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。

The power of beauty

美的力量

剑桥大学博士Nick Baylis

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.

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。

Harvard phychologist 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 judgement of its beauty.

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。

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.

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。

The power of beauty (2)

美的力量

剑桥大学博士Nick Baylis

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.

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。

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.

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。

Among scientists, Einstein's Theory of Relativity is unanimously praised for its extraordinary beauty.

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。