比尔盖茨哈佛大学毕业演讲

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1、 比尔盖茨:世界多么不平等 想法改变President Bok, former President Rudenstine, incoming President Faust, members of the Harvard Corporation and the Board of Overseers, members of the faculty, parents, and especially, thegraduates:Ive been waiting more than 30 years to say this: Dad, I always told you Id come back an

2、d get my degree.I want to thank Harvard for this timely honor. Ill be changing my job next year and it will be nice to finally have a college degree on my resume.I applaud the graduates today for taking a much more direct route to your degrees. For my part, Im just happy that the Crimson has called

3、me Harvards most successful dropout.I guess that makes me valedictorian of my own special class I did the best of everyone who failed.But I also want to be recognized as the guy who got Steve Ballmerto drop out of business school. Im a bad influence.Thats why I was invited to speak at your graduatio

4、n. If I had spoken at your orientation, fewer of you might be here today.Harvard was just a phenomenal experience for me. Academic life was fascinating.I used to sit in on lots of classes I hadnt even signed up for.And dorm life was terrific. I lived up at Radcliffe, in Currier House. There were alw

5、ays lots of people in my dorm room late at night discussing things, because everyone knew I didnt worry about getting up in the morning. Thats how I came to be the leader of the anti-social group. We clung to each other as a way of validating our rejection of all those social people.Radcliffe was a

6、great place to live. There were more women up there, and most of the guys were science-math types. That combination offered me the best odds,if you know what I mean. This is where I learned the sad lesson that improving your odds doesnt guarantee success.One of my biggest memories of Harvard came in

7、 January 1975, when I made a call from Currier House to a company in Albuquerque that had begun making the worlds first personal computers. I offered to sell them software.I worried that they would realize I was just a student in a dorm and hang up on me. Instead they said: Were not quite ready, com

8、e see us in a month, which was a good thing, because we hadnt written the software yet.From that moment, I worked day and night on this little extra credit project that marked the end of my college education and the beginning of a remarkable journey with Microsoft.What I remember above all about Har

9、vard was being in the midst of so much energy and intelligence. It could be exhilarating, intimidating, sometimes even discouraging, but always challenging. It was an amazing privilege and though I left early, I was transformed by my years at Harvard, the friendships I made, and the ideas I worked o

10、n.But taking a serious look back I do have one big regret.I left Harvard with no real awareness of the awful inequities in the world the appalling disparities of health, and wealth, and opportunity that condemn millions of people to lives of despair.I learned a lot here at Harvard about new ideas in

11、 economics and politics. I got great exposure to the advances being made in the sciences.But humanitys greatest advances are not in its discoveries but in how those discoveries are applied to reduce inequity. Whether through democracy, strong public education, quality health care, or broad economic

12、opportunity reducing inequity is the highest human achievement.I left campus knowing little about the millions of young people cheated out of educational opportunities here in this country. And I knew nothing about the millions of people living in unspeakable poverty and disease in developing countr

13、ies.It took me decades to find out.You graduates came to Harvard at a different time. You know more about the worlds inequities than the classes that came before. In your years here, I hope youve had a chance to think about how in this age of accelerating technology we can finally take on these ineq

14、uities, and we can solve them.Imagine, just for the sake of discussion, that you had a few hours a week and a few dollars a month to donate to a cause and you wanted to spend that time and money where it would have the greatest impact in saving and improving lives. Where would you spend it?For Melin

15、da and for me, the challenge is the same: how can we do the most good for the greatest number with the resources we have.During our discussions on this question, Melinda and I read an article about the millions of children who were dying every year in poor countries from diseases that we had long ag

16、o made harmless in this country. Measles, malaria, pneumonia, hepatitis B, yellow fever. One disease I had never even heard of, rotavirus, was killing half a million kids each year none of them in the United States.We were shocked. We had just assumed that if millions of children were dying and they

17、 could be saved, the world would make it a priority to discover and deliver the medicines to save them. But it did not. For under a dollar, there were interventions that could save lives that just werent being delivered.If you believe that every life has equal value, its revolting to learn that some

