2017-04-21 Sophie 终身成长之旅
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D110 Think less, think better
2017年4月20日（讲师：Ethan）
来源:
https://www.nytimes.com/2016/06/19/opinion/sunday/think-less-think-better.html
文章结构：
中心思想：放空自己，给自己一个独处时间去冥想，让大脑休息一下，从而发现生活中细微之处的美好。
Part 1(1-2):
第一段：从作者朋友引入，we fail toexperience life to the fullest.
第二段：开始描述作者自己的生活，很多时候都心不在焉
Part 2(3):
第三段：我们平时忽略了很多东西，不仅是忽略了这个世界，也错过了很多内心戏。接下来引出实验：很多心理学家认为，放空思想之后，大脑总是会自动沿着陈旧的老路走，但是我们发现正好相反——放空之后，大脑更有创造力！
Part 3(4-6):
介绍了实验的具体内容。
第一个实验发现记两个数字的记两个数字的参与者的free-association答案明显更innovative和creative.
第二个实验发现参与者想的时间越长，给出的答案越趋向于数据统计上的古板答案。
Part 4(7-9):
作者给出观点： exploration andexploitation这两种脑内运动习惯，都是极端的，要找到一个balance互补利用才可。
第九段：指出大脑常态下的思维都是病态。
Part 5(10-11):
第十段和第十一断：借用作者的亲身经历，引出最后的结论
** Part 1**
[1] A FRIEND of mine/ has a bad habit of narrating his experiences/ as they aretaking place. I teasehim/ for being a bystander/ in his own life. Tobe fair, we all **fail to **experience life/ to the fullest. Typically, our minds are ** **occupied with thoughts/ to allowcomplete immersion/even in what is right in front of us.
笔记：
**Better: **副词，更成熟地思考
**narrate: vt **独白，旁白,重音课前可后
Take place=happen
Bystander=onlooker
**Tease: vt. **取笑；戏弄；梳理；欺负；强求
Tease sb. for sth.为某事取笑某人
**To be fair: **客观来说
Fail to do=can not to do
Typically:典型的，放句首，表通常，一般情况下之意
**Be occupied with sth. **被……占据
Immersion：n. 沉浸；陷入；专心
**that is right in front of us. **我们眼前之事
[2] Sometimes, this is O.K.
I am happy /not to remember passing a long stretch ofmy daily commute/because my mind has wandered /and my morningdrive/ can be done on autopilot.But I do not /want todisappear /from too much of life. Too often/ we eat meals without tastingthem, look at something beautiful/ without seeing it. An entire exchange withmy daughter (please forgive me)/can take place without my being there at all.
笔记：
**long stretch of: **长长的一段（距离，时间）
Commute：长距离来往，通勤
autopilot(自动驾驶仪)
**Disappear from: **从……消失
Exchange: n.交谈，对话
**Without being there at all: **心不在焉
Part 2
[3] Recently, I discovered/ how much we overlook,/not just about the world,/ but also about the full potential of our innerlife, /when our mind is cluttered. In a study published in this month’s PsychologicalScience, the graduate student Shira Baror and I demonstrate that the capacity for original and creative thinking/ is markedly stymied by stray thoughts,obsessive ruminations and other forms of “mental load.” Many psychologists assume/ that the mind, left to its own devices, is inclined to follow a well-worn path /of familiar associations. But our findings **suggest **that innovative thinking, not routine ideation, is ourdefault cognitive mode when our mindsare clear.
笔记：
Recently, I discovered/ how much weoverlook, /not just about the world,/ but also about the full potential of ourinner life, /when our mind is cluttered.
当大脑思维混乱成一锅粥的时候，我们会忽视生活；不仅是整个世界，还包括内心生活的潜力。
**When: **条件状语从句，当什么时候
EG: He seems to have overlooked animportant fact.
他似乎忽略了一个重要的实施。
**Cluster: n. **杂乱，混乱vt. 使凌乱；胡乱地填满
EG:I don’t want all these filesclustering up my desk.
我不希望这些文件堆在我桌子上。
Demonstrate:vt.证明，游行，示威
Stymie=stop
EG: he found himself stymied by an old opponent.
他发现自己被一位老对手阻挠。
**Markedly=obviously **明显的，一眼就 看出来
**Stray: vi. **流浪；迷路；偏离adj. 迷路的；离群的；偶遇的n. 走失的家畜；流浪者
**Obsessive: adj. **强迫性的；着迷的；分神的
**Rumination: n. **沉思；反刍
Slash: n.斜线
Assume=believe=think=suppose
******left to its own devices: ****任由其自由发展,分词作后置定语**
正常:leave sb. Or. sth. toits own devices
Well-worn: adj. ****用旧了的；老生常谈的；平凡的
****suggest(表明)****
Ideation: n. ****思维结构
default cognitive mode: ****默认的认知模式
by default: ****听天由命
Part 3
[4] In a series of experiments,/ we gave participants a free-association task/ whilesimultaneously taxing their mental capacity todifferent degrees**. In one experiment, for example, we askedhalf the participants to keep in mind astring of seven digits, and the other half to remember just two digits. While the participants maintained thesestrings in working memory, they were given a word (e.g., shoe) and asked torespond as quickly as possible with the first word that came to mind (e.g.,sock).
笔记：
第一个实验的具体内容。
**Tax: vt. **给……增加压力
free-association: [心理] 自由联想
**while: **连词表并列
**a string of seven digits: **一串七位数
[5] We found that/ a high mental load/ **consistently **diminished the originality/ and creativity/ of the response:Participants with seven digits to recall/ resorted to the most statistically common responses/(e.g., white/black), whereas participants with two digits gave less typical, /more varied pairings (e.g., white/cloud).
