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RichardDawkins_2005G-_谈奇妙的宇宙_
My title: " Queerer than we can suppose : the strangeness of science." 我所演讲的题目是:“超乎想象的奇妙:科学的奇异之处。”
Queerer:可疑的;(身体)不舒服的;古怪的(queer的比较级); suppose:v.推断:假定:假设:设想: strangeness:n.陌生;冷淡;[高能]奇异性;
'"Queerer than we can suppose" comes from J.B.S. Haldane, the famous biologist , who said, "Now, my own suspicion is that the universe is not only queerer than we suppose, but queerer than we can suppose. “超乎想象的的奇妙”这一概念来自于J.B.S.霍尔丹。
biologist:n.生物学家; suspicion:n.怀疑;嫌疑;疑心;一点儿;v.怀疑;
I suspect that there are more things in heaven and earth than are dreamed of, or can be dreamed of, in any philosophy ."
suspect:n.犯罪嫌疑人;v.怀疑;不信任;adj.可疑的; philosophy:n.哲学;哲理;人生观;
Richard Feynman compared the accuracy of quantum theories -- experimental predictions -- to specifying the width of North America to within one hair's breadth of accuracy.
compared:adj.比较的,对照的; v.相比; (compare的过去式和过去分词) accuracy:n.[数]精确度,准确性; quantum:n.量子论;额;美国昆腾公司(世界领先的硬盘生产商); experimental:adj.实验的;根据实验的;试验性的; predictions:n.预测,预言(prediction复数形式); specifying:v.具体说明;明确规定;详述;详列;(specify的现在分词) width:n.宽度;广度;某一宽度的材料;(游泳池两长边之间的)池宽; North America:n.北美洲;
This means that quantum theory has got to be, in some sense, true.
quantum theory:n.量子理论;
Yet the assumptions that quantum theory needs to make in order to deliver those predictions are so mysterious that even Feynman himself was moved to remark , "If you think you understand quantum theory, you don't understand quantum theory." 然而量子理论为了实现这些预言所做出的假设 以至于费曼本人都不得不这样评论,
assumptions:n.假定;假设;承担;获得;(assumption的复数) mysterious:adj.神秘的;不可思议的;难解的; remark:v.评论;谈论;说起;n.评述;言论;谈论;引人注目;
It's so queer that physicists resort to one or another paradoxical interpretation of it. 并且不同的物种生活在不同的世界当中,
physicists:n.物理学家;机械唯物论者(physicist的复数); resort:n.度假胜地;诉诸;采取;旅游胜地;v.去;凭藉; paradoxical:adj.矛盾的;诡论的;似非而是的; interpretation:n.解释;翻译;演出;
David Deutsch , who's talking here, in "The Fabric of Reality,"
Deutsch:adj.德国的; Fabric:n.织物;布料;(社会,机构等的)结构;
embraces the many-worlds interpretation of quantum theory, because the worst that you can say about it is that it's preposterously wasteful . 因为你能够对“多重世界”理论最差的评价也只能是 毫无根据的废话而已。
embraces:v.拥抱;乐意采纳(思想、建议等);信奉;包括;(embrace的第三人称单数) preposterously:adv.荒谬地;不合理地; wasteful:adj.浪费的,不经济的;奢侈的;
It postulates a vast and rapidly growing number of universes existing in parallel , mutually undetectable , except through the narrow porthole of quantum mechanical experiments. 它假设了存在着数目巨大并且在不断增加的平行宇宙, 除非通过精妙的量子力学实验。
postulates:n.假设; v.假定(postulate的第三人称单数); universes:语义层;此生彼世; parallel:adj.平行的; v.与…相似; n.极其相似的人(或情况、事件等); mutually:adv.互相地;互助; undetectable:adj.发现不了的;无法觉察的; narrow:adj.狭窄的; v.使窄小; n.峡谷; (场所,物品等的)狭窄部分; porthole:n.舷窗;炮眼;汽门;检查孔; mechanical:adj.机械的;力学的;呆板的;无意识的;手工操作的;
And that's Richard Feynman.
The biologist Lewis Wolpert believes that the queerness of modern physics is just an extreme example.
queerness:n.奇异;不快; extreme:adj.极端的;极度的;偏激的;尽头的;n.极端;末端;最大程度;极端的事物;
Science, as opposed to technology , does violence to common sense .
opposed:adj.强烈反对; v.反对(计划、政策等); (oppose的过去分词和过去式) technology:n.技术;工艺;术语; violence:n.暴力;侵犯;激烈;歪曲; common sense:adj.常识的;有生活经验得来的;
Every time you drink a glass of water, he points out, the odds are that you will imbibe at least one molecule that passed through the bladder of Oliver Cromwell. 你就很可能喝到了至少一个分子 是当年曾经过克伦威尔膀胱的。（笑声）
odds:n.几率;胜算;不平等;差别; imbibe:vt.吸收,接受;喝;吸入; molecule:n.[化学]分子;微小颗粒,微粒; bladder:n.膀胱;皮囊,气囊(如球胆);
(Laughter)
It's just elementary probability theory. 这仅仅是最基础的概率论。
elementary:adj.基本的;初级的;[化学]元素的; probability:n.可能性;机率;[数]或然率;
(Laughter)
The number of molecules per glassful is hugely greater than the number of glassfuls, or bladdersful, in the world. 世界上所有杯子或膀胱的数量。
molecules:n.[化学]分子,微粒;[化学]摩尔(molecule的复数);
And of course, there's nothing special about Cromwell or bladders -- you have just breathed in a nitrogen atom that passed through the right lung of the third iguanodon to the left of the tall cycad tree. 曾经穿过那颗高大的铁树左边的 第三只禽龙的右肺。
bladders:n.膀胱;皮囊,气囊(如球胆);(bladder的复数) nitrogen:n.氮;氮气; atom:n.原子; iguanodon:n.禽龙(恐龙的一种);
'"Queerer than we can suppose."
