and you go to the entry of demon,

而你去了惡魔的入口。

one of the entries refers to the scientific demons.

其中一個條目提到了科學惡魔。

Descartes' demons, Laplace's demon, Maxwell's demon,

笛卡爾的惡魔，拉普拉斯的惡魔，麥克斯韋的惡魔。

they're not considered to be real

他們不被認為是真實的

when they're first mentioned,

當他們第一次被提及時。

they're considered to be possibly real.

他們被認為可能是真實的。

They're trying to find a hole in their theories.

他們試圖在他們的理論中找到一個漏洞。

They immediately anthropomorphize this force.

他們立即將這種力量擬人化。

So what they are, in the most literal sense,

所以他們是什麼，從最直白的意義上來說。

are little creatures that are concocted by scientists.

是由科學家炮製的小生物。

When they're confronted with something

當他們面對一些事情時

that they don't really understand,

他們並不真正瞭解。

these creatures that we have always thought of

這些我們一直認為的生物

as little entities that can bend or break

作為小實體，可以彎曲或破裂

the laws of nature continue to be very useful

自然法則仍然非常有用

and very common ways to thinking in advancing our knowledge

和非常普遍的思維方式，以推進我們的知識

and understanding of the natural world.

和對自然界的理解。

I'm Jimena Canales, I'm a historian of science.

我是Jimena Canales，我是一名科學史學家。

I love science; I admire it tremendously.

我熱愛科學；我非常欽佩它。

That's why I started studying,

這就是我開始學習的原因。

but there was this other aspect of it

但它還有一個方面

that I felt that we had to talk about.

我覺得我們必須要談一談。

It was scientists discussing demons.

這是科學家在討論惡魔。

These demons share similar characteristics

這些惡魔有類似的特徵

to those other demons in the past,

對過去的那些其他惡魔。

like Beelzebub and Lucifer, they're usually very fast

像別西卜和路西法，他們通常非常快

or very big or very small.

或非常大或非常小。

They can break the laws of nature.

他們可以打破自然規律。

They're not necessarily evil,

他們不一定是邪惡的。

but they create power imbalances.

但它們造成了權力的不平衡。

They can be helpful or they can be mischievous.

他們可以是有幫助的，也可以是惡作劇的。

And one of the strange things about it

而其中一個奇怪之處在於

is that you read scientists in their scientific papers,

是你讀科學家的科學論文。

actually talking about these creatures

實際上是在談論這些生物

and having other scientists name them

並讓其他科學家為其命名

after the famous scientist.

在這位著名的科學家之後。

Descartes' demon is very appropriate for us to start

笛卡爾的惡魔對我們來說是非常合適的開始

because he's the demon of virtual reality.

因為他是虛擬現實的惡魔。

He had the ability to install an alternate reality

他有能力安裝一個替代的現實

right in front of your senses.

就在你的感官面前。

Therefore you could no longer tell if you were,

是以，你無法再判斷你是否是。

you know, living in the matrix,

你知道，生活在矩陣中。

if you couldn't tell what the real world

如果你不知道現實世界的情況

was in front of you.

是在你的面前。

This was a very scary thought for Descartes.

這對笛卡爾來說是一個非常可怕的想法。

I think it is for everyone.

我認為這是為每個人準備的。

It's one of the themes that continue

這是持續的主題之一

to be brought up in science fiction.

要在科幻小說中提出來。

It was also a fascinating thought

這也是一個迷人的想法

because we were all fascinated by spectacle

因為我們都為奇觀而著迷

and by creating these situations in which

並通過創造這些情況，在其中

we can fool ourselves to think we have reality

我們可以自欺欺人地認為我們擁有現實

in front of us, and it's really just

在我們面前，它真的只是

an alternative reality or virtual reality.

一個替代現實或虛擬現實。

And that's why Descartes, trying to fend himself

這就是為什麼笛卡兒試圖自保的原因

against the possibility that some demon had taken over

反對某些惡魔佔領的可能性。

his impressions, he actually became one of the founders

在他的印象中，他實際上成為創始人之一。

of Modern logic, and in his famous text where he uttered

在他著名的文章中，他說到

the phrase, "I think, therefore I am."

"我思故我在 "這句話。

He started to think about what were the few things

他開始思考，有哪些是少數的事情

that this demon couldn't touch.

這個惡魔無法觸及的。

And he would say things like two plus three equals five,

他還會說二加三等於五這樣的話。

or a circle is a circumference drawn around a certain point,

或者說，圓是圍繞某一點畫出的圓周率。

or a triangle is made up of three lengths in three angles.

或一個三角形是由三個角中的三個長度組成的。

They're very simple things, but those became the basis

這些都是非常簡單的事情，但這些都成為基礎。

of modern science, of Logic,

現代科學的邏輯。

and they were inspired by the fear of this demon.

而他們是被這個魔鬼的恐懼所激勵。

Maxwell was a scientist of the second Industrial Revolution

麥克斯韋是第二次工業革命的科學家

of the Victorian Empire.

的維多利亞帝國。

He didn't name the demon Maxwell's demon,

他沒有說出麥克斯韋的惡魔。

but he was the first to come up

但他是第一個上來的人

with the speculations about it.

