評論
打印
How can we explain this universality?
我們如何解釋這一普世性呢？
The best answer lies in trying to reconstruct a Darwinian evolutionary history of our artistic and aesthetic tastes.
最佳答案存在于對我們藝術和審美品味的達爾文主義進化過程的重新構建的嘗試中。
We need to reverse-engineer our present artistic tastes and preferences
我們需要進行逆向組建我們當前的藝術品味和愛好，
and explain how they came to be engraved in our minds by the actions of both our prehistoric,
并解釋它們是如何被銘刻在我們思想中的，通過我們在史前，
largely pleistocene environments, where we became fully human, but also by the social situations in which we evolved.
很可能是在我們完全進化成人類的“更新世”環境中，以及在我們在進化過程中所處的社會環境中的活動。
This reverse engineering can also enlist help from the human record preserved in prehistory.
這種逆向重建能從史前的人類記錄中有所啟發。
I mean fossils, cave paintings and so forth.
我指的是化石、洞穴繪畫等等。
And it should take into account what we know of the aesthetic interests of isolated hunter-gatherer bands that survived into the 19th and the 20th centuries.
并且，應該考慮到生存到十九世紀和二十世紀的與世隔絕的狩獵族群的審美情趣。
Now, I personally have no doubt whatsoever that the experience of beauty,
我個人確信任何強烈而令人愉悅的“美”的體驗，
with its emotional intensity and pleasure, belongs to our evolved human psychology.
都屬于我們進化之后的人類心理的一部分。
The experience of beauty is one component in a whole series of Darwinian adaptations.
美的體驗是整個達爾文主義適應過程中的一個成份。
Beauty is an adaptive effect, which we extend and intensify in the creation and enjoyment of works of art and entertainment.
美是一種適應性效果，我們在藝術娛樂的創作與享受中將其延伸并強化。
As many of you will know, evolution operates by two main primary mechanisms.
正如大家可能知道的，進化有兩個主要的機制。
The first of these is natural selection -- that's random mutation and selective retention
第一個是自然選擇--這是中是隨機的基因突變和選擇性保留，
along with our basic anatomy and physiology -- the evolution of the pancreas or the eye or the fingernails.
與我們基本解剖學和生理學結構一起--如胰腺、眼睛或指甲的進化。
Natural selection also explains many basic revulsions, such as the horrid smell of rotting meat,
自然選擇也解釋了許多本能性的恐懼和反感，比如腐肉的可怕的氣味，
or fears, such as the fear of snakes or standing close to the edge of a cliff.
比如對蛇的懼怕，或站在懸崖邊緣的恐懼。
Natural selection also explains pleasures -- sexual pleasure, our liking for sweet, fat and proteins,
自然選擇也解釋了愉悅--性愉悅，對糖、脂肪和蛋白質的喜愛，
which in turn explains a lot of popular foods, from ripe fruits through chocolate malts and barbecued ribs.
這反過來解釋了許多廣受歡迎的食物，從成熟的果實到巧克力糖和烤排骨。
