ABOUT THE SPEAKER
Dan Dennett - Philosopher, cognitive scientist
Dan Dennett thinks that human consciousness and free will are the result of physical processes.

Why you should listen

One of our most important living philosophers, Dan Dennett is best known for his provocative and controversial arguments that human consciousness and free will are the result of physical processes in the brain. He argues that the brain's computational circuitry fools us into thinking we know more than we do, and that what we call consciousness — isn't. His 2003 book "Freedom Evolves" explores how our brains evolved to give us -- and only us -- the kind of freedom that matters, while 2006's "Breaking the Spell" examines belief through the lens of biology.

This mind-shifting perspective on the mind itself has distinguished Dennett's career as a philosopher and cognitive scientist. And while the philosophy community has never quite known what to make of Dennett (he defies easy categorization, and refuses to affiliate himself with accepted schools of thought), his computational approach to understanding the brain has made him, as Edge's John Brockman writes, “the philosopher of choice of the AI community.”

“It's tempting to say that Dennett has never met a robot he didn't like, and that what he likes most about them is that they are philosophical experiments,” Harry Blume wrote in the Atlantic Monthly in 1998. “To the question of whether machines can attain high-order intelligence, Dennett makes this provocative answer: ‘The best reason for believing that robots might some day become conscious is that we human beings are conscious, and we are a sort of robot ourselves.'"

In recent years, Dennett has become outspoken in his atheism, and his 2006 book Breaking the Spell calls for religion to be studied through the scientific lens of evolutionary biology. Dennett regards religion as a natural -- rather than supernatural -- phenomenon, and urges schools to break the taboo against empirical examination of religion. He argues that religion's influence over human behavior is precisely what makes gaining a rational understanding of it so necessary: “If we don't understand religion, we're going to miss our chance to improve the world in the 21st century.”

Dennett's landmark books include The Mind's I, co-edited with Douglas Hofstaedter, Consciousness Explained, and Darwin's Dangerous Idea. Read an excerpt from his 2013 book, Intuition Pumps, in the Guardian >>

More profile about the speaker
Dan Dennett | Speaker | TED.com
TED2002

Dan Dennett: Dangerous memes

谈危险的模因,丹尼尔·丹尼特

Filmed:
1,954,033 views

从一只蚂蚁的小故事说起,哲学家丹·丹尼特用摧枯拉朽的思想齐鸣,有力地辩护了活着的思想--模因--的存在。
- Philosopher, cognitive scientist
Dan Dennett thinks that human consciousness and free will are the result of physical processes. Full bio

Double-click the English transcript below to play the video.

