【答案解析】not an exaggeration to say | in a much more interdisciplinary way | working in isolation | starting to emerge | sophisticated computer modeling and shared data | previously thought | almost every aspect of nature | be guessed by just looking at the parts | on the flip side | swirling patterns of birds flying | in formation like that | in charge" | known as swarms | in the average direction | built-in radar | associate bats as having | set their flight patterns | built in for Canada geese | a school of fish | emerge out of nowhere | Take the human body for instance | into organs and then systems | works as a single unit | distinct personality | one set of principles applies to | apply to how it reacts in our stratosphere | perspectives are emerging | motivating a shift | relativity and quantum theory | phenomenon of life itself | major shift [听力原文]

Professor: It"s not an exaggeration to say we live in a complex world. But the good news is that it doesn"t always take complex or complicated theories to understand it. Because scientists in the 21st century work in a much more interdisciplinary way, as teams of specialists examining as a whole, rather than as specialists working in isolation, a lot of similar patterns or theories are starting to emerge. With the help of sophisticated computer modeling and shared data, scientists are finding simpler answers to very complex questions, than they previously thought. Mother Nature, it seems, is starting to give up some of her secrets, or we"re just learning to ask the questions better. And like almost every aspect of nature, there is a duality or two ways of explaining most things.
Complex Theory, as it is called, looks at how very simple things can generate very complex outcomes that could not be guessed by just looking at the parts by themselves. And on the flip side, Complexity Theory looks at how complex systems can generate simple outcomes.
First, we"ll look at Complex Theory. You may have noticed the wonderful swirling patterns of birds flying together in the sky or fish schooling in the oceans. At first glance, we would think the birds would have to be rather intelligent to work out how to fly in formation like that. We would probably also assume there must be a "bird in charge" giving the others instructions. But research into this type of behavior known as swarms has shown that all is required is for each bird to maintain the distance between it and its neighbors and fly in the average direction of its neighbors. They seem to have built-in radar, like what we usually associate bats as having. Jet pilots have to set their flight patterns on their instruments, but it is instinctually built in for Canada geese. Whether you"re looking at a big migratory V in the sky or a school of fish on the Great Barrier Reef, what you see is complex, but the rules organizing it are relatively simple and just seem to emerge out of nowhere.
On the other hand, Complexity Theory looks at how complex systems can generate simple outcomes. Take the human body for instance. We know we all come from one little cell, that divides over and over eventually organizing itself into organs and then systems. Consider the billions of cells that make up a person and yet they all manage to work together in such a way that the body works as a single unit. We get hungry when we need food. We get thirsty when we need water. We can think and we have a distinct personality. Something happens when large numbers of individual units come together and interact intensely with each other.
What we"ve discovered when examining these different dynamic systems and their synergies, or combined operations, is that one set of principles applies to many different types of systems. What we learn about how a chemical reacts in the blood system can perhaps apply to how it reacts in our stratosphere or weather system, or how a grasshopper"s legs can become the design for hockey knee pads.
Perhaps the most exciting new perspectives are emerging in the life sciences—biology, genetics, ecology and evolution—where complexity is motivating a shift of perspective as profound as that which occurred in physics when relativity and quantum theory became prominent. Indeed, our understanding of the very phenomenon of life itself is undergoing a major shift.