Suppose I said

你想要自己比現在的你更好嗎?

that, with just a few changes in your genes,

如果我說，

you could get a better memory --

只需要在你的基因中做幾個改變,

more precise,

你就可以擁有更好的記憶力 --

more accurate and quicker.

更精準、

Or maybe you'd like to be more fit, stronger,

更精確、更迅速。

with more stamina.

或者你想要更苗條、更強壯、

Would you like to be more attractive and self-confident?

更有耐力。

How about living longer with good health?

你想變的更具吸引力、更有自信嗎?

Or perhaps you're one of those

活的更久、更健康呢?

who's always yearned for more creativity.

又或者你是屬於那些

Which one would you like the most?

一直嚮往自己能更有創造力的人。

Which would you like, if you could have just one?

你最想要哪一種呢?

(Audience Member: Creativity.)

如果你只能選一種，你會想要哪一種?

Creativity.

(聽眾: 創造力。)

How many people would choose creativity?

創造力。

Raise your hands. Let me see.

多少人會選擇創造力呢?

A few. Probably about as many as there are creative people here.

舉起你的手讓我看看。

(Laughter) That's very good.

有一些人。 大概就跟在坐有創造力的人一樣多吧。

How many would opt for memory?

很好。

Quite a few more.

有多少人會選擇記憶力呢?

How about fitness?

比剛才多了一些人。

A few less.

那健康呢?

What about longevity?

人少了一些。

Ah, the majority. That makes me feel very good as a doctor.

那更長壽呢?

If you could have any one of these,

喔，大多數的人。 這讓身為醫師的我覺得很好。

it would be a very different world.

如果你能擁有任何一種，

Is it just imaginary?

這個世界都會非常不一樣。

Or, is it, perhaps, possible?

這只是幻想嗎?

Evolution has been a perennial topic

還是，這確實有可能呢?

here at the TED Conference,

進化論在TED研討會上

but I want to give you today

一直是個常被討論的主題，

one doctor's take on the subject.

但是我今天是要以一個醫師的觀點

The great 20th-century geneticist,

來討論這個主題。

T.G. Dobzhansky,

20世紀一名偉大的遺傳學家

who was also a communicant

费奥多西·多布然斯基，

in the Russian Orthodox Church,

他同時是俄國東正教

once wrote an essay that he titled

的一名傳信者，

"Nothing in Biology Makes Sense

他曾寫了一篇文章，

Except in the Light of Evolution."

標題是〈生物學中沒有什麼是有道理的 --

Now if you are one of those

除了按照進化論的那些〉。

who does not accept the evidence for biological evolution,

現在，如果你是那些

this would be a very good time to turn off your hearing aid,

不接受生物進化論的證據的人，

take out your personal communications device --

現在是關掉你的助聽器的好時機，

I give you permission --

拿出你的個人通訊設備 --

and perhaps take another look at Kathryn Schultz's book on being wrong,

我准許你們這樣做 --

because nothing in the rest of this talk

或許你該再看一下凱瑟琳• 舒爾茨寫有關犯錯的那本書，

is going to make any sense whatsoever to you.

因為接下來要講的東西

(Laughter)

對你來說都是沒有任何意義的。

But if you do accept

(笑聲)

biological evolution,

但是如果你是

consider this:

接受生物進化論的，

is it just about the past,

仔細想想:

or is it about the future?

它只跟過去有關嗎，

Does it apply to others,

還是它也跟未來有關?

or does it apply to us?

它是適用於他人嗎，

This is another look at the tree of life.

還是也適用於我們?

In this picture,

這是生命之樹，生物的樹狀圖。

I've put a bush with a center branching out in all directions,

在這分支圖當中可以看到,

because if you look at the edges

我把它由一個中心點往各個方向分支出去，

of the tree of life,

因為如果你看到這個生命之樹

every existing species

各個分支的末端，

at the tips of those branches

以進化論的角度來說

has succeeded in evolutionary terms:

每個分支末端的物種

it has survived;

都是成功的案例,因為:

it has demonstrated a fitness

它生存了下來、

to its environment.

它展現了其適合在它生長環境中

The human part of this branch,

生存的條件。

way out on one end,

在這個分支的末端

is, of course, the one that we are most interested in.

有關人類的部份，

We branch off of a common ancestor

理所當然是我們最關心的部份。

to modern chimpanzees

在6至8百萬年前，

about six or eight million years ago.

我們從一個較低層級的祖先

In the interval,

分支出來成了現代的黑猩猩。

there have been perhaps 20 or 25

在這期間，

different species of hominids.

大概出現過20至25種

Some have come and gone.

不同形式的人類祖先。

We have been here for about 130,000 years.

其中有一些已經不存在。

It may seem like we're quite remote

而我們已經生存了130,000年。

from other parts of this tree of life,

我們或許看似跟生命之樹中

but actually, for the most part,

其他的分支隔了很遠，

the basic machinery of our cells

但實際情形是，大致上來說，

is pretty much the same.

我們的細胞機構

Do you realize that we can take advantage

幾乎是一模一樣的。

and commandeer the machinery of a common bacterium

你知不知道我們可以藉由

to produce the protein of human insulin

一種低等細菌體的細胞機構

used to treat diabetics?

