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DanDennett_2002-_谈危险的模因_
How many Creationists do we have in the room? 我们这儿有多少神创论者？
Creationists:n.神造说鼓吹者;神灵论者;特创论者(即相信万物皆由上帝一次造成者);
Probably none. I think we're all Darwinians. 可能没有。我估计都是达尔文主义者。
And yet many Darwinians are anxious, a little uneasy -- would like to see some limits on just how far the Darwinism goes. 可是很多达尔文主义者都有点急切不安, 想看看达尔文主义的极限,看它到底能走多远。
uneasy:adj.担心的;忧虑的;不安的;不稳定的; Darwinism:n.达尔文主义;进化论;达尔文学说;
It's all right. 没问题
You know spiderwebs ? Sure, they are products of evolution . 你知道蜘蛛网吗？当然了,这是进化来的。
spiderwebs:n.蜘蛛网;vt.用蛛网或蛛网物盖住;adj.蛛网形的; evolution:n.演变;进化;发展;渐进;
The World Wide Web ? Not so sure. 万维网呢？不太确定。
World Wide Web:n.万维网;
Beaver dams, yes. Hoover Dam, no. 海狸窝,是。胡佛大坝,不是。
Beaver:n.海狸;海狸皮毛; Hoover:vi.胡佛电动吸尘;n.胡佛电动吸尘器;
What do they think it is that prevents the products of human ingenuity from being themselves, fruits of the tree of life, and hence , in some sense, obeying evolutionary rules? 是什么让他们认为 人的智慧不是生命之树的果实 因而在某种意义上,不遵守进化的法则呢？
ingenuity:n.心灵手巧,独创性;精巧;精巧的装置; hence:adv.因此;今后; obeying:v.服从;遵守;顺从;(obey的现在分词) evolutionary:adj.进化的;发展的;渐进的;
And yet people are interestingly resistant to the idea of applying evolutionary thinking to thinking -- to our thinking. 人们很有趣地抵制这个想法: 抵制把进化论应用到“思维”--我们的思维--上。
interestingly:adv.有趣地; resistant:adj.抵抗的,反抗的;顽固的;n.抵抗者; applying:v.申请,请求;使用;应用;(apply的现在分词)
And so I'm going to talk a little bit about that, keeping in mind that we have a lot on the program here. 我将对此发表些看法 同时提醒自己,节目上还有很多其他的内容呢。
So you're out in the woods, or you're out in the pasture , and you see this ant crawling up this blade of grass. 设想一下你现在身处森林里,或者在田园中 你看见一只蚂蚁正爬上一片草叶
pasture:n.草地;牧场;牧草;v.放牧;吃草; crawling:v.爬行;匍匐行进;(crawl的现在分词) blade:n.叶片;刀片,刀锋;剑;
It climbs up to the top, and it falls, and it climbs, and it falls, and it climbs -- trying to stay at the very top of the blade of grass. 它爬到顶上,又落下来 然后又爬到顶,又落下来,然后又爬—— 总想停留在草叶的最尖端
What is this ant doing? What is this in aid of? 它在干吗？它想做什么？
What goals is this ant trying to achieve by climbing this blade of grass? 试图爬到草的尖端,想达到什么目的？
What's in it for the ant? 那里对于蚂蚁而言有什么呢？
And the answer is: nothing. There's nothing in it for the ant. 答案是:什么也没有。对于蚂蚁,那里什么也没有
Well then, why is it doing this? 那为什么要这么做呢？
Is it just a fluke ? 它只是侥幸吗？
fluke:n.侥幸;锚爪;意外的挫折;vt.侥幸成功;意外受挫;vi.侥幸成功;
Yeah, it's just a fluke. It's a lancet fluke. 是的,它只是个侥幸。它叫枝双腔吸虫。
lancet:n.[外科]小刀,柳叶刀;尖顶窗;小枪;
It's a little brain worm . 是个在大脑里的小虫子
worm:n.蠕虫;蠕虫病毒寄生虫;肠虫;v.曲折行进
It's a parasitic brain worm that has to get into the stomach of a sheep or a cow in order to continue its life cycle . 这种大脑里的虫子,要钻进羊或者牛的腹部 来继续自己的生命周期
parasitic:adj.寄生的(等于parasitical); life cycle:n.生命周期;寿命(产品等从开发到使用完毕的一段时间);
