Why the universe seems so strange | Richard Dawkins

翻译人员: Wang Yisu 校对人员: Zachary Lin Zhao

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 than we can suppose" comes from J.B.S. Haldane, the famous biologist,

“超乎想象的的奇妙”这一概念来自于J.B.S.霍尔丹。

他作为一个著名的生物学家，说过：“我现在察觉到

who said, "Now, my own suspicion is that the universe is not only queerer

宇宙不仅仅比我们想象的更为奇妙，

than we suppose, but queerer than we can suppose.

甚至比我们所能够想象的更为奇妙。

I suspect that there are more things in heaven and earth

我怀疑天地间有更多的东西

than are dreamed of, or can be dreamed of, in any philosophy."

是任何哲学观点都没有料想到过，甚至是能够料想到的。”

理查德.费曼曾经这样描述量子理论的精确性

Richard Feynman compared the accuracy of quantum theories --

—基于实验预测—量子理论的精确性就如同使用一根头发丝去

experimental predictions --

to specifying the width of North America to within one hair's breadth of accuracy.

厘定整个北美洲的宽度。

This means that quantum theory has got to be, in some sense, true.

这说明了量子理论只是一定程度上的准确。

Yet the assumptions that quantum theory needs to make

然而量子理论为了实现这些预言所做出的假设

in order to deliver those predictions are so mysterious

看起来是如此的不可思议，

that even Feynman himself was moved to remark,

以至于费曼本人都不得不这样评论，

"If you think you understand quantum theory,

“如果你认为你理解量子理论了，

you don't understand quantum theory."

那你就没有理解它。”

物理学家们求诸于或这或那相悖的解释

It's so queer that physicists resort to one or another

paradoxical interpretation of it.

是多么奇怪啊。

大卫.多依奇在《真实世界的脉络》一书中

David Deutsch, who's talking here, in "The Fabric of Reality,"

embraces the many-worlds interpretation of quantum theory,

采纳了量子理论中对于“多重世界”的解释

because the worst that you can say about it

因为你能够对“多重世界”理论最差的评价也只能是

is that it's preposterously wasteful.

毫无根据的废话而已。

It postulates a vast and rapidly growing number of universes existing in parallel,

它假设了存在着数目巨大并且在不断增加的平行宇宙，

并且它们之间是无法互相探测的，

mutually undetectable,

except through the narrow porthole of quantum mechanical experiments.

除非通过精妙的量子力学实验。

这就是理查德.费曼。

And that's Richard Feynman.

生物学家，刘易斯.沃尔普特

The biologist Lewis Wolpert believes

that the queerness of modern physics

认为现代物理学的奇妙之处

is just an extreme example.

只不过是一个极端的例子。相比于技术而言，

Science, as opposed to technology,

does violence to common sense.

科学往往会对常识造成破坏。

Every time you drink a glass of water, he points out,

他指出，每当你喝下一杯水的时候，

the odds are that you will imbibe at least one molecule

你就很可能喝到了至少一个分子

that passed through the bladder of Oliver Cromwell.

是当年曾经过克伦威尔膀胱的。（笑声）

(Laughter)

It's just elementary probability theory.

这仅仅是最基础的概率论。

(Laughter)

The number of molecules per glassful is hugely greater

每杯水中的水分子数目远远超过

than the number of glassfuls, or bladdersful, in the world.

世界上所有杯子或膀胱的数量。

And of course, there's nothing special about Cromwell or bladders --

当然，这里的克伦威尔或者膀胱并没有什么特别之处。

you have just breathed in a nitrogen atom

你刚才或许已经吸入了一个氮分子

that passed through the right lung of the third iguanodon

曾经穿过那颗高大的铁树左边的

to the left of the tall cycad tree.

第三只禽龙的右肺。

"Queerer than we can suppose."

“超乎想象的奇妙”

What is it that makes us capable of supposing anything,

有没有什么能够使我们有能力想象到一切

and does this tell us anything about what we can suppose?

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？

Are there things about the universe that will be forever beyond our grasp,

宇宙中是否存在着某些东西永远超越我们的理解力

但是却又无法超越一些

but not beyond the grasp of some superior intelligence?

