Why there's no such thing as objective reality | Greg Anderson

Transcriber:

翻译人员: Ingrid Xu 校对人员: sylvia feng

In the next few minutes,

在下来的几分钟里，

I hope to change the way you think about the very nature of reality itself.

我希望能改变你对 现实的本质的认知。

I'm not a physicist, and I'm not a philosopher.

我不是物理学家，也不是哲学家。

I'm a historian.

我是历史学家。

And after studying the ancient Greeks and many other premodern peoples

而在研究希腊以及许多 其他前现代的人群上

for more than 20 years as a professional,

花费了20余年的时间，

I've become convinced

我开始坚信

that they all lived in real worlds very different from our own.

他们都曾生活在与 我们不同的真实世界之中

Now, of course, you and I here today,

当然了，在此刻的你与我，

we take it for granted

理所当然地认为

that there's just one ultimate reality out there --

世界上只有一个究极的现实 --

our reality,

我们的现实

a fixed universal world of experience

一个固定，共享的世界体验

ruled by timeless laws of science and nature.

被超越时间的科学与自然定律所统治.

But I want you to see things differently.

但我想改变你的眼光。

I want you to see that humans have always lived in a pluriverse

我想让你意识到人类一直生活在

of many different worlds,

一个包含了很多世界的多元宇宙之中

not in a universe of just one.

不只是一个单一世界的宇宙。

And if you're willing to see this pluriverse of many worlds,

如你愿意去见证这个多元宇宙的话

it will fundamentally change, I hope,

我希望这能从本质上

the way you think about the human past

改变你对人类过去，

and hopefully the present and the future as well.

现在，以及未来的看法

Now, let's get started by asking three basic questions

现在，让我们先从三个基础的

about the contents of our reality,

关于我们现实内容

the real world that you and I share right here, right now.

也就是你我此刻所共享 的世界的问题开始

First of all:

首先，

What is it that makes something real in our real world?

是什么让我们的真实世界真实？

Well, for us, real things are material things,

对我们来说，真实的事物就是物质

things made of matter that we can somehow see,

可见的，有物质所构成的东西

like atoms, people, trees, mountains, planets ...

像是原子，人类， 树木，山群，星球...

By the same token,

以同样的逻辑来说，

invisible, immaterial things -- like gods and demons,

无形，非物质的东西 -- 像是神与魔，

heavens and hells --

天堂与地狱 --

these are considered unreal.

被认为是不真实的。

They're simply beliefs,

他们仅是信仰，

subjective ideas that exist only in the realm of the mind.

只存于思想之界的主观想法。

To be real,

如要成为真实，

a thing must exist objectively,

一个事物必须以某种可见的物质形态

in some visible material form,

客观的存在，

whether our minds can perceive it or not.

不论我们的思想能不能感知到它。

Second: What are the most important things in our real world?

第二：在我们现实中 最重要的东西是什么？

Answer: human things --

答案：人

people, cities, societies,

人群，城市，社会，

cultures, government, economies.

文化，政府，经济。

Why is this?

为什么？

Well, because we humans think we're special.

因为我们人类认为自己是特殊的。

We think we're the only creatures on the planet

我们觉得我们是地球上唯一

who have things like language, reason, free will.

有语言，逻辑， 与自由意志等的生物。

By contrast, nonhuman things, to us, are just part of nature,

相反的，非人的东西对我们来说 只是自然的一部分，

a mere backdrop to human culture,

仅仅是人类文化的一个背景板，

a mere environment of things that we feel entitled to use

一个我们如何使用

however we want.

都是理所当然的环境。

And third:

第三：

What does it mean to be a human in our real world?

作为一个人类在我们 的世界中意味什么？

Well, it means being an individual,

这意味着成为一个个体，

a person who lives ultimately for oneself.

一个终究是为自己而活的人。

We think nature has made us this way,

我们认为是自然如此定义我们，

giving each and every one of us all of the reason, the right,

给我们每一个人逻辑，权利。

the freedom and the self-interest

自由，以及自利

to thrive and compete with other individuals

去生长并与其他个体竞争

for all of life's important resources.

