读者文摘:顿悟时刻(5)

WLLIAM MILLER¹, PHD, emeritus² professor of psychology³ and psychiatry⁴ at an the University of New Mexico,

新墨西哥大学心理学和精神病学名誉教授威廉·米勒，

interviewed people who had experienced sudden realizations⁵ that led to life transformations⁶.

采访了那些因为突然的意识而导致生活转变的人。

Most of the triggers were not so dramatic, he reported in his coauthored book Quantum Change.

他在合著的《量子变化》一书中写道，大多数诱因都不那么戏剧性。

People experienced moments of sudden realizations and life transformations while walking to a nightclub, cleaning a toilet, watching TV, lying in bed, and preparing to shower.

人们在去夜总会、打扫厕所、看电视、躺在床上、准备淋浴的过程中经历了突然实现和生活转变的时刻。

They reported a striking similarity, however, in how the moments felt:

然而，他们声称在这些瞬间的感受上有着惊人的相似：

more like a message revealed to them from outside than something their own minds had ginned up.

这些信息更像是外界透露给他们，而非他们脑海中灵光乍现。

It felt foreign, mystical even. Which may explain why so many historical accounts of revelations have been interpreted as communications from the divine.

它给人的感觉是陌生甚至是神秘的。这也许可以解释，为什么这么多关于启示的历史记载被解释为来自于神。

In more recent years, studies of the neuroscience of insight have begun to give us clues to what they really are.

近年来，对神经科学的研究已经开始给我们提供线索，让我们了解它们究竟是什么。

In 2003, Mark Beeman, PhD, a cognitive⁷ neuroscientist, presented people with a series of brainteasers in his lab at Northwestern University.

2003年，认知神经学家马克·比曼博士在西北大学的实验室里向人们展示了一系列的脑筋急转弯。

The test he used, called the "remote associates test," is designed to produce leaps of thought.

他使用的测试被称为“联想测试”，旨在产生思维跳跃。

It asks subjects to provide the missing link among three seemingly unrelated words—say, pine, sauce, and tree.

它要求受试者提供三个看似不相关的单词，例如，松树、酱油和树之间缺失的链接。

(People sometimes exclaim "Aha!" when the word apple pops to mind.)

人们想到“苹果”这个词时有时会惊呼“啊哈！”

1 miller   

n.磨坊主

参考例句：

• Every miller draws water to his own mill.磨坊主都往自己磨里注水。
• The skilful miller killed millions of lions with his ski.技术娴熟的磨坊主用雪橇杀死了上百万头狮子。

2 emeritus   

adj.名誉退休的

参考例句：

• "Perhaps I can introduce Mr.Lake Kirby,an emeritus professor from Washington University?"请允许我介绍华盛顿大学名誉教授莱克柯尔比先生。
• He will continue as chairman emeritus.他将会继续担任荣誉主席。

3 psychology   

n.心理，心理学，心理状态

参考例句：

• She has a background in child psychology.她受过儿童心理学的教育。
• He studied philosophy and psychology at Cambridge.他在剑桥大学学习哲学和心理学。

4 psychiatry   

n.精神病学，精神病疗法

参考例句：

• The study appeared in the Amercian science Journal of Psychiatry.这个研究发表在美国精神病学的杂志上。
• A physician is someone who specializes in psychiatry.精神病专家是专门从事精神病治疗的人。

5 realizations   

认识，领会( realization的名词复数 )； 实现

参考例句：

• Popular realizations of MPI standard are CHIMP and LAM and so on. 目前，公用的MPI实现有CHIMP、lam等。
• The author presents some realizations from the certificate assurance work. 本文介绍了笔者在ISO9001质量体系认证工作中的几点体会。

6 transformations   

n.变化( transformation的名词复数 )；转换；转换；变换

参考例句：

• Energy transformations go on constantly, all about us. 在我们周围，能量始终在不停地转换着。 来自辞典例句
• On the average, such transformations balance out. 平均起来，这种转化可以互相抵消。 来自辞典例句

7 cognitive   

adj.认知的，认识的，有感知的

参考例句：

• As children grow older,their cognitive processes become sharper.孩子们越长越大，他们的认知过程变得更为敏锐。
• The cognitive psychologist is like the tinker who wants to know how a clock works.认知心理学者倒很像一个需要通晓钟表如何运转的钟表修理匠。