Why some people are more altruistic than others | Abigail Marsh

翻译人员: He Huang 校对人员: Junyi Sha

There's a man out there, somewhere,

某个地方， 有这样一个人，

who looks a little bit like the actor Idris Elba,

长得有点儿像演员 伊德瑞斯·艾尔巴，

or at least he did 20 years ago.

好吧，至少20年前很像。

I don't know anything else about him,

我对这个人一无所知，

except that he once saved my life

除了他曾经冒着生命危险，

by putting his own life in danger.

救过我一命。

This man ran across four lanes of freeway traffic in the middle of the night

午夜时分，这个人在高速 车道上横穿了四个车道，

to bring me back to safety

将我从致命车祸现场

after a car accident that could have killed me.

带回了安全地带。

And the whole thing left me really shaken up, obviously,

这一切显然把我吓坏了，

but it also left me with this kind of burning, gnawing need

但这件事也给我留下了 一个强烈的欲望：

to understand why he did it,

我想知道他为什么这么做，

what forces within him caused him to make the choice

是什么驱使了他 做出这样的决定，

that I owe my life to,

为了救一个陌生人 不惜以生命为代价，

to risk his own life to save the life of a stranger?

足以让我欠他一条命？

In other words, what are the causes of his or anybody else's capacity for altruism?

换而言之，是什么铸就了他 和其他人的强烈利他心理？

But first let me tell you what happened.

但首先让我告诉你们 具体发生了什么。

That night, I was 19 years old

在事故发生的那个晚上， 我当时19岁，

and driving back to my home in Tacoma, Washington,

当时我正开车， 行驶在5号州际公路上，

down the Interstate 5 freeway,

准备回华盛顿州塔科马市的家。

when a little dog darted out in front of my car.

一只小狗冲到了我的车前。

And I did exactly what you're not supposed to do,

然后我做了决不该在 高速上做的一件事情，

which is swerve to avoid it.

就是急转方向去躲避这只狗。

And I discovered why you're not supposed to do that.

然而我很快就明白了 为什么这样做是错误的。

I hit the dog anyways,

我还是不可避免地 撞上了那只狗，

and that sent the car into a fishtail,

导致车辆开始甩尾，

and then a spin across the freeway,

在高速公路上急速旋转，

until finally it wound up in the fast lane of the freeway

直到最后停在了 高速上最内侧的快车道上，

faced backwards into oncoming traffic

车头朝后面对着来车的方向，

and then the engine died.

而且发动机也坏了。

And I was sure in that moment that I was about to die too,

我当时以为自己死定了，

but I didn't

但结果我没有，

because of the actions of that one brave man

就是因为那个勇敢的陌生人，

who must have made the decision

在看见我和车

within a fraction of a second of seeing my stranded car

处于困境中的瞬间， 做出的一个决定，

to pull over and run across four lanes of freeway traffic

那就是靠边停车， 在黑暗中跑着

in the dark

穿过了四个高速车道

to save my life.

只为救我的命。

And then after he got my car working again

在他帮助我修复我的车，

and got me back to safety and made sure I was going to be all right,

将我送至安全位置， 并确保我会没事后，

he drove off again.

就默默地开车走了。

He never even told me his name,

他甚至没告诉我他叫什么，

and I'm pretty sure I forgot to say thank you.

而且我确信，我甚至 忘记了说一句谢谢。

So before I go any further,

所以在我继续说下去之前，

I really want to take a moment

我想利用这个机会

to stop and say thank you to that stranger.

向那位陌生人说一句谢谢。

(Applause)

（掌声）

I tell you all of this

我告诉你们这些

是因为那晚发生的事 改变了我人生的轨迹。

because the events of that night changed the course of my life to some degree.

I became a psychology researcher,

我成为了一名心理学研究者，

and I've devoted my work to understanding the human capacity to care for others.

我致力于了解 人类关心他人的能力，

Where does it come from, and how does it develop,

这种能力从哪里来， 又是怎样形成与发展的？

and what are the extreme forms that it can take?

