Are you religious?

你有宗教信仰嗎?

Please raise your hand right now

如果你覺得你是個有宗教信仰的人

if you think of yourself as a religious person.

請舉起你的手

Let's see, I'd say about three or four percent.

看來有百分之三到四的人

I had no idea there were so many believers at a TED Conference.

沒想到TED聽眾還有這麼多宗教信徒

(Laughter)

(笑聲)

Okay, here's another question:

好，下一個問題：

Do you think of yourself as spiritual

你覺得你是個有靈性的人嗎?

in any way, shape or form? Raise your hand.

無論各種型態，請舉手

Okay, that's the majority.

好，大部分的人都是

My Talk today

我今天的演講

is about the main reason, or one of the main reasons,

是要解釋

why most people consider themselves

為何我們人會認為自己屬靈

to be spiritual in some way, shape or form.

不管藉由什麼方法或型態

My Talk today is about self-transcendence.

我今天的演講有關"自我昇華"

It's just a basic fact about being human

這是個簡單的概念，有關我們人類

that sometimes the self seems to just melt away.

偶爾會不再以自我為中心

And when that happens,

而當我們無私時

the feeling is ecstatic

會有種難以言喻的狂喜

and we reach for metaphors of up and down

我們尋找各種言詞

to explain these feelings.

來表達這種內心的悸動

We talk about being uplifted

好比說"無比振奮"

or elevated.

或是"達到忘我的境界"

Now it's really hard to think about anything abstract like this

光看字面實在是很難想像

without a good concrete metaphor.

這到底是什麼樣的感受

So here's the metaphor I'm offering today.

所以我提供一個比喻來詮釋

Think about the mind as being like a house with many rooms,

想像你的腦是個大房子

most of which we're very familiar with.

我們很熟悉大多數的房間

But sometimes it's as though a doorway appears

但有時候，會有一道門

from out of nowhere

在我們面前突然出現

and it opens onto a staircase.

打開後是向上的階梯

We climb the staircase

我們走上階梯

and experience a state of altered consciousness.

感受到一股強烈的心靈悸動

In 1902,

在1902年

the great American psychologist William James

美國偉大的心理學家 William James

wrote about the many varieties of religious experience.

寫了有關各式的宗教經驗

He collected all kinds of case studies.

他蒐集自各種個案研究

He quoted the words of all kinds of people

引用人們口中

who'd had a variety of these experiences.

多種的宗教體驗

One of the most exciting to me

其中有個例子非常有趣

is this young man, Stephen Bradley,

這個年輕人 Stephen Bradley

had an encounter, he thought, with Jesus in 1820.

在1820年，自認遇見了耶穌

And here's what Bradley said about it.

以下是 Bradley 的口述：

(Music)

(音樂)

(Video) Stephen Bradley: I thought I saw the savior in human shape

(影片) "我見到道成肉身的救世主了

for about one second in the room,

差不多有一秒鐘的時間，在房裡

with arms extended,

張開雙臂

appearing to say to me, "Come."

彷彿對我說：到我這來

The next day I rejoiced with trembling.

隔天我興奮到發抖

My happiness was so great that I said I wanted to die.

那無比的快樂讓我想立刻死去

This world had no place in my affections.

我不再留戀世俗的一切

Previous to this time,

在這之前

I was very selfish and self-righteous.

我是個自私自利的人

But now I desired the welfare of all mankind

但現在我心中充滿了大愛

and could, with a feeling heart,

得以有顆飽富情感的心

forgive my worst enemies.

能原諒我的敵人"

JH: So note

所以注意到

how Bradley's petty, moralistic self

Bradley 的小我與私心

just dies on the way up the staircase.

在登上那段台階後都消失了

And on this higher level

在這更高的層次裡

he becomes loving and forgiving.

他變得有愛，有憐憫

The world's many religions have found so many ways

世界上，各宗教都有自己的方法

to help people climb the staircase.

