TED演讲:恋爱中的大脑(3)

 　　I would also like to tell the world that animals love.  我还想分享一下关于动物爱情的故事。

　　There's not an animal on this planet  世界上任何一种动物

　　that will copulate with anything that comes along.  都不会饥不择食地寻找活物进行交配。

　　Too old, too young, too scruffy¹, too stupid, and they won't do it.  太老的、太年轻的、太脏的或是太蠢笨的，它们都不会选择。

　　Unless you're stuck in a laboratory cage --  除非你把它们关在实验室的笼子里——

　　and you know, if you spend your entire life in a little box,  当然，如果你在笼子里度过一生，

　　you're not going to be as picky about who you have sex with --  也不会那么挑食了。

　　but I've looked in a hundred species,  在调查了一百个物种后，

　　and everywhere in the wild, animals have favorites.  我发现野外的每一个角落，每一只动物都有各自的心之归属。

　　As a matter of fact ethologists know this.  事实上，生态学家知道这些。

　　There are over eight words for what they call "animal favoritism:"  用四个词可以概括动物各自的偏爱：

　　selective proceptivity, mate choice, female choice, sexual choice.  选择性感知，配偶选择，雌性选择，性选择。

　　And indeed, there are now three academic articles  这儿有三篇学术文章

　　in which they've looked at this attraction,  涉及到了这种吸引力。

　　which may only last for a second,  虽然这种吸引力也许只维持一秒，

　　but it's a definite attraction,  但它确实是存在的。

　　and either this same brain region, this reward system,  而且牵涉到大脑中到腹侧背盖区和奖赏系统

　　or the chemicals of that reward system are involved.  （更确切的说是奖赏系统中的相关化学物质）。

　　In fact, I think animal attraction can be instant --  事实上，我相信动物间的吸引力是可以即刻产生的——

　　you can see an elephant instantly go for another elephant.  我们能看到，大象有时会突然被另一头大象吸引。

　　And I think that this is really the origin  我相信这就是我们所说的

　　of what you and I call "love at first sight." “一见钟情”的源头。

　　People have often asked me whether  人们常问我是不是

　　what I know about love has spoiled it for me.  因为研究爱情太多而没了爱的兴致。

　　And I just simply say, "Hardly."  这基本是不可能的。

　　You can know every single ingredient in a piece of chocolate cake,  就如同在了解一块巧克力蛋糕中的所有成份后，

　　and then when you sit down and eat that cake,  我仍然能够品味

　　you can still feel that joy.  吃蛋糕的乐趣。

　　And certainly, I make all the same mistakes  我也同样会

　　that everybody else does too,  犯大家都会犯的错，

　　but it's really deepened my understanding  但这些经历加深了我的对爱情的理解，

　　and compassion², really, for all human life.  并让我对所有人都更有爱心。

　　As a matter of fact, in New York, I often catch myself  比如，我在纽约时，

　　looking in baby carriages and feeling a little sorry for the tot.  常看着婴儿车里的小孩，并感到一丝同情。

　　And in fact, sometimes I feel a little sorry  有时，当想到大脑是多么富有感情，

　　for the chicken on my dinner plate,  我会对餐桌上的鸡

　　when I think of how intense this brain system is.  抱有歉意。

　　Our newest experiment has been hatched  我们最近的实验

　　by my colleague, Art Aron --  由我的同事阿尔特·阿伦操作进行，

　　putting people who are reporting that they are still in love,  内容是对长期相处后仍能够保持相恋的情侣们

　　in a long-term relationship, into the functional³ MRI.  进行核磁共振测试。

　　We've put five people in so far,  至此，我们一共测试了5对这样的情侣，

　　and indeed, we found exactly the same thing. They're not lying.  并发现了他们共同的特点。

　　The brain areas  在他们相恋25年后，

　　associated with intense romantic love  他们大脑中与热恋相关的区域

　　still become active, 25 years later.  仍然保持活跃。

　　There are still many questions to be answered  关于爱情

　　and asked about romantic love.  还有很多未解开的迷。

　　The question that I'm working on right this minute --  现在我简短地说一下

　　and I'm only going to say it for a second, and then end --  我正研究问题：

　　is, why do you fall in love with one person, rather than another?  为什么你会爱上他，而不是别人？

　　I never would have even thought to think of this,  原本我并没有想要去思考这个问题，

　　but Match.com, the Internet-dating site,  但在三年前，一个约会网站Match.com找到我，

　　came to me three years ago and asked me that question.  并问了我这个问题。

　　And I said, I don't know.  我只能说“我不知道”。

　　I know what happens in the brain, when you do become in love,  我所知道的是人们恋爱时，大脑中到底发生了什么，

　　but I don't know why you fall in love with one person  但我却不知道

　　rather than another.  为什么他就是你命中注定的爱人。

　　And so, I've spent the last three years on this.  所以，这三年我都在思考这个问题。

　　And there are many reasons that you fall in love with one person  心理学家告诉我们

　　rather than another, that psychologists can tell you.  一定有很多原因使你爱上他，而不是另一个人。

1 scruffy   

adj.肮脏的，不洁的

参考例句：

• Despite her scruffy clothes,there was an air of sophistication about her.尽管她衣衫褴褛，但神态老练世故。
• His scruffy appearance does not reflect his character.他邋遢的外表并不反映他的性格。

2 compassion   

n.同情，怜悯

参考例句：

• He could not help having compassion for the poor creature.他情不自禁地怜悯起那个可怜的人来。
• Her heart was filled with compassion for the motherless children.她对于没有母亲的孩子们充满了怜悯心。

3 functional   

adj.为实用而设计的，具备功能的，起作用的

参考例句：

• The telephone was out of order,but is functional now.电话刚才坏了，但现在可以用了。
• The furniture is not fancy,just functional.这些家具不是摆着好看的，只是为了实用。