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JohnLloyd_2009G-_概述“看不见”的含义_
So the question is, what is invisible ? 那么,问题是:什么是“看不见”？
invisible:adj.看不见的;n.看不见的人或物;
There is more of it than you think, actually. 实际上这并不是想象中的那么简单。
Everything, I would say, everything that matters except every thing, and except matter. 我认为是每一件重要的事物 除了每一件事,也除了重要。
We can see matter. But we can't see what's the matter. 我们可以看见事物,但是我们不能认识它们的实质。
As in this cryptic sentence I found in the Guardian recently . 最近我在《卫报》上发现了一个隐晦的句子。
cryptic:adj.神秘的,含义模糊的;[动]隐藏的; Guardian:n.[法]监护人,保护人;守护者;adj.守护的; recently:adv.最近;新近;
'"The marriage suffered a setback in 1965 when the husband was killed by the wife." “1965年这段婚姻经历了挫折 那年妻子杀死了丈夫。”
setback:n.挫折;退步;逆流;
(Laughter) （笑声）
There's a world of invisibility there isn't there? 这其中有许多不可告人的秘密,是吧？
invisibility:n.看不见;看不见的东西;难看见;
(Laughter) （笑声）
So we can see the stars and the planets. 我们可以看见满天星光和星球
But we can't see what holds them apart, or what draws them together. 但是我们不能看出是什么使它们相互分开 或者什么使它们聚在一起。
With matter, as with people, we see only the skin of things. 看事物,就像看人一样,我们只看到表面的东西。
We can't see into the engine room . 我们不能深入洞察。
engine room:n.(船舶)机舱;(机构的)决策部门;
We can't see what makes people tick, at least not without difficulty. 我们不能看到是什么支配着人的一举一动,至少不是一件轻松的事。
And the closer we look at anything, the more it disappears . 我们观察得越仔细,真相就越不明朗。
disappears:v.消失;不见;消亡;失踪;丢失;(disappear的第三人称单数)
In fact, if you look really closely at stuff , if you look at the basic substructure of matter, there isn't anything there. 实际上,如果你真的足够近的观察事物, 如果你探究物质的基本构造, 你将一无所获。
stuff:n.东西:物品:基本特征:v.填满:装满:标本: substructure:n.基础;信念;底部构造;
Electrons disappear in a kind of fuzz , and there is only energy. And you can't see energy. 电子如微小的绒毛一般消失, 只剩下能量。我们是看不见能量的。
Electrons:n.[物]电子(electron的复数形式); fuzz:n.绒毛; vi.作绒毛状飞散; vt.使模糊;
So everything that matters, that's important, is invisible. 因此对于任何事物来说,重要的是“看不见”的东西。
One slightly silly thing that's invisible is this story, which is invisible to you. 这是一个有点滑稽的、关于“看不见”的 故事,对你们而言是“看不见”的。
slightly:adv.些微地,轻微地;纤细地;
And I'm now going to make it visible to you in your minds. 我现在将让它在你们的头脑中显现出来。
It's about an M.P. called Geoffrey Dickens . 这个故事的主人公是一个叫Geoffrey Dickens的国会议员。
Dickens:n.魔鬼(等于devil);
The late Geoffrey Dickens, M.P. was attending a fete in his constituency . 前议员Geoffrey Dickens正在他的选区参加一个宴会。
fete:n.祭祀;庆祝;节日;游乐会;vt.宴请;招待; constituency:n.(选区的)选民;支持者;(一批)顾客;
Wherever he went, at every stall he stopped he was closely followed by a devoted smiling woman of indescribable ugliness . 不管他走到哪里,在他停下来的每一处他都被一个 狂热且奇丑无比的微笑妇女紧紧跟随者。
stall:n.摊位;牲畜棚;小隔间,淋浴室,洗手间;v.(使)熄火,抛锚;故意拖延; devoted:adj.专心致志; v.献身; (devote的过去分词和过去式) indescribable:adj.难以形容的;莫名其妙的;不能用语言表达的; ugliness:n.丑陋,丑陋之物;
(Laughter) （笑声）
