劉慈欣獲克拉克獎，這個獎可能比任何獎都重得多

2018日11月8日可能是劉慈欣獲得雨果獎之後最高興的一天。

美國當地時間2018日11月8日晚8點15分，劉慈欣被授予2018年度克拉克想象力貢獻社會獎（Clarke Award for Imagination in Service to Society），表彰其在科幻小說創作領域做出的貢獻。

△ 照片由劉慈欣本人提供

這個獎你從沒聽說過？

好像不是很有名的樣子？

不不不，對他來說，這個獎，可能比雨果獎、星雲獎、或世界上任何一個獎項，都重得多。

領獎臺上，大劉提到了第一次遇到克拉克的那個時刻：

“讀完《2001：太空漫遊》的那天深夜，我走出家門仰望星空，那時的中國的天空還沒有太多的汙染，能夠看到銀河，在我的眼中，星空與過去完全不一樣了，我第一次對宇宙的宏大與神秘產生了敬畏感，這是一種宗教般的感覺。”

克拉克是誰，不用再過多介紹。

除了《2001：太空漫遊》《與拉瑪相會》《童年的終結》這些閃閃發光的牛逼作品，他小時候能拿硬紙板和透鏡做成望遠鏡定位月球，長大後加入過皇家空軍，成為雷達專家。

他是現代衛星通信理論奠基人，同步衛星軌道被命名為“克拉克軌道”，還成功預言了太陽衛士、太陽帆、人體冷凍等等。

在一次航天會議上，火箭工程師們圍著桌子坐成一圈，都說自己讀過克拉克的小說。

△ 來源：Rob C. Croes / Anefo，wikimedia commons

正是這樣的克拉克，讓大劉萌生了寫科幻小說的念頭。

在各種場合，他不斷提出：“我的所有作品都是對阿瑟·克拉克作品的拙劣模仿”，並認為“世界正向著與克拉克的預言相反的方向發展，我們不再建造飛船，而是發明電腦，鑽進網絡......可是，那些沒有星空的未來，是暗淡的。”

可以說，獲得這個來自偶像兼寫作啟蒙者的獎，是對一個科幻作家，一個作家，乃至一個人，至高無上的榮耀。

頒發克拉克獎的亞瑟•克拉克基金會（The Arthur C. Clarke Foundation）是一個1983年成立於英國的組織，由克拉克擔任榮譽主席。

基金會認為，克拉克作為一名工程師，未來主義者和人文主義者，他留下的遺產已經跨越了藝術和科學的界限——

從科學發現到科幻小說，從技術應用到娛樂，克拉克影響著後世無數的工程師、科學家、藝術家，也啟蒙了無數普通人對星空的想象，所以，要成立這麼一個基金會，鼓勵全世界那些心懷創造力的後代。

△ 來源：ITU Pictures / Anefo，wikimedia commons

克拉克獎下分幾類：

1. 終身成就獎 Lifetime Achievement Award

2. 創新者獎 Innovator’s Award

3. 想象力貢獻社會獎 Service to Society，Impact of imagination on society

曾經的獲獎者有：霍金，NASA，庫布里克的技術顧問......

大劉此次獲得的是“想象力服務社會獎。”

