From TED : Judson Brewer: A simple way to break a bad habit

對(duì)照視頻，把中文翻譯抄下來(lái)了！

一個(gè)簡(jiǎn)單的方式改掉壞習(xí)慣

When I was first learning to meditate, the instruction was to simply pay attention to my breath, and when my mind wandered, to bring it back.

當(dāng)我第一次學(xué)習(xí)冥想的時(shí)候，得到的指示就是，簡(jiǎn)單地注意自己的呼吸，而當(dāng)我的心思開(kāi)始游走了，就把它拉回來(lái)。

Sounded simple enough. Yet I'd sit on these silent retreats, sweating through T-shirts in the middle of winter. I'd take naps every chance I got because it was really hard work. Actually, it was exhausting. The instruction was simple enough but I was missing something really important.

聽(tīng)起來(lái)很簡(jiǎn)單。但當(dāng)我靜坐冥想時(shí)，即使在冬天也會(huì)讓我汗流浹背。我抓到機(jī)會(huì)就會(huì)小睡片刻，因?yàn)檎娴暮苄量唷?shí)際上，是精疲力竭了。指示是很簡(jiǎn)單，但我錯(cuò)過(guò)了很多重要的地方。

So why is it so hard to pay attention? Well, studies show that even when we're really trying to pay attention to something — like maybe this talk — at some point, about half of us will drift off into a daydream, or have this urge to check our Twitter feed.

那為什么專(zhuān)注會(huì)這么困難呢？根據(jù)研究指出，就算是我們嘗試著專(zhuān)注于一些事情 — 就好像這個(gè)演講 — 在某個(gè)時(shí)間點(diǎn)，我們當(dāng)中會(huì)有一半的人，都會(huì)恍惚進(jìn)入神游狀態(tài)，或是會(huì)有一股沖動(dòng)，想去查看一下推特的內(nèi)容。

So what's going on here? It turns out that we're fighting one of the most evolutionarily-conserved learning processes currently known in science, one that's conserved back to the most basic nervous systems known to man.

這到底是怎么回事呢？原來(lái)我們抗?fàn)幍氖且环N最近被科學(xué)界發(fā)現(xiàn)的"演化保守的學(xué)習(xí)過(guò)程"，它會(huì)被保存在人類(lèi)所知的最基本神經(jīng)系統(tǒng)里面。

This reward-based learning process is called positive and negative reinforcement, and basically goes like this. We see some food that looks good, our brain says, "Calories! ... Survival!" We eat the food, we taste it — it tastes good. And especially with sugar, our bodies send a signal to our brain that says, "Remember what you're eating and where you found it." We lay down this context-dependent memory and learn to repeat the process next time. See food, eat food, feel good, repeat. Trigger, behavior, reward.

這類(lèi)獎(jiǎng)勵(lì)為本的學(xué)習(xí)過(guò)程，稱(chēng)之為正強(qiáng)化和負(fù)強(qiáng)化，基本上是這樣運(yùn)行的。我們看到了看起來(lái)好吃的食物，我們大腦就會(huì)說(shuō)："卡路里！...生存！"，然后我們吃了食物，我們嘗了味道 — 嘗起來(lái)不錯(cuò)。尤其是有加糖的，我們的身體就會(huì)向大腦發(fā)出信息說(shuō)，"要記得你吃了什么和在哪里找到的。" 我們種下了這"情境關(guān)連"的記憶，且學(xué)懂了下次再重復(fù)這個(gè)過(guò)程。看過(guò)食物、吃下食物、感覺(jué)很好。重復(fù)。觸發(fā)、行為、獎(jiǎng)勵(lì)。

Simple, right? Well, after a while, our creative brains say, "You know what? You can use this for more than just remembering where food is. You know, next time you feel bad, why don't you try eating something good so you'll feel better?" We thank our brains for the great idea, try this and quickly learn that if we eat chocolate or ice cream when we're mad or sad, we feel better.

