Orthodox Privilege

July 2020 "Few people are capable of expressing with equanimity opinions which differ from the prejudices of their social environment.

2020 年 7 月 “很少有人能够平静地表达与社会环境的偏见不同的观点。

Most people are even incapable of forming such opinions." — Einstein There has been a lot of talk about privilege lately.

大多数人甚至无法形成这样的观点。”爱因斯坦 最近有很多关于特权的讨论。

Although the concept is overused, there is something to it, and in particular to the idea that privilege makes you blind — that you can't see things that are visible to someone whose life is very different

尽管这个概念被过度使用，但它还是有一定道理的，特别是特权让你盲目的想法，即你看不到那些生活截然不同的人可见的东西

from yours.

来自你的。

But one of the most pervasive examples of this kind of blindness is one that I haven't seen mentioned explicitly.

但这种盲目性最普遍的例子之一是我没有看到明确提及的例子。

I'm going to call it orthodox privilege : The more conventional-minded someone is, the more it seems to them that it's safe for everyone to express their opinions.

我将其称为正统特权：一个人的思想越传统，他们就越觉得每个人表达自己的意见都是安全的。

It's safe for them to express their opinions, because the source of their opinions is whatever it's currently acceptable to believe.

他们表达自己的观点是安全的，因为他们观点的来源是目前可以接受的观点。

So it seems to them that it must be safe for everyone.

所以在他们看来，这对每个人来说都必须是安全的。

They literally can't imagine a true statement that would get you in trouble.

他们确实无法想象一个真实的陈述会给你带来麻烦。

And yet at every point in history, there were true things that would get you in trouble to say.

然而，在历史的每一个时刻，都有一些真实的事情会让你陷入困境。

Is ours the first where this isn't so?

我们是第一个不是这样的吗？

What an amazing coincidence that would be.

这将是多么惊人的巧合啊。

Surely it should at least be the default assumption that our time is not unique, and that there are true things you can't say now,

当然，至少应该是默认的假设，即我们的时代不是独一无二的，而且有些真实的事情你现在不能说，

just as there have always been.

一如既往。

You would think.

你可能会想。

But even in the face of such overwhelming historical evidence, most people will go with their gut on this one.

但即使面对如此压倒性的历史证据，大多数人还是会凭直觉相信这一点。

In the most extreme cases, people suffering from orthodox privilege will not only deny that there's anything true that you can't say, but will accuse you of heresy merely for saying there is.

在最极端的情况下，遭受正统特权之苦的人不仅会否认有任何你不能说的真实事物，而且会仅仅因为你说有什么就指责你是异端邪说。

Though if there's more than one heresy current in

但如果存在不止一种异端邪说

your time, these accusations will be weirdly non-deterministic: you must either be an xist or a yist.

在你的时代，这些指控将是奇怪的不确定性：你要么是一个存在主义者，要么是一个yist。

Frustrating as it is to deal with these people, it's important to realize that they're in earnest.

尽管与这些人打交道令人沮丧，但重要的是要意识到他们是认真的。

They're not pretending they think it's impossible for an idea to be both unorthodox and true.

他们并不是假装认为一个想法不可能既非正统又真实。

The world really looks that way to them.

世界对他们来说确实是这样的。

Indeed, this is a uniquely tenacious form of privilege.

事实上，这是一种独特而顽强的特权形式。

People can

人们可以

overcome the blindness induced by most forms of privilege by learning more about whatever they're not.

通过更多地了解那些不属于特权的事物，克服大多数形式的特权所带来的盲目性。

But they can't overcome orthodox privilege just by learning more.

但他们无法仅仅通过了解更多来克服正统特权。

They'd have to become more independent-minded.

他们必须变得更加独立。

If that happens at all, it doesn't happen on the time scale of one conversation.

即使这种情况真的发生了，也不会在一次对话的时间范围内发生。

It may be possible to convince some people that orthodox privilege must exist even though they can't sense it, just as one can with,

或许可以让一些人相信，正统特权一定存在，尽管他们感觉不到，就像人们可以做到的那样，

say, dark matter.

说，暗物质。

There may be some who could be convinced, for example, that it's very unlikely that this is the first point in history at which there's nothing true you can't say, even if they can't imagine specific examples.

例如，可能有些人会相信，这不太可能是历史上第一个没有什么是你不能说的，即使他们无法想象具体的例子。

But in general I don't think it will work to say "check your privilege" about this type of privilege, because those in its demographic don't realize they're in it.

但总的来说，我认为对此类特权说“检查你的特权”是行不通的，因为其人口中的人并没有意识到他们身处其中。

It doesn't seem to

似乎没有

conventional-minded people that they're conventional-minded.

思想传统的人认为他们思想传统。

It just seems to them that they're right.

在他们看来，他们是对的。

Indeed, they tend to be particularly sure of it.

事实上，他们往往对此特别确定。

Perhaps the solution is to appeal to politeness.

也许解决办法是诉诸礼貌。

If someone says they can hear a high-pitched noise that you can't, it's only polite to take them at their word, instead of demanding evidence that's impossible to produce, or simply denying that they hear anything.

如果有人说他们能听到你听不到的高音调噪音，那么只有礼貌地相信他们的话，而不是要求提供不可能提供的证据，或者干脆否认他们听到了任何声音。

Imagine how rude that would seem.

想象一下这看起来是多么粗鲁。

Similarly, if someone says they can think of things that are true but that cannot be said, it's only polite to take them at their word, even if you can't think of any yourself.

同样，如果有人说他们可以想到一些真实但无法说出来的事情，那么只有礼貌地相信他们的话，即使你自己也想不到。

<!-- Once you realize that orthodox privilege exists, a lot of other things become clearer.

<!-- 一旦你认识到正统特权的存在，很多其他事情就会变得更加清晰。

For example, how can it be that a large number of reasonable, intelligent people worry about something they

例如，为什么会有大量理性、聪明的人担心他们所担心的事情？

call "cancel culture," while other reasonable, intelligent people deny that it's a problem?

称之为“取消文化”，而其他理性、聪明的人却否认这是一个问题？

Once you understand the concept of orthodox privilege, it's easy to see the source of this disagreement.

一旦你理解了正统特权的概念，就很容易看出这种分歧的根源。

If you believe there's nothing true that you can't say, then anyone who gets in trouble for something they say must deserve it.

如果你相信没有什么是你不能说的，那么任何因为自己所说的话而陷入麻烦的人一定是罪有应得。

--> Thanks to Sam Altman, Trevor Blackwell, Patrick Collison, Antonio Garcia-Martinez,

--> 感谢 Sam Altman、Trevor Blackwell、Patrick Collison、Antonio Garcia-Martinez、

Jessica Livingston, Robert Morris, Michael Nielsen, Geoff Ralston, Max Roser, and Harj Taggar for reading drafts of this.

感谢 Jessica Livingston、Robert Morris、Michael Nielsen、Geoff Ralston、Max Roser 和 Harj Taggar 阅读了本文的草稿。