虛構小說如何改變現實世界？

不要再說讀文學、寫小說對社會沒有甚麼貢獻了！那是無知。

TED-Ed：虛構小說如何改變現實世界？
http://tedxtaipei.com/2012/…/how-fiction-can-change-reality/

Emily Dickinson said over a century ago that there is no frigate like a book to take us lands away, and it’s true. When we pick up a book, turn on the TV, or watch a movie, we’re carried away down the currents of story into a world of imagination. And when we land, on a shore that is both new and familiar, something strange happens.
Emily Dickinson 在一個世紀多前曾說過，沒有一艘船能比擬書本，能帶我們遨遊異想世界，而她所言不虛！當我們翻開書、打開電視、欣賞電影時，我們便被故事劇情帶往想像力的國度；而當我們上岸時，岸上的景象既新穎又熟悉，有些奇怪的事便發生了。

Stepping on to the shore, we’re changed. We don’t retrace the footsteps of the authors or characters we followed here: no. Instead we walk a mile in their shoes. Researchers in psychology, neuroscience, child development, and biology are finally starting to gain quantifiable scientific evidence showing what writers and readers have always known: That stories have a unique ability to change a person’s point of view.
我們在踏上岸的那刻被改變了。我們並不是追隨著帶我們前來此地的作者或角色的足跡。不，不是的，我們已化身為他們！近來，心理學、神經學、兒童發展學、和生物學的學者開始提出許多科學證據，證明一件作者和讀者老早就知道的事：故事有改變人們觀點的獨特力量。

Scholars are discovering evidence that stories shape culture and that much of what we believe about life comes not from fact but from fiction, that our ideas of class, marriage, and even gender are relatively new, and that many ideologies which held fast for centuries were revised within the 18th century, and re-drafted in the pages of the early novel.
學者們發現，故事形塑了我們的文化，而大部分我們所相信的生命意義並不來自事實，而是來自小說。現今我們對於階級、婚姻、甚至是性別的觀點都是十分嶄新的；許多延續了好幾世紀的思想體系都在十八世紀時發生改變，並被早期的小說改寫。

Imagine a world where class, and not hard work, decide a person’s worth. A world where women are simply men’s more untamed copy. A world where marriage for love is a novel notion. Well, that was the world in which Samuel Richardson’s Pamela first appeared. Richardson’s love story starred a poor, serving-class heroine who is both morally superior and smarter than her upper-class suitor. The book, challenging a slew of traditions, caused quite a ruckus. There was more press for Pamela than for Parliament. It spawned intense debate and several counter-novels.
請想像這樣一個世界：階級而非努力決定了一個人的價值、女人被視為「未馴化的男性複製品」、因自由戀愛而結婚更是個全新的想法。其實呢，這就是 Samuel Richardson 在出版小說《Pamela》時的社會現況。Richardson 的愛情故事裡，女主角是個道德高尚、比起她那上流社會追求者還要聰慧的女僕。這本書挑戰了許多傳統觀念並引起大眾嘩然，討論這本小說的報章篇幅甚至遠多於對國會的討論。它引發了大眾辯論，也催生了往後幾本持相反立場的小說。

Still, for all those who couldn’t accept Pamela, others were eager for this new fictional world. This best-seller, and all its literary heirs, Pride and Prejudice, Jane Eyre, and yes, even Twilight, have continuously shared the same tale, and taught similar lessons which are now conventional and commonplace.
雖然仍有人不能接受《Pamela》，許多人卻對這幻想中的世界十分嚮往。這本暢銷小說及許多它的延伸作品《傲慢與偏見（Pride and Prejudice）》、《簡愛（Jane Eyre）》、甚至是《暮光之城（Twilight）》持續地向世界訴說同樣的故事，而這些觀念也漸漸普及於現代、被社會接受。

