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LeeSmolin_2003-_科学与民主的相似之处_
So about three years ago I was in London, and somebody called Howard Burton came to me and said, 我三年以前在伦敦 一个名叫霍华德·波顿的人找到我,跟我说
I represent a group of people, and we want to start an institute in theoretical physics. 我代表一部分人 我们想成立一个理论物理的研究所
represent:v.代表;表现;描绘;回忆;再赠送; institute:v.开始(调查);制定;创立;提起(诉讼);n.学会,协会;学院; theoretical:adj.理论的;理论上的;假设的;推理的;
We have about $120 million, and we want to do it well. 我们有1200万美元的资金,我们想把它做好
We want to be in the forefront fields, and we want to do it differently. 我们希望处在尖端领域 同时,我们会创新,让它与众不同
forefront:n.最前线,最前部;活动的中心;
We want to get out of this thing where the young people have all the ideas, and the old people have all the power and decide what science gets done. 我们要摆脱 年轻人充满想象力,但老家伙们掌握着权力 决定科学走向的现象
It took me about 25 seconds to decide that that was a good idea. 我思考了25秒钟,觉得这是个好主意
Three years later we have the Perimeter Institute for Theoretical Physics in Waterloo , Ontario . It’s the most exciting job I’ve ever had. 三年之后,我们在安大略省滑铁卢市成了 周长理论物理研究所 这是所经历过的最棒的工作
Perimeter:n.周长;周界;[眼科]视野计; Waterloo:n.滑铁卢(比利时城镇);比喻惨败,致命的打击; Ontario:n.安大略湖(北美五大湖之一);
And it’s the first time I’ve had a job where I’m afraid to go away because of everything that’s going to happen in this week when I’m here. 我第一次找到一份让我忘我投入的工作,我甚至担心离开它半步 因为当我这周在这里,那里任何事情都可能发生
(Laughter) (笑声)
But in any case , what I’m going to do in my little bit of time, is take you on a quick tour of some of the things that we talk about and we think about. 我要在我有限的演讲时间里 带你们快速参观下 我们在讨论和思考的一切
in any case:无论如何;
So we think a lot about what really makes science work? 对于是什么推动科学进步的,我们思考了很多
The first thing that anybody who knows science, and has been around science, is that the stuff you learn in school as a scientific method is wrong. There is no method. 首先,不管谁,只要了解科学 跟科学打过交道 就会知道,你在学校学习的所谓的科学方法 是错误的.根本没有方法.
stuff:n.东西:物品:基本特征:v.填满:装满:标本: scientific:adj.科学的,系统的;
On the other hand , somehow we manage to reason together, as a community , from incomplete evidence , to conclusions that we all agree about. 在另一方面,我们根据不完备的证明 在一起讨论问题 最终达到我们都同意的结论
On the other hand:另一方面; somehow:adv.以某种方法;莫名其妙地; community:n.社区;[生态]群落;共同体;团体; incomplete:n.未完成;adj.不完整的;不完全的;不完善的; evidence:n.证据,证明;迹象;明显;v.证明; conclusions:n.结论,总结;决定;(conclusion的复数)
And this is, by the way , is something that a democratic society also has to do. 这也是一个民主社会一定会做的事情
by the way:顺便说一下; democratic:adj.民主的;民主政治的;大众的;
So how does it work? 那么,这一套方法怎么就行得通呢?
