ABOUT THE SPEAKER
John Lloyd - Producer
John Lloyd helps make some of the cleverest television in the UK.

Why you should listen

John Lloyd seems to have known every brilliant and funny person in Britain, and his collaborations are legendary. He's been a fixture on the BBC for four decades, producing such classic comedies as Blackadder, Spitting Image, the BBC's Hitchhiker's Guide to the Galaxy and lately QI (short for "Quite Interesting"), hosted by Stephen Fry (read his Reddit AMA about it).

Lloyd has also written more than a dozen funny books -- including The Meaning of Liff, a collaboration with his friend Douglas Adams, which has been in print for 26 years.

More profile about the speaker
John Lloyd | Speaker | TED.com
TED-Ed

John Lloyd: An animated tour of the invisible

Filmed:
2,265,200 views

Gravity. The stars in day. Thoughts. The human genome. Time. Atoms. So much of what really matters in the world is impossible to see. A stunning animation of John Lloyd's classic TEDTalk from 2009, which will make you question what you actually know.
- Producer
John Lloyd helps make some of the cleverest television in the UK. Full bio

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

(音乐)
00:15
(Circus马戏团 music音乐)
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00:21
[Ted摊晒 N'n' Ed's艾德 Carnival狂欢]
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[Ted N' Ed 的嘉年华会;每日开放 – –开放一整天;Yew Chube Common – Google 高速道路入口]
00:24
[John约翰 Lloyd's劳埃德的 Inventory库存 of the Invisible无形]
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[John Lloyd 隐形物的清单]
00:39
[Adapted适应 from a TEDTalkTED演讲
given特定 by John约翰 Lloyd劳埃德 in 2009]
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[改编自 2009 年John Lloyd 的TED 演说]
我们接下来的讲者已经用他一整个
职业生涯探索这种奇妙的感觉,
00:41
June六月 Cohen科恩: Our next下一个 speaker扬声器
has spent花费 his whole整个 career事业
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00:44
eliciting诱发作用 that sense of wonder奇迹.
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请欢迎 John Lloyd。(掌声)
00:45
Please welcome欢迎 John约翰 Lloyd劳埃德.
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00:47
(Applause掌声)
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问题是: 什么是那不可见之物?
00:48
[Hall大厅 of Mirrors镜子]
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00:50
The question is, "What is invisible无形?"
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事实上,在你可以想见的之外
还存在许多物质。
00:53
There's more of it
than you think, actually其实.
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00:55
Everything, I would say --
everything that matters事项 --
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一切,我会说,一切有关的物质,
00:58
Except every一切 thing, and except matter.
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除了每个物质,以及,除了物质。
01:02
We can see matter
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我们可以看到问题,
01:04
but we can't see what's the matter.
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但我们不能看到关联着这问题的是什么,
01:06
We can see the stars明星 and the planets行星
but we can't see what holds持有 them apart距离,
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我们可以可以见到恒星与行星,
但我们看不到是什么使它们互相分隔,
01:11
or what draws them together一起.
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或者是什么吸引它们在一起。
01:14
With matter as with people,
we see only the skin皮肤 of things,
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物质如同人类,我们只能看到表像,
我们不能进入引擎室,我们看不到
关联着人一举一动之物是什么,
01:17
we can't see into the engine发动机 room房间,
we can't see what makes品牌 people tick,
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01:20
at least最小 not without difficulty困难,
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至少,这很困难,
当我们愈是近看所有一切,
01:22
and the closer接近 we look at anything,
the more it disappears消失.
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这一切消失地愈多。
01:26
In fact事实, if you look
really closely密切 at stuff东东,
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事实上,如果你真的密切注视一物,
如果你看看物质的基本构造,
01:28
if you look at the basic基本
substructure of matter,
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01:30
there isn't anything there.
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那儿空无一物。电子会消失,只剩下能量。
01:32
Electrons电子 disappear消失 in a kind of fuzz模糊,
and there is only energy能源.
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关于不可见之物的趣事
就是,我们若无法看到
01:35
One of the interesting有趣 things
about invisibility隐形 is,
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01:37
the things that we can's可以是 see,
we also can't understand理解.
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我们便无从理解。
01:40
Gravity重力 is one thing that we can't see,
and which哪一个 we don't understand理解.
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重力即是如此,我们看不到它,
我们对它便一无所悉,
01:44
It's the least最小 understood了解
of all the four fundamental基本的 forces军队,
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它是所有四种基本力中最神秘的、
