its own thin slice of the fullness of reality

它自己是現實中完整的薄片

that it can detect.

它可以檢測到的。

Evolution has shaped the senses of animals

進化塑造了動物的感官

according to their needs,

根據他們的需要。

but no animal can sense everything.

但沒有任何動物能感知一切。

No animal is perfect at everything.

沒有任何動物在所有方面都是完美的。

There is so much information out there

外面有太多的資訊了

that to be able to detect it all

為了能夠檢測到這一切

would be an overwhelming experience and also unnecessary.

將是一個令人不知所措的經歷，也是不必要的。

There's also a cost to the senses.

感官也是有代價的。

Senses don't come for free.

感官不是白來的。

To build a sense organ and to maintain all the neurons

建立一個感覺器官並維持所有的神經元

that feed into that sense organ takes up a lot of energy,

饋送到該感覺器官的東西佔用了大量的能量。

which is why their senses are so refined

這就是為什麼他們的感官是如此精緻

and so constrained by their evolutionary needs.

並是以受到其進化需要的制約。

So the word umwelt was popularized and defined

是以，umwelt這個詞被普及和定義了

by a German zoologist named Jakob von Uexküll

由德國動物學家Jakob von Uexküll撰寫。

in the early 20th century.

在20世紀初。

It comes from the German word for environment,

它來自德語中的環境一詞。

but he meant the animals' sensory environment.

但他指的是動物的感官環境。

And that's the specific set of sights, smells, textures,

而這就是一系列具體的視覺、嗅覺、質感。

and sounds that that animal has access to

以及該動物能接觸到的聲音

and that another animal might not.

而另一種動物可能不會。

When you really think about the senses,

當你真正考慮到這些感覺時。

you do start to understand the very different kinds

你確實開始瞭解了非常不同的類型

of information that those senses offer their owners.

這些感官為其主人提供的資訊。

So we obviously taste with our tongues,

所以我們顯然是用舌頭來品嚐。

but a catfish is essentially a swimming tongue.

但鯰魚本質上是一個游泳的舌頭。

It has taste buds all over its skin.

它的皮膚上都有味蕾。

If you put little pieces

如果你把小塊的

of food near the flank of a catfish,

的食物靠近鯰魚的側翼。

it will be able to taste it

就能品嚐到它

and turn around and snap it up.

並轉身把它搶過來。

For most animals, taste is about food.

對大多數動物來說，口味是關於食物的。

It's about trying to work out whether something

它是關於試圖解決一些事情是否

is worth eating or not.

是值得吃還是不值得吃。

And for humans, food is something that we put in our mouths.

而對人類來說，食物是我們放進嘴裡的東西。

But if you are a very small animal,

但如果你是一個非常小的動物。

food can be something you land on.

食物可以是你落腳的東西。

And which is why for many insects taste buds

這就是為什麼對許多昆蟲的味蕾來說

are some things that are found in their feet

是在他們的腳上發現的一些東西

as well as in their mouths.

以及在他們的嘴裡。

A fly landing on the apple that you are trying to eat

一隻蒼蠅落在你想吃的蘋果上

can taste it just by walking on it

走在上面就能嚐到它的味道

before you put it in your mouth.

在你把它放進你的嘴裡之前。

I, like most of you, have two eyes.

我和你們大多數人一樣，有兩隻眼睛。

They sit in the front of my face and they point forwards,

它們坐在我臉的前面，指向前方。

which means that my visual world is always in front of me

這意味著我的視覺世界總是在我面前。

and I walk into it.

而我走進了它。

But most birds have eyes on the sides of their heads,

但大多數鳥類的眼睛都長在頭的兩側。

which means their visual world is around them.

這意味著他們的視覺世界就在他們周圍。

They often have close to wraparound vision,

他們往往有接近環繞的視野。

seeing to the sides and also a little bit to the back.

看到兩側，也有一點到後面。

And that kind of wraparound vision

而這種包羅萬象的視野

is really hard to wrap your head around.

是真的很難把你的腦袋包起來。

And then of course there are changes

當然，還有一些變化

that can occur over an animal's lifetime.

在動物的一生中，可能會發生這種情況。

So the umwelts of an adult

是以，一個成年人的嗯哼

might be different to the umwelts of a juvenile.

