評論
打印
A lot of people love to rag on Comic Sans,
很多人詬病Comic Sans字體，
and if you've ever seen someone use it, you might not be surprised.
如果你見過有人使用這種字體，可能不會這么驚訝了。
After all, even though it's a pretty childish-looking font,
畢竟，這種字體很稚氣，
people keep slapping it on official memos, important signs, and anything that's supposed to be remotely fun.
人們常常在官方備忘錄、重要標識以及任何應該很有趣的東西上使用這種字體。
And don't even get your designer friends started on the other problems with it.
甚至不要讓你的設計師朋友們開始關注Comic Sans字體的其他問題。
Still, for as much as people love to hate Comic Sans, it might actually be doing some good in the world.
盡管人們反感Comic Sans字體，但這種字體可能確實能給世界帶來一些好處。
Specifically, many people with dyslexia have pointed out that using it helps them read more easily—which is great.
確切來說，許多有閱讀障礙的人指出，這種字體可以幫助他們閱讀起來更容易，使用起來很不錯。
Except, from what researchers can tell, Comic Sans shouldn't actually be as useful as it is for dyslexia, no matter how many people prefer it
此外，從研究人員的角度來看，對于有閱讀障礙的人來說，不管有多少人更喜歡Comic Sans字體，但它不應該有用，
And that might mean there's something going on we don't understand.
可能意味著我們依然會有一些不理解的東西。
Dyslexia is a common reading disorder that boils down to a deficit in phonology,
閱讀障礙是一種常見的閱讀疾患，可以歸結為音位上的缺陷——
a component of reading that involves processing the sound structures that make up language.
閱讀時處理語言聲音結構的部分。
You sometimes hear that it involves swapping around words or letters or reading backwards,
你有時會聽到這樣一種說法：有閱讀障礙的人會交換單詞或字母，或者是從后往前讀，
but that's not universally true.
但這不是普遍的事實。
Instead, someone might have trouble sounding out words, naming letters and numbers,
相反，有些人可能在發聲、叫出字母和數字
or recognizing words based on what they look like.
或者識別上有困難。
Really, though, there are many types of the disorder and many different components of reading,
實際上，因為閱讀障礙有多種類型，并且組成部分各不相同，
so there's no single type of dyslexic brain.
所以不存在單一類型閱讀障礙的大腦。
That also means there's no easy fix, but simple and accessible modifications, like tweaking a font, might help.
這也意味著沒有簡單的解決辦法，但是簡單易行的辦法，比如調整字體，可能會有所幫助。
That's where Comic Sans comes in.
這就是Comic Sans字體出現的原因。
In general, studies have shown that fonts like it—ones that don't use serifs, feature lots of unique characters,
研究表明，閱讀障礙患者對這種不使用襯線，有很多獨特字符，
and aren't too smashed together—are rated highly by those with dyslexia.
組合在一起不太碎的字體評價很高。
It's hard to say specifically why they're helpful,
很難具體說為什么Comic Sans字體有幫助，
because scientists haven't really done brain studies of people reading in different fonts.
因為科學家們還沒有研究過使用不同字體閱讀人們的大腦。
It could just be that something like Comic Sans is easier and more relaxing to read, than, say, Cambria.
也許Comic Sans字體比Cambria字體更容易閱讀，也更輕松。
But regardless, it is promising enough to get people interested.
但無論如何，人們對這種字體很感興趣。
In fact, designers have taken these observations to a new level over the years.
事實上，多年來，設計師們已經把字體觀察提升到了新高度。
They've used those design elements—stuff like unique letter shapes and careful spacing
他們使用了設計元素，比如獨特的字母形狀和精細的間距，
—to create styles of fonts specifically for folks with dyslexia, like one in 2010 called Dyslexie.
專門為患有閱讀障礙的人設計字體樣式，比如2010年的Dyslexie字體
The idea is that if fonts with some of those design elements are helpful, then imagine how great one with all of them would be.
如果其中一些設計元素有用的話，那么想象一下，有了所有這些元素的字體會是多么奇妙。
Except, fonts like Dyslexie aren't exactly blowing away expectations.
此外，像Dyslexie這樣的字體并沒有完全打消人們的期望。
While the research isn't that robust,
雖然這項研究還不夠充分，
the specialized font doesn't consistently perform better for reading speed or comprehension than stock fonts like Arial, Times, Georgia... or Comic Sans.
但和Arial, Times, Georgia…或者 Comic Sans相比，這些專門設計的字體在閱讀和理解速度上效果并不理想。
Which seems surprising.
結果似乎令人驚訝。
Like, Comic Sans checks some of the boxes, but it doesn't have all of those preferred design elements.
比如，檢查Comic Sans字體發現，它沒有使用這些首選設計元素。
It lacks wide character spacing, for example.
例如，Comic Sans字體缺少寬字符間距，
So why would people with dyslexia prefer it over a specially-designed, supposedly optimized font?
那么為什么患有閱讀障礙的人更喜歡這種字體而不是特別設計的，據說是經過優化的字體呢?
Well, that might suggest there's something we don't quite understand about the intersection of dyslexia and design.
這可能意味著我們對閱讀障礙和設計之間的交集還不是很了解。
This could be because dyslexia looks different for different people.
可能因為每人的閱讀障礙不同。
Some research has concluded that the disorder can stem from visual sensitivity and attentional deficits.
一些研究得出，閱讀障礙可能是由視覺敏感度和注意力缺陷引起的。
But other studies point to deficits in different brain areas.
但其他研究指出閱讀障礙是由不同腦區的缺陷引起。
So maybe certain design elements are only useful for certain kinds of dyslexia.
所以也許某些設計元素只對特定的閱讀障礙有用。
Or maybe we don't fully understand why these design features are as useful as they are.
或者也許我們并不完全理解為什么這些設計要點有用。
Maybe we're focusing too hard on one part of the picture and missing something else entirely.
也許我們過于專注于圖片的某一部分而忽略了其它部分。
Right now, we just don't have a clear answer because it's not something researchers have looked at.
目前，我們沒有得出一個明確的答案，因為還沒有這方面的研究。
For now, this all means that the best font for someone with a reading difficulty is the one they like the most.
現在來說，對于一個有閱讀困難的人，最好的字體是他們最喜歡的字體，
The one that helps out their individual brain.
能幫助他們大腦的字體。
Even if it is Comic Sans.
盡管是Comic Sans字體。
Honestly, though, if the font is out there doing good, it's hard to be upset about it—
老實說，如果字體用著好，就很難為此煩惱了，
even if we're not totally sure why it works.
即使我們不完全確定為什么會這樣。
And hey, at least it's not Papyrus.
嘿，至少不是紙莎草紙。
Thanks for watching this episode of SciShow Psych!
感謝收看心理科學秀節目。
If you'd like to keep exploring all of the strange, fascinating ways that your brain works,
如果你想繼續探索大腦運作的所有奇怪的，迷人的方式，
you can find more videos and subscribe at youtube.com/scishowpsych.
你可以在youtube.com/scishowpsych上尋找并訂閱更多的視頻。