笔记：
第一个实验试验结果。
Consistently：统一的连贯性
**Resort to: **采用
e.g.=example
[6] In another experiment,/ we found that longer response times **were correlated with less diverse responses, ruling out **the possibility that participants with low mental loads/ simply took more time togenerate/ an interesting response. Rather, it seems that with a high mental load, you need more time to generate even a conventional thought. These experiments suggest that the mind’s natural **tendency **is to explore and to favor novelty, / but when occupied/it looks for the most familiar and **inevitably **least interesting solution.
笔记：
第二个实验。
**Be correlated with: **与……相关
**Less diverse: **不多元的，单调
Rule out the possibility that：排除……的可能性
Favor =prefer
Part 4
[7] In general, there is a tension**** in our brains between exploration and exploitation. When we are exploratory, we** attend to things/ with a wide scope, curious and desiring to learn. Other times,/ we rely on,/or “exploit,”/ what we already know, /leaning on** our expectations, /trusting the comfortof a predictable environment. We tend to be more exploratory whentraveling to a new country, whereas we are more inclined toward exploitationwhen returning home after a hard day at work.
**笔记：
Attend to: **照料，着手处理
[8] Much of our lives are spent somewherebetween those extremes. There are functional benefits to both modes: If we were not exploratory, /we would neverhave **ventured out **of the caves; ifwe did not exploit the certainty of the familiar, /we would have taken too manyrisks/ and gone extinct. **But **there needs to be a healthy balance. Our study suggests that your internal exploration/is too often diminished by an overlyoccupied mind, much as is the casewithyour experience of your external environment.
笔记：
作者给出观点： exploration and exploitation这两种脑内运动习惯，都是极端的，要找到一个balance互补利用才可。
Our study suggests that your internal exploration/is too often diminished by an overly occupied mind, much as is the case withyour experience of your external environment.
研究表明：大脑被过分占用内在的探险能力通常都会减少，一定程度上和你经历的外部环境一致。
**Functional benefits: **功能性益处
**Ventured out****：探险，冒险，敢于做某事
Much as is the case: much一定程度，差不多的，as引导限制性定语从句。
[9] In everyday life, you may find yourself“loading” your mind in various ways: memorizing a list of groceries to buy laterat the supermarket, rehearsing the name of someone you just met so you don’t forget it, practicing your pitch（音高）before entering an important meeting. There are also, of course, the **ever-present **wanderings of a normal mind. **And there are more pathological,/or at least more chronic, /sourcesof mental load, such as theruminative **thought patterns characteristic of stress, anxiety and depression. All these loads can consume mentalcapacity, leading to dull thought/and anhedonia— a flattened ability to experiencepleasure.
笔记：
大脑常态下的思维都是病态的。
EG: Love is ever-present。爱是常存的。
pathological adj.病态的；不理智的；由疾病引起的（等于pathologic）**
Ruminative: adj. 默想的，沉思的；爱反复思考的
Anhedonia：n. [医] 快感缺乏
**Flattened: adj. 没精打采的；垂头丧气的
Part 5
[10] My birthday gift to myself for thelast couple of years has been a week of silence at avipassana meditation retreat. Being silent for a week, and trying toempty your mind of thought, is not for thefaint of heart, but I do wish that everyone could try it at least once. During my firstretreat, /I wondered how a simpletomato /could taste so good, why I did not mind physical discomfort as much,/how looking at a single flower/ for 45 minutes was even possible, let alone sogratifying. My thoughts — when I returned to the act of thinking about something rather than nothing— were fresher and more surprising.
笔记：
作者的冥想经历。
During my first retreat, /I wondered howa simple tomato /could taste so good, why I did not mind physical discomfort asmuch,/ how looking at a single flower/ for 45 minutes was even possible, let aloneso gratifying.
在我的以第一次冥想静养的时候，我才发现一个简单的西红柿竟可以如此美味，我能克服身体上的不适，竟然可以盯着一朵花看45分钟，更别提从中得到的满足感了。
My thoughts — when I returned to the actof thinking about something rather than nothing — were fresher and moresurprising.
在那以后，当我从放空自我的状态中回到思考事情的时候，我的思维更加敏捷并能给我带来惊喜。
**faint of heart: **心生畏惧
**Let it alone: **更别提
[11] It is clear to me that this ancient meditative practice helps free the mindto have richer experiences of the present. Except when you are flying an F-16 aircraftor experiencing extreme fear or having an orgasm,your life leaves too much room for your mind to wander. As a result, only a small fraction of your mentalcapacity remains engaged in what is before it, and mind-wandering andrumination become a tax on the quality of your life.
Honing an ability to unburden the load on your mind,/** (whether) be it**through meditation orsome otherpractice,/ can bring with it a wonderfully magnifiedexperience of the world — and,/ as our study suggests, /of your own mind.
结论：
打磨一项放空思维的能力！
Honing an ability to unburden the loadon your mind，/ (whether) be it through meditation or some other practice,/ canbring with it a wonderfully magnified experience of the world — and,/ as ourstudy suggests, /of your own mind.
不管是通过冥想或者其他方式，打磨一项可以卸载你思想包袱的能力，可以带来一个放大了的对世界的体验；同样，研究也表明，对我们的思想来说也如此。
orgasm: n. [生理] 性高潮；极度兴奋
a small fraction of: 小部分
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