ABOUT THE SPEAKER
Sophie Scott - Neuroscientist, stand-up comic
While exploring the neuroscience of speech and vocal behavior, Sophie Scott stumbled upon a surprising second vocation: making audiences laugh as a stand-up comic.

Why you should listen

As deputy director of the University College London’s Institute of Cognitive Neuroscience, Sophie Scott seeks out the neurological basis of communication, whether it’s speech or vocalized emotion.

As a pioneering researcher in the science of laughter, she’s made some unexpected discoveries -- including that rats are ticklish, and that the one tactic that’s almost guaranteed to get someone to laugh is to show them someone else laughing. But as an occasional stand-up comedian with UCL’s Bright Club, she shows that she’s no slouch at getting laughs herself.

More profile about the speaker
Sophie Scott | Speaker | TED.com
TED2015

Sophie Scott: Why we laugh

苏菲·斯科特: 我们为什么会笑

Filmed:
3,932,346 views

你知道吗,当你与别人在一起时,发笑的几率是自己独处时的30倍?在这个快节奏、动感十足,并且爆笑的科学话题里,认知神经科学家苏菲·斯科特分享了这一研究,以及其他关于「笑」的惊人事实。
- Neuroscientist, stand-up comic
While exploring the neuroscience of speech and vocal behavior, Sophie Scott stumbled upon a surprising second vocation: making audiences laugh as a stand-up comic. Full bio

Double-click the English transcript below to play the video.