它最极端的形态会是怎样的？

These questions are really important to understanding basic aspects

这些问题是理解人类的

of human social nature.

社会属性的关键。

A lot of people, and this includes everybody

很多人，包括哲学家，

from philosophers and economists to ordinary people

经济学家，还有普通人，

believe that human nature is fundamentally selfish,

都认为人的天性是自私的，

that we're only ever really motivated by our own welfare.

我们永远只会被 利己的事所激励。

But if that's true, why do some people, like the stranger who rescued me,

但如果那是真的，为什么总有 一些人会像救我的那个陌生人一样，

do selfless things, like helping other people

做着如此无私且利他的事情， 比如冒着极大的

at enormous risk and cost to themselves?

代价和风险去帮助别人？

Answering this question

要回答这个问题，

requires exploring the roots of extraordinary acts of altruism,

我们要挖掘这些极端利他行为的本质，

and what might make people who engage in such acts

以及是什么导致了 这些人做出与他人

different than other people.

不同的行为。

But until recently, very little work on this topic had been done.

但直到现在，有关课题的 研究仍然十分有限。

The actions of the man who rescued me

我的救命恩人的行为

meet the most stringent definition of altruism,

已经能够达到“无私”中 最狭隘且苛刻的定义了，

which is a voluntary, costly behavior

也就是必须要是完全 自愿的、有代价的行为，

motivated by the desire to help another individual.

并且是被想帮助他人的 心理所驱动的。

So it's a selfless act intended to benefit only the other.

即这是一个完全利他行为。

What could possibly explain an action like that?

用什么能够解释这种行为呢？

One answer is compassion, obviously,

一种解释是怜悯之心，

which is a key driver of altruism.

显然，这是无私的 几个关键来源之一。

But then the question becomes,

接着这个问题转变为：

why do some people seem to have more of it than others?

为什么有些人会比 其他人的怜悯之心更强呢？

And the answer may be that the brains of highly altruistic people

答案也许是， 那些有高度怜悯心的人的

are different in fundamental ways.

大脑构造可能与 普通人有根本性区别。

But to figure out how,

想知道到底如何不同，

I actually started from the opposite end,

我实际上从精神病患者开始，

with psychopaths.

来逆向思考这个问题。

A common approach to understanding basic aspects of human nature,

想要了解人类本性的某一方面时，

like the desire to help other people,

例如想要了解人们 帮助他人的欲望时，

is to study people in whom that desire is missing,

一个普遍的方式就是从缺失 这种欲望的人入手进行研究。

and psychopaths are exactly such a group.

精神病患者正是 这样的群体之一。

Psychopathy is a developmental disorder

精神病是一种 高级别的神经错乱，

with strongly genetic origins,

并且与基因有着很强的关联性，

and it results in a personality that's cold and uncaring

由此带来冷漠无情的性格特征，

and a tendency to engage in antisocial and sometimes very violent behavior.

并且有着反社会倾向，甚至暴力倾向。

Once my colleagues and I at the National Institute of Mental Health

我和我的同事们曾 在国家心理健康研究中心

conducted some of the first ever brain imaging research

进行了首次针对 青少年精神病患者的

of psychopathic adolescents,

脑成像研究，

and our findings, and the findings of other researchers now,

我们，以及后来其他 研究者们的发现都一致表明，

have shown that people who are psychopathic

精神病患者的大脑

pretty reliably exhibit three characteristics.

会呈现出三种特性。

First, although they're not generally insensitive to other people's emotions,

首先，他们并不是普遍 不能识别所有的人类情感，

they are insensitive to signs that other people are in distress.

但是他们的确不能感知到 他人正处于悲伤或痛苦中。

And in particular,

尤其是，

they have difficulty recognizing fearful facial expressions like this one.

