Metaphor lives a secret life all around us. We utter about six metaphors a minute. Metaphorical thinking is essential to how we understand ourselves and others, how we communicate, learn, discover and invent. But metaphor is a way of thought before it is a way with words.
譬喻隱密存在於我們生活周遭 我們每分鐘大約會說六個譬喻 譬喻式的思考 對於了解自我和別人 對於如何溝通、學習、發現 和發明都很重要 但譬喻是一種思考的方式再轉化爲文字
Now, to assist me in explaining this, I've enlisted the help of one of our greatest philosophers, the reigning king of the metaphorians, a man whose contributions to the field are so great that he himself has become a metaphor. I am, of course, referring to none other than Elvis Presley. (Laughter)
爲了説明這點 我找來一位偉大的哲學家協助 他是譬喻領域的國王 他對譬喻的貢獻之大 使得他自己 也成為一個譬喻 我指的,當然,不作他人想 是貓王艾維斯·普利斯萊 (笑聲)
Now, "All Shook Up" is a great love song. It's also a great example of how whenever we deal with anything abstract -- ideas, emotions, feelings, concepts, thoughts -- we inevitably resort to metaphor. In "All Shook Up," a touch is not a touch, but a chill. Lips are not lips, but volcanoes. She is not she, but a buttercup. And love is not love, but being all shook up.
神魂顛倒(按:也作”上下搖動“解)“是一首經典情歌 同時也是一個相當好的例子 當我們要描述抽象的事物 想法、情緒、感覺、概念、思想 無可避免地我們會用到譬喻 在”神魂顛倒“裏,觸摸不是觸摸,而是一陣冷顫 嘴唇不是嘴唇,而是火山 她不是她,而是金鳳花 愛也不是愛, 而是上下搖動,神魂顛倒
In this, Elvis is following Aristotle's classic definition of metaphor as the process of giving the thing a name that belongs to something else. This is the mathematics of metaphor. And fortunately it's very simple. X equals Y. (Laughter) This formula works wherever metaphor is present.
在這裡,貓王遵循亞里斯多德給譬喻下的經典定義 也就是“ 給予一件事物 另一件事物名稱”的程序 這是譬喻的數學公式 而很幸運地這很簡單 X等於Y (笑聲) 當譬喻出現時這個公式就會成立
Elvis uses it, but so does Shakespeare in this famous line from "Romeo and Juliet:" Juliet is the sun. Now, here, Shakespeare gives the thing, Juliet, a name that belongs to something else, the sun. But whenever we give a thing a name that belongs to something else, we give it a whole network of analogies too. We mix and match what we know about the metaphor's source, in this case the sun, with what we know about its target, Juliet. And metaphor gives us a much more vivid understanding of Juliet than if Shakespeare had literally described what she looks like.
“羅密歐與茱麗葉”裏有名的句子: 在他“羅密歐與茱麗葉”裏有名的句子: 茱麗葉是太陽 在這裡,莎士比亞給予茱麗葉 另一個事物的名稱,也就是“太陽” 但是一旦我們給予一件事物另一件事的名稱 我們同時也建立了完整的類比關係網 在這個例子裡 我們將譬喻來源“太陽” 與譬喻對象“茱麗葉”加以混合重組 譬喻讓我們對茱麗葉有更清晰的理解 這要比莎士比亞具體地描述她更為生動
So, how do we make and understand metaphors? This might look familiar. The first step is pattern recognition. Look at this image. What do you see? Three wayward Pac-Men, and three pointy brackets are actually present. What we see, however, are two overlapping triangles. Metaphor is not just the detection of patterns; it is the creation of patterns. Second step, conceptual synesthesia.
所以,我們如何產生和理解這些譬喻呢? 這看起來應該不陌生 第一步是圖形模式的識別 這張圖,你看到了什麽? 三個難搞的小精靈 和三個尖角同時出現 事實上我們看到的 是兩個疊在一起的三角形 譬喻不只是圖形模式的察覺 譬喻也是圖形模式的創造 第二步,感官的牽連感覺(聯覺)
Now, synesthesia is the experience of a stimulus in once sense organ in another sense organ as well, such as colored hearing. People with colored hearing actually see colors when they hear the sounds of words or letters. We all have synesthetic abilities. This is the Bouba/Kiki test. What you have to do is identify which of these shapes is called Bouba, and which is called Kiki. (Laughter)
所謂牽連感覺, 是指對某一感官的刺激 也對其它的感官產生作用 比如説色彩聽覺 有色彩聽覺的人 當他們聽到聲音時也會看到顔色 他們聽到的字或字母是有顔色的 我們都有牽連感覺的能力 接下來這是Bouba/Kiki測試 你要做的是去決定這兩個圖形 哪一個叫Bouba,哪一個叫Kiki (笑聲)
If you are like 98 percent of other people, you will identify the round, amoeboid shape as Bouba, and the sharp, spiky one as Kiki. Can we do a quick show of hands? Does that correspond? Okay, I think 99.9 would about cover it. Why do we do that? Because we instinctively find, or create, a pattern between the round shape and the round sound of Bouba, and the spiky shape and the spiky sound of Kiki.
