What is love? - Brad Troeger

翻译人员: Shanshan (Alice) Lin 校对人员: Shawnee Huang

What is love?

爱是什么？

Seriously, though, what is it?

说真的，它到底是什么？

What is love?

爱是什么呢?

A verb?

一个动词?

A noun?

A universal truth?

一个名词?

普遍的真理?

An ideal?

一个理想概念?

A common thread of all religions?

宗教信仰的共同点?

A cult?

一种狂热的崇拜？

A neurological phenomenon?

一种神经学现象?

There's no shortage of answers.

这个问题可以有很多很多答案

Some are all-encompassing.

一些答案很共通

It conquers all.

它凌驾于一切之上

It's all you need.

它是你唯一渴望的东西

It's all there is.

它就是爱

These are all comparisons, though,

话虽如此，这些都是用类比的方法

ways of defining it by contrast,

去诠释爱的

by saying it's more important

与世间万物相比

than all other things,

爱尤为重要

but is it?

但真的是这样吗？

Sure, love matters more

当然， 爱远比你的

than your standard turkey sandwich,

普通的火鸡三明治来得重要

but does it matter more than shelter?

但它是否敌得过居住的房子?

Or sanity?

或者能否打败理智?

Or an exceptional turkey sandwich?

亦或是一份豪华火鸡三明治呢?

No matter your answer,

不论你的答案是什么

you're just ranking it,

你只是进行了排名

not defining it.

而非定义它

Another challenge to defining love

定义爱的另一个难题就在于

is we often try to do so

我们经常在自己坠入爱河时

while falling into it

或在失去爱的时候

or out of it.

去定义爱

Would you trust someone who just won the lottery

你会相信一个刚赢了彩票的人

to accurately define the concept of currency?

能精确地定义金钱吗

Or, I don't know, ask a guy to define bears

或者,再问一位刚刚逃脱了狗熊追击的哥们

while he's fending them off?

熊到底可不可怕?

Or is romance not like winning the lottery?

再或者，浪漫是不是就像中彩票一样?

Are break ups not like bear attacks?

被熊袭击跟失恋的感觉一样吗?

Bad comparisons?

不恰当的比喻对吗？

That's my point.

这就是我的意思

I'm not thinking right

我无法理性地思考

because I'm in love,

因为我在谈恋爱

so ha!

所以，哈哈！

Taking a step back,

退一步讲

or taking a cold shower,

或者冷静一下

whatever,

love is potentially the most intensely thought about thing

无论如何

在人类历史长河中

in all of human history.

爱可能是被思考最多的主题

And despite centuries upon centuries of obsession,

尽管人类迷恋爱情已有成千上万年

it still overwhelms us.

它还是能轻而易举地让人沦陷

Some say it's a feeling,

有人说爱是种感觉

a magical emotion,

一种神奇的情感

a feeling for someone like you've never felt before.

一种从未有过的感觉——直到你遇到了那个人

But feelings are fluid,

但是这感觉捉摸不定

not very concrete foundation for a definition.

不能作为定义的实据

Sometimes you hate the person you love.

有时候你还会讨厌你爱的那个人呢

Plus, come on, you've felt feelings like it before,

再说了，拜托，或多或少

sort of in miniature.

你总会有这种感觉

Your relationships with your family

你和家人的关系

shape your relationships with partners.

映射出了你与伴侣的关系

And your love for your partner

而你对伴侣的爱

may be in its own dynamic relationship,

可能也与你对父母和兄弟姐妹的爱相互影响

healthy or totally weird,

这些情感

with the love of your parents and siblings.

有着某种或正常或奇怪的复杂联系

Love is also a set of behaviors

爱情

同样是一系列由情感支配的行为

we associate with the feeling:

Holding hands,

牵手

kissing,

亲吻

hugging,

拥抱

秀恩爱

public displays of affection,

dating,

约会

marriage,

结婚

having kids,

生儿育女

or just sex.

或只是性爱

But these loving actions can be subjective

但这些行为可以是主观的

or culturally relative.

也可以是与文化背景相关的

You may love or be someone who can't have kids

你可能会爱上一个不能生育

or doesn't want to,

或不想生育的人

who believes in marriage but also in divorce,

一个离婚但是也相信婚姻的人

who's from a culture where people don't really date

一个有着和我们认为的

the way we think of dating,

不一样约会文化的人

or who just doesn't want to make out on the bus.