高等智慧的玩艺呢？是否还存在着

Are there things about the universe

that are, in principle, ungraspable by any mind,

原则上不能被任何人所理解的宇宙呢？

however superior?

不管多么高等的的智慧都无法理解。

The history of science has been one long series of violent brainstorms,

科学史长期伴随着猛烈的头脑风暴，

背后是随着一代又一代人

as successive generations have come to terms with

对不断增长的

increasing levels of queerness in the universe.

宇宙奇妙级别做出的妥协。

We're now so used to the idea that the Earth spins,

我们现在对于地球在自转

rather than the Sun moves across the sky,

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

it's hard for us to realize

what a shattering mental revolution that must have been.

这曾是一次多么重大的思想革命。

After all, it seems obvious that the Earth is large and motionless,

毕竟，地球显然看起来是大而且静止的，

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

But it's worth recalling Wittgenstein's remark on the subject:

维特根斯坦对于此事的看法。

"Tell me," he asked a friend, "why do people always say

“告诉我，”他问一个朋友，“为什么人们总是会自然而然地认为

it was natural for man to assume that the Sun went 'round the Earth,

太阳是在绕着地球转

rather than that the Earth was rotating?"

而不是地球自己在自转呢？”

And his friend replied, "Well, obviously,

他的朋友回答道:"很显然，因为身边的一切看起来更像是

because it just looks as though the Sun is going round the Earth."

太阳在绕着地球转。”

Wittgenstein replied, "Well, what would it have looked like

维特根斯坦反问道，“难道说如果地球是自转的话，

if it had looked as though the Earth was rotating?"

身边的一切看上去就会不同了吗？”（笑声）

(Laughter)

Science has taught us, against all intuition,

科学告诉我们，要抵制直觉，

that apparently solid things, like crystals and rocks,

那些看起来显然是固体的东西，例如水晶和岩石

are really almost entirely composed of empty space.

其实是充满了虚无的空间。

And the familiar illustration is the nucleus of an atom

我们熟悉例子是：原子核对于一个原子而言就相当于一只苍蝇

is a fly in the middle of a sports stadium,

在一个体育场的中间，并且另一个原子核位于

and the next atom is in the next sports stadium.

另一个体育场当中。

So it would seem the hardest, solidest, densest rock

因此，看起来最坚硬、最坚固、最致密的岩石其实

is really almost entirely empty space,

也是完全空洞的，这空洞被微小的粒子分开，

broken only by tiny particles so widely spaced they shouldn't count.

而这些粒子又如此分散地遍布在这广大的空间内，以至于可以被忽略。

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？

As an evolutionary biologist, I'd say this: our brains have evolved

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

to help us survive within the orders of magnitude, of size and speed

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。”

which our bodies operate at.

我们从不会在

We never evolved to navigate in the world of atoms.

原子级别的世界中进化。

If we had, our brains probably would perceive rocks

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。

as full of empty space.

岩石在我们的手中感觉是坚硬且不可穿透的

Rocks feel hard and impenetrable

to our hands, precisely because objects like rocks and hands

是因为岩石和手这类物体

cannot penetrate each other.

并不能互相穿透。因此，这对于我们的大脑而言，

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。

because such notions help us to navigate our bodies

因为此类概念可以帮助我们在这种中等尺寸的世界中

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。

Moving to the other end of the scale,

再谈一谈尺度的另一端，我们的祖先

our ancestors never had to navigate through the cosmos

从来不需要在一个接近光速的宇宙中操纵自己的身体。

at speeds close to the speed of light.

如果它们那样做了，我们的大脑将会比现在更好地理解爱因斯坦。

If they had, our brains would be much better at understanding Einstein.

我想把我们进化出生存能力的这个中等规模的环境

I want to give the name "Middle World" to the medium-scaled environment

命名为中观世界。

in which we've evolved the ability to take act --

和中土世界（《魔戒》发生地）没有关系哦。

nothing to do with "Middle Earth" --

中观世界。（笑声）

Middle World.

(Laughter)

We are evolved denizens of Middle World,

我们是在中观世界中得到进化的居民，这限制了我们

and that limits what we are capable of imagining.