00:25
How many许多 Creationists神创论 do we have in the room房间?
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我们这儿有多少神创论者?
00:28
Probably大概 none没有. I think we're all Darwinians达尔文主义.
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可能没有。我估计都是达尔文主义者。
00:31
And yet然而 many许多 Darwinians达尔文主义 are anxious, a little uneasy不安 --
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可是很多达尔文主义者都有点急切不安,
00:38
would like to see some limits范围 on just how far the Darwinism达尔文主义 goes.
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想看看达尔文主义的极限,看它到底能走多远。
00:43
It's all right.
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没问题
00:45
You know spiderwebs蜘蛛网? Sure, they are products制品 of evolution演化.
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你知道蜘蛛网吗?当然了,这是进化来的。
00:49
The World世界 Wide Web卷筒纸? Not so sure.
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万维网呢?不太确定。
00:53
Beaver海狸 dams水坝, yes. Hoover胡佛 Dam, no.
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海狸窝,是。胡佛大坝,不是。
00:55
What do they think it is that prevents防止 the products制品 of human人的 ingenuity创造力
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是什么让他们认为
01:01
from being存在 themselves他们自己, fruits水果 of the tree of life,
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人的智慧不是生命之树的果实
01:04
and hence于是, in some sense, obeying服从 evolutionary发展的 rules规则?
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因而在某种意义上,不遵守进化的法则呢?
01:10
And yet然而 people are interestingly有趣 resistant
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人们很有趣地抵制这个想法:
01:14
to the idea理念 of applying应用 evolutionary发展的 thinking思维 to thinking思维 -- to our thinking思维.
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抵制把进化论应用到“思维”--我们的思维--上。
01:21
And so I'm going to talk a little bit about that,
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我将对此发表些看法
01:25
keeping保持 in mind心神 that we have a lot on the program程序 here.
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同时提醒自己,节目上还有很多其他的内容呢。
01:29
So you're out in the woods树木, or you're out in the pasture牧场,
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设想一下你现在身处森林里,或者在田园中
01:33
and you see this ant蚂蚁 crawling爬行 up this blade of grass.
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你看见一只蚂蚁正爬上一片草叶
01:36
It climbs攀登 up to the top最佳, and it falls下降,
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它爬到顶上,又落下来
01:39
and it climbs攀登, and it falls下降, and it climbs攀登 --
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然后又爬到顶,又落下来,然后又爬——
01:42
trying to stay at the very top最佳 of the blade of grass.
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总想停留在草叶的最尖端
01:46
What is this ant蚂蚁 doing? What is this in aid援助 of?
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它在干吗?它想做什么?
01:51
What goals目标 is this ant蚂蚁 trying to achieve实现 by climbing攀登 this blade of grass?
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试图爬到草的尖端,想达到什么目的?
01:58
What's in it for the ant蚂蚁?
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那里对于蚂蚁而言有什么呢?
02:00
And the answer回答 is: nothing. There's nothing in it for the ant蚂蚁.
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答案是:什么也没有。对于蚂蚁,那里什么也没有
02:06
Well then, why is it doing this?
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那为什么要这么做呢?
02:09
Is it just a fluke吸虫?
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它只是侥幸吗?
02:11
Yeah, it's just a fluke吸虫. It's a lancet柳叶刀 fluke吸虫.
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是的,它只是个侥幸。它叫枝双腔吸虫。
02:18
It's a little brain worm.
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是个在大脑里的小虫子
02:20
It's a parasitic寄生 brain worm that has to get into the stomach of a sheep or a cow
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这种大脑里的虫子,要钻进羊或者牛的腹部
02:25
in order订购 to continue继续 its life cycle周期.
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来继续自己的生命周期
02:28
Salmon三文鱼 swim游泳 upstream上游 to get to their spawning产卵 grounds理由,
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三文鱼逆流而上而到达卵场
02:33
and lancet柳叶刀 flukes吸虫 commandeer征用 a passing通过 ant蚂蚁,
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枝双腔吸虫霸占一只路过的蚂蚁
02:37
crawl爬行 into its brain, and drive驾驶 it up a blade of grass like an all-terrain全地形 vehicle车辆.
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爬进它的大脑,像驾着越野车一样使它爬上草叶的顶端,
02:42
So there's nothing in it for the ant蚂蚁.
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所以对于蚂蚁来说,那里一无所有
02:46
The ant's蚂蚁的 brain has been hijacked劫持 by a parasite寄生物 that infects感染 the brain,
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这蚂蚁的大脑,被寄生虫劫持了
02:54
inducing感应 suicidal自杀 behavior行为.
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继而产生了自杀行为
02:58
Pretty漂亮 scary害怕.
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相当可怕
03:00
Well, does anything like that happen发生 with human人的 beings众生?
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那么,类似的事情发生在人类身上吗?
03:05
This is all on behalf代表 of a cause原因 other than one's那些 own拥有 genetic遗传 fitness身体素质, of course课程.
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当然,这完全不以某人的基因适应性的名义
03:10
Well, it may可能 already已经 have occurred发生 to you
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你可能已经猜到了
03:15
that Islam伊斯兰教 means手段 "surrender投降," or "submission服从 of self-interest自我利益 to the will of Allah真主."
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“伊斯兰”的意思,是“投降”,或者“自我利益服从于真主的意志”
03:25
Well, it's ideas思路 -- not worms蠕虫 -- that hijack劫持 our brains大脑.
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劫持我们大脑的,是思想,不是虫子
03:31
Now, am I saying that a sizable可观 minority少数民族 of the world's世界 population人口
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那我是不是说,世界人口的一小部分
03:36
