The hidden power of smiling | Ron Gutman

翻译人员: Lili Liang 校对人员: Bear Jin

小时候，我一直梦想成为一个超级英雄

When I was a child, I always wanted to be a superhero.

I wanted to save the world and make everyone happy.

我想要拯救世界并让所有人快乐

但我知道我需要拥有超能力

But I knew that I'd need superpowers to make my dreams come true.

来实现梦想

于是我经常幻想

So I used to embark on these imaginary journeys

to find intergalactic objects from planet Krypton,

在银河间寻找超人的故乡氪星

which was a lot of fun, but didn't yield much result.

这可有意思了

只不过一直没有找到

When I grew up and realized

长大以后，我才明白

that science fiction was not a good source for superpowers,

科幻小说并不是超能力的源头

I decided instead to embark on a journey of real science,

我于是决定踏上真正的科学旅程

to find a more useful truth.

寻找更有意义的真相

I started my journey in California,

加利福尼亚州是我旅程的起点

with a UC Berkeley 30-year longitudinal study

我学习了加州大学伯克利分校一项长达30年的研究

that examined the photos of students in an old yearbook,

这项研究对一本旧年册上学生的照片

进行了分析

and tried to measure their success and well-being throughout their life.

试图对他们毕生的成功与幸福

进行测量

By measuring the students' smiles,

通过衡量学生的微笑

researchers were able to predict

研究者们得以预测

how fulfilling and long-lasting a subject's marriage would be,

一个研究对象的婚姻

持续时间与美满程度

(Laughter)

她在幸福感标准考试中

how well she would score on standardized tests of well-being,

能够得多少分

and how inspiring she would be to others.

以及她能给其他人带来多少启发

In another yearbook, I stumbled upon Barry Obama's picture.

在另一本年册, 我翻到了巴里.·奥巴马的照片

第一眼看到这张照片时

When I first saw his picture,

I thought that his superpowers came from his super collar.

我以为他的超能力是来自于他超大的领子

(Laughter)

But now I know it was all in his smile.

但是现在我知道其实是来自他的微笑

Another aha! moment came from a 2010 Wayne State University research project

另一项令人顿悟的研究

是由2010年韦恩州立大学进行的

这个项目研究了二十世纪五十年代前

that looked into pre-1950s baseball cards of Major League players.

美国职业棒球联盟球员卡

这些研究者发现

The researchers found that the span of a player's smile

一个球员笑脸的绽放程度

could actually predict the span of his life.

能够预测其寿命的长短

Players who didn't smile in their pictures

没有在照片上露出微笑的球员

lived an average of only 72.9 years,

平均寿命只有72.9岁

where players with beaming smiles

而那些微笑的球员

lived an average of almost 80 years.

平均寿命将近80岁

(Laughter)

（众人笑）

The good news is that we're actually born smiling.

好消息是，我们天生就会微笑

Using 3D ultrasound technology,

通过三维超声波技术

we can now see that developing babies appear to smile,

我们可以看到，即使在子宫中，正在成形的胎儿

似乎也是面带微笑的

even in the womb.

出生之后

When they're born, babies continue to smile --

他们还是带着微笑－－

initially, mostly in their sleep.

他们大多在睡梦中微笑

And even blind babies smile

失明的婴儿

to the sound of the human voice.

听到人声时也会微笑

Smiling is one of the most basic, biologically uniform

微笑是全人类生理上最统一、

expressions of all humans.

最基本的表情

In studies conducted in Papua New Guinea,

在巴布亚新几内亚进行的一些研究中

Paul Ekman, the world's most renowned researcher on facial expressions,

保罗. 艾克曼

世界上最知名的面部表情研究者

found that even members of the Fore tribe,

发现原始部落Fore的成员

who were completely disconnected from Western culture,

虽然与西方文化相隔绝

and also known for their unusual cannibalism rituals,

并以其食人肉的宗教习性著称

(Laughter)

但他们也像我们一样

attributed smiles to descriptions of situations

the same way you and I would.

在不同场合下会露出微笑

从巴布亚新几内亚

So from Papua New Guinea

to Hollywood

到好莱坞

再到北京的现代艺术

all the way to modern art in Beijing,

我们经常微笑

we smile often,

and use smiles to express joy and satisfaction.

以微笑来表达

喜悦美满之情

How many people here in this room smile more than 20 times per day?

在座的各位

有多少人每天微笑超过20次？

Raise your hand if you do.

超过的请举手。哇

Oh, wow.

在全世界

Outside of this room,

more than a third of us smile more than 20 times per day,

每天有超过三分之一的人每天微笑超过20次

而每天微笑不足五次的人

whereas less than 14 percent of us smile less than five.

占人口的14%

In fact, those with the most amazing superpowers are actually children,

实际上，拥有最多超能力的

要数儿童

who smile as many as 400 times per day.

他们每天微笑约为400次

你有没有想过

Have you ever wondered why being around children,

为什么与经常微笑的孩子们相处久了

who smile so frequently, makes you smile very often?

你也变得爱笑了？

A recent study at Uppsala University in Sweden

瑞典乌普萨拉大学近期的一项研究

发现当人在微笑时

found that it's very difficult to frown when looking at someone who smiles.

很难同时皱起眉头

你可能会问为什么

You ask why?

