城市比世界上其他的人工环境更加拥挤、污染更加严重、生存压力更大。但它却也是聪明人喜欢居住的地方。

　　A new study of American mobility patterns suggests that people with higher intelligence are more likely to be moving in and out of cities. Among them, those individuals who originate from rural towns exhibit the highest forms of intelligence. The findings, now online, will be published in the September/October issue of the journal Intelligence.

　　一项关于美国人口迁移模式的研究表明，智商高的人更喜欢迁入和迁出城市。其中，来自农村地区的人智商水平最高。此项研究的结果目前可在网上查看，另外也将发布在Intelligence杂志的9月/10月刊上。

　　The study, conducted by psychologist Markus Jokela from the University of Helsinki, traced the 16-year migratory patterns of 11,500 Americans between the ages of 15 and 23, starting in 1979. Jokela found that people who moved from rural and suburban areas to central cities typically had much higher intelligence scores than people who stayed put or made other kinds of movements. Those same people also tended to leave central cities for suburban environments, to a lesser degree.

　　此项研究由芬兰赫尔辛基大学心理学家马库斯·乔克拉负责，跟踪了11500名15-23岁的美国人在1979年后16年间的迁移模式。乔克拉发现，相比那些一直呆在一个地方或进行其他迁移的人，从农村和郊区迁移至中心城市的人通常智商更高，而且他们离开中心城市迁往郊区的可能性更小。

　　The findings themselves aren’t particularly revelatory – it has long been thought that smart young people flock to the cities for better education and higher-paying jobs, and move out to the suburbs in order to raise a family. But the most striking part about Jokela’s study is the numbers; most notably a 12-point intelligence gap between rural residents who stayed in their hometown and those who moved to central cities. When Jokela controlled for socioeconomic status, this gap was reduced to 4 point. While this is less stunning, it does indicate that intelligence plays a role in where Americans decide to live. “The most general message is that the selective residential mobility we observe associated with socioeconomic status has its psychological underpinnings in intelligence differences,” Jokela told CityLab.

　　这些并不是什么惊天发现。长久以来，人们一直认为聪明的年轻人为了养家糊口，会蜂拥至城市寻求更好的教育和报酬更高的工作。但乔克拉的研究中有一点十分令人惊讶：留在农村和搬入中心城市的人群间智商水平相差12点之多。若将比对范围限制在社会经济地位差不多的人中间，相差水平则缩小到了4点。这个数字虽然没那么大，但也显示出智商对美国人生活地选择的影响。乔克拉对CityLab说，“总而言之，据我们观察，与社会经济状况有关的选择性居住迁移的心理基础在于智商差别。”

　　While the results are interesting, they should be read with caution. Jokela’s analysis illustrates that intelligence and migration are connected, but not whether intelligence actually influenced individuals’ decision to move. The dataset for the study is also cut off after 1996, and American migratory patterns may have changed a great deal in the last two decades.

　　研究结果虽然有趣，看时却也不可大意。乔克拉的分析表明智商与迁移有关，但并未说明智商是否真的对个人的迁移决策有所影响。此外，研究并未包含1996年后的数据，而美国人口迁移模式在近20年内可能发生了很大的变化。

　　The biggest takeaway, however, is that smart people are constantly anxious to keep moving around. If you live in the city, you may want to talk to your new neighbor from that rural town you’ve never heard of – they probably have a few things to teach you, before they leave for greener pastures.

　　还有最重要的一点在于，聪明人总是渴望不停地搬来搬去。如果你住在城市里，不如去和你来自农村的新邻居聊聊，即使你从没听说过他的家乡——他们也许会在搬去绿色大草原前教给你一些东西。