所能够想象到的东西。我们在直觉上很容易明白这样的事实：

We find it intuitively easy to grasp ideas like,

当一只兔子以中等的速率在移动的时候，

when a rabbit moves at the sort of medium velocity

（这种速率是兔子和其他中观世界中物体移动的速度）

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。

May I introduce Major General Albert Stubblebine III,

请让我介绍一下陆军少将Albert Stubblebine三世，

commander of military intelligence in 1983.

他曾是美国军情部门的指挥官。

"...[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，

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。

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。

'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.

我要做的一切就是让自己融进原子里的空间。”

接着，少将的鼻子猛的撞到了他办公室里的那堵墙上。

Then, General Stubblebine banged his nose hard on the wall of his office.

这位指挥16000名士兵的将军

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。

He has no doubt that this ability will one day be a common tool

他丝毫不怀疑终究有一天这种能力会成为

in the military arsenal.

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？

Who would screw around with an army that could do that?"

这个故事来是我前几天

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）

(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.

我本人在上面登了文章哦。（笑声）

(Laughter)

Unaided human intuition, schooled in Middle World,

在中观世界中得以调教的人类直觉，在没有受到协助的情况下，

finds it hard to believe Galileo when he tells us

会很难相信当年伽利略告诉我们

a heavy object and a light object, air friction aside,

一个重物和一个轻物在不考虑空气阻力的情况下

would hit the ground at the same instant.

会同时落到地面这一事实。

And that's because in Middle World, air friction is always there.

这是因为在中观世界里，空气阻力总是存在的。

If we'd evolved in a vacuum,

但假设我们是在真空的环境中进化的话，我们可以预料

we would expect them to hit the ground simultaneously.

到它们会同时落地。如果我们是细菌的话，

If we were bacteria,

constantly buffeted by thermal movements of molecules,

是会持续不断地受到分子间的热作用的冲击的

it would be different.

那将会和我们现在的情况大不相同。

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,

同样的，我们生命体以地心引力作用为主导

but are almost oblivious to the force of surface tension.

以至于表面张力可以被忽略。

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。

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.

道格拉斯.亚当斯在右侧。斯蒂夫.格兰德在他

Steve Grand, in his book, "Creation: Life and How to Make It,"

名为《万物：生命及如何制造生命》一书中，强烈地抨击了

is positively scathing about our preoccupation with matter itself.

我们对日常生活中对于物质这一概念的偏见。

We have this tendency to think that only solid, material things

我们倾向于认为只有固体的、具体的东西才是

are really things at all.

真正的东西。而真空中的电磁波

Waves of electromagnetic fluctuation in a vacuum seem unreal.

是不真实的。

Victorians thought the waves had to be waves in some material medium:

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，

the ether.

我们管这种介质叫以太。但是真实的物质能够让我们宽慰

But we find real matter comforting

only because we've evolved to survive in Middle World,

是因为在我们生存的中观世界中，

where matter is a useful fiction.

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

对于史蒂夫.格兰德而言，一个漩涡的真实性和

as a rock.

一块岩石差不多。

In a desert plain in Tanzania,

在坦桑尼亚的沙漠平原上，

in the shadow of the volcano Ol Doinyo Lengai,

有一个由火山灰形成的沙丘，位于伦盖火山的阴影下。

there's a dune made of volcanic ash.

The beautiful thing is that it moves bodily.

它是一个美妙的流动沙丘。

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

and the entire dune walks across the desert in a westerly direction

大约以每年17米的速度

at a speed of about 17 meters per year.

向沙漠的西面移动。

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。

What happens is that the wind blows the sand up the shallow slope

风先是将沙子

从坡度较缓的方向吹向另一侧，

on the other side,

and then, as each sand grain hits the top of the ridge, it cascades down

沙子会不断机打沙丘脊的顶部，

然后沙子会从沙丘脊部连续不断地落入月牙型的沙丘内部

on the inside of the crescent,

and so the whole horn-shaped dune moves.

并且整个号角状的沙丘会随之移动。

Steve Grand points out that you and I are, ourselves,

斯蒂夫.格兰德指出我们大家都

more like a wave than a permanent thing.

