我不能向亚里士多德提问。我是说，我可以提问，但我不会得到答案的。所以我希望，在我们的有生之年，我们能制造出一种工具，一种新型的互动工具。众所周知，我们生活在上一次革命之后，那是一种新的自由能源，石化产品的自由能源，对吧？它彻底改变了社会。还有更多石化革命的产物，我们今天依然生活在这一时代中。我们现在正进入另一场自由能源革命：你知道，一台麦金塔电脑比几个灯泡还省电，却能每天为我们节省几个小时，或者给我们带来全新的体验。它是自由的智力能量，它很原始，非常原始。但一年又一年，它会变得越来越精致，在我们的有生之年，它应该会变得非常精致。所以我希望有一天，当下一个亚里士多德出现的时候，我们可以用电脑捕捉到亚里士多德的潜在世界观；有一天，学生们不仅可以阅读亚里士多德写的文字，还可以向亚里士多德提问，并且得到答案。这就是我希望我们能做到的事。这是一个开始。正如你们所知，现在，计算机行业正处于低谷。个人电脑，大型电脑，所有的一切。这很难，这是一段艰难的时期。但我敢肯定，亨利·福特在20世纪20年代也有过一段糟糕的日子。汽车有一种历史必然性，从它被发明的那一刻起，一系列的事件就发生了。个人电脑也是如此。但这背后有巨大的动力。我认为今年可能会有所延迟。今后当我们回顾过往的时候，我们可能会说，1985年是进展缓慢的一年。但这背后有这样的动力，它将会发生，它将永远渗透并改变我们的教育过程。我再次希望，在这一切发生之前，不要有太多的学生毕业。这将在20年内实现。这可能会在10年内发生，也可能在5年内发生。But I can't ask Aristotle a question. I
mean, I can, but I won't get an answer. And so I'm like, my hope is that in our
lifetimes, we can make a tool of a new kind, of an interactive kind. And when I
look at the personal computer, well，as you know, we are living in the wake of the last revolution, which
was a new source of free energy, and that was the free energy of
petrochemicals, right? And it completely transformed society. And more products
of this petrochemical revolution, which we're still living in the wake of today.
We are now entering another revolution of free energy. A macintosh, you know,
uses less power than a few of those light bulbs, and yet can save us a few
hours a day or give us a whole new experience. And it's free intellectual
energy. Crude, very crude. But it's getting more refined year after year after
year, and in our lifetimes, it should get very refined. And so my hope is, someday,
when the next Aristotle is alive, we can capture the underlying worldview of
that Aristotle in a computer, and some day, some student will be able to not
only read the words Aristotle wrote, but ask Aristotle a question and get an
answer.And that's what I hope that we can do. So this is a beginning.I think that as you know, right now, the
computer industry is in the tank. Personal computers, big computers,
everything. It's difficult. It's a difficult time. But I'm sure that Henry Ford
had a few bad quarters back in the 1920s. And the automobile had a sort of
historical imperative. The minute it was invented, a sequence of events had to
happen. The same is true with the personal computer. There is a tremendous
momentum behind this. And I think that this year may be a delay. This year, we
may look back and say, well, 1985 was a slow year. But there is such momentum
behind this that it will happen. It will permeate and change forever our
educational processes. And my hope again, is that not too many generations of
students will pass through before this happens. It will happen within 20 years.
It probably will happen within ten years, but it could happen within five
years.
