与摩根·弗里曼一起穿越虫洞（2010）

Through The Wormhole With Morgan Freeman S02E06

Part 6 April 19, 2021, 2:36 p.m.

暗能量是我们破解宇宙密♥码♥探索中
Dark energy is the unknown variable
未知的变数
in our quest to crack the cosmic code...
以找到一组方程式
to find a set of equations
来描述宇宙的运作之道
that describe how the Universe really works.
然而此人称那还远远不够
But this man says that doesn't go far enough.
他认为方程式不只是描述宇宙
He believes equations don't just describe the Universe.
方程式就是宇宙
Equations are the Universe,
我们通通生活在其中
and we are all living inside them.
我们在寻求终极方程式
We are hunting for an ultimate equation,
一个万有理论
the theory of everything
来解释宇宙的机制
that will explain the mechanisms of the Universe
以及革新地球上的生命
and revolutionize life on Earth.
有个人认为那个方程式存在
One man believes that equation exists
其解就是宇宙
and the solution is the Universe.
按他的说法
According to him,
万有方程就是你所见的一切
the equation of everything is everywhere you look,
我们全都在里头
and we are all part of it.
马克斯·泰格马克生活在马萨诸塞州的温彻斯特
Max Tegmark lives in Winchester, Massachusetts,
波士顿的北郊
a northern suburb of Boston.
他是个户外活动者
He's an outdoorsy sort
喜欢徒步思考
who likes to go on long walks and think.
不过泰格马克的思想要比普通徒步者的沉思
But Tegmark's thoughts are a bit more exotic
更多一点奇思怪想
than your average power walker's ponderings.
我想之所以
I think the reason
我们的宇宙被数学很好地描述了
our Universe is so well-described by math
那就在于数学某种意义上
is that it is math, in the sense that we are living
我们都生活在一个庞大的数学结构中
in a giant mathematical structure.
所以之所以我们的物理学发现的
So, the reason we physicists have discovered
所有这些方程式描述我们的世界如此完美
all of these equations which describe our world so well
只是因为这些方程式
is simply because these equations
能够大概描述
can approximately describe
真实的数学这就是我们的现实
the true math which is our reality.
对于泰格马克来说
To Tegmark,
方程式是宇宙的窗户
equations are windows on the Universe,
宇宙纯粹就是数学
and the Universe is pure math.
乍一看
At first glance,
我们的宇宙似乎根本就不是数学的
our Universe doesn't seem mathematical at all.
我们并没有看到天上写有很大的数字
We don't have big numbers written visibly in the sky.
但如果我们仔细去看
But if we look more closely,
我们会发现我们周围全都是数学模型和形态
we find mathematical patterns and shapes all around us.
比如我来捣鼓我花♥园♥里的水龙头
Like, if I mess around with my garden hose here...
自来水就会产生这个非常简单的形状叫做抛物线
the water makes this very simple shape called a parabola,
它具有下面这个极其简单的数学方程式
which has this extremely simple mathematical equation,
Y等于X的平方
"Y" equals "X" squared.
这个数学形状抛物线
This mathematical shape, the parabola,
其实在基本的层面上成为了大自然的一部分
is really built into nature at quite a fundamental level
因为它描述了任何物体在重力下的运动
because it describes the motion with gravity
无论它的成分是什么
of any object, regardless of what it's made of.
我们环视宇宙
When we look around us in the Universe,
我们看到到处都有形状
we see shapes everywhere.
我们看到所有的行星环绕着太阳
We see that all the planets are going around the Sun
其形状是椭圆形
in a shape called an ellipse.
看上去就像是拉长的圆圈
It just looks like the stretched circle.
宇宙间所有围绕着别人转的东西
And anything orbiting anything out there in the Universe,
为何总是那种形状呢？
why is it always that shape?
你知道的并不是数字8或正方形呢？
You know, not a figure eight or a square?
一旦我们由表及里
As soon as we scratch beneath the surface,
我们就会发现所有这些模型和规律
we start to discover all these patterns and regularities
乃至数字
and even numbers.
比如我来拿起这些树枝
Like, if I just pick up some sticks here,
我要问一下我在这里可以拿起多少树枝
and I ask, like, how many sticks can I put here
是相互垂直的？
