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外刊赏读 | 《经济学人》In the hands of an angry God

新祥旭考研：十年专注考研一对一辅导

本文选自《经济学人》一篇名为 “In the hands of an angry God”（《落在愤怒上帝手中》）的文章。本文并非从神学角度讨论“上帝”是否存在，而是从心理学角度论证，认为相信超自然能力的存在是人类固有的心理，即使是无神论者也是如此。这种心理倾向在生物进化和社会发展方面都发挥了积极的作用。本文不谈玄学，完全从理性和证据出发，论证有力，语言流畅，值得品读。 原文

Ⅰ①Many people think that religious belief is inherent to human psychology. ②This does not mean that specific beliefs are wired, but that the brain is predisposed to believe in super natural agents. ③Some proponents of this idea argue that supernatural beliefs have hijacked innocent or otherwise useful features of the mind. ④But Dominic Johnson argues in “God Is Watching You”, belief in God—specifically, in supernatural forces that can punish—is a useful evolutionary adaptation.

Ⅱ①Mr Johnson argues that there is little harm if you over react to something that turns out not to exist. ②But underestimating a rustling in the undergrowth, which might conceal a predator, could be fatal, leading to evolutionary selection of a tendency to see agents everywhere. ③The instinct is easily triggered, even in atheists. ④Even pictures can set it off: in one experiment, an office honour-system to pay for shared coffee got more contributions when someone taped a picture of a pair of eyes on the collecting tin.

Ⅲ①There is also a tendency in most people to put greater emphasis on punishment than on reward: losing $100 is far more painful than winning the same amount is pleasing. ②Why would belief in an angry god be any use? ③When humans developed language, they could spread word of cheating, freeriding and the like. ④Raping your neighbour’s mate might once have made evolutionary sense—spreading your own genes at little cost—but “in a clever and gossiping species, knowledge of selfish actions could spread and come back to haunt us” in the form of a furious husband or a village mob. ⑤Since cheating is now costlier, belief in an invisible monitor helps people avoid those costs, and so survive with their reputations intact, and pass on their genes.

Ⅳ①Mr Johnson noted that societies which punish cheaters are more likely to survive and grow. ②He quotes John Locke, a 17th century English philosopher: “Those who deny the existence of the Deity are not to be tolerated at all. ③Promises, covenants and oaths, which are the bonds of human society, can have no hold upon or sanctity for an atheist.” ④Those bonds and covenants allow societies to co-ordinate action and plan for the future. ⑤Mr Johnson’s own research into 186 preindustrial cultures found that moralising religious beliefs were more prevalent in larger and more complex societies. ⑥The fact that moralising religious beliefs are more prevalent in more complex societies does not prove that one caused the other. ⑦But the striking number and variety of examples add credence to Mr Johnson’s theory.

Ⅴ①The religious instinct is too deep-seated, he thinks. ②Instead, critics of superstition are best advised to work with the grain of human psychology rather than against it, finding more benevolent ways to satisfy human yearning for something “out there”. ③What form such an atheist religion should take, though, God only knows. [481words]

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词汇短语

1. wire [?wa??d] v. 接通电源

2. *predisposed [pri:d?s'p??zd]adj. 倾向于 3. *proponent [pr??p??n?nt]n. 支持者 4. *rustling [?r?sl??] n. 沙沙声 5. honour-system 无看守监禁制 6. furious [?fj??ri?s] adj. 狂怒的 7. *covenant [?k?v?n?nt]n. 协议 8. hold upon 控制力

9. *sanctity [?s??kt?ti] n. 神圣 10. credence [?kri:dns] n. 相信 11. grain [gre?n] n. 细粒

12. *benevolent [b??nev?l?nt]adj. 慈善的 13. *yearning [?j?:n??] n. 渴望 （注：标*的为超纲词） 点评

Ⅰ①Many people think that religious belief is inherent to human psychology. ②This does not mean that specific beliefs are wired, but that the brain is predisposed to believe in supernatural agents. ③Some proponentsof this idea argue that supernatural beliefs have hijacked innocent or otherwise useful features of the mind. ④But Dominic Johnson argues in “God Is Watching You”, belief in God—specifically, in supernatural forces that can punish—is a useful evolutionary adaptation.

翻译：很多人认为，宗教信仰是人类心理固有的。这并非意味着已经接通了特定的信仰，而是大脑倾向于相信超自然动因的存在。一些支持这种观点的人说，超自然信仰劫持了大脑的纯洁或者其他有用的功能。但是多米尼克·约翰逊在《上帝正在看着你》中认为，相信上帝的存在——特别是相信能够惩罚你的超自然力量的存在——是一种有用的进化性适应。

点评：第一段提出观点：人类有相信超自然力量的存在的倾向，因为这是有用的。关键词为useful evolutionary adaptation。①句铺设讨论的背景：很多人认为宗教信仰是人类心理固有的。有助于一步步引入论证话题。②句对①句补充说明，这并非天生信仰某个特定的宗教，而是一种普遍的倾向性。③④句通过对比，提出观点：这种倾向性对人类进化是有用的(useful)。

Ⅱ①Mr Johnson argues that there is little harm if you overreact to something that turns out not to exist. ②But underestimating a rustling in the undergrowth, which might conceal a predator, could be fatal, leading to evolutionary selection of a tendency to see agents everywhere. ③The instinct is easily triggered, even in atheists. ④Even pictures can set it off: in one experiment, an office honour-system to pay for shared coffee got more contributions when someone taped a picture of a pair of eyes on the collecting tin.

