【每日英语听力】20180718 TED演讲 The history of human emotions#Tiffany Watt Smith

I would like to begin with a little experiment. In a moment, I'm going to ask if you would close your eyes

我想要从一个小实验开始。等一下,我会请各位闭上眼睛,

and see if you can work out what emotions you're feeling right now.

看看你们是否能搞懂 你们感受到的情绪是什麽。

Now, you're not going to tell anyone or anything. The idea is to see how easy or perhaps hard you find it

你不能跟任何人说任何话。我是想让各位了解, 要指出自己的感受是什麽

to pinpoint exactly what you're feeling. And I thought I'd give you 10 seconds to do this.

有多容易或困难。我想我就给各位十秒钟来做这件事。

OK? Right, let's start.

好吗?好,咱们开始吧。

OK, that's it, time's up. How did it go?

好,时间到。进行得如何?

You were probably feeling a little bit under pressure, maybe suspicious of the person next to you.

你可能觉得有一点压力,也许对旁边的人感到有点怀疑。

Did they definitely have their eyes closed? Perhaps you felt some strange, distant worry

他们真的有把眼睛闭上吗?也许你感受到的是 奇怪又遥远的担心,

about that email you sent this morning or excitement about something you've got planned for this evening.

担心你今天早上寄出的电子邮件, 或是对你今晚计画 要做的事感到兴奋。

Maybe you felt that exhilaration that comes when we get together in big groups of people like this;

也许你感受到的是像 这麽一大群人聚集在一起时 会产生的愉快感;

the Welsh called it "hwyl," from the word for boat sails.

威爾斯人稱之為 「hwyl(熾熱感情)」,这个字是来自船帆。

Or maybe you felt all of these things. There are some emotions which wash the world in a single color,

也许以上的感受你通通都有。有一些情绪会用 单一颜色来洗涤世界,

like the terror felt as a car skids. But more often, our emotions crowd and jostle together

比如当车子打滑时感受到的恐惧。但通常,我们的情绪 会聚集紧贴在一起,

until it is actually quite hard to tell them apart. Some slide past so quickly you'd hardly even notice them,

最後变得很难将它们分开。有些情绪一闪即逝, 你几乎不会注意到,

like the nostalgia that will make you reach out to grab a familiar brand in the supermarket.

就像乡愁,它会让你想要伸出手, 在超级市场中去拿起熟悉的品牌。

And then there are others that we hurry away from, fearing that they'll burst on us,

还有其他情绪,是我们急着脱离的,害怕它们会从我们身上蹦出来,

like the jealousy that causes you to search a loved one's pockets. And of course, there are some emotions which are so peculiar,

比如嫉妒,会让你想去搜索 你爱人的口袋中有什麽。当然,还有些情绪相当奇怪,

you might not even know what to call them. Perhaps sitting there, you had a little tingle of a desire

你甚至不知道它们叫什麽。也许坐在这里, 你会有小小的慾望,

for an emotion one eminent French sociologist called "ilinx," the delirium that comes with minor acts of chaos.

想要被著名法國社會學家 稱為「ilinx」的情緒刺激,这是种因为制造混乱的小行为 所产生的兴奋感。

For example, if you stood up right now and emptied the contents of your bag all over the floor.

比如,你现在站起来, 掏出你包包中的所有东西, 随便丢在地上。

Perhaps you experienced one of those odd, untranslatable emotions for which there's no obvious English equivalent.

也许你有经历过那些怪异、 无法解译的情绪, 没有明确的英文字可以用来描述。

You might have felt the feeling the Dutch called "gezelligheid," being cozy and warm inside with friends when it's cold and damp outside.

你可能會有一種荷蘭人稱為 「gezelligheid」的感受,当外在环境又冷又湿时, 内在因为朋友而感到舒服和温暖。

Maybe if you were really lucky, you felt this:

也许你非常幸运,你感觉到这个:

"basorexia," a sudden urge to kiss someone.

是种突然想亲吻某人的冲动。(笑声)

(Laughter) We live in an age

在我们所处的时代, 关於情绪的知识 是极重要且有用的东西,

when knowledge of emotions is an extremely important commodity, where emotions are used to explain many things,

情绪会被用来解释许多事物,会被我们的政客利用,

exploited by our politicians, manipulated by algorithms.