Try as he might, he couldn't get away from her. 尽管他努力尝试,还是始终无法摆脱她。
A few days later he received a letter from a constituent saying how much she admired him, had met him at a fete and asking for a signed photograph. 几天以后他收到了一个选民的来信, 尽诉她的仰慕之情, 回顾宴会的一面之缘以及索求一张签名的照片。
constituent:n.构成要素;选民;成分;adj.组成的;构成的;
After her name, written in brackets was the apt description , horse face. 在她的名字后面,括号内写着一个恰如其分的描述词:马脸。
brackets:n.支架; v.给…装上托架; apt:adj.恰当的;有…倾向的;灵敏的; description:n.说明;形容;描写(文字);类型;
(Laughter) （笑声）
'"I've misjudged this women." thought Mr. Dickens. “我错怪了这位女士。”Dicken先生想到。
misjudged:v.形成错误认识;错看;判断错误;(misjudge的过去分词和过去式)
'"Not only is she aware of her physical repulsiveness, she turns it to her advantage . “她不仅仅认识到自己的外表令人厌恶, 她还将其加以利用。
physical:adj.[物]物理的;身体的;物质的;符合自然法则的;n.体格检查; advantage:n.有利条件:优势:优点:
A photo is not enough." 一张照片是不够的。”
So he went out and bought a plastic frame to put the photograph in. 于是他出去买了一个塑料像框将照片放入其中。
frame:n.框架; v.设计; adj.有木架的;
And on the photograph, he wrote with a flourish , "To Horse Face, with love from Geoffrey Dickens, M.P." 而且在照片上,他大笔一挥: “致马脸,你亲爱的Geoffrey Dickens议员。”
flourish:n.兴旺; vt.夸耀; vi.繁荣,兴旺;
After it had been sent off his secretary said to him, "Did you get that letter from the woman at the fete? 当照片寄出去以后,他的秘书跟他说: “你收到那个宴会上的女人的来信了吗？
I wrote Horse Face on her, so you'd remember who she was." 我在上面写上了‘马脸’,以便能使你记起她。”
(Laughter) （笑声）
I bet he thought he wished he was invisible, don't you? 我想他一定宁可自己是看不见的,是吧？
bet:n.打赌;赌注;预计;估计;v.下赌注(于);用…打赌;敢说;八成儿;
(Laughter) （笑声）
So, one of the interesting things about invisibility is that things that we can't see we also can't understand. 因此,关于“不可见”的一个很有趣的事情是 我们不能看见的东西 我们也不能理解。
Gravity is one thing that we can't see, and which we don't understand. 重力就是一个我们看不见的东西, 对于它我们也不理解。
It's the least understood of all the four fundamental forces, and the weakest. 在四种基本力中它是最神秘的, 也是最弱的。
fundamental:n.基础; adj.十分重大的;
And nobody really knows what it is or why it's there. 也没有人知道它是什么,为何存在。
For what it's worth, Sir Issac Newton , the greatest scientist who ever lived, he thought Jesus came to earth specifically to operate the levers of gravity. 姑且不论真假,艾萨克·牛顿爵士,史上最伟大的科学家, 他认为耶稣降临仅仅是为了操纵重力的杠杆。
Newton:n.牛顿(英国科学家);牛顿(力的单位); Jesus:int.上帝啊:天哪:n.耶稣:耶稣基督: specifically:adv.特别地;明确地; levers:n.杠杆;手段(lever的复数);v.用杠杆撬动(lever的第三人称单数);
That's what he thought he was there for. 他认为这就是耶稣的使命。
So, bright guy, could be wrong on that one, I don't know. 所以,再聪明的人,在那里也可能出错,（反正）我不知道。
(Laughter) （笑声）
Consciousness . I see all your faces. 意识。我看得见你们的脸。
Consciousness:n.意识;知觉;觉悟;感觉;
I have no idea what any of you are thinking. Isn't that amazing? 我不知道你们中的任何一个人在想什么,这难道不令人惊讶吗？
I have no idea:我没有头绪…;
Isn't that incredible that we can't read each other's minds. 我们不能阅读他人的想法,这难道不是很不可思议吗？
incredible:adj.难以置信的,惊人的;
