是什么进化的原因,使人类更容易被外表所吸引,而不是被内在的品质,如智力、性格、正直、诚实和艺术所吸引?
What is the evolutionary reason that human beings are superficial and attracted to external appearances more than towards intrinsic qualities such as intelligence, character, integrity, honesty and virtuosity?
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What is the evolutionary reason that human beings are superficial and attracted to external appearances more than towards intrinsic qualities such as intelligence, character, integrity, honesty and virtuosity?
是什么进化的原因,使人类更容易被外表所吸引,而不是被内在的品质,如智力、性格、正直、诚实和艺术所吸引?
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Caveat: One should shy away from giving evolutionary “reasons” for things. Reasons imply reasoning—the action of thinking about something in a logical, sensible way and drawing rational conclusions. Evolution concludes nothing; it does not think, uate or choose anything. It systematically tosses up diversity. Environmental pressures sext survivors from that diverse range that are best equipped to breed into that environment. Evolution simply promotes the survival of a genetic lineage by setting the stage for environmental fine tuning.
警告: 人们应该避免给出事物进化的“理由”。理性意味着以逻辑的、理智的方式思考某事并得出合理结论的行为。进化没有结果;它不会思考、评估或选择任何东西。它系统地抛出了多样性。环境压力从不同的环境中选择幸存者,他们最适合在这种环境中繁殖。进化只是通过为环境微调创造条件来促进遗传谱系的生存。
吸引力和性择植根于人类心理。人类心理学(缺乏更好的术语)被进化所依据的生存需要所感染。所以你可以从进化到性吸引划一条线,但这是一条细线,因果关系值得商榷。
任何动物选择配偶作为繁殖策略。繁殖的目的是延续你的遗传血统。这种物质的珍贵性,一种在你身体的每一个细胞中重复的核苷酸的连续体,就是为什么当你的生命受到威胁时你会感到恐惧。它形成了你的求生本能。保护和培育这些分子的冲动在你所做的每件事中都起着无声的作用。
最好和最明显的繁殖策略是选择一个年轻健康的配偶。当我们的配偶处于良好的繁殖状态时,我们自己后代的生存机会就会大大增加。那是身体/外观判断。就这么简单。
当然,人类已经发展了语言和哲学。我们可以思考复杂的想法,如果我们选择的话,我们可以凌驾于基本的繁殖策略之上,发展出更复杂的策略,在这些策略中,智力、性格、正直、诚实和美德等内在品质被视为理想的品质,甚至可能增强我们后代的生存前景。我们甚至可以决定根本不去繁殖,为了友谊而交配。但即使是在这种类型的个体中,我们所遇到的人的繁殖状况也不会被忽视。不管我们喜不喜欢,我们都被一群扭曲的分子所束缚!
It has varied over history, as a function of population size and environmental conditions. This answer is kind of long, but to summarize before I begin, here are some (admittedly cynical) counter-point questions:
随着人口规模和环境条件的变化,它在历史上也有所不同。这个答案有点长,但在我开始之前总结一下,这里含有有一些公认的愤世嫉俗的观点:
智力:当老师强迫成绩分布符合高斯分布时,即使它不符合,又什么用?你可能真的是一个智力异常值(甚至更高的范围),但你所在的系统可能没有动力去记录或奖励它。不管怎样,阅读或记忆有什么意义?我可以随时在我的智能手机上查找。
诚实和品格:谁需要它?当我觉得没人看的时候,我可以做我想做的。我可能不会被抓住。即使我真的被抓住了,我会说这是我第一次,这是个错误,是别人的错…
正直:我为什么要花心思来审视、一次又一次审视和测试我的核心价值观?更重要的是随波逐流,受欢迎,或者至少不引人注目,要……“适应”一个不断变化的社会环境,在这个社会环境中,你试图追随一种时代精神的奇思妙想,这种精神通过社交媒体和脸书与你交谈。
技艺:当你努力得到A和参与的奖杯后,为什么还要费心去培养它呢?我听说自动化和神经网络能帮我做任何事。有什么意义?
