A brief history of melancholy - Courtney Stephens

短講憂鬱 — 寇特妮·史提芬斯 (Courtney Stephens)

譯者: Regina Chu 審譯者: Geoff Chen

Sadness is part of the human experience,

悲傷是人類經驗的一部分

but for centuries there has been vast disagreement

但是幾百年來 人們對到底什麼是悲傷

over what exactly it is and what, if anything, to do about it.

及如果真有辦法又該拿它怎麼辦 有著巨大的分歧

In its simplest terms,

以最簡單的術語來解釋

sadness is often thought of

悲傷通常被認為

as the natural reaction to a difficult situation.

是對困境的自然反應

You feel sad when a friend moves away or when a pet dies.

你在朋友搬走 或寵物死去時覺得傷心

When a friend says, "I'm sad,"

當你的朋友說：「我好傷心」

you often respond by asking, "What happened?"

你的回應通常是問「怎麼了？」

But your assumption that sadness has an external cause outside the self

但是你假設悲傷是外在因素所引起

is a relatively new idea.

其實是還算新的想法

Ancient Greek doctors didn't view sadness that way.

古希臘醫生可不這樣看悲傷

They believed it was a dark fluid inside the body.

他們相信悲傷是體內的一種黑色液體

According to their humoral system,

根據他們的四體液系統

the human body and soul were controlled by four fluids, known as humors,

人類的身體及靈魂都受到 四種液體的控制，稱為體液

and their balance directly influenced a person's health and temperament.

它們平衡與否直接影響到 一個人的健康及氣質

Melancholia comes from melaina kole,

憂鬱症源自希臘字 melaina kole

the word for black bile, the humor believed to cause sadness.

即黑膽汁，公認是造成悲傷的體液

By changing your diet and through medical practices,

透過改變飲食及醫療行為

you could bring your humors into balance.

你就能恢復四體液的平衡

Even though we now know much more about the systems

即使現在我們對於 控管人類身體的各式系統

that govern the human body,

有更多的瞭解

these Greek ideas about sadness

希臘人對悲傷的想法

resonate with current views,

仍與現行的觀念共鳴

not on the sadness we all occasionally feel,

不過不是我們偶爾感覺的悲傷

but on clinical depression.

而是臨床憂鬱症

Doctors believe that certain kinds of long-term,

醫師相信某些長期

unexplained emotional states are at least partially related to brain chemistry,

無法解釋的情緒狀態 與腦化學至少有部分相關

the balance of various chemicals present inside the brain.

即各種化學物質在腦內的平衡

Like the Greek system,

就像古希臘的系統

changing the balance of these chemicals can deeply alter

這些化學物質的平衡變化 會深深地改變

how we respond to even extremely difficult circumstances.

我們對極困難的情況的反應

There's also a long tradition of attempting to discern

還有一項悠久的傳統企圖要分辨

the value of sadness,

悲傷的程度

and in that discussion,

而在那項討論中

you'll find a strong argument that sadness is not only

你會發現有項很強的論述 說悲傷不但是

an inevitable part of life but an essential one.

生命中不可避免的一部分 其實還不可或缺

If you've never felt melancholy,

如果你從未感覺憂鬱

you've missed out on part of what it means to be human.

你就錯失了部分身為人類的意義

Many thinkers contend that melancholy is necessary in gaining wisdom.

很多思想家聲稱憂鬱 是獲得智慧的必經之路

Robert Burton, born in 1577,

羅伯特·伯頓生於 1577 年

spent his life studying the causes and experience of sadness.

花了一輩子研究悲傷的起因及經驗

In his masterpiece "The Anatomy of Melancholy,"

在他的名作《憂鬱的解剖》一書中

Burton wrote, "He that increaseth wisdom increaseth sorrow."

伯頓寫道：「加增智慧就加增憂傷」

The Romantic poets of the early 19th century

十九世紀早期的浪漫派詩人

believed melancholy allows us to more deeply understand other profound emotions,

相信憂鬱讓我們更深地瞭解 其他的深層情感

like beauty and joy.

如美麗與喜悅

To understand the sadness of the trees losing their leaves in the fall

能體會樹木在秋天落葉的悲傷

is to more fully understand the cycle of life that brings flowers in the spring.

