No Time to Think

沒(méi)時(shí)間去思考

One of the biggest complaintsin modern society is being overscheduled, overcommitted and overextended. Askpeople at a social gathering how they are and the stock answer is “super busy” “crazybusy,” or “insanely busy,” Nobody is just “fine” anymore.

在現(xiàn)代社會(huì)，其中最大的一個(gè)抱怨就在于過(guò)多的計(jì)劃安排，過(guò)多的束縛，過(guò)多的承擔(dān)辛萍。在一個(gè)聚會(huì)中問(wèn)到人們他們最近怎么樣，得到的答案通常是“超級(jí)的忙碌”“瘋狂的忙碌”或者“忙到精神錯(cuò)亂”勤家，沒(méi)有任何人感到“還好”处坪。

When people aren’t super busyat work, they are crazy busy exercising, entertaining or taking their kids toChinese lessons. Or maybe they are insanely busy playing fantasy football,tracing their genealogy or churning their own butter.

當(dāng)人們不在工作中超級(jí)忙的時(shí)候驾茴，他們就瘋狂的忙于鍛煉锅必，娛樂(lè)或者帶他們的孩子去上中文課事格。又或者他們狂暴的忙于玩夢(mèng)幻足球，追溯他們的家譜或者攪拌自己的黃油搞隐。

And if there is ever a stillmoment for reflective thought—say, while waiting in line at the grocery storeor sitting in traffic—out comes the mobile device. So it’s worth nothing astudy published last month in the journal Science, which shows how far peoplewill go to avoid introspection.

而且假如有那么片刻時(shí)間可以進(jìn)行反思性思維的話—比如驹愚，當(dāng)在雜貨店排隊(duì)或者堵車時(shí)—就需要遠(yuǎn)離移動(dòng)設(shè)備。因此上個(gè)月在一份學(xué)習(xí)型科學(xué)日?qǐng)?bào)上出版物上面介紹說(shuō)人們避開(kāi)反省有多遠(yuǎn)尔许，這樣看來(lái)這份資料顯得毫無(wú)作用。

“We had noted how wedded to ourdevices we all seem to be and that people seem to find any excuse they can tokeep busy,” said Timothy Wilson, a psychology professor at the University ofVirginia and lead author of the study. “No one had done a simple study lettingpeople go off on their own and think.”

“我們注意到我們所有人看起來(lái)是如何和我們的手機(jī)進(jìn)行結(jié)合的终娃，而且人們可以找到所有的借口去保持忙碌味廊，”帝摩斯.威爾遜說(shuō)道，他是美國(guó)弗吉尼亞大學(xué)的心理學(xué)教授，并且在研究中屬于前沿作者余佛∧拢“沒(méi)有人可以在離開(kāi)自己的力量和思考的基礎(chǔ)下完成一個(gè)哪怕簡(jiǎn)單的學(xué)習(xí)』匝玻”

The results surprised him andhave created a stir in the psychology and neuroscience communities. In 11experiments involving more than 700 people, the majority of participantsreported that they found it unpleasant to be alone in a room with theirthoughts for just 6 to 15 minutes.

這份結(jié)果震驚了他并且在心理學(xué)界和神經(jīng)系統(tǒng)科學(xué)內(nèi)部造成和很大的轟動(dòng)恨憎。在11個(gè)包含700人的實(shí)驗(yàn)中，大部分的參與者表示他們獨(dú)自與自己的想法呆在一起6到15分鐘就會(huì)感覺(jué)不舒服郊楣。

Moreover, in one experiment, 64percent of men and 15 percent of women began self-administering electric shockswhen left alone to think. These same people, by the way, had previously saidthey would pay money to avoid receiving the painful jolt.

而且憔恳，在其中的一項(xiàng)實(shí)驗(yàn)中，64%的男士和15%的女士當(dāng)其始獨(dú)自思考的時(shí)候净蚤，開(kāi)始自己電擊自己钥组，順便一提，他們?cè)f(shuō)過(guò)他們?cè)敢庵Ц顿M(fèi)用以避免受到疼痛的的折磨今瀑。

It didn’t matter if thesubjects engaged in the contemplative exercise at home or in the laboratory, orif they were given suggestions of what to think about, like a coming vacation;they just didn’t like being in their own heads.

