The Optimism BiasWord文档下载推荐.docx

The Optimism BiasWord文档下载推荐.docx

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envision（想象，设想）themselvesachievingmorethantheirpeers;

andoverestimatetheirlikelylifespan（寿命）（sometimesby20yearsormore）.

Thebeliefthatthefuturewillbemuchbetterthanthepastandpresentisknownastheoptimismbias.Itabides（持续，逗留，等候）ineveryrace,regionandsocioeconomic（社会经济学的）bracket（托架，撑架，阶层，等级段）.Schoolchildrenplayingwhen-I-grow-up（当我长大时）arerampant（蔓延的，茂盛的，猛烈的，不能控制的）optimists,butsoaregrownups:

a2005studyfoundthatadultsover60arejustaslikelytoseetheglasshalffullasyoungadults.

Youmightexpectoptimismtoerode（腐蚀，侵蚀，磨损）underthetideofnewsaboutviolentconflicts,highunemployment,tornadoesandfloodsandallthethreatsandfailuresthatshape（塑造）humanlife.Collectively（总体地，共同地）wecangrowpessimistic（悲观的）—aboutthedirectionofourcountryortheabilityofourleaderstoimproveeducationandreducecrime.Butprivateoptimism,aboutourpersonalfuture,remainsincrediblyresilient（迅速恢复精力的）.Asurveyconductedin2007foundthatwhile70%thoughtfamiliesingeneralwerelesssuccessfulthanintheirparents'

day,76%ofrespondentswereoptimisticaboutthefutureoftheirownfamily.（See"

TheCaseforOptimism"

inTIME'

sspecial:

10IdeasThatWillChangetheWorld.）

Overlypositiveassumptionscanleadtodisastrous（灾难性的，悲惨的）miscalculations（算错，误认，误估）—makeuslesslikelytogethealthcheckups（检查，核对，体格检查）,applysunscreen（遮光剂）oropenasavingsaccount,andmorelikelytobetthefarmonabadinvestment.Butthebiasalsoprotectsandinspiresus:

itkeepsusmovingforwardratherthantothenearesthigh-rise（高楼的，有多层的）ledge（岩架，岩石突出部）.Withoutoptimism,ourancestorsmightneverhaveventuredfarfromtheirtribesandwemightallbecavedwellers,stillhuddled（缩成一团的，依偎在一起地）togetheranddreamingoflightandheat.

Tomakeprogress,weneedtobeabletoimaginealternativerealities—betterones—andweneedtobelievethatwecanachievethem.Suchfaithhelpsmotivateustopursueourgoals.Optimistsingeneralworklongerhoursandtendtoearnmore.EconomistsatDukeUniversityfoundthatoptimistsevensavemore.Andalthoughtheyarenotlesslikelytodivorce,theyaremorelikelytoremarry—anactthatis,asSamuelJohnsonwrote,thetriumph（胜利，成功，业绩，欢欣）ofhopeoverexperience.（Seeiftheglobal"

happiness"

indexwilleverbeatouttheGDP.）

Evenifthatbetterfutureisoftenanillusion（错觉）,optimismhasclearbenefitsinthepresent.Hopekeepsourmindsatease（安心，自在，不拘束）,lowersstressandimprovesphysicalhealth.Researchersstudyingheart-diseasepatientsfoundthatoptimistsweremorelikelythannonoptimisticpatientstotakevitamins,eatlow-fatdietsandexercise,therebyreducingtheiroverall（中的，全部的）coronary（冠状的，冠状动脉的，心脏的）risk.Astudyofcancerpatientsrevealedthatpessimisticpatientsundertheageof60weremorelikelytodiewithineightmonthsthannonpessimisticpatientsofthesameinitialhealth,statusandage.

Infact,agrowingbodyofscientificevidencepointstotheconclusionthatoptimismmaybehardwired（硬连线的）byevolution（发展，进展，进化）intothehumanbrain.Thescienceofoptimism,oncescorned（轻蔑，蔑视，嘲笑，奚落）asanintellectuallysuspectprovinceofpeprallies（赛前动员会）andsmiley（微笑的，兴高采烈的）faces,isopeninganewwindowontheworkingsofhumanconsciousness.Whatitshowscouldfuelarevolutioninpsychology（心理学）,asthefieldcomestogrips（理解，掌握）withaccumulatingevidencethatourbrainsaren'

tjuststamped（打上（标记德国），盖章于，拒绝）bythepast.Theyareconstantlybeingshapedbythefuture.

HardwiredforHope?

Iwouldhavelikedtotellyouthatmyworkonoptimismgrewoutofakeeninterestinthepositivesideofhumannature.TherealityisthatIstumbled（绊倒，绊脚，踉跄）ontothebrain'

sinnate（与生俱来的，天生的，固有的）optimismbyaccident.AfterlivingthroughSept.11,2001,inNewYorkCity,Ihadsetouttoinvestigatepeople'

smemoriesoftheterroristattacks.Iwasintrigued（好奇的;

被迷住了的）bythefactthatpeoplefelttheirmemorieswereasaccurateasavideotape（录像带）,whileoftentheywerefilledwitherrors.Asurveyconductedaroundthecountryshowedthat11monthsaftertheattacks,individuals'

recollections（回忆，追忆，往事）oftheirexperiencethatdaywereconsistentwiththeirinitialaccounts（giveninSeptember2011）only63%ofthetime.Theywerealsopooratrememberingdetailsoftheevent,suchasthenamesoftheairlinecarriers.Wheredidthesemistakesinmemorycomefrom?

