What’s It like to Be a Giant Sequoia Tree? | Ersin Han Ersin | TED

譯者: Sheng Cao 審譯者: Shelley Tsang 曾雯海

I was a mosquito once,

我曾經是一隻蚊子，

carried by the breeze in the Grizedale forest

在北英格蘭格里澤代爾 森林中被微風帶著。

in the north of England.

As I drifted between the trees,

當我漂過樹木間，

surrounded by the chatter of the forest,

被森林的低語給包圍，

swirling waves of pink and purple engulfed me.

粉紅與紫色的波浪在我周邊打轉。

Plumes of carbon dioxide and oxygen as the forest breathed,

二氧化碳羽流和森林呼吸時的氧氣，

mesmerized by the beauty never before glimpsed by human eyes.

被美麗迷住了人類的眼睛以前從未見過。

And I was in awe.

我很敬畏。

Then I was eaten by a dragonfly.

然後我就被蜻蜓吃了。

I became a dragonfly

我變成了一隻蜻蜓

and discovered a magical world

並發現了一個神奇的世界

in which the entire forest unfurled like a film in slow motion,

整個森林展開就像慢動作的電影一樣，

yet faster than your iPhone camera could capture it.

但比你的 iPhone 還要相機可以捕捉到它。

Through my dragonfly eyes, I took in my surroundings

透過我蜻蜓的眼睛，我觀察了周圍的環境

with pretty much a full spectrum of light,

與幾乎全光譜的光，

unlike my human self had ever been able to perceive.

不像我的人類自我曾經能夠感知。

These forays into becoming something other than human

這些嘗試成為人類以外的東西

came about as part of our experiential art piece

作為一部分出現我們的體驗藝術作品

called “In the Eyes of the Animal,”

名為《動物眼中》

which I developed with my creative partners, Barney and Robin,

我用我的創意開發的合夥人巴尼與羅賓，

alongside the members of our art collective, Marshmallow Laser Feast.

與我們藝術界的成員一起集體，棉花糖雷射盛宴。

Our aim was to translate the sensory perception of different species --

我們的目標是將感官轉化為對不同物種的認知—

a mosquito, a dragonfly, a frog and an owl --

一隻蚊子，一隻蜻蜓，一隻青蛙和一隻貓頭鷹——

so we can more deeply understand how they see, hear and feel.

讓我們能夠更深入地了解 他們如何看到、聽到和感受到。

It was for us a step into umwelt,

這對我們來說是進入環境世界的一步，

a concept coined by the pioneering biologist Jakob Von Uexküll

先驅者提出的概念生物學家 雅各布·馮·尤克斯庫爾

to describe the unique sensory world of an organism.

來描述獨特的有機體的感官世界。

Human notion of reality is just one among millions.

人類對現實的觀念只是數百萬中的一員。

Each species has its own extraordinary

每個物種都有其非凡之處

and unknowable experience of reality

以及不可知的現實體驗

based on the unique ways their senses translate the world around them.

基於他們獨特的感官方式翻譯他們周圍的世界。

In essence,

在本質上，

your and my umwelt fundamentally differs

你和我的環境根本不同

from the umwelt of a mosquito or a dragonfly.

來自環境蚊子或蜻蜓的。

Marcel Proust once wrote

馬塞爾·普魯斯特曾經寫道

"The only true voyage of discovery

「唯一真正的發現之旅

is to behold the universe through the eyes of another."

就是去觀察宇宙 透過另一個人的眼睛。”

Our voyage of discovery into animal kingdom

我們的發現之旅進入動物王國

led us to plant kingdom

帶我們進入植物王國

and eventually to trees where miracles appear in every level of magnification.

最終到達創造奇蹟的樹木出現在各個放大層級。

All we need to do is to look closely.

我們需要做的就是仔細觀察。

In 2016,

2016年，

we found ourselves standing in front of a giant sequoia tree

我們發現自己站著 在一棵巨大的紅杉前

in Sequoia National Park in California.

在加州紅杉國家公園。

These giant trees are portals

這些巨樹是門戶

through which you leave your human self-importance behind

通過它你離開你背後的人類自我重要性

and embody something much larger, much stranger,

並體現一些東西更大，更陌生，

much more than human.

比人類多得多。

All I could think of was,

我所能想到的就是，

"What is it like to be a tree?"

“當一棵樹是什麼感覺？”

What is it like to be one of the largest organisms that has ever existed?

成為最大的公司之一是什麼感覺曾經存在過的生物體？

One that has endured more than 2,500 years?

曾經經歷過的人超過2500年？

How does it feel to host a vast web of relationships

主持感覺如何龐大的關係網

that anchor an entire ecosystem?

