第七章：竞争、影响和心理环境

Chapter 7: Competition, Influence and the Mental Environment

Competition, Influence and the Mental Environment – The Power of Persuasion
竞争、影响和心理环境——说服的力量

As revealed to to God’s Messenger Marshall Vian Summers on June 12, 2008 in Boulder, CO
2008年6月12日，在科罗拉多州博尔德(Boulder, CO)，向上帝的信使马歇尔・维安・萨默斯(Marshall Vian Summers)揭示

As nations evolve and achieve stability and security, it is recognized that the use of force is not productive in engaging with other nations. It is destructive, and it sows the seeds for future conflict. Because resources are so extremely valuable to an advanced society, the use of force is seen as only a last resort and an undesirable one at that. The emphasis then shifts to the power of persuasion and the importance of persuasion in preserving resources and valuable infrastructure. It is an emphasis that nations within your own world are only now beginning to discover.

随着国家的发展和实现稳定与安全，人们认识到使用武力在与其他国家的交往中是没有成效的。它是破坏性的，并为未来的冲突埋下了种子。由于资源对一个先进的社会来说是如此的宝贵，使用武力被视为最后的手段，而且是不可取的手段。然后，重点转移到了说服的力量，以及说服在保护资源和宝贵基础设施方面的重要性。你们世界上的国家现在才开始意识到这一点。

War is destructive. It is destructive to both the winner and the loser, and it sows the seeds for future conflict. The damage is not only to material things, but to the nature and character of entire nations of people who are traumatized. Humanity has not matured enough nor has grown in wisdom enough to recognize the absolute truth of this.

战争是毁灭性的。它对胜利者和失败者都具有破坏性，并为未来的冲突埋下种子。战争的破坏不仅是对物质的破坏，而且是对遭受创伤的整个民族的自然性和性格的破坏。人类还不够成熟，智慧也没有增长到足以认识到这一绝对真理的程度。

That is why outright warfare in the Greater Community, particularly on any kind of large scale, is extremely rare, particularly amongst secure and advanced nations. Their emphasis is on the power of persuasion. Because competition is so great in the Greater Community—the competition for resources, the competition for influence, the competition for trade and the competition for political power and persuasion—these are of paramount importance to any advanced nation, whether they be free or not.

这就是为什么在大社区中，特别是在任何一种大规模的战争中，公然的战争是极其罕见的，特别是在安全和先进的国家中。他们强调的是说服的力量。由于大社区中的竞争是如此之大——对资源的竞争、对影响力的竞争、对贸易的竞争以及对政治权力和说服力的竞争——这些对任何先进国家来说都是最重要的，无论它们是否自由。

It is because of the emphasis on stability and security that this is the case. Competition, therefore, is immense, and the powers of persuasion and the importance of these powers become of primary importance for nations that are free and for nations that are not free. This represents an evolution of power and skill in the universe. While humanity is still exerting force and destroying its own infrastructure and resources in the process, advanced nations use much more sophisticated means. Time has proven this to be necessary.

正是由于对稳定和安全的强调，才会出现这种情况。因此，竞争是巨大的，说服力和这些权力的重要性对于自由的国家和不自由的国家来说都是至关重要的。这代表了宇宙中力量和技能的演变。当人类仍在施加武力并在此过程中破坏自己的基础设施和资源时，先进的国家则使用更复杂的手段。时间已经证明这是必要的。

Nations that are fundamentally warlike and destructive do not last very long in the Greater Community, for any nation to exert itself in this way in a highly populated region of space such as your own would meet a united resistance. With only very few exceptions in the universe can this resistance be overcome. What would one nation do faced with a thousand nations opposing it? And what could one nation do if its access to trade were denied? To become strong enough to overtake other nations, you must have resources from beyond your own world. You must have a vast network of resources and resource acquisition.

从根本上说，好战和破坏性的国家在大社区中不会持续很长时间，任何国家在像你们这样人口高度密集的空间区域以这种方式施展自己，都会遇到统一的抵抗。在宇宙中只有极少数的例外情况可以克服这种阻力。一个国家面对上千个国家的反对会怎么做？如果一个国家被剥夺了贸易机会，它又能做什么呢？要想强大到足以超越其他国家，就必须拥有自己世界以外的资源。你必须拥有一个庞大的资源和资源获取网络。

In an undeveloped part of the universe, where there are very few advanced nations and where trade has not been established and secured over time, it is possible for one nation to become powerful in this way. But eventually it will meet opposition, collective opposition. An empire might exist in an uncharted region, dominating many star systems, but if there is no one within its reach to overtake, it will eventually be limited by its own resources and by its logistical isolation.

在宇宙的不发达地区，先进国家寥寥无几，贸易尚未建立并得到长期保障，一个国家有可能以这种方式变得强大。但它最终会遇到反对，集体的反对。一个帝国可能存在于一个未知的区域，统治着许多恒星系统，但如果在它的势力范围内没有可以超越的国家，它最终会受到自身资源和后勤孤立的限制。

This is simply a fact of life. It is growing mature. It is outgrowing the passions and aggressions of adolescence to a more mature and stable state. But in this more mature and stable state, competition is intense, and therefore the emphasis on the powers of perception and persuasion becomes of paramount importance. This now becomes how you contend with competing nations. This is how you contend with problems and difficulties.

