【周末英语】你是个与众不同的人吗？

今天我们来模拟关于Groupthink的对话场景，这也许对于你学会表达不同意见有一定的帮助。...





大家有没有注意过一个状况：当一群人在一起讨论问题时，如果大多数人就某个问题达成了一致看法，即使你不同意或不怎么喜欢，你也会选择同意大家的意见。这种现象，你知道英语里怎么来形容吗？

有个词叫Groupthink，是说当我们身处群体中时，跟随群体所做的违背自己意志的决定，就叫做Groupthink。大家一定都还记得皇帝的新装（The Emperor's New Clothes）这个故事，里面大人的行为就是典型的Groupthink。

不仅仅是大人，孩子们每天也都要生活在群体中。群体对他们有较大影响。大多数孩子不会拒绝别人。今天我们来模拟一个对话场景，谈谈什么是Groupthink，以及为什么我们会有Groupthink，这也许对于你学会表达不同意见有一定的帮助。

Sapphire：

Gary – 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!

（Gary，还记得昨天开会的事吗？你为什么同意喝无咖啡因咖啡，我记得你不喜欢喝那个的，而且我也不怎么喜欢喝。）

Gary：

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.

(你也知道，当时老板建议喝无咖啡因咖啡，说那个更健康一点，其他人都同意了。我要是不同意的话，感觉不太好。)

Sapphire：

Well, it's interesting you shouldsay that, Gary. You make me remember a psychology experiment. This experiment was conducted in the 1950s and showed that a lot of people do exactly that –they submit to the will of the group.

（好吧，这还挺有意思的, 你让我想起来上世纪50年代的时候，有个心理学家做了个实验，结果发现超过50%的人都会遵从或屈从于群体决策。）

Gary：

Yeah, the psychologist Solomon Asch is well known for his conformity experiments from the 1950s. Can you tell us what ‘conformity' means please, Sapphire?

（嗯，我也知道。那个心理学家叫所罗门·阿希，他就是因为这个实验出名的。实验的名字叫从众实验。Sapphire，也许你可以跟大家讲讲什么叫从众实验。）

Sapphire：

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.

（Conformity就是顺从、遵照的意思，是指一个人遵照集体意识来行事。阿希的这个实验主要就是研究人们会在多大程度上受到他人的影响，而违心地做出明显错误的判断。）

Gary：

And what did this Asch testinvolve?

（这个实验是怎么做的，有多少人参加？）

Sapphire：

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.

（当时，有123人参与了这场实验。每个参与者都给发了一个纸片，纸片上画有一条线。然后让他们把这条线和另外一张纸上的三条不同长短的线作比较，然后说出哪条线和他们手里那张纸片上的线长度一致。正确答案其实是显而易见的，但是由于群体压力，他们中很多人做了错误选择。）

Gary：

Why would they do that?

（怎么会这样？）

Sapphire：

Because the majority of people taking part in the experiment had been told to give the wrong answer and then they could observe the reaction of the real participants. As a result, under the group pressure, they chose to obey the public and made the wrong decision.

（因为参与这场实验的一大波人都是“托儿”，他们在参与实验前就被告知要说错误的答案，以此来观察真正被实验者的反应。结果，被实验者迫于群体压力，选择顺从大众，跟“托儿”们一样说了错误的答案。）

Gary：

But, Sapphire, if people are uncomfortable about supporting the wrong answer, or something they don't believe in, why do they do it?

（Sapphire，你说如果一个人明明觉得那么选是错的，甚至他们自己都不相信，为什么还要这么做呢？）

Sapphire：

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.

（因为即使我们不同意，甚至也根本不信，但如果坚持己见，就会和群体意见相左，这会让我们觉得更不舒服。）

Gary：

Well, I didn't realize that people were such sheep. I have a will of steel, Sapphire.

（我没想到人有时候竟然是这么缺乏主见、轻易盲从的群体。但sapphire，我是一个意志坚定的人。）

Sapphire：

Is that right? So, your will of steel – or strong determination – somehow melted away in the staff meeting yesterday, I suppose?

（是吗？那你的坚定意志昨天开会时哪儿去了？）

Gary：

Oh well… of course… yes…

（呃...）

Sapphire：

Actually，I think social media also encourage groupthink.

（其实，我觉得社交媒体也会左右大众的思维。）

Gary：

Yes, there's a real danger with something like, for example, the Wechat– the social networking service. Because when an opinion on Wechat starts to “trend”, it can take on a momentumof its own, and people adopt it simply because it's popular, not because they really believe it.

（嗯，现在社交媒体比如微信、朋友圈对人们的影响确实比较大。当一篇文章或一个信息在朋友圈开始流行时，它会逐渐形成一种强劲势头，然后越来越多的人转发。而他们转发的动机可能并不是因为它很棒，而仅仅是因为大家都在转发。）

Sapphire：

Yeah, it's true.

（嗯，确实是这样。）

Gary：

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, allus 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.

（在社交媒体上有一点挺讽刺的：我们每个人都觉得自己与众不同，但一群觉得自己与众不同的人聚到一起却创造出了一个观点几乎雷同的语境。在这个语境里，当有一个人观点与他们不一致时，他们就会排斥他，并把他踢出去。好像我们对正常的界定就是把和自己观点不一致的人清理出去。）

Sapphire：

Gary, do you think you are a nonconformist– someone who thinks and behaves differently from other people?

（Gary, 你觉得你是个与众不同的人吗？就是那种觉得自己想法、行为都和别人不一样的人。）

Gary：

I think I'm not the type that I have described – one who joins up with other so-called nonconformists to bully people with different views. In fact, I think I’m a tolerant and

Open-minded man.

（我觉得我不是那种会和其他觉得自己与众不同的人一起排斥观点相左者的人。事实上，我觉得我是一个可以包容各种不同观点的人。）

Sapphire：

Ha-ha，I think maybe everyone consider themselves not that type of person.

（哈哈，我觉得可能每个人都觉得自己不是那种人。）

今天对话里面频繁出现的几个词，分别是：

decaffeinated：脱咖啡因咖啡

groupthink：跟随群体做出一致的选择或决定

conformity：顺从、遵照

going along with：同意

sheep：缺乏主见、轻易盲从的人

will of steel：坚定的意志

take on a momentum：形成一种强劲势头

nonconformist：想法、行为和别人不一样的人


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