会被演算法操纵。情绪智慧是种技能,

Emotional intelligence, which is the skill of being able to recognize and name your own emotions and those of other people,

能够认出且说出你自己的情绪 以及他人的情绪,情绪智慧被认为相当重要, 所以在我们的学校和企业中都会教,

is considered so important, that this is taught in our schools and businesses and encouraged by our health services.

连我们的保健服务 都会鼓励要有情绪智慧。但,尽管上述这些,

But despite all of this, I sometimes wonder

我有时还会纳闷, 我们去思考情绪的方式 是否变得没创意了。

if the way we think about emotions is becoming impoverished. Sometimes, we're not even that clear what an emotion even is.

有时,我们甚至不清楚情绪是什麽。你们可能有听过一个理论,

You've probably heard the theory that our entire emotional lives can be boiled down

我们的整个情绪生活可以被浓缩 成为少数几种基本情绪。

to a handful of basic emotions. This idea is actually about 2,000 years old,

这个想法其实已经有两千年历史,但在我们自己的时代, 一些演化心理学家指出,

but in our own time, some evolutionary psychologists have suggested that these six emotions --

这六种情绪──快乐、悲伤、恐惧、 反感、生气、惊讶──

happiness, sadness, fear, disgust, anger, surprise -- are expressed by everyone across the globe in exactly the same way,

全世界所有人表达 这些情绪的方式完全一样, 因此,这几种基本情绪就代表了。

and therefore represent the building blocks of our entire emotional lives.

堆叠出我们整个情绪生活的几种积木。如果你们用这种方式来看情绪,

Well, if you look at an emotion like this, then it looks like a simple reflex:

情绪看起来就会像是简单的反射:它是由外在困境所触发,

it's triggered by an external predicament, it's hardwired,

它是与生俱来的,它是用来保护我们不受伤害的。

it's there to protect us from harm. So you see a bear, your heart rate quickens,

所以你看到熊时,心跳就会加速,瞳孔会放大,觉得害怕, 然後你就会跑得非常非常快。

your pupils dilate, you feel frightened, you run very, very fast. The problem with this picture is,

这个写照的问题是,它并没有完全捕捉到情绪的本质。

it doesn't entirely capture what an emotion is. Of course, the physiology is extremely important,

当然,生理学是相当重要的, 但并不是在任何时候 我们有任何感觉时,

but it's not the only reason why we feel the way we do at any given moment.

原因都一定是生理学。我可以告诉各位,在十二世纪,

What if I was to tell you that in the 12th century, some troubadours didn't see yawning

有些吟游诗人并不认为打哈欠,是因为太累或太无聊所造成, 和我们现今认知不同,

as caused by tiredness or boredom like we do today, but thought it a symbol of the deepest love?

他们认为打哈欠象徵的是最深的爱。还有,在同样那个时期, 勇敢的人、骑士,

Or that in that same period, brave men -- knights -- commonly fainted out of dismay?

常常会因为惊慌而昏倒。 我还可以告诉各位,

What if I was to tell you that some early Christians who lived in the desert

早期一些住在沙漠的基督徒 相信会飞的恶魔通常 都会在午餐时间出来,

believed that flying demons who mainly came out at lunchtime could infect them with an emotion they called "accidie,"

這些惡魔會讓他們感染到 所謂「accidie」的情緒, 是一种昏睡状态,

a kind of lethargy that was sometimes so intense it could even kill them?

这状态有时候强到足以致人於死。或是我们现今所知且热爱的无聊,

Or that boredom, as we know and love it today, was first really only felt by the Victorians,

最初只有维多利亚女王时代的人 才会感觉到它,是针对关於闲暇时间 和自我改善的新点子所做出的反应。

in response to new ideas about leisure time and self-improvement? What if we were to think again

我们可以再重新想想 那些怪异、无法解译的情绪,

about those odd, untranslatable words for emotions and wonder whether some cultures might feel an emotion more intensely

并且思忖是否有些文化对於 某种情绪的感受更强一些,只因为他们花了心力去 把那情绪命名,然後去谈论它?

just because they've bothered to name and talk about it, like the Russian "toska,"

就像俄國人有「toska」, 一种让人不满意到发火的感觉,

a feeling of maddening dissatisfaction said to blow in from the great plains.

