Why people forget that less is often more
為什么人們總忘記“少即是多”？
A paper published in Nature suggests that humans struggle with subtractive thinking. The research was motivated by everyday observation rather than psychological theory, says Gabrielle Adams, the paper's first author, who cites folk wisdom such as "less is more" and "keep it simple".
一篇發(fā)表在《自然》雜志的論文提到，人類(lèi)并不擅長(zhǎng)減法思維。這一論文的第一作者，加布麗埃勒·亞當(dāng)斯表示，該研究的出發(fā)點(diǎn)是日常觀察，而非心理學(xué)理論。她還引用了民間智慧，例如“少即是多”和“保持簡(jiǎn)單”。
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Along with colleagues at the University of Virginia, Dr Adams conducted a series of observational studies. In one, participants were asked to alter a pattern on a grid of coloured squares to make it symmetrical. Although that could be done equally well by adding new squares or by deleting existing ones, 78% chose the additive option. Other tasks gave similar results. Asked to alter an essay they had written, 16% cut words while 80% added them.
亞當(dāng)斯博士同她在弗吉尼亞大學(xué)的同事一起，進(jìn)行了一系列觀察性研究。在其中一個(gè)實(shí)驗(yàn)中，參與者被要求對(duì)一個(gè)彩色方塊格子紙上的圖案進(jìn)行調(diào)整。雖然加入新的方塊或是減少原有的方塊都能很好地做到這一點(diǎn)，但是 78% 的參與者選擇了增加新的方塊。另外的實(shí)驗(yàn)也得出了類(lèi)似的結(jié)論。當(dāng)參與者被要求修改他們所寫(xiě)的論文時(shí)，16% 的人選擇刪減文字，而 80% 的參與者增加了字?jǐn)?shù)。
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Nor was this tendency confined to the lab. Of 827 suggestions received by the new boss of an American university for how the institution could be improved, 581 involved adding new things, such as more grants for studying abroad. Just 70 suggested removing something, such as preferential admissions for children of alumni.
這樣的傾向并不只局限于實(shí)驗(yàn)室當(dāng)中。美國(guó)一所大學(xué)的新任校長(zhǎng)收到了 827 條關(guān)于如何改進(jìn)學(xué)校的建議，其中 581 條涉及增加新的內(nèi)容，例如增加出國(guó)留學(xué)的補(bǔ)助金。只有 70 條建議涉及刪除一些舊規(guī)定，例如對(duì)校友子女的優(yōu)先錄取政策。
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What all this amounts to is evidence for a new entry in the list of "cognitive biases" that skew how humans think.*** The 2002 Nobel Memorial Prize in Economic Sciences was awarded for demonstrating that humans are not "rational" in the way economists had used the word. Instead of thinking a problem through and coming up with an ideal solution, they tend to use cognitive shortcuts that are fast and — mostly — "good enough".
所有這些都表明，在歪曲人類(lèi)思維方式的“認(rèn)知偏差”清單中，又出現(xiàn)了一個(gè)新的偏差。2002 年，諾貝爾經(jīng)濟(jì)學(xué)獎(jiǎng)被授予了一項(xiàng)研究，該研究論證了人類(lèi)不像經(jīng)濟(jì)學(xué)家所說(shuō)的那樣是“理性”的。比起充分考慮問(wèn)題、想出理想的解決方案，人們更傾向于運(yùn)用又快又似乎“足夠好”的認(rèn)知捷徑。
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Such research has inspired an entire field dedicated to working out when such shortcuts lead people astray. Dr Adams and her colleagues, meanwhile, are keen to probe their result in more detail. One question is whether the preference for addition is innate or learned.
相關(guān)的研究啟發(fā)了一整片新領(lǐng)域，這片領(lǐng)域致力于研究，在什么情況下，這些認(rèn)知捷徑會(huì)讓人們誤入歧途。與此同時(shí)，亞當(dāng)斯博士與她的同事們，正努力對(duì)研究結(jié)果進(jìn)行更詳細(xì)的研究，例如繼續(xù)探究人類(lèi)對(duì)于做加法的偏好是先天的還是后天習(xí)得的。
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主編：桃子
品控：桃子
審核：大仔
重點(diǎn)詞匯
struggle with
費(fèi)勁地做某事，努力應(yīng)付某事
例句：The airline is struggling with high costs.