生命所有的重要资源。

But I'm suggesting to you that this real world of ours

但我对你们提出，我们这个世界

is neither timeless nor universal.

既非永恒，也非唯一。

It's just one of countless different real worlds

它只是无数真实世界中

that humans have experienced in history.

人类在历史中所经历过的之一。

What, then, would another world look like?

那么，另一个世界又是如何？

Well, let's look at one,

既然这样，就让我们来看看

the real world of the classical Athenians in ancient Greece.

古典雅典人与古代希腊人的真实世界。

Now, of course, we usually know the Athenians as our cultural ancestors,

当然，我们通常都认为 雅典人是我们的文化祖先，

pioneers of our Western traditions, philosophy, democracy, drama

是诸如西方传统，哲学，

and so forth.

民主，与艺术之类的先驱者。

But their real world was nothing like our own.

但是他们的真实与我们的完全不同。

The real world of the Athenians was alive with things

雅典人的真实与

that we would consider immaterial and thus unreal.

我们认为是非物质， 不真实的事物息息相关。

It pulsated with things like gods,

它与神，

spirits, nymphs, Fates,

鬼，仙，命，

curses, oaths, souls

咒，誓，魂，

and all kinds of mysterious energies and magical forces.

以及其他神秘且魔幻 的能量所有联系。

Indeed the most important things in their real world

是的，他们真实世界中最重要的

were not humans at all, but gods.

并非人，而是神。

Why?

为什么？

Because gods were awesome -- literally.

因为神很赞 -- 真的就是这样。

They controlled all the things that made life possible:

他们掌控着世间中孕育生命的一切：

sunshine, rainfall, crop harvests,

阳光，雨水，收成，

childbirth, personal health, family wealth,

生子，健康，财富，

sea voyages, battlefield victories.

海航，战场胜利。

There were over 200 gods in Athens,

雅典文化中国有200多个神，

and they were not remote, detached divinities

而且他们不是偏远，超然的神

watching over human affairs from afar.

从远处看着人类的生活。

They were really there, immediately there in experience,

他们真实存在着，近距离接触着，

living in temples,

居住在寺庙中，

attending sacrifices,

参加贡献仪式，

mingling with the Athenians at their festivals, banquets and dances.

与雅典人交织在他们 的节日，宴会，与舞蹈中。

And in the real world of the Athenians, humans did not live apart from nature.

在雅典人的真实中， 人类生活没有与自然分离。

Their lives were dictated by the rhythms of the seasons

他们的生活被四季的韵律

and by the life cycles of crops and animals.

庄稼与动物的生息所主宰。

Indeed the land of the Athenians itself

是啊，雅典人的土地

was not just a piece of property or territory.

不仅是一片领土或财产、

It was a goddess, a living goddess

它是女神，一位活生生的女神

that had once given birth to the first Athenians

给第一代雅典人予生命

and had nurtured and cared for all of their descendants ever since,

并孕育且照顾他们的子子孙孙

with her precious gifts of soils, water, stone and crops.

赠与他们珍贵的土地， 水，石头，与庄稼.

Indeed, if anything should pollute her soils with unlawful bloodshed,

当然了，如果任何事物以违规 的杀戮亵渎她的土地

it had to be expelled immediately, beyond her boundaries,

那么他们必须立即被赶出她的边界,

whether it was a man, an animal or just a fallen roof tile.

无论是人，动物，或仅是 从屋顶上掉下来的一片砖瓦.

And in the real world of the Athenians, there were no individuals.

雅典人的真实世界里没有个体。

All Athenians were inseparable from their families,

所有的雅典人皆 与他们的家人不可分离

and all Athenian families were expected to live together and work together

所有雅典人家庭也都仿佛 一个生物的细胞一般，

as a single body, like cells of a living organism.

