演講MP3+雙語文稿:6分鐘聽懂40億年的進(jìn)化

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聽力課堂TED音頻欄目主要包括TED演講的音頻MP3及中英雙語文稿，供各位英語愛好者學(xué)習(xí)使用。本文主要內(nèi)容為演講MP3+雙語文稿:6分鐘聽懂40億年的進(jìn)化，希望你會喜歡！

【演講者及介紹】Prosanta Chakrabarty

普羅桑塔·查克拉巴蒂，魚類學(xué)家。通過研究魚類來幫助解釋人類和地球的進(jìn)化。

【演講主題】40億年的進(jìn)化只需要6分鐘

【中英文字幕】

翻譯者Fish Mobius 校對者 Homer Li

00:13

If we evolved from monkeys, why are therestill monkeys?

如果我們從猴子進(jìn)化而來，為什么現(xiàn)在仍然有猴子？

00:18

(Laughter)

（笑聲）

00:19

Well, because we're not monkeys, we'refish.

因為我們并不是猴子進(jìn)化來的，我們是魚。

00:22

(Laughter)

（笑聲）

00:23

Now, knowing you're a fish and not a monkeyis actually really important to understanding where we came from. I teach oneof the largest evolutionary biology classes in the US, and when my studentsfinally understand why I call them fish all the time, then I know I'm gettingmy job done. But I always have to start my classes by dispelling some hardwiredmyths, because without really knowing it, many of us were taught evolutionwrong.

了解你是一條魚而不是一只猴子，對于理解我們從哪里來非常重要。我在教的一個班，是在美國學(xué)習(xí)生物進(jìn)化論的最大的班級之一。當(dāng)我的學(xué)生們最終理解了為什么我總叫他們魚的時候，我明白我的目的達(dá)到了。但我總是不得不通過打破一些根深蒂固的傳說來開始我的授課，因為在沒有真正了解進(jìn)化論前，我們大多數(shù)人都被灌輸了錯誤的進(jìn)化觀念。

00:51

For instance, we're taught to say "thetheory of evolution." There are actually many theories, and just like theprocess itself, the ones that best fit the data are the ones that survive tothis day. The one we know best is Darwinian natural selection. That's theprocess by which organisms that best fit an environment survive and get toreproduce, while those that are less fit slowly die off. And that's it.Evolution is as simple as that, and it's a fact.

比如，我們被教導(dǎo)使用“進(jìn)化論”這個詞。實際上，有非常多的理論，就像這個過程本身，最能反映真實數(shù)據(jù)的理論就是那些被保存至今的理論。其中最廣為人知的理論之一就是達(dá)爾文的自然選擇論。在這種進(jìn)化方式中，最適應(yīng)環(huán)境的生物生存下來，并且得到繁衍，而那些相對來說不太適應(yīng)環(huán)境的生物，會漸漸走向消亡。就是這樣。進(jìn)化就是這么簡單，它是一種事實。

01:22

Evolution is a fact as much as the"theory of gravity." You can prove it just as easily. You just needto look at your bellybutton that you share with other placental mammals, oryour backbone that you share with other vertebrates, or your DNA that you sharewith all other life on earth. Those traits didn't pop up in humans. They werepassed down from different ancestors to all their descendants, not just us.

進(jìn)化就像重力理論一樣，是一種事實。你可以很容易地證明它。你只需要看看你的肚臍，那是你和其他胎生哺乳動物一樣的地方，或者看看你的脊椎骨，那是你和其他脊椎動物一樣的地方； 又或者你的DNA，那是你和 地球上其他生物相似的地方。這些特征并不會讓人類與眾不同。它們被不同的祖先 遺傳給它們所有的后代。并不僅僅是我們。

01:48

But that's not really how we learn biologyearly on, is it? We learn plants and bacteria are primitive things, and fishgive rise to amphibians followed by reptiles and mammals, and then you get you,this perfectly evolved creature at the end of the line. But life doesn't evolvein a line, and it doesn't end with us. But we're always shown evolution portrayedsomething like this, a monkey and a chimpanzee, some extinct humans, all on aforward and steady march to becoming us. But they don't become us any more thanwe would become them. We're also not the goal of evolution.

但這些并不是我們最早了解到的生物學(xué)，不是嗎？我們知道植物和細(xì)菌是原生生物，然后是魚類，進(jìn)一步到兩棲類，再到爬行動物和哺乳動物，之后到人類自己，在進(jìn)化的時間軸終點成為完美進(jìn)化了的生物。但生物并不是在一條軸線上進(jìn)化的，也不是在我們這里終結(jié)的。但我們總是被灌輸這樣的關(guān)于進(jìn)化論的描述：猴子，大猩猩，一些消失的類人猿，通過穩(wěn)定的進(jìn)化，最終成為了我們。但它們并不會成為我們，我們也不會成為它們。我們也不是進(jìn)化的終極目標(biāo)。

02:28

But why does it matter? Why do we need tounderstand evolution the right way? Well, misunderstanding evolution has led tomany problems, but you can't ask that age-old question, "Where are wefrom?" without understanding evolution the right way. Misunderstanding ithas led to many convoluted and corrupted views of how we should treat otherlife on earth, and how we should treat each other in terms of race and gender.

