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HannahFry_2014X-_爱情数学_
Today I want to talk to you about the mathematics of love. 今天我想要和大家谈谈关于爱情的数学。
mathematics:n.数学;数学运算;
Now, I think that we can all agree that mathematicians are famously excellent at finding love. 我想大家都同意 数学家在寻找真爱上特别在行。
mathematicians:n.[数]数学家(mathematician的复数形式); famously:adv.著名地;极好地;
But it's not just because of our dashing personalities , superior conversational skills and excellent pencil cases. 但那并不只是因为我们精力充沛的性格, 超凡的对话技巧,和极好的笔盒。
personalities:n.性格;个性;人格;气质;名人;(personality的复数) superior:n.上级;上司;adj.(在品质上)更好的;占优势的;更胜一筹的; conversational:adj.对话的;健谈的;
It's also because we've actually done an awful lot of work into the maths of how to find the perfect partner. 也是因为我们真的花了许多时间精力在数学上, 计算如何找到完美的伴侣。
maths:数学(课)
Now, in my favorite paper on the subject, which is entitled , "Why I Don't Have a Girlfriend" -- (Laughter) -- 现在,在此学科中我最爱的论文,名为 “为什么我没有女友”（笑声）
entitled:v.使享有权利;使符合资格;给…命名;(entitle的过去分词和过去式)
Peter Backus tries to rate his chances of finding love. Peter Backus 试着计算他寻得真爱的机会。
Now, Peter's not a very greedy man. 现在,Peter 不是一个非常贪心的人。
greedy:adj.贪婪的;贪吃的;渴望的;
Of all of the available women in the U.K., all Peter's looking for is somebody who lives near him, somebody in the right age range, somebody with a university degree, somebody he's likely to get on well with, somebody who's likely to be attractive , somebody who's likely to find him attractive. 在英国所有适宜的女性对象中, Peter 所看的,就只是那个住在他附近的对象, 某个处于适宜的年龄阶段, 某个拥有大学文凭, 某个他很有可能相处地不错的对象, 某个有魅力的女子, 以及某个认为他也富有魅力的对象。
attractive:adj.吸引人的;有魅力的;引人注目的;
(Laughter) （笑声）
And comes up with an estimate of 26 women in the whole of the UK. 结果他估计在全英国大概有 26 位此类女性。
estimate:v.估计;估算;估价;n.估价;(对大小、数量、成本等的)估计;估计的成本;
It's not looking very good, is it Peter? 这看来很不妙,不是吗,Peter？
Now, just to put that into perspective , that's about 400 times fewer than the best estimates of how many intelligent extraterrestrial life forms there are. 我们好好思考一下这件事, 在无数聪明外星生命形式存在的情况下, 那是少于 400 倍数的估计呀。
perspective:n.观点;远景;透视图;adj.透视的; estimates:n.估计;估价;估计的成本;v.估价;估算(estimate的第三人称单数和复数) intelligent:adj.有才智的;悟性强的;聪明的;有智力的 extraterrestrial:adj.地球外的;n.天外来客;
And it also gives Peter a 1 in 285,000 chance of bumping into any one of these special ladies on a given night out. 那也给了 Peter 一个 在某晚遇见一个特别的女子 28 万 5 千之 1 的机会。
bumping:v.碰上,撞上;颠簸行进(bump的现在分词)
I'd like to think that's why mathematicians don't really bother going on nights out anymore. 我宁愿想着那就是为什么数学家 不再怎么想晚上出去约会了。
bother:v.烦扰,打扰;使…不安;操心,麻烦;n.麻烦;烦恼;
The thing is that I personally don't subscribe to such a pessimistic view. 重点是,我个人其实并不同意 这种悲观的看法。
personally:adv.个人;亲自;本人;就本人而言; subscribe:vi.订阅;捐款;认购;赞成;签署;vt.签署;赞成;捐助; pessimistic:adj.悲观的,厌世的;悲观主义的;
Because I know, just as well as all of you do, that love doesn't really work like that. 因为我知道,如同你们所有所知道的, 爱情并不是这样发生的。
as well as:也;和…一样;不但…而且;
Human emotion isn't neatly ordered and rational and easily predictable . 人类的情感不是那样地秩序井然、干净利落、逻辑清晰,以及容易预测。
emotion:n.强烈的感情;激情;情感; neatly:adv.整洁地;熟练地;灵巧地; rational:n.理性;人类;合理的事物;[数]有理数;adj.合理的;理性的;明智的;理智的; predictable:adj.可预言的;
But I also know that that doesn't mean that mathematics hasn't got something that it can offer us because, love, as with most of life, is full of patterns and mathematics is, ultimately , all about the study of patterns. 但我也知道那并不意谓着 数学无法提供帮助, 因为爱情,如同生命中多数的事物一般,充斥着许多规律, 而数学,最终,就是那讲求规律的学说。
