A Mysterious Design That Appears Across Millennia | Terry Moore | TED

譯者: 穎君 紀 審譯者: 麗玲 辛

This is Roger Penrose.

這是羅傑・潘若斯，

Certainly one of the great scientists of our time,

我們這時代最偉大的科學家之一。

winner of the 2020 Nobel Prize in Physics

他在 2020 獲得年諾貝爾物理獎，

for his work reconciling black holes

因為他證明了黑洞與 愛因斯坦的廣義相對論有關。

with Einstein's general theory of relativity.

But back in the 1970s,

但早在 1970 年代，

羅傑・潘若斯就已對數學界 做出了一項貢獻，

Roger Penrose made a contribution to the world of mathematics

and that part of mathematics known as tiling.

那就是數學中的密鋪。

You know, tiling, the process of putting tiles together

密鋪指的是鋪磗形成 某種特定圖案的流程。

so that they form a particular pattern.

The thing that was remarkable

羅傑構思的密鋪圖案不凡的地方在於

about the pattern that Roger Penrose developed

is that by using only two shapes,

只需要兩種形狀，

he constructed a pattern that could be expanded infinitely in any direction

就能建構一種能朝任何方向 無限擴展的圖案，

without ever repeating.

且永遠不重複。

很類似圓周率 π ，

Much like the number pi has a decimal that isn’t random,

它的小數部分並非隨機，

but it will go on forever without repeating.

但會無止盡延續下去，永不循環。

In mathematics, this is a property known as aperiodicity

在數學領域，這個特性叫做無週期，

and the notion of an aperiodic tile set using only two tiles was such a sensation,

只用兩種形狀就能拼出無週期的密鋪， 這在當時數學界造成轟動，

it was given the name Penrose tiling.

這種密鋪就此被命名「潘若斯密鋪」。

Here's Roger Penrose,

這是羅傑・潘若斯，

now Sir Roger Penrose,

現在要叫羅傑・潘若斯「爵士」，

standing on a field of Penrose tiles.

站在潘若斯密鋪的地板上。

Then in 2007, this man, Peter Lu,

2007 年時，陸述義（Peter Lu）博士

who was then a graduate student in physics at Princeton,

仍就讀於普林斯頓大學物理研究所，

while on vacation with his cousin in Uzbekistan,

他放假時跟親戚去烏茲別克旅遊，

discovered this pattern on a 14th century madrassa.

偶然發現十四世紀建造的伊斯蘭學校 也有這樣的圖樣。

And after some analysis,

分析後發現，

concluded that this was, in fact, Penrose tiling

這圖樣也是潘若斯密鋪，

500 years before Penrose.

但比潘若斯還早了五百年。

(Laughter)

（笑聲）

That information took the scientific world by storm

這消息馬上震驚了整個科學界，

and prompted headlines everywhere,

沒有頭條不提這件事，

including “Discover” magazine,

連《探索》雜誌也不例外，

which proclaimed this the 59th most important scientific discovery

並宣布這項發現是 2007 年裡 重要度第 59 名的科學發現。

of the year 2007.

So now we've heard about this amazing pattern

我們已經從許多領域的視角 探討潘若斯密鋪，

from the point of view of mathematics

比如數學、物理學，

and from physics and now art and archeology.

甚至是藝術和考古學。

So that leads us to the question

這不禁讓我們開始思考，

what was there about this pattern

究竟是這圖樣的哪個特點，

that this ancient culture found so important

讓活在幾千年前的人覺得至關重要，

that they put it on their most important building?

還把潘若斯密鋪畫在最重要的建築上？

So for that,

要回答這問題，

we look to the world of anthropology and ask the question,

就得從人類學角度來看，並發問：

What was the worldview of the culture that made this?

「打造這圖樣的文化， 它的世界觀是什麼樣子？」

And this is what we learn.

之後我們得知

This pattern is life.

這圖樣象徵著人生！

And as you can see, life's complicated.

你想想，人生非常複雜，

It's complicated.

真的複雜。

But not only is life complicated,

人生不只複雜，還沒有規律週期，

life is also aperiodic in the sense that every event, every happening,

每件大事、每個偶然、每項決定

every decision will make the future unfold differently,

都會讓人生有不同的展開，

often in ways that are impossible to predict.

