Paul Zak: Trust, morality and oxytocin

Английский язык

Практика ведения дискуссии

Методические указания

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А 64

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кафедра иностранных языков естественно-научных факультетов
Ярославского государственного университета им. П. Г. Демидова

А 64

Бугрова,И. К. Английский язык: практикум по работе с текстом по специальности «История» / И. К. Бугрова; Яросл. гос. ун-т им. П. Г. Демидова. – Ярославль: ЯрГУ, 2012. – 48 с.

Методические указания предназначены для сопровождения к мультимедийных ресурсов кафедры. Цель МУ – обучение аудированию и ведению дискуссий при максимально сниженной сложности материала. Объем МУ не позволил в полной мере представить учебно-методический аппарат к отобранным для обсуждения лекциям с всемирно известного сайта TЕD.com. Полный курс можно найти в ресурсах кафедры. Может использоваться как для самостоятельной и внеаудиторной работы, так и для работы в классе. Предназначен для студентов, обучающихся по направлению 030600.62 История, цикл Б1 (дисциплина «Иностранный язык»), очной формы обучения. Рекомендуется для студентов всех факультетов уровня подготовки В2; С1

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© Ярославский государственный университет им. П. Г. Демидова, 2012

Nbsp;   UNIT 1

Paul Zak: Trust, morality and oxytocin

URL:http://www.ted.com/talks/lang/en/paul_zak_trust_morality_and_oxytocin.html

Is there anything unique about human beings? There is. We're the only creatures with fully developed moral sentiments. We're obsessed with morality as social creatures. We need to know why people are doing what they're doing. And I personally am obsessed with morality. It was all due to this woman, Sister Mary Marastela, also known as my mom. As an altar boy, I breathed in a lot of incense, and I learned to say phrases in Latin, but I also had time to think about whether my mother's top-down morality applied to everybody. I saw that people who were religious and non-religious were equally obsessed with morality. I thought, maybe there's some earthly basis for moral decisions. But I wanted to go further than to say our brains make us moral. I want to know if there's a chemistry of morality. I want to know if there was a moral molecule.

Люди; чувства; постоянно думать; благодаря; вдыхать; ладан; решения.

After 10 years of experiments, I found it. Would you like to see it? I brought some with me. This little syringe contains the moral molecule. It's called oxytocin. So oxytocin is a simple and ancient molecule found only in mammals. In rodents, it was known to make mothers care for their offspring, and in some creatures, allowed for toleration of burrowmates. But in humans, it was only known to facilitate birth and breastfeeding in women, and is released by both sexes during sex.

Шприц; грызуны; забота; потомство; облегчение; роды; кормление; выделять.

So I had this idea that oxytocin might be the moral molecule. I did what most of us do – I tried it on some colleagues. One of them told me, «Paul, that is the world's stupidest idea. It is,» he said, «only a female molecule. It can't be that important.» But I countered, «Well men's brains make this too. There must be a reason why.» But he was right, it was a stupid idea. But it was testably stupid. In other words, I thought I could design an experiment to see if oxytocin made people moral.

Идиотский; ответить.

Turns out it wasn't so easy. First of all, oxytocin is a shy molecule. Baseline levels are near zero, without some stimulus to cause its release. And when it's produced, it has a three-minute half-life, and degrades rapidly at room temperature. So this experiment would have to cause a surge of oxytocin, have to grab it fast and keep it cold. I think I can do that. Now luckily, oxytocin is produced both in the brain and in the blood, so I could do this experiment without learning neurosurgery. Then I had to measure morality.

Оказывается; застенчивый; базовый; полжизни; быстро; всплеск; собрать.

So taking on Morality with a capital M is a huge project. So I started smaller. I studied one single virtue: trustworthiness. Why? I had shown in the early 2000s that countries with a higher proportion of trustworthy people are more prosperous. So in these countries, more economic transactions occur and more wealth is created, alleviating poverty. So poor countries are by and large low trust countries. So if I understood the chemistry of trustworthiness, I might help alleviate poverty.

Качество; надежность; процент; процветающий; происходить; богатство; снижать; бедность; бедные.