Well, my belief is that it works because scientists are a community bound together by an ethic . 我认为,这套方法行得通 是因为科学家是一个通过共同理念联系在一起的群体
bound:n.跳跃:v.跳跃着跑:形成…的边界(或界限)adj.一定会:很可能会: ethic:n.伦理;道德规范;adj.伦理的;道德的(等于ethical);
And here are some of the ethical principles . 这儿列举了一些他们的理念
ethical:adj.伦理的;道德的;凭处方出售的;n.处方药; principles:n.原则;主义;本质;政策;(principle的复数)
I’m not going to read them all to you because I’m not in teacher mode, 我就不一一读了,毕竟我今天不是来教学的
I’m in entertain , amaze mode. 我是来娱乐的
entertain:v.娱乐;款待;使有兴趣;使快乐; amaze:v.使惊奇;使惊愕;使惊诧;n.(诗)同"amazement";
(Laughter) (笑声)
But one of the principles is that everybody who is part of the community gets to fight and argue as hard as they can for what they believe. 但这些理念中有一条 即:每一个科学家都会为了他们坚信正确的一切 据理力争,毫不含糊
But we’re all disciplined by the understanding that the only people who are going to decide, you know, whether I’m right or somebody else is right, are the people in our community in the next generation, in 30 and 50 years. 但我们也达成共识 即:有资格裁定 我的理论是否正确,其他人是否正确的人 只有我们30年后,50年后的 下一代科学家
disciplined:adj.遵守纪律的; v.训练; (discipline的过去式和过去分词)
So it’s this combination of respect for the tradition and community we’re in, and rebellion that the community requires to get anywhere, that makes science work. 因此,对于传统 和如今科学界的尊重 和科学界需要前进所必须的叛逆 这样的结合,推动着科学的发展
combination:n.结合;组合;联合;[化学]化合; rebellion:n.谋反;叛乱;反叛;反抗;叛逆;
And being in this process of being in a community that reasons from shared evidence to conclusions, 身处在这种发展模式下的学界 根据共享的条件进行推论,以达到结论
process:v.处理;加工;列队行进;n.过程,进行;方法,adj.经过特殊加工(或处理)的;
I believe, teaches us about democracy . 我相信,这个过程教给我们民主
democracy:n.民主,民主主义;民主政治;
Not only is there a relationship between the ethics of science and the ethics of being a citizen in democracy, but there has been, historically , a relationship 不仅仅科学的理念 和在民主社会中做一个公民的理念相关联 而且,自古以来
ethics:n.伦理学;伦理观;道德标准; historically:adv.历史上地;从历史观点上说;
between how people think about space and time, and what the cosmos is, and how people think about the society that they live in. 人们对空间,时间及宇宙的思考就和 人类考虑如何在社会中生存相关联
cosmos:n.宇宙;和谐;秩序;大波斯菊;
And I want to talk about three stages in that evolution . 我想讲一下该演变中的3个阶段
evolution:n.演变;进化;发展;渐进;
The first science of cosmology that was anything like science, was Aristotelian science, and that was hierarchical . 第一阶段的宇宙科学 是亚里士多德式科学,具有等级观念
cosmology:n.[天]宇宙论,[天]宇宙学; hierarchical:adj.分层的;等级体系的;
The earth is in the center, then there are these crystal spheres , the sun, the moon, the planets and finally the celestial sphere, where the stars are. And everything in this universe has a place. 地球位于中心,其次是这些水晶球体 有太阳,月球,行星,最后是恒星所在的天体 在宇宙中的一切事物都有自己固定的位置
crystal:n.水晶; adj.晶莹的; spheres:n.[数]球体(sphere的复数); v.把…放在球体内(sphere的第三人称单数形式); finally:adv.终于;最终;(用于列举)最后;彻底地; celestial:adj.天上的,天空的;n.神仙,天堂里的居民;
And Aristotle’s law of motion was that everything goes to its natural place, which was of course, the rule of the society that Aristotle lived in, and more importantly, the medieval society that through Christianity , embraced Aristotle and blessed it. 亚里士多德的运动法则认为 一切事物都各得其所,这当然 是亚里士多德生活的那个时代的社会法则 更重要的是,信仰基督教的中世纪社会 支持亚里士多德,推崇这样的社会法则
