The history of human emotions | Tiffany Watt Smith

Translator: Héctor Pardo Álvarez Reviewer: Terra Poniente

I would like to begin with a little experiment.

Gustaríame comezar por un pequeno experimento.

In a moment, I'm going to ask if you would close your eyes

A continuación, pedireilles que pechen os ollos

and see if you can work out

e intenten precisar

what emotions you're feeling right now.

que emocións están a sentir neste momento.

Now, you're not going to tell anyone or anything.

Non llelo van ter que dicir a ninguén, nin nada.

The idea is to see how easy or perhaps hard you find it

A idea é ver como de fácil ou difícil lles parece

to pinpoint exactly what you're feeling.

concretar o que senten exactamente.

And I thought I'd give you 10 seconds to do this.

Dareilles 10 segundos para facelo.

OK?

De acordo?

Right, let's start.

Ben, vamos alá.

OK, that's it, time's up.

Vale, xa está.

How did it go?

Como foi?

You were probably feeling a little bit under pressure,

Poida que se sentisen un pouco presionados,

maybe suspicious of the person next to you.

ou sospeitasen da persoa ao seu carón.

Did they definitely have their eyes closed?

Seguro que pechou os ollos?

Perhaps you felt some strange, distant worry

Se cadra sentiron un asomo de inquietude

about that email you sent this morning

ao lembrar ese correo que mandaron esta mañá,

or excitement about something you've got planned for this evening.

ou emoción por algún plan para esta tarde.

Maybe you felt that exhilaration that comes when we get together

Talvez, ese xúbilo que nos embarga ao reunírmonos

in big groups of people like this;

en grandes grupos de persoas coma este.

the Welsh called it "hwyl,"

Os galeses chámano "hwyl"

pola palabra que designa as velas dun barco.

from the word for boat sails.

Or maybe you felt all of these things.

Ou quizais sentiron todo iso.

There are some emotions which wash the world in a single color,

Algunhas emocións tinxen o mundo dunha soa cor,

like the terror felt as a car skids.

coma o terror que se sente ao derrapar un coche,

But more often, our emotions crowd and jostle together

pero, máis decotío, as nosas emocións mestúranse

until it is actually quite hard to tell them apart.

ata que mesmo se fai difícil distinguilas.

Some slide past so quickly you'd hardly even notice them,

Algunhas sucédense tan rápido que nin reparamos nelas,

like the nostalgia that will make you reach out

como a nostalxia que che fai achegarte

to grab a familiar brand in the supermarket.

a un produto de marca familiar no supermercado.

And then there are others that we hurry away from,

E hai outras das que escapamos

fearing that they'll burst on us,

por medo a que nos manquen,

like the jealousy that causes you to search a loved one's pockets.

coma os celos que nos empurran a remexer nos petos dun ser querido.

And of course, there are some emotions which are so peculiar,

E, dende logo, hai emocions tan peculiares

you might not even know what to call them.

que poida que non saiban nin como chamalas.

Perhaps sitting there, you had a little tingle of a desire

Se cadra, aí sentados sentiron ese formigo de degoiro

for an emotion one eminent French sociologist called "ilinx,"

pola emoción que un gran sociólogo francés chamou "ilinx"

the delirium that comes with minor acts of chaos.

--o delirio que acompaña situacións menores de caos.

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

Por exemplo, se se erguesen agora e baleirasen os seus bolsos,

all over the floor.

ciscando todo polo chan.

Perhaps you experienced one of those odd, untranslatable emotions

Quizabes experimentaron unha desas estrañas emocións intraducíbeis

for which there's no obvious English equivalent.

para as que non hai un equivalente claro en inglés.

You might have felt the feeling the Dutch called "gezelligheid,"

É posible que sentisen o que os holandeses chaman "gezelligheid",

being cozy and warm inside with friends when it's cold and damp outside.

--estar dentro, quentiño e en boa compaña mentres fóra chove e vai frío.

Maybe if you were really lucky,

Quizais, con moita sorte,

you felt this:

sentiron isto:

"basorexia,"

"Basorexia",

a sudden urge to kiss someone.

unha súbita urxencia por bicar alguén

(Laughter)

(Risas)

We live in an age

Vivimos nun tempo

when knowledge of emotions is an extremely important commodity,

no que o coñecemento sobre as emocións é un ben sumamente precioso,

where emotions are used to explain many things,

no que se bota man das emocións para explicar moitas cousas.

exploited by our politicians,

Son explotadas polos nosos políticos

manipulated by algorithms.

e manipuladas por algoritmos.