共同生活并工作。

They called this social body simply "demos," the people,

他们把这个社会团体 称之为“得馍”，也就是人民们

and they called their way of life "demokratia,"

又把他们的生活模式称之为”民主“

but it was nothing like our modern democracy,

但是它与现代民主主义 没有半点相似之处，

because Athenians were not born to be individuals living for themselves.

因为雅典人并非是为己而活的个体

They were born to serve and preserve the families and the social body

他们为服务，保护

that had given them life in the first place.

赋予他们生命的家人 与社会团体而活。

In sum,

总而言之，

the whole Athenian way of being human was radically different from our own.

雅典人的为人之道 与我们的大不相同。

Nature had programmed them to live as one, as a unitary social body,

自然把他们定义为 一个统一的社会团体

and it had designed them expressly to coexist and collaborate

让他们与所有非人的生命体

with all manner of nonhuman beings,

共存并合作

especially their 200 gods

尤其是与他们200多个神

and their divine earth mother.

与他们神圣的大地母亲。

Life in Athens was thus sustained by what we can call a "cosmic ecology,"

雅典生活就是如此被 我们称为“宇宙生态“所维持的

a symbiotic ecology of gods, motherland and people.

一个象征神，祖国和人们的生态。

Now, of course, to us today in our real world,

当然，现在，对于今天的我们活在 这个真实世界，

we look at their real world and, well, it looks strange,

我们看到他们的世界而会觉得， 它看起来很奇怪，

weird, bizarre, exotic and, of course, unreal.

奇怪的，奇异的，异国情调的和 当然，非真实的。

But it has many major things in common

但它有很多的共同点

with the real world experienced by numerous other premodern peoples,

与众多其他前现代民族 所经历的现实世界，

including, for example,

包括，像，

the ancient Egyptians,

古埃及，

ancient Chinese

古代中国人和

and the peoples of precolonial Peru, Mexico,

来自于前殖民时期秘鲁，墨西哥，

India, Bali, Hawaii.

印度，巴里和夏威夷的人。

In all of those premodern real worlds,

在所有这些前现代的现实世界中，

gods controlled all of the conditions of existence.

神控制了所有存在的条件。

Nonhumans were always expected to collaborate with humans

非人类总是被期望与人类合作

and vice versa.

和反之亦然。

And humans were expected to serve their communities,

而人类也是被期望 为他们的社区服务，

not to live for themselves as individuals.

不仅仅为个人而活。

Indeed, in the grand scheme of history,

的确，在整个历史的中，

it's our real world, our reality, that is the great exception to the rule --

是我们的真实世界，我们的现实， 这才是规则的例外 --

the exotic one, the strange one.

是奇异的，奇怪的。

Only in our real world is reality itself a purely material order.

只有在我们的现实世界里， 现实本身才是一种纯粹的物质秩序。

Only in our real world are nonhumans always subordinate to humans.

只有在我们的现实世界中， 非人类总是从属于人类。

And only in our real world are humans born to be individuals.

而且也只有在我们的现实世界里， 人类是生为个体的。

Why this uniqueness?

为什么有这个独特性？

Well, because our real world was shaped and forged

这是因为我们的真实世界是被

in a unique environment,

一个独特的环境塑造和锻造的，

a historically unprecedented environment in early modern Europe,

一个近代早期欧洲历史上 前所未有的环境，

with its scientific revolution, its enlightenment,

和它的科学革命，启蒙，

its novel, experimental, capitalist way of life.

它的新颖的，实验性的， 资本主义的生活方式。

Yet, despite this uniqueness,

但，尽管有这些特点，

we just take it for granted that our reality is the one true reality,

我们理所当然地认为 我们的现实是唯一的真实，

that all humans in history have lived in only our real world,

认为世界上所有的人类 只存活在我们的真实世界里，

whether they knew it or not.

不管他们是否知道。

And just think for a moment of the colossal arrogance

而就想一下这个假设的巨大傲慢。

of this assumption.

Basically, we're saying, "We modern Westerners are right about reality,

基本上，我们在说，

“我们现代的西方人 对现实的看法是正确的，

and everybody else in all of history

而历史上所有其他人

is wrong."

