評論
打印
I and my colleagues Art Aron and Lucy Brown and others,
我和阿爾特·阿倫、露西·布朗還有其他同事
have put 37 people who are madly in love
對37位處在戀愛不同階段的人的大腦
into a functional MRI brain scanner.
進行了核磁共振測試，
17 who were happily in love, 15 who had just been dumped,
其中17位正享受愛情帶來的幸福，而15位則剛剛被甩。
and we're just starting our third experiment:
我們剛剛開始第三項實驗：
studying people who report that they're still in love
研究那些在10到25年后
after 10 to 25 years of marriage.
仍然處在愛戀中的人們，
So, this is the short story of that research.
接下來是關于這項研究的一些介紹。
In the jungles of Guatemala, in Tikal, stands a temple.
在危地馬拉的叢林深處的提卡爾，矗立著一座神廟。
It was built by the grandest Sun King,
它由史上最顯貴的太陽王建造，
of the grandest city-state,
位于最壯麗的城邦，
of the grandest civilization of the Americas, the Mayas.
代表著美洲最偉大的古文明——瑪雅。
His name was Jasaw Chan K'awiil.
這位君王，名曰Jasaw Chan K'awiil，
He stood over six feet tall.
他體型魁梧，
He lived into his 80s,
并活到了八十余歲，
and he was buried beneath this monument in 720 AD.
在公元720葬于提卡爾神廟。
And Mayan inscriptions proclaim
按照瑪雅碑文的說法，
that he was deeply in love with his wife.
他深愛著他的妻子。
So, he built a temple in her honor, facing his.
他為妻子修建了一座神廟，正對著提卡爾神廟。
And every spring and autumn, exactly at the equinox,
每到春分或秋分，
the sun rises behind his temple,
太陽在提卡爾神廟后升起，
and perfectly bathes her temple with his shadow.
而他妻子的神廟便浸浴在拖長的影子中。
And as the sun sets behind her temple in the afternoon,
到了下午落日之時，
it perfectly bathes his temple with her shadow.
他妻子的神廟的影子也會完全遮罩在提卡爾神廟上。
After 1,300 years, these two lovers
直到1300年后的今天，
still touch and kiss from their tomb.
這對戀人的陵墓依舊互相擁抱、親吻。
Around the world, people love.
世界各地的人都有不同的愛情。
They sing for love, they dance for love,
人們為愛情歌唱，人們因愛情起舞，
they compose poems and stories about love.
人們通過詩賦和故事來抒發愛情。
They tell myths and legends about love.
人們講述關于愛情的神話和傳說。
They pine for love, they live for love,
人們渴望愛情，因愛而生，
they kill for love, and they die for love.
人們為愛著迷，甚至為愛而死。
As Walt Whitman once said,
沃爾特·惠特曼曾說過：
he said, "Oh, I would stake all for you."
“我愿意為你賭上我的一切！”
Anthropologists have found evidence of romantic love in 170 societies.
人類學家在170個社會中發現了愛情存在的證據。
They've never found a society that did not have it.
愛情普遍地存在于每一個人類社會。
But love isn't always a happy experience.
但愛情并不總是愉快的經歷。
In one study of college students,
在一項針對大學生的調查中，
they asked a lot of questions about love,
他們提出了很多關于愛情的問題，
but the two that stood out to me the most were,
其中的兩個特別讓我印象深刻，
"Have you ever been rejected by somebody who you really loved?"
一個是“你曾經被你真心愛著的人拒絕過嗎？”
And the second question was,
而另一個則是
"Have you ever dumped somebody who really loved you?"
“你曾經拒絕過真心愛著你的人嗎？”
And almost 95 percent of both men and women said yes to both.
對于這兩個問題，有95%的人作出了肯定的答復。
Almost nobody gets out of love alive.
要活著走出愛情幾乎是不可能的。
So, before I start telling you about the brain,
那么，在開始講述關于大腦的事情前，
I want to read for you
我要讀一段
what I think is the most powerful love poem on Earth.
在我看來最富深情的情詩。
There's other love poems that are, of course, just as good,
當然，很多情詩都很不錯，
but I don't think this one can be surpassed.
但我認為它們都無法超越這首。
It was told by an anonymous Kwakiutl Indian of southern Alaska
在1896年的南阿拉斯加，一位不知名的夸扣特爾印第安人
to a missionary in 1896, and here it is.
把它講述給了一名傳教士。
I've never had the opportunity to say it before.
這是我第一次當眾讀它。
"Fire runs through my body with the pain of loving you.
“愛你之痛如熊熊烈焰穿透我的身體；
Pain runs through my body with the fires of my love for you.
對你如火一般的熱戀讓疼痛貫穿我的身體。
Pain like a boil about to burst with my love for you,
痛楚如沸水，飽含我對你的愛，
consumed by fire with my love for you.
愛的火焰將其蒸發殆盡。
I remember what you said to me.
我仍記得你對我說的話，
I am thinking of your love for me.
我想著你對我的愛，
I am torn by your love for me.
它將我的軀體撕裂。
Pain and more pain --
疼痛，更多的疼痛，
where are you going with my love?
你要把我的愛帶至何處？
I am told you will go from here.
你對我說，你將從這里出發；
I am told you will leave me here.
你對我說，你將在這兒把我遺棄。
My body is numb with grief.
我因此悲痛，因此失去知覺。
Remember what I said, my love.
帶上我的只言片語，我的愛人！
Goodbye, my love, goodbye."
再見，吾愛，再見！
Emily Dickinson once wrote,
艾米莉·狄金森曾寫道，
"Parting is all we need to know of hell."
“人因離別而品嘗地獄”
How many people have suffered
在人類百萬余年的進化過程中，
in all the millions of years of human evolution?
有多少人曾遭受這樣的痛苦？
How many people around the world
而此時此刻，
are dancing with elation at this very minute?
世界各地又有多少人在盡情跳舞？
Romantic love is one of the most powerful sensations on Earth.
愛情是世上最有力的感情。
So, several years ago, I decided to look into the brain
所以多年之前，我決定研究
and study this madness.
大腦中的這種狂熱的情感。
Our first study of people who were happily in love
我們第一項對處在幸福愛戀中的人們的研究
has been widely publicized,
得到了很好地宣傳，
so I'm only going to say a very little about it.
因此我只簡短地介紹一下。
