The text we obtain every day is classified into different types. In the book "The Intelligent Reader," it is divided into three categories: informational text, narrative text, and aesthetic text.
An Example#
When describing a boy pursuing a girl, how are these three types of text expressed:
- Informational text: I am ambitious and have many strengths; in the future, after we are together, I will devote myself to you. Many years later, we will embrace a bright future.
- Narrative text: I used to be happy, but since I met you, I am not as happy anymore. - This is how Zhang Ailing met Hu Lancheng, Lu Xun met Xu Guangping, and Hu Shi met Wei Liansi.
- Aesthetic text: On a lonely morning in the north / A morning in the north / Four years with one person. - This is a line from Hai Zi's poem "Parachute Tower."
We can see some patterns from the sentences above.
Informational sentences focus on content and logic, emphasizing the presentation of corresponding information points.
Narrative text emphasizes the order of events and involves at least two things. In the above sentences, there are three things: 1️⃣ I used to be happy, 2️⃣ I met you, 3️⃣ I became unhappy. The relationship between these three things is causal.
Aesthetic text emphasizes form and style, and I think it should also include emotions. In Hai Zi's poem, the phrase "a morning in the north" is repeated, and there are no punctuation marks between sentences, but line breaks are used. It employs personification and other rhetorical devices. At first glance, it may be difficult to understand, but upon careful consideration, it creates a captivating feeling.
How does our brain process these three different types of text?#
In the book "Thinking, Fast and Slow," it is described that the human brain has two processes: a fast process and a slow process.
The fast process thinks quickly, relies less on stored knowledge, and is good at making associations and intuitive thinking. It often reacts subconsciously, and the results of this reaction are often inaccurate.
The slow process thinks slowly, combines our known knowledge to judge current things, and is good at logical analysis, being more rational and objective.
So, how does the brain process the above three types of text?
Informational text: When faced with informational text, our brain calls upon the slow process for analysis. It consumes a lot of energy to analyze the main content contained in the current text, usually based on rules.
So, what are rules?
Rules are conventions, principles, or laws used to constrain and guide human behavior, activities, and the development of things.
For example, we often see "美" (beautiful) and "丽" (beautiful) appearing together, and "快" (fast) and "乐" (happy) appearing together. Our brain will conclude that "美丽" (beautiful) is a word, "快乐" (happy) is a word, but "美快" is not a word.
The book explains that from the beginning of our learning, we are actually learning one rule after another and storing these rules in our brain for the slow process to call upon when analyzing things.
Narrative text: When faced with narrative text, our brain tends to use the fast process for analysis. This analysis usually involves connecting the narrative context of the text and the situation it is in.
So, what is narrative?
Narrative refers to the description of a story or event conveyed through language, words, images, sounds, etc., in a time sequence.
For example, 1️⃣ I am eating, 2️⃣ After eating, I need to go to class. Event one describes me eating, and event two is that I need to go to class after eating. There is a sequence of events in terms of time.
Aesthetic text: When faced with aesthetic text, the brain uses a processing method between "fast" and "slow." How should this be understood?
As mentioned earlier, aesthetic text emphasizes form, style, and emotions. When our brain encounters this type of text, it automatically presents the appropriate visuals and decodes the corresponding emotions based on the text description.
For example, when we read the lines "此去泉台招旧部，旌旗十万斩阎罗，" it evokes a heroic and passionate emotion. When we read "杨柳岸，晓风残月，" it automatically presents an image of swaying willows and sparse moonlight, creating a gentle emotion.
The book explains that when faced with aesthetic text, our brain first combines the temporal and spatial beauty between words and the emotions expressed by words.
Our brain loves this type of text the most. We love the romantic scent of "蒹葭苍苍，白露为霜，所谓伊人，在水一方" (In the vast expanse of water, there is a person, where white dew turns into frost on the green reeds). We love the casual and unrestrained feeling of "明月松间照，清泉石上流" (The bright moon shines through the pine trees, the clear spring flows over the rocks). We love the stirring sentiment of "醉里挑灯看剑，梦回吹角连营" (Drunk, I pick up the sword and watch the lantern, in my dream, I hear the sound of horns in the camp). Even after thousands of years, even if the future is uncertain, the emotions conveyed by these combinations of words still move us.