Why some people are more altruistic than others | Abigail Marsh

譯者: Wen-Kuang Liu 審譯者: Sui He

There's a man out there, somewhere,

一位男子在那，

who looks a little bit like the actor Idris Elba,

長的有點神似演員伊卓瑞斯·艾巴，

or at least he did 20 years ago.

或者是艾巴 20 年前的樣子。

I don't know anything else about him,

我對他一無所知，

except that he once saved my life

只知道他鋌而走險，救了我一命。

by putting his own life in danger.

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

在夜裡，這位男子 橫穿 4 條高速行車道，

to bring me back to safety

將我從一場致命車禍中救出， 並且將我帶到安全的地方。

after a car accident that could have killed me.

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

整個事件讓我相當恐慌，

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

但也留下了一個纏繞在心頭、 揮之不去的困惑，

to understand why he did it,

讓我想了解為什麼他要這麼做。

what forces within him caused him to make the choice

是什麼樣的動力，

讓他決定冒著喪失性命的風險，

that I owe my life to,

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

去拯救一個陌生人的命？

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

換句話說，哪種因素造就了 他或者其他人的利他行為？

But first let me tell you what happened.

在開始之前， 讓我先告訴你們這故事。

That night, I was 19 years old

事件當晚，我那時 19 歲，

and driving back to my home in Tacoma, Washington,

我正要開車返回 位於華盛頓州塔科馬的家，

down the Interstate 5 freeway,

要下第五州際公路時，

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

一隻小狗飛奔到我的車子前方。

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

我做了一件絕對不該做的事，

which is swerve to avoid it.

就是立刻轉向避免撞上牠。

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

並且，我發現不該這麼做的原因。

I hit the dog anyways,

我最終還是撞到了那條狗，

and that sent the car into a fishtail,

我的車子也劇烈搖晃，

and then a spin across the freeway,

最且開始在公路上打轉，

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

最後停在了公路的快車道上，

faced backwards into oncoming traffic

逆向面對即將而來的車輛，

and then the engine died.

此時我的引擎卻無法發動。

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

我非常確定，那個瞬間，

我將喪失性命，

but I didn't

但我沒有。

because of the actions of that one brave man

因為一位勇敢的男子，做出行動，

who must have made the decision

在看見我拋錨的車子後的瞬間， 下定決心，把車停在路旁，

within a fraction of a second of seeing my stranded car

to pull over and run across four lanes of freeway traffic

在昏暗不明的黑夜中， 飛奔過 4 條行車道，

in the dark

to save my life.

救了我一命。

And then after he got my car working again

事後他幫我的車子修理處理好，

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

並且帶我到了安全的地點 確保一切無恙後，

he drove off again.

他才開車離去。

He never even told me his name,

他甚至沒有告訴我他的名字﹐

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

而我也清楚記得，我忘記道謝了。

So before I go any further,

在我繼續講下去之前，

I really want to take a moment

我真的很想花點時間

to stop and say thank you to that stranger.

好好地答謝那位陌生人。

(Applause)

（掌聲）

I tell you all of this

我將這件事情告訴你們，

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

是因為那晚的事情， 某些程度上地改變了我的人生課題，

I became a psychology researcher,

我成為了一位心理學研究者，

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

並且致力於理解人類 關心他人的能力。

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

究竟這能力是怎麼來的？ 又是怎麼發展的?

and what are the extreme forms that it can take?

為什麼在極端的情況也能展現出來？

These questions are really important to understanding basic aspects

這些問題對於 理解人類的社會性來說，

of human social nature.

是相當重要的基本方面。

A lot of people, and this includes everybody

有許多人，包括各種職業

from philosophers and economists to ordinary people

像是哲學家、經濟學家 甚至是一般人，

believe that human nature is fundamentally selfish,

都認為人性是自私的，

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

人們總是因為有利可圖才行動。

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

但如果人真如此， 為何有些人會做一些無私的事，

do selfless things, like helping other people

像是冒著風險幫助別人，

at enormous risk and cost to themselves?

或像那位陌生人一樣幫助我呢？

Answering this question

要想回答這個疑問，

requires exploring the roots of extraordinary acts of altruism,

我們需要探索利他行為的根源，

and what might make people who engage in such acts

為什麼有些人不同於他人，

different than other people.