00:12
Hi你好. I'm going to talk
to you today今天 about laughter笑声,
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大家好,今天我要跟大家讲讲「笑」。
00:15
and I just want to start开始
by thinking思维 about the first time
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我想从我记忆里第一次
00:18
I can ever remember记得 noticing注意到 laughter笑声.
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意识到「笑」这个概念开始讲起。
00:20
This is when I was a little girl女孩.
I would've会一直 been about six.
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那是在我还是个小女孩的时候。
我应该是6岁左右。
00:23
And I came来了 across横过 my parents父母
doing something unusual异常,
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我见到父母在做一些不寻常的事,
00:27
where they were laughing.
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那是他们正在笑。
00:28
They were laughing very, very hard.
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他们笑得特别、特别夸张。
00:30
They were lying说谎 on the floor地板 laughing.
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他们笑得躺到了地上。
00:32
They were screaming尖叫 with laughter笑声.
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他们笑得尖叫了起来。
00:34
I did not know what they were
laughing at, but I wanted in.
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我不知道他们在笑什么,但我想要加入。
00:38
I wanted to be part部分 of that,
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我想成为他们中的一个,
00:40
and I kind of satSAT around at the edge边缘
going, "Hoo胡胡 hoo!" (Laughter笑声)
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然后我就围坐在边上
跟着那样,“唬唬!”(笑声)
00:43
Now, incidentally顺便,
what they were laughing at
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顺带一提,他们笑的是
00:47
was a song歌曲 which哪一个 people used to sing,
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一首人们常唱的歌,
00:49
which哪一个 was based基于 around
signs迹象 in toilets洗手间 on trains火车
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那是根据火车上
厕所里的标语写成的歌
00:53
telling告诉 you what you could
and could not do
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旨在告诉你,在火车上的厕所里
00:56
in toilets洗手间 on trains火车.
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哪些事能做,哪些不能做。
00:57
And the thing you have to remember记得
about the English英语 is, of course课程,
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当然,你必须记得英国人
01:00
we do have an immensely非常
sophisticated复杂的 sense of humor幽默.
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拥有的那种高深莫测的幽默感。
01:03
(Laughter笑声)
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(笑声)
01:04
At the time, though虽然, I didn't
understand理解 anything of that.
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当时,尽管,我对这种幽默感完全无法理解。
01:07
I just cared照顾 about the laughter笑声,
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我只是关注于笑声,
01:09
and actually其实, as a neuroscientist神经学家,
I've come to care关心 about it again.
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然后实际上,作为一名神经学家,
我现在要回去研究它了。
01:12
And it is a really weird奇怪的 thing to do.
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这真是一件奇怪的事。
01:15
What I'm going to do now
is just play some examples例子
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现在,我会播放一些真人发笑的片段,
01:17
of real真实 human人的 beings众生 laughing,
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大家来听听那些人的声音,
想想它们有多奇怪,
01:19
and I want you think about the sound声音
people make and how odd that can be,
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以及笑声实际上是一个种多么原始的声音。
01:22
and in fact事实 how primitive原始
laughter笑声 is as a sound声音.
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与其说它是一种语言,
01:25
It's much more like an animal动物 call
than it is like speech言语.
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还不如说是一种动物式的叫唤。
01:28
So here we've我们已经 got some laughter笑声 for you.
The first one is pretty漂亮 joyful快乐.
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所以现在我们来听一些笑声。
第一个很好玩。
01:31
(Audio音频: Laughing)
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(音频:笑声)
01:47
Now this next下一个 guy, I need him to breathe呼吸.
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然后是下一位朋友,我想他得呼吸一下了。
01:50
There's a point in there
where I'm just, like,
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他的笑很有特点,就像……
01:52
you've got to get some air空气 in there, mate伴侣,
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你得来点氧气,伙计,
01:54
because he just sounds声音
like he's breathing呼吸 out.
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因为他听起来就快断气了。
01:56
(Audio音频: Laughing)
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(音频:笑声)
02:05
This hasn't有没有 been edited编辑; this is him.
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这声音是未经编辑的;这就是他。
02:08
(Audio音频: Laughing)
(Laughter笑声)
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(音频:笑声)
(笑声)
02:14
And finally最后 we have --
this is a human人的 female laughing.
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最后我们来听一位
女性人类的笑声。
02:18
And laughter笑声 can take us to some pretty漂亮
odd places地方 in terms条款 of making制造 noises噪音.
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笑可以把我们带入一种非常
奇怪的状态,就像在制造噪音。
02:22
(Audio音频: Laughing)
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(音频:笑声)
02:41
She actually其实 says, "Oh my God,
what is that?" in French法国.
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她其实是在用法语说:
“我的天,那是个啥?”
02:44
We're all kind of with her.
I have no idea理念.
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我们都有点被她感染了。
我也不知道为什么。
02:48
Now, to understand理解 laughter笑声,
you have to look at a part部分 of the body身体
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那么,为了理解「笑」,
你必须重新认识
02:51
that psychologists心理学家 and neuroscientists神经学家
don't normally一般 spend much time looking at,
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心理学家和神经学家通常
不会花太多时间去关注的部位
02:55
which哪一个 is the ribcage肋骨,
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那就是胸廓。
02:56
and it doesn't seem似乎 terribly可怕 exciting扣人心弦,
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它看起来不是很厉害,
02:58
but actually其实 you're all using运用
your ribcage肋骨 all the time.
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但实际上,你每时每刻都在使用你的胸廓。
03:00
What you're all doing
at the moment时刻 with your ribcage肋骨,
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你随时都在用你的胸廓做的事——
03:03
and don't stop doing it, is breathing呼吸.
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千万别停,就是呼吸。
03:05
So you use the intercostal肋间 muscles肌肉,
the muscles肌肉 between之间 your ribs肋骨,
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所以你用肋间肌,
也就是你肋骨之间的肌肉
03:08
to bring带来 air空气 in and out of your lungs
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来把空气吸入和排出肺部。
03:10
just by expanding扩大
and contracting承包 your ribcage肋骨,
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这是通过胸廓的舒张和收缩来完成的。
