考研英语时文赏读(64):科技发展对大脑有着怎样的影响
摘要:英语作为一种语言学科,最重要的学习方式便是将英语的学习常态化。做到每天都能接触到英语的学习环境,这样的话我们便可以通过模拟一种英语生活的状态,锻炼自己的英语能力。因此帮帮之后会不定时推出一篇英文美文,这些文章都与考研英语阅读同源,多读必有好处。
“Clearly, technology is helping us research the brain, but how is the brain responding to technology?” NYU neuroscientist Alexandra Ochoa Cohen.
纽约大学神经学家亚历山德拉·奥乔亚·科恩表示:“毋庸置疑,科技可以帮助我们探索大脑,但是反过来,大脑又是如何对科技做出反应的呢?”
“There’s been a lot of mostly negative hype around this issue, often referred to as screen time, and how it’s ruining all of our lives. And while there’ve been a few studies that have examined these questions, the truth is that everything we encounter changes our brains. And we just don’t have the data right now to say how meaningful these changes actually are.”
“围绕这个话题存在许多负面且夸张的说法,比如我们经常讨论所谓屏幕时间长短以及它是如何摧毁我们的生活。但其实之前也有不少研究探索过这些问题,事实上我们遭遇的一切都会使大脑发生变化。只是现在还没有数据可以证明这些变化到底有着多少意义。”
Cohen spoke March 21st, at the Cooper Union in Manhattan, during a discussion called Our Brain on A.I. [Artificial Intelligence]: Who’s In Control, Me or the Machine?
3月21日,一场主题为“人工智能时代的人脑:谁是主宰者,人类还是机器?”的研讨会在曼哈顿的库铂联盟学院举行,科恩在此次研讨会上作了发言。
“In fact, a recent study examining over 350,000 adolescents found a small but negative association with technology use and well-being, but they also found similar relationships between eating potatoes and wearing eyeglasses and well-being. And yet we don’t ask if potatoes and eyeglasses have destroyed a generation.”
“实际上,最近有一研究对35万多名青少年进行测试,研究结果显示科技设备的使用确实对青少年的健康发展有着消极影响,但是二者关系并不明显,而且研究人员还发现青少年的健康发展和吃土豆、戴眼镜之间也存在类似的关系。所以到底是科技的泛滥,还是土豆、眼镜毁了年轻的一代,目前还不好说。”
That study, titled “The association between adolescent well-being and digital technology use,” appeared this January in the journal Nature Human Behaviour.
这篇题为《论青少年的健康发展与数字科技的使用有何关系》的论文刊载在一月份的《自然—人类行为》期刊上。
“Part of the issue in studying how technology influences our brain is that there are so many different forms of technology that often all get lumped into one category. So how we use technology, what specific technology we use, and what we use it for will be important variables to define in future research.
“关于科技如何影响人脑这方面的研究,还有一部分问题在于科技的种类也分很多种,但是在论及影响的时候人们通常会将所有科技混为一谈。我们是如何使用科技的、使用哪种具体类型的科技以及我们使用它的目的是什么都会影响该领域的未来研究方向。”
“And even as we do more and better research on these topics, the answer is still likely to be that it’s complicated. In a way, we’re all part of a massive experiment in how technology is influencing our brains, and there will almost certainly be both positive and negative outcomes.”
“而且即使我们在这些议题上进行了更全面、更深刻的研究,最后结果很有可能仍然是:错综复杂。总的说来,我们所有人也是这场宏观社会实验中的一份子,感受着科学是如何影响大脑的。对于这个问题,几乎可以肯定最后的研究结果是利弊皆有。”
“So studies that track individuals’ behavioral and brain development over time will be particularly important. Like the ABCD, or Adolescent Brain and Cognitive Development Study, which is currently following over 10,000 kids for 10 years. And this kind of research will be especially important in helping us to figure out what lasting influences technology has on our brains.”
“所以那些长期追踪个体行为以及大脑发育过程的研究显得尤为重要。比如ABCD,即青少年大脑认知发展研究,最近将1万多名青少年作为研究对象,对他们的大脑发展过程进行长达10年的观察。这种长期研究,对于帮助我们了解科技对人脑会产生怎样的长远影响,有着重要意义。”
(全文共361个词:科学美国人)
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