Emotional intelligence, which is the skill of being able to recognize and name

A intelixencia emocional, a habilidade para recoñecer e poñer nome

your own emotions and those of other people,

ás propias emocións e ás doutras persoas

is considered so important, that this is taught in our schools and businesses

considérase tan importante que se ensina nos colexios e empresas

and encouraged by our health services.

e se fomenta dende os servizos de saúde.

But despite all of this,

Pero, a pesar de todo,

I sometimes wonder

ás veces pregúntome

if the way we think about emotions is becoming impoverished.

se o xeito que temos de concibir as emocións se está a empobrecer.

Sometimes, we're not even that clear what an emotion even is.

Ás veces, nin sequera temos tan claro o que é unha emoción.

You've probably heard the theory

Probablemente oíron a teoría

that our entire emotional lives can be boiled down

de que toda a nosa vida emocional se pode reducir

to a handful of basic emotions.

a unha manchea de emocións.

This idea is actually about 2,000 years old,

Esta idea data de hai 2000 anos

but in our own time,

mais, nos nosos días,

some evolutionary psychologists have suggested that these six emotions --

algúns psicólogos evolucionistas suxiren que estas seis emocións

happiness, sadness, fear, disgust, anger, surprise --

--ledicia, tristura, medo, noxo, ira e sorpresa--

are expressed by everyone across the globe in exactly the same way,

son expresadas por todo o mundo exactamente do mesmo xeito

and therefore represent the building blocks

e, xa que logo, constitúen os piares

of our entire emotional lives.

de toda a nosa vida emocional.

Well, if you look at an emotion like this,

Se interpretamos as emocións desta maneira

then it looks like a simple reflex:

semellan ser un simple reflexo:

it's triggered by an external predicament,

desencadeadas por un estímulo externo,

it's hardwired,

programadas bioloxicamente,

it's there to protect us from harm.

a súa función é protexernos.

So you see a bear, your heart rate quickens,

De maneira que se ven un oso, o seu pulso acelérase

your pupils dilate, you feel frightened, you run very, very fast.

as súas pupilas dilátanse, senten medo e corren moi, moi rápido.

The problem with this picture is,

O problema deste relato

it doesn't entirely capture what an emotion is.

é que non capta con exactitude o que é unha emoción.

Of course, the physiology is extremely important,

A fisioloxía é de vital importancia, por suposto,

but it's not the only reason why we feel the way we do

pero non abonda para explicar o por que dunha emoción

at any given moment.

nun momento dado.

What if I was to tell you that in the 12th century,

Que pensarían se lles dixese que no século XII

some troubadours didn't see yawning

algúns trobadores non crían que bocexar

as caused by tiredness or boredom like we do today,

estivese causado pola fatiga ou o aburrimento como cremos hoxe,

but thought it a symbol of the deepest love?

senón por mor dun profundo amor?

Or that in that same period, brave men -- knights --

Ou que no mesmo período, afoutos homes --cabaleiros--

commonly fainted out of dismay?

adoitaban desmaiarse de consternación?

What if I was to tell you

Que me din do feito

that some early Christians who lived in the desert

de que os primeiros cristiáns, que vivían no deserto,

believed that flying demons who mainly came out at lunchtime

cresen que diaños voadores, que aparecían sobre todo á hora de xantar,

could infect them with an emotion they called "accidie,"

podían infectalos cunha emoción que chamaban "accidie"?

a kind of lethargy that was sometimes so intense

Unha sorte de letargo, ás veces tan intenso,

it could even kill them?

que podía custarlles a vida.

Or that boredom, as we know and love it today,

Ou que o aburrimento, tal é como o coñecemos e amamos a día de hoxe,

was first really only felt by the Victorians,

ao principio só era experimentado polos victorianos

in response to new ideas about leisure time and self-improvement?

en resposta ás novas ideas sobre o lecer e a superación persoal?

What if we were to think again

E se reflexionamos de novo

about those odd, untranslatable words for emotions

acerca desas palabras intraducíbeis que designan emocións

and wonder whether some cultures might feel an emotion more intensely

e nos preguntamos se unhas culturas senten máis que outras unha emoción dada

just because they've bothered to name and talk about it,

só polo feito de molestárense en nomeala e falar sobre ela?

like the Russian "toska,"

Como a palabra rusa "toska",

a feeling of maddening dissatisfaction

un sentimento de exasperante insatisfacción

said to blow in from the great plains.

que disque descendía das grandes chairas.

