The Computer
and The Poet
The essential problem of man in a computerized age remains the same
as it has always been. That problem is not solely how to be more
productive, more comfortable, more content, but how to be more
sensitive, more sensible, more proportionate, more alive. The
computer makes possible a marvellous leap in human proficiency; it
pulls down the fences around the practical and even the theoretical
intelligence. But the question persists and indeed grows whether
the computer will make it easier or harder for human beings to know
who they really are, to identify their real problems, to respond
more fully to beauty, to place adequate value on life, and to make
their world safer than it now is.
Electronic brains can reduce the profusion of dead ends involved in
vital research. But they can't eliminate the foolish ness and decay
that come form the unexamined life. Nor do they connect a man to
the things he has to be connected to - the reality of pain in
others; the possibilities of creative growth in himself; the memory
of the race; and the rights of the next generation.
The reason these matters are important in a computerized age is
that there may be a tendency to mistake data for wisdom, just as
there has always been a tendency to confuse logic with values, and
intelligence with insight. Easy and convenient access to facts can
produce unlimited good only if it is matched by the desire and
ability to find out what they mean and where they would lead.
Facts are terrible things if left spreading and unexamined. They
are too easily regarded as evaluated certainties rather than as the
rawest of raw materials crying to be processed into the texture of
logic. It requires a very unusual mind, Whitehead said, to
undertake the analysis of a fact. The computer can provide a
correct number, but it may be an irrelevant number until judgment
is pronounced.
To the extent, then, that man fails to distinguish between the
intermediate operations of electronic intelligence and the ultimate
responsibilities of human decision, the computer could prove a
digression. It could obscure man's awareness of the need to come to
terms with himself. It may foster the illusion that he is asking
fundamental questions when actually he is asking only functional
ones. It may be regarded as a substitute for intelligence instead
of an extension of it. It may promote undue confidence in concrete
answers. "If we begin with certainties," Bacon said, "we shall end
in doubts but if we begin with doubts, and we are patient with
them, we shall end in certainties."
The computer knows how to conquer error, but before we lose
ourselves in celebrating the victory, we might reflect on the great
advances in the human situation that have come about because men
were challenged by error and would not stop thinking and exploring
until they found better approaches for dealing with it. "Give me a
good fruitful error, full of seeds, bursting with its own
corrections," Ferris Greenslet wrote, "You can keep your sterile
truth for yourself."
The biggest single need in computer technology is not for increased
speed, or enlarged capacity, or prolonged memory, or reduced size,
but for better questions and better use of the answers. Without
taking anything away from the technicians, we think it might be
fruitful to effect some sort of junction between the computer
technologist wonders of the creative imagination on the kinds of
problems being put to electronic technology. The company of poets
may enable the men who tend the machines to see a wider range of
possibilities than technology alone may inspire.
A poet, said Aristotle, has the advantage of expressing the
universal; the specialist expresses only the particular. The poet,
moreover, can remind us that man's greatest energy comes not from
his dynamos but from his dreams. But the quality of man's dreams
can only be a reflection of his subconscious. What he puts into his
subconscious, therefore, is quite literally the most important
nourishment in the world.
Nothing really happens to a man except as it is registered in the
subconscious. This is where event and feeling become memory and
where the proof of life is stored. The poet - and we use the term
to include all those who have respect for and speak to the human
spirit - can help to supply the subconscious with material to
enhance its sensitivity, thus safeguarding it. The poet, too, can
help to keep man from making himself over in the image of his
electronic wonders. For the danger is not so much that man will be
controlled by the computer as that he may imitate it.
The poet reminds men of their uniqueness. It is not necessary to
possess the ultimate definition of this uniqueness. Even to
speculate on it is gain. |
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法讲解
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一、单词解释：
1.pull down v.
1)拆除： The old house has been pulled down.
2）拉倒： Would you please pull down the blinds?请你把窗帘放下来好么？
2.undertake v.
1)从事、进行： We can not undertake the work for the time
being.我们暂时不能做这项工作。
2）承担 Who will undertake the responsibility for this work?
3.persist:v.坚持： She persists in wearing that old-fashioned
hat.
4. ultimate a. 最后的、最终的： Becoming president is his ultimate
goal.当总统是他最终的目标。
5.conquer v.征服、克服：You must conquer your fear of height.
派生词：conqueror n.征服者： William the Conqueror is an important figure
in the European history. 征服者威廉是欧洲历史上一位重要人物。
Conquest n.征服： The basic aim of the institute is the conquest of
disease.该研究院的基本目标是征服疾病。
6. possess v.拥有、占有： The country possesses rich mineral deposits.
这个国家拥有丰富的矿产资源。
派生词： possession n.拥有、财产（复数） 例如： My family has had the possession of
the house for more than a hundred years. 我的家族拥有这栋房子已经一百多年了
She lost all her possessions in the war. 她在战争中失去了全部财产。
短语： in possession of 拥有： Who is in possession of the
property?谁拥有这份财产？
Take possession of 占有、占领： The sildiers took possession of the enemy
stronghold. 士兵们占领的敌人的要塞。
二、课文讲解：
1。 But the question persists and indeed grows whether the computer
will make it easier or harder for human beings to know who they
really are , to identity their real problems, to respond more fully
to beauty, to place adequate value on life, and to make their world
safer than it now is.