與對它的猜測。

And he was named the demon by William Thompson

而他被威廉-湯普森命名為惡魔

in the second half of the 19th century, I believe 1874.

在19世紀下半葉，我相信是1874年。

And it was very important for physics.

而這對物理學來說是非常重要的。

It still is, it's at the foundation of how we understand

它仍然是，它是我們如何理解的基礎。

the first and second laws of thermodynamics.

熱力學的第一和第二定律。

One of the things that happens with statistical laws

統計法發生的事情之一是

is that statistical laws allow exceptions.

是，統計法允許有例外。

If you have a container or a soup and you throw ice on it,

如果你有一個容器或一個湯，你在上面扔冰塊。

eventually it will reach temperature equilibrium.

最終，它將達到溫度平衡。

But if this laws is statistical,

但如果這個規律是統計學的。

and the consensus and the science says that it is,

而共識和科學說，它是。

then there's a chance that the opposite might happen.

那麼就有可能發生相反的情況。

And the demon was invoked in order to make sense

而惡魔的引用是為了讓人明白

of the statistical nature of the laws of thermodynamics.

的熱力學定律的統計性質。

So he's a tiny little being

所以他是一個微小的生命

who is atomic size, and he can manipulate atoms.

他是原子大小，他可以操縱原子。

And if he's sitting in a container,

而如果他坐在一個容器裡。

he can push the fast atoms to one side

他可以把快速原子推到一邊去

and let slow ones be on the other side,

並讓緩慢的人在另一邊。

because we understand heat as having to do

因為我們對熱的理解是與

with the movement of particles,

隨著粒子的運動。

that means that one part of a container

這意味著，一個容器的一部分

can spontaneously heat up and another one can become cooler.

可以自發地加熱，而另一個則可以變得更冷。

And if you have a difference in temperature,

而如果你有溫差。

then you can create a motor.

那麼你就可以創建一個電機。

And with a motor, you can create further power imbalances.

而有了電機，你就可以創造出進一步的權力不平衡。

Most of the electronic gadgets that are all around us

我們身邊的大多數電子小工具

use the science of Maxwell's demon,

使用麥克斯韋的惡魔的科學。

and scientists and laboratories all over the world

和世界各地的科學家和實驗室

are still trying to build

仍在努力建設

better versions of Maxwell's demon,

麥克斯韋惡魔的更好版本。

and they're still researching him.

而且他們還在研究他。

So Darwin was speculating about a being,

所以達爾文是在推測一種存在。

again, he didn't call it Darwin's,

再次，他沒有把它稱為達爾文的。

it was only named Darwin's being later.

它是後來才被命名為達爾文的被。

Before he wrote the origins of a species, he had this idea.

在他寫《物種的起源》之前，他有這樣的想法。

He said, "What would happen if there could be a being

他說："如果能有一個人

that can produce a new race?"

能產生新的種族？"

Just like we are able to produce sheep

就像我們能夠生產綿羊一樣

with particular qualities for our sweaters,

我們的毛衣具有特殊的品質。

but then Darwin took a leap, and he said,

但後來達爾文進行了一次飛躍，他說。

"What if somebody could do that to us?"

"如果有人能對我們這樣做呢？"

This was one of the fascinating questions

這是其中一個迷人的問題

that drove his research.

推動他的研究。

Could this actually happen?

這真的會發生嗎？

He ended up calling it natural selection.

他最後稱其為自然選擇。

So natural selection in a sense, became the substitute

是以，自然選擇在某種意義上，成為了替代品

or the embodiment of this early idea.

或這一早期想法的體現。

Then it was called Darwin's demon later on

然後，它後來被稱為達爾文的惡魔

by biologists in the 1960s.

由生物學家在20世紀60年代提出。

I started more than a decade ago,

我在十多年前就開始了。

tracking the references to the word demon.

追蹤對惡魔一詞的提及。

And it is tremendous fun,

而且這也是巨大的樂趣。

you know, seeing the history of science

你知道，看到科學的歷史

and the history of technology

和技術的歷史

in parallel with these great imaginary ideas.

與這些偉大的想象中的想法並行不悖。

It gives us a sense of how malleable and how powerful

它讓我們感受到了可塑性有多大，力量有多大

our desires and our fears are for driving society forward.

我們的慾望和恐懼是推動社會前進的動力。

As a historian, I think it is really important

作為一個歷史學家，我認為這真的很重要

that we think a little bit more carefully

我們要更仔細地考慮一下

about non-existent things,

關於不存在的東西。

about things that are not yet here.

關於還沒有到來的事情。

I understand this is original and bizarre and strange

我知道這很有創意，很怪異，很奇怪。

to try to move our thinking about history

試圖推動我們對歷史的思考

and the past and the future based on non-existent things.

以及基於不存在的事物的過去和未來。

But if we don't start thinking about them,

但如果我們不開始考慮他們。

the future development of our world

我們世界的未來發展

and our technological universe is really gonna escape us.

而我們的技術宇宙真的會逃離我們。

So I want us to take a step back

所以我希望我們退一步

and think about what we're thinking about.

並思考我們在想什麼。

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要從世界上最大的思想家那裡學到更多東西。

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