which are perpendicular to each other?
我得出了数目是3
I get a number. I get three.
我们得到了物理学里一个奇妙的数字
We have a fancy number for this in physics.
我们称其为空间的维数
We call it the dimensionality of space.
这些内含在大自然里的数字很重要
And these numbers that are built into nature are very important,
因为如果你对其稍加调整
because if you tweak them a little bit,
如果你说质子并不是
if you say the proton isn't
比电子重1836倍
1,836 times heavier than an electron,
而是5000倍重，举个例子，我们就会完蛋
but 5,000 times heavier, for instance, we would die.
事实上如果你改变许多数字
In fact, if you change many of the numbers
就那么百分之几
by just a few percent,
太阳就会爆♥炸♥原子就会突然崩塌
the Sun might blow up or suddenly atoms would collapse
我们所知的生命将会不复存在
and life as we know it just wouldn't be possible.
因此不但有这些数字存在
So, not only are these numbers there,
而且它们关系到
but they're extremely important
对我们现实本质的认识
for understanding the very essence of our reality.
这就把我们带回到了一个令人不安的概念
This brings us back to an uncomfortable notion
是时下流行的量子力学理论所提出的
suggested by the prevailing theory of quantum mechanics.
在现实的最深层
At the deepest level of reality,
啥都不是一成不变的
nothing is solid.
唯一存在的是信息
There is only information --
坚持着一套规则的数字
numbers adhering to a set of rules
我们尚不了解
we don't yet understand.
电子的唯一属性
The only properties an electron has
是一串数字
is a bunch of numbers.
我们的物理学家给它们起了名字如自旋和电荷
We physicists have names for them like spin and charge,
其实它们只是数字而已
but they're really just numbers.
归根结底啥都没有
There's really nothing there at the bottom level
除了数字除了数学
except numbers, except math.
数学或许是终极真理
Math may be the ultimate truth,
不过鉴于我们的局限性
but given our limitations
看上去如此广袤如此奇妙的大千世界
and how vast and strange so much of nature seems to be,
它有可能解决这个问题么？
is it even possible to solve this problem?
我们究竟能否知道宇宙的运作之道呢？
Can we ever know how the Universe really works?
当然无法保证
There's certainly no guarantee
我们会发现终极方程式
that we'll find the ultimate equation,
但我认为我们会试试看的
but I think we do have a shot at it.
极为了不起的是我们作为一个物种
It's really remarkable how far we've come as a species
在过去的百年间
in the last 100 years,
了解的东西已经大大超越了我们最疯狂的梦想
beyond our wildest dreams in understanding stuff.
没有更好的办法来保证我们将会失败
And there's no better way to guarantee we're gonna fail
从而不去尝试
than to not try.
如果我错了
If I'm wrong
宇宙存在有某些
and there is something inherently nonmathematical
非数学的本质
about the Universe,
那么物理学将百劫不复了
then physics is ultimately doomed.
我们将遇上一个障碍
We're gonna reach a roadblock
你无法逾越的障碍
beyond which you just can't proceed.
反之如果我对了
Whereas, if I'm right,
那一定会是令人欢欣的状况
that would actually be a very happy situation
不存在障碍
where there is no roadblock
我们的进程只局限于我们自己的想象力
and our progress would only be limited by our own imagination.
我们究竟能否看到现实的整个脉络呢？
Will we ever see the entire web of reality?
我们能否发现我们会否了解
Can we find, and will we understand,
终极真理呢？
the ultimate truth?
眼下我们如考古学家一般
Right now, we are like archaeologists
发现有个小三角埋在沙堆里
who have uncovered a small triangle buried in the sand,
那是我们尚未看到的巨大的金字塔尖
the tip of an enormous pyramid that we can't yet see.
或许对人类它自以为是
Perhaps it's presumptuous
认为我们永远都不会发现的
for human beings to think we ever will.
但我们孜孜以求去发现真理
But we continue to uncover the truth,
愚公移山
bit by bit, piece by piece.
如果我们不停发掘
If we keep digging,
我们可能会最终揭示出宇宙之大美
we may finally reveal the full beauty of creation...
或许能偷♥窥♥到上帝的心思
and perhaps steal a glimpse into the mind of God.