We all know about the psychopath’s enhanced killer instinct,
我们都说心理变态者有强烈的杀戮本能
their finely tuned vulnerability antennae.
都知道他们神经脆弱
But it may surprise you to know that there are some situations
但令人惊讶的是 某些情况下
in which psychopaths are actually more adept at saving lives
心理变态者可能更倾向于救人
than they are at taking them.
而非杀人
So let me give you an example of what I mean by that, okay?
下面我来举个例子解释一下
Imagine you’ve got a train
假设有一辆火车
and it’s hurtling down a track.
正沿着铁轨飞驰
In its path, five people are trapped on the line and cannot escape.
有五个人困在铁轨上无法逃脱
Fortunately, you can flick a switch,
好在你可以按下开关
which diverts the train down a fork in that track,
使火车转到轨道上的一条岔路
away from those five people, but at a price.
这能救下那五个人 不过要付出些代价
There is another person trapped down that fork
有另一个人被困在那条岔路上
and the train will kill him instead.
按下开关后火车会撞死他
Question: Should you flick the switch?
请问：你是否应该按下开关呢？
你应该按下开关吗？
Now, most people have little trouble
大多数人不会犹豫太久
deciding what to do under those circumstances.
很快就能在这样的情况下做出决定
though the thought of flicking the switch isn’t exactly a nice one,
尽管按下开关不是完美的解决方法
the utilitarian choice as it were,
但这是个很有效的举措
killing just the one person instead of the five
一个人牺牲 另外五个就能得救
represents the least worst option,
这能让损失最小化
okay.
好的
But now let me give you a variation.
下面我改变一下问题的情境
You’ve got a train speeding out of control down a track
铁轨上有辆失控的火车在飞驰
and it’s gonna plow into five people on the line.
它会撞到铁轨上的五个人
But this time you are standing behind a very large stranger
这次你站在一个体型硕大的胖子后面
on a footbridge above that track.
就在铁轨上方的人行天桥上
The only way to save the people
唯一救下那些人的办法
is to heave the stranger over.
就是把胖子推下去
He will fall to a certain death,
他肯定会摔死
but his considerable bulk will block the train,
但是他庞大的身躯能拦住火车
saving five lives.
救下五个人
你应该把陌生人推到铁轨上吗？
Now we’ve got what we might call
这时我们面对的
a real dilemma on our hands, okay.
是一个真正进退两难的选择
While the score in lives
尽管它和第一个情境一样
is precisely the same as in the first scenario, five to one.
都是用一条命去救五条命
One’s choice of action appears far trickier.
我们要做出的选择却显得更加困难
Now why should that be?
为什么会这样呢？
Well, the reason it turns out, all boils down to temperature, okay?
原因可能要归结于人性的温度 明白吗
Case one represents what we might call an impersonal dilemma.
第一个案例是一个与自己无关的困境
It involved those areas of the brain,
处理它时涉及的脑区
the prefrontal cortex, the posterior parietal cortex,
包括前额皮质 后顶叶皮质
in particular, the anterior para singular cortex, the temporal pole
尤其是前单侧副皮质和颞极
and the superior temporal sulcus.
以及颞上沟
Bit of neuroanatomy for you there.
神经解剖学术语 可能有点难懂
Primarily responsible for what we call cold empathy,
这些区域的功能是所谓的冷共情
for reasoning and rational thought.
是用于推理和理性思考的
Case two, on the other hand,
第二个案例则不太一样
represents what we might call a personal dilemma.
它是一种涉及自身的困境
It involves the emotion center of the brain
处理它所用到的的是大脑的情感中枢
known as the amygdala, the circuitry of hot empathy.
被称为杏仁体 是热共情脑回路
What we might call the feeling of feeling what another person is feeling.
也就是那种感受他人所感的能力
Now, psychopaths, just like most normal members of the population,
在处理第一个案例时 心理变态者就像普通人一样
have no trouble at all with case one.
不会有什么问题
They flick the switch and the train diverts accordingly,
他们会按下开关 火车会因此转向
killing just the one person instead of the five.
这会杀死一个人而救下五个
But, this is where the plot thickens.
但之后的情况就会有所不同
Quite unlike normal members of the population,
和普通人不一样的是
psychopaths also experience
心理变态者在处理第二个案例时
little difficulty with case two.
也不会觉得纠结
Psychopaths, without a moment’s hesitation,
如果必须要做的话
are perfectly willing to chuck the fat guy over the rails,
心理变态者会毫不犹豫地
if that’s what the doctor orders.
把胖子推下铁轨
Now moreover, this difference in behavior
此外 行为上的不同
has a distinct neural signature.
也会直接反应到神经活动上
The pattern of brain activation in both normal people and psychopaths
普通人和心理变态者在面对与自己无关的困境时
is identical on the presentation of the impersonal moral dilemma,
脑部的活动规律是一致的
but radically different when things start to get a bit more personal.
但当事情涉及到自身时 就会出现很大的差别
Imagine that I were to hook you up to a brain scanner,
假设我带你去做那种非常牛的
a functional magnetic resonance imaging machine,
核磁共振脑部扫描
and were to present you with those two dilemmas, okay.
这时 我让你处理这两种困境
What would I observe as you went about trying to solve them?
当你试着解决它们的时候 我会观察到什么现象呢
Well, at the precise moment
在问题的本质
that the nature of the dilemma switches from impersonal to personal,
从无关自己变成涉及自身的一瞬间
I would see the emotion center of your brain,
就能看到你大脑的情感中枢
your amygdala and related brain circuits, the medial orbital frontal cortex for example,
包括杏仁体和框内侧额叶皮质这种相关脑回路
light up like a pinball machine.
像弹球游戏机那样亮起来了
I would witness the moment in other words,
也就是说我会看到
when emotion puts it money in the slot.
情感占据主导的瞬间
But in psychopaths, I would see precisely nothing.
但对心理变态者来说 我什么都看不到
And the passage from impersonal to personal would slip by unnoticed.
无关自身和涉及自身的问题转变不会引起注意
Because that emotion neighborhood of their brains,
这是因为他们大脑的情感中枢
that emotional zip code has a neural curfew.
是被禁用的
And that’s why they’re perfectly happy to chuck that fat guy over the side
这就是他们愿意毫不犹豫地
without even batting an eye.
把胖子推下铁轨的原因