評論
打印
That all that, discovered in 40 years,
這40年中的所有發(fā)現(xiàn)
had not been in the previous hundred thousand,
是數(shù)千年來所未有的
was not for lack of thinking about stars, and all those other urgent problems they had.
而這可不能歸結(jié)為古人思維懶惰，對星星啊，還有那些迫切的問題不聞不問
They even arrived at answers, such as myths,
他們不光思考了，還給出了答案，比如說神話
that dominated their lives,
可雖說神話統(tǒng)治了古人的生活，包羅萬象
yet bore almost no resemblance to the truth.
卻與真正的現(xiàn)實幾乎搭不上邊
The tragedy of that protracted stagnation isn't sufficiently recognized, I think.
這種長期認(rèn)知停滯所造成的悲哀，我覺得，并沒有被古人足夠重視
These were people with brains of essentially the same design
古人們的大腦和我們的這些發(fā)現(xiàn)了種種新知識的大腦
that eventually did discover all those things.
實質(zhì)上沒有分別
But that ability to make progress remained almost unused,
但是其中那個用來產(chǎn)生進(jìn)步的潛力始終幾乎沒有被利用
until the event that revolutionized the human condition and changed the universe.
直到有一件事徹底更新了人們的生活狀態(tài)，改天換地
Or so we should hope.
至少我們希望情況是這樣的
Because that event was the Scientific Revolution,
這個大事件就是科學(xué)革命
ever since which our knowledge of the physical world,
從那以后我們對于物質(zhì)世界的認(rèn)知
and of how to adapt it to our wishes, has been growing relentlessly.
和對如何根據(jù)我們的意愿改造它的了解，就一個勁地增長著
Now, what had changed?
現(xiàn)在想想，到底是發(fā)生了什么變化呢？
What were people now doing for the first time that made that difference
當(dāng)時人們究竟初次嘗試了什么
between stagnation and rapid, open-ended discovery?
就打破了僵局，開始了快速而無休無止的發(fā)現(xiàn)之旅？
How to make that difference is surely the most important universal truth that it is possible to know.
這一僵局的打破肯定是一個極為重要的廣泛真理，而我們是可以了解它的
Worryingly, there is no consensus about what it is.
讓人擔(dān)憂的是，對它究竟是怎么做到的人們眾說紛紜
So, I'll tell you.
我這就來說說我的解釋
But I'll have to backtrack a little first.
但先得稍稍回顧一下
Before the Scientific Revolution,
在科學(xué)革命發(fā)生之前
they believed that everything important, knowable, was already known,
古人相信一切重要而可知的事物都已經(jīng)被了解了
enshrined in ancient writings, institutions,
這些知識被高高供起在古籍里，經(jīng)院中
and in some genuinely useful rules of thumb
還在日常生活的慣用竅門中被深信不疑
which were, however, entrenched as dogmas, along with many falsehoods.
而這些竅門，和許多謬論一同都成了根深蒂固的教條
So they believed that knowledge came from authorities that actually knew very little.
那時人們相信知識來自權(quán)威，這些權(quán)威其實知道的不多
And therefore progress
所以知識的進(jìn)步
depended on learning how to reject the authority of learned men, priests, traditions and rulers.
取決于學(xué)會如何擯棄學(xué)究，教士，傳統(tǒng)習(xí)慣和統(tǒng)治者們的權(quán)威
Which is why the Scientific Revolution had to have a wider context.
這就是為什么科學(xué)革命必須有一個大背景
The Enlightenment, a revolution in how people sought knowledge, trying not to rely on authority.
那就是啟蒙運動對于求知方法的一場革命，試著擺脫對權(quán)威的依賴
"Take no one's word for it."
“切勿輕信人言”
But that can't be what made the difference.
可這還不夠
Authorities had been rejected before, many times.
歷史上擯棄權(quán)威的例子比比皆是
And that rarely, if ever, caused anything like the Scientific Revolution.
而這些事件的結(jié)果卻很難，或根本不能，與科學(xué)革命同日而語
