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虽然生活中许多事情应当“浅尝辄止”,但是,不知不觉中人们常会因为什么而上瘾,养成个“obsession”与“addiction”的毛病。两个词自然不同,一般说来,被“obsession”控制的人,总感觉有必要去反复做某事——比如,不停地洗手,反复检查是否已经锁好房门——不做,就会被焦虑折磨:而陷入“addiction”的,则感觉某种体验能带来独特快感,希望通过不断重复此体验,来复制这种快感。
不过,在生活中,很多被称作“obsession”(强迫症)的事,在我看来,更像是“addiction”,因为它们是关于重复“快感”的——比如,读书、追剧、逛街等等。根据wikipedia的解释,“addiction”是“a state characterized by compulsive(强迫性的)engagement in rewarding stimuli(刺激)despiteadverse(负面的)consequences”。当然,如以上定义所描述,许多“成瘾”体验的确带来负面结果——至少钱袋子受损,但如果把这个词汇涵盖范围稍稍放大,便可看到,有时“成瘾”行为也会导致正面结果—比如,跑步成瘾。村上春树有本回忆录,叫《当我谈跑步时我谈些什么》(英文名What I Talk About When I Talk AboutRunning),写的是作者如何迷恋上跑步逐渐拉长跑步距离(build up mileage),并且“根本停不下来地”参加世界各地的马拉松,以及跑马拉松如何改变其生活的故事。
书的开篇写道:"Since I arrived in Hawaii I’ve runabout an hour every day, six days a week. It’s two anda half months now since I resumed my old lifestyle inwhich, unless it’s totally unavoidable, I run every singleday…Right now I’m aiming at increasing the distanceI run, so speed is less of an issue.As long as I can runa certain distance, that’s all I care about.SometimesI run fast when I feel like it, but if Iincrease the pace I shorten the amountof time I run, the point being to let theexhilaration (狂喜) I feel at the end ofeach run carry over to the next day. Thisis the same sort of tack (方法) I findnecessary when writing a novel. I stopevery day right at the point where I feelI can write more. Do that, and the nextday’s work goes surprisingly smoothly. Ithink Ernest Hemingway did somethinglike that. To keep on going, you have tokeep up the rhythm…"显然,跑步这件已经令作者重度上瘾的事,也帮他形成了一种新的生活和工作态度,甚至一种哲学思考,就像作者引用英国作家毛姆(Somerset Maugham)所说,“No matter howmundane(平凡的)some action might appear, keep at itlong enough and it becomes a contemplative(沉思的),even meditative(冥想的)act.”
因各种事“上瘾”或有“强迫症”的人,在生活中常被冠以“执著”或“偏执”这一褒一贬两个词:仅一字之差,两者的差别,有时也的确是小到只是一个字的距离。虽说不当以成败论英雄,但是,某人究竟是“偏执”还是“执著”,大多情况下的确是以其成败来论的。那个哪怕追到天涯海角也要杀掉一头叫做Moby Dick的大白鲸的Ahab船长,和那个拒绝上班,甚至拒绝生活,只说一句“I would prefernot to”的Bartleby,是“偏执”:而那个花了近三十年时间挖通地道,逃出肖申克监狱的Andy Dufresne,就是“执著”了。
不论是“偏”是“正”,生活之所以有趣,因为我们的世界向来不乏“执”于一端之人。有个叫《致命魔术》(ThePrestige)的精彩故事,说的是两个魔术师Angier和Borden,为了找到最好的魔术点子彼此争斗,后来Borden创了个名叫The Transporte dMan的节目——其实不过是利用双胞胎身份,搞了个“瞬间移动”的幻术——一时独步魔术界。然而,Angier却不相信,这么神奇的魔术,答案会是这么简单得可笑,于是费尽心机想破解并超越这个魔术,最后不惜找到大科学家Nicola Tesla——是一个足够偏执的人,雇对方给他发明了一台真的可以做到瞬间移动的机器,哪怕这机器会产生极其可怕的副产品,他也在所不惜。对于一个魔术师来说,新魔术所带来的快感,是超越一切的。然而,魔术师们沉迷于开发新魔术,如同Ahab船长执著于猎杀大白鲸Moby Dick一样,最终他们必然走向家庭甚至生命的反面。Borden在日记里这样写道,“In the yearswhen I had been planning The Transported Man and itsmodern sequel, and my overall magical career, it had neveroccurred to me that having a family might one day threatento make it unworkable. Many times I have been tempted togive up the stage, never perform the illusion again, abandon,in effect, the performance of magic altogether, and alwaysbecause I have felt calls of affection and duty to my lovelywife, and of fervent (强烈的) love for my children... Thesignificant point is, of course, that I did not give up."
