What if you experienced every human life in history?

Translator: Ruilin Bob Shen Reviewer: Thomas Tam

Imagine that your life began roughly 300,000 years ago

想像你嘅人生 大概喺 30 萬年前開始

as one of the planet’s first humans.

係地球上最早嘅人類之一

At this time, you live in Africa near modern-day Morocco,

嗰個時候你生活喺非洲 而家嘅摩洛哥附近

and your life isn’t too different from that of your hominid parents.

你嘅生活方式 唔係同猩猩科父母好大分別

You make crude tools, hunt, and gather food and materials,

你係製造啲簡陋嘅工具 打獵同埋收集食物及物料

until, eventually, you perish.

直到終有一日你死咗

But this is only the beginning.

但係呢個只係開始

Because after dying, you travel back in time to be reincarnated

因為你死咗之後 會穿越時空嚟轉世

as the second human ever to live.

成為世上第二個人類

While you don't remember your former life,

雖然你忘記咗以前嘅人生

your previous actions affect you nonetheless.

然而過去嘅行為 仍然影響現在嘅你

And after dying once more, you return as the third person, then the fourth,

每次死亡，你又返返嚟 成為第三、第四

the fifth, and so on—

第五個人等等

living the lives of every single human that’s ever walked the Earth.

經歷世上每個人踏足喺地球上嘅生活

Strung end to end, these lives last almost 4 trillion years.

首尾相連，呢啲生命 大概四萬億年

Since you only recall the life you’re currently living,

由於你只係諗到而家嘅生活

your psyche doesn’t carry the entire weight of human history.

你心理上並冇孭起 成個嘅人類歷史

However, each of your lifetimes still has a profound impact on your future selves.

但係每個生命嘅體現 對未來嘅自己有深遠嘅影響

有時你對呢個世界 係有好明顯嘅影響

Sometimes your influence on the world is obvious,

but these major historical figures only account

但作為呢啲重要喺歷史人物

for a tiny fraction of your experience.

只算係罕有嘅經歷

Instead, your existence consists mostly of ordinary lives,

反而你大部分時間 喺好平凡嘅生活渡過

filled with everyday tasks like eating, laughing, working, and worrying.

充滿著每日嘅例行公事 譬如食嘢、歡笑、工作同埋焦慮

For approximately one tenth of your 4 trillion years,

大概四萬億年嘅十分之一

you’re a hunter-gatherer.

你係一位漁獵採集者

For 60%, you’re an agriculturalist, developing tools and techniques

有 60% 時間，你係農業家 喺度發展工具同技術

which you employ over roughly 800 billion years of working on farms.

作為約八千億年 應用喺農場度

Across your lifetimes, you spend 1.5 billion years having sex

總結你嘅生命 用咗 15 億年喺性愛度

and another 250 million years giving birth.

同埋另外 2.5 億年用嚟生細路

In total, 20% of your existence is spent raising children,

總體嚟講，有 20% 時間 用嚟教養細路

to whom you impart a variety of cultural values

傳授佢哋不同嘅價值文化

that influence the trajectory of generations.

影響咗唔同世代嘅發展軌跡

In some lives, you shatter those cultures through invasion and imperialism.

你某啲人生置身喺帝國主義同侵略 粉碎咗一啲地方文化

In others, you suffer as your lands and loved ones are taken away.

又有啲人生好痛苦 俾人攞走你嘅土地同所愛嘅人

In over 1% of lives, you’re afflicted with malaria or smallpox,

你有多過 1% 嘅生命 受到天花或瘧疾嘅折磨

while, in others, you treat these conditions—

其餘嘅時間 你醫治呢啲傳染病

saving countless versions of yourself.

拯救無數喺唔同時間嘅你自己

In humanity’s early days, the average lifespan is fairly short.

喺人類嘅早期 平均嘅壽命好短

There are fewer lives to live,

由於你生存年月少啲

and your influence is usually limited to people physically near you.

