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Chomsky 答 the Independent 读者问

很久没有买报纸了，下午为了准备搬家时的包装材料去买了一份 the Independent，在24－25版是 Noam Chomsky 回答读者提问的一个专栏。有些问题非常有趣，折射出了提问者的敏锐和回答者的睿智。Chomsky 的回答比大部分提问都更中庸，但也不乏对当权者，特别是美、以领导人的批评。Chomsky 的历史和社会学知识看来并不比他的专业语言学差多少，其历史水平可能比国内很多专业研究人员更好——至少我从未看到国内有人出版过从历史角度分析文化冲突的著作。

以下英文引用部分取自 the Independent 印刷版，2006年8月28日：Noam Chomsky: You Ask Questions。

Can Israelis and Palestinians ever live peacefully together in one state?
-- MATTHEW PETERS, PHILADELPHIA

Perhaps, but it would have to be approached in stages. Since the 1970s, an international consensus has crystallised on the first stage: a two-state settlement on the internationally recognised borders, with minor and mutual adjustments. That has been barred by the US and Israel, with inconsequential departures. The US-Israel alliance is now working to undermine the option by their programs of "convergence": annexation, dismemberment, and imprisonment (by takeover of the Jordan Valley), cynically described as "courageous withdrawal". If these policies can be reversed, and the first stage achieved, then further steps are possible.

看起来老先生比大多数人都更乐观。以色列目前在其占领区的活动确实是非法的和不道义的，但以色列人有可能放弃这片土地，回到给他们划定的狭小国土中去吗？丧失了约旦河西岸这样的战略要地后，以色列的生存能否保证？这个第一步的实现，需要一个更强大的国际社会压力和减小的美国影响，在目前的中东这两点都很难实现。

You have said you see a "hint of anti-Semitic implication" in the work of Robert Faurisson, the notorious French Holocaust denier. Is Jewbaiting merely a hobby of yours, or is it vocational?
-- LAURENCE COLE, KENT


The facts and the principle have been spelled out dozens of times since 1980 (so it is a bit boring), but once again, briefly. The last time I had anything to do with this affair, Faurisson was accused of raising questions about gas chambers. Several years later, he was tried and sentenced for "Falsification of History", but there was no charge of Holocaust denial or anti-Semitism (according to Le Monde). The only issue concerning my connection with this sordid affair is whether we should adopt the Goebbels-Zhdanov doctrine that the State has the right to determine Historical Truth and punish deviation from it. As I wrote then, and am happy to repeat, it is a gross insult to the memory of victims of the Holocaust to adopt the doctrines of their murderers. The remark you are misrepresenting is from a personal letter -- an interesting source. It reviewed the facts and went on to point out that even denial of huge atrocities would not in itself be evidence for recism, giving a few of the many examples. Thus neither you, nor I, conclude that Americans are vicious racists because they estimate Vietnamese deaths at about 5 per cent of the offical figure, or because for centuries even scholarship vastly understated the scale and character of the destruction of the indigenous population. The point generalises to England and others, of course. There can be many reasons for denying horrendous crimes, even in the cases that are the most serious on moral grounds: our own. One special case--purely hypothetical in this personal correspondence--was that denial of the Holocaust would not establish anti-Semitism, for exactly the same reason.

似乎是这位读者断章取义，误解了 Chomsky 论断的来源。他对于 Faurisson 定罪的论述很有趣，似乎认为从纯历史的角度，否认大屠杀并不构成种族主义，因此这个行为本身并不是对受害者的 the most gross insult 。而问题的关键在于国家是否具有决定历史的官方版本并禁止和惩罚任何其他版本存在的权力。规定官方版本的历史并不允许任何争辩，同时使用将个人特性与种族联系起来的手段，实际上是戈培尔式的行为，Chomsky 表示自己是不会那样做的。

How did the current US administration get railroaded by the neo-cons?
-- EIRA TOVEY, AUSTRALIA

The neo-cons constitute a radical reactionary fringe of the planning spectrum, but the spectrum is narrow. Some of the more extreme -- Perle, Wolfowitz, Feith and others -- have been removed, with little policy change. The administration adopted neo-con principles when they accorded with their strategic and social/economic objectives, dismissing crazier ideas. A serious question is how the clique in charge used its extremely narrow hold on power to carry out radical domestic and international policies opposed by the large majority of the population. I've written about it, as have others, from various perspectives. One valuable study is Jacob Hacker and Paul Pierson, Off Center.