也是最弱的,并没有人真正
知道它是什么,或者它为何如此。
01:47
and the weakest最弱, and nobody没有人 really
knows知道 what it is or why it's there.
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01:51
For what it's worth价值, Sir先生 Isaac艾萨克 Newton牛顿,
the greatest最大 scientist科学家 who ever lived生活,
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信不信由你,最伟大的科学家艾萨克·牛顿爵士认为
耶稣就是特地为了
操纵重力杠杆而来到地球的。
01:55
he thought Jesus耶稣 came来了
to Earth地球 specifically特别
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01:57
to operate操作 the levers杠杆 of gravity重力.
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01:59
That's what he thought he was there for.
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那是他认为他在那儿的原因。
所以,聪明的家伙,
可能也会出错,我不知道。(笑声)
02:01
So, bright guy, could be wrong错误
on that one, I don't know.
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02:04
(Laughter笑声)
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意识。我看到你们的脸 ,
却不知道你们在想什么。
02:05
Consciousness意识. I see all your faces面孔;
I've no idea理念 what any of you are thinking思维.
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02:09
Isn't that amazing惊人?
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我们无法阅读对方的心思,
那不是很棒、很妙的事吗?
02:10
Isn't it incredible难以置信 that we can't read
each other's其他 minds头脑,
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我们可以彼此接触,嗯,或者,
品尝彼此,在我们很接近彼此的时候,
但我们仍然无法阅读对方的想法。
02:13
when we can touch触摸 each other,
taste味道 each other,
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02:16
perhaps也许, if we get close enough足够,
but we can't read each other's其他 minds头脑.
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我觉得这相当奇特。
02:19
I find that quite相当 astonishing惊人.
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02:20
In the Sufi苏菲 faith信仰,
this great Middle中间 Eastern religion宗教
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在苏菲的信仰中,在这个伟大的、
被认为是所有宗教之根的中东信仰中,
02:23
which哪一个 some claim要求
is the root of all religions宗教,
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苏菲的所有大师们都熟稔读心术,于是他们说,
02:26
Sufi苏菲 masters主人 are
all telepathstelepaths, so they say,
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02:31
but their main主要 exercise行使 of telepathy感应
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他们主要行使的心灵感应能力
是发出强而有力的信号,
对我们剩下的所有不存在的人,
02:33
is to send发送 out powerful强大 signals信号
to the rest休息 of us that it doesn't exist存在.
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02:37
So that's why we don't think it exists存在;
the Sufi苏菲 masters主人 working加工 on us.
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这就是为什么我们不觉得它存在;
我们不觉得苏菲派大师对我们曾经做过努力。
02:41
In the question of consciousness意识
and artificial人造 intelligence情报,
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关于意识和人工智能技术的问题,
02:45
artificial人造 intelligence情报 has really,
like the study研究 of consciousness意识,
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人工智能真的就如同意识的研究,
我们毫无进展,我们仍然
不知道意识是如何运作的,
02:48
gotten得到 nowhere无处, we have no idea理念
how consciousness意识 works作品.
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他们不仅没有创建人工智能,
02:51
Not only have they not created创建
artificial人造 intelligence情报,
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他们也还没造出人工愚蠢。
02:53
they haven't没有 yet然而 created创建
artificial人造 stupidity糊涂事.
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02:56
(Laughter笑声)
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02:57
The laws法律 of physics物理: invisible无形,
eternal永恒, omnipresent无所不在, all powerful强大.
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物理定律: 不可见之物,永恒,无所不在,无上至高的力量。
03:02
Remind提醒 you of anyone任何人?
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这让你想起谁吗?
03:04
Interesting有趣.
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有趣。如同你所猜到的,我不是
唯物主义者,我是一个非唯物主义者,
03:05
I'm, as you can guess猜测,
not a materialist唯物主义者, I'm an immaterialistimmaterialist.
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而且我发现一个非常有用的新词:不可知论者 (ignostic)。是吧?我是不可知论者,[神?]
03:08
And I've found发现 a very useful有用
new word -- ignosticignostic.
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03:11
Okay? I'm an ignosticignostic.
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03:12
[God?]
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在有人正确地定义这个术语前,
03:13
I refuse垃圾 to be drawn on the question
on whether是否 God exists存在
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我拒绝涉入任何关于上帝存在与否的问题。
03:16
until直到 somebody properly正确 defines定义 the terms条款.
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03:18
Another另一个 thing we can't see
is the human人的 genome基因组.
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我们不能看到的另一件事,是人类基因组。
03:21
And this is increasingly日益 peculiar奇特,
because about 20 years年份 ago
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这变得越来越奇怪,因为大约 20 年前
03:26
when they started开始 delving在深入研究 into the genome基因组,
they thought it would probably大概 contain包含
