莊禾

Are you left-brained or right-brained？ The correct answer is“neither”. In fact， there are many brain “facts” which we all get wrong.

你是右腦型還是左腦型呢？正確答案是“都不是”。實(shí)際上，我們常常搞錯(cuò)了許多關(guān)于大腦的真相。

1. Is a bigger brain a better brain？

No. After all， humans believe we’re the smartest animals on the planet， but elephant brains are three times larger than ours. And whale brains？ Forget it. Intelligence isn’t about relative size， either. Human brains make up about 2 percent of our body mass. But tree shrew brains are a full 10 percent of their body mass. So when it comes to brains， size isn’t the most important thing.

1. 腦大更好嗎？

不不不！畢竟我們?nèi)祟惪傉J(rèn)為自己是這個(gè)星球上最聰明的動(dòng)物，但大象的腦子可是我們的三倍大，更不用說鯨魚的了。智力跟大腦的相對(duì)大小也沒關(guān)系。人類大腦占體重的2%，但樹鼩的大腦是體重的10%。所以對(duì)于大腦而言，大小并不是最重要的。

2. Are people either left-brained or right-brained？

There are certain tasks that draw more on one side of your brain than the other， but everything you do uses both hemispheres. There’s no evidence that the right half of your brain is more creative， or that the left is more analytical. The only people who are truly left-brained or right-brained are those who have undergone a surgery in which half of the brain is removed. The patients often go on to live full lives with no cognitive troubles.

2. 人們不是右腦型就是左腦型嗎？

大腦兩側(cè)在做任何事情時(shí)都會(huì)有所側(cè)重，但你做每件事情左右腦都是共同參與的。沒有證據(jù)證明大腦右半球更有創(chuàng)造力，左半球更擅長(zhǎng)思辨。真正的右腦型或左腦型是那些做過大腦半球切除手術(shù)的人。這些患者也能夠繼續(xù)生活下去，沒有什么認(rèn)知困難。

3. Do we only use 10 percent of our brains？

Oh yeah？ Which part are you using right now？ The entire brain may not be active every second of every day， but if you want to breathe， sleep， and eat your food， you need the whole thing.

3. 我們的大腦只開發(fā)了10%嗎？

什么？那你現(xiàn)在用的是哪塊兒？大腦不可能每時(shí)每刻都滿載運(yùn)行，但對(duì)于呼吸、睡眠、吃東西而言，你需要運(yùn)用整個(gè)大腦。

4. Does getting older mean losing your mental edge？

Yes， certain cognitive functions like short-term memory， attention and language learning begin to decline with age， but other mental skills actually improve. Studies have shown that older people have larger vocabularies than younger people， and that they make better use of them. They are happier with their lives， and their relationships are more harmonious.

4. 年級(jí)越大，智力優(yōu)勢(shì)在退化嗎？

是的，某些認(rèn)知功能，比如短時(shí)記憶、注意力和語言學(xué)習(xí)能力會(huì)隨著年齡衰減，但其他的一些智力技能其實(shí)是不斷進(jìn)步的。研究顯示老年人有更高詞匯量而且對(duì)詞語能夠更好地運(yùn)用。他們生活得更開心，人際關(guān)系也更和諧。

5. Does classical music make you smarter？

Making yourself （or your baby） sit through classical music won’t do anything for your IQ. You can’t put cheese on it， and the only reason to enjoy it is that you （or your baby） actually like it.

5. 古典音樂能讓人變聰明嗎？

無論是成人還是兒童，聽古典音樂都對(duì)人的智商毫無助益。別指望它能帶來什么奇效。唯一一個(gè)聽古典樂的理由，那就是你真的喜歡。

6. Will crossword puzzles keep you sharp？

Like classical music， crossword puzzles are terrific—but only if you actually enjoy them. People who have done puzzles all their lives have no particular cognitive advantage over anyone else.

6. 玩填字游戲能讓人變聰明嗎？

就像古典樂一樣，字謎只在你真的喜歡它們的時(shí)候有用。玩字謎游戲的人沒比其他人的認(rèn)知水平高到哪兒去。

7. Are men naturally better than women at math？

Just like women are naturally better at washing the dishes， right？ No. Come on. Study has shown that the gap in math and science test scores between girls and boys can be attributed not to natural ability， but to cultural messages. When a member of a group is exposed to negative stereotypes about that group， they perform poorly. We have to stop selling T-shirts to girls that say， “I’m too pretty to do math.” It’s hurting our math education.

7. 男人天生比女人數(shù)學(xué)好嗎？

就像女人天生就擅長(zhǎng)洗碗一樣，這是真的嗎？當(dāng)然不是。別胡說。研究證明，男女之間數(shù)學(xué)水平的差異來并非來自能力差異，而是文化因素。當(dāng)一個(gè)群體中的某個(gè)成員暴露在對(duì)該群體的負(fù)面刻板印象下時(shí)，他們就表現(xiàn)得很糟糕。是時(shí)候停止向女孩子們灌輸那種“我這么美麗學(xué)數(shù)學(xué)干嘛”的思想了，這已經(jīng)威脅到了我們的數(shù)學(xué)教育。