The history of our world in 18 minutes | David Christian | TED

翻译人员: Bear Jin 校对人员: Angelia King

首先，来段录像。

First, a video.

Yes, it is a scrambled egg.

对，这是个被搅拌的鸡蛋。

但是，当你看它的时候，

But as you look at it,

I hope you'll begin to feel just slightly uneasy.

我希望你能开始感受到

有一点点的怪异。

Because you may notice that what's actually happening

因为你可能注意到了正在发生的

是这个鸡蛋搅拌的反序过程。

is that the egg is unscrambling itself.

And you'll now see the yolk and the white have separated.

并且你可以看到蛋黄和蛋白分开了。

And now they're going to be poured back into the egg.

现在它们将返回到蛋壳中。

并且我们内心深处都知道

And we all know in our heart of hearts

that this is not the way the universe works.

这不是宇宙的运行方式。

A scrambled egg is mush -- tasty mush -- but it's mush.

一个被搅拌的鸡蛋是糊状的，好吃的糊状，但是它是糊状的。

An egg is a beautiful, sophisticated thing

鸡蛋是一个美丽而复杂的东西

that can create even more sophisticated things,

它能创造出更加复杂的东西，

such as chickens.

比如说小鸡。

And we know in our heart of hearts

并且我们内心深处知道

that the universe does not travel from mush to complexity.

宇宙形成并不仅仅是

从混沌到复杂的跨度。

In fact, this gut instinct

实际上，这宇宙形成感觉上

is reflected in one of the most fundamental laws of physics,

是受一种最基本的物理学原理的影响，

the second law of thermodynamics, or the law of entropy.

热力学第二定律，又称熵定律。

它主要阐述了

What that says basically

is that the general tendency of the universe

宇宙的总体趋势

是从有序的

is to move from order and structure

有架构的

to lack of order, lack of structure --

到无序的，无架构的--

事实上，相对于混沌。

in fact, to mush.

And that's why that video feels a bit strange.

也是为什么这段录像

感觉有一点点奇怪。

And yet, look around us.

然而

看看我们周遭。

What we see around us is staggering complexity.

我们周遭所见的

是那么惊人的复杂。

Eric Beinhocker estimates that in New York City alone,

艾瑞克·比因霍克估计光纽约一个城市

there are some 10 billion SKUs, or distinct commodities, being traded.

就有100亿的不同货物正在被交易。

That's hundreds of times as many species as there are on Earth.

这比

现存于地球上的物种数量要多成百倍。

And they're being traded by a species of almost seven billion individuals,

而且，它们是由一种

近七十亿个体

who are linked by trade, travel, and the Internet

以交易，游历和网络相互联系

into a global system of stupendous complexity.

到一个

极其庞大复杂的全球体系交易。

So here's a great puzzle:

所以，这就是个大谜团：

在宇宙中

in a universe ruled by the second law of thermodynamics,

在被热力学第二定律规范下，

how is it possible

怎么样才有可能

to generate the sort of complexity I've described,

产生这种我刚才论述的那种复杂性--

the sort of complexity represented by you and me

那种你，我

和这个演讲厅所呈现的复杂性？

and the convention center?

这答案似乎是，

Well, the answer seems to be,

the universe can create complexity,

宇宙本生能创造复杂性，

but with great difficulty.

但是有极大的困难。

In pockets,

总的来说，

there appear what my colleague, Fred Spier,

这种情况会发生，用我同事，弗雷德·施皮尔的

calls "Goldilocks conditions" --

说法“黄金条件”--

not too hot, not too cold,

不太热，不太冷；

just right for the creation of complexity.

就那么刚刚好能创造复杂性。

And slightly more complex things appear.

同时一些更加复杂的事情发生了。

And where you have slightly more complex things,

就在那一点发生更加复杂的事，

you can get slightly more complex things.

你可能发现更加复杂的东西。

就这样，复杂性就这样形成了

And in this way, complexity builds stage by stage.

一步一步的。

每个阶段都是奇迹

Each stage is magical

because it creates the impression of something utterly new

因为它创造出了完全新的东西

出现在几乎什么都没有的宇宙中。

appearing almost out of nowhere in the universe.

We refer in big history to these moments as threshold moments.

