A brief history of melancholy - Courtney Stephens

忧郁简史 - 考特尼·史蒂芬斯

1,506,372 views ・ 2014-10-02

TED-Ed


请双击下面的英文字幕来播放视频。

翻译人员: Saduo Dangui 校对人员: Xinze Jiang
00:07
Sadness is part of the human experience,
0
7031
2872
悲伤是人类必经的感受
00:09
but for centuries there has been vast disagreement
1
9903
2608
但几个世纪以来,人们既没有判断出它到底是什么
00:12
over what exactly it is and what, if anything, to do about it.
2
12511
4866
也不知我们应该以怎样的态度去面对它
简单来说
00:17
In its simplest terms,
3
17377
1708
00:19
sadness is often thought of
4
19085
1638
悲伤常被人们理解为
00:20
as the natural reaction to a difficult situation.
5
20723
3243
面对艰难处境时的自然反应
00:23
You feel sad when a friend moves away or when a pet dies.
6
23966
3877
朋友搬走了或是宠物死了你都会感到悲伤
00:27
When a friend says, "I'm sad,"
7
27843
1840
当一个朋友说“我好伤心”时
00:29
you often respond by asking, "What happened?"
8
29683
2820
你经常会问他们“发生什么了?”
00:32
But your assumption that sadness has an external cause outside the self
9
32503
4561
但你对于悲伤是由外界因素导致的假设
00:37
is a relatively new idea.
10
37064
2647
还是个比较新的想法
00:39
Ancient Greek doctors didn't view sadness that way.
11
39711
2767
古希腊医生可不是这么看待悲伤的
00:42
They believed it was a dark fluid inside the body.
12
42478
3778
他们觉得悲伤是体内一种深色的液体
00:46
According to their humoral system,
13
46256
2320
根据他们创造的体液系统理论
00:48
the human body and soul were controlled by four fluids, known as humors,
14
48576
4807
人体和灵魂是由四种体液控制的
00:53
and their balance directly influenced a person's health and temperament.
15
53383
4772
于是它们之间的平衡会直接影响到一个人的健康和性情
00:58
Melancholia comes from melaina kole,
16
58155
2830
精神忧郁来自于一种叫Melaina Kole
01:00
the word for black bile, the humor believed to cause sadness.
17
60985
4659
也就是黑胆汁,一种被认为会产生悲伤的体液
01:05
By changing your diet and through medical practices,
18
65644
2626
改善伙食和医疗手段
01:08
you could bring your humors into balance.
19
68270
2336
都可以有效地使你的体液处于平衡状态
01:10
Even though we now know much more about the systems
20
70606
3022
虽然现在我们对控制人类身体的系统
01:13
that govern the human body,
21
73628
1723
了解已经很多了
01:15
these Greek ideas about sadness
22
75351
1859
这些古希腊人有关于悲伤的想法
01:17
resonate with current views,
23
77210
1607
还是可以和当今的观点产生共鸣
01:18
not on the sadness we all occasionally feel,
24
78817
2689
不仅仅是我们偶尔会感到的悲伤
01:21
but on clinical depression.
25
81506
2244
也包括医学上所说的忧郁
01:23
Doctors believe that certain kinds of long-term,
26
83750
2336
医生们认为有些长期
01:26
unexplained emotional states are at least partially related to brain chemistry,
27
86086
6125
无法解释的感情状态和大脑内部
01:32
the balance of various chemicals present inside the brain.
28
92211
3737
各种化学物质的平衡多少有些关系
01:35
Like the Greek system,
29
95948
1290
像希腊的体液系统理论
01:37
changing the balance of these chemicals can deeply alter
30
97238
2694
改变这些物质的平衡就可以甚至可以深刻地影响到
01:39
how we respond to even extremely difficult circumstances.
31
99932
4216
我们面对极端困难环境时的反应
01:44
There's also a long tradition of attempting to discern
32
104148
2773
