Dao and Physics

文、譯/林巍

我在西方大學(xué)講老子時(shí)，最難解釋的是“道”。它看不見(jiàn)，摸不著，卻又無(wú)處不在1根據(jù)英文表述習(xí)慣，翻譯中不妨顛倒詞序。。然而，若與現(xiàn)代物理學(xué)研究的某些基本知識(shí)結(jié)合起來(lái)，似乎又不太難理解。

When I lectured Lao Zi at universities in the West, one of the most difficult things was to explain the concept ofDaoto my students, given its ubiquitous and yet invisible nature.However, it may not be that difficult if we can relate it to some of the fundamentals in modern physics.

2Lao Zi hypothesized: “All things in the cosmos are generated from being and being arises from non-being”;“Dao produces one, one produces two,two produce three and three yield everything on earth”.Stephen Hawking,the British scientist, has theorized that time began with the Big Bang, originating from nothing.According to the theory of modern quantum cosmology,the observable universe is in that empty space where energy is at its lowest (or“ground”) state, formulated as a “constant quantity”, but certainly not below zero in light of the “uncertainty principle” of quantum mechanics.

2老子說(shuō)：“天下萬(wàn)物生于有，有生于無(wú)?！薄暗郎唬簧?，二生三，三生萬(wàn)物。”根據(jù)英國(guó)科學(xué)家霍金的研究2“根據(jù)……研究”一般都譯成“According to… research”，但亦可根據(jù)不同語(yǔ)境作變通處理，如：“據(jù)有關(guān)科學(xué)家的研究，暗物質(zhì)一般不與大多數(shù)其他物質(zhì)作用，而會(huì)直接穿過(guò)地球、房屋甚至是人的身體，并不會(huì)被原子所彈開(kāi)?！保―ark matter, as some scientists have theorized, doesn’t often interact with most other matter, but flies right through the Earth, your house, and your body without bouncing off atoms.），時(shí)間是從“宇宙大爆炸” 開(kāi)始的，在此之前是空白；現(xiàn)代量子宇宙學(xué)也斷言，“觀測(cè)宇宙始于真空”。所謂“真空”，是系統(tǒng)的最低能量態(tài)（基態(tài)），特別是，依照量子理論中的“測(cè)不準(zhǔn)原理”3又譯為“不確定性原理”（uncertainty principle）及下文的“測(cè)不準(zhǔn)原理”，是量子力學(xué)中的一個(gè)基本原理，由德國(guó)物理學(xué)家海森堡（Werner Heisenberg）于1927 年提出。，真空中的能量并不等于零，而是形成某一常量4句式重組，將其提前、融匯。。

3Also, Lao Zi said, “All things under heaven are manipulated byDao, in the same way as all streams and torrents flow to rivers and seas”.By assembling in the sea, all rivers actually make a “field ofDao”, where energy at high levels will naturally fill the void (ground state),which very much resembles a vacuum cavity in modern quantum field theory.

3老子又說(shuō)“：譬道之在天下，猶川谷之于江海?！倍俅w海便形成一種“道場(chǎng)”——在場(chǎng)里較高的能態(tài)都會(huì)自發(fā)地趨向基態(tài)（真空態(tài)） ，非常近似于現(xiàn)代量子場(chǎng)中的“真空?qǐng)觥薄?/p>

4其實(shí)，真空不空，因真空中充滿了無(wú)數(shù)倏忽產(chǎn)生又倏忽消失的“虛粒子對(duì)”，故曰“虛空”5未譯成the so-called “vacant space”，而是作為狀語(yǔ)within a “vacant space” 融入整句之中。，如“虛電子對(duì)”就是一個(gè)虛的電子加上一個(gè)虛的正電子。所謂“虛”，是指這些粒子生成的時(shí)間非常短暫，受到海森堡“測(cè)不準(zhǔn)原理”的限制，因此原則上不可能用任何精密儀器直接探測(cè)其存在。

4Such a so-called vacuum is in fact full of fleeting virtual particle pairs,such as a “virtual electron pair” made up of a virtual electron with a positron,floating within a “vacant space”.These particles, characterized by their transient nature, are hardly detectable even with the most sophisticated instruments,according to the “uncertainty principle”proposed by Heisenberg.

5Quantum-mechanical research reveals that in any microcosmos we cannot point out exactly where electrons will appear, except calculating their probability as “material particles” drifting in a certain space at a certain time, which is very much in line with Lao Zi’s conceptualization: “Shapeless shapes are called vague resemblances—going towards them one can see no front; going after them one can see no rear”.