Salmon swim upstream to get to their spawning grounds, and lancet flukes commandeer a passing ant, crawl into its brain, and drive it up a blade of grass like an all-terrain vehicle . 三文鱼逆流而上而到达卵场 枝双腔吸虫霸占一只路过的蚂蚁 爬进它的大脑,像驾着越野车一样使它爬上草叶的顶端,
Salmon:n.鲑鱼;大马哈鱼;鲑肉色;鲑鱼肉;橙红色,粉橙色;adj.浅澄色的; upstream:adv.逆流地;向上游;adj.向上游的;逆流而上的;n.上游部门; spawning:v.播种,产卵;大量生成(spawn的现在分词);n.产卵;增殖; flukes:n.吸虫(fluke的复数形式);锚爪;v.侥幸成功(fluke的第三人称单数); commandeer:vt.征用;霸占,没收;强取; all-terrain:全地形; vehicle:n.[车辆]车辆;工具;交通工具;运载工具;传播媒介;媒介物;
So there's nothing in it for the ant. 所以对于蚂蚁来说,那里一无所有
The ant's brain has been hijacked by a parasite that infects the brain, inducing suicidal behavior. 这蚂蚁的大脑,被寄生虫劫持了 继而产生了自杀行为
hijacked:劫持;强行控制; parasite:n.寄生虫;食客; infects:vt.感染,传染; inducing:v.劝说;引起;引产;催生;(induce的现在分词) suicidal:adj.自杀的,自杀性的;自我毁灭的;自取灭亡的;
Pretty scary. 相当可怕
Well, does anything like that happen with human beings? 那么,类似的事情发生在人类身上吗？
This is all on behalf of a cause other than one's own genetic fitness , of course. 当然,这完全不以某人的基因适应性的名义
on behalf of:代表;为了; genetic:adj.基因的;遗传学的; fitness:n.健康;适当;适合性;
Well, it may already have occurred to you that Islam means " surrender ," or " submission of self-interest to the will of Allah ." 你可能已经猜到了 “伊斯兰”的意思,是“投降”,或者“自我利益服从于真主的意志”
occurred:v.发生;出现;存在于;出现在;(occur的过去分词和过去式) surrender:v.投降;(被迫)放弃,交出;n.投降;屈服;屈从;放弃,交出 submission:n.投降;提交(物);服从;(向法官提出的)意见;谦恭; self-interest:n.私利;利己主义; Allah:n.真主;阿拉;
Well, it's ideas -- not worms -- that hijack our brains. 劫持我们大脑的,是思想,不是虫子
worms:n.蠕虫;寄生虫;幼虫;v.蠕动,曲折行进;(worm的第三人称单数和复数)
Now, am I saying that a sizable minority of the world's population has had their brain hijacked by parasitic ideas? 那我是不是说,世界人口的一小部分 大脑已经被寄生思想劫持了呢？
sizable:adj.相当大的;大小相当的; minority:n.少数民族;少数派;未成年;adj.少数的;属于少数派的;
No, it's worse than that. 不是。比这还糟。
Most people have. “大部分人”都已经被劫持了
(Laughter) （笑声）
There are a lot of ideas to die for. 让人献身的思想有很多
Freedom, if you're from New Hampshire . 自由--如果你来自新罕布什尔
Hampshire:n.汉普郡(英国南部之一郡);
(Laughter) （笑声）
Justice . Truth. Communism . 正义,真理,共产主义
Justice:n.公平;公正;司法制度;审判; Communism:n.共产主义;
Many people have laid down their lives for communism, and many have laid down their lives for capitalism . 很多人为共产主义而死掉了 也很多为了资本主义而死掉了
capitalism:n.资本主义;
And many for Catholicism . And many for Islam. 很多为天主教献身,也很多为伊斯兰教
Catholicism:n.天主教;天主教义;
These are just a few of the ideas that are to die for. 这只是一小部分使人献身的思想
They're infectious . 它们都具传染性
infectious:adj.传染的;传染性的;易传染的;
Yesterday, Amory Lovins spoke about "infectious repititis." 昨天,阿莫锐·陆文斯(Amory Lovins）提到了 传染性的复制
It was a term of abuse , in effect. 那其实是个贬义词。
abuse:n.滥用;虐待;辱骂;弊端;恶习,陋习;v.滥用;虐待;辱骂;
This is unthinking engineering . 这是未经思考的工程设计。
unthinking:adj.无思考能力的;不留心的;欠考虑的; engineering:n.工程;工程学;v.密谋策划;设计制造;改变…的基因;(engineer的现在分词)
Well, most of the cultural spread that goes on is not brilliant, new, out-of-the-box thinking. 大部分文化的传播, 并不是伟大、崭新、拿来就用的思想。