Similarly, novels have helped shape the minds of thought leaders across history. Some scholars say that Darwin’s Theory of Evolution is highly indebted to the plots he read and loved. His theory privileges intelligence, swiftness, and adaptability to change – all core characteristics in a hero. Whether you’re reading Harry Potter or Great Expectations, you’re reading the kind of plot that inspired Darwin.
相同的，小說也改變了歷史上許多思想先驅的心靈。有些學者說，達爾文的演化論受到一本他喜愛的小說的高度影響。他的理論高度推崇智慧、敏捷、適應環境變化的能力，而這些特質都是小說的男主角所擁有的。不管你正在讀《哈利波特（Harry Potter）》或是《遠大前程（Great Expectations）》，你所讀的就是啟發達爾文的故事。

Yet recent studies show that his theory might not be the whole story, our sense of being a hero- one man, or one woman, or even one species taking on the challenges of the world might be wrong. Instead of being hard-wired for competition, for being the solitary heroes in our own story, we might instead be members of a shared quest. More Hobbit than Harry.
然而，最近的研究顯示他的理論並非真理；我們認為一個英雄人物或一個物種便能單獨迎向世界挑戰的意念，很有可能是錯的。比起與生俱來擁有競爭思維、或是想獨挑大梁的英雄心態，我們更像是一個擁有共同目標的群體；更像哈比人而不是哈利波特。

Sometimes, of course, the shoes we’ve been walking in can get plain worn out. After all, we haven’t walked just one mile in Jane Austen or Mark Twain’s shoes, we’ve walked about a hundred trillion miles in them. This isn’t to say that we can’t read and enjoy the classics, we should travel with Dickens, let Pip teach us what to expect from ourselves, have a talk with Austen and Elizabeth about our prides and prejudices. We should float with Twain down the Mississippi, and have Jim show us what it means to be good.
當然，有時候我們並不能完全體會書中所描寫的故事，畢竟珍．奧斯汀和馬克．吐溫身處的年代實在太久遠了。但這並不是說我們就沒辦法享受經典著作；我們應該和狄更斯一起旅行，讓皮普（《遠大前程》的男主角 ）引導我們思考對自己前程的期望、或是和珍．奧斯汀及伊莉莎白（《傲慢與偏見》的女主角）談談我們的傲慢與偏見。我們也該和馬克．吐溫一起漂流到密西西比，讓《頑童流浪記（ The adventures of Huckleberry Finn）》的 Jim 告訴我們何謂善良。

But on our journey, we should also keep in mind that the terrain has changed. We’ll start shopping around for boots that were made for walking into a new era. Take, for instance, Katniss Everdeen and her battle with the Capitol. Can Hunger Games lead us into thinking about capitalism in a new way? Can it teach us a lesson about why the individual should not put herself before the group? Will Uglies reflect the dangers of pursuing a perfect body and letting the media define what is beautiful? Will Seekers trod a path beyond global warming? Will the life and death struggles of Toklo, Kallik, Lusa, and the other bears chart a course for understanding animals and our place in their world?
但在我們的旅途中要謹記：我們所處的時代不同了，而現在該換我們想像未來世界的模樣。例如，小說《飢餓遊戲三部曲（The Hunger Games trilogy）》中女主角 Katniss Everdeen 與她對抗都城（Capitol）的過程，是否可以讓我們以新的角度思考資本主義？或是告訴我們菁英主義有何不妥之處？小說《醜人兒（Uglies）》是否反映了我們追求完美體態，並讓媒體定義「美」所帶來的危險？《熊武士（Seekers）》中的 Toklo, Kallik, Lusa 和其他熊隻，能否走出一條渡過全球暖化危機的路，而我們又能不能被他們的生存故事激發起對於動物的關懷，並瞭解牠們眼中人類的模樣？

Only the future will tell which stories will engage our imagination, which tales of make-believe we’ll make tomorrow, but the good news is this: There are new stories to venture in every day. New tales that promise to influence, to create, and to spark change. Stories that you might even write yourself. So I guess the final question is this: what story will you try on next?
只有「未來」才能揭曉謎底，告訴我們哪些虛構故事終將成真；但好消息是，每天都是一場冒險，每則新的故事都有可能影響、創造、並引發改變！你甚至可以自己撰寫你的故事！所以我想，最後一個問題應該是：下個你想讀的故事是什麼？