这只是生活中的一个事实。它在日渐成熟。它正在摆脱青春期的激情和攻击性，进入一个更加成熟和稳定的状态。但在这种更加成熟和稳定的状态下，竞争是激烈的，因此对感知力和说服力的强调就变得至关重要。现在，这已成为你们与竞争国家抗衡的方式。这就是你们与问题和困难抗争的方式。

This power of persuasion and perception then becomes the focal point. Knowing what others are doing, perceiving their activities, trying to discern their secrets and their technological developments, discerning their intentions, discerning their communications and discerning their diplomacy—all become a great emphasis now.

这种说服力和感知力就成为焦点。知道别人在做什么，感知他们的活动，试图辨别他们的秘密和技术发展，辨别他们的意图，辨别他们的通信和辨别他们的外交——所有这些现在都成为一个重要的重点。

For this reason, many nations have cultivated a special class of citizens, individuals called “seers.” These individuals are not developed spiritually, but they have great skill in the mental environment. Their role is to see, to discern and to interpret. In normal trade negotiations, what is written and what is said have to be interpreted very clearly. The long-range implications have to be discerned. The advantages and disadvantages have to be clarified. It is a matter of great importance. While outright lying and cheating on a large scale may be rare, subtle manipulations are ever present.

出于这个原因，许多国家培养了一类特殊的公民，被称为”预言家”的个体。这些人在精神性上并不发达，但他们在心理环境方面有很好的技能。他们的作用是观察、辨别和解释。在正常的贸易谈判中，所写的和所说的都必须被解释得非常清楚。长远的影响必须被辨别出来。必须澄清利弊。这是一个非常重要的问题。虽然大规模的公然撒谎和欺骗行为可能很少，但微妙的操纵行为却一直存在。

Nations not only want to discern one another’s intentions and capabilities, but also to discern one another’s secrets, unspoken agendas and long-range plans. You living in the world can understand this. This is what the nations in your world do regarding one another. Even nations that have very friendly relations are always looking and watching to see what the others will do and to discern the others’ strengths and intentions. Amongst nations that are in opposition to each other in your world, this is certainly the case. The difference in the Greater Community is at the level of skill, and the powers of discernment and persuasion are much greater. The nations in your world have not recognized the importance of establishing seers.

各国不仅要辨别彼此的意图和能力，还要辨别彼此的秘密、不言而喻的议程和长期计划。生活在这个世界上的你可以理解这一点。这就是你们世界上的国家对彼此的做法。即使是那些关系非常友好的国家，也总是在寻找和观察，看对方会做什么，并辨别对方的力量和意图。在你们世界中相互对立的国家中，情况当然也是如此。大社区的区别在于技能水平，辨别力和说服力要强得多。你们世界上的国家还没有认识到建立预言家的重要性。

Among seers, there are visionaries and there are locators. Locators are a very special class of seers that focuses entirely upon locating facilities and pinpointing specific areas and activities within a nation. This has been developed to a very high degree to fight crime, for example, to deal with insurrections and to deal with the problem of illegal drugs, which is a real problem in many nations.

在预言家中，有异象者，也有定位者。定位者是一个非常特殊的预言家阶层，他们完全专注于定位设施和确定一个国家内的特定区域和活动。这已经发展到非常高的程度，以打击犯罪，例如，处理叛乱和处理非法毒品的问题，这在许多国家是一个真正的问题。

Locators are very important. If another nation has a secret facility, and it is recognized that such a facility either actually exists or may probably exist, locators are brought immediately to try to discern its precise location. Because visitation to other worlds is highly restricted, except between nations that have had longstanding and compatible relationships with one another, the function of locators becomes ever more significant. It is a specialized talent.

定位者是非常重要的。如果另一个国家有一个秘密设施，而且人们识别到这样的设施确实存在或可能存在，就会立即带着定位者去尝试辨别其精确位置。由于对其他世界的访问受到高度限制，除非是在彼此有长期相容关系的国家之间，定位者的功能变得更加重要。这是一种专门的人才。

Seers are used to witness negotiations, to review contracts, to serve as witnesses to diplomatic efforts and to sit in on councils. They are certainly used in judicial matters to discern the truth and the falsity of evidence and declarations. Even advanced nations that are not free recognize the limits of technology. Over time, it has become recognized that power in the mental environment—the power to influence thought and to discern thought—extends beyond the range of technological capability and enters a new panorama of power and influence.

预言家被用来见证谈判，审查合同，作为外交努力的见证人，并列席议会。他们当然也被用于司法事务，辨别证据和声明的真假。即使是不自由的先进国家也承认技术的局限性。随着时间的推移，人们已经认识到，心理环境中的力量——影响感想和辨别感想的力量——已经超出了技术能力的范围，进入了一个新的力量和影响的全景图。

Nations employ seers on their defensive perimeters to watch for any possible threats on the horizon or any possible change that could be a challenge or a difficulty for their nation. They are not analysts in the way that you would consider analysts—using their intellect, using technology and using patterns of thought to discern with accuracy truth that must be recognized. A seer is using a different kind of power and potency that an analyst could never use.

