TED演讲:畅想电子游戏(5)

 　　I know violent video games make my mother worry.  我知道我妈很担心那些带有暴力情节的电子游戏

　　What troubles me is not that video game violence is becoming more and more like real life violence,  而让我所担心的，不是电子游戏中的暴力正在变得越来越像现实生活中的暴力

　　but that real life violence is starting to look more and more like a video game. 而是，现实生活中的暴力正在变得越来越像一部电子游戏

　　These are all troubles outside of myself.  这些都是跟我没什么关系的问题

　　I, however, have a problem very close to home.  可是我，有一个跟我很有关的问题

　　Something has happened to my brain.  我的大脑发生了一些变化

　　Perhaps there is a single part of our brain that holds  也许我们大脑中的一个部分储存着

　　all of our gut¹ instincts, the things we know to do before we even think. 我们所有的直觉，那些我们不经过思考就会去做的事

　　While some of these instincts may be innate², most are learned,  有些直觉可能是天生的，可是大部分是经过后天学习得到的

　　and all of them are hardwired into our brains.  不管是如何得来的，所有这些直觉都被深深刻在了我们的脑子里

　　These instincts are essential for survival in both real and virtual worlds.  而这些直觉，恰恰是我们生存所需要的，不管是在现实生活还是虚拟世界中

　　Only in recent years has the technology behind video games allowed for a true overlap³ in stimuli⁴. 其实只是最近几年，游戏技术才真正实现了虚拟和现实的结合

　　As gamers we are now living by the same laws of physics  在今天的游戏中，我们受到与现实生活中同样的物理法则约束

　　in the same cities and doing many of the same things  生活在同样的城市里，做着许多我们曾经在现实生活中

　　we once did in real life, only virtually.  做过的事情，只不过这次是虚拟的

　　Consider this, my real life car has about 25,000 miles on it.  想象一下，我实际生活中的车的仪表板上写了25000英里

　　In all my driving games, I've driven a total of 31,459 miles.  而把我玩过的所有驾驶类游戏加起来，我一共开了31459英里

　　To some degree I've learned how to drive from the game.  从某种层次上说，我是从游戏中学会了开车

　　The sensory⁵ cues are very similar.  那种感觉是非常相似的

　　It's a funny feeling when you have spent more time doing something on the TV than you have in real life. 仔细想想，同一件事，你在游戏里做过的比你在现实生活中做过还要多，其实挺有趣的

　　When I am driving down a road at sunset all I can think is,  当我在夕阳西下时开车在路上，我就会想

　　this is almost as beautiful as my games are.  这件事就像游戏里那么美

　　For my virtual worlds are perfect.  因为我的虚拟世界是完美的

　　More beautiful and rich than the real world around us.  比现实生活要美丽的多，丰富的多

　　I'm not sure what the implications of my experience are,  我不知道我在游戏中的体验有什么暗含

　　but the potential for using realistic video game stimuli in repetition on a vast number of loyal participants is frightening to me. 但是电子游戏这种吸引人的潜力实在有点让我惊慌失措

　　Today I believe Big Brother would find much more success  我相信如果老大哥如果利用电子游戏

　　brainwashing the masses with video games rather than just simply TVs. 而不是电视节目的话，他可以成功的给更多人洗脑

　　Video games are fun, engaging, and leave your brain completely vulnerable to re-programming. 电子游戏既有趣又吸引人，它使你的大脑变得对各种信息都不设防

　　But maybe brainwashing isn't always bad.  但是，洗脑并不都是坏事

　　Imagine a game that teaches us to respect each other,  想象一下，一个游戏可以教我们如何尊重彼此

　　or helps us to understand the problems we're all facing in the real world. 帮助我们理解我们在现实世界中遇到的问题

　　There is a potential to do good as well.  电子游戏可以作为一个很好的工具

　　It is critical, as these virtual worlds continue to mirror  随着电子游戏中的虚拟世界一直不断得反映

　　the real world we live in, that game developers realize  我们生活的现实世界，游戏开发者们开始意识到

　　that they have tremendous responsibilities before them.  他们肩上扛的重担

　　I'm not sure what the future of video games holds for our civilization. 我不知道未来的电子游戏在人类文明中将起到什么作用

　　But as virtual and real world experiences increasingly overlap  但是随着虚拟世界和现实世界有越来越多的交叉

　　there is a greater and greater potential for other people to feel the same way I do. 一定会有越来越多的人跟我有同样的感受

　　What I have only recently come to realize  我最近才意识到

　　is that beyond the graphics⁶, sound, game play and emotion  除了游戏画面，声音，游戏性和情感

　　it is the power to break down reality that is so fascinating and addictive⁷ to me. 游戏正在变成拆分我所喜爱和热衷的现实世界的强大力量

　　I know that I am losing my grip.  我知道我正在失去控制

　　Part of me is just waiting to let go.  我心里有个声音一直在让我放手

　　I know though, that no matter how amazing video games may become,  然而我知道，不管游戏游戏将来会变得多完美

　　or how flat the real world may seem to us,  也不管现实生活是多么平淡

　　that we must stay aware of what our games are teaching us  我们必须注意这些游戏在试图教给我们什么东西

　　and how they leave us feeling when we finally do unplug.  当我们最后结束游戏的时候，游戏给我们留下了什么样的印记

1 gut   

n.[pl.]胆量；内脏；adj.本能的；vt.取出内脏

参考例句：

• It is not always necessary to gut the fish prior to freezing.冷冻鱼之前并不总是需要先把内脏掏空。
• My immediate gut feeling was to refuse.我本能的直接反应是拒绝。

2 innate   

adj.天生的，固有的，天赋的

参考例句：

• You obviously have an innate talent for music.你显然有天生的音乐才能。
• Correct ideas are not innate in the mind.人的正确思想不是自己头脑中固有的。

3 overlap   

v.重叠，与…交叠；n.重叠

参考例句：

• The overlap between the jacket and the trousers is not good.夹克和裤子重叠的部分不好看。
• Tiles overlap each other.屋瓦相互叠盖。

4 stimuli   

n.刺激（物）

参考例句：

• It is necessary to curtail or alter normally coexisting stimuli.必需消除或改变正常时并存的刺激。
• My sweat glands also respond to emotional stimuli.我的汗腺对情绪刺激也能产生反应。

5 sensory   

adj.知觉的，感觉的，知觉器官的

参考例句：

• Human powers of sensory discrimination are limited.人类感官分辨能力有限。
• The sensory system may undergo long-term adaptation in alien environments.感觉系统对陌生的环境可能经过长时期才能适应。

6 graphics   

n.制图法，制图学；图形显示

参考例句：

• You've leveraged your graphics experience into the video area.你们把图形设计业务的经验运用到录像业务中去。
• Improved graphics took computer games into a new era.经改进的制图技术将电脑游戏带进了一个新时代。

7 addictive   

adj.(吸毒等)使成瘾的，成为习惯的

参考例句：

• The problem with video game is that they're addictive.电子游戏机的问题在于它们会使人上瘾。
• Cigarettes are highly addictive.香烟很容易使人上瘾。