可能會與少年人的身體狀況不同。

Jumping spiders are very driven by vision.

跳躍的蜘蛛非常受視覺的驅動。

They have excellent eyes.

他們有出色的眼睛。

But those eyes also become more sensitive as they get older,

但是這些眼睛也會隨著年齡的增長而變得更加敏感。

more sensitive to light,

對光更敏感。

which means that I think the world of a jumping spider

這意味著我對跳蛛的看法是："跳蛛 "的世界。

will get brighter as it ages.

隨著時間的推移，它將變得更加明亮。

One scientist describe this to me

一位科學家向我描述了這一點

as a jumping spider watching the sun rise as it gets older.

如同一隻跳躍的蜘蛛看著太陽昇起，因為它變老了。

So a sea otter has very sensitive paws.

所以海獺的爪子非常敏感。

They don't look very sensitive.

他們看起來不是很敏感。

They look like these weird sort of cauliflowery mittens.

它們看起來像這些奇怪的菜花狀手套。

They have a sensitive touch that is equal

他們有一種敏感的觸覺，相當於

to our exquisitely sensitive fingertips.

到我們精緻敏感的指尖。

One of the key differences

關鍵差異之一

is that they are also extremely skilled

是，他們也是非常熟練的

at using that sense of touch.

在使用這種觸覺方面。

They're very fast about making touch-based decisions.

他們對於做出基於觸摸的決定非常迅速。

A sea otter will dive down into the ocean

一隻海獺會潛入海中

and very quickly root around with its paws.

並非常迅速地用它的爪子四處紮根。

It will grab that sea urchin, yank that clam,

它將抓住那個海膽，拉動那個蛤蜊。

and then rise to the surface before eating its food.

然後在吃它的食物之前上升到表面。

A sea otter doesn't have the benefit of blubber

海獺沒有鯨脂的好處

that a whale or a walrus might have.

鯨魚或海象可能有的。

It has very thick fur, but it can find enough food to eat

它的皮毛很厚，但它能找到足夠的食物吃。

because it has not only very sensitive hands,

因為它不僅有非常敏感的手。

but very fast hands too.

但手也非常快。

Even in a completely dark room

即使在一個完全黑暗的房間裡

where the very large eyes of an owl

貓頭鷹的大眼睛的地方

might not be of much use,

可能沒有什麼用處。

they can still hear and they hear really well.

他們仍然能夠聽到，而且聽得非常清楚。

The dish of feathers around an owl's face

貓頭鷹臉上的一盤羽毛

that gives it that distinctive owl-y look acts as a radar

賦予它獨特的貓頭鷹式的外觀，作為一種雷達。

dish funneling sound towards its ears.

盤子裡的聲音向它的耳朵漏斗。

Those ears are incredibly sensitive,

這些耳朵是令人難以置信的敏感。

but they also have a unique trick

但他們也有一個獨特的技巧

that allows the owl to work out exactly

讓貓頭鷹能夠準確地計算出

where sound is coming from.

聲音是從哪裡來的。

Based on when sound arrives in my ears,

根據聲音到達我耳朵的時間。

where those first arrives at the left or the right,

那些首先到達的地方是左邊還是右邊。

I can tell where a sound is coming from

我可以分辨聲音的來源

in the horizontal plane.

在水準面上。

I can't do that trick in the vertical very well

我不能很好地在垂直方向上做這一招。

because my ears are level with each other

因為我的耳朵是平的

so sound arrives at both of them

是以，聲音到達了他們兩個人那裡

from above or below at the same time.

同時從上面或下面。

An owl solves this problem because its ears are offset.

貓頭鷹解決了這個問題，因為它的耳朵是偏移的。

So they're asymmetrical.

所以他們是不對稱的。

So one ear is slightly higher than the other.

所以一隻耳朵比另一隻略高。

And when sound arrives at that ear first,

而當聲音首先到達那隻耳朵時。

the owl knows where in the vertical plane it's target is.

貓頭鷹知道它的目標在哪個垂直面上。

And that's why an owl in the dark

這就是為什麼黑暗中的貓頭鷹

can land exactly on a mouse.