国家在其防御范围内雇用预言家，以观察地平线上任何可能的威胁或任何可能的变化，这可能是对其国家的一个挑战或困难。他们不是你所认为的分析师——使用他们的智力、技术和思维模式来准确地辨别必须承认的真理。预言家使用的是一种不同的力量和效力，这是分析家所不能使用的。

There are seers who specialize as interpreters. They will travel with diplomatic missions, serving to interpret not the language of another race, but its intention, its honesty, the truth of its statements, its strengths, its weaknesses, its anxieties, its concerns and its insecurities. This is extremely important in establishing trust with races unlike your own.

有的预言家专门做翻译。他们将与外交使团一起旅行，服务于解释另一个种族的语言，但它的意图，它的诚实，它的声明的真实性，它的力量，它的弱点，它的焦虑，它的关注和它的不安全感。这对于与不同于自己的种族建立信任是极其重要的。

Even nations that have longstanding partnerships that have developed trust over time are still always watching one another, not because they have an inherent distrust of one another, but for the effects of influence of other nations upon their trading partners. Is their trading partner being seduced or undermined by another foreign power? Does that trading nation have social harmony, or are there dissident movements within this nation, and what would that mean? While nations exert control and many are very uniform, dissension and opposition still exist and revolutions do occur.

即使是那些有长期合作关系的国家，随着时间的推移已经形成了信任，他们仍然总是在互相监视，不是因为他们对彼此有内在的不信任，而是为了其他国家对其贸易伙伴的影响。他们的贸易伙伴是否被另一个外国势力诱惑或破坏了？那个贸易国是否有社会和谐，或者这个国家内部是否有异议运动，这将意味着什么？虽然国家施加控制，而且许多国家非常统一，但分歧和反对仍然存在，革命也确实发生。

Humanity has only evolved to deal with itself. It has never had to deal with other forms of intelligent life, particularly other forms of intelligent life that carry great power and ability—not only technologically, but in the mental environment. In this respect, humanity is still a primitive race. It is only beginning to recognize the potency of power in the mental environment. It is only beginning to recognize both the constructive and destructive potential of technology. Yet the great frontier in the mental environment is only beginning to be discovered and valued amongst the leaders of human nations.

人类的进化只是为了解决自身的问题。它从未与其他形式的智能生命打过交道，尤其是其他形式的智能生命，它们拥有强大的力量和能力——不仅在技术上，而且在心理环境方面。在这方面，人类仍然是一个原始种族。它才刚刚开始认识到心理环境中的力量。人类刚刚开始认识到技术的建设性和破坏性潜力。然而，在人类国家的领导人中，心理环境中的伟大疆域才开始被发现和重视。

Because you are unskilled in dealing with foreign powers in the Greater Community, you have not yet cultivated the necessary discernment that is required to discern the nature and intentions of a race that not only looks different but is different—that thinks differently, that has different values, that has different priorities, that has different traditions and that has a different social structure, a different history and a different well of experience. Humanity has not yet learned that power in the universe is power in the mental environment. It still thinks of power in the universe as empires conquering and destroying one another. This represents a child’s view of the universe.

因为你们不擅长与大社区中的外来力量打交道，所以你们还没有培养出必要的辨别力，以辨别一个种族的性质和意图，这个种族不仅看起来不同，而且截然不同——它的思考方式不同，有不同的价值观，有不同的优先事项，有不同的传统，有不同的社会结构，有不同的历史和不同的经验。人类还没有认识到，宇宙的力量就是心理环境的力量。它仍然认为宇宙中的力量是帝国的征服和相互摧毁。这代表了儿童对宇宙的看法。

Secrecy, deception, discernment, cleverness and persuasion—this is where nations can overcome or gain preeminence over one another. Exploiting the weakness of internal divisions of another nation; exploiting another nation’s mythology, fantasies and religion; discerning another nation’s intentions, secrets, abilities and disabilities—these represent power in terms of nations influencing and gaining preeminence over one another.

秘密、欺骗、辨别力、智慧和说服力——这就是国家能够克服或获得彼此优势的地方。利用另一个国家内部分裂的弱点；利用另一个国家的神话、幻想和宗教；辨别另一个国家的意图、秘密、能力和缺陷——这些都代表着国家之间相互影响和取得优势的力量。

Many nations employ seers, and seers have very specific functions as interpreters, as locators, in serving defensive purposes, in serving business contracts and in overseeing a nation’s own internal needs and potential for disorder. The free nations have seers as well. Their seers are employed for the same purposes, but they are guided by a deeper Knowledge, which can make them more powerful and more penetrating than the seers employed in nations that are not free. This gives the free nations power and a certain degree of advantage that must remain hidden from foreign awareness and scrutiny.

许多国家雇用预言家，预言家有非常具体的功能，如翻译、定位、服务于防御目的、服务于商业合同以及监督一个国家自身的内部需求和潜在的混乱。自由国家也有预言家。他们的预言家受雇于同样的目的，但他们受到更深层次内识的指导，这可以使他们比非自由国家雇用的预言家更强大、更有洞察力。这给了自由国家权力和一定程度的优势，而这些优势必须隐藏起来，不被外来觉知和审查发现。

Ultimately, the most powerful races in the universe are entirely hidden. And if they have any trade at all, it is maintained with the greatest secrecy and usually carried out by other nations that support them, that act as proxies for them. If you attain great power in the mental environment, your powers would be sought by other nations. Your skills would be sought by other nations, and other nations will attempt to seduce you or induce you through promises of wealth, splendor or high social positions—whatever they can do to seduce you in order to gain control of these abilities.

