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When you see gigantic cartoon eyes, do they make you feel like you want to run away?
當你看到巨大的卡通眼睛時，你會想要逃跑嗎?
Do they give you a tingling feeling on the back of your neck…like something is watching you?
你的脖子后面會有一種刺痛的感覺嗎，好像有什么東西在盯著你
Maybe you don't feel that way, but birds who see these eyes do not like them.
也許你沒有這種感覺，但是看到這些眼睛的鳥兒不喜歡它們。
They're an example of a supernormal stimulus: something that will cause a bigger and bigger response as it's made more intense,
巨大的卡通眼睛屬于超常刺激的一種：當刺激變得越來越強烈時，反應會越來越大，
even if it's exaggerated way beyond what you'd encounter in nature.
即使它比你在自然界中遇到的要夸張得多。
This comes from instincts birds acquired through evolution:
這是鳥類通過進化獲得的本能：
if you see this kind of shape, get out of there before you become someone's lunch!
如果你看到這種形狀，在你成為別人的午餐之前離開！
In nature, the eyes are…well…small, and not quite so "googly"-eye-looking.
在自然界中，眼睛……嗯……很小，不太像“瞪視”的眼睛。
But when you show them on big screens and increase the contrast between parts of the eye,
但是當其顯示在大屏幕上，并增加部分眼睛的對比度時，
researchers have found that birds will fly away from them, which could be useful for keeping them away from airport runways, for example.
研究人員發現，鳥類會飛走，這可能有助于讓鳥兒遠離機場跑道。
It's easy for humans to see these exaggerated stimuli for what they are.
這些夸張的刺激很常見。
We know those gigantic eyes are just an image, not an actual threat to a bird.
我們知道這些巨大的眼睛只是一個圖像，并不對鳥類構成真正威脅。
But that's because we haven't evolved the same instinctive reaction to it that birds have.
但那是因為我們沒有進化出和鳥類一樣的本能反應。
Some psychologists argue that there are other superstimuli we might be susceptible to.
一些心理學家認為，我們可能還會受到其他迷信的影響。
But our ability to recognize them makes a big difference.
但是我們的識別能力會有很大的不同。
Take TV, for example. Or any form of video entertainment, really.
以電視或者任何形式的視頻娛樂為例。
The orienting response is an instinct that keeps us safe by causing us to pay attention to novel sights and sounds.
定向反應是一種本能，它通過使我們注意新奇的景象和聲音來保護我們的安全。
Back in the day, it would have helped us spot dangerous predators or hunt for food.
在過去，它可以幫助我們發現危險的捕食者或尋找食物。
Certain for of entertainment are designed to take advantage of that, with constantly changing sights and sounds that trigger your orienting response over and over again.
某種娛樂就是為了利用這一點而設計的，不斷變化的視覺和聲音會一遍又一遍地觸發你的定向反應。
You know the type — commercials, action sequences, that kind of thing.
你知道那種商業廣告、動作場面之類的，
They capture your attention partly by triggering a super strong orienting response, way more than anything you'd encounter in nature.
它們之所以能吸引你的注意力，部分原因是因為它們能引發一種超強的定向反應，這種反應比你在自然界遇到的任何事物都要強烈。
But overloading your orienting response can actually backfire.
但是實際上，過多的定向反應會適得其反。
Sure, you're looking at the screen, but in studies, learning and recall tends to drop.
看屏幕，但是經研究，學習和回想往往會下降。
Sugar, fat, and salt might be another example of this.
糖、脂肪和鹽可能是另一個例子。
In the early days of our species, these were hard to come by, but critical for our survival.
人類早期，這些東西很難得到，但對我們的生存至關重要。
So our brains rewarded us for eating these things, and they still do today.
所以我們的大腦會因為我們吃了這些東西而獎勵我們，直至今天依然如此。
But we can get these concentrated flavors at any time, and in combinations that aren't found in nature
但是我們可以在任何時候得到這些濃縮的味道，這些組合在自然界中是找不到的
— like the sweet, fatty, and salty combo of peanut butter
——就像甜的，多脂，咸的花生醬
who even made that thing real?
