人类大历史（2013）

Big History S01E07

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

Whether stone-age spears...
还是现代的子弹
or modern bullets...
战争由人类引起
to war is human.
因为我们最伟大的秘密武器
Because our greatest secret weapon...
深藏于我们的骨子里
is hidden in our bones.
人类大历史表明
Big history has shown...
我们需要一些化学炸♥药♥
that' our need to project power from a distance...
来维系远距离的能量
connects to some explosive chemistry...
然后开始全球化的军事竞赛
and kick starts a global arms race.
但是人类大历史会揭示
But big history uncovers...
这个永久的军事竞赛在我们之间
that this perpetual arms race started...
已经展开
in us.
利用爆♥炸♥的能量发射炮弹
Using an explosion to launch a projectile...
仅仅只是人们为了自己
is just a more powerful way to do something...
换了种威力更大的方式
that the human body was built to do itself.
为了找出我们的身体
To find out how our bodies
如何变成投射器
became projectile throwing machines...
人类大历史为了人类的巨大飞跃
Big history links back seven million years...
回到了七百万年前
to mankind's giant leap.
草原在全世界出现
Grasslands have appeared throughout the world.
我们灵长类的祖先从树上下来
Our primate ancestors come down from the trees.
但是趴在地面上他们是脆弱的
But on all fours, they're vulnerable.
他们看不见草上面有什么
They can't see above the grass.
但是通过站立他们空闲的手用来使用工具
By standing up, their hands are free to use tools.
从此不再需要在树上倒挂
And since they no longer need to swing from trees...
他们的生理结构也随之发生改变
their anatomy begins to change.
猿人向上的肩角
An ape's shoulders angle upward to help propel them
帮助它们在树枝间晃荡
from branch to branch.
但是对于人类为了扩大活动范围
But in humans, the shoulders shift down and out...
他们的肩膀开始下移
increasing our range of motion.
然后我们还进化出独特的灵活的手腕
And we develop something else- an uniquely flexible wrist.
回忆一下联赛的投手是如何进行投掷的
Think of how a major-league pitcher throws.
看看他身体的延伸
Watch the extension.
腿分开身体扭转
The leg is way out, the whole twist,
最后是手腕的转动
the snap of the wrist at the end.
经过几百万年的进化
He's delivering a payload directly on target...
他才能直接为击中目标提供负载
with that millions of years of evolution to that one moment.
这就是人类大历史的投掷
The big history of the throw, as it were.
人类的手臂是生物力学的奇迹
The human arm is a biomechanical marvel.
设计用于存储和释放弹性能量
Engineered for storing up and releasing elastic energy.
给我们力量将命中和投掷
Giving us the power to aim and throw projectiles...
准确区分开来
with an accuracy that sets us apart.
黑猩猩是无法投掷手榴弹的
A chimp could not throw a hand grenade...
无论是距离准确度都不及人类
anywhere as far, anywhere as accurately as a human...
因为是人类就是为这而创造出来的
because we are built for it.
投掷武器其中有趣的一点是
One of the interesting things about projectile weapons is...
首先他们是独♥立♥特行的人类
first off, they're uniquely human.
但是他们通常引起出其他生物无法引起的
But they also make possible scales of conflict...
大规♥模♥冲♥突♥
that we don't see among other organisms.
我们在远距离也能导致死亡
We can cause death at a distance...
这是其他物种无法做到的
in ways that no other species can.
我们同样制♥造♥出更好的投掷武器
And as we design better projectile weapons...
首先提升的是投射能力
first to improve our throwing ability...
然后替代它
then to replace it...
我们开始相互征服
we begin to conquer each other...
然后征服全世界
and the world.
人类大历史
Big history connects forward...
将史诗性的战斗
to an epic battle.
跟更好的武器联♥系♥起来
and what seems to be the perfect weapon.
英法百年战争
The Hundred Years War.
为控制法国的战斗
A century of struggle for control of France.
在克雷西战役中
At the Battle of Crécy...
法军人数是英军的两倍
the French outnumbered England 2-to-1.
但是英国人有着他们的秘密武器
But the English have a secret weapon-
长弓
the longbow.
它每分钟能发射15只箭
Capable of firing 15 arrows a minute...
射程范围400码
at targets up to 400 yards away.
在那时长弓相当于火枪