最终，宇宙中最强大的种族是完全隐匿的。如果他们有任何贸易，也是以最大的保密性维持的，通常由支持他们的其他国家进行，作为他们的代理人。如果你在心理环境中获得了巨大的力量，你的力量会被其他国家寻求。你的技能会被其他国家寻求，其他国家会试图通过财富、辉煌或高阶社会地位的承诺来诱惑你或诱导你——无论他们能做什么来诱惑你，以获得对这些能力的控制。

The greatest expressions of power in the mental environment are guided by Knowledge, which is entirely ethical and entirely peaceful in intent. Individuals possessing this cannot be turned and cannot be seduced; yet they still must remain hidden. This is one of the great dilemmas of life in the universe, and it is true even within your own world, that those who are most powerful, those that have the greatest degree of skill, must remain hidden, or they will simply be used by political powers, commercial powers and the powers of religious institutions. They will be used as tools to carry out activities that are unethical and destructive. It is like the person who possesses great material wealth—very difficult it is to hide this from others. Even if you create the appearance of poverty, the evidence of your material wealth will always be there.

心理环境中力量的最大表现是由内识引导的，它完全是道德的，完全是和平的意图。拥有这种能力的人不能被策反，也不能被引诱；但他们仍然必须保持隐匿。这是宇宙中生命的巨大困境之一，甚至在你们自己的世界中也是如此，那些最强大的人，那些拥有最大程度技能的人，必须保持隐匿，否则他们就会被政治权力、商业权力和宗教机构的权力所利用。他们将被用作工具，进行不道德的、破坏性的活动。这就像拥有巨大物质财富的人——很难对他人隐瞒这一点。即使你创造了贫穷的外表，你的物质财富的证据将永远存在。

Therefore, if a nation possesses tremendous material wealth and resource wealth, and it seeks to remain free and beyond foreign intervention and persuasion, it must keep these things in the greatest of secrecy and not demonstrate them to any degree at all. This of course is nearly impossible when surrounded by trading nations or if you are involved in the activities of trade where everyone is always looking for wealth and advantage. That is again why free societies remain discreet and distinct and involve themselves in trade only to a very minimum, if at all.

因此，如果一个国家拥有巨大的物质财富和资源财富，并且它寻求保持自由，不受外来干预和劝说，它必须将这些财富保持在最大的保密性中，在任何程度上都不能展示它们。当然，当你被贸易国包围时，或者如果你参与贸易活动，每个人都在寻找财富和优势时，这几乎是不可能的。这也是为什么自由社会保持谨慎和与众不同，并且只在极小范围内参与贸易，如果有的话。

This is more difficult for a nation living outside a highly inhabited part of space, where there is social order, to maintain its hidden position because others can intervene without restraint. Invasion occurs. But living in the shadows in the midst of highly developed parts of space where there is tremendous social order requires restraint. If outside invasion is forbidden, then a nation can, according to the rules of engagement such as exist in your region of space, maintain a private existence with a minimum of foreign scrutiny. But even here, the seers amongst technological societies will try to discern the power and capabilities of the free societies. Their scrutiny must then be offset by the seers of the free societies. This is competition at another level. It is persuasion at another level. It is the fundamental problem of possessing knowledge and wealth in the universe.

对于一个生活在人烟稠密、社会秩序良好的空间之外的国家来说，要维持自己的隐蔽地位就更加困难，因为其他国家可以毫无节制地进行干预。入侵就会发生。但是，生活在高度发达、社会秩序井然有序的太空中的国家则需要保持克制。如果外部入侵是被禁止的，那么一个国家就可以根据你们所在地区的交战规则，在最少的外来监督下维持私密的生存。但即使在这里，技术社会中的预言家也会试图辨别自由社会的力量和能力。然后他们的审查必须被自由社会的预言家所抵消。这是另一个层面的竞争。这是在另一个层面上的说服。这是在宇宙中拥有内识和财富的基本问题。

How does one possess knowledge and wealth and yet remain free? It is a problem for which there is no easy solution. It is a dilemma in life. Not all dilemmas have solutions. Not all problems have solutions. Because humanity does not yet experience itself living in a competitive environment beyond the borders of its world, it has not had to evolve to deal with these kinds of problems. But eventually it will. You are having to do this even at this moment, since the world is undergoing intervention from economic Collectives, whose ethics you could not agree with and whose methods are entirely self-serving.

一个人如何拥有内识和财富而又保持自由？这是一个不容易解决的问题。这是生活中的一个两难问题。不是所有的困境都有解决办法。不是所有的问题都有解决办法。因为人类还没有经历到自己生活在超越其世界边界的竞争环境中，所以它还没有进化到处理这类问题的程度。但最终它会的。甚至在这个时候，你也不得不这样做，因为世界正在经历来自经济集体的干预，而这些集体的道德规范你是不可能同意的，其方法完全是为自己服务的。

This is the beginning of growing up and dealing with life at a more mature level. Eventually, every race in the universe has to face this. It is part of your destiny.

