It’s not that we are afraid of seeing him stumble, of scribbling a mustache over his career. Sure, the nice part of us wants Mike to know we appreciate him, that he still reigns, at least in our memory. The truth, though, is that we don’t want him to come back because even for Michael Jordan, this would be an act of hubris so monumental as to make his trademark confidence twist into conceit. We don’t want him back on the court because no one likes a show-off. The stumbling? That will be fun.
But we are nice people, we Americans, with 225 years of optimism at our backs. Days ago when M.J. said he had made a decision about returning to the NBA in September, we got excited. He had said the day before, “I look forward to playing, and hopefully I can get to that point where I can make that decision. It’s O.K., to have some doubt, and it’s O.K. to have some nervousness.” A Time/CNN poll last week has Americans, 2 to 1, saying they would like him on the court ASAP. And only 21 percent thought that if he came back and just completely bombed, it would damage his legend. In fact only 28 percent think athletes should retire at their peak.
Sources close to him tell Time that when Jordan first talked about a comeback with the Washington Wizards, the team Jordan co-owns and would play for, some of his trusted advisers privately tried to discourage him. “But they say if they try to stop him, it will only firm up his resolve,” says an NBA source.
The problem with Jordan’s return is not only that he can’t possibly live up to the storybook ending he gave up in 1998 — earning his sixth ring with a last-second championship-winning shot. The problem is that the motives for coming back — needing the attention, needing to play even when his 38-year-old body does not — violate the very myth of Jordan, the myth of absolute control. Babe Ruth, the 20th century’s first star, was a gust of fat bravado and drunken talent, while Jordan ended the century by proving the ele
egance of resolve; Babe’s pointing to the bleachers replaced by the charm of a backpedaling shoulder shrug. Jordan symbolized success by not sullying his brand with his politics, his opinion or superstar personality. To be a Jordan fan was to be a fan of classiness and confidence.
To come back when he knows that playing for Wizards won’t get him anywhere near the second round of the play-offs, when he knows that he won’t be the league scoring leader, that’s a loss of control.
Jordan does not care what we think. Friends say that he takes articles that tell him not to come back and tacks them all on his refrigerator as inspiration. So why bother writing something telling him not to come back? He is still Michael Jordan.
參考答案：
《人類的進(jìn)程》一書的提綱初稿是1969年7月完成的，影片的最后一部分是在1972年12月拍攝的。像這樣大的一個(gè)項(xiàng)目，雖然異常精彩，令人激動(dòng)，卻并不是輕易上馬的。它要求我保持旺盛的腦力和體力，專心致志地投入工作。我必須確保持之以恒，并從中得到樂趣；比方說，我不得不停下已經(jīng)開始的研究工作；我還應(yīng)當(dāng)說明一下，究竟是什么促使我承擔(dān)這項(xiàng)工作的。
二十年來，科學(xué)的發(fā)展趨勢發(fā)生了深刻的變化：關(guān)注的焦點(diǎn)已經(jīng)從自然科轉(zhuǎn)移到生命科學(xué)。結(jié)果，便把科學(xué)越來越吸引到個(gè)體特征的研究上來。然而感興趣的旁觀者幾乎沒有意識到此事對于改變科學(xué)塑造的人的形象產(chǎn)生了多么深遠(yuǎn)的影響。我是一個(gè)研究數(shù)學(xué)的人，以前學(xué)過物理學(xué)，若不是中年有幸有幾次機(jī)會(huì)涉足生命科學(xué)，我也不會(huì)有所認(rèn)識。我應(yīng)當(dāng)感謝我交的好運(yùn)，是它使我在一生中參與了兩個(gè)啟發(fā)性的科學(xué)領(lǐng)域。盡管我并不知道應(yīng)該向誰表示感謝，我編寫了《人類的進(jìn)程》一書，以表示我的感激之情。
英國廣播公司邀請我做的是通過一套電視節(jié)目來表現(xiàn)科學(xué)的發(fā)展過程，以與克拉克勛爵制作的關(guān)于文明的電視節(jié)目相匹配。通過電視來進(jìn)行解說有幾大好處：它有力、直觀，能使觀眾身臨其境或親身參與所描述的過程，它的語言親切，能使觀眾覺得他所看到的是人們的行動(dòng)而不是事件。這些優(yōu)點(diǎn)之中，我認(rèn)為最后一點(diǎn)最為突出，它是一股的動(dòng)力促使我同意以電視散文的方式從個(gè)人的角度來講述各種思想的發(fā)展史。重要的是知識總體，尤其是科學(xué)知識不是由抽象的思想構(gòu)成的，而是由人的思想構(gòu)成的，自有知識開始直到現(xiàn)代千奇百怪的模式莫不是如此。所以介紹打開自然界之門的基本思想，必須表現(xiàn)出它們很早就已產(chǎn)生，而且是產(chǎn)生在人類最淳樸的文化之中，產(chǎn)生于人類基本的、具體的感官之中。同時(shí)還必須表現(xiàn)出使種種思想形成越來越復(fù)雜的結(jié)合體的科學(xué)的發(fā)展也同樣是人類的貢獻(xiàn)：種種發(fā)現(xiàn)都是人的產(chǎn)物，而不僅僅是頭腦的產(chǎn)物，因此它們都是有生氣的，而且具有個(gè)人的特色。如果電視未能把這些思想表現(xiàn)得很具體，那豈不是浪費(fèi)！
But we are nice people, we Americans, with 225 years of optimism at our backs. Days ago when M.J. said he had made a decision about returning to the NBA in September, we got excited. He had said the day before, “I look forward to playing, and hopefully I can get to that point where I can make that decision. It’s O.K., to have some doubt, and it’s O.K. to have some nervousness.” A Time/CNN poll last week has Americans, 2 to 1, saying they would like him on the court ASAP. And only 21 percent thought that if he came back and just completely bombed, it would damage his legend. In fact only 28 percent think athletes should retire at their peak.