ultimately:adv.最终;最后;归根结底;终究;
Patterns from predicting the weather to the fluctuations in the stock market , to the movement of the planets or the growth of cities. 从预测天候,到预测股票市场的开高走低, 到星球的运转,或都市的发展。
predicting:v.预言;预告;预报;(predict的现在分词) fluctuations:n.[物]波动(fluctuation的复数);变动;起伏现象; stock market:股票市场;证券市场;股票交易;
And if we're being honest, none of those things are exactly neatly ordered and easily predictable, either. 如果我们对自己诚实的话,上述那些东西,没有一个是 井然有序以及容易预测的。
Because I believe that mathematics is so powerful that it has the potential to offer us a new way of looking at almost anything. 因为我相信,数学的力量非常强大,以至于它让我们得以以新方法 重新看待任何事物。
potential:n.潜能;可能性;[电]电势;adj.潜在的;可能的;势的;
Even something as mysterious as love. 就算是和爱情一般神秘的东西也是。
mysterious:adj.神秘的;不可思议的;难解的;
And so, to try to persuade you of how totally amazing, excellent and relevant mathematics is, 为了试着说服你们 数学的神妙用处,
persuade:v.说服;劝说;使信服;使相信; relevant:adj.相关的;切题的;中肯的;有重大关系的;有意义的,目的明确的;
I want to give you my top three mathematically verifiable tips for love. 我想要给大家三个最重要的在数学上可以验证的爱情秘诀。
mathematically:adv.算术地,数学上地; verifiable:adj.可证实的;能作证的;可检验的; tips:n.尖端; v.(使)倾斜,翻覆; (tip的第三人称单数和复数)
Okay, so Top Tip #1: 好,首先最重要的秘技一:
How to win at online dating. 如何赢得线上交友的机会。
So my favorite online dating website is OkCupid, not least because it was started by a group of mathematicians. 我最爱的线上交友网站是 OkCupid（网站名:好吧,丘比特）, 这并不仅仅因为这网站是由一群数学家所架设的。
Now, because they're mathematicians, they have been collecting data on everybody who uses their site for almost a decade. 因为他们是数学家, 他们已经搜集了 近乎这十年来所有他们网站使用者的资料。
site:n.地点;位置;场所;v.设置;为…选址;
And they've been trying to search for patterns in the way that we talk about ourselves and the way that we interact with each other on an online dating website. 他们试着寻找 我们在线上 谈论自己的方式的模式, 以及我们和他人互动的模式。
in the way:妨碍;挡道; interact:v.互相影响;互相作用;n.幕间剧;幕间休息;
And they've come up with some seriously interesting findings . 他们发现了一些重要的有趣结果。
come up with:提出;想出;赶上; findings:n.调查发现;判决;裁决;(finding的复数)
But my particular favorite is that it turns out that on an online dating website, how attractive you are does not dictate how popular you are, and actually, having people think that you're ugly can work to your advantage . 但我特别喜欢的结果之一是 在线上交友网站上 你的魅力程度并无法预测你的受欢迎程度, 事实上,让人们觉得你很丑 可以让你拥有优势。
dictate:v.决定;口述;支配;强行规定;n.规定;命令; ugly:adj.丑陋的;邪恶的;令人厌恶的; advantage:n.有利条件:优势:优点:
Let me show you how this works. 让我向各位展示这是怎么一回事。
In a thankfully voluntary section of OkCupid, you are allowed to rate how attractive you think people are on a scale between 1 and 5. 在 OkCupid 的一个志愿栏目中, 你可以评价人们的魅力值, 从 1 到 5 。
thankfully:adv.感谢地;感激地; voluntary:adj.自愿的;志愿的;自发的;故意的;n.志愿者;自愿行动; scale:n.规模;比例;鳞;刻度;天平;数值范围;v.衡量;攀登;剥落;生水垢;
Now, if we compare this score, the average score, to how many messages a selection of people receive, you can begin to get a sense of how attractiveness links to popularity on an online dating website. 现在,如果我们比较这个分数,平均分数, 有多少人收到信息, 你就可以开始理解 在一个线上约会网站上魅力指数与受欢迎程度有关。
compare:v.比较;对比;n.比较; selection:n.选择;选拔;挑选;被挑选的人(或物); attractiveness:n.吸引力;迷惑力; popularity:n.流行;受欢迎;普及
This is the graph that the OkCupid guys have come up with. 这是 OkCupid 得到的图表。
And the important thing to notice is that it's not totally true that the more attractive you are, the more messages you get. 一件重要的值得注意的事是 并不是越有魅力的人,收到的信息越多。
But the question arises then of what is it about people up here who are so much more popular than people down here, even though they have the same score of attractiveness? 问题是,为什么上面的这些人 比下面这些人要受欢迎得多, 即便他们都有相同的魅力值？