會願意參與這樣非凡的舉動呢？

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

到目前為止，

幾乎沒有研究探討這樣的議題。

The actions of the man who rescued me

幫助我的那位男子

meet the most stringent definition of altruism,

符合了利他主義的最極端定義，

which is a voluntary, costly behavior

即是志願性地、代價高地

motivated by the desire to help another individual.

並且強烈地渴望幫助他人。

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

這是無私的舉動， 他們試圖帶給人們利益。

What could possibly explain an action like that?

該如何解釋這樣的舉動呢？

One answer is compassion, obviously,

顯然，第一個答案是同情心，

which is a key driver of altruism.

這是驅動利他行為的重點。

But then the question becomes,

但這樣問題又變成了

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

為什麼某些人 會比其他人更有同情心？

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

答案可能是具高度利他行為的人們

are different in fundamental ways.

本質上腦袋就跟其他人不同。

But to figure out how,

為了去找出緣由，

I actually started from the opposite end,

我從反面思考著手，

with psychopaths.

研究一些精神病患者。

A common approach to understanding basic aspects of human nature,

我們有一個非常普遍的方法 用來研究人性的本質，

like the desire to help other people,

例如想要幫助他人的天性，

is to study people in whom that desire is missing,

即是去研究某些 失去這些天性的人們，

and psychopaths are exactly such a group.

像是一些精神病患者 就很符合這項特徵。

Psychopathy is a developmental disorder

經神病態是由於基因上的缺陷，

with strongly genetic origins,

導致發展過程中具有缺陷，

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

最終造成他們的冷酷無情，

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

這讓他們傾向利用一些 反社會甚至暴利行為解決事情。

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

在國家心理衛生研究院

conducted some of the first ever brain imaging research

我和同事拍攝了第一例

of psychopathic adolescents,

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

我們及後續研究者的發現

have shown that people who are psychopathic

都顯示出患有精神疾病的人們

pretty reliably exhibit three characteristics.

擁有三個相關性極高的特徵。

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

首先，他們對於感受別人的情緒 並沒有遲鈍的表現，

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

但是對於他人的 痛苦情緒跡象卻難以感受。

And in particular,

特別是，

they have difficulty recognizing fearful facial expressions like this one.

他們對於辨識恐懼的 臉部表情有障礙，像這張圖。

And fearful expressions convey urgent need and emotional distress,

而恐懼的表情傳遞了 一個人的急迫及精神上的痛苦，

and they usually elicit compassion and a desire to help

一般人見到恐懼的表情，

通常都會被激起同情心， 並想要伸出援手，

in people who see them,

so it makes sense that people who tend to lack compassion

所以合理的推論是，缺乏同情心的人

also tend to be insensitive to these cues.

其實是難以感受這些暗示的。

The part of the brain

在大腦中，

that's the most important for recognizing fearful expressions

分辨恐懼表情的重要部分

is called the amygdala.

叫做杏仁核。

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

極少數的人有杏仁核發展不全的症狀，

and they're profoundly impaired in recognizing fearful expressions.

而這些人對於恐懼表情的辨識 都有相當程度的障礙。

And whereas healthy adults and children

儘管他們是身體健康的成人或小孩，

usually show big spikes in amygdala activity

他們在看到恐懼的表情時，

when they look at fearful expressions,

腦中杏仁核的活性都有嚴重的阻礙，

psychopaths' amygdalas are underreactive to these expressions.

精神病患者的杏仁核 對這些表情感受不活躍。

Sometimes they don't react at all,

有時候他們根本沒有反應，

which may be why they have trouble detecting these cues.

或許這就是為何他們在 感受恐懼表情上會有障礙。

Finally, psychopaths' amygdalas are smaller than average

精神病患者的杏仁核

by about 18 or 20 percent.

比正常人還小 18-20%。

So all of these findings are reliable and robust,

因此，這些發現的可信度相當高，

and they're very interesting.

同時也是相當有趣的發現。

But remember that my main interest

但請記得我主要感興趣的

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

並非為何有些人不關心他人。

It's understanding why they do.

