Chapter 9 Translator's postscript

With the author's pen, we have completed the journey of "how to think".When we turned the last page and closed the book, we couldn't help but see in our minds the scenario of the "spatial-temporal patterns" discussed by the author competing for workspace through the Darwinian process in the brain. The title of this book "How the Brain Thinks" has clearly stated the theme of the book.In this medium-length popular science work, evolutionary biologist and theoretical neuroscientist Professor William H. Calvin (William H. Calvin) vividly discusses what scientists have been obsessed with about human intelligence for many years. The big question: what is the nature of intelligence?How did animal intelligence evolve to human intelligence?How does thinking work?What are the prospects for superhuman intelligence?In the process of discussion, Darwin's view of evolution runs through the whole book, whether in the process of elaborating the evolution of animal intelligence or in the exploration of thinking mechanism, this view is deeply reflected.In fact, the essence of the operating mechanism of the thinking proposed by the author is the reproduction competition of the "space-time model". According to the author, it is a "Darwin process". This is a remarkable feature of this book.

The author's elaboration of the nature of intelligence is mainly a foreshadowing of the background material on the subject of this book by synthesizing existing scientific data.On this basis, the author systematically expounds his own views on the above-mentioned issues, and sometimes mentions the debates with some physicists who are engaged in the study of consciousness.In the process of translation, we felt the author's broad knowledge background more than once. His ability to control the topic when describing the climate change during the ice age is a typical example.Throughout the book, the author quotes from many sources, from science to philosophy, from evolutionary biology to neurobiology, from linguistics to artificial intelligence, reflecting his depth of understanding of issues in such a broad field of knowledge.At the beginning and end of each chapter, as well as at the key points of the exposition, the author quotes the speeches of many famous experts, which is just right and often has the finishing touch.In addition, the author's discussion and writing style also strongly reflect his unique personal style.His analysis of scientific issues often has penetrating and precise views, and the aggressive aura he displayed in his debates on intelligence and consciousness also bears the author's distinctive personality characteristics.

This book has good readability.On the one hand, the author has paid special attention to expressing profound scientific content in simple and vivid language.He often starts with some vivid examples, and gradually introduces readers into the mysterious palace of science step by step. This is nothing more than a fascinating scientific adventure with the author under the guidance of him.On the other hand, the author's excellent literary talents leave a deep impression on people, which undoubtedly adds a lot to the book.Readers are invited to read Chapter 7 "Prospects of Superhuman Intelligence" carefully. We often involuntarily give high fives when we translate some wonderful fragments.It is true that Professor Calvin is a popular science writer popular with readers, and this book is already his ninth book.

The seriousness with which the author wrote this book is also admirable. In March 1995 we got the second draft of the book written by the author.In July of the same year, I saw part of the third draft and noticed that considerable changes had been made.Since then, the author and the editor of Brockman Press have made repeated revisions to the manuscript.When we saw the strip proof provided by the publishing house in May 1996, we found that it was "unrecognizable".Unexpectedly, in the final proof, the author made a large addition to the sixth chapter and increased the number of illustrations from 8 to 13!This revision after revision clearly adds to the logic and clarity of the exposition.

In the process of translating this book, we follow the principle of trying to maintain the accuracy of its scientific content, and on this premise, try to make the expressions conform to Chinese habits as much as possible.In many cases, it is not easy to achieve this. This is not only a problem of words, but also because different languages ​​have formed their own unique expression habits and narrative styles under different cultural backgrounds for a long time.Therefore, it is inevitable that some sentences in the translation will have traces of English expression, which is understandable to readers.In addition, this book covers a wide range of subjects, and there is no standard translation method for some technical terms. We will either make transliteration or free translation according to their meanings; some words have different meanings in different contexts (such as the word "mind", There are meanings such as spirit, thinking, and mind), we should decide according to the meaning, and do not deliberately pursue the consistency of the translated name of the same word.In Chapter H, the author's discussion on the English word "consiccusness" not only has no obvious research benefits for Chinese readers, but will cause ideological confusion, because in different languages, the exact equivalent of the word is Very rarely, the word "con-sclousness" is obviously not completely equivalent to the Chinese word "consciousness".In view of this, we have made appropriate abridgements in the relevant paragraphs, but have noted the abridged passages in the original text for the reference of readers who are interested in further research.

There are 150 annotations in the original book, most of which indicate the original text or source of the citations, which are unnecessary for ordinary readers and have been deleted. The remaining 11 are explanations for the content of the main text.The "Recommended Reading" and "Reference Books" attached to the original book are all English works, which are not easy for Chinese readers to look up, and have also been deleted. Interested readers can contact the translator. In order to facilitate the understanding of the text, we have added some notes to the relevant parts for readers' reference.The annotations on names in this book, according to the usual practice, are still alive, except for the Nobel Prize winners, others are not detailed—in order to avoid the feeling of lengthiness when reading.

The author wrote a special preface for the Chinese version, and we would like to express our sincere thanks.In the preface and in the correspondence with the translator, the author has repeatedly mentioned the important contributions made by Professor Zhang Xiangtong, honorary director of the Shanghai Institute of Brain Research, Chinese Academy of Sciences, in brain research.It is particularly worth mentioning that, because of the translation of this book, Professor Zhang's colleague at Yale University, Professor Arthur A. Warder Jr., wrote to the translator to ask about Professor Zhang's current situation 50 years ago.The karma before and after this can also be described as a good story in the history of science.

Introduction to this book.The first to third chapters were translated by Liang Peiji, the fourth to seventh chapters were translated by Yang Xiongli, and finally Yang Xiongli revised and polished all the translations to keep the translation style as consistent as possible.When translating, we are struggling to think about the expression of a translated name or a piece of translated text, and we seem to be experiencing what the author discusses as "replication competition of the spatio-temporal pattern".But is it correct to win in this kind of competition and occupy the "working space" and then express the "spatial-temporal mode" of the translation?Does it reflect the style of the original?It remains to be tested and judged by the reader.

When translating this book, we consulted many books and dictionaries, among which we benefited a lot from the English versions of "New Enryclopedia Britannica" and "Academic Dictionary of Science and Technology".The understanding of the exact meaning of certain words was assisted by many of our American and British friends.Ms. Nang Wang from the Computer Center of Baylor College of Medicine in the United States enthusiastically assisted us in obtaining the final proof of the original manuscript from the computer network. Mr. Zhang Yuejin from Shanghai Science and Technology Publishing House, the planning editor of the "Masters of Science Series" series, has done a lot of fruitful work for the publication of the Chinese version of this book, for which we are deeply grateful.