How do schools of fish swim in harmony? - Nathan S. Jacobs

譯者: Wei Chang 審譯者: Max Chern

How do schools of fish swim in harmony?

游動的魚群如何保持協調性？

And how do the tiny cells in your brain give rise to the complex thoughts,

你腦中那些微小的細胞， 又是如何產生複雜的思想、

memories,

記憶

and consciousness that are you?

與意識，而形成「你」？

Oddly enough, those questions have the same general answer:

令人驚奇的是， 這些問題有著共通的答案：

emergence,

突現 (emergence)

or the spontaneous creation of sophisticated behaviors and functions

也就是由一大群的基本單體 所自發產生的複雜行為與能力

from large groups of simple elements.

Like many animals, fish stick together in groups,

和許多動物一樣，魚聚集形成群體

but that's not just because they enjoy each other's company.

但那不是因為牠們喜歡陪伴彼此

It's a matter of survival.

而是攸關存活

Schools of fish exhibit complex swarming behaviors

魚群可以展現複雜的群體行為

that help them evade hungry predators,

幫助牠們迴避飢餓的獵食者

while a lone fish is quickly singled out as easy prey.

落單的魚則會 被迅速鎖定為易捕食的獵物

So which brilliant fish leader is the one in charge?

所以哪隻聰明的魚領袖 負責引導大家？

Actually, no one is,

實際上，沒有一隻魚是

and everyone is.

大家都是

So what does that mean?

這意味著什麼？

While the school of fish is elegantly twisting, turning, and dodging sharks

當魚群優雅地迴旋、旋轉， 巧妙地避開鯊魚

in what looks like deliberate coordination,

顯現出深思熟慮後的協調性

each individual fish is actually just following two basic rules

每一隻魚本身其實 都只遵守兩個基本原則

that have nothing to do with the shark:

跟鯊魚一點關係也沒有

one, stay close, but not too close to your neighbor,

第一點：保持緊密，但也不要太靠近你鄰居

and two, keep swimmming.

第二點：一直游

As individuals, the fish are focused on the minutiae of these local interactions,

作為一個個體，魚們專注在 自己區域間互動的細節

but if enough fish join the group, something remarkable happens.

但如果加入群體的魚夠多， 神奇的事情就會發生

The movement of individual fish is eclipsed by an entirely new entity:

單一隻魚的動作 被全新的龐大群體所掩蓋

the school, which has its own unique set of behaviors.

魚群，擁有它獨特的行為模式

The school isn't controlled by any single fish.

魚群，不被任何單一隻魚控制

It simply emerges if you have enough fish following the right set of local rules.

只要有夠多魚遵循一定的自身原則， 魚群就出現了

It's like an accident that happens over and over again,

就像是一再出現的意外

allowing fish all across the ocean to reliably avoid predation.

使全海洋的魚群能安然避開獵食者

And it's not just fish.

不只魚會如此

Emergence is a basic property of many complex systems of interacting elements.

「突現」是許多複雜系統中 單體互動的基本性質

For example, the specific way in which millions of grains of sand

舉例來說，數百萬沙粒以獨特的方式

collide and tumble over each other

彼此之間碰撞、翻滾

almost always produces the same basic pattern of ripples.

幾乎總是會產生相同基本型態的波紋

And when moisture freezes in the atmosphere,

而當水氣在大氣中凝固

the specific binding properties of water molecules

水分子間特定的連結方式

reliably produce radiating lattices that form into beautiful snowflakes.

一致產生放射狀晶格， 形成美麗的雪花

What makes emergence so complex

「突現」會顯得複雜

is that you can't understand it by simply taking it apart,

是因為你無法將它拆成 一小塊一小塊來理解

like the engine of a car.

就像汽車引擎

Taking things apart is a good first step to understanding a complex system.

將事物拆解 是了解複雜系統的第一步

But if you reduce a school of fish to individuals,

但如果你把魚群拆成單一隻魚

it loses the ability to evade predators,

牠就失去了躲避獵食者的能力

and there's nothing left to study.

