TED2010
Denis Dutton: A Darwinian theory of beauty
丹尼斯达顿解释达尔文主义的美的理论
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TED与动画师安德鲁帕克合作，描绘了丹尼斯达顿对“美”这一概念所持的激进的理论--艺术、音乐和其他”美“的事物，不仅仅只是“主观感受“，而是深深植根于人类天性与进化起源的核心部分。
Denis Dutton - Philosopher
Denis Dutton was a philosophy professor and the editor of Arts & Letters Daily. In his book The Art Instinct, he suggested that humans are hard-wired to seek beauty. Full bio
Denis Dutton was a philosophy professor and the editor of Arts & Letters Daily. In his book The Art Instinct, he suggested that humans are hard-wired to seek beauty. Full bio
Double-click the English transcript below to play the video.
00:15
Delighted to be here
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很高兴来到这里
00:18
and to talk to you about a subject dear to my heart,
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与大家探讨我至为关心的一个主题，
00:20
which is beauty.
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那就是”美“。
00:23
I do the philosophy of art, aesthetics,
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我研究艺术与审美哲学，
00:26
actually, for a living.
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事实上，这是我的工作。
00:28
I try to figure out intellectually,
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我想在理性，哲学，
00:30
philosophically, psychologically,
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以及心理学的层面上理解，
00:32
what the experience of beauty is,
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”美”的体验究竟是什么，
00:35
what sensibly can be said about it
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哪些感知是能被描述出来的
00:38
and how people go off the rails in trying to understand it.
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以及人们在尝试理解它的过程中犯了什么错误。
00:41
Now this is an extremely complicated subject,
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这是个很复杂的问题，
00:44
in part because the things that we call beautiful
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部分原因是因为我们认为“美”的事物
00:47
are so different.
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是如此的不同。
00:49
I mean just think of the sheer variety --
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想象下这高度的多元性
00:51
a baby's face,
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婴儿的脸蛋，
00:53
Berlioz's "Harold in Italy,"
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柏辽兹所作的“哈罗德在意大利”，
00:55
movies like "The Wizard of Oz"
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像“绿野仙踪”这样的影片，
00:57
or the plays of Chekhov,
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或是契诃夫的戏剧，
00:59
a central California landscape,
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加利福尼亚中部的风景，
01:01
a Hokusai view of Mt. Fuji,
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北斋眼中的富士山，
01:04
"Der Rosenkavalier,"
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“玫瑰骑士”，
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a stunning match-winning goal
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世界杯足球赛中的
01:08
in a World Cup soccer match,
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一场漂亮的决胜赛，
01:10
Van Gogh's "Starry Night,"
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梵高的“星空”，
01:12
a Jane Austen novel,
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一部简.奥斯丁的小说，
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Fred Astaire dancing across the screen.
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弗雷德·阿斯泰尔在舞台上起舞。
01:17
This brief list includes human beings,
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这一简单的列表中包含了人类自身，
01:20
natural landforms,
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自然景观，
01:22
works of art and skilled human actions.
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艺术作品和专业活动。
01:25
An account that explains the presence of beauty
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很难用一个解释
01:28
in everything on this list
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就说清楚所有这些事物
01:30
is not going to be easy.
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中所存在的‘美“。
01:32
I can, however, give you at least a taste
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然而，我能给大家体会一下
01:35
of what I regard
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我认为迄今为止
01:37
as the most powerful theory of beauty
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我们所有的最有力的
01:39
we yet have.
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关于’美‘的理论。
01:41
And we get it not from a philosopher of art,
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这一理论不是来自艺术哲学家，
01:43
not from a postmodern art theorist
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也不是来自后现代艺术理论家
01:45
or a bigwig art critic.
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或是有名的艺术评论家。
01:47
No, this theory
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不，这一理论来自
01:49
comes from an expert
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一位饲养藤壶、昆虫
01:51
on barnacles and worms and pigeon breeding,
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和鸽子的专家。
01:57
and you know who I mean:
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你们知道我说的是谁--
02:00
Charles Darwin.
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查尔斯·达尔文。
02:02
Of course, a lot of people think they already know
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当然，许多人认为他们已经知道了
02:05
the proper answer to the question,
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关于这个问题的正确答案，
02:08
"What is beauty?"
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什么是美？
02:11
It's in the eye of the beholder.
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美是观者的主观感受
02:13
It's whatever moves you personally.