Can the curtailment of personal freedoms and the heightened fear among many Western populations be compared to life in the years preceding the Second World War and is it an overstatement to imagine that current events are a precursor to another global conflict?
-- RAY LONG, DUBLIN

I'm sceptical about such comparisons. There is a serious risk of global conflict, but for different reasons. We should take seriously the judgement of prominent strategic analysts that current policies, particularly Bush administration aggressive militrarism, significantly increase the threat of "ultimate doom".

这位读者的问题还是要赞一下的，确实不是每个人都能提得出来。

Since American foreign policy in the Middle East has throughout history been primarily interventionist, do you think the War in Iraq was inevitable, even if Bush had not stolen the 2000 election?
-- DAVID KEELAGHAN, MONAGHAN, IRELAND

Not at all. There was unprecedented criticism of the war plans within elite sectors, compelling Bush-Blair to resort to considerable deceit to manipulate their countries into war. That aside, the US has been no more interventionist than Britain or France, often less so, as in 1956.

已经快忘了克林顿时代美国是如何对待中东国家和阿以冲突的了。但是可以肯定的是那时候的西方没有面对像今天这样迫切的“反恐”需要。“War on Terror" 今天看来更像是一场把美国拖入泥潭，让阿富汗和伊拉克人民才离虎口又入狼窝的战争。

The anti-globalisation movement, which you have lent your support to, appears to have run out of steam. Is this a lost battle?
-- DANNY CAMPBELL, CARDIFF

The term "globalisation" is conventionally used to refer to the specific form of investor-rights integration designed by wealth and power, for their own interests. The "anti-globalisation movement" is the most significant proponent of globalisation -- but in the interests of people, not concentrations of state-private power. The people from all over the world and all walks of life who meet annually in Porto Alegre, Mumbai, etc, are far more representative of globalisation than those who gather at the same time in Davos. This global justice movement is expanding in significant ways. Among the many illustrations is the proliferation of regional and local social forums, with similar concerns but focusing on more specific problems. Other illustations are the exciting developments taking place in South America. And their are many others.

Chomsky 在这段回答里提供了对全球化和反全球化的一种新看法。他认为全球化应该是服从各种各样人的利益，而不是仅仅有利于国家或私人的利益。我想他理想中的全球化是一种平等、民主的全球化，体现在尊重少数派的价值。他在这里没有提到多样性的问题，但我想这种思想和多样性的要求是一致的。

After all the lies about the "war on terror", why has nobody in America started procedures to impeach George Bush?
-- MARICARMEN SANDOVAL DE PASMANS, SINT ODILIENBERG, THE NETHERLANDS

There are several efforts, but there is unlikely to be any outcome in the absence of a genuine opposition party.

啥也不说了，一语中的。

Why do you suppose it is so difficult for us Americans to create a real citizens' movement as a proper counterweight to the administration's power?
-- HONORABLE ANNA TAYLOR, US DISTRICT COURT

The question is much too important for a brief answer. The level of activism is high, probably higher than the 1960s. But it is diffuse and not well-integrated. An ideal form of social control is an atomised collection of individuals focused on their own narrow concern, lacking the kinds of organisations in which they can gain information, develop and articulate their thoughts, and act constructively to achieve common ends. By many familiar mechanisms, that ideal has been approached in dangerous but not irreversible ways.

