A brief history of melancholy

憂郁簡(jiǎn)史

來(lái)源視頻

Sadness is part of the human experience,

but for centuries there has ?been vast disagreement

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

In its simplest terms,

sadness is often thought of

as the natural reaction ?to a difficult situation.

悲傷是人類必經(jīng)的感受

但幾個(gè)世紀(jì)以來(lái)，人們既沒(méi)有判斷出它到底是什么

也不知我們應(yīng)該以怎樣的態(tài)度去面對(duì)它

簡(jiǎn)單來(lái)說(shuō)

悲傷常被人們理解為

面對(duì)艱難處境時(shí)的自然反應(yīng)

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

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

you often respond by asking, "What happened?"

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

is a relatively new idea.

朋友搬走了或是寵物死了你都會(huì)感到悲傷

當(dāng)一個(gè)朋友說(shuō)“我好傷心”時(shí)

你經(jīng)常會(huì)問(wèn)他們“發(fā)生什么了？”

但你對(duì)于悲傷是由外界因素導(dǎo)致的假設(shè)

還是個(gè)比較新的想法

Ancient Greek doctors didn't view sadness that way.

They believed it was a dark fluid inside the body.

According to their humoral system,

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

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

Melancholia comes from melaina kole,

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

古希臘醫(yī)生可不是這么看待悲傷的

他們覺(jué)得悲傷是體內(nèi)一種深色的液體

根據(jù)他們創(chuàng)造的體液系統(tǒng)理論

人體和靈魂是由四種體液控制的

于是它們之間的平衡會(huì)直接影響到一個(gè)人的健康和性情

精神憂郁來(lái)自于一種叫Melaina Kole?的東西

也就是黑膽汁，一種被認(rèn)為會(huì)產(chǎn)生悲傷的體液

By changing your diet and through medical practices,

you could bring your humors into balance.

Even though we now know much more about the systems

that govern the human body,

these Greek ideas about sadness

resonate with current views,

not on the sadness we all occasionally feel,

but on clinical depression.

改善伙食和醫(yī)療手段

都可以有效地使你的體液處于平衡狀態(tài)

雖然現(xiàn)在我們對(duì)控制人類身體的系統(tǒng)

了解已經(jīng)很多了

這些古希臘人有關(guān)于悲傷的想法

還是可以和當(dāng)今的觀點(diǎn)產(chǎn)生共鳴

不僅僅是我們偶爾會(huì)感到的悲傷

也包括醫(yī)學(xué)上所說(shuō)的憂郁

Doctors believe that certain ?kinds of long-term,?unexplained emotional states are at least partially related to brain chemistry, the balance of various chemicals ?present inside the brain.

Like the Greek system,

changing the balance of these chemicals can deeply alter

how we respond to even extremely difficult circumstances.

醫(yī)生們認(rèn)為有些長(zhǎng)期無(wú)法解釋的感情狀態(tài)和大腦內(nèi)部各種化學(xué)物質(zhì)的平衡多少有些關(guān)系

像希臘的體液系統(tǒng)理論

改變這些物質(zhì)的平衡就可以甚至可以深刻地影響到

我們面對(duì)極端困難環(huán)境時(shí)的反應(yīng)

There's also a long tradition of attempting to discern

the value of sadness,

and in that discussion,

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

an inevitable part of life but an essential one.

If you've never felt melancholy,

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

長(zhǎng)久以來(lái)，我們不斷地嘗試去無(wú)視掉

悲傷的價(jià)值

但在以下的討論中

你會(huì)發(fā)現(xiàn)一個(gè)強(qiáng)有力的證據(jù)說(shuō)

悲傷不僅僅是生命中無(wú)法避免的一部分

而且還是不可或缺的一部分

如果你從來(lái)沒(méi)有感受過(guò)憂郁

那你已經(jīng)失去了一部分作為人類的意義

Many thinkers contend that melancholy is necessary in gaining wisdom.

Robert Burton, born in 1577,

spent his life studying the causes and experience of sadness.

In his masterpiece "The Anatomy of Melancholy,"

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

許多學(xué)者反映，長(zhǎng)智商的必要條件之一是憂郁

1577年出生的Robert Burton

貢獻(xiàn)了一生的時(shí)間研究悲傷的起因和過(guò)程

在他的著作The Anatomy of Melancholy中

他寫(xiě)道：“積累智慧的同時(shí)也會(huì)積累憂傷。”

The Romantic poets of ?the early 19th century

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

like beauty and joy.

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

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

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

Does sadness have value on a more basic, tangible,

maybe even evolutionary level?

