Ever since the days of Descartes, and even longer still, humankind has been asking itself—what is reality?
早在笛卡爾時代， 甚至更早的時候， 人類就一直在自問——什麼是現實存在？
It’s a question that’s becoming ever more relevant in our increasing technologically advanced world, especially when we consider the rise of video games.
現代社會， 隨著科技不斷進步， 尤其是電子遊戲的興起， 這個問題愈發有現實意義。
Last month, Chinese internet giant Tencent announced it would begin limiting the amount of time youngsters are able to play its wildly popular mobile game King of Glory.
今年7月份， 中國互聯網巨頭騰訊公司宣佈， 將限制部分年輕玩家登錄火爆手游《王者榮耀》的時間。
Users under 12 are now restricted to an hour of play each day, while those aged between 12 and 18 will be forced to log out agter two hours per day.
按此規定， 12周歲及以下未成年人每天限玩1小時， 12歲以上未成年人（不含18歲）每天限玩2小時， 超時將被強制下線。
Tencent made the move in response to criticism over the growing number of young Chinese seemingly hooked on the title, which ranked as the highest grossing mobile game in the world in May with more than 160 million people playing it every month.
目前， 《王者榮耀》的月均活躍用戶超過1.6億人， 今年5月成為全球最吸金的手機遊戲。 而騰訊這次整改行動是因為中國越來越多的年輕人過度沉迷于此類手遊， 這引發了社會的強烈不滿和批判。
In April, it was even reported that a 17-year-old in Guangdong province suffered a type of stroke after playing the game for 40 hours straight.
今年4月份， 有媒體報導稱， 廣州省一名17歲少年因狂打王者榮耀40個小時而誘發腦梗。
Examples such as this show the dangers of immersion. Sometimes, it is a wonderful thing—if we’re immersed in our work or a favorite hobby then our minds are alert, our focus narrows and time itself seems to fly. But immersion also has a dark side.
此類案例向我們展現了過度沉迷的危害性。 有些情況下的“過度沉迷”不失為一件好事——當一個人全身心地投入到自己的工作和愛好中， 你會發現在思維清晰、精力集中的狀態下時間似乎過得飛快。 但是過度沉迷也有其陰暗面。
Virtual reality is making gaming more immersion than ever, and as graphic processing power improves exponentially, we may well soon reach a point where the artificial becomes indecipherable from the real.
虛擬實境技術（VR）能讓玩家在遊戲世界中更能感受到身臨其境的效果， 隨著影像處理技術的迅猛提升， 未來人們可以實現在虛擬和現實世界中“自由穿越”，
British writers Rob Grant and Doug Naylor tackled just this subject in their best-selling 1990 book Better Than Life—a genuinely entertaining and thought-provoking novel that based on, of all things, the science fiction sitcom Red Dwarf.
英國作家羅伯·格蘭特（Rob Grant）和道格·內勒（Doug Naylor）在1990年出版的暢銷書《虛擬天堂》就是一本以虛擬實境為題材的小說——《虛擬天堂》的故事背景取自科幻片《紅矮星號》（Red Dwarf）， 小說內容風趣又發人深思。
In it, the characters play a “total immersion” virtual reality video game—the eponymous Better Than Life—that forces them to forget that they are playing. Because their conscious mind only perceives the reality of the game, all signals from their real body are ignored.
在這部小說中， 主人公們“完全沉浸”在虛擬實境的遊戲中——“虛擬天堂”遊戲——迫使他們忘記自己的玩者身份。
Unless cared for in the real world, those playing this game will die of a lack of food and water. If the virtual reality headset is forcibly removed, it results in instant death from shock. The only way to exit the game is to figure out that you’re playing, develop the desire to leave and then command an exit.
除非現實世界中有人關懷他們， 否則所有玩家都會死於饑餓或缺水。 如果他們頭戴的虛擬實境視圖器被強行摘除， 玩家則會因受到的衝擊過大而喪命。 退出遊戲的唯一方法就是認清自己身處的虛擬遊戲世界， 有主動離開的意願後退出遊戲。
It has been mooted that the more advanced our technology becomes, the more likely it is that we are, all of us, living in a simulation.
一直以來， 隨著科技不斷進步， 我們越來越像是活在一個增強現實的世界中。
After all, how can we be truly sure that life is not just one giant Matrix-style computer program, and that you are anything more than a brain in a jar?
然而， 我們怎麼去證明生活不只是一個巨型矩陣式的電腦程式， 我們不是用來連接電腦的“瓶中之腦”呢？
Or, to take it a step further, what if we are all nothing more than lines of code? What if nothing we thought of as physical existed, all experiences were manufactured and everything you thought was tangible was just a feverish electronic dream?
或者更瘋狂的試想， 如果我們只不過就是一行行代碼呢？如果我們身邊根本就不存在客觀事物呢？或許所有的體驗都是既定的程式， 而我們以為是真實存在的事物只不過是我們的“電子大腦”做了一個狂熱的夢。
We may never know. Perhaps we don’t need to. But as our everyday lives become ever more virtual, it’s certainly worth a thought.
人類或許永遠都無法得知真相。 但是， 當日常生活越來越虛擬， 這個問題就有必要好好反思一下了。
譯者：謝秋睿
About the author and broadcaster
Greg Fountain is a copy editor and occasional presenter for China Daily. Before moving to Beijing in January, 2016 he worked for newspapers in the Middle East and UK. He has an M.A in Print Journalism from the University of Sheffield, a B.A in English and History from the University of Reading and a Basic Food Hygiene Certificate from a pub in South Yorkshire.
收聽更多英文音訊可關注↓↓↓
推薦閱讀
這個問題就有必要好好反思一下了。譯者：謝秋睿
About the author and broadcaster
Greg Fountain is a copy editor and occasional presenter for China Daily. Before moving to Beijing in January, 2016 he worked for newspapers in the Middle East and UK. He has an M.A in Print Journalism from the University of Sheffield, a B.A in English and History from the University of Reading and a Basic Food Hygiene Certificate from a pub in South Yorkshire.
收聽更多英文音訊可關注↓↓↓
推薦閱讀