The most recent developments in cognitive science show

Os avances máis recentes nas ciencias cognitivas amosan

that emotions are not simple reflexes,

que as emocións non son simples reflexos,

but immensely complex, elastic systems

senón sistemas de enorme complexidade e elasticidade

that respond both to the biologies that we've inherited

que responden tanto á herdanza xenética

and to the cultures that we live in now.

como ás culturas en que nos desenvolvemos.

They are cognitive phenomena.

Son fenómenos cognitivos

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

moldeados polo noso corpo e os nosos pensamentos,

our concepts, our language.

os nosos conceptos, a nosa lingua.

The neuroscientist Lisa Feldman Barrett has become very interested

A neurocientífica Lisa Feldman Barrett amosou un grande interese

in this dynamic relationship between words and emotions.

por esta relación dinámica entre palabras e emocións.

She argues that when we learn a new word for an emotion,

Sostén que cando aprendemos unha nova palabra para unha emoción,

new feelings are sure to follow.

sobreveñen inevitablemente novos sentimentos.

As a historian, I've long suspected that as language changes,

Como historiadora, sempre sospeitei que, igual que cambian as linguas,

our emotions do, too.

tamén o fan as nosas emocións.

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

Se botamos unha ollada ao pasado, vemos que as emocións foron mudando,

sometimes very dramatically,

ás veces de maneira radical,

in response to new cultural expectations and religious beliefs,

en resposta a novos estándares culturais e crenzas relixiosas,

new ideas about gender, ethnicity and age,

novas ideas sobre o xénero, etnia e idade,

even in response to new political and economic ideologies.

e mesmo en resposta a novas ideoloxías políticas e económicas.

There is a historicity to emotions

As emocións están ligadas á historia dun xeito

that we are only recently starting to understand.

que non comezamos a comprender ata hai ben pouco.

So I agree absolutely that it does us good to learn new words for emotions,

Concordo plenamente con que nos fai ben aprender palabras para emocións,

but I think we need to go further.

pero penso que temos que ir alén diso.

I think to be truly emotionally intelligent,

Penso que para ser de verdade intelixentes emocionalmente,

we need to understand where those words have come from,

temos que entender cal é a orixe desas palabras

and what ideas about how we ought to live and behave

e que ideas sobre o modo en que debemos vivir e actuar

they are smuggling along with them.

agochan dentro de sí.

Let me tell you a story.

Deixen que lles conte unha historia.

It begins in a garret in the late 17th century,

Comeza nun faiado a finais do século XVII

in the Swiss university town of Basel.

na cidade universitaria suíza de Basilea.

Inside, there's a dedicated student living some 60 miles away from home.

Nel, vive un aplicado estudante a uns 100 km da casa.

He stops turning up to his lectures,

Empeza a faltar a clase

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

e entón os seus amigos vano visitar e encóntrano apesarado e febril,

having heart palpitations,

con palpitacións,

strange sores breaking out on his body.

e o corpo sumido en estrañas dores.

Doctors are called,

Chaman os médicos

and they think it's so serious that prayers are said for him

e estes veno tan grave que se empeza a rezar por el

na igrexa parroquial.

in the local church.

And it's only when they're preparing to return this young man home

Non será ata que todo se dispón para devolver o doente á súa casa

so that he can die,

para que poida morrer,

that they realize what's going on,

cando se decaten do que acontece.

because once they lift him onto the stretcher,

Porque ao deitalo na padiola,

his breathing becomes less labored.

o seu alento volveuse máis folgado,

And by the time he's got to the gates of his hometown,

e para cando chegou ás portas da súa vila

he's almost entirely recovered.

case se recuperara de todo.

And that's when they realize

Así decátaronse

that he's been suffering from a very powerful form of homesickness.

de que estivera padecendo unha forma aguda de morriña.

It's so powerful, that it might have killed him.

Tan aguda que puido matalo.

Well, in 1688, a young doctor, Johannes Hofer,

En 1688, un médico mozo, Johannes Hofer

heard of this case and others like it

soubo deste caso e doutros semellantes

and christened the illness "nostalgia."

e bautizou a doenza como "nostalgia".

The diagnosis quickly caught on in medical circles around Europe.

A diagnose non tardou en callar nas esferas médicas europeas.

The English actually thought they were probably immune

Os ingleses pensaron que probablemente eran inmunes

because of all the travel they did in the empire and so on.

por todo o que viaxaran co Imperio e demais,

But soon there were cases cropping up in Britain, too.

pero axiña xurdiron casos tamén en Gran Bretaña.

