国家地理:用吐槽的方式谈科学效果更好(1)

It might have been Stephen Colbert, John Oliver, Jimmy Kimmel, or any of the other sharp-tongued talk show hosts of late-night TV. In this instance, it was Samantha Bee, on her program Full Frontal, doing a stand-up routine about opposition¹ to childhood vaccinations². "The anti-vax movement has been spreading faster than Legionnaires' disease at the Playboy Mansion," Bee declared, barely pausing for audience laughter. Claims that these vaccines³ are harmful rest on shoddy science, she said; the vaccines have been deemed safe by the World Health Organization and Centers for Disease Control and Prevention. "Who are you going to believe?" she asked. "Leading authorities on medical science, or 800 memes on your cousin's Facebook page?"

以前是斯蒂芬·科尔伯特，约翰·奥利弗，吉米·坎摩尔或其他言语尖刻的深夜电视脱口秀节目主持人。这次是萨曼莎·比，她在节目《正面交锋》中，来了一段关于反对儿童接种疫苗的例行单口相声。萨曼莎·比宣称，“反疫苗接种运动的传播速度，比花花公子豪宅中军团病的蔓延速度还要快”，这随即引发了全场哄笑，节目差点中断。萨曼莎·比表示，有人声称这些疫苗是建立在伪科学基础上的有害物质，但这些疫苗其实已被世界卫生组织和疾病控制与预防中心认定是安全的。她发问道：“你该信谁？是医学领域的权威，还是你表弟脸书上的800个表情包？”

Joking about science can have serious effects, according to studies by communication scholars, us among them. Since 2013, Paul has conducted three studies of how satire⁴ can influence people's beliefs about issues such as climate change, genetically⁵ modified foods, and vaccinations. We worked together on two of these studies, and with other colleagues Jessica recently tested whether late-night television can debunk⁶ misperceptions of vaccines. Our and others' research has shown that if you want to interest people in science and shape their views on hot-button science issues, satirical humor can work better than a straitlaced approach.

根据传播学者的研究，开一些有关科学的玩笑，可以对我们的科学观点产生很大的影响。自2013年以来，保罗进行了三项研究，研究吐槽如何影响人们对气候变化、转基因食品和疫苗接种等问题的看法。其中两项研究我们合作完成，而杰西卡最近与其他同事一起测试了深夜电视秀是否可以揭露人们对疫苗的误解。我们的测试以及其他的研究表明，如果你想让人们对科学感兴趣，并对热门科学问题产生看法，那么讽刺幽默比其他刻板的方法效果更好。

We completed our research before the COVID-19 outbreak in the United States, but many of the insights might apply to satire addressing public health issues during the pandemic. And some of the comedians⁷ we mention -- including John Oliver, Trevor Noah, and Samantha Bee -- have featured a steady stream of coronavirus-related satire on their programs.

我们在美国爆发COVID-19之前就已经完成了测试，但其中很多见解可能适用于大流行期间解决公共卫生问题。我们提到的一些喜剧演员，包括约翰·奥利弗、特雷弗·诺亚和萨曼莎·比，在他们的节目中已经频繁地出现了与冠状病毒相关的吐槽。

1 opposition   

n.反对，敌对

参考例句：

• The party leader is facing opposition in his own backyard.该党领袖在自己的党內遇到了反对。
• The police tried to break down the prisoner's opposition.警察设法制住了那个囚犯的反抗。

2 vaccinations   

n.种痘，接种( vaccination的名词复数 )；牛痘疤

参考例句：

• Vaccinations ensure one against diseases. 接种疫苗可以预防疾病。 来自《简明英汉词典》
• I read some publicity about vaccinations while waiting my turn at the doctor's. 在医生那儿候诊时，我读了一些关于接种疫苗的宣传。 来自《简明英汉词典》

3 vaccines   

疫苗，痘苗( vaccine的名词复数 )

参考例句：

• His team are at the forefront of scientific research into vaccines. 他的小组处于疫苗科研的最前沿。
• The vaccines were kept cool in refrigerators. 疫苗放在冰箱中冷藏。

4 satire   

n.讽刺，讽刺文学，讽刺作品

参考例句：

• The movie is a clever satire on the advertising industry.那部影片是关于广告业的一部巧妙的讽刺作品。
• Satire is often a form of protest against injustice.讽刺往往是一种对不公正的抗议形式。

5 genetically   

adv.遗传上

参考例句：

• All the bees in the colony are genetically related. 同一群体的蜜蜂都有亲缘关系。
• Genetically modified foods have already arrived on American dinner tables. 经基因改造加工过的食物已端上了美国人的餐桌。 来自英汉非文学 - 生命科学 - 基因与食物

6 debunk   

v.揭穿真相，暴露

参考例句：

• let's debunk some of the most common falsehoods.让我们来揭穿一些最常见的谬误吧。
• Sequences of maps can also debunk misconceptions.一系列的地图，也有助于厘清错误概念。

7 comedians   

n.喜剧演员，丑角( comedian的名词复数 )

参考例句：

• The voice was rich, lordly, Harvardish, like all the boring radio comedians'imitations. 声音浑厚、威严，俨然是哈佛出身的气派，就跟无线电里所有的滑稽演员叫人已经听腻的模仿完全一样。 来自辞典例句
• He distracted them by joking and imitating movie and radio comedians. 他用开玩笑的方法或者模仿电影及广播中的滑稽演员来对付他们。 来自辞典例句