美国国家公共电台 NPR Astrophysicist Takes Deep Dive Into The Science Of 'Doctor Strange'

Astrophysicist Takes Deep Dive Into The Science Of 'Doctor Strange' 

play pause stop mute unmute max volume 00:0004:37repeat repeat off Update Required To play the media you will need to either update your browser¹ to a recent version or update your Flash plugin. ARI SHAPIRO, HOST: 

Marvel's latest superhero movie, "Doctor Strange," worked its magic on audiences over the weekend and led the box office.

(SOUNDBITE OF FILM, "DOCTOR STRANGE")

TILDA SWINTON: (As The Ancient One) Doctor Strange, you think you know how the world works. What if I told you, through the mystic arts, we harness energy and shape reality?

SHAPIRO: And while many people might have gone to see Tilda Swinton there or Benedict Cumberbatch as Doctor Strange or perhaps the gravity-bending visual effects, I went to see it for the influence of NPR astrophysicist and blogger Adam Frank. How you doing, Adam?

ADAM FRANK: Great to be here again, Ari.

SHAPIRO: So you were hired on to this movie to advise them on the science of what exactly?

FRANK: It was both the science and the philosophy as well. I know the director from, you know, a few years back. My first book was on science and religion. And the director, Scott Derrickson, is a theist who also has great respect for science. I am a atheist² who has great interest in the realms of human spiritual endeavor.

So we've been having this conversation for years about where the two overlap³ or don't overlap. And when he was tapped for this movie, one of the things he wanted me to come in was - and discuss this, these issues of where the two do or don't overlap.

SHAPIRO: There is a scene where Tilda Swinton's character, who is known as The Ancient One, sort of knocks Benedict Cumberbatch's character, Doctor Strange, out of his body. Let's listen.

(SOUNDBITE OF FILM, "DOCTOR STRANGE")

BENEDICT CUMBERBATCH: (As Dr. Stephen Strange) There is no such thing as spirit. We are made of matter and nothing more. It's just another tiny momentary⁴ speck⁵ within an indifferent universe.

SHAPIRO: And that sound was Benedict Cumberbatch's character being knocked out of his body.

FRANK: (Laughter).

SHAPIRO: What kind of science advice do you give them on a scene like that?

FRANK: A lot of the discussions we had was - with the director and the writer was how to actually do that. And for me, the place narratively⁶ where you can do that is the idea, the question of the nature of consciousness. Because we don't really have a scientific theory of consciousness. We're doing great with neuroscience but, you know, this vivid first-person intimacy⁷ of our own experience, we don't have a science for that yet. And for me that was a great place to ground what you might want to do with "Doctor Strange's" story.

SHAPIRO: So you're saying we can explore this question because scientists don't really know what the spirit per se is on a scientific level?

FRANK: Well, spirit is a, you know, delicate word. It's not one I'm, as a scientist, necessarily going to buy into. You know, there's a lot of astral travelling in the movie. That's not something I'm going to buy into, either.

But the deepest question here is one that philosophers and scientists are really struggling with. And it's related to a term called reductionism. Right? Are you and all of your hopes and fears and dreams and experiences - the rich experiences you have, you know, when you have a wonderful meal, is that just neurons? Is that just, like, machinery⁸ in your brain? And, you know, the neurons are of course just atoms. And the atoms are just quarks.

So, you know, is everything - can everything just be reduced down to the behavior of the smallest particles and their laws? And I started out as a reductionist, many physicists⁹ do. But as time has gone on, I kind of feel that like, you know, science is going to have to - may have to add things to the account of the world to deal with consciousness.

SHAPIRO: There is a concept that is central to this movie, which I've heard scientists talk about before - the multiverse. Let's listen to a little bit of this.

(SOUNDBITE OF FILM, "DOCTOR STRANGE")

SWINTON: (As The Ancient One) You think that this material universe is all there is. But what if I told you the reality you know is one of many?

SHAPIRO: As I've heard it described - and tell me if I'm wrong - the idea of the multiverse is that with an infinite number of universes, there is one in which I'm wearing a blue shirt today and one in which I'm wearing a red shirt today and one on which I was sick to work today and every possible thing that could have happened at any given moment is represented in a different universe. Is that right?

FRANK: Yeah, exactly. I mean, that's - there is - it's interesting. Physics has a number of different versions of the multiverse. One comes out of cosmology and the big bang. And that's one - that's the one where each different universe has entirely¹⁰ different laws. But from quantum mechanics, which is the theory of the very small which has enormous interesting philosophical¹¹ questions around it, there is the possibility that every time a quantum event happens, every time an atom radioactively decays, the universe splits into multiple parallel versions of itself. And that goes on and on and on. So, yeah, there's one universe this morning where you put on blue socks rather than black socks.

SHAPIRO: That's NPR blogger and now movie advisor¹² Adam Frank on the new movie "Doctor Strange."

1 browser   

n.浏览者

参考例句：

• View edits in a web browser.在浏览器中看编辑的效果。
• I think my browser has a list of shareware links.我想在浏览器中会有一系列的共享软件链接。

2 atheist   

n.无神论者

参考例句：

• She was an atheist but now she says she's seen the light.她本来是个无神论者，可是现在她说自己的信仰改变了。
• He is admittedly an atheist.他被公认是位无神论者。

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 momentary   

adj.片刻的，瞬息的；短暂的

参考例句：

• We are in momentary expectation of the arrival of you.我们无时无刻不在盼望你的到来。
• I caught a momentary glimpse of them.我瞥了他们一眼。

5 speck   

n.微粒，小污点，小斑点

参考例句：

• I have not a speck of interest in it.我对它没有任何兴趣。
• The sky is clear and bright without a speck of cloud.天空晴朗，一星星云彩也没有。

6 narratively   

用故事体

参考例句：

7 intimacy   

n.熟悉，亲密，密切关系，亲昵的言行

参考例句：

• His claims to an intimacy with the President are somewhat exaggerated.他声称自己与总统关系密切，这有点言过其实。
• I wish there were a rule book for intimacy.我希望能有个关于亲密的规则。

8 machinery   

n.(总称)机械，机器；机构

参考例句：

• Has the machinery been put up ready for the broadcast?广播器材安装完毕了吗？
• Machinery ought to be well maintained all the time.机器应该随时注意维护。

9 physicists   

物理学家( physicist的名词复数 )

参考例句：

• For many particle physicists, however, it was a year of frustration. 对于许多粒子物理学家来说，这是受挫折的一年。 来自英汉非文学 - 科技
• Physicists seek rules or patterns to provide a framework. 物理学家寻求用法则或图式来构成一个框架。

10 entirely   

ad.全部地，完整地；完全地，彻底地

参考例句：

• The fire was entirely caused by their neglect of duty. 那场火灾完全是由于他们失职而引起的。
• His life was entirely given up to the educational work. 他的一生统统献给了教育工作。

11 philosophical   

adj.哲学家的，哲学上的，达观的

参考例句：

• The teacher couldn't answer the philosophical problem.老师不能解答这个哲学问题。
• She is very philosophical about her bad luck.她对自己的不幸看得很开。

12 advisor   

n.顾问，指导老师，劝告者

参考例句：

• They employed me as an advisor.他们聘请我当顾问。
• The professor is engaged as a technical advisor.这位教授被聘请为技术顾问。