arises:v.出现;发生;站立;
And the reason why is that it's not just straightforward looks that are important. 原因是,并不是直观的外貌是重要的。
straightforward:adj.简单的;坦率的;明确的;径直的;adv.直截了当地;坦率地;
So let me try to illustrate their findings with an example. 让我来谈谈他们的发现,以一个案例说明。
illustrate:v.解释;加插图于;给(书等)做图表;表明…真实;
So if you take someone like Portia de Rossi, for example, everybody agrees that Portia de Rossi is a very beautiful woman. 如果你拿 Portia de Rossi 为例, 每个人都同意 Portia de Rossi是个非常美丽的女人,
Nobody thinks that she's ugly, but she's not a supermodel , either. 没有人觉得她丑,但她也不是超模。
supermodel:n.超级名模;
If you compare Portia de Rossi to someone like Sarah Jessica Parker, now, a lot of people, myself included, I should say, think that Sarah Jessica Parker is seriously fabulous and possibly one of the most beautiful creatures to have ever have walked on the face of the Earth. 如果你拿某个人,比如Sarah Jessica Parker 许多人,包括我自己,我应该会说, Sarah Jessica Parker 魅力极为出众, 有可能是地表上 最美丽的物种之一。
fabulous:adj.难以置信的;传说的,寓言中的;极好的; creatures:n.生物;动物;(具有某种特征的)人(creature的复数)
But some other people, i.e., most of the Internet, seem to think that she looks a bit like a horse. (Laughter) 但许多其他人,比如,大多数的网友 似乎都认为她看起来像马。（笑声）
Now, I think that if you ask people how attractive they thought 如果你问人们他们觉得自己有多美,
Sarah Jessica Parker or Portia de Rossi were, and you ask them to give them a score between 1 and 5, 你要他们给自己打分,从 1 到 5,
I reckon that they'd average out to have roughly the same score. 我猜他们也会大约给一个和大家都差不多的数字。
reckon:v.认为;想;估计;计算; average out:最终得到平衡;达到平均数; roughly:adv.粗糙地;概略地;
But the way that people would vote would be very different. 但是人们投票的方式各自不同。
So Portia's scores would all be clustered around the 4 because everybody agrees that she's very beautiful, whereas Sarah Jessica Parker completely divides opinion. 因此 Portia 的分数会聚集在 4 分左右, 因为所有人都同意,她非常美丽, 然而人们对 Sarah Jessica Parker却有截然不同的意见。
clustered:adj.成群的;成簇的;v.群聚;聚集;(cluster的过去式和过去分词) whereas:conj.然而;鉴于;反之;
There'd be a huge spread in her scores. 她的分差悬殊很大。
And actually it's this spread that counts. 然而,事实上,就是那分差别具意义,
It's this spread that makes you more popular on an online Internet dating website. 那差异让你 在交友网站上受欢迎。
So what that means then is that if some people think that you're attractive, you're actually better off having some other people think that you're a massive minger. 所以那意味着 如果有些人认为你别具魅力, 你最好有其他人认为 你很丑。
massive:adj.大量的;巨大的,厚重的;魁伟的;
That's much better than everybody just thinking that you're the cute girl next door. 那远优于所有人认为 你是邻家的可爱女孩。
Now, I think this begins makes a bit more sense when you think in terms of the people who are sending these messages. 当你们开始思考一下这些寄送信息的人的话, 这开始变得合理些了。
So let's say that you think somebody's attractive, but you suspect that other people won't necessarily be that interested. 这么说吧,假设你认为那个人很美, 但你同时猜想其他人并不会和你有同样的审美观。
suspect:n.犯罪嫌疑人;v.怀疑;不信任;adj.可疑的; necessarily:adv.必要地;必定地,必然地;
That means there's less competition for you and it's an extra incentive for you to get in touch. 那就意味着,你的竞争对手略少, 这就给你增加了额外的动机去与他/她认识。
competition:n.竞争;比赛,竞赛; incentive:n.动机;刺激;adj.激励的;刺激的;
Whereas compare that to if you think somebody is attractive but you suspect that everybody is going to think they're attractive. 与之相对的情况是你认为某人很有吸引力, 但你猜想所有其他的人都认为那人很有吸引力,
Well, why would you bother humiliating yourself, let's be honest? 嗯,让我们面对事实为什么要自取其辱呢？