03:12
and if I was to put a strap背带
around the outside of your chest胸部
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而如果我把一条呼吸带缠在你的胸膛
03:15
called a breath呼吸 belt, and just look
at that movement运动,
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然后观察它的运动,
03:17
you see a rather gentle温和 sinusoidal正弦
movement运动, so that's breathing呼吸.
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你会看到一个相当温和的正弦曲线运动,
而那就是呼吸的过程。
03:21
You're all doing it. Don't stop.
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你们大家现在都正在做这件事。别停。
03:22
As soon不久 as you start开始 talking,
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在你开始讲话的同时,
03:24
you start开始 using运用 your breathing呼吸
completely全然 differently不同.
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你也开始用完全不同的方式进行呼吸。
03:26
So what I'm doing now is you see
something much more like this.
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所以我现在正在做的事
有点像这张图上的曲线。
03:29
In talking, you use very fine
movements运动 of the ribcage肋骨
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在讲话时,你可以很好地利用胸廓的运动
03:32
to squeeze the air空气 out --
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来把空气挤出去——
03:33
and in fact事实, we're the only animals动物
that can do this.
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而实际上,我们是唯一一种
可以做这件事的动物。
03:36
It's why we can talk at all.
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这就是我们为什么可以讲话的原因。
03:37
Now, both talking and breathing呼吸
has a mortal凡人 enemy敌人,
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然而,无论是说话还是呼吸
都有一个致命的敌人,
03:40
and that enemy敌人 is laughter笑声,
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那就是「笑」。
03:43
because what happens发生 when you laugh
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因为当你在笑的时候,
03:45
is those same相同 muscles肌肉
start开始 to contract合同 very regularly经常,
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刚才那些肌肉全都开始频繁地收缩,
03:48
and you get this very marked
sort分类 of zig-zagging之字形,
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因此你就会产生这种
非常明显的锯齿状(运动图线),
03:51
and that's just squeezing挤压
the air空气 out of you.
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而这个过程只会把空气排出你的身体。
03:53
It literally按照字面 is that basic基本 a way
of making制造 a sound声音.
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这确实是一个发出声音的基本方式。
03:56
You could be stamping冲压 on somebody,
it's having the same相同 effect影响.
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它具有相同的效果。
03:59
You're just squeezing挤压 air空气 out,
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你只是在把空气排出去。
04:00
and each of those contractions宫缩 --
Ha! -- gives you a sound声音.
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而每一次那种收缩——哈!
——都使你发出了声音。
04:03
And as the contractions宫缩 run together一起,
you can get these spasms痉挛,
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所以当这些收缩都在一起发生时,
你就产生了这类痉挛,
04:06
and that's when you start开始 getting得到
these -- (Wheezing喘息) -- things happening事件.
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这让你开始做出 (窒息声)
这样的反应。
04:10
I'm brilliant辉煌 at this. (Laughter笑声)
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我超擅长这个。(笑声)
04:13
Now, in terms条款 of the science科学 of laughter笑声,
there isn't very much,
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目前,说到关于「笑」的科学研究,
还不太多,
04:17
but it does turn out that pretty漂亮 much
everything we think we know
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但从现有的研究看来,
我们之前对「笑」的理解
04:20
about laughter笑声 is wrong错误.
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全部都是错的。
04:23
So it's not at all unusual异常, for example,
to hear people to say
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所以没什么好奇怪的…
比如,有的人会说
04:25
humans人类 are the only animals动物 that laugh.
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人类是唯一会笑的动物。
04:28
Nietzsche尼采 thought that humans人类
are the only animals动物 that laugh.
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——尼采认为,人类才是唯一会笑的动物。
04:30
In fact事实, you find laughter笑声
throughout始终 the mammals哺乳动物.
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但实际上,所有的哺乳类动物都会笑。
04:33
It's been well-described充分描述的
and well-observed公观察 in primates灵长类动物,
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(笑这个现象)在灵长类动物身上
得到了很好的观察和描述,
04:35
but you also see it in rats大鼠,
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但你也可以在老鼠身上观察到,
04:37
and wherever哪里 you find it --
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而无论你在哪发现了它——
04:38
humans人类, primates灵长类动物, rats大鼠 --
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人类,灵长类,鼠类——
04:40
you find it associated相关
with things like tickling发痒.
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你都会发现它们是伴随着「挠痒」之类的活动。
04:43
That's the same相同 for humans人类.
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这在人类身上也适用。
04:46
You find it associated相关 with play,
and all mammals哺乳动物 play.
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你会发现笑是在玩耍中发生的,
而所有的哺乳类动物都会玩耍。
04:51
And wherever哪里 you find it,
it's associated相关 with interactions互动.
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而无论它在哪里发生,
发生时也总是与互动有关。
04:55
So Robert罗伯特 Provine普罗, who has doneDONE
a lot of work on this,
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所以Robert Provine,
在这方面进行大量研究之后指出
04:58
has pointed out that you are 30 times
more likely容易 to laugh
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你和别的人在一起的时候,
比你一个人单独呆着
05:02
if you are with somebody else其他
than if you're on your own拥有,
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发笑的概率高出30倍。
05:06
and where you find most laughter笑声
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而几乎所有的笑
05:08
is in social社会 interactions互动
like conversation会话.
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都发生在社交过程中,
比如与人交谈。
05:10
So if you ask human人的 beings众生,
"When do you laugh?"
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所以如果你问人类:
“你会在什么时候笑?”
05:13
they'll他们会 talk about comedy喜剧 and they'll他们会 talk
about humor幽默 and they'll他们会 talk about jokes笑话.
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他们会说遇到滑稽的、幽默的事,或是讲笑话的时候。
05:17
If you look at when they laugh,
they're laughing with their friends朋友.
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如果你观察他们发笑的时机,
会发现那都是和朋友在一起的时候。
05:20
And when we laugh with people, we're
hardly几乎不 ever actually其实 laughing at jokes笑话.
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而当我们一起大笑时,我们
实际上很少是为某个笑话而笑的。
05:23
You are laughing to show显示 people
that you understand理解 them,
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你笑了,可能是为了表达你理解了对方,
05:26
that you agree同意 with them, that you're
part部分 of the same相同 group as them.
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你同意他们的观点,
