為什么外表美如此重要

　　摘要：外表美在我們生命中維持著一種邊緣意義，像所有淺層的東西一樣，只是作出即時(shí)評(píng)價(jià)的基礎(chǔ);但如同從鑲座掉出來的一顆鉆石那樣，需要襯托

　　I discard the easy answer that the media has branded the idea on our minds. While magazines and television certainly heighten our consciousness of looks, they are merely harping on insecurities that already exist. Our desire for physical beauty, while shaped and polished by the superficial media culture, actually has deeper roots in who we are.

　　“因?yàn)槊襟w把‘外貌非常重要’這一觀念烙進(jìn)我們心底”，對(duì)這個(gè)簡(jiǎn)單回答我是不能茍同的。雜志和電視的確讓我們更在意外表，但其反復(fù)玩捏的不過是我們的種種不安心理，而這些怯弱感是早已存在的。我們對(duì)外表美的渴求雖然受到膚淺的媒體文化影響和熏陶，但實(shí)際上有著更深的根源——我們的本性。

　　Our desire for physical beauty is an original human feeling, like the desire for food, nurturing, or happiness. Just as those other things drive us toward survival, physical beauty is programmed into our brains as a means of staying alive and furthering our family line. After all, if males and females weren’t attracted to each other, none of us would even be here: humankind would be a fatally flawed experiment. Instead, nature has given us impulses that drive us towards procreation. Every creature, from the lowest organism to the most complex, desires sex. A natural precursor to that desire, which also exists in every society, is indicators of attraction. Dogs are attracted to each other’s smells. Peacocks are attracted to each others’ plumages. Human beings are attracted to many things about each other—one of which is physical beauty.

　　我們對(duì)外表美的渴求，如同對(duì)食物、養(yǎng)護(hù)或者快樂的渴求一樣，是人類的一種原始情愫。就如同我們其他生存本能一樣，外表美已作為一個(gè)生存及繁衍后代的方式，像程序一樣輸進(jìn)了我們的腦子里。畢竟，如果男人和女人之間不相互吸引，我們現(xiàn)在誰也不會(huì)得以存在：人類會(huì)成為帶有致命缺陷的實(shí)驗(yàn)品。然而，大自然賦予了我們生育繁衍的動(dòng)力。每一種生物，下至微生物，上至最復(fù)雜的有機(jī)體，都有性欲。性欲受引發(fā)的前提自然是誘人魅力的具體形表，這在任何一種社會(huì)里都一樣。狗因相互間的氣味相吸引，孔雀因各自的羽毛相吸引，人類因相互間的種種相吸引——外表美就是其中一個(gè)因素。

　　Because of the natural role of appearance in human courtship, I can say with certainty that physical beauty does have some objective importance. However, this conclusion does not justify our society’s obsession with looks, for appearance is only the first layer of attractiveness.

　　由于外貌在人類求愛過程中扮演的自然角色，我可以肯定地說，外表美確實(shí)有其客觀的重要性。然而，這個(gè)結(jié)論并不能合理解釋我們社會(huì)對(duì)外在美的癡迷，因?yàn)橥獗碇皇趋攘Φ牡谝粚用妗?/p>

　　Once a superficial connection is made between two people, they then have the opportunity to display other characteristics that could positively or negatively affect the possibility of their union. After they have had enough experiences together, that first layer of beauty becomes far less important than the other, less visible layers of attraction. In fact, it seems as if our original set of human impulses guides us not just towards procreation, but also towards compatibility.

　　一旦兩個(gè)人之間因一種淺層因素聯(lián)系在一起，接下來他們就有機(jī)會(huì)展示自身的其他特征，而那些特征或有助他們結(jié)合或促使他們分開。等他們的相處到了一定程度，外表美，那第一層“美”，在異性相吸的因素中變得遠(yuǎn)不如其他因素重要，也變得不那么顯著。事實(shí)上，人類的原始沖動(dòng)似乎不僅促使我們繁衍后代，也有追求融洽共處的導(dǎo)向。

　　Compatibility is essential to human survival in an absolute sense, for a positively-working team is better equipped to live than a negatively-working team. If physical beauty were the only important factor in bringing people together, the divorce rate would be much higher than it is today and people would be far less happy. Instead, physical beauty is actually only a small component of attractiveness, and in fact, those people who are good at being compatible have a distinct advantage against those people who possess beauty alone.

　　人類要生存就必須相容，這是無庸置疑的，因?yàn)橐粋€(gè)和睦的工作團(tuán)隊(duì)比一個(gè)不和睦的工作團(tuán)隊(duì)更具生存的能力。如果外表美是使人們結(jié)合的唯一重要因素，離婚率就會(huì)遠(yuǎn)高于我們今天看到的，人們也會(huì)遠(yuǎn)沒有這么快樂。相反，外表美實(shí)際上只是吸引力的其中一個(gè)小因素，且事實(shí)上，那些擅于與他人共處的人，相比那些僅擁有美貌的人擁有更明顯的優(yōu)勢(shì)。

　　Physical beauty, in sum, maintains a marginal significance in our lives. Like all superficial things, it is a basis for immediate appraisal; but like a diamond out of its setting, it requires context and compatibility in order to truly 14)instill it with value.

　　總而言之，外表美在我們生命中維持著一種邊緣意義，像所有淺層的東西一樣，只是作出即時(shí)評(píng)價(jià)的基礎(chǔ);但如同從鑲座掉出來的一顆鉆石那樣，需要襯托，被鑲座包圍而不顯得突兀，這樣它的價(jià)值才能體現(xiàn)。