懂你英语 流利说 Level7 Unit3 Part3 : David and Goliath 4
There's a second piece of this that's important.
It's not just that we misunderstand David and his choice of weaponry.
It's also that we profoundly misunderstand Goliath.
Goliath is not what he seems to be.
There's all kinds of hints of this in the Biblical text, things that are in retrospect are quite puzzling and don't square with his image as this mighty warrior.
So to begin with, the Bible says that Goliath is led onto the valley floor by an attendant.
Now that is weird, right?
Here is this mighty warrior going challenging the Israelites to one-on-one combat.
Why is he being led by the hand, by some (you know) young boy, presumably, to the point of combat?
Secondly, the Bible story makes special note of how slowly Goliath moves, another odd thing to say when you're describing the mightiest warrior known to man at that point.
And then there's this whole weird thing about how long it takes Goliath to react to the sight of David.
So David's coming down the mountain, and he's clearly not preparing for hand-to-hand combat.
There is nothing about him that says, "I am about to fight you like this."
He's not even carrying a sword.
Why does Goliath not react to that?
It's as if he's oblivious to what's going on that day.
And then there's (the strange...) that strange comment he makes to David:
"Am I a dog that you should come to me with sticks?"
Sticks? David only has one stick.
What does Gladwell's examination of the story suggest about Goliath? he has vision problems.
Why does Gladwell focus on examining Goliath's behavior ? to provide more evidence to support his argument.
According to Gladwell, if Goliath were a dangerous warrior …he would be able to move faster.
If two things square with each other, ...they fit together well.
To be oblivious means ...to not know about or not notice something that is happening.
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Goliath is not what he seems to be. There's all kinds of hints of this in the Biblical text, things that are in retrospect quite puzzling and don't square with his image as this mighty warrior.
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Secondly, the Bible story makes special note of how slowly Goliath moves, another odd thing to say when you're describing the mightiest warrior known to man at that point.
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(1) We should also consider how long it takes Goliath to react to the sight of David.
(2) So David's coming down the mountain, and he's clearly not preparing for hand-to-hand combat.
(3) There is nothing about him that says, "I am about to fight you like this." He's not even carrying a sword.
(4) Why does Goliath not react to that? It's as if he's oblivious to what's going on that day.
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1) It's not just that we misunderstand David and his choice of weaponry.
2) It's also that we profoundly misunderstand Goliath.
3) Goliath is not what he seems to be.
4) There's all kinds of hints of this in the Biblical text, things that are in retrospect quite puzzling and don't square with his image as this mighty warrior.
Well, it turns out that there's been a great deal of speculation within the medical community over the years about whether there is something (wrong with...) fundamentally wrong with Goliath,
an attempt to make sense of all of those apparent anomalies.
There have been many articles written. The first one was in 1960 in the Indiana Medical Journal,
and it started a chain of speculation that starts with an explanation for Goliath's height.
So Goliath is head and shoulders above all of his peers in that era,
and usually when someone is that far out of the norm, there's an explanation for it.
So the most common form of giantism is a condition called acromegaly,
and acromegaly is caused by a benign tumor on your pituitary gland that causes an overproduction of human growth hormone.
And throughout history, many of the most famous giants have all had acromegaly.
So the tallest person of all time was a guy named Robert Wadlow who was still growing when he died at the age of 24 and he was 8 foot 11.
He had acromegaly.
Do you remember the wrestler André the Giant?
Famous. He had acromegaly.
There's even speculation that Abraham Lincoln had acromegaly.
Anyone who's unusually tall, that's the first explanation we come up with.
And acromegaly has a very distinct set of side effects associated with it, principally having to do with vision.
The pituitary tumor, as it grows, often starts to compress the visual nerves in your brain, with the result that people with acromegaly have either double vision or they are profoundly nearsighted.
So when people have started to speculate about what might have been wrong with Goliath, they've said, "Wait a minute, he looks and sounds an awful lot like someone who has acromegaly."
And that would also explain so much of what was strange about his behavior that day.
Why does he move so slowly and have to be escorted down into the valley floor by an attendant?
Because he can't make his way on his own.
Why is he so strangely oblivious to David that he doesn't understand that David's not going to fight him until the very last moment?
Because he can't see him.
When he says, "Come to me that I might feed your flesh to the birds of the heavens and the beasts of the field," the phrase "come to me" is a hint also of his vulnerability.
Come to me because I can't see you.
And then there's, "Am I a dog that you should come to me with sticks?"
He sees two sticks when David has only one.
So the Israelites up on the mountain ridge looking down on him thought he was this extraordinarily powerful foe.
What they didn't understand was that the very thing that was the source of his apparent strength was also the source of his greatest weakness.
And there is, I think, in that, a very important lesson for all of us.
Giants are not as strong and powerful as they seem.
And sometimes the shepherd boy has a sling in his pocket.
Thank you.
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What is the main point of Gladwell's presentation? If people assume without thinking, they may not see things as they really are.
What might have been responsible for Goliath's sights? a hormone unbalance.
What evidence suggests that Goliath had growth disorder? his unusual height and vision problems.
To speculate about something means ...to form a theory about it without solid evidence.
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(1) When people have started to speculate about what might have been wrong with Goliath, they've said, "Wait a minute, he looks and sounds an awful lot like someone who has acromegaly."
(2) And that would also explain so much of what was strange about his behavior that day.
(3) Why does he move so slowly and have to be escorted down into the valley floor by an attendant?
(4) Because he can't make his way on his own.
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Why is he so strangely oblivious to David that he doesn't understand that David's not going to fight him until the very last moment?
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If Goliath were as powerful as the story says, he would be able to move and react to things faster.
It's as if Goliath's oblivious to what's going on that day.
The Bible says that Goliath is led onto the valley floor by an attendant.
The very thing that was the source of his apparent strength was also the source of his greatest weakness.
Throughout history, many of the most famous giants have all had acromegaly.
*
It's not just that we misunderstand David and his choice of weaponry. It's also that we profoundly misunderstand Goliath. Goliath is not what he seems to be.
There's all kinds of hints of this in the Biblical text, things that are in retrospect quite puzzling and don't square with his image as this mighty warrior.
It turns out that there's been a great deal of speculation within the medical community over the years about whether there is something fundamentally wrong with Goliath.
What they didn't understand was that the very thing that was the source of his apparent strength was also the source of his greatest weakness.