都是错误的。”

Basically, we're saying that all of those extraordinary civilizations of the past

基本上，我们是说过去所有 那些非凡的文明社会

were really just lucky accidents,

只是幸运的意外，

because they were all founded on nothing more

因为它们都只是建立仅仅在

than myths, illusions and false ideas about reality.

神话，幻想和 关于现实的错误想法。

Why are we so certain that we're right?

为什么我们这么肯定 我们的想法是对的？

Why do we just take it for granted that we know more?

为什么我们认为我们知道得 更多是理所当然的？

Why do we struggle to take seriously the real worlds of premodern peoples?

为什么我们很难能认真对待 前现代人类的真实世界？

Well, because we think our modern sciences

这是因为我们觉得我们的现代科学

provide the only truly objective knowledge of reality.

提供唯一的真正客观的现实知识。

But do they?

但，是不是？

For more than a hundred years now,

一百多年来，

the very idea of an objective reality has been seriously and continually questioned

客观现实的想法一直 受到严重和不断的质疑，

by experts in many different fields,

都来自于各种领域的专家，

from physics and biology to philosophy.

从物理学和生物学到哲学。

Basically, these experts would suggest

从根本上讲，这些专家会建议

that reality is not simply a material order given to us by nature.

现实不仅仅是一个大自然 给予我们的物质秩序。

It is something that humans actively participate in producing

它是因人类积极参与出产的东西，

when their minds interact with their environment.

当他们的想法在 与他们的自然环境互动。

Here's a way to think about it.

我们可以从这个方向想一下。

In order to make sense of experience,

为了搞懂

every people in the past, in effect, had to devise a model of the real world.

所有过去的人，实际上，都 必须设计过一个真实世界的模型。

They would then use that model as the basis for their whole way of life,

他们接着会用那个模型 作为他们整个生活方式的基础，

all of its practices, its norms, its values.

所有的惯例，规范和价值观。

And if that way of life proved to be successful in practice, sustainable,

如果这种生活方式被证明是 成功的，可以持续的，

then the truth of the model would be confirmed

那么这个模型的原理会被肯定的，

by the evidence of everyday experience: "It works!"

通过这种日常经验 的证据：“它有效！”

And thus, once the model became internalized in mind

因此，一旦模型在脑海中内化

and baked into the environment,

并融入到环境，

the effect of a stable real world would be generated

它将产生一个稳定的真实世界，

by ongoing interactions between the two,

一个被两方不断发展的交流发展，

between minds on the one hand, environments on the other.

一方面是思想，另一方面是环境。

Let's take a quick example.

让我们举一个简单的例子。

Why are we so convinced in our modern world

为什么我们都很制定， 在我们的现代世界，

that we're all, ultimately, natural individuals?

我们最终都是自然个体？

Well, because a bunch of social scientists in early modern Europe

只是因为一群早期 现代欧洲的社会科学家

decided that we were,

决定了我们是，

and because their model of a world full of natural competitive individuals

而因为他们的模型是一个充满 自然充满竞争性个体的世界，

became the basis for a new, capitalist way of life

这就成为了新的 资本主义生活方式的基础，

that generated unprecedented levels of wealth --

并也产生了大量 史无前例的的财富 --

at least for the lucky few --

至少对于少数幸运儿 --

and because all of us who've been raised in capitalist nations ever since

及因为我们所有生长 在资本主义国家的人

have been continually socialized to be individuals by our families,

一直被我们的家庭社会化为个体，

our schools and our societies,

我们的学校和我们的社会，

and because we are treated precisely as individuals

和我们都是以个体身份被对待，

almost every day of our lives

在几乎我们生活中的每一天，

by the structures which control those lives,

通过控制生活的结构，

like our liberal democracy and our capitalist economy.

像我们的自由民主 和我们的资本主义经济。

In other words,

有其他话讲，

our minds and our environment continually conspire

我们的头脑和我们的环境不断的

to make our individuality seem entirely natural.