或者只是一个不想在公车上亲热的人

But if love is a thing that we can define,

但是如果我们能够定义爱情

then how can it mean opposite things

那它怎么对于不同的人来说

for so many people?

意味着那么多不同的事？

So, maybe love's just all in your head,

所以，也许爱情只存在于每个人的心里

a personal mystery winding through your neural pathways

奇妙的电流从你的神经里窜过

and lighting up pleasing, natural rewards

然后触发了你的神经系统

in your nervous system.

作为奖励——你得到了一种愉悦的自然反应

Perhaps these rewards are addictive.

或许这些甜头是令人欲罢不能的

Perhaps love is a temporary

爱也可能是一个短暂的

or permanent addiction to a person,

亦或是永远的瘾

just like a person can be addicted to a drug.

但就像一个人可以对毒品上瘾

I don't mean to be edgy

我不是故意弄噱头激怒你

like some pop song.

像一些流行乐中唱的一样

Evidence shows that chemicals in your brain

证据表明你脑内的化学物质

stimulated by another person

被另外一个人激发

can make you develop a habit for that person.

这些物质会让你对那个人产生依赖

The person comes to satisfy

而如果那个人回应了你

a physiological craving,

生理上的反应

and you want more.

你会接着想要更多

But then sometimes,

但是有时候

slowly or suddenly,

慢慢地或者突然间

you don't.

你厌烦了

You've fallen out of love,

你从爱里走出来了

become unaddicted,

不再有瘾了

for a spell.

暂时地

What happened?

然后发生了什么？

Does one develop a tolerance or hit a limit?

到底一个人是要提高宽容度还是挑战底线？

Why do some lovers stay addicted

为什么有的恋人甘之如饴

to each other their entire lives?

直到生命结束？

Perhaps to create new lives,

或许只是为了生一个宝宝

to proliferate their species?

或是为了繁衍子嗣？

Maybe love is just human DNA's optimal method

或许爱只是人类DNA选择的

for bringing about its own replication.

一种保证自己存活方式？

There are evolutionary arguments

有太多的进化论观点

regarding every human mating behavior,

从人类的交配行为

from how we display ourselves to potential mates,

到我们如何求偶

to how we treat each other in relationships,

到我们如何在恋爱中对待对方

to how we raise kids.

再到我们如何教养孩子

Thus, some argue that the feeling

所以，有的人说感觉

you think you feel in your soul

你觉得你在你灵魂中发现的（感觉）

is just biology's way to make you continue our species.

只是人类这个生物的繁衍方式

Nature has selected you

自然选择了你

to have crushes on hotties,

去爱上受欢迎的人

just like it makes monkeys

就像它让猴子

have crushes on hot monkeys,

爱上受欢迎的的猴子

and biology marches on.

然后种族得以延续

But is that all love is?

但是这难道就是爱的全部吗？

Or, perhaps worse, is it just a construct,

换句话说，可能更糟

some fake concept we all convince each other

爱只是一种被创造出来的虚幻概念

to try to live up to

通过虚构一种神圣的使命感

for a fake sense of purpose?

——来支撑人类的生存繁衍

Maybe it is a construct,

或许这只是一种臆想

but let's be more precise

但是让我们更深层次地考虑一下

about what a construct is

臆想到底是什么

because love is constructed from reality:

因为爱是从现实出发的

Our experiences,

我们的经历

feelings,

感觉

brain chemistry,

脑袋里的化学反应

cultural expectations,

文化观

our lives.

我们的生活

And this edifice can be viewed

以上这些显而易见的体系

through countless dimensions:

可以用无数的标准来衡量

scientific,

从科学层面

emotional,

情感层面

historical,

历史层面

spiritual,

精神层面

legal,

or just personal.

合法性

或者只是个人看法

If no two people are the same,

假如每个人都是独一无二的

no two people's love is the same either.

也就没有一模一样的爱

So, in every loving relationship,

所以，在每段恋爱中

there's a lot to talk about

总是有许多可以谈论的话题

and partners should be open to that,

恋人们需要彼此接受并尊重这一点

or the relationship probably won't last.

不然，恋爱的小船，总是说翻就翻

Love is always up for discussion

爱是一个永恒的话题

and, sure, under construction.

没错，在臆想之下

So, if we can't define it,

所以，即使我们不能定义爱情

that's a good sign.

也不代表这是件坏事

It means we're all still making it.

这意味着我们的爱依然存在

Wait, I didn't mean,

等等，我不是说

you know what I meant.

管它的，你知道我什么意思