1、Lesson 11.昨日發(fā)生的恐怖主義活動使美國人的生活暗淡無光,在他們的生活中留下了印跡,并永遠地改變了他們的生活。Yesterdays terrorism darkened, marked and forever altered the way Americans live their lives.2.佛羅里達州立大學創(chuàng)傷心理學教授查爾斯?費格里說:“我們得學一學其它許多國家曾經(jīng)經(jīng)歷過的東西,那就是從文化上和在全國范圍內來應對恐懼?！彼€說:“我們正在體驗恐懼是怎樣起作用的。”“We are going to have to learn what a lot of other countr

2、ies have gone through: to manage fear at a cultural and national level,” said Charles Figley, a professor of trauma psychology at Florida State University. “Were getting a lesson in the way fear works.”3.美國是一個一向以開放自豪甚至洋洋得意的國家,在這里,人們可以獨自在美國國會大樓中閑庭信步,而現(xiàn)在,恐怖襲擊很有可能迫使美國人處處小心,惶惶不可終日。其實我們很大程度上已經(jīng)是這樣了。許多政府大樓

3、的前門裝設的金屬探測器已然成為一道風景線,大部分的辦公大樓里也必備保安。In a country long proud and even boastful of its opennessa country where an ordinary citizen can stroll through the U.S. Capitol unescortedthe terrorist attacks are likely to force Americans to a lot of that. Metal detectors now mark the front door of many governm

4、ent buildings, and security guards are a fixture in the lobby of most large office buildings.4.報復有很大的危險,會引發(fā)和在中東及北愛爾蘭一樣的緊張的暴力和反暴力的惡性攀升。與那些不得不在暴力中學習如何生存的國家不同,“我們是新手,”曾在南斯拉夫訓練過創(chuàng)傷急救隊的項目負責人費格里博士說,“我所擔心的是懲罰、報復、種族主義和排斥少數(shù)民族的舉動會過于偏激,適得其反。”But retaliation carries the risk of setting off a tightening spiral of

5、 violence and counterviolence not unlike the Middle East or Northern Ireland. Unlike countries that have had to learn to live with violence,”We are new at this,” said Floridas Dr. Figley, who heads a project that has trained trauma teams in Y ugoslavia.”My fear is we will overreach and make things w

6、orse rather than better by retribution, revenge, racism and marginalizing ethnic groups.”5.對于恐怖主義的恐懼會使美國人接受比現(xiàn)在更多的來自政府的監(jiān)控,例如在運動競賽場上高架的攝象機。哈佛大學法學院教授威廉姆斯?斯湯資說,“經(jīng)過目前前這些事件,我們將發(fā)現(xiàn),無論是公眾,還是法庭,都會在更大程度上接受某些警察的策略?！盕ear of terrorism is likely to lead Americans to tolerate more government surveillancesuch as ove

7、rhead video cameras at sporting eventsthan they have to date. “Its very likely in the wake of todays events that were going to see a greater acceptance on the publics partand on the courts partto approve certain kinds of police tactics,” said William Stuntz, a Harvard Low School professor.Lesson 51

8、戴維先到一步,事后他氣憤地向我發(fā)難說當他告訴領班準備和誰一起吃飯時,領班的語氣驟然逆轉。一瞬間就從“這是個什么人?”變成“這邊有請,先生?！碑斘覀冓s到時,拍照的人已經(jīng)在飯店外忙個不停了。戴維開始嘲笑我是倫敦這家高級飯店里的知名人物。這時我倆向屋內望去并同時看到了我們的偶像。2 我的生活中與維多利亞一起的生活中一件美好的事情就是有時那些讓我在見面之前緊張不安,在見面時張口結舌的人,最終卻成為我的朋友。3 他們非?？犊?我在意大利見到埃爾頓的那個下午,幾乎他所做的第一件事就是把他們在法國南部的住處提供給維多利亞和我以便我們一旦需要遠離煩亂的生活時有個落腳的地方。4 在剩下的時間里如果能聽到他對我的

9、辮子和其他事情的看法我會非常高興。我們都知道他的故事,但是看著他的眼睛,捕捉著他的笑容,追尋著這張異常英俊的臉上遍布的皺紋,你會情不自禁想要聽他親自講述。5 我們在天亮前就早早起床,因此從大巴下來跌跌撞撞走回酒店時,睡眠的不足開始讓我犯困。下午就在夢鄉(xiāng)中度過了。Lesson 61 小約翰福布斯納什數(shù)學天才、|理性行為理論的締造者、預見思想機器出現(xiàn)的預言家已經(jīng)和來訪者,也是一位數(shù)學家,共坐了將近半個小時。John Forbes Nash, Jr.-mathematical genius, inventor of a theory of rational behavior, visionary o

