6 Who are weWord文件下载.docx

1、59,640 -01:04,360The answer is more surprisingand more human than you might think.1407,400 -10,960It is a tale of power,1510,960 -13,640proof,1613,640 -15,960and passion.1723,640 -29,720This time, one of the more intimatequestions weve ever asked.1829,720 -32,320What makes us human?1954,320 -56,480T

2、he question, what is human nature,2056,480 -02:00,400what is it that shapes our thoughts,feelings and desires,2100,400 -06,480is one that philosophers,writers and religious leadershave all struggled with.2206,480 -12,520I am particularly interestedin how science has wrestledwith this particular ques

3、tion,2312,520 -15,920and thats not just becauseit gets to the heart of who we are,2415,920 -20,880but also because it gets tothe heart of what science itself is.2525,120 -31,040I want to begin withone of the great civilisationsof the ancient world -2631,040 -33,640Egypt.2736,840 -40,880The ancient E

4、gyptians were amongstthe first people we know about2840,880 -45,240to really wrestle with the question,what makes us human?2949,480 -52,800We humans are acutely awareof ourselves,3052,800 -56,840of the sense of being alive,of living within our own skin.3156,840 -03:00,200But where does this me resid

5、e?3200,200 -03,080Where is the control centre?3303,080 -07,640Where is the essenceof what I truly am?3409,280 -12,600Egyptian beliefsabout what made us human3512,600 -16,600are revealed in their attitudesto the afterlife.3618,120 -21,320Certain organs,like the stomach, lungs or liver,3721,320 -26,56

6、0were seen as so critical they werefrequently removed, embalmed,3826,560 -31,800and put back inside the bodyfor burial.3933,440 -37,720The Egyptians believed that theheart was the key to the afterlife,4037,720 -that when you died it would testifyfor your good or your bad deeds.4146,800On this papyru

7、s you can see a heartbeing weighed up against a feather.4246,800 -50,080If it was heavier than the featherthen this demon over here4350,080 -52,840would come and eat it,and that was all over for you.4452,840 -59,080In fact, the idea of beinglight-hearted or heavy-heartedcomes from the Egyptians.4559

8、,080 -04:04,120And in a way you can understandwhy they thought that the emotionsresided in the heart.4604,120 -09,600Certainly when I have beenbroken-hearted Ive felt itin my gut, and in my chest.4711,280 -16,640So the Egyptians treated the heartwith great reverence.4816,640 -21,920But what about th

9、at other organwe now regard as more centralto our humanity?4926,880 -29,600Here at Manchester University,5029,600 -35,000a team of Egyptologistsare studying a 2,500-year-old mummy.5135,000 -39,040An endoscope is going to bepushed up its nose5239,040 -43,280to show me how the Egyptianstreated the bra

10、in.5345,280 -48,080Carefully.5449,520 -52,280As we enter the nose5552,280 -54,720through the nasal septum.5654,720 -57,200How extraordinary.5759,360 -05:02,720Its like going into some sort ofhidden cave. It is, isnt it?5802,720 -04,640s a secret world, really.5905,840 -09,680We would normally be sto

11、pped fromgoing through therebecause of the bone6009,680 -12,640that would separate the brainfrom the nasal cavity.6112,640 -16,200Which should be there.Yes, it should be there, of course.6216,200 -19,720Right. And so now youre actuallyentering the skull? Yes.6323,600 -25,400Ooh!6425,400 -28,800Thats

12、 a sort of, a suturein the top of the head, isn6528,800 -32,720There seems to be something missing.6632,720 -35,200Yes, theres a brain missing.6735,200 -6840,440Do they not see the brainas important?6940,440 -44,880They recognised thatthe brain controlledsome of the bodily actions,7044,880 -49,560bu

13、t they certainly didnt thinkthat the individual personality7149,560 -51,440was located in the brain.7251,440 -53,920So they removed it and discarded it.7353,920 -56,240So they just took itand chucked it out. Yes. 7456,240 -06:02,280It shows a certain contempt forwhat we regard as one of our moreimpo

14、rtant organs now. Absolutely.7504,760 -10,840The Egyptian concept of what makesus who we are was a mystical union7610,840 -15,480between the physical bodyand an everlasting spirit.7719,600 -25,200One of the recurring ideas to emergeout of early civilisationslike the Egyptians7825,200 -29,280was the

15、belief that we aremore than simply flesh and blood.7929,280 -34,840There is something else, somethingwhich is special and makes us human.8034,840 -40,640This conviction is one ofthe most powerful and enduringin human history.8144,680 -48,320This belief shapes thinkingfor millennia.8250,920 -53,480Bu

16、t as Europe emergedfrom the Middle Ages,8353,480 -56,760people started toapproach the question differently.8459,240 -07:03,320The physical and intellectualfrontiers of Europe were changing,8503,320 -08,000and that would encouragea very different view of who we are.8616,800 -22,920That new view can b

17、e glimpsed here,the grandest royal palace in France.8734,200Amongst this great splendour,theres an intriguing technology.8835,720 -41,440.that to me reflects a great changein how we saw ourselves,8941,440 -44,560captured in one magnificent room.9053,240 -57,240And this is it. Its the greathall of mi

18、rrors in Versailles.9108:02,600 -06,680It is absolutely fantastic,9208,200 -12,240and the whole room utterly dominatedby this wall of mirrors9312,240 -14,880which extends downalmost 100 metres.9414,880 -17,720Ive never seen mirrorson this scale.9536,440 -40,320This really iscutting-edge technology.9

19、640,320 -44,760Now this is not absolutely perfect,the surface not completely smooth,9744,760 -47,400you can see little bubbles herein the glass.9847,400 -51,280s not perfect, its not likea sort of modern mirror.9951,280 -54,080But the size and the scaleis unlike anything10054,080 -56,320which was re

20、ally done before,10156,320 -59,120and compared to the sort ofcurvy-wurvy things10259,120 -09:02,000that most people would know of fromcenturies earlier,10302,000 -05,080this was something different.10405,080 -10,680Because there was nothing,nothing, nothing like thishad been developed before.10510,6

21、80 -13,240It allowed peopleto just stand there10613,240 -16,840and look at themselves and think,you know, Who am I? This is me.10718,480 -22,680These mirrors representthe culmination of an idea10822,680 -25,640that had been emerging in Europesince the Renaissance.10928,240 -32,000The notion thatwe a

22、re all individuals.11032,000 -35,320Not members of a class, or a guild,11135,320 -41,320but defined by our own desires,ambitions, and destinies.11244,560 -49,800Along with this growing awarenessof self came different questions.11349,800 -52,320What makes ME who I am?11452,320 -58,720Why do I have these hopes,these fears, these talents,these expectations?11558,720 -10:03,360And most import