我们周围隐秘的世界

哈里·A.奥弗斯特里特

Ever since Socrates was introduced to my adolescent mind he has been one chief master of my thinking. What he believed still seems to me to be indispensable for carrying on an intelligent and responsible life. He believed that he did not know. For myself， I have come to change his negative into a positive. I know that there is far more in this universe for me to know than I now know.

I recently had a dramatic illustration of this. My wife and I， driving through Arizona， stopped at a “collectors shop” in Tucson， where stones and minerals of many kinds were on display. In the course of the visit， we were taken into a small room where rocks were laid out on shelves. They were quite ordinary-looking rocks. Had I seen them on some hillside， I would not have given them a second thought. Then the man closed the door so that the room was in total darkness and turned on an ultraviolet lamp.

Instantly， the prosaic rocks leaped into a kind of glory. Brilliant colors of an indescribable beauty were there before our eyes.

A very simple thing—and yet a very tremendous thing—had happened. A certain power had been snapped on; and a hidden world leaped into life.

As I look at my universe and walk among my fellow humans， I have the deep belief that hidden realities are all around us. These hidden realities are there in the physical world; and they are there， also， in the human world. If I am foolish enough to think that I see all there is to be seen in front of my eyes， I simply miss the glory.

I believe， then， that my chief job in life—and my astonishing privilege—is to snap on an extra power so that I can see what my naked eyes—or my naked mind—cannot now see. I believe that I have to do this particularly with my human fellows. My ordinary eyes tend to stop short at those opaque envelopes we call human bodies. But we have learned that by turning on a certain power we can penetrate to the inside of these envelopes.

We call this extra power “imagination”. At its highest， we call it “empathy”， the power to see through and to feel through to the inner life of other human beings. It is a kind of ultraviolet lamp of our psychic life. When we turn on this lamp of imaginative sensitivity， we make the prosaic human beings around us come excitingly alive. Zona Gale once set down as the first article of her creed， “I believe in expanding the areas of my awareness.” Id do the same. If I expand the areas of my awareness， I move understandingly into realities beyond me. When I move into them understandingly， I know what I can do and what I should do. If I dont move in understandingly， if I stay in ignorance on the outside， then， in all likelihood， I will do mistaken things.

The great principle of love depends on this. He who loves another tries truly to understand the other. We can reverse this： he who tries truly to understand another is not likely to hate that other.

Socrates gave no finished catalogue of the “truths” of the world. He gave， rather， the impulse to search. This is far better， I feel， than dogmatic certainty. When we are aware that there are glories of life still hidden from us， we walk humbly before the Great Unknown. But we do more than this： we try manfully to increase our powers of seeing and feeling so that we can turn what is still unknown into what is warmly and understandingly known… This， I believe， is our great human adventure.

少年时代我接触到了苏格拉底的思想，从此，他便成了我的思想导师。在我看来，苏格拉底的信仰在明智而负责的生活中始终不可或缺。苏格拉底相信自己无知，而我将他的消极变为了积极。我知道，除了我现有的知识，宇宙中尚有无穷多的知识等待我去学习。

最近，我经历了一个生动的例证。我和妻子开车穿过亚利桑那州时，停车参观了图森市一家陈列着各种各样的石头与矿物的收藏店。在参观过程中，我们被带到了一个架子上摆满石头的小房间里。看起来，这些石头没什么特别。如果在山邊看到它们，恐怕我都不想再看第二眼了。店员关上了门，房间里顿时一片漆黑，然后他打开了一盏紫外线照射灯。

刹那间，这些普通的石头立刻变得光彩夺目。一种难以形容的灿烂与美丽出现在我们眼前。

一件非常平凡却又无比奇妙的事情就这样发生了。突然间，出现了某种力量，一个隐秘的世界骤然出现在生活中。

当我凝视着眼前的世界，或穿梭在茫茫人海之中，我深信我们周围存在着一个隐秘的现实。它们存在于物质世界之中，也存在于人类世界中。如果我愚笨地只认为眼前的一切就是我应看到的所有事物，那我就错过了辉煌。

我相信，为了能够看到我肉眼所无法看到的一切，或是我知识贫乏的大脑所无法理解的东西，就必须抓住一种非凡的力量，这是我一生中的首要任务，也是我的神奇优势。我坚信，我应当去做，尤其是与他人一起去做。我的凡眼只能看到人的躯体，但我们已经知道，通过开启某种力量，能穿透躯体看到人的内在。

我们称这种非凡的力量为“想象”。想象力的最高级别，即是我们所说的“移情作用”，这种力量能够透过表面，看到或感受到他人的内心世界。它就像是我们精神生活中的紫外线照射灯。当我们将这盏想象的灯打开，就能使周围平凡的人们充满活力。“我相信，应当扩展我的认知领域。”这是佐纳·盖尔曾经写下的第一条信仰。我也要这么做。如果我的认知领域能够得到扩展，那我就能够理解那些我无法领悟的现实。如果我理解了这些现实，就可以明白自己能做什么，应该做什么。如果我无法理解，而是无知地在门外徘徊，那么我很可能会做错事。

爱的伟大原则也是来源于此。爱人者，会真正地理解他人。反过来也可以说，一个真正理解他人的人，自然不可能憎恨他人。

苏格拉底并没有将世界“真理”的目录完全列出，而是给予我们探索的动力。我认为，这样的好处远远大于教条式的理论。当我们认识到，周围依然隐秘着生命的奇迹时，在上帝面前我们就会谦卑而行。但我们要做的还有更多：我们要勇于努力提高我们观察与感受的能力，以便将未知的世界转变为我们能够深切领悟的已知世界……我相信，这就是，我们人类的伟大探险。

Word Study

indispensable /'?nd?'spens?bl/ adj. 不可或缺的;必不可少的

tremendous /tr?'mend?s/ adj. 极好的;精彩的;了不起的

dogmatic /d?g'm?t?k/ adj. 自以为是的;教条的;武断的

humbly /'h?mbl?/ adv. 谦逊地;虚心地