Are we sexual omnivores? | Christopher Ryan

翻译人员: Yuanqing Edberg 校对人员: Yiqun Liu

I'm going to go off script

我将现场即兴发挥，

and make Chris quite nervous here

来让克里斯感到很紧张，

by making this audience participation.

为了达到这个目标，我希望有 现场观众的参与。

All right. Are you with me? Yeah. Yeah. All right.

大家愿意帮忙么？ 恩 很好。

So what I'd like to do is have you raise your hand

在场的朋友，如果你曾听过 一对异性情侣做爱的声音，

if you've ever heard a heterosexual couple having sex.

请举手。

Could be the neighbors, hotel room,

他们可以是你的邻居， 酒店里的陌生人，

your parents. Sorry.

或者你的父母。不好意思。

Okay. Pretty much everybody.

好，几乎每个人都举手了。

Now raise your hand if the man was making

现在，如果你听到做爱时

more noise than the woman.

男性发出的声音高于女性的，

请举手。

I see one guy there.

我看到一位先生举手了。

It doesn't count if it was you, sir.

如果那个人就是你的话， 这可不算哦。

(Laughter)

（笑声）

So his hand's down. And one woman. Okay.

他把手放下了。有位女士举手了,

Sitting next to a loud guy.

她坐在一个大嗓门的男士旁边。

Now what does this tell us?

这个反映了什么呢？

It tells us that human beings

这说明人类在做爱的时候

make noise when they have sex,

会发出声音，

and it's generally the woman who makes more noise.

而且通常情况下女性的声音高于男性。

This is known as female copulatory vocalization

这种现象被许多科学家

称作女性交配发声现象。

to the clipboard crowd.

I wasn't even going to mention this,

我本来不打算讲这个的，

but somebody told me that Meg Ryan might be here,

但是听说梅格·瑞恩也可能在场，

and she is the world's most famous

在做爱呻吟方面，

female copulatory vocalizer.

她是世界上最有名的女交配发声演员。

So I thought, got to talk about that.

所以我决定，一定要说说这件事。

We'll get back to that a little bit later.

等下我们会回到这个话题。

Let me start by saying human beings

首先，我想说的是，

人类并不是由猿类进化而成的。

are not descended from apes,

despite what you may have heard. We are apes.

请抛弃你所听过的各种理论， 我们就是猿猴。

We are more closely related to the chimp and the bonobo

我们其实与黑猩猩和倭黑猩猩更相似。

than the African elephant is to the Indian elephant,

这个相似度高于非洲象和印度象 的相似度。

as Jared Diamond pointed out in one of his early books.

这个理论在贾瑞德·戴蒙德 早期的著作中有写出。

We're more closely related to chimps and bonobos

与其他生物——

大猩猩、猩猩等等相比，

我们人类与黑猩猩和倭黑猩猩的关系

than chimps and bonobos are related

to any other primate --

最为亲近。

gorillas, orangutans, what have you.

So we're extremely closely related to them,

所以我们跟它们很接近，

and as you'll see in terms of our behavior,

此外，你还会发现，就我们的 行为而言

we've got some relationship as well.

我们它们也有一定的关系。

So what I'm asking today, the question

那么我今天要问的问题

I want to explore with you today is,

我今天想跟你们一起探索的是

what kind of ape are we in terms of our sexuality?

在性能力方面我们是怎样的猿人？

Now, since Darwin's day there's been

如今，从达尔文的时代就有了

what Cacilda and I have called

卡西尔达和我称之为

the standard narrative of human sexual evolution,

人类性进化的标准纲要，

and you're all familiar with it,

而且你们都很熟悉它，

even if you haven't read this stuff.

即使你还没有读过这个东西。

The idea is that, as part of human nature,

它的核心是，作为人类的天性

from the beginning of our species' time,

从我们种类开始之初，

men have sort of leased women's reproductive potential

男性某种程度上租用 女性的生殖潜力

by providing them with certain goods and services.

通过给她们提供一定的东西和服务。

Generally we're talking about meat, shelter, status,

比如我们通常所说的肉，庇护的居所，

protection, things like that.

身份，保护等东西。

And in exchange, women have offered fidelity,

作为交换，女人给予忠诚，

or at least a promise of fidelity.

或者至少是忠心的承诺。

Now this sets men and women up in an oppositional relationship.

这就让男人和女人站在一种 相互对立的关系中。

The war between the sexes is built right into our DNA, according to this vision. Right?

