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Tons of people are afraid of sharks.
很多人害怕鲨鱼。
Which is really a bummer, because sharks are awesome, amazing, totally incredible, and so fascinating.
这真糟糕，因为鲨鱼超棒、充满惊喜，令人难以置信，还如此迷人。
And also, they're not very likely to hurt you.
而且，它们也不太可能伤害你。
Of the tens of thousands of people that go in the water, sharks only kill around one person per year on average.
在数以万计下海游泳的人中，鲨鱼平均每年仅杀死约一人。
And often, that's because they're provoked or make a mistake.
通常，那是因为它们被激怒或犯了错。
Cows, on the other hand, kill about 20 people a year on average.
另一方面，奶牛平均每年杀死20人左右。
And not many of us are afraid of them!
我们中没有多少人害怕奶牛！
So, why is our fear so misguided?
那我们为什么要被恐惧所误导呢？
Why are so many people afraid of sharks, and airplanes, and other things that aren't actually that dangerous?
为什么这么多人害怕鲨鱼、飞机，还有其他实际上并不那么危险的东西？
It comes down to the way our brains deal with risk.
归根结底是我们的大脑处理风险的方式。
When you start assessing whether something is risky, your brain doesn't jump into logic and statistics mode.
当你开始评估某件事情是否有风险时时，大脑不会跳入逻辑和统计模式。
Instead, the first stop for sensory information is the brain's emotion center, the amygdala.
相反，感知信息的第一站是大脑的情感中心杏仁核。
Eventually, that info does get processed by higher-level areas, like the prefrontal cortex.
最终，这些信息确实会被高级区域处理，比如前额叶皮层。
But even then, when there's a mismatch between emotion and logic, emotion usually wins.
但即便如此，当情绪和逻辑不匹配时，情绪通常会获胜。
And ultimately, that means our brains are prone to a number of biases.
最终，这意味着我们的大脑容易产生一些偏见。
Some of them aren't that surprising, especially when it comes to certain fears.
其中一些偏见并不奇怪，尤其是对于某些恐惧。
Like, there's one called availability bias, which is when things that come to mind more easily are judged to happen more often,
比如，有一种叫做可用性偏见。就是当人们更容易想到的事情被判断为经常发生时，
especially if you have strong emotions about that thing.
特别是当你对那件事情有强烈情感时。
This bias pops up all the time when it comes to sharks.
当谈到鲨鱼时，这种偏见总会出现。
Like, when you see these animals on TV or in a movie, they're rarely being majestic and minding their own business, sharking around.
比如，当你在电视或电影里看到这些动物时，它们很少会显得威严而专注于自己的事，四处游荡。
No.
不是的。
They're usually in the middle of attacking someone.
他们通常正在攻击什么东西。
So if that's the first thing that comes to mind when you picture a shark, you might believe these attacks are super common, even though they're not.
所以，如果你在构想鲨鱼时，首先想到的是你可能会认为这些攻击很常见，尽管事实并非如此。
Besides availability bias, there's also a concept known as dread risk.
除了可用性偏差，还有一个被称为恐惧风险的概念。
This says that, the greater potential something has for harm, the riskier you perceive it to be.
这就是说，潜在的危害越大，你就越觉得它有风险。
So, since sharks are fearsome predators and could really hurt you, you might start to think that being around one at all is super risky,
所以，既然鲨鱼是可怕的食肉动物，真的可能伤害你，你可能会开始认为和鲨鱼在一起非常危险，
even though it probably doesn't want anything to do with you.
尽管它可能不想和你发生任何关系。
These biases are pretty intuitive, but there's another big factor that might come into play here, and it's less obvious:
这些偏见很直观，但还有一个重要的因素可能会在这里发挥着作用，而且还不太明显：
It's that sharks are unpredictable.
鲨鱼的不可预测性。
This idea comes from something called the Cognitive Vulnerability Model.
这个想法来自于一个叫做认知脆弱性模型的东西。
It's a tested model that says that people are more afraid of things they perceive as unpredictable, uncontrollable, and dangerous.
这是经过测试的模型，表明人们更害怕他们认为不可预测、无法控制和危险的事情。
And when you think of sharks… yeah, this makes sense.
当你想到鲨鱼，没错，有道理。
Historically, sharks and humans haven't been around each other a lot, especially when you think in geological time scales.