humiliating:adj.让人出丑的;丢脸的;v.羞辱;使丧失尊严;(humiliate的现在分词)
Here's where the really interesting part comes. 这就是最有趣的部分。
Because when people choose the pictures that they use on an online dating website, they often try to minimize the things that they think some people will find unattractive . 因为当人们去选择他们在交友网站上使用的照片时, 他们总是试图最小化 其他人认为不吸引人之处的可能性。
minimize:v.使减少到最低限度;降低;贬低;使显得不重要; unattractive:adj.不吸引人注意的;没有魅力的;不美丽的;
The classic example is people who are, perhaps, a little bit overweight deliberately choosing a very cropped photo, or bald men, for example, deliberately choosing pictures where they're wearing hats. 最经典的例子是,那些体重略重的人 故意选择一个剪裁非常不正的照片, 例如那些秃顶的男士, 故意去选择他们带着帽子的照片。
classic:n.名著;优秀的典范;adj.最优秀的;第一流的;有代表性的;典型的; overweight:adj.超重的;过重的;vt.使负担过重;n.超重; deliberately:adv.故意地;谨慎地;慎重地; bald:adj.秃顶的;秃头的;无毛的;
But actually this is the opposite of what you should do if you want to be successful. 但你的行为是与你的目标相悖的, 如果你想要在网上交友成功。
You should really, instead, play up to whatever it is that makes you different, even if you think that some people will find it unattractive. 你真的应该,去选择让你看起来与众不同的照片, 即便你认为某些人会对此失去兴趣。
play up to:迎合;讨好;给…当配角;
Because the people who fancy you are just going to fancy you anyway, and the unimportant losers who don't, well, they only play up to your advantage. 因为那些喜欢你的人无论如何都会去喜欢你, 而那些不重要的路人只是渲染你的优势。
fancy:n.幻想; adj.想象的; v.想象; unimportant:adj.不重要的;琐碎的; losers:n.输者,败者:(loser的复数)
Okay, Top Tip #2: How to pick the perfect partner. 好了,最高秘诀 2 号:如何选择完美的伴侣。
So let's imagine then that you're a roaring success on the dating scene. 让我们想象你的约会 精彩成功。
roaring:adj.咆哮的; n.咆哮; v.咆哮; (roar的现在分词)
But the question arises of how do you then convert that success into longer-term happiness and in particular , how do you decide when is the right time to settle down? 但问题来了你如何将那成功的约会 转变成长期的快乐,尤其是, 你要如何选择在哪个时刻安定下来？
convert:v.转换; n.改变宗教(或信仰、观点)的人; in particular:尤其,特别; settle:v.定居;结算;停留;确定;n.高背长椅(老式木家具,有扶手,座下多带柜);
Now generally , it's not advisable to just cash in and marry the first person who comes along and shows you any interest at all. 一般来说,并不建议人们立刻 与第一个出现 对你表达好感的人结婚。
generally:adv.通常;普遍地,一般地; advisable:adj.明智的,可取的,适当的;
But, equally, you don't really want to leave it too long if you want to maximize your chance of long-term happiness. 但是,一般来说,如果你想要最大化你未来数十年幸福婚姻的机会, 你也不愿等待太久。
maximize:vt.取…最大值;对…极为重视;vi.尽可能广义地解释;达到最大值; long-term:adj.长期的;从长远来看;
As my favorite author, Jane Austen, puts it, "An unmarried woman of seven and twenty can never hope to feel or inspire affection again." 我最喜欢的作家简·奥斯汀这样说, “一个未婚的 27 岁女子 就别指望再能感受或激发爱情了。”
unmarried:adj.[法]未婚的;单身的;独身的; inspire:v.激发;鼓舞;启示;产生;使生灵感;
(Laughter) （笑声）
Thanks a lot, Jane. What do you know about love? 这太严重了,简。你对爱了解多少呢？
So the question is then, how do you know when is the right time to settle down given all the people that you can date in your lifetime? 那么问题来了, 你怎么知道哪个时刻是该要安定下来的时刻, 毕竟生命中你有很多可能的对象？
Thankfully, there's a rather delicious bit of mathematics that we can use to help us out here, called optimal stopping theory. 幸好,我们可以运用一点儿数学 来帮助我们计算解决这个问题,名叫 “最优停止理论”。
optimal:adj.最佳的;最理想的;
So let's imagine then, that you start dating when you're 15 and ideally , you'd like to be married by the time that you're 35. 那么让我们来想象一下, 你在 15 岁的时候开始交往, 理想状态下,你在 35 岁的时候会结婚。
ideally:adv.理想地;观念上地;
And there's a number of people that you could potentially date across your lifetime, and they'll be at varying levels of goodness. 你的人生中 有很多潜在的约会对象, 他们都有各自的优点。
