时代周刊:宇宙有多残酷多冰冷?(1)

String theorist Brian Greene wants to help you understand the cold, cruel universe

弦理论家布莱恩·格林帮你理解这个冰冷残酷的宇宙

By Jeffrey Kluger

文/杰弗里·克鲁格

If you're feeling all dreamy about the universe, here's a pro¹ tip: don't tell Brian Greene.

如果你痴迷于思索有关宇宙的问题，有个专业建议你不妨听一下：不要把你的想法告诉布莱恩·格林。

That guy can chill your cosmic buzz fast.

那哥们儿分分钟就能浇灭你的兴头。

I recently swung by the office of the Columbia University theoretical physicist² full of happy, giddy questions and came away pretty much empty.

前不久，我带着满脑子的疑问兴致勃勃地走进了哥伦比亚大学理论物理学办公室，结果，出来的时候大脑基本已经一片空白了！

Is there such a thing as a natural moral order? I wondered.

我在想，世界上是否存在一种自然道德秩序？

Not in this universe, there isn't.

没有，至少我们这个宇宙没有。

What about a purpose to the universe, then—

那……宇宙有目的么？换句话说，

the reason the whole 13.8 billion-year-old shebang with its hundreds of billions of galaxies³ and trillions of planets happened in the first place?

有着138亿年历史，数千亿个星系和数万亿颗行星的宇宙究竟为什么会产生？

Nope, Greene says, no such purpose, adding, "And that's O.K."

没有，格林说，宇宙并不存在这种目的，他接着说道，“但也不妨事。”

Maybe for him it is.

或许，是对他来说不妨事。

Surely, though, Greene will grant the existence of free will—that first item on the wish list of every freshman-year philosophy student who ever lived.

尽管如此，格林还是会认可自由意志——有史以来的每个哲学一年级学生愿望清单上的第一条都是自由意志——的存在的吧？

Sorry, not a chance.

抱歉，想都别想。

"Your particles are just obeying their quantum-mechanical marching orders," Greene says.

“粒子只是在遵循量子力学的运动命令而已，”格林说。

"You have no ability to intercede⁴ in that quantum-mechanical unfolding.

“人是无法介入量子力学环境的。

None whatsoever⁵."

没戏。”

But here's the thing about Greene, founder⁶ of the World Science Festival; host of multiple TV series on PBS;

不过，说到格林——世界科学节创始人，PBS电视台多档节目的主持人，

and the author of five books, including the blockbuster The Elegant Universe and the just- released Until the End of Time:

还是五本书的作者，包括大火的《优雅的宇宙》和刚刚发行的《直到时间尽头》，有一点你得知道：

he says it all with such ebullience⁷, such ingenuous⁸ enthusiasm,

他回答这些问题的时候回答得那么兴致高昂，那么热忱，

that if he told you the whole cold, amoral universe was ending tomorrow, you'd roll with it the way he would—

即便他说这个冰冷无情的宇宙明天就会终结，你也会买账，会像他一样认为这事不过是

as just one more dramatic chapter in an extraordinary tale in which we all have a precious if fleeting⁹ role.

一个不同凡响的故事中的又一个充满戏剧性的篇章而已，而我们所有人在其中都扮演了一个匆匆照面却又颇为宝贵的角色。

That's not to say everyone embraces his cosmic view so easily.

但这并不意味着所有人都能这么轻松地接受他的宇宙观。

"I'll be frank," Greene says.

“老实说，”格林说。

"I have some students come in crying. And they say, 'This is kind of shaking my world up,'

“我有一些学生曾经哭着跑来跟我说，‘我感觉我心态都崩了，’

and I say to them, 'That's not a bad thing. It's fine to have your world shook.

我跟他们说，‘没啥大不了的。 偶尔崩一崩没啥。

The pieces may fall back in the end to where you were, and they may not.'"

最终，（崩掉的）那些碎片可能还是会回到原来的位置，也可能不会。’”

On the day I saw him, the man who has made himself the master of some of the most abstruse¹⁰ aspects of physics—

见到他那天，原本已经在物理学最深奥的领域——超弦理论，空间地貌学——颇有建树的他

superstring theory, spatial¹¹ topography —was instead being mastered by one of the more basic ones: gravity.

竟突然迷上了物理学的基础领域——重力。

1 pro   

n.赞成，赞成的意见，赞成者

参考例句：

• The two debating teams argued the question pro and con.辩论的两组从赞成与反对两方面辩这一问题。
• Are you pro or con nuclear disarmament?你是赞成还是反对核裁军？

2 physicist   

n.物理学家，研究物理学的人

参考例句：

• He is a physicist of the first rank.他是一流的物理学家。
• The successful physicist never puts on airs.这位卓有成就的物理学家从不摆架子。

3 galaxies   

星系( galaxy的名词复数 )； 银河系； 一群（杰出或著名的人物）

参考例句：

• Quasars are the highly energetic cores of distant galaxies. 类星体是遥远星系的极为活跃的核心体。
• We still don't know how many galaxies there are in the universe. 我们还不知道宇宙中有多少个星系。

4 intercede   

vi.仲裁，说情

参考例句：

• He was quickly snubbed when he tried to intercede.当他试着说情时很快被制止了。
• At a time like that there has to be a third party to intercede.这时候要有个第三者出来斡旋。

5 whatsoever   

adv.（用于否定句中以加强语气）任何；pron.无论什么

参考例句：

• There's no reason whatsoever to turn down this suggestion.没有任何理由拒绝这个建议。
• All things whatsoever ye would that men should do to you,do ye even so to them.你想别人对你怎样，你就怎样对人。

6 Founder   

n.创始者，缔造者

参考例句：

• He was extolled as the founder of their Florentine school.他被称颂为佛罗伦萨画派的鼻祖。
• According to the old tradition,Romulus was the founder of Rome.按照古老的传说，罗穆卢斯是古罗马的建国者。

7 ebullience   

n.沸腾，热情，热情洋溢

参考例句：

• His natural ebullience began to return.他开始恢复与生俱来的热情奔放。
• She burst into the room with her usual ebullience.她像往常一样兴高采烈地冲进了房间。

8 ingenuous   

adj.纯朴的，单纯的；天真的；坦率的

参考例句：

• Only the most ingenuous person would believe such a weak excuse!只有最天真的人才会相信这么一个站不住脚的借口！
• With ingenuous sincerity,he captivated his audience.他以自己的率真迷住了观众。

9 fleeting   

adj.短暂的，飞逝的

参考例句：

• The girls caught only a fleeting glimpse of the driver.女孩们只匆匆瞥了一眼司机。
• Knowing the life fleeting,she set herself to enjoy if as best as she could.她知道这种日子转瞬即逝，于是让自已尽情地享受。

10 abstruse   

adj.深奥的，难解的

参考例句：

• Einstein's theory of relativity is very abstruse.爱因斯坦的相对论非常难懂。
• The professor's lectures were so abstruse that students tended to avoid them.该教授的课程太深奥了，学生们纷纷躲避他的课。

11 spatial   

adj.空间的，占据空间的

参考例句：

• This part of brain judges the spatial relationship between objects.大脑的这部分判断物体间的空间关系。
• They said that time is the feeling of spatial displacement.他们说时间是空间位移的感觉。