与摩根·弗里曼一起穿越虫洞（2010）

我们的宇宙看起来当然很真实
Our universe certainly seems real.
但如果不是这样呢？
But what if it's not?
我们也许只是电子游戏中的角色而已
We may be nothing more than video-game characters
为了别人的娱乐而被设计出来
designed for someone else's amusement.
计算机怎么能设定宇宙的方方面面呢？
But how could a computer juggle every aspect of the cosmos?
也许程序早已设定好
Maybe what looks random
让那些看似随机的事件发生
has already been programmed to happen.
我们能不能发现宇宙法则中的
Can we discover some hidden glitch
隐藏的故障，并解密其隐藏代码呢
in the laws of the universe and uncover its hidden code?
我们生活在矩阵中吗？
Do we live in the matrix?
空间，时间，生命本身
Space, time, life itself.
宇宙之谜，尽在穿越虫洞
The secrets of the cosmos lie through the wormhole.
与摩根·弗里曼一起穿越虫洞（S06E04）
Through The Wormhole With Morgan Freeman (S06E04)
我们生活在矩阵里吗？
Do We Live In The Matrix?
拿起一朵玫瑰
Pick up a rose.
闻闻它的香气
Take in its scent.
用双眼去享受它花瓣的红色
Feast your eyes on the crimson of its petals.
感受花刺扎在你手上的疼痛
Feel the prick of its thorn on your finger.
这些感觉给了我们现实的基础
These sensations are what ground us in reality.
但是说不定我们只是被编造出来的呢？
But what if they're just fabricated?
说不定，我们只是别人的电子游戏中的玩家
What if we are merely players in someone else's video game,
至于所谓的宇宙大爆♥炸♥
the big bang just the moment
也只是某人拨动了开关，启动了我们的宇宙
someone flipped the switch and turned on our universe?
在电影《黑客帝国》里
In the movie "the matrix,"
有一种方法可以看清虚假的现实背后的真♥相♥
there was one way to see the truth behind a fake reality.
服下红色药丸
Take the red pill.
你准备好了吗？
Are you ready for it?
杰西·谢尔对电子游戏了如指掌
Jesse Schell knows a lot about video games.
他在卡♥耐♥基♥梅隆大学教学生们
He teaches students at Carnegie Mellon university
如何设计游戏
how to design them.
在计算机中创造出我们的宇宙的全部细节
He appreciates the enormous effort it would take to create
需要付出大量的努力
all the details of our world inside a computer.
最复杂的游戏
The most sophisticated video games
仍然停留在二维的屏幕上
are still played on two-dimensional screens,
就像你现在看到的这个一样
like the one you're watching now.
生成三维在平面屏幕上的投影
Creating the illusion of three dimensions on flat screens
远比真正生成能让我们
is much simpler than actually creating
在其中移♥动♥的三维空间要容易得多
real three-dimensional space that we can move around in.
据我们所知，编写三维空间的程序
So programming 3-D space as we know it
要比我们我们现在所能做到的
would be many, many orders of magnitude
高出许多许多个数量级
more difficult than anything we know how to do right now.
杰西和其他游戏设计者
Jesse and other video-game designers are pretty good
很擅长模拟物体在空间中的移♥动♥
at simulating the way objects move through space.
他们用了牛顿的万有引力定律和牛顿运动定律
They use Newton's laws of gravity and motion,
设计我们的世界的人也会这麽做
just as the designers of our world would.
球有重量
The balls have weight.
空气在它们周围流动
Air is moving around them.
球表面的电荷
Electrical charges
不断增加、减少
are increasing and decreasing on the surface of each ball.
即便我失手了
And even if I'm a little bit off,
物理学的法则也不受影响
the laws of physics are still intact.
可这些法则一旦失灵
But if the rules themselves are off,
我们马上就会发现有问题
then we'll know right away that something's wrong,
世界模拟得不精确
that it's not an accurate simulation of our world.
创造可信的现实
Making a believable reality
需要的绝不仅仅是
would take far more than perfect programming
对物理的外观和运动编写完美的程序
of the way objects look and move.
还要设定其他的感觉
You'd have to program all the other senses, too --
声音，气味，味道，触觉
Sound, smell, taste, and touch,
各种微妙的变化
and all the subtle variations.
即使只有一件事不对头，比如说这杯咖啡
And if even one small thing was off, like, say this coffee
有着麦片粥的味道和温度
having the same taste and temperature as this cereal,
你马上就会知道有了大问题
you'd know right away that something was terribly wrong.