你跟他们站在同一边。
05:29
You're laughing to show显示
that you like them.
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你笑了,可能是为了表达你喜欢他们。
05:31
You might威力 even love them.
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甚至可能是爱着他们。
05:33
You're doing all that at the same相同 time
as talking to them,
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你在与人交谈的同时
做着所有的这一切,
05:35
and the laughter笑声 is doing a lot
of that emotional情绪化 work for you.
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而你的笑替你完成了
大量的这种情绪表达工作。
05:38
Something that Robert罗伯特 Provine普罗
has pointed out, as you can see here,
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Robert Provine 指出的一些事情,
就像你在这儿看到的,
05:41
and the reason原因 why we were laughing
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就是我们发笑的原因。
05:43
when we heard听说 those
funny滑稽 laughs at the start开始,
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我们刚才听到的那些搞笑的笑声,
05:45
and why I was laughing
when I found发现 my parents父母 laughing,
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以及我在看到父母狂笑的时候,为什么会想笑,
05:48
is that it's an enormously巨大
behaviorally行为上 contagious传染性的 effect影响.
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是因为,它其实是一个巨大的
行为上的传染效应。
05:51
You can catch抓住 laughter笑声 from somebody else其他,
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你可以从别人那里获得笑点,
05:53
and you are more likely容易 to catch抓住 laughter笑声
off somebody else其他 if you know them.
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而且这在熟人之间更容易发生。
05:57
So it's still modulated调制
by this social社会 context上下文.
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所以这依然是被社会环境所调控的现象。
05:59
You have to put humor幽默 to one side
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你得把「幽默」放到一边,
06:00
and think about the social社会
meaning含义 of laughter笑声
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而去考虑「笑」的社会意义。
06:03
because that's where its origins起源 lie谎言.
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因为这是它的起源所在。
06:05
Now, something I've got very interested有兴趣 in
is different不同 kinds of laughter笑声,
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我非常感兴趣的一点是,
「笑」有多少个不同的种类,
06:09
and we have some neurobiological神经生物学 evidence证据
about how human人的 beings众生 vocalize发声
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我们有一些关于人类表达的
神经生物学的证据表明
06:14
that suggests提示 there might威力 be
two kinds of laughs that we have.
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我们可能只有2种类型的笑。
06:18
So it seems似乎 possible可能 that the neurobiology神经生物学
for helpless无助, involuntary非自愿 laughter笑声,
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所以看起来,很有可能,
那种难以抑制的、不由自主的笑,
06:23
like my parents父母 lying说谎 on the floor地板
screaming尖叫 about a silly愚蠢 song歌曲,
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就像我父母为一首愚蠢的歌
笑得躺在地上尖叫的那种笑,
06:26
might威力 have a different不同 basis基础 to it
than some of that more polite有礼貌
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可能与那种非常温和的,
你常遇到的那种社交性质的笑
06:29
social社会 laughter笑声 that you encounter遭遇,
which哪一个 isn't horrible可怕 laughter笑声,
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有着神经神物学上的本质区别。
06:32
but it's behavior行为 somebody is doing
as part部分 of their communicative交际 act法案 to you,
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但它依然是人们进行交际时的一种行为表现,
06:36
part部分 of their interaction相互作用 with you;
they are choosing选择 to do this.
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是与人交互的一部分;
是他们选择的互动方式。
06:40
In our evolution演化, we have developed发达
two different不同 ways方法 of vocalizing发声.
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在我们的进化过程中,我们
产生了2种不同的表达方式。
06:43
Involuntary非自愿 vocalizations发声
are part部分 of an older旧的 system系统
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不自主的表达属于比较古老的一套表达系统,
06:46
than the more voluntary自主性 vocalizations发声
like the speech言语 I'm doing now.
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而自愿性地表达,就像我现在正在做的
这个演讲,则属于新的系统。
06:49
So we might威力 imagine想像 that laughter笑声
might威力 actually其实 have two different不同 roots.
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所以我们可以想象,「笑」实际上
可能来自于2个完全不同的根源。
06:53
So I've been looking at this
in more detail详情.
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我对这方面做了更细致的研究。
06:55
To do this, we've我们已经 had to make
recordings录音 of people laughing,
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为了做这个,我们必须录下人们的笑声,
06:58
and we've我们已经 had to do whatever随你 it takes
to make people laugh,
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首先我们得,想尽办法把人们逗笑,
07:01
and we got those same相同 people
to produce生产 more posed构成, social社会 laughter笑声.
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然后我们再让同样的人,
去呈现装腔作势的、社交性质的笑。
07:04
So imagine想像 your friend朋友 told a joke玩笑,
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所以假设你的朋友讲了个笑话,
07:05
and you're laughing because
you like your friend朋友,
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你被逗笑了,因为你喜欢你的朋友
07:08
but not really because
the joke's开玩笑的 all that.
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但完全不是因为笑话很好笑。
07:10
So I'm going to play you
a couple一对 of those.
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现在我来给你们演示一组这样的实验。
07:12
I want you to tell me if you think
this laughter笑声 is real真实 laughter笑声,
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我需要你们告诉我这个笑是真的,
07:15
or if you think it's posed构成.
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还是让你觉得装腔作势。
07:16
So is this involuntary非自愿 laughter笑声
or more voluntary自主性 laughter笑声?
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它们究竟是不由自主的笑
还是故意发出的笑?
07:19
(Audio音频: Laughing)
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(音频:笑声)
07:24
What does that sound声音 like to you?
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你觉得这声音怎么样?
07:26
Audience听众: Posed构成.
Sophie索菲 Scott斯科特: Posed构成? Posed构成.
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观众:装腔作势。
苏菲·斯科特:装腔作势?是的。
07:28
How about this one?
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那听听这个呢?
07:29
(Audio音频: Laughing)
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(音频:笑声)
07:34
(Laughter笑声)
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(笑声)
07:35
I'm the best最好.
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我说过我很擅长这个。
07:37
(Laughter笑声) (Applause掌声)
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(笑声)(鼓掌)
07:39
Not really.
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我其实不擅长。
07:41
No, that was helpless无助 laughter笑声,
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这确实是个难以抑制的笑,
07:43
and in fact事实, to record记录 that,
all they had to do was record记录 me
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而实际上,为了录下这个,