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它是那些让你感动的东西。
02:15
Or, as some people,
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或者说，如一些人--
02:17
especially academics prefer,
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尤其是学院派的人--推崇的，
02:19
beauty is in the culturally conditioned
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美存在于处在文化环境中的
02:22
eye of the beholder.
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观者的眼中。
02:24
People agree that paintings or movies or music
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人们都同意绘画、电影或音乐
02:27
are beautiful
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是美妙的。
02:29
because their cultures determine a uniformity of aesthetic taste.
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这是因为他们的文化决定了统一的审美品味。
02:33
Taste for both natural beauty and for the arts
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对自然美景和对艺术作品的品味
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travel across cultures
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能轻而易举
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with great ease.
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跨越不同文化。
02:40
Beethoven is adored in Japan.
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贝多芬在日本收到推崇，
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Peruvians love Japanese woodblock prints.
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秘鲁人喜爱日本木版画，
02:45
Inca sculptures are regarded as treasures
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印加雕刻则被英国博物馆
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in British museums,
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视若珍宝,
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while Shakespeare is translated
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莎士比亚的著作被译成
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into every major language of the Earth.
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地球上各种主要语言。
02:54
Or just think about American jazz
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再想下美国爵士乐
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or American movies --
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或美国电影--
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they go everywhere.
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他们随处可见。
03:00
There are many differences among the arts,
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这些艺术之间有许多不同，
03:03
but there are also universal,
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但也包含着普世的，
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cross-cultural aesthetic pleasures
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跨越文化的审美愉悦
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and values.
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和审美价值。
03:09
How can we explain
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我们如何解释
03:12
this universality?
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这一普世性呢？
03:15
The best answer lies in trying to reconstruct
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最佳答案存在于对我们艺术和
03:17
a Darwinian evolutionary history
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审美品味的达尔文主义进化过程的
03:20
of our artistic and aesthetic tastes.
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重新构建的尝试中。
03:23
We need to reverse-engineer
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我们需要进行逆向组建
03:25
our present artistic tastes and preferences
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我们当前的艺术品味和爱好
03:28
and explain how they came
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并解释它们是如何
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to be engraved in our minds
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被铭刻在我们思想中的。
03:33
by the actions of both our prehistoric,
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通过我们在史前，
03:36
largely pleistocene environments,
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很可能是在我们完全进化成人类的
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where we became fully human,
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”更新世“环境中，
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but also by the social situations
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以及在我们在进化过程中所处的
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in which we evolved.
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社会环境中的活动。
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This reverse engineering
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这种逆向重建
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can also enlist help
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能从史前的
03:49
from the human record
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人类记录中
03:51
preserved in prehistory.
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有所启发。
03:53
I mean fossils, cave paintings and so forth.
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我指的是化石、洞穴绘画等等。
03:56
And it should take into account
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并且，应该考虑到
03:58
what we know of the aesthetic interests
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生存到十九世纪和二十世纪的
04:00
of isolated hunter-gatherer bands
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与世隔绝的狩猎族群
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that survived into the 19th and the 20th centuries.
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的审美情趣。
04:07
Now, I personally
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我个人
04:09
have no doubt whatsoever
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确信任何
04:11
that the experience of beauty,
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强烈而令人愉悦
04:13
with its emotional intensity and pleasure,
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的“美”的体验，
04:16
belongs to our evolved human psychology.
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都属于我们进化之后的人类心理的一部分。
04:20
The experience of beauty is one component
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美的体验是整个达尔文主义
04:23
in a whole series of Darwinian adaptations.
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适应过程中的一个成份。
04:27
Beauty is an adaptive effect,
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美是一种适应性效果，
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which we extend
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我们在艺术娱乐的
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and intensify
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创作与享受中
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in the creation and enjoyment
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将其延伸
04:35
of works of art and entertainment.
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并强化。
04:39
As many of you will know,
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正如大家可能知道的，
04:41
evolution operates by two main primary mechanisms.
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进化有两个主要的机制。
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The first of these is natural selection --
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第一个是自然选择--
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that's random mutation and selective retention --
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这是中是随机的基因突变和选择性保留--
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along with our basic anatomy and physiology --
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与我们基本解剖学和生理学结构一起--
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the evolution of the pancreas or the eye or the fingernails.
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如胰腺、眼睛或指甲的进化。
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Natural selection also explains
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自然选择也解释了
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many basic revulsions,
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许多本能性的恐惧和反感，
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such as the horrid smell of rotting meat,
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比如腐肉的可怕的气味，
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or fears, such as the fear of snakes
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比如对蛇的惧怕
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or standing close to the edge of a cliff.
