Psycho-Pass and the Beautiful Horror of “the Perfect Society”
Psycho-Pass 和“完美社會”的美麗恐怖
If you were to watch the darker, dystopian version of our reality in the near future claimed as the perfect society, would you continue watching it?
如果你在不久的將來看到我們現實的更黑暗、反烏托邦版本，聲稱是完美的社會，你會繼續觀看嗎？
I wouldn’t claim myself as an avid anime watcher, manga reader, or film and TV series connoisseur, not that there’s anything wrong with it if you are, but when I do watch them, it’s significantly rare I get emotionally invested in one. There are only so few that hooks me to the bone and leaves me emotionally-wrecked. Psycho-Pass is one of them. Psycho-Pass has been on my Netflix watch list for some time, and I’d say the current global situation pushed the urge in me to take it off my list. So I did, with the 2-season series and Psycho-Pass: The Movie that’s available on Netflix. I’m aware that there’s the third season of it out, but I’ll give this article up for the things that the series has forced me to take in. It is, without a doubt, beautiful and horrifying.
我不會聲稱自己是一個狂熱的動漫觀眾、漫畫讀者或電影和電視劇鑒賞家，並不是說如果你是的話有什麼問題，但當我真的看它們時，我很少會對它們投入情感。只有少數幾個能讓我心動不已，讓我情緒崩潰。Psycho-Pass 就是其中之一。Psycho-Pass 在我的 Netflix 觀看清單中已經有一段時間了，我想說當前的全球形勢促使我將其從我的清單中刪除。所以我做到了，在 Netflix 上觀看了 2 季系列和 Psycho-Pass： The Movie。我知道它已經推出了第三季，但我會放棄這篇文章，因為該系列迫使我接受的事情。毫無疑問，它是美麗而可怕的。
If you haven’t seen it and you’ve been planning to, this is where I’ll give you a “Spoiler Ahead” warning.
如果你還沒有看過它，但你一直在計劃看，那麼我會在這裡給你一個 「前方劇透 」警告。
手持 Dominator 的 Akane Tsunemori 探長，認證。
Psycho-Pass 心理通行證
To put it not-so-briefly, Psycho-Pass is a Japanese anime set in futuristic Japan where its system is governed by a powerful bio-mechanical computer network, the Sibyl System (シビュラシステム, Shibyura Shisutemu). The Sibyl System is big on law and order to attain peace and absolute happiness of the citizens. It constantly and instantaneously measures and assesses Japanese citizens’ mentalities' biometrics through a process they call a “cymatic scan”. The result of this constant assessment is called a Psycho-Pass (サイコパス, Saikopasu) and it comprises a person’s numeric index called Crime Coefficient (犯罪係数, Hanzaikeisū) and a color-coded Hue of a person that signifies a person’s stress level. All of this is included in a person’s Psycho-Pass reading to determine the probability for a person to commit a crime.
簡而言之，Psycho-Pass 是一部以未來主義日本為背景的日本動漫，其系統由強大的生物機械計算機網路 Sibyl 系統（シビュラシステム，Shibyura Shisutemu）管理。Sibyl 系統非常重視法律和秩序，以實現公民的和平和絕對幸福。它通過他們稱之為「細胞掃描」的過程持續、即時地測量和評估日本公民的心理生物特徵。這種持續評估的結果稱為心理通行證（サイコパス，Saikopasu），它包括一個人的數字指數，稱為犯罪係數（犯罪係數，Hanzaikeisū）和一個表示一個人壓力水準的彩色編碼的色調。所有這些都包含在一個人的 Psycho-Pass 讀數中，以確定一個人犯罪的可能性。
The threshold for an accepted, non-criminal Crime Coefficient number is 100. Anything below 100, you’re a law-abiding citizen, and anything above 100, you’re a criminal, and beyond 300, you’re a threat to society. When you reach above 100, this data is sent to the Ministry of Welfare’s Public Safety Bureau, or MWPSB for short, which will alert the officers to move to where you are. A device they use in the anime as a major plot point is a hand-held weapon the officers use called the Dominator. The Dominator (aside from its great design) allows authenticated users for an immediate cymatic scan of a targeted individual to reveal their Psycho-Pass, whether their Crime Coefficient is a target for the Sibyl System to maintain order, mend justice, and preserve peace. The Dominator can only fire when approved by the Sibyl System and triggered by the user.
