TED演讲：你的自我感从何而来？从科学的视角分析

发布于 2026-11-08 · 时长 12:32

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时间	英文	中文
0:04	About a decade ago, I met someone who had experienced a few episodes of schizophrenia.	大约10年前,我遇到了一个经历过几次精神分裂症的人。
0:12	They had felt that their sense of self, of what it feels like to be them, changing somewhat.	他们觉得,他们的自我感, 他们的感受, 是什么感觉是他们,
0:19	The boundaries of their body began to feel a bit nebulous.	他们身体的界限开始有点模糊
0:23	Even their psychological self felt a bit porous at times.	即使是他们的心理感觉有时有点漏洞。
0:29	They were experiencing what could be called an altered sense of self.	他们正在经历一种可以称之为改变的自我感。
0:35	Over the years, I met many such brave and insightful people	这么多年,我遇到许多勇敢有见地的人
0:39	who shared what it's like to live with their altered selves.	他们分享他们改变的自我的感受
0:44	And by altered, I mean different, not deficient,	通过改变,我的意思是不同的,而不是不足,
0:49	while acknowledging that coping with altered selves can be a struggle at times.	同时也承认面对自我改变有时可能是一种斗争。
0:55	So speaking with them and with theologians, philosophers, neuroscientists,	所以和他们说话和神学家,哲学家,神经科学家,

展开字幕全文（208 条）

序号	英文	中文
1	About a decade ago, I met someone who had experienced a few episodes of schizophrenia.	大约10年前,我遇到了一个经历过几次精神分裂症的人。
2	They had felt that their sense of self, of what it feels like to be them, changing somewhat.	他们觉得,他们的自我感, 他们的感受, 是什么感觉是他们,
3	The boundaries of their body began to feel a bit nebulous.	他们身体的界限开始有点模糊
4	Even their psychological self felt a bit porous at times.	即使是他们的心理感觉有时有点漏洞。
5	They were experiencing what could be called an altered sense of self.	他们正在经历一种可以称之为改变的自我感。
6	Over the years, I met many such brave and insightful people	这么多年,我遇到许多勇敢有见地的人
7	who shared what it's like to live with their altered selves.	他们分享他们改变的自我的感受
8	And by altered, I mean different, not deficient,	通过改变,我的意思是不同的,而不是不足,
9	while acknowledging that coping with altered selves can be a struggle at times.	同时也承认面对自我改变有时可能是一种斗争。
10	So speaking with them and with theologians, philosophers, neuroscientists,	所以和他们说话和神学家,哲学家,神经科学家,
11	I came to understand that this self that each one of us takes oneself to be	我意识到我们每个人的自我
12	is not as real as it seems.	没有看起来那么真实
13	The self is a slippery subject.	自我是个滑头
14	We all intuitively know what it means.	我们都直觉地知道这意味着什么。
15	It's there when we wake up, it disappears when we fall asleep,	它就在那里当我们醒来, 它消失当我们睡着了,
16	it reappears in our dreams.	它重新出现在我们的梦里
17	It's what makes us who we are.	是故能令现身.
18	It seems solid, unchanging, permanent.	它看起来坚固,不变,永久。
19	And yet, we can examine aspects of the self that seem real to us	然而,我们可以审查自我的一些方面似乎我们真的
20	and ask just how real are they?	问他们有多真实?
21	Take, for instance, the question, who am I?	比如问,我是谁?
22	The most likely answer you'll get or give to such a question	最有可能的答案你会得到或给出这样一个问题
23	will be in the form of a story.	将以故事的形式出现。
24	We tell others and indeed ourselves stories about who we are.	我们告诉别人,甚至我们自己的故事。
25	We take our stories to be sacrosanct.	我们拿我们的故事是神圣的。
26	We are our stories.	我们是我们的故事。
27	But a condition that most of us, sadly, will be familiar with,	但一个条件,我们大多数人, 可悲地,会熟悉,
28	Alzheimer's disease,	阿尔茨海默症,
29	tells us something quite different.	告诉我们一些完全不同的事
30	Alzheimer's begins by affecting short-term memory.	阿尔茨海默症开始于影响短期记忆.
31	Think about what that does to someone's story.	想想这对别人的故事有什么影响
32	In order for our stories to form, to grow,	为了让我们的故事成形成长
33	something that just happens to us has to first enter short-term memory	发生在我们身上的东西必须先输入短期记忆
34	and then get incorporated into what's called long-term episodic memory.	然后融入所谓的长期性记忆。
