在《衛報》的一次獨家專訪中，斯蒂芬·霍金駁斥了對上帝的信仰。攝影：太陽和太陽風層探測器/發現頻道
A belief that heaven or an afterlife awaits us is a "fairy story" for people afraid of death, Stephen Hawking has said.
斯蒂芬·霍金曾這樣說過，相信天堂或來生在等著我們只不過是一出“神話”，因為人們害怕死亡。
In a dismissal that underlines his firm rejection of religious comforts, Britain's most eminent scientist said there was nothing beyond the moment when the brain flickers for the final time.
這樣的駁斥表明了霍金對宗教撫慰的堅決抵制，這位英國最傑出的科學家認為，當大腦閃現出最後一絲靈光後，生命便會陷入虛無。
Hawking, who was diagnosed with motor neurone disease at the age of 21, shares his thoughts on death, human purpose and our chance existence in an exclusive interview with the Guardian today.
這位21歲時就被診斷患上了運動神經元疾病的物理學家最近接受了《衛報》的獨家專訪，與讀者們分享了他對死亡以及人類存在之目的和偶然性的看法。
The incurable illness was expected to kill Hawking within a few years of its symptoms arising, an outlook that turned the young scientist to Wagner, but ultimately led him to enjoy life more, he has said, despite the cloud hanging over his future.
隨著病情的日趨嚴重，很多人認為這種目前還無法治癒的疾病會在幾年內終結霍金的生命，這種觀點甚至使這位年輕的科學家迷上了瓦格納的音樂，但最終，霍金戰勝了病魔，他說自己比以前更會享受生活，雖然未來還籠罩在未知的陰雲之中。
"I have lived with the prospect of an early death for the last 49 years. I'm not afraid of death, but I'm in no hurry to die. I have so much I want to do first," he said.
“這四十九年來，我隨時都有可能與死神不期而遇。死亡我並不畏懼，但急著赴死也並非是我的本意。我還有很多事情沒有完成，”他說。
"I regard the brain as a computer which will stop working when its components fail. There is no heaven or afterlife for broken down computers; that is a fairy story for people afraid of the dark," he added.
“我認為大腦就如同一台電腦，零件失靈它也就停止工作了。對於陷入停滯的電腦來說，天堂或來生是不存在的；它們只是為害怕閉眼的人所預備的一出神話而已，”他補充說。
Hawking's latest comments go beyond those laid out in his 2010 book, The Grand Design, in which he asserted that there is no need for a creator to explain the existence of the universe. The book provoked a backlash from some religious leaders, including the chief rabbi, Lord Sacks, who accused Hawking of committing an "elementary fallacy" of logic.
霍金最近關於宗教的其他評論在他2010年出版的新書《偉大設計》（The Grand Design）中都能找到，在這本書中，霍金斷言，解釋宇宙的存在並不需要虛構什麼造物主。《偉大設計》一書激起了某些宗教領袖的強烈不滿，例如首席拉比薩克斯勳爵（Lord Sacks）就斥責霍金犯了一個邏輯上的“基本謬誤”。
The 69-year-old physicist fell seriously ill after a lecture tour in the US in 2009 and was taken to Addenbrookes hospital in an episode that sparked grave concerns for his health. He has since returned to his Cambridge department as director of research.
自2009年在美國舉行了巡迴演講之後，這位現年六十九歲的物理學家就大病了一場，其間被送到阿登布魯克醫院（Addenbrookes hospital）進行救治的消息還引發了公眾對其健康的嚴重關注。最近，霍金已經以研究主任的身份重返劍橋了。
The physicist's remarks draw a stark line between the use of God as a metaphor and the belief in an omniscient creator whose hands guide the workings of the cosmos.
霍金的言論將隱喻的上帝和作為信仰的上帝完全區分了開來，在信眾的眼中，上帝是無所不能的造物主，他主宰了宇宙的運作機制。
In his bestselling 1988 book, A Brief History of Time, Hawking drew on the device so beloved of Einstein, when he described what it would mean for scientists to develop a "theory of everything" – a set of equations that described every particle and force in the entire universe. "It would be the ultimate triumph of human reason – for then we should know the mind of God," he wrote.