你如果跟其他98%的人一樣 那麽你會叫這個圓圓的,像變形蟲的圖形Bouba 叫這個尖尖的星狀的Kiki 大家擧個手讓我們看一看吧 是不是這樣啊? OK,我想99.9%的人都是如此 為什麽我們這樣做? 因爲我們本能地會去找到或連結 圓形圖形和 圓滑聲音Bouba之間的關聯模式 還有尖型圖形和尖銳聲音Kiki的關聯模式
And many of the metaphors we use everyday are synesthetic. Silence is sweet. Neckties are loud. Sexually attractive people are hot. Sexually unattractive people leave us cold. Metaphor creates a kind of conceptual synesthesia, in which we understand one concept in the context of another.
在日常生活中我們所用的譬喻很多是牽連感覺的: 寂靜是甜美的 領帶是吵雜的 性感的人是火辣辣的 不性感的人讓我們覺得冷冰冰的 譬喻會產生類似的感官牽連感覺 從另一種語意的情境中 來理解一個概念
Third step is cognitive dissonance. This is the Stroop test. What you need to do here is identify as quickly as possible the color of the ink in which these words are printed. You can take the test now. If you're like most people, you will experience a moment of cognitive dissonance when the name of the color is printed in a differently colored ink. The test shows that we cannot ignore the literal meaning of words even when the literal meaning gives the wrong answer.
第三步是認知的不協調 這是Stroop測試 你要做的是 在最短的時間内辨別出 這些字體的顔色 你可以開始做測試 你如果跟一般人一樣 那麽你將會有認知的不協調 當顔色的名稱 是用不同的顔色列印出來時 這個測試證明了我們無法忽視字面上的意義 即使字面上的意義是不正確的
Stroop tests have been done with metaphor as well. The participants had to identify, as quickly as possible, the literally false sentences. They took longer to reject metaphors as false than they did to reject literally false sentences. Why? Because we cannot ignore the metaphorical meaning of words either.
Stroop測試也用比喻作過 測試者被要求在最短的時間裏辨認出 字面上錯誤的句子 結果他們要花較多的時間去辨認譬喻上的錯誤 花較少的時間去辨認字面上的錯誤 爲什麽呢?因爲我們無法忽視 譬喻上的意義
One of the sentences was, "Some jobs are jails." Now, unless you're a prison guard, the sentence "Some jobs are jails" is literally false. Sadly, it's metaphorically true. And the metaphorical truth interferes with our ability to identify it as literally false. Metaphor matters because it's around us every day, all the time. Metaphor matters because it creates expectations.
一個例子是“某些工作是監獄” 除非你在監獄裏工作 不然這樣的句子在字面上的意義是錯的 可是,在譬喻上來說卻是對的 所以譬喻上的真實性會干擾 我們對字面上意義的判斷能力 譬喻很重要 因爲每一天,它無所不在 譬喻很重要,因爲它使你產生期待
Pay careful attention the next time you read the financial news. Agent metaphors describe price movements as the deliberate action of a living thing, as in, "The NASDAQ climbed higher." Object metaphors describe price movements as non-living things, as in, "The Dow fell like a brick."
下次當你讀財政新聞時留意 擬人化的譬喻 將價格的波動譬喻成生物的動作 譬如說,”NASDAQ指數又向上爬升“ 擬物化的譬喻 將價格的波動譬喻成東西 像“道瓊指數像磚塊直直落”
Researchers asked a group of people to read a clutch of market commentaries, and then predict the next day's price trend. Those exposed to agent metaphors had higher expectations that price trends would continue. And they had those expectations because agent metaphors imply the deliberate action of a living thing pursuing a goal. If, for example, house prices are routinely described as climbing and climbing, higher and higher, people might naturally assume that that rise is unstoppable. They may feel confident, say, in taking out mortgages they really can't afford. That's a hypothetical example of course. But this is how metaphor misleads.
