你好，這是《反脆弱》(Antifragile)（豆瓣評分8.1）精讀第七篇~（本書介紹傳送門）
今天的選篇和大家探討下如何應對信息爆炸這個話題。
先一起來通讀原文~
原文The supply of information to which we are exposed thanks to modernity is transforming humans from the equable fellow into the neurotic one. For the purpose of our discussion, the equable fellow only reacts to real information, the neurotic largely to noise. The difference between the two fellows will show us the difference between noise and signal. Noise is what you are supposed to ignore, signal what you need to heed.
In science, noise is a generalization beyond the actual sound to describe random information that is totally useless for any purpose, and that you need to clean up to make sense of what you are listening to.
You can use and take advantage of noise and randomness; but noise and randomness can also use and take advantage of you, particularly when totally unnatural, as with the data you get on the Web or through the media. The more frequently you look at data, the more noise you are disproportionally likely to get (rather than the valuable part, called the signal); hence the higher the noise-to-signal ratio.
Say you look at information on a yearly basis, for stock prices, or the fertilizer sales of your father-in-law’s factory, or inflation numbers in Vladivostok.Assume further that for what you are observing, at a yearly frequency, the ratio of signal to noise is about one to one—this means that about half the changes are real improvements or degradations, the other half come from randomness. This ratio is what you get from yearly observations. But if you look at the very same data on a daily basis, the composition would change to 95 percent noise, 5 percent signal. If you observe data on an hourly basis, as people immersed in the news and market price variations do, the split becomes 99.5 percent noise to 0.5 percent signal. That is two hundred times more noise than signal. The best solution is to only look at very large changes in data or conditions, never at small ones.
詞句解析①The supply of information to which we are exposed thanks to modernity is transforming humans from the equable fellow into the neurotic one.
這句話的主幹是the supply of information is transforming ...
先來看主語，主語的核心是the supply of information。supply /səˈplaɪ/放在定冠詞the之後，可判斷其詞性為名詞，表示供應。
to which we are exposed是定語從句，修飾主語the supply of information。把這個定語從句還原下可以變為we are exposed to the supply of information.
其中expose /ɪkˈspəʊz/基本含義為使暴露。
例如：她笑了，露出一口雪白的牙齒。我們就可以說：She laughed, exposing a set of amazingly white teeth.
expose表示使暴露於，可引申為使經歷，使處於……影響下。be exposed to sth則表示處於……的影響下。
【例】Children are being exposed to violence on television. 孩子們正受到電視節目中暴力內容的影響。
結合後面thanks to modernity(由於現代化）可知主語部分指的是我們接觸到的過量的信息供給。
主幹謂語動詞transform /trænsˈfɔːm/ ... from A to B 表示把……從A變為B。
【例】A little creativity can transform a meal from an ordinary one into a special event.一點創新能把一頓飯從普普通通變成特色佳餚。
來看transform ... from A to B中A和B的具體內容。equable /ˈekwəbl/ 形容詞，表示（人）平和穩定的。
【例】He was very equable and patient.他性格溫和而有耐心。
與後面的neurotic相對。neurotic /njʊəˈrɒtɪk/由neuro（神經）變化而來，表示tending to worry in a way that is not healthy or reasonable神經過敏的，神經質的。
【例】My neurotic mother scolded me for staying out 10 minutes past curfew. 我那神經質的母親就因為我宵禁之後10分鐘後還待在外面責罵我。
因此第①句話的主幹字面意思是信息的供給把人從平和穩定變得神經質。整句話含義為：由於現代化的發展，我們得以接觸到大量的信息，但也正是這些過量的信息在把人們由從容鎮定變為神經過敏。
②For the purpose of our discussion, the equable fellow only reacts to real information, the neurotic largely to noise.
這裡的核心短語是react /rɪˈækt/ to表示對……作出反應。
【例】He reacted angrily to the suggestion that he had lied.有人說他撒謊，他非常生氣。
第二個逗號後面的部分是一個省略句，由於謂語動詞react和前半句相同，被省略了，但是介詞to在這裡為了區分句子的成分，需要保留。
③The difference between the two fellows will show us the difference between noise and signal.