cultural:adj.与文化有关的;文化的;与艺术、文学、音乐等有关的; out-of-the-box:adj.拆盒即可使用的;开箱即用的;
It's "infectious repetitis," 只是传染性的复制。
and we might as well try to have a theory of what's going on when that happens so that we can understand the conditions of infection . 或许有一套解释它的理论 让人能理解传染所需的条件。
might as well:不妨,何妨;还是…的好; infection:n.感染;传染;(身体某部位的)感染;传染病;
Hosts work hard to spread these ideas to others. 寄主努力传播思想给他人。
Hosts:n.主人; v.主办,主持(活动); (host的第三人称单数和复数)
I myself am a philosopher , and one of our occupational hazards is that people ask us what the meaning of life is. 我自己是一个哲学家。我们这个行业的公害之一 就是总被问到生命的意义是什么
philosopher:n.哲学家;深思的人;善于思考的人; occupational:adj.职业的;占领的; hazards:n.危害;[安全]危险;障碍(hazard的复数);v.使冒危险;赌(hazard的三单形式);
And you have to have a bumper sticker , you know. You have to have a statement . 你必须得有个保险杠贴纸 你知道,某种宣言式的东西
bumper:adj.丰盛的,丰富的;n.缓冲器,保险杆,减震物;vt.装满;为…祝酒;vi.干杯; sticker:n.粘贴标签;贴纸; statement:n.声明;陈述,叙述;报表,清单;
So, this is mine. 我的是这个
The secret of happiness is: Find something more important than you are and dedicate your life to it. 幸福的秘密在于:寻找某种比你更重要的东西 并把生命投入其中
dedicate:vt.致力;献身;题献;
Most of us -- now that the "Me Decade" is well in the past -- now we actually do this. 我们中的大多数--“‘我’的时代”已经过去了-- 是这样做的
One set of ideas or another have simply replaced our biological imperatives in our own lives. 这样或者那样的一套理论 取代了我们生命中的、生物学上的使命
biological:adj.生物学的;生物的;与生命过程有关的;加酶的;n.[药]生物制品; imperatives:n.祈使句;命令句;adj.必要的,紧急的;命令的;
This is what our summum bonum is. 此乃我们的最高价值之所在
It's not maximizing the number of grandchildren we have. 而非最大化我们的儿孙数
maximizing:n.最大化;达到极大值;v.使…最大化;取…最大值(maximize的ing形式);
Now, this is a profound biological effect. 请注意,这是个意义深刻的生物学效应
profound:adj.深厚的;意义深远的;渊博的;
It's the subordination of genetic interest to other interests. 这是基因利益对其他利益的服从
subordination:n.从属;附属;主从关系;
And no other species does anything at all like it. 而且没有任何其他物种这么做
species:n.[生物]物种;种类;
Well, how are we going to think about this? 我们对此应该作何感想？
It is, on the one hand , a biological effect, and a very large one. 一方面,这是生物学上的效应,很大的一个。
on the one hand:一方面;
Unmistakable . 毫无疑问。
Unmistakable:adj.明显的;不会弄错的;
Now, what theories do we want to use to look at this? 我们用什么理论来探查它呢？
Well, many theories. But how could something tie them together? 有很多的理论。但什么才能使他们得到统一？
The idea of replicating ideas; ideas that replicate by passing from brain to brain. 那就是“复制思想”这个主意 即那些在大脑之间传递而得到复制的思想
replicating:n.八音阶间隔的反复音; adj.复制的; v.复制(replicate的ing形式); replicate:vt.复制; vi.重复; adj.复制的; n.复制品;
Richard Dawkins, whom you'll be hearing later in the day, invented the term " memes ," 今天晚些时候你们会听理查德·道金斯（Richard Dawkins）的演讲。他发明了“模因”这个词
memes:模因(meme的复数);
and put forward the first really clear and vivid version of this idea in his book "The Selfish Gene." 并第一次清晰生动阐释地解释了“模因” 就在他《自私的基因》这本书里
put forward:v.提出;拿出;放出;推举出; vivid:adj.生动的;鲜明的;鲜艳的;
Now here am I talking about his idea. 我在这里说说他的思想