來製造人類胰島素的一種蛋白質

This is not like human insulin;

來治療糖尿病嗎?

this is the same protein

它不是跟人類的胰島素類似而已，

that is chemically indistinguishable

它是跟你胰臟分泌出來的

from what comes out of your pancreas.

胰島素裡面的一種蛋白質

And speaking of bacteria,

完全一樣。

do you realize that each of us carries in our gut

講到細菌，

more bacteria

你知道我們腸子裡的細菌數量

than there are cells in the rest of our body?

比我們身體所有細胞的數量

Maybe 10 times more.

還要多嗎?

I mean think of it,

大概有10倍之多。

when Antonio Damasio asks about your self-image,

我說，想想看，

do you think about the bacteria?

當安東尼奧• 達馬斯奧在問你對於自我的形象的時候，

Our gut is a wonderfully hospitable environment

你有想到這些細菌嗎?

for those bacteria.

我們的腸子是一個非常適合

It's warm, it's dark, it's moist,

這些細菌生長的環境。

it's very cozy.

它很溫暖、很陰暗、很潮濕，

And you're going to provide all the nutrition that they could possibly want

非常的舒適。

with no effort on their part.

而且那些細菌完全不需要任何工夫,

It's really like an Easy Street for bacteria,

你就會為它們提供任何需要的營養。

with the occasional interruption

這簡直是細菌的天堂，

of the unintended forced rush to the exit.

除了偶爾會被

But otherwise,

強迫性的推向出口。

you are a wonderful environment for those bacteria,

除此之外，

just as they are essential to your life.

你就是這些細菌最完美的生長環境，

They help in the digestion of essential nutrients,

而這些細菌對你也一樣重要。

and they protect you against certain diseases.

它們幫助消化分解一些必要的營養素。

But what will come in the future?

它們也保護你不受某些疾病的侵襲。

Are we at some kind of evolutionary equipoise

但是未來會是怎麼樣呢?

as a species?

身為一個物種，我們的演進

Or, are we destined

已經達到一種平衡了嗎?

to become something different --

又或者，我們就是註定

something, perhaps, even better adapted

要變得不一樣 --

to the environment?

要變得更加能夠適應

Now let's take a step back in time

外在的環境?

to the Big Bang, 14 billion years ago --

現在我們回朔到140億年前，

the Earth, the solar system,

宇宙大爆炸 --

about four and a half billion years --

45億年前，

the first signs of proto-life,

地球與太陽系的形成 --

maybe three to four billion years ago on Earth --

30~40億年前，

the first multi-celled organisms,

第一次出現原始生命的跡象 --

perhaps as much

大概8~10億年前，

as 800 or a billion years ago --

第一個多細胞生物

and then the human species,

誕生了 --

finally emerging

最後，在這130,000年來

in the last 130,000 years.

人類這個物種

In this vast unfinished symphony of the universe,

終於出現了。

life on Earth is like a brief measure;

宇宙就像首未完成的交響樂，

the animal kingdom,

地球上的生命就像其中幾個小節；

like a single measure;

動物王國，

and human life,

就像其中一個小節；

a small grace note.

而人類，

That was us.

就像其中一個音符而已。

That also constitutes the entertainment portion of this talk,

這就是我們。

so I hope you enjoyed it.

這也是這個研討會中較有娛樂性的部分，

(Laughter)

希望你們有感受到。

Now when I was a freshman in college,

(笑聲)

I took my first biology class.

我在大學一年級的時候

I was fascinated

上了我人生中第一堂生物課。

by the elegance and beauty of biology.

生物學的高雅及美麗

I became enamored of the power of evolution,

深深的吸引了我。

and I realized something very fundamental:

我變得非常地著迷於進化的力量，

in most of the existence of life

並且我了解到了一些很基本的事情:

in single-celled organisms,

在大部分現行存在的單細胞有機體

each cell simply divides,

的生命當中，

and all of the genetic energy of that cell

每個細胞就這樣簡單的分裂，

is carried on in both daughter cells.

然後該細胞中所有的基因能量

But at the time multi-celled organisms come online,

就被帶到了它的子細胞。

things start to change.

但是到了多細胞有機體的出現之後

Sexual reproduction enters the picture.

就變的不一樣了。

And very importantly,

有性生殖開始出現。

with the introduction of sexual reproduction

而且非常重要的是，

that passes on the genome,

透過可以將基因傳遞給後代的

the rest of the body

有性生殖，

becomes expendable.

身體的其他部位

In fact, you could say

變得可以被消耗的。

that the inevitability of the death of our bodies

事實上，你可以說

enters in evolutionary time

在進化的時間線上，

at the same moment

我們身體最終會凋零死亡的必然性

as sexual reproduction.

跟有性生殖的開始

Now I have to confess,

是同時出現的。

when I was a college undergraduate,

現在我必須說，

I thought, okay, sex/death, sex/death, death for sex --

當我還是大學生的時候，

it seemed pretty reasonable at the time,

我想，好吧，性/死亡，性/死亡，為了性而死亡--

but with each passing year,

在當時似乎是非常有道理的，

I've come to have increasing doubts.