更像是处于变化中的波而不是一件永恒的物品。

He invites us, the reader,

他邀请读者们去回忆

to think of an experience from your childhood,

“童年经历中能够清楚的记得的一些能够

something you remember clearly,

something you can see, feel, maybe even smell,

看到、感觉到甚至是闻到的东西，

as if you were really there.

让自己仿佛身如其境。”

After all, you really were there at the time, weren't you?

然后，你会发现自己真的好像在那里，是吧？

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。

Not a single atom that is in your body today

在这一切发生的时候，你身上一个分子都没有到过那。

was there when that event took place.

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。

Whatever you are, therefore,

不管你是什么，你都不是那个

you are not the stuff of which you are made.

由你身上的物质组成的家伙。

If that doesn't make the hair stand up on the back of your neck,

如果这没有让你颈后的汗毛竖起来的话，

read it again until it does, because it is important.

那就继续读下去直到你颈后的汗毛竖起来为止，因为这很重要。"

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。

If a neutrino had a brain,

如果中微子拥有大脑，

which it evolved in neutrino-sized ancestors,

并且是从中微子级别的祖先中进化而来的，

it would say that rocks really do consist of empty space.

那么中微子就会说岩石当然是由空洞组成的。

We have brains that evolved in medium-sized ancestors

我们的大脑是在中等级别的祖先中进化的，

which couldn't walk through rocks.

所以我们无法穿透岩石。

"Really," for an animal, is whatever its brain needs it to be

对于动物而言，“真实”只不过是大脑为了更好地

in order to assist its survival.

协助其生存的概念。

And because different species live in different worlds,

并且不同的物种生活在不同的世界当中，

there will be a discomforting variety of "reallys."

正因此，世上存在着各式让人感到疑惑不快的真实。

What we see of the real world is not the unvarnished 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

but a model of the world, regulated and adjusted by sense data,

而是一个被我们的感官数据所控制、调谐的模型，

but constructed so it's useful for dealing with the real world.

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。

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

会飞的动物需要一个与行走、攀爬或游泳的动物

from a walking, climbing or swimming animal.

完全不同的模型。

A monkey's brain must have software capable of simulating

猴子的大脑必须拥有一套软件使其能够模拟

a three-dimensional world of branches and trunks.

枝条与树干的三维世界。

A mole's software for constructing models of its world will be customized

鼹鼠也需要一套能够建构模型的软件，

这套软件将专门为地下世界定做。

for underground use.

A water strider's brain doesn't need 3D software at all,

水黾的大脑则完全不需要三维软件，

since it lives on the surface of the pond,

因为它们生活在埃德温.阿伯特笔下平面世界中

in an Edwin Abbott flatland.

池塘的表面。

I've speculated that bats may see color with their ears.

我推测蝙蝠也许可以通过耳朵识别色彩。

The world model that a bat needs in order to navigate

蝙蝠所需的世界模型是为了

through three dimensions catching insects

在三维世界中穿梭捕食，

must be pretty similar to the world model that any flying bird --

这个模型一定与其他任何飞鸟的模型是相似的，

a day-flying bird like a swallow -- needs to perform the same kind of tasks.

例如像燕子这种在日间飞行的鸟类，

需要执行同样的任务。

The fact that the bat uses echoes in pitch darkness

蝙蝠在漆黑的环境中通过使用回声来

to input the current variables to its model,

输入变量的模型这一事实，

while the swallow uses light, is incidental.

对于燕子而言，所使用的就是光线。两者是随机产生的。

Bats, I've even suggested, use perceived hues, such as red and blue,

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

as labels, internal labels, for some useful aspect of echoes --

来对回声中一些有用的方面进行标注，

perhaps the acoustic texture of surfaces, furry or smooth and so on --

例如表面的声学质地是平滑的还是粗糙的等等，

in the same way as swallows or indeed, we, use those perceived hues --

同样的，燕子及我们人类使用

红色、蓝色等察觉出的色调

redness and blueness, etc. --

to label long and short wavelengths of light.

来对光线波长的长短进行标识。

There's nothing inherent about red that makes it long wavelength.

