返回首页

StevenJohnson_2016V-_娱乐是如何引领伟大发明的_
(Music) （音乐）
Roughly 43,000 years ago, a young cave bear died in the rolling hills on the northwest border of modern day Slovenia. 大概在43000年以前, 来播放不同的曲目。 位于现在的斯洛文尼亚的西北边界。
Roughly:adv.粗糙地;概略地; northwest:adj.西北的;来自西北的;n.西北;adv.在西北;来自西北;
A thousand years later, a mammoth died in southern Germany. 又过了一千年,一头猛犸象死于德国南部。
mammoth:n.长毛象;猛犸象;庞然大物;adj.巨大的,庞大的;猛犸似的;
A few centuries after that, a griffon vulture also died in the same vicinity . 几个世纪过后,一只兀鹫 也在附近死去。
griffon:n.(希腊)半狮半鹫的怪兽;兀鹫; vulture:n.秃鹰,秃鹫;贪婪的人; vicinity:n.邻近,附近;近处;
And we know almost nothing about how these animals met their deaths, but these different creatures dispersed across both time and space did share one remarkable fate. 我们对于这些动物的死亡原因几乎一无所知, 但是跨越时空的不同物种 分享了同一个惊人命运。
creatures:n.生物;动物;(具有某种特征的)人(creature的复数) dispersed:adj.散布的;被分散的;被驱散的;v.分散;传播(disperse的过去分词); remarkable:adj.卓越的;非凡的;值得注意的;
After their deaths, a bone from each of their skeletons was crafted by human hands into a flute . 在它们死后,他们身上各有一块骨头 被人类手工制作成了 长笛。
skeletons:n.骷髅;[解剖]骨骼(skeleton的复数);流言(歌曲名); crafted:adj.精心制作的;v.精巧地制作(craft的过去分词); flute:n.长笛;细长香槟杯;v.吹笛子;给(衣服)加褶边,加荷叶边
Think about that for a second. 想一下这件事。
Imagine you're a caveman , 40,000 years ago. 想像自己是一个40000年前的洞穴人。
caveman:n.(史前石器时代的)穴居人;野人;
You've mastered fire. 你掌握了火的使用。
You've built simple tools for hunting. 你制造了狩猎的简易工具。
You've learned how to craft garments from animal skins to keep yourself warm in the winter. 你学会了如何用动物皮毛制作衣服 在冬天为自己保暖。
garments:n.[服装]服装,衣着(garment的复数);
What would you choose to invent next? 下一步你会选择发明什么？
It seems preposterous that you would invent the flute, a tool that created useless vibrations in air molecules . 选择发明笛子会看起来很荒谬, 一种能够产生无用的空气分子震动的工具。
preposterous:adj.荒谬的;可笑的; vibrations:n.[力]振动;共鸣;动摇(vibration的复数); molecules:n.[化学]分子,微粒;[化学]摩尔(molecule的复数);
But that is exactly what our ancestors did. 但事实上,这就是我们的祖先做的。
Now this turns out to be surprisingly common in the history of innovation . 但是,在发明创造史当中, 这却出乎意料的常见。
surprisingly:adv.令人惊讶地;出乎意料地 innovation:n.创新,革新;新方法;
Sometimes people invent things because they want to stay alive or feed their children or conquer the village next door. 有时人们发明工具, 是因为他们想要存活下来,或者喂养他们的孩子们, 或者是攻占隔壁村庄。
conquer:v.占领;攻克;征服;击败,战胜;对付,克服,控制;很受欢迎
But just as often, new ideas come into the world simply because they're fun. 但是很多情况下, 新想法之所以会产生, 仅仅是因为它们很有趣。
And here's the really strange thing: many of those playful but seemingly frivolous inventions ended up sparking momentous transformations in science, in politics and society. 更加奇怪的是: 很多用于玩乐的,看似琐碎的发明, 最后却在科学,政治和社会界 引起了重大变革。
playful:adj.开玩笑的;幽默的;爱嬉戏的; seemingly:adv.看来似乎;表面上看来; frivolous:adj.无聊的;轻佻的;琐碎的; sparking:n.发火花;点火;v.导致(spark的现在分词);发出火星;使大感兴趣; momentous:adj.重要的;重大的; transformations:n.[晶体]转变(transformation的复数形式);转换; 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)
Take what may be the most important invention of modern times: programmable computers. 举一个当今时代最重要的发明的例子: 编程计算机。
programmable:adj.[计]可编程的;可设计的;
