評論
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Metaphors in Speaking
言語中的暗喻
Good morning, everyone.
大家早上好。
Today we'll continue our discussion on the art of speaking, focusing on the use of metaphors in speaking.
今天我們將繼續討論說話的藝術，重點是言語中暗喻的使用。
Now, why do we need to talk about metaphors in speaking?
那么，為什么我們需要談論言語中的暗喻呢？
Well, according to research findings, we utter about six metaphors a minute.
根據研究結果，在我們的言談中，一分鐘大概會使用六次暗喻。
And metaphorical thinking is essential to how we understand ourselves and others, how we communicate, learn, discover and invent.
而暗喻思維對于我們如何理解自己和他人，以及我們如何交流、學習、發現和發明至關重要。
Actually, metaphor is a way of thought before it is a way with words.
實際上，暗喻更是一種思維方式，而不是一種用詞方式。
Now, to assist me in explaining this, I've enlisted the help of a man whose contributions to the field are so tremendous that he himself has become a metaphor.
為了幫助我解釋這一點，我得到了一個人的幫助，他對這一領域的貢獻如此巨大，以至于他自己也成了一個暗喻。
I am, of course, referring to none other than Elvis Presley.
當然，我指的不是別人，正是埃維斯·普里斯利（貓王）。
His All Shook Up is such a touching love song.
他的All Shook Up是一首非常感人的情歌。
It's also an example of how we inevitably resort to metaphor when we deal with anything abstract, like ideas, emotions, feelings, concepts, thoughts.
這也是一個例子，說明當我們處理任何抽象的事情時，比如想法、情感、感覺、概念、思想，總會不可避免地求助于暗喻。
In this, Elvis is following Aristotle's classic definition of metaphor, that is, metaphor is the process of giving the thing a name that belongs to something else.
在這一點上，埃維斯遵循了亞里士多德對暗喻的經典定義，即暗喻是賦予事物一個屬于其他事物的名稱的過程。
And this is the mathematics of metaphor.
這就是暗喻的數學原理。
X equals Y. It's very simple, isn't it?
X等同于Y。這很簡單，對吧？
This formula works wherever metaphor is present.
只要有暗喻，這個等式就能成立。
Elvis uses metaphor, and so does Shakespeare in this famous line from Romeo and Juliet, that is, "Juliet is the sun".
埃維斯使用了暗喻，莎士比亞在《羅密歐與朱麗葉》中的這句名言也使用了暗喻，即“朱麗葉是太陽”。
Now, here, Shakespeare gives the thing, Juliet, a name that belongs to something else, the sun.
在這句話中，莎士比亞將原本屬于“太陽”的名字給了朱麗葉。
In fact, whenever we give a thing a name that belongs to something else, we give it a whole network of analogies too.
事實上，每當我們給一樣東西起一個屬于其他東西的名字，同時也賦予了它一個完整的類比網絡。
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.
我們把對喻體的了解與本體混合、匹配到了一起，在這個例子中，就是把對太陽的了解與對朱麗葉的了解匹配在一起。
And metaphor gives us a much more vivid understanding of Juliet than if Shakespeare had literally described just what she looks like.
與莎士比亞直接用文字去描寫朱麗葉是什么樣子相比，暗喻能讓我們對她擁有更生動的了解。
So, how do we make and interpret metaphors?
那么，我們要如何制造和解釋暗喻呢？
This might look familiar.
這可能看起來很眼熟。
The first step is pattern recognition.
第一步是模式識別。
Metaphor is not just the detection of patterns; instead, it is the creation of patterns.
暗喻不僅僅是對模式的檢測；相反，它是模式的創造。
And the second step is conceptual synesthesia.
第二步是概念通感。
And what is synesthesia?
什么是通感？
It is the experience of a stimulus received by one sense organ in another sense organ as well, for example like colored hearing.
它是一個感官接收到另一個感官的刺激的體驗，例如色聽。
People with colored hearing actually see colors when they hear the sounds of words or letters.
色聽的人會在聽到單詞或字母的聲音時，看到顏色。
We all have synesthetic abilities.
我們都有通感能力。
And many of the metaphors we use every day are synesthetic.
我們每天使用的許多暗喻都是通感的。
For instance, silence is sweet; neckties are loud.
例如，甜蜜的沉默；聒噪的領帶。
So metaphor creates a kind of conceptual synesthesia, in which we understand one concept in the context of another.
因此，暗喻創造了一種概念通感，在這種通感中，我們會在一個概念的情境下理解另一個概念。
Let's move on to the third step, that is, cognitive dissonance.
我們再來看看第三步，也就是認知失調。
There is a test called the Stroop test.
有一種測試叫做Stroop測試。
What you need to do is, identify as quickly as possible the color of the ink in which words of color are printed.
您需要做的是，盡快識別打印顏色詞的墨水的顏色。
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, for example, the word"red" is printed in blue ink.
如果你和大多數人一樣，當某種顏色用與它的含義不同的顏色的墨水打印時，你會體驗到認知失調，例如，“red”這個詞是用藍色墨水打印的。
Then you may wonder what the test intends to tell us.
你可能會好奇，這項測試想要告訴我們什么。
Well, the test shows that we cannot overlook the literal meaning of words even when the literal meaning gives the wrong answer.
測試表明，我們無法忽視單詞的字面意思，即使字面意思給出的是錯誤的答案。
Stroop tests have been done with metaphor as well.
人們也用Stroop測試了暗喻。
The participants had to identify, as quickly as possible, the literally false sentences.