这个瞬间我们将标记为宏观历史中

的起始瞬间。

在这些起始点，

And at each threshold, the going gets tougher.

条件将更加苛刻。

The complex things get more fragile,

复杂的东西变得更弱小，

more vulnerable;

更脆弱。

the Goldilocks conditions get more stringent,

黄金条件变的更苛刻，

and it's more difficult to create complexity.

而且条件会变的更难

来创造复杂性。

Now, we, as extremely complex creatures,

现实中我们是极度复杂的个体

渴望了解这个

desperately need to know this story

of how the universe creates complexity despite the second law,

关于宇宙怎么创造复杂性的故事，

不管那个第二法则，

and why complexity means vulnerability and fragility.

以及为什么复杂性

意味着脆弱

和弱小。

And that's the story that we tell in big history.

我们讲的历史这件事就是这个故事。

But to do it, you have do something

但是开始前，你必须做一些事

that may, at first sight, seem completely impossible.

那些可能第一眼看起来完全不可能的事。

你必须纵观整个宇宙的历史。

You have to survey the whole history of the universe.

So let's do it.

那，让我们开始吧。

(Laughter)

（笑声）

Let's begin by winding the timeline back

让我们开始追溯到过去

13.7 billion years,

137亿年前

to the beginning of time.

到时间开始的地方。

Around us, there's nothing.

我们周围都是虚无。

There's not even time or space.

甚至没有时间和空间。

Imagine the darkest, emptiest thing you can

尽你的可能想象那最黑暗，最空无的情况

然后这种情况放大无数无数倍

and cube it a gazillion times and that's where we are.

那就是现在我们处在的时间点。

And then suddenly,

然后突然，

bang!

轰！宇宙出现了，一整个的宇宙。

A universe appears, an entire universe.

And we've crossed our first threshold.

我们就这样穿过了我们第一个起始点。

The universe is tiny; it's smaller than an atom.

这时候的宇宙是微小的，比一个原子还小。

It's incredibly hot.

它极度的炽热。

It contains everything that's in today's universe,

它包含了今天这个宇宙的所有，

so you can imagine, it's busting.

但是你也知道，它是混沌的，

And it's expanding at incredible speed.

并且它以一种难以置信的速度膨胀。

And at first, it's just a blur,

一开始它只是一团混沌，

but very quickly distinct things begin to appear in that blur.

但是十分迅速而且各不相同的事发生在这片混沌。

Within the first second,

就在那第一秒，

energy itself shatters into distinct forces

能量本生粉碎进入不同的力场当中

including electromagnetism and gravity.

包括电磁场以及重力场。

而且能量也产生一些其它奇妙的现象，

And energy does something else quite magical:

it congeals to form matter --

它凝固从而形成物质--

夸克，这种可以形成带点的质子

quarks that will create protons

和轻子。

and leptons that include electrons.

And all of that happens in the first second.

所有的一切发生在第一秒。

Now we move forward 380,000 years.

现在让我们跨越38万年。

That's twice as long as humans have been on this planet.

这是人类在这个星球存在时间的两倍。

And now simple atoms appear of hydrogen and helium.

现在普通原子

氢，氦出现了。

Now I want to pause for a moment,

现在我想暂停一会儿，

380,000 years after the origins of the universe,

在宇宙起源之后的38万年里，

because we actually know quite a lot about the universe at this stage.

因为我们实际上了解很多

关于这个阶段的宇宙。

We know above all that it was extremely simple.

我们知道，首先它是一个极度简单的宇宙。

It consisted of huge clouds of hydrogen and helium atoms,

它包含了大量的氢，氦原子

的大片云，

and they have no structure.

而且它们没有架构。

They're really a sort of cosmic mush.

它们确实是某种宇宙混沌。

But that's not completely true.

但是这不是完全正确的。

Recent studies

现有

by satellites such as the WMAP satellite

根据卫星的研究，比如威尔金森微波各向异性探测器卫星

have shown that, in fact,

表明，实际上，在那个背景下有一点点不同。

there are just tiny differences in that background.

What you see here,

你现在看到的，

the blue areas are about a thousandth of a degree cooler

蓝色的区域

相比于红色的区域要冷上大约一千度。

than the red areas.

