the fact that if the clock were rewound, chances are good
French translation: si on repartait de zéro...
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English term or phrase:
the fact that if the clock were rewound, chances are good
English to French translations [PRO] Art/Literary - Poetry & Literature / litterature
English term or phrase:the fact that if the clock were rewound, chances are good
Bonjour,
Pourriez-vous m'aider à traduire la phrase suivante :
"As Gould concludes, the fact that if the clock were rewound, chances are good human beings may not have evolved at all".
Explanation: "Comme le conclut Gould, le fait que, si on repartait de zéro, il y a bien des chances que l'espèce humaine ne voie jamais le jour"...
Je suppose qu'il y a une suite, car en l'état la phrase est incomplète.
Ou alors, s'il y a un "fact is", on aurait
"...le fait est que, si on repartait... jour."
'the fact that' has no place in this sentence (assuming it is complete and you haven't left anything off)
I can't help wondering if this 'English' wasn't written by a non-native speaker, or at least, a not-very-literate one — or is perhaps a translation from another language. We wouldn't usually say 'rewind the clocks' (that would mean to wind the spring), the standard expression is "to turn the clock back". I'm wondering if Gould's original conclusion (can you not find that?) hasn't been translated into some other language, and then mis-translated back into EN. Talk about Chinese whispers!
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Answers
10 mins confidence:
si on repartait de zéro...
Explanation: "Comme le conclut Gould, le fait que, si on repartait de zéro, il y a bien des chances que l'espèce humaine ne voie jamais le jour"...
Je suppose qu'il y a une suite, car en l'état la phrase est incomplète.
Ou alors, s'il y a un "fact is", on aurait
"...le fait est que, si on repartait... jour."
DrAT2 Local time: 07:34 Specializes in field Native speaker of: French PRO pts in category: 8
Grading comment
Merci beaucoup, j'ai choisi cette traduction. Cordialement,
Notes to answerer
Asker: Merci beaucoup, c'est une très bonne tournure !
si l'on pouvait rembobiner le film de l'histoire, il y a de fortes chances pour que
Explanation: "Cf. Stephen Jay Gould : « Si on pouvait rembobiner le film de l'histoire et de notre évolution biologique, et le rejouer depuis le début, obtiendrait-on le même résultat ? Non ! »."
'THE LATE STEPHEN JAY GOULD popularized an understanding of evolution that focused on the role of randomness and chance. “Rewind the tape” (of evolution), he would say, and imagine the whole process unfolding from the start once again: everything would be different.'
Marion Feildel Turkey Local time: 08:34 Native speaker of: French PRO pts in category: 11
2 hrs confidence:
Si la Terre devait remettre les compteurs à zéro, il y a de fortes chances
Explanation: ... que l'Homme ne suive plus du tout la même évolution.
J'ai choisi de garder le mot évolution et donc ajouté le mot Terre pour que les choses soient claires. Peut-être que les collègues pourront améliorer !
Si la Terre devait revenir en arrière (et recommencer), il y a de fortes chances que l'Homme ne suive pas du tout la même évolution (que nous avons connue jusqu'ici)
J'ai essayé de trouver une traduction qui soit un bon compromis. Elle n'est malheureusement pas 100 % fidèle à l'auteur, mais elle ne trahit pas non plus l'idée de Gould.
Reference information: Man’s presence on earth, in Gould’s view, is an incredibly improbable event, not the realized vision of an intelligent designer. Without just the right events wiping out just the right species at just the right times, none of us would be here. In 1989, Gould wrote: “Wind back the tape of life to the early days of the Burgess Shale; let it play again from an identical starting point, and the chance becomes vanishingly small that anything like human intelligence would grace the replay.” In evolution, there is no direction, no progression. Humanity is dethroned from its exalted view of its own importance.
The translation workplace 
