人类大历史（2013）

Big History S01E05

Part 2 March 29, 2021, 2:02 p.m.

We even use the language of height
我们甚至用敬语
when we talk about raising people up.
我们将他们置放于架台上
We put them on a pedestal.
我们膜拜那些有身份较高者
We worship those on high.
对高度的崇尚是我们抹不去的印记
Respect for height becomes imprinted in our behavior.
我们在大历史中想知道的一件事是
One of the things we want to know about in Big History
什么成就了人类
is what makes us human.
什么是人类在任何一个社会中都会做的
What do all humans do in any society, anywhere?
而其中之一便是展现敬畏的渴望
And one of the things we see is a desire to be awed.
心理学家称敬畏是种社会情绪
Psychologists call awe a social emotion.
会发生在当面对高耸之物时
It happens in the face of towering things
这会让我们
that make us feel
觉得渺小
small
并且顺服
insignificant and submissive.
高度带来敬畏
Height inspires awe.
这让我们感到
It gives us a feeling of something
事物是如此之大相比我们敬畏
so much bigger than we are
不能控制的事物
something that we can't control.
比我们巨大的事物令人折服之物
This thing is bigger than me. I'm impressed by it.
这些肯定比我厉害有更大的支配权
It somehow must be more powerful or dominant than I am.
因此古代君王为了令人生畏
So ancient leaders will try to awe
为了威吓他的下臣与子民
and intimidate their subjects
通过打造属于自己的巨型建筑
by building their mega-structures as tall as possible.
你不会意识到这点
You don't realize this
直到你悟了大历史之道
until you get a Big History point of view.
当你置身事外观察整个人种
When you zoom out and look at the entire human race.
你可以看到相同的工作处理方法
you see the same processes at work
你会意识到这不仅仅是文化
and you realize this is more than just culture.
这是人性
This is humanity.
但仍有个疑团还未解开
But there's still a mystery to solve.
为什么早期的大型建筑都长一样
Why are the earliest mega-structures the same shape?
金字塔究竟揭露了宇宙
What does the pyramid reveal about the secrets of
什么样的秘密以及自然界中
the universe and the awesome,
具有毁灭性的力量呢
destructive power of nature?
大历史揭示了
Big History reveals the link
人类建造庞大建筑的天性
between man's instinct to build mega-structures
和在生物起源中高度令人望而生畏
and our origins in the animal world
并能恐吓挑战者这两者之间的关系
where height awes and intimidates challengers.
那些连接早期统治者
Behavior that connects to how early rulers
使用大型工程技术
used massive engineering...
来树立有如上帝的行为
to cement their godlike power.
然而核心问题仍然存在
But a key question remains.
为什么早期大结构建筑
Why were our very earliest mega-structures
有着一样的形状
the same basic shape,
金字塔状
the pyramid?
大历史回到过去
Big History travels back.
埃及法老想要一个直通天际的墓冢
Egypt's pharaoh demands a tomb that soars to the skies.
他那些年轻的臣民们从来没有
His young civilization has never
见识过像那样的东西
attempted anything quite like it...
但大自然却见过
but nature has.
像所有的古代人♥民♥一样...
Like all early peoples...
埃及人注意到了地球上最高的东西
the Egyptians notice that the tallest things on earth...
就是那些自然界的金字塔
are actually natural pyramids.
来看看山的形状
You look at the shape of a mountain...
不论它是如何形成的
regardless of how it was formed,
板块移♥动♥也好火山喷发也好
by plate tectonics or a volcano.
基底很稳定
The shape's base is very stable,
且宽基底呈锥形向顶部变细
wide base that tapers to something at the top.
如果你想建造一个高的东西宽阔的底部是
That would have been a logical place to start
合理的开始位置
if you want to build tall.
为了建造高大的
To build big and tall,
像地球上的山一样的建筑
like the Earth's mountains...
古代工程师们必须解开
ancient engineers had to unlock
宇宙力量的谜题
the secrets of the universal force...
它使星球绕轨道旋转
that causes the planets to orbit...
尘埃聚集形成了地球
holds the Earth together...
也让高耸的东西有倒塌的危险
and threatens to topple anything tall:
地心引力
Gravity.
那是你要克服的首要问题
