史蒂芬·霍金之大设计（2012）

要找出答案 就必须更深入探讨并质疑
To find the answer,we have to go even deeper and question the very nature...
现实的本质为何
of reality itself.
现实
Reality.
我们多数人对于何谓现实 有共同的常识与观点
Most of us share the same common sense view of what reality is.
我们周遭的世界独♥立♥于我们而存在
The world around us exists independently from us.
充满了确实存在的真实事物
It's full of real things that are really there.
但科学解开了这个基本假设
But science is unraveling this basic assumption...
引导我们去了解生命的意义
Which handily leech us to the meaning of life.
以这个小女孩为例 她走在意大利蒙扎烦嚣喧闹的市集
Take this little girl here,walking around through a busy market in Monza,Italy.
她所知的现实 混杂了声音 颜色 味道与气味
Her reality is a riot of sound,color,taste and smell.
这一切都根据她的感官
All based on the many bits of information...
供给大脑的大量资讯
her senses are feeding her brain.
然而我们一旦认定 心灵就如同大脑里的天气系统
But once we accept that the mind is like a weather system in the brain...
受控于物理现象却又无法预测
and governed by physics,yet unpredictable...
现实本身就开始瓦解了
Reality itself begins to break down.
现实开始变主观了
It becomes subjective:
我所知的现实与你所知的现实不一样
My reality is different than yours...
也和这条鱼所知的现实不同
Or this fishes.
他看到的现实世界被圆形的鱼缸扭曲了
Its reality appears distorted by the round fishbowl.
一切都变形 弯曲
Everything is warped and curved.
把鱼养在如此扭曲的世界里 被蒙扎的人视为残酷的行为
In Monza they found it was so cruel to keep fish in such a distorted reality
因此这儿竟然禁用圆形鱼缸
They actually banned round fishbowls.
从科学家的角度来说 我认为那种法律毫无根据
Speaking as a scientist,now I think such a law is unfounded.
只因为金鱼的视野与我们不同
Just because the goldfishes'view isn't the same as ours...
并不表示它活在扭曲的现实世界里
It doesn't mean that it is living in a distorted reality.
我们来想象这条是天才金鱼
Imagine that this goldfish is something of a genius.
即使它看的世界与我们看到的不同
Even though he sees the world differently than we do...
它仍能计算出自然法则
He can still work out the laws of nature.
因为扭曲的视野的关系 数学计算过程会更加复杂
The mathematics would be more complicated to account for the distorted perspective...
但其中的物理现象是相同的
But the physics would be the same.
若这只聪明的鱼 能算出警♥察♥的摩托车移♥动♥速度有多快
If this clever fish could work out how fast the police's motorcycle was moving...
它就能计算出正确的轨道及正确的时刻 从而成功逃脱
He could calculate the right trajectory and the right moment to escape.
我认为不同的现实观感 并没有真实性的高低之分
I don't think that one reality is more valid than another.
那就表示现实本身 总是因人而异
And that means that reality itself is in the mind of the beholder.
当你仔细想过之后 就连我们的观点也一点都不完美
When you think about it,even our point of view is far from perfect
举例而言 人类的眼睛 似乎很善于观看周遭的世界
It may seem that human eyes for example,are pretty good at seeing the world around them.
但事实上却并不怎么样
But in fact,they're not so great.
人眼看得到的清晰画面 就只有一小区域
Our eyes only see a small area with good resolution.
相当于手臂伸直后的拇指宽度
An area the width of your thumb when held that arms length.
然后眼睛会透过视神经 送出电流讯号♥到大脑
The eyes then send electrical signals to the brain down the optic nerve.
神经与眼睛的连接之处
The area where this nerve connects to our eyes
造成我们的视觉里有两个盲点
means we have two blind spots in our vision.
但我们并不会看到 有两个黑洞的模糊世界
But we don't perceive a blurry world with two black holes.
这要多亏神奇的器官 也就是我们的大脑
This is because of the incredible organ,that is our brain.
我们的大脑填补了空隙 转换眼睛传送的原始讯号♥
Our brains fill in the gaps transforming the crude signals from the eyes...
成为外在世界的三维模型
into a three-dimensional model of the outside world.
这些认知模型 就是我们每个人所谓的现实
It is this mental models that each of us called reality.
如何使我们更了解生命的意义
So how does this realization brings us closer to the meaning of life?
这在乍看之下可能像是个坏消息
Well,at first,it would seem to be bad news.
若现实本身只不过是每个人心里所认知的模型
If reality itself is just a model in each individual brain...
那么意义究竟何在
Where can the meaning be?
此外 也许真正的现实根本不存在
What's more: Perhaps there is no real reality out there at all?
怀疑我们所认知的现实的真实性可能有点疯狂
It may seem crazy to doubt that our concept of reality as true.
但我认为要找出生命的意义 就必须回答这个问题
But I think to find the meaning of life we must answer the question:
独♥立♥的现实世界是否存在？
Is there an independent reality or not?
想象一下科幻电影里的一个情景
Imagine a scenario that is straight from a science fiction movie.
你周遭的世界其实只不过是 某个比人类优越的
The world around you is actually nothing more than an elaborate fabrication...
不知名智慧体 所精心拟造的
of some unknown superior intelligence.
一台巨大的超级电脑提供所有的观感给你
Giant supercomputer provide you with all your senses
从你所见的景象 到你所闻 所听与触摸的一切
from what you see to what you smell,hear and touch.
但其实你并没有感官
But in fact you have no senses.
你的身体并不存在 你不过是装在罐子里的大脑罢了
Your body does not exist. You are just a brain in a jar.
