他山之玉｜美版《三体》大刘后记节选

There’s a strange contradiction revealed by the naïveté and kindness demonstrated by humanity when faced with the universe: On Earth, humankind can step onto another continent, and without a thought, destroy the kindredcivilizationsfound there through warfare and disease. But when they gaze up at the stars, they turn sentimental and believe that if extraterrestrialintelligencesexist, they must be civilizations bound by universal, noble, moral constraints, as if cherishing and loving different forms of life are parts of a self-evident universal code of conduct. I think it should be precisely the opposite: Let’s turn the kindnesswe show toward the stars to members of the human race on Earth and build up the trust and understanding between the different peoples and civilizations that make up humanity. But for the universe outside the solar system, we should be evervigilant, and be ready to attribute the worst of intentions to any Others that might exist in space. For a fragile civilization like ours, this is without a doubt the most responsible path. 人类面对宇宙时所表现出的天真和善良揭示出一种矛盾：在地球上，人类可以毫无顾忌地踏进另一个大陆，通过战争和瘟疫摧毁那里的同胞。但是，当他们凝望星星时，却变得感性，他们相信，如果外星文明存在，它们当然是受普遍、高尚、道德约束的文明，仿佛珍爱其他文明是理所当然的宇宙行为准则。 我认为应该恰恰相反：让我们把对外星人的善意转移到地球的人类同胞身上，建立不同民族和文明之间的信任和理解。但对于太阳系以外的宇宙，我们应该时刻保持警惕，并将最坏的恶意归于太空中可能存在的任何人。对于像我们这样弱小的文明来说，这无疑是最负责任的道路。