motion:n.动作;移动;手势;请求;意向;议案;v.运动;打手势; Aristotle:n.亚里士多德; medieval:adj.中世纪的;原始的;仿中世纪的;老式的; Christianity:n.基督教;基督教精神,基督教教义; embraced:v.拥抱;欣然接受,乐意采纳;信奉;包含;(embrace的过去分词和过去式) blessed:adj.神圣的; v.求上帝降福于; (bless的过去分词和过去式)
And the idea is that everything is defined . 其思想是:相对于这最后一层天体
defined:adj.有定义的,确定的; v.使明确;
Where something is, is defined with respect to this last sphere, the celestial sphere, outside of which is this eternal , perfect realm , where lives God, who is the ultimate judge of everything. 一切事物都是确定的,事物的位置也是确定的 在天体之外,是永恒完美的天国 那里住着上帝 他将对一切做最终的审判
with respect:怀有敬意; eternal:adj.永恒的;不朽的; realm:n.领域,范围;王国; ultimate:adj.最终的;极限的;根本的;n.终极;根本;基本原则;
So that is both Aristotelian cosmology, and in a certain sense, medieval society. 这就是亚里士多德式的宇宙学 在一定程度上,也就是中世纪的社会
Now, in the 17th century there was a revolution in thinking about space and time and motion, and so forth, of Newton . 在17世纪,牛顿引起了对于 空间,时间及运动等问题的研究的革命
revolution:n.革命;旋转;运行;循环; Newton:n.牛顿(英国科学家);牛顿(力的单位);
And at the same time there was a revolution in social thought of John Locke and his collaborators . 在同一时期,约翰·洛克和他的合作伙伴 引起了社会思想的变革
at the same time:同时;另一方面;与此同时; collaborators:n.[劳经]合作者;投敌者(collaborator的复数);
And they were very closely associated . 这两个变革紧密相关
associated:adj.有关联的; v.联想; (associate的过去分词和过去式)
In fact, Newton and Locke were friends. 实际上,牛顿和洛克就是朋友
Their way of thinking about space and time and motion on the one hand , and a society on the other hand, were closely related. 他们一方面对空间,时间,运动进行思考 另一方面,对社会进行考量,他们思考的方法密切相关
on the one hand:一方面;
And let me show you. 我解释给你们听
In a Newtonian universe, there’s no center -- thank you. 牛顿式的宇宙没有中心----谢谢
There are particles and they move around with respect to a fixed, absolute framework of space and time. 粒子存在着 他们相对于一个固定绝对的时空,在其周围运动
particles:n.微粒,粒子;粒子系统;碎木料(particle的复数形式); move around:v.走来走去;绕着…来回转;
It’s meaningful to say absolutely where something is in space, because that’s defining , not with respect to say, where other things are, but with respect to this absolute notion of space, which for Newton was God. 在空间中指出物体的绝对位置并非没有意义 因为这种定义并不是相对于其它一般的事物 而是相对于绝对的宇宙空间而言 在牛顿看来,就是相对上帝而言
meaningful:adj.严肃的;重要的;重大的;意味深长的; absolutely:adv.绝对地;完全地; defining:v.解释(词语)的含义;给(词语)下定义;阐明;界定;(define的现在分词) notion:n.观念;信念;理解;
Now, similarly , in Locke’s society there are individuals who have certain rights, properties in a formal sense, and those are defined with respect to some absolute, 同样,类似的,在洛克式的社会中, 一些人有相对的权利,一定形式的资产 另一些人被视为拥有
similarly:adv.同样地;类似于; individuals:n.[经]个人;[生物]个体(individual的复数); formal:adj.适合正式场合的; n.(美)须穿礼服的社交集会; (口)夜礼服;
abstract notions of rights and justice , and so forth, which are independent of what else is happening in the society. 绝对的,抽象的权利,公正,等等等等 这些特权独立存在,不受社会规律,任何个人,
abstract:n.摘要; adj.抽象的; vt.摘要; vi.做摘要; notions:n.观念(notion的复数);小商品; justice:n.公平;公正;司法制度;审判; independent of:不依赖…的;不受…支配的;
Of who else there is, of the history and so forth. 历史等的约束
There is also an omniscient observer who knows everything, who is God, who is in a certain sense outside the universe, because he has no role in anything that happens, but is in a certain sense everywhere, because space is just the way that God knows where everything is, according to Newton, OK? 存在着一位全知全能的观察者 他通晓一切,他就是上帝 他在一定意义上讲,处在宇宙之外 因为他不存在于世界上 但从另一些角度上看,他又无处不在 因为通过空间,上帝知道一切事物的确切位置 这是根据牛顿的理论得出的
