系統(tǒng)的功能

林巍

原 文

[1] 現(xiàn)代意義上的“系統(tǒng)”一詞 ，轉譯自日文，從西方而來，如希臘文的systema，英文的system，其功能大于各個部分相加之和。

[2] 世界上的事物不是隨意堆加在一起的，而是有著內在規(guī)律，即形成了系統(tǒng)。一切事物都是復雜的系統(tǒng)集合，有宏觀亦有微觀，包括天體、地理、社會、人體、思維等等。

[3] 然而，人類取得這樣的認識卻經(jīng)歷了幾千年。特別是四百多年前牛頓發(fā)現(xiàn)了萬有引力，一百多年前愛因斯坦創(chuàng)立了相對論，使我們的這種認識有了科學的依據(jù)——事物各系統(tǒng)之間、各層次內部，發(fā)生著永無休止的相互影響；只有從系統(tǒng)的角度，才能真正認識、把握事物的實質。

[4] 人們對于世界的認識之所以要分門別類，是出于理解的便利，而非事物本身的面目。在古希臘，最初并沒有“分科”的學問，而只有唯一的“學問”——哲學，因為那里概括了人類對世界的所有認識。在中國，對學問的分類，也是到了漢代司馬談的《論六家要旨》才出現(xiàn)的。所以，“學問”是人為做出來的；而人的認識系統(tǒng)與客觀世界的系統(tǒng)之間永遠有著差距。在這個意義上講，學問應當永遠讓位于真相。

[5] 人無論多么復雜，都是一個有限系統(tǒng)，而認識的對象——世界，卻是一個無限系統(tǒng)，這就要求人在信息處理方面具有以簡馭繁、以有限形式去容納無限內容的能力。在生理結構和功能上，人的感覺器官并不比其他高等生物更敏銳，但卻可以在本質上認識無限的物質世界，這主要得益于人的抽象思維能力和與之配套的語言系統(tǒng)。

[6] 人的所謂“預知”或“觸類旁通”，其實都是系統(tǒng)功能的作用。俄國化學家門捷列夫在發(fā)明了化學元素周期表后，從該表中的幾個空洞預測了新元素的存在。果然，15年后，其他科學家發(fā)現(xiàn)了與預測相符的三種元素。理論物理學家狄拉克研究電子的性質，認為“真空”正如充滿電子的海洋，那里其實沒有正電子的“泡泡”，卻預測了正子的存在。在物理學上，許多基本粒子的發(fā)現(xiàn)，都是先用對稱理論預測，然后通過復雜試驗找尋出來的，從而彌補了主觀與客觀間的差距。

[7] 系統(tǒng)的核心是結構；不同的結構決定了不同的性質與功能。金剛石和石墨都是由碳元素組成的單質，但由于其碳原子排列順序的不同，形成了世界上最硬和最軟的物質。人的認識體系、知識結構也是如此。同樣的信息量在不同人身上會產(chǎn)生不同的效果。所以，學習“系統(tǒng)”，搭建“結構”，有時比學習“零件”更重要。

譯 文

[1] The Chinese character xitong in the modern sense is a transplanted term from the West， such as “systema” in Greek and “system” in English， retranslated from Japanese. The functional effectiveness of a system is supposed to be greater than the aggregation of its individual parts.

[2] Matters on earth are arranged not by random collection but by inner laws， namely a systematic mechanism. Everything exists in a complex system consisting of macro-cosmos and micro-cosmos， including cosmology， geography， society， human beings， thinking mode and so on.

[3] However， it took several thousand years for human beings to reach this realization. In particular， Newtons Law of Universal Gravitation （400 or so years ago） and Einsteins Relativity （about 100 years ago） laid a scientific foundation for us to grasp the essence of ever lasting interactions among different systems at various levels. In short， the best realization about our world comes from a systematic approach.

[4] Categorization of the world into academic disciplines has blurred its originality， for no purpose other than easy understanding. In Ancient Greece， there was no such thing as different branches of learning except “philosophy”， which was believed to embrace all human knowledge of the world. Similarly， in China the disciplines did not occur until “On the Theme of the Six Scholarships” was written by Sima Tan （？—B.C.110） in the Han Dynasty. Knowledge of any kind is， after all， designed and produced by man， who may fail to reveal the totality of the world. In this way， scholarship is always vulnerable when confronted with newly revealed truth.

[5] No matter how complicated a human is as a system， it is a limited one compared with the unlimited world that he tries to understand. In handling the overwhelming information that human beings are confronted with， highly efficient approaches have thus been developed. In terms of biological structure and functions， the sensory organs of human beings are in fact no more developed than other highly evolved creatures， and yet humans can catch more of the essence of the world， mainly due to their abstract thinking capacity and their language systems.

