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The “Science” of Manipulation
操纵的“学问”
Attempts to influence the thoughts and actions of others are no doubt as old as time, but manipulation did not become a science until the early twentieth century, when Ivan Pavlov, a Russian professor of psychology, published his research on conditioned(learned) reflexes. Pavlov found that by ringing a bell when he fed a dog, he could condition the dog to drool at the sound of the bell even when no food was presented. An American psychologist, John Watson, was impressed with Pavlov’s findings and applied them to human behavior. In Watson’s most famous experiment, he let a baby touch a laboratory rat. At first, the baby was unafraid. But then Watson hit a hammer against metal whenever the baby reached out to touch the rat, and the baby became frightened and cried. In time, the baby cried not only at the sight of the rat but also at the sight of anything furry, such as a stuffed animal.* Watson’s work earned him the title “father of behaviorism.”
毫无疑问,试图影响他人的思想和行动的做法自古就有,但是,直到20世纪初,俄国心理学教授伊万·巴甫洛夫发表他的研究条件反射(后天习得行为)研究成果时才成为一门学问。巴甫洛夫发现,喂狗时摇铃,可以使狗形成一听铃声就流口水行为,即使没有食物也是如此。美国心理学家约翰·沃森对巴甫洛夫的发现印象深刻,并将其应用于人类行为研究。在沃森最着名的实验中,他让一个婴儿触摸小白鼠。起初,婴儿并不害怕。随后,当婴儿伸手触摸小白鼠时,沃森用锤子敲击金属,宝宝婴儿开始恐惧并且哭泣。后来,婴儿不仅在视线中有小白鼠时,而且在视线中有任何毛茸茸的东西(例如一个毛绒玩具)时哭泣。沃森的实验使他赢得了“行为主义之父”的称号。
condition [kən'dɪʃ(ə)n]n.条件;情况;环境;身份vt.决定;使适应;使健康;以…为条件
Less well known is Watson’s application of behaviorist principles to advertising. He spent the latter part of his career working for advertising agencies and soon recognized that the most effective appeal to consumers was not to the mind but to the emotions. He advised advertisers to “tell [the consumer] something that will tie him up with fear, something that will stir up a mild rage, that will call out an affectionate or love response, or strike at a deep psychological or habit need.” His attitude toward the consumer is perhaps best indicated by a statement he made in a presentation to department store executives: “The consumer is to the manufacturer, the department stores and the advertising agencies, what the green frog is to the physiologist.”
较不为人所知的是沃森将行为主义原则应用于广告。他的职业生涯的后半部分是为广告公司工作,他很快发现,对消费者最有效的吸引力不是在思维而是情感。他建议广告商“告诉(消费者)一些会使他害怕的事情、一些会使他轻度愤怒的事情,这将唤起一个爱慕或爱恋的反应,或激发一个深层的心理或习惯性需求。”他对消费者的态度,也许最好的体现在他向百货公司高管的演讲中:“消费者对制造商、百货公司和广告公司而言,就如同青蛙与生理学家。”
stir [stɜː] n.搅拌;轰动vt.搅拌;激起;惹起vi.搅动;传播;走动
affectionate [ə'fekʃ(ə)nət]adj.深情的;adj.充满爱的;
indicated ['ɪndə,keɪtɪd]adj.表明的;指示的v.表明(indicate的过去分词);指出;显示
Watson introduced these strategies in the 1920s and 1930s, the age of newspapers and radio. Sincethe advent of television, these advertising strategies have grown moresophisticated and effective, so much so that many individuals and groups with political and social agendas have adopted them. The strategies work for anumber of reasons, the chief one being people’s conviction that they are impervious to manipulation. This belief is mistaken, as many researchers have demonstrated. For example, Solomon Asch showed that people’s reactions can bealtered simply by changing the order of words in a series. He asked study participants to evaluate a person by a series of adjectives. When he put positive adjectives first—”intelligent, industrious, impulsive, critical,stubborn, envious”— the participants gave a positive evaluation. When hereversed the order, with “envious” coming first and “intelligent” last, they gave a negative evaluation.