这就是一点不同之处，

These are tiny differences,

but it was enough for the universe to move on

但是这足够让宇宙继续演变

to the next stage of building complexity.

到下一个阶段创造的复杂性。

And this is how it works.

这就是它怎么运作的。

Gravity is more powerful where there's more stuff.

重力场的作用力更大

拥有比较多的物质。

So where you get slightly denser areas,

所以这里我们有个密度稍微大的区域，

重力场开始凝结成

gravity starts compacting clouds of hydrogen and helium atoms.

氢氦原子的原子云。

我们能想象早起宇宙散布

So we can imagine the early universe breaking up into a billion clouds.

在十亿的原子云中。

And each cloud is compacted,

每片云都是紧凑的，

gravity gets more powerful as density increases,

重力场就随着密度的增加而效果更加明显，

the temperature begins to rise at the center of each cloud,

在每片云的中心温度开始升高，

而且在每片云的中心，

and then, at the center,

the temperature crosses the threshold temperature

温度超过了阈温度

of 10 million degrees,

之上一千万度，

protons start to fuse,

质子开始融合，

there's a huge release of energy,

这释放出大量的能量，

and --

接着，轰！

bam!

We have our first stars.

我们就有了第一颗恒星。

From about 200 million years after the Big Bang,

大约距离大爆炸之后的2亿年，

stars begin to appear all through the universe,

恒星开始在整个宇宙出现，

成千上万的恒星。

billions of them.

And the universe is now significantly more interesting

宇宙现在开始相当的有趣

and more complex.

也更加复杂。

Stars will create the Goldilocks conditions

恒星开始创作黄金条件

来超越两个新的起始点。

for crossing two new thresholds.

When very large stars die,

当巨大的星系泯灭的时候，

它们有着很高的温度

they create temperatures so high

that protons begin to fuse in all sorts of exotic combinations,

以至于质子开始融合进入各种奇异混合物中，

来形成在元素周期表上的所有元素。

to form all the elements of the periodic table.

就好像，你正带着一个黄金的戒指，

If, like me, you're wearing a gold ring,

it was forged in a supernova explosion.

它是天体爆炸而铸就的。

So now the universe is chemically more complex.

所以现在的宇宙在化学程度上是更加复杂的。

对于一个化学程度上更加复杂的宇宙而言，

And in a chemically more complex universe,

it's possible to make more things.

就有可能做更多的事情。

And what starts happening is that, around young suns,

然后要开始产生的

是新生的太阳，

young stars,

新生的恒星，

all these elements combine, they swirl around,

所以的元素结合，它们在一起旋转，

the energy of the star stirs them around,

星球的能量搅拌它们，

它们形成微粒，形成雪花，

they form particles, they form snowflakes, they form little dust motes,

形成微小的灰尘微粒，

它们形成岩石，形成小行星，

they form rocks, they form asteroids,

最后它们形成行星和月亮。

and eventually, they form planets and moons.

And that is how our solar system was formed,

这就是我们太阳系形成的过程，

four and a half billion years ago.

在45亿年前，

岩石型的行星比如地球

Rocky planets like our Earth are significantly more complex than stars

比起其他恒星就明显更加复杂了

because they contain a much greater diversity of materials.

因为它们包含了更加多样性的物质。

So we've crossed a fourth threshold of complexity.

因此我们已经穿过了第四个复杂性的起始点。

Now, the going gets tougher.

现在，（变化的条件）就更加苛刻了。

The next stage introduces entities that are significantly more fragile,

下一个阶段是初次形成的个体

个体是明显更加弱小，

significantly more vulnerable,

更加脆弱的，

but they're also much more creative

但是它们也更加有创造力

and much more capable of generating further complexity.

也更加有能力创造更多的复杂性。

I'm talking, of course, about living organisms.

当然，我说的

是生命个体。

Living organisms are created by chemistry.

生命个体是有化学物质组成的。

We are huge packages of chemicals.

我们是大量化学物质的集合。

So, chemistry is dominated by the electromagnetic force.

化学是被电子磁场力所控制。

That operates over smaller scales than gravity,

这运用在比重力场更小范围的地方，

which explains why you and I are smaller than stars or planets.

这也解释了为什么你和我

要比那恒星和行星小。

现在，什么才是化学物质的理想环境呢？

Now, what are the ideal conditions for chemistry?

