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Perhaps sadness helped generate the unity we needed to survive,
也许，悲伤可以产生我们生存所需的集体感，
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，别人所感受到的痛苦和我们所感受到的是否一样。
The poet Emily Dickinson wrote, "I measure every Grief I meet With narrow, probing Eyes
诗人Emily Dickinson写道，“我眯着眼视察每个我所遇见的悲痛
I wonder if it weighs like Mine - Or has an Easier size."
心想它是否和我的一样重-或者更容易面对一些。”
And in the 20th century, medical anthropologists, like Arthur Kleinman,
在20世纪，像Arthur Kleinman这样的人类医学家
gathered evidence from the way people talk about pain to suggest that emotions aren't universal at all,
收集了人们阐述自己悲伤的方式作为证据来证明感情其实根本不是普遍的
and that culture, particularly the way we use language, can influence how we feel.
而且文化，尤其是我们使用语言的方式都会影响到我们所感所受。
When we talk about heartbreak, the feeling of brokenness becomes part of our experience,
当我们说到心碎时，破碎的感觉就变成了我们体验的一部分，
where as in a culture that talks about a bruised heart,
但是当另一个文化说起淤血的心时，
there actually seems to be a different subjective experience.
这其实好像又有另外一种主观的体验。
Some contemporary thinkers aren't interested in sadness' subjectivity versus universality,
有些当代思想家们对悲伤的主观性和普遍性的比较不是很感兴趣，
and would rather use technology to eliminate suffering in all its forms.
而且他们会更愿意用科技去消除各种形态的痛苦。
David Pearce has suggested that genetic engineering and other contemporary processes
David Pearce觉得，基因工程和其它当代的科学手段
cannot only alter the way humans experience emotional and physical pain,
不应该只改变人们历经精神上和身体上的伤痛，
but that world ecosystems ought to be redesigned so that animals don't suffer in the wild.
而应把世界的生态系统都重新设计一遍，那样野生动物也不会受苦难。
He calls his project "paradise engineering."
他把他的项目叫做“天堂工程”。
But is there something sad about a world without sadness?
但一个没有悲伤的世界不是有点令人伤感吗？
Our cavemen ancestors and favorite poets might not want any part of such a paradise.
我们的山顶洞人始祖们和最受人喜爱的诗人可不会想在这样的一个天堂里。
In fact, the only things about sadness that seem universally agreed upon are that it has been felt by most people throughout time,
其实，关于悲伤唯一一些大家都同意的是，几乎所有历史上的人都曾感受过，
and that for thousands of years, one of the best ways we have to deal with this difficult emotion is to articulate it,
而且几千年来人们面对艰难的感情时最好的方式就是把它说出来，
to try to express what feels inexpressable.
试着讲述讲不出的东西。
In the words of Emily Dickinson, "'Hope' is the thing with feathers. That perches in the soul.
用Emily Dickinson的话说，“希望是有翅膀的东西-在灵魂里窥视。
And sings the tune without the words - And never stops - at all"
它歌唱着没有文字的旋律，而且永不停息。”