Now, the standard story is that computers descend from military technology , since many of the early computers were designed specifically to crack wartime codes or calculate rocket trajectories . 标准的故事版本是这样的:计算机起源于军用科技, 因为很多早期电脑都是专用于 攻克战时密码或计算火箭运载轨道。
standard:n.标准;水准;旗;度量衡标准;adj.标准的;合规格的;公认为优秀的; descend:vi.下降;下去;下来;遗传;屈尊;vt.下去;沿…向下; military:adj.军事的;军人的;适于战争的;n.军队;军人; technology:n.技术;工艺;术语; specifically:adv.特别地;明确地; crack:v.使破裂;打开;变声;n.裂缝;声变;噼啪声;adj.最好的;高明的; wartime:n.战时; trajectories:n.轨迹;轨道线(trajectory的复数形式);
But in fact, the origins of the modern computer are much more playful, even musical, than you might imagine. 但是事实上,现代电脑的起源 和你想象中相比 更具娱乐性, 甚至更具音乐性。
origins:n.起源; (origin的复数)
The idea behind the flute, of just pushing air through tubes to make a sound, was eventually modified to create the first organ more than 2,000 years ago. 长笛背后的想法, 那种推动空气通过管道发声的想法, 最终被修改并制成了两千多年前的 第一套管风琴。
eventually:adv.最后,终于; modified:adj.改进的,修改的;改良的;v.修改;缓和;(modify的过去分词); organ:n.[生物]器官;机构;风琴;管风琴;嗓音;
Someone came up with the brilliant idea of triggering sounds by pressing small levers with our fingers, inventing the first musical keyboard. 有人想出了一个制造声音的绝妙主意, 即通过我们的手指按动小杆发声, 从此发明了我们的第一样按键乐器。
triggering:n.[电子]触发;起动;v.引起(trigger的ing形式);扣…的扳机; levers:n.杠杆;手段(lever的复数);v.用杠杆撬动(lever的第三人称单数);
Now, keyboards evolved from organs to clavichords to harpsichords to the piano, until the middle of the 19th century, when a bunch of inventors finally hit on the idea of using a keyboard to trigger not sounds but letters. 现在,按键乐器已经从风琴发展到敲弦古钢琴,再到拨弦古钢琴, 再到钢琴。 直到19世纪中期, 一群发明家终于想到 用按键去触发字母而非声音。
evolved:v.(使)逐渐形成;进化;进化形成;(evolve的过去分词和过去式) organs:n.[生物]器官;机构;风琴(organ的复数); a bunch of:一群;一束;一堆; finally:adv.终于;最终;(用于列举)最后;彻底地;
In fact, the very first typewriter was originally called "the writing harpsichord ." 事实上,第一台打字机 原名就是“写字敲弦琴”。
originally:adv.原来;起初; harpsichord:n.羽管键琴,大键琴;
Flutes and music led to even more powerful breakthroughs . 长笛和音乐还带来了更强大的突破。
Flutes:n.长笛(flute复数);v.压制褶子于…;用长笛吹奏(flute的第三人称单数); breakthroughs:突破;
About a thousand years ago, at the height of the Islamic Renaissance , three brothers in Baghdad designed a device that was an automated organ. 大约一千年以前, 在伊斯兰复兴运动的高潮期间, 在巴格达的三兄弟设计了一个 自动发声的风琴。
Islamic:adj.穆斯林的; Renaissance:n.文艺复兴(欧洲14至17世纪); Baghdad:n.巴格达(伊拉克首都); device:n.装置;策略;图案; automated:adj.自动化的;v.(使)自动化;(automate的过去式和过去分词)
They called it "the instrument that plays itself." 他们把它称为“自己奏乐的乐器”。
instrument:n.仪器;工具;乐器;手段;器械;
Now, the instrument was basically a giant music box. 在当时,那个乐器基本上就是一个巨型音箱。
basically:adv.主要地,基本上; giant:n.巨人;伟人;巨兽;adj.巨大的;特大的
The organ could be trained to play various songs by using instructions encoded by placing pins on a rotating cylinder . 那个乐器可根据旋转筒柱上的突起所组成的乐谱 来播放不同的曲目。
encoded:adj.[计]编码的;v.把…编码(encode的过去分词); pins:n.插脚,针;精确的综合导航系统; rotating:v.(使)旋转,转动;(工作)由…轮值;(rotate的现在分词) cylinder:n.圆筒;汽缸;[数]柱面;圆柱状物;
And if you wanted the machine to play a different song, you just swapped a new cylinder in with a different code on it. 如果你想让机器换一首曲子, 你只需要换上一个有着不同突起的筒柱就行了。