当环境恶劣时,它无法养活大量人口,社会群体也很小。小到每个人都依赖其他人的协调来生存,小到有可能(一天24小时)有一种长期的积极的功能关系,这既需要你提到的品质,也奖励你提到的品质。
随着环境变得更容易居住(这一过程主要是地质的,但现在是技术的),人口规模也在增长。你不依赖于与一小部分团队成员建立积极的功能性长期关系。生存变得更容易,你会遇到更多的人。
there is little material incentive to develop positive long term relationships with people
there is little material dis-incentive to have negative interactions with people
现在我们正处在这样一个时刻(至少在发达国家,我们花时间在Quora上),生存是如此容易,人口/社会群体规模如此之大,以至于
1、与人建立积极的长期关系几乎没有物质动力
2、与人进行负面互动几乎没实质性的阻碍
In small group societies, your physical contribution to the group’s well being can be seen and felt and eaten and uated by everyone in the group. Your actions have purpose, your work has value, and your words have meaning.
现在人与人之间的关系不再是人与人之间的行为交往,而是人与人之间的物质来往。通过某些行为特征发出的信号更难看到和理解;通过视觉上明显的物质占有来传递代理信号要容易得多。
在小团体社会中,你对团体幸福的身体贡献可以被团体中的每个人看到、感受、食用和评价。你的行动有目的,你的工作有价值,你的言语有意义。
And so, in the diversity that biology creates, many people don’t remember it. They never saw it, they were never taught it, and it does not occur to them in their own experience. These people can develop behavior patterns and personality traits that are actually quite anti-social - but they’re never punished for it, not by the environment and not by their surrounding humans.
在大集团社会中,这仍然是事实,但这一切都很容易被忘记,因为环境(不再因气候变化或技术而变得苛刻)不再迫使你记住它。
因此,在生物创造的多样性中,许多人都不记得它。他们从未见过,也从未被教过,也没在他们自己的经历中想到。这些人可以发展出实际上非常反社会的行为模式和个性特征——但他们永远不会因此受到惩罚,不受环境和周围人类的惩罚。
Some people, for whatever reason, value these characteristics only in terms of their personal and short term material gain and material cost, where every mistake and abuse is thought to be lost in the thermal noise of a large population, and where zero-sum destructive behavior is thought to be rational marginal decision making (but isn’t really, because it ends in the “tragedy of the commons”).
有些人,无论出于何种原因(内在的/个人的和外在的/社会的/家庭的),都会重视你提到的特征,因为他们认识到这些特征在任何情况下都能为自己和群体带来幸福。这就是为什么人类最伟大的英雄有这些特点。
有些人,不管出于什么原因,只从个人和短期的物质收益和物质成本来评价这些特点,在这种情况下,每一个错误和滥用都会在大量人口的热噪声中消失,并且零和破坏性行为被认为是理性的边际决策(但实际上并非如此,因为它以“公众悲剧”告终)
In terms of modern technological society, we’ve outsourced a lot of manufacturing to countries far away. We are literally losing touch of what it means to physically create things: I mean wood shop and home economics and cars and computers. We are becoming hyper-focused on creating images (digital design, community management, etc) and using them as signals for underlying physical and psychological traits … many don’t actually have.
在许多情况下,人类的心理已经崩溃了,遗骸已经成长为腐朽的社会结构。你看到的当今社会中被美化的许多人都是后一种情况的不幸范例。
就现代科技社会而言,我们把许多制造业外包给了遥远的国家。实际上,我们正在失去物质创造的意义:我指的是木材店,家政,汽车和电脑。我们正变得专注于创造图像 (数字设计、社区管理等)并将其作为潜在生理和心理特征的信号…许多人实际上没有。
There is no shortage of used car salesmen, if you see what I mean.