但是计算机是使人更容易还是更难以理解自己究竟是什么，是否有助于识别真正的问题，有助于对美做出更全面的反应？是否能使世界变得比现在更安全？这个问题一直存在而且实际上越来越明显。
1）这是一个复合句，本句虽然较长，但主要结构是”主语+谓语“ 。主语是the question, 谓语是persists and
grows, 连词whether引导的从句为同位语从句，对主语the question
进行补充说明。由于同位语从句过长，置于句尾，以求句子的平衡。
2）句子中的5个动词不定式短语，做从句中的谓语动词make
的宾语。It只是形式上的宾语，没有任何意义。只用来代替这5个不定式短语。For human beings
是不定式的逻辑主语。
3）respond to 的意思是”回答、对。。。做出回应“
2.Electronic brains can reduce the profusion of dead ends involved
in vital research. 电脑能减少生命研究中的许多死胡同。
1）本句是一个简单句。句子中的involved in vital research是过去分词短语做定语，修饰dead
ends.
2)involve的意思是”使卷入、包括“常与介词in搭配，例如： poverty involved his family in
misfortune. 贫困使他的家庭陷入了不幸。
3）profusion of 的意思为”大量的、很多“
3. Nor do they connect a man to the things he has to be connected
to …它们也不能把一个人同与之相关的事物联系起来。。。
否定词nor放在句首时，句子需要用倒装结构，表示所说的情况与前面所说的相似。类似的否定词还有neither,hardly,
scarcely, never, seldom等。 例如： I never saw him again, nor did I hear
from him .
4. The reason these matters are important in a computerized age is
that there may be a tendency to mistake data fro wisdom, just as
there has always been a tendency to confuse logic with values, and
intelligence with insight.
在计算机时代、这些事情之所以重要，是因为可能有一种错把数据当智慧的趋势，就像一直存在的把逻辑与价值、智力，以及见解混为一谈的趋势一样。
1）本句是一个复合句。主语是the reason. 谓语是is, 表语是that引导的表语从句there may be a
tendency to mistake data for wisdom; just as there has always been
a tendency to confuse logic with values, and intelligence with
insight是状语从句。
2）主语reason
后面的定语东京，常以关系副词why引导，也可以用关系代词that(此处省略）。另外，reason作主语时，其表语从句只能以that引导。
3）为避免重复，intelligence前省略了there has always been a tendency to
confuse.
4)短语mistake …for的意思是”把。。。错当成。。。。“例如：He mistook that stick for a
snake. 他把那根棍子错看成蛇了。
5. They ar too easily regarded as evaluated certainties rather than
as the rawest of raw materials crying to be processed into the
texture of logic.
它们极容易被认为是已经获得定评的事实，而不是迫切需要处理、使之具有逻辑条理的原始材料中最原始的部分。
1）rather than as…中省略了主语和谓语动词they ar regarded.
2)crying to (迫切需要）…是现在分词短语作定语，修饰前面的raw materials.
3)rather than 而不是。例如： He sold vegetables at half price rather than
allow them to go bad他把蔬菜以半价卖了出去，而没有让它们变质。
6. To the extent, then, that man fails to distinguish between the
intermediate operations of electronic intelligence nd the ultimate
responsibilities of human decision, the computer could prove a
digression.
因而，在人类不能区分电子智力的中间运算与人的决定的最终责任的情况下，计算机可能被证明是一种节外生枝。
1）介词短语To the extent, then, that man fails to … human
decision引导的是状语，主句是the computer could prove a digression.
2)状语中that引导的从句是同位语从句，进一步说明前面的词extent.
3)to the extent that …意为”达到。。。的程度“
4） distinguish（区分）用作及物动词时，与介词from 搭配，用作不及物动词时，与介词between搭配。 例如：
Ability to talk distinguishes human beings from the lower animals
用语言交谈的能力使人类有别于低等动物。 People who can not distinguish between colors
are said to be color-blinded 不能分辨颜色的人被成为有色盲。
7. The poet- and we use the term to include all those who have
respect for and speak to the human spirit- can help to supply the
subconscious with material to enhance its sentisivity, thus
safeguarding it.
诗人－我们用这个词指所有尊重人类精神，诉说人类精神的人－能够帮助为潜意识提供材料，增强其敏感度，从而保护它。
1）破折号中的部分是插入语，进一步说明前面的主语the poet.
2)to enhance its sensitivity 是动词不定式短语作目的状语。
3）then safeguarding为现在分词短语作结构状语。
4）supply sb. With sth. 或supply sth. To sb.意思为”向某人提供某物： The town is
supplied with water form the reservoir in the hills.
这座城市的供水来自于山间的水库。 |
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