他们对于害怕这种面部神情 存在理解障碍，比如这个。

And fearful expressions convey urgent need and emotional distress,

害怕的神情同时会传达出 迫切需要帮助和情感上的悲痛，

and they usually elicit compassion and a desire to help

而这些会引诱出目击者的怜悯之心

和想去帮助的欲望，

in people who see them,

so it makes sense that people who tend to lack compassion

所以那些趋于缺少怜悯之心的人，

also tend to be insensitive to these cues.

同时也趋向于对这些 神情表现出不敏感。

The part of the brain

杏仁核是人类大脑中

that's the most important for recognizing fearful expressions

负责识别痛苦的面部表情的

is called the amygdala.

最重要的部分。

There are very rare cases of people who lack amygdalas completely,

只有极少的人完全缺失杏仁核，

and they're profoundly impaired in recognizing fearful expressions.

他们对识别痛苦的神情 存在严重障碍。

And whereas healthy adults and children

当看到害怕的神情时，

usually show big spikes in amygdala activity

健康成年人与儿童的

when they look at fearful expressions,

杏仁核会反应活跃，

psychopaths' amygdalas are underreactive to these expressions.

精神病患者的杏仁核 则处于非活跃状态，

Sometimes they don't react at all,

有时候它们根本毫无反应。

which may be why they have trouble detecting these cues.

这也许解释了为什么 他们无法识别那些表情。

Finally, psychopaths' amygdalas are smaller than average

最后，精神病患者的杏仁核的大小

by about 18 or 20 percent.

比平均水平小18%-20%。

So all of these findings are reliable and robust,

所有的这些发现都是 可靠而确凿的，

and they're very interesting.

也是十分有趣的。

But remember that my main interest

但要记得我主要的兴趣

is not understanding why people don't care about others.

不是想弄明白为什么 有的人不关心他人，

It's understanding why they do.

而是为什么有的人会关心。

So the real question is,

所以真正的问题是，

could extraordinary altruism,

拥有非凡的利他主义的人，

which is the opposite of psychopathy

也就是在同情心和 帮助他人的想法上

in terms of compassion and the desire to help other people,

与精神病患者 完全相反的一群人，

emerge from a brain that is also the opposite of psychopathy?

他们是否在大脑构造中也与 精神病患者的大脑完全相反？

A sort of antipsychopathic brain,

是否拥有一种 “反精神错乱型大脑”，

better able to recognize other people's fear,

能够更加易于识别他人的恐惧，

an amygdala that's more reactive to this expression

并且有着更活跃

and maybe larger than average as well?

且体积更大的杏仁核？

As my research has now shown,

我的研究已经 证实了我们的猜想，

all three things are true.

上述三点都是存在的。

And we discovered this

我们的发现基于

by testing a population of truly extraordinary altruists.

对一批真正的极端 利他主义者的测试。

These are people who have given one of their own kidneys

他们会将自己的肾脏捐赠给

to a complete stranger.

一个完全陌生的人，

So these are people who have volunteered to undergo major surgery

也就是说他们完全自愿地 承受一个大型外科手术

so that one of their own healthy kidneys can be removed

来移除自己身上 一个健康的肾脏，

and transplanted into a very ill stranger

捐给一个从未见过，

that they've never met and may never meet.

甚至也永远不会相见的陌生人。

"Why would anybody do this?" is a very common question.

也许许多人都想问 “谁会想做这样的事啊？”。

And the answer may be

而答案很可能是

that the brains of these extraordinary altruists

那些极端利他主义者的大脑

have certain special characteristics.

有他们的独特之处。

They are better at recognizing other people's fear.

他们擅长识别他人的恐惧。

They're literally better at detecting when somebody else is in distress.

他们确确实实更能 察觉处在悲痛中的人。

This may be in part because their amygdala is more reactive to these expressions.

这种行为部分源于他们的杏仁核 会对这些表情做出更活跃的反应。

And remember, this is the same part of the brain that we found

但要记得，我们发现神经病患者的

大脑在同一区域，是处于非活动状态的。

was underreactive in people who are psychopathic.

