TED演講-口語練習(xí)：探索宇宙模擬的微觀邊界

在TED演講節(jié)目中，演講者清晰的口語表達(dá)及其內(nèi)容的寫作手法都是值得我們學(xué)習(xí)借鑒的。在本期的TED演講中，演講者將講述工作者及領(lǐng)導(dǎo)者在工作中的態(tài)度。請(qǐng)結(jié)合視頻內(nèi)容，開始口語練習(xí)吧！

原文及翻譯

So a simulation would have to represent space and time in very small pieces. These would be almost incomprehensibly tiny, but we might be able to search for them by using certain subatomic particles as probes. The basic principle is this: the smaller something is, the more sensitive it will be to disruption. 

因此，模擬必須將空間和時(shí)間表示為非常小的片段。這些片段幾乎小得令人難以置信，但我們可以使用某些亞原子粒子作為探針來搜索它們。基本原理是：物體越小，對(duì)干擾就越敏感。

Think of hitting a pothole on a skateboard versus in a truck. Any unit in space-time would be so small that most things would travel through it without disruption. Not just objects large enough to be visible to the naked eye, but also molecules, atoms, and even electrons and most of the other subatomic particles we've discovered. 

想象一下滑板撞到坑洞和卡車撞到坑洞的情形。時(shí)空中的任何單位都非常小，大多數(shù)物體都可以不受干擾地穿過它。不僅僅是肉眼可見的大物體，還有分子、原子，甚至電子和我們發(fā)現(xiàn)的大多數(shù)其他亞原子粒子。

If we do discover a tiny unit in space-time or shifting constant in a natural law, would that prove the universe is a simulation? No, it would only be the first of many steps. There could be other explanations for each of those findings, and a lot more evidence would be needed to establish the simulation hypothesis as a working theory of nature. 

如果我們確實(shí)發(fā)現(xiàn)了時(shí)空中的微小單位或自然法則中的移動(dòng)常數(shù)，那么這是否證明宇宙是一個(gè)模擬？不，這只是眾多步驟中的第一步。每個(gè)發(fā)現(xiàn)都可能有不同的解釋，并且需要更多的證據(jù)來將模擬假設(shè)確立為自然的有效理論。

However, many tests we design are limited by some assumptions they all share: our current understanding of the natural world on the quantum level breaks down at what's known as the Planck scale. If the unit of space-time is on that scale, we wouldn't be able to look for it with our current scientific understanding. There's still a wide range of things that are smaller than what's currently observable, but larger than the Planck scale, to investigate. 

然而，我們?cè)O(shè)計(jì)的許多測(cè)試都受到一些共同假設(shè)的限制：我們目前對(duì)自然界在量子層面上的理解在所謂的普朗克尺度上失效。如果時(shí)空單位是這個(gè)尺度，我們就無法用我們目前的科學(xué)理解去尋找它。還有許多比目前可觀測(cè)到的要小但比普朗克尺度要大的事物需要研究。

Similarly, shifts in the constants of natural laws could occur so slowly that they would only be observable over the lifetime of the universe, so they could exist even if we don't detect them over centuries or millennia of measurements. We're also biased towards thinking that our universe, if it exists, makes calculations the same way we do, with similar computational limitations. 

同樣，自然定律常數(shù)的變化可能會(huì)發(fā)生得非常緩慢，以至于它們只能在宇宙的整個(gè)生命周期內(nèi)才能被觀察到，所以即使我們?cè)趲讉€(gè)世紀(jì)或幾千年的測(cè)量中沒有探測(cè)到它們，它們也可能存在。我們也傾向于認(rèn)為，我們的宇宙（如果存在的話）會(huì)以與我們相同的方式進(jìn)行計(jì)算，具有類似的計(jì)算限制。

Really, we have no way of knowing what an alien civilization's constraints and methods would be, but we have to start somewhere. It may never be possible to prove conclusively that the universe either is or isn't a simulation, but will always be pushing, science and technology forward in pursuit of the what is the nature of reality.

實(shí)際上，我們無法知道外星文明的限制和方法是什么，但我們必須從某個(gè)地方開始。也許永遠(yuǎn)無法確鑿地證明宇宙是不是模擬的，但我們始終會(huì)推動(dòng)科學(xué)和技術(shù)不斷前進(jìn)，以探索現(xiàn)實(shí)的本質(zhì)。

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