這個獎項有什麼來頭呢？

看看過去的獲獎名單，星光璀璨：

2012 肯·羅賓遜，人類潛能開發、人類創造力開發專家

2013 厄休拉·勒古恩，美國科幻奇幻大師，《黑暗的左手》《一無所有》《地海傳奇》系列作者，著作等身，並與人合譯老子《道德經》，所獲文學獎與榮譽不計其數

2014 拉里·尼文，《環形世界》作者，5獲雨果獎

2015 瑪格麗特·阿特伍德，《使女的故事》《盲刺客》作者，加拿大國寶級作家，曾獲加拿大總督獎、加拿大最高榮譽勳章、古根海姆研究基金、法國藝術文化勳章等

2016 布蘭·費倫，極客版“威利·旺卡的巧克力工廠”Applied Minds LLC的創始人，多點觸控手勢的發明者，還給諸多科幻電影做了特效

2017 金·斯坦利·羅賓遜，“火星三部曲”作者，6獲軌跡獎，多次獲得雨果獎和星雲獎，科幻大師

克拉克獎的宗旨是：表彰世界上最傑出、最具創造力的思想家、科學家、作家、技術專家、商業領袖和創新者。

而它的網站上寫著這麼一句話：

亞瑟爵士明白，想象力是人類塑造未來最有力的工具。

未來事務管理局局長姬少亭說：“九歲時候接觸到科幻，被劉慈欣的小說改變了人生，後來才知誰他是被誰改變了人生。讀了克拉克的很多小說之後，明白了大劉的精神氣質從何而來，這個生長在中國山西的人，完美繼承了黃金時代克拉克爵士的幻想世界，這是一件何其奇妙的事。”

“這個獎項不同尋常，有加冕的意義，不光含金量高，還在於克拉克這個名字，太有光了，或許劉慈欣真的是大神附體。”著名科幻作家、新華社對外編輯部副主任韓松說，“這也是中國科幻的榮光。一切真的是從《2001：太空漫遊》開始的。”

“大劉各種獎拿到手軟，但這個獎對他個人來說最有意義，”復旦大學中文系教授、《三體》序言作者嚴鋒表示，“因為克拉克是他的原點，我們也希望這不是終點。”

附上大劉的中英文獲獎感言全文，建議朗讀（並背誦全文）

先生們、女士們，晚上好：

很榮幸獲得Clarke Award for Imagination in Service to Society Award。

這個獎項是對想象力的獎勵，而想象力是人類所擁有的一種似乎只應屬於神的能力，它存在的意義也遠超出我們的想象。有歷史學家說過，人類之所以能夠超越地球上的其它物種建立文明，主要是因為他們能夠在自己的大腦中創造出現實中不存在的東西。在未來，當人工智能擁有超過人類的智力時，想象力也許是我們對於它們所擁有的惟一優勢。

科幻小說是基於想象力的文學，而最早給我留下深刻印象的是阿瑟·克拉克的作品。除了儒勒·凡爾納和喬治·威爾斯外， Clarke的作品是最早進入中國的西方現代科幻小說。在上世紀八十年代初，中國出版了他的《2001：太空漫遊》和《與拉瑪相會》。當時文革剛剛結束，舊的生活和信仰已經崩塌，新的還沒有建立起來，我和其他年輕人一樣，心中一片迷茫。這兩本書第一次激活了我想象力，思想豁然開闊許多，有小溪流進大海的感覺。讀完《2001：太空漫遊》的那天深夜，我走出家門仰望星空，那時的中國的天空還沒有太多的汙染，能夠看到銀河，在我的眼中，星空與過去完全不一樣了，我第一次對宇宙的宏大與神秘產生了敬畏感，這是一種宗教般的感覺。而後來讀到的《與拉瑪相會》,也讓我驚歎如何可以用想象力構造一個栩栩如生的想象世界。正是克拉克帶給我的這些感受，讓我後來成為一名科幻作家。

現在，三十多年過去了，我漸漸發現，我們這一代在上世紀六十年代出生於中國的人，很可能是人類歷史上最幸運的人，因為之前沒有任何一代人，像我們這樣目睹周圍的世界發生瞭如此巨大的變化，我們現在生活的世界，與我們童年的世界已經完成是兩個不同的世界，而這種變化還在加速發生著。中國是一個充滿著未來感的國度，中國的未來可能充滿著挑戰和危機，但從來沒有像現在這樣具有吸引力，這就給科幻小說提供了肥沃的土壤，使其在中國受到了空前的關注，做為一個在六十年代出生在中國的科幻小說家，則是幸運中的幸運。

我最初創作科幻小說的目的，是為了逃離平淡的生活，用想象力去接觸那些我永遠無法到達的神奇時空。但後來我發現，周圍的世界變得越來越像科幻小說了，這種進程還在飛快地加速，未來像盛夏的大雨，在我們還不及撐開傘時就撲面而來。同時我也沮喪地發現，當科幻變為現實時，沒人會感到神奇，它們很快會成為生活中的一部分。所以我只有讓想象力前進到更為遙遠的時間和空間中去尋找科幻的神奇，科幻小說將以越來越快的速度變成平淡生活的一部分，作為一名科幻作家，我想我們的責任就是在事情變的平淡之前把它們寫出來。

