用外語思考讓我們更客觀大綱

An American friend recently told me of a reunion with the son of the German family whose home he had lived in for a year as an exchange student. My friend had spent the year acquiring fluent German, which he spoke to the family.

一位美國朋友最近告訴我，他與當年在德國作交換生時寄宿家庭的兒子又見了一面。當年他在德國學習了一年，掌握了流利的德語，那時他用德語與這家人溝通。

The reunion, several decades later, took place among a crowd who were speaking English. Afterwards, the German son said to my friend: “I never realised you were witty.” Because in German, he never was. It was too hard to joke in a foreign tongue.

時隔幾十年後的這次重聚是在一羣講英語的人的聚會上。之後，這個德國人告訴我朋友說：“我以前不知道你這麼風趣。”因爲在說德語的時候，他從來不風趣。用外語開玩笑太難了。

Anyone who has learnt another language will be familiar with this. We are more ponderous in our acquired language. We are slower on the uptake, having to construct each riposte in advance.

所有學另一門語言的人對此都深有體會。在使用非母語時，我們會更加慢條斯理。我們的反應會變得遲緩，在開口發表高見之前不得不事先打腹稿。

But is it also possible that we make more dispassionate decisions when thinking in a foreign language?

但是，用外語思考時，我們是不是也可能做出更加冷靜的決定呢？

Academics at the University of Chicago think we do.

芝加哥大學(University of Chicago)的學者們認爲的確如此。

Writing in the journal Cognition, they describe a well-known moral dilemma. You are watching a runaway carriage hurtling down a railway. In its path you see five people tied to the track. On your left is a large man. If you push him into the carriage’s path, you will kill him but save the five. Do you do it?

在《認知》(Cognition)期刊發表的一篇論文中，他們描述了一個衆所周知的道德困境。你看到一節失控的火車車廂在鐵路上疾馳。在它的前方，你看到五個人被綁在鐵軌上。你的左邊是一個身型碩大的男子。如果把他推到鐵軌上，你會殺了他，但能夠救另外五個人的命。你會這麼做嗎？

The Chicago academics put the dilemma to a group of 800 native German speakers. About half considered the dilemma in German and half in English. Those answering in their second language were more likely to favour pushing the man on to the track.

芝加哥大學的學者們讓800名以德語爲母語人士來解答這個難題。大約一半的人以德語來回答問題，另一半用英語。那些用第二語言回答問題的人更傾向於贊同將這名男子推到鐵軌上。

To the Chicago faculty, this was no surprise. There have been several experiments, with similar results, about the effect of language on the track dilemma, with native speakers of English, Korean, Spanish, French, Hebrew, German and Italian.

這個結果沒有讓芝加哥大學的老師們感到意外。有關語言對這個“鐵軌困境”的影響，他們對以英語、韓語、西班牙語、法語、希伯來語、德語和意大利語爲母語的人進行過數次實驗，得到了類似的結果。

The question the Chicago team tried to answer in the Cognition study was why the change happens when people decide in another language.

在《認知》期刊發表的研究報告中，芝加哥大學研究團隊試圖回答的問題是，當人們用另一種語言作決定時，爲什麼會有變化。

Their hypothesis was that we visualise people and objects more sharply in our native tongue and this affects our decision-making. In particular, when thinking in our own language, we can clearly picture the large man and are reluctant to push him to his death.

他們的假設是，當使用母語時，人和物體在我們大腦中形成的影像更加清晰，這影響了我們的決策。具體而言，當用母語思考時，我們的腦海中會清晰地浮現這個身型碩大男子的影像，因而不願將他置於死地。

To test this, the 800 German speakers were asked to rate the vividness of their images of the large man and the five people on the tracks. Those doing the experiment in German reported having a clearer picture of the man than those doing it in English. There was no difference between the vividness of the images of the five other people on the track.

