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大学英语精读(第三版) 第六册: Unit8A Debating the Unknowable(2)

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It is the admission of ignorance that leads to progress, not so much because the solving of a particular puzzle leads directly to a new piece of understanding but because the puzzle-- ifit interests enough scientists -- leads to work. There is a similar phenomenon in entomology know as stigmergy, a term invented by Grasse, which means "to incite to work." When three or four termites are collected together in a chamber they wander about aimlessly, but when more termites are added, they begin to build. It is the presence of other termites, in sufficient numbers at close quarters, that produces the work: they pick up each other's fecal pellets and stack them in neat columns, and when the columns are precisely the right height, the termites reach across and turn the perfect arches that form the foundation of the termitarium. No single termite knows how to do any of this, but as soon as there are enough termites gathered together they become flawless architects, sensing their distances from each other although blind, building an immensely complicated structure with its own air-conditioning and humidity control. They work their lives away in this ecosystem built by themselves. The nearest thing to a termitarium that I can think of in human behavior is the making of language, which we do by keeping at each other all our lives, generation after generation, changing the structure by some sort of instinct.

承认无知会导致进步,究其原因主要不是由于解决了某个具体疑问而直接增添一点知识,而是由于这个疑问——如能引起众多科学家的兴趣——会促使人们去钻研。昆虫学中有一种称作"stigmergy"的类似现象,这一术语是格拉塞新造的,其意思是"激励作出努力"。把三四只白蚁放在室内,它们会漫无目的地到处乱爬,但要是再添些白蚁进去,它们就会着手营造了。等到足够数量的白蚁聚集在一处,活儿便正式开始了:它们捡起彼此的屎粒,堆成一个个整齐的柱状物,当这些柱状物正好达到所要求的高度时,白蚁便横向搭建,巧妙地构筑完美的拱,作为蚁巢的基础。单独一只白蚁是不懂得去干这些的,但足够数量的白蚁一旦聚在一起,它们就成了无懈可击的建筑师。白蚁虽然看不见,但能觉察相互间隔多少距离,筑起极其复杂的有着自己的空气和湿度调节机制的蚁巢。它们在自己建成的生态系统中劳作一生。人类行为中我能想起的最近似构筑白蚁巢的事例要算创造语言了。一代接一代,我们与别人相处、交往,创造着语言,依靠某种本能改变着语言的结构。

重点单词   查看全部解释    
wander ['wɔndə]

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vi. 徘徊,漫步,闲逛,迷路,蜿蜒
vt.

 
foundation [faun'deiʃən]

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n. 基础,根据,建立
n. 粉底霜,基

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sufficient [sə'fiʃənt]

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adj. 足够的,充分的

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complicated ['kɔmplikeitid]

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adj. 复杂的,难懂的
动词complica

 
humidity [hju:'miditi]

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n. 湿度,湿气

 
ecosystem ['ekəusistəm]

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n. 生态系统

 
puzzle ['pʌzl]

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n. 谜,难题,迷惑
vt. 使困惑,使为难<

 
particular [pə'tikjulə]

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adj. 特殊的,特别的,特定的,挑剔的
n.

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flawless ['flɔ:lis]

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adj. 完美的,无瑕疵的

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control [kən'trəul]

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n. 克制,控制,管制,操作装置
vt. 控制

 

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