35	It has to become an episode in our narrative.	它必须成为一个插曲在我们的叙述。
36	But what if the experience doesn't even enter short-term memory?	但是,如果经验甚至没有进入短期记忆呢?
37	That's exactly what Alzheimer's does.	阿尔茨海默症就是这样做的
38	In the beginning, Alzheimer's impairs the formation of short-term memory.	一开始,阿尔茨海默症影响了短期记忆的形成.
39	It impairs the growth of the narrative.	它损害了叙述的成长。
40	It's as if our stories begin stalling upon the onset of the disease.	就像我们的故事在疾病发作时就开始拖延
41	Eventually, Alzheimer's eats away at older, long-term memories.	最终,阿尔茨海默症会食用更古老的长期记忆.
42	So if you were to meet someone with mid-stage Alzheimer's,	所以,如果你要遇到有人与阿尔茨海默症中期,
43	they will likely be able to tell you stories about who they are.	他们很可能能告诉你他们是谁的故事。
44	But if you know their real stories,	但如果你知道他们的真实故事
45	you'll be able to tell that they sometimes scramble up their narrative,	你会知道他们有时会乱编故事
46	that they sometimes mix up the sequence of episodes from their lives.	他们有时会把人生的剧集顺序混为一谈
47	It's as if they are recalling their own stories	他们好像在回顾自己的故事
48	in ways that are not quite accurate.	以不太准确的方式
49	It's important at this stage to realize	此时此刻必须意识到
50	that there is still a person experiencing that scrambled narrative.	仍然有一个人经历这个乱七八糟的叙述。
51	Sadly, Alzheimer's goes on to destroy one's narrative and so much more.	可悲的是,阿尔茨海默症继续摧毁一个人的叙述和更多的。
52	And towards the end, it's unclear whether there is still someone	最后,还不清楚有没有人
53	experiencing something,	经历一些事情
54	because the person cannot communicate verbally anymore.	因为这个人不能再口头交流了
55	And yet, Alzheimer's tells us that these stories that we take ourselves to be,	然而,阿尔茨海默兹告诉我们这些故事,我们自己是,
56	what philosophers call the narrative self,	哲学家所说的叙事自我,
57	these are spun by the brain and body.	这些是脑部和身体造成的
58	They are constructions.	他们是建筑。
59	Sometimes the constructions are disrupted, even destroyed.	有时建筑被破坏,甚至被毁.
60	And while that is horrific for the person experiencing it	虽然这对体验者来说是可怕的
61	and for their caregivers,	和照顾他们的人,
62	it is nonetheless a window onto the constructed nature of our narrative self.	然而,它是一个窗口我们的叙述自我的构建性质。
63	And when the construction goes wrong,	当建筑出问题时,
64	we perceive our own stories in ways that are not quite real.	我们以不太真实的方式看待我们的故事。
65	From the narrative self, let's talk about our body.	从叙事本身,让我们谈谈我们的身体.
66	Let's take a very basic aspect of our bodily self,	让我们从身体上做一个最基本的方面
67	this feeling we all have	我们都有这种感觉
68	that we are owners of our body and body parts,	我们是身体和身体的主人,
69	that our bodies and body parts belong to us.	我们的身体和身体部分属于我们。
70	It seems such a strange thing to think that it could even be otherwise.	认为可能不是那样,这似乎很奇怪。
71	If I were to ask you, does your hand belong to you,	如果我问你,你的手是否属于你
72	you're going to say, of course it does.	当然了
73	What a foolish question.	真是个愚蠢的问题。
74	But not everyone would agree.	但并不是每个人都同意
75	Early on in my research,	在我的研究初期,
76	a neuropsychologist alerted me to a condition called xenomelia,	一个神经心理学家提醒我一个叫做xenomelia的病症,
77	or foreign limb syndrome.	或外肢综合征。
78	You may have heard of something called phantom limb syndrome,	你可能听说过幻肢综合征
79	in which people who have had an amputation	被截肢者
80	feel the presence of that limb sometimes.	有时候会感觉到四肢的存在
81	Xenomelia的情况有点相反
82	where people feel like some part of their body,	在那里人们觉得自己身体的一部分,
83	usually the extremities of their hands or legs, don't belong to them.	通常它们的手或腿的极限,不属于它们.
84	So this neuropsychologist talked of phantom limb syndrome	这个神经心理学家谈到幻肢综合征
85	as animation without incarnation.	作为没有化身的动画.
