Vigo Baby's Rhapsodies

Human Traits

Nobel Laureate Dr. Chen-Ning Yang's (楊振寧) engagement news, albeit encouraging, inspirational, and motivational, generated a lot of gossips and speculation. But my family's response to the news is: Could we just leave them alone?

I am not a trained expert in behavioral science, but I think there are two unique characteristics in human behavior: schadenfreude and voyeurism. The former is German and the latter French. There are no English equivalents, but yes, there is (always) Chinese translation. The Chinese language often offers precise description of such behavior, partly because the Chinese people are keen observers of nature (?)

schadenfreude = 幸災樂禍
voyeurism = 偷窺

posted by Vigo Baby at 8:11 AM