5量子力學(xué)的研究表明，在微觀世界里，我們無(wú)法準(zhǔn)確指出電子在某一時(shí)刻出現(xiàn)的地方，而只能6似也可譯成“… but can only calculate…”。確定電子在某一時(shí)刻出現(xiàn)在空間某一點(diǎn)的概率，即實(shí)物粒子處在“恍恍惚惚”中，正是老子所言：“無(wú)物之象，是謂恍惚7這里不是主觀上的in a trance/absent-minded 等，而是指客觀現(xiàn)象。。迎之不見(jiàn)其首，隨之不見(jiàn)其后?！?/p>

6In this way, the “something” and

6老子的“有”又可視為物理學(xué)中的實(shí)物粒子，而“天下萬(wàn)物”均為實(shí)物粒子所組成8將前面的“有”和此處的“天下萬(wàn)物”合并譯出。。至于“道生一”，無(wú)異于基本場(chǎng)，“二”或“三”則分別表示物質(zhì)結(jié)構(gòu)由低層次向高級(jí)層次9譯成more advanced/sophistic 等似都?jí)驕?zhǔn)確。的轉(zhuǎn)化。由此看來(lái)，老子的自然宇宙觀，居然與最新的科學(xué)發(fā)展（主要是與現(xiàn)代宇宙學(xué)和物理學(xué)所給出的宇宙本源、宇宙創(chuàng)生的基本圖像）不謀而合10此句括號(hào)里的內(nèi)容在翻譯中可不必拘泥形式，而將其擴(kuò)展出來(lái)。。“all things in the cosmos” described by Lao Zi can also be seen as equivalent to physical particles in modern physics.“Daoproduces one” is in fact little more than ascending transformation,symbolized by “two” and “three” as materialized structures at more complex levels.In a way, Lao Zi’s natural cosmology happens to hold the same view as the most recent scientific developments in terms of the fundamental profile of the origin and genesis of the cosmos portrayed by modern cosmology and physics.

7On 1st February 2003, NASA (the US National Aeronautics and Space Administration) announced that the Wilkinson Microwave Anisotropy Probe(WMAP) had found that most materials detected had so far been “dark” or“vacuum” energy, which further consolidates the scientific foundation for convincing interpretations of the ideas ofDaoandWuin Daoist philosophy.

72003 年2 月1 日，美國(guó)國(guó)家航空航天局宣告，威爾金森宇宙波各向異性衛(wèi)星發(fā)現(xiàn)，宇宙中的絕大部分物質(zhì)都是暗能量，亦即真空能量11與前面的“暗能量”一并譯出（energy）。，從而更加證實(shí)了對(duì)于“道”和“無(wú)”的解釋確為可信，其科學(xué)依據(jù)更為堅(jiān)實(shí)。

8More interestingly, recent research in quantum physics has proved that under enough pressure of high-energy photons, an electron-positron pair can be produced.In other words, imposed by an external force (such as when struck by high-energy photons or induced by an electric or magnetic field), virtual particles can materialize, becoming a pair of particles that are detectable—a physical effect of “creating something out of nothing”.Doesn’t that precisely coincide with Lao Zi’s statement that “Being arises from non-being”?

8更有趣的是，量子物理學(xué)新近研究證明，如果高能光子的能量足夠高，就有可能從真空中打出一對(duì)正負(fù)電子。即真空中的虛粒子對(duì)在一定外界條件下，如高能光子的打擊或極強(qiáng)的電場(chǎng)和磁場(chǎng)的激發(fā)等等，便可能“實(shí)化”12數(shù)學(xué)里是realification，物理學(xué)中多用subslantialization/materialization 等。，變成可以觀測(cè)的粒子對(duì)，于是產(chǎn)生“無(wú)中生有”的物理效應(yīng)，而這不正是老子的“有生于無(wú)”嗎？

9早在1930 年，科學(xué)史專家薩頓就斷言，新的啟示13一般譯為revelation/inspiration 等，這里特指對(duì)客觀認(rèn)識(shí)的啟迪，故用了enlightenment，其意為to give someone more knowledge and greater understanding about something?？赡軙?huì)來(lái)自東方。卡普拉也曾感嘆，遠(yuǎn)在2000 多年前，老子就已經(jīng)預(yù)見(jiàn)到了今天人類(lèi)文明的狀態(tài)?？梢?jiàn)，中國(guó)古代哲學(xué)與西方現(xiàn)代科學(xué)之間，原本有著某種奇妙的契合14似可用agree with/tally with/correspond to/accord with 等，但這里講的是某種同發(fā)性，即the occurrence of them at the same time or place，故用了conjunctions。。 □

9Sutton, an expert in the history of science, asserted in 1930 that a new enlightenment would probably originate from the East.Capra was also surprised that Lao Zi could foresee today’s human civilization as early as 2000 years ago.Clearly, there are some marvelous conjunctions between ancient Chinese philosophy and modern Western science.■