Physicist Erwin Schrödinger defined life this way:

物理學家埃爾溫·薛丁格這樣定義生命

Living things avoid decay into disorder and equilibrium.

有生命的物體會避免變成無秩序與平衡狀態

What does this mean?

這是什麼意思?

Let's pretend that your download folder is the universe.

讓我們假設你的下載資料夾是整個宇宙

It started orderly and got more and more chaotic over time.

它一開始是有秩序的，但隨著時間趨於混沌

By investing energy, you can create order and clean it up.

藉由投入能量，你可以排序檔案與清理資料夾

This is what living things do.

這就是有生命的物體所做的事

But what is life?

那什麼是生命呢？

Every living thing on this planet is made of cells.

這星球上的所有生命都是由細胞所組成

Basically, a cell is a protein-based robot too small to feel or experience anything.

基本上，細胞是個由蛋白質所組成的，沒有感受與感覺經驗的微小機器人

It has the properties we just assign to life:

它擁有我們剛提到的生命的特質

it has a wall that separates it from the surroundings, creating order;

細胞上有個牆，使內部與外界隔離，形成秩序

it regulates itself and maintains a constant state;

它調節自己並維持穩定狀態

it eats stuff to stay alive;

它吃東西以維持生命

it grows and develops;

它成長並發展

it reacts to the environment;

它對環境做出反應

and it's subject to evolution;

且它遵循演化

and it makes more of itself.

且它製造更多自己

But of all the stuff that makes up a cell, no part is alive.

但組成細胞的所有材料，沒有一樣有生命

Stuff reacts chemically with other stuff, forming reactions

材料與材料間進行著化學反應

that start other reactions which start other reactions.

一個反應造成另一個反應

In a single cell, every second several million chemical reactions take place,

在一個細胞每秒鐘發生數百萬個化學反應

forming a complex orchestra.

就像一隊複雜的管弦樂隊

A cell can build several thousand types of protein:

一個細胞可以製造數千種蛋白質

some very simple, some complex micromachines.

有些構造簡單，有些像複雜的微小機器

Imagine driving a car at 100 km/h while constantly rebuilding every single

像一台時速 100 公里的車，車上的每一部分持續地被重新建造

part of it with stuff you collect from the street.

而建造的原料來自於街上

That is what cells do.

這就是細胞所做的事

But no part of the cell is alive; everything is dead matter

但細胞中沒有一部分有生命，每一部分都是無生命的物質

moved by the laws of the universe.

遵循宇宙的法則而運行

So is life the aggregate of all these reaction processes that are taking place?

所以生命是這些正在發生的反應的集合體嗎？

Eventually, every living thing will die.

到最終，任何有生命的物體都會死去

The goal of the whole process is to prevent this by producing new entities;

整個過程的目標是避免死去，所以製造新的實體

and by this, we mean DNA.

這個過程就是利用 DNA

Life is, in a way, just a lot of stuff that carries genetic information around.

從一角度來說，生命只是一大堆攜帶了基因訊息的東西

Every living thing is subject to evolution,

所有的生命都遵循演化

and the DNA that develops the best living thing around it will stay in the game.

能發展出最適宜生存物種的 DNA 將在遊戲中生存

So, is DNA life, then?

所以 DNA 是生命嗎？

If you take DNA out of its hull, it certainly is a very complex molecule,

如果你將 DNA 從它的殼中取出，它就是一個非常複雜的分子

but it can't do anything by itself.

但它自己並不能完成什麼事

This is where viruses make everything more complicated.

是病毒讓一切變得更複雜

They are basically strings of RNA or DNA in a small hull

病毒是由殼所包覆的一些簡單 RNA 或 DNA 串

and need cells to do something.

而且需要細胞以進行某些事

We're not sure if they count as living or dead.

我們並不確定它們應歸屬為有生命或無生命

And still, there are 225,000,000 m³ of viruses on Earth.

僅管如此，在地球上有 225,000,000 立方公尺的病毒

They don't seem to care what we think of them.