omniscient:adj.全知的;无所不知的;n.上帝;无所不知者; observer:n.观察员;观察者;观察家;观测者; according to:根据,据说;
So this is the foundations of what’s called, traditionally , liberal political theory and Newtonian physics. 这就是所谓的传统自由政治理论 和牛顿物理学的基础
foundations:n.基础;地基;基金会;粉底;(foundations是foundation的复数) traditionally:adv.传统上;习惯上;传说上; liberal:adj.宽宏大度的; n.理解且尊重他人意见的人;
Now, in the 20th century we had a revolution that was initiated at the beginning of the 20th century, and which is still going on. 到了20世纪 在20世纪之初,发生了一场变革 且这场变革直到今天仍在继续
initiated:v.开始;发起;创始;使了解;传授;吸收;(initiate的过去式和过去分词) at the beginning of:在…的开始;
It was begun with the invention of relativity theory and quantum theory . 相对论和量子物理的诞生 引发了这场变革
relativity:n.相对论;相关性;相对性; quantum theory:n.量子理论;
And merging them together to make the final quantum theory of space and time and gravity, is the culmination of that, something that’s going on right now. 两者结合,最终成就了时空量子理论 万有引力是这一理论的顶峰 直到今天亦是如此
merging:v.合并,结合,并入;相融;(merge的现在分词) culmination:n.顶点;高潮;
And in this universe there’s nothing fixed and absolute. Zilch , OK. 在宇宙中,没有任何事物是固定绝对的.完全没有
Zilch:n.零,无;无价值之物;小人物;
This universe is described by being a network of relationships. 宇宙是一张联系的网络
described:v.描述;形容;把…称为;做…运动;(describe的过去分词和过去式)
Space is just one aspect so there’s no meaning to say, absolutely where something is. 空间只是一方面,所以 说某个事物的绝对位置是没有意义的
aspect:n.方面;层面;外观;方位;
There’s only where it is relative to everything else that is. 事物的存在只有相对位置
relative:adj.相对的;有关系的;成比例的;n.亲戚;相关物;[语]关系词;亲缘植物;
And this network of relations is ever evolving . 而且,这张联系的网络还在不断地发展,
evolving:v.(使)逐渐形成,逐渐演变;进化形成;(evolve的现在分词)
So we call it a relational universe. 因此,我们称之为 联系的宇宙
relational:adj.相关的;亲属的;
All properties of things are about these kinds of relationships. 所有事物的固有属性都在这些联系之中
And also, if you’re embedded in such a network of relationships, your view of the world has to do with what information comes to you through the network of relations. 如果你身处在这种联系网络中 你的世界观和通过这联系的网络 得到的的信息有直接联系
embedded:adj.嵌入式的;植入的;内含的;v.嵌入(embed的过去式和过去分词形式);
And there’s no place for an omniscient observer or an outside intelligence knowing everything and making everything. 不存在全知全能的观察者 通晓一切的局外人,或是独立存在的造物主
intelligence:n.智力;智慧;才智;(尤指关于敌国的)情报;
So this is general relativity, this is quantum theory. 这是一般相对论,量子理论
This is also, if you talk to legal scholars , the foundations of new ideas in legal thought. 如果你去问法律专家 这还是新法律理论的基础
legal:adj.法律的;合法的;法定的; scholars:n.学者们(scholar的复数);
They’re thinking about the same things. 他们所研究的都是相同的
And not only that , they make the analogy to relativity theory and cosmology often. 不仅如此,他们还经常 与相对论,宇宙学进行类比
only that:只是;要不是; analogy:n.类比;类推;类似;
So there’s an interesting discussion going on there. 一个有趣的讨论就此诞生
This last view of cosmology is called the relational view. 我们刚刚提到的宇宙学观点是联系的观点
So the main slogan here is that there’s nothing outside the universe, which means that there’s no place to put an explanation for something outside. 它主要鼓吹的是,宇宙之外别无其他任何东西 这意味着,宇宙之外的一切 是不可知的
slogan:n.口号;标语;