Well, you see, it's not his. Yes -- he started it. 当然,你也知道,现在这已经不是他的了。尽管他创造了它
But it's everybody's idea now. 现在,它属于所有人
And he's not responsible for what I say about memes. 他不为我说的负责
responsible:adj.负责的,可靠的;有责任的;
I'm responsible for what I say about memes. 我负责
Actually, I think we're all responsible for not just the intended effects of our ideas, but for their likely misuses. 事实上,我认为我们都要为其负责 不仅仅为我们思想意图达到的效果 还要为对它们潜在的错误使用负责
intended:adj.预定的;计划的;v.打算;计划;想要;(intend的过去分词和过去式)
So it is important, I think, to Richard, and to me, that these ideas not be abused and misused . 所以我想,对我和理查德（道金斯）而言,很重要的事 就是确保这些想法不被误用或者滥用
abused:v.滥用(以致危害健康); (abuse的过去分词和过去式) misused:vt.滥用;误用;虐待;n.滥用;误用;虐待;
They're very easy to misuse. That's why they're dangerous. 它们很容易被误用。这也是它们的危险之处
And it's just about a full-time job trying to prevent people who are scared of these ideas from caricaturing them and then running off to one dire purpose or another. 这几乎是一份全职工作 来防止害怕这些想法的人 去讽刺这些思想,然后跑去做一件又一件可怕的事
full-time:adj.专职的;全日制的;全部时间的; are scared of:害怕... caricaturing:n.漫画;讽刺画;漫画手法;vt.画成漫画讽刺; dire:adj.可怕的;悲惨的;极端的;
So we have to keep plugging away, trying to correct the misapprehensions so that only the benign and useful variants of our ideas continue to spread. 所以我们必须坚持不懈地 不断试图矫正各种误解 确保只有思想中有用的、无害的部分得到传播
plugging:v.堵塞;封堵;补足;补充;推广;宣传;(plug的现在分词) misapprehensions:n.误解;(misapprehensions是misapprehension的复数); benign:adj.良性的;和蔼的,亲切的;吉利的; variants:n.[计]变体;变异型(variant的复数);
But it is a problem. 但这是个问题。
We don't have much time, and I'm going to go over just a little bit of this and cut out, because there's a lot of other things that are going to be said. 我们的时间不多了,所以我就说一点点,然后打住 因为还有很多其他的内容
to go over:复习;
So let me just point out: memes are like viruses. 我想说的是:模因就像病毒
That's what Richard said, back in '93. 这是理查德在93年说的
And you might think, "Well, how can that be? 你可能在想:这怎么可能？
I mean, a virus is -- you know, it's stuff ! What's a meme made of?" 你知道,病毒是个“东西”！模因是什么构成的呢？
stuff:n.东西:物品:基本特征:v.填满:装满:标本:
Yesterday, Negroponte was talking about viral telecommunications but -- what's a virus? 昨天,尼葛洛庞帝提到了病毒电子通讯 但什么是病毒？
viral:adj.滤过性毒菌引起的;滤过性毒菌的; telecommunications:n.电信;电讯;
A virus is a string of nucleic acid with attitude . 病毒是一串有态度的核酸
string:n.字符串; v.悬挂; adj.由弦乐器组成的; nucleic acid:n.核酸; attitude:n.态度;看法;意见;姿势;
(Laughter) （笑声）
That is, there is something about it that tends to make it replicate better than the competition does. 也就是说,它有某种东西 这东西使它在复制的比赛中脱颖而出
competition:n.竞争;比赛,竞赛;
And that's what a meme is. It's an information packet with attitude. 这也就是模因;有态度的一包信息
What's a meme made of? What are bits made of, Mom? 模因是由什么构成的？“妈妈,比特是由什么构成的？”
Not silicon . 反正不是硅
silicon:n.[化学]硅;硅元素;
They're made of information, and can be carried in any physical medium . 他们是信息构成的,载体可以是任何物理媒介
