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THE POWER OF
BEAUTY
"Wisdom is the sum of the past, but beauty is the promise of the
future." Shakespeare, "As You Like It",
Act III, Scene III.
Why does man or woman want to be beautiful? There is an ancestral need for
beauty in mankind. Signs for this quest go back to prehistoric times: tattoos,
rings through the ears and nose, the wrapping of Oriental women's feet, and
many other tribal and cultural customs were for the purpose of enhancing
beauty. More contemporary and sophisticated methods are more obvious - hair
dying, cosmetic, and make-up techniques, and also the use of physical
adornments, such as jewelry, earrings, clothing styles and hair styles in
thousands of forms. All of these are for the single purpose of improving the
appearance and creating beauty.
"Why?", we say. Improved self-image through improved appearance has
proven to people over the centuries to be a means of better realizing ourselves
as human beings, a means to influence other individuals and to communicate
better in our lives, a means to gain power, if you will, and to obtain things.
This urgent need threads its way through history as a mechanism for man to
increase his level of acceptance. A more attractive and beautiful individual
always appears to have a better chance to ascent in the social scale, to
improve in his or her own fields of endeavor, and, perhaps most desirable, to
reach new emotional and sentimental heights. Every man and woman searches for
absolute truth through many pathways. However, beauty is almost always found in
any of these as a constant, and, therefore, as an important intrastructure for
the personal growth of the individual.
In this search, man sometimes lives mechanically as a machine with a set
routine, or he aspires to be human with complex inspirations for living. In
either case, beauty is an efficient means to help select the most appropriate
option. This ability to exert options is evident in our selection of clothes,
accessories, hairdos, cosmetics, and jewels.
When one of these produce adequate satisfaction, we may turn to a more
transcendental solution in the hands of the aesthetic plastic surgeon. This,
then, becomes another manifestation of the search for a balance that will
create the capacity to experience life to its fullest extent.
Aesthetic plastic surgery is the surgery of harmony, good taste, and the
beautiful attitude. The surgeon first trains his hands in the practice of
general surgery. He then must further refine his talents and techniques as a
plastic surgeon in order to combine his artistic with his scientific judgment.
In this way, he evaluates the tissues' capacity to resist the surgical action
of being "sculptured". But, the aesthetic feeling can only be
acquired with intense acts of seeing, hearing, feeling, and studying. That is
why plastic surgery is the surgery of experience, wisdom, and personal
realization.
Aesthetic plastic surgery is also art. It searches for a way to feel, to create
or recreate forms that will inspire the innermost vibrations of the soul or
that which we may ultimately call happiness.
Aesthetic plastic surgery requires a knowledge of life, man, art, and the
intimate study of how those elements intensely interrelate in our every day
living.
It is important that all plastic surgeonsto be able to judge each patient as an
individual. If a patient is trying to regain beauty, it is necessary to know
what beauty represents for that individual. To understand the patient's
psychology, the aesthetic surgeon needs to spend a great deal of time focusing
on psychological communications. It is only by such means that the plastic
surgeon shall be able to integrate in his surgery all of the critical factors
that flow from art, science, and philosophy.
This search for beauty is not restricted to Southern California, or even the
United States. It is easy to understand that this need exists for all mankind
and throughout all cultures. Many plastic surgeons have developed their
reconstructive and aesthetic talents throughout the world in various voluntary
programs, such as Project Hope, Operation Smile, Interplast, Project Concern,
and many other independent missionary hospitals, such as Hospital Albert
Schweitzer in Haiti. Communication creates understanding. My fondest desire,
therefore, is to share these thoughts with you prior to your consultation.
Hopefully, they will help us to understand each other, thereby creating for us
a mutually satisfying surgical and aesthetic experience.
Thank you for your confidence in
consulting with me.
Sincerely,
John M. Shamoun, M. D., F.A.C.S.
美的力量 The power of beauty
 The power of beauty
Beauty is essentially a form of energy, something that radiates from a fine
example of absolutely anything, whether a delightful taste or smell, or a
gorgeous sight. This energy is in effect a form of information, nature's bar
code telling us how healthy that attitude is, because health-bringing things
increase the likelihood that we and our genes will survive.
Harvard psychologist Nancy Etcoff observes that, with this vital equation very much
in mind, our brains behave like a highly sensitive radar constantly hunting a
signal. If we're shown the photograph of a face, it takes us less than a fifth
of a second to make a judgment of its beauty.