參與者必須盡快識別出字面上錯誤的句子。
They took longer to reject metaphors as false than they did to reject literally false sentences.
他們拒絕隱錯誤的句子所花的時間比拒絕字面錯誤的句子所花的時間要長。
Why?
為什么？
Because we cannot ignore the metaphorical meaning of words either, for example, one of the sentences was "Some jobs are jails."
因為我們無法忽視單詞的比喻意義，例如，其中一句話是“有些工作是監獄?！?/p>
Now, unless you're a prison guard yourself, the sentence "Some jobs are jails." is literally false.
除非你自己是一名獄警，否則“有些工作是監獄”這句話從字面上來看就是錯誤的。
Sadly, it's metaphorically true.
不巧的是，從比喻意義上來說，它是對的。
And the metaphorical truth interferes with our ability to identify it as literally false.
而比喻上的正確干擾了我們對它字面錯誤的判斷力。
Metaphor matters because it's around us every day, all the time.
暗喻之所以重要，是因為它無時無刻不在我們身邊。
How and in what ways does metaphor matter?
暗喻如何以及以什么方式起作用？
Well, I'd say metaphor matters, first of all, because it creates expectations.
嗯，我想說暗喻很重要，首先，因為它創造了期望。
So pay careful attention the next time you read some financial news.
所以，下次你看財經新聞的時候，一定要留意。
Agent metaphors describe price movements as the deliberate action of a living thing, as in"The NASDAQ climbed higher."
擬人化的暗喻用來描述價格運動，就像是有人有意那么做。比如：“NASDAQ指數攀至新高”
Object metaphors describe price movements as non-living things, as in "The Dow fell like a brick."
擬物化的暗喻用物體來描述價格運動，比如：'道瓊斯指數像磚頭一樣下跌。'
Researchers once asked a group of people to read market commentaries, and then predict the next day's price trend.
研究人員請一群人在讀了一些股評之后，來預測第二天的股價走勢。
Those exposed to agent metaphors had higher expectations that price trends would continue.
那些讀過擬人化暗喻的人更多地期待股價走勢會持續。
And they had those expectations because agent metaphors imply the deliberate action of a living thing pursuing a goal.
而他們這樣期待是由于擬人化的暗喻暗示了有人在刻意追逐一個目標。
If, for example, house prices are routinely described as climbing and climbing, higher and higher, people might naturally assume that rise is incessant.
如果房價總是被說成是不斷攀升，越走越高，人們自然會以為房價上升勢不可擋。
Also, metaphor matters because it influences decisions by activating analogies.
此外，暗喻之所以重要，是因為它通過激活類比來影響決策。
Let me give you an example, which was actually an experiment.
我來給大家舉個例子，它其實是一個實驗。
A group of students was told that a small country had been invaded and had asked for help.
一群學生被告知，一個小國被入侵并尋求幫助。
And they had to make a decision. What should they do?
他們必須做出決定。他們應該怎么做呢？
Intervene, appeal to the United Nations, or just do nothing?
干預，向聯合國申訴，還是袖手旁觀？
They were each then given one of the three descriptions of this hypothetical crisis.
這個假想的危機有三種不同的解釋，他們每人聽到了其中的一種。
Each of the three descriptions was designed to trigger a different historical analogy: World War II, Vietnam, and the third was historically neutral.
每個解釋意在引起對不同歷史事件的類比：二戰，越戰，或者一個中性的事件。
Those exposed to the World War II scenario made more interventionist recommendations than the others.
聽到二戰類比的學生比其他學生更多地建議美國干預這場危機。
This shows that just as we cannot ignore the literal meaning of words, we cannot ignore the analogies that are triggered by metaphor.
這表明，正如我們不能忽視單詞的字面意義一樣，我們也不能忽視由暗喻引發的類比。
Metaphor matters because it opens the door to discovery.
暗喻很重要，因為它開啟了發現的大門。
Whenever we solve a problem, or make a discovery, we compare what we know with what we don't know.
每當我們要解決問題，或做新的探索時，我們就把已知和未知進行比較。
And the only way to find out about the latter is to investigate the ways it might be like the former.
而我們發現未知的唯一途徑就是探討未知和已知有何相似性。
Now we know that metaphor is ubiquitous, yet it's hidden.
暗喻雖然無處不在，卻是隱藏身形。
But you just have to look at the words around you and you'll find it.
而你只要注意周圍的用詞，就可以找到它。
Ralph Waldo Emerson described language as "fossil poetry".
詩人艾默生曾將語言描述為“化石般的詩”。
But before it was fossil metaphor.
但在那之前，它是化石般的暗喻。
And these fossils still breathe.
而這些化石現在仍具有生氣。
OK. Let me sum up today's lecture.
好。我來總結一下今天的講座。
We've looked at how metaphor is defined, how people understand metaphors and how metaphors might influence people's expectations and decisions.
我們了解了暗喻的定義，人們對暗喻的理解，以及暗喻可能給人們的期望和決定帶來的影響。
Before we call it a day, I'd like to walk you through a famous quote from Francis Bacon: "Some books are to be tasted, others swallowed, and some few to be chewed and digested."
結束之前，我想給你講一句弗朗西斯·培根的名言：“有些書值得細細品味，有些書則應該囫圇吞之，又有極少一部分書應該深入理解并掌握其中的東西?！?/p>
Well, how many metaphors are there in the statement?
那么，這句話中有幾個暗喻呢？
That's your takeaway homework.
這就是大家的作業。