錨定整個生態系？

Now step with me into this giant

現在就跟我一起走進這個巨人吧

as we peer through the bark,

當我們透過樹皮往外看時，

the vascular system of the tree reveals itself.

血管系統樹的本質顯露出來。

Infinitely complex patterns and relationships,

無限複雜模式和關係，

connect all forms of life into a tapestry of interdependence.

連結所有生命形式進入相互依存的掛毯。

Carbon and water,

碳和水，

more than 1,000 liters of water, in fact,

事實上，超過 1,000 公升水

flow freely through the phloem and xylem tubes carry it along.

自由流過韌皮部木質部管攜帶它。

We ascend to the canopy. Among the neon green moss

我們登上樹冠。霓虹綠苔蘚之中

and the lichen-covered branches,

和長滿地衣的樹枝，

we shrink in size and sit upon a pine needle.

我們縮小尺寸並坐在松針上。

A photon of light hits the surface, water turns into oxygen

光的光子撞擊表面，水變成氧氣

and the life we know it materializes in front of us.

以及我們所知的生活實體化在我們面前。

This extraordinary journey of water inspired us to create our multi-sensory,

這段非凡的水之旅啟發我們創造我們的多感官，

mixed-reality installation called “Tree Hugger.”

混合實境安裝被稱為「樹木擁抱者」。

With a team of scientists,

與科學家團隊合作，

programmers, engineers, LiDAR scanners and scent makers,

程式設計師、工程師、光達掃描儀和氣味發生器，

we immerse ourselves in the inner workings of a sequoia

我們沉浸在紅杉的內部運作

to render visible what was otherwise invisible to human eyes.

使原本可見的東西變得可見人眼看不見。

Mileece L'Anson, composer and a musician,

Mileece L’Anson，作曲家和音樂家，

recorded human and plant bioelectrical signals

記錄的人類和植物生物電訊號

to give us a symphony,

為我們演奏一首交響樂，

a soundscape composed in collaboration with the flora.

組成的音景與植物群合作。

In fact, that's what you've been hearing all along.

事實上，就是這樣你一直都在聽。

Participants wore a haptic vest to feel these vibrations

參與者穿著觸覺背心感受這些振動

as if their own heartbeat,

彷彿自己的心跳，

bringing us a step closer, imagining what it is like to be a tree.

讓我們更近了一步，想像成為一棵樹是什麼樣子。

When we contemplate the relationship between our breathing cells

當我們思考這段關係時在我們的呼吸細胞之間

and the breathing planet,

和會呼吸的星球，

we encounter this great question.

我們遇到了這個偉大的問題。

Where does my body end and where does the world begin?

我的身體在哪裡結束世界從哪裡開始？

As you ask yourself this question,

當你問自己這個問題時，

I'd like you to pay attention to your breath.

我希望你注意到你的呼吸。

Inhale slowly.

慢慢吸氣。

And exhale.

並呼氣。

Feel your tree-like lungs filling and emptying with a rhythmic flow of air.

感覺你的樹般的肺充滿了 並隨著有節奏的空氣流動而排空。

Oxygenated blood reaches your heart.

含氧血液到達您的心臟。

Your heart pumps like a murmuration of birds,

你的心臟泵血像鳥兒的低語一樣，

feeding rivers from the center outwards to touch every cell in your body.

從中心向外引流河流觸摸你身體的每一個細胞。

Under your skin, you realize you are much like a forest ecosystem.

在你的皮膚下，你意識到 你很像一個森林生態系。

In modern industrial societies,

在現代工業社會中，

we tend to limit our being to our body.

我們傾向於將我們的存在限制在我們的身體上。

Shaped by the confines of your skin,

由您的肌膚範圍塑造，

your body is you and that’s where your you ends.

你的身體就是你這就是你的結束。

Yet, when we trace our outbreath,

然而，當我們追蹤我們的呼氣時，

the boundary between inside and outside,

內部與外部的界限，

between self and other, blurs.

自我與他人之間，模糊不清。

The air we breathe transcends boundaries,

我們呼吸的空氣超越國界，

sustaining life as it flows between all beings.

維持生命的流動一切眾生之間。

We take anywhere from 17,000 to 30,000 breaths a day.

我們帶走 17,000每天呼吸 30,000 次。

A third of those breaths coming from the forests

三分之一的呼吸 來自森林

and the rest coming from the oceans.

其餘的則來自海洋。

This puts us in an intimate relationship with the trees

這讓我們處於一種親密的狀態與樹木的關係

thousands of times a day.