Scientistswhostudymemoryproposedanintriguing（非常有趣的，引人入胜的，神秘的）answer:

memoriesaresusceptible（易受……影响的，多情的，易被感动的）toinaccuraciespartlybecausetheneuralsystem（神经系统）responsibleforrememberingepisodesfromourpastmightnothaveevolvedformemoryalone.Rather,thecorefunctionofthememorysystemcouldinfactbetoimaginethefuture—toenableustoprepareforwhathasyettocome.Thesystemisnotdesignedtoperfectlyreplaypastevents,theresearchersclaimed.Itisdesignedtoflexiblyconstructfuturescenarios（情节，剧本，事态，局面）inourminds.Asaresult,memoryalsoendsupbeingareconstructiveprocess,andoccasionally,detailsaredeletedandothersinserted.（Seewhyhappinessisn'

talwaysgood.）

Totestthis,Idecidedtorecordthebrainactivityofvolunteerswhiletheyimaginedfutureevents—noteventsonthescaleof9/11,buteventsintheireverydaylives—andcomparethoseresultswiththepatternIobservedwhenthesameindividualsrecalledpastevents.Butsomethingunexpectedoccurred.Oncepeoplestartedimaginingthefuture,eventhemostbanal（平庸的，陈腐的）lifeeventsseemedtotakeadramaticturnforthebetter.Mundane（世俗的，世界的）scenesbrightenedwithupbeat（复苏，上升，兴旺）detailsasifpolished（擦亮的，精练的，优美的，圆滑的）byaHollywoodscriptdoctor.Youmightthinkthatimaginingafuturehaircutwouldbeprettydull.Notatall.Hereiswhatoneofmyparticipantspictured:

"

I 

wasgettingmyhaircuttodonatetoLocksofLove[acharitythatfashionswigs（假发）foryoungcancerpatients].Ithadtakenmeyearstogrowitout,andmyfriendswerealltheretohelpcelebrate.WewenttomyfavoritehairplaceinBrooklynandthenwenttolunchatourfavoriterestaurant."

Iaskedanotherparticipanttoimagineaplaneride."

Iimaginedthetakeoff—myfavorite!

—andthentheeight-hour-longnap（打盹儿，午睡）inbetweenandthenfinallylandinginKrakowandclappingforthepilotforprovidingthesafevoyage（航行，航海，乘船旅游）,"

sheresponded.Notarmac（柏柏油碎石，铺有柏油碎石的飞机跑道）delays,noscreamingbabies.Theworld,onlyayearortwointothefuture,wasawonderfulplacetolivein.

Ifallourparticipantsinsistedonthinkingpositivelywhenitcametowhatlayinstoreforthempersonally,whatdoesthattellusabouthowourbrainsarewired?

Isthehumantendencyforoptimismaconsequenceofthearchitectureofourbrains?

（Seethenewscienceofhappiness.）

TheHumanTimeMachine

Tothinkpositivelyaboutourprospects,wemustfirstbeabletoimagineourselvesinthefuture.Optimismstartswithwhatmaybethemostextraordinaryofhumantalents:

mentaltimetravel,theabilitytomovebackandforththroughtimeandspaceinone'

smind.Althoughmostofustakethisabilityforgranted,ourcapacitytoenvisionadifferenttimeandplaceisinfactcriticaltooursurvival.

Itiseasytoseewhycognitive（认知的，认识的）timetravelwasnaturallyselectedforoverthecourseofevolution.Itallowsustoplanahead,tosavefoodandresourcesfortimesofscarcity（缺乏，不足，匮乏，萧条，稀少）andtoendurehardworkinanticipationofafuturereward.Italsoletsusforecasthowourcurrentbehaviormayinfluencefuturegenerations.Ifwewerenotabletopicturetheworldinahundredyearsormore,wouldwebeconcernedwithglobalwarming?

Wouldweattempttolivehealthily?

Wouldwehavechildren?

Whilementaltimetravelhasclearsurvivaladvantages,consciousforesight（远见，先见之明）cametohumansatanenormousprice—theunderstandingthatsomewhereinthefuture,deathawaits.AjitVarki,abiologistattheUniversityofCalifornia,SanDiego,arguesthattheawarenessofmortalityonitsownwouldhaveledevolutiontoadeadend.Thedespairwouldhaveinterferedwithourdailyfunction,bringingtheactivitiesneededforsurvivaltoastop.Theonlywayconsciousmentaltimetravelcouldhavearisenoverthecourseofevolutionisifitemergedtogetherwithirrational（物理性的，不合理的，不明事理的）optimism.Knowledgeofdeathhadtoemergesidebysidewiththepersistentabilitytopictureabrightfuture.

Thecapacitytoenvisionthefuturereliespartlyonthehippocampus（【希神】马头鱼尾海怪；

海马（大脑中被认为是感情和记忆中心的部分））,abrainstructurethatiscrucialtomemory.Patientswithdamagetotheirhippocampusareunabletorecollectthepast,buttheyarealsounabletoconstructdetailedimagesoffuturescenarios.Theyappeartobestuckintime.Therestofusconstantlymovebackandforthintime;

wemightthinkofaconversationwehadwithourspouseyesterdayandthenimmediatelyofourdinnerplansforlatertonight.

Butthebraindoesn'

ttravelintimeinarandomfashion.Ittendstoengageinspecifictypesofthoughts.Weconsiderhowwellourkidswilldoinlife,howwewillobtainthatsought-after（受欢迎的，吃香的）job,affordthathouseonthehillandfindperfectlove.Weimagineourteamwinningthecrucial