TED演讲:科学解释之新探(5)

 　　Why a marriage contract and not any other reason for regular annual action? 为什么是一纸婚书而不是其他什么原因使普西芬妮定期往返呢？

　　Here is one. Persephone wasn't released.  我且来举个例子：普西芬妮并没有被放走

　　She escaped, and returns every spring to take revenge on Hades, with her Spring powers. 她逃走了，每年春天又回冥府找哈德斯报仇，用她春天的神力

　　She cools his domain¹ with Spring air,  她让春风给冥界降温

　　venting² heat up to the surface, creating summer.  热气排到地上，成了夏天

　　That accounts for the same phenomena³ as the original myth.  这个说法和先前的神话能解释同样的现象

　　It's equally testable.  而且同样可以检验

　　Yet what it asserts about reality is, in many ways, the opposite. 可是它对现实的描述，断言，却和刚才的在许多方面正好相反

　　And that is possible because  这看似矛盾的情况之所以存在

　　the details of the original myth are unrelated to seasons, except via the myth itself. 是因为原先那个神话的诸多细节? 除了在这则神话的背景中外，与季节都没有什么联系

　　This easy variability is the sign of a bad explanation, 这种很随意的可变性正是坏解释的标志

　　because, without a functional⁴ reason to prefer one of countless⁵ variants⁶, 因为当没有什么关于细节的解释作用的理由能使我们选择千万种可能解释中的一个

　　advocating one of them, in preference to the others, is irrational⁷. 唯独支持这一个而抛弃其他便是不理性的

　　So, for the essence of what makes the difference to enable progress, 所以，产生变革推进发展的本质原因

　　seek good explanations, the ones that can't be easily varied⁸, 就是追求好解释，那些为了保证解释现象的能力

　　while still explaining the phenomena.  而不能被轻易改变的解释

　　Now, our current explanation of seasons is that the Earth's axis⁹ is tilted¹¹ like that, 我们现在对季节的解释是说地球的转轴像这样倾斜着

　　so each hemisphere tilts¹² toward the sun for half the year, and away for the other half. 所以每个半球在半年中倾向太阳另外半年远离阳光

　　Better put that up.  最好放出来看看

　　That's a good explanation: hard to vary,  这就是个好解释：很难改动

　　because every detail plays a functional role.  因为每一个细节都对有至关重要的解释作用

　　For instance, we know, independently of seasons,  比如说，我们不用明白季节就知道

　　that surfaces tilted away from radiant heat are heated less, 背向发光物体的表面受热的程度较小

　　and that a spinning sphere, in space, points in a constant direction. 空间中自转的这个球体指向同一个方向

　　And the tilt¹⁰ also explains the sun's angle of elevation¹³ at different times of year, 地轴的倾斜也解释了太阳在一年中不同的仰角

　　and predicts that the seasons will be out of phase in the two hemispheres. 并预测两半球的季节情况正好相反

　　If they'd been observed in phase, the theory would have been refuted. 如果观察显示它们相同，理论就被驳倒了

　　But now, the fact that it's also a good explanation,  可是它作为一个好解释

　　hard to vary, makes the crucial difference.  一个难以更改的解释，这一点才是最重要的区别

　　If the ancient Greeks had found out about seasons in Australia, 如果古希腊人得知了澳洲季节的更替

　　they could have easily varied their myth to predict that. 他们很容易就能修改这个神话，然后预测说，

　　For instance, when Demeter is upset,  比如，当迪米特为女儿忧愁时

　　she banishes¹⁴ heat from her vicinity, into the other hemisphere, where it makes summer.  她把热气从四周驱赶出去，赶到另一个半球，形成夏天

　　So, being proved wrong by observation,  这样看来，尽管被观察所否决

　　and changing their theory accordingly,  并被迫据此修改他们的理论

　　still wouldn't have got the ancient Greeks one jot¹⁵ closer to understanding seasons, 古希腊人并没有离对季节的理解进了那怕一步

　　because their explanation was bad: easy to vary.  因为改过的解释仍旧是坏解释：它太易变了

　　And it's only when an explanation is good that it even matters whether it's testable. 而只有当好解释存在，它是否可以验证才值得考虑