据说是从北美大平原吹来的情绪。 在认知科学领域中 最近期的发展显示,

The most recent developments in cognitive science show that emotions are not simple reflexes,

情绪并非仅是反射, 而是相当复杂、有弹性的系统,

but immensely complex, elastic systems that respond both to the biologies that we've inherited

这些系统对於我们继承的生物学,以及我们现在所处的文化都会有反应。

and to the cultures that we live in now. They are cognitive phenomena.

它们是认知现象。它们不只是由我们的身体,

They're shaped not just by our bodies, but by our thoughts, our concepts, our language.

也由我们的思想、 观念、语言形塑出来。 神经科学家丽莎.费德曼.巴瑞特。

The neuroscientist Lisa Feldman Barrett has become very interested in this dynamic relationship between words and emotions.

对於言词和情绪间的动态关系 很感兴趣。她主张,当我们学到关於 一种情绪的一个新单字时,

She argues that when we learn a new word for an emotion, new feelings are sure to follow.

接着就一定会有新感觉出现。身为历史学家,我长久以来 一直猜想,随着语言的改变,

As a historian, I've long suspected that as language changes, our emotions do, too.

我们的情绪也会改变。当我们回头看过去, 很容易看到情绪的改变,

When we look to the past, it's easy to see that emotions have changed, sometimes very dramatically,

有时候改变得很大,以因应新的文化期待、宗教信仰,

in response to new cultural expectations and religious beliefs, new ideas about gender, ethnicity and age,

以及对性别、种族、年龄的新想法,甚至因应新的政治和经济意识形态。

even in response to new political and economic ideologies. There is a historicity to emotions

情绪是有史实性的,我们直到最近才开始了解这一点。

that we are only recently starting to understand. So I agree absolutely that it does us good to learn new words for emotions,

我绝对同意学习关於情绪的新字词 对我们来说是有益的,但我认为我们还要再进一步。

but I think we need to go further. I think to be truly emotionally intelligent,

我认为,若要真正有情绪智慧,我们就得要了解那些字词的来源,

we need to understand where those words have come from, and what ideas about how we ought to live and behave

以及它们偷偷夹带着哪些想法, 关於我们该如何过生活、该做出什麽行为举止的想法。

they are smuggling along with them. Let me tell you a story.

让我告诉各位一个故事。故事始於十七世纪末的一间阁楼,

It begins in a garret in the late 17th century, in the Swiss university town of Basel.

在瑞士的大学镇巴塞尔。住在阁楼里的是一位很认真的学生, 他离家六十英哩。

Inside, there's a dedicated student living some 60 miles away from home. He stops turning up to his lectures,

他不再出现在他的课堂上,他的朋友去探望他, 发现他很沮丧且在发烧,

and his friends come to visit and they find him dejected and feverish, having heart palpitations,

他有心悸,身体突然有奇怪的酸痛。

strange sores breaking out on his body. Doctors are called,

医生被找来了, 他们认为状况很严重,

and they think it's so serious that prayers are said for him in the local church.

甚至在当地教堂里为他祷告。 当他们正准备要把 这位年轻人送回家,

And it's only when they're preparing to return this young man home so that he can die,

让他能死在家乡,他们才了解发生了什麽事,

that they realize what's going on, because once they lift him onto the stretcher,

因为当他们把他抬起来放到担架上,他的呼吸就没那麽费力了。

his breathing becomes less labored. And by the time he's got to the gates of his hometown,

当到了他家乡的城门时,他几乎完全恢复了。

he's almost entirely recovered. And that's when they realize

那时他们才了解,他的问题是出於 一种非常强大的思乡病。

that he's been suffering from a very powerful form of homesickness. It's so powerful, that it might have killed him.

强大到很可能会害死他。在 1688 年,有一位年轻医生 叫做约翰尼斯.霍费尔,

Well, in 1688, a young doctor, Johannes Hofer, heard of this case and others like it

他听到了这个案例 以及其他相似案例,把这种病命名为「乡愁」。

and christened the illness "nostalgia." The diagnosis quickly caught on in medical circles around Europe.

这项诊断很快就在 欧洲的医疗圈传开。 英国人还认为自己免疫,

The English actually thought they were probably immune because of all the travel they did in the empire and so on.