但另一方面，世界卻向著與Clarke的預言相反的方向發展。在《2001：太空漫遊》中，在已經過去的2001年，人類已經在太空中建立起壯麗的城市，在月球上建立起永久性的殖民地，巨大的核動力飛船已經航行到土星。而在現實中的2018年，再也沒有人登上月球，人類的太空中航行的最遠的距離，也就是途經我所在的城市的高速列車兩個小時的里程。與此同時，信息技術卻以超乎想象的速度發展，網絡覆蓋了整個世界，在IT所營造的越來越舒適的安樂窩中，人們對太空漸漸失去了興趣，相對於充滿艱險的真實的太空探索，他們更願意在VR中體驗虛擬的太空。這像有一句話說的：“說好的星辰大海，你卻只給了我Facebook（You promised me Mars colonies, instead, I got Facebook）。”

這樣的現實也反映在科幻小說中，克拉克對太空的瑰麗想象已經漸漸遠去，人們的目光從星空收回，現在的科幻小說，更多地想象人類在網絡烏托邦或反烏托邦中的生活，更多地關注現實中所遇到的各種問題，科幻的想象力由克拉克的廣闊和深遠，變成賽博朋克的狹窄和內向。

作為科幻作家，我一直在努力延續著克拉克的想象，我相信，無垠的太空仍然是人類想象力最好的去向和歸宿，我一直在描寫宇宙的宏大神奇，描寫星際探險，描寫遙遠世界中的生命和文明，儘管在現在的科幻作家中，這樣會顯得有些幼稚，甚至顯得跟不上時代。正如克拉克的墓誌銘：“他從未長大，但從未停止成長”。

與人們常有的誤解不同，科幻小說並不是在預測未來，它只是把未來的各種可能性排列出來，就像一堆想象力的鵝卵石，擺在那裡供人們欣賞和把玩。這無數個可能的未來哪一個會成為現實，科幻小說並不能告訴我們，這不是它的任務，也超出了它的能力。

但有一點可以確定：從長遠的時間尺度來看，在這無數可能的未來中，不管地球達到了怎樣的繁榮，那些沒有太空航行的未來都是暗淡的。

我期待有那麼一天，像那些曾經描寫過信息時代的科幻小說一樣，描寫太空航行的科幻小說也變的平淡無奇了，那時的火星和小行星帶都是乏味的地方，有無數的人在那裡某生；木星和它眾多的衛星已成為旅遊勝地，阻止人們去那裡的唯一障礙就是昂貴的價格。

但即使在這個時候，宇宙仍是一個大得無法想象的存在，距我們最近的恆星仍然遙不可及。浩瀚的星空永遠能夠承載我們無窮的想象力。

謝謝大家。

△ 攝影：蘇小七，製圖：河蟹

△ 攝影：潘石屹，製圖：河蟹

Ladies and Gentleman,

Good evening!

It’s my great honor to receive the Clarke Award for Imagination in Service to Society.

This award is a reward for imagination, a capability that should have been exclusive to God but we, as human beings, luckily have. And the meaning of the existence of imagination is far beyond our imagination. A historian used to say that the main reason why human beings have been able to surpass other species on Earth and build civilizations is that they can create, in their brains, something non-existent in reality. In the future, when artificial intelligence becomes smarter than us, imagination may be the only advantage we have over AI.

Science fiction is a literary genre based on imagination. And the first sci-fi works to greatly impress me were those by Arthur C. Clarke. Together with Jules Verne and George Wells, Clarke was among the first Western modern sci-fi writers to enter China. In the early 1980s, 2001: A Space Odyssey and Rendezvous With Rama were published in my country. At that time, the Cultural Revolution just came to an end. While the old life and faith had collapsed, the new ones had not yet been established. Like other young people, I was confused. However, these two books aroused my imagination for the first time. My mind opened up like never before. I felt like a narrow stream finally embracing the sea. At the midnight when I finished 2001: A Space Odyssey, I walked out of my room and stared at the starry sky. I was able to see the galaxy thanks to the unpolluted sky of China back then. That night, in my eyes, the starry sky was completely different from the past. For the first time in my life, I was awed by the grandeur and mystery of the universe. That feeling was religious. And later, Rendezvous With Rama made me amazed by showing how imagination could build a lifelike, fantastic world. It was Clarke that brought me such feelings, and that brought me here as a sci-fi writer.

