There is a sort of funny things that you hear people say that time doesn't actually exist.
听说过一种有趣的说法就是时间其实并不存在
And it's something that physicists argue about, I mean physicists actually have symposia
这也是物理学家在讨论的 我的意思是说 物理学家确实是开了一个研讨会
on the subject of is there such a thing as time, and it's also
讨论时间到底存不存在 而这也是
something that has a tradition in philosophy going back about a century.
在哲学上可以追溯到一个世纪前的问题
But I think it's fair to say that in one sense it's a ridiculous come, it's a ridiculous idea.
但我认为这本来就是一个荒谬的说法

How can you say time doesn't exist when we have such a profound experience of it, first of all?
首先你怎么能说我们一直能够感受得到的东西是不存在的？
And second of all, we're talking about it constantly.
其次 我们经常讨论时间
I mean we couldn't get – I can't get through this sentence without referring to time.
我的意思是我们不能——我不能不参考时间来完成这个句子
I was going to say we couldn't get through the day without discussing time.
我要说的是 我们不能一整天都不谈及时间
So obviously when a physicist questions the existence of time they are trying to say something specialized, something technical.
所以很显然的是 当物理学家问到时间的存在性时 他们试着详细说明一些技术性的东西
Einstein offers, Einstein or maybe I should say more properly Minkowski, his teacher and
爱因斯坦提议 爱因斯坦或者更应该说是他的老师闵可夫斯基
contemporary, offers a vision of space time as a single thing, as a four dimensional block
和同时代的人 提出了时空的视觉 作为单一的个体 作为
in which the past and the future are just like spatial dimensions, they're just like
在过去和未来四维空间的限制 就像是空间维数
north and south in the equations of physics.
它们就像是南和北在物理上的等价
And so you can construct a view of the world in which the future is already there and you
所以你可以构造一种世界观 未来已然存在
can say, and physicists do say something very much like this that in the fundamental laws
并且你可以说 物理学家确实说了非常相似的东西
of physics there is no distinction between the past and the future.
就是在物理的基本原则中 过去与未来是没有区别的
And so if you are playing that game you're essentially saying time as an independent thing doesn't exist.
所以如果你在玩游戏 你本质上在说时间是独立不存在的物体
Time is just another dimension like space.
时间仅仅是另一个维数就像空间一样
Again, that is in obvious conflict with our intuitions about the world.
此外 我们对世界的直觉有显而易见的冲突
We go through the day acting as though the past is over and the future has not yet happened
我们度过每一天 假装过去已经结束 未来还未发生
and might happen this way or it might happen that way. We could flip a coin and see.
并且事情可能会这样发生或那样发生 我们可以掷硬币看
We tend to believe in our gut that the future is not fully determined and therefore is different from the past.
我们更倾向于相信我们的直觉 那就是未来还没有完全被定下来 因此会与过去不同
But physicists will say, and it's certainly true that a lot of things that we feel in
但是物理学家会说 你知道的 很多我们用直觉感受到的事情
our gut turn out not to be right, you know.
并不正确 这是真的
We feel in our gut that we're sitting on a flat plane on a surface of something that's immobile.
我们的直觉是 我们正坐在某个固定的物体平的表面上
And if a scientist came along and told you that no you're actually on the surface of
并且如果一个科学界走来告诉你 不 事实上你在
a giant spear that's spinning at high speed and hurtling through space, and by the way
一个快速旋转并且在宇宙中飞驰的巨矛表面
there's no difference between up and down except any illusion that's created by the
顺便 向上向下没有不同 除了来自重力的错觉
force of gravity, well you have to do some radical re-adjustment of your understanding
很好 你不得不彻底重新调整你
of the universe to accept that your first intuitions weren't correct.
对宇宙的理解 去接受你一开始的直觉就是错误的
And so if a physicist comes to me and says do some re-adjustment.
所以如果一个物理学家走向我对我说 重新调整吧
Face it, the future looks different from the past to you but actually physics tells us
面对它 未来对你来说与过去不同 但事实上物理学告诉我们的是一样
the same, I at least acknowledged that I have an obligation to take that seriously to listen to it.
我至少得承认 我有义务去认真对待和听从它
And physicists do argue about these things and it's fair to argue about it.
物理学家确实争论这些东西 并且争论它们是公正的
And it's an argument that I take a position on in my time travel book because I thout I
这是我在我的时间之旅书中采取立场的论据
had to or maybe I had a position and yet it's got to be a quite high position.
因为我认为我必须或可能地要有一个立场 然而它必须是一个相当高的立场
And that's what I recommend to readers of science fiction and to physicists to remember
这就是我推荐给读科幻小说的读者的观点 对物理学家
that your views of these things are previsional.
牢记你们对这些东西的观点都是有先见之明的