wrote, “Above all, don't lie to yourself.

寫道："最重要的是，不要對自己撒謊。

The man who lies to himself and listens to his own lie comes to a point that he cannot

自欺欺人，聽信自己的謊言的人，到了一個地步，他不能

distinguish the truth within him, or around him, and so loses all respect for himself

辨別他內心或周圍的真理，是以失去了對自己的所有尊重

and for others.

併為他人服務。

And having no respect he ceases to love.”

沒有尊重，就不再愛了。"

There's a lot in that quote, but I'm interested in one single part of it: how lying to yourself

這句話有很多內容，但我對其中的一個部分感興趣：如何對自己撒謊

prevents you from seeing the truth.

阻止你看到真相。

What does it mean to lie to ourselves?

對自己撒謊是什麼意思？

How does that happen?

那是怎麼發生的呢？

As usual, I'm gonna explore this idea through a dialogue.

像往常一樣，我將通過對話來探討這個想法。

---

---

For weeks, a young student (S) had been having philosophical conversations with a retired

幾個星期以來，一個年輕的學生(S)一直在與一位退休人員進行哲學對話。

priest (P).

牧師（P）。

The following is one of them.

以下是其中之一。

P: When you lie to yourself, you stop being able to see the truth.

P：當你對自己撒謊時，你就不再能看到真相。

S: Is that so?

S：是這樣的嗎？

What does it mean to lie to yourself?

對自己撒謊是什麼意思？

P: At the root of all self-deception is one belief: knowledge is truth.

P：所有自欺欺人的根源是一個信念：知識就是真理。

When you mistake your own knowledge for the truth, that is the moment you lie to yourself.

當你把自己的知識誤認為是真理時，就是你對自己撒謊的時候。

The greatest lie is to say, “I know the truth.”

最大的謊言是說："我知道真相"。

I think Epictetus said it best when he said, “it is impossible for a man to learn what

我認為伊壁鳩魯說得最好，他說，"一個人不可能學會什麼

he thinks he already knows.”

他認為他已經知道了。"

If you think you already know something, you prevent yourself from seeing it as it is,

如果你認為你已經知道什麼，你就會阻止自己看到它的本質。

and it may be different from how you know it.

而且它可能與你的認識不同。

So thinking you know the truth is the beginning of all self-deception and the end of all learning,

是以，認為自己知道真相是所有自欺欺人的開始，也是所有學習的結束。

because it prevents you from seeing the world as it is right now.

因為它使你無法看到現在的世界。

S: Wait, but aren't you contradicting yourself?

S:等等，但你不是在自相矛盾嗎？

You're saying that statement like you know it.

你說這句話的時候，好像你知道似的。

P: What you're seeing is the limits of language.

P：你所看到的是語言的侷限性。

Unless you want me to say, “I think,” and “in my opinion,” and “according

除非你想讓我說，"我認為"，"在我看來"，"根據

to my experience,” before every single sentence, I have to talk that way.

對我的經驗來說，"在每一句話之前，我都要這樣說話。

But I'm just sharing my knowledge with you.

但我只是在與你分享我的知識。

I never said it was the truth.

我從未說過這是事實。

Like all knowledge, you have to verify it for yourself.

像所有的知識一樣，你必須自己去驗證它。

Think about examples in your own life, has mistaking your own knowledge for the truth

想一想你自己生活中的例子，把自己的知識誤認為是真理。

ever prevented you from seeing the world as it was?

曾否阻止你看到世界的本來面目？

For example, have you ever had someone betray you and realize that you never paid attention

例如，你有沒有遇到過有人背叛你，並意識到你從未注意過

to the warning signs because you believed you already knew who they were?

因為你相信你已經知道他們是誰，所以對警告信號不聞不問？

S: Unfortunately, I have.

S:不幸的是，我有。

Mistaking my knowledge for the truth has prevented me seeing the world as it is, you're right.

把我的知識誤認為是真理，使我無法看到世界的本來面目，你是對的。

But sometimes my knowledge is the truth, isn't it?

但有時我的知識就是真理，不是嗎？

P: No, knowledge is never truth, but it can be true sometimes.

P：不，知識永遠不是真理，但它有時可以是真理。

That's a very subtle thing I just said.

我剛才說的是很微妙的事情。

Do you understand it?

你明白嗎？

S: Knowledge is not truth, but it can sometimes be true.

S:知識不是真理，但它有時可以是真理。

So you're using three terms there: knowledge, truth, and true.

所以你在那裡使用了三個術語：知識、真理和真實。

Can you explain them for me?

你能為我解釋一下嗎？

P: Truth is the actual way to your destination.

P: 真理是通往目的地的實際途徑。

Knowledge is the map you have.

知識是你擁有的地圖。

Sometimes the map can get you to your destination and sometimes it can't, but you only know

有時地圖能讓你到達目的地，有時卻不能，但你只知道

if the map is correct by testing it.

通過測試地圖是否正確。

If the map leads you to your destination, it is true—but only for that moment.

如果地圖將你引向目的地，那是真的--但只是那一刻。

Because in the next moment, the rivers may change the land, an earthquake may swallow

因為在下一刻，河流可能改變土地，地震可能吞沒

the bridge, and the old path may no longer work.

橋，而舊的路徑可能不再起作用。

Do you follow?

你是否跟隨？

So knowledge can be true in the moment of testing, but it is never the truth itself.