而是為何人會關心他人。

So the real question is,

所以真正的問題是，

could extraordinary altruism,

那些非凡的利他行為，

which is the opposite of psychopathy

即精神病態的相反面，

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

充滿同情心並渴望幫助他人的人，

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

是否因為他們的大腦與 精神病態也完全相反？

A sort of antipsychopathic brain,

非精神病態的大腦，

better able to recognize other people's fear,

是否更能辨識人們恐懼的臉孔？

an amygdala that's more reactive to this expression

是否他們的杏仁核 對這個表情更有反應？

and maybe larger than average as well?

或者他們的杏仁核 比正常人的還要大？

As my research has now shown,

依據我的研究，

all three things are true.

三者皆是。

And we discovered this

我們透過測試那些真的具有 利他行為的人，發現了這些現象。

by testing a population of truly extraordinary altruists.

These are people who have given one of their own kidneys

那些受試者很樂意將自己的腎臟，

to a complete stranger.

去提供給一位陌生人。

So these are people who have volunteered to undergo major surgery

這些人自願承受大型手術，

so that one of their own healthy kidneys can be removed

將他們自己的健康腎臟轉移，

and transplanted into a very ill stranger

到另一位虛弱的陌生人身上，

that they've never met and may never meet.

他們甚至從未見過這些陌生人。

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

「為什麼會有人這樣做？」 這是一個大家都想知道的問題。

And the answer may be

而答案可能是因為

that the brains of these extraordinary altruists

這些具非凡利他行為的人，

have certain special characteristics.

他們的大腦有一些特別之處。

They are better at recognizing other people's fear.

他們更善於感受他人的恐懼。

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

他們確實更能偵測到 別人的痛苦情緒。

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

可能有部分是因為他們的杏仁核 對這些表情的反應更加活耀。

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

提醒一下，精神病態患者腦中

was underreactive in people who are psychopathic.

同一個部位對此是不活耀的。

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

最後一點，具利他行為的人， 他們的杏仁核比常人大了 8 %。

by about eight percent.

So together, what these data suggest

綜上所述，這些資訊顯示了

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

世界上的人們可能 存在於這條愛心連續曲線上，

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

有的人在精神病態的極端，

and at the other by people who are very compassionate

也有人非常地有同情心，

and driven to acts of extreme altruism.

導致他們有極端的利他行為。

But I should add that what makes extraordinary altruists so different

但我要強調，這些非凡的利他行為

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

並不僅是因為 他們的同情心強於常人。

They are,

他們的確同情心過人，

but what's even more unusual about them

但與眾不同的地方是，

is that they're compassionate and altruistic

他們的同情心跟利他行為

not just towards people who are in their own innermost circle

不僅是對於最接近自己的人際關係，

of friends and family. Right?

像是朋友跟家人，對吧？

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

因為對你所愛的人有同情心，

is not extraordinary.

並不能算是非凡的行為。

Truly extraordinary altruists' compassion extends way beyond that circle,

真正非凡的利他者的同情心，

會延伸至圈外， 甚至延伸到熟人圈之外，

even beyond their wider circle of acquaintances

to people who are outside their social circle altogether,

延伸到自己社交圈以外的所有人，

total strangers,

所有的陌生人，

just like the man who rescued me.

就像是那位拯救我的男子那樣。

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

我曾問願意捐贈腎臟的人們：

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

如何才能將自己的同情心範圍擴大，

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

擴大到使他們願意將腎臟 捐給完全不認識的陌生人？

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

而我發現這對他們來說 是非常困難的問題，

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

我問：「是什麼讓你願意去做這件

when so many other people don't?

大多數人都不願意做的事？

You're one of fewer than 2,000 Americans

每二千位美國人中 都不會有一位像你這樣

who has ever given a kidney to a stranger.

願意將腎臟捐給陌生人的人，

What is it that makes you so special?"

是什麼讓你變得如此特別？」

And what do they say?

他們怎麼說？

They say, "Nothing.

他們說：「沒什麼，

There's nothing special about me.

對我來說這沒什麼特別。

I'm just the same as everybody else."

我跟其他人都是一樣的。」

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

而我想，這確實就是真正的答案了，

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

因為正顯示出了， 這些人的人際圈看起來不像這樣，

they look more like this.

而是像這樣，

They have no center.

