論工業社會及其未來-68

68

It may be objected that primitive man is physically less secure than modern man, as is shown by his shorter life expectancy; hence modern man suffers from less, not more than the amount of insecurity that is normal for human beings. But psychological security does not closely correspond with physical security. What makes us FEEL secure is not so much objective security as a sense of confidence in our ability to take care of ourselves. Primitive man, threatened by a fierce animal or by hunger, can fight in self-defense or travel in search of food. He has no certainty of success in these efforts, but he is by no means helpless against the things that threaten him. The modern individual on the other hand is threatened by many things against which he is helpless: nuclear accidents, carcinogens in food, environmental pollution, war, increasing taxes, invasion of his privacy by large organizations, nationwide social or economic phenomena that may disrupt his way of life.

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68

從原始人較短的預期壽命，可以反駁原始人在身體上比現代人更不安全；因此現代人遭受的不安全感比起人類能接受的正常值還更少而不是更多。但心理安全和人身安全並不緊密相關。會使我們感到安全的並非因為客觀的安全，而是對於能有能力保護自身的自信感。原始人被猛獸或飢餓所威脅，可以打鬥以自我防衛或跋涉以找尋食物。他不能確保這些努力都會成功，但對抗這些威脅他絕非束手無策。另一方面現代人作為個體面對各種威脅卻無計可施：核子事故、食品中的致癌物質、環境汙染、戰爭、稅負增加、大型組織對個人的隱私侵犯、擾亂個人生活方式的全國性社會或經濟現象。