红色与其波长较长这一属性之间并没有什么固有的联系。

The point is that the nature of the model is governed by how it is to be used,

关键点是这个模型的特征是由它如何被使用决定的，

而不是被其感官特性决定的。

rather than by the sensory modality involved.

J.B.S. Haldane himself had something to say about animals

J.B.S.霍尔丹自己就曾经说过动物的世界

whose world is dominated by smell.

是被气味支配的。

Dogs can distinguish two very similar fatty acids, extremely diluted:

狗可以区分两种非常相似并且被高度稀释的脂肪酸：

caprylic acid and caproic acid.

羊油酸（辛酸）和羊脂酸（己酸）。

The only difference, you see,

它们唯一的区别在于它们其中一个的化学链上

is that one has an extra pair of carbon atoms in the chain.

多了一对碳原子而已。

Haldane guesses that a dog would probably be able to place the acids

霍尔丹猜测狗狗能够根据嗅觉将两种酸的

in the order of their molecular weights by their smells,

分子量进行排序，

just as a man could place a number of piano wires

就好像人可以根据音符将钢琴线的长度

in the order of their lengths by means of their notes.

进行排序。

Now, there's another fatty acid, capric acid,

现在，还有另一种脂肪酸叫做羊蜡酸（发酸），

which is just like the other two,

与前面提到的两者非常相似，

except that it has two more carbon atoms.

它只不过又多了两个碳原子而已。

A dog that had never met capric acid would, perhaps,

一条从没有问过羊蜡酸的小狗，很有可能

have no more trouble imagining its smell

轻而易举的识别出它的味道就如同我们

than we would have trouble imagining a trumpet, say,

就算我们从来没有听过小号的声音，

playing one note higher than we've heard a trumpet play before.

也可以轻而易举地识别出小号所发出更高一个音符的声音。

Perhaps dogs and rhinos and other smell-oriented animals smell in color.

或许像狗狗、犀牛及其他一些以嗅觉为导向的动物可以通过

气味来识别颜色。理由就和刚才提到的

And the argument would be exactly the same as for the bats.

蝙蝠的例子一样。

Middle World -- the range of sizes and speeds

中观世界中有关大小和速度的范围

which we have evolved to feel intuitively comfortable with --

在我们的进化过程中都会让人在直觉上感到是舒适的。

is a bit like the narrow range of the electromagnetic spectrum

这有点像是我们在肉眼能够观察到的各种颜色

that we see as light of various colors.

都属于电磁频谱中的一段小范围之内。

We're blind to all frequencies outside that,

除非我们借助仪器，

unless we use instruments to help us.

否则我们无法观察到那范围之外的颜色。

Middle World is the narrow range of reality

中观世界同样也只是现实中窄小的一部分，

which we judge to be normal, as opposed to the queerness

在这部分世界中，这样我们对它的感知和判断才是正常的，

of the very small, the very large and the very fast.

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;

我们可以对不可能的事物也作出一个类似的界定，

nothing is totally impossible.

没有什么是完全不可能的。

Miracles are just events that are extremely improbable.

奇迹只不过是极其不容易发生的事而已。

A marble statue could wave its hand at us;

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

the atoms that make up its crystalline structure

总一直在来来回回的振动。

are all vibrating back and forth anyway.

Because there are so many of them,

但因为这些原子的数量太多了，

and because there's no agreement among them

并且它们之间并没有

in their preferred direction of movement,

在运动方向达成什么默契，所以，

the marble, as we see it in Middle World, stays rock steady.

雕像在中观世界中看起来是静止稳定的。

But the atoms in the hand could all just happen to move

但是如果这些原子刚好在

the same way at the same time, and again and again.

同一时间往同样的方向不停的移动，

In this case, the hand would move,

我们就可以看见手向我们挥动。

and we'd see it waving at us in Middle World.

但是，在中观世界中，概率遏制了这种情况的发生，

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,

以至于如果你从宇宙诞生之时

开始写0直到今天，

you still would not have written enough zeros to this day.

