化信仰有关。
For years, political psychologists have studied how our psychological traits shape our political beliefs.
多年以来，政治心理学家研究了我们的心理特征如何塑造了我们的政治信仰。
We've conducted experiments to understand how our psychology and our politics shape how we respond to apolitical stimuli.
我们通过实验来了解我们的心理和政策如何塑造了我们如何应对非政治性的刺激。
And this research has shown that those people who are less concerned with threats, who are tolerant of ambiguity,
这项研究证明了，那些不太在意威胁，对不确定性比较包容的人，
these people tend to be more culturally and socially liberal on matters like immigration or crime or sexuality.
往往在像移民、犯罪或性取向的问题上偏向更开放的文化和社会。
And because they're tolerant of ambiguity, they also tend to be OK with nuance and they enjoy thinking for the sake of thinking,
然而正因为他们可以容忍不确定性，他们也通常可以接受细微的差异，喜欢刻意思考，
which helps explain why it is that there are distinct aesthetic preferences on the left and the right,
这有助于解释为什么左派和右派有不同的审美偏好，
with liberals more likely than conservatives to appreciate things like abstract art or even stories that lack a clear ending.
自由派比保守派更有可能欣赏抽象艺术，甚至是没有明确结局的故事。
In my experimental work, I've also found that these differences help explain
在我的实验结果里，我还发现，这些不同解释了
why ironic, political satire is more likely to be appreciated and understood by liberals than conservatives.
为什么自由派比保守派更有可能会理解与欣赏政治讽刺。
On the other hand, those people who are monitoring for threats, who prefer certainty and closure,
另一方面，这种能够感受到威胁，喜好确定性和封闭性的人
hose tend to be our political, cultural, social conservatives.
通常是我们的政治、文化和社会的保守派。
Because they're on alert, they also make decisions quickly and efficiently, guided by intuition and emotion.
因为他们总是很警惕，他们可以在直觉和情感的导引下，迅速并有效的做出决定。
And we've found that these traits help explain
然后我们发现这些特质解释了
why conservatives enjoy political opinion talk programming that clearly and efficiently identifies threats and enemies.
为什么保守派喜欢能够明确且有效的辨认威胁和敌人的政论节目。
What is essential though is that these propensities are not absolute -- they're not fixed.
但最重要的是，这些倾向并不是绝对的--不是一成不变的。
There are liberals who are monitoring for threats just as there are conservatives who are tolerant of ambiguity.
也有些自由派对威胁比较敏感，就像有些保守派同样能够容忍不确定性一样。
In fact, PJ's political beliefs are not that radically different from those that Mike held.
事实上，PJ的政治主张与迈克的主张并没有多么不同。
The link between psychology and politics is contingent on context: who we're with and what's going on around us.
心理学与政治的联系是依情况而定的：也就是我们周围的人与事。
The problem is that right now, our dominant context, our political and media context,
问题是，现在，我们的主流语境，我们政治和媒体的语境，
actually needs these differences to be absolute, to be reinforced and even to be weaponized.
实际上需要这些差异变得绝对，需要得到加强，甚至变得武器化。
For reasons related to power and profit, some in politics and media want us to believe that
出于与权力和利益相关的原因，有些政治和媒体人士总是想让我们相信，
those people who approach the world differently from us -- the Mikes or the PJs -- themselves are dangerous.
用与我们不同的方法来接触世界的人，比如迈克或是PJ，是危险的。
And social media platforms use algorithms and microtargeting to deliver divisive messages in our preferred messaging aesthetic.
社交媒体平台用算法和微定位，来传递我们偏爱的信息美学中的分歧信息。
Messages that relate to politics, culture and race. And we see the devastating effects of these messages every single day.
政治、文化与种族方面的信息。于是，我们每天都可以看到这些信息带来的灾难性影响。
Americans who are angry and fearful of the other side. Charges of the other side destroying America.
美国人对立场不同的同胞感到愤怒和恐惧；我们指控“另一边”的人试图毁灭美国。
But stop and think for a moment. What would happen if those differences had never been weaponized?
但停下来思考一下。如果这些差异从来没有被武器化会怎样？
It is liberal inclinations towards openness and flexibility that allow us to cope with uncertainty
正是带有自由倾向的开放性和灵活性让我们能够应对不确定性，
and that allow us to explore new paths towards innovation, creativity -- scientific discovery.
去探索通向创新、创造，科学发现的新道路。
Think of things like space travel or cures for diseases or art that imagines and reimagines a better world.
不妨想象一下太空旅行、疾病的治疗、想象和重新构想一个更美好世界的艺术。
And those conservative inclinations towards vigilance and security and tradition.
而那些保守派倾向于保持警惕、拥有安全感和维系传统。
These are the things that motivate us to do what must be done for our own protection and stability.
这些事情激励着我们为了我们的安全和稳定而采取必要的行动。
Think of the safety that's offered by our armed forces or the security of our banking system.
想想军队为我们提供的安全感，或是银行的安保系统。
Or think about the stability that's offered by such democratic institutions as jury duty, or cultural traditions like fireworks on the Fourth of July.
或者想想像陪审团义务这样的民主制度，像独立日的烟花这样的文化传统所带来的稳定。
What if the real threat posed to society and democracy is not actually posed by the other side?
如果针对社会和民主的真正威胁并不是来自“另一方”呢？
What if the real danger is posed by political and media elites who try to get us to think that we'd be better off without the other side
如果真正的危险是由政治和媒体精英们造成的，他们试图让我们认为没有“另一方”，我们会过得更好，
and who use these divisions for their own personal, financial, political benefit?
他们只是在利用这些分歧为个人、经济和政治利益服务呢？
Mike and PJ engaged with the world very differently, but these distinct approaches continue to enrich my life every day.
迈克和PJ对待这个世界的方式截然不同，但这些不同的方法继续丰富着我的日常生活。
Instead of our political and media context determining that the other side is the enemy
如果我们不让政治和媒体语境去把“另一方”定义成敌人，
and lulling us into believing that that's true, what if we choose to create the context?
哄骗我们相信那是真的，而是选择自己去创造这个语境呢？
Real people connecting with other real people, appreciating these two approaches for what they are:
真实的人与其他真实的人交流，并欣赏这两种方式的本质：
necessary gifts that can help us all survive and thrive together. Thank you.
它们是能够帮助我们共同生存和发展的必要天赋。谢谢。
