【外刊D56】你的梦里究竟藏了多少秘密？
今日导读
人类最早对梦发生兴趣可以追溯到文字形成之初。而直到 19 世纪，以 1899 年《梦的解析》的发表为标志，人们才开始把梦作为科学研究的严肃课题。弗洛伊德指出：“梦是我们的潜意识，需要加以解释。”然而，梦境的解读并不容易。对人类而言，它依然是个未解之谜。今天这篇《卫报》的文章同样聚焦梦的解读：美国科学记者爱丽丝·罗伯与她的新书《我们为什么做梦》从全新的角度向大众诠释梦的积极效用。让我们跟着宇轩老师，一起来读今天的新闻吧！
新闻原文
‘When we dream, we have the perfect chemical canvas for intense visions’
The Guardian
Alice Robb is an American science journalist who has written for the Washington Post and the New Republic. Her new book, Why We Dream, encourages us to rethink the importance of dreams and to become dream interpreters ourselves.
Recently there’s been a massive interest in the science of sleep. Sleep plays a role in maintaining our mental health. Are dreams part of that process?
Dreams play a big role in helping us cope with stress, grief and trauma. Dreams are an opportunity to work through things that frighten us in real life, to play out worst-case scenarios in an environment where they have no consequences.
Has anyone explained why dreams contain such surreal elements, weird collages of time, people, geography and so on?
When we dream, the logic centres of our brain — the frontal lobes — go dark, and chemicals associated with self-control, like serotonin and norepinephrine, drop. At the same time, the emotion centres light up: we have a perfect chemical canvas for dramatic, psychologically intense visions.
You say neglecting to consider our dreams is like “throwing away a gift from our brains without bothering to open it.” What is the gift?
When we’re dreaming, we’re thinking in a state we never have access to by day. Dreams offer the opportunity to think in a different way and show new answers to problems. They show us blind spots, help us home in on things we might be neglecting in our personal lives.
带着问题听讲解
如何理解 chemical canvas ？
短语 worst-case scenarios 的含义是什么？
梦能在哪三个方面帮助维持我们的心理健康？
新闻正文
‘When we dream, we have the perfect chemical canvas for intense visions’
“入梦时，我们就拥有了能够呈现强烈幻象的完美化学画布”
Alice Robb is an American science journalist who has written for the Washington Post and the New Republic. Her new book, Why We Dream, encourages us to rethink the importance of dreams and to become dream interpretersourselves.
爱丽丝·罗伯是一名美国科学记者，曾为《华盛顿邮报》和《新共和》撰稿。她的新书《我们为什么做梦》激发我们去重新考量梦的重要性，并鼓励我们也成为梦境的解读者。
Recently there’s been a massive interest in the science of sleep. Sleep plays a role in maintaining our mental health. Are dreams part of that process?
Dreams play a big role in helping us cope with stress, grief and trauma. Dreams are an opportunity to work through things that frighten us in real life, to play out worst-case scenarios in an environment where they have no consequences.
睡眠科学近来备受关注。睡眠能够帮助维持我们的心理健康。那睡梦是这个过程的一部分吗？
睡梦能很好地帮助我们去应对精神压力、悲伤和心理创伤。在睡梦当中，我们有机会去设法解决那些在现实生活中让我们害怕的事情，可以借助这个不会产生任何现实后果的环境，去经历可能出现的最坏结果。
Has anyone explained why dreams contain such surreal elements, weird collages of time, people, geography and so on?
When we dream, the logic centres of our brain — the frontal lobes— go dark, and chemicals associated with self-control, like serotonin and norepinephrine, drop. At the same time, the emotion centres light up: we have a perfect chemical canvas for dramatic, psychologically intense visions.
有人解释过为什么梦里会有这样的超现实因素和关于时间、人物、地点等方面奇怪的“大杂烩”吗？
当我们做梦时，我们大脑的逻辑中枢——大脑的前额叶——会进入休眠状态，像血清素和去甲肾上腺素等与自制力相关的化学物质水平呈下降趋势。同时，情绪中枢激活，让我们拥有能够呈现激动而强烈的心理幻象的完美化学画布。
You say neglecting to consider our dreams is like “throwing away a gift from our brains without bothering to open it.” What is the gift?
When we’re dreaming, we’re thinking in a state we never have access to by day. Dreams offer the opportunity to think in a different way and show new answers to problems. They show us blind spots, help us home in on things we might be neglecting in our personal lives.
