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In our daily social lives, we're constantly doing things that — on the surface — don't make much sense.
在日常生活中，我們經常做一些表面上的事，沒有多大意義。
We'll pretend we're not interested in someone when we actually have a huge crush on them.
當我們迷戀某些人的時候，我們會假裝自己對他們不感興趣。
Or we'll tell our friends about a job promotion,
或者我們會把升職的事告訴朋友，
but make it sound like no big deal.
但我們會往小去說。
And all the time, people donate to charities anonymously.
一直以來，人們都給慈善機構匿名捐款。
To evolutionary biologists, these behaviors are puzzling because usually,
進化生物學家認為，這些行為令人不解，因為通常來說，
if you do something good, you get rewarded for it with a boost to your reputation.
如果你做了一件好事，就會因此得到回報，從而提升你的聲譽。
That may not be why you did it, but you still get a nice thing in return.
也許你做好事不是為了得到回報，但你仍然會得到某些好處作為回報。
And that's important, because it's how so-called prosocial behaviors get reinforced.
這點很重要，因為這就是所謂利他行為的強化方式
But if you hide the fact that you did something good, then, well, all bets are off.
但如果你隱瞞了做好事的事實，那么，好吧，這些好處都沒有了。
Same thing with trying to find a partner.
找對象也是這樣。
It usually makes zero sense to hide that you like someone —
隱藏你喜歡某人
or to look less attractive by downplaying your strengths.
或者將自己的優勢輕描淡寫來降低自己的吸引力通常毫無意義。
And yet, humans are expert concealers.
然而，人類是隱藏的高手。
We love playing hard to get, and we strive for modesty.
我們喜歡玩欲擒故縱的游戲，努力保持謙遜。
As natural as these behaviors are, scientists have only recently started to understand them in detail—
盡管這是很自然的事，但直到最近科學家們才細細研究這些行為
and in some cases, they're turning to game theory to figure things out.
某些情況下，他們會求助于博弈論來尋求解決問題的辦法。
Now, you might be thinking, well, of course we do all this stuff — we don't want to look like narcissistic jerks!
現在，你可能會想，好吧，我們當然會這樣做啦——因為我們不想像自戀狂一樣！
In many cultures, you have to be modest to be considered polite.
在許多文化中，只有表現謙遜才被認為是有禮貌。
Numerous studies have even shown that modest people are thought of more positively by others.
許多研究甚至表明，人們會認為謙遜的人更加積極。
Well, there are several ideas about why this is.
原因有幾點。
One suggests that being modest is helpful because you come off as non-threatening.
其中一個是，謙遜能讓你不具威脅性。
Others suggest that it's all about boosting the self-esteem of the people around you.
其他人則認為，這樣是為了提升你周圍人的尊嚴。
By not presenting yourself in the most glowing light,
通過減少自己的光環，
you can let them feel superior, and put them in a jolly mood.
從而讓他們有種優越的感覺，心情愉快。
You, in turn, end up getting the equivalent of up-votes.
這樣，大家反而更加認可你
So, all in all, modesty is a pretty good tactic in social situations.
所以，總的來說，在社交場合上，謙遜是一個很好的策略。
Still, these ideas don't fully explain things like anonymous donations.
盡管如此，這些想法并不能完全解釋諸如匿名捐贈之類的事情。
Or, why we pay big bucks for a brand name handbag that has only a very subtle tag on it.
或者，為什么我們要花大價錢買一個包上只有一個非常細小的標簽的名牌手提包。
That's where the game theory comes in.
這就是博弈論的作用所在。
This year, researchers at Harvard and the Institute of Science and Technology Austria used evolutionary game theory to make sense of these conundrums.
今年，哈佛大學和奧地利科學技術研究所的研究人員利用進化博弈論來解釋這些難題。
Classical game theory tries to model and understand how people in competition with others make rational decisions.
經典博弈論試圖模擬和了解人們在與他人競爭時如何做出理性的決策。
Think war strategy, like figuring out whether to drop a bomb, given what you think your opponent will do in return.
想想戰爭策略，就像弄清楚是否要扔炸彈一樣，想想你的對手會怎么做。
Evolutionary game theory is similar, but it doesn't require someone to be making an active decision.
進化博弈論與之類似，但不需要有人主動決策。
For that reason, it's useful in biology,
鑒于此，進化博弈論在生物學中很有用，
because scientists can use it to identify tactics that work well for populations— like why peacocks would have evolved such elaborate and showy feathers.
因為科學家可以用它來找出適合人群的策略——比如為什么孔雀會進化出如此精致和艷麗的羽毛。
But it doesn't have to necessarily be about biological evolution.
但這并不一定與生物進化有關。
Social scientists use it, too, to understand how certain behaviors become entrenched.
社會科學家也用它來理解某些行為是如何變得根深蒂固的。
Like our odd habit of hiding information.
比如我們隱藏信息的奇怪習慣。
In this experiment, the team created what they call a signal-burying game to identify scenarios in which concealment becomes a somewhat common strategy.
