TED演讲:为什么应该喜爱'恶心'的科学(3)

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　　there's this way that engaging with gross stuff isn't just about curiosity, 这样对待恶心事物的方法，已不只与好奇心有关，

　　it's also about, sort of, finding out where the limits are, pushing the boundaries of what's OK. 某种程度上，也有可能与发现极限有关，在允许的情况下会试图超越那个极限。

　　So, you know, lots of kids of a certain age will have burping competitions or competitions to see who can make the grossest face. 因此，在特定年龄的许多孩子会参加间歇性的比赛，看谁的鬼脸最丑。

　　And they do that in part because it's a little bit transgressive, right? 某种意义上，正因为这样做会有点出格，对吗？

　　But there's another layer to why we define stuff as gross. 不过，我们对恶心事物的定义，还出于另一方面的考虑。

　　As humans, we've sort of extended the concept of disgust to morality. 作为人类，我们多多少少将恶心的概念拓展到了道德的范畴。

　　So, the psychologist Paul Rozin would say that many of the things we categorize as gross are things that reminds us that we're just animals. 心理学家保罗·罗兹说过，许多我们归为恶心的东西，其实提醒了我们，我们只是动物。

　　These are things like bodily fluids and sex and physical abnormalities and death. 例如体液、性以及身体畸形和死亡。

　　And the idea that we're just animals can be really unsettling, because it can be this reminder¹ of our own mortality. 确实，我们是动物的概念使人不安，因为它会提醒我们自己终有一死。

　　And that can leave many of us with this deep existential angst. 它还让我们中的许多人怀有存在性焦虑。

　　So, Rozin would say that there's this way in which disgust and the avoidance of gross things becomes not just a way to protect our bodies, 罗兹这样说过，厌恶和逃避恶心的事物不仅成为保护我们身体的方式，

　　it becomes a way to protect our souls. 而且还保护了我们的精神。

　　I think at a certain point, kids really begin to internalize this link between disgusting things and immorality². 我认为在某个阶段，讨厌的事物和不道德之间的关系会开始在孩子们的心底扎根。

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