在1988年出版的暢銷書《時間簡史》（A Brief History of Time）中，當寫到“萬有理論”對於科學家來說意味著什麼時，霍金就耍了一回愛因斯坦最喜歡用的招數。“那將是人類理性的終極勝利——因為到那時，我們就能洞曉上帝的思維，”他在書中這樣寫到。
The book sold a reported 9 million copies and propelled the physicist to instant stardom. His fame has led to guest roles in The Simpsons, Star Trek: The Next Generation and Red Dwarf. One of his greatest achievements in physics is a theory that describes how black holes emit radiation.
這本書據說賣出了九百萬本，霍金頓時成為了物理界的頂級巨星。沖天的名望讓他在《辛普森一家》（The Simpsons）、《星際迷航：下一代》（Star Trek: The Next Generation）和《紅矮星號》（Red Dwarf）中都過了一把客串癮。而在老本行中，霍金亦建樹頗多，他最偉大的成就便是理論描繪了黑洞如何釋放輻射。
In the interview, Hawking rejected the notion of life beyond death and emphasised the need to fulfil our potential on Earth by making good use of our lives. In answer to a question on how we should live, he said, simply: "We should seek the greatest value of our action."
在這次訪談中，霍金還駁斥了死亡之後生命依然存在的理念，並強調這只不過是人類通過延續生命概念來滿足潛在永生的需求罷了。在回答人類應該如何生活的問題時，他只是簡單說了一句：“人類應當尋求行為的最高價值。”
In answering another, he wrote of the beauty of science, such as the exquisite double helix of DNA in biology, or the fundamental equations of physics.
在回答另一個問題時，霍金則回顧了科學之美，例如生物學中DNA精緻的雙螺旋結構，或物理學中的基本方程等。
Hawking responded to questions posed by the Guardian and a reader in advance of a lecture tomorrow at the Google Zeitgeist meeting in London, in which he will address the question: "Why are we here?"
對《衛報》所提出的問題，霍金都一一作了解答。此外，他還提前回答了一位讀者提出的問題：人類存在的目的是什麼？這個問題本來是預備拿到第二天在倫敦召開的Google Zeitgeist大會上進行討論的。
In the talk, he will argue that tiny quantum fluctuations in the very early universe became the seeds from which galaxies, stars, and ultimately human life emerged. "Science predicts that many different kinds of universe will be spontaneously created out of nothing. It is a matter of chance which we are in," he said.
屆時，霍金將論證一個終極問題，即早期宇宙中微小的量子漲落是如何成為後來形成星系、恆星以及人類的火種。“科學預言，從虛無中會同時誕生多種不同類型的宇宙。這是一個關乎人類存在的概率問題，”他說。
Hawking suggests that with modern space-based instruments, such as the European Space Agency's Planck mission, it may be possible to spot ancient fingerprints in the light left over from the earliest moments of the universe and work out how our own place in space came to be.
霍金暗示，隨著諸如歐航局普朗克望遠鏡這種先進太空儀器的出現，人類有可能解讀到最早期宇宙光線中的古老信息，並理解人類在宇宙中的地位是如何形成的。
His talk will focus on M-theory, a broad mathematical framework that encompasses string theory, which is regarded by many physicists as the best hope yet of developing a theory of everything.
M理論（M-theory）將會成為霍金演講的中心議題，它是一個囊括了弦理論的大數學框架，很多物理學家將M理論視為推導出萬有理論的希望寄託。
M-theory demands a universe with 11 dimensions, including a dimension of time and the three familiar spatial dimensions. The rest are curled up too small for us to see.
M理論利用11維定義宇宙，時間維和常見的三個空間維度也包括在這11維中間，其他維度由於捲曲而變得太小，因而無法被人類察覺。
Evidence in support of M-theory might also come from the Large Hadron Collider (LHC) at Cern, the European particle physics laboratory near Geneva.
來自於日內瓦歐洲核子物理實驗室大型強子對撞機（LHC）的證據也為M理論提供了實驗支持。
One possibility predicted by M-theory is supersymmetry, an idea that says fundamental particles have heavy – and as yet undiscovered – twins, with curious names such as selectrons and squarks.
