演讲MP3+双语文稿:6分钟听懂40亿年的进化
听力课堂TED音频栏目主要包括TED演讲的音频MP3及中英双语文稿，供各位英语爱好者学习使用。本文主要内容为演讲MP3+双语文稿:6分钟听懂40亿年的进化，希望你会喜欢！
【演讲者及介绍】Prosanta Chakrabarty
普罗桑塔·查克拉巴蒂，鱼类学家。通过研究鱼类来帮助解释人类和地球的进化。
【演讲主题】40亿年的进化只需要6分钟
【中英文字幕】
翻译者Fish Mobius 校对者 Homer Li
00:13
If we evolved from monkeys, why are therestill monkeys?
如果我们从猴子进化而来，为什么现在仍然有猴子？
00:18
(Laughter)
（笑声）
00:19
Well, because we're not monkeys, we'refish.
因为我们并不是猴子进化来的，我们是鱼。
00:22
(Laughter)
（笑声）
00:23
Now, knowing you're a fish and not a monkeyis actually really important to understanding where we came from. I teach oneof the largest evolutionary biology classes in the US, and when my studentsfinally understand why I call them fish all the time, then I know I'm gettingmy job done. But I always have to start my classes by dispelling some hardwiredmyths, because without really knowing it, many of us were taught evolutionwrong.
了解你是一条鱼而不是一只猴子，对于理解我们从哪里来非常重要。我在教的一个班，是在美国学习生物进化论的最大的班级之一。当我的学生们最终理解了为什么我总叫他们鱼的时候，我明白我的目的达到了。但我总是不得不通过打破一些根深蒂固的传说来开始我的授课，因为在没有真正了解进化论前，我们大多数人都被灌输了错误的进化观念。
00:51
For instance, we're taught to say "thetheory of evolution." There are actually many theories, and just like theprocess itself, the ones that best fit the data are the ones that survive tothis day. The one we know best is Darwinian natural selection. That's theprocess by which organisms that best fit an environment survive and get toreproduce, while those that are less fit slowly die off. And that's it.Evolution is as simple as that, and it's a fact.
比如，我们被教导使用“进化论”这个词。实际上，有非常多的理论，就像这个过程本身，最能反映真实数据的理论就是那些被保存至今的理论。其中最广为人知的理论之一就是达尔文的自然选择论。在这种进化方式中，最适应环境的生物生存下来，并且得到繁衍，而那些相对来说不太适应环境的生物，会渐渐走向消亡。就是这样。进化就是这么简单，它是一种事实。
01:22
Evolution is a fact as much as the"theory of gravity." You can prove it just as easily. You just needto look at your bellybutton that you share with other placental mammals, oryour backbone that you share with other vertebrates, or your DNA that you sharewith all other life on earth. Those traits didn't pop up in humans. They werepassed down from different ancestors to all their descendants, not just us.
进化就像重力理论一样，是一种事实。你可以很容易地证明它。你只需要看看你的肚脐，那是你和其他胎生哺乳动物一样的地方，或者看看你的脊椎骨，那是你和其他脊椎动物一样的地方； 又或者你的DNA，那是你和 地球上其他生物相似的地方。这些特征并不会让人类与众不同。它们被不同的祖先 遗传给它们所有的后代。并不仅仅是我们。
01:48
But that's not really how we learn biologyearly on, is it? We learn plants and bacteria are primitive things, and fishgive rise to amphibians followed by reptiles and mammals, and then you get you,this perfectly evolved creature at the end of the line. But life doesn't evolvein a line, and it doesn't end with us. But we're always shown evolution portrayedsomething like this, a monkey and a chimpanzee, some extinct humans, all on aforward and steady march to becoming us. But they don't become us any more thanwe would become them. We're also not the goal of evolution.
但这些并不是我们最早了解到的生物学，不是吗？我们知道植物和细菌是原生生物，然后是鱼类，进一步到两栖类，再到爬行动物和哺乳动物，之后到人类自己，在进化的时间轴终点成为完美进化了的生物。但生物并不是在一条轴线上进化的，也不是在我们这里终结的。但我们总是被灌输这样的关于进化论的描述：猴子，大猩猩，一些消失的类人猿，通过稳定的进化，最终成为了我们。但它们并不会成为我们，我们也不会成为它们。我们也不是进化的终极目标。
02:28
But why does it matter? Why do we need tounderstand evolution the right way? Well, misunderstanding evolution has led tomany problems, but you can't ask that age-old question, "Where are wefrom?" without understanding evolution the right way. Misunderstanding ithas led to many convoluted and corrupted views of how we should treat otherlife on earth, and how we should treat each other in terms of race and gender.
