我們為什麼會做夢？：英語精讀講義

Hey, Vsauce, Michael here

嘿，Vsauce，我是 Michael。

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

今天我們要來聊聊，人為什麼會做夢。

What's going on inside our brains?

我們的大腦裡究竟發生了什麼事？

The scientific study of dreaming is called oneirology, 文法

研究夢的科學稱為夢境學，

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

但在人類歷史的大部分時期，這門學科其實並不存在，

because you can't hold a dream.

因為你抓不住一場夢。

It's difficult to measure a dream. 文法

夢很難衡量。

You can't taste it.

你嚐不到它。

You can't see other people's dreams.

你也看不到別人的夢。

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

就算你請別人說說自己夢見了什麼，

the results are almost always unreliable.

得到的結果也幾乎總是不可靠。

In fact,

事實上，

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

據估計，我們會忘掉自己做過的夢的95%，

especially within the first 10 minutes of having them.

而且大多是在做夢後的前10分鐘內忘掉的。

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

但到了1952年，一件驚人的事發生了。

Researchers at the University of Chicago found this.

芝加哥大學的研究人員發現了這個。

It's a unique type of electrical activity

這是一種獨特的電活動，

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

會在人睡眠的某個階段出現。

When researchers awoke people during this stage,

研究人員如果在這個階段把人叫醒，

they almost always reported that they had been dreaming. 文法

對方幾乎都會說自己剛才在做夢。

Also, at the same time,

而且與此同時，

during this stage people's eyeballs are going crazy, 慣用語

在這個階段，人的眼球也會瘋狂轉動，

rapidly darting all over the place underneath their eyelids.

在眼皮底下飛快地四處亂轉。

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

只要觀察別人睡覺，你其實就能看到這種情況，

like I usually do.

我平常就常這麼做。

During REM sleep,

在快速動眼（REM）睡眠期間，

some pretty bizarre stuff happens. 用詞

會發生一些相當詭異的事。

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

如果觀察處於快速動眼睡眠中的大腦電活動，

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

你會發現，它幾乎和清醒時的大腦活動一模一樣。

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

最大的差別是，大腦中某些化學物質的生成，

like norepinephrine, serotonin, and histamine,

例如正腎上腺素、血清素和組織胺，

is almost completely blocked.

幾乎完全被阻斷了。

And that causes the muscles to stop moving, 文法

這會讓肌肉停止活動，

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

所以你可以夢見自己飛行、到處奔跑，或是大戰忍者，

but your body doesn't move.

身體卻一動也不動。

People who have a disorder achieving complete REM atonia

有些人因為某種障礙，無法在快速動眼睡眠中進入完全肌張力消失的狀態，

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

會在睡夢中動來動去，把夢裡的情節演出來。

They can even get out of bed and sleepwalk.

他們甚至會下床夢遊。

Oh, before you move forward, 表達脈絡

喔，在繼續之前，

I should say two things.

我得先說明兩件事。

One is that it's possible to wake up

第一，你有可能已經醒來，

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

卻因為仍處於快速動眼期肌肉失張狀態而無法動彈。

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

你的意識完全清醒，也知道自己已經醒了，

but your body is not ready to move.

但身體還沒準備好活動。

On the flip side, 慣用語

反過來說，

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

你也可能身在夢中，卻知道自己正在做夢。

This phenomenon is known as lucid dreaming, 用詞

這種現象稱為清醒夢，

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

它特別吸引人，因為在清醒夢裡，

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

我可以有意識地決定自己要做什麼。

I can go fly to wherever I want, 文法

我可以飛到任何想去的地方，

or I can have a tea party with Abraham Lincoln.

也可以和亞伯拉罕·林肯一起開茶會。

I'm in control. 片語搭配

一切都由我掌控。

But achieving a lucid dream is quite elusive. 用詞

不過，要進入清醒夢可沒那麼容易。

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

Howcast 有一支很棒的影片，我已經把連結放在說明欄裡，

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

裡面提供了一些進入清醒夢的小訣竅。

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

研究人員用這個裝置剝奪老鼠的快速動眼睡眠：

inverted inside a tub of water,

把它倒扣在一缸水裡，

way up to the tippy top,

水位一路升到最頂端，

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

這樣老鼠就只能坐在這個極小平面的頂端。

When that happens,

在這種情況下，

the mouse can still fall into non-REM sleep,

老鼠仍然可以進入非快速動眼睡眠，

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

但牠們一進入快速動眼睡眠、肌肉一放鬆，

they fall off the platform into the water,

就會從平台上掉進水裡，

waking up.

然後驚醒。

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

研究人員發現，如果不讓老鼠進入快速動眼睡眠，

they have an incredible amount of trouble remembering things. 文法

牠們記住事物會變得極度困難。

This happens in humans too.