What are the Goldilocks conditions?

什么才是黄金条件呢？

Well, first, you need energy,

首先，你需要能量，

但是不需要太多。

but not too much.

In the center of a star, there's so much energy

在恒星的内部，有着巨大的能量，

that any atoms that combine will just get busted apart again.

以至于任何原子结合之后就会重新分开。

但是也不要太少。

But not too little.

In intergalactic space,

在银河系中，只有一点点的能量

there's so little energy that atoms can't combine.

以至于原子都无法结合。

What you want is just the right amount,

你要的就是那刚刚好的量，

and planets, it turns out, are just right,

它也证明，行星的适量是刚刚适中的，

because they're close to stars, but not too close.

因为它们接近恒星了，但也不是太接近。

You also need a great diversity of chemical elements,

你也需要各种化学元素，

同时你也需要液体比如水。

and you need liquids, such as water.

为什么？

Why?

Well, in gases, atoms move past each other so fast

因为在气体的环境，相互间原子的运动如此的快

以至于它们不能结合。

that they can't hitch up.

In solids,

在固体的环境下，

atoms are stuck together, they can't move.

原子被固定在一起，它们不能运动。

In liquids,

在液体环境下，

they can cruise and cuddle

它们能游动和碰撞

也能结合形成分子。

and link up to form molecules.

那在哪里你才能找到这些黄金条件呢？

Now, where do you find such Goldilocks conditions?

Well, planets are great,

那行星就是不错的，

and our early Earth was almost perfect.

我们早期的地球

几乎就是完美的。

它和其他恒星之间距离适中

It was just the right distance from its star

来形成大量的液态水的海洋。

to contain huge oceans of liquid water.

And deep beneath those oceans,

在这些海洋下方

at cracks in the Earth's crust,

地壳的断层中，

you've got heat seeping up from inside the Earth,

你能从地球内部渗透出热量，

and you've got a great diversity of elements.

而且你也能得到各种原子。

So at those deep oceanic vents,

所以在这些深海的开口上，

fantastic chemistry began to happen,

奇妙的化学变化开始进行，

and atoms combined in all sorts of exotic combinations.

原子结合成奇异的混合物。

But of course, life is more than just exotic chemistry.

但是当然，生命不仅仅

是奇异的化学物质。

那是怎么稳定

How do you stabilize those huge molecules

那些大量的

that seem to be viable?

似乎有存活的分子的呢？

Well, it's here that life introduces an entirely new trick.

这就是生命呈现的

一个全新的窍诀。

You don't stabilize the individual;

不能稳定个体；

you stabilize the template,

只能稳定模板，

the thing that carries information,

那是携带信息的东西，

让模板复制自己。

and you allow the template to copy itself.

当然，DNA

And DNA, of course, is the beautiful molecule

是美丽的分子，

that contains that information.

包含着信息。

You'll be familiar with the double helix of DNA.

你熟悉双螺旋型的DNA。

Each rung contains information.

每个链都包含信息。

所以DNA就包含

So, DNA contains information about how to make living organisms.

关于如何创造生命体的信息。

同时DNA也能自我拷贝。

And DNA also copies itself.

所以它自我拷贝

So, it copies itself

and scatters the templates through the ocean.

同时把模板扩散到海洋中。

因此信息也传递开了。

So the information spreads.

值得注意的是信息已经成为我们故事中的一部分。

Notice that information has become part of our story.

DNA真正的魅力在于

The real beauty of DNA though is in its imperfections.

它的不完美。

As it copies itself, once in every billion rungs,

当它自我拷贝的时候，

在每十亿个链中有一个链，

there tends to be an error.

可能产生错误。

And what that means is that DNA is, in effect, learning.

也就是说

实际上，DNA在进化。

It's accumulating new ways of making living organisms

它在积累创造生命体的新方法

因为有些错误是可以运作的。

because some of those errors work.

所以DNA是在进化

So DNA's learning

and it's building greater diversity and greater complexity.

它在呈现丰富多样性和大量的复杂性。

And we can see this happening over the last four billion years.

我们看到这进化持续发生了四十多亿年。

For most of that time of life on Earth,

对于地球上的生物大部分这段时间内，

生物已经进化的相对简单--

living organisms have been relatively simple --

单细胞生物。

single cells.