potentially:adv.可能地,潜在地; varying:adj.不同的;变化的;v.变化,改变(vary的现在分词);
Now the rules are that once you cash in and get married, you can't look ahead to see what you could have had, and equally, you can't go back and change your mind. 规则是,你一旦跳进婚姻, 你就不能继续前进寻找你可能可以有的对象, 你也不能回头来改变你的主意。
look ahead:预测未来,计划未来;
In my experience at least, 我个人的经验看来,
I find that typically people don't much like being recalled years after being passed up for somebody else, or that's just me. 一般人们不希望 在被拒绝又过了多年后被找回来,也许只有我这样想。
typically:adv.代表性地;作为特色地; recalled:v.记起;回想起;使想到;勾起;召回;(recall的过去分词和过去式)
So the math says then that what you should do in the first 37 percent of your dating window, you should just reject everybody as serious marriage potential. 数学告诉我们 你应该拒绝认为会和在你人生约会周期 前 37% 时段出现的任何人有严肃认真的婚姻关系。
reject:v.排斥;拒收;拒绝接受;不予考虑;n.废品;次品;不合格者;被剔除者;
(Laughter) （笑声）
And then, you should pick the next person that comes along that is better than everybody that you've seen before. 接着,你要选择下一个人, 那个比你以前约会对象都好的人。
So here's the example. 这里举个例子。
Now if you do this, it can be mathematically proven, in fact, that this is the best possible way of maximizing your chances of finding the perfect partner. 如果你这么做,从数学证明来看可以认为,事实上 这可能是最好的选择 来最大化你找到完美伴侣的机会。
maximizing:n.最大化;达到极大值;v.使…最大化;取…最大值(maximize的ing形式);
Now unfortunately , I have to tell you that this method does come with some risks. 现在不幸的是,我必须告诉你这个方法也是有风险的。
unfortunately:adv.不幸地;
For instance , imagine if your perfect partner appeared during your first 37 percent. 比如,想象一下,假设你的完美伴侣 出现在你约会历程的前 37%
instance:n.实例;情况;建议;v.举...为例;
Now, unfortunately, you'd have to reject them. 那就很不幸了,你会拒绝他们。
(Laughter) （笑声）
Now, if you're following the maths, 如果你相信数学,
I'm afraid no one else comes along that's better than anyone you've seen before, so you have to go on rejecting everyone and die alone. 恐怕你不会再找到 比你以往见过更好的对象, 你就会持续拒绝每个人然后孤独终老。
rejecting:v.拒绝接受;拒收;不录用;不出售,不出版;(reject的现在分词)
(Laughter) （笑声）
Probably surrounded by cats nibbling at your remains. 可能会被猫咪包围一点点啃食你的遗骸。
nibbling:v.小口咬;(对…)略微表现出兴趣;(nibble的现在分词)
Okay, another risk is, let's imagine, instead, that the first people that you dated in your first 37 percent are just incredibly dull , boring , terrible people. 好,另一个风险是,让我们想象,相反的, 你约会历程前 37% 里第一个对象 极度愚蠢,无聊又很糟糕。
incredibly:adv.难以置信地;非常地; dull:v.减轻; adj.枯燥无味的; boring:adj.无聊的;令人厌烦的;n.钻孔;v.使厌烦;钻孔;(bore的现在分词)
Now, that's okay, because you're in your rejection phase , so thats fine, you can reject them. 没事,因为你还在拒绝对象的阶段, 没问题,你可以拒绝他们。
rejection:n.抛弃;拒绝;被抛弃的东西;盖帽; phase:n.阶段;时期;月相;(月亮的)盈亏;v.分阶段进行;逐步做;
But then imagine, the next person to come along is just marginally less boring, dull and terrible than everybody that you've seen before. 但想象一下,下一个出现的人 只是没那么无聊,愚蠢 比你以前的对象都略好那么一点儿。
marginally:adv.少量地;最低限度地;在栏外;在页边;
Now, if you are following the maths, I'm afraid you have to marry them and end up in a relationship which is, frankly, suboptimal . 如果你遵循数学,恐怕你要和他们结婚 然后沉浸在一段,实话说,次优的关系中。
suboptimal:adj.次最优的;最适度下的;未达最佳标准的;
Sorry about that. 很抱歉。
But I do think that there's an opportunity here for Hallmark to cash in on and really cater for this market. 但我认为,机会还是有的 贺曼公司迎合市场需求
Hallmark:n.特点;品质证明;vt.给…盖上品质证明印记;使具有…标志; cash in on:乘机利用;靠…赚钱; cater:v.提供饮食,承办酒席;迎合;n.(骰子,纸牌的)四点;
A Valentine's Day card like this. (Laughter) 出售这样的情人节贺卡。（笑声）