86	So the limb is gone, it's not incarnate anymore,	所以四肢不见了,它不再是化身了,
87	but it's animated in your mind.	但这是动画在你的脑海里。
88	And he talked of xenomelia as incarnation without animation.	他把Xenomelia说成没有动画化身.
89	So the limb is present, healthy even,	因此,四肢是存在的,健康甚至,
90	incarnate,	化为化身,
91	and yet in your own mind it feels like it doesn't belong to you.	但是在你自己的脑海里感觉它不属于你
92	So in xenomelia,	所以在克诺米利亚
93	the brain and bodily processes	大脑和身体过程
94	that give rise to our sense of ownership of our body parts,	引起我们对身体部分的主人翁感,
95	they're misfiring, so to speak.	说来话长
96	And the consequences can be serious.	后果可能很严重
97	People with xenomelia will sometimes take extreme measures	有克诺米莉娅的人有时会采取极端措施
98	to get rid of, to amputate their foreign-seeming body parts.	清除,截肢他们的外观身体部分。
99	From the perspective of the self, though,	从自我的角度来说,
100	xenomelia is telling us something very profound.	克诺米莉娅告诉我们一些非常深刻的事
101	It's telling us that something as basic as the sense of ownership	它告诉我们一些像主人翁感一样基本的东西
102	of our own body parts is a construction.	我们自己的身体是建筑
103	And sometimes the construction goes wrong,	有时建筑会出问题
104	and we perceive our own bodies in ways that are not quite real.	我们以不真实的方式看待自己的身体。
105	Let's take another aspect of our bodily self.	让我们从另一个方面来看待我们的身体。
106	It's called the sense of agency.	谓之代理感.
107	So when I do something like pick up a cup,	所以当我做一些事情像拿杯子,
108	I have this implicit feeling that I am the agent of that action,	我有一种隐含的感觉认为我是那个行动的代理人,
109	{\fn黑体\fs22\bord1\shad0\3aHBE\4aH00\fscx67\fscy66\2cHFFFFFF\3cH808080}我已经把行动变成现实了 {\fn黑体\fs22\bord1\shad0\3aHBE\4aH00\fscx67\fscy66\2cHFFFFFF\3cH808080}我愿意
110	That feeling is the sense of agency.	这种感觉是一种代理感。
111	But someone with schizophrenia may not have that feeling always.	但患有精神分裂症的人可能并不总是有这种感觉。
112	Someone with schizophrenia might do something	有精神分裂症的人可能会做点什么
113	and not feel like they are the agent of that action.	也觉得他们不是那个行动的代理人
114	So schizophrenia tells us that it is possible to be someone	所以精神分裂症告诉我们一个人是可能的
115	who does something but doesn't have an accompanying sense of agency.	谁做一些事情,但没有伴随性的代理感。
116	So just like the narrative self	就像叙事的自我
117	and the sense of ownership of body parts,	和身体部位的所有权感,
118	the sense of agency is also a construction,	代理意识也是一种构建,
119	and it too can fail.	它也会失败。
120	So you can see where this is going.	这样你就能看清这是怎么回事
121	Let me take one more example to drive home this point.	让我再举一个例子,把这一点带回家。
122	Let's talk of what it feels to be a body here and now.	让我们来谈谈这里现在作为一个尸体的感觉
123	Not the feeling of being a story,	不是那种当故事的感觉
124	but the feeling of being a body in the present moment.	却有成为现在身体的感觉
125	Psychologists estimate that about five percent of the general population	心理学家估计,大约5%的普通人口
126	will at some point in their lives have an out-of-body experience.	在他们生命的某个时刻,他们会有体外的经验。
127	Let's assume all of us right now are having an in-body experience.	假设我们所有人都有内在体验
128	But what that means is having this feeling of being in a body,	但是,这意味着有这种感觉在一个身体,
129	being anchored to a body, occupying a certain volume of space	被固定在身体上,占据一定的空间
130	and looking at the world from behind our eyes.	从我们眼皮底下看世界
131	But if you are having an out-of-body experience,	但如果你有体外经历
132	you could possibly be feeling that you're up near the ceiling	你可能觉得自己在天花板附近
133	looking down at your own body sitting in the chair below.	看着自己坐在椅子上的身体
134	People do report such experiences.	人们确实报告了这种经历。
135	And mild versions of this have been replicated in labs.	而这种温和的版本在实验室中被复制.
136	But if you think, like I do,	但如果你想,像我一样
137	that out-of-body experiences are the outcome of brain processes	体外经历是大脑过程的结果
138	that are misfiring,	他们是不信道的,
139	then it stands to reason that the experience of being in-body,	那么就有理由说身体内的经验
140	of being embodied,	被体现,
141	is itself a construction,	它本身就是一种建筑,
142	and that too can come apart.	那样也会分崩离析
143	So what are these experiences of altered selves telling us?	这些改变自己的经验告诉我们什么?
144	They are telling us that just about everything we take	他们告诉我们我们拿的一切
145	to be real about ourselves,	以真实的自我,
146	real in the sense that we think we are always experiencing	真正意义上,我们认为我们总是经历
147	undeniable truths about our bodies, our stories,	不可否认的真相关于我们的身体,我们的故事,
148	well, that's just not the case.	事实并非如此
149	So when theologians and philosophers tell us that the self is an illusion,	所以当神学家和哲学家告诉我们自我是幻觉时
150	this is partly what they mean.	这在一定程度上就是他们的意思。
151	You may have realized by now that there still remains the question	你可能已经意识到现在还有问题
152	of who or what is doing the experiencing,	谁在作恶呢?