19世紀(jì)初期的浪漫主義詩(shī)人們

相信憂郁可以使我們更很深刻地了解其他深沉的感受

比如說(shuō)美好和快樂(lè)。

要了解秋季黃葉滿地的憂傷

就是更完善地認(rèn)識(shí)可以帶來(lái)春花的生命周期。

但智慧和情商看起來(lái)像是更高層次的需求。

那悲傷在更基礎(chǔ)可觸，或甚至是進(jìn)化的層面

有沒(méi)有價(jià)值？

Scientists think that crying and feeling withdrawn

is what originally helped our ancestors secure social bonds

and helped them get the support they needed.

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

that could immediately bring people closer to the suffering person,

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

科學(xué)家認(rèn)為哭泣以及沉默寡言

是最初幫助我們祖先之間牢牢建立社會(huì)關(guān)系

并幫助他們尋求到他們所需要的支持的

和憤怒和暴力不同，悲傷是可以立馬喚起別人同情的

痛苦的表現(xiàn)，人與人之間距離一下子就近了

這樣，雙方都會(huì)得到幫助，更大的群體也會(huì)得以發(fā)展壯大

Perhaps sadness helped generate the unity we needed to survive,

but many have wondered whether the suffering felt by others

is anything like the suffering we experience ourselves.

The poet Emily Dickinson wrote,

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

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

也許，悲傷可以產(chǎn)生我們生存所需的集體感

但很多人都在想，別人所感受到的痛苦

和我們所感受到的是否一樣。

詩(shī)人Emily Dickinson寫(xiě)道，

“我瞇著眼視察每個(gè)我所遇見(jiàn)的悲痛-

心想它是否和我的一樣重-或者只是小如橡皮?！?/p>

And in the 20th century,

?

medical anthropologists, like Arthur Kleinman,

?

gathered evidence from the way people talk about pain

?

to suggest that emotions aren't universal at all,

?

and that culture, particularly the way we use language,

?

can influence how we feel.

在20世紀(jì)

?

像Arthur Kleinman這樣的人類醫(yī)學(xué)家

?

收集了人們闡述自己悲傷的方式作為證據(jù)

?

來(lái)證明感情其實(shí)根本不是普遍的

?

而且文化，尤其是我們使用語(yǔ)言的方式

?

都會(huì)影響到我們所感所受

When we talk about heartbreak,

?

the feeling of brokenness ?becomes part of our experience,

?

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

?

there actually seems to be a different subjective experience.

?

Some contemporary thinkers ?aren't interested

?

in sadness' subjectivity ?versus universality,

?

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

當(dāng)我們說(shuō)到心碎時(shí)

?

破碎的感覺(jué)就變成了我們體驗(yàn)的一部分

?

但是當(dāng)另一個(gè)文化說(shuō)起淤血的心時(shí)

?

這其實(shí)好像又有另外一種客觀的體驗(yàn)

?

有些當(dāng)代思想家們對(duì)悲傷的客觀性和普遍性不是很感興趣

?

而且他們會(huì)更愿意用科技去消除各種形態(tài)的痛苦

David Pearce has suggested that genetic engineering

?

and other contemporary processes

?

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

?

but that world ecosystems ?ought to be redesigned

?

so that animals don't suffer in the wild.

?

He calls his project ?"paradise engineering."

David Pearce覺(jué)得，基因工程

?

和其它當(dāng)代的科學(xué)手段

?

不應(yīng)該只改變?nèi)藗儦v經(jīng)精神上和身體上的傷痛

?

而應(yīng)把世界的生態(tài)系統(tǒng)都重新設(shè)計(jì)一遍

?

那樣野生動(dòng)物也不會(huì)受苦難

?

他把他的項(xiàng)目叫做“天堂工程”

But is there something sad about a world without sadness?

?

Our cavemen ancestors and favorite poets

?

might not want any part ?of such a paradise.

?

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

?

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

?

and that for thousands of years,

?

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

?

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

但一個(gè)沒(méi)有悲傷的世界不是有點(diǎn)令人傷感嗎？

?

我們的山頂洞人始祖?zhèn)兒妥钍苋讼矏?ài)的詩(shī)人

?

可不會(huì)想在這樣的一個(gè)天堂里

?

其實(shí)，關(guān)于悲傷唯一一些大家都同意的是

?

幾乎所有歷史上的人都曾感受過(guò)

?

而且?guī)浊陙?lái)

?

人們面對(duì)艱難的感情時(shí)最好的方式

?

就是把它說(shuō)出來(lái)，試著講述講不出的東西

In the words of Emily Dickinson,

?

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

?

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

用Emily Dickinson的話說(shuō)，

?

“’希望‘是有翅膀的東西-在靈魂里窺視

?

“它歌唱著沒(méi)有文字的旋律-而且永不停息-”