科学美国人60秒 SSS 控制新冠肺炎阴谋论（在线收听）

This is Scientific American's 60-second Science, I'm Julia Rosen.

这里是科学美国人——60秒科学系列，我是朱莉娅·罗森。

Along with COVID-19, something else is spreading across America: conspiracy theories.

有种东西与新冠肺炎一起在美国扩散，那就是“阴谋论”。

In the dark alleys of the Internet, people have concocted a dizzying array of unfounded explanations for the pandemic.

人们在互联网阴暗小巷中为新冠疫情编造了一系列令人眼花缭乱又毫无根据的缘由。

The phenomenon doesn't surprise John Cook, a cognitive scientist at George Mason University.

乔治·梅森大学的认知科学家约翰·库克对这种现象并不惊讶。

"When people feel threatened, when they feel out of control, when they feel like random events are sweeping over them,

“人们在感觉受到威胁、失去控制、感觉随机事件正席卷而来时，

they are more vulnerable or likely to gravitate toward conspiracy theories, because it gives people a sense of control.

他们会更易受攻击或更容易被阴谋论吸引，因为阴谋论会给予人们控制感。

We're just uncomfortable with randomness. Humans are pattern detectors.

我们只是对随机性感到不适。人类是模式探测器。

We need meaning; we need control; we need to know that there is a system—there's an order to how the world works."

我们需要意义；我们需要控制；我们需要知道系统的存在，知道世界运行的方式有规则可寻。”

Cook's expertise is studying climate denial, and he sees many similarities with COVID conspiracies.

库克的专长是气候否认研究，他认为其研究与新冠肺炎阴谋论有许多相似之处。

Both play on distrust of science and the tension between personal liberty and the need to protect society as a whole.

两者都利用了对科学的不信任，以及个人自由与保护整个社会的需要之间的紧张关系。

The difference, Cook says, is the sheer number of COVID myths and how fast they're spreading.

库克表示，二者的传言的数量相当庞大，传播速度也非常快。

"I feel like I'm trying to scoop up floodwater with a spoon."

“我感觉我在试用图勺子舀起洪水。”

He and colleagues hope to build a dam by alerting the public to the prevalence of misinformation.

他和同事希望通过提醒公众注意普遍存在的错误信息来建造大坝。

They recently released a guide called How to Spot COVID-19 Conspiracy Theories. Cook is also producing a series of YouTube videos.

他们最近发布了名为“如何识别新冠肺炎阴谋论”的指南。库克还在YouTube上制作了系列视频。

The key is to identify the hallmarks of conspiratorial thinking.

关键是识别出阴谋思维的特征。

Telltale signs include holding contradictory beliefs, seeing signs of nefarious intent at work and reinterpreting random events as proof of a hidden scheme.

相关标志包括持有相互矛盾的观念，能看到恶念苗头作祟，并将随机事件重新解释为隐藏阴谋的证据。

For example, some have tried to link the coronavirus outbreak to 5G wireless, which also rolled out in 2019.

例如，有些人试图将冠状病毒疫情与同样在2019年推出的5G无线网络联系在一起。

"That can't be coincidence, right? Actually, yes, it is coincidence. Baby Yoda came out in 2019, but Baby Yoda didn't cause COVID."

“那不可能是巧合，对？但其实是的，就是巧合。尤达宝宝也在2019年推出，但它并不是导致新冠肺炎的原因。”

Cook says it can be hard to dislodge a conspiracy theory once it's taken hold.

库克表示，阴谋论一旦生根，就很难根除。

People often discredit conflicting information by simply expanding the scale of the plot: those behind the new evidence must be in on it, too.

人们通常通过简单扩大阴谋的规模来否认相互矛盾的信息：新证据的幕后黑手肯定也是阴谋论的一部分。

A better approach, Cook says, is to inoculate people against misinformation by explaining what to look for in advance.

库克表示，更好的方法是通过事先解释应该寻找什么来让人们免受错误信息的影响。

"When someone throws an argument at you, if you see these red flags, then be wary that it could be a baseless conspiracy theory."

“有人向你抛出论点时，如果你看到这些危险信号后警惕起来，那这可能就是毫无根据的阴谋论。”

Cook's research has shown that inoculation helps prevent people from falling for climate conspiracies.

库克的研究表明，“接种”有助于防止人们陷入气候阴谋。

Until there's a COVID vaccine, perhaps it can at least provide protection from coronavirus quackery.

在新冠肺炎疫苗出现前，“接种”或许至少能为人们提供保护，让人们远离冠状病毒的骗术。

Thanks for listening for Scientific American's 60-second Science. I'm Julia Rosen.

谢谢大家收听科学美国人——60秒科学。我是朱莉娅·罗森。