假設(shè)主題是在家或在實(shí)驗(yàn)室參與冥想練習(xí)程梦，又或者他們是給出關(guān)于思考些什么這類的建議，比如一場(chǎng)說(shuō)走就走的旅行橘荠，他們就不愿意在自己頭腦中存在屿附。

It could be because humanbeings, when left alone, tend to dwell on what’s wrong in their lives. We haveevolved to become problem solvers and meaning maker. What preys on our minds,when we aren’t updating our Facebook page or in spinning class, are the thingswe haven’t figured out—difficult relationships, personal and professionalfailures, monkey trouble, health concerns and so on. And until there isresolution, or at least some kind of understanding or acceptance, thesethoughts reverberate in our heads. Hello rumination. Hello insomnia.

這源于人性，當(dāng)獨(dú)處的時(shí)刻哥童，就開(kāi)始反思自己生命的過(guò)失挺份。我們進(jìn)化成為了問(wèn)題的解決者和意義的制造者。當(dāng)我們沒(méi)有更新我們的Facebook頁(yè)面或者去上動(dòng)感單車課程如蚜，我們會(huì)在腦海中捕捉到的思想多半都是我們尚未計(jì)算出來(lái)的—復(fù)雜的人際關(guān)系压恒，個(gè)人的或者職業(yè)上的錯(cuò)誤，猴子問(wèn)題错邦，健康問(wèn)題等等探赫。直到有了解決方案，或者至少一些不同的理解或者接納的出現(xiàn)撬呢，這些想法會(huì)回蕩在我們的腦海之中伦吠。你好，沉思魂拦，你好毛仪，失眠。

“One explanation why peoplekeep themselves so busy and would rather shock themselves is that they aretrying to avoid that kind of negative stuff,” said Ethan Kross, director of theEmotion and Self-Control Laboratory at the University of Michigan. “It doesn’tfeel good if you’re not intrinsically good at reflecting.”

“為什么人們要讓自己保持忙碌并且寧愿電擊他們自己芯勘，其中的一個(gè)解釋是他們?cè)趪L試避免那些消極思想的充滿大腦箱靴，”伊桑.克洛斯說(shuō)道，他是密歇根大學(xué)情感和自我控制實(shí)驗(yàn)室的主管荷愕『饣常“如果你沒(méi)有在反思之中實(shí)質(zhì)的感到舒服棍矛，你是不會(huì)感覺(jué)良好的∨籽睿”

The comedian Louis.C.K. has ariff that’s been watched nearly eight million times on YouTube in which hedescribes that not-good feeling. “Sometimes when things clear away and you’renot watching anything and you’re in your car and you start going, oh no, hereit comes, that I’m alone, and it starts to visit on you, just this sadness,” hesaid. “And that’s why we text and drive. People are willing to risk taking alife and running their own because they don’t want to be alone for a secondbecause it’s so hard.”

喜劇演員路易斯CK有一個(gè)段子在優(yōu)酷上被重復(fù)觀看近800萬(wàn)次够委，在這個(gè)段子上他演繹一段不好的感覺(jué)〔老郑“有時(shí)候當(dāng)事情變得清晰茁帽，你沒(méi)有看到任何事情，你在你的車子里屈嗤，準(zhǔn)備出發(fā)潘拨，哦，不恢共，這個(gè)時(shí)候战秋，我感到孤獨(dú)，孤獨(dú)在這個(gè)時(shí)候來(lái)拜訪你讨韭，恰恰如此悲傷脂信，”他說(shuō)道，“這就是為什么我們發(fā)短信或者開(kāi)車的原因透硝，人們想要在生命中有過(guò)冒險(xiǎn)并且發(fā)展成他們想要的樣子狰闪，因?yàn)樗麄儾辉敢饽呐缕痰墓陋?dú)，因?yàn)檫@太難了濒生÷癖茫”

But you can’t solve or let goof problems if you don’t allow yourself time to think about them. It’s animperative ignored by our culture, which values doing more than thinking andbelieves answers are in the palm of your hand rather than in your own head.

但是如果你不允許自己花時(shí)間去思考，你就解決或清除不了那些問(wèn)題罪治。在我們的文化中丽声，這是緊急忽視的，這種價(jià)值觀就是做比思考要多觉义，而且相信這些答案在我們的手中雁社，而不在我們頭腦中。

“It’s like we’re all in thisaddicted family where all this busyness seems normal when it’s really harmful,”said Stephanie Brown, a psychologist in Silicon Valley and the author of “Speed:Facing Our Addiction to Fast and Faster—and Overcoming Our Fear of SlowingDown.” “There’s this widespread belief that thinking and feeling will only slowyou down and get in your way, but it’s the opposite.”

