6分鐘星座心理學

知識 06-17

本期我們來討論一個很有意思的話題-星座。有網站一項調查顯示：47.5％的人經常關注星座，29.7％的人覺得星座很有意思；只有1.48％的人對星座「不太感興趣」。很多人在談戀交友的時候以星座作為參考標準，也有人壓根不行。你覺得呢？

This is 6 MinuteEnglishfromBBC LearningEnglish dot com.

這裡是bb clearningenglish.com英語六分鐘節目。

Rob:Hello I』m Rob – a Gemini. Welcome to 6 Minute English. I』m joined today byNeil.

大家好，我是雙子座的羅伯。歡迎收聽英語六分鐘。今天和我一起主持節目的是尼爾。

Neil:Hi Rob. I m a Virgo. So, what does that say about my personality? That s the group of thoughts, feelings and behaviours which make you who you are.It means I am supposed to be independent and observant!

嗨，羅伯。我是處女座。這代表著我有怎樣的性格呢？性格指的是決定著你是誰的思維、情感和行為模式。處女座代表著我是一個獨立且善於觀察的人！

Rob:Really? OK, observant – in other words, quick at noticing things. Well, as a Gemini, I m supposed to be witty and adaptable!

真的嗎？Observant意思是能夠敏銳地感知到事物。而雙子座的我應該是機智，適應能力強！

Neil:I think that s true. You are adaptable, Rob. You get used tonewthings and situationsvery easily, I think.

我覺得這個很對。你的確適應能力強，羅伯。我覺得你很容易就能適應新事物和新環境。

Rob:Well, these characteristics we ve mentioned are based on what astrologers say. Andastrologyis today s theme.

我們剛才說的這些性格都是占星家們研究出來的。今天節目的主題是星象學。

Neil:Astrologers are people who say they can find out about your personality, and maybe your future, by analysing the position ofstarsand planets the day you were born.

占星家是那些自稱能夠通過分析你出生那天恆星與行星位置判斷你的性格以及你的未來的人們。

Rob:It s controversial. Many astronomers – the scientists who study the stars and planets –don t believe it s true, but some well-known people believe it s a very serious business. And I llput a question to you about that.

人們對星象學富有爭議。很多天文學家，就是研究恆星和行星的人們，不相信星象學。但是也有一些很出名人的人很嚴肅地看待它。我要就這個事問你考考你。

Neil:People born under the sign of Virgo are said to be very precise. Hmm, I m not so sureabout that… But I d better make sure everything I say today is very accurate so I fit the description!

處女座的人很嚴謹。嗯……這一點我不確定是不是真的……但是我今天說的話最好十分準確，以符合這一描述！

Rob:OK. Let s see if you can answer this question accurately. Which of these famous people were publicly criticised when it came to light that they relied too much on horoscopes to take decisions? Was it:a) Margaret Thatcher b) Nancy Reagan or c) Michael Jackson

好的。我們來看看你能否準確地回答這個問題。以下幾位名人當中，哪位被發現太過於相信占星術之後受到了公眾的譴責？是a)瑪格麗特·撒切爾b)南希·里根還是c)邁克爾·傑克遜。

Neil:I think… I can remember this. I think it s Nancy Reagan, b.

我應該記得這個。我覺得是南希·里根，b。

Rob:OK. Are you sure?

好的，你確定嗎？

Neil:I am.

確定。

Rob:OK. Well, you ll have to be patient because you won t get the answer until the end of the programme.

好的。你要有耐心，因為直到節目快結束的時候你才能知道答案。

Neil:Now, let me read my horoscope for today…

那，現在我要看一下我今天的星座運勢……

Rob:Oh, you and your horoscopes, honestly, Neil! Do you know when newspapers andmagazines started to offer horoscopes to their readers?

哦，星座運勢，別鬧了，尼爾！你知道報紙和雜誌什麼時候開始為它們的讀者刊登星座運勢的嗎？

Neil:No, I don t.

我不知道。

Rob:Well, let s hear from Nicholas Campion, who teaches the cultural history of astrology atthe University of Wales. What does he have to say about it? Campion, a Pisces, uses one particular word when he describes how people feel about their place in the universe. Which word is it?

讓我們聽聽在威爾士大學教星象學文化史的老師尼古拉斯·坎皮恩是如何說的。坎皮恩是雙魚座，他用了一個單詞描述了人們對自己在宇宙中所處位置的感知。是哪個詞呢？

The newspaper horoscope was invented about 1930. There s a parallel between what was happening in astronomy at the time. In the late 20s, the idea that the universe is huge and expanding was discovered and popularised by the astronomerEdwinHubble. This became ametaphor for the idea that we live on the edge of a distant corner of the universe and we areall very insignificant. At the same time we suddenly get these horoscope columns appearing which I see as a kind of domestication of astrology.