'"My darling husband, you are marginally less terrible than the first 37 percent of people I dated." “我亲爱的丈夫,你没有 我约会历程中前 37% 的男士那么糟糕。”
It's actually more romantic than I normally manage. 这比一般的贺卡浪漫很多。
romantic:adj.浪漫的;爱情的;n.浪漫的人;耽于幻想的人; normally:adv.正常地;通常地,一般地;
Okay, so this method doesn't give you a 100 percent success rate, but there's no other possible strategy that can do any better. 这个数学方法不能保证100% 的成功率, 但也没有更好的策略了。
strategy:n.策略;行动计划;部署;战略;
And actually, in the wild, there are certain types of fish which follow and employ this exact strategy. 事实上,在动物界,某个特定种类的鱼 遵循使用这样的策略。
employ:vt.使用,采用;雇用;使忙于,使从事于;n.使用;雇用;
So they reject every possible suitor that turns up in the first 37 percent of the mating season, and then they pick the next fish that comes along after that window that's, I don't know, bigger and burlier than all of the fish that they've seen before. 在交配期,它们拒绝 出现在前 37% 的每个求婚者, 接着它们选择 37% 后出现的下一个 比所见过的鱼 体型更加庞大,更加结实的鱼。
suitor:n.求婚者;有意收购另一公司的公司; mating:n.交尾;交配;v.交配;交尾;使交配;(mate的现在分词) burlier:adj.结实的;率直的;粗鲁的(burly的变形);
I also think that subconsciously , humans, we do sort of do this anyway. 我想作为人类我们潜意识里也在做同样的选择。
subconsciously:adv.潜意识地;
We give ourselves a little bit of time to play the field, get a feel for the marketplace or whatever when we're young. 我们给自己更多时间寻找, 在我们年轻的时候感受婚恋市场。
marketplace:n.市场;集市;
And then we only start looking seriously at potential marriage candidates once we hit our mid-to-late 20s. 我们只有在 20 岁年龄段的中后期 才会很真寻找潜在的结婚对象。
I think this is conclusive proof , if ever it were needed, that everybody's brains are prewired to be just a little bit mathematical. 我想这证明了,即使不确定是否需要, 每个人的大脑都预配了点儿数学能力。
conclusive:adj.决定性的;最后的;确实的;确定性的; proof:n.证据;证实;adj.能抵御;可防护;
Okay, so that was Top Tip #2. 好,上述就是最高秘诀 2 号。
Now, Top Tip #3: How to avoid divorce . 现在,最高秘诀 3 号:如何避免离婚。
divorce:n.离婚;分离;v.与某人离婚;使分离;
Okay, so let's imagine then that you picked your perfect partner and you're settling into a lifelong relationship with them. 好的,让我们想象一下你找到了你的完美对象 你和他/她进入了一生的婚姻关系。
settling:n.安置;固定;沉淀物;移居;v.解决;安居;(settle的现在分词)
Now, I like to think that everybody would ideally like to avoid divorce, apart from, I don't know, Piers Morgan's wife, maybe? 我假设每个人都不希望离婚, 当然,也许除了 Piers Morgan 的太太？
But it's a sad fact of modern life that 1 in 2 marriages in the States ends in divorce, with the rest of the world not being far behind. 可是,现代婚姻一个悲伤的事实 就是美国离婚率高达 50%, 世界其他国家也离这个数据不远。
Now, you can be forgiven, perhaps for thinking that the arguments that precede a marital breakup are not an ideal candidate for mathematical investigation. 当然,你可以认为 婚姻破裂的原因 不是数学运算理想的数据源。
precede:v.在…之前发生(或出现);先于;走在…前面; marital:adj.婚姻的;夫妇间的;
For one thing , it's very hard to know what you should be measuring or what you should be quantifying . 一方面来说,很难了解到 你该去测量什么或者是你该去量化什么。
For one thing:首先;一则; quantifying:n.定量法;v.量化(quantify的ing形式);定量;
But this didn't stop a psychologist , John Gottman, who did exactly that. 但这并没有阻止心理学家John Gottman 做这样的研究。
psychologist:n.心理学家,心理学者;
Gottman observed hundreds of couples having a conversation and recorded, well, everything you can think of. Gottman 观察了数百对夫妇的对谈 尽可能录下来所有信息。
observed:adj.观察的;观测的;v.观察;遵守;注意到(observe的过去分词形式);
So he recorded what was said in the conversation, he recorded their skin conductivity , he recorded their facial expressions , their heart rates, their blood pressure , 记录了对话的内容, 皮肤的传导性, 面部表情, 心跳,血压,