M理論預測了超對稱性的存在，超對稱性認為所有基本粒子都存在伴粒子，這些伴粒子的名稱都很奇特，比如超對稱電子（selectrons）和超對稱夸克（squarks）等，但到目前為止，科學家們還沒有發現這種超對稱性伴粒子。
Confirmation of supersymmetry would be a shot in the arm for M-theory and help physicists explain how each forces at work in the universe arose from one super-force at the dawn of time.
如果能證實超對稱性的確存在，那無異於為M理論注入了一針強心劑，物理學家們可以藉此來解釋宇宙誕生之初，各種作用力是如何從一種超級作用力裡誕生的，
Another potential discovery at the LHC, that of the elusive Higgs boson, which is thought to give mass to elementary particles, might be less welcome to Hawking, who has a long-standing bet that the long-sought entity will never be found at the laboratory.
大型強子對撞機的另一個潛在發現即希格斯波色子（Higgs boson）的存在，一些物理學家認為正是這種神秘的粒子將質量賦予了基本粒子。但霍金並不認可這項理論，他甚至打賭說物理學家們永遠也不可能在實驗室中找到希格斯波色子。
Hawking will join other speakers at the London event, including the chancellor, George Osborne, and the Nobel prize-winning economist Joseph Stiglitz.
英國財政大臣喬治·奧斯本（George Osborne）和曾獲得諾貝爾獎的經濟學家約瑟夫·斯蒂格利茨（Joseph Stiglitz）也將在倫敦盛會上發表演說。
Science, truth and beauty: Hawking's answers
科學，真理之美：霍金給出的答案
What is the value in knowing "Why are we here?"
人類存在的目的是什麼？探討這個問題究竟價值何在？
The universe is governed by science. But science tells us that we can't solve the equations, directly in the abstract. We need to use the effective theory of Darwinian natural selection of those societies most likely to survive. We assign them higher value.
科學支配著宇宙。但科學以抽象的方式直接告知我們，人類無法解決某些終極問題。我們需要利用一些實用性的理論，如達爾文的進化選擇論，來解釋那些最有可能生存下來的生命體系。人類賦予它們以更高的價值。
You've said there is no reason to invoke God to light the blue touchpaper. Is our existence all down to luck?
你曾經說過，祈求上帝點亮他的藍色火種並推動宇宙運行是缺乏理性的表現。人類的存在只能被歸結為僥倖嗎？
Science predicts that many different kinds of universe will be spontaneously created out of nothing. It is a matter of chance which we are in.
科學預言，從虛無中會同時誕生多種不同類型的宇宙。這是一個關乎人類存在的概率問題
So here we are. What should we do?
於是人類誕生了。我們該如何掌控自己的命運呢？
We should seek the greatest value of our action.
人類應當尋求行為的最高價值。
You had a health scare and spent time in hospital in 2009. What, if anything, do you fear about death?
2009年的時候，你的健康出了點問題，而且還住了院。冒昧問一句，你對死亡恐懼嗎？
I have lived with the prospect of an early death for the last 49 years. I'm not afraid of death, but I'm in no hurry to die. I have so much I want to do first. I regard the brain as a computer which will stop working when its components fail. There is no heaven or afterlife for broken down computers; that is a fairy story for people afraid of the dark.
這四十九年來，我一直活在英年早逝的傳聞之中。死亡我並不畏懼，但急著赴死也並非是我的本意。我還有很多事情沒有完成。我認為大腦就如同一台電腦，零件失靈它也就停止工作了。對於陷入停滯的電腦來說，天堂或來生是不存在的；它們只是為害怕閉眼的人所預備的一出神話而已。
What are the things you find most beautiful in science?
你認為科學最美麗的地方在哪裡？
Science is beautiful when it makes simple explanations of phenomena or connections between different observations. Examples include the double helix in biology, and the fundamental equations of physics."
科學之美在於它能對現像或不同觀測結果之間的聯繫作出最簡潔的解釋。最經典的例子莫過於生物學中的雙螺旋結構和物理學中的基本方程。
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原文來源：guardian.co.uk
原文標題：Stephen Hawking: \'There is no heaven; it's a fairy story\'
原文地址：http://www.theguardian.com/science/2011/may/15/stephen-hawking-interview-there-is-no-heaven
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