If we evolved from monkeys, why are there still monkeys?
如果我们从猴子进化而来，为什么现在仍然有猴子？
Well, because we're not monkeys, we're fish.
因为我们并不是猴子进化来的，我们是鱼。
Now, knowing you're a fish and not a monkey is actually really important to understanding where we came from.
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。
I teach one of the largest evolutionary biology classes in the US,
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，
and when my students finally understand why I call them fish all the time, then I know I'm getting my job done.
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。
But I always have to start my classes by dispelling some hardwired myths,
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，
because without really knowing it, many of us were taught evolution wrong.
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。
For instance, we're taught to say "the theory of evolution."
比如，我们被教导使用“进化论”这个词。
There are actually many theories, and just like the process itself,
实际上，有非常多的理论，就像这个过程本身，
the ones that best fit the data are the ones that survive to this day.
最能反映真实数据的理论就是那些被保存至今的理论。
The one we know best is Darwinian natural selection.
其中最广为人知的理论之一就是达尔文的自然选择论。
That's the process by which organisms that best fit an environment survive and get to reproduce,
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，
while those that are less fit slowly die off. And that's it. Evolution is as simple as that, and it's a fact.
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。
Evolution is a fact as much as the "theory of gravity." You can prove it just as easily.
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。
You just need to look at your bellybutton that you share with other placental mammals,
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，
or your backbone that you share with other vertebrates, or your DNA that you share with all other life on earth.
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。
Those traits didn't pop up in humans. They were passed down from different ancestors to all their descendants, not just us.
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。
But that's not really how we learn biology early on, is it?
但这些并不是我们最早了解到的生物学，不是吗？
We learn plants and bacteria are primitive things, and fish give rise to amphibians followed by reptiles and mammals,
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，
and then you get you, this perfectly evolved creature at the end of the line.
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。
But life doesn't evolve in a line, and it doesn't end with us.
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。
But we're always shown evolution portrayed something like this,
但我们总是被灌输这样的关于进化论的描述：
a monkey and a chimpanzee, some extinct humans, all on a forward and steady march to becoming us.
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。
But they don't become us any more than we would become them. We're also not the goal of evolution.
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。
But why does it matter? Why do we need to understand evolution the right way?
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？
Well, misunderstanding evolution has led to many problems,
对进化的误解已经产生了很多问题，
but you can't ask that age-old question, "Where are we from?" without understanding evolution the right way.
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？”

Misunderstanding it has led to many convoluted and corrupted views of how we should treat other life on earth,
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，
and how we should treat each other in terms of race and gender.
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。
So let's go back four billion years. This is the single-celled organism we all came from.
让我们回到四十亿年前。这些单细胞有机体是我们的起源。
At first, it gave rise to other single-celled life, but these are still evolving to this day,
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，
and some would say the Archaea and Bacteria that make up most of this group is the most successful on the planet.
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。
They are certainly going to be here well after us.
它们在我们消失后一定还会存在的。
About three billion years ago, multicellularity evolved.
大约在三十亿年前，出现了多细胞生物。
This includes your fungi and your plants and your animals.
这包括真菌，植物和动物。
The first animals to develop a backbone were fishes.
第一种进化出脊椎的动物是鱼类。
So technically, all vertebrates are fishes, so technically, you and I are fish. So don't say I didn't warn you.
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。
One fish lineage came onto land and gave rise to, among other things, the mammals and reptiles.
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。
Some reptiles become birds, some mammals become primates, some primates become monkeys with tails,
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，
and others become the great apes, including a variety of human species.
另一些变成了猿类，包括不同的人种。
So you see, we didn't evolve from monkeys, but we do share a common ancestor with them.
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。
All the while, life around us kept evolving: more bacteria, more fungi, lots of fish, fish, fish.
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。
If you couldn't tell -- yes, they're my favorite group.
可能你不知道--是的，它们是我最喜欢的种群。
As life evolves, it also goes extinct. Most species just last for a few million years.
生命在进化，也在消亡。大多数的动物仅仅存在了几百万年。
So you see, most life on earth that we see around us today are about the same age as our species.
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。
So it's hubris, it's self-centered to think, "Oh, plants and bacteria are primitive,
我们却因此骄傲自大地认为：“噢，植物和细菌是原生生物，
and we've been here for an evolutionary minute, so we're somehow special."
而我们已经进化了一阵子，所以我们是特别的物种。”
Think of life as being this book, an unfinished book for sure.
想想生命这部书，一定是一本尚未完成的书。
We're just seeing the last few pages of each chapter.
我们仅仅看到了每一章的最后几页。
If you look out on the eight million species that we share this planet with,
如果你注意到和我们共享这颗星球的八百万种生物，
think of them all being four billion years of evolution. They're all the product of that.
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。
Think of us all as young leaves on this ancient and gigantic tree of life,
想想我们只是这古老的巨大的生命之树中年轻的叶子，
all of us connected by invisible branches not just to each other, but to our extinct relatives and our evolutionary ancestors.
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。
As a biologist, I'm still trying to learn, with others, how everyone's related to each other, who is related to whom.
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。
Perhaps it's better still to think of us as a little fish out of water.
也许这样想更好，我们只是离开水的小小的鱼。
Yes, one that learned to walk and talk,
是的，一条学习了走路和说话的鱼，
but one that still has a lot of learning to do about who we are and where we came from. Thank you.
但仍然有许多事情需要探究，关于我们是谁，我们从哪里来。谢谢。