作者：Abigail Beshkin
2017年1月27日，比尔·盖茨与沃伦·巴菲特（CBS' 51 哥伦比亚大学商学院1951届毕业生）于哥伦比亚大学商学院与哥大学生进行对话，对话由著名主持人查理·罗斯主持。视频全程回放在本文底端。
两位传奇公众人物在哥大的对话——亿万富翁、投资人、哥伦比亚大学1951届校友沃伦·巴菲特，微软创始人比尔·盖茨。活动全程由PBS、Bloomberg TV的查理·罗斯主持。对话内容既涉及广泛的公众议题，也有两位对传奇经历的自我解读。
A conversation at Columbia between two iconic public figures — billionaire investor Warren Buffett '51 and Microsoft founder Bill Gates, with PBS and Bloomberg TV host Charlie Rose moderating — was both broad-ranging and personal.
沃伦·巴菲特和比尔·盖茨早在1991年初见时就成为了好友，友谊一直绵延至今。用他们自己的话说，两人对各事各物都有着无法满足的好奇心。
Warren Buffett '51 and Bill Gates met in 1991 and have been close friends ever since, sharing, they say, an almost insatiable curiosity about anything and everything.
“我们都觉得这世界很有趣，我们还很喜欢交换彼此对这世界的看法，每当我们这样做的时候，会觉得很有意思。”巴菲特对到场的300多名听众说到。听众大都是来自哥大各院系的学生，他们在周五下午聚集到Lerner Hall，聆听巴菲特和盖茨对彼此之间的友谊、对各自的慈善事业以及对当今政坛的看法。PBS、Bloomberg TV的查理·罗斯主持了本次对话。
"We find the world such an interesting place, we like to compare notes on it, and when we compare notes on it, we have a lot of fun," Buffett told an audience of more than 300 people, mostly students from across the University, who gathered in Lerner Hall Friday afternoon to hear Buffett and Gates talk about their friendship, their commitment to philanthropy, and their take on the current political climate. The talk was moderated by PBS and Bloomberg TV host Charlie Rose.
当有观众问到具有改变人生意义的书籍有哪些时，现今每天仍保持5-6小时阅读时间的巴菲特谈起了他在哥大时的金融学教授本杰明·格雷厄姆（Benjamin Graham），这位教授和哥大1921届校友大卫·陶德（David Dodd）一起提出了"价值投资"论。巴菲特回忆起当年在哥大图书馆的日子——"我基本上就住在那里了"——他在图书馆阅读关于格雷厄姆的一篇短文，求知若渴。"这改变了我的一生。" 巴菲特后来基于格雷厄姆和陶德提出的原则建立了他自己的投资策略。"Geico公司现在是我们的了，因为那时有个图书管理员告诉了我一些其他的书，我把那些书看完了，然后就有了今天。"
A question from the audience about life-changing books led Buffett, who still spends between five and six hours a day reading, to talk about his finance professor Benjamin Graham who, along with David Dodd '21, developed the idea of value investing. He recalled going to the Columbia library — "I lived there, practically" — reading a short piece about Graham, and wanting to know more. "That changed my whole life," says Buffett, who went on to model his own investing strategies on Graham and Dodd's principles. "We own Geico now because of a librarian directing me to some other book, and then following through on that."
还有观众问到了时下动荡的政治情形，对此巴菲特和盖茨都保持乐观。"美国的创新实力很强劲，两党都支持科研。" 盖茨说。比尔与梅琳达盖茨基金会工作的一个重心就是致力于在发展中国家消除疾病。但当被追问到有什么忧虑时，盖茨说他担心新一届政府会削减对外援助。"如果我们只关心国内，就会不利于（对外援助的）进展，本来因为救助可以活下来的数百万生命可能因此而丧生。"
An audience question about the turbulent political climate led both Buffett and Gates to declare themselves optimists.“American innovation is strong, and support for research is by and large bipartisan,” said Gates, whose Bill &Melinda Gates Foundationconcentrates much of its work on eradicating disease in developing countries. When pressed about concerns, though, Gates added that he feared the new administration could cut foreign aid. “If people draw inward too much, we will hurt progress, and there will be millions oflives lost because of it.”
