健康生活:長生不老不是夢

Hong Kong was the staging point for a conference described as Asia's first "transhumanism" event, in late 2011.

2011年底，香港舉辦了據說是亞洲第一個“超人類主義”（transhumanism）活動。

(Note: don't bother to check the English-Chinese dictionary. This word is not there. The closest is "transhumance" which is the seasonal moving of livestock — e.g. sheep — from one place to another.)

（注：別費心查英漢字典了，裏面根本沒有這個詞。和它拼寫最相近的字是transhumance，意思是牲畜的季節性遷徙，比如羊。）

The two-day event, "Humanity + @ Hong Kong", was the first in a series of three conferences convened in Hong Kong which were designed to explore the human condition, with "out-of-the-box" thinking. The second in the series was TEDx Hong Kong, and the final one, The Asia Consciousness Festival.

這個爲期兩天的活動以“Humanity + @ Hong Kong”爲主題，是在香港舉辦的三個專場會議的第一場，旨在以另類思維探索人類狀況。第二場的主題是TEDx香港（TED是英文technology- 技術、entertainment-環境、design-設計三個單詞首字母的縮寫——譯註），最後一場則是亞洲意識節（The Asia Consciousness Festival）。

The vice-chairman of the organizing committee was quoted in one local newspaper as saying: "Ultimately one of the things humanity is about is going beyond the legacy condition of humanity and becoming more than what nature has given us."

當地一家報紙援引組委會副主席的話說：“歸根結底，人類的根本問題之一就是要超越人類代代相傳的資質，超越自然的賦予。”

It's OK for you to re-read that statement, in case, like me, you didn't understand it the first time. This is not a translation issue. Either he was misquoted, or is a master of making obtuse statements. Statements like that are perhaps better suited to sheep in flocks.

如果你需要再讀一遍這句話才能看懂，沒關係，因爲我第一次讀的時候也沒有看懂。這不是翻譯的問題，要麼是因爲他的發言被媒體錯誤引述，要麼是由於他太擅長模棱兩可的表述。也許這種話還是對羊說比較合適吧。

Among the keynote speakers at the events was gerontologist Aubrey De Grey. (What an apt name for an expert on aging: "Grey") In his view, there is a 50-50 chance that within 25 years we'll be able to extend people's lifespans by 30 years. Furthermore, aging is just an ailment, for which a cure will be found; and the first person to live forever may already be among us. "There is absolutely no reason why there should be any limit on how long people live" he said.

活動的主旨演講嘉賓包括老年醫學專家奧布里·德·格雷（Aubrey De Grey，這名字對研究衰老真是再合適不過，因爲Grey本身就有頭髮花白之意）。格雷認爲人類不出25年就有50%的機會可以把壽命延長30年。不僅如此，他還認爲衰老只是一種慢性病，可以找到治癒的辦法，第一個有望長生不老的人也許就活在我們中間。他說：“絕對不存在任何理由可以限制人類的壽命。”

If De Grey is right, then Hong Kong's motto could be extended: "No change for 500 years."

假如格雷是正確的，那香港的口號就該改成“500年不變”了。

Think of the personal income tax implications of this coming new lifespan situation! The tax authorities will be delighted, not to mention issuers of life insurance policies.

試想一下新壽命對個人所得稅的影響！稅務機關肯定會高興壞了，更不用說那些壽險承保人。

Another speaker, at the TEDx event in the series, was Patri Freeman, the 35-year old grandson of famous free-market economist, Milton Friedman. Like his grandpa, Patri is a great fan of Hong Kong. He told attendees he'd spent the last 10 years thinking about how we can have more places like it.

TEDx活動的另一位演講嘉賓是著名的自由市場經濟學家米爾頓·弗裏德曼的孫子、現年35歲的帕特里·弗裏德曼。和爺爺一樣，帕特里也情迷香港。他對與會者說，過去十年他一直在思考如何才能打造更多像香港一樣的地方。

This lead him to establish, in 2008, an NGO called the Seasteading Institute, which envisions new sea-borne communities called "seasteads". At first these will be based on small boats, and gradually be increased in size to whole floating communities, each one an independent, self-ruled state with minimal government.

這種想法促使他於2008年成立了非政府組織——“海上家園研究院”（the Seasteading Institute），構思創立新的海上社區“海上家園”。這個家園最初是以小艇爲基礎，未來會逐漸擴大規模，形成漂浮的海上社區。每個社區自成一體，由小型的政府實行自治管理。

I am a big fan of thinking out of the box. In this case, however, Patri seems to be thinking out of the boat.

我對不落俗套的思維舉雙手贊成。但在這個問題上，帕特里似乎也太過天馬行空了。

It is true that we need visionaries to stretch the limits of us ordinary folks' thought processes, to challenge our assumptions and narrow-minded approaches. The challenge is to find bold new ideas which can be still be rooted in practical reality.

我們的確需要遠見卓識去拓寬普通人的思考極限，去挑戰想當然的觀點和短視的行爲。但難就難在既要開發出全新的理念，又要紮根於現實基礎，使其具備一定的可操作性。

Longer lifespans are already here. No doubt they will continue to get longer, at least among relatively affluent people. That may be a mixed blessing for our already overcrowded planet, but…

延年益壽已成事實，無疑還會繼續延長，至少對富裕人羣將是如此。這對我們業已十分擁擠的星球來說真是好壞參半，但是……

As for new floating communities, I am a big water sports fan; but, like most people, I prefer to be based on dry land most of the time.

說起漂浮的海上社區，我雖然超愛水上運動，但也和大多數人一樣，寧願大部分時間都呆在乾燥的陸地上。

Still, it's good to see that Hong Kong remains a vibrant staging point for the exchange of a wide spectrum of ideas, even some which may seem a bit wacky.

儘管如此，看到香港能繼續成爲各種思潮、甚至是奇談怪論的交匯之地，我還是頗感欣慰。