所以知識在檢驗的時刻可以是真實的，但它永遠不是真理本身。

S: So truth is the actual way to your destination, knowledge is the way you think you can get

S：是以，真理是通往你的目的地的實際途徑，知識是你認為可以得到的途徑。

to your destination, and knowledge is true when the way you think you can get to your

當你認為你能到達你的目的地時，知識是真實的。

destination works?

目的地的工作？

Is that right?

是這樣嗎？

P: Exactly.

P：正是如此。

So when you say, “I know the truth”, which is the root of all self-deception, you confuse

是以，當你說 "我知道真相"，這是所有自欺欺人的根源，你混淆了

the map with the territory, or you confuse your own knowledge with truth.

如果你把地圖和領土混為一談，或者把你自己的知識和真理混為一談。

When you think your knowledge is truth, you have begun to deceive yourself.

當你認為你的知識是真理時，你已經開始欺騙自己了。

But a mind that has severed this connection between knowledge and truth is unlikely to

但是，一個切斷了知識和真理之間這種聯繫的頭腦是不可能

fool itself.

愚弄自己。

S: And why is that?

S:那是為什麼呢？

P: Because a mind that has severed the connection between knowledge and truth is a mind that

P: 因為一個切斷了知識和真理之間聯繫的頭腦是一個

does not confuse the map with the territory, the directions with the actual way, a mind

不把地圖和領土混淆起來，不把方向和實際的道路混淆起來。

that is always seeing the world as it is and doesn't hold on too tightly to the world

始終看到世界的本來面目，不對世界抓得太緊

as it was, and a mind that is always open to testing its own knowledge.

因為它是，和一個總是開放測試自己的知識的頭腦。

S: Hmm… but what about 1+1 = 2?

S：嗯......但1+1=2呢？

Isn't that a truth I have in my mind that I don't have to test?

這不是我心中的真理嗎，我不需要檢驗嗎？

P: No, that's a common mistake.

P：不，這是個常見的錯誤。

1+1=2 means nothing until you actually test it.

1+1=2意味著什麼，直到你實際測試它。

I can say 1 Apple + 1 Apple = 2 Apples.

我可以說1個蘋果+1個蘋果=2個蘋果。

And how do I know?

而我怎麼知道呢？

By testing it in the real world.

通過在現實世界中測試它。

But I could just as easily say 1 Apple + 1 Apple = 1000 Atoms.

但我也可以輕鬆地說，1個蘋果+1個蘋果=1000個原子。

Do you follow?

你是否跟隨？

So in that case, 1+1 would not equal two.

所以在這種情況下，1+1就不等於2。

The answer depends on what you're looking for, and the trueness of the answer is only

答案取決於你所尋找的東西，而答案的真實性只在於

found in the testing.

在測試中發現。

Knowledge, which is anything you can construct using language, is never truth.

知識，就是你能用語言構建的任何東西，永遠不是真理。

Truth is not something that can be spoken.

真理不是可以說出來的東西。

---

---

In The Brothers Karamazov, Fyodor Dostoevsky wrote, “Above all, don't lie to yourself.

費多爾-陀思妥耶夫斯基在《卡拉馬佐夫兄弟》中寫道："首先，不要對自己撒謊。

The man who lies to himself and listens to his own lie comes to a point that he cannot

自欺欺人，聽信自己的謊言的人，到了一個地步，他不能

distinguish the truth within him, or around him, and so loses all respect for himself

辨別他內心或周圍的真理，是以失去了對自己的所有尊重

and for others.

併為他人服務。

And having no respect he ceases to love,” and I explored some of the meaning behind

沒有尊重，就不再愛了。"我探討了一些背後的含義

this idea through a dialogue.

通過對話瞭解這個想法。

If truth is the actual way to our destination, knowledge is the map that we have.

如果真理是通往我們目的地的實際途徑，那麼知識就是我們擁有的地圖。

And when the map gets us to our destination, we say that knowledge is true.

而當地圖讓我們到達目的地時，我們說知識是真實的。

But knowledge is never truth, and to confuse the two is to confuse the map for the territory,

但知識永遠不是真理，混淆兩者就是混淆地圖和領土。

the directions for the actual way, what was for what is, and to close oneself off to all

在實際的道路上，用過去的東西來換取現在的東西，並將自己封閉在所有的地方。

learning.

學習。

Mistaking knowledge for truth is the root of all self-deception.

將知識誤認為真理是所有自欺欺人的根源。

But a mind that separates these two things, that realizes that knowledge is never truth,

但一個將這兩件事分開的頭腦，意識到知識永遠不是真理。

that the map is never the territory, always remains open to change, to testing, to learning,

地圖永遠不是領土，始終對變化、測試和學習保持開放。

to updating its map in accordance with the territory, and because of that, it will never

根據領土情況更新其地圖，正因為如此，它將永遠不會

deceive itself.

自欺欺人。

As always, this is just my opinion and understanding of Dostoevsky's words, not advice.

一如既往，這只是我對陀思妥耶夫斯基的話的看法和理解，而不是建議。

Feel free to use this information however you like, and if you have a different take

請隨意使用這些資訊，如果你有不同的看法

on Dostoevsky's words, I'd love to hear

關於陀思妥耶夫斯基的話，我很想聽聽

your perspective in

你的觀點在

the comments.

的評論。