这是成长的开始，也是更成熟地应对生活的开始。最终，宇宙中的每一个种族都必须面对这个问题。这是你们天命的一部分。

The importance of persuasion is obvious to you now, but in dealing with other races whose temperament and intellectual abilities and orientation are far different from your own, the power of persuasion becomes much more complex and difficult. Persuasion within your own race is one thing. But between races that are dissimilar, it is entirely another matter. Your logic and reason may not work at all with them. Your ability to rationalize with them may be extremely limited. What they value and what you value may be entirely different. They may have a particular tradition or persuasion or set of anxieties that are very unique to their history and circumstances. To understand this, to comprehend this, to speak to this and to be persuasive here requires a level of educational skill far beyond what human diplomacy has ever had to establish.

说服的重要性现在对你们来说是显而易见的，但在与其他种族打交道时，他们的气质和智力以及取向都与你们的相差甚远，说服的力量变得更加复杂和困难。在你自己的种族内说服是一件事。但在不同的种族之间，这完全是另一回事。你的逻辑和理性可能对他们完全不起作用。你与他们合理化的能力可能极其有限。他们重视的东西和你重视的东西可能完全不同。他们可能有一个特定的传统或说服力，或一套对他们的历史和环境非常独特的焦虑。要了解这一点，理解这一点，对这一点说话，并在这里有说服力，需要一种远远超过人类外交所要建立的教育技能水平。

If you could, imagine trying to negotiate with an intelligence that was like a dolphin, except that intelligence had technology and represented a significant power. You want to negotiate for trade, you want to negotiate to establish rules of trade or engagements or mutual needs for security. How would you do it? And how could you ever persuade that intelligence? Where is it weak enough to be persuaded? Where is its weakness? Where is its strength? This is why it takes such great skill to negotiate and communicate.

如果你可以的话，想象一下试图与一个像海豚一样的智能体进行谈判，只不过这个智能体拥有技术，并且代表着一个重大的力量。你想为贸易进行谈判，你想通过谈判建立贸易或约定的规则，或安全的相互需要。你会怎么做呢？你又怎么能说服那个情报机构呢？它的弱点在哪里可以被说服？它的弱点在哪里？它的力量在哪里？这就是为什么谈判和沟通需要如此大的技巧。

When you have larger assemblies of nations on councils—on trading councils dealing with problems in international trade or relations, problems of crime, problems of trafficking dangerous materials or drugs or illegal trade—it becomes very complex. You are now speaking to maybe fifty different nations using common trade languages which have been established over time. They are there with their interpreters. They are there with their seers. Everyone is trying to communicate together. Some use language. Some do not use language. They all use written language or symbols. They all understand an established trade language, whatever that language may be in a larger district. How do you come to agreement and consensus? This makes negotiations very long and complex. Yet sophistication and time have shown ways to accomplish things, even given these difficulties.

当你有更大的国家议会——处理国际贸易或关系问题、犯罪问题、贩运危险材料或毒品或非法贸易问题的贸易理事会——它变得非常复杂。你现在是在用长期以来建立起来的共同贸易语言与大约50个不同的国家交谈。他们在那里有他们的翻译。他们和他们的预言家在那里。每个人都在试图一起交流。有些人使用语言。有些则不使用语言。他们都使用书面语言或符号。他们都理解一种既定的贸易语言，不管这种语言在更大的地区是什么。你如何达成协议和共识？这使得谈判变得非常漫长和复杂。然而，即使在这些困难的情况下，先进的技术和时间已经显示出完成任务的方法。

There is communication, and then there is persuasion. Persuasion requires a very refined set of skills. You want another nation to see your point of view. You want another nation to value what you value. You want another nation to come to terms that are agreeable and preferred by you. You want another nation to do certain things or not to do certain things. You want to forge agreements and councils.

有沟通，就有说服力。说服需要一套非常精细的技能。你想让另一个国家看到你的观点。你想让另一个国家重视你所重视的东西。你想让另一个国家达成你所同意和喜欢的条件。你希望另一个国家做某些事情或不做某些事情。你想达成协议和理事会。

This requires persuasion. This persuasion is not only based upon the strengths of one’s argument; it is based upon the awareness of another’s comprehension and skills, another’s nature and orientation, another’s strengths and another’s weaknesses. Persuasion is carried out for entirely beneficial purposes, and it is also carried out for extremely selfish purposes, for the interests of one nation alone.

这需要说服。这种说服不仅是基于一个人的论点的优势；它是基于对另一个人的理解力和技能、另一个人的性质和取向、另一个人的优势和弱点的觉知。说服是为了完全有益的目的而进行的，也是为了极其自私的目的而进行的，只为了一个国家的利益。

That is why in highly inhabited regions such as your own, where trade has been long established, innovation comes very slowly. Once a practice or a system has been established and maintained, it is very hard to change it. If it has proven itself to be stable and beneficial to the majority of participants, it is very hard to change it, and innovations or improvements that are recommended or introduced can be greatly resisted. Even necessary change, even beneficial change, can be greatly resisted. The more nations and individuals involved, the more difficult it is to create consensus. Only if a network of nations or large trading associations are threatened clearly by some external force, unless this occurs, it is very difficult to create change and even improvements in the methods and rules of trade and conduct and so forth.