他们只需要让我看着自己的朋友
07:47
watching观看 one of my friends朋友 listening to
something I knew知道 she wanted to laugh at,
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听一段(我知道她肯定会笑的)录音,
07:50
and I just started开始 doing this.
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我立刻就笑成了这样。
07:52
What you find is that people
are good at telling告诉 the difference区别
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你会发现人们很擅长区分
07:55
between之间 real真实 and posed构成 laughter笑声.
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真笑和假笑。
07:57
They seem似乎 to be different不同 things to us.
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对我们来说这是不同的两件事。
07:59
Interestingly有趣的是, you see something
quite相当 similar类似 with chimpanzees黑猩猩.
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有趣的是,我们发现黑猩猩
在某些方面与人非常相似。
08:02
Chimpanzees黑猩猩 laugh differently不同
if they're being存在 tickled胳肢
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黑猩猩在被挠痒时的笑
08:04
than if they're playing播放 with each other,
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和他们玩耍时的笑也是不同的,
08:06
and we might威力 be seeing眼看
something like that here,
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这一点和我们很像,
08:08
involuntary非自愿 laughter笑声, tickling发痒 laughter笑声,
being存在 different不同 from social社会 laughter笑声.
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不自主的笑、被挠痒的笑,
与社交性的笑是不同的。
08:12
They're acoustically声学 very different不同.
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它们从声音上就有大不同。
08:14
The real真实 laughs are longer.
They're higher更高 in pitch沥青.
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真笑声音更长。音调更高。
08:16
When you start开始 laughing hard,
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如果你笑得很夸张,
08:18
you start开始 squeezing挤压 air空气 out
from your lungs
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你就会用更大的压力将空气排出体外,
08:20
under much higher更高 pressures压力
than you could ever produce生产 voluntarily自行.
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你在主动去做时
制造不出这么大的压力。
08:23
For example, I could never
pitch沥青 my voice语音 that high to sing.
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举个例子,我唱歌时
绝不能将音调提到那么高。
08:26
Also, you start开始 to get these sort分类 of
contractions宫缩 and weird奇怪的 whistling吹口哨 sounds声音,
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(笑的同时),你就产生了
这一类(锯齿状)收缩和怪异的呼啸声。
08:30
all of which哪一个 mean that real真实 laughter笑声
is extremely非常 easy简单,
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所有的这些都表明,
真笑是极易被识别的,
08:32
or feels感觉 extremely非常 easy简单 to spot.
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或者说极易被感受到的。
08:34
In contrast对比, posed构成 laughter笑声,
we might威力 think it sounds声音 a bit fake.
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相反,装腔作势的笑,
想起来可能会有点假。
08:39
Actually其实, it's not, it's actually其实
an important重要 social社会 cue球杆.
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其实,它不会。
实际上它是一个重要的社会线索。
08:42
We use it a lot, we're choosing选择
to laugh in a lot of situations情况,
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我们经常使用它,
我们选择在很多场合里发笑,
08:45
and it seems似乎 to be its own拥有 thing.
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而且笑得让人觉得他真的被逗乐。
08:47
So, for example, you find
nasality鼻音 in posed构成 laughter笑声,
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比如说,你会发现假笑中的鼻音,
08:50
that kind of "ha ha ha ha ha" sound声音
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那种“哈哈哈哈哈”的声音。
08:52
that you never get, you could not do,
if you were laughing involuntarily不由自主.
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那是你从未发出过的声音,
你在不由自主的笑声里做不到这样。
08:55
So they do seem似乎 to be genuinely真正的
these two different不同 sorts排序 of things.
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所以这看起来真的是两件不同的事情。
08:58
We took it into the scanner扫描器
to see how brains大脑 respond响应
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我们使用扫描仪来观察了
09:01
when you hear laughter笑声.
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大脑在你听到笑声时的反应。
09:02
And when you do this,
this is a really boring无聊 experiment实验.
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进行这种扫描,是一个非常无聊的实验过程。
09:05
We just played发挥 people
real真实 and posed构成 laughs.
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我们只需要播放别人的真笑和假笑。
09:07
We didn't tell them
it was a study研究 on laughter笑声.
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我们没有说这是个关于笑的研究。
09:09
We put other sounds声音 in there
to distract转移 them,
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我们还会播放一些别的声音来转移注意,
09:11
and all they're doing
is lying说谎 listening to sounds声音.
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而他们只需要躺着,听那些声音。
09:14
We don't tell them to do anything.
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我们没叫他们做任何事。
09:15
Nonetheless尽管如此, when you hear real真实 laughter笑声
and when you hear posed构成 laughter笑声,
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然而,他们在听到真笑和假笑时,
09:19
the brains大脑 are responding响应
completely全然 differently不同,
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大脑里的反应是完全不同的,
09:21
significantly显著 differently不同.
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显著的不同。
09:23
What you see in the regions地区 in blue蓝色,
which哪一个 lies in auditory听觉 cortex皮质,
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你看到的蓝色区域里,是听觉皮层,
09:26
are the brain areas that respond响应
more to the real真实 laughs,
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这是大脑内对真笑做出更多反应的区域,
09:29
and what seems似乎 to be the case案件,
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并且看起来似乎…
09:30
when you hear somebody
laughing involuntarily不由自主,
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当你听到有人不由自主地发笑时,
09:33
you hear sounds声音 you would never
hear in any other context上下文.
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你会听到你在别的环境中从未听过的声音。
09:35
It's very unambiguous明确的,
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这一点是毫不含糊的,
09:36
and it seems似乎 to be associated相关
with greater更大 auditory听觉 processing处理
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看起来这种新奇的声音是与大量的
09:39
of these novel小说 sounds声音.
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听觉过程有关的。
09:41
In contrast对比, when you hear somebody
laughing in a posed构成 way,
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相反,当人们听到假笑时,
09:45
what you see are these regions地区 in pink,
200
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你会看到这个粉色的区域,
09:47
which哪一个 are occupying占用 brain areas
associated相关 with mentalizing心理化,
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也就是大脑内与心理有关的部分,
09:50
thinking思维 about what
somebody else其他 is thinking思维.
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用来思考别人在想什么。
09:52
