翻译练习：Can Humanity Grow Up？（4）

Thinking in these terms can sometimes feel unnatural, because humanity is not a coherent agent. We have deep disagreements about what we ought to do, and we are constantly competing with one another. We struggle to act in concert even when it is obvious that we must. But this is true of all collective agents, and it doesn't stop us from referring to a company's interests or a country's priorities. The point is not to deny the differences and sources of friction between human agents; it is to ask what we could accomplish if we act together, or what responsibilities we collectively bear.

思考这些问题有时候让人觉得很反常，因为人类不是一个有凝聚力的群体。关于我们应该做什么有非常深的分歧，并且一直在互相竞争。即使当我们显然必须合作时，我们采取一致的行动也很困难。但对所有集团来说都是真的，这些不能阻止我们提出公司的利益或国家的要务。重点不是要否认人与人之间摩擦的根源与不同。而是要问如果我们一起行动能完成什么？或者我们共同需要承担的是哪些责任。

Consider the whole of humanity in the terms of a single human life. The typical species survives for around one million years, and humanity is just 200,000 years old, putting us in our adolescence. This seems an especially apt comparison, for like the adolescent, we are seeing rapid developments in our strength, and in our ability to get ourselves in trouble. We are almost ready for the world, ready to explore the dizzying potential the future holds. Yet when it comes to risks, we can be impulsive and careless, seizing the short-term benefits but neglecting the long-term costs.

从一个单独的人体的一生的角度来思考整个人类。一个物种的生存大约有100万年，人类只有20万年，正处于我们的青春期。这个比喻似乎非常恰当，就像青春期少年，我们迅速开发我们的力量，而我们的能力正带给我们麻烦。我们为这个世界几乎已经做好了准备，准备好探索未来各种令人眩晕的可能性。然而当风险来临时，我们行事冲动，并且粗心大意，只抓短期利益却忽视长期代价。

Within inpidual societies, we resolve these tensions by giving the young enough space to grow and flourish, while at the same time steering them away from dangers that they do not yet understand. Only gradually do we grant them the freedoms of adulthood, hoping that we've given them enough time and guidance to make wise and prudent choices - and to recognize that with freedom comes responsibility. Unfortunately, humanity does not have the luxury of a caring guardian. We are alone and will have to grow up fast.

具体到各个社会，我们解决这些矛盾的方法通过给年轻人足够的空间来长大和丰富阅历，与此同时，引导他们远离他们尚不知晓的危险。我们只能逐步给予他们成年人的自由，希望我们给了他们足够的时间，引导他们做出明智与谨慎地选择——认识到自由与责任相伴。不幸地，人类没有关怀备至的向导可以享受。我们无依无靠，并且还必须快速成长。