The hidden power of smiling | Ron Gutman

譯者: Ana Choi 審譯者: Joyce Chou

在我童年的時候，我一直渴望成為一位超級英雄。

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

I wanted to save the world and make everyone happy.

我想拯救世界及令全部的人快樂。

但我明白我需要超能力

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

才可以夢想成真。

因此我開始了幻想式的旅程

So I used to embark on these imaginary journeys

to find intergalactic objects from planet Krypton,

去氪星球(超人國土)尋找一些銀河物體，

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

這些旅程很好玩，

但當然沒有什麼成果。

When I grew up and realized

當我長大後發覺到

that science fiction was not a good source for superpowers,

科幻小說並不是尋找超能力的好地方，

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

我決定開始從真正旳科學旅程

to find a more useful truth.

尋找一些較有用的真理。

I started my journey in California,

我從加州開始我的旅程

with a UC Berkeley 30-year longitudinal study

在柏克萊加州大學,，一個三十多年的縱貫性研究

that examined the photos of students in an old yearbook,

在舊學生年冊裡

觀察學生的照片，

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

嘗試計算他們一生中的

成就和幸福。

By measuring the students' smiles,

透過測量學生的微笑，

researchers were able to predict

研究人員能夠預測

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

該學生的婚姻

是否滿足和是否長久，

(Laughter)

和該學生在標準化

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

幸福評量中的得分，

and how inspiring she would be to others.

和該學生將帶給別人多少啟發。

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

在另一本年冊裡，我偶然發現了Barry Obama的照片。

當我第一次看到他的照片,

When I first saw his picture,

I thought that his superpowers came from his super collar.

我認為他的超能力是來自他的超大衣領。

(Laughter)

But now I know it was all in his smile.

但是現在我知道是來自他的笑容。

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

另一個「 啊！」的時刻

來自2010年韋恩州立大學的研究計畫

探討五十年代前

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

美國職棒大聯盟的棒球卡。

研究人員發現

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

利用一個球員的笑容有多少燦爛

could actually predict the span of his life.

便可以預測他的壽命。

Players who didn't smile in their pictures

那些在他們的照片沒有笑容的球員

lived an average of only 72.9 years,

平均壽命僅72.9歲，

where players with beaming smiles

而那些有燦爛笑容的球員，

lived an average of almost 80 years.

平均壽命近80歲。

(Laughter)

(笑聲)

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

好消息是，我們實際上是微笑著誕生。

Using 3D ultrasound technology,

使用3D超音波技術，

we can now see that developing babies appear to smile,

現在我們可以看到，即使在子宮裡

成長中的嬰兒似乎都是微笑的。

even in the womb.

當嬰兒出生時，

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

他們繼續微笑--

initially, mostly in their sleep.

初期大多是在睡眠中。

And even blind babies smile

甚至失明的嬰兒

to the sound of the human voice.

聽到人的聲音也會微笑。

Smiling is one of the most basic, biologically uniform

微笑是人類一種最基本，

expressions of all humans.

最統一的表達方式。

In studies conducted in Papua New Guinea,

在巴布亞新幾內亞的實驗中，

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

Paul Ekman，

一位研究情緒和臉部表情的美國心理學權威，

found that even members of the Fore tribe,

發現在Fore部落中的成員，

who were completely disconnected from Western culture,

即使與西方文化完全隔絕,

and also known for their unusual cannibalism rituals,

即使他們有眾所週知的不尋常的同類相食儀式，

(Laughter)

他們和你我一樣,

attributed smiles to descriptions of situations

the same way you and I would.

也會在類似的情況微笑。

從巴布亞新幾內亞

So from Papua New Guinea

to Hollywood

到好萊塢

到在北京現代藝術，

all the way to modern art in Beijing,

我們總是帶著微笑，

we smile often,

and use smiles to express joy and satisfaction.

我們用微笑來表達喜悅

和滿足感。

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

在這個房間裡,

有多少人會每天微笑超過二十次？

Raise your hand if you do.

如果你會，請舉起你的手。哇。

Oh, wow.

在這個房間外，

Outside of this room,

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

超過三分之一的人每天會微笑超過二十次，

而微笑少於五次的

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

只有百分之十四以下。

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

事實上，最有這種驚人超能力的

是孩子們，

who smile as many as 400 times per day.

他們每天微笑多達四百次。

你有沒有想過為什麼與時常笑的孩子

Have you ever wondered why being around children,

待在一塊兒

who smile so frequently, makes you smile very often?

也會讓你經常微笑？

A recent study at Uppsala University in Sweden

最近在瑞典Uppsala大學的一項研究

發現當看著人微笑時

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

別人要皺眉是非常困難的。

你會問，為什麼？

You ask why?