很簡(jiǎn)單，對(duì)不對(duì)？然后過(guò)了一陣子，我們富有創(chuàng)意的腦袋就會(huì)說(shuō)"你知道嗎？你不只可以利用這個(gè)過(guò)程來(lái)記住食物在哪里，而且還可以在下一次你感覺(jué)糟糕時(shí)，嘗試吃一些好吃的食物，來(lái)讓你感覺(jué)好一點(diǎn)？"。我們要感謝自己的腦袋里有這么好的點(diǎn)子，試著做且學(xué)得快，如果我們吃下巧克力或雪糕，當(dāng)我們生成或是傷心的時(shí)候，我們的感覺(jué)就會(huì)好一點(diǎn)。

Same process, just a different trigger. Instead of this hunger signal coming from our stomach, this emotional signal — feeling sad — triggers that urge to eat.

相同的過(guò)程，只是用不一樣的觸發(fā)方式，來(lái)代替原本我們胃里的饑餓信息，這種情感上的信息 — 感到傷心 — 觸發(fā)了想吃的沖動(dòng)。

Maybe in our teenage years, we were a nerd at school, and we see those rebel kids outside smoking and we think, "Hey, I want to be cool." So we start smoking. The Marlboro Man wasn't a dork, and that was no accident. See cool, smoke to be cool, feel good. Repeat. Trigger, behavior, reward. And each time we do this, we learn to repeat the process and it becomes a habit. So later, feeling stressed out triggers that urge to smoke a cigarette or to eat something sweet.

也許在我們年輕的時(shí)候，曾經(jīng)也是個(gè)書(shū)呆子，我們看到這些叛逆的小子，在外面抽煙，我們就在想，“嘿！我也想要耍酷”于是我們開(kāi)始抽煙。所以萬(wàn)寶路的男人看起來(lái)不呆，這并不意外。看到別人耍酷，抽煙耍酷，感覺(jué)良好，重復(fù)，觸發(fā)、行為、獎(jiǎng)勵(lì)。每次我們這樣做，我們學(xué)會(huì)了去重復(fù)這個(gè)過(guò)程，并成了習(xí)慣。所以以后，感覺(jué)有壓力的時(shí)候，就會(huì)觸發(fā)欲望去抽煙，或是去吃一些甜的東西。

Now, with these same brain processes, we've gone from learning to survive to literally killing ourselves with these habits. Obesity and smoking are among the leading preventable causes of morbidity and mortality in the world.

這些相同的大腦過(guò)程，讓我們經(jīng)歷了學(xué)習(xí)到生存，到簡(jiǎn)直是用這些習(xí)慣在殘害著我們自己的過(guò)程。肥胖和抽煙是全世界數(shù)一數(shù)二會(huì)引發(fā)病殘及死亡的可預(yù)防疾病。

So back to my breath. What if instead of fighting our brains, or trying to force ourselves to pay attention, we instead tapped into this natural, reward-based learning process ... but added a twist? What if instead we just got really curious about what was happening in our momentary experience?

所以，回到我的呼吸。假設(shè)我們不要再跟腦袋去抗?fàn)帲膊灰購(gòu)?qiáng)迫自己去專(zhuān)注，而是借助這個(gè)天然的，以獎(jiǎng)勵(lì)為本的學(xué)習(xí)過(guò)程...然后稍微改變扭轉(zhuǎn)一下？假如我們變得很好奇，想了解自己的瞬間體驗(yàn)到底是怎樣一回事？

I'll give you an example. In my lab, we studied whether mindfulness training could help people quit smoking. Now, just like trying to force myself to pay attention to my breath, they could try to force themselves to quit smoking. And the majority of them had tried this before and failed — on average, six times.

我給各位一個(gè)例子，在我的實(shí)驗(yàn)室，我們研究冥想的訓(xùn)練是不是可以幫助人們戒掉抽煙。其實(shí)，就像嘗試著強(qiáng)迫自己去專(zhuān)注于呼吸一樣，他們也可以嘗試著去強(qiáng)迫自己戒煙。他們大部分人之前都嘗試過(guò)了，但都失敗了 — 平均來(lái)說(shuō)，嘗試過(guò)六次。

Now, with mindfulness training, we dropped the bit about forcing and instead focused on being curious. In fact, we even told them to smoke. What? Yeah, we said, "Go ahead and smoke, just be really curious about what it's like when you do."