爲了測試這一點，他們讓800名講德語的人對他們腦海中這位身型碩大的男子和鐵軌上的五個人影像的清晰度打分。在那些用德語做實驗的人的腦海中，這個男子的影像比用英語做實驗的人更清晰。但對於鐵軌上的其他五個人，兩組人腦海中的清晰度並無差異。

Why should this be? The Chicago study argues that the images we form in our minds are based on the memories we have of people and objects. Because we have more experience of people in our native language, we find it easier to picture them.

爲什麼會出現這樣的結果？芝加哥大學的研究認爲，我們在腦海中形成的影像是基於我們對人和物體的記憶。因爲我們用母語對人進行描述的經驗更多，所以我們更容易在腦海中想象他們的樣子。

To test this, they asked 359 native English speakers to imagine various scenarios and objects — a sunset, hands clapping, the feeling of sand, running up stairs, the taste of salt, the smell of paint, a sore throat — and to rate the intensity of the feeling.

爲了測試這一點，他們讓359位以英語爲母語的人想象各種情景和物體——日落、鼓掌、觸碰沙子的感覺、跑步上臺階、鹽的味道、油漆的氣味和咽喉疼痛——並給感覺的強度打分。

Half did the experiment in English, half in Spanish, their second language. Those who did it in English reported more vivid sunsets, handclaps, sand and step-running than those who answered in Spanish. There was little difference for sore throats and none for paint or salt.

一半人用英語、另一半人用第二語言西班牙語參與實驗。對於日落、鼓掌、沙子和跑步上臺階，用英文的人比用西班牙語的人報告更強烈的感覺。但兩組對咽喉疼痛的感覺差別不大，對油漆或鹽的感覺毫無差別。

The Chicago team thought people had more vivid images in their native English because they were more likely to tap into their memories than if they did the thinking in another language. That the smell and taste images were as sharp in Spanish may have been because the English speakers had “rich associations of flavourful Mediterranean cuisine”. Generally, however, “the use of a foreign language reduces vividness because it limits access to?.?.?.?memories”.

芝加哥大學的研究小組認爲，用母語英語參與實驗的人腦海中的影像更清晰的原因是，比起使用另一種語言，他們更有可能調動自己的記憶。而使用西班牙語的人對於嗅覺和味覺的影像同樣清晰，是因爲以英語爲母語的人“對濃味的地中海美食有豐富的聯想”。不過，總的來說，“使用外語會降低腦海中影像的清晰度，因爲它限制了人們調動記憶的能力。”

The authors concede that “other potential explanations are possible”. However, they did argue in an earlier paper that “a foreign language provides a distancing mechanism that moves people from the immediate intuitive system to a more deliberate mode of thinking”.

作者們承認，“其他潛在解釋也是有可能的”。 然而，他們在早些時候發表的一篇論文中確實提出，“外語提供了一種‘疏遠機制’，使人們從即時作出反應的直覺機制轉向一種更加深思熟慮的思維模式。”

They add: “A foreign language may provide greater distance because it is less grounded in the emotional system than a native tongue is.” People working in a foreign language are less subject to cognitive bias, they say.

他們還辯稱：“外語可能會提供更大的距離，因爲它在情感系統中的根基不如母語。”他們表示，用外語思考的人不太容易受到認知偏見的影響。

How seriously should we take this? An increasing number of people are now working in organisations that operate in English, mixing native and second-language speakers. It is certainly worth thinking about whether people seem more considered, and make more dispassionate decisions, in English than the native speakers do. The non-native speakers may seem less witty, but pay more attention to their opinions.

我們該多麼嚴肅地看待這項研究結果呢？如今，越來越多的人在以英語爲工作語言的組織工作，在那裏，有些人以英語爲母語，其他人則以英語爲第二語言。以英語爲第二語言的人是否比以英語爲母語的人更加深思熟慮，作決定時更冷靜，肯定是個值得思索的問題。非母語人士也許少了一點風趣，但我們應該更用心傾聽他們的觀點。