劍橋雅思 17 閱讀原文翻譯 T2P3—Insight or Evolution

本篇文章共分 11 段，探討長久以來科學的進步應該歸功於少數幾位天才科學家，還是集合眾人的知識與力量逐步累積而成？若是後者那麼這當中的驅動力又是什麼？這跟生物學上的演化有相似性嗎？

本篇考題英文原文與對應之中文翻譯整理如下。練習作答解題時若有對語意不清楚之處，請仔細查閱對照，以提升閱讀理解能力。

1. 科學創新從何而來

   Two scientists consider the origins of discoveries and other innovative behavior

   Scientific discovery is popularly believed to result from the sheer genius of such intellectual stars as naturalist Charles Darwin and theoretical physicist Albert Einstein. Our view of such unique contributions to science often disregards the person’s prior experience and the efforts of their lesser-known predecessors. Conventional wisdom also places great weight on insight in promoting breakthrough scientific achievements, as if ideas spontaneously pop into someone’s head – fully formed and functional.

   兩位科學家思考發現和其他創新行為的起源

   人們普遍認為，科學發現是由自然學家查理斯-達爾文和理論物理學家阿爾伯特-愛因斯坦這樣的智力明星的純粹天才所產生的。我們這種對科學的獨特貢獻的看法往往忽略了這個人之前的經驗和他們不那麼出名的前輩的努力。一般人對於促進突破性科學成就方面的看法也非常重視洞察力，就好像一些點子會自發地出現在某人的大腦裡—完全成形並能發揮作用。

2. 常見看法有誤

   There may be some limited truth to this view. However, we believe that it largely misrepresents the real nature of scientific discovery, as well as that of creativity and innovation in many other realms of human endeavor.

   或許這種觀點有些部分是真的。然而，我們認為，它在很大程度上誤導了科學發現的真正性質，以及人類付出努力的許多其他領域中創造力和創新的本質。

3. 創新的累積性

   Setting aside such greats as Darwin and Einstein – whose monumental contributions are duly celebrated – we suggest that innovation is more a process of trial and error, where two steps forward may sometimes come with one step back, as well as one or more steps to the right or left. This evolutionary view of human innovation undermines the notion of creative genius and recognizes the cumulative nature of scientific progress.

   拋開達爾文和愛因斯坦這樣的偉大人物—他們的不朽貢獻獲得了應有的頌揚—我們認為，創新更像是一個試錯的過程，在這個過程中，向前走兩步有時可能會退一步，以及向右或向左走一步或多步。這種對人類創新的進化觀點減損了創造性天才的概念，並承認了科學進步的累積性。

4. 突破出自幻想猜測

   Consider one unheralded scientist: John Nicholson, a mathematical physicist working in the 191Os who postulated the existence of ‘proto-elements’ in outer space. By combining different numbers of weights of these proto-elements’ atoms, Nicholson could recover the weights of all the elements in the then-known periodic table. These successes are all the more noteworthy given the fact that Nicholson was wrong about the presence of proto-elements: they do not actually exist. Yet, amid his often fanciful theories and wild speculations, Nicholson also proposed a novel theory about the structure of atoms. Niels Bohr, the Nobel prize-winning father of modern atomic theory, jumped off from this interesting idea to conceive his now-famous model of the atom.

   考慮一下一位不為人知的科學家。約翰-尼科爾森（John Nicholson），一位在 1910 年代從事研究的數學物理學家，他推測外太空存在 “原生元素”。通過結合這些原元素原子的不同數值的重量，尼科爾森可以恢復當時已知週期表中所有元素的重量。鑒於尼科爾森對原生元素的存在是錯誤的：它們實際上並不存在，這種復原週期表的成功就更值得注意了。然而，在他經常的幻想理論和瘋狂猜測中，尼科爾森還提出了一個關於原子結構的新理論。諾貝爾獎得主、現代原子理論之父尼爾斯-玻爾（Niels Bohr）從這個有趣的想法中跳出來，構思了他現在著名的原子模型。

5. 科學發展像演化

   What are we to make of this story? One might simply conclude that science is a collective and cumulative enterprise. That may be true, but there may be a deeper insight to be gleaned. We propose that science is constantly evolving, much as species of animals do. In biological systems, organisms may display new characteristics that result from random genetic mutations. In the same way, random, arbitrary or accidental mutations of ideas may help pave the way for advances in science. If mutations prove beneficial, then the animal or the scientific theory will continue to thrive and perhaps reproduce.

   我們該如何理解這個故事呢？人們可能會簡單地得出結論，科學是一項集體和累積的事業。這可能是真的，但從中還可能得出更深層次的洞察力。我們認為，科學是不斷發展的，就像動物的物種一樣。在生物系統中，生物體可能顯示出由隨機基因突變產生的新特徵。同樣地，隨機的、任意的或偶然的思想突變可能有助於為科學的進步鋪平道路。如果突變被證明是有益的，那麼動物或科學理論就會繼續茁壯成長，也許還會繁衍。

6. 機緣導致突破

   Support for this evolutionary view of behavioral innovation comes from many domains. Consider one example of an influential innovation in US horseracing. The so-called ‘acey-deucy’ stirrup placement, in which the rider’s foot in his left stirrup is placed as much as 25 centimeters lower than the right, is believed to confer important speed advantages when turning on oval tracks. It was developed by a relatively unknown jockey named Jackie Westrope. Had Westrope conducted methodical investigations or examined extensive film records in a shrewd plan to outrun his rivals? Had he foreseen the speed advantage that would be conferred by riding acey-deucy? No. He suffered a leg injury, which left him unable to fully bend his left knee. His modification just happened to coincide with enhanced left-hand turning performance. This led to the rapid and widespread adoption of riding acey-deucy by many riders, a racing style which continues in today’s thoroughbred racing.