讓我們更能明瞭 生命循環帶來的春之花

But wisdom and emotional intelligence seem pretty high on the hierarchy of needs.

但是智慧與情緒智能 似乎位在人類需求層次的高處

Does sadness have value on a more basic, tangible,

悲傷是否還有更基本、更有形

maybe even evolutionary level?

甚至在演化層面上的價值？

Scientists think that crying and feeling withdrawn

科學家認為哭泣及感覺退縮

is what originally helped our ancestors secure social bonds

原來是幫助我們的祖先確保社會聯繫

and helped them get the support they needed.

及幫助他們得到所需支援的方法

Sadness, as opposed to anger or violence, was an expression of suffering

與生氣或暴力對照 悲傷是痛苦的表現

that could immediately bring people closer to the suffering person,

這能立刻將人們與受苦的人拉近

and this helped both the person and the larger community to thrive.

而這使受苦的人 及更大的社群都能興旺

Perhaps sadness helped generate the unity we needed to survive,

或許悲傷能幫助我們產生 生存所需的團結

but many have wondered whether the suffering felt by others

但是很多人也懷疑 別人感受的痛苦

is anything like the suffering we experience ourselves.

與我們本身所體驗的痛苦 是否程度相同

The poet Emily Dickinson wrote,

詩人艾蜜莉·狄金森寫道

"I measure every Grief I meet With narrow, probing Eyes -

我打量我遇到的每一個悲傷 用狹小、刺探的眼

I wonder if it weighs like MIne - Or has an Easier size."

我想知道它是否沉重如我所感 或更輕省一點

And in the 20th century,

而在 20 世紀

medical anthropologists, like Arthur Kleinman,

醫療人類學家如凱博文

gathered evidence from the way people talk about pain

從人們談論疼痛的方式收集證據

to suggest that emotions aren't universal at all,

提出情緒並非放諸天下皆準

and that culture, particularly the way we use language,

而文化，尤其是我們使用語言的方式

can influence how we feel.

會影響我們的感受

When we talk about heartbreak,

當我們提到心碎

the feeling of brokenness becomes part of our experience,

破碎的感覺就變成我們感受的一部分

where as in a culture that talks about a bruised heart,

但如果一個文化說壓傷的心

there actually seems to be a different subjective experience.

那似乎就是完全不同的主觀感受

Some contemporary thinkers aren't interested

某些當代思想家對悲傷的興趣

in sadness' subjectivity versus universality,

不在它的主觀性，卻在它的普遍性

and would rather use technology to eliminate suffering in all its forms.

而且比較願意以科技 來排除所有形式的痛苦

David Pearce has suggested that genetic engineering

大衛·皮爾斯認為基因工程

and other contemporary processes

及其它的現代科技過程

cannot only alter the way humans experience emotional and physical pain,

不僅能改變人類感受 情緒上及身體上的痛苦

but that world ecosystems ought to be redesigned

還能重新設計世界生態系統

so that animals don't suffer in the wild.

所以動物不再於野外受苦

He calls his project "paradise engineering."

他稱他的計畫為「天堂工程」

But is there something sad about a world without sadness?

但是沒有悲傷的世界 難道不也是一種悲傷？

Our cavemen ancestors and favorite poets

我們穴居的祖先及喜愛的詩人

might not want any part of such a paradise.

大概一點也不想要這樣的天堂

In fact, the only things about sadness that seem universally agreed upon

事實上，大家對於悲傷 只有一點是一致認同的

are that it has been felt by most people throughout time,

就是它是人類一直都經歷的現象

and that for thousands of years,

而數千年來

one of the best ways we have to deal with this difficult emotion

我們處理這種難熬情緒的最佳方法

is to articulate it, to try to express what feels inexpressable.

就是清楚的把它表述出來 試著表達這難以言喻的情緒

In the words of Emily Dickinson,

用艾蜜莉·狄金森的話說

"'Hope' is the thing with feathers - That perches in the soul -

希望是有羽之物 棲息在靈魂深處

"And sings the tune without the words - And never stops - at all -"

唱著無言之歌 永不止息， 永不