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或站在悬崖边缘的恐惧。
05:09
Natural selection also explains pleasures --
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自然选择也解释了愉悦--
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sexual pleasure,
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性愉悦，
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our liking for sweet, fat and proteins,
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对糖、脂肪和蛋白质的喜爱，
05:17
which in turn explains a lot of popular foods,
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这反过来解释了许多广受欢迎的食物，
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from ripe fruits through chocolate malts
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从成熟的果实到巧克力糖
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and barbecued ribs.
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和烤排骨。
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The other great principle of evolution
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进化的另一大原则
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is sexual selection,
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是性选择，
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and it operates very differently.
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它运作的方式则大相径庭.
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The peacock's magnificent tail
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孔雀那华丽的尾巴
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is the most famous example of this.
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就是最著名的例子。
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It did not evolve for natural survival.
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这不是为了自然生存而进化出来的。
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In fact, it goes against natural survival.
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实际上，这与自然生存相违背。
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No, the peacock's tail
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不，孔雀的尾巴
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results from the mating choices
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是雌孔雀
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made by peahens.
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交配选择的结果。
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It's quite a familiar story.
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这是个大家耳熟能详的故事。
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It's women who actually push history forward.
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实际上是女性推动了历史前进。
05:56
Darwin himself, by the way,
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顺便说一句，达尔文本人
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had no doubts that the peacock's tail
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也毫不怀疑孔雀的尾巴
06:00
was beautiful in the eyes of the peahen.
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在雌孔雀眼中是美丽的。
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He actually used that word.
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他事实上用过“美”这个词。
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Now, keeping these ideas firmly in mind,
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现在，把这些牢记在心，
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we can say that the experience of beauty
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我们可以确定美的体验
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is one of the ways that evolution has
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是进化用来
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of arousing and sustaining
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激发和维持兴趣、
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interest or fascination,
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魅力甚至是
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even obsession,
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痴迷的方式之一，
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in order to encourage us
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是为了鼓励我们
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toward making the most adaptive decisions
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做出最有利于
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for survival and reproduction.
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生存和繁衍的决策。
06:29
Beauty is nature's way
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可以说
06:31
of acting at a distance,
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美是自然用来
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so to speak.
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间接运作的方式
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I mean, you can't expect to eat
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人们并不指望可以吃一个
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an adaptively beneficial landscape.
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利于适应性的风景。
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It would hardly do to eat your baby
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也不会想吃你的孩子
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or your lover.
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或你的爱人。
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So evolution's trick
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因此，进化的方式是
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is to make them beautiful,
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让他们看起来赞，
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to have them exert a kind of magnetism
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让他们散发出一种吸引力，
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to give you the pleasure of simply looking at them.
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让你仅仅是看着他们就觉得超爽的。
06:55
Consider briefly an important source of aesthetic pleasure,
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想一下简单且重要的审美愉悦的来源，
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the magnetic pull
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美丽风景的
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of beautiful landscapes.
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吸引力。
07:02
People in very different cultures
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全世界在完全不同的
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all over the world
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文化背景下的人们
07:06
tend to like a particular kind of landscape,
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都倾向于某种特定的风景，
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a landscape that just happens to be similar
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这种风景恰巧与我们进化而来的
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to the pleistocene savannas where we evolved.
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更新纪大草原相似。
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This landscape shows up today
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今天这类风景在
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on calendars, on postcards,
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日历中、明信片中、
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in the design of golf courses and public parks
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高尔夫球场设计和公共公园中
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and in gold-framed pictures
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还有挂在起居室中的
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that hang in living rooms
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镶金画框中找到。
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from New York to New Zealand.
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从纽约到新西兰都能看到。
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It's a kind of Hudson River school landscape
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这是一种有点像哈得逊河画派的风景画，
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featuring open spaces
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描绘了开阔的原野上
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of low grasses
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低低的草地
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interspersed with copses of trees.
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点缀着些许树木。
07:40
The trees, by the way, are often preferred
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顺便说一下，通常这些树开叉
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if they fork near the ground,
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离地面较低，
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that is to say, if they're trees you could scramble up
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也就是说，如果有紧急情况，
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if you were in a tight fix.
