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I'm analyzing Writing critique request: Zhou Ziwang and the revolutionary new technology and in particular these two sentences:

Intended English meaning: How will mankind change?
My writing: 人性会怎么改变？
Toosky Hierot: 人类将如何演变？

The context is that a revolutionary new technology has been discovered, and people are worried about its implications for the future. Thus, out of concern, they ask rhetorical questions like: How will mankind change?

Question: What are the advantages of 人类将如何演变 over 人性会怎么改变?

This seems to be my impression:

Please let me know what I understand correctly/incorrectly.

Becky 李蓓
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  • It's ambiguous in your context. You might want to explain what you mean by "how will mankind change?" in English. – dan Nov 23 '19 at 10:14
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    Arh, it's important to note that I rephrased my translation to meet Chinese aesthetics, so it's not exactly the word translation of the excerpt. – Toosky Hierot Nov 23 '19 at 13:43
  • In any case, it seems 人类 is definitely better than 人性, and I'm yet to reveal what the technology actually is, but 演变 might actually be better than 改变. But you'll have to wait for the sequels for that: I'll try to write the next part taking on board what I've managed to learn from the first part. – Becky 李蓓 Nov 23 '19 at 13:47
  • @Becky李蓓 Then just go for it.ｸﾞｯ!(๑•̀ㅂ•́)و✧ – Toosky Hierot Nov 23 '19 at 13:51
  • @Becky李蓓 Another point is that, it's more elegant to use verb phrases than adjectives. E.g. 这种技术有违自然>这种技术不自然>这种技术是不自然的。 – Toosky Hierot Nov 23 '19 at 13:58

1 Answers1

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人性会怎么改变 vs. 人类将如何演变

  • 人性 mainly refers to " human morality". 人性会怎么改变 means "how will humankind's morality be changed by this technology? We see many examples of technology changes human's behavior and moral value. If it is your main concern, you should choose 人性 over 人类

  • 人类 mainly refers to "the human kind" in a broad sense. That includes biological and mental aspects. If this technology changes not only human's mind, but also body, then you should use 人类 over 人性

  • 会(would) and 将(will) are both valid in this sentence.

  • 怎么 and 如何 means the same, just 怎么 is more colloquial and 如何 is more literary

  • 改变 = change; 演变 = evolve. A technology no matter how advance, it is not likely to change humankind biologically. 改变 should be the right choice.

Base on your main concern (human morality vs. biological and mental change) you can choose to write:

  • 人性会怎么改变?/ 人性将怎么改变?/ 人性会如何改变?

  • 人类将如何改变?/ 人类会如何改变?

You can replace 将 or 会 with 将会

Tang Ho
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