厭倦了不斷滑負面新聞？：英語精讀講義

Being a human in the 21st century often feels frustrating.

身處21世紀的人類，常常會感到沮喪。

We're clearly at the high point of our species.

我們顯然正處於人類物種的巔峰。

Never have so many of us lived so well, 文法

過去從未有如此多的人生活得這般好，

been so healthy and well off. 用詞

如此健康且富足。

At the same time, 表達脈絡

與此同時，

life is incredibly hard.

生活又無比艱難。

More than 15,000 children died yesterday.

昨天有超過15000名兒童死去。

700 million people live in extreme poverty.

有7億人生活在極端貧困之中。

Even within rich societies,

即使在富裕社會，

there's loads of unfairness and daily struggle. 用詞

也有著大量的不公與日常掙扎。

We are divided,

我們四分五裂，

unable to solve our problems while creating new ones,

無法解決我們的問題，反而製造了新問題，

destroying our world in the process.

並在這個過程中破壞著我們的世界。

In many ways,

在很多方面，

the vibe is that we live in dark times.

氣氛讓人覺得我們生活在黑暗時代。

It's so easy to feel disconnected and powerless

我們很容易感到脫節與無力，

in the face of problems too big to solve. 片語搭配

面對著大到無法解決的問題。

And so the state of the world fills many of us with doom, 片語搭配

因此，世界的現狀讓許多人充滿厄運感、

hopelessness, and sadness.

絕望與悲傷。

We feel it too.

我們也有同感。

It's one of the most pervasive stories of our time, 文法

這是我們這個時代最普遍的敘事之一，

and there's a lot of truth to it. 片語搭配

而且它也包含了許多真相。

But,

但是，

as Terry Pratchett said,

正如 Terry Pratchett 所說，

we are the storytelling ape.

我們是會說故事的猿類。

We think in narratives

我們以敘事的方式思考，

and live in a network of stories that make up our world. 片語動詞

生活在一個由故事交織而成的網絡中，這構成了我們的世界。

So, without minimizing the darkness, 表達脈絡

所以，在不貶低那些黑暗面之餘，

we want to add a story that we find helpful for dealing with the world.

我們想加入一個我們認為有助於應對這個世界的故事。

This is subjective and not a science video,

這是主觀的，不是一期科普影片，

so you don't need to buy into it. 片語動詞

所以你不需要完全相信它。

Our story begins with the first moment that ever was.

我們的故事始於有史以來的最初時刻。

14 billion years ago,

140億年前，

time and space began from some kind of state of pure energy.

時間和空間從某種純能量狀態開始。

From this very first moment,

從這最初的一刻起，

the universe grew and evolved.

宇宙便開始成長與演化。

Things that were one became many.

本為一體的事物化為了萬物。

Energy turned into forces and particles.

能量變成了力與粒子。

Out of chaos, 文法

從混沌中，

emerged the laws of nature.

浮現了自然法則。

From these ingredients,

從這些成分中，

stars arose,

恆星誕生了，

gigantic engines turning simple stuff into complex stuff,

就像巨大的引擎將簡單的物質變成複雜的物質，

only to die violently and spread the new complexity around. 文法

然後猛烈地消亡，將新的複雜物質散播開來。

Out of this more complex stuff,

從這些更複雜的物質中，

new stars and more worlds emerged,

新的恆星和更多的世界出現了，

repeating the cycle until most of the simple stuff was used up

不斷重複這個循環，直到大部分簡單的物質被耗盡，

and most stars that will ever be born had been born.

絕大多數會誕生的恆星都已誕生。

And then,

接著，

on one planet where the conditions were just right,

在一顆條件恰到好處的星球上，

dead particles and molecules combined to make another jump in complexity.

毫無生氣的粒子與分子結合在一起，在複雜性上實現了又一次飛躍。

Maybe the laws that govern everything were destined to make life happen. 文法

也許支配萬物的法則注定要讓生命誕生。

Maybe it was just a cosmic dice throw.