怎样才能让味道计算机化
How would you computerize taste
或者编写你感觉到脚下草地柔软的程序？
or program the feel of soft grass underfoot?
就连我们呼吸的空气
Even the air we breathe
也充满着气体、水分子
is filled with gasses, water molecules,
灰尘粒子和花粉
dust particles and pollen.
在卡♥耐♥基♥梅隆大学的娱乐技术中心
At Carnegie Mellon's entertainment technology center,
杰西努力让模拟
Jesse is trying to make simulations
尽可能地真实
as immersive as possible.
在他叫做“洞穴”的地方
In what he calls the cave,
视觉体验中增加了一个运动的平台
a moving platform adds to the visual experience.
但有时候对计算机来说，模拟太困难了
But sometimes the simulation is too much for the computer,
偶尔会发生故障，就像游戏中的故障一样
and we get glitches, just like in a video game.
可能我们做出的真实世界的模拟
It's possible that if we were making a simulation
会发生同样的事情
of the real world that the same thing could happen.
当计算机跟不上它所需要渲染
When a computer can't keep up with the visuals
的视觉效果时
it needs to render,
你会看到叫做“屏幕撕裂”的缺陷
you often see a defect called screen tearing.
在我们的世界中从来没有见过这种撕裂
We've never seen that in our world,
但对于模拟中的人，不是所有的故障都是可见的
but not all glitches would be visible to people on the inside.
如果模拟卡住了
If the simulation freezes,
里面的人也许根本不知道
then the people who are in it might not know
因为可能一卡就是上千年
because it could freeze for a thousand years.
任何人，作为模拟的一部分
And anyone who was part of the simulation
也会被卡在画面中断的状态中
would also be frozen in a state of suspended animation so that,
所以当它重新启动的时候
when it started up again,
对他们而言完全是无缝的
it would be absolutely seamless to them,
他们永远也不会知道
and they would never know.
如果有什么人在他们的电脑里
If someone else has created us
创造了我们
inside their computers,
他们一定建立了程序
then they must also have built programs
关于我们的心智能力，我们的想象力
for all of our mental abilities, our imaginations,
我们的情感以及我们头脑中的思想
our emotions and the thoughts running through our heads
每当我们与人交谈的时候
every time we engage in conversation.
我们都得到了这麽多的信息
As humans, we get so much information
以至于一个精确的谈话程序是至关重要的
from talking that an accurate conversation program is crucial.
你长大了想干什么？
What did you want to be when you grew up?
消防员
A fireman.
消防员？真高尚
A fireman? That's noble.
所以，要麽你想死
So either, "a," you've got a death wish,
要麽你喜欢看火
or, "b," you like to stare at fire.
我们片刻之间就能从谈话中
And it only takes us a split second to notice a problem
发现问题
with the conversation.
所以不难想象
So you can imagine the challenge
同时模拟70亿人的谈话是多麽大的挑战
of simulating 7 billion people all talking together at once.
杰西认为我们的造物主可以使用一些简化方式
Jesse thinks our creators could be using a few shortcuts
解决这个沉重的负担
to handle this heavy load,
现在的游戏程序员已经应用了这种概念
concepts already used by today's game programmers.
你可以只让少数人作为活跃的玩家
You could make just a few people be active players
它们周围的几十亿人
and then surround them with billions
都只是简单得多的角色
of much simpler characters.
或者你也可以在给定时间，只在我的视野里
Or another thing you could do is only put detailed simulation
产生细节化的模拟
where I'm looking at a given time.
如果我只是在看一个地方
If I'm looking just to one place,
把焦点放在那里就可以了
just put all the focus over there
而视野之外其余的一切，只是一片迷雾
and make everything else around me just kind of a blur.
你也许是这个游戏中唯一活跃的玩家
Maybe you are the only active player in this game
你把这叫做你的生活
you call your life.
其他所有人，只有你在注意到他们的时候他们才存在
Everyone else exists only when you are paying attention.
一直以来，只有你的这个进程在运行
Your program would be the only one running all the time,
即使你在睡觉
even when you sleep.
我们已经有了一种模拟的现实：梦境
Dreams are already a kind of simulated reality.
为了编写梦境的程序，你需要在一个虚拟现实之中
So to program dreams, you'd have to create a virtual reality
再造一个虚拟现实
within a virtual reality.
如果我们的世界是复杂得不可思议的计算的产物
If our world is an incredibly complex computational creation,
创造我们的人会是怎样？
what does that say about its creators?
如果创造出整个宇宙只是一个游戏
What must their reality be like
他们的现实又会是什么样的呢？
if spawning an entire universe is just a game?