崔娃Trevor Noah去年在The Diary Of A CEO播客，主持人问，如果我把这样一个按钮放在你面前，它可以抹去你母亲在你那么小的年纪被枪击的那件事，你会按吗？ 还挺喜欢他的这个回答的

“我觉得我们这个社会做了一件事——也许是因为我们想把苦难“美化”，也许是因为我们想让人们觉得自己不是受害者，或者想让一切看起来是“有意义的”“有目的的”，也许还和宗教有关。我们在某些时候，把这样一种观念捧得太高了：“这件事发生在你身上是有原因的。”

Trevor Noah：
他说有一种叫作“橡皮擦测试”（Eraser Test）的东西。我不知道你有没有听说过。他们会问一群经历过很多痛苦与创伤的人：如果你面前有一个按钮，按下去就能抹去所有那些极其艰难的经历，你会不会按？
So he said there’s this thing called the Eraser Test. I don’t know if you’ve ever heard of it, but they ask a group of people who have been through a lot of difficult experiences: if there were a button in front of you that could erase all of those really difficult experiences, would you press it?

现在，如果我把这样一个按钮放在你面前，它可以抹去你母亲在你那么小的年纪被枪击的那件事，你会按吗？
Now, if I put a button in front of you and it would erase what had happened to your mother being shot at that age, would you press it?

会，我会按。
Yes, I would.

而这正是我和很多人之间一个根本性的哲学分歧。这完全是哲学层面的讨论，是我看待世界的方式，也是一部分人看待世界的方式。
And this is a fundamental philosophical argument that I have with people. This is purely philosophy. It’s the way I see the world, and I think the way some people see the world.

我理解，很多时候，人们确实会从糟糕的经历中获得新的领悟，或者在某些方面变得更好。但我认为，我们永远不该忽视这样一个事实：很多时候，这并不会发生。我们永远不该忽视，有多少人是被一次糟糕的经历彻底击垮的。
I understand that often people come out of a bad experience with new learning or something that has improved them in many ways. But I think we should never take for granted how many times that doesn’t happen. We should never take for granted how many people are broken by a bad thing.

我觉得我们这个社会做了一件事——也许是因为我们想把苦难“美化”，也许是因为我们想让人们觉得自己不是受害者，或者想让一切看起来是“有意义的”“有目的的”，也许还和宗教有关。我们在某些时候，把这样一种观念捧得太高了：“这件事发生在你身上是有原因的。”I think we’ve done something in society—maybe because we want to valorize suffering, or maybe because we want to make people feel like they’re not victims, or we want to make it seem like there was some purpose or meaning. Maybe it’s tied to religion. I think we’ve sometimes valorized this idea that “it happened to you for a reason.”

于是，当一个孩子被父母或家人虐待时，人们会对他说：“这件事发生是有原因的，它造就了今天的你。”或者当某个人经历了可怕的创伤——车祸、恐怖袭击，或其他任何事情——人们就说：“这是有原因的。看看现在的你，你变得更强大了。”
So now you get this kid who was abused by their parents or someone in their family, and you say, “It happened to you for a reason. It made you the person you are today.” Or someone who suffered a horrible trauma—a car accident, a terrorist attack, whatever it is—and you say, “It happened to you for a reason. Look at you now, you’re stronger.”

但人们常常忽略的一点是：你本可以成为另一个版本的自己。你可能会更快乐，你可能不会那么受伤，你可能背负更少的负担，你可能不会因为那些经历而对他人造成伤害。
What people forget to talk about is the fact that you could have been a different version of yourself. You could have been happier. You could have been less wounded. You could have carried less burden. You could have been less hurtful because of that.

我认为，我们永远不该忽视这一点。I think we should never take that for granted.

当然，我们应该鼓励人们在困境中寻找积极的东西。我们应该不断问自己：“我能从这件事中得到什么？我能学到什么？我如何从中成长？”
但我并不认同这样一种说法：因为创伤塑造了我，所以我愿意保留它。I think we should encourage people to find the best in their circumstances. We should always ask ourselves, “What can I get from this situation? What can I learn from it? How can I grow from it?” But I am not a fan of anybody saying they would keep the trauma because it made them who they are.

你熬过了一场风暴，并不意味着你就应该希望那场风暴发生过。
Just because you’ve survived a storm doesn’t mean you should want to keep that storm.

这就是为什么我说，这是一个哲学问题。确实如此。但我不喜欢我们对人们做的这件事，因为在某种程度上，它让人觉得：他们现在必须对那些发生在自己身上的、极其糟糕的事情心存感激——只是因为他们在另一头变得更“坚韧”了。
That’s why I say it’s a philosophical argument. It really is. But I don’t like how we’ve done this to people, because in some way it makes people feel like they now have to be grateful for a terrible thing that has happened to them—or a terrible thing that they’ve experienced, or that people around them have experienced—just because they came out more resilient on the other side.

“万事发生皆有原因。”如果我能替换掉这句话，我会这么做。我不会说一切发生是有原因的，或者不是。我会回到我朋友教我的一句话：你选择成为怎样的人？
Everything happens to you for a reason. If I could replace that idea, I would. I don’t say everything happens to you for a reason or doesn’t. I go back to what my friend taught me: who do you choose to be?

所以我会说，忘掉“橡皮擦测试”吧。这个世界上根本不存在橡皮擦测试。为什么不把它换成“铅笔测试”“钢笔测试”——任何你愿意的工具——然后问自己：如果你能按下一个按钮，决定在那件事发生之后，你要写下怎样的故事，你会写吗？你会写一个怎样的故事？I would say forget the Eraser Test. There can never be an eraser test. Why don’t we replace it with a pencil test, a pen test, a mark test—whatever device you want to use—and ask: if you could press this button and decide what story you write on the other side of the thing that happened to you, would you write that story? And what story would you write?

我认为，这才是更重要的问题。I think that’s more important.

因为“橡皮擦”的思路，会让人觉得自己必须否认、抹除自我的一部分，而大多数人并不愿意这样做；但与此同时，它又让人觉得自己必须把创伤当成“自我”的一部分去认领。
Because the eraser idea makes people feel like they have to disown a part of themselves, which most people don’t want to do. But then it also makes you feel like you have to claim the trauma as part of yourself.

不。我会按那个按钮。No. I would press that button.

我会抹去我母亲被枪击的经历。我会抹去我的 ADHD。我会抹去我的国家经历的那些艰难岁月。 我会抹去种族隔离制度。
我不会说：“我会保留种族隔离，因为如果没有它，我今天就不会坐在这里。” 不，不，不。我会抹去它。I would erase my mother being shot. I would erase having ADHD. I would erase the tough times my country went through. I would erase apartheid. I wouldn’t say, “I’d keep apartheid because if it wasn’t for apartheid I wouldn’t be here today.” No. I would erase it.

也许我们会面对别的问题，但如果我能选择，我会按下那个按钮。Maybe we’d be dealing with something else, but if I could, I would press that button.

我不认为我们需要去歌颂创伤。 我认为我们需要直面它、处理它。 我们需要努力疗愈自己。你的苦难并不是你之所以成为你的原因。你活了下来，我为你的幸存感到骄傲，但这并不意味着你本就应该经历那些事。I don’t think we need to celebrate trauma. I think we need to work on it. We need to strive to heal ourselves. Your tribulations are not what make you. You survived, and I’m proud of you for surviving, but that doesn’t mean you needed to go through what you went through.#海外新鲜事# http://t.cn/AXG8vdqe