The last person to die from nostalgia

A última persoa que morreu de "nostalgia"

was an American soldier fighting during the First World War in France.

foi un soldado americano combatendo en Francia na I Guerra Mundial.

How is it possible that you could die from nostalgia

Como é posible que se morrese de nostalxia

less than a hundred years ago?

hai menos de cen anos?

But today, not only does the word mean something different --

Nos nosos días, non só a palabra significa algo diferente

a sickening for a lost time rather than a lost place --

--a señardade dun tempo perdido máis ca dun lugar perdido.

but homesickness itself is seen as less serious,

O propio sentimento de nostalxia concíbese como algo menos serio,

sort of downgraded from something you could die from

un chanzo por debaixo de algo que te poida matar,

algo que como moito podes temer que sufra o teu fillo

to something you're mainly worried your kid might be suffering from

unha noite fóra da casa.

at a sleepover.

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

Esta mudanza semella producirse a comezos do século XX.

But why?

Mais por que?

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

Se cadra pola invención do teléfono ou a expansión do ferrocarril?

Was it perhaps the coming of modernity,

Talvez a chegada da modernidade,

with its celebration of restlessness and travel and progress

e a conseguinte exaltación do dinamismo, o movemento e o progreso

that made sickening for the familiar

propiciou que a añoranza da familia

seem rather unambitious?

resultase algo pouco ambicioso?

You and I inherit that massive transformation in values,

Vostedes e mais eu herdamos ese enorme cambio de valores,

and it's one reason why we might not feel homesickness today

e esa é unha das razóns que explican que non sintamos morriña

as acutely as we used to.

tan intensamente como antes.

It's important to understand

É importante entender

that these large historical changes influence our emotions

que estes grandes cambios históricos inflúen nas nosas emocións

partly because they affect how we feel about how we feel.

en parte porque afectan a como nos sentimos sobre o que sentimos.

Today, we celebrate happiness.

Hoxe celebramos a felicidade.

Happiness is supposed to make us better workers

Suponse que a felicidade nos fai mellores traballadores,

and parents and partners;

pais e compañeiros;

it's supposed to make us live longer.

e suponse que nos fai vivir máis.

In the 16th century,

No século XVI,

sadness was thought to do most of those things.

pensábase que era a tristeza a que facía todo isto.

It's even possible to read self-help books from that period

Incluso se poden ler libros de autoaxuda daquel período

which try to encourage sadness in readers

que tratan de inducir tristeza no lector

by giving them lists of reasons to be disappointed.

a través da presentación de listas de razóns para estar triste.

(Laughter)

(Risas)

These self-help authors thought you could cultivate sadness as a skill,

Os seus autores pensaban que a tristeza se podía cultivar como unha habilidade,

since being expert in it would make you more resilient

cuxo dominio facía a un máis resiliente

when something bad did happen to you, as invariably it would.

diante dun suceso negativo, como de feito acontecía.

I think we could learn from this today.

Creo que podemos aprender disto a día de hoxe.

Feel sad today, and you might feel impatient, even a little ashamed.

Estade tristes hoxe e sentirédesvos ansiosos e ata un pouco avergoñados.

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

Sentídevos tristes no século XVI e talvez poidades fachendear un pouco.

Of course, our emotions don't just change across time,

As nosas emocións non só mudan ao longo do tempo,

they also change from place to place.

senón tamén dun lugar a outro.

The Baining people of Papua New Guinea speak of "awumbuk,"

O pobo Baining the Papúa Nova Guinea fala de "awumbuk",

a feeling of lethargy that descends when a houseguest finally leaves.

un sentimento de modorra que sobrevén cando marcha un hóspede.

(Laughter)

(Risas)

Now, you or I might feel relief,

Pode que vostedes ou eu nos sintamos aliviados,

but in Baining culture,

mais na cultura dos Baining,

departing guests are thought to shed a sort of heaviness

pénsase que os hóspedes deixan ao marchar unha sorte de carga

so they can travel more easily,

para así poder viaxar máis lixeiros,

and this heaviness infects the air and causes this awumbuk.

e que esta carga invade o aire e causa o chamado "awumbuk".

And so what they do is leave a bowl of water out overnight

Así que o que fan e deixar un cunco de auga fóra pola noite

to absorb this air,

para absorber este aire,

and then very early the next morning, they wake up and have a ceremony

e erguerse cedo pola mañá para celebrar unha cerimonia

and throw the water away.

e tirar a auga.