我们的社会比以往任何时候都更大、更依赖技术。建立大社会的最大谎言是人类是一种丰富的、无名的、可替代的资源。这其实不是真的,尽管矛盾的是,那些表现得好像是这样的人确实是这样做的——但只是为了他们自己。
如果你明白我的意思的话,不妨二次销售。
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Perhaps, the three primary reasons are:
Our dominant sensory system is visual, so we make most of our inferences and choices based on visual stimuli. We uate everything with our eyesight: food quality, security, health etc — why would that be suddenly different? Other animals have other dominant sensory systems (e.g., smell), so they may rely on other stimuli.
或许,有三个主要原因:
1、我们主要的感觉系统是视觉的,所以我们大部分的推断和选择都是基于视觉刺激。我们用视力评估一切:食品质量、安全、健康等等——为什么会突然不同呢?其他动物有其他支配性感觉系统(例如:气味),所以他们可能依赖其他刺激。
2、虽然我们也有不错的听觉和平庸的嗅觉(在某种程度上我们也用嗅觉来选择伴侣),但我们绝对缺乏的是心灵感应。这实际上使我们无法观察别人的心理。我们只能基于长时间的观察和一系列的推论,对一个人的智力和性格做出间接的假设,这使得在选择伴侣时使用思维线索是无效的,更重要的是,非常不可靠:我们可能是(而且常常是)错的。
3、视觉包含的信息比思想重要得多。心灵包含了关于他人心理健康和心理能力的信息,而外表包含了身体能力、一般健康和(也许最重要的)生理成熟的信息。
性选择的唯一目的是挑选最好的配偶来生产最好的后代。为此,视觉评估显然是最佳选择,而思维线索甚至无法直接观察,因此无法使用。但当然,一些行为线索,作为良好的心理健康和能力的间接标志,也被纳入性别选择的因素。
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注:如果不明显的话,以上这些并不是对任何事情的鼓励,也不是“道德指南”——我只是在解释这件事的生殖生物学。在你的日常生活中,你选择做什么,如何做,是你自己的决定。
Humans AREN’T “more” attracted to external appearances than intrinsic qualities such as intelligence, character, integrity, honesty, etc.
Before asking what, first ask why.
人类更会容易被外表的“吸引”,而不是被智力、性格、正直、诚实等内在品质“吸引”。
在问是什么之前,先问为什么。
Context matters.
人类实际上有时更受表面品质吸引,而有时更受内在品质吸引。
需要结合情考虑况。
问题中提到的内在品质的问题是,人们不能轻易地快速地判断它们。要弄清楚一个潜在的浪漫伴侣可能拥有什么样的智慧、性格、正直、诚实等等,需要时间和努力。你必须了解他们,与他们相处一段很长的时间,密切观察他们,等等。这样做,你也不可避免地让自己暴露在对方的类似判断之下,这反过来又会让你面临潜在的风险。
If one is looking for a long term life partner, then the investment is worth it, and most of the time when people are primed to be looking for that kind of relationship, they instinctively give greater weight to intrinsic qualities.
在一个时间和精力有限的宇宙里,节俭是值得的。在投入宝贵的资源之前,回报必须是值得的。
如果一个人正在寻找一个长期的生活伴侣,那么投资是值得的,而且大多数时候,当人们准备寻找那种关系时,他们本能地给予内在品质更大的重视。
As a result humans have evolved a flexible strategy for the uation of potential mates. Multiple factors are weighted in, differently, depending on the situation.
然而,如果一个人只是在寻找一个快速的机会,那么就没有必要做出这样的努力,根据这些内在的标准来正确地评估一个潜在的合作伙伴。在这种情况下,像外表这样肤浅的东西的优势在于,它可以快速而离散的作出判断(因为有时不能让对方知道你在评估他们)。
因此,人类进化出了灵活的评估潜在配偶的策略。根据不同的情况,对多种因素进行加权。
But as a broadly general rule, the greater the potential impact that the potential relationship is likely to have on a person’s own life, the more weight they will give to intrinsic factors, and the more effort they will be willing to expend to figure those factors out.
