我们死时是何种情形？ What happens when we die?
我们只是一死了之呢？ Do we simply cease to be?
还是以某种形式继续下去呢？ Or do we survive in some form?
究竟是什么造就了我们独特有意识的生物呢？ What is it that makes us unique,conscious beings?
这是最大的生存奥秘 It's the greatest mystery of existence,
问题看似大得连科学都难以解决 a problem seemingly too big for science to solve.
不过如今 一帮子生物学家 But today,a cluster of biologists,
物理学家 还有哲学家 physicists,and philosophers
正逼近解答这个终极问题 are closing in on the answer to the ultimate question.
有死后之生么？ Is there life after death?
科学频道 - 穿越虫洞 2x01 Science.Channel - Through the Wormhole 2x01
空间 时间 生命本身 Space,time,life itself.
宇宙的秘密，尽在穿越虫洞 The secrets of the cosmos lie through the wormhole.
有死后之生吗？ Is there life after death?
死亡就是终结么？ Is death the end?
是永寂么？ Eternal silence?
暗无天日么？ Blackness?
虚无缥缈么？ Nothingness?
抑或我们体内还有些许火花 Or is there a spark inside of us
生息在我们的肉体之外？ that lives on beyond our physical selves?
哲学家和科学家困扰着这个问题 Philosophers and scientists have puzzled over that question
已经数千年了 for thousands of years.
这是最大的谜团- It's the great mystery --
它 迟早 我们都得面对 one that,sooner or later,we all have to face.
一个早晨 时年我6岁 One morning when I was 6 years old,
我的祖母没有醒来 - my grandmother didn't wake up --
长眠不醒了 then or ever again.
这是我第一次感受到死亡 It was my first experience with death.
她昨天好好的 咋今天就走了呢？ How could she be here yesterday but gone today?
她一去不返了么？ Was she gone forever?
或是去了她某些重要的生命阶段？ Or did some essential part of her live on?
基督徒和穆斯林相信好人进天堂 Christians and muslims believe in a heaven for the just
恶人下地狱 and a hell for sinners.
其他宗教则视死亡为变迁 Other religions see death as a transition
生存到一个更高的层面 to an existence on the higher plane
或地球上另一个生命 or to another life here on earth.
所有这些信仰都有一个共同点 - All of these beliefs have one thing in common --
肉体只是灵魂的载体 the body is just a vessel for the soul,
灵魂是不灭的 and the soul is eternal.
这是许多人坚信不疑的东西 This is something many believe in their hearts,
然而有办法科学地证明或否决它么？ but is there a way to prove it or disprove it scientifically?
埃本.亚历山大执教并从事神经外科学 Eben Alexander taught and performed neurosurgery
在哈佛医学院已有15年了 at the Harvard Medical School for 15 years.
2008年 他的职业发生了一个意想不到的转折—— In 2008,his career took an unexpected turn --
让他深刻领悟了 one that would give him profound insight
死后之生的可能性 into the possibility of life after death.
他患上了一种罕见的细菌性脑膜炎 He contracted an extremely rare form of bacterial meningitis
陷入了深度昏迷 and fell into a deep coma.
我想如果你试图 I think if you were trying to come up
提出一个实验模型 with an experimental model
能够最接近人的死亡的话 that would best approach human death,
脑膜炎是最理想的 因为其所作所为 meningitis is perfect because what it does
就在于它攻击整个大脑的表层 is it attacks the entire outer surface of the brain.
这些是我的头颅的横断面造影 These are horizontal images taken through my skull,
你可以看到整个大脑的外层 and you can see the entire outer surface of the brain
布满了脓 was coated with pus.
这些细菌挤走了所有的葡萄糖 These bacteria had gotten rid of all the glucose,
现在患者剩下的唯一的东西就是我的脑细胞 and now the only thing left to consumer were my brain cells,
因此我的整个大脑皮层—— and so my entire neocortex --
就是形成我们人类的那部分大脑 - that part of the brain that makes us human --
彻底停止运作了 was completely shut down.
弗里曼：经过7天地脑假死后 After seven days of virtual brain death,
亚历山大从昏迷中苏醒了 Alexander emerged from the coma.
出人意料 一个月里 他恢复了常态 Miraculously,within a month,he was back to normal.
但是在他离开期间他发生了一些事情 But something happened to him while he was away.
我从深度昏迷中首先回忆到的 My first recollection from deep inside the coma
是我曾经—— was that I was --
那就是我有时将其称之为蚯蚓眼世界观 it's what I sometimes call the earthworm-eye view of the world.
一切都很模糊 褐色 红色 昏暗 Everything was kind of murky,brown,red,dark.
我确实记忆挥之不去 I literally remember roots over my head.
我似乎在那里好长好长时间 And I seemed to be there for a very,very long time.
我没有我生前的任何记忆 I had no memory whatsoever of my life.
难以表达 开不了口 No words -- my language was gone.
我当然不知晓身边的一切 I was certainly not aware of anything going on around me
就在重症监护室里 in the I.C.U. room.
然后 在那过程中 And then,in the midst of that,
有一点旋律在我面前盘旋 there was a little melody that was spinning in front of me.
它开始旋转并扩大 And it just started spinning and expanded,
它最终逐渐清除了 and it ended up clearing away
整个丑陋 不祥 混沌 模糊的境界 all that ugly,foreboding,gross,muddy realm.
突然间 And all of a sudden,
我来到了一个美丽的草甸 I was coming up into this beautiful meadow.
我已没有了身体意识 I had no body awareness.
没有双臂 双腿 啥都没有 I had no arms,legs,or anything,
但我意识到我成了蝴蝶翅膀上的一个斑点—— but I was aware that I was a speck on a butterfly wing --
那是只美丽的蝴蝶 absolutely beautiful butterfly.
有无数的彩蝶 And there were millions of other colorful butterflies
在我们身旁飞舞 looping and swirling all around us,
组成了一支美丽的飞行大军 all in this beautiful formation of flying.
然后我们离开了这个宇宙 And then we left this Universe
进入了一个地方 我现在称其为核心 and went out into what I now call the core.
一开始 它看上去奇大无比 暗无天日 At first,it seemed infinitely huge and dark,
尽管我来到那里时 although I was there
怀着美丽温暖的神圣意识 with that beautiful,warm awareness of the divine,
那显然是我们所谓的上帝 which was clearly what we would call God
这个地方是在宇宙之外 in this place outside the Universe.
基本上 我想起了整个多元宇宙 Basically,I recall the whole multiverse
就在我的前面 being out in front of me.
十分清楚 爱是整个多元宇宙的 It was very clear that love was a huge part
举足轻重的组成部分 of the constituent of that whole multiverse.
弗里曼：亚历山大所面对的东西 Alexander had faced something
已有数以万计的人报告过了 - that tens of thousands of people have reported --
临死的经历 a near-death experience.