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当他们开始探究基因图谱时,
他们以为它可能会包含
大约 10 万个基因。打从那时开始,
03:30
around 100 thousand genes基因.
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03:31
Every一切 year since以来,
it's been revised修订 downwards向下.
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每年它都被调低。现在我们认为,
在人类基因组中,可能恰恰包含了
03:34
We now think there are likely容易
to be just over 20 thousand genes基因
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03:38
in the human人的 genome基因组.
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二万多一点点的基因。
03:39
This is extraordinary非凡,
because rice白饭 -- get this --
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这是相当非凡的,因为稻米,看看这,
03:42
rice白饭 is known已知 to have 38 thousand genes基因.
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我们已知稻米含有三万八千个基因,
03:45
Potatoes土豆 have 48 chromosomes染色体,
two more than people,
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马铃薯:马铃薯拥有 48 对染色体,比人多两个,
但和一只大猩猩相同。(笑声)
03:50
and the same相同 as a gorilla大猩猩.
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03:52
(Laughter笑声)
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03:55
You can't see these things,
but they are very strange奇怪.
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你无法看到这些东西,但它们都很奇怪。
03:58
The stars明星 by day, I always
think that's fascinating迷人.
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白天的星星,我总为之着迷。
04:01
The universe宇宙 disappears消失.
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宇宙会消失。你看到的光多,
你能够见到的物质却越少。
04:02
The more light there is,
the less you can see.
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时间。没有人能够看到时间。
04:05
Time. Nobody没有人 can see time.
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04:08
I don't know if you know this.
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我不知道是否你知道这点。现代物理学家
— — 有个现代物理学中的大运动
04:09
There's a big movement运动 in modern现代 physics物理
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04:12
to decide决定 that time doesn't really exist存在,
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确定时间并不真的存在,
因为它对数字来说太不方便了。
04:14
because it's too inconvenient不方便
for the figures人物.
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如果它并不真的存在,这便容易多了。
04:16
It's much easier更轻松 if it's not really there.
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04:18
You can't see the future未来, obviously明显,
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很明显,你见不到未来,
04:21
and you can't see the past过去,
except in your memory记忆.
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你也看不到过去,除了在你的记忆之中。
04:23
One of the interesting有趣
things about the past过去
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关于过去的一个很有趣的事情之一,
就是你特别看不见 — —
04:26
is you particularly尤其 can't see --
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有天,我儿子问我说: 爸爸,
你还记得我两岁时是什么样子吗?
04:27
my son儿子 asked me this the other day,
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04:29
"Dad, can you remember记得
what I was like when I was two?
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我说我记得。他问,为什么我不能呢?
04:31
And I said, "Yes." He said, "Why can't I?"
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这难道不奇特吗?你无法
记得在你两三岁之前所发生的事,
04:33
Isn't that extraordinary非凡?
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04:35
You cannot不能 remember记得 what happened发生 to you
earlier than the age年龄 of two or three.
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这对精神分析师们来说是个好消息,
因为,倘若真如此,他们会失去工作。
04:39
Which哪一个 is great news新闻 for psychoanalysts心理医生,
because otherwise除此以外 they'd他们会 be out of a job工作.
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因为那正是让你成为你的时刻,
04:43
Because that's where all the stuff东东 happens发生
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04:45
(Laughter笑声)
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04:48
that makes品牌 you who you are.
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所有事物发生的时候 [笑]。
04:51
Another另一个 thing you can't see
is the grid on which哪一个 we hang.
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另一件你们看不到的
是我们所依附的网格。
04:54
This is fascinating迷人.
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这很令人着迷。你可能知道,
你们一些人当中的细胞不断会更新。
04:55
You probably大概 know, some of you,
that cells细胞 are continually不断 renewed更新.
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皮肤剥落,毛发生长,指甲,这种东西 — —
04:58
Skin皮肤 flakes off, hairs grow增长,
nails钉子, that kind of stuff东东 --
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05:01
but every一切 cell细胞 in your body身体
is replaced更换 at some point.
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但在你的身体里的每个细胞
在某些时候将会被替换
05:05
Taste味道 buds, every一切 ten days or so.
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味蕾,每隔十天左右换一次,
05:07
Livers肝脏 and internal内部 organs器官
take a bit longer.
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肝脏和其他内部器官的时间略长。
05:10
Spine脊柱 takes several一些 years年份.
