How Testosterone and Culture Shape Behavior | Carole K. Hooven | TED

翻译人员: Eric Ma 校对人员: Yanyan Hong

As I look around the room,

当我环顾房间时，

I can see,

我可以看到，

I think it's about half of you have been exposed

我想你们当中大约 有一半的人接触

to high levels of a powerful chemical,

高浓度的强效化学物质，

and it is circulating in your blood as we speak.

而且就在我们说话的时候， 这种物质正在你的血液中循环。

It's flowing freely through almost all of your cells,

它在几乎所有细胞中自由流动，

including neurons,

包括神经元在内，

where it affects whether they live or die

它会影响细胞的生死，

and how they grow and function.

以及它们的生长和功能。

So this one chemical has profound and lasting effects --

因此，这种化学物质具有深远 而持久的影响——

not just on your body,

不仅对你的身体，

but also on your brain and behavior.

还会对你的大脑和行为 产生深远而持久的影响。

This is testosterone.

这是睾丸激素。

Both sexes have it,

男女都有，

but men have much more than women,

但男性比女性多得多，

about 15 to 20 times more.

大约是女性的 15 到 20 倍。

And that is what explains why half of you are bigger and hairier

这就是为什么你们当中有大概一半

than the other half, on average,

比另一半个头更大、毛发更多，

like all sex differences.

像所有性别差异一样，

For the last 20 years,

在过去的 20 年中，

I've been teaching about behavioral endocrinology,

我一直在教授行为内分泌学，

and this is a field that focuses on how hormones affect behavior

这个领域 侧重于激素如何影响行为

and vice versa.

反之亦然。

And I'm particularly drawn to testosterone

我特别被睾丸激素所吸引，

because it explains so much about why the sexes are different.

因为它充分解释了为什么性别不同。

But this area of science has become deeply entangled in the culture wars.

但是这个科学领域已经 深深地卷入了文化大战。

And now, simply saying things that are obvious to most biologists,

现在，只要说一些对大多数 生物学家来说显而易见的话，

like that there are two reproductive classes,

比如有两个生殖阶层，

male and female,

男性和女性，

can land you in a heap of trouble.

可能会给你带来很多麻烦。

And I know because I've had some personal experience with this.

我知道是因为我在这方面有过 一些亲身经历。

And I also know that for some trans people,

我还知道，对于一些跨性别者，

their allies and others,

他们的盟友和其他人来说，

that this language about the biology of sex can feel painful

这种关于性生物学的语言 可能会让人感到痛苦，

and that others are trying to weaponize the science.

而另一些人则试图将科学武器化。

And here I do not have the answers,

这里我没有答案，

but I can tell you

但我可以告诉你

that my students have really enjoyed learning about this science,

我的学生非常喜欢 学习这门科学，

partly because it helps them understand more about their own bodies

部分原因是它可以帮助他们 更多地了解自己的身体

and feelings.

和感受。

And they come away with a sense of more compassion for other people

他们对与自己不同的其他人

who are different from themselves.

产生了更多的同情心。

So I'm going to be talking about sex differences in play

因此，我将 谈论游戏中的性别差异，

to try to convince you that this science is fascinating,

试图说服你相信这门科学很意思，

and it can help us all be better off.

并且它可以帮助我们所有人变得更好。

So first, I want to share the results from a joint project

因此，首先，我想分享自己 15 年前 启动的一个联合项目的成果，

I started 15 years ago,

in which I grew two small organs,

我培育了两个小器官，

that secreted testosterone,

他们会分泌睾丸激素，

in my uterus.

在我的子宫里。

(Laughter)

（笑声）

Those organs were attached to the new human I was growing in there.

这些器官附着在我培育的新生命身上。

And now ...

现在，

(Laughter)

（笑声）

(Applause)

（掌声）

And now you can observe the behavior of that human

现在你可以在这段两个男孩互相 搏斗的视频中

in this video of two boys wrestling each other.

观察到那个人的行为。

It's from a few years ago,

那是几年前的，

and my son is the one with the short hair.

我儿子是那个短发的。

This kind of rough-and-tumble play is more common in boys than girls

在世界各地，这种粗暴的游戏 在男孩中比女孩更常见。

everywhere in the world.

And when my son was growing inside of me,

当我儿子在我体内长大的时候，

his tiny little testes were cranking out the testosterone.

他的小睾丸正在释放睾丸激素。

And at that early stage,

在那个早期阶段，

it has some very big and important jobs to do.

