宇宙时空之旅：未知世界（2020）

Cosmos: Possible Worlds S01E01

Part 4 Aug. 24, 2022, 10:54 a.m.

斯宾诺莎知道即使在荷兰
Spinoza knew that he was testing the
自己的言论也很危险
limits of free thought, even for Holland.
他认为国教不仅仅是对
To him, an official state religion was more
个人的精神绑♥架♥
than spiritual coercion of the individual.
斯宾诺莎认为对神迹的崇拜
Spinoza regarded the miraculous events of
是有组织的迷信行为
the major religious traditions as organized superstition.
在他看来宗教思想对一个
In his view, magical thinking posed
自♥由♥理性社会的未来公民构成了威胁
a danger to the future citizens of a rational, free society.
如果不能政教分离
There could be no such thing as democracy
就不可能有民♥主♥
without the separation of church and state.
他写了一本书
He wrote a book that
介绍了美国和其他地区革命的核心思想
introduced the ideas at the heart of the American and many another revolution.
但是有些人的利益
Then, as now, there were those who
受到了这些观点的威胁
were threatened by this view of God.
斯宾诺莎继续写书并谈论他对上帝的看法
Spinoza continued to write and speak about his revolutionary view of God,
总是披着被砍的披风作为荣誉徽章
always wearing the slashed cape as a badge of honor.
他去世时仅44岁
He died at 44
可能是因为他在磨制显微镜和望远镜
possibly from inhaling particles of dust during his years
的过程中吸入了太多的灰尘
of grinding lenses for microscopes and telescopes.
250年后另一个热爱光的人
250 years later, another man with a passion for light
来到这个简陋的工作室朝圣
made a pilgrimage to the humble workroom
这个工作室被保存了下来
that had been preserved as a testament
以证明斯宾诺莎学说的巨大影响
to the vast influence of Spinoza's philosophy.
这个人以发现相对论而闻名世界
This man, world famous for finding a new law of nature
他经常被问到是否相信上帝
was often asked if he believed in God.
阿尔伯特·爱因斯坦回答说
Albert Einstein replied
“我相信斯宾诺莎的上帝他的上帝表现宇宙的和谐不过问人世的祸福”
"I believe in Spinoza's God, who reveals himself in the harmony of all that exists."
我们对自然法则的理解已经远远超过了
Our understanding of nature's laws has advanced far beyond
斯宾诺莎的甚至是爱因斯坦的最疯狂的设想
Spinoza's, and even Einstein's wildest dreams.
但有一条自然规律我们似乎无法把握
But there is one law of nature we cannot seem to grasp.
在“自然之书”中刻有一个寓言讲的是
Inscribed in the book of nature is a parable about an
两个王国之间的古老联盟
ancient alliance between two kingdoms.
还有那些想要破坏它的人
And those who would tear it apart.
很久以前有两个王国
Long ago, there were two kingdoms.
他们之间结成了联盟
An alliance was formed between them,
一个能给他们带来巨额财富的联盟
one that would bring them both riches beyond measure.
一个持续时间超过一亿年的联盟
A partnership lasting more than a 100 million years.
但是其中的一个王国改变了
And then a new kind of being evolved in one of the two kingdoms.
它的后代掠夺财富并破坏了联盟
Its descendants plundered the riches and violated the alliance.
他们的行为使他们的国家和他们自身受到威胁
In their arrogance, they became a mortal danger to both kingdoms and to themselves.
这个寓言是真实的
This parable is true.
这是地球上两大生物界的故事
It's the story of two of the half dozen realms of life on Earth,
植物界和动物界
the plant and animal kingdoms.
做一株植物并不容易
It's not easy being green.
当你被固定在某处时繁衍便充满挑战性
Sex is challenging when you're stuck in one place.
你无法约会
There's no dating.
你只能杵在那里把种子随风挥洒
You just sit there and cast your seed to the winds.
字面意思
Literally.
你只能等待风来吹走它们
You just wait for the wind to blow.
如果你运气好你的一部分花粉会
If you get lucky, some of your pollen will
被带走并落在另一株植物的生殖器官上
be carried away and land on the sexual reproductive part of another plant.
各种植物玩着这个或命中或错过的随机游戏
The plants played this hit-or-miss game of chance for
玩了几亿年
a couple of hundred million years,
直到昆虫逐渐扮演起丘比特的角色
until insects evolved to play cupid.
这导致众多协同进化的组合之一
What resulted was one of the great co-evolution marriages
出现在生命进化史上
in the history of life.
昆虫会在一朵花上逗留饱餐一顿
The insect would visit a flower for a dinner of
富含蛋白质的花粉
protein-rich pollen.
一部分花粉会无可避免地粘在
Inevitably, some of the pollen would stick to the body
昆虫的身体上
of the insect.
这只昆虫会带着身上残存的花粉
The insect would visit another flower,
飞到另一朵花上
bringing along the leftovers on its body.
那些花粉使接下来的那朵花受精
That pollen fertilized the next flower,
使它能够繁衍生息
allowing it to reproduce.
这对于花和昆虫都是一项双赢的交易