几乎所有声称的东西 Nearly all claim something
科学至今都无法证明—— that science has so far been unable to prove --
有另一个存在于我们所了解的这个之外 that there is another existence beyond the one we know.
亚历山大博士：这个东西 This was something
很难让我从神经科学的角度给出解释 that was very difficult for me to explain from a neuroscientific standpoint,
我的科学面看不明白怎么会是这样 and the scientific side of me could not see how that could be,
然而它非常非常强大—— and yet it was a very,very powerful --
极强的记忆 very powerful memory.
我提出了几个模型 I came up with several models having to do
与神经生理学和神经解剖学有关 with the neurophysiology and neuroanatomy.
问题是那些模型中每一个能充分解释 And the problem is none of those models sufficiently explain
我从那次经历中所带回来的强烈的记忆 the very powerful memories that I brought back with me from this experience.
我最后归结到一点 我不相信 And I ended up at a point where I do not believe
神经生物学能很好地解释 that there is a good neurophysiologic explanation
我所发生的情况 for what happened to me.
弗里曼：埃本.亚历山大的经历 Eben Alexander's experience
是深刻而改变人生的 was profound and life-altering.
但它一点都不罕见 But it is by no means unique.
布鲁斯.格雷森是个心理医生 Bruce Greyson is a psychiatrist
供职于弗吉尼亚大学医学院 at the University of Virginia School of Medicine.
他调查过1000多例临死经历 He has investigated more than 1,000 cases of near-death experiences.
临死经历的一致特征 The consistent features of near-death experiences.
是感觉到深刻的和平福祉 are a sense of profound peace and well-being,
感觉到脱离肉体 a sense of leaving the physical body,
感觉到光亮 a sense of brilliant light
似乎焕发出温暖 无比的大爱 which seems to radiate warmth and unconditional love.
会有人报告遇到了其他人 Sometimes people report encountering other beings,
包括某种神祗 including a deity of some kind.
时而他们认出那神是上帝或基督 Sometimes they identify that deity as God or Christ,
时而却辨认不出 and sometimes they don't.
他们只是说 They just say that there was
这个全能的人物就是他们遇到的 this all-powerful being that they met.
弗里曼：许多科学家对这些经历不屑一顾 Many scientists dismiss these experiences
无非就是幻觉而已 as nothing more than hallucinations
是大脑在巨大的生理压力下触发的 triggered by a brain undergoing immense physical stress,
主要是神经细胞缺氧的缘故 mostly due to the nerve cells being deprived of oxygen.
早在上世纪70年代 Back in the 1970s,
美国空军的实验 experiments by the U.S. Air Force
就无意间测试了这个概念 inadvertently tested this idea.
科学家旋转离心机里的飞行员 Scientists spun pilots in a centrifuge,
给他们的身体施加强大的重力 subjecting their bodies to massive g-forces.
这会造成血液从大脑流向他们的下肢 It caused blood to drain to their feet
结果他们大脑缺氧 and left their brains starved for oxygen.
他们无一例外都是暂时性失明 They invariably blacked out.
他们醒来后 有飞行员报告说看到了亮光 When they awoke,some pilots reported seeing a bright light.
还有人说他们离开了自己的身体 Others said they left their bodies
在高处俯视自己—— and looked down at themselves from above --
经历类似于 experiences similar to those of people
那些濒临过死亡的人 who have been to the brink of death,
但缺少了一个关键的特征 but lacking one key feature.
在他们缺氧期间 In the period when they were losing oxygen,
也是他们失去意识的过程 as they were losing consciousness,
他们有一些特征 they had some features
经历了某些类似于临死前的体验 which bear some similarities to near-death experiences.
不过 他们肯定没有碰到过已故的亲人 However,they certainly didn't ever meet deceased loved ones
或其他对象 or other entities.
所有这些生理解释带来的问题 The problem with all of these physiological explanations
在于他们并没有考虑到复杂的思想 is that they don't account for the complex thinking,
记忆的形成 感知就发生在 the memory formation,the perceptions that take place
我们知道大脑 when we know the brain
无法进行复杂的思维之时 is not capable of doing complex thinking.
弗里曼：临死经历是不是 Are near-death experiences
心中对于辞世的最后的梦想呢？ the final dream of a mind that's about to wink out of existence?
抑或它们就是超越死亡那些东西的标志么？ Or are they a sign that there is something beyond death?
寻求真理的要求无非 Finding the truth requires nothing less
就是探索人类灵魂的科学探索 than a scientific quest to discover the human soul.
灵魂是神话呢 Is the soul a myth
还是宇宙中的一个基本要素呢？ or one of the fundamental elements of the Universe?
对科学家来说 死后之生的问题 For scientists,the question of life after death
与另一个问题密切相关 is inextricably linked with another question.
意识为何物？ What is consciousness?
意识从何而来？ Where does consciousness come from?
我们死后它将何去？ And where does it go when we die?
斯图尔特.哈梅罗夫医生是 Dr. Stuart Hameroff is the director
图森亚利桑那大学意识研究中心的主任 of consciousness studies at the University of Arizona,Tucson.
他也是一名执业麻醉师 He's also a practicing anesthesiologist.
在麻醉状态下 患者是不会做梦的 - Under anesthesia,patients don't dream --
即使我说 做一个美梦吧 even though I said,"pick out a nice dream."
我们常这么说的 但没有意识了 We always say that. But there's no awareness.
没有时间的流失 患者醒了 There's no passage of time. Patients wake up.
他们并不知道他们究竟是睡了5分钟呢还是5个小时 They don't know if they've been asleep five minutes or five hours.
麻醉拿走了意识 Anesthesia takes away consciousness.
麻醉状态下的大脑是相当活跃的 Brain under anesthesia is quite active.
其差异还是有点神秘的 And the difference is still somewhat mysterious.
弗里曼：在手术室里多年观察病患 Years watching over patients in the operating room
让哈梅罗夫纠结于了解 made Hameroff obsessed with understanding the link
大脑活动与意识之间的关系 between brain activity and consciousness.
当时 15年前 Then,15 years ago,
他遇到了英国大物理学家罗杰.彭罗斯爵士 he met the great British physicist,Sir Roger Penrose.
他们合作研发出了一个关于 Together,they developed a radical new theory
大脑工作的激进新理论—— for how the brain works --
一个已经发展成了无非就是对 a theory that has grown into nothing less
灵魂不灭进行科学论证的理论 than a scientific argument for an eternal soul.
其基础就是我们得脑细胞里的细小构造 At its root are tiny structures inside our brain cells
叫做微管 called microtubules.
哈梅罗夫医生：你不妨看看细胞里头 If you look inside a cell,
你能看到这些构件 you find these structural components
宛如我们体内的骨骼 that are somewhat like the bones within our bodies.
微管其实发展成了丛林 The microtubules develop literally a forest
在每个细胞内部 inside each cell,
这决定了细胞的 which determines the architecture
构造和结构 and the structure of the cell.