可以準確地落在滑鼠上。

It's why owls in the wild can bust through snow

這就是為什麼野外的貓頭鷹可以衝破雪地的原因

to pick up scurrying rodents that they couldn't even see.

撿起他們甚至看不到的竄動的齧齒動物。

One of the primary uses of scent in the animal kingdom

氣味在動物界的主要用途之一

is for navigation, for finding your way around a landscape.

是為了導航，為了在風景中找到你的路。

You know, my dog, Typo, absolutely can do this.

你知道，我的狗，Typo，絕對能做到這一點。

He knows where we are by cross-referencing his memories

他通過對照自己的記憶知道我們在哪裡

of the smells of the neighborhood

鄰居的氣味

against what he's smelling at any given moment.

反對他在任何特定時刻聞到的東西。

But there are other animals that use scent for navigation

但也有其他動物利用氣味進行導航

in even more extraordinary ways.

以更加非凡的方式。

A lot of sea birds, the group known as tubenoses,

很多海鳥，被稱為tubenoses的群體。

use the odorscapes of the ocean to find food.

利用海洋的氣味來尋找食物。

The ocean looks featureless to us, right?

在我們看來，海洋是沒有特徵的，對嗎？

We can glide over it

我們可以在它上面滑行

and just see this endless expanse of uniform blue,

而只是看到這一望無際的統一藍色。

but it's not featureless to an albatross.

但它對信天翁來說並不是沒有特點。

Underwater features like mountains

像山一樣的水下特徵

and valleys leads to concentrations of nutrients,

和山谷導致了營養物質的集中。

which then concentrate food, plankton, and then krill,

然後集中食物，浮游生物，然後是磷蝦。

the kinds of things that a seabird might eat.

海鳥可能吃的東西的種類。

And so the ocean has this undulating odorscape:

是以，海洋有這種起伏的氣味景觀。

odors that reveal the concentration of possible food

揭示可能的食物濃度的氣味

and then areas of no scent that reveal scarcity in the deep.

然後是沒有氣味的區域，顯示出深處的稀缺性。

Elephants can do this too.

大象也能做到這一點。

Elephants can navigate over long distances.

大象可以在很長的距離內航行。

Obviously, they have that trunk.

很明顯，他們有那個後備箱。

They have constantly scanning about

他們不斷掃描關於

with this extremely elongated nose.

有了這個極度拉長的鼻子。

You know, they'll react to the imminent arrival of rain.

你知道，他們會對即將到來的雨水做出反應。

People have suggested

人們曾建議

that they can find buried sources of water by smelling it.

他們可以通過嗅覺找到埋藏的水源。

It's quite difficult to understand exactly

要準確地理解這一點是相當困難的

how elephants smell

大象的氣味

because they are large, intelligent animals

因為它們是大型的、聰明的動物

that are difficult to work with.

這是很難做到的。

Part of this relies on us using our imaginations

這部分依賴於我們使用我們的想象力

like watching their incredible behavior,

喜歡看他們不可思議的行為。

looking at their trunk,

看著他們的樹幹。

and trying to just make educated guesses

並試圖只是做出有根據的猜測

about what their olfactory world might be like.

關於他們的嗅覺世界可能是什麼樣的。

There's a wonderful quote by Marcel Proust

馬塞爾-普魯斯特有一句精彩的話

that I think captures what's magical

我認為這句話抓住了神奇之處

about the umwelt concept.

關於umwelt的概念。

He said that the only true voyage

他說，唯一真正的遠航

would be not to visit strange lands,

將是不訪問陌生的土地。

but to possess other eyes

但要擁有其他的眼睛

to see the hundreds of universes that each of them sees.

以看到他們每個人看到的數百個宇宙。

That's how I think about the sensory worlds

這就是我對感官世界的思考方式

of other animals.

其他動物的。

I think that when I get to empathize

我認為，當我得到共鳴的時候

with the smell world of a dog

與狗的氣味世界

or the touch world of a sea otter,

或海獺的觸摸世界。

I feel like I'm traveling,

我覺得我在旅行。

like I'm leaving the confines of my own body

就像我要離開我自己身體的束縛一樣

and my own lived experience

和我自己的生活經驗

and going on this fantastical voyage

踏上這段奇幻的航程

into the world of another creature.

進入另一個生物的世界。