按照这个说法，性别之间的战争

就建立在我们的DNA里面。对不对？

What Cacilda and I have argued is that no,

但我和卡西尔达争论的是，不，

this economic relationship,

这种经济关系，

this oppositional relationship,

以及这种对立关系，

is actually an artifact of agriculture,

实际上是一个农业社会的 人工副产品，

which only arose about 10,000 years ago at the earliest.

是最早一万年以前才形成的，

Anatomically modern human beings

而解剖学上的现代人类

have been around for about 200,000 years,

已经有20 万年的历史，

so we're talking about five percent, at most,

所以，其实我们在说人类作为 现代独特的种类

of our time as a modern, distinct species.

最多百分之五的时间，

So before agriculture,

在农业，以及农业革命之前，

before the agricultural revolution,

it's important to understand that human beings

很重要的一点是理解人类

lived in hunter-gatherer groups that are

是以狩猎采集群居的形式生活的

characterized wherever they're found in the world

这种群居形式

无论存在于世界的哪个地方

by what anthropologists called fierce egalitarianism.

都被人类学家称做激烈的 平均主义。

They not only share things,

他们不止是分享东西

they demand that things be shared:

他们要求东西被分享：

meat, shelter, protection, all these things

肉类食物，藏身处，保护，

that were supposedly being traded to women

所有这些一般用来交换

for their sexual fidelity, it turns out,

女性性忠诚的东西，其实

are shared widely among these societies.

在这些社会里是被广泛分享的。

Now I'm not saying that our ancestors

我不是说我们的祖先是

were noble savages, and I'm not saying

高尚的野人，我也不是说

modern day hunter-gatherers are noble savages either.

摩登的狩猎采集是高尚的野蛮行为

What I'm saying is that this is simply

我要说的仅仅是，

这是在觅食情况下

the best way to mitigate risk

in a foraging context.

降低风险最好的办法。

And there's really no argument about this among anthropologists.

在人类学家中这是没有争议的。

All Cacilda and I have done is extend this sharing behavior to sexuality.

所有的卡西尔达和我做过的是

将这些分享的行为延伸到性行为

So we've argued that human sexuality

我们的论点是，人类的性行为

has essentially evolved, until agriculture,

直到农业社会前逐渐形成了

as a way of establishing and maintaining

一种建立和维持复杂而灵活的

the complex, flexible social systems, networks,

社会系统、人际关系网的方式。

that our ancestors were very good at,

这种方式我们的祖先很在行，

and that's why our species has survived so well.

这也是为什么我们的种族生存得很好。

Now, this makes some people uncomfortable,

现在，以上这些会让有些人感到不自在，

and so I always need to take a moment in these talks

所以我总是会在这些谈话里插一句

to say, listen,

I'm saying our ancestors were promiscuous,

听着，我是说我们的 祖先是淫乱的，

but I'm not saying they were having sex with strangers.

但是我没有说他们是跟陌生人 发生性关系。

There were no strangers. Right?

根本没有陌生人，对吗？

In a hunter-gatherer band, there are no strangers.

在狩猎采集的队伍里，没有陌生人 是因为

You've known these people your entire life.

你已经认识这些人很久了。

So I'm saying, yes, there were overlapping sexual relationships,

因此我的意思是，不错，交叠的 性关系是存在的，

that our ancestors probably had several different sexual relationships

我们的祖先可能在他们 成年生活的任何时候

going on at any given moment in their adult lives.

有几个不同的性关系，

But I'm not saying they were having sex with strangers.

但是我并不是说他们跟 陌生人发生性关系。

I'm not saying that they didn't love the people they were having sex with.

也不是说他们不爱和他们 有着性关系的 人。

And I'm not saying there was no pair-bonding going on.

更不是说这中间没有一夫一妻的情况，

I'm just saying it wasn't sexually exclusive.

我只是说祖先们的性关系不是排外的。

And those of us who have chosen to be monogamous --

而我们中间选择一夫一妻制的

my parents, for example, have been married

比方说我的父母，已经

在一夫一妻的情况下

for 52 years monogamously,

结婚52年，

and if it wasn't monogamously, Mom and Dad,

如果你们不是一夫一妻的话，

I don't want to hear about it—

妈妈和爸爸，我不想听到——

I'm not criticizing this and I'm not saying

我不是批评一夫一妻制，

我也并不是说

there's anything wrong with this.

一夫一妻有什么不对。

What I'm saying is that to argue

我要说的是

that our ancestors were sexual omnivores

争论我们的祖先是杂食动物

is no more a criticism of monogamy

而对一夫一妻批判

than to argue that our ancestors were dietary omnivores

无外乎是争论因为我们的 祖先饮食上杂食

is a criticism of vegetarianism.

