TED演讲:你怎么知道自己是存在的(2)

 　　Maybe the body you perceive yourself to have isn't really there. 或许你感知到的自己的身体，其实并不存在。

　　Maybe all of reality, even its abstract concepts, like time, shape, color and number are false, all just deceptions¹ concocted² by an evil genius! 或许所有的现实，甚至那些抽象概念，包括时间、形状、颜色和数字，都不是真实的，所有的一切都是一个邪恶天才捏造出来的。

　　No, seriously. Descartes asks if you can disprove the idea that an evil genius demon³ has tricked you into believing reality is real. 严肃地说，不是这样的。笛卡尔在书中问到，你是否可以证明的确没有一个邪恶的天才欺骗你相信周围的世界是真实的？

　　Perhaps this diabolical⁴ deceiver has duped you. 或许这个邪恶的骗子真的欺骗了你。

　　The world, your perceptions of it, your very body. 让你相信周围的世界，自己的身体。

　　You can't disprove that they're all just made up, and how could you exist without them? You couldn't! So, you don't. 既然无法证明这一切都不是捏造出来的，那么你怎么能在没有它们的环境中生存呢？你不能，所以你并不是在这样的环境中生存的。

　　Life is but a dream, and I bet you aren't row, row, rowing the boat merrily at all, are you? 生活就是一场梦，我相信你绝不是永远兴高采烈地划着这艘船，对吗？

　　No, you're rowing it wearily like the duped, nonexistent doof you are/aren't. 当然不是，你就像一个受骗的傻瓜，或是存不存在的傻帽。

　　Do you find that convincing? Are you persuaded? 这么说有道理吗？你被说服了吗？

　　If you aren't, good; if you are, even better, because by being persuaded, you would prove that you're a persuaded being. 如果还没有被说服，很好，如果已经被说服，那更好了，因为如果被说服了，说明你是一个有思想的存在。

　　You can't be nothing if you think you're something, even if you think that something is nothing  如果你认为自己是个人物，那就不能说你什么都不是，即使你认为自己“什么都不是”，

　　because no matter what you think, you're a thinking thing,  因为无论你怎样认为，你都是一个有思想的个体。

　　or as Descartes put it, "I think, therefore I am," and so are you, really. 或者就像笛卡尔所说：“我思故我在。”你也是这样，真的。

1 deceptions   

欺骗( deception的名词复数 )； 骗术，诡计

参考例句：

• Nobody saw through Mary's deceptions. 无人看透玛丽的诡计。
• There was for him only one trustworthy road through deceptions and mirages. 对他来说只有一条可靠的路能避开幻想和错觉。

2 concocted   

v.将（尤指通常不相配合的）成分混合成某物( concoct的过去式和过去分词 )；调制；编造；捏造

参考例句：

• The soup was concocted from up to a dozen different kinds of fish. 这种汤是用多达十几种不同的鱼熬制而成的。
• Between them they concocted a letter. 他们共同策划写了一封信。 来自《简明英汉词典》

3 demon   

n.魔鬼，恶魔

参考例句：

• The demon of greed ruined the miser's happiness.贪得无厌的恶习毁掉了那个守财奴的幸福。
• He has been possessed by the demon of disease for years.他多年来病魔缠身。

4 diabolical   

adj.恶魔似的，凶暴的

参考例句：

• This maneuver of his is a diabolical conspiracy.他这一手是一个居心叵测的大阴谋。
• One speaker today called the plan diabolical and sinister.今天一名发言人称该计划阴险恶毒。