But we can touch each other, taste each other perhaps, if we get close enough. 但是我们可以相互触摸,也可能相互亲热,如果我们足够亲密。
But we can't read each other's minds. I find that quite astonishing . 但是我们不能知道对方在想什么。我觉得这很让人惊讶。
astonishing:adj.令人十分惊讶的;v.使十分惊讶;使吃惊;(astonish的现在分词)
In the Sufi faith , this great Middle-Eastern religion, which some claim is the route of all religions, 在中东的宗教派别苏菲派的信仰中—— 有些人认为苏菲派是一切宗教的根源,
faith:n.信心;信任;宗教信仰; claim:v.要求;声称;需要;认领;n.要求;声称;索赔;断言;值得; route:n.路线;路途;固定线路;途径;v.按某路线发送;
Sufi masters are all telepaths, so they say. 据说,苏菲长老都懂读心术
But their main exercise of telepathy is to send out powerful signals to the rest of us that it doesn't exist. 但是他们使用心灵感应的主要目的 就是向外界传达这样一个强有力的信号:它不存在。
telepathy:n.心灵感应;传心术;
So that's why we don't think it exists, the Sufi masters working on us. 所以也就不难理解为什么我们不相信读心术的存在, 是苏菲长老们对我们干的好事。
In the question of consciousness and artificial intelligence . 谈到意识 和人工智能。
artificial intelligence:n.人工智能;
Artificial intelligence has really, like the study of consciousness, gotten nowhere . We have no idea how consciousness works. 人工智能的研究如同对于意识的研究一样, 毫无进展。我们完全不知道意识是如何运作的。
nowhere:v.无处; n.无处; adj.不存在的;
With artificial intelligence, not only have they not created artificial intelligence, they haven't yet created artificial stupidity . 使用人工智能技术不仅没有创造出人工智能, 也没有创造出“人工愚蠢”。
stupidity:n.愚蠢;糊涂事;
(Laughter) （笑声）
The laws of physics: invisible, eternal , omnipresent , all powerful. 物理学的定理:不可见,永恒,无处不在,全部都拥有强大的力量。
eternal:adj.永恒的;不朽的; omnipresent:adj.无所不在的;
Remind you of anyone? 让你们想起了什么？
Remind:v.提醒;使想起;
Interesting. I'm, as you can guess, not a materialist , I'm an immaterialist. 这很有趣。正如你们所想, 我不是一个唯物主义者,我是一个非唯物主义者。
materialist:n.唯物主义者;实利主义者;
And I've found a very useful new word, ignostic. Okay? 我发现了一个非常有用的新词:“忽视主义者”(ignostic)
I'm an ignostic. 我就是一个“忽视主义者”。
I refuse to be drawn on the question of whether God exists, until somebody properly defines the terms. 我不会为上帝是否存在这样的问题而纠缠不休, 直到有人把“上帝”准确的定义。
defines:v.阐明;明确;界定;画出…的线条;描出…的外形(define的第三人称单数)
(Laughter) （笑声）
Another thing we can't see is the human genome . 另外一个我们看不见的东西是人类基因图谱。
genome:n.基因组;染色体组;
And this is increasingly peculiar . 而且它变的越来越奇怪。
increasingly:adv.越来越多地;渐增地; peculiar:adj.特殊的;独特的;奇怪的;罕见的;n.特权;特有财产;
Because about 20 years ago, when they started delving into the genome, they thought it would probably contain around 100 thousand genes . 因为20年前,当人们着手探究基因图谱时, 当时预计人类基因组会包含大概10万个基因。
delving:v.(在手提包、容器等中)翻找;(delve的现在分词) genes:n.基因;(gene的复数)
Geneticists will know this, but every year since, it's been revised downwards . 遗传学者对这个比较熟悉,但是从那以后每年, 人们都在降低预估的基因数量。
Geneticists:n.遗传学者; revised:v.改变;修改;复习;温习;(revise的过去分词和过去式) downwards:adv.向下,往下;
We now think there are likely to be only just over 20 thousand genes in the human genome. 我们现在认为可能只有差不多2万种基因 存在于人类的基因组中。
