我們?yōu)槭裁匆呑呗愤叞l(fā)短信

我們?yōu)槭裁匆呑呗愤叞l(fā)短信

People are, by nature, information-seeking creatures. When we regularly check our phones, we are snacking on information from devices that offer an all-you-can-eat buffet of information.

人在本性上就是一種尋求信息的生物。定期查看手機(jī)的行為，就像是從那些提供信息自助餐的設(shè)備上獲取信息，而且“管飽”。

Our information-foraging tendencies evolved from the behavior of animals foraging for food for survival, said Dr. Adam Gazzaley, a neuroscientist and co-author of the book “The Distracted Mind: Ancient Brains in a High-Tech World.” Studies have shown that our brains feel rewarded when we receive information, which drives us to seek more. That’s similar to how our appetites feel sated after we eat.

神經(jīng)學(xué)家、《分心的大腦：高科技世界里的古代大腦》(The Distracted Mind: Ancient Brains in a High-Tech World)的合著者亞當(dāng)·加扎利(Adam Gazzaley)博士說(shuō)，人類搜集信息的傾向是從動(dòng)物為了生存而覓食的行為演變而來(lái)。研究發(fā)現(xiàn)，當(dāng)我們接受到信息的時(shí)候，大腦會(huì)感到獲得了回報(bào)，這會(huì)驅(qū)使我們?nèi)ふ腋嘈畔?。這類似我們吃飽后的滿足感。

In some ways, smartphones were designed to be irresistible to information-seeking creatures. Dr. Gazzaley drew this analogy: An animal will probably stay in a tree to gather all of its nuts before moving on to the next one. That’s because the animal is weighing the cost of getting to the next tree against the diminishing benefit of staying. With humans and smartphones, there is no cost to switching between email, text messages and apps like Facebook.

在某種程度上，智能手機(jī)被設(shè)計(jì)成對(duì)尋求信息的生物具有不可抗拒的吸引力。加扎利做了這樣的類比：一只動(dòng)物可能會(huì)停留在一棵樹上收集所有的堅(jiān)果，然后再轉(zhuǎn)移到下一棵樹。這是動(dòng)物對(duì)到達(dá)下一棵樹的成本與留在同一棵樹收益遞減關(guān)系進(jìn)行權(quán)衡的結(jié)果。對(duì)于人類和智能手機(jī)而言，在電子郵件、短信和Facebook等應(yīng)用程序之間切換是沒有成本的。

“The next tree is right there: It’s a link to the next webpage, a shift to the next tab,” he said. “We transfer so easily that we don’t have to use up the nuts to move on to the next one.”

“下一棵樹就在那里：下一個(gè)網(wǎng)頁(yè)的鏈接，向下一個(gè)標(biāo)簽的切換，”他說(shuō)，“轉(zhuǎn)移對(duì)我們來(lái)說(shuō)太容易，不必窮盡所有的堅(jiān)果就能轉(zhuǎn)移到下一個(gè)目標(biāo)。”

So we get stuck in cycles. At what point is this considered addiction?

因此，我們陷入了無(wú)窮無(wú)盡的循環(huán)中。那什么時(shí)候算是上癮了?

Not all constant phone use was considered addictive, said Steven Sussman, a professor of preventive medicine at the University of Southern California. External pressures, like a demanding job, could force people to frequently check their phones. But when people check their devices just to enhance their mood, this could be a sign of a developing problem.

南加州大學(xué)(University of Southern California)預(yù)防醫(yī)學(xué)教授史蒂文·薩斯曼(Steven Sussman)說(shuō)，并不是所有持續(xù)使用手機(jī)的人都是上癮。外部壓力，比如要求繁多的工作，可能會(huì)迫使人們經(jīng)常查看手機(jī)。但當(dāng)人們只是為了改善情緒而查看電子設(shè)備，這可能就是要出狀況的跡象。

Another signal of addictive behavior is becoming preoccupied with smartphone use when you should be doing something else. An even clearer indicator is what happens when the phone is taken away.