Much of the language of this energy is hard-wired and universal. Even three
month-old babies have been shown to prefer gazing at conventionally beautiful
faces, and adults from diverse ethnic cultures can all agree on who is exactly
how good-looking in other populations.
Experimental studies have also established that the active ingredients include
symmetry, order, proportion and balance. Since beauty is so powerful and
important, we can be thankful that there are many ways to be beautiful, and
very many sources. And though we most readily think of experiencing that energy
through our five physical senses of sight, sound, taste, touch and smell, other
dimensions are even more potent. For example, there is movement-which can be
the internal, kinaesthetic sense of our own bodies in dance or sport; or the
thrill of seeing an art or craft well performed. Consider, too, how ideas,
insights, and solutions, can be deemed beautiful. Among scientists, Einstein's
Theory of Relativity is unanimously praised for its extraordinary beauty.
Yale's David Gelernter, a professor of computer science, has argued
convincingly that "lust for beauty" has driven the great
technological discoveries. It is no accient, he would claim, that Mitchell's
Spitfire, with its Merlin engines and distinctive wings, could help win a war
while also seeming wonderful to the eye and ear.
And just as the plan for a bank robbery, a bridge, or a computer program can
all work beautifully, so can a whole personality. We know from the studies of
many lifetimes that humans find a balance of loving and confidence and kindness
and humour to be highly attractive and very healthy qualities.
Yet, the greatest source of beauty, for the sheer intensity and volume of
positive emotion it brings to our lives, is the beautiful relationship--the one
in which we can thrive and flourish and grow beyond ourselves. This fertile
bond can exist between two living things, or a person and a place, or a person
and a skill, and the world becomes only more beautiful the more deeply we
understand it. Therefore, we will find profound happiness in narturing and
appreciating diverse beauties in whatever ways we can.
【中文译文】
美的力量
剑桥大学博士Nick Baylis
美实质上是一种能量，任何美好的事物都能发出这种能量，比如美食、香气或美景。实际上这种能量就是一种信息，好似自然界的“条形码”，告诉我们事物的健康度，正是这些能促进健康的事物使我们和我们的基因更好地繁衍下去，生生不息。
哈佛大学心理学家南希.艾特考夫指出，因为我们非常清楚以上这点的重要性，我们的大脑就像一个高灵敏度的雷达在不断地搜索着信号。比如把一张人物照放在我们眼前，我们会在不到1/5秒的时间内对它的美丑做出判断。
对这种能量的认识是人类普遍具备的先天特质。甚至3个月大的婴儿也表现出对传统意义上的漂亮的脸蛋的青睐。不同种族的成年人在判断其他族人的容貌美丑问题上也能达成共识。
研究表明，对称、条例、比例和平衡是影响人们判断美的重要因素。美的力量是巨大而不可忽视的。我们应当感谢美丽有那么多的表达方式，美的源泉是那么丰富多彩。说到美，也许我们很容易想到通
过视觉、听觉、味觉、触觉和嗅觉这五种感官来体验它的能量，但其实还有其他更为有效的途径，比如：“动觉”--它可能是我们跳舞或运动时身体内部的肌肉动感，也可能是看到一件精湛的艺术品或工艺制品时的兴奋和激动不已。再想想我们又有多少可以被称为“漂亮”的想法、见解和解决方案吧。科学家们不就对爱因斯坦“相对论”所蕴涵的非凡之美一致地给予了高度赞赏么。
耶鲁大学计算机科学教授大卫.格冷特用有力的实例说明了“对美的强烈渴望”成就了一系列伟大的科技成就。他指出，米切尔设计的喷火式战斗机正是凭借其采用的马林引擎和独特的机翼，在取得战斗胜利的同时还能给人带来视觉和听觉的享受。
正如我们可以说一起银行抢劫、一座桥梁或是一个计算机程序的设计干得很“漂亮”，一个人的整体人格也可以是“漂亮”的。从对许多人的生平研究中发现，爱心、自信、友善和幽默是非常健康的品质，拥有这些品质的人是极具魅力的。
然而，就其带给我们的美好感觉的度和量而言，美的最主要来源是我们与外界的美好关系，它们给我们的生活带来源源不断的感情--让我们茁壮成长，超越自我。这一有力的和谐关系可以存在于生物与生物之间，也可存在于人和某个地方之间，或是人和某项技能之间。当我们能更好地认识这些关系时，世界就会变得更加美丽。因此，我们在培育和欣赏美的同时，也会得到无穷的快乐。
【词汇讲解】
1.essentially adv. 本质上，本来
如：He's essentially a very generous man.
