与摩根·弗里曼一起穿越虫洞（2010）

Through The Wormhole With Morgan Freeman S01E01

Part 6 April 19, 2021, 2:23 p.m.

听上去很像程序员
sound an awful lot like what programmers do
在模拟环境中搞的把戏
when they create simulated environments.
于是他开始考虑
And then he started thinking
为了创造我们的星球，我们的世界
about how much computing power it would take
以及所有的生命，所有人类的大脑
to create our world, our planet,
需要什么样的计算能力
all its life, and all of our brains.
摩尔定律，即计算能力
Moore's law is that computational power
每2年或18个月就翻番
tends to double about every two years or 18 months.
实际上，过去18年间
Actually, in the last 18 years,
计算能力每13个月就加倍
it's been doubling every 13 months.
现在，这个星球上最暴♥力♥的计算机
Right now, the fastest computers on the planet
可以和人脑相媲美
are now comparable or even exceeding
甚至有所超越
the computational ability of the human brain as we estimate it.
每秒钟进行千万亿次操作
That's about one million billion operations per second.
明年，计算能力还会加倍
Where it's taking us is that in the next year, that'll double.
下个十年
In the next decade,
会增加500倍
that'll increase by a factor of 500.
所以从现在算起，十年后
So a decade from now, our supercomputers will be
超级计算机会比人类大脑快500倍
about 500 times faster than the human brain.
里奇很确信，十年后
Rich is sure that computers a decade from now
我们能置身于计算机创造的
will be able to create a photoreal simulation
以假乱真的虚拟场景
of all that we see around us.
不过计算机创造的虚拟世界中
But can a computer ever populate a simulated world
会有像我们一样思考的东西吗？
with thinking beings like us?
答案在这个盒子里
The answer is inside this box.
假设我有一个盒子
Suppose I have a box.
盒子里，我装了一个，人类的大脑
And in the box I've got, you know, a human brain,
具有意识，或者说，里面有个人
which is the mind, or a person,
我还有一个笔记本电脑
and I've got a laptop computer.
人脑和电脑
The human brain and a laptop computer
重量相仿
are about the same weight.
体积差不多
They're about the same volume.
运算能力也不相伯仲
And they take about the same amount of power.
然而目前来说，人脑要比现在的笔记本电脑
Yet the human brain is about 100,000 times more powerful
强大十万倍
than a current-day laptop.
呃，那就假设这是50年后穿越来的电脑
Well, suppose this is a laptop computer from 50 years from now,
我吧它们都放进盒子
and I have them both in the box,
开始问问题
and I start asking them questions,
我分不清是谁在回答
and I don't know which one is answering.
如果我不能分辨
If I can't tell the difference
是人类在回答
between a human being answering questions
还是电脑在回答
and a computer answering questions,
那么，本质上说，它们是相当的
then, qualitatively, they're equivalent.
如果我相信人类是有意识和自知的
And if I believe that the human is conscious and self-aware,
我必须认同机器也有一样的品质
I must also believe that the machine has the same qualities.
一旦电脑能够
Once computers have the power
在以假乱真的虚拟星球上
to simulate artificially intelligent beings
模拟人工智能生物
inside a photorealistic representation of planet earth,
这个结果就太影响深远了
the ramifications are truly profound.
假设我们有一个庞大的模拟器
Suppose we have an enormous simulation
我们模拟人工智能
and we're simulating artificial intelligence.
我们就创造了宇宙
We created this universe.
我们能改变物理定律
We're able to change the laws of physics.
我们能做上帝能做的一切
We're able to do all the things,
我们具备成为上帝的所有条件
all of those requirements that we put on God.
我们在电脑里创造了世界
We're on the brink of creating worlds
我们超脱在世界之上
inside the computers,
给世界加上生物
filling them with sentient beings,
我们成了他们的神
and becoming their gods.
不过里奇·泰里莱对造物主的追寻还没完
But this is not where Rich Terrile's quest for the creator ends.
下一步真是令人费解
The next step is truly mind-bending.
他相信如果科学显示神能存在
He believes that if science shows God can exist,
那么也许祂真的存在
than maybe he already does.
也许我们就是虚拟人生
Maybe we are the Sims
