時差N小時:與做道德決策有關(guān)的大腦部分 Where Does The Brain Process Moral Decisions?

Yael, suppose there's a trolley that's about to runover five people.

雅艾爾,假設(shè)一輛有軌電車將要撞上五個人。

Do you flip the switch that will steer the trolleyonto a different track if that means only one personwill die?

這時扳動轉(zhuǎn)轍器讓電車行駛到另一條軌道上，但這意味著只會有一人喪命。你會這么做嗎?

I sure would.

我會這么做。

Okay, now what if the only way you can save thosefive people is by pushing the stranger next to you into the trolley's path?

唐:好，那么如果拯救這五個人的唯一辦法是把你身邊的陌生人推到電車的軌道上，你覺得怎么樣呢?

Yuck, Don. That would be wrong.

令人惡心, 唐。這是不對的。

You know, Yael, most people, when asked this question, answered the same way.

雅艾爾，大多數(shù)人被問到這個問題的時候，都會這么回答。

And moral philosophers and psychologists have been trying to figure out why.

倫理學(xué)家和心理學(xué)家一直在嘗試弄清為什么會這樣。

After all, in both cases, one person dies to save five.

畢竟，在這兩種情況下，都是犧牲一人保全五人。In one study, scientists discovered thatthese two scenarios are processed by different parts of the brain.

在一項研究中，科學(xué)家們發(fā)現(xiàn)這兩種場景是由大腦的不同部分處理的。

Flipping a switch, because it's more impersonal, activates the part of the brain associatedwith memory.

扳動轉(zhuǎn)轍器，因為這是非人性的動作，所以它只激活大腦中和記憶有關(guān)的那部分。

But the more personal scenario that requires actively killing a person activates the part of thebrain associated with emotions.

而殺人這個場景更具人性色彩，所以會激活大腦中和感情有關(guān)的那部分。

Scientists speculate that a lot of our gut reactions to moral dilemmas may be affected by ourupbringing.

科學(xué)家們推斷，我們面對道德兩難處境時的許多本能反應(yīng)可能與我們受到的教育有關(guān)。

After all, as children we internalize the emotional reactions of those around us and store themin emotional brain circuits.

畢竟，在兒童時代，我們把身邊人的情感反應(yīng)內(nèi)化并儲存在情感大腦回路里。

Then, later, when we encounter a moral problem, these automatic gut feelings guide ourdecision-making.

然后，當(dāng)我們遇到道德問題時，直覺就會自動指導(dǎo)我們做出決斷。

Scientists hope that by figuring out how the brain behaves when people wrestle with difficultissues, we'll be able to understand how people with different backgrounds reach differentconclusions on when it's okay to take a life.

科學(xué)家們希望通過弄清人們思考困難問題時大腦的運轉(zhuǎn)方式，來幫助理解為什么不同背景的人在面對“可以取人性命”的問題時會得出不同的結(jié)論。

And everyone knows we could use a little more understanding.

并且，每一個人都知道我們可以多一些理解。