How do daily habits lead to political violence? | Christiane-Marie Abu Sarah

Transcriber: Leslie Gauthier Reviewer: Camille Martínez

翻译人员: Zoe choi 校对人员: Phoebe Ling Zhang

So I'm starting us out today with a historical mystery.

我将以一个历史小谜团 开启我们今天的演讲。

In 1957, there were two young women,

在 1957 年，有两个女人，

both in their 20s,

她们都是 20 多岁，

both living in the same city,

住在同一个城市，

both members of the same political group.

而且同属一个政治团体。

That year, both decided to commit violent attacks.

就在那一年，两个人都决定 要实施暴力袭击。

One girl took a gun and approached a soldier at a checkpoint.

一个女孩携带枪，走近关卡士兵，

The other girl took a bomb and went to a crowded café.

另一个女孩则携带着一个炸弹， 去了一个拥挤的咖啡厅。

But here's the thing:

但是，重点来了，

one of the those girls followed through with the attack,

其中一个女孩完成了这次行动，

but the other turned back.

但是另一个却转身走了。

So what made the difference?

是什么原因导致她们 截然不同的行为呢?

I'm a behavioral historian, and I study aggression,

我是一名行为历史学家， 我研究攻击性行为、

moral cognition

道德认知，

and decision-making in social movements.

以及社会运动中的决策过程。

That's a mouthful. (Laughs)

有点绕口，对吧。 (笑声)

So, the translation of that is:

换句话说，

I study the moment an individual decides to pull the trigger,

我研究个体扣动板机的 那个瞬间的抉择，

the day-to-day decisions that led up to that moment

导致那一瞬间的 日积月累的种种抉择，

and the stories that they tell themselves about why that behavior is justified.

以及他们为自己讲述的， 用来合理化自己激进行为的故事。

Now, this topic --

这个话题

it's not just scholarly for me.

对我来说不是只有学术意义，

It's actually a bit personal.

其实还包含了我的个人经历。

I grew up in Kootenai County, Idaho,

我在爱达荷州库特耐县长大。

and this is very important.

这个信息很重要。

This is not the part of Idaho with potatoes.

爱达荷的这一地区 并不盛产马铃薯，

We have no potatoes.

我们没有马铃薯，

And if you ask me about potatoes,

所以如果你问我 关于马铃薯的问题，

I will find you.

你就有麻烦了。

(Laughter)

（笑声）

This part of Idaho is known for mountain lakes,

库得耐县以高山湖泊闻名，

horseback riding,

还有骑马

skiing.

和滑雪。

Unfortunately, starting in the 1980s,

但是不幸的是，从 1980 年代开始，

it also became known as the worldwide headquarters

这里成为了新纳粹主义组织的

for the Aryan Nations.

世界总部。

Every year, members of the local neo-Nazi compound

每年新纳粹主义组织成员都会出现，

would turn out and march through our town,

在我们镇上到处游行示威，

and every year,

每年，

members of our town would turn out and protest them.

我们城镇的百姓也会 走出家门进行抗议。

Now, in 2001, I graduated from high school,

2001 年高中毕业后，

and I went to college in New York City.

我去了纽约读大学。

I arrived in August 2001.

我在 2001 年 8 月到了纽约。

As many of you probably are aware,

你们大概知道，

three weeks later,

三个星期后，

the Twin Towers went down.

双子塔倒塌了。

Now, I was shocked.

我震惊了，

I was incredibly angry.

已经完全出离愤怒。

I wanted to do something,

我想做一些事，

but the only thing that I could think of doing at that time

但是那時候我可以想到的 唯一一件事是：

was to study Arabic.

去学习阿拉伯文化。

I will admit,

我承认，

I was that girl in class that wanted to know why "they" hate "us."

我就是班上那个很想知道 “他们”为什么恨“我们”的女生。

I started studying Arabic for very wrong reasons.

就这样阴差阳错地，我开始了 学习阿拉伯文化的旅程。

But something unexpected happened.

