Up and down, front and back, left to right.

上下，左右，前後，

But appearances can be deceptive.

但我們所看到的不一定是真實。

Many physicists now believe that reality is not, in fact, three-dimensional.

許多物理學家現在相信事實上我們存在的空間並非三維，

Instead they think that the fundamental core of reality

而是寫在二維上的信息，

comes written in two-dimensional sheets, like this piece of paper.

就像這張紙一樣。

In this view our world is a three dimensional projection

以此觀點，我們所生活的世界只是二維平面的信息，

of information that's written on a two-dimensional surface,

投影到三維，

an ilusion much like a hologram.

是一個類似與全息影像的幻象。

Clearly, this is insane.

這聽起來很瘋狂。

What are these sheets?

這些平面的紙張到底是什麼？

Why would anyone think that reality is two-dimensional

為甚麼會有世界是二維的想法，

when everything we know appears in 3 dimensions?

這和我們觀察到的三維空間相差甚遠。

The answer lies in black holes.

這個問題的答案就在黑洞中。

Black holes famously suck in everything around them and never let go.

眾所週知黑洞會將所有週邊的物質全部吸進去，

But what would happen if you were to throw something

如果將大量的信息扔進黑洞會發生什麼？

with a lot of information into a black hole?

比如一本書或一個電腦硬盤，

Something like a book or a hard drive.

物理學家知道信息是永遠不會丟失的，只會被打亂，

Physicist know that information can never be lost, only scrambled.

因此書中的信息不可能永遠消失與黑洞中，

So the information in our book can´t disappear forever

一定依舊存在與我們所能及的某處。

into the black hole, never to be recovered.

物理學家認為這些信息寫在一個叫做黑洞邊涯的地方，

It must still exist somewhere accesible to us.

一個二維的平面，越過其即沒有回頭路。

Physicists say it´s written on the so called event horizon of a black hole.

同樣地，物理學家證明了在二維平面上發生的事件，

The two-dimensional surface that defines a point of no return.

與三維世界中對事件的描述可互換，

Likewise, physicists have proven that events occurring on a two-dimensional sheet

因為從數學角度都是同等的。這讓我們不得不深思，

are interchangeable with the description in three dimensions.

到底什麼才是真實？是我們觀察到的三維世界，

Mathematically it's all the same. Which leaves us to wonder:

還是更符合數學證明的二維世界的描述？

Which is real? The three dimensions we observe

這裡是科學美國人的即時理論家，我是麥克爾。莫也。

or the two dimensional description that makes the math work?

一個電子有沒可能同時存在與兩個不同的地方？

For Scientific American's Instant Egghead, I'm Michael Moyer.

一只貓有無可能即是活的又是死的？

Is is possible for an electron to be in two places at once?

根據量子力學，這兩種情況都是可能的。

Or for a cat to be both alive and dead at the same time?

解決這個概念矛盾的中心就在於波動的原理。

According to quantum mechanics, both scenarios are possible.

And at the heart of this conceptual dilemma lies the wave function.