Amber Case: We are all cyborgs now

翻译人员: Jenny Yang 校对人员: Angelia King

I would like to tell you all

我想告诉你们大家

that you are all actually cyborgs,

你们其实都是半机器人，

but not the cyborgs that you think.

不是你们想象的那种半机器人。

You're not RoboCop, and you're not Terminator,

你们不是机器战警， 也不是魔鬼终结者，

but you're cyborgs every time you look at a computer screen

但是你每次看着电脑屏幕

or use one of your cell phone devices.

或者使用手机时你就是个半机器人。

So what's a good definition for cyborg?

所以什么是半机器人的定义呢？

Well, traditional definition is "an organism

传统的定义是一个生物体

to which exogenous components have been added

“为了适应环境而被

for the purpose of adapting to new environments."

加入外源成分。”

That came from a 1960 paper on space travel,

这是从1960年一篇太空旅行的文章中摘录的。

because, if you think about it, space is pretty awkward.

因为你想， 空间是很可怕的；

People aren't supposed to be there.

人类本不会去那里。

But humans are curious, and they like to add things to their bodies

但是人类很好奇， 他们很可能会给他们身体里加东西

so they can go to the Alps one day

所以他们有一天可以去阿尔卑斯山

and then become a fish in the sea the next.

然后另一天又变成海里的一条鱼。

So let's look at the concept of traditional anthropology.

所以让我们看看传统的人类学观点。

Somebody goes to another country,

有人到另一个国家

says, "How fascinating these people are, how interesting their tools are,

说：“这些人多么神奇啊， 他们的工具是多么有趣

how curious their culture is."

他们的文化是多么奇特啊！”

And then they write a paper, and maybe a few other anthropologists read it,

然后他们写文章， 也许有少数几个其他人类学家读了，

and we think it's very exotic.

我们觉得它特别有异国情调。

Well, what's happening

而正在发生的是

is that we've suddenly found a new species.

我们突然发现了一个新的物种。

I, as a cyborg anthropologist, have suddenly said,

我作为一个半机器人的人类学家， 突然说：

"Oh, wow. Now suddenly we're a new form of Homo sapiens,

“噢， 我们突然就成了一种新新人类。

and look at these fascinating cultures,

过来看看这些魅力十足的文化。

and look at these curious rituals

过来看看这令人好奇的仪式

that everybody's doing around this technology.

每个人都环绕着技术行事。

They're clicking on things and staring at screens."

他们点击着东西， 关注着荧屏。”

Now there's a reason why I study this,

我之所以研究这个

versus traditional anthropology.

而不是传统的人类学是有原因的。

And the reason is that tool use,

因为工具的使用

in the beginning -- for thousands and thousands of years,

从一开始， 经历了成千上万年，

everything has been a physical modification of self.

一切都是对人类的一种自身改造。

It has helped us to extend our physical selves,

它帮助我们超越我们自身的体能，

go faster, hit things harder,

让我们走得更远， 敲打起来更有力，

and there's been a limit on that.

而这些方面也是有限的。

But now what we're looking at is not an extension of the physical self,

但是现在我们看到的不是人类自身体能的延伸，

but an extension of the mental self,

而是心智的延伸。

and because of that, we're able to travel faster,

因此，我们可以更快地旅行

communicate differently.

用不同的方式交流。

And the other thing that happens

另一件正在发生的事情是

is that we're all carrying around little Mary Poppins technology.

我们都挟带着小Mary Poppins的魔法技术。

We can put anything we want into it, and it doesn't get heavier,

我们可以把任何东西都装进去， 而它却不会变重，

and then we can take anything out.

然后我们又可以把任何东西都从里面取出来。

What does the inside of your computer actually look like?

你计算机里面到底有什么？

Well, if you print it out, it looks like a thousand pounds of material

如果你把所有信息印出来，这就好比

that you're carrying around all the time.

你会不断地接受上千磅重的信息材料。

And if you actually lose that information,

而如果你真失去了这些信息，

it means that you suddenly have this loss in your mind,

这意味着你心里感觉失去了它，

that you suddenly feel like something's missing,

你会突然感到少了什么，

except you aren't able to see it, so it feels like a very strange emotion.

只是你看不见， 你有一种非常奇怪的感觉。

The other thing that happens is that you have a second self.

另一件发生的事情是你拥有了第二个自我。

Whether you like it or not, you're starting to show up online,

无论你是否喜欢， 你开始在网上出现，

and people are interacting with your second self

当你不在那里的时候， 人们跟你网上的

when you're not there.

第二自我交流。

And so you have to be careful

所以你得小心

about leaving your front lawn open,

别把朋友圈的第一道防线都开放，

which is basically your Facebook wall,

也就是你脸书的墙头，

so that people don't write on it in the middle of the night --

别让人家半夜里随便在上面涂写

because it's very much the equivalent.