And I think what that means手段 is,
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而我觉得这代表了,
09:53
even if you're having your brain scanned扫描,
which哪一个 is completely全然 boring无聊
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你用大脑扫描来做研究,
即使研究过程枯燥无谓
09:56
and not very interesting有趣,
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一点都不有趣,
09:58
when you hear somebody going,
"A ha ha ha ha ha,"
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当你听到有人笑得,
“啊哈哈哈哈哈”
10:00
you're trying to work out
why they're laughing.
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你仍然会试着去找出他们笑的原因。
10:02
Laughter笑声 is always meaningful富有意义的.
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笑总是有原因的。
10:04
You are always trying
to understand理解 it in context上下文,
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你总是试图去理解它在当前环境下的意义,
10:06
even if, as far as you are concerned关心,
at that point in time,
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哪怕,你已经清楚地知道,
在进行实验的时候,
10:09
it has not necessarily一定
anything to do with you,
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它们跟你没有任何的关系,
10:11
you still want to know
why those people are laughing.
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你仍然想要知道
为什么那些人会笑。
10:14
Now, we've我们已经 had the opportunity机会 to look
at how people hear real真实 and posed构成 laughter笑声
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然后,我们又有机会研究不同年龄阶段的人对
10:18
across横过 the age年龄 range范围.
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真笑和假笑有些什么反应。
10:19
So this is an online线上 experiment实验
we ran with the Royal王室的 Society社会,
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这是我们与皇家学会共同进行的一个在线实验,
10:21
and here we just asked people
two questions问题.
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实验里我们只问人们两个问题。
10:24
First of all, they heard听说 some laughs,
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首先,他们会听一些笑声,
10:25
and they had to say, how real真实
or posed构成 do these laughs sound声音?
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然后他们得回答:这些笑声
听起来有多真实或者多假?
10:28
The real真实 laughs are shown显示 in red
and the posed构成 laughs are shown显示 in blue蓝色.
219
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真笑用红色表示,
假笑用蓝色表示。
10:32
What you see is there is a rapid快速 onset发病.
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你可以看到一个陡峭的开端。
10:34
As you get older旧的, you get better
and better at spotting斑点 real真实 laughter笑声.
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随着年龄的增长,
人们越来越擅长识别真笑。
10:37
So six-year-olds六岁的孩子 are at chance机会,
they can't really hear the difference区别.
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六岁的孩子只能猜测真笑和假笑,
他们不能真的听出两种笑的不同。
10:40
By the time you are older旧的, you get better,
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年纪越大,越擅长。
10:43
but interestingly有趣, you do not hit击中
peak performance性能 in this dataset数据集
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但有趣的一点是,从这些数据中,
10:46
until直到 you are in your
late晚了 30s and early 40s.
225
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直到三四十岁,你都找不到一个高峰点。
10:50
You don't understand理解 laughter笑声 fully充分
by the time you hit击中 puberty青春期.
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你不会因为度过了青春期就完全理解笑声。
10:53
You don't understand理解 laughter笑声 fully充分
by the time your brain has matured成熟
227
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你也不会因为头脑的成熟而完全理解笑声
10:56
at the end结束 of your teens青少年.
228
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1394
即使你的青年时期已经结束。
10:58
You're learning学习 about laughter笑声
throughout始终 your entire整个 early adult成人 life.
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你对笑声的学习,贯穿了
整个成年人生的前半部分。
11:01
If we turn the question around and now say
not, what does the laughter笑声 sound声音 like
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如果我们把问题反过来,
不再关心笑声听起来
11:05
in terms条款 of being存在 real真实
or posed构成, but we say,
231
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像真笑还是假笑,而是去问
11:07
how much does this laughter笑声
make you want to laugh,
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听到这些「笑」,
你被多大程度地感染,
11:10
how contagious传染性的 is this laughter笑声 to you,
we see a different不同 profile轮廓.
233
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多想跟着一起笑,
我们就会发现另一番结果。
11:13
And here, the younger更年轻 you are,
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就是这样,人越年轻,
11:14
the more you want to join加入 in
when you hear laughter笑声.
235
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2434
越容易跟着笑声笑起来。
11:17
Remember记得 me laughing with my parents父母
when I had no idea理念 what was going on.
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别忘了我小时候在不清楚发生了什么
的时候,就已经跟着父母笑起来了。
11:20
You really can see this.
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这确实是符合现实的。
11:22
Now everybody每个人, young年轻 and old,
238
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1395
那么现在,所有人,无论老幼,
11:23
finds认定 the real真实 laughs more contagious传染性的
than the posed构成 laughs,
239
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2845
都觉得真笑比假笑更有感染力,
11:26
but as you get older旧的, it all becomes
less contagious传染性的 to you.
240
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但随着年龄的增长,它们
都变得不那么有感染力了。
11:29
Now, either we're all just becoming变得
really grumpy性情乖戾的 as we get older旧的,
241
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要么是我们的脾气随着自身衰老变坏了,
11:33
or it may可能 mean that as you
understand理解 laughter笑声 better,
242
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2929
或者,随着你对笑的理解加深,
11:36
and you are getting得到 better at doing that,
243
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你就越来越擅长做这个,
11:38
you need more than just
hearing听力 people laugh to want to laugh.
244
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你不再单纯因为听到别人笑
就想跟着笑了。
11:41
You need the social社会 stuff东东 there.
245
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你去要一些社会性的东西去激发它。
11:43
So we've我们已经 got a very interesting有趣 behavior行为
246
691986
1974
因此我们获得了一些很有趣的现象
11:45
about which哪一个 a lot of our
lay铺设 assumptions假设 are incorrect不正确,
247
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3153
表明之前的很多假设都是不正确的,
11:49
but I'm coming未来 to see that actually其实
there's even more to laughter笑声
248
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3851
但我逐渐发现「笑」还有更多含义,
11:52
than it's an important重要 social社会 emotion情感
we should look at,
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不止是一种重要的社交情绪。
11:55
because it turns out
people are phenomenally惊人 nuanced细致入微
250
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2919
因为人们在使用「笑」时,有着
11:58
in terms条款 of how we use laughter笑声.
251
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不同寻常的细微差别。
12:00
There's a really lovely可爱
