你有杀人的潜质吗？：英语精读讲义

Murder has inspired documentaries, podcasts, and even games.

谋杀案成了纪录片、播客，甚至游戏的灵感来源。

But our obsession with these stories got us wondering, 語法

但我们对这些故事的痴迷，也让我们不禁思考，

are there certain traits or factors that make somebody more likely to kill someone? 語法

是否存在某些特征或因素，会让一个人更有可能杀人？

And are you capable of murder? 短語搭配

而你有可能犯下谋杀吗？

To start,

首先，

have you ever thought about it before?

你以前想过杀人吗？

Well,

这个嘛，

this isn't actually that meaningful because it's so common.

其实这并不能说明什么，因为这种念头太常见了。

A survey of almost a thousand students found that

一项针对近千名学生的调查发现，

76% of women and 91% of men

76%的女性和91%的男性

reported having one vivid and memorable homicidal thought. 語法

表示自己曾有过一次清晰而难忘的杀人念头。

In fact,

事实上，

other reports show men may have roughly 10 murder fantasies

其他报告显示，男性可能有过大约10次杀人幻想，

and women three in the past year.

而女性在过去一年里有3次。

Is your heart beating fast right now?

你现在心跳很快吗？

Then you're probably safe.

那你大概是安全的。

A study of 710,000 men had their resting heart rate measured 語法

一项针对71万名男性的研究测量了他们的静息心率，

when they were 18 years old as part of a military service test.

测量是在他们18岁参加兵役测试时进行的。

In the decades that followed, 表達脈絡

在随后的几十年里，

the men with the lowest resting heart rates were 39% more likely 語法

静息心率最低的男性实施暴力犯罪的可能性

than the high resting heart rate group to commit a violent crime.

比静息心率较高的那组高出39%。

Additionally,

此外，

a separate study found that a low heart rate was linked to stalking behavior.

另一项研究发现，低心率与跟踪骚扰行为有关。

A study of murderers who plead not guilty by reason of a mental disorder 文化背景

在一项针对以精神障碍为由做无罪抗辩的杀人犯的研究中，

had their brain scans compared to age and sex-matched controls. 用詞

研究人员将他们的脑部扫描结果与年龄和性别匹配的对照组进行了比较。

Turns out, they did have lower activity in the prefrontal cortex, 講解

结果发现，他们的前额叶皮层活动确实较低，

which makes sense as it's involved in decision making

这也说得通，因为前额叶皮层参与决策，

and moderating social behavior.

并负责调节社会行为。

They also found higher activity in the limbic system,

研究还发现，他们的边缘系统活动更高，

which is the part of the brain more likely to generate pure emotion

这部分大脑更容易产生纯粹的情绪，

like anger and reduced self-control.

比如愤怒，并导致自控力下降。

Or maybe you carry the warrior gene. 文化背景

又或者，你携带着“战士基因”。

Another name for the MAO-A gene or monoamine oxidase,

这是MAO-A基因，也就是单胺氧化酶基因的另一个名称，

and it's a gene that we all carry,

而这种基因人人都有，

but some of us, approximately 33%,

但我们中约有33%的人

carry a variant that is linked with aggression.

携带着一种与攻击性有关的基因变体。

Now, all these factors make a case for nature over nurture, 講解

这些因素似乎都在支持“先天比后天更重要”的观点，

but of course, environment plays a role as well.

但环境当然也会发挥作用。

Having this warrior gene variant does not necessarily mean you will be more aggressive. 語法

携带这种战士基因变体，并不一定意味着你会更具攻击性。

But having this variant in combination with environmental factors 短語搭配

但如果这种变体与环境因素同时存在，

such as suffering abuse increases your odds.

比如曾遭受虐待，你出现攻击行为的概率就会增加。

Further studies have found that 68% of serial killers

进一步的研究发现，68%的连环杀手

received some type of childhood abuse,

童年时期都曾遭受某种形式的虐待，

which is a much higher rate than normal.

这一比例远高于正常水平。

Violence and aggression is related to a poor diet,

暴力和攻击性与不良饮食有关，

particularly a lack of omega-3 fatty acid.

尤其与缺乏欧米伽-3脂肪酸有关。

A double-blind study found this fatty acid could reduce violent offenses 講解

一项双盲研究发现，这种脂肪酸可以减少暴力违规行为，

by 37% in prison inmates.

在监狱囚犯中，降幅达到37%。

Also, stay safe on Sundays.