因为他们在大英帝国 做过这麽多旅行等等。但很快在英国也有案例开始出现了。

But soon there were cases cropping up in Britain, too. The last person to die from nostalgia

最後一个死於乡愁的人。是一名美国大兵, 一次大战时在法国作战。

was an American soldier fighting during the First World War in France. How is it possible that you could die from nostalgia

怎麽可能真有人死於乡愁,而且还是不到一百年前的事?

less than a hundred years ago? But today, not only does the word mean something different --

但现今,乡愁这个词 有不同的意义──对於失去的时间, 而非失去的地方,感到烦恼──

a sickening for a lost time rather than a lost place -- but homesickness itself is seen as less serious,

而且思乡这件事本身 也不那麽被认真看待了, 有点像是被降级了,从会致死的病

sort of downgraded from something you could die from to something you're mainly worried your kid might be suffering from

降级到只是你担心 你的孩子在朋友家过夜时。可能会有的感受而已。

at a sleepover. This change seems to have happened in the early 20th century.

这种转变似乎是在 二十世纪初发生的。但为什麽?

But why? Was it the invention of telephones or the expansion of the railways?

是因为电话的发明或是铁路的扩展?还是因为现代性的到来,

Was it perhaps the coming of modernity, with its celebration of restlessness and travel and progress

颂扬的是不定性、旅行、前进, 让这种烦恼?

that made sickening for the familiar seem rather unambitious?

变得似乎很平凡了?你我都继承了那种价值观的大转变,

You and I inherit that massive transformation in values, and it's one reason why we might not feel homesickness today

那是现今我们的思乡感不会像以前。那麽剧烈的原因之一。

as acutely as we used to. It's important to understand

很重要的是要了解到, 这些历史的大改变 会影响我们的情绪,

that these large historical changes influence our emotions partly because they affect how we feel about how we feel.

部分原因是因为它们会影响 我们对自己感受的感受。现今,我们颂扬快乐。

Today, we celebrate happiness. Happiness is supposed to make us better workers

快乐应该会让我们成为更好的工作者、父母、伴侣;

and parents and partners; it's supposed to make us live longer.

快乐应该会让我们更长寿。在十六世纪,

In the 16th century, sadness was thought to do most of those things.

悲伤有上述大部分的功能。 在那个时期,甚至有可能 自助书籍的内容,

It's even possible to read self-help books from that period which try to encourage sadness in readers

是列出一堆让人失望的理由,来鼓励读者悲伤。

by giving them lists of reasons to be disappointed. (Laughter)

(笑声)自助书作者认为你能够 培养悲伤这项技能,

These self-help authors thought you could cultivate sadness as a skill, since being expert in it would make you more resilient

当你变成悲伤专家,难免遇到坏事发生时, 你的恢复力就会较佳。

when something bad did happen to you, as invariably it would. I think we could learn from this today.

我想,现今我们能从这现象中学习。现今,若感到悲伤,你可能会 无法忍受,甚至有点羞耻。

Feel sad today, and you might feel impatient, even a little ashamed. Feel sad in the 16th century, and you might feel a little bit smug.

在十六世纪,若感到悲伤, 你可能会觉得有点沾沾自喜。当然,我们的情绪不只会随时间改变,

Of course, our emotions don't just change across time, they also change from place to place.

不同地方的情绪也会有不同。巴布亞紐幾內亞的拜寧人 會說「awumbuk」,

The Baining people of Papua New Guinea speak of "awumbuk," a feeling of lethargy that descends when a houseguest finally leaves.

来家里过夜的访客终於离开之後 会突然出现的一种没精打采感。(笑声)

(Laughter) Now, you or I might feel relief,

这种时候,你我可能会觉得松了一口气,但在拜宁文化中,

but in Baining culture, departing guests are thought to shed a sort of heaviness

人们认为即将离开的客人 会落下一种沉重感,这样他们会比较容易上路,

so they can travel more easily, and this heaviness infects the air and causes this awumbuk.

而這種沉重感會感染空氣, 造成主人的這種 awumbuk。 他们的做法是把 一碗水放在外面整夜,

And so what they do is leave a bowl of water out overnight to absorb this air,

来吸收这种空气, 隔天一早,他们起床就会做个仪式,

and then very early the next morning, they wake up and have a ceremony and throw the water away.

