英译汉Time’sPersonoftheYear:You
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The“GreatMan”theoryofhistoryisusuallyattributedtotheScottishphilosopherThomasCarlylewhowrotethat“thehistoryoftheworldisbutthebiographyofgreatmen.”Hebelievedthatitisthefew,thepowerfulandthefamouswhoshapeourcollectivedestinyasaspecies.Thattheorytookaseriousbeatingthisyear.
Tobesure,thereareindividualswecouldblameforthemanypainfulanddisturbingthingsthathappenedin2006.Butlookat2006throughadifferentlensandyou’llseeanotherstory,onethatisn’taboutconflictorgreatmen.It’sastoryaboutcommunityandcollaborationonascaleneverseenbefore.It’saboutthecosmiccompendiumofKnowledgeWikipedia(维基百科)andmillion-channelpeople’snetworkYouTubeandtheonlinemetropolisMySpace.It’saboutthemanywrestingpowerfromthefewandhelpingoneanotherfornothingandhowthatwillnotonlychangetheworld,butalsochangethewaytheworldchanges.
ThetoolthatmakesthispossibleistheWorldWideWeb.It’satoolforbringingtogetherthesmallcontributionsofmillionsofpeopleandmakingthemmatter.SiliconValleyconsultantscallitWeb2.0,asifitwereanewversionofsomeoldsoftware.Butit’sreallyarevolution.
Andwearesoreadyforit.YoucanlearnmoreabouthowAmericanslivejustbylookingatthebackgroundsofYouTubevideos—thoserumpledbedroomsandtoy-strewnbasementrecrooms—thanyoucouldfrom1,000hoursofnetworktelevision.
Andwedidn’tjustwatch,wealsoworked.Likecrazy.WemadeFacebookprofilesandSecondLifeavatarsandreceivedbooksatAmazonandrecordedpodcast.Webloggedaboutourcandidateslosingandwrotesongsaboutgettingdumped.Wecamcorderedbombingrunsandbuiltopen-sourcesoftware.
Americalovesitssolitarygeniuses—itsEinsteins,itsEdisons,itsJobses—butthoselonelydreamersmayhavetolearntoplaywithothers.Carcompaniesarerunningopendesigncontests.Reutersiscarryingblogpostingsalongsideitsregularnewsfeed.Microsoftisworkingovertimetofendoffuser-createdLinux.We’relookingatanexplosionofproductivityandinnovation,andit’sjustgettingstarted,asmillionsofmindsthatwouldotherwisehavedrownedinobscuritygetbackhauledintoth