另外，星期天也要注意安全。

A CDC report concluded that this is the most popular day for murders. 用詞

美国疾控中心的一份报告指出，星期天是谋杀案发生最多的一天。

Of course, violence does not equal homicide, 用詞

当然，暴力并不等同于杀人，

but if we are looking for a predictor in the makings of a murderer, 習語

但如果我们想找出一个人可能成为杀人犯的预测因素，

we have to investigate a person's prior incidences. 用詞

就必须调查这个人过去是否有过相关行为。

One analysis found that over half of the women murdered in the US

一项分析发现，在美国遇害的女性中，超过一半

were killed by a current or former partner,

是被现任或前任伴侣杀害的，

and about a third of the male killers were known to be a potential threat

而男性凶手中，约有三分之一在袭击发生前

ahead of the attack.

就已经被认为可能构成威胁。

Another study found that prior non-fatal strangulation of a partner

另一项研究发现，伴侣此前曾遭受未致命的扼颈

was associated with a seven-times increased risk of homicide, 講解

与日后被杀的风险增加至7倍有关，

which leads to another glaring factor.

这也引出了另一个显而易见的因素。

If you are a man,

如果你是男性，

you are more likely to murder.

你杀人的可能性更高。

Though women make up half of the population, 短語動詞

尽管女性占总人口的一半，

they commit only 14.7% of murders.

她们实施的谋杀案却只占14.7%。

But why?

但这是为什么？

Committing murder is risky and can have severe costs,

杀人风险很高，也可能让人付出惨重代价，

such as not having access to your kids.

比如再也无法接触自己的孩子。

A study on child survival in 28 populations around the world

一项研究考察了全球28个人群中的儿童存活情况，

over three centuries found that losing your mother

涵盖三个世纪的数据，并发现失去母亲

can significantly reduce a child's chances of survival,

会显著降低孩子的生存概率，

but this is not the case for losing a father. 短語搭配

但失去父亲则不会如此。

As a result,

因此，

some hypothesize that from the perspective of passing on your genes, 短語動詞

有人推测，从传递自身基因的角度来看，

women have more at stake if they are guilty of homicide. 習語

如果女性犯下谋杀，她们要付出的代价更大。

But why murder at all?

但人究竟为什么要杀人？

Though controversial, 表達脈絡

尽管这种观点存在争议，

some scientists argue that throughout our evolutionary history,

一些科学家认为，纵观人类的进化史，

the benefits of murder often outweigh the cost, 習語

杀人带来的好处往往超过其代价，

suggesting that murder is an evolutionary strategy.

这意味着杀人是一种进化策略。

In fact,

事实上，

a study of over 4 million recorded deaths

一项研究分析了记录在案的400多万起死亡事件，

from over a thousand different species of mammals

这些事件涉及1000多种不同的哺乳动物，

found that lethal violence increased with evolution

结果发现，致命暴力会随着进化而增加，

and that primates, including humans,

而且包括人类在内的灵长类动物

are six times more likely to murder their own species

杀死自己同类的可能性

than other animals.

是其他动物的6倍。

Of course,

当然，

our rate of murder has decreased dramatically since the medieval period, 語法

自中世纪以来，我们的谋杀率已大幅下降。

which is often considered to be the most violent,

中世纪通常被认为是暴力最严重的时期，

at which time 12% of all recorded deaths were attributed to murder. 講解

当时，所有记录在案的死亡中有12%被归因于谋杀。

Compare that to today,

相比之下，如今

where the rate is only 1.33%.

这一比例只有1.33%。

Of course,

当然，

33% of murders go unsolved, 短語搭配

有33%的谋杀案未能侦破，

which is scary.

这很吓人。

And with today's AI technology,

再加上如今的AI技术，

the idea of what is real or who did what becomes more difficult to discern. 語法

要判断什么是真实的、谁做了什么，变得越来越困难。

We have a new video that looks at some of the most convincing deepfakes 文化背景

我们有一段新视频，盘点了一些最逼真的深度伪造内容，

to see whether or not you can tell when something is real 語法

看看你能不能分辨某样东西究竟是真实的，

or created by artificial intelligence.

还是由人工智能生成的。

You can click here to watch the video.

你可以点击这里观看视频。

It's super freaky

真的特别诡异，

and so many people in the comments of that video said they got all of them wrong.

而且那段视频的评论区里有很多人说，他们全都猜错了。

Thanks so much for watching.

非常感谢观看。

Make sure you subscribe to this channel for new videos every Thursday,

记得订阅这个频道，每周四都有新视频，

and we'll see you next week for some more science.

我们下周再见，继续探索更多科学知识。

See you.

再见。