我们认为微管设计精美 And we think microtubules are perfectly designed
成了细胞的机载计算机 to be the cell's onboard computer
在分子层面上处理信息 and process information at the molecular level.
弗里曼：哈梅罗夫和彭罗斯认为微管 Hameroff and Penrose argue that microtubules
把神经元和大脑形成整体 allow neurons and the brain as a whole
担当了量子计算机 to function as a quantum computer,
其运作方式根本不同于 performing operations in a fundamentally different way
普通计算机 from normal computers.
哈梅罗夫医生：这里我们看到大脑有两个半球 So,here we have a brain with two hemispheres.
大脑的大部分感受 Most views of the brain
是单个神经元的集合 are of a collection of individual neurons.
当一个神经元被激发后 When one neuron fires,
它就会在一个突触处发送信号给下一个神经元 it sends a signal to the next neuron at a synapse.
这样进而引发那个神经元的激发 That,in turn,causes that neuron to fire,
那个神经元又引起另一个神经元的激发 and that neuron causes another neuron to fire,
就像多米诺骨牌一样 much like dominoes.
譬如 这里有个神经元被激发 So,for example,if a neuron fires here,
就会触发邻居的激发 it's gonna trigger its neighbors to fire,
发送信号给整个大脑 sending signals through and around the brain.
这就是大脑工作的经典描述 That's the classical view of how the brain works.
弗里曼：在常规计算机里 In a conventional computer,
信号的传送 signals move around from place to place
是有迹可循的 along traceable paths.
但量子计算机的微观组件的沟通 But the microscopic components of a quantum computer
凭借的是一个神秘的处理进程 叫做纠缠 are connected via a mysterious process called entanglement.
我们有人认为量子处理 Some of us think that quantum processes
在大脑的意识中扮演了重要的角色 play an important role in consciousness in the brain.
举个例子 这里如果有个神经元活动 So,for example,if there's neuronal activity here,
它就有可能通过量子非局域性 it may be coupled through quantum non-locality
耦合到这里 to processes over here.
这些神经元联系了起来 These neurons are connected
尽管它们相互隔开 even though they're spatially separated
这样这里的活动 so that activity here
瞬间影响到了那里的活动 instantaneously affects activity over here.
弗里曼：哈梅罗夫和彭罗斯认为 Hameroff and Penrose argue
一个脑细胞里的微管的变化 that a change in the microtubules in one brain cell
会影响到另一个脑细胞里的微管 can affect microbules in another.
不过那并不尽然 But that's not all.
量子理论声称 空间中的每一个点 Quantum theory claims that every single point in space,
即使在真空里 都能够容纳信息 even empty space,can contain information.
在宇宙巧夺天工的结构里 In the very fine structure of the universe,
存在有信息 量子信息 there is information,quantum information,
不会像这些多米诺骨牌这个样子 not unlike these dominoes,
我们有信息传上传下 这里那里 so that we can have information up or down,here and here,
然而它们有了沟通 but they're connected
这样事情发生在这里 so that something that happens here
而影响到那里 influences something here.
弗里曼：这就意味着微管里的信息 This means the information in the microtubules
能够进行沟通 can connect and become entangled
并与大脑外的宇宙纠缠在一起 with the universe outside the brain.
哈梅罗夫医生：所以 就如这两个神经元可以纠缠在一起一样 So,just like these two neurons may be entangled,
有可能意识信息 it's possible that the information of consciousness,
整个大脑里的 纠缠在一起 of the whole brain,is entangled
并能够逍遥存在于宇宙间 and can exist in the universe at large.
弗里曼：按哈梅罗夫的说法 According to Hameroff,
构建我们灵魂的是 our souls are built from something
远比神经元更为根本的东西 much more fundamental than neurons.
它们产生于宇宙最为基本的结构 They are constructed from the very fabric of the Universe.
哈梅罗夫医生：我认为意识或其直接前体—— I think that consciousness or its immediate precursor --
我们会称其为原意识 we'll call it proto-consciousness,
就一直存在于宇宙间 has been in the Universe all along,
或许从大爆炸就有了 perhaps from the Big Bang.
弗里曼：所有这一切使人想起佛教和印度教的信仰 All of this recalls the Buddhist and Hindu belief
意识是宇宙不可分割的一部分 that consciousness is an integral part of the Universe,
或许充斥了整个宇宙 and perhaps it is all there is in the Universe.
如果意识是个量子过程 If consciousness is a quantum process,
那它就可能解开一个谜团 it may solve the mystery of what happens
濒死经历期间到底发生了什么 during near-death experiences.
哈梅罗夫医生：比方说 心脏停止跳动 Let's say the heart stops beating,
血液停止流动 the blood stops flowing,
微管失去了其量子状态 the microtubules lose their quantum state.
但是量子信息 在微管里的 But the quantum information,which is in the microtubes,
没有被破坏 isn't destroyed.
它是无法破坏的 It can't be destroyed.
它只是消散到了 It just distributes and dissipates
无边的宇宙间 to the Universe at large.
如果病患复苏 苏醒了 If the patient is resuscitated,revived,
这个量子信息就会回到微管里 this quantum information can go back into the microtubules,
于是病患就会说 我有了一次临死经历 and the patient says,"I had a near-death experience."
我看到了白光 看到了隧道 "I saw white light. I saw a tunnel.
我看到了死去的亲人 "I saw my dead relatives.
我甚至飘出了自己的肉体 I maybe even floated out of my body."
现在 要是他们没有苏醒 患者死了 Now,if they're not revived and the patient dies,
于是就有可能这个量子信息 then it's possible that this quantum information
就可以存在于体外 或许就成了不灭的灵魂 can exist outside the body,perhaps indefinitely as a soul.
弗里曼：许多科学家发现很难相信 Many scientists find it difficult to believe
灵魂是量子计算机 that the soul is a quantum computer,
被连线到宇宙 hard-wired into the cosmos.
但是哈梅罗夫觉得研究正慢慢验证他的说法 But Hameroff feels that research is slowly validating his claims.
量子效应最近已经展现出 Quantum effects have recently been shown
能控制若干重要的生物过程 to control several important biological processes,
从鸟类的导航到光合作用 from bird navigation to photosynthesis
到人类的嗅觉. to the human sense of smell.
哈梅罗夫医生：迄今为止 尚无人给该理论致命打击 So far,nobody has landed a serious blow to the theory.
我们依然行得通 证据不断—— We're still very viable,and evidence continues --
新的证据继续支持我们 new evidence continues to support the ideas
在15年前所提出的想法 that we put forth 15 years ago.
弗里曼：但是实情是 But the truth is
我们仍然不知道意识来自何处 we still don't know where consciousness comes from
我们死后它又去了何方 or where it goes when we die.
若是有办法去度量意识 If there was a way to measure consciousness,
没准我们将能找到这些问题的答案 perhaps we could find the answers to these questions.