swapped:交换;调换;
This instrument was the first of its kind. 这个乐器是同类型中的第一个,
It was programmable. 它是可编码的。
Now, conceptually , this was a massive leap forward . 现在,从概念上来说,这是一个巨大的飞跃。
conceptually:adv.概念地; massive:adj.大量的;巨大的,厚重的;魁伟的; leap forward:跃进;向前跳;快速发展;
The whole idea of hardware and software becomes thinkable for the first time with this invention. 整个硬件和软件的想法, 因为这个发明,第一次变成了可能。
hardware:n.计算机硬件;五金器具;
And that incredibly powerful concept didn't come to us as an instrument of war or of conquest , or necessity at all. 那个难以置信的强大概念, 并没有作为一种战争或征服武器出现, 也不是作为必需品出现。
incredibly:adv.难以置信地;非常地; conquest:n.征服;占领;占领(或征服)的地区;(爱情或性方面)被俘虏的人;
It came from the strange delight of watching a machine play music. 它来自观看机器播放音乐时异样的乐趣。
delight:n.高兴;vi.高兴;vt.使高兴;
In fact, the idea of programmable machines was exclusively kept alive by music for about 700 years. 事实上,可编码机器的理念 在700年间,都是完全存在于音乐世界中的。
exclusively:adv.唯一地;专有地;排外地;
In the 1700s, music-making machines became the playthings of the Parisian elite . 在18世纪,各种乐器 成为了巴黎精英们的玩物。
music-making:音乐制作; playthings:n.[轻]玩具(plaything的复数); Parisian:n.巴黎人;adj.巴黎式的;巴黎人的; elite:n.精英;精华;杰出人物;
Showmen used the same coded cylinders to control the physical movements of what were called automata , an early kind of robot. 杂耍艺人使用相同的编码筒柱, 去控制一种名叫自动机的东西的运动, 那就是机器人的早期雏形。
Showmen:n.玩杂耍的人;马戏团的老板;表演者; cylinders:n.汽缸;圆筒(cylinder的复数);[数]圆柱体; physical:adj.[物]物理的;身体的;物质的;符合自然法则的;n.体格检查; automata:n.自动装置;机器人(automaton的复数);
One of the most famous of those robots was, you guessed it, an automated flute player designed by a brilliant French inventor named Jacques de Vaucanson. 这些机器中最着名的, 你猜是什么,是一个自动发声长笛, 由杰出的法国发明家 Jacques de Vaucanson 所设计。
And as de Vaucanson was designing his robot musician, he had another idea. 当de Vaucanson设计他的机器人音乐家时, 他萌生了另一个想法。
If you could program a machine to make pleasing sounds, why not program it to weave delightful patterns of color out of cloth? 如果你可以通过编码使一个机器产生悠扬的音乐, 为什么不能通过编码使它在布料上编织出色彩斑斓的图案呢？
weave:v.编,织;(用…)编成;编造(故事等);n.织法;编法;编织式样; delightful:adj.可爱的,可喜的;令人愉快的;
Instead of using the pins of the cylinder to represent musical notes, they would represent threads with different colors. 用筒柱突起,代表各色的线, 而非乐符。
represent:v.代表;表现;描绘;回忆;再赠送; threads:n.线; v.穿(针); (thread的第三人称单数和复数)
If you wanted a new pattern for your fabric , you just programmed a new cylinder. 如果你需要编织一种新的图案, 你只需要编码一个新的筒柱。
fabric:n.织物;布料;(社会,机构等的)结构;
This was the first programmable loom . 这就是第一台可编码式的织布机。
loom:n.织布机;v.(尤指)令人惊恐地隐现;显得突出;逼近
Now, the cylinders were too expensive and time-consuming to make, but a half century later, another French inventor named Jacquard hit upon the brilliant idea of using paper-punched cards instead of metal cylinders. 不过这种筒柱价格高昂,制造过程很耗时, 但半个世纪之后, 另一个名叫Jacquard的法国发明家 想到了一个极妙的点子,那就是用穿孔的纸张, 代替金属筒柱。
time-consuming:adj.耗时的;旷日持久的; Jacquard:n.[印,纺]提花机;提花织物
Paper turned out to be much cheaper and more flexible as a way of programming the device. 结果表明,纸张作为一种编程装置, 更便宜,更灵活。
flexible:adj.灵活的;柔韧的;易弯曲的;
