為什麼打哈欠會傳染？：英語精讀講義

Hey,

嗨，

Vsauce Michael here

這裡是 Vsauce 的 Michael，

and today we are going to talk about yawning. 片語搭配

今天我們要來聊聊打哈欠。

Why do we yawn

我們為什麼會打哈欠，

and why is yawning contagious?

打哈欠又為什麼會傳染呢？

How come when I see someone yawn 文法

為什麼看到別人打哈欠，

or even think about it it makes me kind of want to yawn. 語氣意圖

甚至只是想到這件事，我就會有點想打哈欠？

First things first, 慣用語

首先，

definitions.

我們來釐清一下定義。

When you yawn,

打哈欠時，

you inhale air

你會吸入空氣，

and stretch your eardrums.

並拉伸耳膜。

That's why your ears pop when you yawn. 表達脈絡

所以打哈欠時，你會覺得耳朵突然通了。

Now, if you yawn

那麼，如果你打哈欠

and at the same time

並同時

stretch your whole body,

伸展全身，

that is called pandiculation. 用詞

這就叫作伸懶腰。

A common misconception about yawning 表達脈絡

關於打哈欠，一個常見的誤解

is that people yawn when they need more air,

是人們需要更多空氣時會打哈欠，

more oxygen.

也就是需要更多氧氣時。

But studies have shown 片語搭配

但研究顯示，

that no matter how much oxygen 文法

無論有多少氧氣

is in the air around a person,

存在於一個人周圍的空氣中，

they won't yawn more or less frequently.

打哈欠的頻率都不會因此增減。

And when people exercise

而且人在運動時，

and their bodies do in fact need more oxygen, 文法

身體確實需要更多氧氣，

they don't yawn more often.

也不會更頻繁地打哈欠。

Instead, research has shown

相反地，研究顯示，

that our first answer

第一個問題的答案

most likely lies in being cool. 慣用語

很可能在於降溫。

When you are exhausted and tired,

當你筋疲力盡、昏昏欲睡時，

deep brain temperatures increase.

大腦深處的溫度會上升。

But your brain is like a computer. 表達脈絡

但你的大腦就像一台電腦。

It operates best at a very specific temperature.

它在一個非常特定的溫度下運作得最好。

And so yawning,

所以，打哈欠

bringing all of this outside air in

會把外界空氣吸進來，

through your ears and your mouth,

讓它經過耳朵和嘴巴，

cools your facial blood

進而冷卻臉部的血液，

and actually helps cool down your brain. 片語動詞

並確實幫助大腦降溫。

This phenomenon is particularly easy to observe

這種現象特別容易觀察到，

when parakeets yawn.

看看長尾鸚鵡打哈欠就知道了。

Researchers have found that parakeets only yawn

研究人員發現，長尾鸚鵡只會在

within a very specific range of temperatures. 片語搭配

一個非常特定的溫度範圍內打哈欠。

Too cold outside 文法

外面太冷，

and yawning will cool the brain too much.

打哈欠會讓大腦冷過頭。

Too hot

太熱，

and yawning will actually warm it up.

打哈欠反而會讓大腦升溫。

Parakeets are perfect test subjects 用詞

長尾鸚鵡是絕佳的實驗對象，

for this effect

很適合用來研究這種效應，

because they yawn just like you and me

因為牠們和你我一樣會打哈欠，

except they don't exhibit contagious yawning.

只不過牠們不會被哈欠傳染。

If you show a person a video

如果你給一個人看

of other people yawning,

其他人打哈欠的影片，

it's likely that the person watching

觀看者很可能

will yawn his or herself. 用詞

也會跟著打哈欠。

unless you put an ice pack on their forehead, 文法

除非你在對方額頭上放一個冰敷袋，

keeping their brain cooler. 文法

讓對方的大腦保持涼爽。

Seriously, the University of Albany

說真的，奧爾巴尼大學

has found that people

的研究發現，人們

contagiously yawn less frequently

受傳染而打哈欠的頻率會降低，

when they have ice packs on their head,

如果他們頭上敷著冰敷袋的話。

which means that yawning to cool your brain

這表示，打哈欠幫大腦降溫

isn't just for the birds. 慣用語

可不只是鳥類才會做的事。

Studies have shown that yawning

研究顯示，打哈欠

also increases blood pressure,

還會升高血壓、

stretches facial muscles,

拉伸臉部肌肉，

and increases focus.

並提高專注力。

When you pandiculate,

當你伸懶腰時，

you stretch all of your muscles

你會伸展全身所有肌肉，

making them better ready

讓它們準備得更充分，

to be used at any moment.

隨時都能派上用場。

So when it comes to a herd of prey animals, 講解

所以，對一群身為獵物的動物來說，

contagious yawning makes sense

哈欠會傳染是有道理的，

because a herd that yawns together 表達脈絡

因為一起打哈欠的群體

stays alert together.

