TED演讲:科技并没有改变爱 为什么?(1)

 I was recently traveling in the Highlands of New Guinea, and I was talking with a man who had three wives. 最近，我正在新几内亚高地旅行，我访谈了一位有三个老婆的人。

I asked him, "How many wives would you like to have?" 我问他：“你想要多少个老婆？”

And there was this long pause, and I thought to myself, 他停顿了很长时间，我就想，

"Is he going to say five? Is he going to say 10? Is he going to say 25?" “他会说5个？还是10个？或许是25个呢？”

And he leaned towards me and he whispered, "None." 结果他靠过来小声说道：“一个都不想要。”

Eighty-six percent of human societies permit a man to have several wives: polygyny. 当今，86%的人类社会允许男人有好几个妻子：一夫多妻。

But in the vast majority of these cultures, only about five or ten percent of men actually do have several wives. 但在大多数这些社会中，有多个妻子的男性仅达5%~10%。

Having several partners can be a toothache. 有多个伴侣可是件头疼的事。

In fact, co-wives can fight with each other, sometimes they can even poison each other's children. 事实上，妻子们之间会产生争执。有时甚至会毒害对方的孩子。

And you've got to have a lot of cows, a lot of goats, a lot of money, a lot of land, in order to build a harem. 而且你必须得有很多的牛羊、大量金钱和土地，才能建立起一个妻妾成群的闺房。

We are a pair-bonding species¹. Ninety-seven percent of mammals do not pair up to rear² their young; human beings do. 我们是双纽带的种群，97%的哺乳动物不用成双成对地抚育儿女，但人类却是这样的。

I'm not suggesting that we're not -- that we're necessarily sexually³ faithful to our partners. 我并不是建议人类在性方面无需忠诚彼此，

I've looked at adultery in 42 cultures, I understand, actually, some of the genetics of it, and some of the brain circuitry of it. 但在研究了42种文化中的外遇行为之后，我明白了其中有基因的原因，而有一些则是大脑回路的问题。

It's very common around the world, but we are built to love. 整个世界都非常普遍，但爱是我们与生俱来的能力。

1 species   

n.物种，种群

参考例句：

• Are we the only thinking species in the whole of creation?我们是万物中惟一有思想的物种吗？
• This species of bird now exists only in Africa.这种鸟现在只存在于非洲。

2 rear   

vt.抚养，饲养；n.后部，后面

参考例句：

• We had to rear it in a nursery and plant it out.我们不得不在苗棚里培育它，然后再把它移植出来。
• The hall is in the rear of the building.礼堂在大楼的后部。

3 sexually   

adv.性别上地；按性别地；性欲地；两性之间地

参考例句：

• to be sexually promiscuous 性生活淫乱
• I was depressed,withdrawn and sexually frigid. 我郁郁寡欢，离群索居，没有什么性要求。 来自《简明英汉词典》