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2013年经济学人 跟领导走

时间:2019-12-02 08:46来源:互联网 提供网友:nan   字体: [ ]
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Science and technology

科学技术

Collective behavior

集体行为

Follow my leader

跟领导走

A group's “intelligence” depends in part on its members'ignorance

群体“智慧”部分依赖于群体成员的“愚昧”

HUMAN beings like to think of themselves asthe animal kingdom's smartest alecks.

人们总是喜欢将自己看作动物王国中最聪明的。

It may come as a surprise to some,therefore, that Iain Couzin of Princeton University believes they havesomething to learn from lesser2 creatures that move about in a large crowd.

然而,令一些人感到惊讶的是,普林斯顿大学的Iain Couzin相信人们能从更低等的、大群活动的动物中学到东西。

Ashe told the AAAS meeting in Washington, DC, groups of animals often make whatlook like wise decisions, even when most of the members of those groups areignorant of what is going on.

正如他在华盛顿AAAS召开的会议上所说的,虽然群居动物中的大部分成员对接下来会发生什么一无所知,但整个群体却常常做出看起来更明智的决定。

Coming to that conclusion was not easy.

得出这个结论并不容易。

Beforelessons can be drawn3 from critters perched on the lower rungs of theevolutionary ladder, their behaviour must first be understood.

因为必须首先理解这些动物的行为,人们才能借鉴,而由于这些动物处于进化阶梯的较低位置。

One way to dothis is to tag them with devices that follow them around—motion-capturesensors, radio transmitters or global-positioning-system detectors5 that can puta precise figure on their movements.

要做到这点,首先要用设备为他们打上标签以便跟踪—采用运动传感器、无线电发射装置和全球定位系统的探测器能精确描述它们活动。

Unfortunately, it is impossible to tag morethan a few individuals in a herd6, flock or swarm7.

不幸的是,能被标定的个体只是兽群、鸟群或蜂群中的少数。

Researchers have thereforetended to extrapolate from these few results by using various computer models.

研究者们因此将这些少量数据采用各种电脑模型进行推演。

Dr Couzin has done quite a bit of this himself.

Couzin博士已经完成了一部分工作。

Most recently, he has modelledthe behaviour of shoals of fish.

最近,他建立了鱼群行为模型。

He posited8 that how they swim will depend oneach individual's competing tendencies to stick close to the others while not actually getting too close to anyparticular other fish.

他推测鱼群游动的方式有赖于鱼类个体倾向于截住对方,而又不真的靠近对方的竞争方式。

It turns out that by fiddling9 with these tendencies, avirtual shoal can be made to swirl10 spontaneously in a circle, just like somereal species do.

基于这些倾向就归纳出模型,这些模拟的鱼群可以自行转圈巡游,就像真的一样。

That is a start.

那只是一个开始。

But real shoals do not existto swim in circles.

不过真实的鱼群并不只是转圈游动。

Their purpose is to help their members eat and avoid beingeaten.

他们的目的是帮助成员觅食,同时防止被猎食。

At any one time, however, only some individuals know about—and can thusreact to—food and threats.

然而,无论什么时候,只有一些个体能对食物和威胁做出反应。

Dr Couzin therefore wanted to find out how suchtemporary leaders influence the behaviour of the rest.

因此,Couzin博士想找出这些临时领导如何影响其余个体行为。

He discovered that leadership is extremelyefficient.

Couzin博士发现这种领导方式及其有效。

The larger a shoal is, the smaller is the proportion of it thatneeds to know what is actually going on for it to feed and avoid predationeffectively.

鱼群越大,需要知道接下来做什么才能有效觅食和避免危险的“领导”比例就越小。

Indeed, having too many leaders with conflicting opinions resultsin confusion.

的确,领导越多,矛盾观点造成的混乱就越多。

At least, that is true in the model.

至少,模型上是这样。

He is now testing it inreality.

他现在正在真实环境下测试模型。

Tracking individual fish in a shoal is hard.

跟踪记录鱼群中的个体很困难。

Fortunately, advances in pattern-recognition software mean it is no longerimpossible.

幸运的是,模式识别软件的进步让这变成可能。

Systems designed to follow people are now clever enough not only totrack a person in a crowd, but also to tell in which direction his head isturned.

为跟踪人类设计的系统已经足够智能,不仅能跟踪人群中的某个人,而且能显示这个人的头转向何方。

Since, from above, the oval shape of a human head is not unlike theoblong body of a fish, this software can, with a little tweaking, followpiscine antics, too.