可接受的非刑事犯罪係數數位的閾值為 100。任何低於 100 分的人，你都是守法的公民，任何超過 100 分的人，你都是罪犯，超過 300 分，你就是對社會的威脅。當您達到 100 以上時，這些數據將被發送到福利部的公共安全局，簡稱 MWPSB，該局將提醒官員移動到您所在的位置。他們在動畫中用作主要情節點的設備是警官們使用的一種稱為 Dominator 的手持武器。Dominator（除了其出色的設計）允許經過身份驗證的使用者立即對目標個體進行 cymatic 掃描，以揭示他們的 Psycho-Pass，無論他們的犯罪係數是否是 Sibyl 系統維護秩序、修復正義和維護和平的目標。支配者只有在 Sibyl 系統批准並由使用者觸發時才能觸發。
支配者如何讀取經過身份驗證的警官個人的犯罪係數以及他們是否是執法行動目標的示例。心理通行證 S02E11。
So if your Crime Coefficient goes high under any circumstances, making you a target for the Dominator’s power to put you under arrest or as far as eliminating your existence to preserve justice and order for others’ peace, it’s fair, isn’t it?
因此，如果你的犯罪係數在任何情況下都很高，使你成為支配者權力的目標，將你逮捕，或者消除你的存在以維護他人的正義和秩序，這是公平的，不是嗎？
Is it really? 真的是這樣嗎？
“The Perfect System” for the Perfect Society
完美社會的“完美系統”
The Sibyl System is a hive mind comprised of Criminally Asymptomatic individuals’ brains. Criminally Asymptomatic individuals are those whose personality doesn’t go along humanity’s conventional standards, able to oversee human actions from an objective viewpoint, without empathy or sympathy clouding judgment. Because of this objectivity, thoroughness, and accuracy, the Sibyl System is sought to be the superior decision-making entity to help society's betterment, from suppressing criminals and criminal pursuits to deciding your best choice of career path and romantic partner.
Sibyl 系統是一個由犯罪無癥狀個體的大腦組成的蜂巢思維。刑事無癥狀個體是指那些性格不符合人類傳統標準的人，能夠從客觀的角度監督人類的行為，而同理心或同情心會蒙蔽判斷力。由於這種客觀性、徹底性和準確性，Sibyl 系統被尋求成為幫助社會進步的卓越決策實體，從壓制罪犯和犯罪追求到決定您最佳選擇的職業道路和浪漫伴侶。
But what is the perfect society?
但什麼是完美的社會呢？
If you’d like to cheat, the anime says the ideal society is a peaceful society that maintains law and order through objectivity. In their book, a utilitarian society, overruling democracy as democracy is based on human subjectivity. The very heart of utilitarianism is this notion where it advocates for happiness and the most ethical actions that promote it. The ethical action here is the choice that will produce the greatest good for the greatest number. This is where it’s fundamentally flawed, especially in the anime, where the Sibyl System disregards individual rights and, in a way, justice.
如果你想作弊，動漫說理想的社會是一個通過客觀性維護法律和秩序的和平社會。在他們的書《功利主義社會》中，將民主推翻為民主是基於人類的主觀性。功利主義的核心是這個概念，它宣導幸福和促進幸福的最道德的行動。這裡的道德行為是為大多數人帶來最大利益的選擇。這就是它存在根本缺陷的地方，尤其是在動漫中，Sibyl 系統無視個人權利，在某種程度上無視正義。
Is it the perfect society for us? What is our version of a perfect society?
它是適合我們的完美社會嗎？我們心目中的完美社會是什麼？
The Sibyl System claims itself to be the perfect system that can run a peaceful society, but the idea of the Dominator itself is already quite imperfect. In the eyes of the Sibyl System, when the Dominator is pointed at you, no matter whether your Crime Coefficient is high because you are the criminal who pursues the crime, or you’re the victim affected by the criminal pursuit, clouding your Hue/stress level which affects your Psycho-Pass (and that in itself is the work of logic), you deserve to be a target for enforcement action. Instances are running in the series where what utilitarianism holds––the true form of justice, what law holds and preserves, or the idea of free will––are being questioned. For example, a Criminally Asymptomatic individual, Makishima Shogo, orchestrates several crimes, including an abundance of murder and (almost) bioterrorism. Yet, his Psycho-Pass is 0 with a clear hue, not being able to be judged by the Sibyl System.