Because smiling is evolutionarily contagious,

因為微笑是在具有演化的傳染性，

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

它抑制了我們

平常對臉部肌肉的控制能力。

模仿一個微笑，

Mimicking a smile and experiencing it physically

和實際體驗一個微笑

helps us understand whether our smile is fake or real,

能讓我們了解我們的微笑是真是假，

so we can understand the emotional state of the smiler.

令我們可以理解微笑者的

情緒狀態。

In a recent mimicking study

在法國Clermont-Ferrand大學

at the University of Clermont-Ferrand in France,

最近一次模仿的研究,

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

受試者被要求確定

微笑是真是假,

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

但他們亦要同時用口含住鉛筆

壓制微笑的肌肉。

沒有鉛筆，受試者是優秀的評判員，

Without the pencil, subjects were excellent judges,

but with the pencil in their mouth --

但是，當鉛筆在口裡，

when they could not mimic the smile they saw --

當他們不能模仿看到的笑容，

their judgment was impaired.

判斷能力馬上變差。

(Laughter)

(笑聲)

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

除了寫了進化理論的《 物種起源 》，

Charles Darwin also wrote the facial feedback response theory.

Charles Darwin亦寫了

臉部反應的理論。

他的理論陳述

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

微笑的舉動實際上

使我們得到更好的感覺 --

rather than smiling being merely a result of feeling good.

而不是單純為一個好的感覺

而微笑。

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

在他的研究裡，

Darwin列舉了法國神經學家，Guillaume Duchenne，

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

他使用電能震動來刺激

臉部肌肉誘發微笑。

Please, don't try this at home.

請你們不要在家裡嘗試。

(Laughter)

(笑聲)

In a related German study,

在德國一份相關的研究裡，

researchers used fMRI imaging to measure brain activity

研究人員使用功能性核磁共振攝影

測量大腦活動，

before and after injecting Botox to suppress smiling muscles.

拍攝在注射抑制微笑肌肉的

肉毒桿菌前與注射後的照片。

The finding supported Darwin's theory,

結果發現支持Darwin的理論,

by showing that facial feedback

當我們臉部表情的反應是微笑時，

modifies the neural processing of emotional content in the brain,

我們的神經處理系統會改變

影響大腦的情感部分

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

在某種程度上，令我們可以有更好的感覺。

Smiling stimulates our brain reward mechanism

微笑刺激我們大腦獎勵的機能

就算是深受

in a way that even chocolate --

a well-regarded pleasure inducer --

眾人喜愛的巧克力

cannot match.

都無法比擬。

British researchers found that one smile

英國研究人員發現，

can generate the same level of brain stimulation

一個微笑產生的大腦刺激可以等同於

as up to 2,000 bars of chocolate.

二千塊巧克力糖的影響。

(Laughter)

(笑聲)

Wait --

還有，同一項研究發現

The same study found that smiling is as stimulating

微笑的刺激能力也等同於

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

獲得高達一萬六千英鎊現金的感覺。

(Laughter)

一個微笑就像是二萬五千元。

That's like 25 grand a smile.

It's not bad.

這挺不錯的。

And think about it this way:

試想：

25,000 times 400 --

二萬五千元乘以四百 (個微笑)--

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

外面有不少孩子

每天都有像Mark Zuckerberg的感覺(facebook創造者) 。

(Laughter)

而且，不像大量的巧克力，

And unlike lots of chocolate,

lots of smiling can actually make you healthier.

多些微笑實際上可以讓你更健康。

Smiling can help reduce the level of stress-enhancing hormones

微笑可以幫助降低

會提升壓力的荷爾蒙，

like cortisol, adrenaline and dopamine,

如皮質醇，腎上腺素和多巴胺，

increase the level of mood-enhancing hormones like endorphins,

它們提高增強情緒的荷爾蒙

如腦內啡

and reduce overall blood pressure.

也能降低整體血壓。

如果這還不夠，

And if that's not enough,

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

在別人眼中,

微笑是好看的。

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

在賓州州立大學最近的一項研究

發現當你微笑時

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

你不僅顯得更可愛，有禮貌，

你實際上顯得更能幹。

but you actually appear to be more competent.

所以每當你想看起來非常能幹，

So whenever you want to look great and competent,

減低你的壓力

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

或想有吃了成堆高品質巧克力的感覺--

又不想產生熱量 --

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,

或像在一件舊外套的口袋裡

找到二萬五千元的感覺，

又或者當你想擁有那種

or whenever you want to tap into a superpower

that will help you and everyone around you

能幫助你和你周圍的人活得

live a longer, healthier, happier life,

更長久，更健康，更幸福的超能力，

請微笑。

smile.

(Applause)

(掌聲)