或许你都还没写够。

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

处理小概率事件的本领，因为我们不会活的太长。

In the vastness of astronomical space and geological time,

在广阔无垠的宇宙空间与漫长的地质年代中，

that which seems impossible in Middle World

那些在中观世界中看似不可能的事件

might turn out to be inevitable.

或许就会成为一种必然。

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,

我们不知道宇宙中到底有多少行星，

but a good estimate is about 10 to the 20, or 100 billion billion.

但是目前比较理想的估计大约是2000亿亿或10000亿亿颗。

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

一个不错的视角。

We could make some sort of landmark points along a spectrum of improbability,

如果我们可以将生命不可思议的范围在频谱上作一些标注的话，

那么它看上去就会和

which might look like the electromagnetic spectrum we just looked at.

我们能够看到的电磁频谱的范围差不多。

If life has arisen only once on any --

如果生命能够在

life could originate once per planet, could be extremely common

每颗行星上，每颗恒星甚至

每个星系都起源一次的话，那生命体将会变得非常普遍

or it could originate once per star

or once per galaxy or maybe only once in the entire universe,

但生命只在整个宇宙中起源一次的话，

in which case it would have to be here.

那这只会是我们所处的这个宇宙了。

And somewhere up there would be the chance

that a frog would turn into a prince,

而其他的地方将很有可能会出现

and similar magical things like that.

诸如青蛙变王子之类的把戏了。

If life has arisen on only one planet in the entire universe,

如果生命的起源只发生在宇宙中的一个行星上，

that planet has to be our planet, because here we are talking about it.

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,

这还意味着如果我们接受这种观点的话，

we're allowed to postulate chemical events in the origin of life

我们就假定了生命的起源作为化学事件

which have a probability as low as one in 100 billion billion.

其概率可能低到10000亿亿分之一。

I don't think we shall have to avail ourselves of that,

我本人并不认为我们必须接受这种观点，

because I suspect that life is quite common in the universe.

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

但这依然意味着来自于不同方位的生命要彼此相见

that no one island of life ever encounters another,

的可能性是微乎其微的，

which is a sad thought.

这看来是一种让人悲伤的观点。

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,

这种奇妙是原则上就无法被想象的呢？

or just queerer than we can suppose, given the limitations

还是说这种奇妙超出了我们想象的能力，而这种限制

of our brain's evolutionary apprenticeship in Middle World?

是由于我们大脑受到的训练和进化都发生在中观世界中？

Could we, by training and practice,

我们是否可以通过训练、实践、从而使我们

emancipate ourselves from Middle World

从中观世界中解放出来从而以某种新的带有直觉性的

and achieve some sort of intuitive as well as mathematical understanding

而且精确的方式来理解中观世界之外的事物呢？

of the very small and the very large?

老实说，我也没有答案。

I genuinely don't know the answer.

I wonder whether we might help ourselves to understand, say, quantum theory,

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。

if we brought up children to play computer games

例如在孩子的幼年时期，我们带着孩子玩一种电脑游戏，

beginning in early childhood,

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,

在屏幕上的两条裂缝之间穿梭，

a world in which the strange goings-on of quantum mechanics were enlarged

这些奇怪的量子力学现象

因被电脑模拟而更加形象，

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。

And similarly, a relativistic computer game,

同样的，一个模拟相对论的电脑游戏在屏幕上

in which objects on the screen manifest the Lorentz contraction, and so on,

展示洛伦兹收缩现象等等，

to try to get ourselves -- to get children into the way of thinking about it.

这有助于帮助我们及孩子们理解

这些现象。

I want to end by applying the idea of Middle World

最后我想把有关中观世界的观点应用到我们对于

to our perceptions of each other.

彼此的认知上来，

Most scientists today subscribe to a mechanistic view of the mind:

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：

we're the way we are because our brains are wired up as they are,

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，

our hormones are the way they are.

是因为我们的荷尔蒙让我们这样存在。

We'd be different, our characters would be different,

如果我们在神经解剖学和生理化学层面上不同，

if our neuro-anatomy and our physiological chemistry were different.

那我们将会显得不同，我们的性格将会不一样。

But we scientists are inconsistent.

