时差N小时 与做道德决策有关的大脑部分

Yael, suppose there's a trolley¹ that's about to run over five people.

雅艾尔,假设一辆有轨电车将要撞上五个人。

Do you flip² the switch that will steer³ the trolley onto a different track if that means only one person will die?

这时扳动转辙器让电车行驶到另一条轨道上，但这意味着只会有一人丧命。你会这么做吗？

I sure would.

我会这么做。

Okay, now what if the only way you can save those five people is by pushing the stranger next to you into the trolley's path?

唐:好，那么如果拯救这五个人的唯一办法是把你身边的陌生人推到电车的轨道上，你觉得怎么样呢？

Yuck, Don. That would be wrong.

令人恶心, 唐。这是不对的。

You know, Yael, most people, when asked this question, answered the same way.

雅艾尔，大多数人被问到这个问题的时候，都会这么回答。

And moral philosophers and psychologists have been trying to figure out why.

伦理学家和心理学家一直在尝试弄清为什么会这样。

After all, in both cases, one person dies to save five.

毕竟，在这两种情况下，都是牺牲一人保全五人。

与做道德决策有关的大脑部分.jpgIn one study, scientists discovered that these two scenarios⁵ are processed by different parts of the brain.

在一项研究中，科学家们发现这两种场景是由大脑的不同部分处理的。

Flipping⁶ a switch, because it's more impersonal⁷, activates⁸ the part of the brain associated with memory.

扳动转辙器，因为这是非人性的动作，所以它只激活大脑中和记忆有关的那部分。

But the more personal scenario⁴ that requires actively⁹ killing¹⁰ a person activates the part of the brain associated with emotions.

而杀人这个场景更具人性色彩，所以会激活大脑中和感情有关的那部分。

Scientists speculate that a lot of our gut¹¹ reactions to moral dilemmas¹² may be affected¹³ by our upbringing.

科学家们推断，我们面对道德两难处境时的许多本能反应可能与我们受到的教育有关。

After all, as children we internalize the emotional reactions of those around us and store them in emotional brain circuits.

毕竟，在儿童时代，我们把身边人的情感反应内化并储存在情感大脑回路里。

Then, later, when we encounter a moral problem, these automatic gut feelings guide our decision-making.

然后，当我们遇到道德问题时，直觉就会自动指导我们做出决断。

Scientists hope that by figuring out how the brain behaves when people wrestle¹⁴ with difficult issues, we'll be able to understand how people with different backgrounds reach different conclusions on when it's okay to take a life.

科学家们希望通过弄清人们思考困难问题时大脑的运转方式，来帮助理解为什么不同背景的人在面对“可以取人性命”的问题时会得出不同的结论。

And everyone knows we could use a little more understanding.

并且，每一个人都知道我们可以多一些理解。

1 trolley   

n.手推车，台车；无轨电车；有轨电车

参考例句：

• The waiter had brought the sweet trolley.侍者已经推来了甜食推车。
• In a library,books are moved on a trolley.在图书馆，书籍是放在台车上搬动的。

2 flip   

vt.快速翻动；轻抛；轻拍；n.轻抛；adj.轻浮的

参考例句：

• I had a quick flip through the book and it looked very interesting.我很快翻阅了一下那本书，看来似乎很有趣。
• Let's flip a coin to see who pays the bill.咱们来抛硬币决定谁付钱。

3 steer   

vt.驾驶，为…操舵；引导；vi.驾驶

参考例句：

• If you push the car, I'll steer it.如果你来推车，我就来驾车。
• It's no use trying to steer the boy into a course of action that suits you.想说服这孩子按你的方式行事是徒劳的。

4 scenario   

n.剧本，脚本；概要

参考例句：

• But the birth scenario is not completely accurate.然而分娩脚本并非完全准确的。
• This is a totally different scenario.这是完全不同的剧本。

5 scenarios   

n.[意]情节；剧本；事态；脚本

参考例句：

• Further, graphite cores may be safer than non-graphite cores under some accident scenarios. 再者，根据一些事故解说，石墨堆芯可比非石墨堆芯更安全一些。 来自英汉非文学 - 环境法 - 环境法
• Again, scenarios should make it clear which modes are acceptable to users in various contexts. 同样，我们可以运用场景剧本来搞清楚在不同情境下哪些模式可被用户接受。 来自About Face 3交互设计精髓

6 flipping   

讨厌之极的

参考例句：

• I hate this flipping hotel! 我讨厌这个该死的旅馆！
• Don't go flipping your lid. 别发火。

7 impersonal   

adj.无个人感情的，与个人无关的，非人称的

参考例句：

• Even his children found him strangely distant and impersonal.他的孩子们也认为他跟其他人很疏远，没有人情味。
• His manner seemed rather stiff and impersonal.他的态度似乎很生硬冷淡。

8 activates   

使活动，起动，触发( activate的第三人称单数 )

参考例句：

• Activates the window and displays it in its current size and position. 激活窗口，保持当前的大小及位置不变。
• Pulling out the alarm switch activates alarm and pushing it deactivates it. 闹钟的开和关是通过拔出和按入闹铃开关实现的。

9 actively   

adv.积极地，勤奋地

参考例句：

• During this period all the students were actively participating.在这节课中所有的学生都积极参加。
• We are actively intervening to settle a quarrel.我们正在积极调解争执。

10 killing   

n.巨额利润；突然赚大钱，发大财

参考例句：

• Investors are set to make a killing from the sell-off.投资者准备清仓以便大赚一笔。
• Last week my brother made a killing on Wall Street.上个周我兄弟在华尔街赚了一大笔。

11 gut   

n.[pl.]胆量；内脏；adj.本能的；vt.取出内脏

参考例句：

• It is not always necessary to gut the fish prior to freezing.冷冻鱼之前并不总是需要先把内脏掏空。
• My immediate gut feeling was to refuse.我本能的直接反应是拒绝。

12 dilemmas   

n.左右为难( dilemma的名词复数 )；窘境，困境

参考例句：

• They dealt with their dilemmas by mixing perhaps unintentionally an explosive brew. 他们――也许是无意地――把爆炸性的佐料混合在一起，以此来应付困难处境。 来自辞典例句
• Ten years later we encountered the same dilemmas in Vietnam. 十年后，我们又在越南遇到了同样进退两难的局面。 来自辞典例句

13 affected   

adj.不自然的，假装的

参考例句：

• She showed an affected interest in our subject.她假装对我们的课题感到兴趣。
• His manners are affected.他的态度不自然。

14 wrestle   

vi.摔跤，角力；搏斗；全力对付

参考例句：

• He taught his little brother how to wrestle.他教他小弟弟如何摔跤。
• We have to wrestle with difficulties.我们必须同困难作斗争。