囧研究：靈魂伴侶真的存在嗎？

According to New Oxford American, a soulmate is just "a person ideally suited to another as a close friend or romantic partner." By that meaning, soulmates obviously exist . But a soulmate, in the more metaphysical sense of the term, has a deeper, more profound connotation. This type of soulmate is something based in a more spiritual plane , each person has just one soulmate out there, and if you blow it with them, that's it.

據新牛津美語大詞典釋義，“靈魂伴侶”只是“一個人對另一個人作為親密的朋友或浪漫的伙伴來說是理想合適的人選。”照這個意思來講，靈魂伴侶很明顯是存在的。但就這個詞的抽象意義來說，靈魂伴侶應該有一個層次更深、意義更廣的內涵。這種形式的靈魂伴侶是基于精神層面上來講的：每個人只有一個靈魂伴侶，如果你倆吹了，那就結束了。

I don't believe that. I do, however, believe in soulmates in the dictionary definition of the word — as in, some people are truly suited for each other, and some are not, no matter how hard they try or how good they look on paper or even how much they love each other. But don't take my word for it. Here's what science has to say about soulmates.

我不相信這個(人只有一個靈魂伴侶)。但我的確相信“靈魂伴侶”這個詞字典中的定義——比如，一些人確實彼此很合適，但一些則并不。不管他們多努力或是多么有夫妻相或甚至多么深愛彼此。但不要把我的話當真。看看科學對“靈魂伴侶”都說了些什么：

Math Says Soulmates Are Impossible

數學上講靈魂伴侶是不可能的事情。

In the book What If?: Serious Scientific Answers to Absurd Hypothetical Questions, one-time NASAroboticist Randall Munroe tries to answer the question, "What if everyone actually had only one soulmate, a random person somewhere in the world?" Munroe crunches numbers and finds that, mathematically speaking, the chances of finding your soulmate — if there's just one out there for you — are slim to none.

在《如果?：荒謬假設性問題的嚴謹科學之答案》這本書中：前(美國)國家航空和航天局機器人專家蘭德爾·門羅嘗試著回答這個問題，“如果每個人確實只有一個靈魂伴侶——在世界上某處的隨意一個人——那該怎么辦?”門羅通過計算得出，就數學上講，找到屬于你的靈魂伴侶的概率(如果真的只有一個靈魂伴侶的話)小到可以忽略不計。

Energy Studies Say Soulmates Are Real

能量研究稱靈魂伴侶真實存在。

As the very out-there website The Science of Soulmates reports, soulmates are, indeed, real, and can be proven by science.

前衛(wèi)網站《靈魂伴侶科學》報道稱靈魂伴侶確實真實存在，而且可以被科學所證明。

According to the site, "scientific instruments recorded evidence of a fundamental energy pattern that reveals the source of existence and the source of the phenomenon of soulmates."

該網站稱：“科學工具記錄下一種重要能量模式的證據，這種模式能揭示物質來源和靈魂伴侶此種形式的來源。”

Though this "evidence" is convoluted and hard to follow, it appears that some believe that soulmates can be proven by studying energy patterns.

盡管這種“證據”很復雜，很難尋其蹤跡，但有人相信靈魂伴侶能夠通過研究能量模式證明其存在。

Psychology Argues Yes For Soulmates, With A Twist

心理學家認為靈魂伴侶是存在的，雖然很扯。

If science can't definitively prove soulmates exist, what about psychology? "While I do not believe there is such a thing as 'finding your perfectly matched soulmate,' writes Shauna H Springer, a licensed psychologist and relationship and lifestyle researcher. She argues that, although two people may not start out as "soulmates" in the classic sense of the word, it's possible to become someone else's soulmate simply by virtue of being a fantastic partner.

如果科學不能明確證明靈魂伴侶的存在，那心理學呢?執(zhí)照心理學家兼戀愛和生活方式研究人員肖娜·H· 斯普林格寫道：我并不相信 找到你的完美合拍的靈魂伴侶 這種事情。她說盡管兩人一開始并不是從“靈魂伴侶”這個詞的典型意義開始的，但只要兩人達到了絕妙拍檔的本質意義就可能成為對方的靈魂伴侶。

So —Do Soulmates Exist?

所以——靈魂伴侶存在么?

Who's right? Does math win, making it near-impossible to meet your soulmate, even if such a thing exists?

那誰是對的呢?數學這方勝利了嗎?即使靈魂伴侶存在，你能以近乎不可能的概率找到他(她)嗎?

If soulmates really are a thing, I think science, math and psychology all take a backseat to transcendental phenomena. And in the case of the spiritual, I think it's less feasible to explain it —instead, it has to experienced.