他們沒有中心自我。

These altruists literally don't think of themselves

這些利他主義者不認為

as being at the center of anything,

自己是在任何事物的中心，

as being better or more inherently important than anybody else.

他們並不覺得自己 比其他人更優秀或獨特。

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

當我問一位利他主義者， 為什麼捐贈腎臟對她來說是正常的，

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

她說：「因為這不只是 關係到我自己。」

Another said,

另一位利他主義者說：

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

「我跟其他人沒什麼不同， 我並不是獨一無二。

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

你的研究中應該也發現了， 其實我與你沒什麼不同。」

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

我認為最能形容這樣 缺乏自我中心的性格的詞

is humility,

就是謙卑，

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

而謙卑二字正是聖奧古斯丁

makes men as angels.

能形容人為天使的原因。

And why is that?

為什麼呢？

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

因為如果你的人際圈中沒有中心，

there can be no inner rings or outer rings,

那就沒有內圈，也沒有外圈了，

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

沒有人更值得也沒有人不值得

你去表現同情心。

than anybody else.

And I think that this is what really distinguishes extraordinary altruists

我認為這是最非凡利他者

from the average person.

與一般人最大的差異。

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

但我認為對大多數的人來說，

and maybe even most people.

這是一個可達成的願景。

And I think this because at the societal level,

我認為從社會層面上來看，

expansions of altruism and compassion are already happening everywhere.

利他主義及同情心 已經擴張到每個角落。

The psychologist Steven Pinker and others have shown

心理學家史迪芬．平克 跟其他研究者表示，

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

世界上的人們越來越難

of suffering in ever-widening circles of others,

接受人際圈以外的人們受到折磨，

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

所以許多殘忍、 暴力的事件才會越來越少，

from animal abuse to domestic violence to capital punishment.

像是虐待動物、家庭暴力及死刑。

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

而各種利他行為越來越多。

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

一百多年前，人們認為

how normal and ordinary it is

捐贈血液及骨髓，

for people to donate their blood and bone marrow

是非常荒謬可笑的事，

to complete strangers today.

但在今日，這項行為卻是相當普遍。

Is it possible that a hundred years from now

也許在百年之後，

people will think that donating a kidney to a stranger

人們會認為捐讚腎臟給陌生人

is just as normal and ordinary

是一件再普通不過的事，

as we think donating blood and bone marrow is today?

就像我們今日認為 捐血跟骨髓很普通一樣。

Maybe.

或許吧！

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

這些驚人變化的根源，

In part it seems to be

某部分或許是

increases in wealth and standards of living.

源自於財富的增加 或生活水平的進步。

As societies become wealthier and better off,

社會變得更富有、更好，

people seem to turn their focus of attention outward,

人們會開始將注意力轉向其他方面。

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

因此，對陌生人的利他行為增加了，

from volunteering to charitable donations and even altruistic kidney donations.

從志工服務、慷慨地捐錢 甚至是捐出自己的腎臟。

But all of these changes also yield

但所有的改變都顯示

a strange and paradoxical result,

一個奇怪又矛盾的結果，

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

世界正在變得更好更友善，

which it is,

然而，

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

大眾的理解是， 世界變得更糟糕更暴力了，

and more cruel, which it's not.

這跟前面敘述的牴觸。

And I don't know exactly why this is,

我並不清楚為何會如此，

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

但我認為可能是因為 我們現在才真正知道

about the suffering of strangers in distant places,

遠方有很多人在受苦，

and so we now care a lot more

所以我們才能夠更關心

about the suffering of those distant strangers.

在遙遠的地方受苦的人。

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

但明顯的事， 我們看到的現況表現出

that the roots of altruism and compassion

利他及同情心的根源，

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

其實與人類的殘忍及暴力 是相去不遠的，

maybe even more so,

或許同情心還比較多一些，

and while some people do seem to be inherently more sensitive

某些人與生俱有較強的感受力

to the suffering of distant others,

去體會他人的痛苦。

I really believe that the ability to remove oneself

我相信將自我移除於圓圈中心的能力，

from the center of the circle

and expand the circle of compassion outward to include even strangers

並且將圓圈及同情心擴展出去， 納入陌生人們的能力

is within reach for almost everyone.

就存於每個人身上。

Thank you.

謝謝大家。

(Applause)

（掌聲）