出乎意料的事情发生了，

I got a scholarship to go study in Israel.

我获得了去以色列学习的奖学金。

So the Idaho girl went to the Middle East.

就这样，这个爱德荷女孩去了中东。

And while I was there, I met Palestinian Muslims,

在那里，我结识了 巴勒斯坦穆斯林、

Palestinian Christians,

巴勒斯坦基督徒、

Israeli settlers,

以色列定居者，

Israeli peace activists.

和以色列和平主义者。

And what I learned is that every act has an ecology.

那时，我明白了， 每个行为的背后都有一个生态系统，

It has a context.

都有其特定的背景。

Now, since then, I have gone around the world,

从那时候开始，我去了世界各地，

I have studied violent movements,

我研究了暴力运动，

I have worked with NGOs and ex-combatants in Iraq,

还与各地非政府组织， 以及伊拉克、

叙利亚、

Syria,

越南、

Vietnam,

巴尔干和古巴的

the Balkans,

Cuba.

的前作战队员合作，

I earned my PhD in History,

完成了我的历史博士学位。

and now what I do is I go to different archives

我现在的工作是 去不同的档案室，

and I dig through documents,

翻找各式各样的档案，

looking for police confessions,

找寻警察的审问记录、

court cases,

庭审案件，

diaries and manifestos of individuals involved in violent attacks.

还有暴力袭击事件中的 激进分子写下的日记和宣言书。

Now, you gather all these documents --

现在收集了这么多资料，

what do they tell you?

它们能告诉我们些什么呢?

Our brains love causal mysteries,

研究发现，

我们的大脑喜欢因果奥秘。

it turns out.

So any time we see an attack on the news,

所以每次在新闻上看到袭击事件，

we tend to ask one question:

我们都会问自己：

Why?

为什么？

Why did that happen?

为什么会发生这种事?

Well, I can tell you I've read thousands of manifestos,

我可以告诉各位， 我看过上千份宣言书，

and what you find out is that they are actually imitative.

发现其实它们都是抄袭而来。

They imitate the political movement that they're drawing from.

他们模仿了他们所借鉴的政治运动。

So they actually don't tell us a lot about decision-making

所以在这个特定的案例中， 你实际上看不到很多

in that particular case.

关于决策的内容。

So we have to teach ourselves to ask a totally different question.

因此，我们要学会 问自己一个全新的问题：

Instead of "Why?" we have to ask "How?"

不是问“为什么？”， 而是问“怎么做到的？”

How did individuals produce these attacks,

个人是怎样制造出 这样的袭击的，

and how did their decision-making ecology contribute to violent behavior?

以及帮助他们做出决策的生态系统 是怎样导致这种激进行为的?

There's a couple things I've learned from asking this kind of question.

通过不断询问这类问题， 我学到了这样几点：

The most important thing is that

最重要的一点是，

political violence is not culturally endemic.

政治暴力并不是 某种文化所特有的，

We create it.

而是我们创造出来的。

And whether we realize it or not,

不管我们有没有意识到，

our day-to-day habits contribute to the creation of violence

是日积月累的习惯 塑造了我们环境中的

in our environment.

这些暴力行为。

So here's a couple of habits that I've learned contribute to violence.

通过研究，我发现， 有这样几个习惯会导致激进行为：

One of the first things that attackers did

激进分子在筹划暴力袭击过程中

when preparing themselves for a violent event

会做的其中一件事是，

was they enclosed themselves in an information bubble.

把自己封闭在一个信息泡沫里。

We've heard of fake news, yeah?

我们都听过“假消息”，对吗？

Well, this shocked me:

令我震惊的是，

every group that I studied had some kind of a fake news slogan.

我研究的群体都有不一样的 “假消息”称号。

French communists called it the "putrid press."

法国共产党称之为“腐烂的报道”，

French ultranationalists called it the "sellout press"

法国极端民族主义者 称之为“出卖原则的报道”，

and the "treasonous press."