巴菲特拿盖茨帮助消除脊髓灰质炎的成就来说明（对外援助）一直都有进展。去年全世界仅有大约50例脊髓灰质炎病例，这让86岁的巴菲特都表示："我小时候去医院看望我姐姐的朋友，那时候光病房里就有不下50个（脊髓灰质炎）病人。1942年4月，我买入了人生第一支股票，那时候道琼斯指数还是100而已……(现在)都20,000了。这之间肯定发生了好事，而且好事之后也会一直发生。"
Buffett pointed to Gates’s efforts to eradicate polio as one of many signs that progress continues. There were only about 50 polio cases worldwide last year, prompting the 86-year-old Buffett to say, “There were more than 50 [polio] cases in the ward where I went when I was a teenager to see my sister’s friend.” He also added, “I bought my first stock in April 1942 — the Dow was 100…. [Now] it’s 20,000. Something good must have happened in between, and it’s going to keep happening.”
但与进步伴随而来的是改变。改变往往意味着工作情形的转变。有观众问及该如何应对由自动化普及带来的工作机会流失。巴菲特回答道："提高生产力是第一要义，但是由于生产力进步而失业的人本身并没有犯错，生产力进步就好像鹅下了更多的金蛋，这些人仍理应分享这些财富，这就是政府要做的事情了。"
But with this progress comes change,which often results in a shifting job landscape. One audience member asked how to address the issue of jobs being eliminated due to automation. "Everything should be devoted initially to getting greater productivity," said Buffett. "But people who fall by the way side through no fault of their own… if the goose lays more golden eggs…should still get a chance to participate in that prosperity, and that's where government comes in."
一名哥大商学院的学生向盖茨和巴菲特同时问到现在创业的话二位会从哪个行业开始。巴菲特说他会选择完全一样的职业道路，并谈到："我建议同学们找一份假设你不需要赚钱养家的时候会想尝试的工作。"
A Columbia Business School student asked both Gates and Buffett what types of businesses they would start if they were to start new businesses now. Saying he would pursue exactly the same career path, Buffett said, "I advise students… look for the job that you would take if you didn't need a job."
盖茨说他可能还是会选择计算机科学，因为他对人工智能真的非常感兴趣。他还说到，研究如何生产廉价、安全、清洁的能源或者研究生物科学会"非常棒"。
Gates said that he might still choose computer science since he is especially drawn to artificial intelligence. He also said that working on how to provide energy that is cheap, reliable, and clean, or working in the biological sciences would be "phenomenal."
"激动人心的一刻就要到了，我们将会找出肥胖、癌症甚至是抑郁症这种顽疾的解决方法。"
“It's the most thrilling time. We are going to figure out obesity, cancer, even things that are very hard, like depression.”
盖茨和巴菲特都积极投身于慈善事业。例如，巴菲特已经向盖茨基金会大量捐款，两位还一起发起了名为"捐赠誓言（the Giving Pledge）"的慈善活动，动员世界上最富有的人将自己大部分的财富捐给慈善事业。巴菲特说，虽然有批评认为他应该把慈善援助的重心放在美国，但他仍坚持在发展中国家做慈善。他说："如果金额有限，那同样的钱对于美国以外的人来说帮助更大。我自己的想法是每个人生命的价值都是平等的。"
Both Gates and Buffett are also deeply involved in philanthropic efforts. Among other things, Buffett has already donated considerably to the Gates Foundation, and the two together created the Giving Pledge, asking the world's wealthiest people to dedicate most of their wealth to philanthropy. Buffett says that despite criticism that he should focus efforts in the US, he remains committed to philanthropy in developing countries. "If you have a limited number of dollars you can do more for people outside the United States," he said. "My own personal thought is that every life is of equal value."
The translation is for your reference only
译文仅供参考，内容以英文为准
图片来源：https://www8.gsb.columbia.edu/articles/columbia-business/old-friends-warren-buffett-51-and-bill-gates-speak-students-columbia
编译：俊良
校对：翩跹
责编：慎之