4 The Man Who Didn’t Look Right

看起来不对劲的男人

THE PSYCHOLOGIST GARY Klein once told me a story about a woman who attended a family gathering. She had spent years working as a paramedic and, upon arriving at the event, took one look at her father-in-law and got very concerned.

心理学家加里·克莱因曾经给我讲过一个关于一个参加家庭聚会的女人的故事。她做了几年的护理人员，一到那里，就看了一眼她的岳父，非常担心。

“I don’t like the way you look,” she said.

“我不喜欢你的样子，”她说。

Her father-in-law, who was feeling perfectly fine, jokingly replied, “Well, I don’t like your looks, either.”

她的岳父感觉非常好，开玩笑地回答说:“嗯，我也不喜欢你的长相。”

“No,” she insisted. “You need to go to the hospital now.”

“不，”她坚持说，“你现在就得去医院。”

A few hours later, the man was undergoing lifesaving surgery after an examination had revealed that he had a blockage to a major artery and was at immediate risk of a heart attack. Without his daughter-in-law’s intuition, he could have died.

几个小时后，这名男子接受了救命手术，医生检查发现他的一条主动脉堵塞，随时有心脏病发作的危险。没有他儿媳的直觉，他可能已经死了。

What did the paramedic see? How did she predict his impending heart attack?

那个医护人员看到了什么?她是怎么预测到他即将发作的心脏病的？

When major arteries are obstructed, the body focuses on sending blood to critical organs and away from peripheral locations near the surface of the skin. The result is a change in the pattern of distribution of blood in the face. After many years of working with people with heart failure, the woman had unknowingly developed the ability to recognize this pattern on sight. She couldn’t explain what it was that she noticed in her father-in-law’s face, but she knew something was wrong.

当主动脉被阻塞时，身体的重点是将血液输送到重要器官，并远离接近皮肤表面的外周部位。其结果是脸部血液分布模式的改变。经过多年与心力衰竭患者一起工作，这位妇女在不知不觉中发展出了一眼就能认出这种模式的能力。她无法解释她在岳父脸上看到的是什么，但她知道有些不对劲。

Similar stories exist in other fields. For example, military analysts can identify which blip on a radar screen is an enemy missile and which one is a plane from their own fleet even though they are traveling at the same speed, flying at the same altitude, and look identical on radar in nearly every respect. During the Gulf War, Lieutenant Commander Michael Riley saved an entire battleship when he ordered a missile shot down—despite the fact that it looked exactly like the battleship’s own planes on radar. He made the right call, but even his superior officers couldn’t explain how he did it.

类似的故事也存在于其他领域。例如，军事分析人员可以识别雷达屏幕上的哪个光点是敌方导弹哪一架是他们自己舰队的飞机，即使他们以相同的速度飞行，以相同的高度飞行，并且在雷达上几乎在各个方面都是一样的。海湾战争期间，海军少校迈克尔•莱利(MichaelRiley)下令击落一枚导弹，从而挽救了一整艘战列舰——尽管事实上，雷达上显示的那艘战列舰看上去完全像是自己的战机。他做出了正确的决定，但即使是他的上级军官也无法解释他是如何做到的。

Museum curators have been known to discern the difference between an authentic piece of art and an expertly produced counterfeit even though they can’t tell you precisely which details tipped them off. Experienced radiologists can look at a brain scan and predict the area where a stroke will develop before any obvious signs are visible to the untrained eye. I’ve even heard of hairdressers noticing whether a client is pregnant based only on the feel of her hair.

众所周知，博物馆馆长能够分辨出真品和仿制品的区别，尽管他们不能准确地告诉你哪些细节泄露了他们的秘密。有经验的放射科医生可以通过观察大脑扫描，在未经训练的眼睛看到任何明显的迹象之前，预测中风发生的区域。我甚至听说过理发师仅仅根据头发的感觉就能判断顾客是否怀孕。

The human brain is a prediction machine. It is continuously taking in your surroundings and analyzing the information it comes across. Whenever you experience something repeatedly—like a paramedic seeing the face of a heart attack patient or a military analyst seeing a missile on a radar screen—your brain begins noticing what is important, sorting through the details and highlighting the relevant cues, and cataloging that information for future use.

人类的大脑是一台预测机器。它不断地吸收你周围的事物，并分析它所遇到的信息。每当你反复经历一些事情——比如医护人员看到心脏病患者的脸，或者军事分析师在雷达屏幕上看到导弹——你的大脑就会开始注意到什么是重要的，整理细节，突出相关线索，并将这些信息编目以备将来使用。

With enough practice, you can pick up on the cues that predict certain outcomes without consciously thinking about it. Automatically, your brain encodes the lessons learned through experience. We can’t always explain what it is we are learning, but learning is happening all along the way, and your ability to notice the relevant cues in a given situation is the foundation for every habit you have.

