Since ancient times, people have speculated aboutthe mystery of those inner forces that drive somepeople to greatness and others to self-destruction.Thi s inner drive has been called many things over thecenturies. The famous psy chologist, SigmundFreud, called it the "unconscious mind" or, morefamiliarl y, "instinct".

自古以来，人们一直在思索人类自身具有什么神奇的内力使一些人变得崇高伟大，而使另一些人走向自我毁灭。几个世纪以来，这股内力被称作很多东西。著名的心理学家西格蒙德·弗洛伊德称之为“潜意识”，或更为人熟知的“本能”。

From the beginning of time, this inner aspect of our being, this drive that can be constructive or destructive, has captured our imagination. The stories of this amazing struggle have formedthe basis of cultures the world over. Histor ians, architects, authors, philosophers and artistshave captured the words, im ages and meanings of this inner struggle in the form of story,music, myth, p ainting, architecture, sculpture, landscape and traditions. These men andw omen developed artistic "languages" that help us understand these aspirati ons and alsoeducate generations. This fertile body of work from ancient time s, the very foundation ofcivilization, forms the basis of study of the humaniti es.

从一开始，人类这股可以是建设性也可以是毁灭性的内在驱动力，就令我们心驰神往。这些惊人的、充满内心挣扎的故事形成了世界文化的基础。历史学家、建筑师、作家、哲学家和艺术家们以故事、音乐、神话、绘画、建筑、雕刻、风景画和传统的形式，捕捉到了这些撞击心灵的文字、形象及内涵。这些男男女女创造出了具有艺术性的“语言”，帮助我们了解人类的这些强烈愿望，并用以教育一代又一代人。从古时起开始的这些充满想象的大量作品，正是文明的底蕴，它奠定了人文研究的基础。

Studying the humanities improves our ability to read and write. No matter wh at we do in life, wewill have a huge advantage if we can read complex ideas and understand their meaning. Wewill have a bright career if we are the per son in the office who can write a clear and elegantanalysis of those ideas!

学习人文学科会提高我们的阅读和写作能力。无论我们这一生中从事什么职业，如果我们能读懂复杂的思想并理解它们的内涵，我们都会受益匪浅。如果我们是在办公室里能对这些思想写出既明确又简洁的分析的人，我们会有光明的职业前景。

Studying the humanities makes us familiar with thelanguage of emotion and t he creative process. In aninformation economy, many people have the abilit y to produce a useful product such as a new MP3 player.Yet, very few people