And finally, their amygdalas are larger than average as well,

最后，利他者的杏仁核 也要比平均水平大，

by about eight percent.

大百分之八左右。

So together, what these data suggest

总的来说，最终这些 实验数据都表明了，

is the existence of something like a caring continuum in the world

这世界上有一种关爱衡量轴，

that's anchored at the one end by people who are highly psychopathic,

一个极端就是精神高度错乱，

and at the other by people who are very compassionate

处于另一个极端的人则 非常具有同情心，

and driven to acts of extreme altruism.

总是被极度利他的精神驱使着。

But I should add that what makes extraordinary altruists so different

但我应该继续补充的是， 极端利他主义者之所以如此，

is not just that they're more compassionate than average.

并非仅仅因为他们的 同情心高于平均水平。

They are,

他们确实是有很强的同情心，

but what's even more unusual about them

但令他们更不同寻常的是

is that they're compassionate and altruistic

他们的同情和无私

not just towards people who are in their own innermost circle

并不只是针对他熟知的

of friends and family. Right?

核心圈子里人，对吗？

Because to have compassion for people that you love and identify with

因为对自己爱的人无私

is not extraordinary.

并不能使你与众不同。

Truly extraordinary altruists' compassion extends way beyond that circle,

真正非凡的利他主义者的 恻隐之心远远超过那个圆圈，

even beyond their wider circle of acquaintances

甚至超出他们的社交圈

to people who are outside their social circle altogether,

和任何认识的人，

total strangers,

甚至完全是陌生人，

just like the man who rescued me.

就像救我的那个人一样。

And I've had the opportunity now to ask a lot of altruistic kidney donors

如今我有机会去询问很多 无私的肾脏捐赠者，

how it is that they manage to generate such a wide circle of compassion

问他们是如何建立一个 如此广阔的怜悯圈，

that they were willing to give a complete stranger their kidney.

以至于愿意给完全 陌生的人捐赠肾脏。

And I found it's a really difficult question for them to answer.

然而我发现，他们不知道 怎么回答这个问题。

I say, "How is it that you're willing to do this thing

我说，“为什么你愿意去做

when so many other people don't?

大多数人都不愿意做的事情呢？

You're one of fewer than 2,000 Americans

你属于美国不到两千人的

who has ever given a kidney to a stranger.

肾脏捐赠者之一，

What is it that makes you so special?"

是什么让你如此特别？”

And what do they say?

你知道他们说了什么吗？

They say, "Nothing.

他们说，“没什么，

There's nothing special about me.

我没有什么不同，

I'm just the same as everybody else."

我跟所有人都一样。”

And I think that's actually a really telling answer,

其实我觉得这恰恰 是个很说明问题的回答，

because it suggests that the circles of these altruists don't look like this,

因为这说明利他主义者的 圆不是这样画的,

they look more like this.

而是这样的。

They have no center.

它们是没有圆心的。

These altruists literally don't think of themselves

这些无私的人从来就

as being at the center of anything,

不以自己为中心来思考问题，

as being better or more inherently important than anybody else.

不觉得自己比其他人更重要。

当我问利他主义者 为什么捐赠肾脏时，

When I asked one altruist why donating her kidney made sense to her,

she said, "Because it's not about me."

她说，“因为这对他们更重要。”

Another said,

另一个人说，

"I'm not different. I'm not unique.

“我没有什么不同。我并不特别。

Your study here is going to find out that I'm just the same as you."

你的研究最终只能 发现我跟你完全一样”。

I think the best description for this amazing lack of self-centeredness

我觉得对这些神奇的 缺乏自我中心意识的行为，

is humility,

最好的解释是谦虚。

which is that quality that in the words of St. Augustine

正如奥古斯丁所说的

makes men as angels.

谦虚让人如同天使。

And why is that?

这是为什么？

It's because if there's no center of your circle,

因为如果你的圆圈没有中心，

there can be no inner rings or outer rings,

那就没有内圆和外圆的区别，

nobody who is more or less worthy of your care and compassion

所有人在你眼中都是同等的，

都值得怜悯和关心。

than anybody else.