不过,在生活中,很多被称作“obsession”(强迫症)的事,在我看来,更像是“addiction”,因为它们是关于重复“快感”的——比如,读书、追剧、逛街等等。根据wikipedia的解释,“addiction”是“a state characterized by compulsive(强迫性的)engagement in rewarding stimuli(刺激)despiteadverse(负面的)consequences”。当然,如以上定义所描述,许多“成瘾”体验的确带来负面结果——至少钱袋子受损,但如果把这个词汇涵盖范围稍稍放大,便可看到,有时“成瘾”行为也会导致正面结果—比如,跑步成瘾。村上春树有本回忆录,叫《当我谈跑步时我谈些什么》(英文名What I Talk About When I Talk AboutRunning),写的是作者如何迷恋上跑步逐渐拉长跑步距离(build up mileage),并且“根本停不下来地”参加世界各地的马拉松,以及跑马拉松如何改变其生活的故事。
书的开篇写道:"Since I arrived in Hawaii I’ve runabout an hour every day, six days a week. It’s two anda half months now since I resumed my old lifestyle inwhich, unless it’s totally unavoidable, I run every singleday…Right now I’m aiming at increasing the distanceI run, so speed is less of an issue.As long as I can runa certain distance, that’s all I care about.SometimesI run fast when I feel like it, but if Iincrease the pace I shorten the amountof time I run, the point being to let theexhilaration (狂喜) I feel at the end ofeach run carry over to the next day. Thisis the same sort of tack (方法) I findnecessary when writing a novel. I stopevery day right at the point where I feelI can write more. Do that, and the nextday’s work goes surprisingly smoothly. Ithink Ernest Hemingway did somethinglike that. To keep on going, you have tokeep up the rhythm…"显然,跑步这件已经令作者重度上瘾的事,也帮他形成了一种新的生活和工作态度,甚至一种哲学思考,就像作者引用英国作家毛姆(Somerset Maugham)所说,“No matter howmundane(平凡的)some action might appear, keep at itlong enough and it becomes a contemplative(沉思的),even meditative(冥想的)act.”
因各种事“上瘾”或有“强迫症”的人,在生活中常被冠以“执著”或“偏执”这一褒一贬两个词:仅一字之差,两者的差别,有时也的确是小到只是一个字的距离。虽说不当以成败论英雄,但是,某人究竟是“偏执”还是“执著”,大多情况下的确是以其成败来论的。那个哪怕追到天涯海角也要杀掉一头叫做Moby Dick的大白鲸的Ahab船长,和那个拒绝上班,甚至拒绝生活,只说一句“I would prefernot to”的Bartleby,是“偏执”:而那个花了近三十年时间挖通地道,逃出肖申克监狱的Andy Dufresne,就是“执著”了。
不论是“偏”是“正”,生活之所以有趣,因为我们的世界向来不乏“执”于一端之人。有个叫《致命魔术》(ThePrestige)的精彩故事,说的是两个魔术师Angier和Borden,为了找到最好的魔术点子彼此争斗,后来Borden创了个名叫The Transporte dMan的节目——其实不过是利用双胞胎身份,搞了个“瞬间移动”的幻术——一时独步魔术界。然而,Angier却不相信,这么神奇的魔术,答案会是这么简单得可笑,于是费尽心机想破解并超越这个魔术,最后不惜找到大科学家Nicola Tesla——是一个足够偏执的人,雇对方给他发明了一台真的可以做到瞬间移动的机器,哪怕这机器会产生极其可怕的副产品,他也在所不惜。对于一个魔术师来说,新魔术所带来的快感,是超越一切的。然而,魔术师们沉迷于开发新魔术,如同Ahab船长执著于猎杀大白鲸Moby Dick一样,最终他们必然走向家庭甚至生命的反面。Borden在日记里这样写道,“In the yearswhen I had been planning The Transported Man and itsmodern sequel, and my overall magical career, it had neveroccurred to me that having a family might one day threatento make it unworkable. Many times I have been tempted togive up the stage, never perform the illusion again, abandon,in effect, the performance of magic altogether, and alwaysbecause I have felt calls of affection and duty to my lovelywife, and of fervent (强烈的) love for my children... Thesignificant point is, of course, that I did not give up."