Unit10TheFantasticSpurtinTechnology课文翻译大学英语三

Unit10TheFantasticSpurtinTechnologyA.TofflerAlvinTofflerwritesaboutthefactthattechnologyisadvancingmuchfastertodaythaneverbeforeinhistory.Thesymbolsoftechnologyarenolongerfactorysmokestacksorassemblylines.Asweareheadedforthefuture,thepacewillquickenstillfurther.Tomostpeoplethetermtechnologyconjuresupimagesofsmokysteelmillsornoisymachines.PerhapstheclassicrepresentationoftechnologyisstilltheassemblylinecreatedbyHenryFordhalfacenturyagoandmadeintoasocialsymbolbyCharlieChaplininModernTimes.Thissymbol,however,hasalwaysbeeninadequateandmisleading,fortechnologyhasalwaysbeenmorethanfactoriesandmachines.TheinventionofthehorsecollarinthemiddleagesledtomajorchangesinagriculturalmethodsandwasasmuchatechnologicaladvanceastheinventionoftheBessemerfurnacecenturieslater.Moreover,technologyincludestechniques,orwaystodothings,aswellasthemachinesthatmayormaynotbenecessarytoapplythem.Itincludeswaystomakechemicalreactionsoccur,waystobreedfish,plantforests,lighttheaters,countvotesorteachhistory.Theoldsymbolsoftechnologyareevenmoremisleadingtoday,whenthemostadvancedtechnologicalprocessesarecarriedoutfarfromassemblylinesorblastfurnaces.Indeed,inelectronics,inspacetechnology,inmostofthenewindustries,quietandcleansurroundingsarecharacteristic--evensometimesessential.Andtheassemblyline--theorganizationoflargenumbersofmentocarryoutsimplerepetitivefunctions--isoutdated.Itistimeforoursymbolsoftechnologytochange--tocatchupwiththequickeningchangeintechnologyitself.Thisaccelerationisfrequentlydramatizedbyabriefaccountoftheprogressintransportation.Ithasbeenpointedout,forexample,thatin6000BCthefastesttransportationavailabletomanoverlongdistanceswasthecamelcaravan,averagingeightmilesperhour(mph).Itwasnotuntilabout1600BCwhenthechariotwasinventedthatthemaximumspeedwasraisedtoroughlytwentymilesperhour.Soimpressivewasthisinvention,sodifficultwasittoexceedthisspeedlimit,thatnearly3,500yearslater,whenthefirstmailcoachbeganoperatinginEnglandin1784,itaveragedameretenmph.Thefirststeamlocomotive,introducedin1825,couldhaveatopspeedofonlythirteenmphandthegreatsailingshipsofthetimelaboredalongatlesstanhalfthatspeed.Itwasprobablynotuntilthe1880'sthatman,withthehelpofamoreadvancedsteamlocomotive,managedtoreachaspeedofonehundredmph.Ittookthehumanracemillionsofyearstoattainthatrecord.Ittookonlyfifty-eightyears,however,togofourtimesthatfast,sothatby1938meninairplanesweretravelingatbetterthan400mph.Ittookameretwenty-yearflickoftimetodoublethelimitagain.Andbythe1960'srocketplantsapproachedspeedsof4,00mph.andmeninspacecapsuleswerecirclingtheearthat18,000mph.Whetherweexaminedistancestraveled,altitudesreached,ormineralsmined,thesameaccelerativetrendisobvious.Thepattern,hereandinathousandotherstatisticalseries,isabsolutelyclearandunmistakable.Thousandsofyearsgoby,andthen,inourwontimes,asuddenburstingofthelimits,afantasticspurtforward.Thereasonforthisistattechnologyfeedsonitself.Technologymakesmoretechnologypossible,aswecanseeifwelookforamomentattheprocessofinnovation.Technologicalinnovationconsistsofthreestages,linkedtogetherintoaself-reinforcingcycle.First,thereisthecreative,feasibleidea.Second,itspracticalapplication.Third,itsdiffusionthroughsociety.Theprocessiscompleted,theloopclosed,whenthediffusionoftechnologyembodyingthenewidea,inturn,helpsgeneratenewcreativeideas.Todaythereisevidencethatthetimebetweeneachofthestepsinthiscyclehasbeenshortened.Thusitisnotmerelytrue,asfrequentlynoted,that90percentofallthescientistswhoeverlivedarenowalive,andthatnewscientificdiscoveriesarebeingmadeveryday.Thesenewideasareputtoworkmuchmorequicklythaneverbefore.Thetimebetweenthefirstandsecondstagesofthecycle--betweenideaandapplication--hasbeenradicallyreduced.Thisisastrikingdifferencebetweenourselvesandourancestors.Itisnotthatwearemoreeagerorlesslazythanourancestors,butwehave,withthepassageoftime,inventedallsortsofsocialdevicetohastentheprocess.Butifittakeslesstimetobringanewideatothemarketplace,italsotakeslesstimeforittosweepthroughthesociety.Forexample,therefrigeratorwasintroducedintheUnitedStatesbefore1920,yetitspeakproductiondidnotcomeuntilmorethanthirtyyearslater.However,by1950--inonlyafewyears--televisionhadgrownfromalaboratorynoveltytothebiggestpartofshowbusiness.Sotheintervalbetweenthesecondandthirdstagesofthecycle--betweenapplicationanddiffusion--haslikewisebeencut,andthepaceofdiffusionisrisingwithastonishingspeed.Thestepped-uppaceofinvention,applicationanddiffusion,inturn,acceleratesthewholecyclestillfurther.Fornewmachinesortechniquesarenotmerelyaproduct,butasource,offreshcreativeideas.技术的突飞猛进“技术”这个术语是大多数人的脑海里显现的景物是浓烟笼罩的钢铁厂或运转轰鸣的机器。也许，技术的典型代表仍然是亨利.福特在半个世纪前首创的流水作业线，而且，查理.卓别林在电影《摩登时代》里已把它变成了现代社会的相片。然而，这一象征一直都不全面，而且容易使人产生误解，因为技术所包括的内涵不只是工厂和机器。中世纪发明的马厩曾经引起了农业耕作方法的重要变革。它与几个世纪后发明的贝萨美鼓风炉一样，也是一项先进科技。而且科技不仅包括技术，机器，还包括做事方法，而机器不一定要用到。因为，它包括促成化学反应的方法，又包括养鱼，造林，剧院照明，选票统计以及历史数学的方法。在今天，最先进的技术工艺是在流水作业线或鼓风炉的操作截然不同。因而，旧的技术象征就会使人产生误解。的确，安静和洁净的工作环境是电子技术，太空技术以及大部分新工业的特点——甚至有时是非要不可的。而且，流水作业线——大批的人重复进行简单操作的这种组织——已经过时。是我们改变技术象征的时候了——只有这样，才能跟上技术本身加速变化的步伐。通过简要的叙述一下运输业的发展就可以显示技术上的这种加速变化。例如，在公元前六千年的