因此,尽管鱼类的身体是长条形,与这个软件可以识别的人类椭圆形头部不同,从原理上说,只要稍作修改使之适应鱼类外形即可。

Robo fish

机器鱼

Dr Couzin has been using a program developedby Colin Twomey, a graduate student at his laboratory, to track individual fishin a tank.

Couzin博士一直在使用他实验室的研究生Colin Twomey开发的程序来记录水池中鱼类个体的行为。

The result is not just a model of shoaling fish, but a precisenumerical representation of their actual movements and fields of vision.

这个成果不仅是鱼群的模型,更是鱼群真实行动和视野的精确数值反应。

Thatmeans it is possible to investigate whether real-life fishy11 leaders have thesame effect on a group as their virtual kin1.

这就意味着深入研究真实鱼群中的领导们与他们的“模拟亲戚”在鱼群中是否有同样影响变成可能。

Alas12, merely observing a shoal does not makeit clear which individuals lead and which follow.

然而,仅仅只观察一个鱼群并不能清楚地区分哪个是领导,哪个是随从。

Instead, Dr Couzin has builta biddable robot three-spined stickleback.

作为替代,Couzin博士制作了一条能发出命令的机器三棘刺鱼。

A preliminary study of a shoal often flesh-and-blood sticklebacks shows that they do indeed mingle13 with therobot and that they follow its leadership cues as predicted.

对一个有十条真实刺鱼鱼群的初步研究显示,他们确实接纳了那条机器鱼,并且接受它的领导指示。

He is now making arobot predator14 to see how the shoal reacts to less benign15 intruders.

他现在正在制作一个机器猎食者,用来观察鱼群对凶猛入侵者的反应。

If the models are anything to go by, the bestoutcome for the group—in this case, not being eaten—seems to depend on mostmembers' being blissfully unaware17 of the world outside the shoal and simplytaking their cue from others.

如果模型一切正常,那么就可得出对群体来说最好的结果—不会被吃掉—这看起来有赖于大多数成员对鱼群外部世界毫无知觉,仅仅只是接受其他鱼指示的“傻鱼傻福”。

This phenomenon, Dr Couzin argues, applies to allmanner of organisms, from individual cells in a tissue to voters in the democratic process.

Couzin博士指出,这个现象符合所有的组织行为,从组织中的个体单位到民主过程中的选民。

His team has already begun probing thequestion of voting patterns.

他的研究团队已经开始探索选举模式的问题。

But is ignorance really political bliss16?

然而,愚昧真是政治之福吗?

DrCouzin's models do not yet capture what happens when the leaders themselvesturn out to be sharks.

Couzin博士的模型还没有涉及领导们自己变成“鲨鱼”会发生什么。

词语解释

1.behavior n.行为;举止

His behavior was, in a word, shocking.

总之,他的行为是令人震惊的。

2.ignorance n.无知;愚昧

He tried to veil his contempt at my ignorance.

他试图掩饰对我的无知的蔑视。

3.conclusion n.结尾;结论

I found the conclusion of her story very exciting.

我觉得她那故事的结尾很激动人心。

4.detector4 n.探测器

Thermopile is usually a blackened thermal18 detector.

热堆一般是个涂黑了的热探测器。

5.extrapolate v.推测;推知

It is best if you can extrapolate this data.