合谋使我们的个性看起来完全自然。

In sum:

总之：

no human being has ever experienced a truly objective reality.

没有人经历过真正客观的现实。

Different peoples have always experienced different realities,

不同的人会永远经历不同的现实，

each one shaped by whatever model of the world

每一个都由当时的思想和环境中

happened to be embedded in minds and environment at the time.

的任何世界模型塑造。

In other words,

就是说，

humans have always lived in a pluriverse of many different real worlds,

人类一直生活在 许多不同的现实世界中，

not in a universe of just one.

不是一个只带有一个的宇宙。

Let me close with three thoughts that follow from this conclusion.

让我以从这个结论得出 的三个想法结束。

First of all,

首先，

we modern Westerners need to stop thinking that all premodern peoples

我们现代西方人需要 认为所有前现代人

are somehow more primitive or less enlightened than ourselves.

是以某种原因更原始 或者不如我们开明。

Their real world, with all their gods and magical forces,

他们的真实世界， 带有所有他们的神和魔幻力，

were just as real as our own.

是和我们自己的世界一样真实。

Indeed, those real worlds

的确，那些真实世界

anchored ways of life that sustained the lives of multitudes

固定了一种数百甚至数千年

for hundreds, sometimes thousands, of years.

的生活方式。

Their real worlds were different;

他们的真实世界是不同的；

they were not wrong.

他们没有错。

Second:

第二：

we modern Westerners need to get over ourselves.

我们现代西方人，得了吧。

(Laughter)

（笑声）

We need to be a little more humble.

我们都需要变得更谦虚点。

For all of its extraordinary technological accomplishments,

尽管取得了所有非凡的技术成就，

our brave new modern real world

但我们勇敢的新现代现实世界

has imperiled the whole future of the planet in barely 300 years.

在短短 300 年内就危及了 地球的整个未来。

It's made possible all manner of historical horrors:

它使各种历史恐怖事件成为可能：

genocides across entire continents,

遍及整个大陆的种族灭绝，

mass exploitation of colonized peoples,

对殖民地人民的大规模剥削，

industrial servitude,

工业奴役，

two disastrous world wars,

两个灾难性的世界大战，

the Holocaust,

第二次世界大战对犹太人的大屠杀，

nuclear warfare,

核战争,

species extinctions,

物种灭种，

environmental degradation,

环境恶化，

factory farming

工厂化种植

and, of course, global warming.

和，当然，全球暖化。

The evidence is there if you want to see it.

证据在那里如果你想看到它。

Our model of reality has failed catastrophically in practice.

我们现实的模型 已经在实践中惨遭失败。

Third:

第三：

other models and other real worlds are possible.

其他模型和其他世界是有可能的。

Other worlds are being lived right now, as we speak,

正如我们所说， 其他世界现在正在生活中，

in what remains of history's pluriverse,

在历史的多元遗迹中，

in places like Amazonia, the Andes, Southern Mexico,

在亚马逊， 安第斯山脉，墨西哥南部，

Northern Canada, Australia

北加拿大，澳大利亚

and all the other places where Indigenous peoples are struggling

和所有其他原住民正在拼搏的地方，

to preserve their highly sustainable ancestral ways of life

为了保留他们高度可持续的 祖传的生活方式 ，

to prevent them being destroyed by modernity's ever-expanding universe.

为了防止他们被现代性 不断膨胀的宇宙而破坏。

I suggest that all of these nonmodern peoples past and present

我建议所有这些 非现代人的过去和现在

have so much to teach us

有很多可以教我们

about living more sustainable lives in other possible worlds.

关于在其他有可能的世界中 过上更可持续的生活。

So let's start right now to try to learn from them

所以让我们现在开始 尝试向他们学习，

before it's too late.

否则会太晚了。

Let's try to magnify our imaginations.

让我们尝试放大我们的想象力。

Let's start to imagine other possible ways of being human

让我们开始想象成为 人类的其他可能方式，

in other possible worlds.

在其他可能的世界。

Thank you.

谢谢。

(Applause and cheers)

（掌声和欢呼）