評論
打印
Now think of the absurdity of this situation.
現在試想下這種奇怪的狀況：
If 27 individuals from those 27 member states sat around table, speaking their 23 languages,
如果27個來自各個盟國的人圍坐在桌邊，說著23種語言
some very simple mathematics will tell you that you need an army of 253 translators to anticipate all the pairwise possibilities.
簡單計算就可以知道，你需要一個253人的翻譯隊伍來保證配對說話的可能性
The European Union employs a permanent staff of about 2,500 translators.
歐盟雇了大約2500名永久編制的翻譯
And in 2007 alone -- and I'm sure there are more recent figures --
僅2007年一年--當然應該有最新的數據可查--
something on the order of 1.3 million pages were translated into English alone.
僅是翻譯成英文的文件就大約為一百三十萬頁
And so if language really is the solution to the crisis of visual theft,
如果語言真是觀察性竊取的解決方法
if language really is the conduit of our cooperation,
如果語言真是我們合作的媒介
the technology that our species derived to promote the free flow and exchange of ideas,
是人類發明的用于促進思想無障礙流通和交換的技術
in our modern world, we confront a question.
那么在現代社會，我們碰上了難題
And that question is whether in this modern, globalized world
這就是在這個全球化的現代社會
we can really afford to have all these different languages.
我們是否承擔得起使用如此多語言的代價
To put it this way, nature knows no other circumstance in which functionally equivalent traits coexist.
可以這樣說，自然的法則是具有同等功能的特性是難以共存的
One of them always drives the other extinct.
其中的一個往往戰勝其他的而存活下去
And we see this in the inexorable march towards standardization.
我們在向著標準化的大步前進中可以清楚地看到這一點
There are lots and lots of ways of measuring things --
在許多測量物體的方法中
weighing them and measuring their length -- but the metric system is winning.
包括稱重和量長，公制計量制度贏了。
