為后代子孫擔負起責任

By+Steven+Chu

畢加索說，“優(yōu)秀的藝術家借鑒，偉大的藝術家偷竊?！敝Z貝爾獎得主、時任美國能源部長朱棣文借用這句話在2009年哈佛大學畢業(yè)典禮的致辭中表達了自己對年輕一代的殷切希望。此外，他特別提醒大家警惕日益嚴峻的氣候問題，以及人類對于地球能源的過度消耗，充分展現(xiàn)了一位大科學家的人文情懷。

2009 Commencement Address at Harvard University by U.S. Secretary of Energy Steven Chu1美國時任能源部長朱棣文2009年在哈佛大學畢業(yè)典禮上的致辭

Madam President Faust， members of the Harvard Corporation and the Board of Overseers2， faculty， family， friends， and， most importantly， todays graduates. Thank you for letting me share this wonderful day with you. I am not sure I can live up to the high standards of Harvard Commencement speakers. Last year， J. K. Rowling， the billionaire novelist， who started as a classics student， graced this podium.3 The year before， Bill Gates， the mega-billionaire philanthropist and computer nerd stood here.4 Today， sadly， you have me. I am not wealthy， but at least I am a nerd.

Another difficulty with giving a Harvard commencement address is that some of you may disapprove of the fact that I have borrowed material from previous speeches. I ask that you forgive me for two reasons.

First， in order to have impact， it is important to deliver the same message more than once. In science， it is important to be the first person to make a discovery， but it is even more important to be the last person to make that discovery.

Second， authors who borrow from others are following in the footsteps of the best. Ralph Waldo Emerson5， who graduated from Harvard at the age of 18， noted “All my best thoughts were stolen by the ancients.” Picasso6 declared “Good artists borrow. Great artists steal.” Why should commencement speakers be held to a higher standard？

My address will follow the classical sonata form of commencement addresses.7 The first movement8， just presented， were light-hearted remarks. This next movement consists of unsolicited9 advice， which is rarely valued， seldom remembered， never followed. As Oscar Wilde10 said， “The only thing to do with good advice is to pass it on. It is never of any use to oneself.” So， here comes the advice. First， every time you celebrate an achievement， be thankful to those who made it possible. Thank your parents and friends who supported you， thank your professors who were inspirational， and especially thank the other professors whose less-than-brilliant lectures forced you to teach yourself.11 Going forward， the ability to teach yourself is the hallmark of a great liberal arts education and will be the key to your success.12 To your fellow students who have added immeasurably to your education during those late night discussions， hug them. Also， of course， thank Harvard. Should you forget， theres an alumni association13 to remind you. Second， in your future life， cultivate14 a generous spirit. In all negotiations， dont bargain for the last， little advantage. Leave the change on the table. In your collaborations， always remember that “credit” is not a conserved quantity15. In a successful collaboration， everybody gets 90 percent of the credit.endprint

Jimmy Stewart， as Elwood P. Dowd in the movie Harvey got it exactly right.16 He said： “Years ago my mother used to say to me， ‘In this world， Elwood， you must be... she always used to call me Elwood... in this world， Elwood， you must be oh so smart or oh so pleasant.” Well， for years I was smart... I recommend pleasant. You may quote me on that.

My third piece of advice is as follows： As you begin this new stage of your lives， follow your passion. If you dont have a passion， dont be satisfied until you find one. Life is too short to go through it without caring deeply about something. When I was your age， I was incredibly single-minded in my goal to be a physicist. After college， I spent eight years as a graduate student and postdoc at Berkeley， and then nine years at Bell Labs.17 During that time， my central focus and professional joy was physics.

Here is my final piece of advice. Pursuing a personal passion is important， but it should not be your only goal. When you are old and gray， and look back on your life， you will want to be proud of what you have done. The source of that pride wont be the things you have acquired or the recognition you have received. It will be the lives you have touched and the difference you have made.

In the last several decades， our climate has been changing. If the world continues on a business-asusual path， the Intergovernmental Panel on Climate Change predicts that there is a fifty-fifty chance the temperature will exceed five degrees by the end of this century.18 This increase may not sound like much， but let me remind you that during the last ice age， the world was only six degrees colder. A world five degrees warmer will be very different. The change will be so rapid that many species， including Humans， will have a hard time adapting.