報紙上的星座運勢開始於大概1930年。這與當時天文學中的一項進展同步了。20年代末，愛德文·哈勃發現並普及了宇宙巨大及膨脹之說。這就使人們產生了我們居住在宇宙邊緣，因此我們微不足道的感覺。然而，同一時間，這些星座運勢的專欄突然出現了，在我看來這是星象學的一種通俗化。

Neil:Insignificant! It means of very little importance. He says that s how people felt whenastronomerEdwinHubble discovered how huge the universe is…

Insignificant意思是無關緊要的。他說當天文學家發現宇宙之大後人們感覺自己是這樣的……

Rob:And this academic thinks astrology tried to bring this idea under control it domesticated it. It brought it to our personal level, and made it all about routine, everyday events.

這位學者說，星象學想要控制這種想法，將其通俗化。也就是說把它下降到個人層面，與日常事務相關。

Neil:How interesting. It makes us think that the stars are all about us. Astrology tells us thatthe stars are all about me! I want to read my horoscope now!

真有趣。它讓我們認為星體都是和我們相關的。占星學告訴我們所有的天體都是與我相關！現在我想看我的星象了！

Rob:Well, before you do that, you have to listen to what another specialist, this time apsychologist, has to say. Paul Rogers, a Sagittarius, teaches at the University of CentralLancashire, in the north of England.

在那之前，你需要聽一聽另一位專家，這次是一位心理學家，是怎麼說的。保羅·羅傑斯，射手座，英國北方中央蘭開夏大學的教師。

Neil:A Sagittarius – he might be independent like me. Yes, go ahead!

射手座，他可能和我一樣獨立。好的，來吧！

Rob:OK. Well, he might spoil the fun you re having with your newspaper. Here he is:

好，但是他可能會打消你對你的報紙的興緻。請聽：

People are misperceiving these generalised statements as being unique to their own

personality. There are other counter biases that people fall prey to, for example, the confirmation bias. If you believe in something, you ll look for evidence to support that beliefand you ll ignore evidence that rejects that belief.

人們被這些概括性的針對其性格的表述誤導了。人們深受一些反偏見的影響，比方說證實偏見。如果你相信某個觀點，你就會尋找一些可以支持這個信念的證據，而忽視那些反對的證據。

Neil:He talks about belief! Something which you think is true without much proof. He says that people who think horoscopes are true do so because the predictions seem to confirm what they already think about themselves.

他說到了信念！信念是指無需證據你就相信的觀點。他說人們相信占星學是因為其預言肯定了他們以前對自己的認知。

Rob:Yes, people look for evidence – an indication that something they believe is true. But it sall in their mind and not in thestarsthemselves. People believe what they want to believe. Theyneed some sense of control over life.

是的，人們尋找證據，也就是尋找能夠支持自己觀點的跡象。但這都是他們心中所想，而不在於星系。人們總是相信他們願意相信的事物。他們需要有對自己生活的掌控感。

Neil:You know what? This is true. Believe in horoscopes or not, it s very comforting to have thissense of direction in life.

你知道嗎？這是真的。不管是否相信星象，生活中有一種方向感令人感到寬慰。

Rob:Everything seems so unpredictable! Here s something predictable: our quiz.Let s goback to it and see if you got the question right. I asked you which of these famous people werepublicly criticised when it came to light that they relied too much on horoscopes. Was itMargaret Thatcher, Nancy Reagan or Michael Jackson?

所有的事情似乎都無法預測！但是這裡有一件事是可以的，那就是我們今天的問題。讓我們回到我們今天的問題，看看你是否選對了答案。我的問題是：以下幾位名人當中，哪位被發現太過於相信占星術之後受到了公眾的譴責？是瑪格麗特·撒切爾，南希·里根，還是邁克爾·傑克遜。

Neil:I said Nancy Reagan.

我說是南希·里根。

Rob:And you were right. Nancy Reagan, wife of the late president Ronald Reagan,has long beeninterested inastrology. In 1988,shewas criticised and ridiculed when it was revealed thatshehad consulted astrologers during her time at the White House.

你選對了。美國前總統羅納德·里根的妻子，南希·里根，一直對星象學很感興趣。1988年，她在白宮期間諮詢占星家的真相被揭露之後，受到了人們的批評和嘲諷。

Neil:I knewI was right because I m always accurate!

我就知道我答對了，我說話一向很精準！

Rob:Of course. Well done! Right, well, before we go, could you remind us of some of theEnglish words we』ve heard today?

當然，你很厲害！好了，節目結束之前我們複習一下今天學習的單詞吧？

Neil:personality性格;observant善於觀察的;adaptable適應能力強的;astrologers占星家;astronomers天文學家;insignificant無關緊要的;domestication通俗化;evidence證據;belief信念