But I'm also a skeptic. I don't want to just ask people, «Are you trustworthy?» So instead I use the Jerry Maguire approach to research. If you're so virtuous, show me the money. So what we do in my lab is we tempt people with virtue and vice by using money. Let me show you how we do that. So we recruit some people for an experiment. They all get $10 if they agree to show up. We give them lots of instruction, and we never ever deceive them. Then we match them in pairs by computer. And in that pair, one person gets a message saying, «Do you want to give up some of your $10 you earned for being here and ship it to someone else in the lab?» The trick is you can't see them, you can't talk to them. You only do it one time. Now whatever you give up gets tripled in the other person's account. You're going to make them a lot wealthier. And they get a message by computer saying person one sent you this amount of money. Do you want to keep it all, or do you want to send some amount back?

Подход; исследование; добродетельный; искушать, склонять; грех; набирать; обманывать; хитрость.

So think about this experiment for a minute. You're going to sit on these hard chairs for an hour and a half. Some mad scientist is going to jab your arm with a needle and take four tubes of blood. And now you want me to give up this money and ship it to a stranger? So this was the birth of vampire economics. Make a decision and give me some blood.

Сумасшедший; игла; втыкать; пробирка.

So in fact, experimental economists had run this test around the world, and for much higher stakes, and the consensus view was that the measure from the first person to the second was a measure of trust, and the transfer from the second person back to the first measured trustworthiness. But in fact, economists were flummoxed on why the second person would ever return any money. They assumed money is good, why not keep it all?

Ставки; в замешательстве; думать.

That's not what we found. We found 90 percent of the first decision-makers sent money, and of those who received money, 95 percent returned some of it. But why? Well, by measuring oxytocin we found that the more money the second person received, the more their brain produced oxytocin, and the more oxytocin on board, the more money they returned. So we have a biology of trustworthiness.

Получать.

But wait. What's wrong with this experiment? Two things. One is that nothing in the body happens in isolation. So we measured nine other molecules that interact with oxytocin, but they didn't have any effect. But the second is that I still only had this indirect relationship between oxytocin and trustworthiness. I didn't know for sure oxytocin caused trustworthiness. So to make the experiment, I knew I'd have to go into the brain and manipulate oxytocin directly. I used everything short of a drill to get oxytocin into my own brain. And I found I could do it with a nasal inhaler. So along with colleagues in Zurich, we put 200 men on oxytocin or placebo, had that same trust test with money, and we found that those on oxytocin not only showed more trust, we can more than double the number of people who sent all their money to a stranger – all without altering mood or cognition.

Само по себе, в изоляции, отдельно; косвенный; связь; вызывать; дрель, тренировка, упражнение, сверлить; носовой; настроение; понимание.

So oxytocin is the trust molecule, but is it the moral molecule? Using the oxytocin inhaler, we ran more studies. We showed that oxytocin infusion increases generosity in unilateral monetary transfers by 80 percent. We showed it increases donations to charity by 50 percent. We've also investigated non-pharmacologic ways to raise oxytocin. These include massage, dancing and praying. Yes, my mom was happy about that last one. And whenever we raise oxytocin, people willingly open up their wallets and share money with strangers.

Исследования; повышать; щедрость; односторонний; пожертвование; благотворительность; повысить; изучать.

But why do they do this? What does it feel like when your brain is flooded with oxytocin? To investigate this question, we ran an experiment where we had people watch a video of a father and his four year-old son, and his son has terminal brain cancer. After they watched the video, we had them rate their feelings and took blood before and after to measure oxytocin. The change in oxytocin predicted their feelings of empathy. So it's empathy that makes us connect to other people. It's empathy that makes us help other people. It's empathy that makes us moral.

От (поток, потоп); изучать; смотреть; рак; последняя стадия; оценить; предсказывать; сочувствие.

Now this idea is not new. A then unknown philosopher named Adam Smith wrote a book in 1759 called «The Theory of Moral Sentiments.» In this book, Smith argued that we are moral creatures, not because of a top-down reason, but for a bottom-up reason. He said we're social creatures, so we share the emotions of others. So if I do something that hurts you, I feel that pain. So I tend to avoid that. If I do something that makes you happy, I get to share your joy. So I tend to do those things. Now this is the same Adam Smith who, 17 years later, would write a little book called «The Wealth of Nations» – the founding document of economics. But he was, in fact, a moral philosopher, and he was right on why we're moral. I just found the molecule behind it. But knowing that molecule is valuable, because it tells us how to turn up this behavior and what turns it off. In particular, it tells us why we see immorality.