翻译：约翰逊先生说，如果你对某种最后发现并不存在的事物反应过度，这没有什么危害。但是低估藏着捕食者的灌木丛中的窸窣声可能是致命的，因此。这种本能很容易被触发，甚至是无神论者。即使是图片也能触发这种本能：在某项实验中，办公室提供完全依靠自觉付款的咖啡，当有人在钱盒上贴上一双眼睛的图片，钱盒子收到了更多的钱。

点评：第二段至第四段论证人类心理相信超自然力量存在的固有性和有用性。第二段从纯理性角度论证人类有相信超自然力量存在倾向性的固有性。①②句对比是否相信超自然力量存在的两种后果。overreact vs. underestimating 和little harm vs. fatal形成强烈对比。相信了没有太大的危害，但是不相信可能是致命的。③句说明在这种理性推理之下，即使是无神论者，也存在这种本能(instinct)，而且很容易被触发(easily triggered)。④句以实验结果证明其容易被触发的特点。honor system也叫做trust system，是相信人们会诚实地遵守规矩，因不安排专人检查管理的系统(an arrangement by which persons are trusted to act honestly

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and therefore are not directly monitored, even though persons might obtain a benefit from acting dishonestly)，比如考试无人监考，地铁无人查票。

Ⅲ①There is also a tendency in most people to put greater emphasis on punishment than on reward: losing $100 is far more painful than winning the same amount is pleasing. ②Why would belief in an angry god be any use? ③When humans developed language, they could spread word of cheating, freeriding and the like. ④Raping your neighbour’s mate might once have made evolutionary sense—spreading your own genes at little cost—but “in a clever and gossiping species, knowledge of selfish actions could spread and come back to haunt us” in the form of afurious husband or a village mob. ⑤Since cheating is now costlier, belief in an invisible monitor helps people avoid those costs, and so survive with their reputations intact, and pass on their genes. 翻译：并且大部分人具有相比奖赏，更看重惩罚的倾向：失去100美元的痛苦远远超过获得100美元的快乐。为什么相信愤怒上帝有什么作用呢？当人类有了语言，他们可以谈论欺骗，搭便车或者类似的行为。强奸邻居的妻子也许马上能够获得进化意义——用很少的成本就传播了自己的基因——但是“在聪明而且八卦的种族中，自私行为的消息会传播出去，并且返回来困扰你”，会有暴怒的丈夫或者村民暴徒找上门来。现在因为欺骗的代价更高了，相信隐形监视器的存在帮助人们避免这种代价，可以保住小命和名誉，从而可以把他们的基因传递下去。

点评：第三段从进化生物学的角度证明相信超自然力量存在的有用性。①句提出人类具有相比渴望奖赏，更害怕惩罚的心理。②至⑤句分析人类害怕惩罚的原因。②句用问句引导读者思考。angry god指冥冥之中惩罚恶性的力量。③句说明自从语言发展，消息传播更加迅速。④句假设了一种场景，坏事不太容易隐藏，终究会纸包不住火，人们会放弃眼前的好处，避免受到惩罚。⑤句总结，因为行恶的成本增加，相比趋利，人们会优先避害，从而保护自己的生命和名誉，长久来看有利于自身发展。invisible monitor代指supernatural forces和angry god。

Ⅳ①Mr Johnson noted that societies which punish cheaters are more likely to survive and grow. ②He quotes John Locke, a 17th century English philosopher: “Those who deny the existence of the Deity are not to be tolerated at all. ③Promises, covenants and oaths, which are the bonds of human society, can have no hold upon or sanctity for an atheist.” ④Those bonds and covenants allow societies to co-ordinate action and plan for the future. ⑤Mr Johnson’s own research into 186 preindustrial cultures found that moralising religious beliefs were more prevalent in larger and more complex societies. ⑥The fact that moralising religious beliefs are more prevalent in more complex societies does not prove that one caused the other. ⑦But the striking number and variety of examples add credence to Mr Johnson’s theory.

翻译：约翰逊特别指出，惩罚欺骗者的社会更有可能存活和发展。他引用了17世纪的英国哲学家约翰·洛克的话：“谁否认神的存在，就根本不能被容忍。作为人类社会的纽带的承诺，契约和誓言对无神论者没有控制力或神圣力量。”这些纽带和契约统筹社会为行动和未来的计划。约翰逊本人对186个前工业化文化的研究发现，道德性的宗教信仰的在规模更大而且更复杂的社会更加普遍。道德性的宗教信仰在更复杂的社会更普遍的事实并不能证明这两者之间有因果关系。但例证的巨大的数量和种类提高了约翰逊先生理论的可信度。

点评：第四段从社会角度论证相信超自然力量存在有利于社会发展。①句提出论点，②至⑦句从理论和实地考察两方面给出论据。②③④句引用洛克的理论，说明无神论者不相信社会契约，不利于社会的团结。⑤⑥⑦句以实例进一步加强论证，道德性的宗教信仰(moralising religious beliefs)和发展更完备的社会(larger and more complex)存在相关性，虽然不能确定其为因果关系，但是也是一种强有力的证据。

Ⅴ①The religious instinct is too deep-seated, he thinks. ②Instead, critics of superstition are best advised to work with the grain of human psychology rather than against it, finding morebenevolent ways to satisfy human yearning for something “out there”. ③What form such

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