长久以来,我们不断地尝试去无视掉
01:46
the value of sadness,
33
106921
1990
悲伤的价值
01:48
and in that discussion,
34
108911
1264
但在以下的讨论中
01:50
you'll find a strong argument that sadness is not only
35
110175
2577
你会发现一个强有力的证据说
01:52
an inevitable part of life but an essential one.
36
112752
3686
悲伤不仅仅是生命中无法避免的一部分
而且还是不可或缺的一部分
01:56
If you've never felt melancholy,
37
116438
1799
如果你从来没有感受过忧郁
01:58
you've missed out on part of what it means to be human.
38
118237
3558
那你已经失去了一部分作为人类的意义
02:01
Many thinkers contend that melancholy is necessary in gaining wisdom.
39
121795
4450
许多学者反映,长智商的必要条件之一是忧郁
02:06
Robert Burton, born in 1577,
40
126245
2553
1577年出生的Robert Burton
02:08
spent his life studying the causes and experience of sadness.
41
128798
4378
贡献了一生的时间研究悲伤的起因和过程
02:13
In his masterpiece "The Anatomy of Melancholy,"
42
133176
2995
在他的著作The Anatomy of Melancholy中
02:16
Burton wrote, "He that increaseth wisdom increaseth sorrow."
43
136171
4738
他写道:“积累智慧的同时也会积累忧伤。”
02:20
The Romantic poets of the early 19th century
44
140909
2849
19世纪初期的浪漫主义诗人们
02:23
believed melancholy allows us to more deeply understand other profound emotions,
45
143758
5258
相信忧郁可以使我们更很深刻地了解其他深沉的感受
02:29
like beauty and joy.
46
149016
1587
比如说美好和快乐
02:30
To understand the sadness of the trees losing their leaves in the fall
47
150603
4040
要了解秋季黄叶满地的忧伤
02:34
is to more fully understand the cycle of life that brings flowers in the spring.
48
154643
5507
就是更完善地认识可以带来春花的生命周期
02:40
But wisdom and emotional intelligence seem pretty high on the hierarchy of needs.
49
160150
5351
但智慧和情商看起来像是更高层次的需求
02:45
Does sadness have value on a more basic, tangible,
50
165501
3145
那悲伤在更基础可触,或甚至是进化的层面
02:48
maybe even evolutionary level?
51
168646
2606
有没有价值?
02:51
Scientists think that crying and feeling withdrawn
52
171252
2813
科学家认为哭泣以及沉默寡言
02:54
is what originally helped our ancestors secure social bonds
53
174065
4372
是最初帮助我们祖先之间牢牢建立社会关系
02:58
and helped them get the support they needed.
54
178437
2636
并帮助他们寻求到他们所需要的支持的
03:01
Sadness, as opposed to anger or violence, was an expression of suffering
55
181073
4262
和愤怒和暴力不同,悲伤是可以立马唤起别人同情的
03:05
that could immediately bring people closer to the suffering person,
56
185335
3853
痛苦的表现,人与人之间距离一下子就近了
03:09
and this helped both the person and the larger community to thrive.
57
189188
4357
这样,双方都会得到帮助,更大的群体也会得以发展壮大
03:13
Perhaps sadness helped generate the unity we needed to survive,
58
193545
3061
也许,悲伤可以产生我们生存所需的集体感
03:16
but many have wondered whether the suffering felt by others
59
196606
3714
但很多人都在想,别人所感受到的痛苦
03:20
is anything like the suffering we experience ourselves.
60
200320
3747
和我们所感受到的是否一样。
03:24
The poet Emily Dickinson wrote,
61
204067
1797
诗人Emily Dickinson写道,
03:25
"I measure every Grief I meet With narrow, probing Eyes -
62
205864
4532
“我眯着眼视察每个我所遇见的悲痛-
03:30
I wonder if it weighs like MIne - Or has an Easier size."