Утверждать; не потому, что это дано свыше, а потому, что это исходит изнутри; делиться, разделять; причинять боль; основополагающий; обоснование; ценный; поведение; безнравственность.

So to investigate immorality, let me bring you back now to 1980. I'm working at a gas station on the outskirts of Santa Barbara, California. You sit in a gas station all day, you see lots of morality and immorality, let me tell you. So one Sunday afternoon, a man walks into my cashier's booth with this beautiful jewelry box. Opens it up and there's a pearl necklace inside. And he said, «Hey, I was in the men's room. I just found this. What do you think we should do with it?» «I don't know, put it in the lost and found.» «Well this is very valuable. We have to find the owner for this.» I said, «Yea.»

Окраина; вернуть; кассир; кабина; жемчужное; ожерелье.

So we're trying to decide what to do with this, and the phone rings. And a man says very excitedly, «I was in your gas station a while ago, and I bought this jewelry for my wife, and I can't find it.» I said, «Pearl necklace?» «Yeah.» «Hey, a guy just found it.» «Oh, you're saving my life. Here's my phone number. Tell that guy to wait half an hour. I'll be there and I'll give him a $200 reward.» Great, so I tell the guy, «Look, relax. Get yourself a fat reward. Life's good.» He said, «I can't do it. I have this job interview in Galena in 15 minutes, and I need this job, I've got to go.» Again he asked me, «What do you think we should do?» I'm in high school. I have no idea. So I said, «I'll hold it for you.» He said, «You know, you've been so nice, let's split the reward.» I'll give you the jewelry, you give me a hundred dollars, and when the guy comes ... «

Взволнованно; вознаграждение.

You see it. I was conned. So this is a classic con called the pigeon drop, and I was the pigeon. So the way many cons work is not that the conman gets the victim to trust him, it's that he shows he trusts the victim. Now we know what happens. The victim's brain releases oxytocin, and you're opening up your wallet or purse, giving away the money.

Обмануть; мошенник; жертва; кошелек.

So who are these people who manipulate our oxytocin systems? We found, testing thousands of individuals, that five percent of the population don't release oxytocin on stimulus. So if you trust them, their brains don't release oxytocin. If there's money on the table, they keep it all. So there's a technical word for these people in my lab. We call them bastards. These are not people you want to have a beer with. They have many of the attributes of psychopaths.

Вырабатывать, высвобождать.

Now there are other ways the system can be inhibited. One is through improper nurturing. So we've studied sexually abused women, and about half those don't release oxytocin on stimulus. You need enough nurturing for this system to develop properly. Also, high stress inhibits oxytocin. So we all know this, when we're really stressed out, we're not acting our best.

Подавлять; неправильный; воспитание, отношения; насилие.

There's another way oxytocin is inhibited, which is interesting – through the action of testosterone. So we, in experiments, have administered testosterone to men. And instead of sharing money, they become selfish. But interestingly, high testosterone males are also more likely to use their own money to punish others for being selfish. Now think about this. It means, within our own biology, we have the yin and yang of morality. We have oxytocin that connects us to others, makes us feel what they feel. And we have testosterone. And men have 10 times the testosterone as women, so men do this more than women – we have testosterone that makes us want to punish people who behave immorally. We don't need God or government telling us what to do. It's all inside of us.

Прописывать; эгоистичный; наказание.

So you may be wondering: these are beautiful laboratory experiments, do they really apply to real life? Yeah, I've been worrying about that too. So I've gone out of the lab to see if this really holds in our daily lives. So last summer, I attended a wedding in Southern England. 200 people in this beautiful Victorian mansion. I didn't know a single person. And I drove up in my rented Vauxhall. And I took out a centrifuge and dry ice and needles and tubes. And I took blood from the bride and the groom and the wedding party and the family and the friends before and immediately after the vows.

