一时狂热为何兴起Why do crazes take off?

Hello and welcome to 6 Minute English. I’m Alice…
大家好，欢迎收听六分钟英语，我是爱丽丝。
And I’m Neil.
我是尼尔。
Neil, what are you doing?
你在做什么，尼尔？
I saw Squirtle … And … I’m trying to catch it!
我看到了杰尼龟，我要抓住它！
What are you talking about?
你在说什么？
Pokemon Go, Alice. I’m trying to catch a Pokemon.
口袋妖怪Go。我想抓一只口袋妖怪。
What?
什么？
Alice! Keep up! Pokemon Go is a game where these little virtual monsters pop up onto your phone and you have to catch them.There it is again… Ha! Gotcha! I got Squirtle.
爱丽丝！你真的要跟上时代了！口袋妖怪Go是一款游戏，虚拟的小精灵会突然出现在手机上，你得抓住他们。又出现了！哈！抓住了！我抓住杰尼龟了。
Well done, Neil. Now the subject of today’s show is crazes…
做得好。今天节目的主题是狂热。
And Pokemon Go is a good example. When it was first released, so many people were downloading the app that servers were crashing all over the place.
口袋妖怪Go就是一个不错的例子。这款游戏首次发布时，许多人都下载了，服务器都崩溃了。
Perhaps I should explain at this point that a craze or a fad is a sudden and widespread enthusiasm for something,which only lasts a short time. So why do you think this craze for Pokemon Go took off, Neil?
可以这样解释，一时狂热是指突然之间广为流传的对某物的热爱，只持续一小段时间。你觉得口袋妖怪Go为什么突然兴起？
It uses augmented reality – and that’s exciting new technology!It’s fun to play outside– and the game was released over the summer when people want to be outside.And … people are already familiar with the monsters since they were created back in 1995.
这款游戏用了增强现实技术，是一项很是令人激动的新技术。在外面玩很有意思，这款游戏在夏天发布，人们都想到外面去。而且人们都已经很熟悉那些小精灵了，它们1995年就被创造出来了。
Augmented reality by the way, is where digital information is layered on top of what you see through a smartphone or other device, augmenting or adding to it.
增强现实是指，通过手机或其他设备，在你所看到的事物上架设一层数字化信息。增强所看到的的画面。
I love this game.But then again, I loved other games in the past.I still have some toys and gadgets from my childhood at home.If there was a fad I would join in, I’m afraid.
我爱这款游戏。但过去我也喜欢其他游戏。我家里还有一些儿时的玩具和小玩意儿。如果有流行的东西，我恐怕会跟风的。
Well, let me test your knowledge about toys that turned into fads.Tell me: what is the best-selling toy of all time? Is it:a) the space hopper?b) the Rubik’s cube also known as magic cube?Or c) the cabbage patch doll?
让我测试一下你，关于风靡一时的玩具了解多少。你能告诉我，一直以来最畅销的玩具是什么吗？a) 弹跳球？b) 魔方？还是 c) 大头娃娃？
I’ll say b) the Rubik’s cube.I have one and, so do my cousin, my neighbour... my brother… my dog…
我选b) 魔方。我有一个魔方，我的侄子、邻居、弟弟、我的狗，都有魔方。
Well, we’ll find out if you got the answer right or not later on in the show. But why do we like to participate in crazes?Dr Ben Michaelis, a clinical psychologist from Columbia University in the US, explains.
好了，之后我们再看你回答得是否正确。但为什么我们喜欢跟风潮流呢？Ben Michaelis教授，美国哥伦比亚大学临床心理学家会解释这一点。
When a person or a group perceives an idea or a process or a product as being beneficial to one person or to a group of people,they immediately want to experience that benefit for themselves,which hooks into an ancient evolutionary fear of being left behind or abandoned by our tribes, and so more people join in.
但一个人或一个群体获取了一个想法、一个过程或一个产品，对这个人或这个团体有好处的话，人们就想立刻进行体验，从而有利于自身，这和进化有关，古时人们害怕被部族落下或遗弃，所以越来越多的人加入其中。
So Ben Michaelis believes that people join crazes because they are afraid of being abandoned by others in their group. But I don’t think that’s true for me – I just enjoy playing games!
所以Ben Michaelis认为人们跟风潮流是因为担心被他们的群体遗弃。但我觉得这个不适用于我，我就是喜欢玩游戏。
Yes, but why have you switched from Angry Birds, to Minecraft, to Pokemon Go in the space of a year?And before that there was Candy Crush and…
好的，但你为什么一年的时间，从玩愤怒的小鸟，转至我的世界，又换成口袋妖怪GO？在这之前你还玩过糖果粉碎传奇。
Well, I get bored after a while.
