The world of adolescence

　　年青人的世界

　　CHRISTIAN SMITH is a well-known sociologist of religion. That alone may deter the more deeplysecular from reading his book, Lost in Transition, which explores the moral map of 18- to 23-year-olds in America. This would be a shame, as it is intensely and uncomfortably thought-provoking. It deserves consideration on both sides of the Atlantic, particularly from theparents of that generation.

　　克里斯汀史密斯是一位著名的宗教社會學家。僅僅因為那樣也許會使更深入世俗的人們不讀他寫的書迷失于轉型之途，這本書探究18至23歲的美國人的道德地圖。這將是一件憾事，因為這本書會引起人們強烈地、不自在地深思。而且也值得大西洋兩岸的人們思考，尤其是那一代人的父母。

　　A note about method first. Mr Smith and his co-writers have been following the emerging adults on whom this study is based since 2001,when they were just young sprats. The authors have repeatedly surveyed a nationallyrepresentative sample of over 3,000 and personally interviewed a smaller number. This bookrelies primarily on intensive interviews in 2008 with 230 of the original group, many of themthen in college or university.

　　本書的首頁是關于調查方法的注釋。自2001年以來，史密斯先生和他的合著者一直研究新一代的成年人，當時他們兩位也僅僅是初出茅廬的小子。他們兩位作者反復調查3000多個全國有代表性的人物，還親自訪問一些人。這本書主要信賴2008年訪問的230個最初的小組，大部分人當時還在學院或大學就讀。

　　Mr Smith starts from the observation, which few would dispute, that adolescents are slowerto emerge into adulthood these days: they study for longer, they depend on their parents forlonger and they marry later, if at all. The world of real work they eventually enter is not theworld of stable, long-term jobs that previous generations knew. During that long transitionthey have unprecedented freedomfrom unwanted childbearing, for exampleand noparticular reason to rush into commitments of any sort. Moral boundaries are less clear thanthey were; many young adults have been taught not just to tolerate other peoples views andbehaviour but to see them all as equally valid.

　　史密斯先生從觀察開始，觀察表明如今的年輕人進入成年期的速度較慢，這一觀點幾乎沒有異議：如果條件允許的話，他們求學的時間長，依靠父母的時間長以及結婚晚。他們最終的工作并不是上一代人認為的穩定、長期的工作。在這段漫長的轉型時期，年輕人享受著前所未有的自由，例如，不用考慮生育，沒有理由去倉促地做任何承諾。道德的界限也不太清晰;很多年輕的成年人被教育不僅僅要忍受他人的觀點和行為，而是平等正當地對待他人。

　　In every age the transition to adulthood is aturbulent time. The message here is that in todaysworld there is much that is fun, free and promisingabout this stage of life, but a dark side of apathy,confusion, loss and grief is less readilyacknowledged. The book focuses on five areas: howyoung adults make ethical decisions; what roleconsumerism plays in their lives; why they drink somuch; why they have sex so indiscriminately; andwhy, despite optimistic claims that Barack Obamaawakened young people in 2008 as John F. Kennedydid their parents or grandparents, they are in fact disengaged from civic and political life. Theanswers in the first area foreshadow most of the rest. What is striking about the responsesto a whole string of questions probing how these young people deal with moral issues is howfew of them seem to grasp what is being asked. Murder, rape, bank robbery are seen as wrong.But what about cheating on exams, cheating on lovers, even driving drunk? They talk aboutwhether they might be caught, how their friends would react, how they themselves might feel.Where it is a question of others questionable behaviour, a standard answer is that it is up toeach individual to decide for himself. Very few seem to think that right and wrong are rooted inanything outside personal experience.

　　在每個時代，向成人期過渡的這段時期都是動蕩不安的。這本書旨在說明如今人們都認為這段時期是充滿快樂、自由和希望的，而很少會認為是無趣、困惑、迷失和悲傷的人生黑暗面。本書集中研究這五個領域：年輕的成年人如何做合乎道德的決定;用戶至上主義在他們生活中處于什么地位;為什么他們喝那么多酒;為什么他們隨意地與他人發生性行為;盡管巴拉克奧巴馬在2008年時呼喚年輕人要樂觀生活，正如約翰 F 肯尼迪喚醒他們的上一代一樣，但是為什么他們還是不愿意參加公民政治生活。關于第一個方面的回答預示著本書接下去的大部分內容。一系列探究年輕人如何處理道德議題的問題的回答令人驚奇之處在于，他們之中能夠領會所問的問題的人少之又少。他們認為謀殺、強奸、搶劫銀行都是錯誤的。那考試作弊，對情人不忠，甚至醉酒駕駛呢?他們談論他們是否會遭逮捕，他們的朋友會有什么反應，他們自己的感覺如何。當問到他人可疑的行為的問題出在何處，標準的答案是由各自決定。幾乎沒有人認為對與錯是深植于個人經歷之外的。

　　And so to consumerism. Shopping is personally fulfilling; buying things supports the economy; if you can afford it, you deserve it. Might it be just a tiny bit gross to own tencars while others in your city are working double shifts to buy shoes for their children?Apparently not. The good life consists of having a decent job, a decent standard of living anda nice family, not of fighting for justice or saving whales.