But they had great diversity, and, inside, great complexity.

但是它们是十分多样的，

而且，内部结构，极其复杂。

Then from about 600 to 800 million years ago,

然后6亿年到8亿年之前，

multi-celled organisms appear.

多细胞生物出现。

You get fungi, you get fish,

你会发现菌类，鱼，

植物，

you get plants,

you get amphibia, you get reptiles,

两栖类，爬行类，

and then, of course, you get the dinosaurs.

然后，当然，你会发现恐龙。

And occasionally, there are disasters.

接着，偶然间，发生了灾难。

Sixty-five million years ago,

6500万年之前，

an asteroid landed on Earth

一颗陨石撞击地球

near the Yucatan Peninsula,

在犹卡坦半岛附近，

creating conditions equivalent to those of a nuclear war,

引发的情况相当于一场核战争，

and the dinosaurs were wiped out.

恐龙就被彻底灭绝了。

对于恐龙来说是可怕的消息。

Terrible news for the dinosaurs,

but great news for our mammalian ancestors,

但是这是好消息对于

在恐龙遗留下的空旷之地

who flourished

in the niches left empty by the dinosaurs.

蓬勃发展的哺乳类祖先来说。

And we human beings are part of that creative evolutionary pulse

我们人类

就是这次

始于6500万年前

that began 65 million years ago

with the landing of an asteroid.

随着陨石撞击后，生物进化狂潮的一部分。

Humans appeared about 200,000 years ago.

人类起源于20万年前。

And I believe we count as a threshold in this great story.

我相信我们认定

作为这个宏观的故事的一个起始点。

Let me explain why.

让我解释一下为什么。

We've seen that DNA learns in a sense,

我们已经看到DNA某种意义上的进化，

it accumulates information.

它积累信息。

But it is so slow.

但是这十分缓慢。

DNA累积信息

DNA accumulates information through random errors,

伴随着随机的差错，

some of which just happen to work.

有些差错也可以运作。

But DNA had actually generated a faster way of learning:

但是DNA已经发展成一种更快的进化方式；

它产生了有大脑的生物，

it had produced organisms with brains,

and those organisms can learn in real time.

那些生物能及时的进化。

它们积累信息，它们进化。

They accumulate information, they learn.

The sad thing is, when they die,

但是遗憾的是，

当它们死亡，信息也随着它们死亡。

the information dies with them.

Now what makes humans different is human language.

让人类特别的是

人类的语言。

We are blessed with a language, a system of communication,

我们有幸能有语言，一种交流方式。

如此的强大和准确

so powerful and so precise

that we can share what we've learned with such precision

以至于我们可以准确的分享我们学到的事

它就积累成为集体记忆。

that it can accumulate in the collective memory.

这就意味着

And that means

it can outlast the individuals who learned that information,

它能比学到信息的个体存在的更长久，

而且它也能一代一代的积累。

and it can accumulate from generation to generation.

And that's why, as a species, we're so creative and so powerful,

这就是为什么，作为一个物种，我们如此的有创造力

如此强大，

and that's why we have a history.

这就是为什么我们有历史。

我们似乎是在40亿年中唯一的

We seem to be the only species in four billion years

拥有这种天赋的生物。

to have this gift.

我把这个叫做

I call this ability collective learning.

集体学习的能力。

It's what makes us different.

这使我们如此特殊。

We can see it at work in the earliest stages of human history.

我们可以看到

在人类历史早期的阶段这种能力的运作。

We evolved as a species in the savanna lands of Africa,

我们作为一种物种

在非洲的草原上演化，

but then you see humans migrating into new environments,

但是然后你看到人类迁徙到一个新的环境--

into desert lands, into jungles,

进入到沙漠，进入雨林，

into the Ice Age tundra of Siberia --

进入西伯利亚冻土带--

艰苦，艰苦的环境中--

tough, tough environment --

into the Americas, into Australasia.

进入美洲，澳洲。

每次迁徙都涉及到学习--

Each migration involved learning --

学习新的方法来利用环境，

learning new ways of exploiting the environment,

new ways of dealing with their surroundings.