這裡注意一個詞，signal /ˈsɪgnəl/ 名詞，表示信號。這裡區分於幹擾信息：噪聲。signal是能真正指導人們行動的信息。
④Noise is what you are supposed to ignore, signal what you need to heed.
這句的結構和②句類似。這裡有一組反義詞，ignore和heed。
ignore /ɪgˈnɔː(r)/表示忽視，不理，看下英文釋義to do nothing about or in response to (something or someone)對……不採取行動或不作出回應。
【例】If we continue to ignore these problems they will only get worse. 如果我們繼續忽視這些問題，問題只會變得更嚴重。
heed /hiːd/ 表示to pay attention to (advice, a warning, etc.) 注意，留心。
【例】She failed to heed the warnings.她沒重視這些警告。
第二個分句中be動詞和前半句重複，被省略了，還原後為singal is what you need to heed.
再一起看下整段：
①The supply of information to which we are exposed thanks to modernity is transforming humans from the equable fellow into the neurotic one. ②For the purpose of our discussion, the equable fellow only reacts to real information, the neurotic largely to noise. ③The difference between the two fellows will show us the difference between noise and signal. ④Noise is what you are supposed to ignore, signal what you need to heed.
參考譯文：由於現代化的發展，我們得以接觸到大量的信息，但也正是這些過量的信息在把人們由從容鎮定變為神經過敏。出於討論的目的，我們暫且把從容鎮靜的人界定為對真實信息作出反應的人，而神經過敏的人則大部分時候在對噪聲作出反應。兩類人之間的差異會讓我們看到噪聲和信號之間的差異。噪聲是你應該忽略的，而信號才是你需注意的。
In science, noise is a generalization beyond the actual sound to describe random information that is totally useless for any purpose, and that you need to clean up to make sense of what you are listening to.
本段就一句話，主幹是noise is a generalization。
generalization表示概括。beyond the actual sound表示超出了實際聲音的範疇。to describe random information表示目的：描述隨機信息。
information被兩個that引導的從句修飾。
第一句that is totally useless for any purpose，表示這種信息對任何目的都毫無用處。
第二句that you need to clean up to make sense of what you are listening to。其中clean up表示使……更清楚，改善。
【例】We were able to clean up the sound on the recording using special equipment.通過使用專門設備，我們改善了錄音的音質。
to make sense of what you are listening to 是clean up的目的。其中make sense of 表示理解，明白。
what you are listening to則是特殊疑問詞what引導的名詞性從句，充當make sense of的賓語。
第二句定語從句字面意思為：你需要理清這些信息才能理解你所聽到的內容。
再一起看下整段：
In science, noise is a generalization beyond the actual sound to describe random information that is totally useless for any purpose, and that you need to clean up to make sense of what you are listening to.
參考譯文：在科學上，噪聲已經超出了實際聲音的範疇，被用來概括性地指代對任何目標都毫無作用的隨機信息，同時你需要對這些信息進行處理才能理解你所聽到的內容。
①You can use and take advantage of noise and randomness; but noise and randomness can also use and take advantage of you, particularly when totally unnatural, as with the data you get on the Web or through the media.
這句話主體部分不難理解。take advantage of表示利用。
較難的是but分句中逗號後面的內容。
particularly when 後面同時省略了主語和be動詞，還原後為particularly when noise and randomness are totally unnatural。
注意這裡的unnatural表示的是not real虛假的。
as with進行了舉例，這個例子是the data you get on the Web or through the media。核心詞data，you get on the Web or through the media為定語從句，修飾data，表示你在網上或通過媒體得到的數據。
②The more frequently you look at data, the more noise you are disproportionally likely to get (rather than the valuable part, called the signal); hence the higher the noise-to-signal ratio.
