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

譯者: Lilian Chiu 審譯者: 麗玲 辛

As I look around the room,

當我環視這間講廳，

I can see,

我可以看到，我認為 在座有約一半的人

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

都暴露在高濃度的強效化學物質中，

to high levels of a powerful chemical,

and it is circulating in your blood as we speak.

此時此刻這種化學物質 就在各位的血液中循環。

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

它幾乎可以自由穿越所有的細胞，

including neurons,

包括神經元，

where it affects whether they live or die

接觸到神經元時， 它會影響神經元的生死

and how they grow and function.

以及神經生長和運作的方式。

So this one chemical has profound and lasting effects --

此化學物質會產生 深刻且持久的效果——

not just on your body,

不只影響你的身體，

but also on your brain and behavior.

還會影響你的大腦和行為。

This is testosterone.

這種化學物質就是睪固酮。

Both sexes have it,

男性女性都有睪固酮， 只是男性比女性多很多，

but men have much more than women,

about 15 to 20 times more.

大約十五到二十倍。

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

那就能解釋為什麼在座有一半的人

比另一半更高大、多毛，

than the other half, on average,

這只是平均來說， 談各種性別差異也是如此。

like all sex differences.

For the last 20 years,

過去二十年，我一直 在教行為內分泌學，

I've been teaching about behavioral endocrinology,

這個領域的重點在於 荷爾蒙如何影響行為，

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

and vice versa.

以及反向的影響。

我對睪固酮特別感興趣，

And I'm particularly drawn to testosterone

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

因為性別差異有很大一部分 都能用睪固酮來解釋。

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

但這個科學領域已經深深 被捲入到文化爭論中。

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

單純提一些大部分生物學家 覺得很顯而易見的事實，

like that there are two reproductive classes,

例如有兩種生殖類別，

male and female,

雄性和雌性，

can land you in a heap of trouble.

可能就會讓你惹上一身麻煩。

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

我知道，因為我個人有類似的經驗。

And I also know that for some trans people,

我也知道，對某些跨性別者、

their allies and others,

他們的盟友，及其他人而言，

that this language about the biology of sex can feel painful

性別生物學的這種說法 可能會讓他們感到痛苦，

and that others are trying to weaponize the science.

且覺得別人試圖 用這種科學言論攻擊他們。

And here I do not have the answers,

就這點我沒有定見，

but I can tell you

但我可以告訴各位，

that my students have really enjoyed learning about this science,

我的學生真的很享受學習這門科學，

partly because it helps them understand more about their own bodies

有部分原因是因為 它幫助他們更了解自己的身體

and feelings.

和感受。

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

他們也因此

更能夠同理和自己不一樣的他人。

who are different from themselves.

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

接下來，我會談談 遊戲中的性別差異，

to try to convince you that this science is fascinating,

嘗試說服各位這門科學很迷人，

且能協助我們每個人過得更好。

and it can help us all be better off.

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

首先，我想分享一項 聯合研究計畫的結果，

I started 15 years ago,

計畫是我十五年前展開的，

in which I grew two small organs,

在計畫中，我在我的子宮裡養育了

兩個能分泌睪固酮的小器官。

that secreted testosterone,

in my uterus.

(Laughter)

（笑聲）

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

這些器官連接到那個 我在子宮裡養育的新人類身上。

And now ...

而現在……

(Laughter)

（笑聲）

(Applause)

（掌聲）

And now you can observe the behavior of that human

現在各位可以看這支 兩個男孩扭打的影片，

in this video of two boys wrestling each other.

來觀察人類的行為。

It's from a few years ago,

這是幾年前拍的，

and my son is the one with the short hair.

短髮的是我兒子。

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

這種粗暴的玩法 在男孩間比女孩間更常見，

everywhere in the world.

全世界都一樣。

And when my son was growing inside of me,

我兒子在我體內長大時，

his tiny little testes were cranking out the testosterone.

他的小小睪丸正在分泌睪固酮。

And at that early stage,

在這個早期階段，

it has some very big and important jobs to do.