通过足够的练习，你可以在不经过有意识的思考的情况下获得预测某些结果的线索。你的大脑会自动地将经验教训进行编码。我们不能总是解释我们在学习什么，但是学习一直在进行，你在特定情况下注意到相关线索的能力是你养成每个习惯的基础。

We underestimate how much our brains and bodies can do without thinking. You do not tell your hair to grow, your heart to pump, your lungs to breathe, or your stomach to digest. And yet your body handles all this and more on autopilot. You are much more than your conscious self.

我们低估了我们的大脑和身体不用思考的能力。你不会告诉你的头发要生长，你的心脏要跳动，你的肺要呼吸，你的胃要消化。然而，你的身体处理所有这一切，更多的自动驾驶仪。你不仅仅是有意识的自我。

Consider hunger. How do you know when you’re hungry? You don’t necessarily have to see a cookie on the counter to realize that it is time to eat. Appetite and hunger are governed nonconsciously. Your body has a variety of feedback loops that gradually alert you when it is time to eat again and that track what is going on around you and within you. Cravings can arise thanks to hormones and chemicals circulating through your body. Suddenly, you’re hungry even though you’re not quite sure what tipped you off.

考虑一下饥饿。你怎么知道自己饿了？你不一定要看到柜台上的饼干才意识到是时候吃了。食欲和饥饿是无意识的。你的身体有各种各样的反馈循环，当再次进食的时候，这些反馈循环会逐渐提醒你，并跟踪你周围和你内心发生了什么。由于荷尔蒙和化学物质的循环，食欲可能会增加穿过你的身体。突然间，你感到饿了，尽管你不太确定是什么让你感到饿了。

This is one of the most surprising insights about our habits: you don’t need to be aware of the cue for a habit to begin. You can notice an opportunity and take action without dedicating conscious attention to it. This is what makes habits useful.

这是关于我们的习惯的最令人惊讶的见解之一:你不需要意识到开始一个习惯的暗示。你可以注意到一个机会并采取行动，而不必刻意关注它。这就是使习惯有用的东西。

It’s also what makes them dangerous. As habits form, your actions come under the direction of your automatic and nonconscious mind. You fall into old patterns before you realize what’s happening. Unless someone points it out, you may not notice that you cover your mouth with your hand whenever you laugh, that you apologize before asking a question, or that you have a habit of finishing other people’s sentences. And the more you repeat these patterns, the less likely you become to question what you’re doing and why you’re doing it.

这也是他们的危险之处。随着习惯的形成，你的行动会在你无意识和无意识的大脑的指导下进行。在你意识到发生了什么之前，你就陷入了旧的模式。除非有人指出来，否则你可能不会注意到当你笑的时候你会用手捂住嘴，在问问题之前你会道歉，或者你习惯于把别人的话说完。你越是重复这些模式，你就越不可能质疑自己在做什么，为什么要这么做。

I once heard of a retail clerk who was instructed to cut up empty gift cards after customers had used up the balance on the card. One day, the clerk cashed out a few customers in a row who purchased with gift cards. When the next person walked up, the clerk swiped the customer’s actual credit card, picked up the scissors, and then cut it in half—entirely on autopilot—before looking up at the stunned customer and realizing what had just happened.

我曾经听说过一个零售店员被指示在顾客用完卡上的余额后把空的礼品卡剪碎。一天，店员连续兑现了几个用礼品卡购物的顾客。当下一个人走上前来时，店员刷了顾客的真实信用卡，拿起剪刀，然后完全自动地把它剪成两半，然后抬头看着这位惊愕的顾客，意识到刚才发生了什么。

Another woman I came across in my research was a former preschool teacher who had switched to a corporate job. Even though she was now working with adults, her old habits would kick in and she kept asking coworkers if they had washed their hands after going to the bathroom. I also found the story of a man who had spent years working as a lifeguard and would occasionally yell “Walk!” whenever he saw a child running.

我在研究中遇到的另一个女人，以前是幼儿园老师，现在转到了公司工作。尽管她现在和成年人一起工作，她的旧习惯还是会发作，她不停地问同事们是否在上完厕所后洗过手。我还发现了一个故事，讲的是一个做了多年救生员的男人偶尔会大喊“走!”每当他看到一个孩子在跑。

Over time, the cues that spark our habits become so common that they are essentially invisible: the treats on the kitchen counter, the remote control next to the couch, the phone in our pocket. Our responses to these cues are so deeply encoded that it may feel like the urge to act comes from nowhere. For this reason, we must begin the process of behavior change with awareness.

