Channel empathy with optimism

Bill and Melinda Gates tell Stanford grads: Channel empathy with optimism

At Stanford's 123rd Commencement, Bill and Melinda Gates, co-chairs of the Bill & Melinda Gates Foundation, urged graduates to change the world through optimism and empathy. Truly connect with the poor and sick, they advised, and channel those experiences into making the world a better place.

BY CLIFTON B. PARKER

At Stanford's 123rd Commencement, Bill and Melinda Gates, co-chairs of the Bill & Melinda Gates Foundation, challenged Stanford graduates to change the world by channeling empathy with optimism.

Technological innovation is important, Microsoft co-founder Bill Gates told a sea of Stanford graduates on a breezy Sunday morning in Stanford Stadium. But technology for technology's sake alone creates a dilemma.

"If rich kids got computers and poor kids didn't, then technology would make inequality worse," he said. "Technology should benefit everybody."

The Gateses delivered Stanford's first joint Commencement address. They spoke of the "digital divide" between rich and poor, and their heart-wrenching experiences with the poor and sick in places like South Africa and India.

The Bill & Melinda Gates Foundation is one of the world's most influential philanthropic organizations involved in reducing poverty, boosting global health and improving the U.S. educational system.

"My visit to Soweto [South Africa] became an early lesson in how naïve I was. I had seen statistics on poverty, but I had never really seen poverty," Bill Gates said. In Soweto, he witnessed people living in tin shacks with no electricity, no running water and no toilets.

He realized that innovation alone could not solve the world's toughest problems. Empathy and compassion for the poor, sick and needy was just as important. So the couple began funding programs that make a difference – such as one that improved the survival rate of a deadly form of tuberculosis from 50 percent to 80 percent.

Over the last 10 years, Melinda Gates added, the foundation has helped sex workers build support groups, speak out for safe sex and fight the scourge of AIDS. "The stigma of AIDS is vicious – especially for women – and the punishment is abandonment," she said.

Her husband told the students not to turn away from the poor and sick.

"Even in dire situations, optimism can fuel innovation and lead to new tools to eliminate suffering. But if you never really see the people who are suffering, your optimism can't help them. You will never change their world," he said.

The 2014 Commencement ceremony began with Stanford's nontraditional procession called the Wacky Walk. To kick off the festivities, students entered the stadium wearing costumes, holding banners and balloons and waving signs, both goofy and sentimental.

Stanford granted 1,687 bachelor's degrees, 2,313 master's degrees and 1,006 doctoral degrees. The graduates include 135 undergraduate students from 51 countries outside the United States and 1,113 graduate students from 83 countries other than the United States.

"The modern world is an incredible source of innovation and Stanford stands at the center of that, creating new companies, new schools of thought, prize-winning professors, inspired art and literature, miracle drugs and amazing graduates," said Bill Gates.

Melinda Gates added, "Some people call you nerds – and you claim the label with pride."

"Well, so do we," the couple declared, as they momentarily donned stereotypical "nerd" glasses held together with tape.

About Stanford, Bill Gates said, "This is where genius lives. There is a flexibility of mind here – an openness to change, an eagerness for what's new. This is where people come to discover the future and have fun doing it."

The Bill & Melinda Gates Foundation has 30 research projects underway at Stanford on a variety of topics, from studying how to cure the worst diseases to helping more low-income students go to college.

Bill Gates noted that empathy "tears down barriers and opens up new frontiers for optimism."

As for Stanford's newly minted graduates, he told them that they, too, will encounter serious human suffering one day.

"When it happens, and it will, don't turn away from it; turn toward it," he said.

Parents, students filled with pride

"The faculty were amazing," said Jack Detzner from Silver Springs, Maryland. His son, Adam Stob Detzner, graduated with honors and a bachelor's degree in music. "This was truly a chance for him to grow," said his dad.

Frederica Ferrell's son, Paul Ferrell, graduated with a master's degree in public policy. "This was a great education for him," his mom said.

Paul Ferrell added, "The professors are incredible and world class. I just want to thank everyone who helped get me here today."

Samuel Bakouch earned a master's degree in management science and engineering. He was motivated by the Stanford environment, he said: "The people here, the spirit here – everybody's really open. It's exciting today."

Stanford President John L. Hennessy and Provost John Etchemendy spoke to the crowd and conferred the degrees to the students.

"As you leave Stanford, I hope you carry a deep appreciation of the values and traditions that are everlasting as well as a willingness to be bold and to approach challenges with a fresh perspective," said Hennessy.

He noted that Stanford's first president, David Starr Jordan, spoke of the balancing of the old and the new in the Stanford educational approach and building a "school which may last as long as human civilization."

Hennessy added, "Today, 123 years later, we have established some traditions, but we have not forgotten President Jordan's exhortation."

Hennessy also paid tribute to Herbert Hoover, a Stanford alumnus and the 31st president of the United States. He led the cause of Belgian food relief in World War I and spearheaded a similar hunger effort in Germany after WWII.

