我们日常会做的十大怪事的科学解释(上)

Humans do weird stuff. Sometimes, we don't even realize our behaviors are strange until we really stop to look at ourselves objectively. Then, it's only natural to wonder why we do that weird stuff. So in the spirit of analyzing ourselves, here are some of the odd things we do every day and the leading explanations for why we do them.

人类总是做一些奇怪的事情。有时候直到我们真的停下脚步，以客观的眼光看待自己时，才会发现我们的所作所为非常奇葩。之后，我们自然很想知道为什么当初自己会做这些奇怪的事情。本着自我分析的精神，以下罗列了一些我们日常做的怪事，并解释了我们做这些事情的原因。

Replacing The Toilet Paper Roll

10.不换厕所的卷纸

On the scale of difficult things to do, replacing the toilet paper roll lands way down near the bottom of the list. Still, for some reason, many of us have a difficult time completing this simple task with any level of consistency. Why is that? The reason for our TP sloppiness, according to a pair of psychologists from the University of New York, isn't really due to laziness but because replacing the roll isn't the slightest bit stimulating and offers virtually no intrinsic reward (except to the anal retentive).

如果以难易程度将事情排序，换厕纸这事儿一定可以滚到单子的最后一行了。然而，出于某种原因，虽然换厕纸是很简单的一件事，但我们大多数人都不会在用完厕纸之后很自然的换上新的。这是为什么呢？根据纽约大学两位心理学家的分析，我们对换厕纸马马虎虎并不是因为懒惰，而是因为换厕纸一点都不刺激，也几乎无法给我们带来任何"内在奖励"。（除了培养出"肛门滞留人格"）

Similar chores like taking out the trash or doing the dishes are equally boring and unmotivating, but at least they give us the satisfaction of keeping things stink- and rodent-free. Properly loading the toilet paper might make things look a little better, but so what?The NYU psychologists, Edward L. Deci and Richard M. Ryan, say that for humans to be truly motivated to do anything, the task must meet three psychological needs: competence, autonomy, and relatedness. The chore should be challenging enough to make us feel competent when we complete it. It should make us feel like we have some sort of control over what we're doing. And it should give us the sense that we're enhancing our relationships with loved ones. This theory is known as the self-determination theory. Replacing the TP falls far short of meeting those three criteria. The only one it might fulfill is relatedness—that is, if you live in a very "we're all in this together and we all pitch in with the chores" type of , getting a spouse or roommate to always properly replace the toilet paper or to do any other mundane task is probably a lost cause. Unless you can psychologically convince them that doing so takes a certain level of proficiency, that they're by no means a "slave" to forever doing the chore, and that it will make them more connected to others. Now that's a difficult task.

类似的家务例如清理垃圾和洗碗都同样很无聊，让人没有动力去做。但是至少做这些家务可以给我们带来清除臭味和老鼠的满足感。适时更换厕纸也许会使事情看起来好一点点，但那又如何呢？纽约大学心理学家爱德华·戴瑟和理查德·瑞安表示，要有效地驱使人们去做某件事，那么这件事就必须满足三个心理需求：能力、自主性和关联性。家务应具有足够的挑战性才会使我们在完成它们时感受到自己的能力；它应使我们对自己的行为感受到某种控制力；它应赋予我们一种自己与所爱事物之间的联系正在增强的感觉。这就是所谓的"自我决定论"。更换厕纸这一行为远远无法满足这三个标准。"关联性"可能是唯一能够达到的标准，但前提是你生活在一个"我们都是一家人，我们要干一家活"的家庭氛围下。因此，要想让配偶或室友一直适时地更换厕纸或做其他无聊的家务注定是会失败的。除非你可以使他们从心理上相信，做这种家务需要具备一定的专业技能，以及长期做这种家务可以拉近彼此之间的距离而绝不是"奴隶"的行为。但至少现在这很难做到。

re To Bite Cute Things

9.想咬一口萌物

Any time there's a baby around, someone invariably tells the baby (in the obligatory cutesy voice) that they're "gonna eat them up" or "bite their toes" or eat some other body part. Similar conversations happen when puppies are around, and you may have even seen someone (or caught yourself) pretend-chomping on a puppy's paw. What's the deal with this? Why do we have the urge to jokingly munch on cute things?