has had their brain hijacked劫持 by parasitic寄生 ideas思路?
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大脑已经被寄生思想劫持了呢?
03:43
No, it's worse更差 than that.
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不是。比这还糟。
03:45
Most people have.
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“大部分人”都已经被劫持了
03:49
(Laughter笑声)
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(笑声)
03:53
There are a lot of ideas思路 to die for.
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让人献身的思想有很多
03:55
Freedom自由, if you're from New Hampshire汉普郡.
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自由--如果你来自新罕布什尔
03:58
(Laughter笑声)
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(笑声)
04:02
Justice正义. Truth真相. Communism共产主义.
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正义,真理,共产主义
04:06
Many许多 people have laid铺设 down their lives生活 for communism共产主义,
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很多人为共产主义而死掉了
04:09
and many许多 have laid铺设 down their lives生活 for capitalism资本主义.
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也很多为了资本主义而死掉了
04:12
And many许多 for Catholicism天主教. And many许多 for Islam伊斯兰教.
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很多为天主教献身,也很多为伊斯兰教
04:16
These are just a few少数 of the ideas思路 that are to die for.
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这只是一小部分使人献身的思想
04:21
They're infectious传染病.
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它们都具传染性
04:24
Yesterday昨天, Amory艾默里 Lovins洛文斯 spoke about "infectious传染病 repititisrepititis."
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昨天,阿莫锐·陆文斯(Amory Lovins)提到了"传染性的复制"
04:28
It was a term术语 of abuse滥用, in effect影响.
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那其实是个贬义词。
04:31
This is unthinking没头没脑 engineering工程.
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这是未经思考的工程设计。
04:33
Well, most of the cultural文化 spread传播 that goes on
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大部分文化的传播,
04:37
is not brilliant辉煌, new, out-of-the-box盒子外面 thinking思维.
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并不是伟大、崭新、拿来就用的思想。
04:41
It's "infectious传染病 repetitisrepetitis,"
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只是传染性的复制。
04:43
and we might威力 as well try to have a theory理论 of what's going on when that happens发生
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或许有一套解释它的理论
04:48
so that we can understand理解 the conditions条件 of infection感染.
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让人能理解传染所需的条件。
04:54
Hosts主机 work hard to spread传播 these ideas思路 to others其他.
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寄主努力传播思想给他人。
05:01
I myself am a philosopher哲学家, and one of our occupational职业 hazards危害
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我自己是一个哲学家。我们这个行业的公害之一
05:07
is that people ask us what the meaning含义 of life is.
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就是总被问到生命的意义是什么
05:11
And you have to have a bumper保险杠 sticker贴纸,
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你必须得有个保险杠贴纸
05:14
you know. You have to have a statement声明.
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你知道,某种宣言式的东西
05:17
So, this is mine.
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我的是这个
05:19
The secret秘密 of happiness幸福 is: Find something more important重要 than you are
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幸福的秘密在于:寻找某种比你更重要的东西
05:23
and dedicate奉献 your life to it.
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并把生命投入其中
05:25
Most of us -- now that the "Me Decade" is well in the past过去 --
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我们中的大多数--“‘我’的时代”已经过去了--
05:29
now we actually其实 do this.
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是这样做的
05:31
One set of ideas思路 or another另一个
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这样或者那样的一套理论
05:34
have simply只是 replaced更换 our biological生物 imperatives当务之急 in our own拥有 lives生活.
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取代了我们生命中的、生物学上的使命
05:38
This is what our summum至善 bonum博纳姆 is.
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此乃我们的最高价值之所在
05:41
It's not maximizing最大化 the number of grandchildren孙子 we have.
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而非最大化我们的儿孙数
05:44
Now, this is a profound深刻 biological生物 effect影响.
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请注意,这是个意义深刻的生物学效应
05:48
It's the subordination of genetic遗传 interest利益 to other interests利益.
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这是基因利益对其他利益的服从
05:51
And no other species种类 does anything at all like it.
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而且没有任何其他物种这么做
05:55
Well, how are we going to think about this?
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我们对此应该作何感想?
05:57
It is, on the one hand, a biological生物 effect影响, and a very large one.
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一方面,这是生物学上的效应,很大的一个。
06:01
Unmistakable明白的.
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毫无疑问。
06:03
Now, what theories理论 do we want to use to look at this?
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我们用什么理论来探查它呢?
06:06
Well, many许多 theories理论. But how could something tie领带 them together一起?
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有很多的理论。但什么才能使他们得到统一?
06:09
The idea理念 of replicating复制 ideas思路;
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那就是“复制思想”这个主意
06:12
ideas思路 that replicate复制 by passing通过 from brain to brain.
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即那些在大脑之间传递而得到复制的思想
06:17
Richard理查德 Dawkins道金斯, whom you'll你会 be hearing听力 later后来 in the day, invented发明 the term术语 "memes模因,"
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今天晚些时候你们会听理查德·道金斯(Richard Dawkins)的演讲。他发明了“模因”这个词
06:22