这就是为什么在像你们这样人烟稠密的地区，贸易已经建立了很长时间，创新来得非常缓慢。一旦一种做法或制度被确立和维持，就很难改变它。如果它已经证明自己是稳定的，对大多数参与者是有益的，那么就很难改变它，而被推荐或引进的创新或改进会受到很大的抵制。即使是必要的改变，甚至是有益的改变，也会受到极大的抵制。参与的国家和族群越多，就越难形成共识。只有当一个国家网络或大型贸易协会受到某种外来力量的明显威胁时，除非发生这种情况，否则很难在贸易和行为的方法和规则等方面创造变革，甚至改进。

Here you are dealing with nations that have very different social structures. Some of these structures would seem absolutely abhorrent to you. How do you communicate to other beings in this situation? Are you going to try to change them? Do you want to try to improve them? Do you want to recommend different alternatives to them? Are they open to this? Are they willing to consider it, or do they consider your recommendations to be an insult, an affront? How do you maintain trust? How do you present the possibilities for change in such a way that other nations are not threatened? The finesse of diplomacy here must be very great.

在这里，你面对的是具有非常不同社会结构的国家。这些结构中的一些对你来说似乎是绝对可憎的。在这种情况下，你如何与其他众生沟通？你要试图改变他们吗？你想尝试改善它们吗？你想向他们推荐不同的替代方案吗？他们对此开放吗？他们愿意考虑吗？还是他们认为你的建议是一种侮辱，一种冒犯？你如何保持信任？你如何以一种不会威胁到其他国家的方式提出变革的可能性？这里的外交技巧必须是非常强大的。

What do you do when you have a nation in your midst that is behaving inappropriately, that is behaving destructively, that is casting an influence out into the local Greater Community that is unwanted or that is perceived as a threat? How do you regard a nation that is undergoing internal turmoil or even revolution? Do you get involved? Do you take sides? Do you make any recommendations at all? Do you value the rebellious side? Do you think the revolution is valuable?

当你们中间有一个国家行为不当，行为具有破坏性，对当地的大社区产生不受欢迎的影响或被认为是一种威胁时，你们该怎么办？你如何看待一个正在经历内部动荡甚至是革命的国家？你会介入吗？你会站在哪一边吗？你会提出任何建议吗？你重视反叛的一方吗？你认为革命有价值吗？

What do you do with a nation that is extremely oppressive to its own citizens in a way that is abhorrent to you? Do you maintain relations? Do you maintain trade? Do you try to exert influence?

你对一个以你所憎恶的方式对自己的公民进行极端压迫的国家做什么？你会保持关系吗？你会维持贸易吗？你会尝试施加影响吗？

What if another nation has wealth or resources that you desperately need? How will you persuade them to engage in commerce with you and to value what you have to offer in return?

如果另一个国家拥有你迫切需要的财富或资源，怎么办？你将如何说服他们与你进行贸易，并重视你所提供的回报？

From these very few examples, and there are certainly many more, you can begin to see the complexities and difficulties involved here and why negotiations can be slow and protracted and why the attempt to change the thinking or the operations of nations engaged in commerce or in mutual defense can become very difficult.

从这些非常少的例子，当然还有更多的例子，你可以开始看到这里涉及的复杂性和困难，以及为什么谈判可能是缓慢和持久的，为什么试图改变从事商业或共同防御的国家的思维或行动可能变得非常困难。

That is why a great deal of energy is exerted on behalf of diplomatic relations and why seers are employed. Sometimes they are employed publicly. However, sometimes the presence of a seer is seen as an act of distrust. In many large chambers where decisions are made, seers are not allowed, for it is seen as an act of distrust, the evidence of distrust, to have a seer with you.

这就是为什么要为外交关系付出大量的能量，以及为什么要雇用预言家。有时他们被公开雇用。然而，有时预言家的存在被看作是一种不信任的行为。在许多决策制定的大型会议厅里，不允许预言家在场，因为有预言家在场被视为一种不信任的行为，是不信任的证据。

The injustices of a particular nation, the oppressive nature of certain nations, are tolerated under these terms because these nations are needed for trade and security. It is a very imperfect system, and it has many unfortunate oversights.

一个特定国家的不公正，某些国家的压迫性，在这些条款下被容忍，因为这些国家需要贸易和安全。这是一个非常不完美的系统，它有许多不幸的疏忽。

This is another reason why free nations try to stay out of these larger, economic involvements. Yet even for them, diplomatic relations are of the highest importance. The employment of seers is of the highest importance. The employment of skilled interpreters is of the highest importance—to secure one’s position; to establish an autonomous region for yourself; to prevent intrusion; to provide overall security, not only for yourself, but for your entire district; to deal with biological contamination, which is a very serious matter; to engage in essential trade if necessary; to acquire the latest medications for your people and technology for producing food. All this is very essential.

这也是为什么自由国家试图不参与这些更大的经济活动的另一个原因。然而，即使对他们来说，外交关系也是最重要的。雇佣预言家是最重要的。雇佣熟练的翻译是最重要的——确保自己的地位；为自己建立一个自治区；防止入侵；不仅为自己，而且为整个地区提供整体安全；处理生物污染，这是一个非常严重的问题；必要时参与基本贸易；为人民获得最新的药物和生产食品的技术。所有这些都是非常必要的。

Even free nations, should they be highly successful in achieving autonomy, still have needs that they themselves cannot meet. How should trade be conducted then? Who is a trustworthy trading partner? How will you engage in trade to keep others out of your environment? If your lifestyle is entirely different, if you are living in a much freer way than anyone else around you, how do you deal with their presence in your environment? How do you present a beneficial image? How do you present yourself as being non-threatening to nations that are not free?