新的方法来适应环境。

Then 10,000 years ago,

然后一万年前，

exploiting a sudden change in global climate

全球环境突然发生变化

在冰河世纪晚期，

with the end of the last ice age,

人类学会耕种。

humans learned to farm.

Farming was an energy bonanza.

农业是一个能量密集型产业。

同时利用这个能量，

And exploiting that energy, human populations multiplied.

人口增长。

Human societies got larger, denser, more interconnected.

人类社会变的更庞大，更密集，

更加相互交流。

然后大约500年之前

And then from about 500 years ago,

humans began to link up globally

人类开始全球化的联系

through shipping, through trains,

通过轮船，通过铁路，

through telegraph, through the Internet,

通过电报，通过网络，

until now we seem to form a single global brain

直到现在我们似乎已经形成

一个单独的全球性大脑

它包含着近70亿个个体。

of almost seven billion individuals.

这个大脑以一种超速学习着。

And that brain is learning at warp speed.

And in the last 200 years, something else has happened.

在过去200年，有一些事发生了：

我们偶然发现另外一个能量源

We've stumbled on another energy bonanza

石油。

in fossil fuels.

所以石油以及集体学习进化一起

So fossil fuels and collective learning together

explain the staggering complexity we see around us.

解释了

我们周围的让人吃惊的复杂性。

So --

那么，这儿我们现在

Here we are,

回到演讲厅。

back at the convention center.

We've been on a journey, a return journey, of 13.7 billion years.

我们已经在一个旅行，一个追溯

137亿年的旅行中。

I hope you agree this is a powerful story.

我希望你认同这是一个震撼人心的故事。

And it's a story in which humans play an astonishing and creative role.

同时这也是有关人类

发挥惊人能力和创造性作用的故事。

But it also contains warnings.

但是这同时也有警告。

Collective learning is a very, very powerful force,

集体学习是一种十分，十分强大的力量，

and it's not clear that we humans are in charge of it.

而且还不能确定

它能否被我们人类控制。

当我从小在英格兰长大，

I remember very vividly as a child growing up in England,

我对古巴导弹危机下的生活记忆犹新。

living through the Cuban Missile Crisis.

For a few days, the entire biosphere

有几天，

整个生物圈

seemed to be on the verge of destruction.

好像在毁灭的边缘。

And the same weapons are still here,

同样的武器还是在那里，

and they are still armed.

他们同样还是武装着。

如果我们避免那些陷阱，

If we avoid that trap, others are waiting for us.

其他的还在等着我们。

We're burning fossil fuels at such a rate

我们如此快速地燃烧着石油

that we seem to be undermining the Goldilocks conditions

以至于我们似乎暗中在破坏

that made it possible for human civilizations

让人类文明

to flourish over the last 10,000 years.

繁荣了一万年之久的黄金条件。

So what big history can do

因此宏观的历史能做的

is show us the nature of our complexity and fragility

是展示给我们，我们自身复杂性和脆弱性的一面

以及我们面对的危机，

and the dangers that face us,

但是它也展现给我们，

but it can also show us our power with collective learning.

我们集体学习的力量。

And now, finally --

现在，最后的，

this is what I want.

是我怎么想的。

I want my grandson, Daniel,

我想我的孙子丹尼尔

and his friends and his generation,

和他的朋友，他这代，

遍布全球的一代，

throughout the world,

知道这个宏观的故事，

to know the story of big history,

and to know it so well

以及它如此伟大

能让他们了解

that they understand both the challenges that face us

不仅仅是我们面临的挑战

and the opportunities that face us.

同时也是我们面对的机遇。

And that's why a group of us

这也是为什么我们这一群人

are building a free, online syllabus

正在建立一个免费在线的

宏观的历史教学纲要

in big history

for high-school students throughout the world.

为了全世界高等教育的学生。

我们相信这宏观的历史

We believe that big history

will be a vital intellectual tool for them,

将会是一个重要的智慧工具，

as Daniel and his generation

对于丹尼尔和他那一代

face the huge challenges

得面临巨大挑战

and also the huge opportunities

同时也是巨大机遇

ahead of them at this threshold moment

在他们之前的这个起始点

在我们美丽星球的历史长河中。

in the history of our beautiful planet.

I thank you for your attention.

感谢大家。

(Applause)

（掌声）