他本质上是个十分慷慨的人。
The culture areas are essentially coincident with language areas.
文化区与语言区基本重合。
2.gorgeous adj. 华丽的，灿烂的，好极了
如：The sunset is gorgeous.
落日辉煌。
The night sky is now gorgeous with billions of stars.
星斗万千，夜空璀璨。
3.likelihood n. 可能性
如：The likelihood of recovery from a disease is small.
痊愈的可能性很小。
4.convincingly adv. 令人信服地，有说服力地
如：He argues convincingly.
他的辩解很有说服力。
She replies to my point so convincingly that my argument is soon in tatter.
她反驳我提出的各点都很有说服力，很快就将我的论点驳倒。
5.symmetry n. 对称(性), 匀称，整齐
如：Having no balance or symmetry.
不对称的，不匀称的失去平衡或对称性的
Having as many planes as required for complete symmetry in a given crystal
system.
全面的，全对称晶形的具有在给定的晶体系统中全面对称的全部平面的
The Power of Beauty
1. One of the most successful, influential and 1)beloved women in American
history, Eleanor Roosevelt once said that she had one regret: she wished she
had been prettier. Who hasn't felt the same way? We are all too 2)aware of our
3)physical 4)imperfections. To overcome them, we spend 5)billions upon billions
of dollars every year-on 6)cosmetics, 7)diet products, fashion, and 8)plastic
surgery.
身为美国史上最成功、最有影响力且最受人喜爱的女性之一的罗斯福夫人曾说她有一个遗憾：她希望自己长得更漂亮。谁没有过同样的想法呢？我们都强烈感觉到自己身体的缺陷。为了克服缺陷，我们每年都要花费几十亿美元--在化妆品、减肥食品、流行时尚与整容手术上。
1.1) beloved (a.) 受人喜爱的 2) aware
(a.) 明白的 3) physical
(a.) 身体的 4) imperfection
(n.) 不完美，瑕疵 5) billion
(n.) 十亿 6) cosmetics
(n.) 化妆品 7) diet (n.)
(特种)饮食 8) plastic surgery (n.) 整形外科) 兴奋的
2. Why do we care so much about how we look? Because it matters. Because beauty
is powerful. Because even when we learn to value people mostly for being kind
and wise and funny, we are still moved by beauty. No matter how much we argue
against it or pretend to be 1)immune, beauty 2)exerts its power over us. There
is simply no escape.
我们如此这么在意自己的外貌？因为它很重要。因为美的力量很大。因为即使我们学着基本上去看重仁慈、智能、风趣的人，但我们仍会受到美的感动。无论我们多么用力辩驳，或假装对它免疫，美仍然对我们产生影响。根本无法逃避。
2.1) immune (a.) 免疫的 2) exert
(v.) 发挥出
3. Aristotle said, "Beauty is a greater 1)recommendation than any letter
of introduction." It's not fair, but it's true. We simply treat beautiful
people better than we do others. 2)Attach a photograph of a beautiful author to
an essay, and people will think that it is more creative and more
3)intelligently written than exactly the same 4)essay 5)accompanied by the
photo of a 6)homely author.
亚里斯多德说：「美是比任何介绍信都要有用的推荐函。」这并不公平，但却是事实。我们就是会对美丽的人比较好。把一位美丽作家的照片贴在作品上，读者就会认为这篇文章较有创意，写得更有智能。完全相同的文章配上相貌平凡的作家照片，评价就会较低。
3.1) recommendation (n.) 推荐 2) attach (v.) 贴上，附上 3) intelligently (adv.) 聪明地 4) essay (n.) 论文，小品文 5) accompany (v.) 伴随 6) homely (a.) 平凡的
4. As children, beautiful people are more likely to become favorites with
parents and teachers. Later, they're more likely to get good jobs and
1)promotions. Beautiful lawyers get paid more than their less attractive
2)colleagues. Good-looking 3)criminals are more likely to win the 4)sympathy of
judges and 5)juries. Attractive people 6)in need are more likely to receive
help from strangers.
