Knowing superstitions aren’t real doesn’t stop us behaving superstitiously – why?
尽管我们心里清楚迷信并无事实依据,但为何还是会做出迷信的行为呢?
Former New Zealand prime minister John Key has three white rabbits painted on his helicopter, a nod to his “massively superstitious” habit of repeating “white rabbits” three times at the start of every month. ***
新西兰前总理约翰·基的直升机上绘有三只白兔的图案,这源自于他一个“极度迷信”的习惯,那就是每个月初他都会反复念叨三遍“白兔”。
Tennis champion Rafael Nadal performs the same sequence of actions (shirt-tug, hair-tuck, face-wipe) before every serve. Taylor Swift paints “13” on her hand for good luck before a show.
网球冠军拉斐尔·纳达尔每次发球前,总会重复一连串固定动作:扯扯球衣、捋捋头发、擦擦脸。而泰勒·斯威夫特每逢演出前,都会在手上写上“13”来祈祷好运降临。
Perhaps you, too, are superstitious. Maybe you have a lucky number, avoid black cats, or shudder at the thought of opening an umbrella indoors.
说不定,你也同样迷信。或许你有自己的幸运数字,对黑猫避之不及(译者注:在众多西方国家,黑猫经常被描绘为女巫或邪恶力量的使者,被视为不祥之兆),一想到在屋内撑开雨伞,便不禁打个寒颤(译者注:西方人认为屋内撑伞是一种对上帝的不敬。因为伞的原始功能是遮阳,而阳光是上帝的恩赐,是生命的象征,在屋内撑伞,就相当于拒绝了上帝的恩典,是一种亵渎神明的行为)。
We humans are particularly susceptible to superstitions. But why are we so quick to develop superstitious behaviours, and do we really believe they can bring good or bad luck?
我们人类极易受到迷信思想的左右。然而,为何我们会如此迅速地养成这些迷信的行为习惯,又是否真的笃信它们能够左右我们的吉凶祸福呢?
In our new research, we set out to answer this question. We tested whether people could tell the difference between outcomes they caused and outcomes they didn’t cause, and this told us something about the cognitive roots of human superstition.
在最新的研究中,我们着手探寻这一问题的答案。通过测试人们能否分辨出哪些结果是自身行为所致,哪些并非自己造成,以此来探究人类迷信行为在认知层面的根源。
Learning about cause and effect
了解因果关系
From as early as four months, infants learn their actions produce outcomes – kicking their legs shakes the crib, shaking a rattle makes an interesting noise, dropping a toy on the floor means mum or dad picks it up.
早在四个月大的时候,婴儿就开始意识到,自己的行为会引发各种结果:踢踢小腿,婴儿床就会跟着晃动;摇摇拨浪鼓,就能听到有趣的声响;要是把玩具扔到地上,爸爸妈妈就会伸手捡起来。
As we grow older, we develop a more sophisticated understanding of cause-and-effect relationships, asking “why?” questions about the world around us.
随着年岁的增长,我们对因果关系的认知愈发深刻,开始对我们周遭的世界不断追问“为什么”。
This sensitivity to causes and effects sets the stage for important developmental milestones, like imaginative play, planning actions to achieve a goal, predicting others’ intentions, anticipating and regulating emotions, and cooperating with others.
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