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你可以爬到这些树上。
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The landscape shows the presence
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风景中会在视野可见范围内能
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of water directly in view,
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直接看到水流，
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or evidence of water in a bluish distance,
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或是远处的黛青色暗示着水的存在，
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indications of animal or bird life
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指明有动物或鸟类生命的迹象
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as well as diverse greenery
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还有各种不同的绿色植物
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and finally -- get this --
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最后--还有这个--
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a path
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一条小径
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or a road,
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或是一条路，
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perhaps a riverbank or a shoreline,
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也许是河岸或是海岸，
08:13
that extends into the distance,
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延伸向远方，
08:16
almost inviting you to follow it.
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几乎就是在邀请你沿着它走下去。
08:20
This landscape type is regarded as beautiful,
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这种类型的风景大家一致公认是很漂亮的，
08:23
even by people in countries
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甚至生活在没有这种风景的人们
08:25
that don't have it.
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也是这样认为的。
08:27
The ideal savanna landscape
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理想的热带稀树大草原风景
08:29
is one of the clearest examples
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是最显著的例证之一，
08:31
where human beings everywhere
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在世界各地的人都能
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find beauty
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找到有相似的
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in similar visual experience.
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视觉体验的美。
08:37
But, someone might argue,
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但有人也许会争辩，
08:39
that's natural beauty.
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那是自然美。
08:41
How about artistic beauty?
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艺术的美又如何呢？
08:44
Isn't that exhaustively cultural?
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那难道不是纯粹的文化影响吗？
08:47
No, I don't think it is.
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不，我不这么认为。
08:49
And once again, I'd like to look back to prehistory
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再次，我们回到史前，
08:52
to say something about it.
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聊聊史前的一些事。
08:54
It is widely assumed
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普遍认为，
08:56
that the earliest human artworks
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最早的人类艺术品
08:58
are the stupendously skillful cave paintings
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是极富技巧的洞穴画，
09:01
that we all know from Lascaux
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我们都知道从拉斯科洞窟
09:03
and Chauvet.
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到萧韦洞窟。
09:06
Chauvet caves
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萧韦洞窟
09:08
are about 32,000 years old,
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大约有3万2千年的历史，
09:10
along with a few small, realistic sculptures
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其中还有同一时期的一些小的、写实的
09:13
of women and animals from the same period.
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妇女和动物的雕像。
09:20
But artistic and decorative skills
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但艺术和装饰技巧的存在
09:22
are actually much older than that.
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实际上要更早些。
09:26
Beautiful shell necklaces
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漂亮的贝壳项链，
09:28
that look like something you'd see at an arts and crafts fair,
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看起来就像是艺术品和手工艺品，
09:31
as well as ochre body paint,
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还有赭色的人体绘画，
09:33
have been found
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远在
09:35
from around 100,000 years ago.
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10万年前就存在了。
09:37
But the most intriguing prehistoric artifacts
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但最酷的史前人工制品
09:40
are older even than this.
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比这些还要早。
09:42
I have in mind
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我印象中
09:44
the so-called Acheulian hand axes.
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是被称为阿舍利手斧的手工制品。
09:48
The oldest stone tools are choppers
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最古老的石制工具是
09:51
from the Olduvai Gorge in East Africa.
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在东非的奥杜威峡谷发现的石斧。
09:53
They go back about two-and-a-half-million years.
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它的历史要追溯到两百五十万年前。
09:56
These crude tools
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这类粗糙的工具
09:58
were around for thousands of centuries,
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存在了数千个世纪，
10:01
until around 1.4 million years ago
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直到大约一百四十万年前，
10:04
when Homo erectus
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直立人
10:06
started shaping
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开始打磨
10:08
single, thin stone blades,
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单个的薄石刀片，
10:10
sometimes rounded ovals,
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有时是椭圆形的，
10:13
but often in what are to our eyes
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但通常，在我们眼中，
10:15
an arresting, symmetrical pointed leaf
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是醒目的对称的尖叶子形
10:18
or teardrop form.
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或泪滴形。
10:20
These Acheulian hand axes --
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这些阿舍利手斧--
10:22
they're named after St. Acheul in France,
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名称取自法国的圣阿舍尔，
10:24
where finds were made in 19th century --
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这些手斧是十九世纪在那儿发现的--
10:27
have been unearthed in their thousands,
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出土了数千件，
10:30
scattered across Asia, Europe and Africa,
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散布在亚洲、欧洲和非洲，
10:33
almost everywhere Homo erectus
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几乎遍布每一处直立人
10:36
and Homo ergaster roamed.
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或者匠人到过的地方。
10:39
Now, the sheer numbers of these hand axes
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这些手斧众多的数量
10:42
shows that they can't have been made
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表明它们不是用于
10:44
for butchering animals.