這句話總體為the more ... the more ... 結構。你越是頻繁地看數據，你會得到更多噪聲的可能性就越高。
be likely to do表示很有可能做某事。它被disproportionally所修飾。我們來看下disproportionally這個詞。
先找到disproportionally的詞根proportion /prəˈpɔːʃn/。proportion本意為（整體中的）部分，份額，引申為比例，正確的比例，均衡。加上否定前綴dis-，變為disproportion，表示不均衡，不成比例。再加-al變為形容詞，再加-ly則變為副詞。因此disproportionally表示不均衡地，非等比例地。文中表示隨著看數據頻率的增加，噪聲一下子猛增。
rather than表示而不是。
分號後面依然是比較級。
hence /hens/為副詞，表示因此，由此。
【例】 He knew he could not win the election—hence his decision to withdraw. 他自知無法在競選中獲勝，因此決定退出。
the noise-to-signal ratio指的是噪聲-信號比。其中ratio /ˈreɪʃiəʊ/表示比例。A和B的比例，可以用the ratio of A to B，也可以像文中一樣，放在ratio之前，中間用連字符，此時to可以省去。
【例】What is the ratio of men to women in the department? 這個部門的男女比例是多少？
【例】The school has a very high teacher-student ratio. 這所學校的師生比例很高。
一起看下整個第三段：
①You can use and take advantage of noise and randomness; but noise and randomness can also use and take advantage of you, particularly when totally unnatural, as with the data you get on the Web or through the media. ②The more frequently you look at data, the more noise you are disproportionally likely to get (rather than the valuable part, called the signal); hence the higher the noise-to-signal ratio.
參考譯文：你可以利用噪聲和隨機性，但噪聲和隨機性也可以利用你，特別是當它們完全不真實的情況下——比如依靠網絡或者媒體獲取的大量數據。你越頻繁地尋找數據，你會發現，你找到的噪聲（而非被稱為信號的寶貴數據源）的比例就越高，而且是非等比例地急劇攀升；因此噪聲-信號比隨之攀升。
①Say you look at information on a yearly basis, for stock prices, or the fertilizer sales of your father-in-law’s factory, or inflation numbers in Vladivostok.
開頭的say不表示說，而是用於舉例，表示假設。
on a yearly basis字面意思為以年為基礎，即每年一次。
【例】This study will be repeated on a yearly basis. 這項研究每年進行一次。
for後面有三個查看的信息內容：股價，你嶽父工廠生產的化肥的銷售情況，或海參崴的通脹數據。
②Assume further that for what you are observing, at a yearly frequency, the ratio of signal to noise is about one to one—this means that about half the changes are real improvements or degradations, the other half come from randomness.
這是一個祈使句，主幹為assume that ...（假設……）。
在that引導的賓語從句中，for what you are observing對於你所觀察的數據，即前一句提到的股價，你嶽父工廠生產的化肥的銷售情況，或海參崴的通脹數據。
frequency指的是頻次，可以聯想frequent（頻繁的）進行記憶。at a yearly frequency即每年一次的頻次。
賓語從句中的主幹是the ratio of signal to noise is about one to one。信號-噪聲比是1:1， 即一半是有指導意義的信號，一半是無實際意義會造成幹擾的噪聲，也就是破折號後面解釋的內容，about half the changes are real improvements or degradations一半的變化是真正的改善或惡化，the other half come from randomness另一半的變化來自隨機性。
③This ratio is what you get from yearly observations.
④But if you look at the very same data on a daily basis, the composition would change to 95 percent noise, 5 percent signal.
這句把頻次換成了天。composition /ˌkɒmpəˈzɪʃn/ 表示組成，構成，文中指的是數據的噪聲-信號構成比例。
⑤If you observe data on an hourly basis, as people immersed in the news and market price variations do, the split becomes 99.5 percent noise to 0.5 percent signal.
這裡頻次換成了小時。
as引導了一個狀語從句，表示像……一樣。
immersed原形是immerse /ɪˈmɜːs/, 動詞，本義為使浸沒（於液體中），可引申為to make (yourself) fully involved in some activity or interest使（自己）潛心於。
be immersed in表示沉浸在，潛心於。
例如「某人沉迷工作，無法自拔」 我們就可以說：He/She is immersed in her work.