and put forward前锋 the first really clear明确 and vivid生动 version of this idea理念
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并第一次清晰生动阐释地解释了“模因”
06:27
in his book "The Selfish自私 Gene基因."
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就在他《自私的基因》这本书里
06:29
Now here am I talking about his idea理念.
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我在这里说说他的思想
06:32
Well, you see, it's not his. Yes -- he started开始 it.
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当然,你也知道,现在这已经不是他的了。尽管他创造了它
06:38
But it's everybody's每个人的 idea理念 now.
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现在,它属于所有人
06:41
And he's not responsible主管 for what I say about memes模因.
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他不为我说的负责
06:45
I'm responsible主管 for what I say about memes模因.
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我负责
06:50
Actually其实, I think we're all responsible主管
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事实上,我认为我们都要为其负责
06:53
for not just the intended effects效果 of our ideas思路,
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不仅仅为我们思想意图达到的效果
06:59
but for their likely容易 misuses滥用.
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还要为对它们潜在的错误使用负责
07:03
So it is important重要, I think, to Richard理查德, and to me,
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所以我想,对我和理查德(道金斯)而言,很重要的事
07:07
that these ideas思路 not be abused滥用 and misused误用.
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就是确保这些想法不被误用或者滥用
07:11
They're very easy简单 to misuse滥用. That's why they're dangerous危险.
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它们很容易被误用。这也是它们的危险之处
07:14
And it's just about a full-time全职 job工作
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这几乎是一份全职工作
07:17
trying to prevent避免 people who are scared害怕 of these ideas思路
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来防止害怕这些想法的人
07:20
from caricaturing讽刺 them and then running赛跑 off to one dire可怕的 purpose目的 or another另一个.
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去讽刺这些思想,然后跑去做一件又一件可怕的事
07:28
So we have to keep plugging堵漏 away,
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所以我们必须坚持不懈地
07:31
trying to correct正确 the misapprehensions误解
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不断试图矫正各种误解
07:33
so that only the benign良性 and useful有用 variants变种 of our ideas思路 continue继续 to spread传播.
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确保只有思想中有用的、无害的部分得到传播
07:41
But it is a problem问题.
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但这是个问题。
07:45
We don't have much time, and I'm going to go over just a little bit of this and cut out,
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我们的时间不多了,所以我就说一点点,然后打住
07:50
because there's a lot of other things that are going to be said.
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因为还有很多其他的内容
07:53
So let me just point out: memes模因 are like viruses病毒.
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我想说的是:模因就像病毒
07:58
That's what Richard理查德 said, back in '93.
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这是理查德在93年说的
08:00
And you might威力 think, "Well, how can that be?
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你可能在想:这怎么可能?
08:02
I mean, a virus病毒 is -- you know, it's stuff东东! What's a meme米姆 made制作 of?"
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你知道,病毒是个“东西”!模因是什么构成的呢?
08:09
Yesterday昨天, Negroponte内格罗蓬特 was talking about viral病毒 telecommunications电信
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昨天,尼葛洛庞帝提到了病毒电子通讯
08:14
but -- what's a virus病毒?
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但什么是病毒?
08:15
A virus病毒 is a string of nucleic核酸 acid with attitude态度.
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病毒是一串有态度的核酸
08:19
(Laughter笑声)
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(笑声)
08:20
That is, there is something about it
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也就是说,它有某种东西
08:22
that tends趋向 to make it replicate复制 better than the competition竞争 does.
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这东西使它在复制的比赛中脱颖而出
08:26
And that's what a meme米姆 is. It's an information信息 packet with attitude态度.
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这也就是模因;有态度的一包信息
08:30
What's a meme米姆 made制作 of? What are bits made制作 of, Mom妈妈?
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模因是由什么构成的?“妈妈,比特是由什么构成的?”
08:36
Not silicon.
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反正不是硅
08:38
They're made制作 of information信息, and can be carried携带的 in any physical物理 medium.
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他们是信息构成的,载体可以是任何物理媒介
08:42
What's a word made制作 of?
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单词是什么构成的?
08:44
Sometimes有时 when people say, "Do memes模因 exist存在?"
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有时候人们说:“模因存在吗?”
08:49
I say, "Well, do words exist存在? Are they in your ontology本体论?"
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我说:“单词存在吗?它们在你的本体论里吗?”
08:53
If they are, words are memes模因 that can be pronounced宣判.
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如果在,单词就是可以发音的模因
08:58
Then there's all the other memes模因 that can't be pronounced宣判.
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那么也有其他不能发音的模因
09:01
There are different不同 species种类 of memes模因.
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它们是模因中的不同物种
09:09
Remember记得 the Shakers摇床? Gift礼品 to be simple简单?
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还记得震教徒吗?天赋简朴?
09:13
Simple简单, beautiful美丽 furniture家具?
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漂亮而简单的家具?
09:16
And, of course课程, they're basically基本上 extinct绝种 now.
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当然了,他们基本上已经灭绝了。
09:19
And one of the reasons原因 is that among其中 the creed信条 of Shaker-dom沙克尔-DOM
