每天一小段英语（32）（END II）

命运号角

Possibility 10) We’re completely wrong about our reality. There are a lot of ways we could just be totally off with everything we think. The universe might appear one way and be something else entirely, like a hologram. Or maybe we’re the aliens and we were planted here as an experiment or as a form of fertilizer. There’s even a chance that we’re all part of a computer simulation by some researcher from another world, and other forms of life simply weren’t programmed into the simulation.
10）看到的不是真的。我们思考的一切都是假的。宇宙看起来这样，其实完全是另一样，就像一张全息图。或者我们是被种在地球的外星人，一种肥料形式的试验品。或者我们是另一个世界的研究者做出来的电脑模拟程序，而其他生命不是被编程仿真出来的。
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As we continue along with our possibly-futile search for extraterrestrial intelligence, I’m not really sure what I’m rooting for. Frankly, learning either that we’re officially alone in the universe or that we’re officially joined by others would be creepy, which is a theme with all of the surreal storylines listed above—whatever the truth actually is, it’s mindblowing.
继续我们可能徒劳的外形智慧研究，我不确定我该支持哪个。说真的，不管我们在宇宙中是孤独的还是有外星人加入进来的恐怖，上面离奇的猜想的总主题是，无论真相怎样都是令人兴奋的。

Beyond its shocking science fiction component, The Fermi Paradox also leaves me with a deep humbling. Not just the normal “Oh yeah, I’m microscopic and my existence lasts for three seconds” humbling that the universe always triggers. The Fermi Paradox brings out a sharper, more personal humbling, one that can only happen after spending hours of research hearing your species’ most renowned scientists present insane theories, change their minds again and again, and wildly contradict each other—reminding us that future generations will look at us the same way we see the ancient people who were sure that the stars were the underside of the dome of heaven, and they’ll think “Wow they really had no idea what was going on.”
和让我震惊的科幻猜想相比，费米悖论给我留下更多的是羞辱感。不只是宇宙让微观的你感慨“哦我在微观存在了三秒”的羞辱，费米悖论给人一种强烈单一的羞辱感，只能在人类中有声望的科学家提出恐怖的理论之后研究几小时之后发生，然后一次又一次改变自己的想法，大范围地反驳彼此的理论，这都在提醒我们未来一代人将和我们看待古人一样看待我们，古人相信星星在圆顶的下面，他们知道“真的想不出接下来会发生什么”。

Compounding all of this is the blow to our species’ self-esteem that comes with all of this talk about Type II and III Civilizations. Here on Earth, we’re the king of our little castle, proud ruler of the huge group of imbeciles who share the planet with us. And in this bubble with no competition and no one to judge us, it’s rare that we’re ever confronted with the concept of being a dramatically inferior species to anyone. But after spending a lot of time with Type II and III Civilizations over the past week, our power and pride are seeming a bit David Brent-esque.
所有关于II型III型文明的猜想放在一起就是对人类自大的打击。在地球上我们是小城堡的国王，骄傲地管理着地球上的低级生命。在这个没有竞争，没有被审判的泡沫中，我们对待低级物种的态度很罕见。经过这几周研究II、III型文明，我们的实力和骄傲看起来有点戴维布伦特风格。

That said, given that my normal outlook is that humanity is a lonely orphan on a tiny rock in the middle of a desolate universe, the humbling fact that we’re probably not as smart as we think we are, and the possibility that a lot of what we’re sure about might be wrong, sounds wonderful. It opens the door just a crack that maybe, just maybe, there might be more to the story than we realize.
给我一个普通的外貌是因为我只是在荒无人烟的宇宙中的一小块石头上，我们没有想象中那么聪明让我们感到羞辱，我们的本认为对的东西也可能是错的，真有趣。也许，只是也许，我们看到的是它给我们开的门的一道门缝。

命运号角

每日一词
desolate
adj. 荒凉的；无人烟的
vt. 使荒凉；使孤寂

命运号角

confronted with
面临

shakencity

desolate
adj. 荒凉的；无人烟的
vt. 使荒凉；使孤寂

shakencity

  

shakencity

  

shakencity