Sources close to him tell Time that when Jordan first talked about a comeback with the Washington Wizards, the team Jordan co-owns and would play for, some of his trusted advisers privately tried to discourage him. “But they say if they try to stop him, it will only firm up his resolve,” says an NBA source.
The problem with Jordan’s return is not only that he can’t possibly live up to the storybook ending he gave up in 1998 — earning his sixth ring with a last-second championship-winning shot. The problem is that the motives for coming back — needing the attention, needing to play even when his 38-year-old body does not — violate the very myth of Jordan, the myth of absolute control. Babe Ruth, the 20th century’s first star, was a gust of fat bravado and drunken talent, while Jordan ended the century by proving the ele
egance of resolve; Babe’s pointing to the bleachers replaced by the charm of a backpedaling shoulder shrug. Jordan symbolized success by not sullying his brand with his politics, his opinion or superstar personality. To be a Jordan fan was to be a fan of classiness and confidence.
To come back when he knows that playing for Wizards won’t get him anywhere near the second round of the play-offs, when he knows that he won’t be the league scoring leader, that’s a loss of control.
Jordan does not care what we think. Friends say that he takes articles that tell him not to come back and tacks them all on his refrigerator as inspiration. So why bother writing something telling him not to come back? He is still Michael Jordan.
參考答案：
《人類的進(jìn)程》一書的提綱初稿是1969年7月完成的，影片的最后一部分是在1972年12月拍攝的。像這樣大的一個(gè)項(xiàng)目，雖然異常精彩，令人激動(dòng)，卻并不是輕易上馬的。它要求我保持旺盛的腦力和體力，專心致志地投入工作。我必須確保持之以恒，并從中得到樂趣；比方說，我不得不停下已經(jīng)開始的研究工作；我還應(yīng)當(dāng)說明一下，究竟是什么促使我承擔(dān)這項(xiàng)工作的。
二十年來，科學(xué)的發(fā)展趨勢發(fā)生了深刻的變化：關(guān)注的焦點(diǎn)已經(jīng)從自然科轉(zhuǎn)移到生命科學(xué)。結(jié)果，便把科學(xué)越來越吸引到個(gè)體特征的研究上來。然而感興趣的旁觀者幾乎沒有意識到此事對于改變科學(xué)塑造的人的形象產(chǎn)生了多么深遠(yuǎn)的影響。我是一個(gè)研究數(shù)學(xué)的人，以前學(xué)過物理學(xué)，若不是中年有幸有幾次機(jī)會(huì)涉足生命科學(xué)，我也不會(huì)有所認(rèn)識。我應(yīng)當(dāng)感謝我交的好運(yùn)，是它使我在一生中參與了兩個(gè)啟發(fā)性的科學(xué)領(lǐng)域。盡管我并不知道應(yīng)該向誰表示感謝，我編寫了《人類的進(jìn)程》一書，以表示我的感激之情。
英國廣播公司邀請我做的是通過一套電視節(jié)目來表現(xiàn)科學(xué)的發(fā)展過程，以與克拉克勛爵制作的關(guān)于文明的電視節(jié)目相匹配。通過電視來進(jìn)行解說有幾大好處：它有力、直觀，能使觀眾身臨其境或親身參與所描述的過程，它的語言親切，能使觀眾覺得他所看到的是人們的行動(dòng)而不是事件。這些優(yōu)點(diǎn)之中，我認(rèn)為最后一點(diǎn)最為突出，它是一股的動(dòng)力促使我同意以電視散文的方式從個(gè)人的角度來講述各種思想的發(fā)展史。重要的是知識總體，尤其是科學(xué)知識不是由抽象的思想構(gòu)成的，而是由人的思想構(gòu)成的，自有知識開始直到現(xiàn)代千奇百怪的模式莫不是如此。所以介紹打開自然界之門的基本思想，必須表現(xiàn)出它們很早就已產(chǎn)生，而且是產(chǎn)生在人類最淳樸的文化之中，產(chǎn)生于人類基本的、具體的感官之中。同時(shí)還必須表現(xiàn)出使種種思想形成越來越復(fù)雜的結(jié)合體的科學(xué)的發(fā)展也同樣是人類的貢獻(xiàn)：種種發(fā)現(xiàn)都是人的產(chǎn)物，而不僅僅是頭腦的產(chǎn)物，因此它們都是有生氣的，而且具有個(gè)人的特色。如果電視未能把這些思想表現(xiàn)得很具體，那豈不是浪費(fèi)！