Imagine it’s Sunday afternoon, you exit Suguo with your week’s worth of groceries dangling off your arms. You stand at the intersection watching the faded red man within the traffic light. The numbers beneath him decrease, then he is replaced by an equally little green man. The universal green man, he transcends languages and cultures, everyone knows it means walk.
想象一下，今天是周日下午，你带着一周的杂货从你的手臂上垂下来离开Suguo。 你站在十字路口，看着红绿灯里褪色的红人。 他下面的人数减少，然后他被一个同样小的绿色人所取代。 普遍的绿色人，他超越语言和文化，每个人都知道这意味着走路。
So that’s exactly what you do. You step off the curb, and start walking with the zebra crossing underneath your feet. You make it a quarter of the way, when you feel an inkling to look left. Everything slows down, your eyes lock with the oncoming driver and you realise you’re going to get hit and there is nothing you can do about it. As the second law of physics dictates, no two objects can occupy the same place at one time. Between two tons of metal hurling towards you and yourself a sack of flesh and bone, one of you will go flying.
所以这正是你所做的。 你走下路边，开始走路，脚下有斑马线。 当你感觉到左看时，你走了四分之一的路。 一切都变慢了，你的目光锁定了迎面而来的司机，你意识到你会被撞，对此你无能为力。 正如第二物理定律所规定的那样，没有两个物体可以同时占据同一位置。 在两吨金属向你和你自己扔出一袋肉和骨头之间，你们中的一个人会飞走。
You don’t feel the impact initially, you flip over the dashboard and feel the shards of glass cut your face. Your body’s momentum keeps you going, you fly over the roof. You and the driver each failed one of the two traffic laws of China. You fail the don’t get hit aspect, and he failed the don’t hit anything part. You come crashing down behind the car. Your head bounces against the pavement, finally stopping after the 5th bounce. Your eyes are open but they aren’t registering anything. Your bare face sizzles against the hot asphalt. Despite your ears ringing, you still hear dozens of car horns. Then as your eyes clear you realise they are honking at you. You’re disgusted, you’re in such as weakened state and all they care about is their next destination.
你一开始感觉不到冲击力，你翻过仪表板，感觉到玻璃碎片割伤了你的脸。 你身体的动力让你继续下去，你飞过屋顶。 你和司机都违反了中国的两项交通法中的一项。 你失败了不要被击中，而他失败了不要击中任何东西的部分。 你倒在车后面。 你的头在人行道上弹跳，在第5次弹跳后终于停了下来。 你的眼睛睁开了，但它们没有记录任何东西。 你赤裸的脸在炎热的沥青上打着。 尽管你的耳朵在响，但你仍然听到几十个汽车喇叭声。 然后，当你的眼睛清醒时，你意识到他们在向你按喇叭。 你很反感，你处于如此虚弱的状态，他们只关心他们的下一个目的地。
You watch a bystander run up to you panic stricken. Then they lay down next to you. They mimick your movements as you wince in pain, then turn to you and whisper “I feel your pain.”
你看着一个旁观者惊慌失措地跑向你。 然后他们躺在你旁边。 当你痛苦地畏縮时，他们模仿你的动作，然后转向你，低声说“我感受到你的痛苦。”
That is the absurdity of empathy. How can you pretend to feel the emotions of another?
这就是同理心的荒谬。 你怎么能假装感受别人的情绪呢？
Call me pessimistic, but we as humans are egotistic emotional parasites. We feed off of each other’s hardships to validate ourselves through empathy. Empathy is often explained through the idiom of “walk a mile in their shoes” or, as Atticus Finch in “To Kill a Mockingbird” put it, “climb inside of his skin and walk around in it”. As people, we believe that each and every one of us is of individual significance, and when we become insecure we feel the need to display our morals ostentatiously. We react much like an older sibling, when the new baby is getting all the attention, with “significance envy”. We steal from the misfortune of others and dub their pain as our own.
叫我悲觀，但我們人類是自私的情感寄生蟲。 我们以彼此的艰辛为食，通过同理心来验证自己。 同理心通常通过“穿着鞋子走一英里”的成语来解释，或者，正如阿提克斯·芬奇在《杀死一只知更鸟》中所说，“爬进他的皮肤，穿着它走来走去”。 作为人，我们相信我们每个人都具有个人意义，当我们变得没有安全感时，我们觉得有必要炫耀我们的道德。 当新生儿受到所有关注时，我们的反应很像兄弟姐妹，有“非常羡慕”。 我们从别人的不幸中偷窃，把他们的痛苦称为我们自己的。
Chinese philosopher Zhuang Zhou, often known as Zhuangzi, realised the paradox of empathy in 4 BCE. In his book, named after himself, he wrote an anecdote called “The Debate on the Joy of Fish”.
中国哲学家庄周，通常被称为庄子，在公元前4年意识到了同理心的悖论。 在他以自己命名的书中，他写了一个名为“关于鱼之乐的辩论”的轶事。
Zhuangzi and Huizi were enjoying themselves on the bridge over the Hao River. Zhuangzi said, “The minnows are darting about free and easy! This is how fish are happy.”
Huizi replied, “You are not a fish. How do you know that the fish are happy?”
Zhuangzi said, “You are not I. How do you know that I do not know that the fish are happy?”
Huizi said, “I am not you, to be sure, so of course I don’t know about you. But you obviously are not a fish; so the case is complete that you do not know that the fish are happy.”
