一起翻譯《Beyond Feelings》--1-5 The “Science” of Manipulation

一起翻譯一本書,公眾號“追隨己心”將帶領大家一起翻譯《Beyond Feelings: A Guide to Critical Thinking》,將學習了多年的英語真正用起來,體會原版書籍和英文的美。

The “Science” of Manipulation

操縱的“學問”

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.”

毫無疑問,試圖影響他人的思想和行動的做法自古就有,但是,直到20世紀初,俄國心理學教授伊萬·巴甫洛夫發表他的研究條件反射(后天習得行為)研究成果時才成為一門學問。巴甫洛夫發現,喂狗時搖鈴,可以使狗形成一聽鈴聲就流口水行為,即使沒有食物也是如此。美國心理學家約翰·沃森對巴甫洛夫的發現印象深刻,并將其應用于人類行為研究。在沃森最著名的實驗中,他讓一個嬰兒觸摸小白鼠。起初,嬰兒并不害怕。隨后,當嬰兒伸手觸摸小白鼠時,沃森用錘子敲擊金屬,寶寶嬰兒開始恐懼并且哭泣。后來,嬰兒不僅在視線中有小白鼠時,而且在視線中有任何毛茸茸的東西(例如一個毛絨玩具)時哭泣。沃森的實驗使他贏得了“行為主義之父”的稱號。

condition [k?n'd??(?)n]n.條件;情況;環境;身份vt.決定;使適應;使健康;以…為條件

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.”

較不為人所知的是沃森將行為主義原則應用于廣告。他的職業生涯的后半部分是為廣告公司工作,他很快發現,對消費者最有效的吸引力不是在思維而是情感。他建議廣告商“告訴(消費者)一些會使他害怕的事情、一些會使他輕度憤怒的事情,這將喚起一個愛慕或愛戀的反應,或激發一個深層的心理或習慣性需求。”他對消費者的態度,也許最好的體現在他向百貨公司高管的演講中:“消費者對制造商、百貨公司和廣告公司而言,就如同青蛙與生理學家。”

stir [st??] n.攪拌;轟動vt.攪拌;激起;惹起vi.攪動;傳播;走動

affectionate [?'fek?(?)n?t]adj.深情的;adj.充滿愛的;

indicated ['?nd?,ke?t?d]adj.表明的;指示的v.表明(indicate的過去分詞);指出;顯示

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世紀20年代和30年代那個報紙和廣播時代介紹了這些策略。自從電視的出現,這些廣告策略已經變得更加成熟和有效,使得許多個人和社會與政治工作群體采用它們。這些策略成功的原因有很多,主要原因是人們堅信他們是不可能受影響、被操縱。許多研究人員已經證明這種信念是錯誤的。例如,所羅門·阿希表明,人們的反應可以簡單地通過改變系列中的單詞的順序來改變。他要求研究參與者通過一系列形容詞來評價一個人。當他首先提出褒義形容詞-“聰明,勤奮,沖動,批判,固執,嫉妒”-參與者給了積極的評價。當他扭轉順序,把“嫉妒”放第一和“聰明”放最后,他們給了一個負面的評價。

adopted ?[?'d?pt?d]adj.被收養的;被采用的v.采用;接受(adopt的過去式和過去分詞)

impervious [?m'p??v??s]adj.不受影響的,無動于衷的;不能滲透的

conviction[k?n'v?k?(?)n]n.定罪;確信;證明有罪;確信,堅定的信仰

demonstrate ['dem?nstre?t]vt.證明;展示;論證vi.示威

altered ['??lt?d] v.改變(alter的過去分詞)adj.改變了的;蝕變的n.為參加短程高速汽車賽而改裝的賽車

participant [pɑ?'t?s?p(?)nt]adj.參與的;有關系的n.參與者;關系者

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!

類似地,研究已經表明人類記憶可以被操縱。提問的方式可以改變一個人的記憶中的細節,甚至讓一個人回憶起從來沒有發生過的事情!

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.

當然,廣告商和社會與政治工作者不會滿足在我們腦袋里激發情感和/或植入觀念。他們還試圖不斷重復來加深這些印象。人越是多次聽到的一個口號或“論據”,對它就會越熟悉。不久以后,它與通過深思熟慮的想法無法區分。悲哀的是,“這種包裝通常做得如此有效,以至于觀眾、聽眾或讀者根本作出自己的決定。相反,他在他的頭腦插入一個包裝過的觀點,就有點像將一盤DVD插入DVD播放器。在合適的時候,他就會按下一個按鈕并“回放”這些觀點。根本不加思考的執行。“很多我們無比珍視與守護的信念就是通過這種方式植入我們心中。

content [k?n'tent] n.內容,目錄;滿足;容量adj.滿意的vt.使滿足n. (Content)人名;(法)孔唐

stimulate ['st?mj?le?t]vi.起刺激作用;起促進作用vt.刺激;鼓舞,激勵

emotions [?'mo??n] n.[心理]情緒;[心理]情感(emotion的復數形式)

reinforce [ri??n'f??s]vt.加強,加固;強化;補充vi.求援;得到增援;給予更多的支持n.加強;加固物;加固材料

impressions [?m'pr???n]n.印象;觀感(impression的復數)

slogan ['sl??g(?)n]n.標語;吶喊聲

indistinguishable [?nd?'st??gw???b(?)l]adj.不能區別的,不能辨別的;不易察覺的

appropriate ?[?'pr??pr??t]?adj.適當的;恰當的;合適的vt.占用,撥出

vigorously ['v?g(?)r?sl?]adv.精神旺盛地,活潑地

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.

許多年前,哈里·奧弗斯特里特指出,“輿論就像物理氣候一樣,無處不在,那些生活在其中人認為是理所當然的。”大眾文化的興起和操縱手段的復雜用法的使得洞察力比以往任何時候都更有意義。

pervasive [p?'ve?s?v]adj.普遍的;到處滲透的;流行的

granted conj.誠然adv.的確vt. grant的過去式

sophisticated [s?'f?st?ke?t?d]adj.復雜的;精致的;久經世故的;富有經驗的v.使變得世故;使迷惑;篡改(sophisticate的過去分詞形式)

insight ['?nsa?t] n.洞察力;洞悉n. (Insight)人名;(英)因賽特

relevant ?[?rel?v?nt]adj.相關的;切題的;中肯的;有重大關系的;有意義的,目的明確的

記:

網絡時代各種網紅詞匯的突然流行都經過精心策劃與包裝,從網絡中獲取信息但又不讓自己大腦變成CD機,洞察力、判斷力非常重要。

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