评论
打印
Now we come to a critical point. Why should a line of evolution that has proceeded unchecked for hundreds of millions of years suddenly stop at the particular level of intelligence that we call "human"? Homo erectus had less brain power than Homo sapiens has; the successors to Homo sapiens should have more. If the past is any guide to the future, our descendants a billion years from now will surpass us in intelligence. And if the Earth is typical of planets in the cosmos -- and everything we know in astronomy and geology tells us that it is -- intelligent beings who live on planets billions of years older than the Earth have already reached that advanced level of intelligence that our successors will only achieve in the distant future.
现在，我们要谈一个关键问题：为什么持续了数亿年的不断的进化过程在一个特定的智慧水平上，即我们称之为"人类"的水平上突然中止了呢？智人比猿人的脑力发达;智人后代的脑力应该更发达。如果过去可以启示将来，从现在起10亿年后，我们的后代在智慧上将要超越我们。如果地球是宇宙中一个典型的行星的话——我们的天文和地质知识告诉我们事实正是这样——那么居住在比我们的地球古老数十亿年的星球上的智慧生物其智能早已达到了我们的后代在遥远的未来才能达到的那种高级水平。
This argument, proceeding step by step on the basis of evidence acquired in the basic scientific disciplines, leads to the conclusion that life on other worlds is not only billions of years older than man, but also billions of years beyond him in intelligence.
这一论点是根据基础科学学科研究中所获得的证据一步步推导出来的。它导致了这样一个结论：其他世界上的生命不仅比人类古老几十亿年，而且在智慧上也超过人类几十亿年。
What does a billion years mean in the evolution of intelligence? For an answer, look again at the fossil record. One billion years ago, the highest form of life on the Earth was a simple, wormlike animal. The creatures who dwell on planets a billion years older than the Earth must possess an intelligence that surpasses ours by as much as we surpass the mindless, soft-bodied creatures who burrow through the soil of our gardens.
在智慧进化中十亿年意味着什么呢？让我们再次从化石记录中找寻答案。十亿年前，地球上最高的生命形式是简单的蠕虫似的动物。住在比地球古老十亿年的行星上的生命在智力上超越我们的程度，就如同我们超过那些在我们花园的土壤里钻洞爬行的没有思想的软体动物一样。
These considerations bring me full circle to my opening statement: According to the best scientific evidence, intelligent life on other worlds is likely to be as far beyond man as man is beyond the worm.
这些思考又使我回到开头的论述。根据最有力的科学证据，其他星球上的智能生物可能远远超过地球上的人类，就像人类远远超过蠕虫一样。
Why is it so important, in a discussion of UFOs, to establish a scientific foundation for the existence of races more intelligent than man? The answer is related to the fact that the distances between the stars are so enormously great.
在有关不明飞行物的讨论中，为什么确立比人类更聪明的种族存在的科学根据如此重要呢？其答案与恒星间那遥远的距离有关。
If a UFO reaches the Earth, its crew must have covered those enormous distances somehow; they must have started out from someplace beyond the edge of our solar system. They cannot come from the Earth's sister planets, because no intelligent life exists in this solar systemexcept on our own planet. All the evidence acquired by NASA spacecraft in the past few years regarding Venus, Mars and Jupiter points to that conclusion. It follows that UFOs, if they arrive here, have come from another star.
如果一个不明飞行物飞达地球，其乘员一定是设法走过了那十分遥远的距离，他们一定是从太阳系边缘以外的某个地方出发的。他们不可能来自我们地球的姐妹行星，因为在太阳系中，除了我们自己的行星以外，没有别的地方存在有智慧的生物。美国国家航空和航天局近几年获得的一切有关金星、火星和木星的证据都证实了这一结论。因此，如果有不明飞行物前来这里，那一定来自另一个恒星。