就像进化中的所有事物一样,不同点在于个体之间如何衡量这些不同的因素。
但作为一个普遍的规则,潜在关系对个人生活可能产生的潜在影响越大,他们对内在因素的权重就越大,他们愿意花费更多的精力来找出这些因素。
Sophie Campbell gave the most excellent answer. I just want to do a short version of it.
Evolution is best understood as a RESULT. Not as a guided process (except in human controlled animal husbandry).
Whatever is true now, didn’t come to be that way for a “reason,” it came to be that way by chance.
Sophie Campbell 给出了最出色的答案。我只想做一个简短的版本。
我们最好将进化理解为结果。而不是理解为指导过程(除了被人类控制的畜牧业)。
不管现在情况是什么样的,不是因为某一个“原因”,而是因为偶然发生产生的结果。
Best argument AGAINST the idea that we evolved to be what we are for “good reasons:” the fact that because we ARE so damn clever, we might well wipe ourselves out, and in effect become our OWN “evolutionary event,” functionally no different than the comet or asteroid that wiped out most of the dinosaurs.
有时在事实发生之后,我们可以看到一个物种的某个特定的进化变化,允许它做一些它以前做不到的事情,但这与认为它们是因为这个原因进化的是非常不同的。
反对我们进化成现在这样的想法的最佳论据是“有充分的理由”:因为我们非常聪明,我们很可能会消灭自己,实际上成为我们自己的“进化事件”,在功能上与消灭大多数恐龙的彗星或小行星没有什么不同。
Because all the virtues you site are man made, nature has it’s own rules. It cares nothing for our ideas of truth and justice. Nature follows the easiest path in general. Nature seems to favour not only the winner, but the winner who wins with ease. We make rules for ourselves, so we can co-operate together and not kill each other, so we can do great things as a society, so we have truth and justice. But nature never bought into that, it’s not trying to save our society, it seems to favour the easiest path, like obxts move on the fastest, easiest paths. Our rules can only go so far, people can call on nature to save them from rules when they suppress their natural attraction, their easy win, their abilities to be free. It’s an uncertainty of life which keeps it noble and not sown up by a narrow species. Maybe it’s why we like snakes and ladders and a dice.
因为你所拥有的所有美德都是人为的,大自然有它自己的规则。它根本不关心我们对真理和正义的看法。一般来说,大自然走的是最简单的道路。大自然似乎不仅偏爱胜利者,而且偏爱轻松取胜的胜利者。我们为自己制定规则,这样我们就可以一起合作,而不是互相残杀,这样我们就可以作为一个社会做大事,这样我们就有了真理和正义。但大自然从不相信这一点,它不是在试图拯救我们的社会,它似乎倾向于最简单的路径,就像物体在最快、最简单的路径上移动一样。我们的规则只能走这么远,当人们压抑自己的自然吸引力、轻松取胜、自由的能力时,他们可以呼吁大自然把他们从规则中拯救出来。生命的不确定性使它保持高贵,而不是被一个狭隘的物种所播种。也许这就是为什么我们喜欢蛇,梯子和骰子。
We're also attracted to those. But, we're more concerned with a healthy mating partner first. What's the point of mating with the most honest person if they can't reproduce healthy babies. They may be super smart and honest, but they're going to be eaten by a larger animal sooner than later.
Here's a fun book by Alan S. Miller and Satoshi Kanazawa that gets into the meat and potatoes of this very question. It's an informative, yet fun dive into the world of evolutionary psychology.
Why Beautiful People Have More Daughters: From Dating, Shopping, and Praying to Going to War and Becoming a Billionaire
You can find it on Amazon.