That punch card system inspired Victorian inventor Charles Babbage to create his analytical engine, the first true programmable computer ever designed. 那种穿孔卡片系统启发了维多利亚时期的发明家查尔斯·巴贝奇 建造出他的分析引擎（差分机）, 历史上第一台真正的 可编程计算机。
punch:n.冲床; v.拳打; (用打孔器等)打孔; inspired:adj.受到启发的; v.鼓舞; (inspire的过去分词和过去式) analytical:adj.分析的;解析的;善于分析的;
And punch cards were used by computer programmers as late as the 1970s. 直到20世纪70年代末,这些穿孔卡片 仍被计算机程序员所使用。
So ask yourself this question: what really made the modern computer possible? 所以,问自己这个问题: 究竟是什么动力使现代计算机成为可能？
Yes, the military involvement is an important part of the story, but inventing a computer also required other building blocks : music boxes, toy robot flute players, harpsichord keyboards, colorful patterns woven into fabric, and that's just a small part of the story. 是的,军事介入的确是故事的一个重要组成部分, 但发明一台电脑还需要其他必备要素: 音乐箱, 玩具长笛演奏器, 按键式古琴, 彩色图案编织, 这只是故事的一小部分。
involvement:n.牵连;包含;混乱;财政困难; building blocks:(儿童玩的)积木;建筑砌块;堆积木;建筑砖块;基石; woven:v.编织;交织(weave的过去分词);编造;adj.织物的;n.机织织物;
There's a long list of world-changing ideas and technologies that came out of play: public museums, rubber , probability theory, the insurance business and many more. 有一大批的改变世界的想法和技术 都来自于娱乐: 公共博物馆,橡胶, 概率论,保险业务, 还有很多。
technologies:n.技术;科技(technology的复数); rubber:n.橡胶;橡皮;v.涂橡胶于…; probability:n.可能性;机率;[数]或然率; insurance:n.保险;保险业;保险费;保费;adj.胜券在握的;
Necessity isn't always the mother of invention. 所以必要需求并非总是发明之母。
The playful state of mind is fundamentally exploratory , seeking out new possibilities in the world around us. 娱乐的思想状态在根本上是探索性的, 我们在周围的世界里,追寻那些新的可能性。
fundamentally:adv.从根本上;基础地;重要地 exploratory:adj.勘探的;探究的;考察的; seeking:v.寻找;寻求;谋求;争取;(向人)请求(seek的现在分词)
And that seeking is why so many experiences that started with simple delight and amusement eventually led us to profound breakthroughs. 而那种追寻就是为什么在那么多经历中, 开始时简单的快乐和娱乐, 最终却导致我们成就深度突破。
profound:adj.深厚的;意义深远的;渊博的;
Now, I think this has implications for how we teach kids in school and how we encourage innovation in our workspaces, but thinking about play and delight this way also helps us detect what's coming next. 我认为,这会告诉我们如何在学校教育孩子, 如何在我们的办公场所鼓励创新, 但是,当我们这样认识娱乐和愉悦的时候, 也会帮助我们预测接下来会发生的事。
implications:n.蕴涵式;暗指,暗示;含蓄,含意;卷入(implication的复数); detect:vt.察觉;发现;探测;
Think about it: if you were sitting there in 1750 trying to figure out the big changes coming to society in the 19th, the 20th centuries, automated machines, computers, artificial intelligence , a programmable flute entertaining the Parisian elite would have been as powerful a clue as anything else at the time. 想象一下:如果你正坐在1750年的时空里, 尝试去猜想未来社会的巨大变革, 猜想19世纪,20世纪, 那些自动机器,计算机, 人工智能, 一个用于娱乐巴黎上等社会的 可编码的长笛, 就会成为一个在当时十分强有力的线索。
artificial intelligence:n.人工智能; clue:n.提示;迹象;(纵横填字谜、游戏或问题的)提示词语;v.提示;为…提供线索;
It seemed like an amusement at best, not useful in any serious way, but it turned out to be the beginning of a tech revolution that would change the world. 它看上去只适用于娱乐, 没有什么正经的用处, 但它确实成为了改变世界的 技术革命的开端。
revolution:n.革命;旋转;运行;循环;
You'll find the future wherever people are having the most fun. 你会在人类 最具娱乐性的地方预见未来的。