每天數千次。

You might think you've never met a giant sequoia before, but in fact,

你可能認為你們從未見過面 以前有一棵巨大的紅杉，但事實上，

you've been enmeshed and entangled with one

你已經陷入困境並與一個糾纏在一起

every moment you've been alive.

你活著的每一刻。

In other words,

换句话说

we are as much trees as trees are us.

我們是樹，就像樹是我們一樣。

Our multisensory, mixed-reality installation

我們的多感官，混合實境安裝

called “We Live in an Ocean of Air”

名為“我們生活在空氣的海洋中”

started with this realization.

從這個認識開始

By translating the umwelt of trees for human understanding,

透過翻譯樹木的環境為了人類的理解，

it underscores the bond between humans

它強調了人類之間的聯繫

and the wider family of life through respiration.

以及更廣泛的生活家庭透過呼吸。

As participants follow their outbreath into a tree, they become one.

當參與者跟隨他們的呼氣時 變成一棵樹，他們就合而為一了。

Now notice your outbreath again.

現在再次注意你的呼氣。

Carbon dioxide that leaves your body

離開身體的二氧化碳

lands on a leaf.

落在一片葉子上。

Opens its pores to drink it in.

打開毛孔來吸收它。

Carbon travels through the phloem into the branches,

碳穿過韌皮部進入樹枝，

down the tree trunk and even all the way down to the soil.

順著樹幹甚至一直到土壤。

Here,

此間,

trees are in ancient cooperation with the kingdom of fungi.

樹木在古老的合作中與真菌王國。

These fine threads of mycelium,

這些細細的菌絲體，

those intelligent, root-like fungal networks

那些聰明的，像根一樣的真菌網絡

that nurture and feed an entire ecosystem.

培育和養活整個生態系統。

By simply tracing our outbreath,

透過簡單地追蹤我們的呼氣，

we realize the reciprocity between all major kingdoms of life

我們意識到互惠在所有主要的生命王國之間

pulsing with one harmonious rhythm.

以一種和諧的節奏脈動。

This exploration of rich and diverse life

這種對豐富多元生活的探索

that exists beneath the surface of the soil

存在於下面土壤表面

is the next journey we are embarking on.

是我們即將踏上的下一個旅程。

As fungi capture the public imagination through groundbreaking research,

真菌激發了大眾的想像力透過開創性的研究，

we are very much inspired by the works of Suzanne Simard,

我們深受啟發透過蘇珊·西馬德的作品，

Merlin Sheldrake and many others.

梅林·謝爾德雷克和許多其他人。

“The Wood Wide Web,” which is the working title,

“木材萬維網” 這是工作標題，

will bring us into the primordial relationship between trees, plants,

將帶我們進 入原始樹木、植物之間的關係，

animals and fungi,

動物和真菌，

and aim to dismantle the myth of human separation

並致力於打破神話人與人的分離

from the natural world.

來自自然世界。

As an artist collective,

作為一個藝術家集體，

we seek to find emotional resonance in scientific stories,

我們尋求情感共鳴在科學故事中，

stories that connect us to the more-than-human world

連結我們的故事到超越人類的世界

and, coupled with emerging technologies,

並且，結合新興技術，

deepen our understanding of what is it to be something other than human.

加深我們對它是什麼的理解 成為人類以外的東西。

Modern science is revealing

現代科學正在揭示

something Indigenous knowledge has always held to be true.

一些土著知識一直被認為是正確的。

That what is outside of us

那是我們之外的東西

is not separate from us.

那是我們之外的東西

We need this ancient wisdom more than ever today

我們需要這種古老的智慧今天比以往任何時候都多

and it compels us to use our technology to both honor

它迫使我們使用 我們的技術為雙方帶來榮譽

and enhance our relationship with the web of beings.

並增進我們的關係與眾生之網。

The ability to perceive the world through the eyes and ears of other beings,

感知世界的能力 透過其他眾生的眼睛和耳朵，

through the phloem and xylem of trees,

穿過樹木的韌皮部和木質部，

even reconnects us, humans, to the fantastic

甚至重新連結我們，人類，走向奇妙

and richly diverse network of organisms that make up our shared Earth.

和豐富多樣的生物網絡 構成了我們共同的地球。

It gives us a greater appreciation of what is it to be non-human,

都讓我們有了更大的欣賞什麼是非人類，

which in turn lets us more fully grasp what is it to be human, too.

這反過來又讓我們更全面地掌握 身為人類又是什麼？

And it reminds us with awe

它讓我們敬畏

that we are all but extensions of one another,

我們只不過是延伸彼此的，

from tree to tree, to you and me.

從一棵樹到另一棵樹，到你和我。

Thank you.

謝謝!

(Applause and cheers)

（掌聲和歡呼聲）