你提到如果不重视研究我们的梦，就像是“连看都懒得看，就直接扔掉来自我们大脑的礼物”。所以这份礼物是什么呢？
当我们处在梦境中，我们的思绪进入了一种白天无法企及的状态。梦境给我们提供了一种机会，让我们能够以另外一种方式来思考，并且向我们展示解决问题的新方法。梦境让我们看到盲点，使我们集中注意力于个人生活里可能忽视了的东西。
重点词汇
canvas
/ˈkænvəs/
n. 画布
interpreter
/ɪnˈtɜːrprətər/
n. 译员；演绎者
词性拓展：interpret（v. 解释，翻译）
词根词缀：-er
搭配短语：simultaneous interpreter
interpretation 搭配短语：The Interpretation of Dreams.
trauma
/ˈtraʊmə/
n. 心理创伤
英文释义：a mental condition caused by severe shock
搭配短语：the trauma of marriage breakdown
worst-case scenario
最坏的可能，最糟的情况
scenario 英文释义：a situation that could possibly happen
例句：You and I have to consider the worst case scenario here.
surreal
/səˈriːəl/
adj. 离奇的，荒诞的，超现实的
词根词缀：sur-（在...之上）
例句：Driving through the total darkness was a slightly surreal experience.
collage
/kəˈlɑːʒ/
n.（不同事物的）大杂烩；拼贴画
相关词汇：college（n. 大学）
英文释义：a collection of things
例句：The film is a shoddy collage of various special effects.
搭配短语：make a collage of postcards
frontal lobe
大脑额叶
相关词汇：front（adj. 前面的；前部的）; lobe（n. 大脑、肺、肝等器官的叶）
go dark
进入休眠；关闭
blind spot
盲点，无知领域
例句：It can be very dangerous if there's a vehicle in your blind spot.
例句：He has a blind spot about personal finance.
home in on
集中注意力于；瞄准，对准
搭配短语：home in on sth./sb.
英文释义：to find and give a lot of attention to something or someone
例句：The report homed in on the weaknesses in the management structure.
例句：The missile homed in on the ship.
补充词汇知识
vision
n. 幻觉，幻象
搭配短语：have visions of sth.
例句：I had visions of us getting hopelessly lost.
play a role in
在...（某事）当中起作用
搭配短语：play a positive/leading role in
work through
逐步解决一个困难的问题
play out
某事逐渐进行或者演化
例句：I'm going to see how this plays out.
light up
激活，进入活跃状态
have access to
拥有...的权利/机会
长难句解析
Dreams are an opportunity to work through things that frighten us in real life，to play out worst-case scenarios in an environment where they have no consequences.
在睡梦当中，我们有机会去设法解决那些在现实生活中所担忧的事情，可以借助这个不会产生任何现实后果的环境，去经历可能出现的最坏结果。
句子中的两个不定式短语 to work through 和 to play out 是并列关系，在采访的口语化环境下，关联词 and 被省略了。work through，它表示 to manage a problem that has many different parts step by step，“逐步解决一个困难的问题”；它的宾语 things that frighten us in real life 包含了 that 连接的定语从句，表示在梦里我们能够“逐步解决现实生活中我们担忧的那些事情”。接下来，play out 表示 sth. gradually takes place, “某事逐渐进行或者演化”。文中的 play out 是一个接近但不完全一样的意思，它表示让一件事情进行到底，尤其是在一个非现实的环境下。看到它的宾语： worst-case scenarios，“最坏的可能性，最糟糕的结果”，也就是说，另一方面，我们在梦里还可以“去预演/去经历最坏的可能性”。
学习资源
推荐的查音标网站：
拓展阅读
清醒梦
清醒梦（Lucid Dreaming）是在做梦时保持清醒的状态。清醒梦跟白日梦并不相同，清醒梦是做梦者在睡眠状态中保持意识清醒；白日梦则是做梦者在清醒状态中进行冥想或幻想，而不进入睡眠状态中。清醒梦一词首先由荷兰医生 Frederick Van Eeden 在 1913 年提出。在清醒梦的状态下，做梦者可以在梦中拥有清醒时候的思考和记忆能力，部分的人甚至可以让自己的梦真实得跟现实世界并无二样，并知道自己身处梦中。
直观地说，就是你在做梦的过程中，突然意识到自己在做梦，而且梦境还可以继续下去。这种情况下，做梦者甚至可以实现对梦境的控制。清醒梦有许多潜在的好处。例如，可以利用清醒梦来克服梦魇、治疗恐惧症、创新性地解决问题、改善运动技能，甚至帮助康复治疗。
