Name: 【TED】Donald Hoffman: 我們看到的真的是現實麼? (Do we see reality as it is? | Donald Hoffman)
Uploaded: 2015-07-19T21:59:59.000Z
Duration: 21 min 51 s

and I'm fascinated by the greatest unsolved mystery in science,

並且被一个科學界深奧的未解之謎深深吸引

轉承詞

What is the relationship between your brain

such as your experience of the taste of chocolate

"How it is that anything so remarkable as a state of consciousness comes about

"為什麼一些妙不可言的東西如人的清醒意識

as the result of irritating nervous tissue

其形成竟是來自刺激性神經組織，

as the appearance of the genie when Aladdin rubbed his lamp."

跟阿拉丁擦擦他的油燈精靈就出現了一樣無法解釋"。

and conscious experiences are correlated,

To the science of his day, it was a mystery.

在其時代的科學界裡這是個謎。

science has learned a lot about brain activity,

科學界對大腦活動有了很多的發現。

but the relationship between brain activity

and conscious experiences is still a mystery.

Why? Why have we made so little progress?

爲何？爲何我們還未搞懂多少這個迷？

Well, some experts think that we can't solve this problem

because we lack the necessary concepts and intelligence.

因我們缺乏必要的概念和智慧。

We don't expect monkeys to solve problems in quantum mechanics,

我們不指望猴子去排解量子力學的問題，

and as it happens, we can't expect our species to solve this problem either.

同樣，我們也不能指望自己的物種去化解這個迷。

我不同意這説法。我樂觀多了。

I think we've simply made a false assumption.

我認爲我們只是用了個錯誤的假設而已。

Once we fix it, we just might solve this problem.

糾正了假設後，我們很可能就能把這謎解了。

Today, I'd like tell you what that assumption is,

今天，我想和大家說一下這個假設是什麽，

爲何它是錯誤的，我們可以怎樣加以糾正。

我們眼睛看見的，是現實的真貌嗎？

and I have an experience that I describe as a red tomato a meter away.

就有這體驗：一公尺外有個紅色的番茄。

As a result, I come to believe that in reality,

有個紅色的番茄在一公尺之外。

I then close my eyes, and my experience changes to a gray field,

然後我閉上雙眼，我的體驗就變了是一片灰色的面了。

but is it still the case that in reality, there's a red tomato a meter away?

這意味著在現實中，仍有這麽一個紅番茄在一公尺之外嗎？

是的。但這念頭會不會是錯的呢？

Could I be misinterpreting the nature of my perceptions?

會不會我錯誤地詮釋了知覺的實質呢？

We have misinterpreted our perceptions before.

我們有過錯誤地詮釋了知覺的先例。

We used to think the Earth is flat, because it looks that way.

我們曾以爲地球是扁的，以爲它看起來就是扁的。

Pythagorus discovered that we were wrong.

Then we thought that the Earth is the unmoving center of the Universe,

然後我們又以爲地球是宇宙的固定的中心。

Copernicus and Galileo discovered, again, that we were wrong.

Copernicus 和 Galileo 再次發現我們又錯了。

Galileo then wondered if we might be misinterpreting our experiences

Galileo 接著琢磨是否我們錯誤地詮釋了自己的體驗，

He wrote: "I think that tastes, odors, colors, and so on

他寫到："我認爲味道、氣味、顔色等等

Hence if the living creature were removed, all these qualities would be annihilated."

正是如此，如果活體沒有了，所有這些特質也會化爲烏有了。"

Could we really be misinterpreting our experiences that badly?

我們會不會真的非常錯誤地詮釋自己的體驗呢？

What does modern science have to say about this?

當今的科學研究能對此有什麽看法呢？

Well, neuroscientists tell us that about a third of the brain's cortex

神經科學們說我們的大腦的三分之一

When you simply open your eyes and look about this room,

我們衹要單單地睜開眼睛環視一下這講座間，

billions of neurons and trillions of synapses are engaged.

數億神經元和數萬億突觸就已經被用上了。

because to the extent that we think about vision at all,

It just takes a picture of objective reality as it is.

它拍個照把現實客觀地呈現出來。

Now, there is a part of vision that's like a camera:

我們視覺的一部分確實像一照相機：

the eye has a lens that focuses an image on the back of the eye

眼睛有個晶體能調焦把物像聚焦到眼睛後部。

where there are 130 million photoreceptors,

so the eye is like a 130-megapixel camera.

因此我們的眼睛就像個1億3千萬像素的攝影機。

But that doesn't explain the billions of neurons

and trillions of synapses that are engaged in vision.

和數萬億突觸在視覺上到底起什麽作用。

Well, neuroscientists tell us that they are creating, in real time,

神經科學家們說它們在實時地生造

all the shapes, objects, colors, and motions that we see.

我們正目睹著的各種形狀、物體、顔色和行進中的東西。

It feels like we're just taking a snapshot of this room the way it is,

就像是我們衹是在如實地抓拍這個房間。

but in fact, we're constructing everything that we see.

但事實是，我們看見的所有東西都是構建出來的。

We don't construct the whole world at once.

我們不是一次性地構建整個物界。

我們衹在需要的當時一刻構建。

Now, there are many demonstrations that are quite compelling

有很多演示可以非常有力地驗證

我們看見的東西都是構造出來的。

In this example, you see some red discs with bits cut out of them,

演示一，你看見些紅色的圓形每個都有缺口的。

but if I just rotate the disks a little bit,

如果我把這些圓形稍微轉動一下，

suddenly, you see a 3D cube pop out of the screen.

馬上，你看見的是個立體方塊從螢幕上脫穎而出。

so the three-dimensional cube that you're experiencing

所以你體驗到的這個三度空間方塊

you see glowing blue bars with pretty sharp edges

你看見些發光的藍條子邊邊挺鋒利的，

不停地在一個很多點的面上移動。

All I'm doing from frame to frame is changing the colors of dots

我衹是一帧一帧地轉換小點的顔色

your visual system creates the glowing blue bars

你的視覺系統就生造了發光的藍條子，

There are many more examples, but these are just two

有很多這樣的例子的。這裏衹是兩個