无论什么时候只要有一个小宝宝在身边，就一定会有人以嗲嗲的命令式语气告诉他/她："我要吃了你"或"我要把你的脚趾咬下来"，或者把身体某个其它的部位吃掉。类似的对话也会出现在身边有小狗的情况下，可能你曾经还发现有人（或你自己）假装想要咬掉小狗的爪子。这到底发生了什么呢？为什么我们会有想要大嚼萌物的渴望呢？

Scientists have two main theories for this phenomenon. The first idea is that somehow our pleasure-sensing wires are getting crossed in the brain. When people (women in particular) catch a whiff of a newborn baby, we get a rush of dopamine similar to what happens when eating delicious food. It's thought that we relate cuteness to this dopamine-inducing scent, which also reminds us of food. This overlap in senses unconsciously gives us the desire to put cute things in our other explanation is that it's a form of play biting, which is common in many mammals and is a behavior from our animalistic sides. Many animals nip, pseudo-bite, and wrestle in a friendly, playful manner. It's not entirely clear whether this is done to hone fighting skills, boost motor skills, or simply for fun, but the behavior usually happens between trusted allies. It takes a lot of trust to put your hand in someone's mouth and let them bite down. So, if for nothing else, play biting is used to increase social bonds, and that could explain why we unconsciously do it when we feel the urge to get emotionally close to something cute.

科学家提出了两个理论来解释此现象。第一个观点是：在某种程度上，我们大脑中感知愉悦的系统发生了混乱。在人们（尤其是女性）闻到新生婴儿身上的气息时，大脑就会分泌多巴胺这种物质，这与人们享用美食时也分泌多巴胺的情况类似。科学家认为我们的大脑将"可爱"和让我们想到美食的香味联系起来，诱发了多巴胺的分泌。这种在感觉上的无意识重复令我们产生将萌物放入嘴中的欲望。另外一个解释是：这是"啃咬嬉戏"的一种形式，这种行为在许多哺乳动物中很常见，体现了我们兽性的一面。许多动物相互啃咬摔跤都是以一种友好玩耍的方式进行的。我们还不完全清楚动物这样做到底是为了磨练打架和运动的技能或者还只是为了好玩。但是这种行为通常只发生在相互信任的朋友之间。试想，将你的手放入某人的嘴里并让他/她一口咬下去，这得要取得多大的信任啊。所以，如果不是出于其他目的，"啃咬嬉戏"可以增进人与人之间的关系，这也是当我们与可爱的事物亲近时就会无意识地想要咬一口的原因。

propriate Laughing

8.不合时宜的大笑

Most of us are guilty of laughing inappropriately at one time or another, such as when we see someone fall down and get hurt or when we're relaying bad news. And although we know there's nothing funny about Grandma's death, we may still find ourselves trying to hold back fits of laughter at her funeral. Laughing in these types of situations isn't necessarily okay by social standards, but it's apparently fairly common, and there's a good reason for it.

我们大多数人都会对自己曾经不合时宜的大笑感到愧疚，就例如在我们看见别人跌倒受伤抑或是在传达坏消息的时候。另外，虽然知道祖母的逝世并不是一件搞笑的事情，但我们可能仍旧会发现自己在葬礼上竭力忍住阵阵笑声.。在这些场合中大笑并不符合社会的标准，但是这种现象显然相当普遍，并且往往都有它的原因。

When we laugh in a solemn circumstance, it doesn't mean we're cold-hearted or disrespectful. In fact, it's likely a sign that we're under a great deal of emotional stress and our body is using laughter as a way to relieve some of the discomfort or tension. Similarly, chuckling when someone falls down or otherwise gets hurt is believed to be an evolutionary function letting the tribe know that, although the person might be embarrassed or slightly injured, he's not gravely wounded, and there's no need for hing, in general, is rarely a response to something being legitimately funny. Neuroscientist Sophie Scott explains it's used most often as a method of social bonding—to let people know that we like them, we agree with them, or we're in the same group. Knowing that, we shouldn't feel so horrified if our neighbor lets out a chuckle while explaining how he ran over our dog. It's possible he simply feels really uncomfortable and is instinctively trying to connect with us during an awkward situation.

