People often substitute moral outrage displayed on the Internet for actual action.

人们经常会把在网上展示的道德愤怒替换成实际行动

So there are a few instances in which outrage in social media have led to actual change.

有几个例子可以说明社交媒体上的愤怒确实引发了实际变化

The #MeToo movement is a good example of that,

#我也是运动就是个很好的例子

where we’re actually seeing real meaningful change; where people who are creeps have been fired,

我们看到了真实有意义的改变 那些猥琐的人被开除了

businesses have gotten much more serious about harassment policies,

企业也对骚扰政策更加重视

so there’s been some positive aspects of that.

它产生了一些积极影响

But it is often the case that when something rises in social media and there’s an outrage moment,

但更常见的是 当社交媒体上出现某件事 人们对此产生愤怒情绪

the people who are the ones you really are guilty of whatever we should be outraged about

那些犯了过错、引起我们愤怒的人

basically get a pass if they just wait for about 24 hours.

只需要等待24小时后 就可以逍遥法外了

It goes away, nobody knows about it, and it moves on.

这件事会过去 没有人了解真实情况 一切就像没发生过一样

So a big problem with moral outrage on the Internet is that

所以网上的道德愤怒有一个很严重的问题

it leads people to think they’ve done something when in fact they haven’t done something.

那就是 它会让人们误以为自己采取了实际行动 但其实他们什么也没做

And because it’s sort of compelling and exciting to stay online and display your virtue over and over again,

在网上一遍又一遍地展示自己的美德会让人很着迷 也很兴奋

whether that’s from one political point of view or another political point of view,

无论这种美德源于一种还是另一种政治观点

you’re wasting a huge amount of time that could actually be going towards actual social change.

但你其实只是在浪费大把的时间 你本可以用这些时间去做些实际的社会改变

So you’re not, for example, registering people to vote,

比如说 你并没有让人们去登记投票

you are not thinking through a policy concept and developing a clear policy,

也没有思考某种政策观念或制定清晰的政策

you are just being outrage-able.

你就只是在生气而已

Now maybe not a lot of people are qualified to do things like policy development,

也许很多人没有资格去做制定政策之类的事

they’re not in a position to pass laws, so they feel like they’re at least doing something,

他们没有权力批准法律 所以他们觉得自己起码是做了点事情

but when they’re doing that over and over again

但他们重复展示自己的美德时

what they’re doing is they’re creating a feedback loop system

其实是在创建一个反馈回路系统

where the people who do have power are probably reacting reiteratively to where there’s loudness

可能会让那些掌权的人反复对人们关注的热点做出反应

and loudness is not always where the best thinking comes through.

但那些热点并不一定就能滋生优秀的想法

So the Internet is a wild and crazy thing, a beautiful thing;

所以网络是一个既狂野又疯狂的地方 是个很美的东西

it has been wonderful for some parts of democracy,

对民主的某些方面而言 它起到了很好的推动作用

but it also is a tremendous distraction

但同时它也会严重分散人们的注意力

and it can also be really dangerous in terms of leading people to think what is not true is true.

还会让人们把虚假的东西误认成事实 在这一点上 它又是极其危险的

So, one thing I think you have to do when you’re doing activism if you want it to be effective is

所以 如果你是个行动主义的人 而且想让它奏效的话

you have to actually think about what the goal is.

你就必须要清楚自己的目标是什么

And that sounds really obvious, but it’s often the case that activist have a sort of lofty amorphous goal

这听起来似乎显而易见 但在多数情况下 积极分子的目标都崇高又空洞

like stop climate change or stop sexual abuse.

比如阻止气候变化 或阻止性虐待

Those are great goals, but they’re not really clear and they’re not something you can say to yourself,

这些目标很伟大 但却不是那么清晰 它无法告诉你

“How am I going to get there, and how am I going to know when I’ve done it?”

“我要怎么实现这个目标 实现以后我怎么知道自己做到了？”

So it’s really important to sit down carefully and think,

所以坐下来认真想想

“Okay you have this big huge goal, but what are the specific objectives that you’re going to try to achieve,

“好 你有这个很远大的目标 但你想实现的具体目标是什么呢

and how are you going to move towards trying to achieve those?

为了实现它们 你要怎么做？

How will we know when we’re making progress?”

取得进展的时候 我们如何得知？” 这很重要

I think part of what happens for some people in activism is they identify with a cause in such a way that the cause is themselves,

我觉得行动主义的人有一部分情况是这样 他们会把自己当成一个目标

and as long as they’re expanding energy they think they’re achieving something,

只要他们扩大了能量 就觉得自己实现了某些东西

because they feel good about themselves because they’re getting more attention.

因为他们获得了更多注意力 所以自我感觉良好

That should not be the goal.

这不应该是他们的目标

Glorification of the activists should never be the goal.

他们的目标绝不应该是称赞积极分子

It is the case that good activist movements often have somebody charismatic in the lead,

良好的积极分子运动往往会有一个具有超凡魅力的领导人

it’s also often true that that person has narcissistic personality disorder,

而那个人往往有自恋型人格障碍

so people who don’t [have it] need to be really careful about thinking,

所以没有（这种人格障碍）的人需要仔细考虑清楚

“How do we actually get towards meaningful goals that represent actual social change?”

“我们要如何实现能代表实际社会变化的有意义的目标？”