The climate problem is the unintended consequence of our success. We depend on fossil energy19 to keep our homes warm in the winter， cool in the summer， and lit at night； we use it to travel across town and across continents. Energy is a fundamental reason for the prosperity we enjoy， and we will not surrender this prosperity.20 The United States has three percent of the world population， and yet， we consume 25 percent of the energy. By contrast， there are 1.6 billion people who dont have access to electricity. Hundreds of millions of people still cook with twigs or dung.21 The life we enjoy may not be within the reach of the developing world， but it is within sight， and they want what we have.endprint

Here is the dilemma22. How much are we willing to invest， as a world society， to mitigate23 the consequences of climate change？ Deeply rooted in all cultures， is the notion of generational responsibility. Parents work hard so that their children will have a better life. Climate change will affect the entire world， but our natural focus is on the welfare24 of our immediate families. Can we， as a world society， meet our responsibility to future generations？

While I am worried， I am hopeful we will solve this problem. I became the director of the Lawrence Berkeley National Laboratory， in part because I wanted to enlist some of the best scientific minds to help battle against climate change.25 Thats where you come in. In this address， I am asking you， the Harvard graduates， to join us. As our future intellectual leaders， take the time to learn more about whats at stake26， and then act on that knowledge.

Finally， as humanists， I ask that you speak to our common humanity. One of the cruelest ironies about climate change is that the ones who will be hurt the most are the most innocent： the worlds poorest and those yet to be born.27

Graduates， you have an extraordinary role to play in our future. As you pursue your private passions， I hope you will also develop a passion and a voice to help the world in ways both large and small. Nothing will give you greater satisfaction.

Please accept my warmest congratulations. May you prosper28， may you help preserve and save our planet for your children， and all future children of the world.

1. commencement： 畢業(yè)典禮；Steven Chu：朱棣文（1948— ），美籍華裔科學家，1997年諾貝爾物理獎獲得者，曾任奧巴馬政府能源部長（2009—2013）。

2. the Harvard Corporation and the Board of Overseers： 哈佛大學理事會和監(jiān)事會。

3. grace： 使增色，使生輝；podium： 講臺。

4. mega-billionaire： 超級富翁，mega意為“巨大的”；philanthropist：/

/ 慈善家；nerd：（理工科學科的）愛好者，（尤指）電腦迷。

5. Ralph Waldo Emerson： 拉爾夫·沃爾多·愛默生（1803—1882），美國著名思想家、文學家，被譽為“確立美國文化精神的代表人物”。

6. Picasso： 巴勃羅·畢加索（1881—1973），西班牙畫家、雕塑家，20世紀現(xiàn)代藝術的主要代表人物之一。

7. 畢業(yè)典禮演講都遵循古典奏鳴曲的結構，我也不例外。sonata： //奏鳴曲。

8. movement：（尤指交響樂的）樂章。

9. unsolicited： // 主動提供的。

10. Oscar Wilde： 奧斯卡·王爾德（1854—1900），愛爾蘭作家、詩人、劇作家，英國唯美主義藝術運動的倡導者，以短詩、小說《道林·格雷的畫像》及戲劇作品聞名。

11. inspirational： 鼓舞人心的，有啟發(fā)的；less-than-brilliant： 不夠精彩的，較為枯燥的。

12. hallmark： 標志，特點；liberal arts education： 通識教育，人文教育。endprint

13. alumni association： 校友會。

14. cultivate： 培養(yǎng)，陶冶。

15. conserved quantity： 守恒量。

16. Jimmy Stewart： 吉米·史都華，詹姆斯·史都華的昵稱（James Stewart， 1908—1997），美國男演員，美國空軍準將，畢業(yè)于普林斯頓大學建筑系；Elwood P. Dowd： 艾爾·伍德，電影《我的朋友叫哈維》的男主人公；Harvey ：《我的朋友叫哈維》，1950年上映的美國奇幻喜劇電影，講述的是主人公伍德和他的隱形好友—— 一只六英尺三英寸高的兔子——之間的故事。

17. postdoc： 博士后（即postdoctoral）；Berkeley：指加州大學伯克利分校；Bell Labs： 貝爾實驗室，1925年成立，美國著名技術研發(fā)機構，科研成果八次獲得諾貝爾獎。

18. 如果全世界按照現(xiàn)有的經(jīng)濟模式發(fā)展下去，聯(lián)合國政府間氣候變化專門委員會預測，本世紀末全球氣溫有一半幾率會上升五度。panel：（由選定人員組成的）專門小組，（討論會、座談會等的）討論小組。

19. fossil energy： 化石能源，由古代生物的化石沉淀而來的不可再生能源，包括煤炭、石油和天然氣。

20. prosperity： 繁榮，成功；surrender： 交出，讓與。

21. twig： 小樹枝；dung：（大象、奶牛等大型動物的）糞便。

22. dilemma：（進退兩難的）困境。

23. mitigate： 使緩和，使減輕。

24. welfare： 福利。

25. the Lawrence Berkeley National Laboratory： 勞倫斯伯克利國家實驗室，位于加州大學伯克利分校，隸屬于美國能源部；enlist： 謀求……的幫助。

26. at stake： 在危急關頭，成問題。

27. 氣候變化帶來的一個最殘酷的諷刺就是，最受傷的人恰恰就是那些最無辜的人——世界上最貧窮的和尚未出生的人。

28. prosper： 成功，蒸蒸日上。endprint