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屠宰动物。
10:46
And the plot really thickens when you realize
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更复杂的是当你考虑到，
10:49
that, unlike other pleistocene tools,
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不像其他更新世的工具，
10:52
the hand axes often exhibit
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在这些手斧
10:54
no evidence of wear
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精美脆弱的刀刃边缘
10:56
on their delicate blade edges.
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找不到任何磨损的痕迹。
10:58
And some, in any event, are too big
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而且它们中的一些，无论用在屠宰什么动物上，
11:00
to use for butchery.
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都太大了点。
11:03
Their symmetry, their attractive materials
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它们的对称性，和引人注意的材料
11:05
and, above all,
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还有，尤其是，
11:07
their meticulous workmanship
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它们那精细的做工
11:09
are simply quite beautiful
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对我们来说非常美丽，
11:12
to our eyes, even today.
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即使在今天也是如此。
11:15
So what were these ancient --
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因此这些古老的--
11:19
I mean, they're ancient, they're foreign,
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我是说，它们是古老的，异域的，
11:21
but they're at the same time
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但同时它们
11:23
somehow familiar.
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也是我们熟悉的。
11:25
What were these artifacts for?
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这些人工制品的用途是什么？
11:28
The best available answer
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已有的最佳答案是
11:30
is that they were literally
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它们就是
11:32
the earliest known works of art,
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已知最早的艺术品，
11:34
practical tools transformed
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从实用工具转变
11:36
into captivating aesthetic objects,
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成迷人的审美对象，
11:39
contemplated both for their elegant shape
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它们那优雅的形状
11:41
and their virtuoso craftsmanship.
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和精湛的工艺让人凝望深思。
11:45
Hand axes mark
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手斧标志了
11:47
an evolutionary advance in human history --
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人类历史上进化的进步--
11:49
tools fashioned to function
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从实用工具到审美对象
11:51
as what Darwinians call "fitness signals" --
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就好像达尔文主义者所说的适应性信号
11:54
that is to say, displays
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这就是说，它展示出了
11:56
that are performances
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类似孔雀尾巴
11:58
like the peacock's tail,
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的用途，
12:00
except that, unlike hair and feathers,
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只是与毛发和羽毛不同，
12:03
the hand axes are consciously
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手斧是有意识的
12:05
cleverly crafted.
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精巧制品。
12:07
Competently made hand axes
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制作精良的手斧
12:09
indicated desirable personal qualities --
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表明了富有魅力的个人品质--
12:13
intelligence, fine motor control,
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智力，精细的动作控制，
12:16
planning ability,
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规划能力，
12:18
conscientiousness
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责任心
12:20
and sometimes access to rare materials.
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有时还有能得到稀有材料的能力。
12:23
Over tens of thousands of generations,
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经过千万代的传承，
12:26
such skills increased the status
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这样的技巧提供了
12:28
of those who displayed them
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制作者的地位
12:30
and gained a reproductive advantage
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并比那些能力较差的人赢得了
12:32
over the less capable.
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更多的繁衍后代的优势。
12:34
You know, it's an old line,
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这是一句很古老的话了
12:36
but it has been shown to work --
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但是现在仍然能起作用--
12:38
"Why don't you come up to my cave, so I can show you my hand axes?"
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“让我们到我的洞里去，这样我就能给你看看我的手斧了。”
12:41
(Laughter)
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（笑声）
12:43
Except, of course, what's interesting about this
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当然，有趣的是，
12:46
is that we can't be sure how that idea was conveyed,
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我们无法确认这样的观点是如何传播的，
12:49
because the Homo erectus
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因为制作这些
12:51
that made these objects
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物品的直立人
12:54
did not have language.
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没有语言。
12:56
It's hard to grasp,
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这很难理解，
12:58
but it's an incredible fact.
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但这也是难以置信的事实。
13:01
This object was made
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这一物品是在语言出现之前的
13:03
by a hominid ancestor,
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5万年前至10万年前
13:06
Homo erectus or Homo ergaster,
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由原始人类祖先--
13:10
between 50,000 and 100,000 years
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直立人或匠人--
13:13
before language.
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制作出来的。
13:16
Stretching over a million years,
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延绵超过一百万年，
13:18
the hand axe tradition
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手斧传统
13:20
is the longest artistic tradition
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是人类和原始人历史上
13:23
in human and proto-human history.