和“叛国的报道”，

Islamists in Egypt called it the "depraved news."

埃及的伊斯兰主义者 称之为“堕落的报道”。

And Egyptian communists called it ...

埃及共产主义者则简单称之为

"fake news."

“假消息”。

So why do groups spend all this time trying to make these information bubbles?

为什么这些团体要花大量的 时间来制造这些信息泡沫呢？

The answer is actually really simple.

答案其实很简单。

We make decisions based on the information we trust, yeah?

我们都是根据我们相信的信息 去做决定的，对吗？

So if we trust bad information,

如果我们相信错误的信息，

we're going to make bad decisions.

就会做出错误的决定。

Another interesting habit that individuals used

当激进分子策划 制造一次暴力袭击时，

when they wanted to produce a violent attack

他们的另一个有趣的习惯是

was that they looked at their victim not as an individual

他们会把袭击对象 仅仅看成是一名敌方成员，

but just as a member of an opposing team.

而不是一个独立的个体。

Now this gets really weird.

这就很奇怪了。

There's some fun brain science behind why that kind of thinking is effective.

一些有趣的脑科学理论 可以解释这个想法为何有效。

Say I divide all of you guys into two teams:

举个例子，我把你们分成两队：

blue team,

红队和

red team.

蓝队，

And then I ask you to compete in a game against each other.

然后让你们两队在游戏中互相竞争，

Well, the funny thing is, within milliseconds,

有趣的是，在一刹那间，

you will actually start experiencing pleasure -- pleasure --

当对方的成员遭遇困境的时候，

when something bad happens to members of the other team.

你会感到愉悦， 对， 愉悦。

The funny thing about that is if I ask one of you blue team members

更有趣的是， 如果我让一位蓝队的成员

to go and join the red team,

加入到红队里，

your brain recalibrates,

你的大脑会立刻修正信号，

and within milliseconds,

同样在一瞬间，

you will now start experiencing pleasure

当原来队的成员遭遇困境的时候，

when bad things happen to members of your old team.

你会感到愉悦。

This is a really good example of why us-them thinking is so dangerous

这个例子很好地说明了 区分“我们”和“他们”的思想

in our political environment.

在我们的政治环境中 具有的危险性。

Another habit that attackers used to kind of rev themselves up for an attack

激进分子为了让自己更进入状态， 所使用的另一个习惯是，

was they focused on differences.

把注意力放在人和人的差异上。

In other words, they looked at their victims, and they thought,

换句话说，他们眼前的袭击对象

"I share nothing in common with that person.

在他们眼中跟自己有着千差万别，

They are totally different than me."

完全没有任何共同之处。

Again, this might sound like a really simple concept,

虽然这个概念听起来很简单，

but there's some fascinating science behind why this works.

但是，其背后也有 脑科学理论的支持。

Say I show you guys videos of different-colored hands

比如，我给大家播放几段视频， 视频中不同颜色的手

and sharp pins being driven into these different-colored hands,

分别被很尖的针戳中。

OK?

准备好了吗？

If you're white,

如果你是白人，

the chances are you will experience the most sympathetic activation,

当你看到白肤色的手 被针扎的时候，

你的同情心会被 最大程度地激发，

or the most pain,

when you see a pin going into the white hand.

你会身同感受地体会到 被针扎的痛楚；

If you are Latin American, Arab, Black,

如果你是拉丁美洲人、 阿拉伯人、黑人，

you will probably experience the most sympathetic activation

当你看到与你肤色相近的手 被针扎的时候，

watching a pin going into the hand that looks most like yours.

你的同情心会被最大程度地激发。

The good news is, that's not biologically fixed.

好消息是，这在生物学上 并不是一成不变的。

That is learned behavior.