也許這只是宇宙擲了一次骰子。

But life, now the most complex thing in existence,

但生命，現在作為現存最複雜的事物，

wasted no time and spread to even the tiniest corners. 片語搭配

毫不耽擱地蔓延到了哪怕是最微小的角落。

For billions of years,

幾十億年來，

cells held on, 片語動詞

細胞堅守著，

fighting against the elements and each other,

與惡劣環境和同類抗爭，

evolving in the process,

在此過程中不斷演化，

until one day they came together and made another jump in complexity to plants,

直到有一天，它們聚集在一起，再次實現了複雜性的飛躍，變成了植物、

animals, and fungi.

動物和真菌。

First in the oceans,

先是在海洋中，

then on the land.

然後到了陸地上。

Earth was now the stage of something grand.

地球現在成了一些宏大事物的舞台。

A complexity acceleration machine going at full speed.

一台全速運轉的複雜性加速機器。

Millions of new species emerged and vanished.

數以百萬計的新物種出現又消失。

Life was beaten down over and over, 表達脈絡

生命一次又一次被擊垮，

but every time it came back stronger,

但每一次它都會變得更強大地歸來，

resettling niches filled with corpses of the ones that came before.

重新在被前任屍骸填滿的生態位中安頓下來。

Most of these beings are hidden in time forever.

這些生命大多數永遠地隱藏在了時間裡。

We only know their faint echoes. 慣用語

我們只知道它們微弱的回音。

Until a few million years ago,

直到幾百萬年前，

an animal looked to the night sky.

一隻動物仰望夜空。

It looked at its hands.

它看了看自己的雙手。

It saw its reflection in a puddle

它在水窪裡看到了自己的倒影，

and it realized it existed,

它意識到自己存在著，

that it was alive,

自己是活著的，

here and now.

就在此時此地。

You probably had such a moment as a small child,

你在小時候可能也有過這樣的時刻，

mundane and majestic at the same time.

既平凡又壯麗。

This is where the human story begins,

這就是人類故事的開端，

about 6 million years ago,

大約600萬年前，

with the hominins.

伴隨著古人類的出現。

Still just another animal among many others.

那時他們還只是眾多動物中的一種。

They split into many families and lineages,

他們分裂成許多家族和譜系，

evolving further or disappearing again.

進一步演化或者再次消失。

But for some reason,

但出於某種原因，

their evolutionary niche enabled their brains to grow 用詞

他們的生態位讓他們的大腦得以生長，

and they learned more about this strange world.

他們對這個奇異世界了解得更多了。

They prayed to the stars.

他們向星星祈禱。

They tamed fire

他們馴服了火，

and turned stones into tools. 文法

把石頭變成工具。

They celebrated and cried together.

他們一起慶祝，一起哭泣。

Life was hard and brutally short,

生活艱難且殘酷地短暫，

but together they endured,

但他們團結在一起撐了下來，

probably by telling themselves stories about the world.

也許是透過給彼此講述關於這個世界的故事。

For almost 250,000 generations,

在將近25萬代的歲月裡，

they built a biological foundation.

他們建立了生物學基礎。

And then at some point,

接著在某個時刻，

200,000 years or about 10,000 generations ago,

20萬年前或者說大約1萬代以前，

they became us.

他們變成了我們。

Humanity had arrived.

人類登場了。

Our ancestors didn't waste any time.

我們的祖先沒有浪費任何時間。

Their world was still hard and unforgiving,

他們的世界依然艱難且無情，

but out of pure stubbornness,

但出於純粹的倔強，

they didn't accept that.

他們沒有接受這一切。

They wanted their lives to be better,

他們希望生活變得更好，

so they made better tools and learned to preserve their knowledge beyond death.

所以製造了更好的工具，並學會了讓知識在死後傳承。

Progress started slow

進步起初很慢，

and then suddenly they,

然後突然之間，他們，

or better,

或者更確切地說，

we made the planet our own. 慣用語

我們把這顆星球據為己有。

Agriculture and the first villages and temples snowballed into civilization, 慣用語

農業以及最早的村落和廟宇滾雪球般發展成文明、

kingdoms and empires,

王國和帝國、

technology, writing, astronomy, medicine, philosophy.

技術、文字、天文學、醫學、哲學。

A hot second later, 用詞

緊接著的一瞬間，

science, industrialization,

科學、工業化、

the modern world,

現代世界、

the information age,

資訊時代，

where we are today.