睪固酮有非常重要的工作要做。

It has to masculinize the genitalia,

它必須讓生殖器官男性化，

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

它必須確保一切都就緒，

後續能夠產生精子並遞送出去。

and delivered later on.

And it is also acting in the brain

它也會在大腦中發生作用，

to motivate later behaviors, like play fighting,

驅動後續的行為，如玩戰鬥遊戲，

that are particularly beneficial to many male mammals.

這對許多雄性哺乳類動物特別有益。

I never gave much thought to testosterone

我之前都不太在意睪固酮，

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

直到我在烏干達西部

花大半年的時間研究野生黑猩猩。

studying wild chimpanzees.

And as I watched them living their lives --

當我觀察牠們怎麼過生活——

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

進食、玩樂、睡覺、打架、做愛——

I was really struck by our shared patterns of behavior.

我很驚訝我們的行為模式如此相似。

And particularly relevant to this talk was the fact

和今天演說特別有關的部分是

雄性小黑猩猩比雌性 小黑猩猩更常會打著玩。

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

And these connections to us are so striking

這些和我們的相似之處

之所以驚人就是因為我們 和黑猩猩沒有任何共通文化。

because we don't share any culture with chimpanzees.

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

但在基因和荷爾蒙方面， 我們和黑猩猩確實有很多共同點，

including higher levels of testosterone in the males.

包括雄性會有較多睪固酮。

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

我們和黑猩猩還有 一個共通的行為模式，

那就是，相對於雌性黑猩猩，

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

雄性黑猩猩會花更多時間和能量

去爭奪社會優勢。

And in chimps, this involves lots of fighting

就黑猩猩來說，意思就是會有

很多打鬥及很多威嚇行為，

and also lots of threats

and having a sense about when to challenge other males

且知道何時該去挑戰其他公黑猩猩，

but also when to submit and when to flee.

同時也知道何時該順服、逃跑。

And these males aren't fighting each other

雄性黑猩猩對打的原因 並不是牠們知道

because they know that this is a great way

這樣就有更多機會和 具有生育力的雌性黑猩猩交配。

to get more sex with fertile females.

But males who behave this way

而是因為這麼做的雄性黑猩猩

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

通常更能夠將自己的基因傳給下一代，

and then their sons inherit similar propensities.

而牠們的雄性孩子 也會繼承類似的傾向。

So simply surviving without passing on one's genes

若只是存活下來，

卻沒有把基因傳下去，

is an evolutionary dead end.

在演化上來說是死路一條。

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,

年輕動物，如黑猩猩，

還需要學習生殖技能，

and they do that through play.

而牠們透過遊戲來學習。

And our ancestors also practiced these skills through play.

我們的祖先也透過遊戲 來練習這些技能。

And that legacy is reflected in our own kids.

這項特性就遺傳到我們的孩子身上。

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

並非所有的男孩

都會想要跟朋友扭打，

and they would rather play house or dress up,

他們可能還更想玩 扮家家酒或打扮遊戲，

and they should go for it.

而且他們該玩玩這些遊戲。

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

在大自然中並沒有嚴格的規則

規定什麼性別要如何玩樂。

When I was little,

我小時候，

I used to wrestle with my three older brothers,

會和我的三個哥哥扭打成一團，

and I played Little League baseball.

且我打過小聯盟棒球。

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

但是當我和我的女性友人一起玩， 比如我最好的朋友安妮，

she's the dominant one there in the stripes,

都是她主導，她是穿條紋的那一個，

and she's sitting right here.

且她就在觀眾席上。

(Laughter)

（笑聲）

Our play just didn't involve that kind of roughhousing

我們的玩法就不會有任何打鬧，

that my son and his friends were into.

我兒子和他的朋友喜歡的那種打鬧。

Annie and I would do stuff like have tea

安妮和我會做的事包括

喝茶，幫絨毛娃娃上課——

and run class for our stuffed animals --

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

抱歉，因為她在現場， 我有點激動——

the smallest of whom lived in a doll house.

最小隻的絨毛娃娃住在娃娃屋裡。

And for some reason,

出於某種原因，

we loved playing office.

