BBC地平线.笑的科学（2016）

今晚的《地平线》
Tonight on Horizon,
也是BBC情景喜剧季的一部分
as part of BBC's sitcom season,
《笑的科学》
the science of laughter.
笑是什么 为什么我们这么爱笑
What is it? Why do we love it so much?
它和喜剧之间有什么关系
And what has it got to do with comedy?
但是鉴于《地平线》团队
But seeing as how the Horizon team
本身不那么风趣
aren't that funny in and of themselves,
他们决定雇佣一个工作室团队
they've decided to hire a studio...
召集一群观众
round up an audience...
大家好 我是吉米·卡尔
并让我来做主持
..and asked me to take charge.
《地平线》之《笑 你所不知道的一切》
Horizon on laughter, like you've never seen it before.
地平线
吉米·卡尔
笑的科学
地平线特别节目
大家好 我是吉米·卡尔
Hello, everyone, I'm Jimmy Carr.
大家不要疑惑 这仍然是地平线节目
In case you were wondering, this is still Horizon,
严谨的BBC成人科学纪录片系列
the proper grown-up BBC science documentary series.
不要担心 我会调整到最好的状态
Don't worry, I'll be on my best behaviour.
今天我不会像以前一样含沙射影
There'll be none of my usual innuendo,
因为如果今天成功了
because if this works out,
我也许可以见到布莱恩·考克斯教授
I might get to meet Professor Brian Cox,
物理学家 参演《时空谜团》等地平线系列纪录片
你都不知道我有多爱考克斯[丁丁]
and I can't tell you how much I love Cox.
拜托
Come on!
我有一些好消息
So, I've got some great news -
科学界从研究怎么让机器人取代你
science has taken time out from giving your job to a robot,
设计转基因作物
designing GM crops
和克隆培育良种婴儿中抽出了一些时间
and cloning designer babies
放在了对于笑的研究上
to investigate laughter.
请放心 我并不负责这些
Rest assured, I'm not in charge.
与科学有关的东西我们都交给专家们
When it comes to the science stuff, we've called in the experts.
我们有一群杰出的研究笑的科学家
We've got a group of eminent laughter scientists,
是的 真的有这种科学家
yes, that is a real thing,
他们会为我们解开谜团
and they're here, poised to enlighten.
就像后台有个卡尼尔研究中心一样
It's like Laboratoires Garnier back there.
-你好 科学家们 -你好
- Hello, the scientists. - Hi.
我们还会拜访让人发笑
We've also visited scientists who make people laugh
和让动物发笑的科学家们
and others who make animals laugh.
我们制♥造♥了痛苦 扫描了大脑
We've caused pain, scanned brains
还探访了世界上某些最无聊的地方
and visited some of the least funny places on the planet,
只是为了彻底研究清楚笑是怎么一回事
all in a bid to get to the bottom of laughter.
而且我们有一屋子没有戒心的志愿者
And we've got a room full of unsuspecting volunteers,
他们以为自己只是观众
who think they're just an audience.
这是紧张的笑声
And that was nervous laughter.
EB·怀特曾说过分♥析♥喜剧就像解剖青蛙
EB White once said analysing comedy is like dissecting a frog -
没几个人感兴趣 青蛙还死了
few people are interested and the frog dies.
但是他知道什么
But what did he know?
这将是自他们让史蒂芬·霍金
This is going to be the most fun science show
用大型强子对撞机做水滑梯以来
since the one where they let Stephen Hawking use the Large Hadron Collider
最有趣的科学秀
as a water slide.
好的 让我们继续
Right, let's crack on.
用几个经典的笑话开场应该不错
Probably a good idea to start with some classic jokes.
两只猴子在洗澡
Two monkeys in a bath.
一只对另一只说 呼呼哈哈
One says to the other, "Ooh-ooh-ooh, ah-ah-ah."
另一只说 那就把冷水打开
The other says, "Well, put the cold tap on, then."
怎么让猫发出呼呼的声音
How do you make a cat go woof?
浇上汽油然后点着它
Pour petrol on it and light it.
毛发烧着了就会有呼呼的声音
这些都很好懂
These are the clean ones.
我在和我妻子散步
I was walking with my wife
这时候我看到六个人对我的岳母拳打脚踢
when I saw six men kicking and punching my mother-in-law.
我的妻子问 "你不去帮忙吗"
My wife said, "Aren't you going to help?"
我说 "不了 六个人足够了"
I said, "No, six should be enough."
一名警♥察♥到我家门口跟我说
A policeman came to my front door and said,
很遗憾 先生
"I'm sorry, sir,
你的妻子好像遇到了意外
but it looks like your wife's been in an accident."