來到了我們今天的所在。

Earth is truly ours now.

地球現在真的屬於我們了。

We changed it in ways unfathomable a few short generations ago.

我們以短短幾代人以前無法想像的方式改變了它。

We turned the land into fields worked by millions of machines,

我們把土地變成了由數百萬台機器勞作的農田，

built thousands of gigantic jungles made of sand and metal. 慣用語

建造了數千座由沙子和金屬構成的巨型叢林。

We split the atom and traveled to other worlds.

我們分裂了原子，前往了其他世界。

Everything is different today,

今天的一切都不一樣了，

except us, of course.

當然，除了我們自己。

We humans have not changed.

我們人類並沒有改變。

We were molded by a cold and unforgiving world

我們是由一個冰冷無情的世界塑造出來的，

where we needed to be hard and brutal to survive.

在那裡我們需要變得冷酷殘暴才能生存。

We are still bound to our nature that made us so successful. 慣用語

我們依然被那讓我們如此成功的本性所束縛。

We still tell stories,

我們依然說著故事，

are hungry for food,

渴望食物，

greedy for resources,

貪圖資源，

desperate to be accepted by our peers.

拼命想要被同伴接納。

We're scared by the dangers that lurk in the dark,

我們害怕潛伏在黑暗中的危險，

imagined and real ones.

無論是想像的還是真實的。

We're still brutal to each other and the animals we hold power over. 片語搭配

我們對彼此以及我們掌控的動物依然殘暴。

We're still territorial and possessive.

我們依然有領地意識和佔有欲。

We fear losing what we have

我們害怕失去所擁有的東西，

and we fear change.

我們也害怕改變。

We downplay the damage we cause 片語搭配

我們淡化我們造成的破壞，

and ignore the people in need outside our tribes.

並無視部落外需要幫助的人。

Humans are not nice.

人類並不友善。

And if we look at our history,

而如果我們看看我們的歷史，

how could we expect ourselves to be? 表達脈絡

我們又怎能指望自己友善呢？

In nature,

在自然界中，

we see great beauty,

我們看到了無與倫比的美麗，

but also endless violence and struggle,

卻也看到了無盡的暴力與鬥爭，

devoid of morals or kindness. 用詞

缺乏道德或仁慈。

We are an instinct-driven apex predator that survived in an uncaring world,

我們是一個受本能驅使、在一個漠不關心的世界中倖存下來的頂級捕食者，

only now we have coal plants, nuclear weapons, and social media.

只不過現在我們擁有了煤電廠、核武和社群媒體。

This would be hard to handle for any animal,

這對任何動物來說都難以掌控，

so it makes sense that we continue to follow the impulses so deeply ingrained in us. 片語搭配

所以我們繼續順從深植於心的衝動，也是有道理的。

But this is only because we've not yet caught up with the mind-numbing gift we've been handed. 講解

但這僅僅是因為我們還沒能適應我們被賦予的那令人震撼的天賦。

The real tragedy of humanity today

如今人類真正的悲劇，

is that we are these amazingly powerful beings that have not awoken to their potential. 慣用語

是我們這些極其強大的生物還沒覺醒自己的潛力。

We're trapped in the present and the mindset of a scarce world.

我們被困在當下和那個匱乏世界的思維模式中。

But aside from the physical limits of the universe, 表達脈絡

但是，除了宇宙的物理極限之外，

there's nothing stopping us from creating a literal paradise for ourselves. 文法

沒有任何東西能阻止我們為自己創造一個真正的天堂。

This seems so daft, 用詞

這聽起來很愚蠢，

but it's true.

但這是真的。

If we dare to tell ourselves a different story 慣用語

只要我們敢於給自己說一個不同的故事，

about who we are and who we could be.

一個關於我們是誰以及我們能成為誰的故事。

Humans throughout history felt like they would witness the apocalypse,

縱觀歷史，人類總覺得自己會目睹世界末日，

and this feels especially true today,

今天這種感覺尤其強烈，

but you're probably not living in the end times. 文化背景

但你多半並沒有生活在末世。

There's a solid chance that humanity will persist for thousands, 片語搭配

人類很有可能還會延續幾千年，

maybe millions of years.

