Why It Might Be Your Body– Not Your Mind

One of the paradoxes of trying to understand our minds is that, at particular moments, we need to acknowledge that what passes through them – the ideas we entertain and the moods we're in – may have very little to do with the workings of these minds themselves. It may – for example – suddenly seem as though we have a new and very specific take on the world: we are sure that we should leave our job, say goodbye to our partner and never see our ungrateful children again. Or we may feel that we have come to a resolute new political certainty: that society is totally corrupt and human nature inherently selfish.
试图理解我们的大脑的悖论之一是，在某些特定时刻，我们需要承认穿过大脑的东西——我们所接受的思想和我们所处的情绪——可能与这些大脑本身的运作几乎没有什么关系。例如，我们可能会突然对这个世界产生一种新的、非常具体的看法: 我们确信自己应该辞掉工作，告别我们的伴侣，再也不见我们那些忘恩负义的孩子。或者，我们可能觉得我们已经得到了一个坚定的新的政治确定性：社会是完全腐败的，人性本质上是自私的。

And yet, with hindsight, we may realise that these ideas were not necessarily logical or true, they were just emanations of a hard-to-notice detail: that we had missed out on four hours of sleep the night before or hadn't drunk anything since early morning.
然而，事后看来，我们可能会意识到，这些想法并不一定是合乎逻辑或真实的，它们只是一个难以注意的细节的表现：我们前一天晚上错过了四个小时的睡眠，或者从清晨开始就没有喝过任何东西。

Much that we think about – though it seems to be rationally founded – stems in essence from the ups and downs of the complicated bodily envelope we're entwined with. Our thoughts can predominantly be the result of what we had for lunch, what time we went to bed, when we last sat on the toilet and how our blood sugar level is doing. This can sound hugely insulting.
我们思考的很多事情——尽管它似乎是有理性的——本质上源于我们与之交织在一起的复杂身体外壳的起起落落。我们的想法主要是我们午餐吃了什么、我们什么时候睡觉、我们上次上厕所的时间以及我们的血糖水平如何的结果。这听起来可能非常侮辱人。

Surely, we are wiser and cleverer than to be knocked off course by a sugary drink or a poor night. But we would be even wiser to follow, in this regard, the instincts of all good parents of young children. When they see their toddler swiftly turning furious, tetchy and jealous, they know that they are not witnessing an inexplicable character transformation in their formerly pleasant charges. They look at their watch, make their excuses and hurry upstairs to put the young one to bed for an hour. The mind will return to its usual state soon enough; it just cannot hope to do so while supported by a flagging body that's done three hours of energetic cartwheels or ball games with the neighbour's cocker spaniel.
当然，我们比被一杯含糖饮料或一个糟糕的夜晚打乱计划更明智、更聪明。但在这方面，我们更明智的做法是，遵循所有幼儿的好父母的本能。当他们看到他们蹒跚学步的孩子迅速变得愤怒、暴躁和嫉妒时，他们知道，他们知道他们并不是在见证他们以前愉快的孩子的不可解释的性格转变。他们看了看手表，找了个借口，然后赶紧上楼让孩子睡一个小时。头脑很快就会恢复到正常状态；只是当身体在与邻居的可卡犬进行了三个小时的精力充沛的翻筋斗或球类游戏后变得疲惫时，它难以指望回归到正常状态。

We should understand ourselves in similar terms. When we are filled with tragic thoughts, we should remember that there are always dark perspectives we might adopt. When we do so therefore, it isn't necessarily because our minds have uncovered new and solid reasons to despair, it's just that we lack the energy to bat away our fears and stay on the side of life and hope. We say 'I'm having bad thoughts and I'm exhausted'; we should learn to say 'I'm having bad thoughts because I'm exhausted.'
我们应该以类似的方式理解我们自己。当我们充满悲剧性的想法时，我们应该记住，我们总可能采取悲观的视角。因此，当我们这样做的时候，并不一定是因为我们的大脑发现了新的、可靠的绝望理由，这只是因为我们缺乏能量去驱散我们的恐惧，来维持在生活和希望的一边。我们说“我有不好的想法，我筋疲力尽了”；我们应该学会说“我有不好的想法，因为我筋疲力尽了。”

We shouldn't protest that there are ways of thinking that are primarily the outcome of having eaten too many chocolates and of not having been out of the house all day – and others that are the outcome of a brisk swim and a handful of dried cranberries.
我们不该否认，有些思维方式主要是由于吃了太多巧克力，一整天都没有出门的结果——而另一些则是由于快速游泳和吃了一把蔓越莓干的结果。

To know ourselves never means knowing just our minds; it means tracking the decisive ways in which these minds are daily manipulated by our bodies and should, before we listen to them any further, be put down for a nap or sent on a long walk around the park.
了解我们自己永远不仅仅意味着了解我们的思想；它意味着追踪这些思想是如何每天被我们的身体决定性地操纵的，在我们进一步倾听它们之前，应该让它们小睡一会儿，或者让它们在公园里散散步。

词汇表
mind 大脑，思维，心理
paradox [ˈpærədɒks] 悖论，矛盾，似非而是的论点
little to do with 与……关系不大
working 工作方式，运行方式
take 看法，态度
ungrateful [ʌnˈɡreɪtf(ə)l] 忘恩负义的，不知感恩的
inherently [ɪn'herəntlɪ] 固有地，本质上地
with hindsight  ['haɪn(d)saɪt] 事后才觉悟，事后看来
emanation [ˌemə'neɪʃ(ə)n] 散发，表现，显示
rationally founded [ˈræʃ(ə)n(ə)li] 基于理性的
ups and downs 起伏，起起落落
be entwined with [ɪn'twaɪnd] 与……交织在一起，与……密切相关
predominantly [prɪˈdɒmɪnəntli] 主要地，占主导地位地
blood sugar level 血糖水平
insulting  [ɪn'sʌltɪŋ] 侮辱的，冒犯的，无礼的
knock off course 打乱计划，偏离方向
toddler [ˈtɒdlə(r)] 学步的儿童，幼儿
furious  [ˈfjʊəriəs] 狂怒的，暴怒的
tetchy ['tetʃi] 易怒的，暴躁的
inexplicable  [ˌɪnɪk'splɪkəb(ə)l] 费解的；无法解释的
charge 需要照管的人（指孩子）
flagging ['flæɡɪŋ]  衰弱的，疲惫的
cartwheel [ˈkɑː(r)tˌwiːl] 侧手翻；侧身筋斗
cocker spaniel  [ˌkɒkə(r) ˈspænjəl] 长耳小猎犬，可卡犬
dark perspective 悲观的视角
bat away [bæt] 驱散，消除（恐惧）
protest [prəˈtest] 反对；否认；抗议
brisk [brɪsk] 轻快的；凉爽的
dried cranberry [ˈkrænb(ə)ri] 蔓越莓干，小红莓干

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