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其中的一个原因是,他们的信条当中,
09:25
is that one should be celibate独身.
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有一条求要独身。
09:27
Not just the priests牧师. Everybody每个人.
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不光是牧师,所有人都要。
09:29
Well, it's not so surprising奇怪 that they've他们已经 gone走了 extinct绝种. (Laughter笑声)
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它们灭绝也就不奇怪了(笑声)
09:37
But in fact事实 that's not why they went extinct绝种.
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事实上,这不是他们消失的原因。
09:42
They survived幸存 as long as they did
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他们维持了很久。
09:45
at a time when the social社会 safety安全 nets weren't there.
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那时候还没有社会保障制度,
09:47
And there were lots of widows寡妇 and orphans孤儿,
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有很多的鳏寡和孤儿,
09:50
people like that, who needed需要 a foster培育 home.
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这些需要收容的人。
09:53
And so they had a ready准备 supply供应 of converts转换.
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所以他们有个皈依信徒的供应链。
09:56
And they could keep it going.
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这样他们就不会绝迹。
09:58
And, in principle原理, it could've可能已经 gone走了 on forever永远,
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理论上说,他们可以永远这样下去,
10:00
with perfect完善 celibacy独身 on the part部分 of the hosts主机.
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尽管寄主们都是独身的。
10:03
The idea理念 being存在 passed通过 on through通过 proselytizing传教,
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思想通过皈依得到传递,
10:08
instead代替 of through通过 the gene基因 line线.
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而不是基因线。
10:13
So the ideas思路 can live生活 on in spite尽管 of the fact事实
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所以思想可以一直传播下去,
10:17
that they're not being存在 passed通过 on genetically基因.
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尽管并没有通过基因。
10:20
A meme米姆 can flourish繁荣 in spite尽管 of having a negative impact碰撞 on genetic遗传 fitness身体素质.
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纵使模因对生物基因的适合度有负面影响,
10:24
After all, the meme米姆 for Shaker-dom沙克尔-DOM was essentially实质上 a sterilizing消毒 parasite寄生物.
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毕竟震教徒们的模因本质上是令人绝育的寄生虫
10:33
There are other parasites寄生虫 that do this -- which哪一个 render给予 the host主办 sterile无菌.
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有很多这种让寄主不育的寄生虫
10:40
It's part部分 of their plan计划.
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它们的计划就是如此
10:42
They don't have to have minds头脑 to have a plan计划.
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它们不需要心灵来做计划
10:47
I'm just going to draw your attention注意 to just one
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我只指出模因视角的许多含义里面,
10:52
of the many许多 implications启示 of the memetic模因 perspective透视, which哪一个 I recommend推荐.
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我所推荐的一个。
11:01
I've not time to go into more of it.
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我没时间讲多些
11:03
In Jared贾里德 Diamond's钻石 wonderful精彩 book, "Guns枪炮, Germs病菌 and Steel,"
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在贾雷德·戴蒙德《枪炮,细菌和钢铁》这本奇书中
11:07
he talks会谈 about how it was germs病菌, more than guns枪炮 and steel,
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他谈到为什么是细菌,而不是枪炮和钢铁
11:13
that conquered征服 the new hemisphere半球 -- the Western西 hemisphere半球 --
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征服了新半球--也就是西半球
11:18
that conquered征服 the rest休息 of the world世界.
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然后西半球又征服了世界的其他部分。
11:20
When European欧洲的 explorers探险 and travelers旅客 spread传播 out,
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当欧洲的探险家和旅行者们分散出去
11:27
they brought with them the germs病菌
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他们也随身带去了
11:29
that they had become成为 essentially实质上 immune免疫的 to,
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他们已经形成免疫的细菌
11:32
that they had learned学到了 how to tolerate容忍 over
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他们已经可以相安无事了
11:35
hundreds数以百计 and hundreds数以百计 of years年份, thousands数千 of years年份,
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成百上千年来,
11:38
of living活的 with domesticated animals动物 who were the sources来源 of those pathogens病原体.
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他们同带有病原体的驯养的动物们一起生存
11:43
And they just wiped out -- these pathogens病原体 just wiped out the native本地人 people,
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然后它们--那些病原体们--彻底摧毁了原住民们
11:48
who had no immunity免疫 to them at all.
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因为原住民对它们毫无免疫力
11:51
And we're doing it again.
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现在我们又在做同样的事
11:55
We're doing it this time with toxic有毒的 ideas思路.
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这次我们用的是有毒的思想。
12:00
Yesterday昨天, a number of people -- Nicholas尼古拉斯 Negroponte内格罗蓬特 and others其他 --
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昨天,尼古拉斯·尼葛洛庞帝等人
12:04
spoke about all the wonderful精彩 things
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说到了这些奇妙的事情
12:06
that are happening事件 when our ideas思路 get spread传播 out,
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这些当思想得到传播时发生的事
12:09
thanks谢谢 to all the new technology技术 all over the world世界.
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这要归功于世界范围内的新科学技术
12:11
And I agree同意. It is largely大部分 wonderful精彩. Largely大部分 wonderful精彩.
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这一点,我同意。绝大部分都是美妙的。绝大部分。
12:17