physical:adj.[物]物理的;身体的;物质的;符合自然法则的;n.体格检查; medium:n.(传播信息的)媒介;手段;工具;方法;adj.中等的;中号的;
What's a word made of? 单词是什么构成的？
Sometimes when people say, "Do memes exist?" 有时候人们说:“模因存在吗？”
I say, "Well, do words exist? Are they in your ontology ?" 我说:“单词存在吗？它们在你的本体论里吗？”
ontology:n.本体论;存在论;实体论;
If they are, words are memes that can be pronounced. 如果在,单词就是可以发音的模因
Then there's all the other memes that can't be pronounced. 那么也有其他不能发音的模因
There are different species of memes. 它们是模因中的不同物种
Remember the Shakers ? Gift to be simple? 还记得震教徒吗？天赋简朴？
Shakers:n.震教徒(贵格会在美国的分支,Shaker的复数);
Simple, beautiful furniture ? 漂亮而简单的家具？
furniture:n.家具;设备;储藏物;
And, of course, they're basically extinct now. 当然了,他们基本上已经灭绝了。
basically:adv.主要地,基本上; extinct:adj.灭绝的,绝种的;熄灭的;vt.使熄灭;
And one of the reasons is that among the creed of Shaker-dom is that one should be celibate . 其中的一个原因是,他们的信条当中, 有一条求要独身。
creed:n.信条,教义; celibate:adj.独身的;禁欲的;n.独身者;禁欲者;
Not just the priests . Everybody. 不光是牧师,所有人都要。
priests:n.司祭,神父;教士,祭司,僧侣;(priest的复数)
Well, it's not so surprising that they've gone extinct. (Laughter) 它们灭绝也就不奇怪了（笑声）
But in fact that's not why they went extinct. 事实上,这不是他们消失的原因。
They survived as long as they did at a time when the social safety nets weren't there. 他们维持了很久。 那时候还没有社会保障制度,
as long as:conj.只要;长达;如果;既然;
And there were lots of widows and orphans , people like that, who needed a foster home. 有很多的鳏寡和孤儿, 这些需要收容的人。
widows:n.寡妇(widow的复数形式);v.使成寡妇;杀死…的丈夫(widow的三单形式); orphans:n.孤儿(orphan的复数);v.成为孤儿(orphan的三单形式); foster:vt.培养;养育,抚育;抱(希望等);adj.收养的,养育的;
And so they had a ready supply of converts . 所以他们有个皈依信徒的供应链。
converts:vt.使转变; vi.转变,变换; n.皈依者;
And they could keep it going. 这样他们就不会绝迹。
And, in principle , it could've gone on forever, with perfect celibacy on the part of the hosts. 理论上说,他们可以永远这样下去, 尽管寄主们都是独身的。
in principle:大体上,原则上; celibacy:n.独身; on the part of:就...而言;由...所作出的;在...一边;由...所表现出的;
The idea being passed on through proselytizing , instead of through the gene line. 思想通过皈依得到传递, 而不是基因线。
proselytizing:n.使改变宗教信仰;劝服;v.使改变宗教信仰(proselytize的ing形式);
So the ideas can live on in spite of the fact that they're not being passed on genetically . 所以思想可以一直传播下去, 尽管并没有通过基因。
in spite of:尽管;不管,不顾; genetically:adv.从遗传学角度;从基因方面;
A meme can flourish in spite of having a negative impact on genetic fitness. 纵使模因对生物基因的适合度有负面影响,
flourish:n.兴旺; vt.夸耀; vi.繁荣,兴旺; negative:adj.[数]负的;消极的;否定的;阴性的;n.否定;负数;[摄]底片;v.否定;拒绝; impact:n.影响;效果;碰撞;冲击力;v.挤入,压紧;撞击;对…产生影响;
After all, the meme for Shaker-dom was essentially a sterilizing parasite. 毕竟震教徒们的模因本质上是令人绝育的寄生虫
essentially:adv.本质上;本来; sterilizing:v.灭菌;消毒;使绝育;(sterilize的现在分词)
There are other parasites that do this -- which render the host sterile . 有很多这种让寄主不育的寄生虫
parasites:n.[基医]寄生虫;[生物]寄生生物(parasite的复数); sterile:adj.不育的;无菌的;贫瘠的;不毛的;枯燥乏味的;
It's part of their plan. 它们的计划就是如此
They don't have to have minds to have a plan. 它们不需要心灵来做计划