我们也被这些吸引。但是,我们首先更关心的是一个健康的伴侣。如果最诚实的人不能生育健康的婴儿,那么与他们交配又有什么意义呢。它们可能非常聪明和诚实,但它们迟早会被更大的动物吃掉。
这是 Alan S. Miller 和 Satoshi Kanazawa 合著的一本有趣的书,其中深入探讨了这个问题。这是对进化心理学世界的深入了解,但很趣。
《为什么漂亮的人有更多的女儿:从约会、购物、祈祷到参战和成为亿万富翁》
你可以在亚马逊上找到它。
Meaningful relationships are based upon mutual respect and trust. Therefore, character, integrity, honesty, and virtuosity do play a pivotal role.
On the other side of the table, we live in a materialistic world, because showing dominance and accumulating wealth raises our status. Individuals with high status are able to attract high status mates, which improves the odds of survival, of their offspring.
Google “stickleback fish study”. It also applies to humans. Women chose mates, base upon smell. Everyone’s scent represents the total immunity against bacteria, viruses, and parasites. Unconsciously, women are able to detect their scent, and prefer the scent of males, with the greater diversity from their own. It’s how we (and every other vertebrate), counter the greater adaptability of these organisms.
After achieving the best of all three categories, couples still must get along. Oh, there’s human psychology: We only appreciate our hard won achievements, never the easy ones. That includes romantic relationships.
有意义的关系建立在相互尊重和信任的基础上。因此,品格、正直、诚实和精湛的技艺确实起着举足轻重的作用。
另一方面,我们生活在一个物欲横流的世界里,因为展现统治地位和积累财富提高了我们的地位。地位高的个体能够吸引地位高的配偶,从而提高后代的生存几率。
谷歌“刺鱼研究”。它也适用于人类。女人根据气味选择伴侣。每个人的气味代表对细菌、病毒和寄生虫的总免疫力。不知不觉中,女性能够察觉自己的气味,更喜欢男性的气味,与自己的气味有较大的差异。这就是我们(和其他脊椎动物)如何对抗这些生物更强的适应性。
在这三个方面都取得了最好的成绩之后,夫妻们仍然必须和睦相处。哦,这是人类的心理:我们只欣赏来之不易的成就,从不欣赏轻松的成就。包括浪漫关系。
Sorry, but where are these humans who are “superficial and attracted to external appearances more than towards intrinsic qualities such as intelligence, character, integrity, honesty and virtuosity?” I’m afraid I don’t know any, though I am sure that they exist. I guess evolution screwed up if I don’t know anyone fitting your ugly and cynical descxtion, right?
对不起,但是那些“肤浅的,被外在的外表所吸引,而不是内在的品质,如智力、性格、正直、诚实和技艺所吸引”的人在哪里呢?我恐怕一个也不知道,尽管我确信他们确实存在。我想如果我不认识符合你丑陋和愤世嫉俗描述的人,进化就搞砸了,对吧?
If you mean sexually attracted, there may be a component of sexual sextion we don’t yet understand. For example, pea hens are attracted to peacocks with the biggest tail feather displays, and female cardinals, which are rather nondescxt, are attracted to the males with the brightest red coloring. Perhaps we humans are initially attracted to appearance, but we have very complex relationships that depend on other factors as well.
如果您的意思是性吸引,那么可能存在我们尚不了解的性择的组成部分。例如, 雌孔雀会被尾羽最大的孔雀所吸引,而相当不起眼的雌性红雀则被具有最亮红色颜色的雄性所吸引。也许我们人类最初被外表所吸引,但我们也有非常复杂的关系,这些关系也取决于其他因素。
People have a tendency to be superficial because it is easier for them to comprehend. Humans take the convenient route because it doesn't require them to think deep.
人们有一种肤浅的倾向,因为他们更容易理解。人类走的是方便的路线,因为这不需要他们深入思考。
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But we are not superficial, at least not the majority! We put heavy weight everyday on other qualities than just external. But just because somebody has intelligence, integrity, honesty, etc doesn’t mean they lack in appearance.
但我们不是肤浅的,至少大多数不是!我们每天都重视其他品质,而不仅仅是外表。而且某人有智慧、正直、诚实等,但是并不意味着他们缺乏外表。
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