pancake people 煎饼人

With the development of the Internet and other sources of instantaneous information, many people strive to gain at least a working knowledge of many different subjects. They are so-called pancake people, they no longer concentrate their energies on one area of interest, but instead choose to spread themselves thinly over a large area. As a result, a new generation of pancake people have essentially1 become the proverbial jacks2 of all trades, but masters of none.

伴随互联网和各种信息途径的进步，不少人都力求在每个不同范围都至少获得一些基本的操作常识。他们就是所谓的煎饼人，他们不再将精力专注于某一个有兴趣的范围，而是让我们的关注点浅浅地散布在一个非常大的范围。由此，新一代的煎饼人就真的成谚语里说的门门通，门门松了。

The term pancake people is largely seen as a negative commentary on the current age of instantaneous information. The ability to access even the most obscure information in a matter of seconds may be seen as a positive social development on one level, but it can also cause some people to become less inclined to delve3 more deeply into one particular subject of interest. As a result, a generation of overloaded4 pancake people may become more obsessed5 with popular culture and less interested in the larger arc of human history.

在目前这个即时信息年代，煎饼人这个词非常大程度上被看作是一个贬义词。在几秒内获得稀缺信息的能力可能是社会进步积极的一方面，但同时也会让一些人不想深究某一个有兴趣的主题。结果，这一代信息过量的煎饼人或许会对时尚文化过分沉迷，而对人类历史的更广泛范围却鲜有兴致。