也就沒什麼好研究的了

And if you reduce the brain to individual neurons,

而如果你把大腦拆成單一個神經元

you're left with something that is notoriously unreliable,

你只會剩下極不可靠的資訊

and nothing like how we think and behave,

一點也不像我們 思考或做出行為的方式

at least most of the time.

至少大多時候如此

Regardless, whatever you're thinking about right now

無論如何，你此刻所想的事情

isn't reliant on a single neuron lodged in the corner of your brain.

並非起源於你腦中的單一神經元

Rather, the mind emerges from the collective activities

相反地，思想由許多神經元 共同活化而產生

of many, many neurons.

There are billions of neurons in the human brain,

人類大腦中有數十億個神經元

and trillions of connections between all those neurons.

這些神經元間有著數兆的連結

When you turn such a complicated system like that on,

當你啟動這麼複雜的系統

it could behave in all sorts of weird ways, but it doesn't.

它很有可能以各種 奇怪的方式呈現，但它沒有

The neurons in our brain follow simple rules, just like the fish,

我們腦中的神經元 遵守簡單的規則，就像魚群

so that as a group, their activity self-organizes into reliable patterns

所以群體的動作 自我組織成可信賴的模式

that let you do things like recognize faces,

使你可以辨識人臉、

successfully repeat the same task over and over again,

成功地一再重複相同任務、

and keep all those silly little habits that everyone likes about you.

以及保持令人喜愛的呆萌習慣

So, what are the simple rules when it comes to the brain?

所以，大腦中的簡單規則是什麼？

The basic function of each neuron in the brain

大腦中每一個神經元的基本功能

is to either excite or inhibit other neurons.

是要活化或抑制其他神經元

If you connect a few neurons together into a simple circuit,

如果你將一些神經元 集合成一個簡單迴路

you can generate rhythmic patterns of activity,

你能產生一個有節律的活動模式

feedback loops that ramp up or shut down a signal,

回饋迴圈會增加或停止信號、

coincidence detectors,

共同探測器，

and disinhibition,

和去抑制

where two inhibitory neurons can actually activate another neuron

兩個抑制性神經元可以藉由移除 抑制性阻礙物，活化另一個神經元

by removing inhibitory brakes.

As more and more neurons are connected,

當連結的神經元越來越多

increasingly complex patterns of activity emerge from the network.

網絡便能產生更多複雜的行為模式

Soon, so many neurons are interacting in so many different ways at once

很快地，許多神經元同時 用許多不同的方式互動

that the system becomes chaotic.

使得系統變得混亂

The trajectory of the network's activity cannot be easily explained

神經網路的活動軌跡無法只用 先前說的簡易區域迴圈解釋

by the simple local circuits described earlier.

And yet, from this chaos, patterns can emerge,

而且，即便一團混亂，仍能產生規律

and then emerge again and again in a reproducible manner.

並以可重複的方式一再呈現

At some point, these emergent patterns of activity

某些時刻，這些突現的活動模式

become sufficiently complex,

變得足夠複雜

and curious to begin studying their own biological origins,

還會因為好奇 而開始研究自己的生物起源

not to mention emergence.

更遑論突現現象

And what we found in emergent phenomena at vastly different scales

我們觀察到許多截然不同的突現現象

is that same remarkable characteristic as the fish displayed:

就跟魚群展現的優越特性一樣：

That emergence doesn't require someone or something to be in charge.

突現無須某人或某物來指揮

If the right rules are in place,

只要規則已制定

and some basic conditions are met,

基本條件被滿足

a complex system will fall into the same habits over and over again,

複雜的系統 就會一再陷入相同的慣性模式

turning chaos into order.

亂而有序

That's true in the molecular pandemonium that lets your cells function,

事實是分子們亂舞 讓你的細胞發揮功能

the tangled thicket of neurons that produces your thoughts and identity,

神經元糾結 讓你的思想與個性顯現

your network of friends and family,

你與朋友、家人的社交網絡

all the way up to the structures and economies of our cities across the planet.

這一切造就了這個星球上 眾多城市的結構與經濟

翻譯：Wei Chang