但是我们科学家的观点往往是不一致的。否则，

If we were consistent,

our response to a misbehaving person, like a child-murderer,

我们对于一个犯错误的人，例如一个谋杀儿童的罪犯，

should be something like:

我们会认为这个家伙有个零件坏了，

this unit has a faulty component; it needs repairing.

他需要修理一下。而现实中，我们并不会这么说，

That's not what we say.

What we say -- and I include the most austerely mechanistic among us,

包括我在内这些最严肃的机械论者

which is probably me --

都会说

what we say is, "Vile monster, prison is too good for you."

“变态佬！监狱是便宜你了！”

Or worse, we seek revenge, in all probability thereby triggering

甚至，我们还有可能会采取一些报复行为。如果那样的话

the next phase in an escalating cycle of counter-revenge,

很有可能会引起一系列的反报复行为。

which we see, of course, all over the world today.

显然，这就是我们今日的世界。

In short, when we're thinking like academics,

简而言之，当我们像学者一样思考问题的时候，

we regard people as elaborate and complicated machines,

我们把人看作是精妙复杂的机器,

like computers or cars.

就像电脑和小车一样。但是当我们回到现实的时候，

But when we revert to being human,

we behave more like Basil Fawlty, who, we remember,

我们的表现却又像是喜剧《弗尔蒂旅馆》中的Basil Fawlty，

thrashed his car to teach it a lesson,

我记得他在名为"gourmet night" 的一集中因为汽车无法发动

when it wouldn't start on "Gourmet Night."

而狠狠的教训了一顿汽车。

(Laughter)

The reason we personify things like cars and computers

我们之所以会拟人化地看待汽车和电脑的原因

is that just as monkeys live in an arboreal world

可以类比于猴子生活在树上，

and moles live in an underground world

鼹鼠生活在地底，

and water striders live in a surface tension-dominated flatland,

水黾生活在由张力主导的平面世界中。

we live in a social world.

我们生活在一个社会化的世界当中。我们穿梭在人海当中——

We swim through a sea of people --

a social version of Middle World.

这是一个社会化的中观世界版本。

We are evolved to second-guess the behavior of others

我们在进化过程中不断的预测别人的行为，

by becoming brilliant, intuitive psychologists.

从而变成了才华横溢，具有超强直觉的心理学家。

Treating people as machines

把人当作机器来看待

may be scientifically and philosophically accurate,

或许在科学和哲学层面上都是准确的。

but it's a cumbersome waste of time

但如果你要猜测人们下一步会去干什么的话，

if you want to guess what this person is going to do next.

这就会是浪费时间。

The economically useful way to model a person

经济有效地对一个人建模的方法是

is to treat him as a purposeful, goal-seeking agent

把他当做一个有目的的人，

with pleasures and pains, desires and intentions,

这个人有着愉悦和痛苦、欲望和企图、

guilt, blame-worthiness.

内疚、自责这些人格特性。

Personification and the imputing of intentional purpose

人格化以及求诸于个人意图

is such a brilliantly successful way to model humans,

是明智且有效的对人类进行建模的方法。

it's hardly surprising the same modeling software

丝毫不让人惊奇的是，这种建模软件

often seizes control when we're trying to think about entities

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。

for which it's not appropriate, like Basil Fawlty with his car

例如，Basil Fawlty和他的小车以及其它

or like millions of deluded people, with the universe as a whole.

不计其数想要天人合一的家伙。

(Laughter)

If the universe is queerer than we can suppose,

如果宇宙比我们能够想象的还要奇妙的话，

is it just because we've been naturally selected

是否是因为我们是被遴选的物种而天生需要承担

to suppose only what we needed to suppose

想象那些我们需要想象的事物，从而能够

in order to survive in the Pleistocene of Africa?

从远古非洲中幸存下来？

Or are our brains so versatile and expandable that we can train ourselves

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

我们可以通过训练自己从而打破进化的盒子？

to break out of the box of our evolution?

Or finally, are there some things in the universe so queer

或者还是说，宇宙中存在着一些无比奇妙的事物

that no philosophy of beings, however godlike, could dream them?

以至于没有任何一个物种，甚至是神，都无法想象到的？

Thank you very much.

(Applause)

非常感谢！