在這個實驗中，研究小組創造了一種稱之為“信號埋沒"的游戲來識別隱藏策略經常使用的場景。
The game didn't involve any actual people— it was all just a computer simulation.
沒有任何人參與這個游戲，只是電腦模擬。
But it did provide good insights.
但這種方法確實給我們提供了好的見解。
In it, two virtual people are paired up for an economic interaction.
在這個游戲中，兩個虛擬人配對，進行經濟互助。
Some are senders, meaning they can send a signal to the other party, if they so choose—
一些人是發件人，他們可以向另一方發送一個信號，如果他們選擇
a sort of memo announcing how strong of a potential business partner they are.
一份備忘錄，這顯示了他們作為潛在商業伙伴的實力。
The other people are receivers, who have varying levels of pickiness in terms of whom they'll partner with.
另一些人是收件人，他們在與誰合作方面有著不同程度的挑剔。
There were a bunch of other details to this,
還有很多其他細節，
and whether or not a receiver decided to work with a sender ultimately depended on formulas programmed into the game.
無論收件人是否決定與發件人合作，最終都取決于游戲中設定的公式。
But the detail that really matters is that the sender didn't have to send an obvious signal about their status.
但真正重要的細節是發件人不需要發出關于他們狀態的明顯信號。
They also had the option to send a hidden or buried one,
他們也可以選擇發送一個隱藏的信號，
which had some chance of being discovered by the receiver— kind of like"accidentally" leaving their resume in the break room.
這個信號有可能被收件人發現——有點像“不小心”把簡歷留在休息室。
And if it was discovered, the receiver knew it was meant to be a secret.
收件人如果發現了，就知道這是機密。
Running the simulation under a variety of conditions, the team learned that signal-burying does appear to be a good strategy in some cases.
各種條件下的模擬使得團隊成員了解到，在某些情況下“信號埋沒”確實是一個很好的策略。
Specifically, if there was a good chance that the hidden signal would eventually be noticed,
具體來說，如果機會好的話，隱藏的信號終究會被發現，
or, if the sender only cared about the picky receivers, it made sense to keep things on the D-L.
或者，如果發件人只關心他選擇的收件人的話，那么在D-L上保留東西是有意義的。
Essentially, that's because the scientists found that hiding information is itself a signal to others.
從本質上說，這是因為科學家發現，隱藏信息本身就是給其它人發出的信號。
It can help you come across as more modest,
它會讓你看起來更謙遜，
or it can send a message that you aren't interested in what the public thinks — just high-profile individuals.
或者它會傳遞出這樣一個信息：你對公眾的想法不感興趣——只對知名人士感興趣。
Take those anonymous donations, for instance.
以那些匿名捐贈為例，
If someone learns through the grapevine who made that huge charity contribution,
如果有人通過小道消息得知是誰做出了如此巨大的慈善貢獻，
the fact that it wasn't meant to be public makes it seem that much more noble.
不公開會讓捐贈看起來更加高尚。
Of course, not announcing your donation does mean that far fewer people will know about it.
當然，不公開捐贈意味著知道這件事的人更少。
But maybe it's better for just a handful of powerful people — like the charity, or your closest friends — to know, and to think extra highly of you.
但也許對少數有權勢的人來說，比如慈善機構，或者你最親密的朋友，公開出來會更好，你的評價會更高。
Signal-burying might not win you the widespread benefits that usually come with positive behavior—
信號埋沒可能不會為你積極的行為帶來很多利益，
but they might snag you some favor among a select few you especially care about.
但可能會讓你在特別關心的少數人當中贏得一些好感。
And that's likely why we keep doing it.
這就是一直以來我們這樣做的原因。
Now, all of this doesn't mean that your choice to downplay your success or conceal a generous donation is always a conscious, plotted-out thing.
現在，所有這些并不意味著你選擇將你的成功輕描淡寫或隱瞞慷慨的捐贈都是有意識、計劃出來的。
It could be, but because the researchers used evolutionary game theory,
可能是這樣，但因為研究人員使用了進化博弈論，
what this really tells us is that hiding stuff has proven to be beneficial, which is why it's spread through society.
我們從中真正了解到，藏東西實際上是有益的，這就是它在社會上傳播的原因。
So, don't feel bad if you naturally do it.
所以，如果你這樣不自覺的做了，不要有不好的感覺。
Thanks for watching this episode of SciShow Psych!
感謝收看心理科學秀節目。
People do all kinds of weird and fascinating stuff, and if you'd like to learn more,
人們會做各種各樣古怪有趣的事情，如果你想了解更多，
you can check out our episode about self-handicapping — or why you keep sabotaging yourself before that big test.
可以看看我們的節目——自我設限，或者為什么在參加大的測試之前一直在自我破壞。
And as always, you can go to youtube.com/scishowpsych and subscribe.
和以往一樣，你可以登陸youtube.com/scishowpsych訂閱我們的節目。