現(xiàn)在，用冥想的訓(xùn)練方法，我們把強(qiáng)迫的那部分去掉，取而代之的是專(zhuān)注于好奇。事實(shí)上，我們甚至告訴他們?nèi)コ闊煛Ｊ裁矗渴茄剑覀冋f(shuō)，“去抽煙就對(duì)了，只是在抽煙的時(shí)候，真心的去好奇一下抽煙到底是怎么回事。”

And what did they notice? Well here's an example from one of our smokers. She said, "Mindful smoking: smells like stinky cheese and tastes like chemicals, YUCK!" Now, she knew, cognitively that smoking was bad for her, that's why she joined our program. What she discovered just by being curiously aware when she smoked was that smoking tastes like shit.

結(jié)果他們覺(jué)察到了什么？讓我們來(lái)看看其中的一位抽煙者怎么說(shuō)。她說(shuō)，“專(zhuān)注地抽煙：煙的味道聞起來(lái)就像發(fā)臭的奶酪，嘗起來(lái)則像化學(xué)制品，超惡心！”其實(shí)在認(rèn)識(shí)上，她知道，抽煙會(huì)危害她，正因如此，她參加我們的計(jì)劃。她發(fā)現(xiàn)，在抽煙的時(shí)候，只要好奇地去體會(huì)，就會(huì)察覺(jué)到煙的味道像大便。

(Laughter)

Now, she moved from knowledge to wisdom. She moved from knowing in her head that smoking was bad for her to knowing it in her bones, and the spell of smoking was broken. She started to become disenchanted with her behavior.

現(xiàn)在，她從知識(shí)升華到智慧。她從骨子里感到，明白了抽煙對(duì)她有害，這時(shí)抽煙的魔咒就會(huì)被破解。她開(kāi)始對(duì)她的行為作出覺(jué)悟。

Now, the prefrontal cortex, that youngest part of our brain from an evolutionary perspective, it understands on an intellectual level that we shouldn't smoke. And it tries its hardest to help us change our behavior, to help us stop smoking, to help us stop eating that second, that third, that fourth cookie. We call this cognitive control. We're using cognition to control our behavior. Unfortunately, this is also the first part of our brain that goes offline when we get stressed out, which isn't that helpful.

其實(shí)，前額葉皮質(zhì)，從進(jìn)化的角度來(lái)看，那是我們大腦最年輕的部份，它明白，理智上我們不應(yīng)該抽煙。然后它嘗試盡最大的努力，去幫助我們改變自己的行為、幫助我們戒煙、幫助我們戒掉吃第二塊、第三塊、第四塊曲奇餅。我們稱(chēng)之為“認(rèn)知控制”。我們用認(rèn)識(shí)去控制自己的行為。很不幸的是，當(dāng)我們過(guò)度勞累時(shí)，這也是我們腦袋里，率先離線的部份，所以不太能夠幫得上忙。

Now, we can all relate to this in our own experience. We're much more likely to do things like yell at our spouse or kids when we're stressed out or tired, even though we know it's not going to be helpful. We just can't help ourselves.

其實(shí)我們大家都可以找到自己類(lèi)似的經(jīng)驗(yàn)。當(dāng)我們壓力過(guò)大或是很勞累時(shí)，我們有很大的可能，會(huì)向自己的伴侶或小孩吼叫，雖然我們知道，這樣的吼叫并沒(méi)有幫助。只是我們控制不了自己。

When the prefrontal cortex goes offline, we fall back into our old habits, which is why this disenchantment is so important. Seeing what we get from our habits helps us understand them at a deeper level — to know it in our bones so we don't have to force ourselves to hold back or restrain ourselves from behavior. We're just less interested in doing it in the first place.

