2020-11-17

Trust is a tricky business.
信任是件棘手的事。

On the one hand, it’s a necessary condition for many worthwhile things: child care, friendships, etc.
一方面，這是許多有價值的事情的必要條件：照顧孩子、交朋友等等。

On the other hand, putting your faith, in the wrong place often carries a high price.
另一方面，把你的信仰放在錯誤的地方往往會付出高昂的代價。

Then, why do we trust at all？ Well, because it feels good.
那麼，我們為什麼要信任呢？因為感覺很好。

When people place their trust in an individual or an institution,
當人們信任個人或機構時，

their brains release oxytocin,
他們的大腦釋放催產素，

a hormone that produces peasurable feelings and triggers the herding instruct that prompts humans to connect with one another.
一種荷爾蒙，能產生可繁殖的感覺，並觸發促使人類相互聯絡的放牧指令。

Scientists have found that exposure to this hormone puts us in a trusting mood:
科學家發現，接觸這種激素會讓我們產生一種信任的情緒：

In a Swiss study, researchers sprayed oxytocin into the noses of half the subjects;
在瑞士的一項研究中，研究人員將催產素噴到一半受試者的鼻子裡；

those subjects were ready to lend significantly higher amounts of money to strangers than were their counterparts who inhaled something else.
這些受試者願意借給陌生人的錢要比吸入其他東西的人高得多。

Lucky for us, we also have a sixth sense for dishonesty that may protect us.
幸運的是，我們對不誠實也有第六感，可以保護我們。

A Canadian study found that children as young as 14 months can differentiate between a credible person and a dishonest one.
加拿大的一項研究發現，14個月大的孩子可以區分可信的人和不誠實的人。

Sixty toddlers were each introduced to an adult tester holding a plastic container.
60名幼兒被介紹給一名手持塑料容器的成人測試儀。

The tester would ask, “What’s in here?” before looking into the container,
測試人員會問：“這裡有什麼？”在檢查容器之前，

smiling, and exclaiming, “Wow!” Each subject was then invited to look inside.
笑著說，“哇！”然後每個受試者都被邀請去看裡面。

Half of them found a toy; the other half discovered the container was empty—and realized the tester had fooled them.
他們中的一半找到了一個玩具；另一半發現容器是空的，並意識到測試人員欺騙了他們。

Among the children who had not been tricked,
在沒有被騙的孩子中，

the majority were willing to cooperate with the tester in learning a new skill,
大多數人願意配合測試人員學習新技能，

demonstrating that they trusted his leadership.
證明他們信任他的領導。

In contrast, only five of the 30 children paired with the “unreliable” tester participated in a follow-up activity.
相比之下，30名與“不可靠”測試者配對的兒童中只有5名參加了後續活動。