但為什么這一點這么重要呢？ 為什么我們需要 用正確的方式來理解進(jìn)化呢？ 對進(jìn)化的誤解已經(jīng)產(chǎn)生了很多問題， 但當(dāng)你沒有以正確的方式理解進(jìn)化時，你不會問這樣古老的問題，“我們從哪里來？”對進(jìn)化的誤解，已經(jīng)導(dǎo)致了許多關(guān)于我們?nèi)绾螌Υ厍蛏掀渌?，以及如何站在種族和性別的角度對待彼此的方式上的破壞性的，扭曲的觀念。

03:00

So let's go back four billion years. Thisis the single-celled organism we all came from. At first, it gave rise to othersingle-celled life, but these are still evolving to this day, and some wouldsay the Archaea and Bacteria that make up most of this group is the mostsuccessful on the planet. They are certainly going to be here well after us.

讓我們回到四十億年前。這些單細(xì)胞有機體是我們的起源。首先，它們演變成其它的單細(xì)胞生命，但這些單細(xì)胞生物今天仍在進(jìn)化，而有些人會說古細(xì)菌和細(xì)菌組成了這顆星球上 最成功的種群。它們在我們消失后一定還會存在的。

03:22

About three billion years ago,multicellularity evolved. This includes your fungi and your plants and youranimals. The first animals to develop a backbone were fishes. So technically,all vertebrates are fishes, so technically, you and I are fish. So don't say Ididn't warn you.

大約在三十億年前，出現(xiàn)了多細(xì)胞生物。這包括真菌，植物和動物。第一種進(jìn)化出脊椎的動物是魚類?？茖W(xué)地說，所有的脊椎動物都是魚。所以，科學(xué)地說，你和我都是魚。所以別說我沒有提醒過你們。

03:44

One fish lineage came onto land and gaverise to, among other things, the mammals and reptiles. Some reptiles becomebirds, some mammals become primates, some primates become monkeys with tails,and others become the great apes, including a variety of human species. So yousee, we didn't evolve from monkeys, but we do share a common ancestor withthem.

一些魚類來到岸上，然后演變成 其他的生物，哺乳動物，爬行動物。一些爬行動物變成了鳥類，一些哺乳動物變成了靈長動物，一些靈長動物變成了有尾巴的猴子，另一些變成了猿類，包括不同的人種。所以我們并不是猴子演變而來的，但我們和它們擁有同一個祖先。

04:07

All the while, life around us keptevolving: more bacteria, more fungi, lots of fish, fish, fish. If you couldn'ttell -- yes, they're my favorite group.

與此同時，我們周圍的生命也在持續(xù)進(jìn)化：出現(xiàn)了更多真菌，更多細(xì)菌，以及更多的魚，各種各樣的魚?？赡苣悴恢馈堑?，它們是我最喜歡的種群。

04:17

(Laughter)

（笑聲）

04:18

As life evolves, it also goes extinct. Mostspecies just last for a few million years. So you see, most life on earth thatwe see around us today are about the same age as our species. So it's hubris,it's self-centered to think, "Oh, plants and bacteria are primitive, andwe've been here for an evolutionary minute, so we're somehow special."

生命在進(jìn)化，也在消亡。大多數(shù)的動物僅僅存在了幾百萬年。所以你看，今天我們在地球上看到的周圍的大多數(shù)生物和我們都有著差不多的年紀(jì)。我們卻因此驕傲自大地認(rèn)為：“噢，植物和細(xì)菌是原生生物，而我們已經(jīng)進(jìn)化了一陣子，所以我們是特別的物種?！?/p>

04:39

Think of life as being this book, anunfinished book for sure. We're just seeing the last few pages of each chapter.If you look out on the eight million species that we share this planet with,think of them all being four billion years of evolution. They're all theproduct of that. Think of us all as young leaves on this ancient and gigantictree of life, all of us connected by invisible branches not just to each other,but to our extinct relatives and our evolutionary ancestors. As a biologist,I'm still trying to learn, with others, how everyone's related to each other,who is related to whom.

想想生命這部書，一定是一本尚未完成的書。我們僅僅看到了每一章的最后幾頁。如果你注意到和我們共享這顆星球的 八百萬種生物，想想它們已經(jīng)有了 四十億年的進(jìn)化歷程。它們都是進(jìn)化的產(chǎn)物。想想我們只是這古老的巨大的生命之樹中年輕的葉子，我們被看不見的枝干所連接，它們不僅僅連接了我們彼此，更連接了我們已經(jīng)滅絕的近親，以及我們進(jìn)化了的祖先。作為一名生物學(xué)家，我仍然在和他人一起探究，我們每個人是如何與其他人產(chǎn)生聯(lián)系的，誰又和誰相關(guān)聯(lián)。

05:21

Perhaps it's better still to think of us asa little fish out of water. Yes, one that learned to walk and talk, but onethat still has a lot of learning to do about who we are and where we came from.

也許這樣想更好，我們只是離開水的小小的魚。是的，一條學(xué)習(xí)了走路和說話的魚。但仍然有許多事情需要探究，關(guān)于我們是誰，我們從哪里來。

05:36

Thank you.

謝謝。

05:37

(Applause)

（掌聲）