18、 lives are seen as worth saving and others are not. We said to ourselves: This cant be true. But if it is true, it deserves to be the priority of our giving.So we began our work in the same way anyone here would begin it.We asked: How could the world let these children die?The answer is simple, and

19、harsh. The market did not reward saving the lives of these children, and governments did not subsidize it. So the children died because their mothers and their fathers had no power in the market and no voice in the system.But you and I have both.We can make market forces work better for the poor if

20、we can develop a more creative capitalism if we can stretch the reach of market forces so that more people can make a profit, or at least make a living, serving people who are suffering from the worst inequities.We also can press governments around the world to spend taxpayer money in ways that bett

21、er reflect the values of the people who pay the taxes.If we can find approaches that meet the needs of the poor in ways that generate profits for business and votes for politicians, we will have found a sustainable way to reduce inequity in the world. This task is open-ended. It can never be finishe

22、d. But a conscious effort to answer this challenge will change the world.I am optimistic that we can do this, but I talk to skeptics who claim there is no hope. They say: Inequity has been with us since the beginning, and will be with us till the end because people just dont care. I completely disag

23、ree.I believe we have more caring than we know what to do with.All of us here in this Yard, at one time or another, have seen human tragedies that broke our hearts, and yet we did nothing not because we didnt care, but because we didnt know what to do. If we had known how to help, we would have acte

24、d.The barrier to change is not too little caring; it is too much complexity.To turn caring into action, we need to see a problem, see a solution, and see the impact. But complexity blocks all three steps.Even with the advent of the Internet and 24-hour news,it is still a complex enterprise to get pe

25、ople to truly see the problems.When an airplane crashes, officials immediately call a press conference. They promise to investigate, determine the cause, and prevent similar crashes in the future.But if the officials were brutally honest, they would say: Of all the people in the world who died today

26、 from preventable causes, one half of one percent of them were on this plane. Were determined to do everything possible to solve the problem that took the lives of the one half of one percent.The bigger problem is not the plane crash, but the millions of preventable deaths.We dont read much about th

27、ese deaths. The media covers whats new and millions of people dying is nothing new.So it stays in the background, where its easier to ignore. But even when we do see it or read about it, its difficult to keep our eyes on the problem. Its hard to look at suffering if the situation is so complex that

28、we dont know how to help. And so we look away.If we can really see a problem, which is the first step, we come to the second step: cutting through the complexity to find a solution.Finding solutions is essential if we want to make the most of our caring. If we have clear and proven answers anytime a

29、n organization or individual asks How can I help?, then we can get action and we can make sure that none of the caring in the world is wasted. But complexity makes it hard to mark a path of action for everyone who cares and that makes it hard for their caring to matter.Cutting through complexity to

30、find a solution runs through four predictable stages: determine a goal, find the highest-leverage approach, discover the ideal technology for that approach, and in the meantime, make the smartest application of the technology that you already have whether its something sophisticated, like a drug, or

31、 something simpler, like a bednet.The AIDS epidemic offers an example. The broad goal, of course, is to end the disease. The highest-leverage approach is prevention. The ideal technology would be a vaccine that gives lifetime immunity with a single dose. So governments, drug companies, and foundatio

32、ns fund vaccine research. But their work is likely to take more than a decade, so in the meantime, we have to work with what we have in hand and the best prevention approach we have now is getting people to avoid risky behavior.Pursuing that goal starts the four-step cycle again. This is the pattern

33、. The crucial thing is to never stop thinking and working and never do what we did with malaria and tuberculosis in the 20th century which is to surrender to complexity and quit.The final step after seeing the problem and finding an approach is to measure the impact of your work and share your succe

34、sses and failures so that others learn from your efforts.You have to have the statistics, of course. You have to be able to show that a program is vaccinating millions more children. You have to be able to show a decline in the number of children dying from these diseases. This is essential not just