I'm just going to draw your attention to just one of the many implications of the memetic perspective , which I recommend . 我只指出模因视角的许多含义里面, 我所推荐的一个。
implications:n.蕴涵式;暗指,暗示;含蓄,含意;卷入(implication的复数); perspective:n.观点;远景;透视图;adj.透视的; recommend:v.推荐;介绍;劝告;建议;使受欢迎;
I've not time to go into more of it. 我没时间讲多些
In Jared Diamond's wonderful book, "Guns, Germs and Steel," 在贾雷德·戴蒙德《枪炮,细菌和钢铁》这本奇书中
Germs:n.[微]细菌; v.发生(germ的单三形式);
he talks about how it was germs, more than guns and steel, that conquered the new hemisphere -- the Western hemisphere -- that conquered the rest of the world. 他谈到为什么是细菌,而不是枪炮和钢铁 征服了新半球--也就是西半球 然后西半球又征服了世界的其他部分。
conquered:v.攻克;征服;击败,战胜;控制;(conquer的过去分词和过去式) hemisphere:n.半球;
When European explorers and travelers spread out , they brought with them the germs that they had become essentially immune to, that they had learned how to tolerate over 当欧洲的探险家和旅行者们分散出去 他们也随身带去了 他们已经形成免疫的细菌 他们已经可以相安无事了
explorers:n.探险者;勘探者;考察者;(explorer的复数) spread out:冒火;喷火; immune:adj.免疫的;免于…的,免除的;n.免疫者;免除者; tolerate:v.容忍;忍受;容许;包容;
hundreds and hundreds of years, thousands of years, of living with domesticated animals who were the sources of those pathogens . 成百上千年来, 他们同带有病原体的驯养的动物们一起生存
domesticated:adj.家养的; v.驯养; (domesticate的过去分词和过去式) sources:n.来源;出处;起源;根源;原因;v.(从…)获得(source的第三人称单数和复数) pathogens:n.[基医]病原体;病原菌;[基医]致病菌;
And they just wiped out -- these pathogens just wiped out the native people, who had no immunity to them at all. 然后它们--那些病原体们--彻底摧毁了原住民们 因为原住民对它们毫无免疫力
native:adj.本国的;土著的;天然的;与生俱来的;天赋的;n.本地人;土产;当地居民; immunity:n.免疫力;豁免权;免除;
And we're doing it again. 现在我们又在做同样的事
We're doing it this time with toxic ideas. 这次我们用的是有毒的思想。
toxic:adj.有毒的;中毒的;
Yesterday, a number of people -- Nicholas Negroponte and others -- spoke about all the wonderful things that are happening when our ideas get spread out, thanks to all the new technology all over the world. 昨天,尼古拉斯·尼葛洛庞帝等人 说到了这些奇妙的事情 这些当思想得到传播时发生的事 这要归功于世界范围内的新科学技术
technology:n.技术;工艺;术语;
And I agree. It is largely wonderful. Largely wonderful. 这一点,我同意。绝大部分都是美妙的。绝大部分。
largely:adv.主要地;大部分;大量地;
But among all those ideas that inevitably flow out into the whole world thanks to our technology, are a lot of toxic ideas. 可是,当它们无可避免,传遍世界时 也夹带着有毒思想--同样归功于我们的科技。
inevitably:adv.不可避免地;必然地;
Now, this has been realized for some time. 这已经发生一段时间了
Sayyid Qutb is one of the founding fathers of fanatical Islam, one of the ideologues that inspired Osama bin Laden . 萨伊德·库（Sayyid Qutb）是狂热伊斯兰教的创始人之一 也是奥萨马·本拉登的灵感源泉之一
fanatical:adj.狂热的; ideologues:n.思想家,理论家,空想家; inspired:adj.受到启发的; v.鼓舞; (inspire的过去分词和过去式) Laden:adj.负载的; vt.装载(等于lade); vi.装载(等于lade); v.装载(lade的过去分词);
'"One has only to glance at its press films, fashion shows, beauty contests, ballrooms , wine bars and broadcasting stations." Memes. “看看新闻、电影、时装表演、选美比赛 舞会大厅、葡萄酒吧和广播电台”。模因。
