《想象力》【内容介绍】

　　与昆虫、飞鸟、乌龟或者其他哺乳动物相比，人类最大的不同是什么？许多动物都拥有这样或那样的超人能力，为什么偏偏是人类从进化的长河中脱颖而出？瑞典于默奥大学的神经科医师和神经病学家大卫·贝克斯特罗姆认为，人类与其他动物的重要差异在于人类是一个不受限于当下和现实的物种：我们能反思过去、前瞻未来，吸取过往的经验教训，并为可能发生的事情做好规划和准备；我们善于站在他者的视角思考，从另一个角度看待周围的世界；我们还精于“脑补”，无论是填补缺位的感知信息，还是将自己置身于未曾经历的境地。换句话说，我们的大脑赋予了我们强大的想象力。

　　在本书中，基于神经科学、医学、心理学、考古学、语言学、美学、哲学等诸多领域的理论和发现，贝克斯特罗姆从进化的角度审视了其他哺乳动物、非人灵长类、远古人类以及现代人脑结构与功能的差异，展示了强大的想象力是如何推动人类的文化、技术甚至思维方式迅速发展，引发一场智人认知革命的。在日常生活中，这种能力未必会显山露水，不过一旦与之相关的脑区出现异常，无论是意外事故导致的损伤还是神经系统疾病引发的病变，其惊人的影响力往往就会突显出来。通过一个个临床病例，作者以类似《错把妻子当帽子》《脑中魅影》的笔触，向读者展示了想象力的强大力量：夏尔-博内综合征病人产生的漫天飞雪、精灵游行的视幻觉；卡普格拉综合征患者认为家人是“冒牌货”的偏执妄想；大脑颞叶梭状回面孔区异常引发的面孔失认症甚至使患者连家人也认不出来；在皮质性色盲人士的眼中和脑海中，西红柿永远是黑乎乎的……

　　数千年来，想象力一直深深地植根于人类的文学、艺术和哲学命题当中。正如作者在书中论述的那样，亚里士多德、勒内·笛卡儿、大卫·休谟、让-保罗·萨特，一代又一代思想家对其有各自的理解和解读。有人认为它完全源自感知和体验；有人认为它是一种内在的思维形式，完全与感知无关；另有人认为它是感知和抽象的桥梁与支点。然而他们或许都会认同的一点是，与其说我们是智人，不如说我们是幻人——精于想象和幻想的人。

　　作者简介

　　大卫·贝克斯特罗姆（DavidBäckström）

　　瑞典于默奥大学临床科学系神经病学家，该校附属医院神经科医师，专攻帕金森病等神经退行性疾病，在《美国医学会神经病学杂志》（JAMANeurology）等业内高水平期刊发表过多篇研究论文。除了于默奥大学外，他的研究还获耶鲁大学等美国大学和研究机构的资助。

　　王梦达

　　瑞典语资深译者，毕业于北京外国语大学（瑞典语言文学学士，欧洲语言文学硕士），译有《物种复活》等瑞典语科普图书。

Imagination 【 Content Introduction 】

What is the biggest difference between humans and insects, birds, turtles or other mammals? Many animals possess superhuman abilities of one kind or another, so why do humans stand out from the long stream of evolution? David Beckstrom, a neurologist and neurologist at Umeo University in Sweden, believes that the important difference between humans and other animals is that humans are a species that is not limited to the present and reality: we can reflect on the past, look forward to the future, learn from the past, and plan and prepare for what may happen; We are good at thinking from the perspective of others, looking at the world around us from another Angle; We're also adept at "imagining," whether it's filling in missing perceptual information or putting ourselves in situations we haven't experienced before. In other words, our brains give us a powerful imagination.

Based on theories and discoveries in neuroscience, medicine, psychology, archaeology, linguistics, aesthetics, and philosophy, Beckstrom examines the differences in the structure and function of the human brain from an evolutionary perspective in other mammals, nonhuman primates, ancient humans, and modern humans. It shows how the powerful imagination has driven the rapid development of human culture, technology and even ways of thinking, triggering a cognitive revolution in Homo sapiens. This ability may not be obvious in everyday life, but when abnormalities occur in the brain regions associated with it, whether injury from an accident or neurological disease, its surprising impact often becomes apparent. Through one clinical case after another, the author shows the powerful power of imagination to the reader with the brush strokes similar to "Mistook his wife for a hat" and "Phantom in the Brain" : the visual hallucinations of flying snow and marching elves produced by the patients of Charle-Bonnet syndrome; Capgras sufferers' paranoid delusions that their families are "impostors"; Facial agnosia caused by abnormalities in the temporal fusiform face area of the brain makes it difficult to recognize even family members. In the eyes and minds of people with cortical color blindness, tomatoes are always black...

For thousands of years, imagination has been deeply embedded in human literature, art, and philosophical propositions. As the author discusses in the book, Aristotle, Rene Descartes, David Hume, Jean-Paul Sartre, generations of thinkers have their own understanding and interpretation of it. Some people think it's all about perception and experience; Some argue that it is an internal form of thought that has nothing to do with perception; Others see it as a bridge and fulcrum between perception and abstraction. One thing they might all agree on, however, is that we are not so much Homo sapiens as Homo sapiens - masters of imagination and fantasy.

About the author

DavidBackstrom

Neurologist at the Department of Clinical Sciences of Uume University, Sweden, neurologist at the hospital affiliated to the university, specializing in neurodegenerative diseases such as Parkinson's disease, has published a number of research papers in the Journal of the American Medical Association Neurology (JAMANeurology) and other high-level journals in the industry. In addition to Umea University, his research has received funding from American universities and research institutions such as Yale University.

Wang Mengda

He is a senior Swedish translator, graduated from Beijing Foreign Studies University (Bachelor of Swedish Language and Literature, Master of European language and literature), and has translated the Resurrection of Species and other Swedish popular science books.