What is it that makes us capable of supposing anything, and does this tell us anything about what we can suppose? 有没有什么能够使我们有能力想象到一切 并且能够告诉我们与这些能够想到的东西有关的一切的玩艺？
capable:adj.能干的,能胜任的;有才华的; supposing:conj.假如;不妨去…吧;v.假使;让;猜想(suppose的ing形式);
Are there things about the universe that will be forever beyond our grasp , but not beyond the grasp of some superior intelligence ?
grasp:n.抓住;理解;控制;v.抓住;领会; superior:n.上级;上司;adj.(在品质上)更好的;占优势的;更胜一筹的; intelligence:n.智力;智慧;才智;(尤指关于敌国的)情报;
Are there things about the universe that are, in principle , ungraspable by any mind, however superior? 原则上不能被任何人所理解的宇宙呢？ 不管多么高等的的智慧都无法理解。
in principle:大体上,原则上;
The history of science has been one long series of violent brainstorms , as successive generations have come to terms with increasing levels of queerness in the universe. 科学史长期伴随着猛烈的头脑风暴,
series:n.系列,连续;[电]串联;级数;丛书; violent:adj.暴力的;猛烈的; brainstorms:n.集思广益; vt.集体讨论; vi.集体讨论; successive:adj.连续的;继承的;依次的;接替的; come to terms with:达成协议;让步;
We're now so used to the idea that the Earth spins , rather than the Sun moves across the sky, it's hard for us to realize what a shattering mental revolution that must have been. 我们现在对于地球在自转 而不是太阳绕着地球转这一常识习以为常——以至于我们很难想象
spins:n.[物]旋转; v.[物]旋转(spin的三单形式); shattering:adj.给人以极大打击的; v.(使)破碎,碎裂; (shatter的现在分词) revolution:n.革命;旋转;运行;循环;
After all, it seems obvious that the Earth is large and motionless , the Sun, small and mobile . 太阳却是小而且移动着的。但是,这值得我们回忆起
obvious:adj.明显的;显著的;平淡无奇的; motionless:adj.静止的;不运动的; mobile:n.手机;汽车;移动电话;adj.活跃的;可动的;
But it's worth recalling Wittgenstein's remark on the subject: "Tell me," he asked a friend, "why do people always say it was natural for man to assume that the Sun went 'round the Earth, rather than that the Earth was rotating ?" “告诉我,”他问一个朋友,“为什么人们总是会自然而然地认为 而不是地球自己在自转呢？”
recalling:v.记起;回忆起;回想起;召回;(recall的现在分词) assume:v.承担;假定;采取;呈现; rotating:v.(使)旋转,转动;(工作)由…轮值;(rotate的现在分词)
And his friend replied, "Well, obviously, because it just looks as though the Sun is going round the Earth." 他的朋友回答道: 很显然,因为身边的一切看起来更像是
Wittgenstein replied, "Well, what would it have looked like if it had looked as though the Earth was rotating?" 维特根斯坦反问道,“难道说如果地球是自转的话,
(Laughter)
Science has taught us, against all intuition , that apparently solid things, like crystals and rocks, are really almost entirely composed of empty space. 科学告诉我们,要抵制直觉, 那些看起来显然是固体的东西,例如水晶和岩石 其实是充满了虚无的空间。
intuition:n.直觉;直觉力;直觉的知识; apparently:adv.显然地;似乎,表面上; crystals:n.[晶体]晶体(crystal的复数形式);石英晶体; composed:adj.由…组成的; v.组成; (compose的过去分词和过去式)
And the familiar illustration is the nucleus of an atom is a fly in the middle of a sports stadium , and the next atom is in the next sports stadium.
familiar:adj.熟悉的;常见的;亲近的;n.常客;密友; illustration:n.插图;图解;示例;图示; nucleus:n.核,核心;原子核; stadium:n.[体]露天大型体育场;[病]病期;[生]生长期;龄期;
So it would seem the hardest, solidest , densest rock is really almost entirely empty space, broken only by tiny particles so widely spaced they shouldn't count. 因此,看起来最坚硬、最坚固、最致密的岩石其实 也是完全空洞的,这空洞被微小的粒子分开,
solidest:最结实的,最可靠的(solid的最高级); densest:密集的;浓密的;极度的(dense的最高级); particles:n.微粒,粒子;粒子系统;碎木料(particle的复数形式);
Why, then, do rocks look and feel solid and hard and impenetrable ? 为什么岩石看上去,摸上去是固质、坚硬而又无法穿透的呢？
impenetrable:adj.不能通过的;顽固的;费解的;不接纳的;
As an evolutionary biologist, I'd say this: our brains have evolved to help us survive within the orders of magnitude , of size and speed which our bodies operate at. 作为一名进化生物学家,我会这样解释:“我们的大脑不断进化 以帮助我们在所处的这个数量级的尺寸和速度的环境中生存下来。” 我们从不会在
evolutionary:adj.进化的;发展的;渐进的; evolved:v.(使)逐渐形成;进化;进化形成;(evolve的过去分词和过去式) magnitude:n.大小;量级;[地震]震级;重要;光度;
We never evolved to navigate in the world of atoms .
navigate:vt.驾驶,操纵;使通过;航行于;vi.航行,航空; atoms:n.[物]原子(atom的复数);
If we had, our brains probably would perceive rocks as full of empty space. 假如那样的话,我们的大脑很有可能会感觉到岩石是空洞的。 岩石在我们的手中感觉是坚硬且不可穿透的
perceive:v.注意到;意识到;将…理解为;认为;
Rocks feel hard and impenetrable to our hands, precisely because objects like rocks and hands cannot penetrate each other. 是因为岩石和手这类物体 并不能互相穿透。因此,这对于我们的大脑而言,
penetrate:v.渗透;进入;穿过;看透;
It's therefore useful for our brains to construct notions like " solidity " and "impenetrability," 将此类概念定义为“固体”和“不可穿透”是有用的。
construct:v.建造;创建;建筑;修建;n.概念;构筑物;结构体;建造物; notions:n.观念(notion的复数);小商品; solidity:n.坚硬,坚固;体积;固体性;
because such notions help us to navigate our bodies through the middle-sized world in which we have to navigate. 操纵我们的身体,并且我们不得不这样做。
middle-sized:adj.中号的;中等大小的;
Moving to the other end of the scale , our ancestors never had to navigate through the cosmos at speeds close to the speed of light.
scale:n.规模;比例;鳞;刻度;天平;数值范围;v.衡量;攀登;剥落;生水垢; cosmos:n.宇宙;和谐;秩序;大波斯菊;
If they had, our brains would be much better at understanding Einstein.