因为它的效果跟现实生活是几乎等同的。

And suddenly we have to start to maintain our second self.

所以突然我们要维护我们的第二自我。

You have to present yourself in digital life

你要在电子生活里展示自己

in a similar way that you would in your analog life.

跟你在现实生活中要做的差不多。

So, in the same way that you wake up, take a shower and get dressed,

跟你醒来， 冲淋浴，穿衣服一样，

you have to learn to do that for your digital self.

你要学习怎样在你的电子生活中做这些事。

And the problem is that a lot of people now,

问题是现在很多人

especially adolescents,

特别是青少年

have to go through two adolescences.

要经历两个青春期。

They have to go through their primary one, that's already awkward,

他们要经历他们主要的那个，那已经是很不容易了，

and then they go through their second self's adolescence,

他们还要经历他们的第二自我的青春期。

and that's even more awkward

那更难

because there's an actual history

因为在这个实实在在的网络历史中

of what they've gone through online.

他们的网络经历都被记录。

And anybody coming in new to technology

现在每个新接触技术的人

is an adolescent online right now,

在网上都算是网络青少年。

and so it's very awkward,

所以这是很尴尬的

and it's very difficult for them to do those things.

让他们做这些事情很难。

So when I was little, my dad would sit me down at night and he would say,

所以当我还小的时候，晚上我爸爸会让我坐下对我说，

"I'm going to teach you about time and space in the future."

“我来教你未来的时间和空间问题。”

And I said, "Great."

我说：“好。”

And he said one day, "What's the shortest distance between two points?"

有一天他说：“两点间的最短的距离是什么？”

And I said, "Well, that's a straight line. You told me that yesterday."

我说：“是直线，这个你昨天已经告诉我了。

I thought I was very clever.

我觉得自己很聪明。”

He said, "No, no, no. Here's a better way."

他说：“不是，不是， 这儿有一个更好的办法。”

He took a piece of paper,

他拿了一张纸，

drew A and B on one side and the other

在一面画了A在另一面画了B

and folded them together so where A and B touched.

然后把纸头折叠起来，让A和B碰在一起。

And he said, "That is the shortest distance between two points."

然后他说：“这是两点间最短的距离。”

And I said, "Dad, dad, dad, how do you do that?"

我说：“爸爸，爸爸，你怎么做到的？”

He said, "Well, you just bend time and space,

他说：“你就这样把时间和空间弯曲了，

it takes an awful lot of energy,

这需要花很大的能量，

and that's just how you do it."

这就是你要做的。”

And I said, "I want to do that."

我说：“我想要这样做。”

And he said, "Well, okay."

他说：“好啊。”

And so, when I went to sleep for the next 10 or 20 years,

于是， 之后的10，20年，我晚上去睡觉

I was thinking at night,

总是想，

"I want to be the first person to create a wormhole,

“我要成为创造虫洞-时光隧道的人

to make things accelerate faster.

让事物加速。

And I want to make a time machine."

我想做一个时间机器。”

I was always sending messages to my future self

我总是用录音带给未来的我

using tape recorders.

传递信息。

But then what I realized when I went to college

但是当我进了大学后发现

is that technology doesn't just get adopted

技术不是因为它有用，所以人们

because it works.

才接纳它；

It gets adopted because people use it

技术是在人们的应用过程中被接纳的

and it's made for humans.

它是为人类的应用需求而产生的。

So I started studying anthropology.

所以我开始学习人类学。

And when I was writing my thesis on cell phones,

而当我在写关于手机的论文时，

I realized that everyone was carrying around wormholes in their pockets.

我认识到每个人的口袋里都装着虫洞-时光隧道。

They weren't physically transporting themselves;

这虫洞-时光隧道不是通过身体接触来传递信息，

they were mentally transporting themselves.

它们其实是在心智上传递信息。

They would click on a button,

人们按一下按钮，

and they would be connected as A to B immediately.

人们就把A和B立刻联系起来了。

And I thought, "Oh, wow. I found it. This is great."

我想：“噢， 哇， 我找到了， 这太棒了。”

So over time, time and space

所以随着时间的推移， 时间和空间

have compressed because of this.

都因此被压缩联系在一起。

You can stand on one side of the world,

你可以站在世界的这一头低语，

whisper something and be heard on the other.

而世界的另一端就能听到了。

One of the other ideas that comes around

而我另外想到的是

is that you have a different type of time on every single device that you use.

你用的每个设备都给你一个不同类型的时间。

Every single browser tab gives you a different type of time.

每个网页都给你一个不同的时间轴。

And because of that, you start to dig around

你因此而到处挖掘

for your external memories -- where did you leave them?