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最长时间的艺术传统。£
13:26
By the end of the hand axe epic, Homo sapiens --
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在手斧世代结束的时候，智人--
13:29
as they were then called, finally --
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最终以此来称呼他们--
13:31
were doubtless finding new ways
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毫无疑问的找到了
13:33
to amuse and amaze each other
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相互娱乐的新方法，
13:36
by, who knows, telling jokes,
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谁知道呢，通过讲笑话，
13:38
storytelling, dancing, or hairstyling.
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讲故事、跳舞或美发。
13:41
Yes, hairstyling -- I insist on that.
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是的， 美发-- 我坚持这点。
13:44
For us moderns,
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对我们现代人来说，
13:46
virtuoso technique
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精湛的技术
13:48
is used to create imaginary worlds
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用于在小说和电影中
13:50
in fiction and in movies,
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创造想象中的世界，
13:52
to express intense emotions
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用音乐、绘画和舞蹈
13:54
with music, painting and dance.
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来表达强烈的情感。
13:57
But still,
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但尽管如此，
13:59
one fundamental trait
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这种古人的基本品质
14:01
of the ancestral personality persists
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保留在我们的
14:03
in our aesthetic cravings:
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审美渴望中：
14:06
the beauty we find
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我们在技巧性表现
14:08
in skilled performances.
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中发现的美。
14:10
From Lascaux to the Louvre
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从拉斯科洞窟到罗浮宫
14:12
to Carnegie Hall,
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再到卡耐基音乐厅，
14:14
human beings
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人类
14:16
have a permanent innate taste
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对艺术中的精湛技巧
14:18
for virtuoso displays in the arts.
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有种自发的永恒的欣赏。
14:22
We find beauty
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我们在绝世制作的
14:24
in something done well.
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事物中发现美。
14:28
So the next time you pass a jewelry shop window
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因此，下次你经过陈列
14:30
displaying a beautifully cut
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着切成泪滴形的
14:32
teardrop-shaped stone,
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漂亮宝石的珠宝店橱窗时，
14:34
don't be so sure
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不要太肯定
14:36
it's just your culture telling you
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这只是你所接收到的文化影响了你
14:38
that that sparkling jewel is beautiful.
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告诉你闪闪发光的珠宝是美丽的。
14:40
Your distant ancestors loved that shape
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你的祖先也很喜欢这形状，
14:43
and found beauty in the skill needed to make it,
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并在制作这一形状所需技能中发现了美，
14:46
even before
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这甚至发生在
14:48
they could put their love into words.
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在他们能把他们的爱付诸文字之前。
14:50
Is beauty in the eye of the beholder?
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美是存在于观者的眼中么？
14:53
No, it's deep in our minds.
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不，它深深的在我们的思想中。
14:56
It's a gift handed down from the intelligent skills
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它是一种天赋，来自于我们
14:59
and rich emotional lives
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远祖的智慧和
15:01
of our most ancient ancestors.
356
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丰富的情感生活。
15:04
Our powerful reaction to images,
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我们对图像、
15:06
to the expression of emotion in art,
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对艺术中情感的表达、
15:09
to the beauty of music, to the night sky,
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对音乐与夜空的美妙的
15:12
will be with us and our descendants
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强烈的反应将与我们同在，与我们的后代同在，
15:15
for as long as the human race exists.
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只要人类还存在着。
15:18
Thank you.
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谢谢大家。
15:20
(Applause)
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（掌声）
ABOUT THE SPEAKER
Denis Dutton - PhilosopherDenis Dutton was a philosophy professor and the editor of Arts & Letters Daily. In his book The Art Instinct, he suggested that humans are hard-wired to seek beauty.
Why you should listen
Why do humans take pleasure in making art? In his 2009 book The Art Instinct, philosopher Denis Dutton suggested that art is a need built into our systems, a complex and subtle evolutionary adaptation comparable to our facility for language. We humans evolved to love art because it helps us survive; for example, a well-expressed appreciation of art can -- even in modern times -- help us to find a mate. It’s a bold argument to make, bolstered by examples from the breadth of art history that Dutton kept at his fingertips.
Dutton taught philosophy at the University of Canterbury in New Zealand, and was the editor of Arts & Letters Daily, a three-column compendium of culture news from all over the web. (His own homepage is another storehouse of tidbits from his wide-ranging explorations in philosophy and culture.) He was on the advisory board of Cybereditions, a publisher specializing in ebooks and print-on-demand editions of nonfiction works. And he was an editor of Climate Debate Daily, a lively blog that takes a skeptical view of some climate-change arguments.
Dutton died from cancer in December 2010.
Denis Dutton | Speaker | TED.com