The longbow is the machine gun of its day.
英国虽然人数少但是武装力量强大
England is outnumbered but not out armed.
法国损失了超过十倍的人
The French lose 10 times more men.
他们的军队在强大的火力之下
Their army is decimated...
溃不成军
by superior firepower.
历史告诉我们的是
Traditional history tells us
长弓的革命史
that the longbow revoiutionizes warfare.
人类大历史揭示的是如何
Big history reveals how...
将长弓的秘密跟树解剖联♥系♥起来
by connecting the secret of the longbow to the anatomy of a tree.
人类大历史很擅长用一种新的有创意的方式
Big history is very good at making connections between
将自然界的演变自然界
the natural world evolution and the natural world...
跟人类使用自然界所提供的事物
and the ways humans use these entities provided by nature...
联♥系♥起来
in new and very creative ways.
其中很好的一个例子是红豆杉
One excellent example of that is the yew tree.
红豆杉是一种古老的物种
The yew is an ancient species...
在世上已经存活了5000年
known to live as long as 5,000 years.
红豆杉已经被作为武器使用很久了
Yew has been used as a weapon for a long, long time.
在英国发现了4000年前
They have found a yew spear in England...
用红豆杉做的长矛
that's been dated to 400,000 years ago.
因为树木生长的缓慢木材便独一无二
Because the tree grows slowly, its wood is unique.
树木外层很有弹性弯曲但不会被折断
The outer layer is elastic. It bends without breaking.
内部密度大并强韧
The inner layer is dense and strong.
它能承受巨大的压力
It can withstand intense pressure.
红豆杉木材将强度及韧性完美的结合起来
Yew wood a perfect combination of strength and ﬂexibility...
将长弓变的如此具有杀伤力
Makes the longbow so deadly...
几乎无法被阻挡
that it's almost unstoppable.
但是有优越的武器
But there's a superior weapon on the way.
并且它如此致命以至于战争绝不会相同
And it's so lethal that warfare will never be the same.
人类大历史揭示了人类手臂力学
Big history reveals that the mechanics of the human arm...
展开军备竞赛
launch an arms race...
这个星球为完善我们的武器提供工具
and that the planet provides the tools to perfect our weapons.
在中世纪长弓是一种大规模杀伤性武器
In the Middle Ages, the longbow is a weapon of mass destruction.
但长弓由古老的生长缓慢的树木制♥造♥出来
But longbows are made from ancient trees that grow so slowly...
它们不可能被代替
they're impossible to replace.
弓箭手也是一样
And so are the archers.
要花费超过十年的时间来训练出一名高手
It takes up to 10 years of training to become an expert.
长弓可以是致命的但是这些缺点使它脆弱
The longbow may be lethal, but these drawbacks make it vulnerable.
人类大历史揭示那个时期最致命的武器
Big history reveals how the deadliest weapon of its day...
是如何输给了微观的侵略者
falls to a microscopic invader.
我们称之为黑死病
We call it the Black Death.
这场灾害夺走了欧洲50%的人口
The plague wipes out up to 50% of Europe's population.
越来越少的人被训练成弓箭手
With fewer men to train as archers...
欧洲的国王需要一种新的方式来对抗战争
the kings of Europe will need a new way to fight their wars.
对于中国古代发明来说
It's the right place and the right time for
天时地利
an ancient Chinese invention...
最终横扫西方世界
to finally sweep the western world.
枪是威力强大的
Guns are powerful
容易制♥造♥
Easy to build...
容易训练
and easy to master.
你可以训练一个农民很快地使用它
You can train a peasant to use it really quickly.
你不需要花费一生的时间使用火枪
You don't need a lifetime to use a musket.
你让农民走出田野
You get the peasants out of the fields,
你稍微训练下他们
you give them a bit of training...
你只要把他们放到田野里跟几个枪兵一起
you put them in the fields with a few pikemen,
就好了
ready to go.
枪代替了长弓
The gun replaces the longbow...
并且展示了一种新的战争
and introduces a new kind of warfare
- 开火 - 群众都可以参与战争
- Fire! - Where the masses can fight...
他们甚至与精英作战
and even turn against the elites...
人类历史开启了新纪♥元♥
opening a new era of human history.
人类大历史的视角揭示了
The big history perspective uncovers
人类史上史诗性的战争是如何
how mankind's epic history of war...
联♥系♥到了我们生物学的小变化
connects back to a small change in our biology...
将人类变成投掷机器