But among其中 all those ideas思路 that inevitably必将 flow out into the whole整个 world世界
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可是,当它们无可避免,传遍世界时
12:25
thanks谢谢 to our technology技术, are a lot of toxic有毒的 ideas思路.
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也夹带着有毒思想--同样归功于我们的科技。
12:30
Now, this has been realized实现 for some time.
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这已经发生一段时间了
12:33
Sayyid赛义德 Qutb库特布 is one of the founding创建 fathers父亲 of fanatical狂热的 Islam伊斯兰教,
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萨伊德·库(Sayyid Qutb)是狂热伊斯兰教的创始人之一
12:39
one of the ideologues空想家 that inspired启发 Osama乌萨马 bin箱子 Laden拉登.
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也是奥萨马·本拉登的灵感源泉之一
12:44
"One has only to glance一瞥 at its press films影片, fashion时尚 shows节目, beauty美女 contests竞赛,
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“看看新闻、电影、时装表演、选美比赛
12:49
ballrooms宴会厅, wine红酒 bars酒吧 and broadcasting广播 stations." Memes模因.
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舞会大厅、葡萄酒吧和广播电台”。模因。
12:55
These memes模因 are spreading传播 around the world世界
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模因正遍及世界
12:59
and they are wiping out whole整个 cultures文化.
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整个儿地消灭文化
13:04
They are wiping out languages语言.
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消灭语言
13:06
They are wiping out traditions传统 and practices做法.
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消灭传统和习俗。
13:11
And it's not our fault故障, anymore than it's our fault故障 when our germs病菌 lay铺设 waste浪费
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这不能怪我们,正如我们的细菌摧毁原住民
13:19
to people that haven't没有 developed发达 the immunity免疫.
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也不是我们的错
13:22
We have an immunity免疫 to all of the junk破烂 that lies around the edges边缘 of our culture文化.
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对自己文化边缘的各种破烂货,我们都有免疫
13:28
We're a free自由 society社会, so we let pornography色情 and all these things -- we shrug them off.
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我们是自由的社会,色情这些东西,我们也不在乎
13:34
They're like a mild温和 cold.
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就像感冒发烧一样
13:36
They're not a big deal合同 for us.
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没什么大不了
13:38
But we should recognize认识 that for many许多 people in the world世界,
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但我们应当意识到,对于世界上很多人
13:42
they are a big deal合同.
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这可是至关重要的
13:46
And we should be very alert警报 to this.
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我们应该保持警惕
13:49
As we spread传播 our education教育 and our technology技术,
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传播科技、教育时
13:52
one of the things that we are doing is we're the vectors矢量 of memes模因
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我们成了模因的媒介生物
14:00
that are correctly正确地 viewed观看 by the hosts主机 of many许多 other memes模因
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其他寄主正确地视我们为敌
14:06
as a dire可怕的 threat威胁 to their favorite喜爱 memes模因 --
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他们模因的可怕敌人
14:09
the memes模因 that they are prepared准备 to die for.
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他们最爱的、为之献身的模因
14:12
Well now, how are we going to tell the good memes模因 from the bad memes模因?
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如何区分模因的好坏呢?
14:16
That is not the job工作 of the science科学 of memetics模因论.
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这并不是模因学的工作
14:21
Memetics模因论 is morally道德 neutral中性. And so it should be.
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模因学在道德上是中性的。并且理应如此。
14:27
This is not the place地点 for hate讨厌 and anger愤怒.
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这里没有爱恨。
14:31
If you've had a friend朋友 who's谁是 died死亡 of AIDS艾滋病, then you hate讨厌 HIVHIV.
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若朋友死于艾滋病,你会恨HIV
14:36
But the way to deal合同 with that is to do science科学,
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但对付病毒的,是科学
14:40
and understand理解 how it spreads利差 and why in a morally道德 neutral中性 perspective透视.
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从中立的角度,探究病毒为何、如何传播
14:47
Get the facts事实.
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实事求是
14:49
Work out the implications启示.
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探明含义
14:53
There's plenty丰富 of room房间 for moral道德 passion once一旦 we've我们已经 got the facts事实
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有了事实,道德情感自然有发挥的空间
14:57
and can figure数字 out the best最好 thing to do.
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然后再决定应该做什么
14:59
And, as with germs病菌, the trick is not to try to annihilate歼灭 them.
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对于细菌,秘诀在于,不要试图消灭它们
15:04
You will never annihilate歼灭 the germs病菌.
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你永远消灭不了细菌
15:07
What you can do, however然而, is foster培育 public上市 health健康 measures措施 and the like
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你能做的,就是加强公共卫生之类的措施
15:13
that will encourage鼓励 the evolution演化 of avirulence无毒.
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鼓励病原性的进化
15:19
That will encourage鼓励 the spread传播 of relatively相对 benign良性 mutations突变
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鼓励毒性最强的变种
15:26
of the most toxic有毒的 varieties品种.
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进行良性的变异
15:29
That's all the time I have,
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我的时间就这么多
15:32
so thank you very much for your attention注意.
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非常感谢你们的关注
Translated by Tiezheng Duan
Reviewed by Haohao Chen