Повседневный; присутствовать; свадьба; особняк; арендованный; клятвы.

And guess what? Weddings cause a release of oxytocin, but they do so in a very particular way. Who is the center of the wedding solar system? The bride. She had the biggest increase in oxytocin. Who loves the wedding almost as much as the bride? Her mother, that's right. Her mother was number two. Then the groom's father, then the groom, then the family, then the friends – arrayed around the bride like planets around the Sun. So I think it tells us that we've designed this ritual to connect us to this new couple, connect us emotionally. Why? Because we need them to be successful at reproducing to perpetuate the species.

Вызывать; невеста; выброс; жених; придумать; пара; увековечить; вид.

I also worried that my trust experiments with small amounts of money didn't really capture how often we actually trust our lives to strangers. So even though I have a fear of heights, I recently strapped myself to another human being and stepped out of an airplane at 12,000 ft. I took my blood before and after, and I had a huge spike of oxytocin. And there are so many ways we can connect to people. For example, through social media. Many people are Tweeting right now. So we investigated the role of social media and found the using social media produced a solid double-digit increase in oxytocin.

Захватить; недавно; пристегнуть; выпрыгнуть; скачок; изучать.

So I ran this experiment recently for the Korean Broadcasting System. And they had the reporters and their producers participate. And one of these guys, he must have been 22, he had 150 percent spike in oxytocin. I mean, astounding; no one has this. So he was using social media in private. When I wrote my report to the Koreans, I said, «Look, I don't know what this guy was doing,» but my guess was interacting with his mother or his girlfriend. They checked. He was interacting on his girlfriend's Facebook page. There you go. That's connection. So there's tons of ways that we can connect to other people, and it seems to be universal.

Вещание; миллионы способов; потрясающе.

Two weeks ago, I just got back from Papua New Guinea where I went up to the highlands – very isolated tribes of subsistence farmers living as they have lived for millenia. There are 800 different languages in the highlands. These are the most primitive people in the world. And they indeed also release oxytocin.

Горы; племена; действительно.

So oxytocin connects us to other people. Oxytocin makes us feel what other people feel. And it's so easy to cause people's brains to release oxytocin. I know how to do it, and my favorite way to do it is, in fact, the easiest. Let me show it to you. Come here. Give me a hug. (Laughter) There you go.

Заставить; обнять.

So my penchant for hugging other people has earned me the nickname Dr. Love. I'm happy to share a little more love in the world, it's great, but here's your prescription from Dr. Love: eight hugs a day. We have found that people who release more oxytocin are happier. And they're happier because they have better relationships of all types. Dr. Love says eight hugs a day. Eight hugs a day – you'll be happier and the world will be a better place. Of course, if you don't like to touch people, I can always shove this up your nose.

Склонность; объятиям; заработать; рецепт; отношения.

