BillGates Harvard speech比尔盖茨哈佛演讲.docx

BillGates Harvard speech比尔盖茨哈佛演讲.docx

《BillGates Harvard speech比尔盖茨哈佛演讲.docx》由会员分享，可在线阅读，更多相关《BillGates Harvard speech比尔盖茨哈佛演讲.docx（10页珍藏版）》请在冰豆网上搜索。

BillGatesHarvardspeech比尔盖茨哈佛演讲

比尔·盖茨在哈佛大学毕业典礼上的演讲

2007年6月7日

PresidentBok,formerPresidentRudenstine,incomingPresidentFaust,membersoftheHarvardCorporationandtheBoardofOverseers,membersofthefaculty,parents,andespecially,thegraduates:

I'vebeenwaitingmorethan30yearstosaythis:

"Dad,IalwaystoldyouI'dcomebackandgetmydegree."

IwanttothankHarvardforthistimelyhonor.I'llbechangingmyjobnextyear…anditwillbenicetofinallyhaveacollegedegreeonmyresume.

Iapplaudthegraduatestodayfortakingamuchmoredirectroutetoyourdegrees.Formypart,I'mjusthappythattheCrimsonhascalledme"Harvard'smostsuccessfuldropout."Iguessthatmakesmevaledictorian（告别演说者）ofmyownspecialclass…Ididthebestofeveryonewhofailed.

ButIalsowanttoberecognizedastheguywhogotSteveBallmertodropoutofbusinessschool.I'mabadinfluence.That'swhyIwasinvitedtospeakatyourgraduation.IfIhadspokenatyourorientation（入学欢迎仪式）,fewerofyoumightbeheretoday.

Harvardwasjustaphenomenalexperienceforme.Academiclifewasfascinating.IusedtositinonlotsofclassesIhadn'tevensignedupfor.Anddormlifewasterrific.IlivedupatRadcliffe,inCurrierHouse.Therewerealwayslotsofpeopleinmydormroomlateatnightdiscussingthings,becauseeveryoneknewIdidn'tworryaboutgettingupinthemorning.That'showIcametobetheleaderoftheanti-social（不安分学生）group.Weclungtoeachotherasawayofvalidatingourrejectionofallthosesocialpeople.

Radcliffewasagreatplacetolive.Thereweremorewomenupthere,andmostoftheguyswerescience-mathtypes.Thatcombinationofferedmethebestodds,ifyouknowwhatImean.ThisiswhereIlearnedthesadlessonthatimprovingyouroddsdoesn'tguaranteesuccess.

OneofmybiggestmemoriesofHarvardcameinJanuary1975,whenImadeacallfromCurrierHousetoacompanyinAlbuquerqueNewMexicothathadbegunmakingtheworld'sfirstpersonalcomputers.Iofferedtosellthemsoftware.

IworriedthattheywouldrealizeIwasjustastudentinadormandhanguponme.Insteadtheysaid:

"We'renotquiteready,comeseeusinamonth,"whichwasagoodthing,becausewehadn'twrittenthesoftwareyet.Fromthatmoment,IworkeddayandnightonthislittleextracreditprojectthatmarkedtheendofmycollegeeducationandthebeginningofaremarkablejourneywithMicrosoft.

WhatIrememberaboveallaboutHarvardwasbeinginthemidstofsomuchenergyandintelligence.Itcouldbeexhilarating,intimidating,sometimesevendiscouraging,butalwayschallenging.Itwasanamazingprivilege（特殊待遇）–andthoughIleftearly,IwastransformedbymyyearsatHarvard,thefriendshipsImade,andtheideasIworkedon.

Buttakingaseriouslookback…Idohaveonebigregret.

IleftHarvardwithnorealawarenessoftheawfulinequities（不平等）intheworld–theappallingdisparitiesofhealth,andwealth,andopportunitythatcondemn（迫使…陷于不幸的境地）millionsofpeopletolivesofdespair.

IlearnedalothereatHarvardaboutnewideasineconomicsandpolitics.Igotgreatexposuretotheadvancesbeingmadeinthesciences.

Buthumanity'sgreatestadvancesarenotinitsdiscoveries–butinhowthosediscoveriesareappliedtoreduceinequity.Whetherthroughdemocracy（民主制度）,strongpubliceducation,qualityhealthcare,orbroadeconomicopportunity–reducinginequityisthehighesthumanachievement.

Ileftcampusknowinglittleaboutthemillionsofyoungpeoplecheatedoutofeducationalopportunitieshereinthiscountry.AndIknewnothingaboutthemillionsofpeoplelivinginunspeakablepoverty（无法形容的贫穷）anddiseaseindevelopingcountries.

Ittookmedecades（几十年）tofindout.

YougraduatescametoHarvardatadifferenttime.Youknowmoreabouttheworld'sinequitiesthantheclassesthatcamebefore.Inyouryearshere,Ihopeyou'vehadachancetothinkabouthow–inthisageofaccelerating（加速发展）technology–wecanfinallytakeon（应对）theseinequities,andwecansolvethem.

Imagine,justforthesakeofdiscussion,thatyouhadafewhoursaweekandafewdollarsamonthtodonatetoacause–andyouwantedtospendthattimeandmoneywhereitwouldhavethegreatestimpactinsavingandimprovinglives.Wherewouldyouspendit?

ForMelinda（注：

盖茨的妻子）andforme,thechallengeisthesame:

howcanwedothemostgoodforthegreatestnumberwiththeresourceswehave.