So in such a relational universe, if you come upon something that’s ordered and structured , like this device here, or that device there, or something beautiful, like all the living things, all of you guys in the room -- "guys" in physics, by the way, is a generic term; men and women. 在这样一个联系的宇宙之中 每当你看见一些有规律可循,结构完整的的事物 比如这些设备 或是一些美妙的事物,如所有的生命 以及在座的伙计们 伙计们 是泛指,指的是男人和女人
structured:adj.有结构的;有组织的;v.组织;构成(structure的过去分词);建造; device:n.装置;策略;图案; generic:adj.类的;一般的;属的;非商标的;
(Laughter) (笑声)
Then you want to know, you’re a person, you want to know how is it made. 作为一个人 你会想知道这些事物是怎么产生的
And in a relational universe the only possible explanation was, somehow it made itself. 而在联系的宇宙中,唯一可能的解释,就是通过某种途径,它们制造了自己
There must be mechanisms of self-organization inside the universe that make things. 在宇宙中一定存在一种自我组织结构 通过该机构,万物被创造
mechanisms:n.机制;[机]机构(mechanism的复数);机械;[机]机构学;
Because there’s no place to put a maker outside, as there was in the Aristotelian and the Newtonian universe. 因为不存在宇宙外的造物主 这点不同于亚里士多德式和牛顿式的宇宙
So in a relational universe we must have processes of self-organization. 在联系的宇宙中,我们肯定有自己组织的过程
processes:n.过程; v.处理(process的第三人称单数形式);
Now, Darwin taught us that there are processes of self-organization, that suffice to explain all of us and everything we see. 达尔文告诉我们,自我组织的过程是存在的 是丰富的,能够解释我们自己本身,以及我们看到的一切
suffice:vt.使满足;足够…用;合格;vi.足够;有能力;
So it works. But not only that, if you think about how natural selection works, then it turns out that natural selection would only make sense in such a relational universe. 自我组织理论行得通.不仅如此 当你思考自然选择理论如何起作用时 你会发现,自然选择理论 只适用于这样一个联系的宇宙
natural selection:n.自然选择;物竞天择;
That is, natural selection works on properties, like fitness , which are about relationships of some species to some other species. 即:自然选择理论适用于物体的固有属性 如健康状况关系到 物种与物种之间的联系
fitness:n.健康;适当;适合性; species:n.[生物]物种;种类;
Darwin wouldn’t make sense in an Aristotelian universe, and wouldn’t really make sense in a Newtonian universe. 达尔文理论在亚里士多德的宇宙中讲不通 在牛顿式的宇宙中也讲不通
So a theory of biology based on natural selection requires a relational notion of what are the properties of biological systems. 因此,基于自然选择的生物学理论 需要联系的概念 要知道生物系统的固有属性
biology:n.(一个地区全部的)生物;生物学; 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;
And if you push that all the way down, really, it makes the best sense in a relational universe where all properties are relational. 更进一步 自然选择法则最适合联系的宇宙 在这样的宇宙中,所有的固有属性都是联系的
Now, not only that, but Einstein taught us that gravity is the result of the world being relational. 不仅如此,爱因斯坦告诉我们 万有引力是世界万物相互联系的结果
If it wasn’t for gravity, there wouldn’t be life, because gravity causes stars to form and live for a very long time, keeping pieces of the world, like the surface of the Earth, out of thermal equilibrium for billions of years so life can evolve . 如果没有引力,生命将不存在 万有引力促使寿命极长的恒星得以形成 防止世界各地,如地球表面 处于热平衡状态,达几十亿年之久,使生命可以发展延续
thermal:adj.热的;热量的;保热的;n.上升的热气流; equilibrium:n.均衡;平静;保持平衡的能力; evolve:v.(使)逐渐形成;进化;进化形成;
In the 20th century, we saw the independent development of two big themes in science. 在20世纪 我们看到了科学中两大主要课题的独立发展
In the biological sciences, they explored the implications of the notion that order and complexity and structure arise in a self-organized way. 在生物学中,人们探索了 在自我组织的过程中所呈现的有序性,复杂性 和结构性的隐含意义
