又到了星期一，繼續(xù)工作學習?？偸窍胫?，什么時候能放假，什么時候能休息。休假似乎遙遙無期。但已經(jīng)有人擔心，隨著科技的高速發(fā)展，社會上會產(chǎn)生“無用階級”--不但沒有工作，還找不到工作。如果沒有了工作，如果無事可做，人類該如何找到生活的意義？
沒有了工作，生活的意義在哪里？
譯者：王樂穎
校對：李林治
詞匯：徐 唱
策劃：朱宇晴
As technology renders jobs obsolete, what will keep us busy?
隨著工作逐漸被科技淘汰，我們能做些什么？
本文選自 The Guardian | 取經(jīng)號原創(chuàng)翻譯
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Most jobs that exist today might disappear within decades. As artificial intelligence outperforms humans in more and more tasks, it will replace humans in more and more jobs.
未來幾十年，目前大部分的工作可能會消失。隨著人工智能在越來越多工作中打敗人類，它將取代越來越多的崗位。
outperform /?outp?r?f?rm / v. to be more successful than someone or something else 做得比…好; 勝過
The crucial problem isn’t creating new jobs. The crucial problem is creating new jobs that humans perform better than algorithms. Consequently, by 2050 a new class of people might emerge – the useless class. People who are not just unemployed, but unemployable.
最關(guān)鍵的問題不是創(chuàng)造新的工作，而是要創(chuàng)造出人類比算法更擅長的工作。因此，到2050年，可能會出現(xiàn)一個新的階級：無用階級。他們不但沒有工作，而且還找不到工作。
The same technology that renders humans useless might also make it feasible to feed and support the unemployable masses through some scheme of universal basic income. The real problem will then be to keep the masses occupied and content. People must engage in purposeful activities, or they go crazy. So what will the useless class do all day?
將人類變得無用的科技，同樣可能通過普遍基本收入機制，來供養(yǎng)沒有工作的人群。那時，真正的難題是，怎樣讓人們有事可做并獲得滿足感。人必須參與到有目的性的活動中去，不然就會發(fā)瘋。所以，無用階級每天該做些什么呢？
render /?rend?r/ v. to cause someone or something to be in a particular condition使成為; 使變得; 使處于某種狀態(tài): render sb / sth
One answer might be computer games. Economically redundant people might spend increasing amounts of time within 3D virtual reality worlds, which would provide them with far more excitement and emotional engagement than the “real world” outside. This, in fact, is a very old solution. For thousands of years, billions of people have found meaning in playing virtual reality games. In the past, we have called these virtual reality games “religions”.
可能性之一是電腦游戲。經(jīng)濟富余的人們，可能會投入越來越多的時間到3D虛擬世界中去，比起現(xiàn)實，它能提供更多的刺激與感情交流。這事實上是一個非常老套的解決方法。數(shù)千年來，幾十億人在虛擬現(xiàn)實游戲中找到了意義。過去，我們把這些游戲稱之為“宗教”。
redundant /r??d?nd?nt / adj. not necessary because something else means or does the same thing 多余的; 累贅的
What is a religion if not a big virtual reality game played by millions of people together? Religions such as Islam and Christianity invent imaginary laws, such as “don’t eat pork”, “repeat the same prayers a set number of times each day”, “don’t have sex with somebody from your own gender” and so forth. These laws exist only in the human imagination. No natural law requires the repetition of magical formulas, and no natural law forbids homosexuality or eating pork. Muslims and Christians go through life trying to gain points in their favorite virtual reality game. If you pray every day, you get points. If you forget to pray, you lose points. If by the end of your life you gain enough points, then after you die you go to the next level of the game (aka heaven).
宗教如果不是幾百萬玩家共同參與的虛擬現(xiàn)實游戲，還能是什么呢？諸如伊斯蘭教和基督教之類的宗教，會創(chuàng)造出假想的法則，例如：“不能吃豬肉”、“每天要重復相同的禱告若干次”和“不得和同性發(fā)生性行為”等等。這些法則只存在于人類想象之中。沒有任何自然規(guī)律要求你重復有法力的口訣，也沒有禁止同性性行為或是食用豬肉。終其一生，穆斯林和基督徒都希望能在自己最愛的游戲中得分。每天祈禱就加分，忘記祈禱就減分。假如死前攢夠了一定分數(shù)，死后就有資格晉級游戲的下一關(guān)（也就是天堂）。
As religions show us, the virtual reality need not be encased inside an isolated box. Rather, it can be superimposed on the physical reality. In the past this was done with the human imagination and with sacred books, and in the 21st century it can be done with smartphones.
宗教告訴我們，虛擬現(xiàn)實不一定要裝在一個單獨的盒子里。更確切地說，它會反映在現(xiàn)實中。過去，這是由人類想象和宗教典籍完成的，而21世紀，這可以由智能手機完成。
encase /in?kās,en?kās / v. 常作 (be encased) enclose or cover in a case or close-fitting surround把…裝入盒（或箱）內(nèi)；包，裹
superimpose / ?so?op(?)r?m?pōz/ v. 1. to put one picture, image, or photograph on top of another so that both can be partly seen 使〔圖畫、圖像或照片〕重疊，使疊加; 2. to combine two systems, ideas, opinions etc so that one influences the other使〔兩種制度、思想、意見等〕相結(jié)合，使融合
Some time ago I went with my six-year-old nephew Matan to hunt for Pokémon. As we walked down the street, Matan kept looking at his smartphone, which enabled him to spot Pokémon all around us. I didn’t see any Pokémon at all, because I didn’t carry a smartphone. Then we saw two others kids on the street who were hunting the same Pokémon, and we almost got into a fight with them. It struck me how similar the situation was to the conflict between Jews and Muslims about the holy city of Jerusalem. When you look at the objective reality of Jerusalem, all you see are stones and buildings. There is no holiness anywhere. But when you look through the medium of smartbooks (such as the Bible and the Qur’an), you see holy places and angels everywhere.