漂亮的小孩比较容易获得父母与老师的宠爱。长大后，他们比较容易找到好工作与获得升迁。漂亮的律师赚的钱比卖相较差的同事多。长得好的罪犯比较容易获得法官与陪审团的同情。有吸引力的人在穷困时，获得陌生人帮助的机率也比较大。
4.1)promotion (n.) 升迁 2)
colleague (n.) 同事 3)
criminal (n.) 罪犯 4)
sympathy (n.) 同情 5) jury
(n.) 陪审团 6) in need
(a.) 穷困的，有需要的
5. In 1)bodily form, 2)symmetry is beauty. One thing that makes men and women
attractive to each other is having a 3)symmetrical body. Men with an
4)alluring, symmetrical 5)figure begin having sex at an earlier age, have sex
earlier in relationships and have two to three times as many sex partners as
their 6)asymmetrical 7)pals. It doesn't seem fair-it isn't-but symmetrical men
also make better lovers. In her book, 8)Survival of the Prettiest: The Science
of Beauty, Harvard 9)psychologist Nancy Etcoff describes research which shows
that the best way to predict whether or not a woman will have an orgasm during
sex is to look at the symmetry of her partner. This turns out to be a better
10)predictor "than the couple's feeling of love, the 11)investment of
either party in the relationship, the male's 12)potential 13)earnings, or the
level of sexual experience or frequency of lovemaking of the couple."
在体型方面，对称就是美。男女互相吸引的因素之一，就是拥有匀称的身材。身材迷人匀称的男人发生第一次性经验的年龄比较早，每谈一次恋爱也比较早发生性行为，而且性伴侣的人数是身材不匀称者的两到三倍。似乎不太公平--的确是不公平--但身材匀称的男人也是比较好的情人。哈佛心理学家南茜艾特考夫在她的著作《美者生存：美的科学》中介绍一些研究，显示如果要预测女性是否会有性高潮，最可靠的指针是看她伴侣的身材是否匀称。结果发现这项指针的可靠性甚至超过「这对情侣恋爱的感觉、双方的感情投入、男方潜在的赚钱能力、双方性经验的水平或做爱的频率」。
5. 1) bodily (a.) 身体的 2)
symmetry (n.) 对称 3)
symmetrical (a.) 对称的 4)
alluring (a.) 诱人的 5) figure
(n.) 身材 6)
asymmetrical (a.) 不对称的 7) pal
(n.) 伙伴 8) survival
(n.) 生存 9)
psychologist (n.) 心理学家 10)
predictor (n.) 预测工具 11)
investment (n.) 投资 12)
potential (a.) 潜在的
6. Symmetrical women have it better, too. Surprisingly, women's symmetry
1)varies throughout each month. As 2)indicated by changes in the 3)measurements
of their ears, fingers and other body parts, women become most symmetrical-and
most attractive-when they most need to be: on the day when they ovulate.
身材匀称的女人也比较有利。令人惊讶的是，女人的匀称每一个月从头到尾都会变化。测量女人耳朵、手指与身体其它部位的尺寸变化显示：女人在最需要匀称时会变得最匀称--因此最有吸引力：就是排卵那一天。
6.1) vary (v.) 变化 2)
indicate (v.) 显示 3)
measurement (n.) 测量
7. Many of the physical 1)features that make us attractive to one another are,
in fact, signals of our health and 2)fertility. For thousands of years, women
have been using 3)makeup to try to look like teenagers. Why? Men everywhere
find young, 4)fertile women to be the most sexually attractive.
许多使我们对他人具有吸引力的身体特征，其实是表现健康与生育能力的征兆。数千年来，女性一直用化妆品来使自己看起来像少女。为什么？因为世界各地的男人都觉得年轻而有生育能力的女性最具有性吸引力。
7. 1)feature (n.) 特征 2)
fertility (n.) 生育能力 3) makeup
(n.) 化妆品 4) fertile
(a.) 有生育能力的
8. Men have a natural preference for women with youthfully narrow 1)waists and
full 2)hips. Psychologist Devendra Singh tested men in 18 different cultures
for their response to women of varying shapes. 3)Overwhelmingly they found
women with a waist-to-hip 4)ratio of 0.7 as the most attractive. Marilyn Monroe
was shaped just so. Another 1950s beauty, Audrey Hepburn, had a much 5)slimmer
figure that 6)resembles the 7)skinny, 8)supermodel look that has recently been
fashionable in the United States. But Hepburn's waist-to-hip ratio was exactly
0.7, just like Monroe's. It is no 9)coincidence that scientists have discovered
that women with such a waist-to-hip ratio are the most fertile. By following
their 10)instinct, men are naturally attracted to the most fertile women
around.
