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When you see gigantic cartoon eyes, do they make you feel like you want to run away?
当你看到巨大的卡通眼睛时，你会想要逃跑吗?
Do they give you a tingling feeling on the back of your neck…like something is watching you?
你的脖子后面会有一种刺痛的感觉吗，好像有什么东西在盯着你
Maybe you don't feel that way, but birds who see these eyes do not like them.
也许你没有这种感觉，但是看到这些眼睛的鸟儿不喜欢它们。
They're an example of a supernormal stimulus: something that will cause a bigger and bigger response as it's made more intense,
巨大的卡通眼睛属于超常刺激的一种：当刺激变得越来越强烈时，反应会越来越大，
even if it's exaggerated way beyond what you'd encounter in nature.
即使它比你在自然界中遇到的要夸张得多。
This comes from instincts birds acquired through evolution:
这是鸟类通过进化获得的本能：
if you see this kind of shape, get out of there before you become someone's lunch!
如果你看到这种形状，在你成为别人的午餐之前离开！
In nature, the eyes are…well…small, and not quite so "googly"-eye-looking.
在自然界中，眼睛……嗯……很小，不太像“瞪视”的眼睛。
But when you show them on big screens and increase the contrast between parts of the eye,
但是当其显示在大屏幕上，并增加部分眼睛的对比度时，
researchers have found that birds will fly away from them, which could be useful for keeping them away from airport runways, for example.
研究人员发现，鸟类会飞走，这可能有助于让鸟儿远离机场跑道。
It's easy for humans to see these exaggerated stimuli for what they are.
这些夸张的刺激很常见。
We know those gigantic eyes are just an image, not an actual threat to a bird.
我们知道这些巨大的眼睛只是一个图像，并不对鸟类构成真正威胁。
But that's because we haven't evolved the same instinctive reaction to it that birds have.
但那是因为我们没有进化出和鸟类一样的本能反应。
Some psychologists argue that there are other superstimuli we might be susceptible to.
一些心理学家认为，我们可能还会受到其他迷信的影响。
But our ability to recognize them makes a big difference.
但是我们的识别能力会有很大的不同。
Take TV, for example. Or any form of video entertainment, really.
以电视或者任何形式的视频娱乐为例。
The orienting response is an instinct that keeps us safe by causing us to pay attention to novel sights and sounds.
定向反应是一种本能，它通过使我们注意新奇的景象和声音来保护我们的安全。
Back in the day, it would have helped us spot dangerous predators or hunt for food.
在过去，它可以帮助我们发现危险的捕食者或寻找食物。
Certain for of entertainment are designed to take advantage of that, with constantly changing sights and sounds that trigger your orienting response over and over again.
某种娱乐就是为了利用这一点而设计的，不断变化的视觉和声音会一遍又一遍地触发你的定向反应。
You know the type — commercials, action sequences, that kind of thing.
你知道那种商业广告、动作场面之类的，
They capture your attention partly by triggering a super strong orienting response, way more than anything you'd encounter in nature.
它们之所以能吸引你的注意力，部分原因是因为它们能引发一种超强的定向反应，这种反应比你在自然界遇到的任何事物都要强烈。
But overloading your orienting response can actually backfire.
但是实际上，过多的定向反应会适得其反。
Sure, you're looking at the screen, but in studies, learning and recall tends to drop.
看屏幕，但是经研究，学习和回想往往会下降。
Sugar, fat, and salt might be another example of this.
糖、脂肪和盐可能是另一个例子。
In the early days of our species, these were hard to come by, but critical for our survival.
人类早期，这些东西很难得到，但对我们的生存至关重要。
So our brains rewarded us for eating these things, and they still do today.
所以我们的大脑会因为我们吃了这些东西而奖励我们，直至今天依然如此。
But we can get these concentrated flavors at any time, and in combinations that aren't found in nature
但是我们可以在任何时候得到这些浓缩的味道，这些组合在自然界中是找不到的
— like the sweet, fatty, and salty combo of peanut butter
——就像甜的，多脂，咸的花生酱
who even made that thing real?