沃森在20世纪20年代和30年代那个报纸和广播时代介绍了这些策略。自从电视的出现,这些广告策略已经变得更加成熟和有效,使得许多个人和社会与政治工作群体采用它们。这些策略成功的原因有很多,主要原因是人们坚信他们是不可能受影响、被操纵。许多研究人员已经证明这种信念是错误的。例如,所罗门·阿希表明,人们的反应可以简单地通过改变系列中的单词的顺序来改变。他要求研究参与者通过一系列形容词来评价一个人。当他首先提出褒义形容词-“聪明,勤奋,冲动,批判,固执,嫉妒”-参与者给了积极的评价。当他扭转顺序,把“嫉妒”放第一和“聪明”放最后,他们给了一个负面的评价。
adopted [ə'dɒptɪd]adj.被收养的;被采用的v.采用;接受(adopt的过去式和过去分词)
impervious [ɪm'pɜːvɪəs]adj.不受影响的,无动于衷的;不能渗透的
conviction[kən'vɪkʃ(ə)n]n.定罪;确信;证明有罪;确信,坚定的信仰
demonstrate ['demənstreɪt]vt.证明;展示;论证vi.示威
altered ['ɔːltəd] v.改变(alter的过去分词)adj.改变了的;蚀变的n.为参加短程高速汽车赛而改装的赛车
participant [pɑː'tɪsɪp(ə)nt]adj.参与的;有关系的n.参与者;关系者
Similarly, research has shown that human memory can be manipulated. The way a question is asked can change the details in a person’s memory and even make a person remember something that never happened!
类似地,研究已经表明人类记忆可以被操纵。提问的方式可以改变一个人的记忆中的细节,甚至让一个人回忆起从来没有发生过的事情!
Of course,advertisers and people with political or social agendas are not content to stimulate emotions and/or plant ideas in our minds. They also seek to reinforce hose impressions by repeating them again and again. The more people hear aslogan or talking point, the more familiar it becomes. Before long, it becomes indistinguishable from ideas developed through careful thought. Sadly, “the packaging is often done so effectively that the viewer, listener, or reader does not make up his own mind at all. Instead, he inserts a packaged opinionin to his mind, some what like inserting a DVD into a DVD player. He then pushes a button and‘plays back’ the opinion whenever it seems appropriate to do so. He has performed acceptably without having had to think.”Many of the beliefs we hold dearest and defend most vigorously may have been planted in our minds in just this way.
当然,广告商和社会与政治工作者不会满足在我们脑袋里激发情感和/或植入观念。他们还试图不断重复来加深这些印象。人越是多次听到的一个口号或“论据”,对它就会越熟悉。不久以后,它与通过深思熟虑的想法无法区分。悲哀的是,“这种包装通常做得如此有效,以至于观众、听众或读者根本作出自己的决定。相反,他在他的头脑插入一个包装过的观点,就有点像将一盘DVD插入DVD播放器。在合适的时候,他就会按下一个按钮并“回放”这些观点。根本不加思考的执行。“很多我们无比珍视与守护的信念就是通过这种方式植入我们心中。
content [kən'tent] n.内容,目录;满足;容量adj.满意的vt.使满足n. (Content)人名;(法)孔唐
stimulate ['stɪmjʊleɪt]vi.起刺激作用;起促进作用vt.刺激;鼓舞,激励
emotions [ɪ'moʃən] n.[心理]情绪;[心理]情感(emotion的复数形式)
reinforce [riːɪn'fɔːs]vt.加强,加固;强化;补充vi.求援;得到增援;给予更多的支持n.加强;加固物;加固材料
impressions [ɪm'prɛʃən]n.印象;观感(impression的复数)
slogan ['sləʊg(ə)n]n.标语;呐喊声
indistinguishable [ɪndɪ'stɪŋgwɪʃəb(ə)l]adj.不能区别的,不能辨别的;不易察觉的
appropriate [ə'prəʊprɪət] adj.适当的;恰当的;合适的vt.占用,拨出
vigorously ['vɪg(ə)rəslɪ]adv.精神旺盛地,活泼地
Many years ago, Harry A. Overstreet noted that “a climate of opinion, like a physical climate, is so pervasive a thing that those who live with in it and know no other take it for granted. The rise of mass culture and the sophisticated use of manipulation have made this insight more relevant today than ever.
许多年前,哈里·奥弗斯特里特指出,“舆论就像物理气候一样,无处不在,那些生活在其中人认为是理所当然的。”大众文化的兴起和操纵手段的复杂用法的使得洞察力比以往任何时候都更有意义。
pervasive [pə'veɪsɪv]adj.普遍的;到处渗透的;流行的
granted conj.诚然adv.的确vt. grant的过去式
sophisticated [sə'fɪstɪkeɪtɪd]adj.复杂的;精致的;久经世故的;富有经验的v.使变得世故;使迷惑;篡改(sophisticate的过去分词形式)
insight ['ɪnsaɪt] n.洞察力;洞悉n. (Insight)人名;(英)因赛特
relevant [ˈreləvənt]adj.相关的;切题的;中肯的;有重大关系的;有意义的,目的明确的
记:
网络时代各种网红词汇的突然流行都经过精心策划与包装,从网络中获取信息但又不让自己大脑变成CD机,洞察力、判断力非常重要。
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