不久前，我和六歲的外甥馬丁一起玩精靈寶可夢。在我們走過街道時，馬丁一直盯著手機，這讓他能看到我們身邊的寵物小精靈。我沒帶手機，所以我什么也沒看到。之后，我們碰見了兩個也在找寵物小精靈的小孩，而且差點和他們打了起來。這讓我覺得，這跟猶太教徒、穆斯林之間對圣城耶路撒冷沖突是多么的相似。當你尋找伊斯蘭教存在的物證時，你能見到的只有建筑和石頭。但當你翻閱圣書（例如《圣經(jīng)》和《可蘭經(jīng)》）時，隨處都是圣地和天使。
The idea of finding meaning in life by playing virtual reality games is of course common not just to religions, but also to secular ideologies and lifestyles. Consumerism too is a virtual reality game. You gain points by acquiring new cars, buying expensive brands and taking vacations abroad, and if you have more points than everybody else, you tell yourself you won the game.
當然，通過想象現(xiàn)實尋找生命意義不僅常見于宗教，還常見于世俗意識形態(tài)和生活方式。消費主義也是一個虛擬現(xiàn)實游戲。人們通過購買新車、消費昂貴品牌產(chǎn)品和出國旅游累積分數(shù)。如果分數(shù)比其他人高，你就覺得自己贏了。
consumerism /k?n?su?.m?.?.z?m/ the situation in which too much attention is given to buying and owning things 消費主義
In Israel, a significant percentage of ultra-orthodox Jewish men never work. They spend their entire lives studying holy scriptures and performing religion rituals. They and their families don’t starve to death partly because the wives often work, and partly because the government provides them with generous subsidies. Though they usually live in poverty, government support means that they never lack for the basic necessities of life.
在以色列，有很大一部分極端正統(tǒng)的猶太人從不工作。他們的生命都用在學習圣經(jīng)和舉行宗教儀式上。他們和家人沒有餓死，一部分原因是妻子會去工作，另外一部分原因是政府會提供大筆補貼。盡管他們通常生活貧困，但政府補貼意味著他們永遠不會缺少基本所需。
That’s universal basic income in action. Though they are poor and never work, in survey after survey these ultra-orthodox Jewish men report higher levels of life-satisfaction than any other section of Israeli society.
這就是真實的普遍基本收入。盡管這些猶太男子窮困潦倒，從不工作，但各類調(diào)查顯示，這些極端正統(tǒng)的猶太男子對生活的滿意程度是以色列社會中最高的。
In global surveys of life satisfaction, Israel is almost always at the very top, thanks in part to the contribution of these unemployed deep players.
在全球生活滿意程度調(diào)查中，以色列幾乎一直名列前茅。這些沒有工作的虔誠教徒是其中一個原因。
You don’t need to go all the way to Israel to see the world of post-work. If you have at home a teenage son who likes computer games, you can conduct your own experiment. Provide him with a minimum subsidy of Coke and pizza, and then remove all demands for work and all parental supervision. The likely outcome is that he will remain in his room for days, glued to the screen. He won’t do any homework or housework, will skip school, skip meals and even skip showers and sleep. Yet he is unlikely to suffer from boredom or a sense of purposelessness. At least not in the short term.
要見識“后工作”世界，無需長途跋涉去以色列。如果家里有一個喜歡電腦游戲、正值青春期的兒子，你就可以自己開展實驗。給他提供最少量的可樂和披薩，然后不要求他工作，也不管他。他可能會一直呆在自己房間，盯著屏幕。他不會做任何作業(yè)或家務；他不會上學、不會吃飯甚至不會洗澡、睡覺。但他不太會感到無聊或是迷茫。至少短期內(nèi)是這樣。
Hence virtual realities are likely to be key to providing meaning to the useless class of the post-work world. Maybe these virtual realities will be generated inside computers. Maybe they will be generated outside computers, in the shape of new religions and ideologies. Maybe it will be a combination of the two. The possibilities are endless, and nobody knows for sure what kind of deep plays will engage us in 2050.
因此，在后工作世界，虛擬現(xiàn)實將成為向無用階級提供意義的關(guān)鍵。這些虛擬現(xiàn)實可能在電腦內(nèi)部形成；可能以新宗教和意識形態(tài)的形式在電腦外部形成；也可能兩者兼具?？赡苄詿o窮無盡，也沒有人能確定2050年我們將參與到什么樣的深度游戲中。
But what about truth? What about reality? Do we really want to live in a world in which billions of people are immersed in fantasies, pursuing make-believe goals and obeying imaginary laws? Well, like it or not, that’s the world we have been living in for thousands of years already.
但真理呢？現(xiàn)實呢？我們真的希望生活在一個數(shù)十億人沉浸于幻想、追求虛幻目標、遵循假想法則的世界中嗎？事實上，不管喜不喜歡，這就是我們已經(jīng)生存了數(shù)千年的世界。
immerse /i?m?rs / v. immerse yourself in sth, to become completely involved in an activity 潛心于某事，專心于某事
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<原文鏈接：https: www.theguardian.com/technology/2017/may/08/virtual-reality-religion-robots-sapiens-book="">
