Saying that stereotypes are negative is a stereotype in itself.
We often forget is that some of the simplest things we do, without a care, are based on stereotypes. Obviously, everyone’s different, so we react in different ways, but for the majority of us, when we see a lion right next to us… Well, I would run. It’s a stereotype that saves lives.
说刻板印象是负面的，这本身就是一种刻板印象。我们经常忘记，我们所做的一些最简单的事情，不在乎，都是基于刻板印象。 显然，每个人都不一样，所以我们的反应方式不同，但对我们大多数人来说，当我们看到一只狮子就在我们旁边时……好吧，我会跑。 这是一个拯救生命的刻板印象。
Consider this, in the United States alone about 47,000 people require medical attention for being attacked by wild animals and about eight people don’t survive their encounters. That’s in the U.S. alone. Given this, it is a natural instinct for most people to run from wild animals if they can, and be frightened of them. They are predators and while they may or may not have a taste of human flesh, there’s a voice in the back of our minds screaming at us to run.
考虑一下，仅在美国，就有大约47,000人因被野生动物袭击而需要就医，大约有8人在遭遇中没有幸存下来。 那只在美国。 鉴于此，大多数人天生本能地逃避野生动物，并害怕它们。 它们是捕食者，虽然它们可能尝到了也可能没有人肉的味道，但我们脑海中有一个声音在尖叫着让我们逃跑。
Unless we’re in a zoo, or surrounded by experts. But this stereotype, stuck in the back of our minds, tells our brains, “That’s dangerous”. It keeps us alive!
除非我们在动物园里，或者被专家包围。 但這種刻板印象停留在我們腦海中，告訴我們的大腦，「這很危險」。 它让我们活着！
I believe that boiling water on my skin will hurt. It will hurt a lot. Or that if a person is holding a bloody knife in their hands… Well I don’t want to stick around. Now, to be honest, they could just be a butcher or have another perfectly reasonable excuse…
我相信开水在我的皮肤上会很疼。 会很疼的。 或者，如果一个人手里拿着一把血淋淋的刀……好吧，我不想留下来。 现在，说实话，他们可能只是个屠夫，或者有另一个完全合理的借口……
But I love watching crime shows, particularly ones in which someone’s holding a bloody knife.
但我喜欢看犯罪节目，尤其是有人拿着血淋淋的刀子。
Imagine a world without stereotypes. It sounds great. So much racial or gender discrimination is fuelled by stereotypes. Imagine if no one was hindered because of how they were born but instead by their actions and choices.
想象一下一个没有刻板印象的世界。 聽起來很棒。 如此多的种族或性别歧视是由陈规定型观念助长的。 想象一下，如果沒有人因為他們的出生方式而受到阻礙，而是因為他們的行為和選擇而受到阻礙。
But if we removed every stereotype it would also make life harder. We use stereotypes on a day to day basis to make quick judgements when we don’t have the time to perform a detailed analysis.
但是，如果我们消除了所有的刻板印象，生活也会更艰难。 当我们没有时间进行详细的分析时，我们每天都在使用刻板印象来做出快速判断。
In the mall when we’re looking for something but we can’t find it, we ask for help. Generally speaking, we use the stereotypes we have for what a person working in that shop would look like; age, clothes, etc., and ask them for help. This is a stereotype.
在商场里，当我们在找东西但找不到时，我们会寻求帮助。 一般来说，我们使用对在那家商店工作的人的刻板印象；年龄、衣服等，并向他们寻求帮助。 这是一个刻板印象。
Sometimes we make a mistakes, but regardless, we are using our in-built stereotypes to identify someone. In a hospital, we use stereotypes to identify who’s who; a doctor, nurse or another patient. That’s not a bad thing. Without it, we would have to ask everyone who they are, wasting their time and ours.
有时我们会犯错误，但无论如何，我们都在使用我们固有的刻板印象来识别某人。 在医院里，我们使用刻板印象来识别谁是谁；医生、护士或其他病人。 那不是一件坏事。 没有它，我们将不得不问每个人他们是谁，浪费他们和我们的时间。
Away from hospitals, crime shows or the animal kingdom, the Chinese have been perhaps cursed by some of the greatest stereotyping of all. According to Wang Yuhua writing in The Washington Post, a survey in the U.S. found that many people stereotype Chinese as competent but cold. This often causes people who believe in these stereotypes to feel envy, but also a resentful admiration. Such can often lead to acts of violence; they are what has led to an unfortunate increase in hate crimes against Asians.
远离医院、犯罪节目或动物王国，中国人可能被一些最大的刻板印象所诅咒。 根据《华盛顿邮报》的Wang Yuhua的文章，美国的一项调查发现，许多人将中国人定型为有能力但冷漠。 这往往导致相信这些刻板印象的人感到嫉妒，但也感到怨恨的钦佩。 这往往会导致暴力行为；这就是导致针对亚洲人的仇恨犯罪不幸增加的原因。
Violence, stress and pressure are the results of the stereotype that Chinese people or Asians in general are smart. Chinese kids must live out what should be some of their happiest years under that expectation for them to be geniuses and nothing less.
暴力、压力和压力是中国人或一般亚洲人聪明的刻板印象的结果。 中国孩子必须度过他们最幸福的岁月，期望他们成为天才，仅此而已。
Perhaps it is time for us to reconsider our ideas on stereotypes. We can decide for ourselves which stereotypes are good, bad or somewhere else along a scale. How should we use them to navigate our life path in the best way possible?
也许是时候让我们重新考虑我们对刻板印象的想法了。 我们可以自己决定哪些刻板印象是好的、坏的，还是沿着尺度的其他地方。 我们应该如何利用它们以最好的方式引导我们的人生道路？