它們看起來並不在意我們如何歸類它們

There are even viruses that invade dead cells and reanimate them

甚至有些病毒會入侵已死亡的細胞，使之復活

so they can be a host for them, which blurs the line even more.

這樣它可以變成該細胞的宿主， 這讓生與死的界線更加模糊

Or mitochondria.

又如粒線體

They are the power plants of most complex cells and

它們是多數複雜細胞內的發電廠

were previously free living bacteria that entered a partnership with bigger cells.

其實它一開始是自由的活細菌，進入較大的細胞與之共生

They still have their own DNA and can multiply on their own, but

它們還是擁有自己的 DNA 可以複製自己

they are not alive anymore; they are dead.

但它們不再有生命，而是死的

So they traded their own life for the survival of their DNA,

它們以自己的生命交換了 DNA 的存續

which means living things can evolve into dead things as long as it's beneficial

意思是生命可以由生變死

to their genetic code.

僅為了有利於延續他們的基因代碼

So, maybe life is information that manages to ensure its continued existence.

所以，或許生命是掌管自身延續存在的一些資訊

But what about AI (artificial intelligence)?

那人工智慧又怎麼說呢？

By our most common definitions, we are very close to creating artificial life

由我們的定義，人們已經很接近於創造人工生命了

in computers.

在電腦之中

It's just a question of time before the technology we build gets there.

在科技到達那之前，只是時間早晚的問題

And this is not science fiction, either;

而這也並不是科幻小說

there are a lot of smart people actively working on this.

有許多聰明人致力於此

You could already argue that computer viruses are alive.

現在你已可以爭論電腦病毒是否具有生命

Hm, okay. So what is life, then?

所以究竟什麼是生命呢？

Things, processes, DNA, information?

物體？ 反應過程？ DNA ？ 資訊？

This got confusing very fast.

這很快地令人困惑

One thing is for sure:

有一件事可以確定

the idea that life is fundamentally different from non-living things

生命與非生命從根本上不同

because they contain some non-physical element

因為生命含有一些非物理性的元素

or are governed by different principles than inanimate objects

或生命與非生命有不同的運作原理

turned out to be wrong.

都已被發現是錯誤了

Before Charles Darwin, humans drew a line between themselves and the rest

在查爾斯·達爾文之前，人類將自己與其他物種間劃清界線

of living things; there was something magical about us that made us special.

認為有什麼魔法般的原因使我們與眾不同

Once we had to accept we are like every living being, a product of evolution,

而當我們必須接受，我們就像其他物種一樣是演化的產物

we drew a different line.

我們改變了界限的劃分

But the more we learn about what computers can do and how life works,

但當我們越清楚電腦的功能與生命的運作

the closer we get to creating the first machine that fits our description of life,

越接近於可創造一台符合我們描述的生命機器

the more our image of ourselves is in danger again.

我們對自身的看法就越接近於再度陷入危險

And this will happen sooner or later.

這將會在不久的將來發生

And here's another question for you:

而這裡提供你另一個問題

if everything in the universe is made of the same stuff,

如果宇宙中的萬物都是由同樣的東西組成

does this mean everything in the universe is dead

這代表宇宙中的萬物都是死的

or that everything in the universe is alive?

或者宇宙中的萬物皆是活的

That it's just a question of complexity?

這僅是一個複雜的問題嗎？

Does this mean we can never die

這表示我們永遠不會死亡嗎？

because we were never alive in the first place?

因為我們一開始就不曾活著？

Is life and death an irrelevant question and we haven't noticed it yet?

生與死其實是不相干的問題，只是我們還未注意到？

Is it possible we are much more part of the universe around us than we thought?

有沒有可能我們在宇宙中的份量，其實比我們所認為的更多呢？

Don't look at us; we don't have any answers for you.

別期待我們，我們沒有任何答案

Just questions for you to think about.

僅僅是提出問題

After all, it's thinking about questions like this that makes us feel alive

畢竟，是思考這些問題使我們感到活著

and gives us some comfort.

且給予我們慰藉