我们为什么会做梦？：英语精读讲义

Hey, Vsauce, Michael here

嘿，Vsauce，我是 Michael。

and today we are going to talk about why we dream. 表達脈絡

今天我们要聊聊，人为什么会做梦。

What's going on inside our brains?

我们的大脑里究竟发生了什么？

The scientific study of dreaming is called oneirology, 語法

研究梦的科学叫作梦境学，

and for most of history it didn't really exist 短語搭配

而在人类历史的大部分时期，这门学科其实并不存在，

because you can't hold a dream.

因为梦根本抓不住。

It's difficult to measure a dream. 語法

梦很难衡量。

You can't taste it.

你尝不到它。

You can't see other people's dreams.

你也看不到别人的梦。

And if you ask them to tell you what they dreamt, 語法

就算你让别人讲讲他们梦到了什么，

the results are almost always unreliable.

得到的结果也几乎总是不可靠。

In fact,

事实上，

it's estimated that we forget 95% of the dreams we have, 語法

据估计，我们会忘掉自己做过的梦的95%，

especially within the first 10 minutes of having them.

而且大多是在做梦后的头10分钟内忘掉的。

But then, in 1952 something amazing happened. 表達脈絡

但到了1952年，一件惊人的事发生了。

Researchers at the University of Chicago found this.

芝加哥大学的研究人员发现了这个。

It's a unique type of electrical activity

这是一种独特的电活动，

that occurs during a certain stage of a person's sleeping.

会在人睡眠的某个阶段出现。

When researchers awoke people during this stage,

研究人员如果在这个阶段把人叫醒，

they almost always reported that they had been dreaming. 語法

对方几乎都会说自己刚才在做梦。

Also, at the same time,

而且与此同时，

during this stage people's eyeballs are going crazy, 習語

在这个阶段，人的眼球会疯狂转动，

rapidly darting all over the place underneath their eyelids.

在眼皮底下飞快地四处乱转。

You can actually see this happening if you watch people sleep, 語法

只要观察别人睡觉，你其实就能看到这种情况，

like I usually do.

我平时就经常这么做。

During REM sleep,

在快速眼动（REM）睡眠期间，

some pretty bizarre stuff happens. 用詞

会发生一些相当离奇的事。

If you look at the electrical activity of a brain that is in REM sleep,

如果观察处于快速眼动睡眠中的大脑电活动，

it almost exactly mimics the way the brain acts when it's awake. 語法

你会发现，它几乎和清醒时的大脑活动一模一样。

The biggest difference being that the production of chemicals inside the brain, 語法

最大的区别是，大脑中一些化学物质的生成，

like norepinephrine, serotonin, and histamine,

比如去甲肾上腺素、血清素和组胺，

is almost completely blocked.

几乎完全被阻断了。

And that causes the muscles to stop moving, 語法

这会让肌肉停止活动，

which is why you can dream about flying or running around or fighting ninjas, 表達脈絡

所以你可以梦见自己飞翔、到处奔跑，或是大战忍者，

but your body doesn't move.

身体却一动不动。

People who have a disorder achieving complete REM atonia

有些人因为某种障碍，无法在快速眼动睡眠中进入完全肌张力缺失的状态，

move around in their sleep and act out their dreams. 短語動詞

会在睡梦中动来动去，把梦里的情节演出来。

They can even get out of bed and sleepwalk.

他们甚至会下床梦游。

Oh, before you move forward, 表達脈絡

哦，在继续之前，

I should say two things.

我得先说明两件事。

One is that it's possible to wake up

第一，你有可能已经醒了，

and not be able to move your body because you're still in REM atonia. 語法

却因为仍处于快速眼动肌张力缺失状态而无法动弹。

You're completely conscious and you know that you're awake,

你的意识完全清醒，也知道自己已经醒来，

but your body is not ready to move.

但身体还没准备好活动。

On the flip side, 習語

反过来，

you can also be inside a dream and know that you're dreaming.