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脊椎会需要几年时间,
05:11
But at the end结束 of seven years年份,
not one cell细胞 in your body身体
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但七年后,在你的身体里,没有一个细胞
05:15
remains遗迹 from what was there
seven years年份 ago.
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仍然和七年前一样。
05:18
The question is:
who then are we? What are we?
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问题是: 然后我们又是谁呢?
我们是什么?那维系着我们的东西是什么?
05:21
What is this thing that we hang on?
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05:23
That is actually其实 us?
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这实际上是我们吗?
05:24
Atoms原子, can't see them. Nobody没有人 ever will.
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原子,我们看不到它们。
没人看得到。它们比光的波长小得多。
05:27
They're smaller
than the wavelength波长 of light.
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05:29
Gas加油站, can't see that.
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瓦斯,我们看不到。这很有趣,
最近,在1600 年时有人提到它,
05:31
Interesting有趣, somebody
mentioned提到 1600 recently最近.
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瓦斯是由荷兰化学家
范•海尔蒙特在1600 年所发明的,
05:33
Gas加油站 was invented发明 in 1600
by a Dutch荷兰人 chemist化学家 called van面包车 Helmont海尔蒙特.
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05:38
It's said to be the most successful成功 ever
invention发明 of a word by a known已知 individual个人.
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它被认为是最成功的
一个已知的个人所发明的字。
05:43
Quite相当 good. He also invented发明 a word
called "blas布拉斯," meaning含义 astral星体 radiation辐射.
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非常不错。他还发明了一个
叫 blas 的字,意思是星的辐射。
05:49
Didn't catch抓住 on, unfortunately不幸.
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不幸的是,没抓到神韵。(笑声)
05:51
(Laughter笑声)
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05:52
But well doneDONE, him.
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但他做得好。光 — — 你不能看见光。
05:53
Light -- you can't see light.
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05:55
When it's dark黑暗, in a vacuum真空,
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在黑暗的情况下,在真空中,
如果一个人在你的眼前
闪耀一束光,你看不到它。
05:57
if a person shines a beam光束 of light
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05:59
straight直行 across横过 your eyes眼睛,
you won't惯于 see it.
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06:01
Slightly technical技术, some physicists物理学家
will disagree不同意 with this.
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更技术性地说,有些物理学家不会赞同这的。
不过奇怪的是,你不能看见这束光,
06:04
But it's odd that you can't see
the beam光束 of light,
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你只能看到它所击中的东西。
06:06
you can only see what it hits点击.
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电力,你们看不到。别让人
告诉你他们了解电力了,他们不。
06:08
Electricity电力, can't see that.
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06:09
Don't let anyone任何人 tell you
they understand理解 electricity电力, they don't.
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06:12
Nobody没有人 knows知道 what it is.
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没有人知道它是什么。(笑声)你们可能认为,
06:13
(Laughter笑声)
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06:15
You probably大概 think the electrons电子
in an electric电动 wire线 move移动 instantaneously瞬间
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当你打开灯时,电子在电线中
以光的速度瞬间移动,不是吗?
06:18
down a wire线, don't you,
at the speed速度 of light,
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06:20
when you turn the light on, they don't.
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不。他们说,电子迟缓如蜂蜜流淌。
06:23
Electrons电子 bumble弄糟 down the wire线,
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06:24
about the speed速度 of spreading传播
honey蜜糖, they say.
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06:27
Galaxies星系 -- hundred billion十亿 of them,
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银河。他们估计宇宙有一千亿个星系。一千亿。
06:28
estimated预计 in the universe宇宙.
Hundred billion十亿.
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我们可以看到的有几个?五个。
一千亿星系中的五个,用肉眼。
06:30
How many许多 can we see?
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06:32
Five. Five, out of a hundred billion十亿
galaxies星系, with the naked eye.
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06:36
And one of them is quite相当 difficult to see,
unless除非 you've got very good eyesight眼力.
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而其中一个是很难看得到的,
除非你有很好的视力。
06:39
Radio无线电 waves波浪. There's another另一个 thing.
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无线电波。还有一件事。海因里希 · 赫兹,
当他在 1887 年发现无线电波时,
06:41
Heinrich海因里希 Hertz赫兹, when he discovered发现
radio无线电 waves波浪, in 1887,
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他把它们称为无线电波,
因为它们以辐射样貌传递。
06:44
he called them radio无线电 waves波浪
because they radiated辐射.
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有人对他说,嗯,海因里希,这有什么用处啊?
