你是独立思考的人吗？ Do you think for yourself?

Hello and welcome to 6 Minute English. I’m Sophie…
大家好，欢迎收听六分钟英语。我是苏菲。
And I’m Neil… Here’s your coffee, Sophie.
我是尼尔。苏菲，你的咖啡。
Neil – remember that staff meeting we had yesterday?Why did you agree to having decaff coffee in the kitchen when I know you don’t like it… and neither do I!
尼尔，还记得昨天的员工大会吗？你怎么同意厨房使用低因咖啡呢，我知道你不喜欢，我也不喜欢！
I know. It’s just that the boss said that decaffeinated coffee– that’s coffee with the caffeine removed – was a good idea, healthier, you know. And then everyone else agreed.And I… I don’t know… I just felt uncomfortable disagreeing with everyone.
我知道。只是老板说低因咖啡，也就是不带咖啡因的咖啡，非常好，更健康。其他每个人都同意了啊。我不知道。我只是觉得反对大家的意见不好。
Well, it’s interesting you should say that, Neil.Groupthink is the subject of today’s show. Groupthink refers to the type of bad decisions we make when we are in a group.Decisions that are contrary to – or against – what we really think.A psychology experiment conducted in the 1950s showed that a lot of people do exactly that – they submit to the will of the group.
你说得真有意思。趋同思维是今天节目的主题。趋同思维是指我们身处团队所做的错误决定。所做的决定与我们真实的想法相悖。20世纪50年代进行的一项心理研究显示，许多人在团队中都会这样，屈服于团队的意志。
But before we hear more about this, now would be a good time for today’s quiz question. And I get to ask you, Sophie!
但是在继续讨论前，我们先回答今天的问题。轮到我问你了，苏菲！
OK. What is it?
好的。问题是什么？
In which story by Hans Christian Andersen does a young boy dare to tell the truth when everyone else goes along with an obvious lie? Is it…a) The Red Shoesb) The Snow QueenOr c) The Emperor’s New Clothes
在安徒生的哪个故事里，当其他人不敢戳穿一个明显的谎言时，一个小男孩勇敢地说了真话？a) 《红色高跟鞋》b) 《白雪女王》还是c) 《皇帝的新衣》
OK… I think it’s c) The Emperor’s New Clothes.
我觉得是c)《皇帝的新衣》。
Well, we’ll find out later on in the show if that’s right or not.Now, the psychologist Solomon Asch is well known for his conformity experiments from the 1950s.Can you tell us what ‘conformity’ means please, Sophie?
好的，之后我们再看你回答得是否正确。心理学家Solomon Asch因为20世纪50年代的从众实验而闻名于世。苏菲你能告诉我们“从众”是什么意思吗？
Conformity means behaviour that is the same as the way most other people behave. Asch’s main finding was that group pressure can change a person’s opinion, of even obvious facts.
从众是指与其他人保持相同的举止行为。Asch的主要发现是团队压力会改变一个人的判断，甚至是对一个明显事实的想法。
And what did this Asch test involve?
Asch实验包含什么内容？
123 male participants were shown a card with a line on it, followed by another card with three lines on it.The participants were then asked to say which line matched the line on the first card in length. The right answer was plain to see, but the participants felt pressurized into saying the wrong answer.
研究人员给123名男性参与者看了一张画有一条线的卡片，之后又给他们看了画有三条线的卡片。这些参与者需要回答哪一条线与第一张卡片上的线一样长。正确答案显而易见，但是参与者在压力下会选择错误答案。
Why would they do that?
为什么会这样呢？
Because the majority of people taking part in the experiment had been told to give the wrong answer.Let’s hear Professor Nick Chater’s explanation.He works at the Warwick Business School here in the UK.
因为大多数人被告知要选择错误答案。我们听听Nick Chater教授的解释。他是英国华威商学院的教授。
By the time it comes to you a whole list of people have said something plainly wrongand you are either going to have to fold and say, ’well, I just agree with them’ or you’re going to rather uncomfortably say, ’well, I think it’s one actually’.And most people, most of the time, tend to fold.
到了你选的时候，大多数人都选择了明显错误的答案，你是选择妥协，说“我同意他们”，还是心里不舒服但还说“好吧，我觉得这个才是正确的。”而大多数人，大多数时候，都趋向于妥协。
Professor Nick Chater.He uses the word fold, which means you give up.But, Sophie, if people are uncomfortable about supporting the wrong answer,or something they don’t believe in, why do they do it?