set of studies学习 coming未来 out
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2284
加利福尼亚的 Robert Levenson 实验室
12:02
from Robert罗伯特 Levenson's列文森 lab实验室 in California加州,
253
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2094
做了一系列非常可爱的研究,
12:04
where he's doing
a longitudinal study研究 with couples情侣.
254
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是关于情侣的纵向研究。
12:07
He gets得到 married已婚 couples情侣,
men男人 and women妇女, into the lab实验室,
255
715055
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他把已婚夫妇双方
请到实验室来,
12:09
and he gives them
stressful压力 conversations对话 to have
256
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他会和他们谈论一些很有压力的话题,
12:12
while he wires电线 them up to a polygraph测谎器
so he can see them becoming变得 stressed强调.
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并用测谎仪监测,看他们受压的程度。
12:15
So you've got the two of them in there,
and he'll地狱 say to the husband丈夫,
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于是你会看到两个人来到实验室里,
他对丈夫说:
12:18
"Tell me something that your wife妻子 does
that irritates刺激 you."
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“告诉我一些你的妻子激怒你的例子。”
12:21
And what you see is immediately立即 --
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你会看到结果是瞬时的——
12:23
just run that one through通过 your head
briefly简要地, you and your partner伙伴 --
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只需要让这个念头在你头脑中
简单闪过一下,你和你的伴侣——
12:26
you can imagine想像 everybody每个人 gets得到 a bit
more stressed强调 as soon不久 as that starts启动.
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你可以想象到,随着实验的开始
每个人都感受到了压力。
12:30
You can see physically物理,
people become成为 more stressed强调.
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你可以看到,人们
从生理上感到了更大压力。
12:33
What he finds认定 is that the couples情侣
who manage管理 that feeling感觉 of stress强调
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而他发现了一个现象,
情侣们会通过「笑」来
12:39
with laughter笑声,
positive emotions情绪 like laughter笑声,
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控制这种受压的感觉,
通过「笑」这样的乐观情绪,
12:42
not only immediately立即 become成为 less stressed强调,
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不仅是在笑的瞬间降低了压力,
12:46
they can see them
physically物理 feeling感觉 better,
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可以发现他们从生理上感觉到了放松,
12:48
they're dealing交易 with this
unpleasant不愉快 situation情况 better together一起,
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他们一起搞定了这个令人不快的状况,
12:52
they are also the couples情侣 that report报告
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被试者正是那些
12:53
high levels水平 of satisfaction满意
in their relationship关系
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在夫妻关系中拥有更高满意度的情侣
12:56
and they stay together一起 for longer.
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而且这样的情侣在一起待的更久。
12:57
So in fact事实, when you look
at close relationships关系,
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所以实际上,当你研究亲密关系时,
13:00
laughter笑声 is a phenomenally惊人 useful有用 index指数
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笑是一条关于人们如何
13:02
of how people are regulating调节
their emotions情绪 together一起.
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共同调节他们的情绪
的非常有用的线索。
13:04
We're not just emitting发光 it at each other
to show显示 that we like each other,
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我们不止是相互发出笑声
来表现对彼此的喜爱,
13:08
we're making制造 ourselves我们自己
feel better together一起.
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我们还在用笑来
让双方感觉舒服。
13:10
Now, I don't think this is going
to be limited有限 to romantic浪漫 relationships关系.
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然而,我并不认为这种现象
是仅限于恋爱关系中的。
13:13
I think this is probably大概
going to be a characteristic特性
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我想它很可能是所有亲密情感关系的特性,
13:16
of close emotional情绪化 relationships关系
such这样 as you might威力 have with friends朋友,
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就像你和朋友之间的状态,
13:19
which哪一个 explains说明 my next下一个 clip,
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这解释了我的下一个要播放的内容,
13:21
which哪一个 is of a YouTubeYouTube的 video视频 of some
young年轻 men男人 in the former前任的 East Germany德国
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那是一个 YouTube 视频,
关于几个前东德的年轻人
13:24
on making制造 a video视频 to promote促进
their heavy metal金属 band,
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792803
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在制作视频,来宣传
他们的重金属乐队,
13:28
and it's extremely非常 macho大男子主义,
and the mood心情 is very serious严重,
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它非常硬汉,
气氛非常严肃,
13:31
and I want you to notice注意
what happens发生 in terms条款 of laughter笑声
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我想让大家注意:
当事情出错的时候,
13:34
when things go wrong错误
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「笑」起到了什么作用,
13:36
and how quickly很快 that happens发生,
and how that changes变化 the mood心情.
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它发生的有多快,
以及它怎样改变了气氛。
13:41
He's cold. He's about to get wet湿.
He's got swimming游泳的 trunks树干 on,
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他很冷。他本来会被弄湿。
他穿着游泳裤,
13:44
got a towel毛巾.
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还有一条毛巾。
13:48
Ice.
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冰。
13:50
What might威力 possibly或者 happen发生?
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可能会发生什么?
13:54
Video视频 starts启动.
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视频开始录了。
13:57
Serious严重 mood心情.
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严肃的氛围。
14:06
And his friends朋友 are already已经 laughing.
They are already已经 laughing, hard.
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他的朋友已经开始笑了。
他们已经在笑了,笑得很夸张。
14:11
He's not laughing yet然而.
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他还没开始笑。
14:14
(Laughter笑声)
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(笑声)
14:16
He's starting开始 to go now.
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他也开始这么做了。
14:25
And now they're all off.
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他们全都倒了。
14:27
(Laughter笑声)
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(笑声)
14:44
They're on the floor地板.
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他们笑到了地上。
14:46
(Laughter笑声)
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(笑声)
14:55
The thing I really like about that
is it's all very serious严重
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我喜欢这个视频的一点是
它原本全都是非常严肃的,
14:59
until直到 he jumps跳跃 onto the ice, and
as soon不久 as he doesn't go through通过 the ice,
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直到他跳到了冰上,
而冰没有应声而破,
15:02
but also there isn't blood血液
and bone everywhere到处,
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但是当然,他也没有伤得头破血流,