conductivity:n.导电性;[物][生理]传导性; facial:adj.面部的,表面的;脸的,面部用的;n.美容,美颜;脸部按摩; expressions:表达,表情(expression的复数) blood pressure:n.[医]血压;
basically everything apart from whether or not the wife was actually always right, which incidentally she totally is. 基本上除了“太太永远是对的”以外的所有东西, 当然,太太永远是对的。
basically:adv.主要地,基本上; whether or not:是否…; incidentally:adv.顺便;偶然地;附带地;
But what Gottman and his team found was that one of the most important predictors for whether or not a couple is going to get divorced was how positive or negative each partner was being in the conversation. 但是,Gottman 和他的团队发现 最能够准确预测 这对夫妻是否未来会离婚的 是双方在对话过程中积极还是消极。
predictors:[气象]预报器; positive:adj.积极的;[数]正的,[医][化学]阳性的;确定的;n.正数;[摄]正片; negative:adj.[数]负的;消极的;否定的;阴性的;n.否定;负数;[摄]底片;v.否定;拒绝;
Now, couples that were very low-risk scored a lot more positive points on Gottman's scale than negative. 那些离婚风险很低的夫妻 在 Gottman 的测试中得到了更多正面而不是负面的分数。
low-risk:adj.低危的,低风险的;
Whereas bad relationships, by which I mean, probably going to get divorced, they found themselves getting into a spiral of negativity . 相反的,在糟糕的关系中, 我是指那些可能离婚的夫妻, 他们发现自己沉浸在消极的漩涡中。
spiral:n.螺旋;旋涡;螺旋形之物;adj.螺旋形的;v.使成螺旋形;vi.盘旋;螺旋形上升; negativity:n.否定性;消极性;
Now just by using these very simple ideas, 就用这些非常简单的方法,
Gottman and his group were able to predict whether a given couple was going to get divorced with a 90 percent accuracy . Gottman 和他的团队能够准确预测 一对夫妻是否会离婚, 准确率高达 90%
accuracy:n.[数]精确度,准确性;
But it wasn't until he teamed up with a mathematician, James Murray, that they really started to understand what causes these negativity spirals and how they occur . 但是,直到他与数学家 James Murray 联手, 他们才真正找出 那些消极漩涡是如何产生,为什么产生的。
teamed up with:与…合作,与…协作; spirals:螺旋;盘旋; occur:v.发生;出现;存在于;出现在;
And the results that they found 结果是他们发现
I think are just incredibly impressively simple and interesting. 我认为不可思议太令人惊叹的简单而有趣。
impressively:adv.令人难忘地;感人地;
So these equations , they predict how the wife or husband is going to respond in their next turn of the conversation, how positive or negative they're going to be. 这些算式,他们用来预测妻子或是丈夫是如何去回应 他们下一段对话, 他们的积极或消极程度是多少。
equations:n.方程式;等式;均等;均势(equation的复数形式); respond:vi.回答;作出反应;承担责任;n.应答;唱和;
And these equations, they depend on the mood of the person when they're on their own, the mood of the person when they're with their partner, but most importantly, they depend on how much the husband and wife influence one another. 这些算式,取决于 当他们独处时各自的情绪, 当他们和伴侣在一起时候的情绪, 但最重要的是, 取决于丈夫和妻子相互间的影响。
mood:n.情绪,语气;心境;气氛; influence:n.影响;势力;感化;有影响的人或事;v.影响;改变;
Now, I think it's important to point out at this stage, that these exact equations have also been shown to be perfectly able at describing what happens between two countries in an arms race . 在这个阶段我认为最重要的是, 这个一模一样的算式 同时也可以完美预测 两个国家是否会开战。
describing:v.描述;形容;把…称为;做…运动;(describe的现在分词) arms race:n.军备竞赛;
(Laughter) （笑声）
So that -- an arguing couple spiraling into negativity and teetering on the brink of divorce -- is actually mathematically equivalent to the beginning of a nuclear war. 因此一对沉浸于消极情绪 在离婚边缘摇摆的夫妻-- 实际在数学上等同于即将开始一场核战争。
spiraling:adj.盘旋的; v.盘旋着上升或下降; (spiral的现在分词) teetering:vi.摇晃; vt.使…摇摆; n.跷跷板; on the brink of:即将要;濒于;濒临;在…的边缘; equivalent:adj.等价的,相等的;同意义的;n.等价物,相等物; nuclear:adj.原子能的;[细胞]细胞核的;中心的;原子核的;
(Laughter) （笑声）
But the really important term in this equation is the influence that people have on one another, and in particular, something called the negativity threshold . 事实上,这个算式最重要的部分 是人们给对方带来的影响, 尤其是消极阈值。
