為什麼有些東西這麼可愛？：英語精讀講義

Hey Vsauce, Michael here.

嗨，Vsauce，我是麥可。

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

The Pet Collective 全天24小時不間斷播送小狗和小貓的內容。

It's really cute.

真的太可愛了。

But what is cute scientifically?

但從科學角度來看，「可愛」究竟是什麼？

I mean, why do we like soft cuddly things and

我是說，我們為什麼喜歡柔軟、讓人想抱的東西，

why do cute things have a unique effect on us?

而可愛的東西又為什麼會對我們產生獨特的影響？

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

其實，英文單字 cute 是 acute 的縮寫，

which originally meant keen, shrewd, perceptive.

acute 原本的意思是敏銳、精明、富有洞察力。

About 180 years ago,

大約180年前，

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

cute 開始被當成俚語，用來形容漂亮的女孩。

And after that,

從那之後，

it accrued a new meaning 片語搭配

它又衍生出新的含義，

and was used to describe

開始被用來描述

cuddly, delicate, quaint,

讓人想抱、嬌嫩、小巧別緻，

precious, youthful traits.

珍貴而充滿稚氣的特徵。

Konrad Lorenz studied cuteness in living things

康拉德．勞倫茲研究了生物的可愛之處，

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

並詳細列出我們眼中「可愛」的具體特徵。

Small body size with a disproportionately large head,

身體小巧，頭部卻大得不成比例，

large eyes,

眼睛很大，

and round and soft body features.

身體特徵圓潤又柔和。

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

但這些特徵究竟為什麼會讓我們人類發出「啊，好可愛」的反應呢？

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

勞倫茲指出，所有這些特徵都能在人類嬰兒身上找到，

which makes sense.

這很合理。

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

如果光是看著自己的後代，就會讓我們本能地想保護並照顧他們，

well, that's great for all of us.

那對我們所有人來說當然是好事。

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

一個有趣的結果是，即使不是人類嬰兒的事物，也能引發我們對可愛的感受。

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

比方說，貝殼、小兔子、貓頭鷹，甚至一把鐵鎚。

A hammer, how can that be?

鐵鎚？怎麼會呢？

Take a look at this interactive tool from the Exploratorium.

來看看 Exploratorium 的這個互動工具。

A hammer is boring,

鐵鎚本身平淡無奇，

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

但如果套用勞倫茲的特徵，把它變得非常圓、非常矮胖，

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

它就會從一件實用工具變成一把小巧可愛的迷你鐵鎚。

Oh, he's just a little hammer. 表達脈絡

喔，它只是一把小鐵鎚。

Don't hurt him.

別傷害它。

It is a hammer that has become cute

這是一把變可愛了的鐵鎚，

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

因為我們賦予了它一些自己後代身上具備的特徵。

As Daniel Dennett puts it, 表達脈絡

正如丹尼爾．丹尼特所說，

if human babies looked like this instead of that, 文法

如果人類嬰兒長這樣，而不是那樣，

we would find this cute.

我們就會覺得這個樣子很可愛。

And whenever we saw something that looked like it,

而每當我們看到與它相似的東西，

we would want to cuddle and snuggle with it.

就會想抱住它，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. 文法

現在，我們已經大致明白「可愛」是什麼，又是如何產生的。

But where is cute? 表達脈絡

但「可愛」在哪裡呢？

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

研究人員一邊讓受試者看可愛嬰兒的照片，一邊用功能性磁振造影追蹤他們的大腦活動。

And sure enough, 表達脈絡

果不其然，

the cuter the baby in the picture, 文法

照片裡的嬰兒越可愛，

the more activation found right here,

這裡的活化程度就越高，

the nucleus accumbens,

這裡就是伏隔核，

a pleasure center.

一個快感中樞。

When activated,

當它被活化時，

the nucleus accumbens releases dopamine.

伏隔核會釋放多巴胺。

It's all part of our internal reward system.

這一切都是我們內在獎賞系統的一部分。

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

古柯鹼和甲基安非他命作用的也是大腦中的同一區域。

Cuteness is such a powerful force on the brain, 文法

可愛對大腦的影響力極其強大，

in fact, that it can affect our behaviors,

甚至能影響我們的行為，

what we like, what we buy. 表達脈絡

包括我們喜歡什麼、購買什麼。

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

所以，米奇或皮卡丘這類卡通角色的創作者

have drawn them more and more cute over time. 文法

隨著時間把他們畫得越來越可愛，絕非巧合。

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

日本的 kawaii（可愛）概念就是很好的例子，

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

而且把它量化還滿有意思的。

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

你覺得要把多少個自己的頭上下疊起來，

do you think it would take to equal your height?

才能和你的身高一樣？

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

對我們大多數人來說，答案大約是七個半。

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

但為了讓人物顯得英勇或高貴而創作的插畫

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

往往會把人物畫成大約八到八個半頭高。

Cute goes the other way. 慣用語

可愛風格則正好相反。

Manga characters tend to only be about five and a half

漫畫角色往往只有大約五個半

to six and a half heads tall.

到六個半頭高。

Back to babies.

說回嬰兒。

There are many other psychological factors at work 慣用語

還有許多其他心理因素在發揮作用，

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

讓我們本能地想照顧自己的孩子。

And to be sure, 表達脈絡

當然，

some of them are decidedly not cute.

其中有些東西絕對稱不上可愛。

For instance, poopy diapers.

比方說，沾滿便便的尿布。

Researchers have found that mothers,

研究人員發現，媽媽們

when exposed to soiled diapers, 文法

接觸到弄髒的尿布時，

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

往往會認為自己孩子的尿布所散發的氣味

to be the least terrible, 文法

是最不難聞的，

despite not knowing which diaper belonged to which kid. 文法

即使不知道每片尿布分別屬於哪個孩子。

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

當某種生物直到成年都保留著幼年特徵時，

it is called neoteny, 用詞

這種現象稱為幼態延續，

and we love it,

而我們很喜歡這一點，

especially in animals that we keep as pets.

尤其是在我們當成寵物飼養的動物身上。

Of course,

當然，

us humans have selectively bred all kinds of animals 用詞

我們人類對各種動物都進行過選擇性繁殖，

to make each generation more and more useful to us.

讓牠們一代比一代對我們更有用。

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

但狗可能是我們花最多時間「設計」的動物，

making each generation better at hunting

我們讓牠們一代比一代更擅長狩獵，

or better at staying cuter for longer.

或者讓牠們更長久地保持可愛。

Dogs like this have been designed by us 文法

這樣的狗是由我們設計出來的，

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

外型、成長方式和行為都符合我們的期待，

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

這和我們設計一台 DVD 播放器及其功能並沒有太大差別。

So whether it's staying cute forever 文法

所以，無論是永遠保持可愛，

or just being a really great hunting companion,

還是單純成為出色的狩獵夥伴，

the modern dog, more than any other animal,

現代犬類與其他任何動物相比，

could be considered not so much a consequence of nature 文法

與其說是大自然的產物，

as much as it is a piece of human technology. 慣用語

不如說是人類科技的產物。

As Science Friday puts it,

用 Science Friday 的話來說，

the dog is man's best friend 表達脈絡

狗是人類最好的朋友，

because it may be man's best invention.

因為牠或許也是人類最好的發明。

So go pet a cute dog today.

所以，今天就去摸摸一隻可愛的狗吧。

And as always,

一如往常，

thanks for watching.

謝謝收看。