The hidden power of smiling | Ron Gutman

Translator: Alex Lau Reviewer: Ann Lee

細個嗰陣，我時時都想做超級英雄

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

I wanted to save the world and make everyone happy.

拯救全世界，等個個都快樂

但我亦知道要有超能力

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

至可以夢想成真

所以我開始咗幻想旅程

So I used to embark on these imaginary journeys

to find intergalactic objects from planet Krypton,

尋找從氪子行星而來嘅跨銀河物體

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

雖然好好玩

但無乜效用

When I grew up and realized

大個之後，我明白

that science fiction was not a good source for superpowers,

科幻小說唔係超能力嘅來源

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

所以我轉為開展真正科學之旅

to find a more useful truth.

探求更有用的事實

I started my journey in California,

我嘅科學之旅響加州嘅柏克萊大學開始

with a UC Berkeley 30-year longitudinal study

響嗰度我參予一個長30年嘅研究

that examined the photos of students in an old yearbook,

嘗試響舊畢業年冊

入面嘅學生照片度

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

量度佢哋一生人

成就同快樂程度

By measuring the students' smiles,

只要量度學生嘅笑容

researchers were able to predict

研究員就可以預測到

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

被研究嘅人嘅婚姻

有幾美滿同長久

(Laughter)

響統一嘅快樂測驗入面

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

研究對象會得到幾多分

and how inspiring she would be to others.

又有幾啟發人

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

有次響紀念冊見到奧巴馬嘅相

第一眼見到佢張相

When I first saw his picture,

I thought that his superpowers came from his super collar.

我以為佢嘅超能力來自佢個超級衫領

(Laughter)

But now I know it was all in his smile.

但我依家知道佢嘅超能力響笑容入面

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

另一個新發現係

來自2010年響偉恩州立大學嘅研究計劃

研究1950年代前

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

大聯盟球員協會嘅棒球員卡

研究員發現

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

球員笑容嘅大細

could actually predict the span of his life.

其實預示咗佢嘅壽命

Players who didn't smile in their pictures

嗰啲響張相度無笑容嘅球員

lived an average of only 72.9 years,

平均只有72.9年命

where players with beaming smiles

而露笑容嘅

lived an average of almost 80 years.

平均有成差唔多80歲命

(Laughter)

（笑）

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

好消息係我哋天生會笑

Using 3D ultrasound technology,

用三維超聲波技術

we can now see that developing babies appear to smile,

就可以見到響子宮入面

成長緊嘅胎兒面露微笑

even in the womb.

佢哋出咗世

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

多數會瞓覺時

initially, mostly in their sleep.

繼續識得笑

And even blind babies smile

就算係失明嘅細路

to the sound of the human voice.

都識得跟住人嘅聲線去笑

Smiling is one of the most basic, biologically uniform

笑係全人類最基本

expressions of all humans.

生理學上大家共有嘅表情

In studies conducted in Papua New Guinea,

世界知名嘅面部表情研究學者

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

保羅艾克曼

在巴布亞新幾內亞嘅研究入面

found that even members of the Fore tribe,

發現好似高山族族人咁

who were completely disconnected from Western culture,

同西方文化完全無接觸

and also known for their unusual cannibalism rituals,

而且有食人習俗嘅部族

(Laughter)

聽到一啲令人發笑嘅情景

attributed smiles to descriptions of situations

the same way you and I would.

亦會顯露笑容

所以無論係響巴布亞新幾內亞

So from Papua New Guinea

to Hollywood

荷李活

甚至響北京嘅現代藝術入面

all the way to modern art in Beijing,

我哋都會笑

we smile often,

and use smiles to express joy and satisfaction.

而我哋會因為表達

喜悅、滿足而笑

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

響呢度有幾多人會

一日笑超過20次？

Raise your hand if you do.

會嘅就舉手，嘩

Oh, wow.

響會場外

Outside of this room,

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

有超過三分一人口每日笑多過20次

而少過百分之十四嘅人

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

每日笑少過5次

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

事實上，擁有強大超級大量嘅

係小朋友

who smile as many as 400 times per day.

佢哋每日可以笑成400次咁多

有無諗過點解同呢啲

Have you ever wondered why being around children,

時時笑嘅小朋友一齊

who smile so frequently, makes you smile very often?

會令你笑得多啲？

A recent study at Uppsala University in Sweden

瑞典烏普薩柆大學最近有項研究

發現見到人笑時

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

好難皺眉頭

點解？

You ask why?