我們喜歡玩辦公室遊戲。

And -- I know, crazy.

而——我知道，很瘋狂。

And we developed a filing system and --

我們開發了一種檔案系統——

(Laughter)

（笑聲）

And we spent a lot of time filling out forms.

我們還花了很多時間填寫表格。

OK, I'm not kidding.

我沒有開玩笑。

Filling out forms,

填寫表格，

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

我要公開一件 我從未告訴別人的事，

and I'm sorry, Annie.

安妮，我很抱歉，

You know what I'm going to say.

你知道我要說什麼。

Filling out forms from junk mail,

填寫垃圾郵件中的表格，

which we might have stolen from neighborhood mailboxes.

且垃圾郵件可能是我們 從鄰居的信箱裡偷來的。

(Laughter)

（笑聲）

OK, so wait, wait,

好，等等，等等，

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

我是真的在試圖告訴各位

知道如何為五個人準備茶水 或如何訂閱《國家地理雜誌》

or subscribe to "National Geographic"

was supposed to make us better moms or whatever?

就應該會讓我們變成 更好的母親之類的嗎？

OK, not exactly.

不完全是。

The specifics of play are always influenced by culture,

遊戲的具體內容 向來會受到文化的影響，

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

但一般來說，社交性質的遊戲 能協助發展兩性都需要的技能，

like how to resolve conflict, how to take turns,

像是如何解決衝突、如何輪流，

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

甚至是弄清楚怎麼躲過懲罰。

So ...

所以……

But the sex-specialization part,

但就性別分化而言，

with more nurturing play in girls

女孩較常玩照顧型的遊戲，

and more fighting play in boys,

男孩較常玩打架的遊戲，

did likely evolve

確實有可能演化，

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

因為這些技能是每個性別 為了繁殖必須要學習的技能。

OK, that's a little evolutionary background.

好，以上是簡單的演化背景。

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

現在我們可以來問，

為什麼科學家認為睪固酮 是這背後的驅動因子。

So our strongest evidence comes from experiments in other animals.

我們最強力的證據 來自於其他動物的實驗。

And here's a couple of headlines.

以下是提要：

So in females, in rats and monkeys anyway,

雌性的部分，至少 在老鼠和猴子身上，

jacking up testosterone during that early developmental period

在發育早期提高睪固酮

causes rough play to increase dramatically.

會讓粗暴的遊戲方式大大增加。

And in males, the reverse is true.

在雄性身上，相反的狀況也是如此。

Blocking testosterone during that same early period

同樣在早期，如果阻斷睪固酮，

causes rough play to plummet.

會讓粗暴的遊戲方式劇減。

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

至於人類，當然我們無法去亂搞

with the kind of hormones that fetuses are exposed to,

胎兒會接觸到的那些荷爾蒙，

so we have to rely on less direct evidence.

所以我們只能仰賴 不那麼直接的證據。

And we do have a wealth of studies

我們確實有相當多研究

on the play styles of girls

主題是女孩的遊戲風格，

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

對象是在子宮中接觸到 異常大量睪固酮的女孩。

And there, study after study shows

一項又一項的研究顯示，

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

這些女孩對於粗暴遊戲方式的偏好

確實會增加，

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

因此，我們還很需要 進一步了解

基因、荷爾蒙，及文化

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

如何彼此產生交互作用， 導致不同性別有不同行為。

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

但我們手上擁有的證據 通通都指向同樣的方向。

And that is that differences in testosterone

那就是：睪固酮和演化壓力上的差異

and evolutionary pressures explain why boys more than girls,

能夠解釋為什麼男孩比女孩

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

更認為和朋友扭打 是個很棒的主意。

OK, so let's just assume

好，咱們就假設 這一切確實有自然的道理。

that there is something natural about all this.

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

與前任勾搭也很自然。

(Laughter)

（笑聲）

OK?

好嗎？

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

但並不代表這就是件對的事。

(Laughter)

（笑聲）

And according to one mom,

有一位媽媽說，

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

我們也應該重新思考 男孩粗暴的遊戲方式。

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

她在一本育兒雜誌中表述了 這個觀點，引述如下：

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

「讓我的兒子們扭打在一起 只會強化有害的男性氣概，

and I want no part of it."