I want to give the name "Middle World" to the medium-scaled environment in which we've evolved the ability to take act -- nothing to do with "Middle Earth" -- 中观世界。（笑声）
Middle World.
(Laughter)
We are evolved denizens of Middle World, and that limits what we are capable of imagining. 我们是在中观世界中得到进化的居民,这限制了我们
denizens:n.居民(denizen的复数); v.采纳(外来词语);
We find it intuitively easy to grasp ideas like, when a rabbit moves at the sort of medium velocity at which rabbits and other Middle World objects move, and hits another Middle World object like a rock, it knocks itself out. 撞上了另一个中观世界中的物体,比如说一块岩石,然后兔子就晕了。
intuitively:adv.直观地;直觉地; medium:n.(传播信息的)媒介;手段;工具;方法;adj.中等的;中号的; velocity:n.[物]速度;
May I introduce Major General Albert Stubblebine III, commander of military intelligence in 1983. 请让我介绍一下陆军少将Albert Stubblebine三世, 他曾是美国军情部门的指挥官。
Major General:n.陆军少将;(美)空军少将; commander:n.指挥官;司令官; military:adj.军事的;军人的;适于战争的;n.军队;军人;
'"...[He] stared at his wall in Arlington , Virginia , and decided to do it. 1983年,当他盯着位于弗吉尼亚阿灵顿的办公室内的一堵墙的时候,
stared:v.盯着看;凝视;注视;(stare的过去分词和过去式) Arlington:n.阿林顿(美国马萨诸塞州一城市); Virginia:adj.弗吉尼亚州的;
As frightening as the prospect was, he was going into the next office. 他做出了一个令人惊讶的决定,他试图穿墙进入挨着的办公室。
frightening:adj.可怕的;骇人的;引起恐惧的;v.使惊吓;使惊恐(frighten的现在分词) prospect:n.展望;前景;希望;前途;v.勘探;探矿;
He stood up and moved out from behind his desk. 他先是站了起来,然后从他背后的桌子处动身。
'What is the atom mostly made of?' he thought, 'Space.' 他心里想:“原子到底是由啥构成的？应该是空间吧。”
He started walking. 'What am I mostly made of? Atoms.' 他开始朝着墙走去,“我到底是什么构成的呢？应该是原子吧。”
He quickened his pace, almost to a jog now. 他加快了自己的步伐,几乎像是在慢跑。
quickened:vi.加快;变活跃;进入胎动期;vt.加快;鼓舞;使复活; jog:v.慢跑(尤指锻炼);(偶然地)轻击;轻碰;n.轻推;慢跑(尤指锻炼);轻碰;轻击
'What is the wall mostly made of?' “墙又是什么构成的呢？应该还是原子。
(Laughter)
'Atoms!'
All I have to do is merge the spaces.
merge:vt.合并;使合并;吞没;vi.合并;融合;
Then, General Stubblebine banged his nose hard on the wall of his office.
banged:v.猛敲;砰的关上;猛摔;砰地一扔;(bang的过去分词和过去式)
Stubblebine, who commanded 16,000 soldiers, was confounded by his continual failure to walk through the wall. 被接二连三的穿墙失败搞得狼狈不堪。
confounded:adj.讨厌的,该死的; v.使困惑惊讶; (confound的过去式和过去分词) continual:adj.持续不断的;频繁的;
He has no doubt that this ability will one day be a common tool in the military arsenal . 他丝毫不怀疑终究有一天这种能力会成为 军队中的常规武器。那样的话谁还会招惹一支拥有此种能力的军队呢？
arsenal:n.兵工厂;军械库;
Who would screw around with an army that could do that?"
screw:v.旋,拧;压榨;强迫;n.螺旋;螺丝钉;吝啬鬼;
That's from an article in Playboy , which I was reading the other day . 在看《花花公子》时读到的。（笑声）
Playboy:n.花花公子;寻欢作乐的人; the other day:不久前某一天;几天以前;
(Laughter)
I have every reason to think it's true; 我有很多理由认为这是真实的。我读《花花公子》是因为
I was reading Playboy because I, myself, had an article in it.
(Laughter)
Unaided human intuition, schooled in Middle World, finds it hard to believe Galileo when he tells us a heavy object and a light object, air friction aside, would hit the ground at the same instant . 会很难相信当年伽利略告诉我们 会同时落到地面这一事实。
Unaided:adj.未受协助的;无助的; friction:n.摩擦,[力]摩擦力; instant:n.瞬间; adj.立即的; conj.同"assoonas";
And that's because in Middle World, air friction is always there.
If we'd evolved in a vacuum , we would expect them to hit the ground simultaneously .
vacuum:n.真空; adj.真空的; v.用真空吸尘器清扫; simultaneously:adv.同时地;
If we were bacteria , constantly buffeted by thermal movements of molecules, it would be different.
bacteria:n.[微]细菌; constantly:adv.不断地;时常地; buffeted:斗争;奋勇前进;连续猛击(buffet的过去式和过去分词); thermal:adj.热的;热量的;保热的;n.上升的热气流;
But we Middle-Worlders are too big to notice Brownian motion. 但是中观世界的规模对于布朗运动而言太大了。
In the same way, our lives are dominated by gravity, but are almost oblivious to the force of surface tension . 同样的,我们生命体以地心引力作用为主导 以至于表面张力可以被忽略。
dominated:v.支配;控制;左右;影响;(dominate的过去式和过去分词) oblivious:adj.遗忘的;健忘的;不注意的;不知道的; surface tension:n.表面张力;
A small insect would reverse these priorities . 而一个小虫子对于上述两种力的感知肯定是相反的。
reverse:n.反面; v.颠倒; adj.相反的; priorities:n.优先事项;优先权;重点;(priority的复数)
Steve Grand -- he's the one on the left, 史蒂夫.格兰德在图中的左侧
Douglas Adams is on the right.
