評論
打印
Perhaps sadness helped generate the unity we needed to survive,
也許，悲傷可以產生我們生存所需的集體感，
but many have wondered whether the suffering felt by others is anything like the suffering we experience ourselves.
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。
The poet Emily Dickinson wrote, "I measure every Grief I meet With narrow, probing Eyes
詩人Emily Dickinson寫道，“我瞇著眼視察每個我所遇見的悲痛
I wonder if it weighs like Mine - Or has an Easier size."
心想它是否和我的一樣重-或者更容易面對一些。”
And in the 20th century, medical anthropologists, like Arthur Kleinman,
在20世紀，像Arthur Kleinman這樣的人類醫學家
gathered evidence from the way people talk about pain to suggest that emotions aren't universal at all,
收集了人們闡述自己悲傷的方式作為證據來證明感情其實根本不是普遍的
and that culture, particularly the way we use language, can influence how we feel.
而且文化，尤其是我們使用語言的方式都會影響到我們所感所受。
When we talk about heartbreak, the feeling of brokenness becomes part of our experience,
當我們說到心碎時，破碎的感覺就變成了我們體驗的一部分，
where as in a culture that talks about a bruised heart,
但是當另一個文化說起淤血的心時，
there actually seems to be a different subjective experience.
這其實好像又有另外一種主觀的體驗。
Some contemporary thinkers aren't interested in sadness' subjectivity versus universality,
有些當代思想家們對悲傷的主觀性和普遍性的比較不是很感興趣，
and would rather use technology to eliminate suffering in all its forms.
而且他們會更愿意用科技去消除各種形態的痛苦。
David Pearce has suggested that genetic engineering and other contemporary processes
David Pearce覺得，基因工程和其它當代的科學手段
cannot only alter the way humans experience emotional and physical pain,
不應該只改變人們歷經精神上和身體上的傷痛，
but that world ecosystems ought to be redesigned so that animals don't suffer in the wild.
而應把世界的生態系統都重新設計一遍，那樣野生動物也不會受苦難。
He calls his project "paradise engineering."
他把他的項目叫做“天堂工程”。
But is there something sad about a world without sadness?
但一個沒有悲傷的世界不是有點令人傷感嗎？
Our cavemen ancestors and favorite poets might not want any part of such a paradise.
我們的山頂洞人始祖們和最受人喜愛的詩人可不會想在這樣的一個天堂里。
In fact, the only things about sadness that seem universally agreed upon are that it has been felt by most people throughout time,
其實，關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，
and that for thousands of years, one of the best ways we have to deal with this difficult emotion is to articulate it,
而且幾千年來人們面對艱難的感情時最好的方式就是把它說出來，
to try to express what feels inexpressable.
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.
用Emily Dickinson的話說，“希望是有翅膀的東西-在靈魂里窺視。
And sings the tune without the words - And never stops - at all"
它歌唱著沒有文字的旋律，而且永不停息。”