在庄严的场合下大笑，并不意味着我们铁石心肠或者目无尊长。事实上，这有可能是表明我们面临巨大的心理压力的迹象, 所以我们的身体用大笑作为途径来缓解不安和焦虑。同理，当有别人跌倒或以其他方式受伤时，我们咯咯大笑的这种行为被认为是一种进化功能，该功能目的在于让我们知道虽然摔倒的这个人可能会尴尬或者轻微地受伤，但他并不会受到重创，因此我们,也没有必要感到惊恐。通常来说，大笑,极少是对合理有趣的事情作出的反应。精神学家索菲·斯科特解释说，大笑很多时候都是作为社会的联系的一种方法被人们使用，它让人们知道我们爱他们、我们赞许他们以及我们站在同一战线。这样的话，如果当邻居在向我们解释他如何碾压我们的狗的时候咯咯大笑，我们大可不必感到震惊。有可能他仅仅觉得十分不安，本能地试图在这尴尬的情境下与我们维系感情。

ination With Psychopaths

7.对精神病患者极度迷恋

A good size of the population has a fascination with the macabre and specifically psychopaths. Nightly entertainment is chock-full of crazy, psychotic killers, and for some reason, we can't get enough of them. What might our insatiable interest in the vilest of humans say about us as a people? There are three main theories floating around to explain this obsession.

很大一部分人对某种特别可怕的精神病患者极度迷恋。夜间娱乐总是充满着疯狂的气息、变态杀手。作为人类最粗鄙最贪婪的欲望，它会对我们说些什么呢？以下有三大主要理论来解释这个困惑。

The first idea is that watching or hearing about psychos allows us to temporarily step out of our conscientious, law-abiding shoes and vicariously step into the shoes of someone who only thinks about himself. He doesn't do any of the things we automatically do every day, like worrying about others' feelings or being fair. Imagining ourselves as that person (even unconsciously) temporarily liberates us from these obligations without actually causing any harm. In contrast, forensic psychologist J. Reid Meloy says that psychopaths are a type of predator, and hearing about them connects us with our primal existence of constantly being both the hunter and the hunted. Entertaining ourselves with the stories of human predators allows us to relate with our primal, animalistic selves without experiencing the real danger of the natural lly, psychiatrist and Harvard professor Ron Schouten says that our draw to psychopaths is similar to our attraction to horror movies or roller coasters. Sometimes we just like to be frightened, and tales of psycho killers can definitely fulfill that need. This is because being frightened sends a rush of neurotransmitters, including dopamine, which evokes feelings of pleasure. In an entertainment setting where there's no real danger, our fear doesn't last long. On top of the dopamine-induced pleasure, we usually leave the theater or turn off the TV feeling a sense of well-being or justice (depending on how the film or show ends). This type of satisfaction keeps us coming back for more.