Today, more than 30 years later, it gradually dawns on me that people like me, who was born in the 1960s in China, are probably the luckiest people in human history, because no generation is like us, who have been able to witness such tremendous changes in the world around us. The world we are living in today is completely different from that in our childhood. And such changes are taking place with even greater speed. China is a highly futuristic country. It is true that the future of China may be full of challenges and risks, but never has this country been so attractive like today. This reality provides fertile soil for the growth of science fiction, which is enjoying unprecedented attention in the country. And, as a sci-fi author born in the 1960s in China, I’m the luckiest in the luckiest generation.

At the very beginning, I wrote sci-fi because I decided to escape the dull life, and to reach out, with imagination, to the mysterious time and space that I could never truly reach. But then I found that the world around me became more and more like science fiction, and this process is speeding up. Future is like a pouring rain. It falls right on us even before we have time to open an umbrella. Meanwhile, it is frustrating to find that when sci-fi becomes reality, it won’t be hailed as magical any more. It will soon become part of our lives. Therefore, the only thing I can do is to push my imagination to even more distant time and space to hunt for the mysteries of sci-fi, which will become part of our daily life with greater speed. As a sci-fi author, I think my job is to write things down before they get really boring.

This being said, the world is moving in the direction opposite to Clarke’s predictions. In 2001: A Space Odyssey, in the year of 2001, which has already passed, human beings have built magnificent cities in space, and established permanent colonies on the moon, and huge nuclear-powered spacecraft have sailed to Saturn. However, today, in 2018, the walk on the moon has become a distant memory. And the farthest reach of our manned space flights is just as long as the two-hour mileage of a high-speed train passing through my city. At the same time, information technology is developing at an unimaginable speed. With the entire world covered by the Internet, people have gradually lost their interest in space, as they find themselves increasingly comfortable in the space created by IT. Instead of an exploration of the real space, which is full of real difficulties, people now just prefer to experience virtual space through VR. Just like someone said, “You promised me an ocean of stars, but you actually gave me Facebook.”

This reality is also reflected in science fiction. Clarke’s magnificent imagination about space has gradually faded away. People have taken back their eyes from the stars. In the sci-fi works today, there are more imagination about how we live in cyber utopia or dystopia. Writers focus more on various problems we encounter in reality. The imagination of science fiction is abandoning the vastness and profoundness of Arthur Clarke, and embracing the narrowness and introversion of cyberpunk.

As a sci-fi writer, I have been striving to continue Clarke’s imagination. I believe that the boundless space is still the best direction and destination for human imagination. I have always been portraying the grandeur and mysteries of the universe, interstellar expeditions, and the lives and civilizations in the distant worlds, even if for today’s sci-fi writers, this may seem childish and even outdated. As Clarke’s epitaph says, “He never grew up, but he never stopped growing.”

Unlike the misconception of many people, sci-fi is not written to predict the future. It just makes a list of possibilities of the future, like displaying a pile of cobblestones of imagination for people to see and play with. Science fiction can never tell which possible future will become the real future. This is not sci-fi’s job. It’s also beyond its capabilities.

I look forward to the day when, like the sci-fi works writing about the age of information, those about space travel finally become ordinary. At that time, Mars and the asteroid belts will be boring places, where countless people are making a living. Jupiter and its many satellites will be tourist attractions, but the only obstacle preventing people from going there will be the crazy price.

But even at that time, the universe is still something so big that even our wildest imagination fails to catch its edge. And the closest star is still out of our reach. The vast ocean of stars can always carry our infinite imagination.

Thank you all.

△ 攝影：蘇小七，製圖：河蟹

△ 攝影師：音量，製圖：河蟹