threshold:n.入口;门槛;开始;极限;临界值;
Now, the negativity threshold, you can think of as how annoying the husband can be before the wife starts to get really pissed off, and vice versa . 消极阈值, 你可以认为它指的是丈夫讨厌到什么程度 就能惹到妻子真的暴怒,或者是相反。
annoying:adj.烦人的;使生气的;使烦恼的;v.使生气;打扰;骚扰;(annoy的现在分词) pissed:adj.烂醉的;怒冲冲的;v.撒尿;(piss的过去分词和过去式) vice versa:反之亦然;
Now, I always thought that good marriages were about compromise and understanding and allowing the person to have the space to be themselves. 我一直认为美好的婚姻是基于妥协和理解 并且给对方留足独处空间。
compromise:n.妥协;折中;互让;和解;v.妥协;违背(原则);达不到(标准);使陷入危险;
So I would have thought that perhaps the most successful relationships were ones where there was a really high negativity threshold. 我会想,最成功的关系是 当那里有非常高的消极阈值时
Where couples let things go and only brought things up if they really were a big deal . 夫妻共同选择不去理会这些问题。 只有在非常严重的时候才会严肃讨论。
a big deal:na.要人;重要的事;
But actually, the mathematics and subsequent findings by the team have shown the exact opposite is true. 事实上,团队得出的数学运算结果和后续研究成果显示 完全相反的结果。
subsequent:adj.后来的,随后的;
The best couples, or the most successful couples, are the ones with a really low negativity threshold. 最完美的夫妻,最成功的夫妻, 有着很低的消极阈值。
These are the couples that don't let anything go unnoticed and allow each other some room to complain . 这些夫妻不会忽视矛盾 给对方抱怨的空间。
unnoticed:adj.被忽视的;不引人注意的;未被注意的; complain:v.投诉;发牢骚;诉说;
These are the couples that are continually trying to repair their own relationship, that have a much more positive outlook on their marriage. 这些夫妻持续努力修复他们的关系, 他们对自己的婚姻有着非常积极的预期。
continually:adv.不断地;频繁地; repair:v.修理;修补;修缮;补救;n.修理;修补;修缮; outlook:n.见解;前景;人生观;可能性;
Couples that don't let things go and couples that don't let trivial things end up being a really big deal. 他们不会忽略矛盾 他们不会让一件件琐碎的小事堆积成为巨大的问题。
trivial:adj.不重要的,琐碎的;琐细的;
Now of course, it takes bit more than just a low negativity threshold and not compromising to have a successful relationship. 当然,这不仅仅是一个低消极阈值 和对成功关系毫不妥协的态度。
compromising:adj.有失体面的; v.妥协; (compromise的现在分词)
But I think that it's quite interesting to know that there is really mathematical evidence to say that you should never let the sun go down on your anger. 但我认为,很有趣的是 真的有数学证据 来证明你永远不该长时间积攒愤怒,太阳要下山了。
evidence:n.证据,证明;迹象;明显;v.证明;
So those are my top three tips of how maths can help you with love and relationships. 上述就是我的三条最高秘诀, 有关数学如何让你有更美好的爱情和关系。
But I hope that aside from their use as tips, they also give you a little bit of insight into the power of mathematics. 我希望,除了作为爱情秘诀, 它们也展示了数学的力量。
insight:n.洞察力;洞悉;
Because for me, equations and symbols aren't just a thing. 对我来说,算式和符号不仅仅是一样东西。
symbols:n.符号;象征;标志;符号表(symbol的复数);
They're a voice that speaks out about the incredible richness of nature and the startling simplicity in the patterns that twist and turn and warp and evolve all around us, from how the world works to how we behave . 它们表达出自然令人赞叹的丰富性 以及简化 那些我们身边扭曲,旋转,包围,进化的事物, 从世界是如何运作的,到人类行为举止。
incredible:adj.难以置信的,惊人的; richness:n.丰富;富裕;肥沃;华美; startling:adj.惊人的;让人震惊的;极鲜亮的;v.使惊吓;使吓一跳;(startle的现在分词) simplicity:n.朴素;简易;天真;愚蠢; twist:v.捻;扭转;曲折;扭动;n.捻;拧;扭动;搓; warp:v.弯曲;(使)扭曲,变形;使乖戾;n.(织布机上的)经线,经纱 evolve:v.(使)逐渐形成;进化;进化形成; behave:v.表现;(机器等)运转;举止端正;(事物)起某种作用;
So I hope that perhaps, for just a couple of you, a little bit of insight into the mathematics of love can persuade you to have a little bit more love for mathematics. 我希望,也许你们中的一部分人 能够了解一些爱的数学运算, 能够让你爱数学稍微多一点。
Thank you. 谢谢。
(Applause) （鼓掌）