[6] What is so-called “prediction” or “knowing the rest by analogy” is essentially generated by systematic analysis. Taking chemistry as an example， some gaps in the Periodic Table discovered by the Russian chemist Mendeleyev predicted several new chemical elements； three of which were found by other chemists 15 years later. Similarly， the theoretical physicist Diac revealed that there were no positron “bubbles” in a vacuum during his research into the nature of electrons， and then predicted that something called a positron might exist. In physics， many basic particles are found by way of repeated experiments based on a symmetrical theory， thus bridging the gap between the subjective and objective worlds.

[7] The core of a system is the structure which determines its nature and functions. Diamond and graphite， for example， are both solely made of carbons. However， their different arrangements of carbonaceous atoms result in the hardest and softest substances in the world. The same principle applies to our perceptual and knowledge systems， where the same amount of information may cause different effects. In this way， one could say that learning “parts” sometimes may not be as effective as mastering a “system” or a “structure”.

譯 注

在[3]中，“只有從系統(tǒng)的角度，才能真正認識、把握事物的實質”，一般而言，很容易譯成：Only from a systematic point of view， can the true nature of a matter be realized. 然而所謂“從系統(tǒng)的角度”指的其實是一種認識事物的方式、方法，故不妨為systematic approach；而“真正認識、把握事物的實質”體現(xiàn)了中文長于復述、強調的特性，在英文里則不妨簡化為 best realization。故此，該句不妨譯為：The best realization... comes from a systematic approach. 其中 come from為源自何處，如We believe that good results come from effort and not just from what someone gave us.（我們相信好的結果來自努力，而不是別人的賜予）。

在[4]中，“而非事物本身的面目”，這里沒有以否定的方式譯成 is not the true appearance of the matter，而是以肯定的方式處理為 …h(huán)as blurred its originality。這里的blur 意為 to smear or stain something but not to efface。同時，“對學問的分類，也是到了漢代司馬談的《論六家要旨》才出現(xiàn)的”，在譯文中不但加入了Similarly以便接續(xù)，同時在“司馬談”后增添了生卒年代“（？–B.C.110）”，以使西方讀者對此有一時代的概念。“人的認識系統(tǒng)與客觀世界的系統(tǒng)之間永遠有著差距”，若將其徑直翻譯為 There is always a gap between human conceptional system and the world system，固然是“形近”了，但并未揭示出該句的主旨——人們的主觀認識與客觀世界無限性之間的矛盾，故其后半句不妨譯為 …who may fail to reveal the totality of the world。在文字形式上看似差距大了，但實際離原意卻更近了。

在同一段中，“學問應當永遠讓位于真相”，似可譯成knowledge should always give away to the truth，或 knowledge should always be led by the truth。然而分析起來，這里的“學問”不是一般意義上的knowledge，而是人們?yōu)榱搜芯繉W問而對其所作的分門別類的學科，故可為branch of learning， discipline， school subject， course of study，但更準確的為scholarship；而“讓位”，不是一般意義上的give away——該詞更多的是“失去”之意——故不妨譯為scholarship is always vulnerable when confronted with newly revealed truth。其中，兩個詞值得一述——vulnerable和revealed。這里的vulnerable可引申之open to attack or damage。進而言之，其含義為susceptible to criticism or persuasion or temptation，例如an argument vulnerable to refutation （一個可被輕易駁倒的立論）。相應地，其中的“（學問應當永遠讓位于）真相”，不是一般意義上的reality、fact或truth， 而是相對“學問”而言的“已知事實”。故此，不妨譯為newly revealed truth。

在[6]中，“其實都是系統(tǒng)功能的作用”，其中的“功能”很容易譯成 function，然而該詞是從客觀的“系統(tǒng)作用”而言的，而原文實際指人通過該系統(tǒng)所做出的分析與結果，是從主觀角度著眼的，故應用systematic analysis，整句為is essentially generated by systematic analysis。同時，“從而彌補了主觀與客觀間的差距”，其中的“彌補”并非通常意義上的 make up， remedy， make good， make up for weaknesses， fill in the shortage等等，而實則是 bridge the gap；而且“主觀”、“客觀”指的是主客觀世界。

此外，為了行文的連貫，在同段中，“俄國化學家門捷列夫在發(fā)明了化學元素周期表后”，該句在中文里的銜接不顯唐突，甚是緊湊，而在英譯文中，則要在此之前插入Taking chemistry as an example，以示過渡。

在[7]中，“碳原子排列順序的不同”，不可依字面譯為the difference of arranging order of carbonaceous atoms，而化學教科書上的表述為their different arrangements of carbonaceous atoms。同時，“學習‘系統(tǒng)，搭建‘結構，有時比學習‘零件更重要”，在中文詞匯里搭配得當、錯落有致，然而若照樣譯成英文，如study the system， establish the construction…則重復、冗贅；同時，“更重要”也不必譯為more important，可對此加以整合與簡化。