你也可能身在梦中，却知道自己正在做梦。

This phenomenon is known as lucid dreaming, 用詞

这种现象叫作清醒梦，

and it's particularly attractive because while I'm in a lucid dream,

它格外吸引人，因为在清醒梦里，

I can make conscious decisions about what I do. 短語搭配

我可以有意识地决定自己要做什么。

I can go fly to wherever I want, 語法

我可以飞去任何想去的地方，

or I can have a tea party with Abraham Lincoln.

也可以和亚伯拉罕·林肯一起开茶会。

I'm in control. 短語搭配

一切由我掌控。

But achieving a lucid dream is quite elusive. 用詞

不过，要进入清醒梦可没那么容易。

Howcast has a great video, which I've put in the description,

Howcast 有一段很棒的视频，我已经把链接放在简介里，

that gives some tips and tricks on how to achieve one. 短語搭配

里面介绍了一些进入清醒梦的小窍门。

Researchers were able to deprive mice of REM sleep by using this: 短語搭配

研究人员用这个装置剥夺小鼠的快速眼动睡眠：

inverted inside a tub of water,

把它倒扣在一缸水里，

way up to the tippy top,

水位一直升到最顶端，

meaning that the mouse was only able to sit right on top of this little tiny surface.

这样，小鼠只能坐在这个极小平面的顶端。

When that happens,

在这种情况下，

the mouse can still fall into non-REM sleep,

小鼠仍然可以进入非快速眼动睡眠，

but as soon as they reach REM sleep and their muscles relax, 語法

但它们一进入快速眼动睡眠、肌肉一放松，

they fall off the platform into the water,

就会从平台上掉进水里，

waking up.

然后惊醒。

What they found was that when mice are not allowed to achieve REM sleep, 語法

研究人员发现，如果不让小鼠进入快速眼动睡眠，

they have an incredible amount of trouble remembering things. 語法

它们记住事物会变得极其困难。

This happens in humans too.

人类也会这样。

If you have people remember word pairs and then you don't allow them to sleep, 語法

如果先让人记住成对的单词，然后不让他们睡觉，

the next day their memory for that stuff is incredibly terrible.

第二天，他们对这些内容的记忆会糟糕透顶。

But memory and REM does not stop there. 表達脈絡

但记忆与快速眼动睡眠的关系还不止于此。

If a person learns a difficult new task during the day,

如果一个人在白天学习一项高难度的新任务，

say a new instrument or a new type of difficult puzzle,

比如学一种新乐器，或解一种新型难题，

you can measure the electrical activity in their brain while they do that.

你可以测量他们做这件事时大脑中的电活动。

And then, while they sleep that night,

接着，在他们当晚入睡时，

whether they know it or not, 短語搭配

无论他们自己是否察觉，

their brain replays those electronic impulses.

大脑都会重放那些电脉冲。

Many popular theories about why we dream are variations on the idea that while we sleep, 短語搭配

许多关于人为什么做梦的流行理论，都是这个观点的不同版本：人在睡觉时，

the unconscious part of our brain is busy organizing memories 語法

大脑的无意识部分正忙着整理记忆，

and strengthening connections from the day before that we need in the future,

强化前一天形成、未来还会用到的连接，

while getting rid of the junk that would otherwise clog the brain. 講解

同时清除那些否则会堵塞大脑的垃圾。

Now, so the theory goes, 表達脈絡

那么，按照这种理论，

these electrical impulses are detected by our conscious brain,

这些电脉冲会被大脑的意识部分检测到，

and our cortex freaks out and doesn't know what it means, 短語動詞

大脑皮层顿时慌了，因为它不知道这些信号意味着什么，

and so it tries its best to create a cohesive story, 短語搭配

于是只好尽力编出一个连贯的故事，

creating a dream.

这便形成了梦。

This would explain why dreams are often so fantastic and seemingly random. 講解

这可以解释，为什么梦往往如此奇幻，而且看似毫无章法。

They're not supposed to make sense. 語法

梦本来就不需要合乎逻辑。

They're not an actual message from our brain.

它们并不是大脑真正要传达的信息。

It's just the results of our cortex is trying to synthesize the noise

这只是大脑皮层试图整合噪声所产生的结果，

coming from all the work being done back in the unconscious.

而这些噪声来自无意识深处进行的种种工作。

Under this way of thinking, 表達脈絡

按照这种思路，

dreams are an epiphenomenon. 用詞

梦是一种伴随现象。

They're not a primary process that has a purpose.