随着时间的推移，激发我们习惯的线索变得如此普遍，以至于它们本质上是看不见的:厨房台面上的美食，沙发旁边的遥控器，我们口袋里的手机。我们对这些暗示的反应是如此深入，以至于我们可能感觉到行动的冲动来自于无处不在。基于这个原因，我们必须带着觉知开始行为改变的过程。

Before we can effectively build new habits, we need to get a handle on our current ones. This can be more challenging than it sounds because once a habit is firmly rooted in your life, it is mostly

在我们能够有效地建立新的习惯之前，我们需要控制我们当前的习惯。这可能比听起来更具挑战性，因为一旦一个习惯牢牢地扎根在你的生活中，它大部分时间都是如此

nonconscious and automatic. If a habit remains mindless, you can’t expect to improve it. As the psychologist Carl Jung said, “Until you make the unconscious conscious, it will direct your life and you will call it fate.”

无意识和无意识的。如果一个习惯保持不动脑子，你就不能指望去改变它。正如心理学家卡尔·荣格所说，“直到你把潜意识变成有意识的，它才会指引你的生活，你称之为命运。”

THE HABITS SCORECARD

习惯记分卡

The Japanese railway system is regarded as one of the best in the world. If you ever find yourself riding a train in Tokyo, you’ll notice that the conductors have a peculiar habit.

日本的铁路系统被认为是世界上最好的铁路系统之一。如果你发现自己在东京坐火车，你会注意到列车员有一个特殊的习惯。

As each operator runs the train, they proceed through a ritual of pointing at different objects and calling out commands. When the train approaches a signal, the operator will point at it and say, “Signal is green.” As the train pulls into and out of each station, the operator will point at the speedometer and call out the exact speed. When it’s time to leave, the operator will point at the timetable and state the time. Out on the platform, other employees are performing similar actions. Before each train departs, staff members will point along the edge of the platform and declare, “All clear!” Every detail is identified, pointed at, and named aloud.*

当每个操作员驾驶火车时，他们会按照惯例指向不同的物体并发出指令。当列车接近信号灯时，操作员会指着它说，“信号灯是绿色的。”当火车进出每个车站时，操作员会指着里程表，报出准确的车速。当要离开的时候，接线员会指出时刻表并说明时间。在平台上，其他员工也在执行类似的操作。每趟列车开出前，工作人员都会指着站台边缘宣布:“安全!”每一个细节都被识别、指出并大声命名。

This process, known as Pointing-and-Calling, is a safety system designed to reduce mistakes. It seems silly, but it works incredibly well. Pointing-and-Calling reduces errors by up to 85 percent and cuts accidents by 30 percent. The MTA subway system in New York City adopted a modified version that is “point-only,” and “within two years of implementation, incidents of incorrectly berthed subways fell 57 percent.”

这个过程被称为“指向并调用”(Pointing-and-Calling)，是一个旨在减少错误的安全系统。这看起来很愚蠢，但是它确实非常有效。Pointing-and-Calling减少了85%的错误，减少了30%的事故。纽约市的MTA地铁系统采用了一个修改版本，即“只有点”，“在实施的两年内，错误停靠地铁的事故下降了57%。”

Pointing-and-Calling is so effective because it raises the level of awareness from a nonconscious habit to a more conscious level. Because the train operators must use their eyes, hands, mouth, and ears, they are more likely to notice problems before something goes wrong.

指点和召唤是如此有效，因为它提高了意识水平，从一个无意识的习惯到一个更有意识的水平。因为列车操作员必须使用他们的眼睛、手、嘴和耳朵，他们更有可能在出现问题之前注意到问题。

My wife does something similar. Whenever we are preparing to walk out the door for a trip, she verbally calls out the most essential items in her packing list. “I’ve got my keys. I’ve got my wallet. I’ve got my glasses. I’ve got my husband.”

我妻子也做了类似的事情。每当我们准备出门旅行时，她都会口头说出她装箱单上最重要的东西。“我有钥匙。我带了钱包。我带眼镜了。我还有丈夫呢。”

The more automatic a behavior becomes, the less likely we are to consciously think about it. And when we’ve done something a thousand times before, we begin to overlook things. We assume that the next time will be just like the last. We’re so used to doing what we’ve always done that we don’t stop to question whether it’s the right thing to do at all. Many of our failures in performance are largely attributable to a lack of self-awareness.