Because smiling is evolutionarily contagious,

这是因为微笑的感染力极强

and it suppresses the control we usually have on our facial muscles.

它主导了

我们对面部肌肉的控制

对微笑进行模拟

Mimicking a smile and experiencing it physically

和物理测试

helps us understand whether our smile is fake or real,

能够让我们分辨微笑是真是假

so we can understand the emotional state of the smiler.

进而了解

微笑者的情绪

In a recent mimicking study

法国克莱蒙费朗大学

at the University of Clermont-Ferrand in France,

近期的一项模拟研究

subjects were asked to determine whether a smile was real or fake

要求研究对象

通过微笑肌肉

while holding a pencil in their mouth to repress smiling muscles.

把一支铅笔含在嘴上

以此判断微笑的真假

在不含铅笔的情况下，研究对象都能够轻松做出判断

Without the pencil, subjects were excellent judges,

but with the pencil in their mouth --

担当他们含着铅笔时

when they could not mimic the smile they saw --

他们无法模仿眼前的微笑

their judgment was impaired.

也就无法正确判断

(Laughter)

（笑声）

In addition to theorizing on evolution in "The Origin of Species,"

除了在《物种起源》中提出进化论

Charles Darwin also wrote the facial feedback response theory.

查尔斯. 达尔文

还提出了面部反馈理论

这里理论提到

His theory states that the act of smiling itself actually makes us feel better,

微笑这一行为

实际上能让我们的心情变得更好－－

rather than smiling being merely a result of feeling good.

而不仅仅是

心情好的产物

In his study, Darwin actually cited a French neurologist, Guillaume Duchenne,

在他的研究中

达尔文援引了法国神经学家Guillaume Duchenne的研究

who sent electric jolts to facial muscles to induce and stimulate smiles.

他通过给面部肌肉做电颤刺激

来产生微笑

Please, don't try this at home.

请不要在家里模仿

(Laughter)

（笑声）

In a related German study,

德国一项相关研究中

researchers used fMRI imaging to measure brain activity

研究者们通过功能核磁共振成像

测量在微笑肌肉注射了肉毒杆菌前后

before and after injecting Botox to suppress smiling muscles.

对大脑活动

进行测量

The finding supported Darwin's theory,

这个发现应证了达尔文的理论

by showing that facial feedback

表明面部反馈

modifies the neural processing of emotional content in the brain,

控制了神经

对大脑中情绪信息的处理

in a way that helps us feel better when we smile.

这就让我们在微笑时心情变得更好

Smiling stimulates our brain reward mechanism

微笑启动了我们大脑的奖励机制

就像巧克力－－

in a way that even chocolate --

a well-regarded pleasure inducer --

这种公认的开心秘方－－

cannot match.

都不可比拟的

British researchers found that one smile

英国的研究人员发现

can generate the same level of brain stimulation

一个微笑能够带来

as up to 2,000 bars of chocolate.

相当于2000块巧克力产生的脑部刺激

(Laughter)

(笑声)

Wait --

不仅如此，这项研究还发现

The same study found that smiling is as stimulating

微笑带来的刺激

as receiving up to 16,000 pounds sterling in cash.

还相当于16000英镑现金产生的刺激

(Laughter)

每笑一次就相当于得到了25万美元

That's like 25 grand a smile.

It's not bad.

太值了

And think about it this way:

我们这样想：

25,000 times 400 --

25000乘以400－－

quite a few kids out there feel like Mark Zuckerberg every day.

那么世上该有多少孩子

每天感觉自己是马克. 扎克伯格（Facebook创始人）啊！

(Laughter)

而与巧克力不同

And unlike lots of chocolate,

lots of smiling can actually make you healthier.

经常微笑能够让你变得更健康

Smiling can help reduce the level of stress-enhancing hormones

微笑能够帮助降低

皮质醇，肾上腺素和多巴胺等

like cortisol, adrenaline and dopamine,

增压激素的水平

increase the level of mood-enhancing hormones like endorphins,

提高内啡肽等

改善心情的激素水平

and reduce overall blood pressure.

并降低整体血压

如果这还不够

And if that's not enough,

smiling can actually make you look good in the eyes of others.

微笑还能够让我们

在其他人眼里更好看

A recent study at Penn State University found that when you smile,

宾州州立大学近期一项研究

发现微笑

you don't only appear to be more likable and courteous,

不仅能让你更好看，更礼貌

还能让你看起来更能干

but you actually appear to be more competent.

如果你希望自己看起来更棒更有能力

So whenever you want to look great and competent,

减轻压力

reduce your stress or improve your marriage,

或改善你的婚姻

or feel as if you just had a whole stack of high-quality chocolate

或者感受吃了一大推巧克力后的快感－－

而不用担心热量过多－－

without incurring the caloric cost,

or as if you found 25 grand in a pocket of an old jacket you hadn't worn for ages,

或体会你在多年未穿过的外套口袋里

摸出了25万元时的狂喜

还有你想要得到一些超能力的时候

or whenever you want to tap into a superpower

that will help you and everyone around you

微笑能够帮助你以及身边所有人

live a longer, healthier, happier life,

活得更长，更健康，更幸福

笑一个吧

smile.

(Applause)

（掌声）