玩一段时间我就厌倦了。
So it isn’t because other people stop playing it?And they stop talking about it?And it stops being a group thing?
难道不是因为其他人不玩了？他们不再讨论这个游戏？这个游戏不再是一群人玩了？
Hmm. Maybe there is an element of that. Anyway, I like the idea that we join a craze because it’s beneficial – or good – for us.
好吧，也许是有这方面的因素。总之，我喜欢那个观点，就是我们加入一种热潮，是因为它对我们有好处。
I’m not convinced that playing Pokemon Go is beneficial.Did you know, Neil, that in terms of personality type, people who are more emotionally insecure are far more likely to follow a craze?You know, sort of, herd mentality?
我不确信玩口袋妖怪Go有好处。你知道吗，尼尔，就人格类型来说，那些不太有安全感的人，更容易跟风潮流吗？你知道的，就有点从众心理。
Herd mentality describes how people are influenced by their peers to adopt certain behaviours. But it’s fun to be connected with others through a craze. Aren’t you troubled by FOMO?
从众心理是指人们受周围人的影响采取某种行为。但通过一种热潮和其他人取得联系，也很有意思。你不会受社交控的困扰吗？
FOMO – or fear of missing out?Oh no, I have a strong sense of self.But… well, I must admit I like loom bands.Do you remember those little rubber bands you could make jewellery and other stuff out of?
社交控，害怕错过？不，没有，我有很强大的自我。但我必须得承认，我喜欢皮筋手链。你还记得那种小的皮筋手链，可以用一些小首饰或其他小东西做成吗？
Yes, I remember. David Beckham wore a loom band bracelet…
我记得，贝克汉姆戴过一个皮筋手链。
So did the Duchess of Cambridge.They were very popular a couple of years ago and came from a simple idea. Cheong Choon Ng, an immigrant from Malaysia living in the United States, invented the Rainbow Loom after watching his daughters play.Let’s hear his story.
剑桥公爵夫人也戴过。十几年前这个就流行了，起源于一个很简单的故事。吴昌俊，一位来自马来西亚的移民，居住在美国，看到女儿的玩具后，发明了彩虹织机。我们来听听他的故事。
The idea of loom band came from my daughters.So one day they came home from school. Two of them were teaching each other how to make rubber band bracelets from those small tiny ponytail size rubber bands.I tried to impress them by making a thicker bracelet that was made from a prototype loom that I fabricated. And it was a success.And they were telling me that those bracelets are so cool, can you make more?
彩虹织机的想法来自于我的女儿。一天他们从学校回到家。其中两个教对方如何用小马尾大小的橡胶带做皮筋手链。我想给他们一个惊喜，用我自己做的织机模型做了一条厚一点的手链。很成功。他们告诉我，这些手链很酷，可以再做一些吗？
Cheong Choon Ng made a prototype – a first model of a machine from which all others would develop.He posted a video of his daughters making the bracelets and these went viral on the internet.
吴昌俊制作了一台原型机，也就是机器的第一个版本，之后的版本以此为基础生产。他将女儿制作手链的视频发到网上，迅速在网络上走红。
Interesting. Now, I think it’s time for the answer to today’s quiz question.
很有意思。我觉得是时候公布今天问题的答案了。
Yes. I asked: what is the best-selling toy of all time?Is it: a) the space hopper, b) the Rubik’s cube also known as magic cube, or c) the cabbage patch doll?
我的问题是：一直以来最热销的玩具是什么？ a) 弹跳球， b)魔方，还是 c)大头娃娃？
It has to be the Rubik’s cube!
一定是魔方。
And indeed it is.In the 35 years since the puzzle was available to buy outside of Hungary, where its inventor came from, approximately 350m Rubik’s cubes have been sold, making it the world’s best-selling toy.And they are clever little toys, I must say – there’s some maths in them. Now, let’s hear the words we learned today.
没错，确实如此。魔方可以在匈牙利之外的国家买到，已有35年，魔方的发明家来自匈牙利，魔方一经销售，就成为世界上最热销的玩具。魔方是很有意思的小玩具，蕴含一些数学知识。我们听听今天的单词。
They were:
分别有：
craze
狂热
fad
一时狂热
augmented reality
增强现实
beneficial
有好处的
herd mentality
从众心理
FOMO
社交控
prototype
原型
And that’s the end of today’s 6 Minute English.Don’t forget to join us again soon!
今天的六分钟英语就到这里。我们下期再见。
Bye!
再见！