來幫助人們登上這道階梯

Some shut down the self using meditation.

有人坐禪來忘我

Others use psychedelic drugs.

有人用迷幻藥

This is from a 16th century Aztec scroll

這是16世紀阿茲提克手繪

showing a man about to eat a psilocybin mushroom

圖中的男子正在吃迷幻菇

and at the same moment get yanked up the staircase by a god.

同時，神來將他「拽上階梯」

Others use dancing, spinning and circling

另外有的用跳舞、轉圈和繞圈

to promote self-transcendence.

來達到自我昇華的境界

But you don't need a religion to get you through the staircase.

但你不需經由信仰來自我昇華

Lots of people find self-transcendence in nature.

許多人在大自然裡找到方式

Others overcome their self at raves.

有的可以在狂歡中得到解放

But here's the weirdest place of all:

但，其中最奇怪的管道是

war.

戰爭

So many books about war say the same thing,

許多關於戰爭的書籍都提過

that nothing brings people together

世界上沒有任何方法能像戰爭

like war.

把人緊密的凝聚在一起

And that bringing them together opens up the possibility

這種群體意識加強了人們

of extraordinary self-transcendent experiences.

超脫自我的體驗

I'm going to play for you an excerpt

我將從Glenn Gray的書

from this book by Glenn Gray.

摘出一段做舉例

Gray was a soldier in the American army in World War II.

Gray當時是二次世界大戰的美國軍人

And after the war he interviewed a lot of other soldiers

戰後他去拜訪了許多當時有參戰的軍人

and wrote about the experience of men in battle.

之後寫了關於軍人在戰場的經驗

Here's a key passage

在裡面有個重要段落

where he basically describes the staircase.

描述他達到那境界的過程

(Video) Glenn Gray: Many veterans will admit

(影片) Glenn Gray：許多退役軍人都承認

that the experience of communal effort in battle

在戰場上，大家是榮辱與共的

has been the high point of their lives.

而這也是他們人生的高峰

"I" passes insensibly into a "we,"

「我」變成「我們」

"my" becomes "our"

「我的」變成「我們的」

and individual faith

而個人價值

loses its central importance.

失去了意義

I believe that it is nothing less

我相信，沒有甚麼

than the assurance of immortality

比永恆不朽的榮譽

that makes self-sacrifice at these moments

更能讓自我犧牲奉獻

so relatively easy.

變得容易

I may fall, but I do not die,

我也許會死，但我的意念不會

for that which is real in me goes forward

我的意念會傳承給

and lives on in the comrades

那些和我有過命之交

for whom I gave up my life.

的好夥伴們

JH: So what all of these cases have in common

這些例子都有一個共通點

is that the self seems to thin out, or melt away,

自我變得渺小，甚至不重要

and it feels good, it feels really good,

但卻讓人們自我感覺更良好

in a way totally unlike anything we feel in our normal lives.

這些都是我們平常生活中很難感受到的

It feels somehow uplifting.

是一種昇華的感覺

This idea that we move up was central in the writing

這觀點在法國有名的社會學家

of the great French sociologist Emile Durkheim.

Emile Durkheim的著作中十分重要

Durkheim even called us Homo duplex,

Durkheim甚至稱我們為雙面人

or two-level man.

或雙階人

The lower level he called the level of the profane.

他說低階那面是世俗的

Now profane is the opposite of sacred.

世俗是超然的反面

It just means ordinary or common.

意思是平凡或普通

And in our ordinary lives we exist as individuals.

在日常生活中，我們都是獨立生活的

We want to satisfy our individual desires.

我們都希望滿足自我的慾望

We pursue our individual goals.

追求自己的目標

But sometimes something happens

但有時一些事情發生

that triggers a phase change.

改變這個型態

Individuals unite

人與人開始聯合

into a team, a movement or a nation,

產生隊伍、社會運動或國家

which is far more than the sum of its parts.