10、f the thinking machine-had been sitting with his visitor, also a mathematician, for nearly half an hour.2 他一直目光呆滯地盯著哈佛教授喬治麥克恩左腳前方不遠的地方,除了一次次重復著將垂在前額的略長的黑發(fā)撥開的動作,他幾乎一動不動。He had been staring dully at a spot immediately in front of the left foot of Harvard professor George Mackey,hardly moving except to

11、 brush his long dark hair away from his forehead in a fitful, repetitive motion.3 在未來十年,在那既以對人類理性抱有無尚信念而著稱,又以對人類生存懷有無盡憂慮而聞名的十年,納什,用知名幾何學家米克哈爾格羅莫夫的話說,證明了自己是20世紀后半葉最杰出的數(shù)學家。Over the next decade, a decade as notable for its supreme faith in human rationality as for its dark anxieties about mankinds surv

12、ival, Nash proved himself, in the words of the eminent geometer Mikhail Gromov, “the most remarkable mathematician of the second half of the century”.4數(shù)學家保羅哈莫斯寫道,天才“分為兩種:一種就像我們大家一樣,只是更為出色;另一種則是那些明顯具備超凡人類靈感的人。我們都能跑步,有些人還能在四分鐘內跑完一英里;但是我們所做的一切無論如何也無法與創(chuàng)作出G小調賦格曲相提并論。”納什的天分就屬于那種常與音樂和藝術而非與最古老的科學緊密相連的神奇異稟。G

13、eniuses, the mathematician Paul Halmos wrote, “are of two kinds: the ones who are just like all of us, but very much more so, and the ones who, apparently, have an extra human spark. We can all run, and some of us can run the mile in less than 4 minutes; but there is nothing that most of us can do t

14、hat compares with the creation of the Great G-minor Fugue”. Nashs genius was of that mysterious variety more often associated with music and are than with the oldest of all sciences.5 他具有一種難以抑制的理性,希望將生活中的決定是搭乘第一部電梯還是等待下一部,到哪里存錢接受什么樣的工作是否結婚*都轉化為利弊得失的計算,轉化為完全脫離感情、習俗和傳統(tǒng)的算法法則或數(shù)學規(guī)則。Compulsively rational,

15、 he wished to turn lifes decisions-whether to take the first elevator or wait for the next one, where to bank his money, what job to accept, whether to marry-into calculations of advantage and disadvantage, algorithms or mathematical rules divorced from emotion, convention, and tradition.6 他一貫冷漠,但一時

16、興起也會喋喋不休地談論外太空和地緣政治趨勢,或做出孩子般的惡作劇,或者毫無征兆地勃然大怒。這些情感的迸發(fā)總是和他的沉默一樣神秘莫測。他和我們不一樣。是人們常說的一句話。His remoteness was punctuated by flights of garrulousness about outer space and geopolitical trends,childish pranks,and unpredictable eruptions of anger. But these outbursts were,more often than not, as enigmatic as

17、his silences. “He is not one of us” was a constant refrain。7 納什對于人類競爭動態(tài)變化的洞察他的理性競爭與合作理論將會成為20世紀最具影響的思想理論之一.這一理論改變著新興的經(jīng)濟學,其作用無異于孟德爾的基因遺傳,達爾文的自然選擇模式和牛頓的天體力學再造了當時的生物學和物理學。Nashs insight into the dynamics of human rivalry-his theory of rational conflict and cooperation-was to become one of the most influ

18、ential ideas of the twentieth century, transforming the young science of natural selection, and Newtons celestial mechanics reshaped biology and physics in their day.Lesson 91但無論怎樣,月亮依舊牽動我們的心。倘若我們出奇不意地看到一輪黃燦燦的滿月遠在天際,誰都會禁不住停下來凝神仰望她尊貴的姿容。而月亮也向注視她的人賜予厚禮。2 然而當月亮緩緩升起,離開山脊,它變得堅定、威嚴。它的面孔也由紅變成了橘紅,又變成金色,最后是平