鲨鱼一直和人类并不是经常在一起，特别是当你从地质时间维度方面来考虑。
So, sharks can seem hard to predict just because they're so different from us.
所以，鲨鱼似乎很难预测，因为它们和我们太不一样。
And the fact that shark encounters are so rare makes those events harder to predict, too.
遭遇鲨鱼的事如此罕见，也使得这些事件更难预测。
A lack of control is also a big factor in this model, both when it comes to controlling the hazard and controlling your response to it.
在这个模型中，缺乏控制也是一个很大的因素，无论是控制危险，还是控制你对危险的反应方面。
And again… this tracks.
又回到老路上来了。
Like, you're probably fine if you see a shark in an aquarium, because the enclosure keeps the situation controlled.
比如，如果你在水族馆里看到鲨鱼，可能会觉得没事，因为围栏可以控制局势。
But a shark while swimming at the beach?
但是在海滩游泳时看到鲨鱼呢？
Not so much.
不会总碰到。
And besides, when it comes to sharks, not only do we have less control when we're swimming,
而且，说到鲨鱼，我们不仅在游泳时控制力下降，
but many of us also don't know what to do in the rare event that a shark does attack.
而且许多人也不知道在鲨鱼袭击的罕见情况出现时，该怎么办。
I mean, there's a lot of conflicting advice out there.
我是说，有很多相互矛盾的建议。
Do you play dead?
装死吗？
Punch it in the nose?
打鼻子？
Poke it in the eye?
戳眼睛？
Sing Baby Shark?
像小鲨鱼那么叫？
The confusion takes away some of your sense of control.
混乱会夺走你的一些控制感。
Now, just to be clear, the Cognitive Vulnerability Model doesn't just explain a fear of sharks.
现在，为了清楚起见，认知脆弱性模型不仅解释了对鲨鱼的恐惧。
Even though I love talking about them.
即使我喜欢谈论它们。
The model also explains some of our other seemingly irrational fears, like why some people are terrified of flying.
这个模型也解释了其他一些看似非理性的恐惧，比如为什么有些人害怕飞行。
Because, sure, cars kill more people than planes, but unless you're a pilot, you don't have much control over the aircraft.
因为，没错，因汽车原因致死的人数比飞机要多，但除非你是飞行员，否则你对飞机没有什么控制力。
And that could feel scary.
这会让人感到害怕。
Regardless of what you're afraid of, though, understanding why can be really helpful.
不管你害怕什么，但是，理解其原因会很有帮助。
Like, if you know why you're afraid of something, maybe you can take a step to address that.
比如，如果你知道你害怕的原因，也许可以采取措施来解决这个问题。
But when it comes to sharks specifically, understanding our fears is also important for keeping these animals safe.
但具体到鲨鱼，了解我们的恐惧对于保护这些动物的安全也很重要。
Many shark species are at risk of extinction, often due to human activity.
许多鲨鱼物种面临灭绝的危险，这通常是由于人类活动造成的。
And if unpredictability and lack of control are why we fear these animals, then understanding them better may be a way to reduce that fear.
如果不可预测和缺乏控制是我们害怕这些动物的原因，那更好地理解它们可能是减少这种恐惧的一种方法。
I mean, shark-human interactions are really rare, and so they are not studied super extensively.
我的意思是，鲨鱼很少和人类互动，所以并没有得到广泛的研究。
But there's work being done to change that.
但我们正在努力改变这种状况。
And on an individual level?
在个人层面上呢？
Well, research suggests that exposure to sharks, like seeing them in an aquarium, can also make people fear them less.
研究表明，与鲨鱼接触，就像在水族馆里看到它们一样，也能减少人们对它们的恐惧。
So, learn about these amazing creatures!
所以，去了解这些神奇的生物吧！
You'll discover something totally awesome, and you might feel a little less afraid as a result.
你会发现一些非常棒的东西，结果可能会觉得不再那么害怕了。
Thanks for watching this episode of SciShow Psych!
感谢收看本期《心理科学秀》！
If you want to learn more about the weird things our brains do and the quirks that make us human, we'd love to have you along for the ride.
如果你想更多地了解我们的大脑所做的奇怪的事情，以及使我们成为人类的怪事，我们希望陪你一道去学习。
To keep up with our latest videos, you can go to youtube.com/scishowpsych and subscribe, or click the button below this video.
要观看我们的最新视频，你可以登陆youtube.com/scishowsych网站然后订阅，或单击此视频下面的按钮。