Steve Grand, in his book, " Creation : Life and How to Make It,"
Creation:n.创造,创作;创作物,产物;
is positively scathing about our preoccupation with matter itself.
positively:adv.肯定地;明确地;断然地; scathing:adj.严厉的;严厉批评的;无情抨击的;v.损伤;损害;(scathe的现在分词) preoccupation:n.全神贯注,入神;当务之急;关注的事物;抢先占据;成见;
We have this tendency to think that only solid, material things are really things at all. 真正的东西。而真空中的电磁波
tendency:n.倾向,趋势;癖好;
Waves of electromagnetic fluctuation in a vacuum seem unreal .
electromagnetic:adj.电磁的; fluctuation:n.起伏,波动; unreal:adj.不真实的;假的;幻想的;虚构的;
Victorians thought the waves had to be waves in some material medium: the ether . 维多利亚时代的人们认为波只能在以物质作为介质的环境下存在, 我们管这种介质叫以太。但是真实的物质能够让我们宽慰
Victorians:n.维多利亚时代; ether:n.乙醚;[有化]以太;苍天;天空醚;
But we find real matter comforting only because we've evolved to survive in Middle World, where matter is a useful fiction. 是因为在我们生存的中观世界中, 物质是一个有用的虚构概念。
A whirlpool , for Steve Grand, is a thing with just as much reality as a rock. 对于史蒂夫.格兰德而言,一个漩涡的真实性和 一块岩石差不多。
whirlpool:n.漩涡,涡流;混乱,纷乱;
In a desert plain in Tanzania, in the shadow of the volcano Ol Doinyo Lengai, there's a dune made of volcanic ash. 在坦桑尼亚的沙漠平原上,
volcano:n.火山; dune:n.(由风吹积而成的)沙丘; volcanic:adj.火山的;猛烈的;易突然发作的;n.火山岩;
The beautiful thing is that it moves bodily .
bodily:adv.整体地;亲自地;以肉体形式;adj.身体的;肉体的;
It's what's technically known as a " barchan ," 这在地理学上被称为新月形沙丘,它整体上
barchan:n.新月形沙丘;adj.呈新月形流动的;具有新月形沙丘性质的;
and the entire dune walks across the desert in a westerly direction at a speed of about 17 meters per year. 向沙漠的西面移动。
westerly:adj.西的;自西的;向西方的;adv.向西,往西;n.西风;
It retains its crescent shape and moves in the direction of the horns . 这个沙丘在向月牙角方向移动的同时一直能够保持新月形。
retains:v.保持;持有;保留;聘请(律师等)(retain的第三人称单数) crescent:n.新月; adj.新月形的; vt.以新月形物装饰; horns:n.喇叭; v.截锯…的角;
What happens is that the wind blows the sand up the shallow slope on the other side , and then, as each sand grain hits the top of the ridge , it cascades down on the inside of the crescent, and so the whole horn-shaped dune moves. 风先是将沙子 沙子会不断机打沙丘脊的顶部,
slope:n.斜坡;坡度;坡地;山坡;v.倾斜;有坡度;悄悄地走;潜行; on the other side:另一面;在另一边; grain:n.粮食; v.把…作成细粒; ridge:n.山脊;山脉;屋脊;vt.使成脊状;作垄;vi.成脊状; cascades:n.[水文]小瀑布;叶棚(cascade的复数);v.瀑布似地落下(cascade的三单形式);
Steve Grand points out that you and I are, ourselves, more like a wave than a permanent thing. 斯蒂夫.格兰德指出我们大家都 更像是处于变化中的波而不是一件永恒的物品。
permanent:adj.永久的,永恒的;n.烫发;
He invites us, the reader, to think of an experience from your childhood , something you remember clearly, something you can see, feel, maybe even smell, as if you were really there. 他邀请读者们去回忆 看到、感觉到甚至是闻到的东西, 让自己仿佛身如其境。”
childhood:n.童年;幼年;孩童时期
After all, you really were there at the time, weren't you?
