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Relativity - the idea that everything is relative, right?
相对论，即一切都是相对，对吧？
Relative to your perspective, your upbringing, your age, your place and orientation in space and time.
在空间和时间中，与你的视角、成长方式、年级、地点以及方向都相反。
Except that plenty of things - in fact, perhaps most things - aren't relative.
除了很多事情——事实上，可能是大多数事情——都不是相对的。
For example, George Washington was the first president of the United States,
例如，乔治·华盛顿是美国第一位总统，
World War I happened before the movie Star Wars was made, this picture shows three apples, and so on.
第一次世界大战发生于电影《星球战争》制作之前，这种图片中有三个苹果，等等。
It is true that certain things are relative to one's perspective - is the apple on your left, or my right? - is 50 Fahrenheit degree hot or cold?
确实，某些事情是相对于一个人的观点而言的——这个苹果在你的左边还是右边？50华氏度是热还是冷？
- is a car fast or slow? big or small? - and in fact that relative is precisely what makes these concepts less interesting to scientists.
车速是快还是慢？大还是小？事实上，正是这种相对关系使得科学家们对这些概念不那么感兴趣。
In physics (and in most science), anything that changes if you change perspective can't be a fundamental property of the universe
在物理学（以及大部分科学）中，任何改变视角的事物都不可能是宇宙的基本属性
- only things that are absolute are considered 'physical' or 'real'.
——只有绝对的事情才能被认为是“实质的”或“真实的”。
And for a long time, physicists thought that distances in space and intervals of time were absolute, fundamental properties in the universe.
很长一段时间以来，物理学家认为空间距离和时间间隔是绝对的，是宇宙的基本属性。
The special theory of relativity first described by Albert Einstein was merely a statement of the realization that we were wrong:
由阿尔伯特·爱因斯坦首次提出的狭义相对论只是意识到我们错了的陈述：
distances in space and time are actually relative - they change depending on how fast you're moving.
空间和时间距离其实是相对的——它们随着你移动的速度而改变。
But more importantly, Einstein also described several quantities related to space and time which are absolute:
但更重要的是，爱因斯坦还描述了几个与空间和时间有关的绝对量：
the distance between two events in spacetime, the energy-momentum of an object, and of course, the speed of light.
时空中两个事件之间的距离，一个物体的能量动量，当然，还有光速。
Similarly, the general theory of relativity was essentially the recognition that in fact neither the acceleration
同样的，广义相对论本质上承认，实际上，
nor the gravitational force experienced by an object are absolute quantities.
一个物体所经历的加速度和重力都不是绝对量。
Accelerations can transform into gravitational fields (and vice versa), depending on your perspective and the path you take through spacetime.
加速度可以转换成重力（反之亦然），这取决于你的视角以及在时空中的路径。
The more fundamental absolute quantity is the curvature of spacetime, which you can think of as a kind of 'underlying' or 'absolute' gravity.
更基本的绝对量是时空的曲率，你可以把它想象成一种“潜在的”或“绝对的”引力。
Special and General relativity, are, at their core, not about what's relative - they're about what's real irrespective of perspective.
狭义和广义相对论和什么是相对的无关——而是关于什么是真实的，不管从哪种视角来看。
If everything were relative, then there could be no science, no laws, no justice - just opinion.
如果一切都是相对的，那么就不会有科学、法律和正义——只有观点。
Science exists because it turns out there are absolutes in the universe - truths which are the same regardless of your perspective.
科学存在，因为事实证明宇宙中存在绝对真理——无论你怎么看，真理都是一样的。
You might even say that science is simply about finding the truths that will still be true if you remove the scientist. So goodbye!
你甚至可能会说，科学不过是关于寻找寻找真理，即使你把科学家排除在外，这些真理仍然是真理。所以再见！