甚至幾百萬年。

If this might be the very start of our history,

如果這可能只是我們歷史的開端，

what can we dream of achieving?

我們可以夢想實現什麼呢？

Just like our very first ancestors 6 million years ago,

就像我們600萬年前的第一批祖先一樣，

we may be the ancestors of another 250,000 generations of people.

我們可能會成為未來25萬代人的祖先。

But while the hominins found themselves powerless in a world they had to adapt to, 文法

但是，當古人類在一個他們必須適應的世界裡感到無能為力時，

our starting conditions could not be more different. 文法

我們的初始條件卻截然不同。

It's like we got handed a save file of a game where others put in millions of hours of work 文化背景

就像是我們拿到了一個遊戲存檔，別人已經在裡面投入了數百萬小時的工作，

and where we can decide what game we want to play in the future.

而我們可以決定將來想玩什麼樣的遊戲。

The world is still horrible

這個世界依然很糟糕，

and it's also the best world that's ever existed.

但它也是有史以來最好的世界。

And we can make it so much better.

而我們可以讓它變得更好。

An optimistic person living in the year 1924

一個生活在1924年的樂觀主義者，

would not believe the progress we've made in just a century.

絕對無法相信我們在僅僅一個世紀裡所取得的進步。

How much we reduced poverty,

我們多大程度上減少了貧困，

how many diseases we cured,

我們治癒了多少疾病，

how much free time we have,

我們有多少閒暇時間，

what kind of luxuries are ordinary to us,

什麼樣的奢侈品對我們來說已是尋常，

what technological wonders we take for granted, 慣用語

哪些技術奇蹟被我們視為理所當然，

how few of us die in war,

我們中死於戰爭的人是多麼的少，

how many live in a democracy.

有多少人生活在民主制度中。

And today,

而今天，

we might very well be gearing up for a jump like our ancestors 10,000 years ago, 講解

我們很可能正在為一次飛躍做準備，就像我們1萬年前的祖先一樣，

when agriculture changed everything for everybody.

當時農業改變了所有人的生活。

From AI possibly transforming the information age 表達脈絡

從人工智慧可能改變資訊時代，

to biotechnology enabling us to manipulate the language of life itself 慣用語

到生物技術讓我們能夠操縱生命本身的語言，

to new sustainable ways of harvesting the energy we crave.

再到收集我們渴望的能源的全新永續方式。

If we start thinking in decades and centuries, 片語搭配

如果我們開始以幾十年或幾個世紀為單位思考，

it's perfectly reasonable that we'll solve our problems.

我們解決問題是完全合情合理的。

We can eliminate poverty,

我們可以消除貧困，

maybe all material needs,

也許是所有的物質需求，

defeat all diseases,

戰勝所有疾病，

maybe even death itself.

甚至可能是死亡本身。

We have the potential to restore balance to the climate and heal the planet again.

我們有潛力恢復氣候平衡，並讓地球重獲生機。

We may be able to adapt to the information age and make lasting peace.

我們也許能夠適應資訊時代並創造持久的和平。

None of this is guaranteed

這些都並非板上釘釘，

and it will be hard and full of failure and setbacks.

這將充滿艱難，充滿失敗與挫折。

Some things will get worse before they get better. 慣用語

有些事情在變好之前會變得更糟。

We'll run up against our nature over and over again. 片語動詞

我們會一次又一次地與我們的本性發生衝突。

But if we manage to clean up our act, 慣用語

但如果我們能夠規範自己的行為，

we could create a world better than we dare hope for. 文法

我們就能創造出一個比我們敢於期盼的還要美好的世界。

You get to do that. 文法

你有機會參與其中。

You get to live in a world that's deeply flawed,

你生活在一個有深層缺陷的世界裡，

but also the best it ever was.

但這也是它有史以來最好的狀態。

And you get the opportunity to make it better.

你有機會讓它變得更好。

A world with the smallest amount of suffering possible

一個苦難被降到最低的世界，

that fits our nature and inspires us to be the best version of ourselves.

契合我們的本性，並激勵我們成為最好的自己。