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ABOUT THE SPEAKER
Dan Dennett - Philosopher, cognitive scientist
Dan Dennett thinks that human consciousness and free will are the result of physical processes.

Why you should listen

One of our most important living philosophers, Dan Dennett is best known for his provocative and controversial arguments that human consciousness and free will are the result of physical processes in the brain. He argues that the brain's computational circuitry fools us into thinking we know more than we do, and that what we call consciousness — isn't. His 2003 book "Freedom Evolves" explores how our brains evolved to give us -- and only us -- the kind of freedom that matters, while 2006's "Breaking the Spell" examines belief through the lens of biology.

This mind-shifting perspective on the mind itself has distinguished Dennett's career as a philosopher and cognitive scientist. And while the philosophy community has never quite known what to make of Dennett (he defies easy categorization, and refuses to affiliate himself with accepted schools of thought), his computational approach to understanding the brain has made him, as Edge's John Brockman writes, “the philosopher of choice of the AI community.”

“It's tempting to say that Dennett has never met a robot he didn't like, and that what he likes most about them is that they are philosophical experiments,” Harry Blume wrote in the Atlantic Monthly in 1998. “To the question of whether machines can attain high-order intelligence, Dennett makes this provocative answer: ‘The best reason for believing that robots might some day become conscious is that we human beings are conscious, and we are a sort of robot ourselves.'"

In recent years, Dennett has become outspoken in his atheism, and his 2006 book Breaking the Spell calls for religion to be studied through the scientific lens of evolutionary biology. Dennett regards religion as a natural -- rather than supernatural -- phenomenon, and urges schools to break the taboo against empirical examination of religion. He argues that religion's influence over human behavior is precisely what makes gaining a rational understanding of it so necessary: “If we don't understand religion, we're going to miss our chance to improve the world in the 21st century.”

Dennett's landmark books include The Mind's I, co-edited with Douglas Hofstaedter, Consciousness Explained, and Darwin's Dangerous Idea. Read an excerpt from his 2013 book, Intuition Pumps, in the Guardian >>

More profile about the speaker
Dan Dennett | Speaker | TED.com