是誰把它變成現實的?
And our reaction to those more intense concentrations is to want more of them, even if there's so much sugar, fat, and salt in that peanut that it is unhealthy for us to eat.
我們對這些高濃度的花生的反應是想要更多的花生，即使花生中含有太多的糖、脂肪和鹽，對我們的健康有害。
Some researchers have proposed other kinds of supernormal stimuli in humans, like high heels, art, and the internet.
一些研究人員提出了生活中的其他類型的超常刺激，如高跟鞋，藝術，和互聯網。
All are examples of how humans have modified our environment from what it was thousands of years ago.
所有這些都是人類如何從幾千年前開始改變我們環境的案例。
On the other hand, many researchers point out that while evolution has led to these exaggerated responses, it's also given us an exceptionally large cerebral cortex.
另一方面，許多研究人員指出，進化雖然產生了這些夸張的反應，但它也給我們一個異常巨大的大腦皮層。
That's the part of your brain you use to make decisions — sometimes decisions against your natural instincts, which is exactly the kind of instincts that supernormal stimuli trigger.
這是你用來做決定的大腦的一部分——有時決定違背你的自然本能，這正是超常刺激所激發的本能。
So, with this big brain of yours, you can decide to shut off the TV or make sure that you don't buy another giant package of peanut butter;
所以，有了大腦，你可以決定關掉電視，或者確保你不會再買一大盒花生醬；
— ways of avoiding being sucked into an exaggerated response that you don't want to have.
——避免陷入你不想聽到的夸張回應。
Plus, not all supernormal stimuli are bad.
此外，并非所有超常的刺激都是不好的。
We know that when we go to the movies what we're seeing isn't real, but I still want to watch the new Mission Impossible movie.
我們知道，我們去看電影時看到的是不真實的，但我仍然想看新的《碟中諜》。
Many supernormal stimuli, in moderation, are ways we enjoy ourselves.
許多適度的超常刺激是自我享受。
Finally, it's worth keeping in mind that not everyone reacts to this stuff in the same way.
最后，值得記住的是，并非每個人對這些事情的反應都是一樣的。
You might be one of those people who doesn't get all hot and bothered by the big bowl of peanut, maybe your sibling isn't that into Tom Cruise hanging off the side of an airplane.
你可能不會被一大碗花生弄得焦躁不堪，也許你的兄弟姐妹可沒那么喜歡湯姆·克魯斯掛在飛機的一側
So, it's not like supernormal stimuli will be humanity's downfall or anything.
所以，并不是說超常的刺激會導致人類的滅亡。
But it's an important thing to keep researching, because we will continue to get better at modifying our environment.
但是繼續研究是很重要的，因為我們會在改善環境方面做得更好。
We're already seeing the negative consequences of unhealthy foods that are so delicious all we want to do is sit around eating them.
我們已經看到了不健康食品的負面影響，它們是如此美味，我們想做的就是坐在那里吃。
And pretty soon, we might be faced with virtual reality experiences so engrossing that it wouldn't be much of a surprise if some people preferred them over real life.
很快，我們可能會面臨如此引人入勝的虛擬現實體驗，如果有些人更喜歡它們而不是現實生活，這不足為奇。
There aren't easy answers to these questions.
這些問題沒有簡單的答案。
But while our brains might be the problem, they're also the solution.
我們的大腦雖然可能是問題所在，但也是解決問題的方法。
Thanks for watching this episode of SciShow Psych!
感謝收看本期心理科學秀！
And thanks especially to our community on Patreon — this channel exists because of your support.
特別感謝Patreon對本節目的支持——因為你們的支持才有了我們的節目。
If you're interested in learning more about how you can help us keep exploring the weird quirks of the human brain, you can go on our patreon.com/scishow..
如果你有興趣了解更多關于如何幫助我們繼續探索人類大腦的奇怪癖好，請訪問patreon.com/scishow。