15:05
his friends朋友 start开始 laughing.
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所以他的朋友们开始笑了。
15:06
And imagine想像 if that had played发挥 him out
with him standing常设 there going,
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想象一下,如果他是站在那里说,
15:09
"No seriously认真地, Heinrich海因里希,
I think this is broken破碎,"
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897992
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“说真的,Heinrich,我觉得这里摔坏了,”
15:12
we wouldn't不会 enjoy请享用 watching观看 that.
That would be stressful压力.
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我们不会觉得这个视频很有趣。
那会让人很压抑。
15:15
Or if he was running赛跑 around
with a visibly明显地 broken破碎 leg laughing,
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或者,他一边笑一边拖着流血的腿四处跑,
15:18
and his friends朋友 are going, "Heinrich海因里希, I
think we need to go to the hospital醫院 now,"
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906179
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然后他的朋友说:
“Heinrich,我想我们得立即去医院了,”
15:22
that also wouldn't不会 be funny滑稽.
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那样也不会让人觉得好笑。
15:23
The fact事实 that the laughter笑声 works作品,
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事实就是,「笑」起作用了,
15:25
it gets得到 him from a painful痛苦,
embarrassing尴尬, difficult situation情况,
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笑把他的一个痛苦、尴尬、难办的处境,
15:28
into a funny滑稽 situation情况, into what we're
actually其实 enjoying享受 there,
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916031
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变成了一个有趣的状况,
变成了让我们都很开心的状况,
15:31
and I think that's
a really interesting有趣 use,
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而我想这真是「笑」的一个很有趣的用处,
15:33
and it's actually其实 happening事件 all the time.
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它实际上每时每刻都在发生。
15:35
For example, I can remember记得
something like this happening事件
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举个例子,我还记得类似的一件发生在
15:37
at my father's父亲的 funeral葬礼.
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我父亲葬礼上的事情。
15:39
We weren't jumping跳跃 around
on the ice in our underpants内裤.
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当时我们不是
穿着内裤在往冰上跳。
15:41
We're not Canadian加拿大.
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我们不是加拿大人。
15:44
(Laughter笑声) (Applause掌声)
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(笑声)(掌声)
15:46
These events事件 are always difficult, I had
a relative相对的 who was being存在 a bit difficult,
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这类(葬礼)活动总是困难的,
我有个亲戚遇到了点麻烦事、
15:50
my mum沉默 was not in a good place地点,
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938807
1530
我母亲又站错了地方,
15:52
and I can remember记得 finding发现 myself
just before the whole整个 thing started开始
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我还记得我在一切开始之前,正在
15:55
telling告诉 this story故事 about something
that happened发生 in a 1970s sitcom情景喜剧,
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讲一个发生在20世纪70年代
情景喜剧里的故事,
15:59
and I just thought at the time,
I don't know why I'm doing this,
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那时我想,在这个时候,
我不知道我干嘛要讲这个,
16:02
and what I realized实现 I was doing
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然后我意识到我是在
16:04
was I was coming未来 up with
something from somewhere某处
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我是在努力从哪想点什么有用的出来
16:07
I could use to make her laugh
together一起 with me.
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让她和我一起笑一笑。
16:11
It was a very basic基本 reaction反应
to find some reason原因 we can do this.
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这是为了找点理由来笑的
一个非常基本的反应。
16:14
We can laugh together一起.
We're going to get through通过 this.
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我们可以一起笑一笑。
我们能渡过这一段。
16:17
We're going to be okay.
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我们会好起来的。
16:19
And in fact事实, all of us
are doing this all the time.
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实际上,我们每个人
每天都在做这样的事。
16:21
You do it so often经常,
you don't even notice注意 it.
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你做得太多以至于都忽略了它的存在。
16:23
Everybody每个人 underestimates低估
how often经常 they laugh,
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每个人都低估了自己笑得有多频繁,
16:26
and you're doing something,
when you laugh with people,
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并且,当你和别人一起笑时,
你做的那些事情,
16:29
that's actually其实 letting出租 you access访问
a really ancient evolutionary发展的 system系统
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真的让你进入到了古老的进化系统中
16:33
that mammals哺乳动物 have evolved进化
to make and maintain保持 social社会 bonds债券,
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那是所有哺乳动物演化来
制造和维持社会纽带的系统,
16:37
and clearly明确地 to regulate调节 emotions情绪,
to make ourselves我们自己 feel better.
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它还能明显地调节情绪,
让我们感到好受一些。
16:41
It's not something specific具体 to humans人类 --
it's a really ancient behavior行为
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这不是人类特有的——
这真的是一种古老的行为
16:44
which哪一个 really helps帮助 us regulate调节 how we feel
and makes品牌 us feel better.
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「笑」确实帮着我们调节自身的感受,
并让我们感到好受一些。
16:48
In other words, when it comes to laughter笑声,
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换句话说,在「笑」这一点上,
16:51
you and me, baby宝宝, ain't nothing
but mammals哺乳动物. (Laughter笑声)
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你和我,亲爱的,都只是哺乳动物。
16:54
Thank you.
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谢谢。
16:56
Thank you. (Applause掌声)
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谢谢各位。(掌声)
Translated by Twisted Meadows
Reviewed by Haochen Wang

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ABOUT THE SPEAKER
Sophie Scott - Neuroscientist, stand-up comic
While exploring the neuroscience of speech and vocal behavior, Sophie Scott stumbled upon a surprising second vocation: making audiences laugh as a stand-up comic.

Why you should listen

As deputy director of the University College London’s Institute of Cognitive Neuroscience, Sophie Scott seeks out the neurological basis of communication, whether it’s speech or vocalized emotion.

As a pioneering researcher in the science of laughter, she’s made some unexpected discoveries -- including that rats are ticklish, and that the one tactic that’s almost guaranteed to get someone to laugh is to show them someone else laughing. But as an occasional stand-up comedian with UCL’s Bright Club, she shows that she’s no slouch at getting laughs herself.

More profile about the speaker
Sophie Scott | Speaker | TED.com