Glossary of the Unit

human being	человек	trustworthiness	надежность, кредитоспособность
sentiment	чувство	proportion	пропорция, доля
to be obsessed	быть одержимым чем-либо	prosperous	процветающий, успешный
to breathe in	вдыхать	occur	происходить, попадаться
incense	ладан, фимиам	wealth	богатство
decision	решение	alleviate	смягчать, облегчать
syringe	шприц, опрыскиватель	poverty	бедность, нищета
rodent	грызун	tempt	искушать, склонять
to care	заботиться	approach	подход, приближение
offspring	потомок, продукт	research	исследование
to facilitate	облегчать, способствовать	virtuous	добродетельный
breastfeeding	грудное вскармливание	vice	порок
to release	освобождать, выпускать	recruit	набирать
nasal	носовой	to deceive	обманывать
to counter	парировать	trick	трюк, уловка
tribe	племя	penchant	склонность, расположение, любовь
turn out	оказаться	mad	сумасшедший
shy	застенчивый, пугливый	needle	игла
baseline	базовый уровень	jab	толкать, втыкать, колоть
half-life	полжизни	tube	пробирка, трубка
rapidly	быстро	stake	ставка
surge	всплеск	to be flummoxed	быть в замешательстве
grab	хватать	to assume	предполагать; допускать
virtue	добродетель, качество, достоинство	to receive	получать
in isolation	в изоляции	donation	пожертвование
indirect	косвенный	charity	благотворительность
relationship	отношения	to raise	поднимать
to cause	вызывать, быть причиной	to investigate	исследовать
drill	дрель, тренировка, упражнение; сверлить	flood	поток, потоп
mood	настроение	cancer	рак
cognition	познание	terminal	конечный
to increase	увеличивать	to predict	предсказывать
generosity	великодушие, благородство, щедрость	empathy	эмпатия
unilateral	односторонний	to argue	спорить, аргументировать
share	делить; доля	excitedly	возбужденно
hurt	обижать, болеть	reward	награда; награждать
founding	основополагающий	indeed	в самом деле
immorality	безнравственность	con	мошенничать
victim	жертва	rent	арендовать
outskirts	окраина	purse	кошелек
bride	невеста	release	выпускать, вырабатывать
earn	зарабатывать	vow	клятва, обет
cashier	кассир	administer	отправлять, прописывать
booth	будка, палатка, кабина	selfish	эгоистичный
pearl	жемчуг	punish	наказывать
necklace	ожерелье	attend	посещать
inhibit	подавлять, задерживать, препятствовать, сдерживать	wedding	свадьба
improper	неправильный, неподходящий	mansion	особняк
nurture	питание, воспитание	capture	хватать; захват
abuse	злоупотреблять	recently	недавно
hug	обнимать	strap	ремень; пристегнуться
groom	жених	prescription	предписание, рецепт
perpetuate	увековечивать	spike	скачок, выброс
species	вид	broadcast	вещать (в СМИ)

Ex. 1. Answer the questions:

1. What makes human beings different from other species?

2. What are people obsessed with? Why?

3. What task does the author set for himself?

4. What kind of function does oxytocin possess?

5. What is the life period of oxytocin?

6. What does trustworthiness correlate with?

7. Is it a fact that poor countries have low morality?

8. What is the author’s idea about alleviating poverty?

9. What kind of approach does the author apply in his project?

10. What does experiment consist in

11. What does the author mean by vampire economics

12. What were the results of the experiment? Do you agree with their interpretation

13. What are the other ways of increasing the level of oxytocin?

14. Which of them do you practice? Does it help?

15. What is the biology of trustworthiness

16. Is empathy inherent in the human nature? Give examples of empathy in action.

17. What is your prescription for feeling fine?

Ex. 2. Translate from Russian into English:

1. Я заметил, что люди как религиозные, так и атеисты в равной мере объединены пристальным вниманием к вопросам морали.

2. Я решил разобраться с химической стороной вопроса, найти молекулу, которая могла бы отвечать за вопросы морали.

3. В нашей лаборатории мы пытаемся проверить (спровоцировать, искусить) людей как добродетелью, так и пороком.

4. Согласно нашей гипотезе, количество денег, передаваемое в ответ на благотворительность, служило мерилом доверия человека.

5. По нашей гипотезе, чем больше окситоцина вырабатывает мозг человека, тем большей суммой денег он готов поделиться.

6. Поскольку молекула окситоцина достаточно эфемерна, эксперимент по измерению ее процентного содержания предполагал вызвать резкий всплеск окситоцина и извлечение ее для дальнейших манипуляций.

7. Мы исследовали нефармакологические способы повышения уровня окситоцина.

8. Согласно гипотезе и многочисленным примерам, страны с большим уровнем доверия являются гораздо более экономически благополучными и даже процветающими.

9. Для того чтобы провести дальнейшие обобщения, мы провели эксперимент с просмотром фильма об отце и сыне, у которого был рак.

10. Мошенники специально поднимают у жертв уровень доверия, чтобы спровоцировать на нужный им эффект.

11. Как известно, именно эмпатия отличает людей от других живых существ.

12. Эксперимент ценен тем, что мы смогли выяснить, что поднимает уровень доверия, а что может его отключить.

13. На свадьбе присутствующие испытывают положительные эмоции, так как подсознательно желают преумножения человеческого рода (а значит, и себя).

14. Моя привычка выражать эмоции через дружеские объятия закрепила за мной имя Доктор Любовь.