How else would you remember it? 否则,你又如何会记着这些东西呢？
But here is the bombshell : You weren't there. 但令人惊奇的是,你根本没有到过那里。
bombshell:n.炸弹;突发事件;引起震惊的人或事;
Not a single atom that is in your body today was there when that event took place. 在这一切发生的时候,你身上一个分子都没有到过那。 物质从四面八方汇聚过来,
Matter flows from place to place and momentarily comes together to be you. 并且暂时地形成了你。
momentarily:adv.随时地;暂时地;立刻;
Whatever you are, therefore, you are not the stuff of which you are made. 不管你是什么,你都不是那个
stuff:n.东西:物品:基本特征:v.填满:装满:标本:
If that doesn't make the hair stand up on the back of your neck, read it again until it does, because it is important. 如果这没有让你颈后的汗毛竖起来的话,
So "really" isn't a word that we should use with simple confidence . 因此,“真实“并不是一个我们在没有足够信心的情况下就能随意使用的单词。
confidence:n.信心;信任;秘密;adj.(美)诈骗的;骗得信任的;
If a neutrino had a brain, which it evolved in neutrino-sized ancestors, it would say that rocks really do consist of empty space. 如果中微子拥有大脑, 并且是从中微子级别的祖先中进化而来的, 那么中微子就会说岩石当然是由空洞组成的。
neutrino:[核物理学]中微子; consist:v.(与…)一致;并存;共存;由…组成;
We have brains that evolved in medium-sized ancestors which couldn't walk through rocks. 我们的大脑是在中等级别的祖先中进化的,
medium-sized:adj.中型的,中等大小的;普通型的;
'"Really," for an animal, is whatever its brain needs it to be in order to assist its survival . 对于动物而言,“真实”只不过是大脑为了更好地
survival:n.幸存,残存;幸存者,残存物;
And because different species live in different worlds, there will be a discomforting variety of "reallys." 并且不同的物种生活在不同的世界当中, 正因此,世上存在着各式让人感到疑惑不快的真实。
species:n.[生物]物种;种类; discomforting:adj.令人难过的,令人不安的;v.使…不舒服;使…沮丧(discomfort的ing形式); variety:n.多样;种类;杂耍;变化,多样化;
What we see of the real world is not the unvarnished world, but a model of the world, regulated and adjusted by sense data, but constructed so it's useful for dealing with the real world. 我们所见到的真实世界并不是一个没有被修饰过的世界 但是这个模型被建构是为了让我们更好地处理与真实世界之间的关系。
unvarnished:adj.未涂漆的;无装饰的;无掩饰的; regulated:v.约束,控制,管理;(regulate的过去式和过去分词) adjusted:adj.调整过的,调节了的;v.调整;校正(adjust的过去分词); constructed:v.修建;建造;组成;编制,绘制;(construct的过去分词和过去式)
The nature of the model depends on the kind of animal we are. 这个模型的特性取决于我们是何种动物。
A flying animal needs a different kind of model from a walking, climbing or swimming animal. 会飞的动物需要一个与行走、攀爬或游泳的动物
A monkey's brain must have software capable of simulating a three-dimensional world of branches and trunks. 猴子的大脑必须拥有一套软件使其能够模拟 枝条与树干的三维世界。
simulating:n.模拟;假装; three-dimensional:adj.三维的;立体的;真实的;
A mole's software for constructing models of its world will be customized for underground use. 鼹鼠也需要一套能够建构模型的软件,
constructing:n.构造;v.构造(construct的现在分词); customized:v.订制,订做,改制;(customize的过去分词和过去式)
A water strider's brain doesn't need 3D software at all, since it lives on the surface of the pond , in an Edwin Abbott flatland . 因为它们生活在埃德温.阿伯特笔下平面世界中
pond:n.池塘;水池(尤指人工的);v.把…挖成池塘;堵(溪流)水成池; flatland:n.平原;
I've speculated that bats may see color with their ears.
speculated:v.推测;猜测;推断;投机;做投机买卖;(speculate的过去分词和过去式)
The world model that a bat needs in order to navigate through three dimensions catching insects must be pretty similar to the world model that any flying bird -- a day-flying bird like a swallow -- needs to perform the same kind of tasks. 蝙蝠所需的世界模型是为了
dimensions:n.规模,大小; swallow:v.吞下;咽下;吞没;相信;n.吞;咽;燕;一次吞咽的量; perform:v.表演;执行;履行;演出;工作,运转(好/不好);
The fact that the bat uses echoes in pitch darkness to input the current variables to its model, while the swallow uses light, is incidental . 蝙蝠在漆黑的环境中通过使用回声来 输入变量的模型这一事实, 对于燕子而言,所使用的就是光线。两者是随机产生的。
echoes:n.回声; v.发出回声; pitch:v.抛:用力扔:针对:触地:n.场地:程度:力度:推销的话:纵摇: input:n.投入; v.把(数据等)输入计算机; variables:n.[数]变量; incidental:adj.附带的;偶然的;容易发生的;n.附带事件;偶然事件;杂项;
Bats, I've even suggested, use perceived hues , such as red and blue, as labels , internal labels , for some useful aspect of echoes -- perhaps the acoustic texture of surfaces, furry or smooth and so on -- 我甚至猜测蝙蝠使用察觉到的色调,如红色和蓝色,作为标签 例如表面的声学质地是平滑的还是粗糙的等等,
perceived:v.注意到;意识到;将…视为;认为;(perceive的过去式和过去分词) hues:n.[光]色调(hue复数); labels:n.标签;分类(label的复数形式);v.贴标签于;把…称为(label的三单形式); internal:n.内脏;本质;adj.内部的;里面的;体内的;(机构)内部的; aspect:n.方面;层面;外观;方位; acoustic:adj.声学的;音响的;听觉的;n.原声乐器;不用电传音的乐器; texture:n.质地;纹理;结构;本质,实质; furry:adj.毛皮的;盖着毛皮的;似毛皮的;
in the same way as swallows or indeed, we, use those perceived hues -- redness and blueness , etc. -- to label long and short wavelengths of light. 同样的,燕子及我们人类使用 来对光线波长的长短进行标识。
swallows:n.燕子;咽喉(swallow的复数);v.吞下;吞没;忍受(swallow的三单形式); redness:n.红;红色; blueness:n.青;蓝;忧郁; wavelengths:n.[物]波长(wavelength的复数);
There's nothing inherent about red that makes it long wavelength.