“這就像我們都在這個(gè)上癮的大家庭中晒骇，這個(gè)家庭中忙碌時(shí)正常的即使這件事真的有害霉撵，”斯蒂芬妮.布朗說(shuō)，她是一名在硅谷的心理學(xué)家洪囤，也是“速度：越來(lái)越快的追尋我們的毒品—和過(guò)分追求降速的恐懼”的作者徒坡。“這種廣泛的信賴使得思考和感受都成為降低你效率的一種方法瘤缩，但是實(shí)際上恰恰相反喇完。”

Suppressing negative feelingsonly gives them more power, she said, leading to intrusive thoughts, whichmakes people get even busier to keep them at bay. The constant cognitive strainof evading emotions underlies a range of psychological troubles such asobsessive-compulsive disorder, anxiety, depression and panic attacks, not tomention a range of addictions. It is also associated with various somaticproblems like eczema, irritable bowel syndrome, asthma, inflammation, impairedimmunity and headaches.

抑制負(fù)面情緒只會(huì)給這些情緒帶來(lái)力量剥啤，她說(shuō)道锦溪，引導(dǎo)侵入的想法奄喂，這些會(huì)使人們通過(guò)變得更忙，忙到走投無(wú)路海洼。這些逃避情緒的恒定認(rèn)知壓力會(huì)成為一系類的心理問(wèn)題的基礎(chǔ)，比如強(qiáng)迫癥富腊，焦慮癥坏逢，沮喪以及恐慌襲擊，更不必說(shuō)一系列的成癮癥狀赘被。這同時(shí)也會(huì)與各種身體的問(wèn)題聯(lián)系到一起是整，比如濕疹，腸道過(guò)敏綜合癥民假，哮喘浮入，炎癥，免疫力缺陷以及頭疼羊异。

Studies further suggest thatnot giving yourself time to reflect impairs your ability to empathize withothers.”The more in touch with my own feelings an experiences, the richer andmore accurate are my guesses of what passes through another person’s mind,”said Giancarlo Dimaggio, a psychiatrist with the Center for MetacognitiveInterpersonal Therapy in Rome, who studies the interplay of self-reflection andempathy. “Feeling what you feel is an ability that atrophies if you don’t useit.”

進(jìn)一步學(xué)習(xí)的建議是不要花費(fèi)你的時(shí)間去反思事秀，這會(huì)損害你站在他人的角度去感同身受的能力∫安埃“同我自己經(jīng)驗(yàn)的感受建立越多的連接易迹，就會(huì)更加豐富和精確的猜測(cè)到其他人的的想法，”詹卡羅.迪馬喬說(shuō)平道，他是一名羅馬元認(rèn)知人際關(guān)系治療中心的精神病學(xué)家睹欲，他一直在研究自我反省和換位思考相互影響的課題∫晃荩“感受自己的感覺(jué)是一項(xiàng)不使用就會(huì)萎縮的能力窘疮。”

Researchers have also foundthat an idle mind is a crucible of creativity. A number of studies have shownthat people tend to come up with more novel uses for objects if they are firstgiven an easy task that allows their minds to wander, rather than a moredemanding one.

研究者發(fā)現(xiàn)惰性思想是創(chuàng)造力的嚴(yán)酷考驗(yàn)冀墨。大量的學(xué)者已經(jīng)表明人們趨于提出對(duì)物體更加新奇的使用闸衫，如果他們首先給了一個(gè)簡(jiǎn)單的任務(wù)讓他們的思想接受，要比給出一個(gè)有要求的容易接受轧苫。

“Idle mental processingencourages creativity and solutions because imagining your problem when youaren’t in it is not the same as reality,” said Jonnathan Smallwood, a cognitiveneuroscientist at the University of York, in England. “Using your imaginationmeans you are in fact rethinking the problem in a novel way.”