　　對于用戶至上主義也是如此。購物是一件令人高興的事情;買東西可以推動經濟發展;如果你買得起它，那么你就值得擁有它。你擁有十輛車，而與你同城的人，他們為了給孩子買鞋卻要做兩輪班，難道你們的收入僅僅相差無幾?顯然不是這樣。好的生活應該有一份合適的工作，一個相當好的生活標準和一個美滿的家庭，而不是為公平和省錢奮斗。

　　As for the prevalence of drink and sex, peerpressure, advertising and the media play their part,but so too does sheer boredom. Many of theyoung women, in particular, look back with someregret on very early sexual experiences, and on laterones with virtual strangers. And as for politics, whatemerges is a strong feeling of disempowerment anddistrust. Relatively few young people think theyknow or can do much about what is going on, andmost of those who do follow current events andvote seem to take things no further.

　　至于普遍的飲酒和性行為，來自同輩的壓力，廣告媒體各司其所，但是一旦泛濫，就肯定會令人感到厭倦。尤其是很多年輕的婦女，當她們回想起以前，就會后悔太早有性經歷，隨后就是后悔與虛幻的陌生人發生關系。至于政治方面，暴露出的現象是他們有一種強烈的被剝奪權利和不被信任的感覺。相對而言，很少的年輕人認為自己知道或可以為正在發生的事做貢獻，大部分關注時事和投票的人似乎也沒作進一步關注。

　　Yet Lost in Transition is not, in fact, a hand-wringing tale of gloom. Nor is the moral map itdescribes unique to America; there are many echoes in Britain, which was struggling evenbefore its August riots to understand why so many young people seemed adrift. It is really awarning to parents. In the guise, often, of teaching tolerance, we are failing to ensure that ourchildren understand how to frame moral issues and make judgments about right conduct andabout what is good in life. The reason for this, Mr Smith suggests, is that we are not so sureourselves.

　　然而，事實上，迷失在轉型之途并不是對陰暗面的流言的絕望。也不是僅僅描寫美國人的道德風貌;這也使很多歐洲人產生了共鳴，甚至在八月騷亂之前，歐洲已經致力于了解為何那么多年輕人好像都漫無目的的。這敲醒了家長們的警鐘。我們常常只是在表面上教孩子如何寬容，但是我們卻不能確保孩子們真的理解如何體現道德問題，以正確的行為做判斷以及什么是生活中的善行。史密斯先生表示這其中的原因我們不太確定我們自己。

　　The world of adolescence

　　年青人的世界

　　CHRISTIAN SMITH is a well-known sociologist of religion. That alone may deter the more deeplysecular from reading his book, Lost in Transition, which explores the moral map of 18- to 23-year-olds in America. This would be a shame, as it is intensely and uncomfortably thought-provoking. It deserves consideration on both sides of the Atlantic, particularly from theparents of that generation.

　　克里斯汀史密斯是一位著名的宗教社會學家。僅僅因為那樣也許會使更深入世俗的人們不讀他寫的書迷失于轉型之途，這本書探究18至23歲的美國人的道德地圖。這將是一件憾事，因為這本書會引起人們強烈地、不自在地深思。而且也值得大西洋兩岸的人們思考，尤其是那一代人的父母。

　　A note about method first. Mr Smith and his co-writers have been following the emerging adults on whom this study is based since 2001,when they were just young sprats. The authors have repeatedly surveyed a nationallyrepresentative sample of over 3,000 and personally interviewed a smaller number. This bookrelies primarily on intensive interviews in 2008 with 230 of the original group, many of themthen in college or university.

　　本書的首頁是關于調查方法的注釋。自2001年以來，史密斯先生和他的合著者一直研究新一代的成年人，當時他們兩位也僅僅是初出茅廬的小子。他們兩位作者反復調查3000多個全國有代表性的人物，還親自訪問一些人。這本書主要信賴2008年訪問的230個最初的小組，大部分人當時還在學院或大學就讀。

　　Mr Smith starts from the observation, which few would dispute, that adolescents are slowerto emerge into adulthood these days: they study for longer, they depend on their parents forlonger and they marry later, if at all. The world of real work they eventually enter is not theworld of stable, long-term jobs that previous generations knew. During that long transitionthey have unprecedented freedomfrom unwanted childbearing, for exampleand noparticular reason to rush into commitments of any sort. Moral boundaries are less clear thanthey were; many young adults have been taught not just to tolerate other peoples views andbehaviour but to see them all as equally valid.