你延伸的记忆， 你把它们存在哪里了呢？

So now we're all these paleontologists

所以现在我们都成了古生物学家

that are digging for things that we've lost

挖掘我们遗失了的东西

on our external brains that we're carrying around in our pockets.

我们将我们延伸的外部大脑揣在口袋里。

And that incites a sort of panic architecture --

这会促发某种恐慌。

"Oh no, where's this thing?"

不行， 这东西到底存在哪里？

We're all "I Love Lucy" on a great assembly line of information,

在信息爆炸前，我们都跟我爱露西电视里演的那样措手不及，

and we can't keep up.

我们跟不上信息的脚步。

And so what happens is,

因此

when we bring all that into the social space,

我们把这些都带到社交空间，

we end up checking our phones all the time.

结果我们每时每刻都在查看电话。

So we have this thing called ambient intimacy.

所以我们把这个东西称为亲密环境。

It's not that we're always connected to everybody,

我们不是跟每个人时刻都联系着，

but at anytime we can connect to anyone we want.

但是我们在任何时候可以和任何人交流。

And if you were able to print out everybody in your cell phone,

如果你可以把你手机上的人都打印出来，

the room would be very crowded.

那个屋子一定十分拥挤。

These are the people that you have access to right now, in general --

一般而言，这些就是你能联系到的人

all of these people, all of your friends and family that you can connect to.

和你有联系的所有朋友， 家人

And so there are some psychological effects that happen with this.

这也会随之带来一些心理影响。

One I'm really worried about

其实我担心的一个是

is that people aren't taking time for mental reflection anymore,

人们不再花时间停下来内心反省，

and that they aren't slowing down and stopping,

人们不再放慢速度和停下来，

being around all those people in the room all the time

人们时刻和屋里的所有的人在一起

that are trying to compete for their attention

在同一时间界面

on the simultaneous time interfaces,

要争取所有人的注意力

paleontology and panic architecture.

仿佛我们生活在研究古生物学和面对恐慌的构架中。

They're not just sitting there.

他们并不只是坐在那里。

And really, when you have no external input,

真的， 当你没有外来影响时

that is a time when there is a creation of self,

就保留了一段创造自我的时间

when you can do long-term planning,

你可以用来制定长远的计划

when you can try and figure out who you really are.

来试着发现你自己到底是什么样一个人。

And then, once you do that, you can figure out

而一旦你这么做了，你就能弄清楚

how to present your second self in a legitimate way,

怎样合理地展示你的第二自我

instead of just dealing with everything as it comes in --

而不是等着每件事发生，然后临阵应付

and oh, I have to do this, and I have to do this, and I have to do this.

噢，我得做这个， 做这个，做这个

And so this is very important.

所以这是很重要的。

I'm really worried that, especially kids today,

我很担心，特别是今天的孩子，

they're not going to be dealing with this down-time,

他们没有这种停机休息时间，

that they have an instantaneous button-clicking culture,

他们生活在不断点击的文化中，

and that everything comes to them,

什么东西都向他们扑面而来，

and that they become very excited about it and very addicted to it.

他们对此非常兴奋，也非常容易上瘾。

So if you think about it, the world hasn't stopped either.

你想么， 世界也不会停下来。

It has its own external prosthetic devices,

它自己也有自己外部修复设备，

and these devices are helping us all

这些设备都在帮助我们

to communicate and interact with each other.

互相沟通和互动交流。

But when you actually visualize it,

如果你现在能看见这些

all the connections that we're doing right now --

将我们联系在一起的链接，

this is an image of the mapping of the Internet --

你看见的是一副英特网的地图。

it doesn't look technological.

它上去并不是技术化的；

It actually looks very organic.

它其实看上去是有机化的。

This is the first time in the entire history of humanity

这是人类有史以来，我们第一次这样

that we've connected in this way.

链接在一起。

And it's not that machines are taking over.

这并不是指机器主宰了我们；

It's that they're helping us to be more human,

它们只是帮助我们更加人性化，

helping us to connect with each other.

帮助我们互相联系。

The most successful technology gets out of the way

最成功的技术帮我们扫清障碍

and helps us live our lives.

帮我们生活得更好。

And really,

真的，

it ends up being more human than technology,

最终机器使我们人类比起技术化来说，变得更人性化，

because we're co-creating each other all the time.

因为我们一直互相合作共同创造。

And so this is the important point that I like to study:

所以这是我想研究的一个要点：

that things are beautiful, that it's still a human connection --

事物是美好的，这还是要归于人类之间的联系；

it's just done in a different way.

只是用了不同的方法。

We're just increasing our humanness

我们只是增强了我们人类的特性

and our ability to connect with each other, regardless of geography.

以及我们不管地理位置的约束互相联系在一起的能力。

So that's why I study cyborg anthropology.

这就是我研究半机器人类学的原因。

Thank you.

谢谢。

(Applause)

(掌声)