暗黒時代を通して、西洋の人々の意識の中に、中国の存在はほとんどなく、日本はまったくなかった。大半の人々が読むことができなかった時代には、読むことのできる人々が知ることのできた情報も、大多数の人々には知られずに終わっていた。しかし現在では、新聞やラジオ（注：マスコミ）の普及によって、どこかで起こった重要な出来事は、すぐにほとんどの文明国の人々に知られるようになった。だが、その結果は、一世紀か二世紀前に啓蒙の信奉者たちが期待していたほど良いものではなかった。最も速く、広く拡散されるニュースは、人々を興奮させるニュースであり、最も容易に引き起こされる興奮は憎しみと恐怖である。
Throughout the Dark Ages, China played very little part, and Japan played none, in the minds of Western Europeans. When most people could not read, what was known to those who could remained for the most part unknown to the great majority. Now, with the diffusion of newspapers and radio, important events anywhere quickly come to be known to most people in most civilized countries. The result however is not so good as the devotees of enlightenment a century or two ago would have expected. The news that is most quickly and widely diffused is news which is exciting, and the excitements most easily aroused are hatred and fear.
Source: Bertrand Russell: Human Society in Ethics and Politics, 1954, part II: The Conflict of Passions, chapter 5: Cohesion and Rivalry, n12
More info.： https://russell-j.com/cool/47T-2_0512.htm
＜寸言＞
大英帝国の威光は地球の区分わけにも表れています。イギリスのグリニッジを通る子午線を0度とし，そこから東へ180度まで数えた経度を「東経」、西へ180度まで数えた経度 を「西経」と呼び、イギリスを中心に東半球と西半球に分けられています。日本は東経135度にありますので「極東」と呼ばれ、まるで地の果てにある未開の地域かのようです。
もちろん、今は時代が変わり、交通（ジェット機）も通信（インターネット）も発達しているので、世界は一体化しており、隔世の感があります。しかし、マスコミの発達は、「啓蒙の信奉者」（the devotees of enlightenment ）が期待していたほどよいものばかりではなく、「最も速く、広く拡散されるニュースは、人々を興奮させるニュースであり、最も容易に引き起こされる興奮は憎しみと恐怖である」（The news that is most quickly and widely diffused is news which is exciting, and the excitements most easily aroused are hatred and fear. ）というラッセルの指摘は、今でもそのまま当てはまります。
The prestige of the British Empire is even reflected in the division of the Earth. The meridian passing through Greenwich, England, is designated as 0 degrees, and from there, longitudes are counted up to 180 degrees eastward as "east longitude" and up to 180 degrees westward as "west longitude," dividing the world into the Eastern and Western Hemispheres with Britain at the center. Since Japan is located at 135 degrees east longitude, it is referred to as the "Far East," as if it were a remote and undeveloped region at the edge of the world.
Of course, times have changed. With the advancement of transportation (jet planes) and communication (the Internet), the world has become more unified, making such divisions seem outdated. However, the development of mass media has not always been as beneficial as the devotees of enlightenment had hoped. Bertrand Russell’s observation that "The news that is most quickly and widely diffused is news which is exciting, and the excitements most easily aroused are hatred and fear." remains just as relevant today.
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