也會一起保持警覺。

Under this theory, 表達脈絡

按照這個理論，

yawning is advantageously contagious

哈欠具有傳染性是一種生存優勢，

because that first animal to yawn

因為第一個打哈欠的動物

acts as a sort of reminder 片語搭配

就像是在提醒

to the rest of the herd

群體裡的其他成員，

to keep themselves ready and alert.

要保持準備狀態和警覺。

But of course, when we say that yawning is contagious, 語氣意圖

當然，我們說打哈欠會「傳染」時，

we don't mean like a disease.

並不是說它像疾病一樣傳播。

Instead, it's a bit more closely related to empathy. 片語搭配

它其實和同理心的關係更密切一些。

Sympathy is when you are concerned for others, 用詞

同情，是你關心他人，

where you wish someone was better off. 慣用語

希望對方的處境能變得更好。

Empathy is the ability to recognize and share

同理心，則是辨識並感同身受

the emotions that other people feel.

他人情緒的能力。

Emotional contagion is when 用詞

情緒感染是指

the emotions of people around you

周圍人的情緒

influence the way you feel

會影響你的感受，

without you even having 文法

而你甚至不必

to separate yourselves from them,

刻意把自己和他們區分開來。

like when being around happy people

例如，和快樂的人待在一起

lifts your spirits 慣用語

會讓你心情振奮，

or how anger and fear can lead to mob mentality. 用詞

而憤怒和恐懼則可能引發群體心態。

Now, children with autism

而患有自閉症的兒童，

who exhibit impaired social interaction

如果有社交互動

and communication

和溝通障礙，

yawn less frequently than other children

會比其他兒童更少打哈欠，

when viewing videos of people yawning.

當他們觀看別人打哈欠的影片時。

So is yawning an emotional contagion

那麼，打哈欠屬於情緒感染，

or is it about empathy?

還是和同理心有關？

Well, last year the University of Pisa found

去年，比薩大學發現，

that yawn contagiousness is greatest with family

哈欠在家人之間最容易傳染，

and then friends

其次是朋友，

and then acquaintances

然後是熟人，

and lastly strangers.

最後才是陌生人。

And a study at Leeds University

里茲大學的一項研究

brought in participants to take a test 片語動詞

找來參與者做一項測驗，

that measured how empathetic they were.

測量他們的同理心。

But before the test began,

但在測驗開始前，

amongst them was one person 文法

參與者當中有一個人

who worked for the researchers

其實是研究人員的助手，

and this person yawned every minute for 10 minutes.

這個人在 10 分鐘內每分鐘打一次哈欠。

Interestingly, the people

有意思的是，那些

who wound up scoring the highest 片語動詞

最後取得最高分的人，

on the empathy test

就同理心測驗而言，

were also the ones

也正是

who contagiously yawned along the most.

最常受傳染、跟著打哈欠的人。

Let's talk more about animal yawning.

再來聊聊動物打哈欠吧。

What fascinates me so much 文法

讓我特別著迷的是，

is that animals across many species all yawn,

許多不同物種的動物都會打哈欠，

but they do so for different reasons. 文法

但原因各不相同。

Animals like guinea pigs and some monkeys

天竺鼠和某些猴子等動物

yawn to intimidate and show their sharp scary teeth.

會用哈欠來威嚇對手，露出尖銳嚇人的牙齒。

Some penguins yawn to attract mates 片語搭配

有些企鵝打哈欠是為了吸引配偶，

and when snakes yawn,

而蛇打哈欠時，

it seems to be about realigning their jaws 語氣意圖

似乎是在重新調整下顎的位置，

and opening their tracheas to breathe better

並打開氣管，以便呼吸得更順暢，

after a big body-disfiguring meal. 用詞

在吃下一頓撐得身體變形的大餐後。

Fish yawn more frequently

魚打哈欠會更頻繁，

when water oxygen levels are low

當水中的含氧量較低，

or water heat levels are high.

或水溫較高時。

So when you yawn,

所以，當你打哈欠時，

you're participating in a behavior 文法

你其實是在做一種

shared across all kinds of animals,

各種動物都有的行為，

but most likely you're yawning

但你很可能是

for purposes unique to your species,

為了你所屬物種獨有的目的而打哈欠，

us humans.

也就是我們人類這個物種。

And what's really cool

真正酷的是，

is that yawning is most likely an ancient signal 表達脈絡

打哈欠很可能是一種古老的訊號，

telling the rest of us humans,

它在告訴其他人：

let's do this. 語氣意圖

我們行動吧。

Let's survive.

我們活下去吧。

And as always, thanks for watching.

一如往常，感謝收看。