It’s been three weeks since the government advisory(官方建议，警告) urging us to start stockpiling(囤积物资) in case of emergency – how’s your prep coming along? The Prepare campaign, backed by Wes Streeting, who one imagines gliding through the apocalypse(从容度过末日), quiff(（额前）蓬松发型) undisturbed, listed nine essential items, among them wet wipes, first-aid kits and batteries. The World Health Organization, meanwhile, suggests budgeting for 15 litres of water per person per day, so a family of four will need to store upwards of 180 litres to cover the recommended period of three days. The chances of this actually happening seem to me, intuitively, to be considerably lower than the disaster they’re supposed to forestall(预先阻止). But hope springs(希望总是有的), so let’s see.
距离政府发布建议、敦促我们开始囤积应急物资已经过去三周——你的准备工作进展如何？“Prepare”运动由韦斯·斯特里廷支持，人们想象他会在末日中从容滑行，发型纹丝不乱。该运动列出了九种必需品，包括湿巾、急救包和电池。与此同时，世界卫生组织建议每人每天储备15升水，因此一个四口之家需要储存至少180升水，才能覆盖建议的三天期限。在我看来，直觉上，这件事真正发生的可能性远低于他们想要预防的那场灾难。但希望总是有的，我们拭目以待吧。
The first step towards stockpiling is stocktaking(盘点存货). This is where I’m at: one mega-torch (uncharged), which I bought in prepper(末日准备者) mode after surviving the terrifying New York blackout(停电，断电) of 2019 when for about an hour we couldn’t charge our phones; lots of very large sticking plasters(创可贴) and a handful of small round ones, the normal sizes having long been used up; two cans of tuna, which will go down to one after lunch; two litres of sparkling water, so for the first hour or so after a nuclear strike, assuming it happens this afternoon, we’ll at least be able to enjoy some bubbles(两升气泡水，所以如果核打击发生在今天下午，头一个小时左右我们至少还能享受点气泡。); and three OxyContin(奥施康定（止痛药）) saved from my c-section(剖腹产) almost 12 years ago, which are probably less powerful than homeopathy(顺势疗法) at this point but I retain a vague hope I can use for barter(以物易物) when money breaks down.
囤货的第一步是盘点存货。我的情况是这样的：一把巨型手电筒（没充电），是我在2019年纽约那场可怕的停电中幸存后，以“末日准备者”模式买的，当时我们大约有一个小时没法给手机充电；许多超大号创可贴和几片小圆创可贴，正常尺寸的早就用完了；两罐金枪鱼，午饭后会变成一罐；两升气泡水，所以如果核打击发生在今天下午，头一个小时左右我们至少还能享受点气泡；还有三片奥施康定，是我近12年前剖腹产时留下的，现在可能比顺势疗法还弱，但我隐约希望等货币崩溃时能用来以物易物。
In other words, I’m not really prepared and the biggest deficit(不足，赤字) in my unpreparedness is, evidently, my attitude. On the evidence of what appeared to be a collective shrug(集体耸肩（漠不关心）), recently, when we were informed of the threats posed by AI, it’s an attitude problem that’s widely shared. It’s not that we don’t care, perhaps, but that it is hard to know what to do. By which I mean, it’s hard to know what to do that doesn’t involve giving over precious closet space to 40 two-litre bottles of water or disrupting our thought patterns to accommodate large, uncomfortable truths(很难找到一种既不占用宝贵的壁橱空间来放40瓶两升装水、又不打乱我们的思维模式来接纳巨大而不舒服的真相的做法。).
换句话说，我并没有真正准备好，而我不准备的最大短板显然是态度问题。最近我们得知AI带来的威胁时，公众似乎集体耸了耸肩，这表明态度问题普遍存在。也许不是我们不在乎，而是我们不知道该怎么办。我的意思是，很难找到一种既不占用宝贵的壁橱空间来放40瓶两升装水、又不打乱我们的思维模式来接纳巨大而不舒服的真相的做法。