这些你所发现的无线电波有啥用途?
06:47
Somebody said to him,
"What's the point of these, Heinrich海因里希?
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06:50
What's the point of these radio无线电 waves波浪
that you've found发现?"
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他说,嗯,我也不知道,但我猜
有一天会有人知道怎么使用它们。
06:52
And he said, "Well, I've no idea理念,
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06:54
but I guess猜测 somebody will find
a use for them someday日后.
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我们所看不到的最大的东西时那些我们我们所不知道的事物。
06:57
The biggest最大 thing that's invisible无形
to us is what we don't know.
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07:00
It is incredible难以置信 how little we know.
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我们所知甚少,这真是令人难以置信。
07:02
Thomas托马斯 Edison爱迪生 once一旦 said,
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托马斯 · 爱迪生曾说过,
我们只知道任何百万事物之中的 1%。
07:04
"We don't know one percent百分
of one millionth百万分之一 about anything."
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07:08
And I've come to the conclusion结论 --
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我的结论是 — —
07:12
because you ask this other question:
"What's another另一个 thing we can't see?"
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因为你问了另一个问题:
有什么其他物质是我们所看不到的呢?
重点,我们大多数人。重点是什么?
07:15
The point, most of us. What's the point?
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07:17
The point -- what I've got it down to
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重点 — — 我把它缩减到只剩
两个真的值得我们探究的问题。
07:19
is there are only two questions问题
really worth价值 asking.
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为什么我们在这儿?以及,
我们在这儿时应当做些什么?
07:21
"Why are we here?",
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07:22
and "What should
we do about it while we are?"
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07:25
To help you, I've got two things to leave离开
you with, from two great philosophers哲学家,
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为了帮助你们,我从两个伟大的
哲学家那儿,汲取两个东西留给你们,
他们也许是两个二十世纪
最伟大的哲学家或思想家,
07:29
perhaps也许 two of the greatest最大 philosopher哲学家
thinkers思想家 of the 20th century世纪.
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一位是数学家与工程师,另一位是诗人。
07:32
One a mathematician数学家 and engineer工程师,
and the other a poet诗人.
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07:35
The first is Ludwig路德维希 Wittgenstein维特根斯坦,
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第一位是路德维希•维根斯坦
(Ludwig Wittgenstein)。他说,
07:38
who said, "I don't know why we are here,
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我不知道为什么我们在这儿,但我确信的是,
我们在这儿不是为了享乐的。
07:41
but I am pretty漂亮 sure it's not
in order订购 to enjoy请享用 ourselves我们自己."
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07:44
(Laughter笑声)
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07:45
He was a cheerful快乐 bastard混蛋, wasn't he?
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他真是一个性格开朗的混蛋,不是吗?(笑声)
07:47
(Laughter笑声)
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07:48
And secondly其次, and lastly最后,
W.H. Auden奥登, one of my favorite喜爱 poets诗人,
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第二,也是最后一个,是威斯坦•休•奥登
(W.H. Auden),他是我最喜欢的诗人之一。
07:53
who said, "We are here
on Earth地球 to help others其他.
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他说,我们在地球上是为了帮助他人。
至于其他人在这儿的原因是啥,我不知道。
07:58
What the others其他
are here for, I've no idea理念."
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08:01
(Laughter笑声)
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08:03
(Applause掌声)
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08:06
(Circus马戏团 music音乐)
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08:07
[Get your souvenir纪念品 photo照片 here!]
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[来这儿合影留念!继续你未知的旅程!]
08:08
[Continue继续 your journey旅程 into the unknown未知!]
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08:11
(Circus马戏团 music音乐)
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Translated by Geoff Chen
Reviewed by Coco Shen

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ABOUT THE SPEAKER
John Lloyd - Producer
John Lloyd helps make some of the cleverest television in the UK.

Why you should listen

John Lloyd seems to have known every brilliant and funny person in Britain, and his collaborations are legendary. He's been a fixture on the BBC for four decades, producing such classic comedies as Blackadder, Spitting Image, the BBC's Hitchhiker's Guide to the Galaxy and lately QI (short for "Quite Interesting"), hosted by Stephen Fry (read his Reddit AMA about it).

Lloyd has also written more than a dozen funny books -- including The Meaning of Liff, a collaboration with his friend Douglas Adams, which has been in print for 26 years.

More profile about the speaker
John Lloyd | Speaker | TED.com