TED演讲：试验 排除错误和万能神力(7)

 　　You pump it at a high pressure through a nozzle. You create a spray of detergent¹.  你用高压将它压过一个喷嘴，你制造了清洁剂喷雾。

　　Then the spray dries. It turns into powder. It falls to the floor.  喷雾干燥后就成了粉末，掉在地板上。

　　You scoop² it up. You put it in cardboard boxes. You sell it at a supermarket.You make lots of money. 你将它铲起，放入一个纸板盒子里。你到超市去卖。你可以赚好多钱。

　　How do you design that nozzle? It turns out to be very important.  你怎么设计喷嘴，结果这个很重要。

　　Now if you ascribe to the God complex, what you do is you find yourself a little God.  如果你倾向于用万能神力来解决这个问题。

　　You find yourself a mathematician³; you find yourself a physicist⁴ -- somebody who understands the dynamics⁵ of this fluid.  你会觉得自己是个小上帝，你会发现自己是个数学家，物理学家，是一个懂得液体动态的专家。

　　And he will, or she will, calculate the optimal⁶ design of the nozzle.  他或者她会计算管口的最佳设计方案。

　　Now Unilever did this and it didn't work -- too complicated. Even this problem, too complicated. 联合利华这么做了，但是失败了，太复杂了。即使是这样的问题，也太复杂了。

　　But the geneticist Professor Steve Jones describes how Unilever actually did solve this problem -- trial and error, variation and selection.  但是遗传学家史蒂文琼斯教授，讲述了联合利华其实是怎样解决这个问题的——试验和失败，改变和选择。

　　You take a nozzle and you create 10 random⁷ variations on the nozzle.  你拿一个管口，你随机地做出10个不同的管口。

　　You try out all 10; you keep the one that works best.  你测试这10个管口，你把最好的那个保留下来。

　　You create 10 variations on that one. You try out all 10. You keep the one that works best.  你再拿这个做基础再做10个不同的管口，你测试这10个，你把最好的保留下来。

　　You try out 10 variations on that one. You see how this works, right?  你再这个基础上测试10个，你知道这是怎么做出来的了吧？

　　And after 45 generations, you have this incredible nozzle.  经过45轮测试后，你们就得到了这个很好的喷嘴管口。

　　It looks a bit like a chess piece -- functions absolutely brilliantly.  这个看上去有点象国际象棋棋子——工作起来绝对高效。

1 detergent   

n.洗涤剂；adj.有洗净力的

参考例句：

• He recommended a new detergent to me.他向我推荐一种新的洗涤剂。
• This detergent can remove stubborn stains.这种去污剂能去除难洗的污渍。

2 scoop   

n.铲子，舀取，独家新闻；v.汲取，舀取，抢先登出

参考例句：

• In the morning he must get his boy to scoop it out.早上一定得叫佣人把它剜出来。
• Uh,one scoop of coffee and one scoop of chocolate for me.我要一勺咖啡的和一勺巧克力的。

3 mathematician   

n.数学家

参考例句：

• The man with his back to the camera is a mathematician.背对着照相机的人是位数学家。
• The mathematician analyzed his figures again.这位数学家再次分析研究了他的这些数字。

4 physicist   

n.物理学家，研究物理学的人

参考例句：

• He is a physicist of the first rank.他是一流的物理学家。
• The successful physicist never puts on airs.这位卓有成就的物理学家从不摆架子。

5 dynamics   

n.力学，动力学，动力，原动力；动态

参考例句：

• In order to succeed,you must master complicated knowledge of dynamics.要取得胜利，你必须掌握很复杂的动力学知识。
• Dynamics is a discipline that cannot be mastered without extensive practice.动力学是一门不做大量习题就不能掌握的学科。

6 optimal   

adj.最适宜的；最理想的；最令人满意的

参考例句：

• What is the optimal mix of private and public property rights in natural resources?私人和国家的自然资源产权的最适宜的组合是什么？
• Optimal path planning is a key link for the sailing contest.帆船最优行驶路径规划是帆船比赛取胜的关键环节。

7 random   

adj.随机的；任意的；n.偶然的(或随便的)行动

参考例句：

• The list is arranged in a random order.名单排列不分先后。
• On random inspection the meat was found to be bad.经抽查，发现肉变质了。