这段论述非常有趣。我们一般认为民间自发组成的小团体，所谓 interest groups，是一种民众获得权力的表现，但 Chomsky 提出许多仅仅考虑自己利益的小团体实际上不能对政策产生什么影响力，因而对民间团体的分化实际上成了一种社会控制手段。所以，过度细分的利益团体面临失去影响力的危险。相比之下，秦晖提倡农村的传统认同，恢复家庭、宗族等传统群体的价值，是否也会给农民带来失语的危险呢？不过在农村没有传统认同而只有“全国一盘棋”的全局认同的时代，农民的利益也是不被政策所考虑的。所以，也许在共同价值认同的基础上，一个粒度适中的社会组织形式才最有利于各利益团体的思想表达和政策的公平。

Wired News: Refuse to be Terrorized

Wired News: Refuse to be Terrorized

这人跟我想到一块儿去了。前些日子我就想写一篇类似观点的 blog，只是当时英国警方的反应还不算过激。不过现在两个穆斯林打扮的人对了对表，全飞机乘客就忍受不了要求把他们赶下飞机，就真的有点过敏了。

恐怖活动的目的从来不是直接的杀伤，而是自下而上地打击一国民众的心理，从而造成政策的变化。而无端的恐惧正是中了恐怖分子的下怀。罗斯福早就说过“我们唯一应当害怕的就是恐惧本身”。如果因为这种恐惧，西方各国放弃了“自由，平等”的信条，变成民众整天互相猜忌，惶惶不可终日的警察国家，那才是恐怖主义的最大胜利。

釜底抽薪？

苹果的 iBook 和 PowerBook G4 在国内玩家圈中一向有“火锅机”的美誉，因为底部发热量巨大，在冬季可以帮助用户减少取暖费用。在 Dell 出现多起电池自燃事故之后，同样采用 Sony 电池的 Apple 也宣布要召回180万台 G4 笔记本电脑的电池。不知道换了发热量较小的电池后，“火锅”会不会变成比较温和的“暖手器”？

我自己用的是 Vaio，电池自然是 Sony 的了。今天开机到现在11个小时，用手摸了一下电池，居然是凉的。至于长时间用电池供电的实验，我现在没法做，因为电池只能坚持半个小时……

转移阵地

准备从宿舍里搬出去了。但是还不知道搬到哪里……

A Scanner Darkly

  Still of A Scanner Darkly. Courtesy of IMDb

今天是这部电影在英国上画的日子，下午两点的电影，整个影厅中就坐了6、7个人。
Philip K. Dick 被搬上银幕的几部小说中，可能 A Scanner Darkly 和 Blade Runner 两部具有最多的相似点：都同样描绘了未来世界，颓废的人类社会和一手遮天的大财团。而主人公的精神状态也有相似之处：迷茫，自我怀疑，迟到的醒悟。不同的是 A Scanner Darkly 的主人公几乎完全不能控制自己的命运，就像在影片开始时他即使演讲也不能控制自己说什么，所以他更有悲剧色彩。

值得注意的是两部影片色调的异同。Blade Runner 几乎全片都在黑暗之中，主色调是蓝和灰，而 A Scanner Darkly 虽然充满了加州著名的金色阳光，却处处透着颓丧和绝望的气息，这种干涩无力的色调对刻画主人公及其同伴的精神状态起着重要的作用。另一个视觉上的重要元素自然是影片使用的 rotoscope animation。原作小说读后也让读者开始怀疑自己对现实的认知，那么电影如果要做到对小说的忠实重现，这一特点也应当保留下来。Rotoscoping 技术一方面保留了足够的现实感，一方面能够表现那种迷幻状态下人物的感觉，相比成本较低的纯动画或传统影片，确实能够更好地把观众带入一个真假难辨的世界。

