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I’m very often asked, "What is the Darwinian survival value of religion?" and I usually reply, "That may be the wrong question."
经常有人问我 “从达尔文主义角度来看 宗教有何生存价值？” 我通常都回答“可不该这么问”
You may have to rephrase the question and it may turn out to be not the survival value of religion but the survival value of something else in the brain,
重新改述一下这个问题 它就变成了并非宗教的生存价值 而是大脑中其他东西的生存价值
which manifests itself as religion under the right circumstances.
这种东西在合适的环境下就成了宗教
Now, a good analogy which I’ve used is the question: Why do moths fly into candle flames?
在这个问题上我使用的一个较好的类比是：为什么飞蛾会扑火？
Now, you could describe that behavior as suicidal behavior in moths, self-immolation behavior in moths, kamikaze behavior in moths.
你可以把它看做是飞蛾的自杀行为 自我牺牲行为 或者自我毁灭行为
That would be one way of phrasing the question, but it’s the wrong question.
这是解释该问题的一种方式 但它本身就是个错误的问题
If you actually look at the way moth and insect eyes generally work, insects use celestial objects like the sun or the moon or the stars as compasses.
如果你细看一下飞蛾和昆虫的眼睛的工作方式 昆虫会把太阳、月亮或星星之类的天体当做指南针
It’s important, it’s valuable, there is survival value for any animal moving in a straight line.
这很重要 很有价值 任何直线行动的动物都有生存价值
If an animal wants to move in a straight line, a very good way to do it is to keep a celestial object at a fixed angle,
如果某个动物想直线行动 那么一种很好的方法就是让某个天体处于固定的角度
and that’s easy to do in insects because they have compound eyes, very unlike our eyes.
这对昆虫来说很容易 因为它们有复眼 跟我们的眼睛大不相同
Their eye is a whole sort of hemisphere of little tubes looking outwards, and so you can maintain a fixed angle to something like a star or the moon by keeping the moon in one ommatidium.
它们的眼睛是向外看的小管半球 所以它可以把月亮或星星之类的某种东西放在一个小眼内 从而让它们处在一个固定的角度
If you do that, because rays from the moon come from optical infinity, they’re parallel, and so if you keep of the moon in one ommatidium you will fly in a straight line.
如果你那么做 因为月亮的光线来自无线光学 它们是平行的 所以如果你想把月亮放在一个小眼内 你就得直线飞行
It might be say 30 degrees; keep the moon at 30 degrees to your right.
比如说是30度 让月亮在你右边30度的位置
And that works, and that’s valuable, and that’s what many insects do.
这真能起到作用 也很贵重 很多昆虫都是这么做的
However, candles are not at optical infinity, candles are close.
但是 蜡烛不是无线光学 蜡烛离的很近
The rays of light from a candle are therefore not parallel, they are radiating out.
所以蜡烛的光线不是平行的 它是发散性的
If you maintain a fixed angle of say 30 degrees to the rays that are emitted from a candle you will describe a neat logarithmic spiral into the candle flame and kill yourself.
如果你把蜡烛光线放在你右边30度的固定角度 那就像是通往烛火的对数螺线 它会让你自取灭亡
So these moths are not killing themselves, it’s not suicidal behavior; it’s a misfiring of a natural, normal behavior, which before the invention of candles would have worked.
所以飞蛾并不是要自杀 这不是自杀行为 而是自然、正常的行为遭遇了挫败 但在蜡烛发明前 这是完全可行的
And it still does work the vast majority of time because most of the time in the dark a moth is not subjected to artificial light.
这一点在绝大多数情况下依然是行之有效的 因为夜晚的多数时间飞蛾都不会被人造光吸引
So ask the right question. The right question is not, 'What’s the survival value of a suicidal behavior in moths?'
所以要问对问题 正确的问题不是“飞蛾的自杀行为有何生存价值？”
the right question is, 'What’s the survival value of maintaining a fixed angle to a celestial object?' and then it’s easy to come up with the right answer.
而是“将天体保持在固定角度有何生存价值？” 这时候再找正确答案就不难了
Proximate questions are questions which you answer with the physiology of the animal, the nervous system of the animal,
相似的问题需要用动物的生理学、神经系统
and the hormones of the animal—things happen in the animal’s nervous system which cause it to do something.
以及荷尔蒙来回答——要看是动物神经系统中的什么东西让它做出了某种举动
That’s the proximal answer. The ultimate question is, “What’s the survival value?
这是最接近的答案 根本问题是“生存价值是什么？”
What’s the benefit to the animal? What’s the benefit to the animal’s genes, in particular, to make it do that?”
“它对动物有什么好处？尤其是这么做对动物的基因有何好处？”
An old teacher of mine at Oxford, J.R. Baker, used the example of breeding seasons in birds.
牛津大学我的一名老教师JR贝克使用了鸟类的繁殖期作为例子
Why do birds breed at certain times of year?
为什么鸟类会在一年中的固定时间繁殖？
The ultimate answer is: it’s beneficial to them to have breeding seasons because they produce chicks at the right time of year to cash in on the optimal food supply.
究其根本：它们有繁殖期是件好事 因为在合适的时机孵出小鸟可以赶上食物最丰富的时期
That’s the ultimate answer. The proximate answer is that they breed at a certain time of year because day length is changing and their hormonal system,
这是根本答案 而近似的答案是鸟类在一年中的固定时间繁殖是因为日长变了 它们的内分泌系统、
their nervous system is geared to day length and that’s the proximal reason why they breed at a certain time.
神经系统要适应日长 这就是它们在固定时间繁殖的近似原因
