为什么有些东西这么可爱？：英语精读讲义

Hey Vsauce, Michael here.

嘿，Vsauce，我是迈克尔。

And the Pet Collective offers 24-hour coverage of puppies and kittens. 用詞

The Pet Collective 提供24小时不间断的小狗和小猫节目。

It's really cute.

真的太可爱了。

But what is cute scientifically?

但从科学角度看，“可爱”究竟是什么？

I mean, why do we like soft cuddly things and

我是说，我们为什么喜欢柔软、让人想抱的东西，

why do cute things have a unique effect on us?

而可爱的东西又为什么会对我们产生独特的影响？

Well, the word cute is a shortening of acute, 用詞

其实，英文单词 cute 是 acute 的缩写，

which originally meant keen, shrewd, perceptive.

acute 原本意为敏锐、精明、善于洞察。

About 180 years ago,

大约180年前，

the word cute began to be used as slang for a girl who was pretty. 短語搭配

cute 开始被用作俚语，形容漂亮的女孩。

And after that,

从那以后，

it accrued a new meaning 短語搭配

它又衍生出一种新的含义，

and was used to describe

开始被用来描述

cuddly, delicate, quaint,

让人想抱、娇嫩、小巧别致，

precious, youthful traits.

珍贵而充满稚气的特征。

Konrad Lorenz studied cuteness in living things

康拉德·洛伦兹研究了生物的可爱之处，

and put together a great specific list of what we consider cute. 短語動詞

并详细列出了我们眼中“可爱”的具体特征。

Small body size with a disproportionately large head,

身体小巧，头部却大得不成比例，

large eyes,

眼睛很大，

and round and soft body features.

身体特征圆润而柔软。

But why exactly do these characteristics elicit an aw response from us humans? 短語搭配

但这些特征究竟为什么会让我们人类发出“啊，好可爱”的反应呢？

Well, Lorenz pointed out that you can find all of those characteristics in the human baby,

洛伦兹指出，所有这些特征都能在人类婴儿身上找到，

which makes sense.

这很合理。

If merely looking at our offspring makes us instinctively feel protective and nurturing, 語法

如果仅仅看着自己的后代，就能让我们本能地想要保护和照料他们，

well, that's great for all of us.

那对我们所有人来说当然是好事。

A fun consequence of this is that our experience of cuteness can be triggered by things that aren't human babies. 講解

一个有趣的结果是，即使不是人类婴儿的事物，也能引发我们对可爱的感受。

For instance, shells, bunnies, owls, and even a hammer.

比如贝壳、小兔子、猫头鹰，甚至一把锤子。

A hammer, how can that be?

锤子？怎么会呢？

Take a look at this interactive tool from the Exploratorium.

来看看 Exploratorium 的这个互动工具。

A hammer is boring,

锤子本身平平无奇，

but if we apply Lorenz's traits and make it really round and really squat,

但如果套用洛伦兹的特征，把它变得特别圆、特别矮胖，

it goes from a utilitarian tool to a cute little tiny hammer. 語法

它就会从一件实用工具变成一把小巧可爱的迷你锤子。

Oh, he's just a little hammer. 表達脈絡

哦，它只是一把小锤锤。

Don't hurt him.

别伤害它。

It is a hammer that has become cute

这是一把变可爱了的锤子，

because we gave it qualities that we see in our own offspring.

因为我们赋予了它一些自己后代身上具备的特征。

As Daniel Dennett puts it, 表達脈絡

正如丹尼尔·丹尼特所说，

if human babies looked like this instead of that, 語法

如果人类婴儿长成这样，而不是那样，

we would find this cute.

我们就会觉得这个样子很可爱。

And whenever we saw something that looked like it,

而每当我们看到与它相似的东西，

we would want to cuddle and snuggle with it.

就会想要抱住它，和它依偎在一起。

All right,

好了，

so we have a pretty good idea about the how and what of cute. 語法

现在，我们已经大致明白“可爱”是什么，又是如何产生的了。

But where is cute? 表達脈絡

但“可爱”在哪里呢？

Well, researchers have shown cute baby pictures to subjects while using functional MRI to track activity in the brain. 短語搭配

研究人员一边给受试者看可爱婴儿的照片，一边用功能性磁共振成像追踪他们的大脑活动。

And sure enough, 表達脈絡

果不其然，

the cuter the baby in the picture, 語法

照片里的婴儿越可爱，

the more activation found right here,

这里的激活程度就越高，

the nucleus accumbens,

这里就是伏隔核，

a pleasure center.