而对素食者批判。

You can choose to be a vegetarian,

你可以选择做一个素食者，

but don't think that just because you've made that decision,

但不要以为仅仅是因为 你做了那个决定，

bacon suddenly stops smelling good.

咸肉就突然闻着不香了。

Okay? So this is my point.

是吧？这就是我的论点。

(Laughter)

（笑声）

That one took a minute to sink in, huh?

这些需要一分钟来消化吧，哈？

Now, in addition to being a great genius,

现在，除了成为一个伟大的天才，

a wonderful man, a wonderful husband,

一个极好的男人，一个完美的丈夫，

a wonderful father, Charles Darwin

一个令人称奇的父亲，

was also a world-class Victorian prude.

查尔斯达尔文也是一个

世界级的维多利亚女王时代的老古板，

All right? He was perplexed

好吧？他对某些灵长类的性器充盈

by the sexual swellings of certain primates,

而感到困惑，

including chimps and bonobos,

包括黑猩猩和倭黑猩猩，

because these sexual swellings tend to provoke

因为那些充盈的性器倾向于激发

many males to mate with the females.

许多雄性跟雌性交配。

So he couldn't understand why on Earth would the female have developed this thing

于是，他不能理解为什么雌性 会形成那些充盈的性器

if all they were supposed to be doing is forming their pair bond, right?

如果她们所有要做的都只是

形成它们的一夫一妻制，对吗？

Chimps and bonobos, Darwin didn't really know this,

达尔文并不知道，

but chimps and bonobos mate

其实黑猩猩和倭黑猩猩

one to four times per hour

在性器充盈的时候，

with up to a dozen males per day

每小时交配一到四次

每天可以高达十二个雄性。

when they have their sexual swellings.

Interestingly, chimps have sexual swellings

令人感兴趣的是，黑猩猩

through 40 percent, roughly,

性器充盈的时间大约

of their menstrual cycle,

是月经期间的百分之四十，

bonobos 90 percent,

而倭黑猩猩约百分之九十，

and humans are among the only species on the planet

人类在地球上唯一一种

where the female is available for sex

女性可以在整个月经周期

throughout the menstrual cycle,

进行性交的物种，

whether she's menstruating, whether she's post-menopausal,

不管她在经期， 或者经期后，

whether she's already pregnant.

抑或她已经怀孕。

This is vanishingly rare among mammals.

这在哺乳动物里是很非常少见的。

So it's a very interesting aspect of human sexuality.

所以这是人类性活动的一个有趣之处。

Now, Darwin ignored the reflections

现在，像科学家有时倾向于做的那样，

of the sexual swelling in his own day,

达尔文他所处的时期，

忽略了性器充盈的反映。

as scientists tend to do sometimes.

So what we're talking about is sperm competition.

所以我们就讲到了精子的竞争。

Now the average human ejaculate has about 300 million sperm cells,

如今人类平均射出大约 三百万个精细胞

so it's already a competitive environment.

这已经是一个相当有 竞争性的环境，

The question is whether these sperm are competing against other men's sperm

问题是这些精子

是在跟其它男人的精子竞争

or just their own.

还是只跟他们自己的精子竞争。

There's a lot to talk about in this chart.

在这个图表里要说的有很多。

The one thing I'll call your attention to right away

我想唤起你们立即注意的一点是

is the little musical note above the female chimp and bonobo and human.

在雌性黑猩猩，倭黑猩猩

和人类女性上面的小音乐符。

That indicates female copulatory vocalization.

它表明女性交配的发声。

Just look at the numbers.

仅仅是看这个数字

The average human has sex

人类平均性交的次数

about 1,000 times per birth.

大约是每次出生一千次。

If that number seems high for some of you,

如果这个数目对你们中间

某些人来说比较高的话，

I assure you it seems low for others in the room.

我敢肯定对这里其他人来说就比较低。

We share that ratio with chimps and bonobos.

我们和黑猩猩、倭黑猩猩的比例类似。

We don't share it with the other three apes,

但是我们和其它三种更典型的哺乳动物

the gorilla, the orangutan and the gibbon,

类人猿的比例不同，

who are more typical of mammals,

比如大猩猩，猩猩，和长臂猿。

having sex only about a dozen times per birth.

这些类人猿每次出生大约 只有十二次性交。

Humans and bonobos are the only animals that have sex face-to-face

人类和倭黑猩猩是唯一脸对脸性交的动物

when both of them are alive.