影片基本上忠实地再现了小说的情节，都表现了对掌握先进技术却滥加应用的人类的忧虑。Scrambling suit 和高科技的监测手段是作品中唯一的科幻元素，对剧情的发展起着不可或缺的作用，但科幻元素只是手段。A Scanner Darkly 更多地把重心放在表现毒品对人类心灵的摧残乃至对整个社会的瓦解作用。Philip K. Dick 自己就曾有安非他明依赖，并与一群药物依赖者共同生活过，这可能使得他以一种自我解剖的心态来写作小说，因此使得小说具有一种特别的残酷和沉重感，并把这种感觉带入了电影中。

小说和影片也影射了其他的社会现实，例如大规模的监视。虽然这一点并没有表现出与影片主题的直接联系，但影片中一个角色说："The more surveillance we have, the more drug we use."而且影片也提到了吸毒者增加剂量的原因是巨大的压力，因此也许先进监视技术下人的异化和精神痛苦也是影片/小说所要探究的主题之一。

整部电影充斥着大量的长对白，艰深的名词解释和不断变换视角的画面语言，情节也是一波三折，因此非常晦涩难懂，只看一遍也许难以完全理解，就像 Keanu 七年前的 the Matrix 一样。但 A Scanner Darkly 整部电影里甚至只有三声枪响，所以非常不适合想看帅哥美女或者火爆场面的观众。但如果要进一步理解 Philip K. Dick 和他小说中反复出现的主题：迷茫的男主人公，恐怖的大型企业和神秘的、神经质的黑发女子，A Scanner Darkly 应该是值得一再品味的电影。

Inching Toward Movement Ecology — Holden 313 (5788): 779 — Science

Inching Toward Movement Ecology -- Holden 313 (5788): 779 -- Science This issue of Science caught my eyes because the theme is migration and dispersal, which is somehow related to my dissertation topic. I find that I am tackling a topic which has very wide coverage and considerable influence in ecology studies. It is possible that I may continue research in this direction. However, I still think my work should be related to fragile ecosystems.

Modelling work draws to the end

Today I managed to make both GRASPeR and CAPS produce sensible results (using the data I gave them). It seems that the high ground near the peak of bleaklow cannot produce much Sphagnum in the future. However, GRASPeR gives a more pessimistic prediction using data completely same as today's. I guess the reason is that I have too many "pseudo absence" data in my dataset, i.e. all sites where I did not visit or did not see Sphagnum were labelled "absence". I may need to randomly reduce the number of "absence" to a reasonable level. Besides, I would like to change the prediction dataset for the GRASPeR, see what if Peak District have more precipitation in the future? It would be interesting.

On the other hand, CAPS has even poorer documentation than GRASPeR. I need to ask the author why the replication number is limited and why the coverage drops drastically after certain years.

有思想及其他

看到某科考队员的日记，有些句子挺生硬，似乎出自大人最害怕的那种小孩之手：他只有一套自己的是非标准，其余的一切都是不合理的，应当打破摒弃的。看了之后禁不住要回复说他两句，但同时也觉得，自己这样做也挺邪恶的。虽然他的很多看法很片面，但谁知道他也许就是那个喊“皇帝没有穿衣服”的小孩呢？看他的文字，觉得真有点像高中时候的自己，满心希望与这个自己并不喜欢的世界决裂，而且公开地表达这种意愿。现在虽然仍然不喜欢这样的世界，但已经接受了自己和世界的相互改变。

在苹果的预告片网站上看到有几部电影值得留意一下：阿尔莫多瓦的 ``Volver''， Dunst 的宫廷片 ``Marie Antoinette''，还有 Stone 的 WTC 和 Cage 的 the Wickerman。不太可能全看。最近打算去看 A Scanner Darkly，论文进展顺利，到这片子上画那天应该差不多完成草稿了。

豆瓣上多了个功能“我去”，看见它第一反应是想笑：这不是北方人表示 ft 的常用语么？看了一下，应该是游记攻略一类的功能，不太喜欢。在这种小资文青众多的网站上，它只怕又要蜕变成对无聊景点的蹩脚感慨的集散地，以及显摆资历的场所。