人類也會這樣。

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

如果先讓人記住成對的單字，接著不讓他們睡覺，

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

隔天，他們對這些內容的記憶會糟得不得了。

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

但記憶與快速動眼睡眠的關係還不只如此。

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

如果一個人在白天學習一項高難度的新任務，

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

例如學一種新樂器，或解一種新型難題，

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

你可以測量他們進行這項任務時的大腦電活動。

And then, while they sleep that night,

接著，當他們在那天晚上睡覺時，

whether they know it or not, 片語搭配

不論他們自己是否察覺，

their brain replays those electronic impulses.

大腦都會重播那些電脈衝。

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

許多解釋人為何做夢的熱門理論，都是圍繞著這個觀點的不同版本：當我們睡覺時，

the unconscious part of our brain is busy organizing memories 文法

大腦的無意識部分正忙著整理記憶，

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

強化前一天形成、未來還會用到的連結，

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

同時清除那些否則會堵塞大腦的垃圾。

Now, so the theory goes, 表達脈絡

那麼，依照這種理論，

these electrical impulses are detected by our conscious brain,

這些電脈衝會被大腦的意識部分偵測到，

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

大腦皮質頓時慌了，因為它不知道這些訊號代表什麼，

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

於是只好盡力編出一個連貫的故事，

creating a dream.

這便形成了夢。

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

這可以解釋，為什麼夢往往如此奇幻，而且看似毫無章法。

They're not supposed to make sense. 文法

夢本來就不需要合乎邏輯。

They're not an actual message from our brain.

它們並不是大腦真正要傳達的訊息。

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

這只是大腦皮質試圖整合雜訊所產生的結果，

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

而這些雜訊來自無意識深處進行的種種工作。

Under this way of thinking, 表達脈絡

按照這種想法，

dreams are an epiphenomenon. 用詞

夢是一種伴隨現象。

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

它不是一種本身具有目的的主要過程。

Instead,

相反地，

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

它只是一個更重要過程意外產生的結果，

process going on behind the conscious brain. 片語動詞

而那個過程發生在意識背後。

But some researchers don't believe that.

但有些研究人員並不認同。

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

他們認為，夢本身就有一個主要目的，

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

那就是讓我們為威脅做好準備。

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

他們之所以這麼想，是因為夢裡最常出現的情緒都是負面的：

abandonment, anger, and the most common of all,

被拋棄感、憤怒，以及其中最常見的——

anxiety.

焦慮。

The theory goes like this: 表達脈絡

這個理論是這樣的：

Back when we were early humans especially, 文法

尤其在我們還是早期人類的時候，

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

我們根本不知道白天可能會遇到什麼威脅。

And so, to prepare us,

所以，為了讓我們做好準備，

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

大腦會在睡眠中模擬焦慮，讓我們能更妥善地應對

for that feeling in the real world.

現實世界中的這種感受。

So people who had terrifying dreams

因此，做過可怕惡夢的人

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

更擅長應對現實中的焦慮，

and had stronger genes.

也擁有更強的基因。

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

好，我們今天談到的這些理論都很熱門，

but they don't really enjoy a consensus. 用詞

但其實並沒有形成共識。

Not everyone agrees on them, 文法

並不是每個人都認同它們，

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

而且它們對夢的科學研究也只觸及了皮毛。

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

不過，這也正是夢很酷的地方。

Think of it like this. 表達脈絡

可以這樣想。

Here is the Eagle Nebula,

這是老鷹星雲，

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

一個位於6,500光年之外的巨大太空結構。

But despite its distance, 文法

儘管它離我們如此遙遠，

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

我們卻大致知道它是由什麼構成的。

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

我們知道它高達100兆公里。

We know what caused it,

我們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7.5億年後它會在哪裡。

But last night,

但就在昨晚，

I had dreams,

我做了夢，

and no one really knows why or for what reason.

卻沒有人真正知道我為什麼會做夢，也說不清其中的原因。

And that's pretty cool.

這真的很酷。

And that's why

這也就是為什麼……

thanks for watching.

感謝收看。

If you want to learn more about the world,

如果你想更深入了解這個世界，

I highly recommend Smarter Every Day. 語氣意圖

我非常推薦 Smarter Every Day。

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

這是 YouTube 上的一個節目，創作者叫 Destin，

who I've met.

我還見過他。

He's awesome.

他超棒的。

I've learned a lot from him.

我從他身上學到很多。

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

Leanback 裡那段小雞影片就是他做的。

He's also studied what causes poop splash,

他還研究過大便濺水的原因，

slow-motion water balloons,

用慢動作拍攝水球，

and has a lot of guns and explosions.

還有一大堆槍械和爆炸場面。

What more could you ask for? 語氣意圖

你還能要求什麼呢？

So do me a favor and go check it out 講解

所以幫我個忙，去看看他的節目吧，

and subscribe if you like it.

喜歡的話就訂閱。

And if you haven't seen it yet,

另外，如果你還沒看過，

go check out WhatsUpHow's review of my beard.

就去看看 WhatsUpHow 對我鬍子的評論。

I've got that in the description.

連結也放在說明欄裡了。

And as always, thanks for watching.

一如往常，感謝收看。