那个办法或许不久就将推出 That way may be coming soon,
有一位科学家在深入探索我们的思想 as one scientist explores the depths of our minds,
希望探索确认我们身份的 hoping to discover the mysterious mental pattern
神秘的心智模式 that makes us who we are.
人的大脑并不很大—— The human brain isn't very big --
3磅软组织 3 pounds of soft tissue.
不过它所产生的思想能够改造世界 But it can generate ideas that transform the world.
它能够保持多种多样的个性 It can hold personalities as diverse
诸如马丁.路德.金和成吉思汗 as Martin Luther King and Genghis Khan.
它甚至都知道那是什么 It even knows what it is.
那就是自知之明 我们认为它有灵魂 It's self-aware. We think it has a soul.
但那个灵魂是从何而来的呢？ But where does that soul come from?
意识是大脑的产物么？ Is consciousness a product of the brain?
它能活得过大脑么？ And can it outlive the brain?
研究人死的时候人的大脑所发生的情况谈何容易 Studying what happens to the human brain when people die is not easy.
死亡难得见到有发信号的 Death rarely comes on cue.
但是死亡一方面又是每天面对我们各位 But one aspect of death comes to all of us every day.
每晚我们熟睡时 我们的意识悄然溜走了 Each night when we fall asleep,our consciousness slips away.
威斯康辛大学的朱利奥.托诺尼教授 Professor Giulio Tononi of the University of Wisconsin
正在研究我们的大脑 is studying how our brains change
在失去意识时的变化 when they lose consciousness,
其目的 and in doing so,
他希望揭秘究竟是什么使我们成为我们的 he's hoping to unravel the secret of what makes us us.
意识最简单明确不过了—— The simplest definition of consciousness --
就是在你熟睡无梦时 它就不见了 that which goes away when you fall into dreamless sleep.
然而事实上 But the fact of the matter is,
大脑根本没有停摆 the brain doesn't shut off at all.
神经元 神经细胞 其实活跃就如 The neurons,the nerve cells,are actually just as active,
一定程度上 如他们清醒时 in a sense,as they are when you are awake.
所以 这是个有趣的科学问题 So,it is an interesting scientific question.
那么在你不复存在时又会是怎样呢 How would it be,then,that you disappear
而此时大脑依然还在忙碌个不停？ when your brain is still there and buzzing along?
弗里曼：托诺尼认为我们得认知水平 Tononi believes our level of awareness
取决于我们的大脑各部分 is determined by how much information
分享的信息量 the different parts of our brain share with each other.
一个丰富详尽的经验 An experience rich in detail
将会在大脑里产生非常复杂的模式 will generate highly complex patterns in the brain,
所产生的独特形态 托诺尼认为是可测到 creating unique shapes that Tononi believes can be measured.
每次经历基本上都好像是一个与众不同的形态 Every experience is essentially like an extraordinary shape.
就像火堆有着美丽火焰 Just like a fire with wonderful flames
其与众不同的形态每时每刻都在变幻着 is an extraordinary shape that changes all the time.
现在 给予其形态定性的东西 Now,it's a shape which is characterized
我将其称之为信息关系 by something I would call informational relationships.
不过其形态是内部的光照射出来的 But it's a shape that shines of inner light.
意识之火是非常特殊的火焰 The fire of consciousness is a very special fire
它产生于大脑内部 that's generated inside the brain,
它需要一套非常特殊的成分 and it requires a very special set of ingredients
才能够燃烧并发出光芒 in order to be able to burn and shine.
弗里曼：然而要了解那火焰何时点亮 But understanding when that fire is lit
何时熄灭 and when it is extinguished
远比只是简单地读取大脑扫描来得困难 is far more difficult than simply reading a brain scan.
所以朱利奥.托诺尼构建了整个实验室 So Giulio Tononi built an entire lab
奉献给了无梦睡眠的无意识阴曹地府 dedicated to the unconscious netherworld of dreamless sleep.
他设计了一个实验来检测 And he designed an experiment to detect how the brain changes
我们失去意识后的大脑变化 when we lose consciousness.
神经学这门知识相当于 It's the neurological equivalent
叩开黑暗大宅的大门 of knocking at the door of a darkened house
来找出屋内是否有人 to find out whether anyone is home.
托诺尼：我们利用的东西叫做 We use something called
经颅磁刺激 transcranium magnetic stimulation,
这是个方法 将小电流注入大脑 which is a way to inject a little current in the brain
无需将其打开 without having to open it up,
这样通过一个安全无害的方法 so in a perfectly innocuous way,
来看看我们的大脑皮层对其的反应 and then see how our cerebral cortex reacts to it.
弗里曼：首先 研究小组在清醒状态下的 First,the team runs the experiment
志愿者开展实验 on a volunteer who's awake.
网状电极将会跟踪其 A mesh of electrodes will keep track
大脑的所有活动 of all activity in his brain.
现在 一个小磁线圈放置在他的头上 Now a small magnetic coil is placed on his head.
启动开关 它会把持续十分之一秒钟的磁脉冲 At the flip of a switch,it delivers a pulse of magnetism
发送至他的大脑皮层 lasting a tenth of a second to his cerebral cortex.
打击会引起小部分大脑的神经元 The burst causes neurons in a small patch of the brain
触发 to fire,
于是它们发出信号给其它神经元 and they,in turn,send signals to other neurons,
同样引起它们的触发 making them fire,as well.
这种复杂的神经活动的模式 This complex pattern of neural activity
向外扩展覆盖了约三分之一的大脑皮层 spreads out to cover about a third of the cortex
持续了约三分之一秒钟 and lasts for almost 1/3 of a second.
有意识的大脑反射就像是个振铃 The conscious brain reverberates like a ringing bell.
有人肯定回家了 Someone is definitely home.
然而在其无意识时又当如何呢？ But what happens when he's unconscious?
现在布雷迪睡着了 Now that Brady is asleep,
我们要来再次振铃 we are going to ring the bell again
来看看他大脑的回应 此时 熟睡状态下 and see how his brain responds when -- after falling asleep.
弗里曼：再一次 大脑被点亮了 Once again,the brain lights up.
但这一次 并没有反响 But this time,there is no reverberation.
振铃停摆 The ring of the bell dies
就在磁脉冲关闭的那一瞬间 as quickly as the pulse of magnetism shuts off.
沉睡的大脑可能在活动 The sleeping brain may be active,
但它已经失去了一部分大脑与另一部分之间 but it has lost the ability to share information
分享信息的活力 between one part of the brain and another.
托诺尼认为这种信息的传播 Tononi believes this spreading of information
是意识的关键因素 is the key ingredient of consciousness.
清醒的大脑保持专门的区域 The waking brain keeps specialized areas
给持续的对话 in constant conversation,
就像内阁会议那样 like a Cabinet meeting
有国务卿 财政部 国防部 with the Secretary of State,Treasury,and Defense
在一起决定一个统一的行动计划 all deciding on a unified plan of action.
大脑睡眠时 会议休会 When the brain is asleep,the meeting adjourns.