35、 to improve the program, but also to help draw more investment from business and government.But if you want to inspire people to participate, you have to show more than numbers; you have to convey the human impact of the work so people can feel what saving a life means to the families affected.I rem

36、ember going to Davos some years back and sitting on a global health panel that was discussing ways to save millions of lives. Millions! Think of the thrill of saving just one persons life then multiply that by millions. Yet this was the most boring panel Ive ever been on ever. So boring even I could

37、nt bear it.What made that experience especially striking was that I had just come from an event where we were introducing version 13 of some piece of software, and we had people jumping and shouting with excitement. I love getting people excited about software but why cant we generate even more exci

38、tement for saving lives?You cant get people excited unless you can help them see and feel the impact. And how you do that is a complex question.Still, Im optimistic. Yes, inequity has been with us forever, but the new tools we have to cut through complexity have not been with us forever. They are ne

39、w they can help us make the most of our caring and thats why the future can be different from the past.The defining and ongoing innovations of this age biotechnology, the computer, the Internet give us a chance weve never had before to end extreme poverty and end death from preventable disease.Sixty

40、 years ago, George Marshall came to this commencement and announced a plan to assist the nations of post-war Europe. He said: I think one difficulty is that the problem is one of such enormous complexity that the very mass of facts presented to the public by press and radio make it exceedingly diffi

41、cult for the man in the street to reach a clear appraisementof the situation. It is virtually impossible at this distance to grasp at all the real significance of the situation.Thirty years after Marshall made his address, as my class graduated without me, technology was emerging that would make the

42、 world smaller, more open, more visible,less distant.The emergence of low-cost personal computers gave rise to a powerful network that has transformed opportunities for learning and communicating.The magical thing about this network is not just that it collapses distance and makes everyone your neig

43、hbor. It also dramatically increases the number of brilliant minds we can have working together on the same problem and that scales up the rate of innovation to a staggering degree.At the same time, for every person in the world who has access to this technology, five people dont. That means many cr

44、eative minds are left out of this discussion - smart people with practical intelligence and relevant experience who dont have the technology to hone their talents or contribute their ideas to the world.We need as many people as possible to have access to this technology, because these advances are t

45、riggering a revolution in what human beings can do for one another. They are making it possible not just for national governments, but for universities, corporations, smaller organizations, and even individuals to see problems, see approaches, and measure the impact of their efforts to address the h

46、unger, poverty, and desperation George Marshall spoke of 60 years ago.Members of the Harvard Family: Here in the Yard is one of the great collections of intellectual talent in the world.What for?There is no question that the faculty, the alumni, the students, and the benefactors of Harvard have used

47、 their power to improve the lives of people here and around the world. But can we do more? Can Harvard dedicate its intellect to improving the lives of people who will never even hear its name?Let me make a request of the deans and the professors the intellectual leaders here at Harvard: As you hire

48、 new faculty, award tenure, review curriculum, and determine degree requirements, please ask yourselves:Should our best minds be dedicated to solving our biggest problems?Should Harvard encourage its faculty to take on the worlds worst inequities? Should Harvard students learn about the depth of glo

49、bal poverty the prevalence of world hunger the scarcity of clean water the girls kept out of school the children who die from diseases we can cure?Should the worlds most privileged people learn about the lives of the worlds least privileged?These are not rhetorical questions you will answer with you

50、r policies.My mother, who was filled with pride the day I was admitted here never stopped pressing me to do more for others. A few days before my wedding, she hosted a bridal event, at which she read aloud a letter about marriage that she had written to Melinda. My mother was very ill with cancer at

51、 the time, but she saw one more opportunity to deliver her message, and at the close of the letter she said: From those to whom much is given, much is expected.When you consider what those of us here in this Yard have been given in talent, privilege, and opportunity there is almost no limit to what

52、the world has a right to expect from us.In line with the promise of this age, I want to exhort each of the graduates here to take on an issue a complex problem, a deep inequity, and become a specialist on it.If you make it the focus of your career,that would be phenomenal. But you dont have to do th