而我们的创造者，正在超级计算机的控制室里呢
and our creator is sitting at the controls of a supercomputer.
机器的崛起近在手边
The rise of the machines is close at hand.
计算机已经接管了
Already, computers are taking over many
我们很多的日常工作
of the day-to-day functions in our world.
它们已经掌权了吗？
Are they already in charge?
我们的造物主是某种宇宙电脑天才吗？
Is our creator some kind of cosmic computer genius?
里奇·泰里莱认为我们
Rich Terrile thinks we might be living
生活在某种巨大的模拟环境中
in some kind of giant simulation,
我们的造物主也许正在使用
that our creator might be using
一个有神力的超级计算机
a supercomputer with godlike powers.
而且他认为他在自然界找到了证据
And he thinks he's found evidence for it in nature.
有一个百试不爽的好办法
There is one surefire way to tell
能够搞清楚我们是否在虚拟环境
if you're looking at a computer simulation.
放大
Zoom in.
所有的电脑图像，不管多么真实
Every computer-generated image, no matter how realistic,
当你放大到足够程度，都会分成像素
breaks down into pixels when you get close enough.
你也许觉得，在这个真实的世界，不可能如此
You might think this doesn't happen in the real world,
但是你错了
but you'd be wrong.
在上个世纪
In the past century,
物理学家发现
physicists have discovered
物质由很小的粒子组成，就像像素
that matter really is made of tiny, little pixels,
基本的，不可见的粒子
fundamental, indivisible particles
只有原子的几十亿分之一
billions of times smaller than an atom.
量子力学理论解释了这一切
The theory that explains all this, quantum mechanics,
不仅适用于物质，而是全宇宙
applies not just to matter, but to the entire universe.
看看宇宙运行的方式
Look at the way the universe behaves.
它是量子化的。它是由像素那样的粒子组成的
It's quantized. It's made of pixels.
由单独的一个个原子组成
And it's made of individual atoms.
空间是量子化的。时间是量子化的
Space is quantized. Time is quantized.
能量是量子化的
Energy is quantized.
万物都由单独的像素组成
Everything is made of individual pixels,
这意味着宇宙由有限多个的部件构成
which means the universe has a finite number of components,
宇宙存在有限多个的状态
which means it has a finite number of states,
这意味着宇宙是可以计算的
which means it's computable.
量子力学意味着
Quantum mechanics means
我们所见的所有东西
it's possible everything we see
也许真的是由
could really be produced
能力强大的计算机里一行行的代码实现的
by lines of code inside a powerful computer.
但是，真的有某种迹象表明
But are there any signs
这个宇宙是被计算产生的吗？
the universe is actually being computed?
在加州工学院的物理实验室里
In the physics lab at Caltech,
一个有100年历史的试验
an experiment that's now almost 100 years old
提供了重要线索
offers a vital clue.
我们在加州工学院物理实验室的一个小房♥间里
We're in a small room at the physics lab at Caltech,
看一个实验，最初在1928年就有人做过了
looking at an experiment that was originally done in 1928.
这个实验将一束电子流
This experiment takes an electron beam
穿过一个石墨电极
and transmits it through a piece of graphite.
我们要瞧的就是
And what we're looking at is the electrons
电子穿过电极
kind of going through the graphite
形成的散射图像
and forming this kind of diffuse blob.
现在，有趣的是
Now, an interesting thing is,
当我们把电子流聚焦到石墨上
when we focus the beam on the graphite,
我们找到了一个非常非常有趣的模式
we find a very, very interesting pattern.
这个实验包括一个电子枪
The experiment consists of a gun
它把电子打到石墨原子上
which fires electrons at a target of graphite atoms
而显示屏记录下
and a collecting screen
石墨原子怎么把电子弹开
to record how they ricocheted off it.
如果记录仪放大几十亿倍
If this apparatus was scaled up a billion times
发射真的子弹
and the gun fired real bullets,
显示屏上的模式
the pattern on the collecting screen
应该只是一片乱涂似的弹孔痕迹
would just be a random smear of bullet holes.
但在这个小尺度的亚原子世界
But in the scaled-down subatomic world,
电子的反弹不是随机的
the electron ricochets are not random.
屏幕上的模式
The pattern on the screen
反映了靶原子的模式
reflects the pattern of atoms in the target.
每个电子看上去都反映了
Each electron seems to sense