当然是在双方都活着的时候。

(Laughter)

（笑声）

And you'll see that the human, chimp and bonobo

你还可以发现，

人类、黑猩猩和倭黑猩猩

all have external testicles, which in our book

都有外显的睾丸，

we equate to a special fridge you have in the garage

在我们的书中，我们把这类比成

你在车库里专门放啤酒的特殊冰箱

just for beer.

If you're the kind of guy who has a beer fridge

如果你在车库里有一个啤酒冰箱

in the garage, you expect a party to happen

你知道在任何时候都会有一个派对

at any moment, and you need to be ready.

并且你需要准备就序。

That's what the external testicles are.

这就是外显睾丸的用途。

They keep the sperm cells cool

他们保持精子细胞的冷静

so you can have frequent ejaculations.

这样你可以频繁地射精。

I'm sorry. It's true.

对不起，但这是真的。

The human, some of you will be happy to hear,

你们中的一些人会很高兴听到这个消息，

has the largest, thickest penis of any primate.

人类在任何灵长类中

有最大，最厚实的阴茎。

Now, this evidence goes way beyond anatomy.

现在，证据已经不局限在解剖学。

It goes into anthropology as well.

还包括了人类学。

Historical records are full of accounts of people

历史记录充满了全世界人类

around the world who have sexual practices

在我们对人类性发展的认识前提下，

that should be impossible

given what we have assumed about human sexual evolution.

看上去几乎不可能的性实践。

These women are the Mosuo from southwestern China.

这些女人是中国西南部的摩梭人

In their society, everyone, men and women,

在他们的社会里， 每一个人， 男人和女人，

are completely sexually autonomous.

都完全性独立。

There's no shame associated with sexual behavior.

进行性活动没有任何羞耻。

Women have hundreds of partners.

女性有几百个性伙伴。

It doesn't matter. Nobody cares. Nobody gossips. It's not an issue.

这没有关系。

没人在乎。也没人议论， 这不是什么问题。

When the woman becomes pregnant,

当女人怀孕了，

the child is cared for by her, her sisters, and her brothers.

孩子由她，她的姐妹和她的弟兄抚养。

The biological father is a nonissue.

生理上的父亲不是一个问题。

On the other side of the planet, in the Amazon,

在地球的另外一面，在亚马逊

we've got many tribes which practice

有很多部落实行着人类学家所说的

what anthropologists call partible paternity.

父系分享制。

These people actually believe --

这些人相信一个婴儿的形成

and they have no contact among them,

no common language or anything,

是所有精子的积累。

so it's not an idea that spread,

it's an idea that's arisen around the world --

（他们之间并不接触，也没有共同的语言，

they believe that a fetus is literally made

所以这不是一个传播而形成的观念，

of accumulated semen.

而是一个在世界各地兴起的观念）

So a woman who wants to have a child

所以一个女人如果想要一个

who's smart and funny and strong

聪明，有趣而且强壮的孩子的话

makes sure she has lots of sex with the smart guy,

她会和聪明的男人，有趣的男人，

the funny guy and the strong guy,

还有强壮的男人，性交很多次，

to get the essence of each of these men into the baby,

来使这些男人的精华遗传给孩子，

and then when the child is born,

当孩子出生的时候，

these different men will come forward

这些不同的男人们都会过来

and acknowledge their paternity of the child.

承认他们是孩子的父亲。

So paternity is actually sort of a team endeavor

所以在这样的社会里，父亲抚养孩子

in this society.

实际上是一个小组的共同努力。

So there are all sorts of examples like this

在书中，我们有各种像上述的例子。

that we go through in the book.

Now, why does this matter?

现在，为什么这个很重要呢？

Edward Wilson says we need to understand

爱德华.威尔逊说过 “我们需要理解

that human sexuality is first a bonding device

人类的性关系首先是 情感的链接

and only secondarily procreation.

其次才是生育繁殖。"

I think that's true. This matters because

我认为这是对的。 这很重要

our evolved sexuality is in direct conflict

因为我们进化的性活动跟现代社会的

with many aspects of the modern world.

很多方面有直接的冲突。

The contradictions between what we're told

在我们被告知的应该感受到的

we should feel and what we actually do feel

和我们实际感受到的之间的冲突

generates a huge amount of unnecessary suffering.