它不是一种本身具有目的的主要过程。

Instead,

相反，

they're the accidental result of a more important 短語搭配

它只是一个更重要过程意外产生的结果，

process going on behind the conscious brain. 短語動詞

而那个过程发生在意识背后。

But some researchers don't believe that.

但有些研究人员并不认同。

They believe that dreams serve a primary purpose, 短語搭配

他们认为，梦本身就有一个主要目的，

and that purpose is to prepare us for threats. 短語搭配

那就是让我们为威胁做好准备。

They think this because the most prevalent emotions felt during dreams are negative: 用詞

他们之所以这么想，是因为梦中最常见的情绪都是负面的：

abandonment, anger, and the most common of all,

被抛弃感、愤怒，以及其中最常见的——

anxiety.

焦虑。

The theory goes like this: 表達脈絡

这个理论是这样的：

Back when we were early humans especially, 語法

特别是在我们还是早期人类的时候，

we had no idea what kind of threats we might encounter during the day. 語法

我们根本不知道白天可能会遇到什么威胁。

And so, to prepare us,

因此，为了让我们做好准备，

our brain would simulate anxieties while we slept to make us better prepared 語法

大脑会在睡眠中模拟焦虑，让我们能更好地应对

for that feeling in the real world.

现实世界里的这种感受。

So people who had terrifying dreams

所以，做过可怕噩梦的人

were better at dealing with anxiety in the real world 短語動詞

更善于应对现实中的焦虑，

and had stronger genes.

也拥有更强的基因。

All right, so the theories we discussed today are quite popular,

好了，我们今天谈到的这些理论都很流行，

but they don't really enjoy a consensus. 用詞

但并没有真正形成共识。

Not everyone agrees on them, 語法

并非所有人都认同它们，

and they barely scratch the surface of scientific thought about dreams. 習語

而且它们对梦的科学研究也只触及了皮毛。

But that's kind of the cool thing about dreams.

不过，这也正是梦很酷的地方。

Think of it like this. 表達脈絡

可以这样想。

Here is the Eagle Nebula,

这是鹰状星云，

a giant structure in outer space 6,500 light-years away.

一个位于6500光年之外的巨大太空结构。

But despite its distance, 語法

尽管它离我们如此遥远，

we pretty much know what it's made out of. 講解

我们却基本知道它由什么构成。

We know that it's 100 trillion km tall. 表達脈絡

我们知道它有100万亿千米高。

We know what caused it,

我们知道它是如何形成的，

and we know where it's going to be in 750 million years.

也知道7.5亿年后它会在哪里。

But last night,

可就在昨晚，

I had dreams,

我做了梦，

and no one really knows why or for what reason.

却没人真正知道我为什么会做梦，也说不清其中的原因。

And that's pretty cool.

这真的很酷。

And that's why

这也就是为什么……

thanks for watching.

感谢观看。

If you want to learn more about the world,

如果你想进一步了解这个世界，

I highly recommend Smarter Every Day. 語氣意圖

我强烈推荐 Smarter Every Day。

It's a show here on YouTube by a guy named Destin,

这是 YouTube 上的一档节目，创作者叫 Destin，

who I've met.

我还见过他。

He's awesome.

他特别棒。

I've learned a lot from him.

我从他那里学到了很多。

He's the guy who did the chicken thing from the Leanback.

Leanback 里的那段小鸡视频就是他做的。

He's also studied what causes poop splash,

他还研究过便便为什么会溅起来，

slow-motion water balloons,

用慢动作拍摄水气球，

and has a lot of guns and explosions.

还有大量枪械和爆炸场面。

What more could you ask for? 語氣意圖

你还能要求什么呢？

So do me a favor and go check it out 講解

所以帮我个忙，去看看他的节目吧，

and subscribe if you like it.

喜欢的话就订阅。

And if you haven't seen it yet,

另外，如果你还没看过，

go check out WhatsUpHow's review of my beard.

就去看看 WhatsUpHow 对我胡子的点评。

I've got that in the description.

链接也放在简介里了。

And as always, thanks for watching.

一如既往，感谢观看。