同時你嘅影響經常限制咗 喺附近嘅人類身上

But as humans survive longer on average and Earth's population grows,

但係隨著人均壽命延長 使到地球嘅人口增加

you start to spend more time reliving the same action-packed years.

你開始花更多時間去重溫 嗰啲充滿動感嘅歲月

A full third of your existence comes after 1200 CE,

喺公元 1200 年後 人類存在三分之一嘅時間

and a quarter of it takes place after 1750.

喺公元 1750 年後 開始咗人類後四分一時間

At this point, technology and society start changing faster than ever.

嗰陣時，科技同社會 開始咗歷來最快嘅轉變

You invent steam engines, configure factories, and generate electricity,

你發明咗蒸汽機 開始咗配置工廠同生產電力

which power the daily machinery of all of your later lives.

電力推動你將來 喺日常生活嘅機械運作

You live through revolutions in science, the deadliest wars in history,

你嘅生命穿越喺科學革命 歷史上最殘酷嘅戰爭

and dramatic environmental destruction.

同埋巨大嘅環境傷害時期

On average, each new life lasts longer,

普遍嚟講新生命 比之前都長命啲

but the pace of your existence keeps accelerating.

但係你生命嘅節奏不斷噉加速

Conversations that previously took months to unfold now happen in minutes.

過去要幾個月先能夠展開嘅對話 現在就只需要幾分鐘

Business ventures that you built over generations transform overnight.

幾個世代冒險經營嘅生意 喺一夜之間翻天覆地噉改變咗

You enjoy luxuries you never could have sampled before,

你享受之前想像唔到

even in your past lives as kings and queens.

甚至比貴為皇帝同皇后 更奢華嘅生活

After living over 100 billion lives,

活過咗一千億次生命之後

you're finally reborn as the youngest person alive today.

你最終重生成為而家 最年青嘅一代

But despite living through 300,000 years of human history,

但係即使你經歷咗 三十萬年嘅人類歷史

your actions have more impact today than 99% of your past lives.

你而家嘅行為影響 遠遠超越過往 99% 人生

High-speed air travel allows you to carry contagions and cures

高速嘅航空旅程 使你帶住傳染病同埋治療藥物

across an ocean in hours.

數小時就能越過大海洋

And the internet makes your personal sphere of influence global,

互聯網使到你嘅個人影響遍及全球

allowing you to collaborate with anyone, anywhere, without even leaving your home.

無論喺世界上同邊啲人合作 你只要喺屋企就搞得掂

In recent lives, you’ve invented tools to rewrite the genes of living organisms,

喺最近嘅人生，你發明咗 能重寫生物基因嘅工具

permanently altering their future generations.

可永遠噉改變 生物嘅未來後代

And in this life, you might create even more technologies

喺呢次嘅人生 你可能創新更多科技

that make the world safer, kinder, and more equitable for countless future lives.

對世界無數嘅生命 更加安全、和善同埋平等

However, one careless invention could just as easily be catastrophic.

不過，一不小心，所發明嘅嘢 好容易就會釀成大災難

身處喺核武器 實驗室洩漏同氣候變化

Between nuclear weapons, lab leaks, climate change,

and other existential threats,

同其他生存嘅威脅

humanity's risk of inducing our own extinction has never been higher.

人類係從未試過喺噉接近 滅亡危機嘅邊緣

In this fast-paced, interconnected world,

咁快嘅節奏 同互聯互通嘅世界

it’s frighteningly easy to undo all of humanity’s progress,

好令人恐慌嘅係 摧毀咗人類所有嘅進展

or potentially, cut short all your possible futures.

或者係潛在縮短咗 所有可能嘅未來

我哋係冇辦法 預知有咩事會發生

There's no way to know what will happen next.

But what’s clear is that your potential is limitless.

但好清楚嘅係 你嘅潛能係無限嘅

So, how will you spend this life?

因此，你會點樣用呢一生？

And what can you do to work towards a better future

同埋有咩嘢可以做 促成更好嘅未來

for all your lives to come?

畀啲將來嘅你享用呢？