一种行为越是无意识，我们就越不可能有意识地去思考它。当我们以前做过一千次的事情时，我们就会开始忽视一些事情。我们假设下一次会和上一次一样。我们如此习惯于做我们一直在做的事情，以至于我们不会停下来质疑这是否是一件正确的事情。我们在表现上的许多失败主要是由于缺乏自我意识。

One of our greatest challenges in changing habits is maintaining awareness of what we are actually doing. This helps explain why the consequences of bad habits can sneak up on us. We need a “point-and-call” system for our personal lives. That’s the origin of the Habits Scorecard, which is a simple exercise you can use to become more aware of your behavior. To create your own, make a list of your daily habits.

在改变习惯的过程中，我们面临的最大挑战之一就是保持对我们实际所做事情的清醒认识。这有助于解释为什么坏习惯的后果会悄然出现在我们身边。我们的个人生活需要一个“点和呼叫”系统。这就是习惯记分卡的起源，它是一个简单的练习，你可以用它来更好地了解你的行为。为了创造你自己的习惯，列出你的日常习惯。

Here’s a sample of where your list might start:

下面是你的清单可能从哪里开始的一个例子:

Wake up

Turn off alarm

Check my phone

看看我的手机

Go to the bathroom

去洗手间

Weigh myself

称一下体重

Take a shower

洗个澡

Brush my teeth

刷牙

Floss my teeth

用牙线清洁牙齿

Put on deodorant

用除臭剂

Hang up towel to dry

把毛巾挂起来晾干

Get dressed

穿好衣服

Make a cup of tea

泡一杯茶

. . . and so on.

诸如此类。

Once you have a full list, look at each behavior, and ask yourself, “Is this a good habit, a bad habit, or a neutral habit?” If it is a good habit, write “+” next to it. If it is a bad habit, write “–”. If it is a neutral habit, write “=”.

一旦你有了一个完整的清单，看看每个行为，然后问问自己，“这是一个好习惯，一个坏习惯，还是一个中性的习惯?”如果这是一个好习惯，在它旁边写上“+”。如果它是一个坏习惯，写“-”。如果这是一个中性的习惯，写“”。

For example, the list above might look like this:

例如，上面的列表可能看起来像这样:

Wake up =

Turn off alarm =

Check my phone –

看看我的手机

Go to the bathroom =

去洗手间

Weigh myself +

称体重

Take a shower +

洗个澡+

Brush my teeth +

刷牙+

Floss my teeth +

用牙线清洁牙齿

Put on deodorant +

使用除臭剂+

Hang up towel to dry =

把毛巾挂起来晾干

Get dressed =

穿好衣服

Make a cup of tea +

泡一杯茶+

The marks you give to a particular habit will depend on your situation and your goals. For someone who is trying to lose weight, eating a bagel with peanut butter every morning might be a bad habit. For someone who is trying to bulk up and add muscle, the same behavior might be a good habit. It all depends on what you’re working toward.*

你给一个特定习惯打的分数取决于你的情况和你的目标。对于那些正在努力减肥的人来说，每天早上吃花生酱百吉饼可能是一个坏习惯。对于那些想要增加肌肉的人来说，同样的行为可能是一个好习惯。这完全取决于你正在朝着什么方向努力。

Scoring your habits can be a bit more complex for another reason as well. The labels “good habit” and “bad habit” are slightly inaccurate. There are no good habits or bad habits. There are only effective habits. That is, effective at solving problems. All habits serve you in some way —even the bad ones—which is why you repeat them. For this exercise, categorize your habits by how they will benefit you in the long run. Generally speaking, good habits will have net positive outcomes. Bad habits have net negative outcomes. Smoking a cigarette may reduce stress right now (that’s how it’s serving you), but it’s not a healthy long-term behavior.

由于另一个原因，给你的习惯打分可能有点复杂。“好习惯”和“坏习惯”的标签略有不准确。没有好习惯，也没有坏习惯。只有有效的习惯。也就是说，有效地解决问题。所有的习惯在某种程度上都对你有好处ーー即使是坏习惯ーー这就是你重复它们的原因。在这个练习中，根据你的习惯从长远来看会给你带来什么好处来分类。一般来说，好的习惯会带来好的结果。坏习惯会带来负面影响。吸烟现在可能会减轻压力(它就是这样为你服务的)，但它不是一种健康的长期行为。

If you’re still having trouble determining how to rate a particular habit, here is a question I like to use: “Does this behavior help me become the type of person I wish to be? Does this habit cast a vote for or against my desired identity?” Habits that reinforce your desired identity are usually good. Habits that conflict with your desired identity are usually bad.