Zhuangzi said, “Let’s go back to the beginning of this. You said, How do you know that the fish are happy; but in asking me this, you already knew that I know it. I know it right here above the Hao.”
庄子和惠子在浩河上的桥上玩得很开心。 庄子说：“小鱼们自由自在地飞来飞去！ 這就是魚的快樂方式。」 Huizi回答说：“你不是鱼。 你怎么知道鱼是快乐的？” 庄子说：“你不是我。你怎么知道我不知道鱼是快乐的？” Huizi说：“可以肯定的是，我不是你，所以我当然不了解你。 但你顯然不是一條魚；所以這個案子是完整的，你不知道魚是快樂的。」 庄子说：“让我们回到这个的开始。 你说，你怎么知道鱼是快乐的；但在问我这个问题时，你已经知道我知道了。 我知道它就在郝的上方。”
This shows the impossibility of empathy. Zhuangzi claims that Huizi cannot know that he does not understand the happiness of the fish, but Zhuangzi is making a proclamation on how Huizi feels. If you pretend to know another’s emotion, all sense of individuality is lost. How can assumptions be made that others will feel the same way as oneself in identical circumstances?
这表明同理心是不可能的。 庄子声称惠子不能知道他不懂鱼的幸福，但庄子正在宣称惠子的感受。 如果你假装了解他人的情绪，所有的个性都会消失。 如何做出假设，在相同的情况下，其他人会有和自己一样的感觉？
In the Western hierarchy of acceptable human emotions, empathy is placed at the top. It is not always displayed, but its considered a reputable characteristic. Chinese opinions of empathy vary substantially, as empathy does not appear in the hierarchy at all. This is seen in the infamous Peng Yu case in 2006, where a man was sued for medical expenses after helping an elderly woman and taking her to the hospital. The case is referenced in more detail in our article, “Little Emperor Syndrome; Empathy or China’s Lack Thereof”.
在西方可接受的人类情感的等级制度中，同理心被放在首位。 它并不总是显示，但它被认为是一个有信誉的特征。 中国人对同理心的看法差异很大，因为同理心根本不出现在等级制度中。 这在2006年臭名昭著的彭宇案中可以看到，一名男子在帮助一名老年妇女并带她去医院后被起诉支付医疗费用。 我们的文章“小皇帝综合症；同理心或中国缺乏同理心”更详细地提到了这个案例。
Many Westerners living in China are fortunate enough to have been able to travel to other Asian countries. We are the prime target for empathy manipulation. When travelling in poorer regions, the sight of child beggars might appall you. The first inclination is to pull out your wallet. It hurts deep down to resist giving them money, but that may be the reason they are on the street. Crime syndicates kidnap and maim children. They give them minimal amounts of food to keep them emaciated, so you’ll fork over some cash.
许多生活在中国的西方人很幸运能够去其他亚洲国家旅行。 我们是同理心操纵的主要目标。 在较贫穷的地区旅行时，看到乞丐的孩子可能会让你震惊。 第一个倾向是掏出你的钱包。 拒绝给他们钱在内心深处很痛苦，但这可能是他们流落街头的原因。 犯罪集团绑架和打劫儿童。 他們給他們最少的食物，以保持他们潴氣，所以你要拿出一些現金。
This is the lure of empathy, It does more harm than good despite seeming altruistic. There are babies drugged to sleep into their “mother’s” arms. Women and children are portrayed as the most vulnerable members of society. The victimisation of them is further perpetuated by us. We give them money because it makes us feel good. But by giving, over the long term we make the world an even worse place.
这就是同理心的诱惑，尽管看似利他，但它弊大于利。 有些婴儿被下药睡在“母亲”的怀里。 妇女和儿童被描绘成社会中最脆弱的成员。 我们进一步延续了对他们的伤害。 我们给他们钱，因为这让我们感觉很好。 但通过付出，从长远来看，我们让世界变得更糟。
Countries such as Cambodia have a booming tourist industry, in which a flourishing attraction is orphanage tourism. Well-meaning visitors are in fact helping to force the separation of children and parents, keep them out of school, and violate children’s rights. Helping out as part of our travel itineraries is no better than elephant rides. Our heart strings are tugged at by children and animals. Our minds are clouded by empathy and they fog up all rational reasoning of how to do good.
柬埔寨等国家的旅游业蓬勃发展，其中一个蓬勃发展的景点是孤儿院旅游。 事实上，善意的访客正在帮助强迫孩子和父母分开，让他们不上学，并侵犯儿童的权利。 作为我们旅行行程的一部分提供帮助并不比骑大象更好。 我们的心弦被儿童和动物拉扯着。 我们的头脑被同理心蒙蔽了，它们模糊了所有关于如何做好事的理性推理。
We believe our desire to help and the emotions we feel about other people’s stories are our innate good. But we are drawn to stories, where we can help and show that we’ve helped. We seek out visible struggles such as penguins covered in oil, rather than the millions of silently suffering child brides. We broadcast our good deeds for the world to see. Empathy evokes us to act but ultimately, it is only for our own good.
我们相信，我们帮助的愿望和我们对他人故事的情绪是我们与生俱来的美好。 但我们被故事所吸引，在那里我们可以提供帮助，并表明我们帮助了。 我们寻找明显的挣扎，比如沾满油的企鹅，而不是数百万默默受苦的童新娘。 我们传播我们的善行，让全世界看到。 同理心激起我們採取行動，但最終，它只是為了我們自己的利益。