上癮行為的另一個(gè)信號(hào)是，當(dāng)你應(yīng)該干其他事時(shí)，卻沉迷于使用智能手機(jī)。一個(gè)更清晰的指標(biāo)是當(dāng)手機(jī)被拿走時(shí)會(huì)發(fā)生什么。

“Let’s say you go out to the mountains and you don’t get reception, so you can’t use a smartphone,” Dr. Sussman said. “Do you feel a sense of relief? Or do you feel, wow, I want to get out of these mountains — I want to use the smartphone. If you feel the latter, that’s toward the addictive direction.”

“比方說(shuō)你去了山里，信號(hào)接收不了，所以你無(wú)法使用智能手機(jī)，”蘇斯曼說(shuō)。“你有一種解脫的感覺嗎?或者你感到，呀，我想離開這些山——我想用智能手機(jī)。如果你的感覺是后者，那就是上癮的趨勢(shì)。”

Jim Steyer, the chief executive of Common Sense Media, a nonprofit that evaluates tech products and media for families, said there needed to be a broad public awareness campaign over the dangers of walking and texting in parallel with distracted driving.

為家庭評(píng)估科技產(chǎn)品和媒體的非營(yíng)利組織常理媒體(Common Sense Media)首席執(zhí)行官吉姆·斯泰爾(Jim Steyer)表示，需要開展一場(chǎng)廣泛的公眾意識(shí)宣傳活動(dòng)，讓人們意識(shí)到邊走路邊發(fā)短信和分心駕駛的危險(xiǎn)。

“You have distracted pedestrians and distracted drivers, so it’s the double whammy,” he said. “Tech addiction hits in both ways.”

“我們有分心的行人和分心的司機(jī)，所以這是雙重打擊，”他說(shuō)。“科技成癮對(duì)兩方面都有影響。”

How to Take Control

如何加以控制

Obviously, the answer to not getting into dangerous situations by walking and texting is not to walk and text at the same time.

很顯然，避免陷入邊走邊發(fā)短信的危險(xiǎn)境地的方法就是不要邊走邊發(fā)短信。

But that’s easier said than done, since people have trouble reining in their tech use. So several experts recommended exercises in self-control.

但這說(shuō)來(lái)容易做起來(lái)難，因?yàn)槿藗兒茈y控制自己對(duì)科技產(chǎn)品的使用。所以一些專家建議進(jìn)行自我控制練習(xí)。

Melanie Greenberg, a clinical psychologist and the author of “The Stress-Proof Brain,” said people could practice being more mindful by asking themselves any of these questions:

臨床心理學(xué)家、《抗壓大腦》(The Stress-Proof Brain)一書作者梅拉妮·格林伯格(Melanie Greenberg)說(shuō)，人們可以通過(guò)問自己這些問題練習(xí)變得更專注：

Reducing access to the device can also be helpful, Dr. Gazzaley said. You could carry your phone in your bag instead of your pocket, making it more troublesome to pull out, for example.

加扎利說(shuō)，減少對(duì)設(shè)備的使用也可能有幫助。比如，你可以把手機(jī)放在包里而不是口袋里，這樣取出來(lái)更麻煩一些。

The National Safety Council said that when pedestrians have to check their phones, they should stop walking and stand in a safe place. It also advised people wearing earphones to listen at a low volume.

國(guó)家安全委員會(huì)表示，當(dāng)行人必須查看手機(jī)時(shí)，他們應(yīng)該停止步行，站在安全的地方。委員會(huì)還建議戴耳機(jī)的人把音量調(diào)低。

Chris Marcellino, a former Apple engineer who led the development of the original iPhone’s notifications, recommended going into the phone’s settings and switching off notifications for all apps except those that are most important to you, like work-related apps.

前蘋果公司工程師克里斯·馬塞利諾(Chris Marcellino)領(lǐng)導(dǎo)了最初的iPhone通知的開發(fā)，他建議進(jìn)入手機(jī)的設(shè)置，關(guān)掉所有應(yīng)用程序的通知，除了對(duì)你來(lái)說(shuō)最重要的那些，比如與工作相關(guān)的應(yīng)用程序。