它有一些非常重要的工作要做。

It has to masculinize the genitalia,

它必须使生殖器男性化，

and it has to ensure that everything is set up for sperm to be produced

还必须确保一切 准备就绪，以便日后产生

and delivered later on.

和分娩精子。

And it is also acting in the brain

它还在大脑中起作用，

to motivate later behaviors, like play fighting,

激发以后的行为，例如对许多雄性

that are particularly beneficial to many male mammals.

哺乳动物特别有益的游戏格斗

I never gave much thought to testosterone

我之前从来没有考虑过睾丸激素

until I spent the better part of a year in western Uganda

直到我在乌干达西部 度过了一年的大部分时间

studying wild chimpanzees.

研究野生黑猩猩。

And as I watched them living their lives --

当我看着他们过着自己的生活——

eating, playing, sleeping, fighting, having sex --

吃饭、玩耍、睡觉、打架、性交——

I was really struck by our shared patterns of behavior.

我真的被我们共同的行为模式所震惊。

And particularly relevant to this talk was the fact

与这次演讲特别相关的是

that the little males did much more play fighting than the little females.

小雄性在格斗中的表现要比 小雌性多得多。

And these connections to us are so striking

这些与我们之间的联系非常惊人，

because we don't share any culture with chimpanzees.

因为我们与黑猩猩 没有任何共同的文化。

But we do share almost all of our genes and our hormones,

但是我们确实都有 几乎所有的基因和激素，

including higher levels of testosterone in the males.

包括男性中较高的睾丸激素水平。

And another pattern of behavior we share is that relative to females,

我们共同的另一种行为模式 是，相对于雌性黑猩猩，

male chimps spend much more time and energy competing for social dominance.

雄性黑猩猩花在争夺社会主导 地位上的时间和精力要多得多。

And in chimps, this involves lots of fighting

在黑猩猩身上，这包括大量的战斗

and also lots of threats

和大量的威胁，

and having a sense about when to challenge other males

他们知道何时挑战其他雄性，

but also when to submit and when to flee.

何时屈服以及何时逃跑。

And these males aren't fighting each other

而且这些雄性不是在互相争斗，

because they know that this is a great way

因为他们知道这是

to get more sex with fertile females.

与有生育能力的雌性 发生更多性关系的好方法。

But males who behave this way

但是以这种方式来表现的雄性

do tend to pass on more of their genes into future generations,

往往会将更多的基因传给子孙后代，

and then their sons inherit similar propensities.

然后他们的儿子继承类似的倾向。

So simply surviving without passing on one's genes

因此，仅仅在不 传承基因的情况下生存

is an evolutionary dead end.

是进化的死胡同。

So in addition to survival skills,

因此，除了生存技能外，

young animals like chimps also need to learn reproductive skills,

像黑猩猩这样的幼小动物还 需要学习繁殖技能。

and they do that through play.

它们通过游戏来做到这一点。

And our ancestors also practiced these skills through play.

我们的祖先也通过游戏练习了 这些技能。

And that legacy is reflected in our own kids.

这种遗产反映 在我们自己的孩子身上。

Now not all boys have any desire to tackle their friends,

现在，并不是所有的男孩都 想和朋友打交道

and they would rather play house or dress up,

他们宁愿玩过家家或打扮，

and they should go for it.

他们应该去玩。

There are no hard rules in nature about how the sexes should play.

关于性别应该如何玩耍， 自然界没有硬性规定。

When I was little,

小时候，

I used to wrestle with my three older brothers,

我经常和我的三个哥哥打斗，

and I played Little League baseball.

我也打过小联盟棒球。

But when I played with my girlfriends, like my best friend Annie,

但是当我和我的女朋友 一起玩的时候，比如我最好的朋友安妮，

she's the dominant one there in the stripes,

身着条纹裙子的她是 那个占主导地位的人，

and she's sitting right here.

而且她就坐在那里。

(Laughter)

（笑声）

Our play just didn't involve that kind of roughhousing

我们之间的玩乐没有像我儿子和 他朋友那样涉及打闹。

that my son and his friends were into.

Annie and I would do stuff like have tea

安妮和我会做一些事情， 比如与我们的毛绒玩具喝茶

and run class for our stuffed animals --

并给它们上课——

sorry, I'm just getting a little emotional because she's here --

对不起，我只是有点激动， 因为她在这里——

the smallest of whom lived in a doll house.

其中最小的孩子住在娃娃屋里。

And for some reason,

出于某种原因，

we loved playing office.