inherent:adj.固有的;内在的;与生俱来的,遗传的;
The point is that the nature of the model is governed by how it is to be used, rather than by the sensory modality involved . 关键点是这个模型的特征是由它如何被使用决定的,
sensory:adj.感觉的;知觉的;传递感觉的; modality:n.形式,形态;程序;物理疗法;主要的感觉; involved:adj.有关的; v.涉及; (involve的过去式和过去分词)
J.B.S. Haldane himself had something to say about animals whose world is dominated by smell. J.B.S.霍尔丹自己就曾经说过动物的世界 是被气味支配的。
Dogs can distinguish two very similar fatty acids, extremely diluted : caprylic acid and caproic acid. 狗可以区分两种非常相似并且被高度稀释的脂肪酸: 羊油酸（辛酸）和羊脂酸（己酸）。
distinguish:vt.区分;辨别;使杰出,使表现突出;vi.区别,区分;辨别; fatty:adj.脂肪的;肥胖的;多脂肪的;脂肪过多的;n.胖子; extremely:adv.非常,极其;极端地; diluted:v.稀释;冲淡;削弱;降低;(dilute的过去分词和过去式)
The only difference, you see, is that one has an extra pair of carbon atoms in the chain. 它们唯一的区别在于它们其中一个的化学链上
extra:adj.额外的:n.额外的事物:adv.额外:另外: carbon:n.[化学]碳;碳棒;复写纸;adj.碳的;碳处理的;
Haldane guesses that a dog would probably be able to place the acids in the order of their molecular weights by their smells, just as a man could place a number of piano wires in the order of their lengths by means of their notes. 霍尔丹猜测狗狗能够根据嗅觉将两种酸的 分子量进行排序, 就好像人可以根据音符将钢琴线的长度 进行排序。
molecular:adj.[化学]分子的;由分子组成的; by means of:用,依靠;
Now, there's another fatty acid , capric acid, which is just like the other two, except that it has two more carbon atoms. 现在,还有另一种脂肪酸叫做羊蜡酸（发酸）, 与前面提到的两者非常相似, 它只不过又多了两个碳原子而已。
fatty acid:n.脂肪酸; capric:adj.公山羊的,山羊的;
A dog that had never met capric acid would, perhaps, have no more trouble imagining its smell than we would have trouble imagining a trumpet , say, playing one note higher than we've heard a trumpet play before. 一条从没有问过羊蜡酸的小狗,很有可能 轻而易举的识别出它的味道就如同我们
trumpet:n.喇叭;小号;喇叭形物;(尤指)绽开的水仙花;v.宣扬;鼓吹;吹嘘;吼叫;
Perhaps dogs and rhinos and other smell-oriented animals smell in color.
rhinos:n.(非正式)犀牛;[俚]钱;现金;
And the argument would be exactly the same as for the bats.
Middle World -- the range of sizes and speeds which we have evolved to feel intuitively comfortable with -- is a bit like the narrow range of the electromagnetic spectrum that we see as light of various colors. 中观世界中有关大小和速度的范围 在我们的进化过程中都会让人在直觉上感到是舒适的。 都属于电磁频谱中的一段小范围之内。
spectrum:n.光谱;频谱;范围;余象;
We're blind to all frequencies outside that, unless we use instruments to help us. 除非我们借助仪器,
frequencies:n.频率;发生率;重复率;频繁;(frequency的复数) instruments:n.器械;仪器;器具;手段(instrument的复数)
Middle World is the narrow range of reality which we judge to be normal, as opposed to the queerness of the very small, the very large and the very fast. 中观世界同样也只是现实中窄小的一部分, 在这部分世界中,这样我们对它的感知和判断才是正常的, 对于超出这部分的世界,我们会认为是太小、太大、或是太快的。
We could make a similar scale of improbabilities; nothing is totally impossible. 我们可以对不可能的事物也作出一个类似的界定, 没有什么是完全不可能的。
Miracles are just events that are extremely improbable .
Miracles:n.奇迹;奇人;不平凡的事;(miracle的复数) improbable:adj.不大可能的,未必确实的;不可信的;
A marble statue could wave its hand at us; the atoms that make up its crystalline structure are all vibrating back and forth anyway. 一座大理石雕像可能会朝我们挥手,它们构成晶状结构的原子
marble:n.大理石;大理石制品;弹珠;adj.大理石的;冷酷无情的; statue:n.雕像;塑像;铸像;v.用雕像装饰; crystalline:adj.透明的;水晶般的;水晶制的; structure:n.结构;构造;建筑物;vt.组织;构成;建造; vibrating:v.(使)振动,颤动,摆动(vibrate的现在分词) back and forth:前后移动的,来回的,反复的;
Because there are so many of them, and because there's no agreement among them in their preferred direction of movement, the marble, as we see it in Middle World, stays rock steady . 但因为这些原子的数量太多了, 并且它们之间并没有 在运动方向达成什么默契,所以,
preferred:v.较喜欢;喜欢…多于…;(prefer的过去式和过去分词) steady:adj.稳定的; v.使稳定; v.稳定地; n.关系固定的情侣;
But the atoms in the hand could all just happen to move the same way at the same time , and again and again . 但是如果这些原子刚好在
at the same time:同时;另一方面;与此同时; again and again:adv.再三地,反复地;
In this case, the hand would move, and we'd see it waving at us in Middle World. 我们就可以看见手向我们挥动。
The odds against it, of course, are so great that if you set out writing zeros at the time of the origin of the universe, you still would not have written enough zeros to this day .
origin:n.起源;起因;源头;出身; to this day:至今;
Evolution in Middle World has not equipped us to handle very improbable events; we don't live long enough. 在中观世界中的进化并不会让我们练就一手
handle:n.[建]把手;柄;手感;口实;v.处理;操作;运用;买卖;触摸;
In the vastness of astronomical space and geological time, that which seems impossible in Middle World might turn out to be inevitable . 在广阔无垠的宇宙空间与漫长的地质年代中, 那些在中观世界中看似不可能的事件 或许就会成为一种必然。
vastness:n.巨大;广大;广漠; astronomical:adj.天文的,天文学的;极大的; geological:adj.地质的,地质学的; inevitable:adj.必然的,不可避免的;
One way to think about that is by counting planets. 统计行星的数量或许有助于我们理解这一点。
We don't know how many planets there are in the universe, but a good estimate is about 10 to the 20, or 100 billion billion. 我们不知道宇宙中到底有多少行星, 但是目前比较理想的估计大约是2000亿亿或10000亿亿颗。
estimate:v.估计;估算;估价;n.估价;(对大小、数量、成本等的)估计;估计的成本;
And that gives us a nice way to express our estimate of life's improbability . 这就为展示我们对于生命不可思议的估计提供了
express:v.表达; adj.特快的; n.特快列车; v.使用快速服务; improbability:n.不大可能有的事;
We could make some sort of landmark points along a spectrum of improbability, which might look like the electromagnetic spectrum we just looked at.
landmark:n.[航]陆标; adj.有重大意义或影响的;
If life has arisen only once on any -- life could originate once per planet, could be extremely common or it could originate once per star or once per galaxy or maybe only once in the entire universe, in which case it would have to be here. 如果生命能够在 每颗行星上,每颗恒星甚至 但生命只在整个宇宙中起源一次的话, 那这只会是我们所处的这个宇宙了。
arisen:v.出现;发生;兴起;(人早上)起来;(arisen是arise的过去分词) originate:vt.引起;创作;vi.发源;发生;起航; galaxy:n.银河;[天]星系;银河系;一群显赫的人;
And somewhere up there would be the chance that a frog would turn into a prince, and similar magical things like that.