It was a win-win deal for both the flowers and the insects,
引起了一系列可喜的进化发展
causing a series of delightful evolutionary developments.
一种新的植物出现了它能产生甜甜的花蜜
A new plant arose that produced sugary nectar
而不仅仅是花粉
in addition to the pollen.
现在昆虫来不仅仅为了用花粉果腹
Now, the insects came not just for their basic meal of pollen,
也为了享用甜点
but also for dessert.
昆虫变得胖乎乎的进化出毛茸茸的身体甚至
The insects got chubbier, evolved furry bodies and even
在腿上进化出小袋子以便它们每日在花丛中流连时
little pouches on their legs to snag more pollen on their
能够携带更多的花粉
daily rounds in the flowers.
接着蜜蜂出现了
Now there were bees.
然而这是对于动物界的另一个物种来说
This was a bonus for yet another species of
是个意外收获...
the animal kingdom...
我们人类
Us.
我们感谢蜜蜂和其他授粉者
We are indebted to the bees and their fellow pollinators
因为那些比我们的生存更重要的东西
for something even more vital to our survival.
你的一日三餐都是因为它们才成为可能
Every third bite of food you take-and this is even true for
即使对我们杂食者来说也是如此
those of us who are omnivores, was made possible by them.
世界上35%的农作物依赖于它们的合作
35% of the world's crops depend on their cooperation.
植物吸收光能
The plants eat starlight...
我们以及动物食用植物
And we, and the animals, we eat plants.
它们不仅仅增加了可用食物的数量
And they don't just increase the quantity of available food.
也在很大程度上造就了生物多样性
We owe them for much of the biodiversity that has made our
稳定了我们的食物来源
food supply so dependable.
但我们快把它们累死了
But we're working them to death.
而且有史以来第一次
And for the first time ever,
许多种类的蜜蜂都在濒危物种名单上
many kinds of bees are on the endangered species list.
我想你们知道目的地
I think you know where this is headed.
农业发明的福与祸
The blessing and the curse of the invention of agriculture
带我们来到了这里灭绝宫
has brought us here, to the Halls of Extinction.
一座纪念在地球历史上众多灭绝事件中绝种生物的纪念馆
A memorial to all the living things lost in the mass extinction events in Earth's history.
这是给生命之树上那些折断的树枝的纪念碑
It's a monument to the broken branches on the tree of life.
在生命的历史上曾有五次
Five times in the history of life,
灾难性的地质和天文事件
cataclysmic geological, and astronomical events,
有着毁灭生命的威胁
have threatened to extinguish life itself.
第六次与众不同
The sixth one is different.
上次我们一同在这里时这条长廊还没有名字
The last time we were here together this hallway had no name.
为什么？
Why?
因为那时我们还没有达成这条科学共识：
Because back then a scientific consensus had yet
我们正处于一场大规模的灭绝事件之中
to be reached that we were in the midst of a mass extinction event.
情况已经变了
That's changed.
现在这条长廊有了名字
Now, this hallway has a name.
是我们的名字
It's ours.
人类纪
The Anthropocene.
“Anthropo”来自希腊语的“人类”
"Anthropo" from the Greek word for "human"
而“Cene”来自希腊语中的“近来的”
and "Cene." the Greek word for "recent."
这些就是我们还是游牧者时便猎杀到灭绝的物种
These are the species we hunted to extinction back when we were wanderers.
包括我们的远房♥亲戚尼安德特人
Including our own cousins, the Neanderthals.
为什么我们人类这个物种无论走到哪里都会带来死亡呢
What is it about us, as a species, that wherever we go, we bring death?
这以外就是未来
Beyond here lies the future.
即便是现在要阻止这条走廊继续变长也不算太晚
Even now it's not too late to keep this corridor from lengthening.
如果我们失败了...
If we fail...
但如果我们成功了...
But if we succeed...
跟我来
Come with me.
可能在几十年以后的未来
In a possible future only decades away,
星空计划一个由1000艘宇宙飞船组成的舰队
project Starshot, a flotilla of 1,000 spacecraft,
将飞离地球
will depart from Earth.
安第斯山脉以西的这部分阿塔卡马沙漠如此干燥
This part of the Atacama Desert west of the Andes Mountains
甚至有记载以来从未有过降雨
is so dry that it hasn't rained in recorded history.
这对我们来说很好因为我们需要
And that's great for us because we're going to need
最晴朗的天空
the clearest of skies.
没有目击者看见第一个离开水来到陆地的生命
There were no witnesses when the first life left the water for the land.
没有报告记载飞向天空的第一只鸟
There was nobody to file a report when the first birds took to the skies.
但这次巨大的飞跃将被人们用所有能想到的方式记录下来
But this is one great leap that will be documented in every conceivable way.
全世界都在注视着
The whole world is watching.
毕竟我们正在将我们的第一艘飞船直接送往
We are, after all, sending our first craft directly to the
另一个太阳的行星：半人马座阿尔法星系
planets of another sun: the Alpha Centauri system.