在网上购物尚未走俏的时候，在空调、个人计算机、视频游戏、英特网、手机、克隆技术、基因工程，以及其他一堆使这个人造世界越发诱人的发明出现之前，有人就表现出了忧虑。人造世界是为我们而建造的。它用美味佳肴供我们充饥，用精神粮食滋养我们的心灵。它给我们提供庇护，不受疾患和不适的侵害。它告知天下我们是如何聪颖；它满足了我们的虚荣，蜷缩在由钢铁和混凝土、硅以及塑料构筑的泡沫世界里，我们可以假装在驾驭这个星球。
与之形成鲜明对照的是，自然世界的产生不是为了我们的舒适和方便。它在数十亿年前就存在了，而人类的诞生则是在数十亿年之后的事，但自然界的寿命却要比人类更长久。自然界嘲笑我们的虚荣，因为它超越了我们对它的理解和控制。
【参考译文】Some people voiced these worries before the triumph of online shopping and before the advent of air-conditioning, personal computers, video games, the Internet, cell phones, cloning technology, genetic engineering and a slew of other inventions that have made the artificial world ever more seductive. The artificial world is made for us. It feeds our bellies and minds with tasty pabulum; it shelters us from discomfort and sickness; it proclaims our ingenuity; it flatters our pride. Snug inside bubbles fashioned from concrete and steel, from silicon and plastic world, we can pretend we are running the planet.
By stark contrast, the natural world was not made for our comfort or convenience. It precedes us by some billions of years, and human being comes into being billions of years later, but the natural world will outlast us; it mocks our pride, because it surpasses our understanding and control.
