時差N小時:笑是個社會信號? Laughter

DON:Yael, I've been thinking lately that maybe Ishould go into stand-up comedy.

唐:雅艾爾,最近我一直在想也許該去演喜劇脫口秀。

YAEL:What on earth gave you that idea?

雅艾爾:到底是什么讓你萌生這種念頭?

DON:I've noticed that I seem to make a lot of peoplelaugh, especially women.

唐:我注意到,我似乎是很多人的開心果,尤其是在女性中間。

Sometimes all I have to say is "Hello." It's ratherremarkable.

有時我只是不得不說你好。就能帶來非凡的笑果。

YAEL:Actually, it's rather ordinary.

雅艾爾:事實上,這再普通不過了。Laughter research has found that onlya small percentage of laughter, less than 20%, is a sincere response to someone's humor.

對于笑的研究已經(jīng)發(fā)現(xiàn),只有很小一部分的笑,不到20%,是對別人幽默真誠的回應(yīng)。

In fact, laughter is primarily a social signal, as opposed to an emotional outburst.

事實上,笑是主要的社會信號,而不是一種情緒的宣泄。

People are thirty times more likely to laugh in a social situation than when they are alone.

處于社交場合時人們的笑會是獨自一人時的30倍。

And other observations about laughter also imply it has a social function.

而另一項關(guān)于笑的研究也表明它有一種社會功能。

For instance, there's "polite" laughter.

例如,有“禮貌”的笑聲。

How often have you found yourself laughing at someone's attempt at being funny in order tospare their feelings or make them feel good?

你是否經(jīng)常發(fā)現(xiàn)自己笑別人的幽默只是為了照顧他們的感情或讓他們感覺好受些?

DON:Wow. You've just described my relationship with my father.

唐:哇。你剛剛講的就是我和父親之間的關(guān)系。

It hurts me how unfunny he is.

這傷害了我,他是個多么無趣的人。

I'm sure I'd be able to tell if people were faking their laughter at my jokes, though.

盡管我確信自己可以判斷是否有人假裝感到我的笑話笑果出眾。

YAEL:Hmm. Well, Don, research has also found that women tend to laugh a good deal morethan men.

雅艾爾:嗯。嗯,唐,研究也發(fā)現(xiàn),女性的笑常常超過男性。

And male speakers tend to illicit more laughter than female speakers.

而男性演講者們往往比女性的笑更為不正當(dāng)。

Also, laughter may very well be a sign of power dynamics between people, signalingdominance and submission, acceptance and rejection.

還有,笑聲很可能標(biāo)志著人與人之間的權(quán)力分配,信號統(tǒng)治及順從,接受和拒絕。

Certainly, that seems to be the case when someone is laughed at rather than with.

當(dāng)然,這似乎是這樣而當(dāng)有人嘲笑的時候則另當(dāng)別論。

DON:Thanks a lot, Yael.

唐:雅艾爾，非常感謝。

I think you've ruined my career in comedy, as well as laughter in general.

我認為你毀了我的喜劇事業(yè),還有一般的笑。

You've explained the life out of it!

你已經(jīng)融入于生活中了!