19、靜的明黃色。它似乎從漸暗的大地中吸取了光明,因為隨著它的升起,下面的丘陵山谷愈來愈黯淡朦朧。待到皓月當空,滿月如盤,發(fā)出象牙般乳白的清輝,山谷便成了風景中一片片幽深的陰影。3月出是緩慢的,充滿微妙的變化。觀看月出,我們得回到過去那種對時間的耐心中去。觀看月亮不可阻擋地升到空中就能讓我們內心安寧,我們的神思能讓我們看到宇宙的廣袤和大地的寬闊,能讓我們意識到自身存在的偶然性。我們覺得自身渺小,卻又深感大自然的厚待。4月色下,我們看不到生活中堅硬的棱角。山坡在月光下如同籠上了柔和的輕紗,一片銀白;海水在月光下碧藍而靜謐;我們在月光下也不再像白日那般精于算計,而是更加沉醉于情感中。5后來我?；氐缴缴嫌^

20、月,尤其是在接踵而來的事情使我身心疲憊、頭暈眼花時更是情不自禁地前往。6 戀人和詩人能在夜里找到生活更深刻的意義。我們都愛問一些更深刻的問題我們人類是從哪里來的?又會往哪里去?我們不喜歡那些主導著白天世界的刻板的幾何原理,而愿意沉溺于永遠找不到答案的謎團中。在夜里,我們都成了哲人和神秘主義者。7 月出之時,當我們放慢自己的思想,讓它跟隨天國的節(jié)律,一種心醉神迷的感覺就會流遍全身。我們會打開情感的窗口,會讓白天被理智鎖住的那部分思緒盡情奔涌。我們能越過遙遠的時空,聽見遠古獵人的低語,重新看到很久以前的詩人與戀人眼中的世界。Lesson 111 絞死(或電死或用毒氣殺死一個人是樁恐怖的事情,使行刑

21、人變得卑劣,使目擊者感到惡心。2 即便如此,他們的工作對社會來說也可能是十分必要的。3 這些人,特別是第一類人,對是否遏止其他罪犯并不太關心。他們極欲得到的是一種滿足,就是看到給他們帶來痛苦的罪犯在他們面前也飽嘗痛苦。4 每位守法公民都感到威脅,感到無計可施,直到罪犯受到打擊,直到憑借公眾力量報了仇,還不僅僅是扯平,而這力量得到充分的體現(xiàn)后,這種感覺才會消失。5 他到底為什么要等呢?為什么不在終審法院使他的希望破滅后的第二天處決他呢?為什么要用連食人族都不會用的手段折磨他呢?Lesson 141 再看看那些電纜。電纜彎彎曲曲地進入計算機后蓋,然后又出來,最后到達獼猴頭上的帽子里。電纜從埋在獼猴

22、大腦里的數(shù)百個電極接收信號,獼猴用思維向機器手臂發(fā)出指令。Take another look at those cables: They snake into the back of the computer and then out again, terminating in a cap on the monkeys head, where they receive signals from hundreds of electrodes buried in its brain. The monkey is directing the robot with its thoughts.2 幾十年

23、來,科學家就一直在思索、推測大腦和機器直接聯(lián)系的可能性,但都認為這不切實際。只是到了20世紀90年代末,科學家才開始充分地了解大腦與信號處理的有關知識,從而出現(xiàn)了使科幻小說的幻象變成現(xiàn)實的希望的曙光。For decades scientists have pondered, speculated on, and poor-poohed the possibility of a direct interface between a brain and a machine-only in the late 1990s did scientists start learning enough abo

24、ut the brain and signal-processing to offer glimmers of hope that this science-fiction vision could become reality.3解碼大腦指令的想法乍看起來可能像是十足的狂妄自大。計算機怎么能竊聽日常生活每時每刻發(fā)生在大腦甩的全部活動呢?The notion of decoding the brains commands can seem, on the face of it, to be pure hubris. How could any computer eavesdrop on all

25、 the going-on that take place in there every moment of ordinary life?4 但是,大多數(shù)研究人員認為,每種類型的運動都是靠大腦幾十億神經(jīng)元中一些少數(shù)特定的神經(jīng)元來控制的為了找到那些少數(shù)神經(jīng)元而需要監(jiān)測整個大腦則會使成功的解碼變?yōu)閷嶋H辦不到的事。But most researchers assumed that each type of movement was governed by a specific handful of the brains billions of neurons-the need to monitor

26、the whole brain in order to find those few would make the successful decoding a practical impossibility.5 因此,那時知道的一切表明,使腦-機聯(lián)系是徒勞無益之舉。結果證明,那一切都是錯誤的。Thus everything that was known at the time suggested that brain-machine interfaces were a fools errand. Everything, it turned out, was wrong.Lesson161 藝術家們喜歡棕櫚樹生長的形狀以及那面對花園與大海的旅館的明亮色彩。Artists liked the way the palms grew a