That's the number one thing that you have to overcome...
尤其是在特别高的建筑上
especially in very, very tall structures...
如果你没有克服顷刻坍塌
and if you're unsuccessful, collapse.
地心引力造就了山脉
Gravity shapes mountains.
在山坡上
On a mountainside...
地心引力让不仅使物体向着
gravity is pulling objects both straight down
山的中心垂直下降
towards the center of the mountain...
还能使物体向着一定角度的斜坡下降
and also on an angle, down the slope.
当坡面太过陡峭时
When slopes are too steep,
物体沿坡面下落的力量
the forces pulling things down the mountainside...
要比支撑物体稳固的力量更大
are greater than the force holding things steady.
所以地心引力会除去那些部分
So gravity rips those parts away.
最后角度变缓
Eventually, the angle becomes so gentle
使得地心引力支撑物体的力量
that the gravity holding things in place...
大于使物体沿斜坡下落的力量...
outweighs the gravity pulling down the slope...
留下了宽阔的底部和逐渐变细的顶部
leaving a broad base and a thin, tapering top.
所以对古人来说自然教学是最清晰明了的
So for early man, natures lesson is clear.
如果你想抵抗地心引力建造高的东西
If you want to defy gravity and build something tall...
又没有数世纪的经验
and you don't have centuries of experience
可以求助
to fall back on...
那就建一座山吧
build a mountain.
但是人们很快意识到金字塔有一个缺点
But humans soon realize that pyramids have a drawback.
他们坚固却几乎没有内部空间
They're solid, with almost no interior space.
所以几代之后人们开始尝试
So over generations, people begin experimenting...
用更好的方法去抗拒地心引力...
with better ways to defy gravity...
圆屋顶
the dome...
双穹顶尖拱顶
the double vaulted ceiling, the pointed arch...
它们使压力转移到地面
that transfer stress into the ground...
在巨大建筑物里面创造出开阔空间
creating open spaces within enormous structures...
这转变意味着建筑物可以更大
transforming what it means to build big.
为了建造像中世纪的大教堂一样的建筑
To build something like a great medieval cathedral...
你需要更多的专业知识
you're going to need a heck of a lot more expertise...
那种专业知识只有
the kind of expertise that will only have come...
历经千年的集体性学习才能获得
though thousands of years of collective learning.
最终我们开♥发♥出新型材料
Eventually, we develop new materials
例如混凝土和钢铁
like concrete and steel.
但是来看看如今的许多大型建筑
But to get to today's massive mega-structures...
即使是混凝土和钢铁也还是不够的
even they are not enough.
所以人们再次求助于自然
So man looks to nature again...
然后发现了一个昆虫与恐龙之间的
and notices a key difference between
关键差别
insects and dinosaurs.
我们最早的建筑承受重力
Our earliest buildings carry their weight
像昆虫的外部骨骼一样
like the external skeleton of an insect...
位于外部的墙体上
on outside walls.
所以在重力使他们坍塌之前
So there's a limit to how big these buildings can grow
建筑物高度是有限度的
before gravity pulls them down.
但自然却将这个秘密藏于尺寸小的昆虫中
But nature reveals the secret to gaining size.
一个昆虫外骨骼重量约占自身体重60%
An insect's exoskeleton is 60% of its body weight...
与之相比内骨骼生物骨骼重量
compared to about 15% for
只有15%
creatures with internal skeletons.
外骨骼重量如此巨大
This external weight is so great
使昆虫体形很小
that it keeps insects small.
这与外部框架会限制建筑高度
That same problem limits the height of
属同一问题
buildings with external skeletons.
但钢铁让建筑者可以模仿一个
But steel lets builders mimic a design
规模大得多的建筑
on a much larger scale.
模仿自然界巨大怪兽的结构例如恐龙
The structure of nature's mega beasts, like dinosaurs.
当你观察一个恐龙的内部骨骼时
When you look at a dinosaur with an internal skeleton...
他们的尺寸可以迅速增长
their size could increase greatly.
那是与现代摩天大楼相似的结构
And that's the parallel with modern skyscrapers.
从技术上讲这是让引力从
Technologically, it took the switch
那些巨大的外部墙体上转移到
from these very massive external walls...
转移到内部钢筋上以防止建筑倒塌