在這個從句中，immersed in the news and market price variations為後置定語，修飾people，表示沉浸在新聞和市場價格波動中的人。也可以理解為as people (who are) immersed in the news and market price variations do。
整句話的主幹是the split becomes 99.5 percent noise to 0.5 percent signal。
這裡的split我們可以推測和前文描述其它頻次時用的ratio，composition含義接近。split基本含義為（把一個整體）分裂，分開。作名詞時就表示份額。
【例】The river splits the town in two. 這條河將小鎮一分為二。
【例】He demanded a 50–50 split in the profits. 他要求利潤對半分成。
⑥That is two hundred times more noise than signal.
⑦The best solution is to only look at very large changes in data or conditions, never at small ones.
一起來看下整個第四段：
①Say you look at information on a yearly basis, for stock prices, or the fertilizer sales of your father-in-law’s factory, or inflation numbers in Vladivostok. ②Assume further that for what you are observing, at a yearly frequency, the ratio of signal to noise is about one to one—this means that about half the changes are real improvements or degradations, the other half come from randomness. ③This ratio is what you get from yearly observations. ④But if you look at the very same data on a daily basis, the composition would change to 95 percent noise, 5 percent signal. ⑤If you observe data on an hourly basis, as people immersed in the news and market price variations do, the split becomes 99.5 percent noise to 0.5 percent signal. ⑥That is two hundred times more noise than signal. ⑦The best solution is to only look at very large changes in data or conditions, never at small ones.
參考譯文：假設你每年查看一次數據，比如股價，你嶽父工廠生產的化肥的銷售情況，或海參崴的通脹數據。再假如，當你觀察數據的頻率為每年一次時，信號-噪聲比為1:1，即大約有一半的變化出於真正的改善或惡化，而另一半的變化來自隨機性。這個比例是你每年觀察一次數據會得到的結果。但如果你每天查看一次同樣的數據，那麼噪聲和信號的構成比例就會變成95%的噪聲和5%的信號。如果你每小時都在觀察數據，就像如今人們整日沉浸在新聞和市場價格變動的信息中那樣，那麼這個比例就會變成99.5%的噪聲和0.5%的信號。也就是說，噪聲的比例達到了信號的200倍以上。最好的辦法是只看重大的數據或情況的變化，而忽略小的變化。
回顧原文&把握全篇The supply of information to which we are exposed thanks to modernity is transforming humans from the equable fellow into the neurotic one. For the purpose of our discussion, the equable fellow only reacts to real information, the neurotic largely to noise. The difference between the two fellows will show us the difference between noise and signal. Noise is what you are supposed to ignore, signal what you need to heed.
In science, noise is a generalization beyond the actual sound to describe random information that is totally useless for any purpose, and that you need to clean up to make sense of what you are listening to.
You can use and take advantage of noise and randomness; but noise and randomness can also use and take advantage of you, particularly when totally unnatural, as with the data you get on the Web or through the media. The more frequently you look at data, the more noise you are disproportionally likely to get (rather than the valuable part, called the signal); hence the higher the noise-to-signal ratio.
Say you look at information on a yearly basis, for stock prices, or the fertilizer sales of your father-in-law’s factory, or inflation numbers in Vladivostok. Assume further that for what you are observing, at a yearly frequency, the ratio of signal to noise is about one to one—this means that about half the changes are real improvements or degradations, the other half come from randomness. This ratio is what you get from yearly observations. But if you look at the very same data on a daily basis, the composition would change to 95 percent noise, 5 percent signal. If you observe data on an hourly basis, as people immersed in the news and market price variations do, the split becomes 99.5 percent noise to 0.5 percent signal. That is two hundred times more noise than signal. The best solution is to only look at very large changes in data or conditions, never at small ones.
段落結構：
第一段指出過量信息會帶來傷害。信息當中並非總是有用的信號，而是包含了大量的噪聲。
第二段對噪聲進行解釋。
第三段指出過於頻繁地尋找數據，其中的噪聲比例會猛增。
第四段前六句都是在詳細展開第三段的觀點，以三種頻次為例，一年一次，一天一次和一小時一次，看數據越頻繁，噪聲會非等比例地攀升。最後一句給出建議：看重大的數據或情況的變化。