而我不想參與其中。」

OK, so perhaps we could create more peaceful men

也許我們可以創造出更和平的男人，

by nipping it in the bud

只要能從源頭遏制，

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

在他們小時候就防止他們 去練習攻擊行為。

OK, that's one idea.

好，這是一個想法。

Except the available evidence just doesn’t support it.

只是目前可得的證據並不支持它。

因此，例如，

So, for instance,

depriving male rats of the kind of rough play they want

不讓雄性老鼠用牠們想要的 那種粗暴方式玩遊戲，

leads to adult male rats

會讓成年的雄性老鼠

who never learned how to manage their aggressive impulses.

完全沒有學習過 如何管理牠們的攻擊衝動。

They actually end up more rather than less aggressive.

牠們的攻擊性反而會 變得更強，而非更低。

They fail to cooperate,

牠們無法合作，

they fail to respond appropriately to social cues,

牠們對於社交信號 無法做出妥當的回應，

and ultimately they fail to find mates.

最終，牠們無法找到伴侶。

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

這種雄性的存在對誰都沒幫助。

(Laughter)

（笑聲）

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

我們不是老鼠，

我們也不是黑猩猩。

For one thing, if you men were chimpanzees,

首先，如果各位男人是黑猩猩，

you would be ripping each other to shreds.

你們會把彼此撕成碎片。

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

如果你們是初次見面，就會這樣。

It would be mayhem.

會一團亂。

And we humans have something no other animal has.

我們人類有其他動物沒有的。

And that is the ability to reflect on,

那就是我們有能力可以反思、

談論，以及一起決定

talk about and, together, to determine

how we can control some of our more harmful impulses.

我們要如何控制我們 某些更有害的衝動。

And culture here makes all the difference.

在此，文化具有決定性的作用。

例如，加拿大男性

For example, men here in Canada are much less violent

暴力程度遠低於 我們南邊鄰國的男性。

than our male neighbors over the southern border.

Apart from hockey, apparently.

除了打曲棍球的時候，這很明顯。

(Laughter)

（笑聲）

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

這並不是因為加拿大男人 失去了睪丸或者……

(Laughter)

（笑聲）

Or because Canadian boys don't wrestle each other.

或者因為加拿大男孩 不會扭打成一團。

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

反之，是因為加拿大有不同的文化、

perhaps in the gun laws or in the health care system

也許槍支法律或健康照護系統，

or in levels of socioeconomic inequality.

或者社會經濟不平等的程度不同。

So as a society, we lose a lot

因此，從社會層面來看，

如果我們把性別科學排除 在討論之外，或者扭曲事實，

if we leave the science of sex out of the conversation

or distort the facts.

我們就會失去很多。

And that science strongly suggests

而科學強烈表明，

that male typical play is not budding toxic masculinity.

典型的男性遊戲並不會 滋生有害的男性氣概。

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

這反而是種健康的行為， 我們不應該阻止。

(Applause)

（掌聲）

So exaggerating only slightly,

所以，用稍稍誇大的說法，

testosterone from those tiny --

睪固酮來自那些小小——

Sorry, tiny testes I grew 15 years ago,

抱歉，我十五年前養育的 小睪丸所分泌的睪固酮

made my son who he is today.

讓我的兒子成為他現今的樣子。

And he is still a great kid,

他仍然是個很棒的孩子，

即使他的睪固酮達到創紀錄的標準。

even with his testosterone reaching record levels.

(Laughter)

（笑聲）

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

我希望性別科學能吸引 他以及在座所有人，

and to feel comfortable talking about it.

也希望大家能自在地談論它。

And last, I hope that all our kids

最後，我希望所有的孩子

can just play more in real rather than virtual life,

能多在真實生活玩遊戲 而在非虛擬世界裡。

and preferably outside.

最好能到戶外玩。

Thank you.

謝謝。

(Applause and cheers)

（掌聲及歡呼）