The playful wonderland behind great inventions | Steven Johnson

Translator: 潘 可儿 Reviewer: Alan Watson

(Music)

（音樂）

Roughly 43,000 years ago,

大概四萬三千年以前

a young cave bear died in the rolling hills

一頭後生嘅穴熊喺今日斯洛文尼亞 西北邊境嘅綿延山巒上去世

on the northwest border of modern day Slovenia.

A thousand years later, a mammoth died in southern Germany.

一千年之後

一頭長毛象喺德國南部去世

A few centuries after that, a griffon vulture also died

幾個世紀之後，一隻兀鷲

喺同一片地區去世

in the same vicinity.

And we know almost nothing about how these animals met their deaths,

我哋唔知道呢啲動物係點樣去世嘅

but these different creatures dispersed across both time and space

但呢啲存在於唔同時空嘅生物 卻最終殊途同歸

did share one remarkable fate.

After their deaths, a bone from each of their skeletons

佢哋去世之後，骨骸中嘅一塊骨頭

was crafted by human hands

都經由人類嘅巧手變成咗一支長笛

into a flute.

Think about that for a second.

等我哋嚟諗返頭先嘅嘢

Imagine you're a caveman, 40,000 years ago.

想像你係一個四萬年前嘅穴居人

你識得點樣用火

You've mastered fire.

You've built simple tools for hunting.

又已經整咗一啲用嚟打獵嘅簡單工具

You've learned how to craft garments from animal skins

你已經學識點樣摞獸皮嚟整衫 嚟抵禦凜冬嘅寒冷

to keep yourself warm in the winter.

What would you choose to invent next?

咁下一步你會去發明咩呢？

It seems preposterous that you would invent the flute,

發明長笛似乎好荒謬

a tool that created useless vibrations in air molecules.

因為呢個工具只能發聲

But that is exactly what our ancestors did.

但實際上呢個就係我哋祖先做嘅事

Now this turns out to be surprisingly common

喺發明嘅歷史長河中

in the history of innovation.

無用嘅發明竟然係比比皆是

Sometimes people invent things

儘管有時候人發明事物

because they want to stay alive or feed their children

係為咗生存，或者養育下一代 或者征服隔籬嘅村莊

or conquer the village next door.

But just as often,

但係往往，新諗法嘅誕生

new ideas come into the world

simply because they're fun.

其實只係因為佢哋畀到人樂趣

And here's the really strange thing:

實在令人覺得奇怪嘅係：

many of those playful but seemingly frivolous inventions

好多好玩但似乎微不足道嘅發明

ended up sparking momentous transformations

最終都會喺科學、政治同社會上 帶嚟極為重要嘅轉變

in science, in politics and society.

就以可能係依家最為重要嘅發明——

Take what may be the most important invention of modern times:

programmable computers.

可編程電腦為例

Now, the standard story is that computers descend from military technology,

依家一般講法係，電腦起源於軍事技術

since many of the early computers were designed specifically

因為好多早期嘅電腦專門設計 嚟破解戰時密碼或者計算火箭彈道

to crack wartime codes or calculate rocket trajectories.

But in fact, the origins of the modern computer

但事實上，現代電腦嘅起源

are much more playful,

比你想像中仲要有趣得多

even musical,

than you might imagine.

甚至同音樂有關

The idea behind the flute,

長笛背後 利用空氣通過管道嚟發聲嘅諗法

of just pushing air through tubes to make a sound,

was eventually modified to create the first organ

最終喺兩千幾年前演變為第一部風琴

more than 2,000 years ago.

Someone came up with the brilliant idea of triggering sounds

有人諗到用手指敲擊細槓杆 嚟發聲嘅絕世好竅

by pressing small levers with our fingers,

inventing the first musical keyboard.

從而發明咗第一個琴鍵

Now, keyboards evolved from organs to clavichords to harpsichords

從風琴、古鋼琴、大鍵琴，到鋼琴 琴鍵都一直演變緊

to the piano,

until the middle of the 19th century,

直到十九世紀中期

when a bunch of inventors finally hit on the idea

一班發明家突發奇想

of using a keyboard to trigger not sounds but letters.

摞鍵盤嚟寫信，而唔係摞鍵盤演奏

事實上，最初期嘅打字機 原來係被稱為「識寫字嘅大鍵琴」

In fact, the very first typewriter

was originally called "the writing harpsichord."

Flutes and music led to even more powerful breakthroughs.

但原來，長笛同音樂 曾經引致更加勁嘅突破

About a thousand years ago,

大概一千年之前

喺「伊斯蘭復興運動」嘅鼎盛時期

at the height of the Islamic Renaissance,

three brothers in Baghdad designed a device

嚟自巴格達嘅三兄弟

設計咗一部自動風琴

that was an automated organ.

命名為「自動演奏風琴」

They called it "the instrument that plays itself."

Now, the instrument was basically a giant music box.

依家睇嚟，呢個樂器其實就係 一個巨型嘅八音盒

通過將凸點加注喺一個轉動嘅音筒上

The organ could be trained to play various songs by using instructions

encoded by placing pins on a rotating cylinder.

風琴就可以演奏曲目

And if you wanted the machine to play a different song,

如果你想機器演奏一首唔同嘅曲目

只需要換上一個有唔同凸點排列嘅音筒

you just swapped a new cylinder in with a different code on it.

This instrument was the first of its kind.

呢個樂器係同類中嘅首創，可以編寫

It was programmable.

依家，從概念上嚟講，呢個係一大進步

Now, conceptually, this was a massive leap forward.

因為呢個發明嘅面世 將硬件同軟件嘅概念形象化

The whole idea of hardware and software

becomes thinkable for the first time with this invention.

