了解宇宙是如何运行的（2010）

How the Universe Works S08E03

Part 7 Jan. 30, 2022, 2:58 p.m.

more resilient than we think?
这些极端微生物应该提醒我们
These extremophiles
should be a little reminder
我们考虑的还不够多
that we haven't been
thinking big enough.
也许外星人可以很容易地适应我们的环境
Narrator:
Maybe e.T. Could readily
adapt to our environment,
或者他们有其他的想法
or perhaps they've got
other ideas,
利用技术来克服任何生物障碍
using technology to overcome
any biological barriers.
也许我们遇到的第一个外星人会是机器人
Maybe the first aliens we meet
will be robots.
如果他们不把自己限制在肉袋里
They can build
much more powerful life
他们可以建立更强大的生命
if they don't limit themselves
to meat bags.
先进的外星人可能已经离开了
Narrator: Advanced aliens
could have left
他们的生物大脑和身体
their biological brains
and bodies behind,
而是以移♥动♥人工智能的方式旅行
traveling instead as
mobile artificial intelligence.
泰格马克:我们倾向于认为智力和意识
Tegmark: We tend to think of
intelligence and consciousness
是一种神秘的东西
as something mysterious
that can only exist
它们只能存在于像我们这样的生物体内
inside of biological organisms
like us
因此无法被复♥制♥
and somehow therefore
can't be copied.
但是，是什么给了我们整个人工智能革命，对吧——
But what's given us the whole
a.I. Revolution, right --
智能，不
the idea that, no,
可能还有意识
intelligence and probably
consciousness, too,
都只是信息处理
is just information processing,
而信息处理才是真正重要的
and it's just the information
processing that really matters.
也许外星人可以将自己的意识
Perhaps an alien would be
able to download
下载到某种电脑中
its consciousness
into some sort of computer
然后以一种脱离身体的意识进行旅行
and travel as
a disembodied consciousness.
在这种状态下，你基本上是永生的
In this state,
you'd be essentially immortal.
所以一个先进的物种可能会找到方法
Narrator: So it's possible an
advanced species could find ways
来面对第一次接触的挑战
to face the challenges
of first contact.
但是如果有一个外星文明存在
But if an alien civilization
is out there
并且比我们更先进
and more advanced than us,
会不会有更大的问题在起作用吗？
could there be
an even bigger issue at play?
也许聪明的外星人
Maybe the reason
that intelligent aliens
从未来地球拜访我们的原因
haven't ever come to the earth
to visit us
可能是我们没有那么有趣
is maybe we're just
not that interesting.
也许第一次接触的最大障碍是
Narrator: So maybe the biggest
barrier for first contact
外星人并不想见我们
is the fact that aliens
don't actually want to meet us.
[爆♥炸♥]
[ explosion ]
♪
在电影中，第一次接触通常会导致
narrator: In the movies,
first contact usually leads
外星人的入侵
to an alien invasion.
城市被击溃
Cities get zapped.
[爆♥炸♥]
[ explosion ]
人类面临毁灭
humanity faces annihilation.
[尖叫的人们]
[ people screaming ]
也许是外星人的来访
maybe a visit from e.T.
根本就不是一件好事
Isn't such a good thing,
after all.
想象一下如果我们，如果我们收到一封星际电子邮件
Imagine if we if we got
an intergalactic e-mail,
你懂的，来自“外星文明.Org”
so from, you know,
superioraliencivilization.Org,
说“嘿，30年后我们会出现”
saying, "hey, we're gonna
show up in 30 years."
我们会不会只是想，“哦，好吧”
would we just be like,
"oh, all right,
“我们继续看我们的真人秀节目”
let's get back to
watching our reality tv shows
“等他们来了再担心这个问题”？
and worry about that
when they get here"?
不，我们会被吓坏的
No, we would seriously
freak out.
人们可能会被吓到，但事实是
Narrator:
People might freak out,
几十年来，我们一直在宇宙中
but the truth is we've been
sign-posting our location
标明我们的位置
into the cosmos for decades.
达特奈尔:100年以来，地球一直是一个
Dartnell: The earth has been
a detectably technological world
技术上可探测的世界
for about 100 years.
我们一直在广播信♥号♥♥
We've been broadcasting signals,
但是，这显然没有引起任何人的注意
and yet, that apparently hasn't
attracted anyone's attention.
值得注意的是
It's pretty noteworthy
他们中没有一个人表现出任何兴趣
that none of them
has shown any interest,
如果他们愿意，他们可以把地球
when they could have
turned earth into a parking lot
变成停车场，对吗？
if they wanted, right?
也许没有外星人要重新开♥发♥地球
Narrator: Perhaps no one
has redeveloped planet earth
因为一个先进的文明
because an advanced civilization
根本不想进行第一次接触
simply doesn't want to
make first contact.
坦白说，如果他们那么聪明
Frankly, if they're
that intelligent,
他们就不会对我们感兴趣
they're not gonna be
very interested in us.
也许这就是为什么他们懒得联♥系♥我们
So maybe that's why they haven't
bothered to make contact.
菲利平科:如果外星人很先进
Filippenko: And if the alien
is that advanced,
我们可能对它不太感兴趣
we're probably not
very interesting to it.
这有点像，你懂的
It's a little bit like,
you know,
在外面闲逛，看到人行道上的蚂蚁
wandering around outside
and seeing ants on the sidewalk.
外星人的入侵造就了伟大的科幻小说
Narrator: Alien invasion makes
for great science fiction,
但我们在地球上到底有什么
but what do we actually
have on earth
值得外星人付出这么多努力的呢？
that's worth
all that alien effort?
达特奈尔:好莱坞的这些描述
Dartnell:
How realistic really are
有多少是真实的？
these depictions from hollywood?
一个常见的比喻是外星人来吞噬人类
One common trope is the aliens
coming to devour the human race.
但科学并不支持这种可能性
But the science doesn't really
support this being possible.
外星人能消化人体吗？
Would an alien even be able
to digest the human body?
吃东西的时候，我们消化系统中的酶
Narrator: When eating,
enzymes in our digestive system
会分解食物中的分子
break down molecules
in our food.
我们可以吃的食物，对它们进行
The food we can eat, and these
enzymes are very specific
攻击和分解分子的这些酶非常特殊
to the molecules
they can attack and break down.
同样的规则也适用于饥饿的外星人
The same rules would apply
to a hungry alien.
达奈尔:为了能够消化我们
Dartnell:
To be able to digest us
让我们对它们来说有营养
and for us to be nutritious
for them,
我们必须有一种非常非常相似的生物化学物质
we'd have to have a very, very
similar biochemistry
就像外星人的家园一样
to what exists
on the alien's home world,
它们的身体已经适应了这种生物
what their bodies
have adapted to.
所以外星人来这里
Narrator:
So it seems highly unlikely
寻找食物的可能性很小
that aliens would come
looking for food.
那喝一杯怎么样？