专家不在 啥都没有作出决定 The specialists leave,and nothing gets decided.
为什么你入夜熟睡后会失去意识呢？ Why do you lose consciousness
为什么你入夜熟睡后会失去意识呢？ when you are in deep sleep early in the night?
通常在你清醒时相互交流的专家—— The specialists that normally do talk to each other
现在不这么干了 when you are awake -- they stop doing so.
你入睡后会出现某种机制 There is some mechanism that comes into place when you sleep
让专家之间的互动发生困难 that makes the interaction
让专家之间的互动发生困难 between the specialists difficult.
结果 And,in the end,
看上去就好像他们再也无法相互交流了 it looks like they can't talk to each other anymore,
毫不奇怪 所以你就失去了意识 and not surprisingly,then,you lose consciousness.
你已不在了 You're not there anymore.
弗里曼：托诺尼分辨有意识大脑与无意识大脑 Tononi's ability to tell the difference
之间差异的能力 between a brain that's conscious and one that's not
很快就有可能在医学临床上派上用场 may soon find application in a medical setting,
评估昏迷患者的意识水平 assessing the level of awareness of coma patients.
托诺尼：你首先会关心到的是 One of the first things you would want to know is,
家里有人么？ is anybody home?
如果某人是你的老婆 或儿子 或老妈 If that somebody is your wife or your son or your mother
你看到眼睛张开 and you see the eyes are open
你并不知道是否有人在那里 and you don't know whether somebody's there,
甚至很痛苦 那你又会如何呢？ maybe even suffering,how do you go about that?
弗里曼：朱利奥.托诺尼找到了方法 Giulio Tononi has found a way
来观察人的大脑里的意识 to see consciousness in the human brain,
但它究竟又是如何呈现在复杂的神经元网络之中的呢—— but exactly how it arises amid the complex web of neurons --
那仍是个谜 他也只能进行猜测 that remains a mystery at which he can only begin to guess.
托诺尼：若有人称意识 When one says that consciousness
需要有一个复杂的系统来支撑它 requires a complex system to support it,
某种意义上 那必定是真的 in some sense,that must be true.
然而互联网肯定是非常复杂的 But the Internet is certainly very complex.
另一个例子 你也可以说 Another example,you could also say
下棋程序是很复杂的 that a chess-playing program is very complex.
因此有许多东西人们直观地称之为复杂 So there are many things that people intuitively call complex,
但其中只有少数 but only a few of them
似乎能够产生意识 seem to be able to give rise to consciousness.
因此你所需要的是正确的复杂形态 So what you need is the right kind of complexity,
只有少数结构 - 如我所知—— and only a few structures -- as far as I can tell --
能够做到那一点 能够表现出那样非凡的技能 can do that,can pull out that extraordinary feat.
我们的皮层 大脑皮层 Our cortex,the cerebral cortex,
似乎近乎完美的联系在一起 seems to be wired up almost ideally
就是为了实现那个技能的 to achieve exactly that.
弗里曼：然而有办法揭开意识的老底么？ But is there a way to discover the root of consciousness?
自我意识感与灵魂是一回事么？ And is this sense of self-awareness
自我意识感与灵魂是一回事么？ the same as the soul?
这个人认为他发现了人的灵魂 This man thinks he's found the human soul
知道我们死的时候它发生了什么 and knows what happens to it when we die.
灵魂是什么？ What is the soul?
它是能量场么？它是实实在在的东西么？ Is it a field of energy? Is it something tangible?
它有重量么？ Does it have weight?
1907年 邓肯.麦克杜格尔博士测出 In 1907,Dr. Duncan MacDougall determined
灵魂重0.75盎司 that the soul weighs about 3/4 of an ounce,
即21克 or 21 grams.
他是通过称重死于结核病的患者的尸体测出的 He determined this by weighing the bodies of dying TB patients.
但是从那时起的100年里 But in the 100 years since then,
没有人能够重复他的发现 no one has been able to replicate his findings
因为似乎并没有什么称出来 because there doesn't seem to be anything to weigh.
会有某些难以捉摸的物质使你成为你的么？ Could there be some elusive substance that makes you you?
在存在的最小层面上 At the smallest levels of existence,
所有的物质都是原子构成的 all matter is made of atoms.
地球回收原子已有几十亿年了 Earth has been recycling atoms for billions of years.
碳从树木移至海洋 Carbon moves from trees to oceans
移至我们身体的细胞 to the cells in our bodies.
甚至死人的原子也得到了回收利用 Even the atoms of dead people get reused.
这意味着你股骨里的原子 This means that an atom in your thigh bone
有可能曾经属于克利欧佩特拉(古埃及艳后)的下嘴唇 might have been part of Cleopatra's lower lip.
这种回收并不只发生在原子层面上 And this recycling doesn't just happen at the atomic level.
你在细胞层面上不停地自我重建 You are constantly rebuilding yourself at the cellular level.
你的身体每小时会产生10个新细胞 Your body produces 1 billion new cells every hour.
无论你多大年纪 No matter how old you are,
你的大部分都不会超过10岁 most of you is no more than 10 years old.
克里斯托夫.科赫是加州理工学院的 Christof Koch is a Professor of biology and engineering
生物和工程学教授 at Caltech.
他认为使你成为你的 He believes that what makes you you
完全不在于那些个原子和细胞 has nothing to do with individual atoms or cells.
他认为你的出现之道是独一无二的 He believes that "you" emerges from the unique way
你头脑里的细胞是有组织的 the cells in your brain are organized.
大脑是我们所知的宇宙间最复杂的东西 The brain is the most complex piece of matter
大脑是我们所知的宇宙间最复杂的东西 we know in the Universe.
人的大脑通常属于千亿神经细胞级别上的 The human brain typically is on the order
人的大脑通常属于千亿神经细胞级别上的 of 100 billion nerve cells.
其每一个本身就是复杂的个体 Each of those is a very complicated entity by itself.
它宛如小电脑 It's more like a little computer,
交互上1万至10万个其它神经细胞 interconnected to 10,000 to 100,000 other nerve cells.
弗里曼：分开来 这些神经元都是没有意识的 Separately,these neurons aren't conscious.
但一旦它们彼此大规模交互 But when they interact with each other on a massive scale,
结果就是自我意识的网络 the result is a self-aware network.
我们认为意识出自 We believe that consciousness emerges
数百万乃至几十亿神经元的触发 out of the firing of millions or possibly billions of neurons.
那我的灵魂究竟为何物啊？ So that's what my soul is.
那是我所感受的东西 我的主观感受 That's what my feelings,my subjective feelings
痛苦啊 快乐啊 向往啊 of pain and pleasure and of yearning are.
弗里曼：但要是 正如科赫所认为的 But if,as Koch believes,
我们的脑干若完全就是这个脆弱 who we are stems exclusively from this fragile
千变万化的脑细胞网络构成的话 and ever-changing network of brain cells,
那么就不会有永恒的你 then there can be no eternal you.