但为什么这一点这么重要呢？ 为什么我们需要 用正确的方式来理解进化呢？ 对进化的误解已经产生了很多问题， 但当你没有以正确的方式理解进化时，你不会问这样古老的问题，“我们从哪里来？”对进化的误解，已经导致了许多关于我们如何对待地球上其他生物，以及如何站在种族和性别的角度对待彼此的方式上的破坏性的，扭曲的观念。
03:00
So let's go back four billion years. Thisis the single-celled organism we all came from. At first, it gave rise to othersingle-celled life, but these are still evolving to this day, and some wouldsay the Archaea and Bacteria that make up most of this group is the mostsuccessful on the planet. They are certainly going to be here well after us.
让我们回到四十亿年前。这些单细胞有机体是我们的起源。首先，它们演变成其它的单细胞生命，但这些单细胞生物今天仍在进化，而有些人会说古细菌和细菌组成了这颗星球上 最成功的种群。它们在我们消失后一定还会存在的。
03:22
About three billion years ago,multicellularity evolved. This includes your fungi and your plants and youranimals. The first animals to develop a backbone were fishes. So technically,all vertebrates are fishes, so technically, you and I are fish. So don't say Ididn't warn you.
大约在三十亿年前，出现了多细胞生物。这包括真菌，植物和动物。第一种进化出脊椎的动物是鱼类。科学地说，所有的脊椎动物都是鱼。所以，科学地说，你和我都是鱼。所以别说我没有提醒过你们。
03:44
One fish lineage came onto land and gaverise to, among other things, the mammals and reptiles. Some reptiles becomebirds, some mammals become primates, some primates become monkeys with tails,and others become the great apes, including a variety of human species. So yousee, we didn't evolve from monkeys, but we do share a common ancestor withthem.
一些鱼类来到岸上，然后演变成 其他的生物，哺乳动物，爬行动物。一些爬行动物变成了鸟类，一些哺乳动物变成了灵长动物，一些灵长动物变成了有尾巴的猴子，另一些变成了猿类，包括不同的人种。所以我们并不是猴子演变而来的，但我们和它们拥有同一个祖先。
04:07
All the while, life around us keptevolving: more bacteria, more fungi, lots of fish, fish, fish. If you couldn'ttell -- yes, they're my favorite group.
与此同时，我们周围的生命也在持续进化：出现了更多真菌，更多细菌，以及更多的鱼，各种各样的鱼。可能你不知道——是的，它们是我最喜欢的种群。
04:17
(Laughter)
（笑声）
04:18
As life evolves, it also goes extinct. Mostspecies just last for a few million years. So you see, most life on earth thatwe see around us today are about the same age as our species. So it's hubris,it's self-centered to think, "Oh, plants and bacteria are primitive, andwe've been here for an evolutionary minute, so we're somehow special."
生命在进化，也在消亡。大多数的动物仅仅存在了几百万年。所以你看，今天我们在地球上看到的周围的大多数生物和我们都有着差不多的年纪。我们却因此骄傲自大地认为：“噢，植物和细菌是原生生物，而我们已经进化了一阵子，所以我们是特别的物种。”
04:39
Think of life as being this book, anunfinished book for sure. We're just seeing the last few pages of each chapter.If you look out on the eight million species that we share this planet with,think of them all being four billion years of evolution. They're all theproduct of that. Think of us all as young leaves on this ancient and gigantictree of life, all of us connected by invisible branches not just to each other,but to our extinct relatives and our evolutionary ancestors. As a biologist,I'm still trying to learn, with others, how everyone's related to each other,who is related to whom.
想想生命这部书，一定是一本尚未完成的书。我们仅仅看到了每一章的最后几页。如果你注意到和我们共享这颗星球的 八百万种生物，想想它们已经有了 四十亿年的进化历程。它们都是进化的产物。想想我们只是这古老的巨大的生命之树中年轻的叶子，我们被看不见的枝干所连接，它们不仅仅连接了我们彼此，更连接了我们已经灭绝的近亲，以及我们进化了的祖先。作为一名生物学家，我仍然在和他人一起探究，我们每个人是如何与其他人产生联系的，谁又和谁相关联。
05:21
Perhaps it's better still to think of us asa little fish out of water. Yes, one that learned to walk and talk, but onethat still has a lot of learning to do about who we are and where we came from.
也许这样想更好，我们只是离开水的小小的鱼。是的，一条学习了走路和说话的鱼。但仍然有许多事情需要探究，关于我们是谁，我们从哪里来。
05:36
Thank you.
谢谢。
05:37
(Applause)
（掌声）
