读麦讲演在光速下生活（1974）040

　　Why did the Americans ever hit upon this weird reversed pattern? The answer is available. Americans came to this continent to subdue nature fast and furious. They tamed it. They subdued it. They crushed it. They turned it into the enemy. You can read about it in Moby Dick or in Hawthorne or in any of our literature. So naturally Americans regard the outside as the enemy, and the inside as the friend, whereas all the other continents in the world regard the outside as the friend and the inside as a place for defence only. All doors are closed in the European house. The European family lives in seclusion and privacy inside. There is no privacy in the American home. That is why you have to get a grant if you want to study so you can leave home. This is a weird pattern, and it’s very important to understand it because it isn’t over. The motor car provided this superior means of going outside to be alone and, incidentally, going along with it, the great dislike of public transit in America because public transit is where you go outside to be with people, which is very distasteful.
　　为什么美国人会碰中这种奇怪的相反模式呢？答案是现成的。美国人来到这片大陆是为了迅速而狂暴地征服自然。他们驯化了它。他们开拓了它。他们征服了它。他们把它当作敌人。你可以在《白鲸》、在霍桑的作品中或在任何一部我们的文学当中读到这一点。因此，美国人自然而然地把外界当作敌人、把内里当作朋友，而世界上所有其他大洲都把外界当作朋友、把内里只看作一个防御的场所。在欧洲的房子里所有的门都是关着的。欧洲家庭有着在家里隐居和隐私的观念。在美国人的家里不存在隐私。这就是为什么假如你想要求学你必须得到一笔助学金以便你能够离开家。这是一种奇特的模式，理解它非常重要，因为它还没有结束。汽车提供了这种出门独处的好工具，顺便说一句，与此相伴随的是在美国对公共交通系统的强烈厌恶，因为公共交通系统是你出门从众的场所，这令人非常反感。
　　按： 出门独处、入室从众是拓荒者心态，反之则是守成者心态。
　　汽车提供了出门独处的好工具。这可以解释美式车的空间大、内饰讲究。汽车与汽车之间的信息交流，应该是汽车下一步的发展，这样，人又可以出门从众了——美国人要反感由他反感去，世界不是单靠美国人堆起来的。