And I think that this is what really distinguishes extraordinary altruists

我相信这一点是真正将 非凡的利他主义者与大众

from the average person.

区分开来的地方。

But I also think that this is a view of the world that's attainable by many

其实我认为这样一种 世界观是绝大多数人

能够接受和拥有的。

and maybe even most people.

And I think this because at the societal level,

而且由于社会发展的程度，

expansions of altruism and compassion are already happening everywhere.

无私与怜悯之心已经在各处扩张。

The psychologist Steven Pinker and others have shown

心理学家史迪芬·平克 以及很多研究者都表明，

that all around the world people are becoming less and less accepting

全世界范围内的人 都越来越不能接受

of suffering in ever-widening circles of others,

其他人承受痛苦， 而这个圈子还在不断扩大。

which has led to declines of all kinds of cruelty and violence,

这也就导致人们拒绝 任何方式的残迫与暴力，

from animal abuse to domestic violence to capital punishment.

从虐待动物到家庭暴力， 再到死刑。

And it's led to increases in all kinds of altruism.

各种无私心都在增长。

A hundred years ago, people would have thought it was ludicrous

一百年前，人们会认为

how normal and ordinary it is

把对陌生人的

for people to donate their blood and bone marrow

无偿献血和骨髓捐献 视为一种平常事，

to complete strangers today.

是绝不可能的。

Is it possible that a hundred years from now

但一百年后，

people will think that donating a kidney to a stranger

人们是否会将捐赠肾脏，

is just as normal and ordinary

视为再也正常不过的事呢？

as we think donating blood and bone marrow is today?

就像今天的无偿献血 与捐献骨髓一样。

Maybe.

也许会的。

So what's at the root of all these amazing changes?

所以到底是为什么 会发生这些改变呢？

In part it seems to be

其中部分原因是，

increases in wealth and standards of living.

生活水平与富裕水平的提升。

As societies become wealthier and better off,

因为社会变得更富裕且更好，

people seem to turn their focus of attention outward,

看起来人们关切的 焦点会向外部转移，

and as a result, all kinds of altruism towards strangers increases,

由此，针对陌生人的 无私之心也会增加,

from volunteering to charitable donations and even altruistic kidney donations.

从自愿帮助到慷慨捐赠， 甚至到肾脏捐赠。

But all of these changes also yield

但这些改变同样得出

a strange and paradoxical result,

一个矛盾的结果，

which is that even as the world is becoming a better and more humane place,

尽管这世界变得越来越有爱心，

的确是这样，

which it is,

there's a very common perception that it's becoming worse

同时有一种声音说这个 世界在变得更糟糕，

and more cruel, which it's not.

更残忍，但这不是事实。

And I don't know exactly why this is,

我并不确切地知道 这种声音的由来，

but I think it may be that we now just know so much more

但我想这也许是由于 现在人们能够

about the suffering of strangers in distant places,

了解到更多远距离的新闻，

and so we now care a lot more

而且我们更在意受难的人，

about the suffering of those distant strangers.

尽管这些事并未发生在我们身边。

But what's clear is the kinds of changes we're seeing show

但我们可以确定的是， 我们看到这些变化表明了

that the roots of altruism and compassion

利他主义和怜悯之心的 根源都是人性，

are just as much a part of human nature as cruelty and violence,

如同残忍和暴戾的人性一样，

maybe even more so,

甚至程度更深，

and while some people do seem to be inherently more sensitive

同时部分群体对 在遥远的地方受难的人

to the suffering of distant others,

生来敏感，

I really believe that the ability to remove oneself

我确信，摆脱以自我为中心的

from the center of the circle

思考方式，

扩充自己的怜悯之心， 关心更多的陌生人，

and expand the circle of compassion outward to include even strangers

is within reach for almost everyone.

对于大部分的人来说 都是触手可及的。

Thank you.

谢谢。

(Applause)

（掌声）