我们喜欢玩办公室游戏。

And -- I know, crazy.

而且——我懂，简直疯了。

And we developed a filing system and --

然后我们开发了一个申报系统 然后——

(Laughter)

（笑声）

And we spent a lot of time filling out forms.

我们花了很多时间填写表格。

OK, I'm not kidding.

好吧，我不是在开玩笑。

Filling out forms,

填写表格，

and I'm saying something publicly I've never said before,

然后我在公开场合说一些 我以前从未说过的话，

and I'm sorry, Annie.

对不起，安妮。

You know what I'm going to say.

你知道我要说什么。

Filling out forms from junk mail,

去填从垃圾信件里找来的表格，

which we might have stolen from neighborhood mailboxes.

这些表格可能是我们从邻居邮箱偷来的。

(Laughter)

（笑声）

OK, so wait, wait,

好吧，等一下，等等，

am I really trying to tell you that knowing how to set up tea for five

我真的想告诉你， 知道如何为五人准备茶

or subscribe to "National Geographic"

或者订阅《国家地理》，

was supposed to make us better moms or whatever?

本来可以让我们成为 更好的妈妈或者什么的？

OK, not exactly.

好吧，不完全是。

The specifics of play are always influenced by culture,

游戏的细节总是受到文化的影响，

but social play in general helps to develop skills that both sexes need,

但总的来说，社交游戏 有助于培养男女都需要的技能，

like how to resolve conflict, how to take turns,

例如如何解决冲突、 如何轮流行动

and even to figure out just what you can get away with.

So ...

甚至是搞明白怎么不参与其中。

But the sex-specialization part,

但是，性别专业化部分，

with more nurturing play in girls

女孩的养育角色更多，

and more fighting play in boys,

男孩的格斗角色也越来越多，

did likely evolve

很可能发生了演变，

because these are skills that each sex needs to learn how to reproduce.

因为这些技能 是每种性别学习如何繁殖所需要的。

OK, that's a little evolutionary background.

好吧，这是一点进化背景。

And now we can ask why scientists think that testosterone drives any of this.

现在我们可以问为什么科学家 认为睾丸素是推动这一切的原因。

So our strongest evidence comes from experiments in other animals.

因此，我们最有力的证据 来自于对其他动物的实验。

And here's a couple of headlines.

这里有几个头条新闻。

So in females, in rats and monkeys anyway,

因此，无论如何，在雌性体内， 在大鼠和猴子身上，

jacking up testosterone during that early developmental period

在发育初期提高睾丸激素

causes rough play to increase dramatically.

会导致粗暴状态急剧增加。

And in males, the reverse is true.

而在男性中，情况恰恰相反。

Blocking testosterone during that same early period

在同样的早期阻断睾丸激素

causes rough play to plummet.

会导致打闹次数直线下降。

And in humans, of course, we can't go messing around

当然，在人类中，我们不能混淆

with the kind of hormones that fetuses are exposed to,

胎儿所接触的那种荷尔蒙激素，

so we have to rely on less direct evidence.

因此我们必须 依赖不那么直接的证据。

And we do have a wealth of studies

我们确实对子宫内 睾丸激素水平异常高的、

on the play styles of girls

who were exposed to unusually high testosterone levels in the womb.

女孩的游戏风格进行了大量研究。

And there, study after study shows

随之一项又一项的研究表明

that these girls do have an increased preference for rough play.

这些女孩越来越喜欢粗暴的游戏。

So we still have so much to learn about how genes,

因此，我们还有很多东西 要学习如基因、激素，

hormones and culture all interact to produce sex differences in behavior.

并培养如何相互作用 从而产生行为上的性别差异。

But all of the evidence we do have points in the same direction.

但是我们所有的证据都 指向同一个方向。

And that is that differences in testosterone

也就是说，睾丸激素

and evolutionary pressures explain why boys more than girls,

和进化压力的差异解释了 为什么男孩比女孩更

think it's a great idea to tackle their friends.

认为与朋友打闹是个好主意。

OK, so let's just assume

好吧，让我们假设

that there is something natural about all this.

这一切都有一些自然之处，

It's also natural to hook up with your ex.

和你的前男女友交往也很自然。

(Laughter)

（笑声）

OK?

对吧？

But that does not mean it's a good thing to do.

但这并不意味着这是一件好事。

(Laughter)

（笑声）

And according to one mom,

根据一位妈妈的说法，

rough play in boys is also something we should probably reconsider.