   對這種行為創新的進化觀點的支持來自於許多領域。思考一下美國賽馬中一個具有影響力的創新例子。所謂的 “acey-deucy” 馬鐙位置，即騎手左腳的馬鐙比右腳低 25 釐米，據信在橢圓形賽道上轉彎時能帶來重要的速度優勢。它是由一個相對不知名的騎師傑基-韋斯特羅普開發的。韋斯特羅普是否進行了有條不紊的調查或研究了大量的影片記錄，以一項精明計畫來超越對手？他是否預見到了藉由以 “acey-deucy” 方式騎行能夠獲得速度優勢？其實並沒有。他的腿受傷了，這使他無法完全彎曲他的左膝。他的改造恰好與增強左轉彎性能相吻合。這導致了許多騎師迅速而廣泛地採用了 “acey-deucy” 騎法，這種比賽方式在今天的純種馬比賽中繼續存在。

7. 巧合帶來創新

   Plenty of other stories show that fresh advances can arise from error, misadventure, and also pure serendipity – a happy accident. For example, in the early 1970s, two employees of the company 3M each had a problem: Spencer Silver had a product – a glue which was only slightly sticky – and no use for it, while his colleague Art Fry was trying to figure out how to affix temporary bookmarks in his hymn book without damaging its pages. The solution to both these problems was the invention of the brilliantly simple yet phenomenally successful Post-It note. Such examples give lie to the claim that ingenious, designing minds are responsible for human creativity and invention. Far more banal and mechanical forces may be at work: forces that are fundamentally connected to the Laws of science.

   還有大量的其他故事顯示，新的進展可能來自於錯誤、誤入歧途，以及純粹的偶然性—一場令人高興的意外。例如，在 20 世紀 70 年代初，3M 公司的兩名員工各有一個問題：斯賓塞-西爾弗有一個產品—一種只有輕微粘性的膠水—但沒有用處，而他的同事阿特-弗萊則試圖找出如何在他的讚美詩書上粘貼臨時書簽而不損壞書頁。解決這兩個問題的辦法是發明了簡單得不能再簡單但卻異常成功的便利貼。這樣的例子讓人無法相信，聰明的設計者是人類創造力和發明的源泉。更加平庸與機械性的力量可能在起作用；這些力量從根本上與科學規律有關。

8. 創新到底怎麼發生

   The notions of insight, creativity and genius are often invoked, but they remain vague and of doubtful scientific utility, especially when one considers the diverse and enduring contributions of individuals such as Plato, Leonardo da Vinci, Shakespeare, Beethoven, Galileo, Newton, Kepler, Curie, Pasteur and Edison. These notions merely label rather than explain the evolution of human innovations. We need another approach, and there is a promising candidate.

   洞察力、創造力和天才的概念經常被引用，但它們仍然是模糊的，科學效用也值得懷疑，特別是當人們考慮到諸如柏拉圖、達文西、莎士比亞、貝多芬、伽利略、牛頓、克普勒、居禮、巴斯德和愛迪生等人的不同和持久的貢獻。這些概念只是給人類創新的演變貼上標籤，而不是解釋。我們需要另一種方法，而且目前有一位很有希望的候選人。

9. 效果法則

   The Law of Effect was advanced by psychologist Edward Thorndike in 1898, some 40 years after Charles Darwin published his groundbreaking work on biological evolution, On the Origin of Species. This simple law holds that organisms tend to repeat successful behaviors and to refrain from performing unsuccessful ones. Just like Darwin’s Law of Natural Selection, the Law of Effect involves an entirely mechanical process of variation and selection, without any end objective in sight.

   效果法則是由心理學家愛德華-桑代克在 1898 年提出的，大約在查理斯-達爾文發表其關於生物進化的開創性著作《物種起源》40 年後。這個簡單的定律認為，生物體傾向於重複成功的行為，而不去做不成功的行為。就像達爾文的自然選擇法則一樣，效應法則涉及一個完全機械的變異和選擇過程，沒有任何最終目標。

10. 效果法則的進一步探討

    Of course, the origin of human innovation demands much further study. In particular, the provenance of the raw material on which the Law of Effect operates is not as clearly known as that of the genetic mutations on which the Law of Natural Selection operates. The generation of novel ideas and behaviors may not be entirely random, but constrained by prior successes and failures – of the current individual (such as Bohr) or of predecessors (such as Nicholson).

    當然，人類創新的起源需要進一步研究。特別是，“效果法則” 所涉及的原始材料的出處並不像 “天擇法則” 所涉及的基因突變那般清楚。新的想法和行為的產生可能不完全是隨機的，而是受到先前的成功和失敗的限制—當前的個人（如玻爾）或前輩（如尼科爾森）的。

11. 結論

    The time seems right for abandoning the naive notions of intelligent design and genius, and for scientifically exploring the true origins of creative behaviour.

    現在似乎是放棄 [超自然力的] 智慧設計和天才等天真想法，並以具科學性的方式探索創造性行為的真正起源的時候了。