Sibyl System 聲稱自己是可以運行和平社會的完美系統，但 Dominator 的想法本身已經相當不完美。在 Sibyl 系統眼中，當支配者指向你時，無論你的犯罪係數高是因為你是追捕犯罪的罪犯，還是你是受犯罪追捕影響的受害者，使你的 Hue/壓力水準蒙上陰影，從而影響你的心理通行證（這本身就是邏輯的工作）， 您應該成為執法行動的目標。在這個系列中，功利主義所持有的——正義的真正形式、法律所持有和保留的、或自由意志的理念——正在受到質疑。例如，一個無癥狀的犯罪人員Makishima Shogo策劃了幾起犯罪，包括大量的謀殺和（幾乎）生物恐怖主義。然而，他的心理通行證是 0，色調清晰，無法被 Sibyl 系統判斷。
But that doesn’t sound right, if you think about it, no? Makishima Shogo is, rightfully so, a criminal in our eyes. But in the eyes of the Sibyl System, he’s innocent because Makishima is a Nihilistic individual who believes that “the only time people really have value is when they act according to their own free will,” in contrast to the citizens under the Sibyl System whose decisions are already made by the hive mind, making him Criminally Asymptomatic. Makishima is a blind spot for the Sibyl System. But does this mean the Sibyl System, claimed as the perfect system, can be judged? Can the Sibyl System be judged? Can the system itself be judged how it judges its citizens? Would that suggest the omnipotent paradox? Would that make the system no longer perfect when proven so?
但這聽起來不太對勁，如果你仔細想想，不是嗎？在我們眼中，Makishima Shogo 理所當然地是一個罪犯。但在 Sibyl 系統眼中，他是無辜的，因為 Makishima 是一個虛無主義的人，他相信“人們唯一真正有價值的時候是他們按照自己的自由意志行事”，相比之下，Sibyl 系統下的公民已經由蜂巢思維做出決定，使他成為犯罪無癥狀者。牧島是 Sibyl 系統的盲點。但這是否意味著聲稱是完美系統的 Sibyl 系統可以被評判呢？Sibyl 系統可以被評判嗎？這個系統本身能否像評判其公民一樣被評判？這是否暗示了無所不能的悖論？當證明如此時，這會不會使系統不再完美？
Can an omnipotent being create a rock so heavy that it cannot lift?
一個全能的存在能創造出一塊沉重到無法舉起的岩石嗎？
On a personal note, I’m grateful that the Sibyl System doesn’t exist in our world because I agree to an extent with what he says when it comes to free will. And free will is the backbone of Psycho-Pass, and, can be argued, of humanity.
就個人而言，我很感激 Sibyl 系統在我們的世界上不存在，因為我在一定程度上同意他在自由意志方面所說的。自由意志是 Psycho-Pass 的支柱，可以說是人性的支柱。
Free Will 自由意志
The Sibyl System doesn’t stop at criminal pursuits. It’s an all-ruling hive mind that decides pretty much everything, all suited to an individual’s likelihood of living a happy life. But what makes us happy? What makes you happy? Is it for a matter of statistic and objectivity? Would a computer deciding the aforementioned matters for you make you feel content? Or would the act of making our own decision and having means of control — the idea of free will, make you happy?
Sibyl System 並不止於刑事追捕。這是一個全能的蜂巢思維，幾乎決定了一切，一切都適合個人過上幸福生活的可能性。但是什麼讓我們快樂呢？什麼讓您快樂？這是為了統計和客觀性的問題嗎？一台為你決定上述事情的計算機會讓你感到滿足嗎？或者，我們自己做決定並擁有控制手段的行為——自由意志的想法——會讓你快樂嗎？
The answer doesn’t fall on the series. It’s for you to answer.
答案並不落在系列賽上。這是由你來回答的。
But some would argue that free will is an illusion. In comparison to our reality’s society, we are, to an extent, free. In the question of ethics, free will depicts our capacity to make choices that are genuinely our own. In the first episode of the first season, main protagonist Inspector Akane Tsunemori makes a bold decision on her first day by forbidding an Enforcer to pull his Dominator's trigger at a running hostage whose Psycho-Pass is affected by a stimulant, given by force, and the crime itself. Inspector Tsunemori realizes the true nature of the situation, knowing full well the hostage is far from being a latent criminal despite the Crime Coefficient. If it weren’t for the Inspector, the trigger would’ve been pulled without hesitation as judged by the Sibyl System, and a person’s life would’ve been wrongfully eliminated. Her sense of free will and maintaining law at the same time also becomes a highlighting trait of the character that acts as a middle ground, between the two extremes, between what the Sibyl System deems right and just, and what someone like Makishima Shogo thinks is and isn’t valuable. After all, it’s “not the judgment of ‘good’ and ‘evil’ that’s important. What matters is that you come to the decision yourself. That you agonize over it, and you accept it.”