例句：I'm really struggling with the essay.
subtractive
/s?b?tr?k.t?v/
adj. 減法的
相關(guān)詞匯：subtraction（n. 減法）
相關(guān)詞匯：addition（n. 加法）
motivate
/?mo?.t??.ve?t/
v. 使產(chǎn)生動(dòng)機(jī)，是......的原因
相關(guān)詞匯：motivation（n. 動(dòng)機(jī)）
例句：What's your motivation for applying for this major？
例句：He is motivated entirely by self-interest.
conduct
/k?n?d?kt/
v. 進(jìn)行，實(shí)施，執(zhí)行
搭配短語(yǔ)：conduct a study
同義表達(dá)：make / do / carry out / work on a study
observational
/?ɑ?b.z??ve?.??n.?l/
adj. 觀察的，觀測(cè)的
相關(guān)詞匯：observation（n. 觀察，觀測(cè)）
例句：In hospital they'll be under observation.
文化補(bǔ)充：observational study 指的是“觀察性研究”，一般是在自然狀態(tài)下對(duì)研究對(duì)象的特征進(jìn)行觀察、記錄，并對(duì)結(jié)果進(jìn)行描述和對(duì)比分析。
pattern
/?p?t?.?n/
n. 圖案，花樣；模式
例句：Everyone has specific behaviour pattern.（模式）
additive
/??d.?.t??v/
adj. 增加的，加法的
詞性拓展：additive（n. 食品添加劑）
反義詞：subtractive
(be) confined to
局限于......，限制在......
相關(guān)詞匯：confine（v. 使局限，受限制）
例句：The travel frenzy is not only confined to hotspots.
institution
/??n.st??tu?.??n/
n.（大學(xué)、銀行等）機(jī)構(gòu)，團(tuán)體
搭配短語(yǔ)：a financial institution（機(jī)構(gòu)）
近義詞：university（n. 大學(xué)）
搭配短語(yǔ)：top 50 universities in the US = top 50 institutions in the US
grant
/ɡr?nt/
n.（尤指政府提供的）撥款，補(bǔ)助金
詞性拓展：grant（v. 準(zhǔn)許，同意，授予）
例句：The Gates divorce will be granted after the "cooling off" period.（其中，"cooling off" period 指的是“離婚冷靜期”，在美國(guó)的華盛頓州，這個(gè)期限是 90 天。）
preferential
/?pref.?r?en.??l/
adj. 優(yōu)先的，優(yōu)待的
相關(guān)詞匯：preference（n. 偏愛(ài)，偏好）
例句：White wine or red — what's your preference?
例句：Frontline doctors and nurses can get preferential treatment.
amount to
意味著，等同于
例句：Her answer amounted to a complete refusal.
近義詞：mean
skew
/skju?/
v. 使歪斜，使有誤差，影響......的準(zhǔn)確性
例句：The statistics are skewed.
demonstrate
/?dem.?n.stre?t/
v. 證明, 證實(shí)
think sth. through
徹底全面地考慮
英文釋義：to think carefully about the possible results of something
例句：Think things through before you do anything.
shortcut
/????rt.k?t/
n.（做某事的）捷徑；近路
例句：There are no shortcuts to success.
(be) dedicated to
致力于
搭配短語(yǔ)：be dedicated to sth. / to doing sth.
例句：You are really dedicated to your job.
astray
/??stre?/
adv. 偏離正軌地；誤入歧途地
相關(guān)詞匯：stray（v. 偏離原路；偏題）
例句：The ship strayed off course.（偏離原路）
例句：I've strayed from the subject.（偏題）
詞性拓展：stray（adj. 流浪的，走失的）
搭配短語(yǔ)：stray dogs
搭配短語(yǔ)：lead sb. astray（把某人引入了歧途）
probe
/pro?b/
v. 探究，探索
innate
/??ne?t/
adj. 天生的，固有的
英文釋義：If a characteristic or ability is already present in a person or animal when they are born, it is innate.
反義詞：learned（adj. 習(xí)得的）