And that incredibly powerful concept

而呢個不可思議嘅犀利諗法 唔係嚟自一個用於戰爭嘅工具

didn't come to us as an instrument of war or of conquest,

or necessity at all.

亦都唔係嚟自需求

佢嚟自於望住一個機器 演奏音樂時嘅神奇愉悅感

It came from the strange delight of watching a machine play music.

In fact, the idea of programmable machines

事實上，可編程機器嘅諗法

was exclusively kept alive by music for about 700 years.

一直只出現喺音樂世界裏面大概七百年

In the 1700s, music-making machines

喺十六世紀，音樂演奏機器 成為巴黎上流社會嘅玩物

became the playthings of the Parisian elite.

Showmen used the same coded cylinders

表演者用同樣嘅編碼音筒

to control the physical movements of what were called automata,

嚟控制一種叫做自動玩偶嘅 早期機器人嘅動作

an early kind of robot.

One of the most famous of those robots

其中一個最出名嘅機器人

was, you guessed it, an automated flute player

就係由一位才華橫溢嘅法國發明家

designed by a brilliant French inventor

Jacques de Vaucanson 設計嘅 自動長笛演奏玩偶

named Jacques de Vaucanson.

And as de Vaucanson was designing his robot musician,

當 de Vaucanson 設計緊佢嘅 機器人音樂家嗰時

he had another idea.

佢有另一個諗法

If you could program a machine to make pleasing sounds,

佢諗，既然可以編程 一個發出優美樂聲嘅機器

why not program it to weave delightful patterns of color out of cloth?

咁點解唔摞佢織出色彩斑斕嘅布匹？

Instead of using the pins of the cylinder to represent musical notes,

佢哋與其用凸點音筒播歌

they would represent threads with different colors.

佢哋用唔同顏色嘅線頭織成布匹

If you wanted a new pattern for your fabric,

如果你想要一匹有新圖案嘅布

you just programmed a new cylinder.

咁編程一個新嘅轉筒就得啦

This was the first programmable loom.

呢個就係第一個可編程織布機

Now, the cylinders were too expensive and time-consuming to make,

但係整轉筒實在係太貴又浪費時間

but a half century later,

於是半個世紀之後

another French inventor named Jacquard

另一位叫做 Jacquard 嘅 法國發明家靈光一閃

hit upon the brilliant idea of using paper-punched cards

諗到摞打窿卡嚟代替金屬轉筒

instead of metal cylinders.

Paper turned out to be much cheaper and more flexible

原來用紙編程一個裝置會更加靈活同平

as a way of programming the device.

That punch card system inspired Victorian inventor Charles Babbage

之後嗰個窿片穿孔系統啟發 維多利亞時代發明家 Charles Babbage

to create his analytical engine,

砌出一台分析引擎

the first true programmable computer

於是，有史以嚟第一部 真正能夠編程嘅電腦就咁誕生咗

ever designed.

And punch cards were used by computer programmers

穿窿卡片去到二十世紀七十年代 都仲俾電腦程序員用緊

as late as the 1970s.

So ask yourself this question:

試問：

what really made the modern computer possible?

到底係咩真正令到現代電腦成為現實？

Yes, the military involvement is an important part of the story,

冇錯，軍事需要確實係好重要嘅原因

but inventing a computer also required other building blocks:

但係發明一部電腦都離唔開其他因素：

八音盒、玩具長笛演奏機器人

music boxes,

toy robot flute players,

harpsichord keyboards,

大鍵琴鍵盤，同埋印上布匹嘅斑斕圖案

colorful patterns woven into fabric,

and that's just a small part of the story.

軍事需要只係成個故仔中一小部份

There's a long list of world-changing ideas and technologies

有好多改變世界嘅諗法同科技 都係嚟自「玩」

that came out of play:

譬如公共博物館、橡膠 概率論、保險行業等等

public museums, rubber,

probability theory, the insurance business

and many more.

Necessity isn't always the mother of invention.

發明唔係總係因求而生

就係因為鍾意玩，我哋先至會探索

The playful state of mind is fundamentally exploratory,

seeking out new possibilities in the world around us.

先至會發掘周圍嘅可能

And that seeking is why so many experiences

而嗰種探索態度

正正令原本好多只為樂趣、玩樂嘅事物 變成重大突破嘅嘢

that started with simple delight and amusement

eventually led us to profound breakthroughs.

依家，我覺得玩樂同我哋點樣 喺學校教育細路仔

Now, I think this has implications for how we teach kids in school

and how we encourage innovation in our workspaces,

同埋點樣喺工作場所鼓勵創新 都有關係

but thinking about play and delight this way

但咁樣睇，玩樂同樂趣 都可以幫我哋預知未來

also helps us detect what's coming next.

試諗下：喺 1750 年，你坐喺度

Think about it: if you were sitting there in 1750

trying to figure out the big changes coming to society

想像緊 20、21 世紀社會 翻天覆地嘅改變

in the 19th, the 20th centuries,

譬如自動化機器、電腦、人工智能

automated machines, computers,

artificial intelligence,

而一個取悅巴黎上流社會嘅可編程長笛

a programmable flute

entertaining the Parisian elite

喺當時已經成為將來發展嘅最強線索

would have been as powerful a clue as anything else at the time.

It seemed like an amusement at best,

雖然佢睇起身最多係一種消遣

not useful in any serious way,

冇乜嚴肅實際嘅用處

但係最終卻會牽起 一個會改變世界嘅科技革命

but it turned out to be the beginning of a tech revolution

that would change the world.

You'll find the future

最後，你可以喺啲人最多樂趣嘅地方 預見未來

wherever people are having the most fun.