This is extraordinary . Because rice, get this, rice is known to have 38 thousand genes. 这很离奇。就拿稻谷来说, 稻谷拥有3万8千种基因。
extraordinary:adj.非凡的;特别的;离奇的;临时的;特派的;
Potatoes, potatoes have 48 chromosomes . Do you know that? 马铃薯拥有48对染色体。你们知道吗？
chromosomes:n.[遗][细胞][染料]染色体(chromosome的复数形式);
Two more than people. 比人类染色体数多2个
And the same a gorilla . 大猩猩也是一样的数目
gorilla:大猩猩
(Laughter) （笑声）
You can't see these things. But they are very strange. 你看不见这些东西。但是它们确实存在,很奇怪。
(Laughter) （笑声）
The stars by day. I always think that's fascinating . 白天的星星。我总是认为它令人着迷。
fascinating:adj.极有吸引力的;迷人的;v.深深吸引;迷住;(fascinate的现在分词)
The universe disappears. 好像宇宙消失了一般。
The more light there is, the less you can see. 光线越强,你能看到的反而越少。
Time, nobody can see time. 时间,没有人可以看见时间。
I don't know if you know this. Modern physics, there is a big movement in modern physics to decide that time doesn't really exist. 我不知道你们是否了解。 现代物理学的一个重大突破 就是确定了时间是不存在的。
Because it's to inconvenient for the figures. 因为它很难转换到数字模型中。
inconvenient:adj.不便的;打扰的;
It's much easier if it's not really there. 所以干脆不存在,这样就省事多了。
You can't see the future, obviously. 显然,你不能看见未来。
And you can't see the past, except in your memory. 你也无法看见过去,除了在你的记忆中。
One of the interesting things about the past is you particularly can't see, my son asked me this the other day , he said, "Dad can you remember what I was like when I was two?" 你尤其不能看见的 关于过去的一个有意思的事情是,我儿子一天问我, 他说,“爸爸,你能记得我两岁时候的样子吗？”
particularly:adv.特别地,独特地;详细地,具体地;明确地,细致地; the other day:不久前某一天;几天以前;
And I said "Yes." And he said, "Why can't I?" 我说:“可以啊。”他说:“为什么我不行呢？”
Isn't that extraordinary? You can not remember what happened to you earlier than the age of two or three. 这难道不奇怪吗？你记不得 你两三岁之前的事情。
Which is great news for psychoanalysts . 不过对于心理分析学家这却是一个好消息。
psychoanalysts:n.精神分析学家;(psychoanalysts是psychoanalyst的复数);
Because otherwise they'd be out of a job. 因为否则的话它们就要失业了。
Because that's where all the stuff happens 因为所有的事情都是那段时间发生的
(Laughter) （笑声）
that makes you who you are. 使得你变成了今天这样。
Another thing you can't see is the grid , on which we hang. 另一个不可见的东西是我们依赖的网格。
grid:n.网格;格子,栅格;输电网;
This is fascinating. You probably know, some of you, that cells are continually renewed . You can see it in skin and this kind of stuff. 这很有趣。你们中的某些人也许知道, 细胞是不断的更新的。你可以在皮肤和其他的外部器官上看到这种情况。
continually:adv.不断地;频繁地; renewed:adj.再次发生的; v.重新开始; (renew的过去分词和过去式)
Skin flakes off, hairs grow, nails, that kind of stuff. 皮屑脱落,头发生长,指甲,诸如此类。
flakes:n.鳞片;白点;发裂;
But every cell in your body is replaced at some point. 但是你身体里的细胞在某一个时刻也会更新。
Tastebuds , every 10 days or so. 味蕾,大概十天左右（更新）。
Tastebuds:n.[解]味蕾;
Livers and internal organs sort of take a bit longer. A spine takes several years. 肝脏和其他内部器官可能会长一点。脊椎要几年。
Livers:n.肝脏(liver的复数); internal:n.内脏;本质;adj.内部的;里面的;体内的;(机构)内部的; organs:n.[生物]器官;机构;风琴(organ的复数); spine:n.脊柱,脊椎;刺;书脊;