所產生的力量大於個人的總和

Durkheim called this level the level of the sacred

Durkheim稱這為超然的階段

because he believed that the function of religion

他深信宗教的作用

was to unite people into a group,

就是把一群人聚在一起

into a moral community.

最終變成道德社群

Durkheim believed that anything that unites us

Durkheim相信任何凝聚人群的因素

takes on an air of sacredness.

都會無形中被視為神聖

And once people circle around

當人們圍繞著

some sacred object or value,

神聖的東西或價值觀

they'll then work as a team and fight to defend it.

他們會一起合作保護它

Durkheim wrote

Durkheim提到

about a set of intense collective emotions

一股強烈的集體情緒

that accomplish this miracle of E pluribus unum,

可以讓人奇蹟般的合而為一

of making a group out of individuals.

將個人組織成團體

Think of the collective joy in Britain

試想二次世界大戰結束時

on the day World War II ended.

英國普世歡騰的氣氛

Think of the collective anger in Tahrir Square,

和當時在埃及解放廣場的集體怒氣

which brought down a dictator.

讓獨裁者被推翻

And think of the collective grief

還有美國

in the United States

在9/11後

that we all felt, that brought us all together,

那種集體悲傷

after 9/11.

讓我們團結一心

So let me summarize where we are.

到此讓我先做個結論

I'm saying that the capacity for self-transcendence

超脫自我

is just a basic part of being human.

其實只是人類的基本能力

I'm offering the metaphor

我說了那腦海中

of a staircase in the mind.

登上階梯的比喻

I'm saying we are Homo duplex

我們身為雙面人

and this staircase takes us up from the profane level

而這階梯會引領我們從平凡境界

to the level of the sacred.

到達非凡的境界

When we climb that staircase,

當我們攀爬那階梯時

self-interest fades away,

自我利益不再重要

we become just much less self-interested,

我們不再這麼自私

and we feel as though we are better, nobler

我們覺得自己更加美好，更高貴

and somehow uplifted.

甚至感到振奮

So here's the million-dollar question

至此，對像我一樣的社會科學家

for social scientists like me:

有一個極其重要的問題：

Is the staircase

這座階梯

a feature of our evolutionary design?

是不是我們自進化所得來的？

Is it a product of natural selection,

還是就好像我們的雙手

like our hands?

是與生俱來的?

Or is it a bug, a mistake in the system --

或是它根本就是系統出錯

this religious stuff is just something

宗教這東西就像是

that happens when the wires cross in the brain --

大腦中的線路錯接突然產生的現象

Jill has a stroke and she has this religious experience,

Jill中風時，她也有這宗教的經驗

it's just a mistake?

這只是一時的出錯嗎?

Well many scientists who study religion take this view.

許多研究宗教的科學家是這麼認為的

The New Atheists, for example,

像是，新無神論者

argue that religion is a set of memes,

覺得宗教是一系列的模仿

sort of parasitic memes,

一種寄生的模仿

that get inside our minds

會入侵我們的想法

and make us do all kinds of crazy religious stuff,

影響我們做出一系列瘋狂的宗教行為

self-destructive stuff, like suicide bombing.

或是自我毀滅，像是人體炸彈

And after all,

最終

how could it ever be good for us

失去自我對我們來說

to lose ourselves?

真的好嗎?

How could it ever be adaptive

不管任何生物體

for any organism

怎樣可能有辦法

to overcome self-interest?

克服自我私利？

Well let me show you.

讓我來告訴你

In "The Descent of Man,"

在《人類的起源》裡

Charles Darwin wrote a great deal

達爾文寫了許多

about the evolution of morality --

關於道德進化論這件事

where did it come from, why do we have it.

道德是從哪來的? 我們怎麼會擁有它?

Darwin noted that many of our virtues

達爾文指出了許多人性的美德

are of very little use to ourselves,

只有極小部分有利於我們

but they're of great use to our groups.