科赫：我们不断地变化 We constantly change.
对于每一个经历 我们都有所变化 With each experience,we change a little bit.
对于某些经历 我们变化较多 With some experiences,we change more,
而对于其他经历 我们则变化较少 and with other experiences,we change less.
所以从那个意义上 并无定数 So,that sense,there's no constant.
随着我们年龄增长的有 我的思想 我的身体 And as we age,again,my mind -- my body,
同时还有我的个性 我思想的变化 but also my personality and my mind changes.
所以从那个意义上 并没有永恒不变的个性 So,that sense,there's no constant personality.
这是大脑结构的不断变化 也是大脑推动的不断变化 It's a changing construct of the brain and by the brain.
弗里曼：这种大脑观称之为唯物主义 This view of the brain is called materialism,
科赫是其倡导者 and Koch is its champion.
对于唯物主义者来说 For materialists,
灵魂只不过是一个稍纵即逝的幻觉 the soul is nothing more than a fleeting illusion,
幻觉长不过产生其的物理网络 an illusion that cannot outlive
幻觉长不过产生其的物理网络 the physical network from which it arises.
一旦电流沟通中止 Once that electrical traffic ceases
缘于大脑本身已不再工作 because the brain itself doesn't work anymore
神经元停止触发 and the neurons stop firing,
那么灵魂也将不复存在 then,also,the soul will cease to exist.
弗里曼：但知名认知科学家道格拉斯.霍夫斯塔德 But renowned cognitive scientist Douglas Hofstadter
并不那么快地否认死后之生的可能性 is not so quick to dismiss the possibility of life after death.
他认为灵魂并非我们一咽气就消失的 He believes the soul does not disappear the moment we die.
霍夫斯塔德：在我还是物理学研究生时 When I was a graduate student in physics,
我有一个我很喜欢的教授 I had a professor who I was very fond of
他是个宗教人士 who was a religious person.
他相信 让我很震惊 惊讶 困惑 And he believed,to my shock and surprise and confusion,
在大脑里面 that inside the brain,
存在有某种粒子 there were certain kinds of particles
是我们尚未发现的 that we hadn't yet discovered
带来了灵魂和意识 that gave rise to soul and consciousness.
弗里曼：霍夫斯塔德对大脑采取了 Hofstadter took a more scientific approach
更科学的手段 to the brain.
他已是模拟复杂心理过程的先驱 He became a pioneer in modeling complex mental processes.
他思考人们的思考 He thinks about how people think.
人类做得最好的 在他看来 And what humans do best,in his opinion,
就是制作了周围世界的心智地图 is make mental maps of the world around them.
感知世界的过程 The process of perceiving a world
产生了万物的内部表示 gives rise to internal representations of everything.
你知道 如果我看到这个胡椒瓶 You know,if I look at this pepper shaker,
我就有了它的内在模型 I have an internal model of it.
我无需去观察它 And I don't need to look at it
因为我已见到它好多回了 because I've seen it so many times,
我已经有了它固定的内在模型了 I have an internal model of it that is stable.
弗里曼：所有的动物都会制作心智地图 All animals make mental maps.
动物越大 地图就越复杂 The bigger the animal,the more complex the map.
蜜蜂知道太阳和它的蜂巢的方位 A bee knows the position of the sun and its hive.
蝠鲼学习遨游在 A manta ray learns to navigate
错综复杂的洋流里 the convoluted web of ocean currents.
狒狒必须遵循 A baboon must keep track
大队人马尊卑有序的社会秩序 of the troop's social pecking order.
我们地图的构建 Our maps are built
来自我们所遇到的人和物的寿命… from a lifetime of objects and people we've encountered...
还有另外一个关键因素 And one other crucial element.
霍夫斯塔德：我们不仅吸纳了其余的世界 We incorporate not only the rest of the world,
我们还吸纳了我们对我们是谁 but we incorporate our own understanding
我们是什么的自我认识 of who we are and what we are,
这里包括了肤浅 有形的东西 which includes superficial,physical things
比如事实上我们有两只手 like the fact that we have two hands
每只手有五个指头 and five fingers on each hand,
我们所具有的那种幽默感 what kind of sense of humor we have,
我们是否擅长于篮球的远距离投篮 whether we're good at throwing free-throws in basketball
或是勾手投篮 or hook shots.
我们创造了一个概念 反映了我们是谁 And we create a concept that reflects who we are.
弗里曼：霍夫斯塔德把这个世界地图 Hofstadter regards this map of the world
同时也包括了地图制作者的地图 that also includes a map of the map-maker
看作是心智反馈回路 as a mental feedback loop.
如果你将摄像机对准电视机屏幕 If you point a television camera at a television screen
于是屏幕就摄入了自己 and then the screen gets put onto itself,
等等 等等 et cetera,et cetera,
你看到了一个非常复杂的视觉模式 - and you get a very complex visual pattern --
系统本身就是自我感知 the system itself is perceiving itself.
对我来说 灵魂是个浮现过程 To me,the soul is an emergent process,
一个几十年感知和反馈所产生的浮现体 an emergent entity that comes out of decades
一个几十年感知和反馈所产生的浮现体 of perception and feedback.
弗里曼：但这个意识观 But this view of consciousness
具有震撼的影响 has a shocking implication.
若说灵魂只是个奇怪的心智反馈回路 If the soul is just a strange mental feedback loop,
那么它不该是人类独有的 then it should not be unique to humans.
任何足够聪明的网络都应该能够体验它 Any sufficiently smart network should be able to experience it,
不管它是何物 whatever it is made of.
这就是为什么这个当代科学怪人 Which is why this latter-day Frankenstein
正在计划打造一个灵魂 is planning to build a soul.
他所研究的能够直指死后之生 What he learns could point the way to a life beyond death.
宗教告诉我们我们的灵魂能够超脱凡体 Religion tells us that our souls transcend the body.
这些只是我们世上走一回的皮囊而已 These are just shells that we walk a around in for a while.
大多数科学家并不以为然 Most scientists don't believe that.
他们称我们所谓的灵魂 They say that what we call the soul
是大脑构成的自我意识的网络 is a self-aware network of brain connections
已经进化了数百万年了 that evolved over millions of years.
如果那时真的 If that's true,
那么如果我们来打造一个人脑的拷贝又当如何呢？ then what would happen if we built a copy of the human brain?
它会有灵魂么？ Would it have a soul?
我们即将有所突破 We're on the verge of finding out.
如果思想之谜 And if the mystery of the mind
是我们能够破解的东西 is something we can crack computationally,
那么它甚至可以给我们死里逃生的路线 it would even give us an escape route from death.
世界各地的研究人员 Around the world,teams of researchers
正在尝试逆向构建人脑 are attempting to reverse-engineer a human brain.
这是个艰巨的任务 因为对于我们所有的研究来说 It's a tough job,because for all our research,
大脑仍然是已知的宇宙间 the brain is still the most complicated instrument
最为复杂的仪器 in the known Universe.