If life has arisen on only one planet in the entire universe, that planet has to be our planet, because here we are talking about it. 如果生命的起源只发生在宇宙中的一个行星上, 那这颗行星只能是我们地球了,因为我们现在正在谈论这个问题。
And that means that if we want to avail ourselves of it, we're allowed to postulate chemical events in the origin of life which have a probability as low as one in 100 billion billion. 这还意味着如果我们接受这种观点的话, 我们就假定了生命的起源作为化学事件 其概率可能低到10000亿亿分之一。
avail:n.效用,利益; vt.有益于,有益于; vi.有益于,有益于; chemical:n.化学制品,化学药品;adj.化学的;
I don't think we shall have to avail ourselves of that, because I suspect that life is quite common in the universe. 我本人并不认为我们必须接受这种观点, 因为我怀疑生命体在宇宙当中是非常普遍的。
And when I say quite common, it could still be so rare that no one island of life ever encounters another, which is a sad thought. 但这依然意味着来自于不同方位的生命要彼此相见 的可能性是微乎其微的, 这看来是一种让人悲伤的观点。
encounters:v.遭遇(encounter的第三人称单数);邂逅;n.遭遇战(encounter的复数);相见;
How shall we interpret "queerer than we can suppose?" 我应该如何诠释“超乎想象的奇妙”呢？
Queerer than can in principle be supposed , or just queerer than we can suppose, given the limitations of our brain's evolutionary apprenticeship in Middle World? 这种奇妙是原则上就无法被想象的呢？ 还是说这种奇妙超出了我们想象的能力,而这种限制 是由于我们大脑受到的训练和进化都发生在中观世界中？
supposed:adj.误信的;所谓的;v.认为;假设;设想;(suppose的过去分词和过去式) limitations:n.局限性;(限制)因素;边界(limitation的复数形式); apprenticeship:n.学徒期;学徒身分;
Could we, by training and practice, emancipate ourselves from Middle World and achieve some sort of intuitive as well as mathematical understanding of the very small and the very large? 我们是否可以通过训练、实践、从而使我们 老实说,我也没有答案。
emancipate:vt.解放;释放; as well as:也;和…一样;不但…而且; mathematical:adj.数学的,数学上的;精确的;
I genuinely don't know the answer.
genuinely:adv.真诚地;诚实地;
I wonder whether we might help ourselves to understand, say, quantum theory, if we brought up children to play computer games beginning in early childhood, 我很好奇我们是否可以通过训练来帮助我们理解量子理论。 这种电脑游戏模拟了粒子
which had a make-believe world of balls going through two slits on a screen, a world in which the strange goings-on of quantum mechanics were enlarged by the computer's make-believe, so that they became familiar on the Middle-World scale of the stream. 因此这些现象看起来像是中观世界中的溪流。
make-believe:n.伪装;虚伪;假扮者;adj.假装的;虚假的; slits:n.裂缝(slit的复数);[光]狭缝;v.使成狭缝;撕裂(slit的三单形式); goings-on:n.举动;发生的事情; quantum mechanics:n.量子力学;
And similarly , a relativistic computer game , in which objects on the screen manifest the Lorentz contraction , and so on, to try to get ourselves -- to get children into the way of thinking about it. 同样的,一个模拟相对论的电脑游戏在屏幕上 展示洛伦兹收缩现象等等, 这有助于帮助我们及孩子们理解
similarly:adv.同样地;类似于; relativistic:adj.相对的;相对论的; computer game:n.电脑游戏; manifest:v.表明;显现;使人注意到;adj.明显的;显而易见的;n.旅客名单; contraction:n.收缩,紧缩;缩写式;害病;
I want to end by applying the idea of Middle World to our perceptions of each other. 最后我想把有关中观世界的观点应用到我们对于 彼此的认知上来,
applying:v.申请,请求;使用;应用;(apply的现在分词) perceptions:n.认知;观念(perception的复数);理解;
Most scientists today subscribe to a mechanistic view of the mind: we're the way we are because our brains are wired up as they are, our hormones are the way they are. 当今大多数科学家都会采取一种机械论的观点来看待我们的心智: 我们之所以以这种方式存在,是因为我们的大脑让我们这样存在,
subscribe:vi.订阅;捐款;认购;赞成;签署;vt.签署;赞成;捐助; mechanistic:adj.机械论的;机械学的; hormones:n.[生理]激素;荷尔蒙;性激素;荷尔蒙制剂(hormone的复数);
We'd be different, our characters would be different, if our neuro-anatomy and our physiological chemistry were different. 如果我们在神经解剖学和生理化学层面上不同,
neuro-anatomy:神经解剖学; physiological:adj.生理学的,生理的;
But we scientists are inconsistent . 但是我们科学家的观点往往是不一致的。否则,
inconsistent:adj.不一致的;前后矛盾的;
If we were consistent, our response to a misbehaving person, like a child-murderer, should be something like: this unit has a faulty component; it needs repairing. 我们对于一个犯错误的人,例如一个谋杀儿童的罪犯, 我们会认为这个家伙有个零件坏了,
response:n.响应;反应;回答; misbehaving:v.行为不端;(misbehave的现在分词) faulty:adj.有错误的;有缺点的;
That's not what we say.