我说 "我知道 但她就是事故型人格"
I said, "I know, but she's got a cracking personality."
有一个问题从来没有喜剧演员问过
Now, here's a question you never hear a stand-up comedian ask.
为什么你们听到这些笑话会笑
Why did you laugh at those jokes?
有人知道为什么大家笑吗
Does anyone have any ideas on why they laughed?
我讨厌猫
I hate cats.
"我讨厌猫"是一个很好的答案
"I hate cats" Is a very good answer.
我知道这不是真的原因
I'm sure that's not the case, though,
只是刚才的笑话衍生出来的另一个笑话
that's just another joke on top of that one, so...
还有谁知道为什么你会笑
Any ideas on why you laughed?
-怀旧心理 -因为很好笑
- Nostalgia. - Because it's funny.
怀旧心理是一个很好的解释
Nostalgia is a very good one, yeah,
因为它们都是经典的学校时代的笑话
cos they're old classic school jokes,
而且能带来熟悉感
and the familiarity of that.
有时这也算一个原因 还有别的
That is kind of a...that's a reason sometimes. Any other...
-想法吗 -为了缓和尴尬
- thoughts? - Breaking the ice?
为了缓和尴尬
Breaking the ice?
我想这也是对的 这是一种社交活动
Well, I suppose it is, yeah, that social activity.
我们后面会讨论到这个观点
I think we're going to talk about that later on - that idea that
笑是一种集体活动
laughter as a kind of group activity.
不要慌张 我们都会解释清楚的
Don't panic, we're going to explain all this.
这里是《地平线》
This is Horizon,
让我们来看一些科学解释
so let's throw some science at the problem.
伦敦大学学院
University College London...
以令人印象深刻的新古典主义建筑
..Boasting impressive neoclassical architecture
和扎实的学术传统而闻名
and a solid academic heritage.
而最近 它因为对于笑的认真研究
And, more recently, it's gained a reputation as somewhere where laughter
而声名鹊起
is taken very seriously indeed.
消音室
今天 索菲·斯科特教授
Today, Professor Sophie Scott...
正在为她的研究收集原始资料
..is gathering raw material for her research.
我们要做的就是浏览一些视频
What we're just going to do is go through some videos
并找到那些可以让你
and just really find some stuff
-发笑的东西 好吗 -好的
- that makes you laugh, OK? - OK.
关键是 我不在意视频说了什么
Cos the point of this is, I don't really care what it is,
我只想收集一些你的笑声
I'd just like to collect some really nice laughter from you.
为了确保完美的录制效果
And to ensure a perfect recording...
她用到了伦敦大学学院的消音室
..She's using UCL's anechoic chamber.
意味着不会有任何回声
It just means no echo.
我们要做的是记录大家
What we're doing here is we're recording somebody
发自内心的笑
laughing spontaneously.
随意坐
Get nice and comfortable.
我将会给她放一些材料
So, I'm playing her something,
我们很自信这会让她笑得不行
which we're both fairly confident is going to make her laugh.
我发现所有对于情绪的研究都专注于负面情绪
I just got really interested that everything done on emotions is negative,
而心理学家保罗·艾克曼
and it turned out that the psychologist Paul Ekman
曾说过正面情绪是可能存在的
had suggested that there might well be positive emotions,
而且这很可能是最基本的情绪
which might actually be basic emotions.
事实上 他说过这种情绪很可能
And in fact he'd said they may well be
主要是通过声音传递的
primarily conveyed with the voice,
于是我就想"太棒了 我就要研究这个"
so I thought, "Brilliant, that's what I do".
索菲发现笑是一种
Sophie discovered that laughter is
所有人类都懂的表达方式
something all humans understand,
不存在地区 文化和语言障碍
regardless of location, culture or language.
我认为研究笑很重要
I think it's really important to study laughter
因为首先
because first of all,
笑是一种基本的情绪表达方式
it's a basic expression of emotion.
一个非语言的情绪表达方式
It's a non-verbal expression of emotion,
它更是一种我们一直无意识做的事
but it's one we drop into all the time.
我们养成了这种传统哺乳动物的声音行为
We drop into this old mammal vocal behaviour,
用来在交流中传达多种情感
to do a lot of the emotional work of an interaction.
很好 我发现了一段特别好的笑声
Right, I found a really nice bit of laughter
我又找不着了 让我找一下
and then I lost it again, so that's what I'm trying to do.
找到了 这段多可爱
There we go. Wasn't that lovely?
我发现喜欢看声谱图
I realise that being delighted by a spectrogram
是一种奇怪的兴趣爱好
is sort of niche interest.
有意思
Well, fascinating stuff.