男生的粗暴玩耍也是 我们可能应该重新考虑的问题。

And she expressed this view in a parenting magazine, quote,

她在一本育儿杂志上 表达了这种观点，引述道：

"Letting my boys wrestle with each other only reinforces toxic masculinity,

“让我的孩子们互相争斗 只会增强有毒的男性气质，

and I want no part of it."

我不想[让我儿子]参与其中。”

OK, so perhaps we could create more peaceful men

好，所以也许我们可以

by nipping it in the bud

通过将其消灭在萌芽状态，

and just preventing them from practicing aggression when they were little.

并防止他们在小时候 实践侵略性行为。

OK, that's one idea.

好，这是一个想法。

Except the available evidence just doesn’t support it.

唯一的不同 是现有证据不支持这一点。

So, for instance,

因此，举例来说，

depriving male rats of the kind of rough play they want

剥夺雄性老鼠想要的那种粗暴对待

leads to adult male rats

会导致成年雄性老鼠

who never learned how to manage their aggressive impulses.

从未学会如何控制 自己的攻击性冲动。

They actually end up more rather than less aggressive.

实际上，他们最终会变得更具侵略性， 而不是更少。

They fail to cooperate,

他们无法合作，

they fail to respond appropriately to social cues,

未能对社交线索做出适当的回应，

and ultimately they fail to find mates.

最终他们找不到伴侣。

And having males like these around doesn't help anybody.

让这样的男性待在身边 对任何人都没有帮助。

(Laughter)

（笑声）

So we are not rats, and we are not chimpanzees.

所以我们不是老鼠，也不是黑猩猩。

For one thing, if you men were chimpanzees,

首先，如果你们男人是黑猩猩，

you would be ripping each other to shreds.

你们就会互相将对方撕成碎片。

If you were meeting for the first time, that is.

如果你是 第一次见面，也就是说。

It would be mayhem.

那将是一场混乱。

And we humans have something no other animal has.

而我们人类拥有其他动物所 没有的东西。

And that is the ability to reflect on,

这就是反思的能力，

talk about and, together, to determine

讨论并共同确定

how we can control some of our more harmful impulses.

如何控制一些更有害的冲动，

And culture here makes all the difference.

而这里的文化决定了一切。

For example, men here in Canada are much less violent

例如，加拿大男性的暴力程度远低于

than our male neighbors over the southern border.

我们在南部边境的男性邻居。

Apart from hockey, apparently.

显然，除了曲棍球。

(Laughter)

（笑声）

And that is not because Canadian men have lost their testicles or ...

那不是因为加拿大男人失去 了睾丸或……

(Laughter)

（笑声）

Or because Canadian boys don't wrestle each other.

或者是因为加拿大男孩 不互相搏斗。

Instead, it's because of differences in the Canadian culture,

相反，这是因为加拿大文化的差异，

perhaps in the gun laws or in the health care system

可能是枪支法律、医疗保健系统

or in levels of socioeconomic inequality.

或社会经济不平等程度的差异。

So as a society, we lose a lot

因此，作为一个社会，

if we leave the science of sex out of the conversation

如果我们把性科学排除在对话之外

or distort the facts.

或者歪曲事实， 我们就会遭受很多损失。

And that science strongly suggests

科学有力地表明

that male typical play is not budding toxic masculinity.

典型的男性玩法 并不是萌芽的有毒男性气质。

Instead, it is a healthy behavior that we should not discourage.

相反，这是 一种我们不应阻止的健康行为。

(Applause)

（掌声）

So exaggerating only slightly,

稍微夸张一点，

testosterone from those tiny --

那些小小的睾丸激素——

Sorry, tiny testes I grew 15 years ago,

对不起，我15年前长出的小睾丸

made my son who he is today.

造就了今天的儿子。

And he is still a great kid,

但他仍然是个好孩子，

even with his testosterone reaching record levels.

尽管他的睾丸激素 达到了创纪录的水平。

(Laughter)

（笑声）

And I want him and all of you to be captivated by the science of sex

我希望他和你们 所有人都被性科学所吸引，

and to feel comfortable talking about it.

并能放心地谈论它。

And last, I hope that all our kids

最后，我希望我们所有的孩子

can just play more in real rather than virtual life,

都能在现实生活 而不是虚拟生活中更多地玩耍，

and preferably outside.

最好是在户外玩耍。

Thank you.

谢谢。

(Applause and cheers)

（掌声和欢呼）