What we say -- and I include the most austerely mechanistic among us, which is probably me -- what we say is, " Vile monster , prison is too good for you." 包括我在内这些最严肃的机械论者 都会说 “变态佬！监狱是便宜你了！”
Vile:adj.卑鄙的;邪恶的;低廉的;肮脏的; monster:n.怪物;恶魔;庞然大物;adj.巨大的;
Or worse, we seek revenge , in all probability thereby triggering the next phase in an escalating cycle of counter-revenge, which we see, of course, all over the world today. 甚至,我们还有可能会采取一些报复行为。如果那样的话 很有可能会引起一系列的反报复行为。
seek:v.寻求;寻找;谋求; revenge:n.报复;复仇;v.报复;替…报仇;洗雪; thereby:adv.从而,因此;在那附近;在那方面; triggering:n.[电子]触发;起动;v.引起(trigger的ing形式);扣…的扳机; phase:n.阶段;时期;月相;(月亮的)盈亏;v.分阶段进行;逐步做; escalating:v.(使)逐步扩大,不断恶化,加剧;(escalate的现在分词)
In short, when we're thinking like academics , we regard people as elaborate and complicated machines, like computers or cars. 简而言之,当我们像学者一样思考问题的时候, 我们把人看作是精妙复杂的机器, 就像电脑和小车一样。但是当我们回到现实的时候,
academics:n.学术水平;学术知识;专业学者; elaborate:adj.精心制作的;详尽的;煞费苦心的;v.精心制作;详细描述;变复杂; complicated:adj.复杂的;难懂的;v.使复杂化;(complicate的过去分词和过去式)
But when we revert to being human, we behave more like Basil Fawlty, who, we remember, thrashed his car to teach it a lesson, when it wouldn't start on " Gourmet Night." 我们的表现却又像是喜剧《弗尔蒂旅馆》中的Basil Fawlty, 我记得他在名为 gourmet night 的一集中因为汽车无法发动
revert:vi.回复;重提;返祖遗传;归还;vt.使回复原状;n.恢复原状者; behave:v.表现;(机器等)运转;举止端正;(事物)起某种作用; Basil:n.罗勒属植物(用于调味);斜刃面; thrashed:v.抽打,连续击打;(使)激烈扭动;彻底击败;(thrash的过去分词和过去式) Gourmet:n.美食家;菜肴精美的;
(Laughter)
The reason we personify things like cars and computers is that just as monkeys live in an arboreal world and moles live in an underground world and water striders live in a surface tension-dominated flatland, we live in a social world. 可以类比于猴子生活在树上, 水黾生活在由张力主导的平面世界中。 我们生活在一个社会化的世界当中。我们穿梭在人海当中——
personify:vt.使人格化;赋与…以人性; arboreal:adj.树木的;栖息在树上的; moles:n.痣(mole的复数);鼹鼠; striders:n.阔步走路的人;[昆]水黾;
We swim through a sea of people -- a social version of Middle World.
We are evolved to second-guess the behavior of others by becoming brilliant, intuitive psychologists . 我们在进化过程中不断的预测别人的行为, 从而变成了才华横溢,具有超强直觉的心理学家。
second-guess:v.猜测;预言;事后批评(或品评); psychologists:n.[心理]心理学家(psychologist的复数形式);
Treating people as machines may be scientifically and philosophically accurate , but it's a cumbersome waste of time if you want to guess what this person is going to do next. 把人当作机器来看待 或许在科学和哲学层面上都是准确的。 这就会是浪费时间。
Treating:v.以…态度对待;把…看作;处理;讨论;(treat的现在分词) scientifically:adv.系统地;合乎科学地;学问上; philosophically:adv.哲学上;贤明地; accurate:adj.精确的; cumbersome:adj.笨重的;累赘的;难处理的;
The economically useful way to model a person is to treat him as a purposeful , goal-seeking agent with pleasures and pains, desires and intentions , guilt, blame-worthiness. 经济有效地对一个人建模的方法是 把他当做一个有目的的人, 内疚、自责这些人格特性。
economically:adv.经济地;在经济上;节俭地; purposeful:adj.有目的的;有决心的; agent:n.代理人,代理商;药剂;特工;v由…作中介;由…代理;adj.代理的; intentions:n.目的,意向,意图;打算;(intention的复数)
Personification and the imputing of intentional purpose is such a brilliantly successful way to model humans, it's hardly surprising the same modeling software 人格化以及求诸于个人意图 是明智且有效的对人类进行建模的方法。 丝毫不让人惊奇的是,这种建模软件
Personification:n.人格化;化身;拟人法(一种修辞手法);象征; imputing:vt.输入(等于input);n.输入(等于input); intentional:adj.故意的;蓄意的;策划的; brilliantly:adv.灿烂地;辉煌地;光亮地;
often seizes control when we're trying to think about entities for which it's not appropriate , like Basil Fawlty with his car or like millions of deluded people, with the universe as a whole . 在当我们去剖析那些不太靠谱的对象的时候会显得很有效。 例如,Basil Fawlty和他的小车以及其它 不计其数想要天人合一的家伙。
entities:n.实体;存在(entity的复数形式);字符实体; appropriate:adj.适当的;恰当的;v.占用,拨出; deluded:adj.轻信的;受蒙骗的;v.欺骗;使失望(delude的过去分词); as a whole:总的来说;
(Laughter)
If the universe is queerer than we can suppose, is it just because we've been naturally selected to suppose only what we needed to suppose in order to survive in the Pleistocene of Africa? 如果宇宙比我们能够想象的还要奇妙的话, 是否是因为我们是被遴选的物种而天生需要承担 想象那些我们需要想象的事物,从而能够 从远古非洲中幸存下来？
naturally:adv.自然地;自然而然地;轻而易举;天生地;大方地; Pleistocene:n.[地]更新世(的);
Or are our brains so versatile and expandable that we can train ourselves to break out of the box of our evolution? 或者是否我们的大脑足够多才多艺并具有无穷的潜力以至于
versatile:adj.多才多艺的;通用的,万能的;多面手的; expandable:adj.可膨胀的;可张开的;
Or finally , are there some things in the universe so queer that no philosophy of beings, however godlike , could dream them? 或者还是说,宇宙中存在着一些无比奇妙的事物 以至于没有任何一个物种,甚至是神,都无法想象到的？
finally:adv.终于;最终;(用于列举)最后;彻底地; godlike:adj.上帝般的;似神的;庄严的;
Thank you very much. 非常感谢！
(Applause)