53、at to make an impact.For a few hours every week, you can use the growing power of the Internet to get informed, find others with the same interests, see the barriers,and find ways to cut through them.Dont let complexity stop you. Be activists. Take on the big inequities. It will be one of the great

54、experiences of your lives.You graduates are coming of age in an amazing time. As you leave Harvard, you have technology that members of my class never had. You have awareness of global inequity, which we did not have. And with that awareness, you likely also have an informed conscience that will tor

55、ment you if you abandon these people whose lives you could change with very little effort. You have more than we had; you must start sooner, and carry on longer.Knowing what you know, how could you not?And I hope you will come back here to Harvard 30 years from now and reflect on what you have done

56、with your talent and your energy. I hope you will judge yourselves not on your professional accomplishments alone,but also on how well you have addressed the worlds deepest inequities on how well you treated people a world away who have nothing in common with you but their humanity.Good luck.【中文译文】：

57、尊敬的Bok校长，Rudenstine前校长，即将上任的Faust校长，哈佛集团的各位成员，监管理事会的各位理事，各位老师，各位家长，各位同学：有一句话我等了三十年，现在终于可以说了：“老爸，我总是跟你说，我会回来拿到我的学位的！”我要感谢哈佛大学在这个时候给我这个荣誉。明年，我就要换工作了（注：指从微软公司退休）我终于可以在简历上写我有一个本科学位，这真是不错啊。我为今天在座的各位同学感到高兴，你们拿到学位可比我简单多了。哈佛的校报称我是“哈佛大学历史上最成功的辍学生”。我想这大概使我有资格代表我这一类学生发言在所有的失败者里，我做得最好。但是，我还要提醒大家，我使得Steve Ballme

58、r（注：微软总经理）也从哈佛商学院退学了。因此，我是个有着恶劣影响力的人。这就是为什么我被邀请来在你们的毕业典礼上演讲。如果我在你们入学欢迎仪式上演讲，那么能够坚持到今天在这里毕业的人也许会少得多吧。对我来说，哈佛的求学经历是一段非凡的经历。校园生活很有趣，我常去旁听我没选修的课。哈佛的课外生活也很棒，我在Radcliffe过着逍遥自在 的日子。每天我的寝室里总有很多人一直待到半夜，讨论着各种事情。因为每个人都知道我从不考虑第二天早起。这使得我变成了校园里那些不安分学生的头头，我们互相粘在一起，做出一种拒绝所有正常学生的姿态。Radcliffe是个过日子的好地方。那里的女生比男生多，而且大多数

59、男生都是理工科的。这种状况为我创造了最好的机会，如果你们明白我的意思。可惜的是，我正是在这里学到了人生中悲伤的一课：机会大，并不等于你就会成功。我在哈佛最难忘的回忆之一，发生在1975年1月。那时，我从宿舍楼里给位于Albuquerque的一家公司打了一个电话，那家公司已经在着手制造世界上第一台个人电脑。我提出想向他们出售软件。我很担心，他们会发觉我是一个住在宿舍的学生，从而挂断电话。但是他们却说：“我们还没准备好，一个月后你再来找我们吧。”这是个好消息，因为那时 软件还根本没有写出来呢。就是从那个时候起，我日以继夜地在这个小小的课外项目上工作，这导致了我学生生活的结束，以及通往微软公司的不平

60、凡的旅程的开始。不管怎样，我对哈佛的回忆主要都与充沛的精力和智力活动有关。哈佛的生活令人愉快，也令人感到有压力，有时甚至会感到泄气，但永远充满了挑战性。生活在哈佛是一种吸引人的特殊待遇虽然我离开得比较早，但是我在这里的经历、在这里结识的朋友、在这里发展起来的一些想法，永远地改变了我。但是，如果现在严肃地回忆起来，我确实有一个真正的遗憾。我离开哈佛的时候，根本没有意识到这个世界是多么的不平等。人类在健康、财富和机遇上的不平等大得可怕，它们使得无数的人们被迫生活在绝望之中。我在哈佛学到了很多经济学和政治学的新思想。我也了解了很多科学上的新进展。但是，人类最大的进步并不来自于这些发现，而是来自于那些

