《乌合之众·第二编·群体的意见与信念·群体意见与信念的间接因素》第23节
[12] Taine, "Le Regime moderne," vol. ii., 1894. These pages are almost the last that Taine wrote. They resume admirably the results of the great philosopher's long experience. Unfortunately they are in my opinion totally incomprehensible for such of our university professors who have not lived abroad. Education is the only means at our disposal of influencing to some extent the mind of a nation, and it is profoundly saddening to have to think that there is scarcely any one in France who can arrive at understanding that our present system of teaching is a grave cause of rapid decadence, which instead of elevating our youth, lowers and perverts it. A useful comparison may be made between Taine's pages and the observations on American education recently made by M. Paul Bourget in his excellent book, "Outre-Mer." He, too, after having noted that our education merely produces narrow-minded bourgeois, lacking in initiative and will-power, or anarchists--"those two equally harmful types of the civilised man, who degenerates into impotent platitude or insane destructiveness"--he too, I say, draws a comparison that cannot be the object of too much reflection between our French lycees (public schools), those factories of degeneration, and the American schools, which prepare a man admirably for life. The gulf existing between truly democratic nations and those who have democracy in their speeches, but in no wise in their thoughts, is clearly brought out in this comparison.
注释摘要
勒庞在这个长注里，把泰纳的临终思考当作定论来援引，证明法国拉丁式的书本教育与现实脱节到了危险的地步。他要论证的是，这类教育非但不能提升国民素养，反而会制造出两种病态的群体心理产物：一种是缺乏主见、丧失行动力的庸碌中产，另一种是满腔怨恨、随时准备接受最极端主张的破坏者。他引用泰纳的描述，指出年轻人在学校里被书本和考试封闭七、八年，完全切断了与真实世界的感官接…