1 domain   

n.(活动等)领域，范围；领地，势力范围

参考例句：

• This information should be in the public domain.这一消息应该为公众所知。
• This question comes into the domain of philosophy.这一问题属于哲学范畴。

2 venting   

消除； 泄去； 排去； 通风

参考例句：

• But, unexpectedly, he started venting his spleen on her. 哪知道，老头子说着说着绕到她身上来。 来自汉英文学 - 骆驼祥子
• So now he's venting his anger on me. 哦，我这才知道原来还是怄我的气。

3 phenomena   

n.现象

参考例句：

• Ade couldn't relate the phenomena with any theory he knew.艾德无法用他所知道的任何理论来解释这种现象。
• The object of these experiments was to find the connection,if any,between the two phenomena.这些实验的目的就是探索这两种现象之间的联系，如果存在着任何联系的话。

4 functional   

adj.为实用而设计的，具备功能的，起作用的

参考例句：

• The telephone was out of order,but is functional now.电话刚才坏了，但现在可以用了。
• The furniture is not fancy,just functional.这些家具不是摆着好看的，只是为了实用。

5 countless   

adj.无数的，多得不计其数的

参考例句：

• In the war countless innocent people lost their lives.在这场战争中无数无辜的人丧失了性命。
• I've told you countless times.我已经告诉你无数遍了。

6 variants   

n.变体( variant的名词复数 )；变种；变型；（词等的）变体

参考例句：

• Those variants will be preserved in the'struggle for existence". 这些变异将在“生存竞争”中被保留下来。 来自辞典例句
• Like organisms, viruses have variants, generally called strains. 与其他生物一样，病毒也有变种，一般称之为株系。 来自辞典例句

7 irrational   

adj.无理性的，失去理性的

参考例句：

• After taking the drug she became completely irrational.她在吸毒后变得完全失去了理性。
• There are also signs of irrational exuberance among some investors.在某些投资者中是存在非理性繁荣的征象的。

8 varied   

adj.多样的，多变化的

参考例句：

• The forms of art are many and varied.艺术的形式是多种多样的。
• The hotel has a varied programme of nightly entertainment.宾馆有各种晚间娱乐活动。

9 axis   

n.轴，轴线，中心线；坐标轴，基准线

参考例句：

• The earth's axis is the line between the North and South Poles.地轴是南北极之间的线。
• The axis of a circle is its diameter.圆的轴线是其直径。

10 tilt   

v.(使)倾侧；(使)倾斜；n.倾侧；倾斜

参考例句：

• She wore her hat at a tilt over her left eye.她歪戴着帽子遮住左眼。
• The table is at a slight tilt.这张桌子没放平，有点儿歪.

11 tilted   

v. 倾斜的

参考例句：

• Suddenly the boat tilted to one side. 小船突然倾向一侧。
• She tilted her chin at him defiantly. 她向他翘起下巴表示挑衅。

12 tilts   

（意欲赢得某物或战胜某人的）企图，尝试( tilt的名词复数 )

参考例句：

• As the kitten touches it, it tilts at the floor. 它随着击碰倾侧，头不动，眼不动，还呆呆地注视着地上。 来自汉英文学 - 散文英译
• The two writers had a number of tilts in print. 这两位作家写过一些文章互相攻击。

13 elevation   

n.高度；海拔；高地；上升；提高

参考例句：

• The house is at an elevation of 2,000 metres.那幢房子位于海拔两千米的高处。
• His elevation to the position of General Manager was announced yesterday.昨天宣布他晋升总经理职位。

14 banishes   

v.放逐，驱逐( banish的第三人称单数 )

参考例句：

• Work banishes those three great evils: boredom, vice, and poverty.(Voltaire, French philosopher) 工作撵跑三个魔鬼：无聊、堕落和贫穷。（法国哲学家伏尔基泰） 来自互联网
• The Consumer: It Banishes Uterine Fibroids, but for How Long? 消费者：它驱逐子宫的纤维瘤，但是为多久？ 来自互联网

15 jot   

n.少量；vi.草草记下；vt.匆匆写下

参考例句：

• I'll jot down their address before I forget it.我得赶快把他们的地址写下来，免得忘了。
• There is not a jot of evidence to say it does them any good.没有丝毫的证据显示这对他们有任何好处。