最好是能够外推此数据。


点击收听单词发音收听单词发音  

1 kin 22Zxv     
n.家族,亲属,血缘关系;adj.亲属关系的,同类的
参考例句:
  • He comes of good kin.他出身好。
  • She has gone to live with her husband's kin.她住到丈夫的亲戚家里去了。
2 lesser UpxzJL     
adj.次要的,较小的;adv.较小地,较少地
参考例句:
  • Kept some of the lesser players out.不让那些次要的球员参加联赛。
  • She has also been affected,but to a lesser degree.她也受到波及,但程度较轻。
3 drawn MuXzIi     
v.拖,拉,拔出;adj.憔悴的,紧张的
参考例句:
  • All the characters in the story are drawn from life.故事中的所有人物都取材于生活。
  • Her gaze was drawn irresistibly to the scene outside.她的目光禁不住被外面的风景所吸引。
4 detector svnxk     
n.发觉者,探测器
参考例句:
  • The detector is housed in a streamlined cylindrical container.探测器安装在流线型圆柱形容器内。
  • Please walk through the metal detector.请走过金属检测器。
5 detectors bff80b364ed19e1821aa038fae38df83     
探测器( detector的名词复数 )
参考例句:
  • The report advocated that all buildings be fitted with smoke detectors. 报告主张所有的建筑物都应安装烟火探测器。
  • This is heady wine for experimenters using these neutrino detectors. 对于使用中微子探测器的实验工作者,这是令人兴奋的美酒。 来自英汉非文学 - 科技
6 herd Pd8zb     
n.兽群,牧群;vt.使集中,把…赶在一起
参考例句:
  • She drove the herd of cattle through the wilderness.她赶着牛群穿过荒野。
  • He had no opinions of his own but simply follow the herd.他从无主见,只是人云亦云。
7 swarm dqlyj     
n.(昆虫)等一大群;vi.成群飞舞;蜂拥而入
参考例句:
  • There is a swarm of bees in the tree.这树上有一窝蜜蜂。
  • A swarm of ants are moving busily.一群蚂蚁正在忙碌地搬家。
8 posited 5143cf6a131d14610f5f8561619aae61     
v.假定,设想,假设( posit的过去式和过去分词 )
参考例句:
  • Several writers have posited the idea of a universal consciousness. 有几个作者都假设存在普遍意识。 来自辞典例句
  • All cash receipts should be recorded and de-posited daily. 所有的现金收据应该被每日记录和存放。 来自互联网
9 fiddling XtWzRz     
微小的
参考例句:
  • He was fiddling with his keys while he talked to me. 和我谈话时他不停地摆弄钥匙。
  • All you're going to see is a lot of fiddling around. 你今天要看到的只是大量的胡摆乱弄。 来自英汉文学 - 廊桥遗梦
10 swirl cgcyu     
v.(使)打漩,(使)涡卷;n.漩涡,螺旋形
参考例句:
  • The car raced roughly along in a swirl of pink dust.汽车在一股粉红色尘土的漩涡中颠簸着快速前进。
  • You could lie up there,watching the flakes swirl past.你可以躺在那儿,看着雪花飘飘。
11 fishy ysgzzF     
adj. 值得怀疑的
参考例句:
  • It all sounds very fishy to me.所有这些在我听起来都很可疑。
  • There was definitely something fishy going on.肯定当时有可疑的事情在进行中。
12 alas Rx8z1     
int.唉(表示悲伤、忧愁、恐惧等)
参考例句:
  • Alas!The window is broken!哎呀!窗子破了!
  • Alas,the truth is less romantic.然而,真理很少带有浪漫色彩。
13 mingle 3Dvx8     
vt.使混合,使相混;vi.混合起来;相交往
参考例句:
  • If we mingle with the crowd,we should not be noticed.如果我们混在人群中,就不会被注意到。
  • Oil will not mingle with water.油和水不相融。
14 predator 11vza     
n.捕食其它动物的动物;捕食者
参考例句:
  • The final part of this chapter was devoted to a brief summary of predator species.本章最后部分简要总结了食肉动物。
  • Komodo dragon is the largest living lizard and a fearsome predator.科摩多龙是目前存在的最大蜥蜴,它是一种令人恐惧的捕食性动物。
15 benign 2t2zw     
adj.善良的,慈祥的;良性的,无危险的
参考例句:
  • The benign weather brought North America a bumper crop.温和的气候给北美带来大丰收。
  • Martha is a benign old lady.玛莎是个仁慈的老妇人。
16 bliss JtXz4     
n.狂喜,福佑,天赐的福
参考例句:
  • It's sheer bliss to be able to spend the day in bed.整天都可以躺在床上真是幸福。
  • He's in bliss that he's won the Nobel Prize.他非常高兴,因为获得了诺贝尔奖金。
17 unaware Pl6w0     
a.不知道的,未意识到的
参考例句:
  • They were unaware that war was near. 他们不知道战争即将爆发。
  • I was unaware of the man's presence. 我没有察觉到那人在场。
18 thermal 8Guyc     
adj.热的,由热造成的;保暖的
参考例句:
  • They will build another thermal power station.他们要另外建一座热能发电站。
  • Volcanic activity has created thermal springs and boiling mud pools.火山活动产生了温泉和沸腾的泥浆池。
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TAG标签:   2013年听力  经济学人
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