即使是自由国家，如果它们在实现自治方面非常成功，仍然有它们自己无法满足的需求。那么应该如何进行贸易？谁是值得信赖的贸易伙伴？你将如何从事贸易，以使他人不进入你的环境？如果你的生活方式完全不同，如果你的生活方式比你周围的国家自由得多，你如何处理他们在你环境中的存在？你如何展示一个有益的形象？你如何呈现自己对不自由的国家没有威胁性？

Because of these difficulties, power and emphasis in the mental environment become significant. The mental environment is the environment of thought and influence. Into this environment, not only do you direct your thinking toward certain individuals, you also create thought forms. Thought forms are potent organized thoughts that can have an influence on the thinking and the emotions of others. They are not real physical objects, but they act in a way that is similar to an object.

由于这些困难，心理环境中的力量和重点变得很重要。心理环境是感想和影响的环境。在这个环境中，你不仅把你的感想引向某些个体，你还创造了思想形式。思想形式是强有力的有组织的心声，可以对他人的思维和情感产生影响。它们不是的真正的物理对象，但它们的行为方式与物理对象相似。

For instance, in the mental environment, to stop the penetration of a seer, you must create a shield; you must obstruct a seer’s intrusion with a counterforce. Seers between different nations can literally be in battle with one another to counteract each other’s movements and discernment. If another nation thinks you have a secret facility that possesses power or potential that they are interested in, you must create a counter thought that there is no such thing. If they try to locate something that actually exists, you must persuade them that it is somewhere else.

例如，在心理环境中，为了阻止预言家的渗透，你必须创造一个盾牌；你必须用反作用力阻挡预言家的入侵。不同国家之间的预言家可以实实在在地相互战斗，以抵消对方的行动和辨别力。如果另一个国家认为你有一个秘密设施，拥有他们感兴趣的力量或潜力，你必须创造一个反面的想法，即没有这样的秘密设施。如果他们试图找到实际存在的设施，你必须说服他们，它在别的地方。

It is an engagement on another level. It is part of the burden and responsibility of a seer not only to see, but to defend against the intrusions of others in the mental environment. The seer must also be able to project images and associations that you want another race who is scrutinizing you to have, not only to keep your secrets, but to give an accurate and preferred image that you want others to have of you.

这是在另一个层面上的参与。这是预言家的负担和责任的一部分，不仅要看到，而且要抵御心理环境中其他世界的入侵。预言家还必须能够投射出你希望另一个正在审视你种族所拥有的形象和联想，不仅要保守你的秘密，而且要给出一个你希望别人对你的准确和首选形象。

Because travel between nations is so restricted, the ability to see into other nations becomes a very great emphasis. Since you cannot visit and go anywhere you want in someone else’s world, the ability to see into that world becomes very important. Likewise, their attempt to obstruct your viewing of their world becomes very important for them. This is particularly an emphasis for nations that want to remain self-determined. If you are merely a client state of another power, you have no secrets, but you also have no choices, for your range of self-determination will be extremely limited.

因为国家之间的旅行是如此受限，所以看到其他国家的能力成为一个非常大的重点。既然你不能在别人的世界里访问和去任何你想去的地方，那么看到那个世界的能力就变得非常重要。同样，他们试图阻挠你观看他们的世界，这对他们来说非常重要。这对那些希望保持自我决定的国家来说尤其重要。如果你只是另一个大国的客户国，你没有秘密，但你也没有选择，因为你的自决范围将非常有限。

It is a problem that requires adaptation and the cultivation of skills. Growing from being an adolescent person to being a mature adult requires discernment, discretion and the development of skills if one is to be successful in a mature environment. If you act in an adolescent manner, others will not respect you, others will take advantage of you, and you will suffer many consequences and will have very little social power.

这是一个需要适应和培养技能的问题。从一个青春期的人成长为一个成熟的成年人，如果要在一个成熟的环境中获得成功，就需要有辨别力、谨慎和技能的培养。如果你以青春期的方式行事，别人就不会尊重你，别人就会利用你，你就会承受许多后果，而且社会权力也会非常小。

Within all of this is the introduction of powers and races from beyond one’s district that are providing opportunities for trade. How do you regard them? Who are they? If their home world is beyond the normal reach of your travel, how do you find out about them? Should you include them in your network or should you not include them? Are they truly beneficial or are they not beneficial? Do they pose a risk of biological contamination, and, if so, how can that contamination be counteracted? What are their strengths? What are their weaknesses? What are their intentions? If they represent an entire other district of organized states, what is the organization of that? How do you relate to that? What are the influences there? What are the powers that exist there? What is their strength in the mental environment and so forth? You see, this becomes very complex.

在这一切之中，有来自自己地区之外的势力和种族的引入，它们为贸易提供了机会。你如何看待他们？他们是谁？如果他们的家乡在你旅行的正常范围之外，你如何发现他们？你应该把他们包括在你的网络中还是不应该包括他们？他们是真的有益还是无益？他们是否构成生物污染的风险，如果是的话，如何抵制这种污染？它们的优势是什么？它们的弱点是什么？他们的意图是什么？如果他们代表整个其他地区的有组织的国家，那是什么组织？你如何与之发生关系？那里的影响是什么？那里存在的力量是什么？他们在心理环境中的力量是什么，等等？你看，这变得非常复杂。

If there are disparities in technology, then the gap must be closed as quickly as possible. That is why within a region, there is usually a technological parity, in spite of the fact that nations have secrets—secret skills and secret abilities that they do not want to be shared, copied and used against them.