第一个原因是，对于精神病患者的所见所闻使我们暂时地摆脱恪守良心，奉公守法的角色，而间接地闯入那些只顾及自己感受的角色。精神病患者的所作所为与我们每天自然而然做的事情不尽相同，例如，是否关心别人的感受和公平地对待他人。假设我们成为了那种人（甚至无意识的想像），这可以使我们暂时从克己守法的义务中解放自我，并且不对社会造成任何伤害。相反，犯罪心理学家丁里德·洛埃声称精神患者是一种类型的捕食者，关于他们的传说总是与原始的捕猎者和被捕者联系起来。用人类肉食动物的故事自娱自乐容易使我们联想到那种没有经历过自然世界真正危险的原始兽性。最后，精神病学家兼哈佛教授罗恩·苏雷顿表示，我们对精神病患者的迷恋正如被恐怖片和坐过山车吸引一般。有时候，我们就是喜欢被恐吓的感觉，而精神病杀手的故事毫无疑问能满足我们的需求。这是因为恐吓使得包括多巴胺在内的神经递质快速传输，因而产生了一种愉悦感。在娱乐的环境下，因为不存在真正的危险，所以我们的恐惧感也不会持续太久。在多巴胺诱导的乐趣中的高潮部分，我们通常会离开剧院或者关掉电视，这时候我们就会有一种幸福感或者正义感（依电影或者节目的结尾而定）。这种类型的满足感使得我们回头继续迷恋精神病患者。

ending To Know Stuff

6.装作万事通

Most of us have probably been in the situation where someone casually asks, "Hey, have you heard of such and such?" And almost unthinkingly, we respond, "Yeah," even though if we took time to genuinely think about it, we'd realize we don't actually know what they're talking about. Similarly, some folks habitually feign knowledge when they're well aware they know nothing about the topic at hand. Whether we purposefully pretend to know stuff or if we just sort of do it accidentally, scientists say there's an explanation for this behavior.

生活中我们总有被别人提问"你知道某某吗"的情况，通常我们都会不假思索地给予肯定的回答。然而，当我们静下心来仔细思考时，就会发现其实有些问题我们并不懂。同样地，有些人明知道自己不了解某方面的知识，却装作很懂的样子。科学家表示，无论是有意还是无意的，装作万事通这样的行为都是有科学解释的。

Cornell professor David Dunning has researched this psychological quirk and explains that most people fake it out of convenience or to reaffirm their identity. He says that many of us don't have a very clear understanding of what we do or don't know and might unconsciously fake knowledge. This is because in the instant when someone asks us if we know about something, our brains start to infer, assume, and invent explanations for things. In that moment, we may say that we know something (even if we don't) partly because we don't want to bog the conversation down with questions and partly because our brains think we should know something about the topic. In short, the feeling of knowing is more of a sensation than it is actually sifting through our brains' stores of information and coming up with a her, perhaps more obvious, reason people pretend to know stuff is because they like feeling like a know-it-all. But why? Neurologist Robert A. Burton explains that our society glorifies knowledge, and to have an awareness of something is a notch on the social belt—especially if you came from know-it-all parents. Being a know-it-all can become kind of an addiction. In fact, the same area of the brain lights up and the same reward pathways shoot dopamine whether we're rewarded with a right answer or if we're taking drugs or gambling. Thus, pretending to be the person who knows everything can be a hard habit to break.

康奈尔大学的心理学教授大卫·邓宁研究了这种心理怪癖并给出如下解释：大部分人不懂装懂是为了方便起见或者是为了掩饰自己的无知。他表示大多数人都不清楚自己所掌握的知识的范围，这样就可能无意中编造一些知识。这是因为在别人提出问题的时候，我们的大脑就会开始做推断、假设、思考以及如何解释之类的事情。这时候我们就可能会说自己对此有些许了解（即使实际上我们并不了解），这是因为我们希望对话继续下去，也有部分原因是我们自以为自己对这个话题是有所了解的。总的说来，与其说对某事是真的了解，倒不如说这只是一种自以为了解的错觉。还有一个更常见的原因是很多人都喜欢自己被当做万事通的感觉。这又是为什么呢？神经学家罗伯特·伯顿指出，社会需要知识型人才，如果有人在某方面有所研究，尤其这个人还是个万事通的话，那么他在社会上绝对是会被推崇备至的。其实回答别人的问题后得到赞扬的效果与吸毒、赌博一样，都会促进大脑分泌多巴胺，使我们感到愉悦。所以装成无所不知的人是会令人上瘾的。因此，想要改掉装作万事通的习惯还有很长的路要走。

审校：喵喵 编辑：listen 来源：前十网