Duringourdiscussionsonthisquestion,MelindaandIreadanarticleaboutthemillionsofchildrenwhoweredyingeveryyearinpoorcountriesfromdiseasesthatwehadlongagomadeharmlessinthiscountry.Measles,malaria,pneumonia,hepatitisB,yellowfever（麻疹、疟疾、肺炎、乙型肝炎、黄热病）.OnediseaseIhadneverevenheardof,rotavirus（轮状病毒）,waskillinghalfamillionkidseachyear–noneofthemintheUnitedStates.

Wewereshocked.Wehadjustassumedthatifmillionsofchildrenweredyingandtheycouldbesaved,theworldwouldmakeitaprioritytodiscoveranddeliverthemedicinestosavethem.Butitdidnot.Forunderadollar,therewereinterventions（介入,干涉,干预）thatcouldsavelivesthatjustweren'tbeingdelivered.

Ifyoubelievethateverylifehasequalvalue,it'srevolting（无法接受）tolearnthatsomelivesareseenasworthsavingandothersarenot.Wesaidtoourselves:

"Thiscan'tbetrue.Butifitistrue,itdeservestobethepriorityofourgiving."

Sowebeganourworkinthesamewayanyoneherewouldbeginit.Weasked:

"Howcouldtheworldletthesechildrendie?

"

Theanswerissimple,andharsh.Themarketdidnotrewardsavingthelivesofthesechildren,andgovernmentsdidnotsubsidize（提供补助）it.Sothechildrendiedbecausetheirmothersandtheirfathershadnopowerinthemarketandnovoiceinthesystem.

ButyouandIhaveboth.

Wecanmakemarketforcesworkbetterforthepoorifwecandevelopamorecreativecapitalism–ifwecanstretchthereachofmarketforcessothatmorepeoplecanmakeaprofit,oratleastmakealiving,servingpeoplewhoaresufferingfromtheworstinequities.Wealsocanpressgovernmentsaroundtheworldtospendtaxpayermoneyinwaysthatbetterreflectthevaluesofthepeoplewhopaythetaxes.

Ifwecanfindapproachesthatmeettheneedsofthepoorinwaysthatgenerateprofitsforbusinessandvotesforpoliticians,wewillhavefoundasustainable（可持续的）waytoreduceinequityintheworld.Thistaskisopen-ended.Itcanneverbefinished.Butaconsciousefforttoanswerthischallengewillchangetheworld.

Iamoptimisticthatwecandothis,butItalktoskeptics（怀疑主义者）whoclaimthereisnohope.Theysay:

"Inequityhasbeenwithussincethebeginning,andwillbewithustilltheend–becausepeoplejust…don't…care."Icompletelydisagree.

Ibelievewehavemorecaringthanweknowwhattodowith.

AllofushereinthisYard,atonetimeoranother,haveseenhumantragediesthatbrokeourhearts,andyetwedidnothing–notbecausewedidn'tcare,butbecausewedidn'tknowwhattodo.Ifwehadknownhowtohelp,wewouldhaveacted（采取行动）.

Thebarriertochangeisnottoolittlecaring;itistoomuchcomplexity.

Toturncaringintoaction,weneedtoseeaproblem,seeasolution,andseetheimpact.Butcomplexityblocksallthreesteps.

Evenwiththeadvent（出现，到来）oftheInternetand24-hournews,itisstillacomplexenterprisetogetpeopletotrulyseetheproblems.Whenanairplanecrashes,officialsimmediatelycallapressconference.Theypromisetoinvestigate,determinethecause,andpreventsimilarcrashesinthefuture.

Butiftheofficialswerebrutallyhonest,theywouldsay:

"Ofallthepeopleintheworldwhodiedtodayfrompreventablecauses,onehalfofonepercentofthemwereonthisplane.We'redeterminedtodoeverythingpossibletosolvetheproblemthattookthelivesoftheonehalfofonepercent."

Thebiggerproblemisnottheplanecrash,butthemillionsofpreventabledeaths.

Wedon'treadmuchaboutthesedeaths.Themediacoverswhat'snew–andmillionsofpeopledyingisnothingnew.Soitstaysinthebackground,whereit'seasiertoignore.Butevenwhenwedoseeitorreadaboutit,it'sdifficulttokeepoureyesontheproblem.It'shardtolookatsufferingifthesituationissocomplexthatwedon'tknowhowtohelp.Andsowelookaway.

Ifwecanreallyseeaproblem,whichisthefirststep,wecometothesecondstep:

cuttingthroughthecomplexitytofindasolution.

Findingsolutionsisessentialifwewanttomakethemostofourcaring.Ifwehaveclearandprovenanswersanytimeanorganizationorindividualasks"HowcanIhelp?

"thenwecangetaction–andwecanmakesurethatnoneofthecaringintheworldiswasted.Butcomplexitymakesithardtomarkapathofactionforeveryonewhocares—andthatmakesithardfortheircaringtomatter.

Cuttingthrough（从…….中）complexitytofindasolutionrunsthroughfourpredictablestages:

determineagoal,findthehighest-leverage（最高效的）approach,discovertheidealtechnologyforthatapproach,andinthemeantime,makethesmartestapplicationofthetechnologythatyoualreadyhave—whetherit'ssomethingsophisticated（复杂的）,likeadrug,orsomethingsimpler,likeabednet（蚊帐）.

TheAIDSepidemicoffersanexample.Thebroadgoal,ofcourse,istoendthedisease.Thehighest-leverageapproachisprevention.Theidealtechnologywouldbeavaccinethatgiveslifetimeimmunity（免疫）withasingledose（注射）.Sogovernments,drugcompanies,andfoundationsarefundingvaccine（疫苗）research.Buttheirworkislikelytotakemorethanadecade,sointhemeantime,wehavetoworkwithwhatwehaveinhand–andthebestpreventionapproachwehavenowisgettingpeopletoavoidriskybehavior.

Pursuing（要实现）thatgoalstartst