But at the end of seven years, not one cell in your body remains from what was there seven years ago. 不过七年之后,你身体里的每一个细胞 都和七年前不再一样了。
The question is, who, then, are we? 那么问题就是,我们是谁？
What are we? What is this thing that we hang on, that is actually us? 我们是什么,我们一直依赖的这个东西是什么, 还真的是我们本身吗？
Okay. Atoms , you can't see them. 原子,我们无法看见。
Atoms:n.[物]原子(atom的复数);
Nobody every will. They're smaller than the wavelength of light. 没人可以看见。它们比光的波长还要小
wavelength:n.[物]波长;
Gas, you can't see that. 气体,也不可见。
Interesting. Somebody mentioned 1600 recently. 有意思。有人最近提到了1600年。
Gas was invented in 1600 by a Dutch chemist called Van Helmont. Gas（气体）这个字在1600年 被一个叫Van Helmont的荷兰化学家发明。
Dutch:adj.荷兰的; n.荷兰人; v.费用平摊地; chemist:n.化学家;药剂师;药房;化学师;
It's said to be the most successful ever invention of a word by a known individual . 这被认为是有史以来个人发明的 最成功的一个字。
individual:n.个人;有个性的人;adj.单独的;个别的;
Quite good. He also invented a word called blass , meaning astral radiation . 非常不错。他还发明了一个字叫blass, 意即星的辐射。
blass:adj.(德)苍白的; astral:adj.星的;星际的;精神世界的; radiation:n.辐射;放射线;放射疗法;
Didn't catch on, unfortunately . 很遗憾,这个词没有流行起来。
unfortunately:adv.不幸地;
(Laughter) （笑声）
But well done , him. 不过他还是干的很棒。
well done:好样的,干得好;
(Laughter) （笑声）
There is so many things that -- Light. 这样的例子太多了——光。
You can't see light. When it's dark, in a vacuum , if a person shines a beam of light straight across your eyes, you won't see it. Slightly technical , some physicists will disagree with this. 你不能看见光。当黑暗的情况下,在真空中, 如果有人在你的眼前正方发射出一道光, 你是不会看见的。有一点专业了,一些物理学家不会赞同这个观点。
vacuum:n.真空; adj.真空的; v.用真空吸尘器清扫; beam:n.光线; v.发射(电波); technical:adj.工艺的,科技的;技术上的;专门的; physicists:n.物理学家;机械唯物论者(physicist的复数);
But it's odd that you can't see the beam of light, you can only see what it hits. 不过奇怪的是你不能看见这束光, 你只能看到它击中的地方。
odd:adj.古怪的;奇数的;n.奇数;
I find that extraordinary, not to be able to see light, not to be able to see darkness. 我发现这个很奇妙,不能看见光, 不能看见黑暗。
Electricity , you can't see that. 电,你看不见电。
Electricity:n.电力;电流;强烈的紧张情绪;
Don't let anyone tell you they understand electricity. 别相信任何人跟你说的电是怎么一回事
They don't. Nobody knows what it is. 他们不懂。没人知道是怎么回事。
(Laughter) （笑声）
You probably think the electrons in an electric wire move instantaneously down a wire, don't you, at the speed of light when you turn the light on. They don't. 你也许认为在你开灯的刹那,电子在电线中 以光速瞬间流过整条电线,是吗？ 实际上不是。
instantaneously:adv.即刻;突如其来地;
Electrons bumble down the wire, about the speed of spreading honey, they say. 电子在电线中笨拙的移动, 据说和蜂蜜的流动速度差不多。
bumble:vi.犯错误;踉跄;结结巴巴地说话;vt.弄糟;搞坏;n.错误;
(Laughter) （笑声）
Galaxies , 100 billion of them, estimated in the universe. 星系,在宇宙种估计有1000亿之多
Galaxies:n.银河; (galaxy的复数) estimated:adj.估计的;预计的;估算的;
100 billion. How many can we see? Five. 1000亿。我们能看见几个？5个。
Five, out of the 100 billion galaxies, with the naked eye. 裸眼仅能观测1000亿中的5个。