"A compassionate man, he never sought recognition for his many acts of generosity," said Hennessy.

http://news.stanford.edu/news/2014/june/commencement-main-gates-061514.html
http://news.stanford.edu/news/2014/january/gates-2014-commencement-012814.html


中譯文參考
http://mp.weixin.qq.com/s?__biz=MzA5ODEwODAwNg==&mid=200988223&idx=2&sn=3f4f7067465b1d855a49c0dd484a61dc

美國太平洋時間2014年6月15日，一個微風習習的早晨，斯坦福大學體育場，2014畢業典禮隆重舉行。 1678名本科生，2313名研究生，1006名博士生被授予學位。比爾-蓋茨和他夫人梅琳達-蓋茨雙雙換上了學士服，站在了演講台上。這是斯坦福大學畢業典禮上首次出現兩名嘉賓同台演講。

25分鐘的演講內容無關微軟及其產品，主要集中於計算機發展是如何改變世界，蓋茨夫婦的慈善事業——比爾和梅琳達-蓋茨基金會（Bill & Melinda Gates Foundation）的工作，以及他們如何改變了貧困地區人們的生活。蓋茨夫婦提醒學生們要正視貧困和疾病等問題，而不要一味逐利。單純以營利為目地的創新無法解決當今世界所面臨的最緊迫的問題。他們鼓勵畢業生用樂觀的精神和同情​​心，通過切身感受貧困和患病人群的生活，並運用自己的知識和智慧，讓世界變得更美好。

蓋茨夫婦首先祝賀和讚賞了斯坦福大學和約5000名2014屆畢業生。比爾說道：“能被邀請到斯坦福大學學位授予典禮上做演講是一件讓人激動的事。斯坦福大學正在成為我們家庭成員最喜愛的大學。而長久以來，斯坦福也是微軟以及比爾與梅琳達基金會最喜愛的一所大學。”

“我們一直在努力尋找最聰慧，最具創新能力的人們，我們的基金會在斯坦福有超過30個研究項目，無論是通過對免疫系統的研究來尋找治愈世界上最可怕疾病的方法，還是通過對美國高等教育的研究來幫助低收入學生上大學，我們都需要斯坦福。這裡是人才的搖籃，這裡的學生擁有活躍而獨特的思維，以及對改變的開放態度。”

比爾接著說：“斯坦福校園每時每刻都有非凡的事情發生，但如果讓我和梅琳達用一個詞來表達對斯坦福的熱愛，那就是“樂觀”。這裡有一種極富感染力的樂觀精神，那就是，大家都認為創新可以解決幾乎所有的問題。”

“也正是這個理念激勵我在1975年離開大學。當時的我相信計算機和軟件擁有賦予全世界人們力量的魔力，能夠讓世界變得更美好。40年過去了，我們比以前更加樂觀。但是我們的觀念得到了進化。我們今天很想與大家分享，關於我們的和你們的樂觀精神怎樣為更多的人服務。”

比爾說：“和保羅創立微軟之時，我們的目標是把當時只有大公司才擁有的計算機設備普及到普通大眾，通過個人電腦改變世界。上個世紀90年代，我們很驕傲地看到了這一成果。然而新的問題出現了，我們發現當富家子弟得到電腦而窮苦的人們無法擁有電腦的時候，世界上的貧富差距反而被拉大了。這個結果與我們的核心理念——科技需要惠及每個人——背道而馳了。”基於此，微軟決定通過捐贈電腦來填補數字鴻溝。然而，儘管該項目在美國取得了成功，但一次南非之旅卻令比爾•蓋茨看到了很多不同的東西。

“第一次去南非時，我大多數時間都在首都約翰內斯堡的市區開會，我住在南非最富裕的家庭之一。第二天，我去了索韋托，約翰內斯堡西南的一個小鎮，那裡曾經是反種族隔離的中心。儘管從約翰內斯堡到索韋托路程不長，但從進入索韋託的那一刻起，一切都令人無比震驚。我覺得我來到了一個和我所來自的地方截然不同的世界！從那一刻起，我發現自己真是太天真了！”比爾蓋茨當時去那裡是為了捐贈電腦和軟件。

“我很快意識到那裡不是美國。那裡的人們住在用鐵皮搭成的簡陋棚戶裡，沒有電，沒有自來水，也沒有廁所。人們幾乎不穿鞋，光著腳走在街上。實際上，那裡根本沒有街道，有的只是坑洼的泥土路，在那裡，我體會到了真正的貧困，而不只是以前看到貧困數據那般。由於當地沒有持續供電的設施，所以必須使用柴油發電機供電，還要用60米的電線來輸送電流。”

“看到這番景象，我知道一旦記者離開，發電機就會被用於更緊迫的任務。那裡的人們的困難根本不是電腦所能解決的。在索韋託的經歷對我來說是一個里程碑，以前我認為自己很理解這個世界存在的問題，可那時我才明白我忽視了最重要的問題，我不停問自己'你還認為創新能解決世界上最棘手的問題嗎？'”