　　史密斯先生從觀察開始，觀察表明如今的年輕人進入成年期的速度較慢，這一觀點幾乎沒有異議：如果條件允許的話，他們求學的時間長，依靠父母的時間長以及結婚晚。他們最終的工作并不是上一代人認為的穩定、長期的工作。在這段漫長的轉型時期，年輕人享受著前所未有的自由，例如，不用考慮生育，沒有理由去倉促地做任何承諾。道德的界限也不太清晰;很多年輕的成年人被教育不僅僅要忍受他人的觀點和行為，而是平等正當地對待他人。

　　In every age the transition to adulthood is aturbulent time. The message here is that in todaysworld there is much that is fun, free and promisingabout this stage of life, but a dark side of apathy,confusion, loss and grief is less readilyacknowledged. The book focuses on five areas: howyoung adults make ethical decisions; what roleconsumerism plays in their lives; why they drink somuch; why they have sex so indiscriminately; andwhy, despite optimistic claims that Barack Obamaawakened young people in 2008 as John F. Kennedydid their parents or grandparents, they are in fact disengaged from civic and political life. Theanswers in the first area foreshadow most of the rest. What is striking about the responsesto a whole string of questions probing how these young people deal with moral issues is howfew of them seem to grasp what is being asked. Murder, rape, bank robbery are seen as wrong.But what about cheating on exams, cheating on lovers, even driving drunk? They talk aboutwhether they might be caught, how their friends would react, how they themselves might feel.Where it is a question of others questionable behaviour, a standard answer is that it is up toeach individual to decide for himself. Very few seem to think that right and wrong are rooted inanything outside personal experience.

　　在每個時代，向成人期過渡的這段時期都是動蕩不安的。這本書旨在說明如今人們都認為這段時期是充滿快樂、自由和希望的，而很少會認為是無趣、困惑、迷失和悲傷的人生黑暗面。本書集中研究這五個領域：年輕的成年人如何做合乎道德的決定;用戶至上主義在他們生活中處于什么地位;為什么他們喝那么多酒;為什么他們隨意地與他人發生性行為;盡管巴拉克奧巴馬在2008年時呼喚年輕人要樂觀生活，正如約翰 F 肯尼迪喚醒他們的上一代一樣，但是為什么他們還是不愿意參加公民政治生活。關于第一個方面的回答預示著本書接下去的大部分內容。一系列探究年輕人如何處理道德議題的問題的回答令人驚奇之處在于，他們之中能夠領會所問的問題的人少之又少。他們認為謀殺、強奸、搶劫銀行都是錯誤的。那考試作弊，對情人不忠，甚至醉酒駕駛呢?他們談論他們是否會遭逮捕，他們的朋友會有什么反應，他們自己的感覺如何。當問到他人可疑的行為的問題出在何處，標準的答案是由各自決定。幾乎沒有人認為對與錯是深植于個人經歷之外的。

　　And so to consumerism. Shopping is personally fulfilling; buying things supports the economy; if you can afford it, you deserve it. Might it be just a tiny bit gross to own tencars while others in your city are working double shifts to buy shoes for their children?Apparently not. The good life consists of having a decent job, a decent standard of living anda nice family, not of fighting for justice or saving whales.

　　對于用戶至上主義也是如此。購物是一件令人高興的事情;買東西可以推動經濟發展;如果你買得起它，那么你就值得擁有它。你擁有十輛車，而與你同城的人，他們為了給孩子買鞋卻要做兩輪班，難道你們的收入僅僅相差無幾?顯然不是這樣。好的生活應該有一份合適的工作，一個相當好的生活標準和一個美滿的家庭，而不是為公平和省錢奮斗。

　　As for the prevalence of drink and sex, peerpressure, advertising and the media play their part,but so too does sheer boredom. Many of theyoung women, in particular, look back with someregret on very early sexual experiences, and on laterones with virtual strangers. And as for politics, whatemerges is a strong feeling of disempowerment anddistrust. Relatively few young people think theyknow or can do much about what is going on, andmost of those who do follow current events andvote seem to take things no further.

　　至于普遍的飲酒和性行為，來自同輩的壓力，廣告媒體各司其所，但是一旦泛濫，就肯定會令人感到厭倦。尤其是很多年輕的婦女，當她們回想起以前，就會后悔太早有性經歷，隨后就是后悔與虛幻的陌生人發生關系。至于政治方面，暴露出的現象是他們有一種強烈的被剝奪權利和不被信任的感覺。相對而言，很少的年輕人認為自己知道或可以為正在發生的事做貢獻，大部分關注時事和投票的人似乎也沒作進一步關注。

　　Yet Lost in Transition is not, in fact, a hand-wringing tale of gloom. Nor is the moral map itdescribes unique to America; there are many echoes in Britain, which was struggling evenbefore its August riots to understand why so many young people seemed adrift. It is really awarning to parents. In the guise, often, of teaching tolerance, we are failing to ensure that ourchildren understand how to frame moral issues and make judgments about right conduct andabout what is good in life. The reason for this, Mr Smith suggests, is that we are not so sureourselves.

　　然而，事實上，迷失在轉型之途并不是對陰暗面的流言的絕望。也不是僅僅描寫美國人的道德風貌;這也使很多歐洲人產生了共鳴，甚至在八月騷亂之前，歐洲已經致力于了解為何那么多年輕人好像都漫無目的的。這敲醒了家長們的警鐘。我們常常只是在表面上教孩子如何寬容，但是我們卻不能確保孩子們真的理解如何體現道德問題，以正確的行為做判斷以及什么是生活中的善行。史密斯先生表示這其中的原因我們不太確定我們自己。