在前額葉皮質(zhì)處于離線狀態(tài)時(shí)，我們會(huì)墜落回老習(xí)慣，這是為什么覺(jué)悟是這么的重要。明白我們?nèi)绾勿B(yǎng)成習(xí)慣可以幫助我們從更深的層次去了解它們 — 讓我們從骨子里去明白，那我們就不需要再?gòu)?qiáng)逼自己去憋住或是去遏止自己的行為。我們只是在一開(kāi)始的時(shí)候沒(méi)興趣去做這件事。

And this is what mindfulness is all about: Seeing really clearly what we get when we get caught up in our behaviors, becoming disenchanted on a visceral level and from this disenchanted stance, naturally letting go.

這就是冥想：當(dāng)我們被自己的行為絆住的時(shí)候，要看清楚我們得到的是什么，發(fā)自?xún)?nèi)心層次的覺(jué)悟，在覺(jué)悟的狀態(tài)下，自然地停止這種行為。

This isn't to say that, poof, magically we quit smoking. But over time, as we learn to see more and more clearly the results of our actions, we let go of old habits and form new ones.

這并不是神奇的“噗”的一聲，我們就戒煙了。而是日積月累，當(dāng)我們學(xué)會(huì)看得越來(lái)越清楚我們的行為所導(dǎo)致的結(jié)果，我們就會(huì)摒除掉老習(xí)慣，而養(yǎng)成了新的習(xí)慣。

The paradox here is that mindfulness is just about being really interested in getting close and personal with what's actually happening in our bodies and minds from moment to moment. This willingness to turn toward our experience rather than trying to make unpleasant cravings go away as quickly as possible. And this willingness to turn toward our experience is supported by curiosity, which is naturally rewarding.

吊詭的是，冥想是，打從內(nèi)心的感到有興趣，每時(shí)每刻地去仔細(xì)體會(huì)，到底我們的身體和心智，發(fā)生了什么事。將這種意愿轉(zhuǎn)換成我們的體驗(yàn)，而不是嘗試盡快地把不好的癮念去除。而將我們的意愿轉(zhuǎn)換成體驗(yàn)是源自好奇，那是先天性的獎(jiǎng)勵(lì)。

What does curiosity feel like? It feels good. And what happens when we get curious? We start to notice that cravings are simply made up of body sensations — oh, there's tightness, there's tension, there's restlessness — and that these body sensations come and go. These are bite-size pieces of experiences that we can manage from moment to moment rather than getting clobbered by this huge, scary craving that we choke on.

好奇的感覺(jué)是怎樣的呢？感覺(jué)很好。我們感到好奇的時(shí)候會(huì)發(fā)生什么事情呢？我們會(huì)開(kāi)始覺(jué)察到，癮念其實(shí)單就是從身體的感官所造成 — 噢，那里很緊張，那邊有壓力，那邊煩燥不安 — 這些身體的感覺(jué)來(lái)來(lái)去去。這些都是我們時(shí)時(shí)刻刻都可以處理好的小體驗(yàn)，而不是被這巨大可怕的癮念所擊倒。

In other words, when we get curious, we step out of our old, fear-based, reactive habit patterns, and we step into being. We become this inner scientist where we're eagerly awaiting that next data point.

換句話說(shuō)，當(dāng)我們感到好奇時(shí)，我們就走出舊有的、恐懼為本的、回應(yīng)式的習(xí)慣模式，我們從而踏進(jìn)了當(dāng)下。我們成為了熱切地期待著下一個(gè)數(shù)據(jù)點(diǎn)的內(nèi)心科學(xué)家。

Now, this might sound too simplistic to affect behavior. But in one study, we found that mindfulness training was twice as good as gold standard therapy at helping people quit smoking. So it actually works.

這聽(tīng)起來(lái)，好像沒(méi)那么容易可以影響行為。但在一份研究報(bào)告里面，我們發(fā)現(xiàn)冥想的訓(xùn)練，在幫助人們戒煙的這事情上，比黃金標(biāo)準(zhǔn)治療法好2倍，所以冥想真的有效。

And when we studied the brains of experienced meditators, we found that parts of a neural network of self-referential processing called the default mode network were at play. Now, one current hypothesis is that a region of this network, called the posterior cingulate cortex, is activated not necessarily by craving itself but when we get caught up in it, when we get sucked in, and it takes us for a ride.