然後把这碗水丢掉。 还有一个好例子,

Now, here's a good example of spiritual practices and geographical realities combining

说明将灵修和地理现实结合, 将一种独特的情绪带到人生中,

to bring a distinct emotion into life and make it disappear again.

再让它消失。我最喜歡的情緒之一, 是一個日本字「amae」。

One of my favorite emotions is a Japanese word, "amae." Amae is a very common word in Japan,

在日本,amae 是個很常見的字,但很难翻译。

but it is actually quite hard to translate. It means something like the pleasure that you get

它的意思类似是一种愉悦, 当你能暂时将你人生责任交给他人时。

when you're able to temporarily hand over responsibility for your life to someone else.

产生的愉悦。(笑声)

(Laughter) Now, anthropologists suggest

人类学者指出, 在日本会将这个字命名

that one reason why this word might have been named and celebrated in Japan

并颂扬的原因之一,是因为该国在传统上 有种集体主义文化,

is because of that country's traditionally collectivist culture, whereas the feeling of dependency

而依赖的感受,可能会被英语人士 认为是令人忧虑的,

may be more fraught amongst English speakers, who have learned to value self-sufficiency and individualism.

因为这些人过去学的是 自给自足及个人主义。这样说可能有点过分简单化,

This might be a little simplistic, but it is tantalizing.

但很让人着迷。有没有可能,我们的情绪语言 告诉我们的,不只是我们的感受,

What might our emotional languages tell us not just about what we feel, but about what we value most?

还有我们最珍视的是什麽? 大部分的人告诉我们 要注意我们的幸福,

Most people who tell us to pay attention to our well-being talk of the importance of naming our emotions.

他们会谈到将我们的情绪 名称说出来的重要性。但这些名字并不是中立的标签。

But these names aren't neutral labels. They are freighted with our culture's values and expectations,

它们装满了我们文化的价值和期待,它们会传递关於我们认为 我们是什麽人的想法。

and they transmit ideas about who we think we are. Learning new and unusual words for emotions will help attune us

学习新的和不寻常的情绪字词,能协助我们适应内在人生中 纹理更细密的面向。

to the more finely grained aspects of our inner lives. But more than this, I think these words are worth caring about,

不只如此,我认为 这些字词是值得在乎的, 因为它们会提醒我们,我们的想法

because they remind us how powerful the connection is between what we think

和我们最终的感受间的连结有多强大。要有真正的情绪智慧,我们得要了解

and how we end up feeling. True emotional intelligence requires that we understand

社会、政治和文化的力量, 因为这些力量形塑了 我们相信我们拥有的情绪,

the social, the political, the cultural forces that have shaped what we've come to believe about our emotions

我们也需要去了解 快乐、恨、爱或生气 现在可能还如何在改变着。

and understand how happiness or hatred or love or anger might still be changing now.

因为如果我们想要测量我们的情绪, 并在我们的学校中教导情绪,

Because if we want to measure our emotions and teach them in our schools

且在我们的政客告诉我们 情绪有多重要时能够倾听,那麽我们最好要能够了解

and listen as our politicians tell us how important they are, then it is a good idea that we understand

我们对於情绪的假设是来自何处,

where the assumptions we have about them have come from,

以及现在它们是否仍然 真正在对我们说话。我想要用我身为历史学家常常

and whether they still truly speak to us now. I want to end with an emotion I often feel

感受到的一种情绪来作结。是個法文字「dépaysement」。

when I'm working as a historian. It's a French word, "dépaysement."

当你身处在一个不熟悉的地方时, 会产生的晕眩迷失方向感。身为历史学家,我最喜欢的一点是

It evokes the giddy disorientation that you feel in an unfamiliar place. One of my favorite parts of being a historian

当我完全视为理所当然的东西,我人生中非常熟悉的部分,

is when something I've completely taken for granted, some very familiar part of my life,

突然又变得陌生了。Dépaysement 會使人不安,

is suddenly made strange again. Dépaysement is unsettling,

但也让人兴奋。我希望你们现在也有 一点点这样子的感受。

but it's exciting, too. And I hope you might be having just a little glimpse of it right now.

谢谢。(掌声)

Thank you. (Applause)

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