Because smiling is evolutionarily contagious,

因為笑容響演化過程上有傳染性

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

而且會抑制

我哋平時對面部肌肉嘅控制能力

而透過模仿

Mimicking a smile and experiencing it physically

親身體驗笑容

helps us understand whether our smile is fake or real,

幫助我哋了解個笑容係真心還是偽裝

so we can understand the emotional state of the smiler.

從而明白笑嘅人

嘅情緒狀熊

In a recent mimicking study

響法國嘅克萊蒙費朗大學

at the University of Clermont-Ferrand in France,

最近有個模仿研究

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

會要求參加者分辨

個笑容係真定假

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

同時佢哋要用個口擔住支鉛筆

去壓抑笑容肌

當無咗支鉛筆，參加者都判別得到真假笑容

Without the pencil, subjects were excellent judges,

but with the pencil in their mouth --

但有支鉛筆響個口度嗰陣

when they could not mimic the smile they saw --

佢哋唔能夠模仿見到嘅笑容

their judgment was impaired.

而佢哋嘅判斷就有誤差

(Laughter)

(笑)

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

達爾文除咗響《物種起源》呢本書入面

Charles Darwin also wrote the facial feedback response theory.

為演化立論

佢亦提及面部回饋反應理論

佢嘅理論係話

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

笑容呢個動作本身

實際上會令我哋覺得更開心

rather than smiling being merely a result of feeling good.

而唔係

純粹感覺良好嘅結果

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

佢研究入面

亦確實有提到法國神經學家杜鄉

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

杜鄉利用電擊

刺激面部，得到笑容

Please, don't try this at home.

唔該，千祈唔好響屋企模仿

(Laughter)

(笑)

In a related German study,

一個響德國做嘅相關研究

researchers used fMRI imaging to measure brain activity

研究員響注射肉毒捍菌

壓制笑容肌肉前後

before and after injecting Botox to suppress smiling muscles.

用磁力共振造影

量度腦部活動

The finding supported Darwin's theory,

研究結困支持達爾文嘅理論

by showing that facial feedback

結果顯示面部回饋

modifies the neural processing of emotional content in the brain,

改變腦部內神經

處理情緒嘅內容

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

所以我哋笑嗰陣會令我哋感到愉快

Smiling stimulates our brain reward mechanism

笑容刺激我哋腦入面嘅獎賞系統

就算人所共知

in a way that even chocolate --

a well-regarded pleasure inducer --

可以引起歡愉心情嘅誘導劑

cannot match.

朱古力都望塵莫及

British researchers found that one smile

英國研究員發現

can generate the same level of brain stimulation

一個微笑對腦部產生嘅刺激

as up to 2,000 bars of chocolate.

有2000排朱古力咁強烈

(Laughter)

(笑)

Wait --

仲有，同一個研究亦都發現

The same study found that smiling is as stimulating

微笑可以引起

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

好似收到16000英鎊咁多嘅現金嘅刺激

(Laughter)

咁即係一個微笑值成25000蚊美金

That's like 25 grand a smile.

It's not bad.

都唔錯喎

And think about it this way:

試諗下

25,000 times 400 --

25000乘以400

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

都唔少小朋友

日日都好似馬克．札克伯格咁有錢

(Laughter)

而且相比食大量嘅朱古力

And unlike lots of chocolate,

lots of smiling can actually make you healthier.

笑得多仲可以令你更健康

Smiling can help reduce the level of stress-enhancing hormones

笑有助於減低

加重壓力嘅荷爾蒙水平

like cortisol, adrenaline and dopamine,

例如皮質醇、腎上腺素同多巴胺

increase the level of mood-enhancing hormones like endorphins,

令好心情嘅荷爾蒙水平提高

好似腦內啡咁

and reduce overall blood pressure.

亦會令整體血壓下降

唔止咁

And if that's not enough,

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

笑容令其他人覺得

你親切可人

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

響賓尼州立大學嘅研究發現

當你笑嗰陣

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

你睇上嚟唔單止可親有禮

仲會令你睇嚟好能幹添

but you actually appear to be more competent.

所以無論你想睇上嚟靚啲、能幹啲

So whenever you want to look great and competent,

減低壓力

reduce your stress or improve your marriage,

改善婚姻關係

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

或者想覺得好似啱啱食咗大排朱古力

又無付出卡路里嘅代價

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,

又或者想好似響舊外套入面

搵到25000蚊美金響袋

甚至想得到超能力

or whenever you want to tap into a superpower

that will help you and everyone around you

令你同身邊嘅人

live a longer, healthier, happier life,

生活得長命啲、健康啲、開心啲

笑啦

smile.

(Applause)

(掌聲)