naked:adj.裸体的;无装饰的;无证据的;直率的;
And one of them is quite difficult to see unless you've got very good eyesight . 而且如果你视力不好的话,有一个还很难看到。
eyesight:n.视力;目力;
Radio waves. There's another thing. 还有一个东西,无线电波。
Heinrich Hertz , when he discovered radio waves in 1887, he called them radio waves because they radiated . 海因里希·赫兹,他在1887年发现了无线电波, 他之所以叫它们无线电波是因为它们是辐射的。
Hertz:n.[物]赫兹(频率单位); radiated:adj.辐射的; v.辐射;
And somebody said to him, "Well what's the point of these Heinrich? 于是有人问他, “那这些又有什么意义呢,海因里希？
What's the point of these radio waves that you've found?" 你发现的这些无线电波有什么意义呢？”
And he said, "Well, I've no idea. 他说,“其实,我也不知道。
But I guess somebody will find a use for them someday." 不过我想以后应该会有人挖掘它们的用处吧。”
And that's what they do, radio. That's what they discovered. 这就是他们所做的,无线电,这就是他们所发现的。
Anyway, so, the biggest thing that's invisible to us is what we don't know. 总而言之,对我们而言 最大的不可见的事物就是我们不知道的。
It is incredible how little we know. 我们所知道的竟然是那么的少。
Thomas Edison once said, "We don't know one percent of one millionth about anything." 爱迪生曾说, 对于任何事情而言, 我们所知道的不过其百万分之一
millionth:n.百万分之一;第一百万;adj.百万分之一的;第一百万的;
And I've come to the conclusion because you've asked this other question, "What's another thing you can't see?" 于是我下了结论 因为你们已经问了另外一个问题,“还有什么东西我们看不见”
conclusion:n.结论;结局;推论;
The point, most of us. What's the point? 意义,对于我们大多数人来说,这番话到底有什么意义？（暗指大多数人都看不出这番演讲的实际意义）
(Laughter) （笑声）
(Applause) （掌声）
You can't see a point. It's, by definition , dimensionless , like an electron, oddly enough. 你不能看见“点”。根据定义,它是无尺寸的, 说来也怪,就像电子一样。
definition:n.定义;清晰度;(尤指词典里的词或短语的)释义;解释; dimensionless:adj.无量纲的;无因次的;深广无度的;无维的; oddly:adv.古怪地;奇妙地;单数地;
But, the point, what I've got it down to is there are only two questions really worth asking. 但是,我所讲说的意义在于, 只有两个问题真的值得我们探究。
'"Why are we here?" and "What should we do about it while we are? “我们为什么在这里？”和“当我们在这里时我们应该怎么办？”
And to help you, I've got two things to leave you with, from two great philosophers , perhaps two of the greatest philosopher thinkers of the 20th Century. 为了帮助大家,我留下两句话,来自两个伟大的哲学家, 也许是20世纪最伟大的两个思想者。
philosophers:n.哲学家(philosopher的复数);
One a mathematician and an engineer, and the other a poet. 一位是数学家和工程师,另一位是一位诗人。
mathematician:n.数学家;善作数字计算的人;
The first is Ludvig Vitgen?tajn who said, "I don't know why we are here. 第一位是Ludvig Vitgen?tajn,他说, “我不知道为什么我们会在这里。
But I'm pretty sure it's not in order to enjoy ourselves." 但是我敢说我们可不是过来寻开心的。”
(Laughter) （笑声）
He was a cheerful bastard wasn't he? 他是一个让人愉快的家伙是吧？
cheerful:adj.快乐的;愉快的;高兴的;
(Laughter) （笑声）
And secondly and lastly, W.H. Auden, one of my favorite poets, who said, "We are here on earth to help others. 最后一个,是W.H. Auden, 我最喜欢的诗人之一,他说, “我们来到世界上 以帮助他人。
What the others are here for, I've no idea." 至于他人为何来到这个世界上,我不知道。”
(Laughter) （笑声）
(Applause) （掌声）