VOA慢速英语2021 人们为何容易接受阴谋论？

（单词翻译）

American officials are still working to find out the identities of those who attacked the U.S. Capitol on January 6.

美国官员仍在努力查明1月6日美国国会大厦袭击者的身份。

It appears that many were believers in a conspiracy¹ theory. It said that former President Donald Trump² won the 2020 election, but was cheated because of widespread election wrongdoing.

看来很多人都相信阴谋论。它称前总统川普赢得了2020年大选，但是由于广泛的选举欺诈而被骗。

Conspiracy theories often depend on seeing things only in terms of right and wrong. They can push people to do things they might never have thought of doing before, said Peter Ditto. He is a professor of psychological science at the University of California, Irvine.

阴谋论通常只凭对与错来看待事物。彼得·迪托表示，它们可以促使人们去做以前从未想过要做的事情。迪托是加州大学欧文分校的心理学教授。

“Moralizing things mobilizes³ people to action. If I believed that the American election had been stolen from the rightful winner, I’d probably storm the Capitol, too. It makes perfect sense if that really happened. The problem is, that didn't happen.”

迪托表示：“道德说教动员人们采取行动。如果我认为美国大选从应有的赢家那里窃取了胜利，我也可能会袭击国会大厦。如果窃取大选这事确实发生了，那是完全合理的。问题是它没有发生。”

The people most likely to accept conspiracy theories are those who rarely question things. They often show narcissistic⁴ behavior, such as a belief in their own importance, a deep need for attention, problems with their relationships, and a lack of sympathy for other people’s problems. Those ideas come from research published in the Journal of Personality. The research was done by Emory University in the American state of Georgia.

最容易接受阴谋论的是很少质疑事物的人士。他们通常表现出自恋行为，例如对自身重要性的信念，对关注度的强烈需求，他们的人际关系存在问题，对其他人的问题缺乏同情。这些观点出自于发表在《人格》杂志上的研究。该研究是由美国佐治亚州埃默里大学完成的。

Nika Kabiri is an expert on human decision-making. She is with the University of Washington in Seattle. She said everyone can be pulled into conspiracy theories although some far more than others.

妮佳·卡比里是人类决策专家。她在西雅图的华盛顿大学就职。她说，美国人都可能会被卷入阴谋论，尽管有些人远远多于另一些人。

“We all hate uncertainty⁵. We all don't like the idea of not knowing why things happen. It makes us feel like we don't have control in the world. We want closure,” she said.

她说；“我们都痛恨不确定性。我们所有人都不喜欢对事情原委不知情。这使得我们感觉自己在世界上没有掌控权。我们需要宽慰。”

A conspiracy theory is a way of thinking that blames or explains an important event on a secret plot that is usually undertaken by powerful people. Conspiracy thinking can also accept the idea that a big secret is being kept from the public.

阴谋论将重大事件通常归咎于权势人物采取的阴谋。阴谋思维也接受重大秘密对公众保密的观点。

When a famous person repeats a conspiracy theory, Kabiri says, it gets a lot of attention.

卡比里表示，当名人重复某种阴谋论时，它会引发更大关注。

People are already unhappy, she says. “There's something they want to do, perhaps, explain something that doesn't sit well with them, and the story gives them an answer,” she added.

她说人们已经不高兴了。她还表示：“他们想要做的事情也许可以解释一些跟他们不融洽的事情，而谎言给了他们一个答案。”

Times of difficulty, such as a widespread health crisis⁶, can add to the spread of conspiracy theories, Ditto said. “When the world seems confusing and incomprehensible, which it does right now. When people are lonely and they're seeking connection with others,” Ditto explained.

迪托表示，困难时期可以加速阴谋论的传播，比如一场广泛的健康危机。迪托表示：“当世界似乎令人困惑和无法理喻时，就像现在这样。当人们感到孤独时，他们开始寻求与他人的联系。”

People often accept conspiracy theories because they cannot accept simple explanations for life-changing events, said Ditto.

迪托表示，人们经常接受阴谋论，是因为他们无法接受对改变命运的大事件的简单解释。

A major conspiracy about the September 11, 2001 terror attacks says that the Twin Towers in New York fell in a controlled bombing. It denies that plane crashes caused the collapse⁷.

关于2001年9月11日恐怖袭击的一种主要阴谋论称纽约的双子塔是在一次受控的爆炸中倒下的。它否认是飞机撞击导致了这次倒塌。

Many Americans find it hard to believe that President John F. Kennedy was killed by one gunman. That is why so many believe the unproven idea that there must have been a larger conspiracy to murder the president.

很多美国人很难相信肯尼迪被一名枪手打死的。这就是为什么很多人相信未经证实的想法，也就是肯定有更大的阴谋谋杀了这位总统。

The Emory researchers found that the people most likely to accept conspiracy thinking are often less agreeable⁸ and less conscientious⁹. They usually also are unhappy combined with the unrealistic idea that they were made for greatness. And, they are influenced by those around them, either on social media or in real life, said Kabiri.

埃默里大学的这些研究人员发现，最容易接受阴谋思维的人们往往不讨人喜欢以及不认真。卡比里表示，他们通常也不幸地结合了他们是为伟大而生的这种不切实际的想法。而且，无论是在社交媒体还是在现实生活中，他们都容易受到周围人的影响。

Ditto said a million years of evolution pushes people to join groups with like-minded people.

迪托表示，100万年的进化促使志趣相投的人聚在一起。

“We're very tribal¹⁰. We're very provably attached to people who are like us. It's very, very unusual to have a place where you're supposed to make friends with, and connect with, and cooperate with, people who don't look like you and don't have the same values,” Ditto said.

迪托表示：“我们非常部落化。事实证明我们对同类人非常依恋。 很少有地方认为我们应该跟非同类人以及具有不同价值观的人交友、联络和合作。”