这听起来可能很诡异 但这是真的科学假说 叫做
It may sound bizarre,but this is a genuine scientific hypothesis called:
"模拟理论"
The simulation theory.
说不定我们每个人认知中的现实情况
For all we know,every one of our perceived reality is simply fed to us
只是某个万能的超级电脑灌输给我们的
By some all-powerful supercomputer.
这种模拟太完美了 完美到我们从未注意过
And the simulation is so perfect that we never even notice.
但关键来了 这其实并不重要
But here's the cracks: It doesn't actually matter.
正如笛卡尔所说的 我思故我在
It's as Descartes said: We think,therefore we are.
汉堡可能不过就是一个电脑编码
The hamburger could be nothing more than a piece of computer code.
但我们想吃汉堡的欲望 仍然是我们本身的欲望
But our desire to eat it,is still our own desire.
我们仍会感到饥饿
We still feel hunger...
我们的心灵依然存在 即使我们真的活在模拟状态中
Our minds still exist,even if we are in a simulation.
所以怀疑现实的真正本质并没有任何意义
So doubting the true nature of reality serves no purpose.
直接接受这个想法简单多了
It's simpler to just accept
毕竟人所能理解的事在本质上是有限的
that there are fundamental limits to what we can known.
以这张桌子为例
Take this table,for example.
若你走出房♥间 你怎知这张桌子是否仍在？
How do you know if a table still exists if you go out of the room...
你已经看不到它了
And can no longer see it?
说不定 桌子可能自行折叠起来 从窗户跑出去
For all you know,the table could pack up and disappear out the window.
它可能跑去国际空间站
It could take a visit to the International Space Station.
也许甚至飞到月球
Perhaps even fly to the moon.
结束之后 桌子又回到原本位置 就在你再度进入房♥间前的瞬间
All this before returning to the exact same spot an instance before you reenter the room.
这个状况当然是不太可能发生的
This,of course is a pretty unlikely scenario.
但我们却不能完全排除
But one we can't rule out.
还是简单假定为 当我们不在时 桌子就在原地不动
It is much simpler to assume that the table stays put when we are not there.
那是我们对现实的最适模型
It is our best fit model of reality.
基本上 科学家也是如此
This is essentially what we do in science.
我们所建构的最适模型
To create best fit models of how we believe
来源于我们自己所认定的宇宙运作方式
the universe actually works.
古希腊人最早
The ancient Greeks were the first...
建构此类科学模型
to built such scientific models.
他们主张地球是一个大型球体 静止不动
They suggested that the earth was a large sphere,motionless...
且固定在宇宙中心
And fixed at the center of the universe.
但之后 开创性的科学家 如哥白尼与伽利略
But later pioneering scientists like Copernicus and Galileo...
找到更简单又更完整的革命性模型 来解释同样的现象
found a much simpler and completely revolutionary model to describe this same observations.
他们主张地球会自转 并同时绕着太阳运行
They proposed that the earth itself was spinning and orbiting the sun at the same time...
就与所有其它行星一样
Along with all the other planets.
但其实这两者都不能算是真的
But neither can be said to actually be true.
因为它们就像所有模型一样 只是我们想象出来的
Because they,like all models,are just a models in our heads:
最符合我们所认知的现实世界
The best fit of reality we perceive.
事实上 物理学家不断建立更精密复杂的模型
In fact,physicist are forever creating ever more sophisticated models...
而我们无法证实那些模型的真实性
And the truth of those models is impossible to establish.
1960年代出现了一个很好的例子
A good example of this came in the 1960s.
当时物理学家建构了一套理论 有关一种极微小物质的 叫做
Physicists devised a theory of really tiny bits of matter,called
夸克
quarks.
根据理论 夸克是一种亚原子粒子的组成单元
These quarks were proposed to be the building blocks of the subatomic particle called:
那种粒子就是质子
A proton.
该理论或模型主张
The theory our model suggested that...
夸克被一种力量连结在一起
these quarks were held together by a force...
当你越想分离夸克 力量则越大
that got stronger as you tried to separate them.
仿佛夸克被小小的橡皮筋绑在一起
If the quarks were bound by tiny rubber bands.
这个模型同时指出 人绝对无法看到单一孤立的夸克
This model also implied that there is no way one can ever see a single isolated quark.
起初有些人抱持怀疑的态度
At first,some people were skeptical.
若根据事物本身的定义 我们无法观察到它
If something by its very definition can never be seen,
这样还能说它存在吗？
Can it be said to exist?
那么讨论夸克是真是假有意义吗？
Does it make sense to say that quarks are real or not?
在巨大的粒子加速器里 例如瑞士欧洲核子研究委员会这一台
In vast particle accelerators like this one at CERN in Switzerland...
科学家正在寻找夸克和其它亚原子粒子
Scientists are on the hunt for quarks and other subatomic particles.
借由以惊人的速度将质子互相对撞
By smashing protons together at incredible speed...
就能研究自然界最小粒子的行为
We can study the behavior of the tiniest particles in nature.
虽然我们无法直接观察夸克
Although we haven't enable to directly observe quarks,
却看到了从夸克模型预测粒子行为的证据
we have seen evidence of particle behavior predicted by the quark model.
那么夸克到底存不存在？
So do Quarks exist?
答案是夸克只存在于相符的模型当中
The answer is they exist only as a model that works.
这就是我们目前所知道的
That is as far as we can go
即我们所能建立的模型中 这种概念就称为"模态实在论"
This is called the concept of model dependent reality.
我认为这就能直接解释生命的意义
And I believe that lead us directly to the meaning of life.
就我看来 科学让我们得知非常不可思议的事情
To my mind,science has taught us something pretty remarkable:
人类是高度复杂的生物机器
We humans are highly complex biological machines behaving in accordance