但是對我們的社群卻是極其有利的

He wrote about the scenario

他寫了一篇例子

in which two tribes of early humans

早期人類有兩個部落

would have come in contact and competition.

會交流和比賽

He said, "If the one tribe included

他說："如果其中一方擁有

a great number of courageous, sympathetic

較多有膽量，有同情心

and faithful members

又忠誠的人民

who are always ready to aid and defend each other,

且隨時願意幫助和保護別人

this tribe would succeed better

這個部落肯定會比較成功

and conquer the other."

並且征服另一個部落"

He went on to say that "Selfish and contentious people

他還說："自私和愛爭吵的人

will not cohere,

無法凝聚一起

and without coherence

缺少同心協力

nothing can be effected."

甚麼事情都不會有效果"

In other words,

換句話說

Charles Darwin believed

達爾文相信

in group selection.

群體篩選

Now this idea has been very controversial for the last 40 years,

這一觀點在過去的40年裡爭論不斷

but it's about to make a major comeback this year,

但是今年，將會再度盛行

especially after E.O. Wilson's book comes out in April,

尤其是當E.O. Wilson的新書在4月份出版之後

making a very strong case

會帶來很震撼的實例

that we, and several other species,

書裡面說，我們和其他物種

are products of group selection.

都是群體篩選下的產物

But really the way to think about this

但認真的思考下去

is as multilevel selection.

這就像是多重篩選

So look at it this way:

我們應該要這樣來看：

You've got competition going on within groups and across groups.

你一直都處在團體裡和團體間的競爭

So here's a group of guys on a college crew team.

比方說有一群學生在划船隊裡

Within this team

在這隊伍裡

there's competition.

一定有競爭

There are guys competing with each other.

學生們會互相較勁

The slowest rowers, the weakest rowers, are going to get cut from the team.

最慢跟最弱者最終會被踢出隊伍

And only a few of these guys are going to go on in the sport.

只有一小部分的人會繼續待在這個運動

Maybe one of them will make it to the Olympics.

也許其中一人能參加奧運

So within the team,

因此，一個團體之中

their interests are actually pitted against each other.

個人的利益是互相競爭的

And sometimes it would be advantageous

有時，會有人

for one of these guys

經由陷害其他團員

to try to sabotage the other guys.

而獲得個人利益

Maybe he'll badmouth his chief rival

好比在教練面前

to the coach.

毀謗團體裡主要的競爭對手

But while that competition is going on

但當這個船上的隊員

within the boat,

彼此競爭較勁時

this competition is going on across boats.

不同船隊間的競賽也在進行中

And once you put these guys in a boat competing with another boat,

而當另一個競爭團體出現

now they've got no choice but to cooperate

他們就非得合作不可

because they're all in the same boat.

只因他們在同一艘船上

They can only win

他們想贏

if they all pull together as a team.

就必須合作

I mean, these things sound trite,

這聽起來是老生常談

but they are deep evolutionary truths.

但卻是演化上不爭的鐵實

The main argument against group selection

群體篩選論

has always been

的反對者指出：

that, well sure, it would be nice to have a group of cooperators,

群體合作固然很好

but as soon as you have a group of cooperators,

但當一個群體只剩下合作團結者

they're just going to get taken over by free-riders,

他們將會被投機者利用而後推翻

individuals that are going to exploit the hard work of the others.

自私的人會投機且剝削合作團體

Let me illustrate this for you.

讓我解釋一下

Suppose we've got a group of little organisms --

假設我們有一群有機體

they can be bacteria, they can be hamsters; it doesn't matter what --

他們可以是細菌或倉鼠

and let's suppose that this little group here, they evolved to be cooperative.

他們演化成一群合作者

Well that's great. They graze, they defend each other,

這樣很好， 他們一起分享食物，互相幫助

they work together, they generate wealth.

他們合作並繁殖壯大

And as you'll see in this simulation,

如同這個模擬影片所示