New Grooves for Creatures of Habit
腦刻新槽 不做習慣的奴隸
By Kevin Delaney

In a fable, a scorpion stings a frog carrying him across a river, dooming them both. It may have been suicidal, the scorpion explains in his last drowning moments, but he just couldn’t not sting. It was his nature.
有個寓言故事如是說，一隻青蛙背蠍子過河，蠍子螫了青蛙一口，結果同歸於盡。蠍子看起來像是自找死路，而牠在滅頂前一刻解釋道，牠非螫不可；蠍子生性如此也。

Are we, like the self-destructive scorpion, simply creatures of habit?
我們是否就像隻自取滅亡的蠍子，只不過是個習慣的奴隸？

That question has been driving a new wave of research from neuroscientists, psychologists and corporate retailers.
這個問題目前正在神經科學家、心理學家及大型零售業者之間，掀起新一波的研究熱潮。

Charles Duhigg, author of “The Power of Habit: Why We Do What We Do in Life and Business,” wrote in The Times about a Duke University study that estimated 45 percent of the choices people make every day are based on habits, rather than conscious choices.
杜希格是「習慣的力量：我們在生活中及公司裡為何會這樣做」一書作者，他在紐約時報撰文談到杜克大學所做的一項研究，據此研究估計，人們日常所做選擇，有45%是基於習慣而非意識。

Understanding those habits, and learning to alter or influence them, is the holy grail for merchants. Target, the retail chain, has been compiling a deluge of data on the habits of their shoppers. Pregnant women draw particular interest. When people become parents, many of their previous assumptions and habits are jolted, creating a perfect opportunity for a retailer to shift their brand loyalties.
商人們要是能瞭解這些習慣，並學會改變或影響這些習慣，無異於獲得了聖杯。零售連鎖業的巨擘Target一直針對客人的採購習慣編纂了大量的資料，對孕婦特別重視。人們一旦為人父母，許多原有的想法與習慣都會改變，於是為零售商創造了一個絕佳的機會，來改變他們的品牌忠誠性。

“We knew that if we could identify them in their second trimester, there’s a good chance we could capture them for years,” Andrew Pole, a statistician for Target, told Mr. Duhigg. “As soon as we get them buying diapers from us, they’re going to start buying everything else too.”
為Target做研究的統計學者波爾告訴杜希格：「我們了解到如果能夠在懷孕中期搞清楚他們的習慣，便很有機會抓住他們好幾年。當我們能讓他買我們的尿布時，他們就會開始買我們所有的其他東西。」

From a neurological point of view, those habits all come down to grooves. In the brain, that is, where the neural pathways are literally worn down by the constant repetition. But as Timothy D. Wilson, author of “Redirect: The Surprising New Science of Psychological Change,”  wrote in The Times, those grooves – which sometimes transmit scorpionlike, self-destructive habits – can be very hard to shake. To create a better habit, he wrote, “we have to painstakingly practice a better response that wears a new groove.”
從神經邏輯的觀點來看，這些習慣都會留存在腦部的溝槽內。在人的腦袋裡，神經的路徑會被經常性的重複行為一字不漏地烙上印記。但就如「重新引導：令人驚喜的心理改變新科學」一書作者威爾森在時報發表的文章中所述，這些溝槽非常難以動搖，而它們有時候會傳達像蠍子自我毀滅般的習慣。要想創造出一種較佳的習慣，他寫道：「我們必須痛苦地練習一種較佳的反應模式，來刻劃出一套新的溝槽。」

One problem in finding the perseverance to alter habits may be caused by a disconnect from our future selves. Kelly McGonigal, author of “The Willpower Instinct,” told The Times that people often believe that in the future they will have fewer problems. So why floss or save money now, when we’ll have a better opportunity to work things out in the future?
人們所以無法下定決心來改變習慣，原因之一可能在於改變習慣會跟未來的自我失去連繫。「意志力本能」一書的作者麥克高尼格對時報記者表示，人們經常會相信未來他們所碰到的問題要比現在少。因此既然未來比現在更有機會成功，那現在幹嘛還要那麼摳門？

“It’s hard to imagine that we’re going to be under the same stress,” Ms. McGonigal told The Times. “It seems like we will have more time and energy, and we can let the future person deal with what we can’t deal with now.”
麥克高尼格說：「很難讓我們去想像將來我們還會面對同樣的壓力。看起來好像我們將來會有更多的時間與精力，能夠讓未來的我們去搞定我們現在搞不定的事。」

As Emily Pronin, an associate professor of psychology at Princeton University in New Jersey, added, “If you don’t want to do it now, don’t assume your future self will want to do it.”
新澤西州普林斯頓大學心理學副教授艾蜜莉．普隆林也說：「你現在不想做的事，別以為未來的你就會願意做。」

Back in the present, stress can compound negative behaviors, turning those brain grooves into deep ruts. But again, even deep ruts in the brain can be reversed. As The Times reported, lab rats subjected to great stress in a study developed neurotic patterns. But when the stress was alleviated, some of those bad habits disappeared.
回到當下，壓力會使負面的行為變本加厲，使腦部原有的溝槽更加深刻。但還是要重申，腦袋裡再深的溝槽都有辦法扭轉。一如時報先前報導指出的，實驗室裡的老鼠在承受很大的壓力時，發展出了神經過敏的模式。但當壓力減輕時，它們原有的一些壞習慣也會消失。

The key is something called neural plasticity, which enables the brain to eventually reshape its grooves. As Christopher Chabris, a psychology professor at Union College in Schenectady, New York, wrote in The Times, “Like a piece of software stuck in permanent beta, it has its share of bugs, but its plasticity allows for frequent updates.”
關鍵在於一種稱為神經可塑性的作用，讓腦部終究能重造溝槽。紐約斯卡奈塔第聯合學院心理學教授加布利斯在時報上撰文指出：「就像是永久測試版上所存在的一件軟體，裡面當然會有些蟲，但可塑性能夠讓軟體經常更新。」

Good news for rats and people. If not scorpions.
這對老鼠跟人來說，都是個好消息；對蠍子可就就難說了。

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2012-04-03聯合報/G9版/UNITEDDAILYNEWS 任中原譯 原文參見紐時週報三版右