glance:v.浏览;扫视;瞥一眼;匆匆一看;n.一瞥;扫视;匆匆一看; ballrooms:n.舞厅;跳舞场;
These memes are spreading around the world and they are wiping out whole cultures. 模因正遍及世界 整个儿地消灭文化
They are wiping out languages. 消灭语言
They are wiping out traditions and practices. 消灭传统和习俗。
And it's not our fault, anymore than it's our fault when our germs lay waste to people that haven't developed the immunity. 这不能怪我们,正如我们的细菌摧毁原住民 也不是我们的错
lay waste to:损毁;使成废墟
We have an immunity to all of the junk that lies around the edges of our culture. 对自己文化边缘的各种破烂货,我们都有免疫
We're a free society, so we let pornography and all these things -- we shrug them off. 我们是自由的社会,色情这些东西,我们也不在乎
pornography:n.淫秽作品;色情书刊(或音像制品等) shrug:n.耸肩(表示不知道或不在乎);带袖短披肩;v.耸肩(表示不知道或不在乎);
They're like a mild cold. 就像感冒发烧一样
mild:adj.温和的; n.(英国的一种)淡味麦芽啤酒;
They're not a big deal for us. 没什么大不了
a big deal:na.要人;重要的事;
But we should recognize that for many people in the world, they are a big deal. 但我们应当意识到,对于世界上很多人 这可是至关重要的
recognize:v.认识;认出;辨别出;承认;意识到;
And we should be very alert to this. 我们应该保持警惕
alert:n.警报; adj.警觉的; v.向…报警;
As we spread our education and our technology, one of the things that we are doing is we're the vectors of memes that are correctly viewed by the hosts of many other memes as a dire threat to their favorite memes -- the memes that they are prepared to die for. 传播科技、教育时 我们成了模因的媒介生物 其他寄主正确地视我们为敌 他们模因的可怕敌人 他们最爱的、为之献身的模因
vectors:n.[数]向量(vector的复数); v.推动…前进;
Well now, how are we going to tell the good memes from the bad memes? 如何区分模因的好坏呢？
That is not the job of the science of memetics . 这并不是模因学的工作
memetics:模因论;
Memetics is morally neutral . And so it should be. 模因学在道德上是中性的。并且理应如此。
morally:adv.道德上;有道德地;确实地; neutral:n.中立国; adj.中立的;
This is not the place for hate and anger. 这里没有爱恨。
If you've had a friend who's died of AIDS, then you hate HIV . 若朋友死于艾滋病,你会恨HIV
HIV:n.艾滋病病毒;
But the way to deal with that is to do science, and understand how it spreads and why in a morally neutral perspective. 但对付病毒的,是科学 从中立的角度,探究病毒为何、如何传播
Get the facts. 实事求是
Work out the implications. 探明含义
There's plenty of room for moral passion once we've got the facts and can figure out the best thing to do. 有了事实,道德情感自然有发挥的空间 然后再决定应该做什么
passion:n.激情;热情;酷爱;盛怒;
And, as with germs, the trick is not to try to annihilate them. 对于细菌,秘诀在于,不要试图消灭它们
annihilate:vt.歼灭;战胜;废止;vi.湮灭;湮没;
You will never annihilate the germs. 你永远消灭不了细菌
What you can do, however, is foster public health measures and the like that will encourage the evolution of avirulence. 你能做的,就是加强公共卫生之类的措施 鼓励病原性的进化
That will encourage the spread of relatively benign mutations of the most toxic varieties. 鼓励毒性最强的变种 进行良性的变异
relatively:adv.相当程度上;相当地;相对地; mutations:n.[遗]突变;变化;转变(mutation的复数形式);
That's all the time I have, so thank you very much for your attention. 我的时间就这么多 非常感谢你们的关注