研究人員請一群人 讀過一些市場的評論以後 去預測隔天的股價 是因爲擬人化的譬喻暗示 大多覺得未來股價會繼續上揚 他們之所以會這麽覺得 是因爲擬人化的譬喻暗示了 生物追求一個目標的行動 假如說,房子的價格 總是被描述成“往上、再往上爬” 人們會很自然地假設 房價的上揚是停不下來的 他們便有可能會去 申請他們實際上負擔不起的貸款 這當然是一個假設性的例子 但這説明了比喻如何誤導我們
Metaphor also matters because it influences decisions by activating analogies. A group of students was told that a small democratic country had been invaded and had asked the U.S. for help. And they had to make a decision. What should they do? Intervene, appeal to the U.N., or do nothing? They were each then given one of three descriptions of this hypothetical crisis. Each of which was designed to trigger a different historical analogy: World War II, Vietnam, and the third was historically neutral.
譬喻之所以重要,因爲它也會激發類比機制 而影響我們的決策 一群學生被告知說 有個民主小國被侵略並尋求美國的幫助 他們必須做一個決定 接下來該怎麽做? 介入干涉,向聯合國申訴,或者什麽也不做? 這群學生被分別告知下列 三個假設性危機的敍述之一 而每一個假設性危機的敍述 暗示著歷史上不同的類比事件: 二次世界大戰、越南 第三個則是中立的事件
Those exposed to the World War II scenario made more interventionist recommendations than the others. Just as we cannot ignore the literal meaning of words, we cannot ignore the analogies that are triggered by metaphor. Metaphor matters because it opens the door to discovery. Whenever we solve a problem, or make a discovery, we compare what we know with what we don't know. And the only way to find out about the latter is to investigate the ways it might be like the former.
被告知二次世界大戰情節的 比起其它學生 更會建議採取干涉的手段 正如我們不能對字面上的意義視而不見 我們也不能忽視 譬喻激發的類比機制 譬喻很重要因爲 當我們替問題找解答或發現新事物時 我們總是把我們所已知的和未知的做比較 而要更進一步了解未知的唯一方法 只有去研究未知和已知之間可能相似的地方
Einstein described his scientific method as combinatory play. He famously used thought experiments, which are essentially elaborate analogies, to come up with some of his greatest discoveries. By bringing together what we know and what we don't know through analogy, metaphorical thinking strikes the spark that ignites discovery.
愛因斯坦曾經描述他的科學方法為組合式的遊戲 他應用想像實驗是有個名的例子 基本上這樣的實驗要用到複雜的類比機制 而他也由此得到了一些他最有名的發現 透過類比機制 可以拉起已知和未知之間的關係 譬喻式的想法會激發火花 進一步點燃更多的發現
Now metaphor is ubiquitous, yet it's hidden. But you just have to look at the words around you and you'll find it. Ralph Waldo Emerson described language as "fossil poetry." But before it was fossil poetry language was fossil metaphor. And these fossils still breathe.
譬喻是無所不在的也是隱藏的 你只需要看看你周遭的文字 你就會看到它 名詩人艾默生把語言描述成 ”詩的化石“ 但在語言成爲詩的化石之前 它會先成爲比喻的化石 而這些化石到現在還會呼吸呢
Take the three most famous words in all of Western philosophy: "Cogito ergo sum." That's routinely translated as, "I think, therefore I am." But there is a better translation. The Latin word "cogito" is derived from the prefix "co," meaning "together," and the verb "agitare," meaning "to shake." So, the original meaning of "cogito" is to shake together. And the proper translation of "cogito ergo sum" is "I shake things up, therefore I am." (Laughter)
我們拿西方哲學裏最有名的三個字為例子 “Cogito ergo sum” 這一向被翻譯成“我思故我在” 但是有一個更好的翻譯 這個拉丁字"cogito" 可分成字首"co", 表示“一起” 動詞"agitare"的原意是“搖動” 所以"cogito"的原始意義是 ”一起搖動“ "cogito ergo sum"正確的翻譯應該是 “我把事物一起上下搖動,所以我存在” (笑聲)
Metaphor shakes things up, giving us everything from Shakespeare to scientific discovery in the process. The mind is a plastic snow dome, the most beautiful, most interesting, and most itself, when, as Elvis put it, it's all shook up. And metaphor keeps the mind shaking, rattling and rolling, long after Elvis has left the building. Thank you very much. (Applause)
比喻將不同的事物混”搖“在一起 帶給了我們莎士比亞,科學發現 我們的心靈是一個塑膠的雪花球 是最美,最有趣的 尤其當它,如貓王所說 被上下搖動(神魂顛倒)時。 譬喻使我們的心靈時時搖動 喋喋不休,上下起伏,即使貓王已退場很久了 謝謝各位 (掌聲)