但有些人會爭辯說，自由意志是一種幻覺。與我們現實中的社會相比，我們在某種程度上是自由的。在道德問題上，自由意志描述了我們做出真正屬於我們自己的選擇的能力。在第一季的第一集中，主角常森茜探長在她的第一天就做出了一個大胆的決定，禁止執法者向一名逃跑的人質扣動他的支配者的扳機，該人質的心理通行證受到興奮劑的影響，由武力給予，以及犯罪本身。常森探長意識到了情況的真實性質，他非常清楚，儘管有犯罪係數，但人質遠非潛在罪犯。如果不是督察，按照 Sibyl System 的判斷，扳機會毫不猶豫地扣動，一個人的生命就會被錯誤地抹去。她的自由意志感和維護法律同時也成為這個角色的一個突出特徵，它充當了中間地帶，在兩個極端之間，在 Sibyl 系統認為正確和公正之間，以及像 Makishima Shogo 這樣的人認為有價值和沒有價值之間。畢竟，“重要的不是'善'和'惡'的判斷。重要的是你自己來做決定。你為此痛苦，你接受了它。
探長 Akane Tsunemori
The series gets more philosophical and scientific as it runs, asking ourselves––or in this case, myself––what it means and could mean to be human. Direct and indirect references to philosophers are not scarce. It’s a beautiful horror in a way that I can’t quite describe, even after these lengthy paragraphs. One of the sentences said by the main protagonist, Inspector Akane Tsunemori, stuck with me since, that “it is not society that determines people’s futures. It is people who determine society’s future.” It, in a way, makes me feel at comfort and discomfort at the same time.
隨著它的運行，該系列變得更加哲學和科學，問我們自己——或者在這種情況下，我自己——作為人類意味著什麼以及可能意味著什麼。對哲學家的直接和間接引用並不稀缺。這是一種美麗的恐怖，我無法完全描述，即使在這些冗長的段落之後也是如此。主角常森茜探長說的一句話從那以後一直縈繞在我心中，“決定人們未來的不是社會。是人決定了社會的未來。在某種程度上，它讓我同時感到舒適和不適。
There are a few recurring themes of the anime, and all of them are nothing that makes you feel comfortable when you’re being forced to ask these questions yourself. One thing about this anime is that I personally think that is exactly the one purpose the creators are trying to do; this anime forces you to run barefoot while questioning your own morals at the same time.
動畫有一些反覆出現的主題，當你被迫自己提出這些問題時，所有這些主題都沒有什麼能讓你感到舒服的。關於這部動漫的一件事是，我個人認為這正是創作者試圖實現的一個目的;這部動漫迫使你赤腳奔跑，同時質疑自己的道德。
To imagine a country to be governed by computers would be a work of horror science fiction. Psycho-Pass reminds me a lot of 1984 by George Orwell, which is quoted in the anime, and We by Yevgeny Zamyatin, both science fiction about a united totalitarian state with mass surveillance in its own technology. Both novels voice the reasonable common discomfort of mass surveillance, and the resemblance between Big Brother (Orwell’s), the Benefactor (Zamyatin’s), and the Sibyl System in Psycho-Pass is uncanny.
想像一個由計算機統治的國家將是一部恐怖科幻小說。Psycho-Pass 讓我想起了喬治·奧威爾 （George Orwell） 的《1984》（動畫中引用了這首歌）和葉夫根尼·扎米亞京 （Yevgeny Zamyatin） 的《我們》（We），這兩部科幻小說都講述了一個統一的極權主義國家，用自己的技術進行大規模監控。這兩部小說都表達了大規模監控的合理普遍不適，而老大哥（奧威爾）、恩人（扎米亞京）和 Psycho-Pass 中的 Sibyl 系統之間的相似之處令人難以置信。
To look at our current reality, it’s not that far away that a governing system with mass surveillance by supercomputers is already being implemented; China’s Social Credit System is an example. This reality of ours and Psycho-Pass do not shy away from questioning our sense of free will, what we deem is just in the eyes of our governing system that we choose, how much individual rights we can hold and are held above our heads, how predictable human behavior is, so on and so forth. Psycho-Pass isn’t one to tell you white, sugarcoated lies, whether a dystopian future is too far distant and too impossible to achieve. Heck, it even gave me nightmares for a few days straight. But I think it’s telling why the nightmares are worth explaining in these paragraphs.
看看我們目前的現實，一個由超級計算機進行大規模監控的管理系統已經實施起來;中國的社會信用體系就是一個例子。我們的這個現實和 Psycho-Pass 並不迴避質疑我們的自由意志，我們認為在我們選擇的治理體系眼中什麼是公正的，我們可以擁有多少個人權利，以及有多少個人權利被舉在我們頭上，人類行為的可預測性如何，等等。Psycho-Pass 不會告訴你白色的、糖衣炮彈的謊言，反烏托邦的未來是否太遙遠，太不可能實現。哎呀，它甚至讓我連續幾天做噩夢。但我認為這說明了為什麼這些噩夢值得在這些段落中解釋。