一个快感中枢。

When activated,

当它被激活时，

the nucleus accumbens releases dopamine.

伏隔核会释放多巴胺。

It's all part of our internal reward system.

这一切都是我们内在奖赏系统的一部分。

It's the same part of the brain targeted by cocaine and meth.

可卡因和冰毒作用的也是大脑中的同一区域。

Cuteness is such a powerful force on the brain, 語法

可爱对大脑的影响力极其强大，

in fact, that it can affect our behaviors,

甚至能影响我们的行为，

what we like, what we buy. 表達脈絡

包括我们喜欢什么、购买什么。

And so it's no coincidence that the creators of cartoon characters like Mickey Mouse or Pikachu 短語搭配

所以，米老鼠或皮卡丘这类卡通角色的创作者

have drawn them more and more cute over time. 語法

随着时间推移把它们画得越来越可爱，绝非巧合。

The Japanese concept of kawaii is a great example of this, 文化背景

日本的 kawaii（可爱）概念就是一个很好的例子，

and it's one that's fun to quantify.

而且把它量化还挺有意思。

If you're an adult,

如果你是成年人，

how many of your own heads stacked on top of each other 講解

你觉得要把多少个自己的头上下叠起来，

do you think it would take to equal your height?

才能和你的身高一样？

The answer for most of us is around seven and a half.

对我们大多数人来说，答案大约是七个半。

But illustrations of people that are meant to make them look heroic or noble 語法

但为了让人物显得英勇或高贵而创作的插画

tend to make the person around eight to eight and a half heads high.

往往会把人物画成约八到八个半头高。

Cute goes the other way. 習語

可爱风格则恰恰相反。

Manga characters tend to only be about five and a half

漫画角色往往只有大约五个半

to six and a half heads tall.

到六个半头高。

Back to babies.

说回婴儿。

There are many other psychological factors at work 習語

还有许多其他心理因素在发挥作用，

that cause us to want to instinctively take care of our young.

让我们本能地想要照顾自己的孩子。

And to be sure, 表達脈絡

当然，

some of them are decidedly not cute.

其中有些东西绝对称不上可爱。

For instance, poopy diapers.

比如沾满便便的尿布。

Researchers have found that mothers,

研究人员发现，母亲们

when exposed to soiled diapers, 語法

在接触弄脏的尿布时，

tend to consider the smell coming from their own child's diaper

往往会认为自己孩子的尿布散发出的气味

to be the least terrible, 語法

是最不难闻的，

despite not knowing which diaper belonged to which kid. 語法

哪怕不知道每片尿布分别属于哪个孩子。

When something retains juvenile traits all the way through adulthood, 短語搭配

当某种生物直到成年都保留着幼年特征时，

it is called neoteny, 用詞

这种现象叫作幼态延续，

and we love it,

而我们很喜欢这一点，

especially in animals that we keep as pets.

尤其是在我们当作宠物饲养的动物身上。

Of course,

当然，

us humans have selectively bred all kinds of animals 用詞

我们人类对各种动物都进行过选择性繁育，

to make each generation more and more useful to us.

让它们一代比一代对我们更有用。

But the dog may be the animal that we have spent the most time designing, 語法

但狗可能是我们花费最多时间“设计”的动物，

making each generation better at hunting

我们让它们一代比一代更擅长狩猎，

or better at staying cuter for longer.

或者让它们更长久地保持可爱。

Dogs like this have been designed by us 語法

这样的狗是由我们设计出来的，

to look, grow, and behave in ways that we want,

外形、成长方式和行为都符合我们的期待，

not that dissimilar from how we would design, say, a DVD player and its features. 語法

这和我们设计一台 DVD 播放器及其功能并没有太大区别。

So whether it's staying cute forever 語法

所以，无论是永远保持可爱，

or just being a really great hunting companion,

还是仅仅成为出色的狩猎伙伴，

the modern dog, more than any other animal,

现代犬类与其他任何动物相比，

could be considered not so much a consequence of nature 語法

与其说是大自然的产物，

as much as it is a piece of human technology. 習語

不如说是一项人类技术的产物。

As Science Friday puts it,

用 Science Friday 的话说，

the dog is man's best friend 表達脈絡

狗是人类最好的朋友，

because it may be man's best invention.

因为它或许也是人类最好的发明。

So go pet a cute dog today.

所以，今天就去摸摸一只可爱的狗吧。

And as always,

一如既往，

thanks for watching.

感谢观看。