Now, here's a good example

Este é un bo exemplo de como

of spiritual practices and geographical realities combining

a sinerxía entre prácticas espirituais e realidades xeográficas

to bring a distinct emotion into life

dá lugar a unha emoción diferenciada

and make it disappear again.

e a fai desaparecer de novo.

One of my favorite emotions is a Japanese word, "amae."

Unha das miñas emocións favoritas é a designada pola palabra xaponesa "amae".

Amae is a very common word in Japan,

Trátase dunha palabra moi común no Xapón

but it is actually quite hard to translate.

realmente difícil de traducir.

It means something like the pleasure that you get

Refírese ao pracer que un experimenta

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

cando pode facer recaer temporalmente a responsabilidade sobre a súa propia vida

to someone else.

noutra persoa.

(Laughter)

(Risas)

Now, anthropologists suggest

Agora ben, os antropólogos suxiren

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

que a razón de que esta realidade fose nomeada e enaltecida no Xapón

in Japan

is because of that country's traditionally collectivist culture,

é a cultura tradicionalmente colectivista deste país;

whereas the feeling of dependency

en contraste co sentimento de dependencia

may be more fraught amongst English speakers,

máis saliente entre os angloparlantes,

who have learned to value self-sufficiency and individualism.

que aprendemos a valorar a autosuficiencia e o individualismo.

This might be a little simplistic,

Este discurso pode soar un pouco simplista,

but it is tantalizing.

pero resulta sedutor.

What might our emotional languages tell us not just about what we feel,

Que nos din as nosas linguaxes emocionais, non só sobre o que sentimos

but about what we value most?

senón tamen sobre que valoramos máis?

Most people who tell us to pay attention to our well-being

Moita xente que fala de atender ao noso benestar

talk of the importance of naming our emotions.

fala tamén da importancia de poñerlles nome ás nosas emocións.

But these names aren't neutral labels.

Pero estes nomes non son etiquetas neutras.

They are freighted with our culture's values and expectations,

Teñen unha carga cultural, de valores e expectativas,

and they transmit ideas about who we think we are.

e transmiten ideas acerca do noso autoconcepto.

Learning new and unusual words for emotions will help attune us

Aprender novas e infrecuentes palabras para designar emocións axudaranos

to the more finely grained aspects of our inner lives.

a sintonizar cos aspectos máis moleculares da nosa vida íntima.

But more than this, I think these words are worth caring about,

Mais, alén diso, penso que paga a pena darlles importancia

because they remind us how powerful the connection is

porque nos lembran o potente que é a conexión

between what we think

entre o que pensamos

and how we end up feeling.

e o que acabamos sentindo.

True emotional intelligence requires that we understand

Unha intelixencia emocional real esixe que entendamos

the social, the political, the cultural forces

as forzas sociais, políticas e culturais

that have shaped what we've come to believe about our emotions

que moldearon o que sentimos sobre as nosas emocións

and understand how happiness or hatred or love or anger

e que entendamos como a ledicia, o odio, o amor ou a ira

might still be changing now.

poderían seguir en proceso de transformación agora.

Because if we want to measure our emotions

Por que se queremos medir as nosas emocións

and teach them in our schools

e ensinalas nas nosas escolas

and listen as our politicians tell us how important they are,

e escoitar como os políticos nos falan do importantes que son,

then it is a good idea that we understand

entón é unha boa idea que comprendamos

where the assumptions we have about them

de onde veñen os supostos

have come from,

que facemos sobre elas

and whether they still truly speak to us now.

e se seguen vixentes agora realmente.

I want to end with an emotion I often feel

Rematarei cunha emoción que adoito sentir

when I'm working as a historian.

no meu traballo como historiadora.

It's a French word, "dépaysement."

Trátase dunha palabra francesa: "dépaysement"

It evokes the giddy disorientation that you feel in an unfamiliar place.

Refírese á sensación de desnortamento que un sente nun lugar descoñecido.

One of my favorite parts of being a historian

Algo que adoro de ser historiadora

is when something I've completely taken for granted,

é que algo que xa dera por feito,

some very familiar part of my life,

unha parte da miña vida que me é moi familiar

is suddenly made strange again.

de súpeto se volva estraña de novo.

Dépaysement is unsettling,

Sentir "dépaysement" é desacougante

but it's exciting, too.

pero tamén emocionante.

And I hope you might be having just a little glimpse of it right now.

E oxalá esteades sentindo un chisco del agora mesmo.

Thank you.

Grazas.

(Applause)

(Aplausos)