如果技术上有差距，那么必须尽快缩小差距。这就是为什么在一个地区内，通常会有技术上的平等，尽管各国都有秘密——秘密技能和秘密能力，他们不希望被分享、复制和用来对付他们。

Technology can be purchased, it can be copied, it can be stolen, and it is acquired through all these means. That is why once one nation in a region develops new technology, it is not long before everyone has it. To keep it secret is very difficult because if you keep it secret, you cannot really use it. And if you use it, soon it becomes known to others and loses its potential advantage in negotiations or relations with other states.

技术可以被购买，可以被复制，可以被窃取，而且可以通过所有这些手段获得。这就是为什么一旦一个地区的一个国家开发了新技术，不久之后所有人都会拥有它。对它进行保密是非常困难的，因为如果你对它保密，你就不能真正使用它。如果你使用它，它很快就会被其他人知道，并在与其他国家的谈判或关系中失去其潜在的优势。

This is why no nation has absolute power because it could not sustain itself over time. It would fracture from internal divisions, internal rebellions and from problems in resource acquisition. Its skills and powers would be discerned and copied and its technology stolen. To reach stability and security, most nations will share or sell their technology if they cultivate something that others do not have. It is very difficult to keep it secret, and if you try to do so, then it arouses suspicion and distrust, inquiry and discernment.

这就是为什么没有一个国家拥有绝对的权力，因为它无法长期维持自己。它将因内部分裂、内部叛乱和资源获取方面的问题而断裂。它的技能和权力会被发现并被复制，它的技术会被窃取。为了达到稳定和安全，大多数国家会分享或出售他们的技术，如果他们培养了别人没有的技术。要保密是非常困难的，如果你试图这样做，那么就会引起怀疑和不信任，询问和辨别。

Along with this, there is also a fascination with the internal workings of other nations—their social structures, their social problems and the difficulties that their leadership undergoes. Rumors are created. There is much speculation. Nations take great interest in the peculiarities of other nations, in their social problems and in their corruption. This is done to promote one nation’s sense of unity and superiority. It is also done because intelligent beings are by nature curious. And because intelligence breeds curiosity, that is one of the problems of collective breeding. How do you keep a bred segment of the population from becoming curious, interested, stimulated and tantalized by things they might see around them?

随之而来的，还有对其他国家内部运作的迷恋——他们的社会结构，他们的社会问题和他们的领导层所经历的困难。谣言被制造出来。有很多猜测。各国对其他国家的特殊性、他们的社会问题和他们的腐败都非常感兴趣。这样做是为了促进一个国家的统一感和优越感。之所以这样做，也是因为聪明的人天生就有好奇心。由于智能会滋生好奇心，这就是集体育种的问题之一。你怎么能让一部分人不对他们可能看到的周围事物产生好奇心、兴趣、刺激和诱惑？

Intelligence breeds curiosity. It also exposes one to greater degrees of influence and stimulation. Nations become very interested in one another’s peculiarities, difficulties, corruptions, problems, conflicts and so forth—not only from a political standpoint, not only in the halls of government, but amongst citizens as well, who love to indulge themselves in the problems of others or in the suspicion of problems of others.

智能孕育着好奇心。它也使人受到更大程度的影响和刺激。国家对彼此的特点、困难、腐败、问题、冲突等非常感兴趣——不仅从政治角度，不仅在政府大厅，而且在公民中，他们喜欢沉浸在别人的问题或对别人问题的怀疑中。

Therefore, there are many rumors, of course. And much of this is published for public consumption. Large nations, if they have independent citizens, have large media networks that are highly controlled. But, nonetheless, rumors and even real secrets emerge and are hard to keep out of public scrutiny. In freer nations, there are very few secrets that are kept from the people to limit speculation and to establish unity around wisdom and shared concern for security and for well-being. It is an entirely different emphasis than is exerted in states that are not free.

因此，当然会有很多谣言。而其中很多都是为公众消费而公布的。大国，如果它们有独立的公民，就会有大型的媒体网络，并受到高度控制。但是，尽管如此，谣言甚至是真正的秘密还是出现了，而且很难不被公众关注。在比较自由的国家，很少有秘密是对人民保密的，以限制猜测，并围绕智慧和对安全和福祉的共同关注建立团结。这与非自由国家所强调的完全不同。

Humanity is emerging into this environment of persuasion and power in the mental environment. That is why you must be extremely discreet. That is why you cannot be broadcasting your entire society out into space through your transmissions. That is why eventually you will have to have seers who are skilled, locators who are skilled and interpreters who are skilled—both to deal with internal affairs and to deal with the immense challenges of functioning in the Greater Community.

人类正在出现在这种说服力和权力的心理环境中。这就是为什么你们必须非常谨慎。这就是为什么你们不能通过你们的传输将你们的整个社会广播到太空。这就是为什么最终你们将不得不拥有熟练的预言家、熟练的定位者和熟练的翻译——既要处理内部事务，又要处理在大社区运作的巨大挑战。