比爾接著說：“這些年來，我們確實了解到了許多窮人迫切的需要，在後來一次到南非的時候，我去了一家醫院，我還記得那個充滿絕望的地方，一個巨大的開放性病房裡，住著很多很多病人，他們穿著睡衣，帶著口罩，慢慢挪動著。有一個患有肺結核和艾滋的病人，她已經沒有多久的生命了，好多人正在等著她空出床位——這就像一個地獄，附著一張等待批准的申請人名單（hell with a waiting list）。”

“但這並沒有讓我變得不樂觀” 比爾說，“通過努力，目前對耐藥結核病的治愈​​率已從50% 提高到80%-90%，且費用從2000美元降低到100美元。”

蓋茨夫人梅琳達十分贊同比爾的觀點，她曾親自前往印度和非洲，與性工作者、窮人和病人交流，她發現，在這些國家，很多人連基本的生活都無法保障，更無法擁有世界平均水平的醫療條件，他們呼籲畢業生們真正地與需要幫助的人接觸，用樂觀和同情引導世界變得更美好。

梅琳達說：“大多數婦女因為被丈夫拋棄轉而賣淫，因為他們需要賺足夠多的錢來養活孩子。她們在社會眼中十分卑賤，甚至可以被隨意強姦或者擊打，沒有人在意她們。在交談過程中，她們很希望和我有肢體接觸，也許是因為這種接觸能夠證明她們存在的價值。”在另一個故事中，梅琳達講述了一個生命快要走到盡頭的女子，躺在角落無人照料，而她能做的，就是將骨瘦如柴的她帶到屋頂，靜靜看一會兒日落。

“有時候，你無法幫助的人才真正激勵了你。”梅琳達說。在過去10年中，比爾和梅林達-蓋茨基金會曾幫助性工作者建立互助小組，普及安全性行為意識以及開展艾滋病預防活動。而令人欣喜的是，這些以防止艾滋病傳播為目的的互助小組如今已經發展成一個的波羅萬象的平台，這些社會最底層的人們彼此分享經驗，互相幫助，甚至通過財務互助幫助其中一些成員創業。 ”

“對我而言，樂觀不是消極地認為一切都會變好，而是我們能夠把一切變得更好的信念，無論情況多麼壞，我們都能夠幫助別人，不忽視也不感到絕望。”梅琳達說。

儘管憑藉PC行業積累了億萬身家，比爾和梅琳達的很多工作都與電腦和軟件無關，他們甚至根本無意幫助一個個的村莊上網，而是在從事看起來沒那麼吸引人的工作，比如開發小兒麻痺症和瘧疾的疫苗，尋找途徑幫助人們擺脫貧困。

接下來，比爾蓋茨又談到他眼中的悖論：“現代社擁會有無與倫比的創新精神，而斯坦福大學正處在創新的核心。斯坦福孕育了許許多多的新公司，各行各業的教授，創新的軟件和藥品。這裡的人們對未來充滿渴望。可是與此同時，當你去問美國人是否覺得將來會比現在更好，很多人的回答都是否定的，他們覺得在未來，機會越來越少，不平等現象將越來越嚴重。”

“在我看來，悲觀主義者是錯誤的。但他們的想法並不瘋狂。如果創新僅憑市場驅動，我們都不關注不公正現象，那麼我們的重大發明將令世界的兩極分化更加嚴重。”

比爾蓋茨分析到：“如果我們的樂觀無法用來解決那些影響許許多多同胞的問題，那麼這種樂觀主義還需要融入更多的移情元素。如果我們能在樂觀中融入同情，我們就能解決貧困，疾病以及教育匱乏的問題。”

比爾激勵斯坦福畢業生說：“你們將會引領新一輪的創新浪潮，你們選擇解決的問題，將會決定世界能否更加美好。如果你的世界很廣闊，你可以創造大家都渴望的未來。如果你的世界很狹隘，你或許只能創造悲觀主義者所畏懼的未來。正如我在索維託所學到的，如果我們要讓自己的樂觀影響所有人，我們就要看到他們最緊迫的需求。如果我們的樂觀沒有融入同情，那麼無論我們掌握多少科學秘密，都解決不了世界上最棘手的問題，我們只是在玩智力遊戲。”

在這種理念的驅使下，蓋茨夫婦在2000年成立了比爾和梅林達-蓋茨基金會，本著眾生平等的理念，致力於改善全球衛生狀況，降低貧困率，以及促進教育領域的平等。在發展中國家，基金會的重點任務是改善人們的健康狀況，幫助他們努力擺脫飢餓和極端貧困。在美國，基金會致力於保障所有人，特別是資源匱乏的人們獲得所需機會，以取得學業和生活的成功。

蓋茨夫婦用自己的行動來告訴斯坦福大學的畢業生們：當你有了能力的時候，你就應該去回報社會。在前進的道路中，永遠不要拋棄窮人和患病的人。

在演講的最後，梅琳達總結說：“當你離開斯坦福的時候，帶走你的天賦，才智，你的樂觀精神和同情​​心。將世界朝著讓大多數人更加樂觀的方向發展。在你的生命裡，將會遇到令你震撼甚至心碎的事，當這些問題出現的時候，不要逃跑，去面對和解決。因為那將是你改變世界的時刻。”