然而绘制大脑可能需要几十年时间才能完成 But mapping the brain could take decades to complete,
这就是为什么有些离经叛道的科学家 which is why some rebel scientists
决定利用鲜活的脑细胞 have decided to harness the firepower
内部的火力 inside living brain cells.
他们试图破解灵魂之谜 They're trying to crack the secrets of the soul
通过将生物学和技术融合在一起 by fusing biology and technology,
去上一些大脑并将它们杂交到一些硬件上 taking bits of brain and mating them to bits of hardware.
大多数计算机模拟 Most computer simulations
被限制在非常单纯的神经元上 are limited to very simplistic neurons.
我们这里培养皿里的东西 What we have here in our culture dishes
用得是鲜活的神经元 with real,live,wet,squishy neurons
完全利用它们的复杂性 with all their complexity,
其大大复杂于我们在 is immensely much more complicated
今天的计算机上所做的任何模拟 than anything we can simulate on today's computers.
弗里曼：史蒂夫.波特教授 Professor Steve Potter
任职于乔治亚技术学院 of the Georgia Institute of Technology
设计打造的大脑 - designs and builds brains --
半生命半机器大脑 brains that are half-living,half-machine.
波特的研究小组从大鼠胚胎中提取培养的神经元 Potter's team takes neurons cultured from rat embryos
然后将它们种植在微型电极板上 then grows them on miniature plates of electrodes.
波特：这是个多电极阵列培养皿 Here is a multi-electrode array culture dish.
你可以看到荧光示踪神经元生长在上面 You can see some fluorescently labeled neurons growing on it.
这些是电极 These are the electrodes
通过导线拦截电子 with leads heading off to the electronics
那是我们用来记录和刺激那些细胞的电子 that we use to record from and stimulate the cells.
这些全都是轴突和树突 These are all the axons and dendrites
表示细胞之间的联系 that represent the connections between the cells.
这些联系形成于 Those connections form
头四个小时的培养过程中 over the course of the first four hours in culture.
你这里可以看到时间推移 You can see on this time lapse here
联系的形成过程 connections forming.
这些就是突触连接 So,those are the synaptic connections
这样神经元就可以彼此交流 by which the neurons talk to each other,
我们可以拍摄到过程中的对话 and we can film that conversation in progress
利用这里的钙敏感染色剂 using a calcium-sensitive dye here.
这样你就可以看到细胞不停闪烁 So,here you can see the cells flashing.
每当有细胞发送信号给另一个细胞时 Every time the cell sends a signal to another cell,
都会有一个爆裂的钙 it has a little burst of calcium.
弗里曼：大脑长成后 When the brain has grown,
波特会通过电极给它发送信息 Potter send information to it through the electrodes,
大脑会做出反应 and the brain responds.
那些电极接到计算机上 Those electrodes are connected to a computer
计算机连上一架机器人 that's wired up to a robot body,
结果形成了新的生命 resulting in a new form of life.
这是hybrot（杂种机器人）- This is hybrot --
由活脑组织控制的机器人 a robot controlled by living brain tissue.
其大脑在冰柜里 Its brains are in a refrigerator,
不过你在计算机屏幕上能看到其神经元的反应 but you can see its neurons react on the computer screen
同时其身体在实验台上寻找出路 as its body finds its way around the lab bench.
和任何动物一样 Like any animal,
hybrot在从中体验和学习 the hybrot has experiences and learns from them.
在这里 是如何定位其环境的呢 In this case,how to navigate its environment.
那么问题在于hybrot能够有意识么？ So,the question is,could a hybrot ever become conscious?
我们能否得到培养成联网的意识 Whether or not we could ever get to conscious cultured networks
这个问题 要我说 我们已经有个答案 - 可以 is a question which I would say we've already answered "yes."
我们看到培养皿 We have culture dishes
不断接收到环境输入的信息 that are receiving inputs from the environment.
它们以复杂的方式来应对它们 They're responding to them in complicated ways.
所以它们有自己的环境意识 So they're conscious of their environment
某些非常初步的方式 in some very rudimentary fashion.
或许对于较为复杂的互动 Perhaps with more complicated interactions
存在于不同脑组织之间的 between different brain tissues
以及计算机与脑组织之间的 and between the computer and the brain tissues,
我们所得到的东西 人们会说 we could get to something that people would say
是高水平的认知 更像是人的意识 is a high-level cognition,more like human consciousness.
弗里曼：但要是有朝一日 hybrot或计算机被唤醒 But if one day a hybrot or a computer wakes up
意识到它是什么 它是谁 and realizes what and who it is,
要是有灵魂从那些导线里冒出来 if a soul emerges from those wires,
我们如何知道呢？ how would we know?
我们得全靠对话了 We'll have to rely on conversation.
我们不妨询问人造大脑 你有意识么？ If we asked the artificial brain,"are you conscious?"
它说服我们说它有 And it persuades us that it is,
那我们就只好采信它了 we'll just have to take its word.
不过同样的事情在我们与别人交流时也会碰到 But the same thing applies when we talk to other humans.
我们其实并不知道别人是否有意识 We don't actually know that other people are conscious.
他们没准只是行尸走肉而已 说着人话 They might just be zombies who are saying the right thing
但却没有亲身 主观的经历 but having no private,subjective experience.
我现在就可以将某些人工智能 I can put some sort of an artificial intelligence
放到计算机里去 into a computer right now
代表我可能会做出的某种决定 that represents the kind of decisions I might make
某种意义上 它具有了我的某种意识 and has,in some sense,some of my consciousness in it.
所以那是不难做到的 So that's not hard to do.
但是要得到的东西是我们所说的 But to get something that we would say
是我的意识足够好的副本 is a good enough copy of my consciousness
并且若是将它放入别人的体内 that if it were put back in somebody else's body,
人们就会误认为它就是我—— people would be fooled into thinking it was me --
这种事情我们甚至还没有头绪 this is something we haven't even the first clue
究竟如何以一种详细的方法去做到 of how to do it in any kind of a detailed way.
弗里曼：打造我们灵魂的人造家园 Building artificial homes for our souls
或许还要等上好长时间 may be a long time coming,
那么在此期间我们要做些什么呢？ so what do we do in the meantime?
原来搭载我们身后灵魂的理想载体 Turns out the ideal vessels
原来搭载我们身后灵魂的理想载体 to carry souls after the death of the body
可能已经存在 may already exist.
有可能就在你的身旁 One could be sitting right next to you.
尽管我们有先进的技术 Despite our advanced technology,
但生命之谜的破解看似依然遥遥无期—— the riddle of life still seems a long way from being solved --
这个…是这回事么？ or...Is it?
印第安纳州布卢明顿 In Bloomington,Indiana,
道格拉斯.霍夫斯塔德称这全在于视角 Douglas Hofstadter says it's all a matter of perspective.
