科學家們發(fā)現(xiàn)了人類和其他動物的相似之處

科學家們發(fā)現(xiàn)了人類和其他動物的相似之處

Do you worry over a young-adult family member, just out of college or in between jobs, who has moved back home? Or a teenager who faces bullying at school?

你是否擔心一個剛大學畢業(yè)或正在找工作的年輕家庭成員搬回家?或者是一個青少年在學校面臨欺凌?

In Wildhood: The Epic Journey from Adolescence to Adulthood in Humans and Other Animals, Barbara Natterson-Horowitz and Kathryn Bowers invite you to find wisdom in the ways that penguins, hyenas, whales, wolves and other animals experience adolescence.

芭芭拉·納特森-霍洛維茨和凱瑟琳·鮑爾斯在《荒野:人類和其他動物從青春期到成年的漫長之旅》一書中邀請你從企鵝、鬣狗、鯨魚、狼和其他動物經(jīng)歷青春期的方式中尋找智慧。

In their bestselling earlier book, Zoobiquity, Natterson-Horowitz, an evolutionary biologist and professor of medicine, and Bowers, a science writer and animal behaviorist, examined ways in which human health and animal health are linked.

進化生物學家、醫(yī)學教授納特森-霍洛維茨和科學作家、動物行為學家鮑爾斯在他們早期的暢銷書《動物普同性》中探討了人類健康與動物健康之間的聯(lián)系。

Now in Wildhood, they team up again to look across species at adolescence, that in-between stage of life when one is neither a young child nor a full adult.

現(xiàn)在在《荒野》中，他們再次合作研究不同物種的青春期，也就是一個人既不年輕也不完全成年的中間階段。

Puberty, they explain, is about physical development, whereas adolescence "combines body and behavior. It is about learning to think, act, and even feel like a mature member of a group." Because animals have been doing this for millions of years, we can take a lesson or two from them about the process.

他們解釋說，青春期是關于身體發(fā)育的，而青春期“結(jié)合了身體和行為”。青春期是關于學習思考、行動，甚至感覺自己是團隊中一名成熟的成員。”因為動物已經(jīng)這樣做了數(shù)百萬年，我們可以從它們身上受到一兩個關于這個過程的啟發(fā)。

Take the phenomenon of "boomerang kids," those young adult humans who move back home after an initial period of relative independence. Often it's viewed critically, as if the parents are overindulging offspring who should be more self-reliant. Yet this sort of prolonged parental help is widespread in the animal world, the authors say.

以“回巢族兒童”為例，這些年輕人在初期經(jīng)歷了一段相對獨立的階段后搬回家。很多時候，人們對這種行為持批評態(tài)度，認為父母溺愛子女，而子女應該更獨立。然而，作者說，父母的長期庇護在動物世界中很普遍。

Many birds and mammals at adolescence are allowed or encouraged to stay home instead of striking out on their own. They may babysit younger siblings or otherwise help out while avoiding the dangers of the wider world.

在青春期的許多鳥類和哺乳動物被允許或鼓勵呆在家里，而不是自力更生。他們可能會照顧弟弟妹妹或以其他方式提供幫助，同時避免外面世界的危險。

Sometimes the parental help offered is pretty extreme. Red squirrel mothers in middle age cede their territories to their adult offspring, often stocking those territories with food first. Certain songbird moms escort their older offspring to other flocks and introduce them to high-status potential mates. Costs may incur to these stay-at-home youngsters too, because they don't get much experience in finding their own food or coping with predators.

有時父母提供的幫助是相當極端的。中年的紅松鼠媽媽會把自己的領地割讓給成年的后代，而且通常會先在這些領地儲存食物。某些鳴禽媽媽把年長的后代送到其他鳥群中，并為它們介紹地位較高的潛在伴侶。這些待在家里的年輕生物可能也要付出代價，因為他們在尋找食物或?qū)Ω恫妒痴叻矫鏇]有太多經(jīng)驗。

Natterson-Horowitz and Bowers conclude, "Recognizing the advantages and disadvantages of extending parental care in the animal world can help humans understand how and when to continue to support their older and adult children."

納特森-霍洛維茨和鮑爾斯總結(jié)道:“認識到在動物世界中延長父母關愛的利弊，可以幫助人類理解如何以及何時繼續(xù)支持年長和成年的孩子。”

Yet it could fairly be asked, how informative is this sort of specific comparison really?

然而，有人可能會問，這種具體的比較到底能提供多少信息呢?

After all, while adolescent animals often need to negotiate complex family relationships and group dominance hierarchies, they don't face the pressures of overdue student loans and mental health crises — or sexism or racism. The culturally constructed, power-based in the human world are qualitatively different.

畢竟，雖然青春期的動物經(jīng)常需要協(xié)調(diào)復雜的家庭關系和群體統(tǒng)治階層，但它們不會面臨逾期學生貸款和心理健康危機的壓力——或者性別歧視或種族主義。這個由文化構(gòu)建的、以權(quán)力為基礎的人類世界中在本質(zhì)上是不同的。