如果你仍然无法确定如何评价一个特定的习惯，这里有一个我喜欢使用的问题:“这种行为是否帮助我成为我希望成为的那种人？这个习惯是否给还是违背我的理想身份?”强化你渴望的身份的习惯通常是好的。与你渴望的身份相冲突的习惯通常是不好的。

As you create your Habits Scorecard, there is no need to change anything at first. The goal is to simply notice what is actually going on. Observe your thoughts and actions without judgment or internal criticism. Don’t blame yourself for your faults. Don’t praise yourself for your successes.

当你创建你的习惯记分卡时，没有必要一开始就改变任何东西。我们的目标只是简单地注意到正在发生的事情。观察你的想法和行动，不要评判或内部批评。不要为自己的错误而责怪自己。不要因为自己的成功而夸奖自己。

If you eat a chocolate bar every morning, acknowledge it, almost as if you were watching someone else. Oh, how interesting that they would do such a thing. If you binge-eat, simply notice that you are eating more calories than you should. If you waste time online, notice that you are spending your life in a way that you do not want to.

如果你每天早上都吃一块巧克力，那么就承认它，就好像你在看别人一样。哦，他们做这种事真有意思。如果你暴饮暴食，只要注意你摄入的卡路里比你应该摄入的多就可以了。如果你在网上浪费时间，请注意你正在以一种你不想要的方式度过你的生活。

The first step to changing bad habits is to be on the lookout for them. If you feel like you need extra help, then you can try Pointing-and-Calling in your own life. Say out loud the action that you are thinking of taking and what the outcome will be. If you want to cut back on your junk food habit but notice yourself grabbing another cookie, say out loud, “I’m about to eat this cookie, but I don’t need it. Eating it will cause me to gain weight and hurt my health.”

改变坏习惯的第一步是注意它们。如果你觉得你需要额外的帮助，那么你可以在你自己的生活中尝试指点和呼叫。大声说出你正在考虑采取的行动以及结果是什么。如果你想减少吃垃圾食品的习惯，但是注意到自己又拿了一块饼干，大声说出来，“我正要吃这块饼干，但是我不需要它。吃它会使我增加体重，伤害我的健康。”

Hearing your bad habits spoken aloud makes the consequences seem more real. It adds weight to the action rather than letting yourself mindlessly slip into an old routine. This approach is useful even if you’re simply trying to remember a task on your to-do list. Just saying out loud, “Tomorrow, I need to go to the post office after lunch,” increases the odds that you’ll actually do it. You’re getting yourself to acknowledge the need for action—and that can make all the difference.

听到你大声说出自己的坏习惯会让后果看起来更真实。它增加了行动的重量，而不是让自己无意识地陷入一个老套路。即使你只是想记住待办事项清单上的一项任务，这种方法也很有用。只要大声说出“明天，午饭后我要去邮局”，就会增加你真正去邮局的几率。你正在让自己认识到采取行动的必要性----这会带来很大的不同。

The process of behavior change always starts with awareness. Strategies like Pointing-and-Calling and the Habits Scorecard are focused on getting you to recognize your habits and acknowledge the cues that trigger them, which makes it possible to respond in a way that benefits you.

行为改变的过程总是从觉察开始。诸如“指指点点”(Pointing-and-Calling)和“习惯记分卡”(HabitsScorecard)之类的策略，侧重于让你认识到自己的习惯，并认识到触发它们的线索，这样就有可能以一种对你有利的方。

Chapter Summary

With enough practice, your brain will pick up on the cues that predict certain outcomes without consciously thinking about it.

通过足够多的练习，你的大脑会在没有清醒思考的情况下接收到预测某些结果的线索。

Once our habits become automatic, we stop paying attention to what we are doing.

一旦我们的习惯成为自动的，我们就不再关注我们正在做的事情。

The process of behavior change always starts with awareness. You need to be aware of your habits before you can change them.

行为改变的过程总是从觉察开始。你需要意识到你的习惯，然后才能改变它们。

Pointing-and-Calling raises your level of awareness from a nonconscious habit to a more conscious level by verbalizing your actions.

通过描述你的行为，“指指点点”提高了你的意识水平，从一个无意识的习惯提升到一个更有意识的水平。

The Habits Scorecard is a simple exercise you can use to become more aware of your behavior.

习惯记分卡是一个简单的练习，你可以用它来更好地了解你的行为。