他认为意识是大脑以奇妙的方式汇集信息 He believes consciousness is the inevitable result
他认为意识是大脑以奇妙的方式汇集信息 of the strange and wonderful way
形成思维模式的必然结果 the brain joins information together
形成思维模式的必然结果 into patterns of thought.
形成我们的思维模式 And the patterns of thought that form us
并非我们的独享 are not unique to us.
我们全都好奇地拼凑着 We are all curious collages
我们打过交道的旁人 of everyone we've ever been influenced by,
不管是生是死 living or dead.
你灵魂的模式 The pattern of your soul
是你自己头脑里最强最复杂的 is the strongest and most complex in your own brain,
但它能够传递给其它大脑 but it can be passed on to other brains.
霍夫斯塔德：这是肖邦的练习曲 This is a book of Chopin Atudes.
这些白纸黑符 These black splotches on white paper
捕捉到了肖邦情感中 capture some very,very central pieces
最核心的部分—— of Chopin's emotionality --
他的高潮 他的低潮 his highs,his lows,
他的成就感 his sense of triumph,
他的挫折感 痛苦感 his sense of resignation or anguish.
凡此种种就是流露出来的他的情感构成 Anything that was part of his emotional makeup comes through,
让别的人类深入洞察的东西 and one gets a very deep glimpse of another human being.
或许在此人正式从地球表面消失150、160年后 Perhaps 150,160 years after that person
或许在此人正式从地球表面消失150、160年后 has officially vanished from the surface of the earth,
他们的一些灵魂依然存在 something of their soul persists
侵袭着无数其他人的思想和大脑 and invades the minds and brains of millions of other people.
弗里曼：这是一种死后的生命形式 This is a form of life after death
我们都要经历的 that we all experience,
尽管我们可能无法识别它是什么 though we may not recognize it for what it is.
弗里曼：就是一个巨大的个人悲剧 让霍夫斯塔德看到这个的—— It took a great personal tragedy for Hofstadter to see this --
他太太卡罗尔的去世 the death of his wife,Carol.
我们过去生活在意大利 We were in Italy,
很突然发现了脑肿瘤 and it was a very sudden discovery of a brain tumor.
我们发现她患上了脑肿瘤时 And we only found out that she had a brain tumor
是在12月11日 on the 11th of December,
到12月12日 晚间 and on the 12th of December,in the evening,
她陷入了昏迷 she fell into a coma.
一切非常非常块 So it was very,very,very fast.
当时我一直以来打交道 When somebody that I have been entangled with
如此长如此深的人 for so long and so deeply
突然之间撒手人寰 is suddenly poofed out of existence,
于是我不得不 你知道 面对的问题就是 I then had to,you know,confront the question
究竟有无幸存下来的东西 of what,if anything,survived
以及在哪里 总之 and where,if at all,
人的灵魂能够移植 can a human soul be transplanted,
从一个大脑移至另一个大脑么？ uprooted from one brain to another brain?
我的答案就必须是 And my answer would have to be,
在一个极其有限的意义上说 可以 in a very limited sense,yes.
就卡罗尔存在于我内心而言—— The degree to which Carol exists inside me --
那是个简装版的她 it's a much stripped-down version of her.
那是简陋版 粗糙的 It's a crude version. It's coarse-grained.
仿佛就是一件镶嵌作品 It's as if one had a mosaic done
用了很小很小的精美石子—— in very,very small,fine stones --
上百万颗 a million of them.
然后它被毁了 And then it was a destroyed,
但是有人 在其被毁之前 but somebody,before it was destroyed,
已经复制了它 只是用了1000块石头 had made a copy of it but only using 1,000 stones.
因此这1000块石头 And so the 1,000 stones
仍然具有同样的颜色 同样的布置 still have the same colors and the same kind of arrangement,
但要粗糙很多 不同的介质 but much more coarse-grained,in a different medium,
不同的石头 in different stones.
原版的已经毁了 The original has been destroyed,
但副本以粗糙的版本幸存了下来 but the copy exists in a coarse-grained version.
弗里曼：因而 我们还在 And so,we live on.
我们灵魂的片段存活在 A piece of our soul survives
我们曾经接触过的每一个人心里 in everyone we have ever encountered.
那个灵魂碎片 That soul fragment
最强烈 最被认可 is the strongest,most recognizable
存在于爱我们的人心里 in the people who loved us.
这种死后之生是我们都能涉及到的 This form of life after death is one we can all relate to,
无论我们信仰什么 whatever our religion.
但有木有灵魂别的安身之地呢？ But is there some other resting place for the soul?
我们在地球上最后时刻 Does our consciousness just shimmer out of existence
我们的意识就只是灵光一现么？ in our last moments on earth?
灵魂是不是无非就是神经处理网络 Is the soul nothing more than a network of neural processes,
是能够有朝一日在机器里再现的呢？ something that one day can be recreated in a machine?
抑或我们大脑里的量子状态 Or does the quantum state of our brain
是不是全部重新吸入宇宙呢？ get reabsorbed into the Universe at large?
科学家认为他们最终在接近 Scientists believe they are finally getting close
解决这个谜团 to solving this puzzle,
即使他们对答案分歧严重 even though they passionately disagree about the answer.
你失去意识 你就失去了你的灵魂 When you lose consciousness,you lose your soul.
你就失去了一切 You lose everything.
世界已无你的任何东西 The world does not exist anymore for you.
你的友人已不复存在 Your friends don't exist anymore.
你已不复存在 一切都木有了 You don't exist. Everything is lost.
若是你以表面价值来看待这些临死经历的话 If you take these near-death experiences at face value,
那么他们认为思想和意识 then they suggest that the mind or the consciousness
貌似无须肉体就能发挥作用的 seems to function without the physical body.
哈梅罗夫医生：我认为量子处理 I think the quantum approach
意识原则上能够 to consciousness can,in principle,
解释我们为何在这里 我们的目的何在 explain why we're here and what our purpose is
以及死后再生和轮回 and also the possibility of life after death and reincarnation
在脱离凡胎后意识长期存在的可能性 and the persistence of consciousness
在脱离凡胎后意识长期存在的可能性 after our bodies give up.
亚历山大博士：我深信不疑 I have great belief and knowledge
我们的灵魂美妙地存在于这个尘世之外 that there is a wonderful existence
我们的灵魂美妙地存在于这个尘世之外 for our souls outside of this earthly realm,
那就是我们真实情况 and that is our true reality.
我们离开这个世界的时候都会发现它离开了 And we all find that out when we leave this earth.
最终 我们每个人都将发现真相 Ultimately,every one of us will discover the truth.
不过我们究竟会不会在死到临头时 But will we ever enter our final hour
知晓自己的命运呢？ knowing our fate?
也许有些事情让人类来把握实在是太大了 Perhaps some things really are too big for humans to grasp.
到了那时 我们不得不从我们知道什么 That's when we have to shift from what we know
转变成我们相信什么了 to what we believe.