“惰性心理過(guò)程可以鼓勵(lì)創(chuàng)造力和解決方案楚堤，因?yàn)楫?dāng)你不處于你的問(wèn)題終想象問(wèn)題是與現(xiàn)實(shí)不一樣的，”阿瑞斯題.斯麥爾伍德說(shuō)含懊，他是英國(guó)約克大學(xué)的一名神經(jīng)系統(tǒng)科學(xué)家身冬。“使用你的想象力意味著你在現(xiàn)實(shí)中使用一種新奇的方法反復(fù)考慮問(wèn)題岔乔∷煮荩”

Perhaps that’s why Google

offers its employees courses called “Search Inside Yourself” and “Neural

Self-Hacking,” which include instruction on mindfulness meditation, where the

goal is to recognize and accept inner thoughts and feelings rather than ignore

or repress them.It’s in the company’s interest because it freesup employees’ otherwise embattle brain space to intuit end users’ desires andcreate products to satisfy them.

也許那就是為什么谷歌給自己的雇員提供課程“探尋內(nèi)在的自己”和“神經(jīng)系統(tǒng)的自我切割”，這些包括在冥想中警醒雏门，目的是為了認(rèn)識(shí)和接受內(nèi)在的想法而不是忽略和抑制它們嘿歌。這成為了公司的有趣之處掸掏，因?yàn)檫@解放了雇員原本大腦的空間布局，通過(guò)直覺(jué)終結(jié)使用者的欲望并且創(chuàng)造產(chǎn)品滿足他們自己宙帝。

“I have a lot of people whocome in and want to learn meditation to shut out thoughts that come up in thosequiet moments,” said Sarah Grisesemer, a psychologist in Austin, Tex., whoincorporates mindfulness meditation into her practice. “But allowing andtolerating the drifting in of thoughts is part of the process.” Her patients,mostly hard-charging professionals, report being more productive at work andmore energetic and engaged parents.

“有很多人來(lái)我這里并想要學(xué)習(xí)冥想去停止腦海中時(shí)刻出現(xiàn)的想法丧凤，”薩拉.格林斯莫說(shuō)，他是一名心理學(xué)家步脓，她在練習(xí)中包含了冥想警醒愿待。“她的患者靴患，大多都是努力進(jìn)取的專業(yè)人士仍侥，在工作中報(bào)道上多富有成就，并且多有精力充沛且忙碌的父母鸳君。

To get rid of the emotionalstatic, experts advise not using first-person pronouns when thinking abouttroubling events in your life. Instead, use third-person pronouns or your ownname when thinking about yourself. “If a friend comes to you with a problem it’seasy to coach them through it, but if the problem is happening to us we havereal difficulty, in part because we have all these egocentric biases making ithard to reason rationally,” said Dr.Kross of Michigan. “The data clearly showsthat you can use language to almost trick yourself into thinking your problemsare happening to someone else.”

為了擺脫情感上的靜態(tài)农渊，專家建議當(dāng)在思考你人生的一些困難的時(shí)候，不要使用第一人稱或颊。在思考自己的事情時(shí)砸紊，可以替換為第三人稱或者自己的名字〈烟簦“假如一個(gè)朋友遇到麻煩來(lái)找你批糟，指導(dǎo)他們會(huì)顯得容易，但是假設(shè)這個(gè)麻煩發(fā)生在自己身上就比較麻煩看铆，部分原因是我們有利己主義的偏見(jiàn)會(huì)很難找到一個(gè)理性的理由徽鼎，”密歇根的克洛斯說(shuō)〉耄“數(shù)據(jù)清楚的顯示當(dāng)你思考自己的問(wèn)題時(shí)否淤，你差不多能夠使用語(yǔ)言欺騙自己，這同樣也發(fā)生在其他人身上棠隐∈眨”

Hard as they sometimes are,negative feelings are a part of everyone’s life, arguably more so if you arecrazy busy. But it’s those same deep and troubling feelings , and how you dealwith them, that make you the person you are. While busyness may stanch wellingsadness, it may also limit your ability to be overcome with joy.

就像他們有的時(shí)候的難處，負(fù)面情緒是每個(gè)人生命的一部分助泽，可論證的尤其是假設(shè)你非常忙的時(shí)候啰扛。但是這同樣深刻和麻煩的感覺(jué)，并且你怎么處理他們嗡贺，這些將會(huì)塑造你是什么樣的人隐解。當(dāng)忙碌可能會(huì)止住涌出悲傷；它也會(huì)限制你極度喜悅的能力诫睬。

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