男人很自然会偏好有青春细腰与丰臀的女人。心理学家戴维卓席恩对十八种不同文化中的男性进行测试，看他们对各种身材的女性有何反应。绝大多数的男人都认为腰与臀比率是0.7的女人最迷人。玛丽莲梦露的身材正是如此。1950年代另一位美女奥黛莉赫本的身材苗条得多，很像近年来美国流行的纤细、超级名模造型。但赫本的腰臀比也是0.7，跟玛丽莲梦露一样。科学家发现具有这种腰臀比的女性生育能力最强，这绝非巧合。男性听从本能，自然就会被吸引到最有生育力的女性身旁。
8.1) waist (n.) 腰 2) hip
(n.) 臀部 3)
overwhelmingly (adv.) 压倒性地 4) ratio
(n.) 比例 5) slim (a.) 苗条的 6) resemble
(v.) 类似 7) skinny
(a.) 瘦的 8) supermodel
(n.) 超级名模 9)
coincidence (n.) 巧合 10)
instinct (n.) 本能
9. These days, in addition to cosmetics, women and men both rely on 1)advanced technology
to 2)enhance their beauty. 3)Wrinkles can be 4)stretched away with a face lift.
Special 5)injections can make lips look attractively young and 6)plump.
7)Countless 8)creams and 9)chemicals promise clear, 10)glowing skin for men and
women. Besides being a sign of youth, good skin also means that the person is
likely to be healthy and free from 11)parasites.
除了化妆品之外，最近的男女都仰赖先进的科技来使自己变得更美。拉皮可以拉掉皱纹，特殊的注射可以使嘴唇年轻饱满、更加迷人。无数种面霜与化学药品保证男男女女都能拥有晶莹光润的肌肤。除了是年轻的象征之外，美丽的肌肤也代表这个人可能很健康，没有寄生虫。
9.1) advanced (a.) 先进的 2) enhance
(v.) 促进 3) wrinkle
(n.) 皱纹 4) stretch
(v.) 绷紧 5) injection
(n.) 注射 6) plump (a.)
丰满的 7) countless
(a.) 数不尽的 8) cream (n.)
乳霜 9) chemical
(n.) 化学药物 10) glow (v.)
发亮 11) parasite
(n.) 寄生虫
10. Still, it's possible to go too far. At the end of the 19th century, some
women even had 1)ribs 2)removed so they'd have that perfect narrow waist. Some
people today have poison injected in the face to get rid of wrinkles, even
though this means that their 3)facial muscles will be 4)paralyzed, unable to
express certain 5)emotions.
不过，还是有可能做得太过火。十九世纪末，有些女人甚至拿掉一些肋骨，只为拥有完美的柳腰。今天有些人在脸上注射毒药来消除皱纹，即使脸部肌肉会因此瘫痪而做不出某些表情，也在所不惜。
10.1) rib (n.) 肋骨 2) remove
(v.) 除去 3) facial
(a.) 面部的 4) paralyze
(v.) 瘫痪 5) emotion
(n.) 情感
11. Our 1)sensitivity to physical beauty is not something we can control at
will. We are born with it. Experiments 2)conducted by psychologist Judith H.
Langlois showed that even small 3)infants prefer to look at attractive faces.
Before they have met a single supermodel, before they have watched a single TV
show, before they have opened up a single fashion magazine, they are drawn to
the same faces which 4)adults have judged to be attractive.
我们对外在美的敏感，不是可以控制自如的。我们天生就这么敏感。心理学家朱迪丝蓝洛斯的实验显示，就连小婴儿也喜欢看漂亮的脸。他们从来没有见过超级名模、没看过电视节目，也没翻开过时尚杂志，却已经受到大人也认为有魅力的脸庞所吸引。
11. 1)sensitivity (n.) 敏感度 2) conduct (v.) 进行 3) infant (n.) 婴儿 4) adult (n.) 成年人
12. There are more important things in life than beauty. But as Etcoff says,
"We have to understand beauty, or we will always be 1)enslaved by it."
If you aim to be wise and kind and funny, it doesn't mean that you can't also
try your best to look beautiful. There's no reason to feel guilty about being
moved by beauty's power. It moves us all.
人生中有比美丽更重要的事，但就如艾特考夫所说：「我们必须了解美，否则我们永远都会是它的奴隶。」如果你的目标是要聪明、仁慈又风趣，这并不代表你就不能尽力让自己变得漂亮。被美的力量感动，并不需要有罪恶感，因为所有的人都受它感动。
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