通常難以預測，出乎意料。

Yet, in spite of the complexity

但，人生即使複雜，

and in spite of a future that's impossible to predict,

即使未來難以預測，

there remains an underlying unity that holds everything together

卻還是隱約有種統整性

收束一切線索，觸發所有事件。

and gives rise to everything.

Let's see how that works in a design

接下來我們來看看這種思路怎麼運用到

much like the one Peter Lu found in Uzbekistan.

陸博士在烏茲別克找到的圖樣上吧。

This is that design.

這是烏茲別克的密鋪。

Now, it turns out this is actually based on this set of Penrose tiles,

其實這種圖樣源自這套潘若斯密鋪，

which are reducible to these shapes.

由這幾種圖形組成。

And in order to draw these shapes,

要畫出這些圖形，

the medieval craftsmen who did this

負責繪製的中世紀工匠們

would have done them by using these construction lines.

應該有畫這些輔助線來精準畫出圖形。

And I add here

我補充一下，

that the construction lines don't appear in the final work.

這些輔助線不會出現在成品，

But if we add them back, we have this.

但，若把輔助線跟成品重疊， 會出現這樣的圖樣。

And now if we weave them together, we will have this.

如果把輔助線交織起來，會得到這圖案。

And now if we hide the tiles

現在把密鋪磚拿掉，

and just look at the construction lines,

只看輔助線的話，

we see this.

會得到這個圖樣。

Clearly there's an underlying structure and unity

很明顯有種潛藏的結構規律和統一性

to things that seem to be complex and aperiodic.

藏在這看似無週期的複雜圖形當中。

This notion of a hidden underlying unity was common throughout the ancient world,

「萬物皆有潛藏的統一性」 這樣的主張在古代時很普及，

and one sees it in Egypt,

出現在埃及，

in Greece,

希臘，

in Australia,

澳洲，

in Mesoamerica,

中美洲，

in North America,

北美，

in Europe

歐洲，

and in the Middle East.

以及中東。

Now in the modern West, we might call this underlying unity “God,”

現代西方世界稱潛藏的統一性為「神」，

but throughout the ages,

但自古以來，

other terms have been used to describe the same thing.

就有其他詞彙可以形容這件事：

This is what Plato called “first cause.”

柏拉圖稱之為「第一因」，

In the medieval period,

中世紀時期

philosopher Spinoza called this the “singular substance.”

哲學家史賓諾沙稱之為「單一實體」，

In the 20th century,

20 世紀，

a number of terms were coined to describe this,

人們創造大量詞彙來形容這股統一性，

one of my favorites being from philosopher Alfred North Whitehead,

其中我最喜歡的說法是哲學家 阿爾弗雷德・諾斯・懷海德的

who called this the “undifferentiated aesthetic continuum.”

「同質美學連續體」

Doesn't that have a 20th century sound to it?

聽起來很有 20 世紀的感覺吧？

But for me, a lover of science that I am,

但以我這個科學愛好者來說，

I will take the term coined by the great 20th century physicist David Bohm,

我會採用 20 世紀物理學家 戴維・玻姆的說法，

who called this the “implicate order.”

他稱之為「隱序」。

So what's the takeaway here?

今天演講的重點是什麼呢？

Very simply, this.

這個，很簡單。

When we see these wonderful designs

以後看到這些美麗的圖樣，

created by cultures that are separated from our own

來自不同的文化、

by thousands of miles or thousands of years,

來自千里之外、千年以前的圖樣，

we can know these aren't decorations.

要知道這些不只是裝飾，

These are statements about the fundamental values that culture had,

這些圖樣都訴說該文化的基本價值，

what they found important, how they saw themselves,

他們覺得哪些事重要，如何看待自我、

the world and themselves in the world.

看待世界，自己在其中的定位。

It has been said that architecture is a book written in stone.

有人說建築是用石頭打造的書，

So when we see these amazing designs, we can know they're not decorations.

所以下次看見令人驚艷的設計時， 你就會知道那些不只是裝飾，

They're a statement.

更是一種表態，

They're a message.

一則訊息。

Look, listen.

仔細看，仔細聽，

You can hear their voices.

且聽它們娓娓道來。

Thank you.

謝謝大家。

(Applause)

（鼓掌）