但一年一年過去，

I've come to understand the sentiments of George Burns,

我開始有愈來愈多的懷疑。

who was performing still in Las Vegas

我開始理解喬治• 伯恩斯的思想，

well into his 90s.

他當時還在拉斯維加斯表演，

And one night, there's a knock at his hotel room door.

直到他90多歲。

He answers the door.

一天晚上，有人敲他下榻旅館的門。

Standing before him is a gorgeous, scantily clad showgirl.

他應了門。

She looks at him and says,

站在門口的是個非常美麗又穿的很少的舞女。

"I'm here for super sex."

他看著他說：

"That's fine," says George, "I'll take the soup."

「我是來跟你消魂的做愛的。 」

(Laughter)

「好吧」，喬治說，「我就喝湯吧」" ("super sex超級性交" 發音似 "soup or sex湯或是性交")

I came to realize,

(笑聲)

as a physician,

我開始意識到

that I was working toward a goal

作為一個醫師，

which was different from the goal of evolution --

一直以來我努力的目標與

not necessarily contradictory, just different.

進化論的目標是不一樣的--

I was trying to preserve the body.

不見得互相違背，但就是不同。

I wanted to keep us healthy.

我一直嘗試去保存身體。

I wanted to restore health from disease.

我想要我們保持健康。

I wanted us to live long and healthy lives.

我想要使我們從疾病中恢復健康。

Evolution is all about passing on the genome

我想要我們活的又長久又健康。

to the next generation,

而進化全是為了把基因

adapting and surviving

傳遞給下一代，

through generation after generation.

一代接著一代

From an evolutionary point of view,

適應並存活下去。

you and I are like the booster rockets

從進化的觀點來看，

designed to send the genetic payload

我們就像是帶有推進器的火箭，

into the next level of orbit

被設計來把"基因"載送到

and then drop off into the sea.

下一層的軌道

I think we would all understand the sentiment that Woody Allen expressed

然後落下掉進海裡。

when he said, "I don't want to achieve immortality through my work.

我想我們都應該可以了解伍迪•艾倫所說的，

I want to achieve it through not dying."

他說：「 我不想透過我的成就而不朽。」

(Laughter)

「 我想透過不死而不朽。」

Evolution does not necessarily

(笑聲)

favor the longest-lived.

進化，不一定

It doesn't necessarily favor the biggest

是偏向活得最久的。

or the strongest or the fastest,

他不一定偏向最大的、

and not even the smartest.

最強壯的或是最快速的，

Evolution favors

甚至也不偏向最聰明的。

those creatures best adapted

進化，偏向

to their environment.

那些最能夠適應

That is the sole test

其環境的生物。

of survival and success.

它完全是考驗著

At the bottom of the ocean,

成功存活下去的能力。

bacteria that are thermophilic

在海底，

and can survive at the steam vent heat

耐高溫的細菌

that would otherwise produce, if fish were there,

可以存活在熱蒸汽的環境；

sous-vide cooked fish,

如果魚在那種環境，

nevertheless, have managed

就會慢慢的被煮熟 (sous-vide法式真空低溫(約60度C)煮法)；

to make that a hospitable environment for them.

然而，它們卻可以

So what does this mean,

適應並接受那樣的環境。

as we look back at what has happened in evolution,

這說明了什麼呢?

and as we think about the place again

當我們回頭看看進化的過程發生了什麼事情，

of humans in evolution,

當我們再次想想人類在進化中

and particularly as we look ahead

扮演的角色，

to the next phase,

尤其是向前看到

I would say

下一個階段，

that there are a number of possibilities.

我會跟你說

The first is that we will not evolve.

有許多的可能性。

We have reached

第一種是我們停止進化。

a kind of equipoise.

我們已經達到

And the reasoning behind that would be,

一種平衡。

first, we have, through medicine,

這背後的原因是，

managed to preserve a lot of genes

首先，我們透過醫學

that would otherwise be selected out

保存下來很多本來

and be removed from the population.

會被淘汰、從人口中消失

And secondly, we as a species

的那些基因。

have so configured our environment

再者，我們是一個能夠

that we have managed to make it adapt to us

配置環境的物種，

as well as we adapt to it.

就跟我們適應環境一樣，

And by the way, we immigrate and circulate

我們讓環境來適應我們。

and intermix so much

另外，我們因為大量的

that you can't any longer

移民、流通以及混合，

have the isolation that is necessary

我們已經不是相互隔離的，

for evolution to take place.

而這又正是進化發生

A second possibility

的必要條件。

is that there will be evolution of the traditional kind,

第二種可能

natural, imposed by the forces of nature.

就是傳統的進化方式，

And the argument here would be

自然的、由自然的力量推進的。

that the wheels of evolution grind slowly,

這個可能性的論點在於

but they are inexorable.

進化雖然很緩慢，

And as far as isolation goes,

但是是無法被阻擋或改變的。

when we as a species

就隔離性來說，

do colonize distant planets,

身為一個物種，當我們殖民到

there will be the isolation and the environmental changes

其他遙遠的星球時，