这个行为是后天习得的。

Which means the more we spend time with other ethnic communities

这意味着，我们与不同种族群体 相处的时间愈长，

and the more we see them as similar to us and part of our team,

我们就更能看到彼此的相似之处， 把大家视作一个群体，

the more we feel their pain.

也更能体会到他们的痛楚。

The last habit that I'm going to talk about

我将要提到的最后一个习惯是，

is when attackers prepared themselves to go out and do one of these events,

当激进分子在策划袭击的过程中，

they focused on certain emotional cues.

他们会把注意力放在 一些特定的情感信号上，

For months, they geared themselves up by focusing on anger cues, for instance.

比如，他们持续几个月来 一直关注愤怒的信号。

I bring this up because it's really popular right now.

我提到个话题， 是因为它最近很火，

If you read blogs or the news,

如果你有看博客，或者新闻，

you see talk of two concepts from laboratory science:

你会看到实验科学的这两个概念：

amygdala hijacking and emotional hijacking.

大脑杏仁核劫持和情感劫持。

Now, amygdala hijacking:

杏仁核劫持的意思是：

it's the concept that I show you a cue -- say, a gun --

当我给你展现一个信号， 例如说，一把枪，

and your brain reacts with an automatic threat response

你的大脑会迅速反应出

威胁的存在。

to that cue.

Emotional hijacking -- it's a very similar concept.

情感劫持是一个非常相似的概念。

It's the idea that I show you an anger cue, for instance,

假如，当我给你传递了 一个愤怒的信号，

and your brain will react with an automatic anger response

你的大脑就会不知不觉地 以愤怒回应

to that cue.

这个信号。

I think women usually get this more than men. (Laughs)

我相信女人通常 比男人更能明白这点。

(Laughter)

（笑声）

That kind of a hijacking narrative grabs our attention.

这种劫持性的描述 抓住了我们的注意。

Just the word "hijacking" grabs our attention.

只是“劫持”二字 就抓住了我们的注意。

The thing is,

问题是，

most of the time, that's not really how cues work in real life.

大多数情况下，信号在现实生活中 其实并不是这样工作的。

If you study history,

如果你研究一下历史，

what you find is that we are bombarded with hundreds of thousands of cues

就会发现我们每天都被

every day.

成千上万种信号围攻，

And so what we do is we learn to filter.

因此我们学会了过滤信息，

We ignore some cues,

我们忽略一些信号，

we pay attention to other cues.

把注意力放在其他的信号上，

For political violence, this becomes really important,

这点对政治暴力来说非常重要。

because what it meant is that attackers usually didn't just see an anger cue

因为它意味着袭击者 通常并不是只看到一个愤怒信号

and suddenly snap.

就突然动怒。

Instead,

事实是，

politicians, social activists spent weeks, months, years

政治家和社会活动家 日复一日，年复一年地

flooding the environment with anger cues, for instance,

让我们的周遭充斥着愤怒的信号，

and attackers,

而袭击者，

they paid attention to those cues,

他们关注这些信号，

they trusted those cues,

相信它们，

they focused on them,

专注在这些信号上，

they even memorized those cues.

甚至铭记于心。

All of this just really goes to show how important it is to study history.

这里的种种都展现了 研习历史的重要性。

It's one thing to see how cues operate in a laboratory setting.

值得研究的是这些信号 在实验室环境下的作用方式。

And those laboratory experiments are incredibly important.

这些实验极其重要，

They give us a lot of new data about how our bodies work.

它们给我们提供了关于人体 如何运作的大量新数据，

But it's also very important to see how those cues operate in real life.

但是，研究信号在现实生活中的 作用方式也非常重要。

So what does all this tell us about political violence?

那么，这一切说明了什么呢？

Political violence is not culturally endemic.

政治袭击不是文化特色，

It is not an automatic, predetermined response to environmental stimuli.

它不是一个应对环境刺激 自动形成的、预设好的回应。

We produce it.

而是我们人为制造的。

Our everyday habits produce it.

这是我们点点滴滴的 生活习惯所形成的。

Let's go back, actually, to those two women that I mentioned at the start.