产生了一种巨大却不必要的痛苦。

My hope is that a more accurate,

我希望的是一种对人类性活动更准确，

updated understanding of human sexuality

更先进的理解，将会引导我们更加宽容自己，

will lead us to have greater tolerance for ourselves,

for each other,

宽容对方，更尊重非传统的关系结构

greater respect for unconventional relationship configurations

like same-sex marriage or polyamorous unions,

比如同性婚姻或者 多妻多夫的联合，

and that we'll finally put to rest the idea

那样我们将会中止

that men have some innate, instinctive right

男人有先天与生俱来

to monitor and control women's sexual behavior.

监察和控制女人性行为 的观念。

(Applause)

（鼓掌）

Thank you.

谢谢。

And we'll see that it's not only gay people

并且我们会看到，不仅是同性恋人群

that have to come out of the closet.

已经承认出柜，

We all have closets we have to come out of. Right?

我们都有需要摆脱的“衣柜”，对吗？

And when we do come out of those closets,

当我们从这些禁锢中走出来后，

we'll recognize that our fight is not with each other,

我们会意识到我们不是在互相斗争，

our fight is with an outdated, Victorian sense of human sexuality

我们要挑战的是陈腐的，维多利亚时期 把人类性活动

that conflates desire with property rights,

跟财产权混为一谈，产生羞耻和困惑

generates shame and confusion

in place of understanding and empathy.

而不是理解和同情的观念。

It's time we moved beyond Mars and Venus,

现在我们是时候超越火星和金星了，

because the truth is

因为事实是

that men are from Africa

男人来自非洲

and women are from Africa.

女人也来自非洲。

Thank you.

谢谢。

(Applause)

（掌声）

Chris Anderson: Thank you. Christopher Ryan: Thank you.

克里斯.安得森：谢谢。 克里斯朵夫.莱恩：谢谢。

CA: So a question.

克.安：那么，我有个问题

It's so perplexing, trying to use arguments

用有关历史进化的论点

about evolutionary history

to turn that into what we ought to do today.

来转化成我们今天需要做的太复杂了。

Someone could give a talk and say,

有人会发表一个演讲并说，

look at us, we've got these really sharp teeth

看看我们，我们已经有了很尖的牙齿

and muscles and a brain that's really good

很好的肌肉和大脑

at throwing weapons,

很擅长于抛掷武器，

and if you look at lots of societies around the world,

如果你看看世界各地的社会群体

you'll see very high rates of violence.

你会发现暴力时常发生。

Nonviolence is a choice like vegetarianism,

非暴力就像素食主义，

but it's not who you are.

是一种选择而不是你是谁。

How is that different

这跟你今天的演讲有何不同？

from the talk you gave?

CR: Well first of all, the evidence

克.莱：其实，首先，

史前高频率暴力的证据是有争议的。

for high levels of violence in prehistory

is very debatable.

But that's just an example.

但是那仅仅是一个例子。

Certainly, you know, lots of people say to me,

当然，你知道，会有很多人对我说，

just because we lived a certain way in the past

仅仅是因为我们

过去用一定的方式生活

doesn't mean we should live that way now, and I agree with that.

并不意味着我们现在应该那样生活，

我同意这个观点。

Everyone has to respond to the modern world.

每个人必须适应现代化世界。

But the body does have its inherent

但是身体的确有它固有的进化路径。

evolved trajectories.

And so you could live on McDonald's and milkshakes,

所以你可以靠着吃麦当劳和奶昔而活，

but your body will rebel against that. We have appetites.

但是你的身体会反抗。 我们有食欲。

I think it was Schopenhauer who said,

我想是西鹏郝尔说过，

a person can do what they want

"一个人能做他们想做的

but not want what they want.

但是却不能想他们所想的。"

And so what I'm arguing against

所以，我在辩论的

是和欲望相连的羞耻感。

is the shame that's associated with desires.

It's the idea that if you love your husband or wife

是如果你爱着你的丈夫或者妻子

but you still are attracted to other people,

但是你依然被另外的人所吸引，

there's something wrong with you,

那就是你自己哪里出了 问题的想法，

there's something wrong with your marriage,

你的婚姻有了问题，

something wrong with your partner.

你的配偶有了问题。

I think a lot of families are fractured

我认为很多家庭是由于

by unrealistic expectations

不切实际的预期，

that are based upon this false vision of human sexuality.

基于这种人类性活动错误的 想像而破碎的。

That's what I'm trying to get at.

这就是我想要表达的。

CA: Thank you. Communicated powerfully. Thanks a lot.

克.安：谢谢你。很有感染力的沟通。 非常感谢。

CR: Thank you, Chris. (Applause)

克.莱：谢谢你，克里斯。（鼓掌）