是谁把它变成现实的?
And our reaction to those more intense concentrations is to want more of them, even if there's so much sugar, fat, and salt in that peanut that it is unhealthy for us to eat.
我们对这些高浓度的花生的反应是想要更多的花生，即使花生中含有太多的糖、脂肪和盐，对我们的健康有害。
Some researchers have proposed other kinds of supernormal stimuli in humans, like high heels, art, and the internet.
一些研究人员提出了生活中的其他类型的超常刺激，如高跟鞋，艺术，和互联网。
All are examples of how humans have modified our environment from what it was thousands of years ago.
所有这些都是人类如何从几千年前开始改变我们环境的案例。
On the other hand, many researchers point out that while evolution has led to these exaggerated responses, it's also given us an exceptionally large cerebral cortex.
另一方面，许多研究人员指出，进化虽然产生了这些夸张的反应，但它也给我们一个异常巨大的大脑皮层。
That's the part of your brain you use to make decisions — sometimes decisions against your natural instincts, which is exactly the kind of instincts that supernormal stimuli trigger.
这是你用来做决定的大脑的一部分——有时决定违背你的自然本能，这正是超常刺激所激发的本能。
So, with this big brain of yours, you can decide to shut off the TV or make sure that you don't buy another giant package of peanut butter;
所以，有了大脑，你可以决定关掉电视，或者确保你不会再买一大盒花生酱；
— ways of avoiding being sucked into an exaggerated response that you don't want to have.
——避免陷入你不想听到的夸张回应。
Plus, not all supernormal stimuli are bad.
此外，并非所有超常的刺激都是不好的。
We know that when we go to the movies what we're seeing isn't real, but I still want to watch the new Mission Impossible movie.
我们知道，我们去看电影时看到的是不真实的，但我仍然想看新的《碟中谍》。
Many supernormal stimuli, in moderation, are ways we enjoy ourselves.
许多适度的超常刺激是自我享受。
Finally, it's worth keeping in mind that not everyone reacts to this stuff in the same way.
最后，值得记住的是，并非每个人对这些事情的反应都是一样的。
You might be one of those people who doesn't get all hot and bothered by the big bowl of peanut, maybe your sibling isn't that into Tom Cruise hanging off the side of an airplane.
你可能不会被一大碗花生弄得焦躁不堪，也许你的兄弟姐妹可没那么喜欢汤姆·克鲁斯挂在飞机的一侧
So, it's not like supernormal stimuli will be humanity's downfall or anything.
所以，并不是说超常的刺激会导致人类的灭亡。
But it's an important thing to keep researching, because we will continue to get better at modifying our environment.
但是继续研究是很重要的，因为我们会在改善环境方面做得更好。
We're already seeing the negative consequences of unhealthy foods that are so delicious all we want to do is sit around eating them.
我们已经看到了不健康食品的负面影响，它们是如此美味，我们想做的就是坐在那里吃。
And pretty soon, we might be faced with virtual reality experiences so engrossing that it wouldn't be much of a surprise if some people preferred them over real life.
很快，我们可能会面临如此引人入胜的虚拟现实体验，如果有些人更喜欢它们而不是现实生活，这不足为奇。
There aren't easy answers to these questions.
这些问题没有简单的答案。
But while our brains might be the problem, they're also the solution.
我们的大脑虽然可能是问题所在，但也是解决问题的方法。
Thanks for watching this episode of SciShow Psych!
感谢收看本期心理科学秀！
And thanks especially to our community on Patreon — this channel exists because of your support.
特别感谢Patreon对本节目的支持——因为你们的支持才有了我们的节目。
If you're interested in learning more about how you can help us keep exploring the weird quirks of the human brain, you can go on our patreon.com/scishow..
如果你有兴趣了解更多关于如何帮助我们继续探索人类大脑的奇怪癖好，请访问patreon.com/scishow。