explored:v.探索;勘探;考察;探险;(explore的过去式和过去分词) implications:n.蕴涵式;暗指,暗示;含蓄,含意;卷入(implication的复数); complexity:n.复杂性;难以理解的局势 arise:v.出现;发生;产生;起身; self-organized:adj.自组织的;自发的;
That was the triumph of Neo-Darwinism and so forth. 这是新达尔文主义的成就
triumph:v.战胜;成功;打败;n.巨大成功;重大成就;伟大胜利;喜悦;
And slowly, that idea is leaking out to the cognitive sciences, the human sciences, economics, et cetera . 渐渐地,这种理论渗透到了认知学 人类学,经济学等领域中
leaking:v.渗漏;泄露(秘密信息);走漏;(leak的现在分词) cognitive:adj.认知的,认识的; et cetera:na.以及其他;
At the same time, we physicists have been busy trying to make sense of and build on and integrate the discoveries of quantum theory and relativity. 同时,我们物理学家 正在努力地理解 研究,整合量子理论 和相对论的发现
physicists:n.物理学家;机械唯物论者(physicist的复数); make sense of:搞清…的意思; integrate:v.成为一体;(使)加入;adj.完全的;
And what we’ve been working out is the implications, really, of the idea that the universe is made up of relations. 根据我们的研究,发现隐含的意义中 的确有宇宙是由联系组成的意思
made up of:由…组成,由…构成;
21st-century science is going to be driven by the integration of these two ideas: the triumph of relational ways of thinking about the world, on the one hand, 21世纪的科学 将被这两种思维的结合体所主导 一方面是以联系的观点 思考世界
integration:n.集成;综合;
and self-organization or Darwinian ways of thinking about the world, about the world, on the other hand. 另一方面是以自我组织或达尔文式的方法 研究世界
Darwinian:adj.达尔文的;达尔文学说的;n.进化论者;
And also, it is that in the 21st century our thinking about space and time and cosmology, and our thinking about society are both going to continue to evolve. 在21世纪 我们对于时空和宇宙的研究 以及我们对社会的研究,都将继续发展
And what they’re evolving towards is the union of these two big ideas, Darwinism and relationalism. 而他们的发展方向 就是两大思维的结合:达尔文主义和联系主义
Darwinism:n.达尔文主义;进化论;达尔文学说;
Now, if you think about democracy from this perspective , a new pluralistic notion of democracy would be one that recognizes that there are many different interests, many different agendas , many different individuals, many different points of view. 如果从这一角度看待民主 民主的多元化含义将得以呈现,即:认识到 存在多种不同的利益,不同的计划 不同的个人,不同的观点
perspective:n.观点;远景;透视图;adj.透视的; pluralistic:adj.兼职的;兼管数个教堂的; recognizes:v.认识;认出;辨别出;承认;意识到;(recognize的第三人称单数) agendas:n.会议议程(agenda的复数);
Each one is incomplete, because you’re embedded in a network or relationships. 每一个都是不完备的,因为我们置身于 一个联系的网络中
Any actor in a democracy is embedded in a network of relationships. 任何一个民主的参与者,都身处在 一个联系的网络中
And you understand some things better than other things, and because of that there’s a continual jostling and give and take , which is politics . 一些人可能是某些领域的行家 因此,存在着不断地竞争 给予和索取,那就是政治
continual:adj.持续不断的;频繁的; jostling:v.(在人群中)挤,推,撞,搡;(jostle的现在分词) give and take:n.妥协;互让;意见交换; politics:n.政治;钩心斗角;政治观点;v.(贬)从事政治活动;(politic的第三人称单数)
And politics is, in the ideal sense, the way in which we continually address our network of relations in order to achieve a better life, and a better society. 政治,从理论上讲 就是我们不断讨论 我们自己本身的联系网络 为了走向更好的生活,创造更好的社会
continually:adv.不断地;频繁地;
And I also think that science will never go away and -- 我认为科学永远在我们身边
I’m finishing on this line. 我讲完这句就结束
(Laughter) (笑声)
In fact, I’m finished. Science will never go away. 实际上,我已经讲完了.科学永远在我们身边.