當(dāng)我們研究資深冥想者的大腦時(shí)，我們發(fā)現(xiàn)了神經(jīng)網(wǎng)絡(luò)里面“自我指認(rèn)流程”的部分被稱(chēng)為“預(yù)設(shè)模式的網(wǎng)絡(luò)”正在產(chǎn)生影響。目前有一個(gè)關(guān)于這個(gè)網(wǎng)絡(luò)所在區(qū)域的假設(shè)，稱(chēng)為“后扣帶回皮質(zhì)”會(huì)因?yàn)榘a念本身而引發(fā)不必要的啟動(dòng)，但當(dāng)我們被它牽絆住，當(dāng)我們被吸進(jìn)去的時(shí)候，它就會(huì)欺騙我們。

In contrast, when we let go — step out of the process just by being curiously aware of what's happening — this same brain region quiets down.

相反來(lái)說(shuō)，如果我們不去有意識(shí)地 — 從里面走出來(lái)，只是單純的好奇到底發(fā)生什么速與 — 同一區(qū)域的大腦就會(huì)安靜下來(lái)。

Now we're testing app and online-based mindfulness training programs that target these core mechanisms and, ironically, use the same technology that's driving us to distraction to help us step out of our unhealthy habit patterns of smoking, of stress eating and other addictive behaviors.

現(xiàn)在我們?cè)跍y(cè)試手機(jī)應(yīng)用程序，和以網(wǎng)絡(luò)為基礎(chǔ)的冥想訓(xùn)練課程，目標(biāo)就是這些核心機(jī)制，而諷刺的是，竟是使用同一種也會(huì)讓我們分心的科技來(lái)幫助我們脫離自己不健康的習(xí)慣模式，像是吸煙、因壓力而狂吃和其它上癮行為。

Now, remember that bit about context-dependent memory? We can deliver these tools to peoples' fingertips in the contexts that matter most. So we can help them tap into their inherent capacity to be curiously aware right when that urge to smoke or stress eat or whatever arises.

現(xiàn)在，還記得剛才提過(guò)的情境記憶嗎？我們可以把這些最重要的內(nèi)容工具傳遞到人們的指尖。所以我們可以幫助他們?cè)诳释蜔煛⒂龅綁毫y吃或任何不好的欲望浮現(xiàn)的時(shí)候，利用他們的內(nèi)心能力去好奇地意識(shí)正確。

So if you don't smoke or stress eat, maybe the next time you feel this urge to check your email when you're bored, or you're trying to distract yourself from work, or maybe to compulsively respond to that text message when you're driving, see if you can tap into this natural capacity, just be curiously aware of what's happening in your body and mind in that moment. It will just be another chance to perpetuate one of our endless and exhaustive habit loops ... or step out of it.

所以，如果你不抽煙、也沒(méi)有因?yàn)閴毫Χ癯裕苍S在下一次你無(wú)聊的時(shí)候，有股沖動(dòng)想去檢查電子郵件，或是你想在工作時(shí)間透一下氣，又或在開(kāi)車(chē)時(shí)，有不得不回復(fù)信息的義務(wù)，看看你是不是可以借助這先天的能力，靠單純的好奇到底那一刻，你的身體和心智發(fā)生了什么事。這可能提供了一個(gè)機(jī)會(huì)，讓你持續(xù)保有這個(gè)永無(wú)止境和消耗性的惡性循環(huán)...或是擺脫掉它。

Instead of see text message, compulsively text back, feel a little bit better — notice the urge, get curious, feel the joy of letting go and repeat.

看到信息時(shí)，不要再?gòu)?qiáng)迫的回復(fù)，反而應(yīng)該是有蠻好的感覺(jué) — 察覺(jué)到?jīng)_動(dòng)、感到好奇、感覺(jué)一下不去做它的快感，然后重復(fù)。

Thank you.