让我们回到我演讲 开始提到的两个女人。

The first woman had been paying attention to those outrage campaigns,

第一个女人一直把注意力 放在那些让人义愤填膺的宣传中，

so she took a gun

所以她携带着枪，

and approached a soldier at a checkpoint.

走近关卡士兵 。

But in that moment, something really interesting happened.

就在那一瞬间，有趣的事情发生了。

She looked at that soldier,

她看着那个士兵，

and she thought to herself,

她想，

"He's the same age as me.

“他与我年纪相仿，

He looks like me."

他跟我很像”，

And she put down the gun, and she walked away.

于是她放下枪，离开了。

Just from that little bit of similarity.

就因为那一点点的相似。

The second girl had a totally different outcome.

第二个女孩却面临着 一个截然不同的结果。

She also listened to the outrage campaigns,

她也听了那些愤怒的宣传，

but she surrounded herself with individuals

她周围围绕着

who were supportive of violence,

一群暴力袭击的支持者

with peers who supported her violence.

和支持她暴力行为的同伴，

She enclosed herself in an information bubble.

她把自己封闭在一个信息泡沫里。

She focused on certain emotional cues for months.

数月以来，她一直聚焦于 某些特定的情感信号，

She taught herself to bypass certain cultural inhibitions against violence.

教会了自己如何对那些 反对暴力的文化规则视而不见。

She practiced her plan,

她不断进行演练，

she taught herself new habits,

养成了新的习惯，

and when the time came, she took her bomb to the café,

当那一刻来临的时候 她携带着炸弹到咖啡厅，

and she followed through with that attack.

完成了这次袭击。

This was not impulse.

这不是冲动，

This was learning.

这是学习的结果。

Polarization in our society is not impulse,

社会上的两极化不是冲动，

it's learning.

而是学习的结果。

Every day we are teaching ourselves:

每天我们都在学习：

the news we click on,

我们点开的新闻，

the emotions that we focus on,

我们关注的情绪，

the thoughts that we entertain about the red team or the blue team.

我们所形成的 关于红队或蓝队的见解。

All of this contributes to learning,

这一切都是在学习，

whether we realize it or not.

不论我们有没有意识到。

The good news

不过好消息是，

is that while the individuals I study already made their decisions,

虽然我所研究的个体 已经做出了决定，

we can still change our trajectory.

但是我们仍可以改变 我们未来的行为轨迹。

We might never make the decisions that they made,

我们可能从来不会做出 他们那样的决定，

but we can stop contributing to violent ecologies.

但是我们可以停止 给暴力生态系统做出贡献。

We can get out of whatever news bubble we're in,

我们可以从置身其中的 新闻泡沫中走出来，

we can be more mindful about the emotional cues

留心我们关注的

情感信号，

that we focus on,

the outrage bait that we click on.

我们点击的引发愤怒的诱饵。

But most importantly,

最重要的是，

we can stop seeing each other as just members of the red team

我们可以不再 将彼此仅仅视为

or the blue team.

是红队或蓝队的成员。

Because whether we are Christian, Muslim, Jewish, atheist,

因为不管我们是基督教徒、穆斯林、 犹太人、无神论者，

Democrat or Republican,

支持民主党还是共和党，

we're human.

我们都是人。

We're human beings.

我们都是人类。

And we often share really similar habits.

我们都有非常相似的习惯。

We have differences.

人和人之间总是存在差异，

Those differences are beautiful,

但这些差异很美好，

and those differences are very important.

也很重要。

But our future depends on us being able to find common ground

我们的将来取决于 我们是否能够与另一边

with the other side.

找到共通点。

And that's why it is so, so important

所以，重新训练我们的大脑，

for us to retrain our brains

and stop contributing to violent ecologies.

停止助长暴力生态系统的行为，

真的非常、非常重要。

Thank you.

谢谢！

(Applause)

（掌声）