153	even in the case of altered selves.	即使在自我改变的情况下
154	This experiencing I in the question, who am I,	我经历的问题,我是谁,
155	is at the heart of the debate about the self.	这是关于自我的辩论的核心。
156	This experiencing I doesn't go away	这种经历我可不会消失
157	if one or a few aspects of the self are disrupted.	如果自身的一个或几个方面中断。
158	But what if all of the aspects of the self that comprise us	但是,如果所有方面自我构成我们
159	were to be disrupted?	要被打乱吗?
160	Would the experiencing I disappear?	经历会消失吗?
161	We don't have a satisfactory answer to that question yet.	这个问题我们还没有一个令人满意的答案。
162	It's possible that the experiencing I is also an illusion	可能我的体验也是幻觉
163	in the sense of being a construction,	在建筑意义上,
164	a construction without a constructor.	没有建筑师的建筑。
165	That debate, however, is somewhat unresolved.	然而,这一辩论有些未解决。
166	Despite such doubts, I personally, whatever I am,	尽管如此怀疑,我个人,无论我是什么,
167	think that the self has no reality outside of the brain and body.	认为自我在大脑和身体之外没有现实.
168	I think that the experiencing I will not persist after the body is gone.	我认为,在尸体消失之后,我将不会继续经历这种经历。
169	So what does one make of such knowledge?	那么这种知识是什么?
170	Well, firstly, these ideas will feel liberating to some	首先,这些想法会给一些
171	and might sit heavily upon others.	并可能坐视他人。
172	Regardless, I think we can all attend to the stories that we think we are.	不管怎么说,我想我们都能够关注那些我们认为我们是的故事。
173	Our feelings and emotions are modulated by our stories,	我们的感情和情感被我们的故事所调和
174	and in turn, our feelings and emotions become part of our stories.	反过来,我们的感情和情感也成为我们故事的一部分。
175	And our stories, our narratives, are not just cognitive.	我们的故事,我们的叙述, 不仅仅是认知。
176	They live in our bodies,	他们住在我们的身体里
177	and our bodies structure and shape our stories.	和我们的身体结构和塑造我们的故事。
178	So knowing all this, recognizing the constructed nature of it all,	所以知道这一切, 承认这一切的构造性质,
179	maybe we can hold on less tightly to our stories.	也许我们可以不紧紧抓住我们的故事。
180	Maybe we can learn to let go.	也许我们可以学会放手
181	But that's easier said than done,	但说起来比做起来容易
182	because the thing that is doing the letting go	因为事情是做放手
183	is also the thing that has to be let go of.	这也是必须放弃的事情。
184	Maybe we can just marvel at the efforts of people over millennia,	也许我们可以对千年来人们的努力感到惊讶
185	from the Buddha sitting under the Bodhi tree	从菩萨坐在波迪树下
186	to the modern philosopher and neuroscientist,	对现代哲学家和神经科学家,
187	who have asked themselves the question, who am I?	我是谁?
188	But most of all, I think we owe our debt to those amongst us	但最重要的是,我想我们欠我们的人情
189	who bravely bear witness to our altered selves,	他勇敢地见证我们的变形,
190	whether we do so voluntarily,	我们是否自愿这样做,
191	like monks and nuns do when they meditate,	就像僧尼冥想时一样
192	or whether it's brought upon us by biology and circumstance.	或者是生物和情况给我们带来的
193	There is something remarkably robust about the processes	过程非常有力
194	that give rise to the totality of our sense of self.	从而产生我们的全部自我意识。
195	But there's something frighteningly fragile about them, too.	但是他们身上也有些可怕的弱点
196	They can crack.	他们可以破解。
197	And any one of us at any time in our lives	还有我们生活中任何一个人
198	may have to confront such cracks.	也许必须面对这些裂缝
199	And that knowledge, I believe,	我相信,这个知识
200	should make us empathetic towards those of us dealing with altered selves.	应该让我们同情那些面对自我改变的人
201	But I also believe that altered selves should not be seen	但我也认为改变自己不应该被看到
202	as the outcome of deficits	作为赤字结果
203	or as the outcome of a lack of attributes considered normal.	或作为缺乏被认为正常的属性的结果。
204	They are different ways of being.	它们是不同的存在方式。
205	And it's the willingness of some of us	这也是我们有些人的意愿
206	to confront the self's constructed nature	面对自我的造型
207	that is helping make sense of the self for all of us.	这帮助了我们每个人的自我。
208	Thank you.	谢谢

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