上述是Nick Chater教授的讲话。他提到妥协，是放弃的意思。但是苏菲，如果人们支持错误的观点或他们不相信的观点时，心里感到不舒服，他们为什么还这么做呢？
Because even though we feel uncomfortable going along with – or agreeing with – something we don’t believe, we’re even more uncomfortable about disagreeing with the group.
因为即便我们支持不相信的观点时会感到不舒服，但是如果与团队意见向左会令我们更不舒服。
Well, I didn’t realize that people were such sheep.I have a will of steel, Sophie.
没想到大家这么胆小。我可是有钢铁意志的人。
Is that right? So, your will of steel – or strong determination – somehow melted away in the staff meeting yesterday, I suppose?
是吗？那你的钢铁意志昨天在员工大会上是融化了吧？
Oh well… of course… yes…
额，好吧，没错……
Let’s move on and consider briefly how social media encourages groupthink.
我们继续说，来简单思考一下社交媒体如果鼓励趋同思维。
Yes, there’s a real danger with something like, for example, the Twitter – the social networking service.Because when an opinion on Twitter starts to “trend”, it can take on a momentum of its own,and people adopt it simply because it’s popular, not because they really believe it.
没错，使用像推特这类的社交媒体有一定风险。因为一个想法一旦在推特上开始“流行”，就会形成一种势头，人们会因为它很有名而简单地接受这个观点，而非真正相信。
And momentum means a force that keeps something going once it has started.Let’s hear from journalist and author, Jon Ronson.He has an interesting opinion about this.
势头是指一种驱动力，推动事物一直发展。我们听听记者兼作家的Jon Ronson的看法。针对社交媒体，他有一个很有趣的观点。
One of the ironies here is that on social media we all like to see ourselves as nonconformists but when we all get together in a group what we’re doing is using our individual nonconformity to create a more conformist world.So if somebody steps out of line, all us nonconformists, in this frightened conformist way, tear them apart.It’s like we’re defining the boundaries of normality by tearing apart the people on the outside.
有一点讽刺的是在社交媒体上，我们都喜欢将自己视为“不从众者”，但当我们在一个集体时，我们这些不从众者创建的是一个更加趋同的世界。所以，如果有人步调不一致，我们这些“不从众者”就会用令人恐惧的从众者的方式，将其撕碎。这就像是我们用铲除异己的方式为“常态”下定义。
Jon Ronson.Are you a nonconformist then, Neil– someone who thinks and behaves differently from other people?
上述是Jon Ronson的看法。你是不从众者吗？就是想法和举止与他人不同的人。
I’m not the type that Jon Ronson is describing– one who joins up with other so-called nonconformists to bully people with different views.Now remember I asked you earlier:In which story by Hans Christian Andersen does a young boy dare to tell the truth when everyone else goes along with an obvious lie? Is it… a) The Red Shoes, b) The Snow Queen or c) The Emperor’s New Clothes?
我不是Jon Ronson所描述的那种人，与所谓的“不从众者”联合打压异己。现在还记得我之前问你的问题吗？在安徒生的哪个故事里，当其他人不敢戳穿一个明显的谎言时，一个小男孩勇敢地说了真话？a) 《红色高跟鞋》b) 《白雪女王》还是c) 《皇帝的新衣》
I guessed c) The Emperor’s New Clothes.
我猜是c) 《皇帝的新衣》。
And you were right, Sophie! The Emperor’s New Clothes is a story by Hans Christian Andersen about two weavers who promise an emperor a new suit of clothes that is invisible to those who are stupid or incompetent. No one dares to say that he doesn’t see any suit of clothesuntil a child cries out, “But he isn’t wearing anything at all!”
你答对了，苏菲！《皇帝的新衣》是安徒生所写故事之一，讲述两个裁缝承诺给皇帝做一套新衣服，愚蠢或无能的人是无法看到这件衣服的。没有人敢说他看不到任何一件衣服，直到一个小孩大喊：“他根本什么都没穿！”
It’s a great story – and a lesson to us all.Now can we hear the words we learned today please?
这是个很棒的故事，也给我们所有人上了一课。现在我们再来听听今天学到的单词吧？
They are:
今天学到的单词有：
decaffeinated
不含咖啡因的
groupthink
趋同思维
contrary to
与……相反
conformity
从众
fold
妥协
going along with
支持
will of steel
钢铁意志
momentum
势头
nonconformist
不从众者
Well, that’s the end of today’s 6 Minute English. Don’t forget to join us again soon!
好了，今天的六分钟英语就到这里。别忘了下期再会！
Bye.
再见。