It’s not that we are afraid of seeing him stumble, of scribbling a mustache over his career. Sure, the nice part of us wants Mike to know we appreciate him, that he still reigns, at least in our memory. The truth, though, is that we don’t want him to come back because even for Michael Jordan, this would be an act of hubris so monumental as to make his trademark confidence twist into conceit. We don’t want him back on the court because no one likes a show-off. The stumbling? That will be fun.
But we are nice people, we Americans, with 225 years of optimism at our backs. Days ago when M.J. said he had made a decision about returning to the NBA in September, we got excited. He had said the day before, “I look forward to playing, and hopefully I can get to that point where I can make that decision. It’s O.K., to have some doubt, and it’s O.K. to have some nervousness.” A Time/CNN poll last week has Americans, 2 to 1, saying they would like him on the court ASAP. And only 21 percent thought that if he came back and just completely bombed, it would damage his legend. In fact only 28 percent think athletes should retire at their peak.
Sources close to him tell Time that when Jordan first talked about a comeback with the Washington Wizards, the team Jordan co-owns and would play for, some of his trusted advisers privately tried to discourage him. “But they say if they try to stop him, it will only firm up his resolve,” says an NBA source.
The problem with Jordan’s return is not only that he can’t possibly live up to the storybook ending he gave up in 1998 — earning his sixth ring with a last-second championship-winning shot. The problem is that the motives for coming back — needing the attention, needing to play even when his 38-year-old body does not — violate the very myth of Jordan, the myth of absolute control. Babe Ruth, the 20th century’s first star, was a gust of fat bravado and drunken talent, while Jordan ended the century by proving the elegance of resolve; Babe’s pointing to the bleachers replaced by the charm of a backpedaling shoulder shrug. Jordan symbolized success by not sullying his brand with his politics, his opinion or superstar personality. To be a Jordan fan was to be a fan of classiness and confidence.
To come back when he knows that playing for Wizards won’t get him anywhere near the second round of the play-offs, when he knows that he won’t be the league scoring leader, that’s a loss of control.
Jordan does not care what we think. Friends say that he takes articles that tell him not to come back and tacks them all on his refrigerator as inspiration. So why bother writing something telling him not to come back? He is still Michael Jordan.
参考答案:
《人类的进程》一书的提纲初稿是1969年7月完成的,影片的最后一部分是在1972年12月拍摄的。像这样大的一个项目,虽然异常精彩,令人激动,却并不是轻易上马的。它要求我保持旺盛的脑力和体力,专心致志地投入工作。我必须确保持之以恒,并从中得到乐趣;比方说,我不得不停下已经开始的研究工作;我还应当说明一下,究竟是什么促使我承担这项工作的。
二十年来,科学的发展趋势发生了深刻的变化:关注的焦点已经从自然科转移到生命科学。结果,便把科学越来越吸引到个体特征的研究上来。然而感兴趣的旁观者几乎没有意识到此事对于改变科学塑造的人的形象产生了多么深远的影响。我是一个研究数学的人,以前学过物理学,若不是中年有幸有几次机会涉足生命科学,我也不会有所认识。我应当感谢我交的好运,是它使我在一生中参与了两个启发性的科学领域。尽管我并不知道应该向谁表示感谢,我编写了《人类的进程》一书,以表示我的感激之情。
英国广播公司邀请我做的是通过一套电视节目来表现科学的发展过程,以与克拉克勋爵制作的关于文明的电视节目相匹配。通过电视来进行解说有几大好处:它有力、直观,能使观众身临其境或亲身参与所描述的过程,它的语言亲切,能使观众觉得他所看到的是人们的行动而不是事件。这些优点之中,我认为最后一点最为突出,它是一股最大的动力促使我同意以电视散文的方式从个人的角度来讲述各种思想的发展史。重要的是知识总体,尤其是科学知识不是由抽象的思想构成的,而是由人的思想构成的,自有知识开始直到现代千奇百怪的模式莫不是如此。所以介绍打开自然界之门的基本思想,必须表现出它们很早就已产生,而且是产生在人类最淳朴的文化之中,产生于人类基本的、具体的感官之中。同时还必须表现出使种种思想形成越来越复杂的结合体的科学的发展也同样是人类的贡献:种种发现都是人的产物,而不仅仅是头脑的产物,因此它们都是有生气的,而且具有个人的特色。如果电视未能把这些思想表现得很具体,那岂不是浪费!
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