63
210396
5091
心想它是否和我的一样重-或者只是小如橡皮。”
03:35
And in the 20th century,
64
215487
1511
在20世纪
03:36
medical anthropologists, like Arthur Kleinman,
65
216998
2611
像Arthur Kleinman这样的人类医学家
03:39
gathered evidence from the way people talk about pain
66
219609
3244
收集了人们阐述自己悲伤的方式作为证据
03:42
to suggest that emotions aren't universal at all,
67
222853
4182
来证明感情其实根本不是普遍的
03:47
and that culture, particularly the way we use language,
68
227035
3425
而且文化,尤其是我们使用语言的方式
03:50
can influence how we feel.
69
230460
2381
都会影响到我们所感所受
03:52
When we talk about heartbreak,
70
232841
1462
当我们说到心碎时
03:54
the feeling of brokenness becomes part of our experience,
71
234303
3843
破碎的感觉就变成了我们体验的一部分
03:58
where as in a culture that talks about a bruised heart,
72
238146
2736
但是当另一个文化说起淤血的心时
04:00
there actually seems to be a different subjective experience.
73
240882
4162
这其实好像又有另外一种客观的体验
04:05
Some contemporary thinkers aren't interested
74
245044
2177
有些当代思想家们对悲伤的客观性和普遍性
04:07
in sadness' subjectivity versus universality,
75
247221
3205
部不是很感兴趣
04:10
and would rather use technology to eliminate suffering in all its forms.
76
250426
4555
而且他们会更愿意用科技去消除各种形态的痛苦
04:14
David Pearce has suggested that genetic engineering
77
254981
3286
David Pearce觉得,基因工程
04:18
and other contemporary processes
78
258267
2413
和其它当代的科学手段
04:20
cannot only alter the way humans experience emotional and physical pain,
79
260680
4167
不应该只改变人们历经精神上和身体上的伤痛
04:24
but that world ecosystems ought to be redesigned
80
264847
3355
而应把世界的生态系统都重新设计一遍
04:28
so that animals don't suffer in the wild.
81
268202
2615
那样野生动物也不会受苦难
04:30
He calls his project "paradise engineering."
82
270817
3316
他把他的项目叫做“天堂工程”
04:34
But is there something sad about a world without sadness?
83
274133
3204
但一个没有悲伤的世界不是有点令人伤感吗?
04:37
Our cavemen ancestors and favorite poets
84
277337
2783
我们的山顶洞人始祖们和最受人喜爱的诗人
04:40
might not want any part of such a paradise.
85
280120
2799
可不会想在这样的一个天堂里
04:42
In fact, the only things about sadness that seem universally agreed upon
86
282919
5217
其实,关于悲伤唯一一些大家都同意的是
04:48
are that it has been felt by most people throughout time,
87
288136
3273
几乎所有历史上的人都曾感受过
04:51
and that for thousands of years,
88
291409
1925
而且几千年来
04:53
one of the best ways we have to deal with this difficult emotion
89
293334
3242
人们面对艰难的感情时最好的方式
04:56
is to articulate it, to try to express what feels inexpressable.
90
296576
4876
就是把它说出来,试着讲述讲不出的东西
05:01
In the words of Emily Dickinson,
91
301452
1892
用Emily Dickinson的话说,
05:03
"'Hope' is the thing with feathers - That perches in the soul -
92
303344
4937
“’希望‘是有翅膀的东西-在灵魂里窥视
05:08
"And sings the tune without the words - And never stops - at all -"
93
308281
4569
“它歌唱着没有文字的旋律-而且永不停息-”
关于本网站

这个网站将向你介绍对学习英语有用的YouTube视频。你将看到来自世界各地的一流教师教授的英语课程。双击每个视频页面上显示的英文字幕,即可从那里播放视频。字幕会随着视频的播放而同步滚动。如果你有任何意见或要求,请使用此联系表与我们联系。

https://forms.gle/WvT1wiN1qDtmnspy7