61、有助于减少人类不平等的发现。不管通过何种手段民主制度、健全的公共教育体系、高质量的医疗保健、还是广泛的经济机会减少不平等始终是人类最大的成就。我离开校园的时候，根本不知道在这个国家里，有几百万的年轻人无法获得接受教育的机会。我也不知道，发展中国家里有无数的人们生活在无法形容的贫穷和疾病之中。我花了几十年才明白了这些事情。在座的各位同学，你们是在与我不同的时代来到哈佛的。你们比以前的学生，更多地了解世界是怎样的不平等。在你们的哈佛求学过程中，我希望你们已经思考过一个问题，那就是在这个新技术加速发展的时代，我们怎样最终应对这种不平等，以及我们怎样来解决这个问题。为了讨论的方便，请想象一下，假如你每

62、个星期可以捐献一些时间、每个月可以捐献一些钱你希望这些时间和金钱，可以用到对拯救生命和改善人类生活有最大作用的地方。你会选择什么地方？对Melinda（注：盖茨的妻子）和我来说，这也是我们面临的问题：我们如何能将我们拥有的资源发挥出最大的作用。在讨论过程中，Melinda和我读到了一篇文章，里面说在那些贫穷的国家，每年有数百万的儿童死于那些在美国早已不成问题的疾病。麻疹、疟疾、肺炎、乙型肝炎、黄热病、还有一种以前我从未听说过的轮状病毒，这些疾病每年导致50万儿童死亡，但是在美国一例死亡病例也没有。我们被震惊了。我们想，如果几百万儿童正在死亡线上挣扎，而且他们是可以被挽救的，那么世界理应将用药物

63、拯救他们作为头等大事。但是事实并非如此。那些价格还不到一美元的救命的药剂，并没有送到他们的手中。如果你相信每个生命都是平等的，那么当你发现某些生命被挽救了，而另一些生命被放弃了，你会感到无法接受。我们对自己说：“事情不可能如此。如果这是真的，那么它理应是我们努力的头等大事。”所以，我们用任何人都会想到的方式开始工作。我们问：“这个世界怎么可以眼睁睁看着这些孩子死去？”答案很简单，也很令人难堪。在市场经济中，拯救儿童是一项没有利润的工作，政府也不会提供补助。这些儿童之所以会死亡，是因为他们的父母在经济上没有实力，在政治上没有能力发出声音。但是，你们和我在经济上有实力，在政治上能够发出声音。我们可

64、以让市场更好地为穷人服务，如果我们能够设计出一种更有创新性的资本主义制度如果我们可以改变市场，让更多的人可以获得利润，或者至少可 以维持生活那么，这就可以帮到那些正在极端不平等的状况中受苦的人们。我们还可以向全世界的政府施压，要求他们将纳税人的钱，花到更符合纳税人价值观的地方。如果我们能够找到这样一种方法，既可以帮到穷人，又可以为商人带来利润，为政治家带来选票，那么我们就找到了一种减少世界性不平等的可持续的发展道路。这个任务是无限的。它不可能被完全完成，但是任何自觉地解决这个问题的尝试，都将会改变这个世界。在这个问题上，我是乐观的。但是，我也遇到过那些感到绝望的怀疑主义者。他们说：“不平等从人类诞生的第一天就存在，到人类灭亡的最后一天也将存在。因为人类对这个问题根本不在乎。”我完全不能同意这种观点。我相信，问题不是我们不在乎，而是我们不知道怎么做。此刻在这个院子里的所有人，生命中总有这样或那样的时刻，目睹人类的悲剧，感到万分伤心。但是我们什么也没做，并非我们无动于衷，而是因为我们不知道做什么和怎么做。如果我们知道如何做是有效的，那么我们就会采取行动。改变世界的阻碍，并非人类的冷