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Religion is sometimes thought of as the sworn enemy of science,
宗教有时被认为是科学的死敌，
but can we actually use science to better understand religion?
但能用科学来加深我们对宗教的理解吗？
Now I’m not trying to get into a religious debate here,
说到这里，我并不是想引发一场关于宗教的论战，
so put your Twitter fingers away, alright?
所以，键盘侠们可以死心了，好吗？
Using neuroscience, we can dive into how religion is recognized by the brain.
在神经科学的帮助下，我们能够深入了解大脑对宗教的认识。
But first, let’s define a few things:
但请允许我们先来澄清几个概念：
Religion is a set of beliefs and those beliefs are correlated with activation of different parts of our brains.
宗教是一套信仰，这些信仰与人脑多个区域的激活有关。
That brings us to theory of mind.
说到这里，我们就不得不提一下心理理论。
Theory of mind is our ability to interpret one's own and other people's emotional and mental states — including our desires and beliefs.
心理理论指我们解读自己和他人的情感或心理状态的能力 - 包括欲望和信仰。
Which means, religion and theory of mind may be connected by people’s ability to imagine a reality beyond one's own immediate sensory experience.
也就是说，宗教和心理理论或许可以通过人们想象一个自己的直接感觉体验之外的现实这种能力联系起来。
If that’s true, then the same parts of the brain that activate during theory of mind tests will also activate when thinking about G-O-D.
如果这一说法成立的话，那么，大脑中能够被心理理论激活的部分也能够在人们想到天上的那位时被激活。
And that’s just what scientists have found.
而科学家们发现的正是这一点。
When researchers asked people about theory of mind tasks or to think about religion,
当研究人员向人们询问心理理论任务或让他们思考宗教时，
the same regions of the brain lit up when put under an fMRI,
核磁共振成像（fMRI）时，大脑中活跃的是相同的区域，
and neurotheologists –– the folks who study the intersection of religion and neuroscience ––
神经神学家们——也就是同时研究宗教和神经科学的那些人 -
are interested in why those parts light up.
对此感到非常好奇。
According to fMRI data, the ventromedial prefrontal cortex,
核磁共振数据显示，大脑正中的前额皮层、
the anterior cingulate gyrus, the nucleus accumbens, and the parietal lobe are all affected when subjects are prompted about religion.
前扣带回、伏隔核及顶叶都会受到影响，受试者对宗教很敏感的时候。
In a study where 15 Christians and 15 “non-believers” were asked about the existence of the big G,
在一项研究中，15名基督徒和15名“无宗教信仰者”被问及大G是否存在时，
the ventromedial prefrontal cortex lit up in all participants.
所有参与者大脑正中的前额皮层都活跃了起来。
This region of the brain is specifically responsible for reward and perception of self-relevance.
而这个区域是专门负责处理与自我相关的回报和感知的。
Remember “rewards” because we’ll come back to that.
记住“回报”这一点，因为我们一会儿还会讲到。
Another region that lit up was the anterior cingulate gyrus.
被宗教问题激活的另一个区域是前扣带回。
This part of the brain is thought to modulate conflict, errors, and violations of our expectations.
这个区域被认为是调节冲突，错误和违反我们期望的事情。
This suggests there was a degree of internal conflict when subjects were asked to think about a higher power.
这表明，当受试者被要求考虑更高的权力时，大脑中就会产生一定程度的内部冲突。
Even non-believers had this area light up,
即使是不信仰宗教的人的这个区域也会被激活，
because whether they chose Yahweh or the highway, they were still experiencing some type of uncertainty.
因为无论他们选择的是耶和华还是自由，都面临着某种不确定性。
In 2016, another study found that when Mormon participants were in the midst of an intense religious experience,
2016年，另一项研究发现，摩门教徒处于激烈的宗教经历时，
it increased their heart rates and activated parts of their brains linked to rewards the same way sex and drugs do.
他们的心率会加快，大脑中原本性和毒品激发快感的区域也会被激活。
Please don’t excommunicate me.
不要撵我出去，求你们了。
This is science, I swear.
这真的是科学研究的结果，我发誓。
The state is actually called “religious euphoria” or “religious ecstasy.”
这种状态实际上就是所谓的“宗教兴奋”或“宗教狂喜”。
The nucleus accumbens, specifically, lit up like a Christmas Tree
伏隔核部位尤其活跃，就像点亮的圣诞树一样，
which is another reward center just like the the ventromedial pre (oh my God this is so much to say I’m just gonna say VMPFC, which is almost worse).
而伏隔核也是一个奖赏中枢，跟大脑正中的（天啦，这个单词实在是太长了，我还是说VMPFC吧，感觉更特么长了）
A 2010 study found that during religious activity, there was a decrease in activity in the parietal lobe, which processes physical sensory stimuli.
2010年的一项研究发现，参加宗教活动时，顶叶的活动减少，顶叶负责的是处理物理感官刺激。
Meaning, when people think about God, they’re potentially experiencing a feeling of being somewhat detached from their physical body.
意思就是，当人们想到上帝时，他们可能会有与身体有些脱离的感觉。
Does this mean those of us who practice a religion are succumbing to a higher power?
这是否就意味着我们这些从事宗教活动的人向更高的权力屈服了呢？
Letting the Force flow through us, perhaps?
意味着让上帝的力量流入我们的身体了吗？
More research definitely needed.
要回答这个问题我们绝对还需要投入更多研究。
(If I could be a Jedi, I absolutely wouldn’t be here at all. I say that as a friend. Moving things in my house.)
（如果我能成为绝地武士，我肯定不是在这里跟你们说话了，这话我是以朋友的身份说的，我肯定是在用念力搬我家里的东西了。）
Science and religion seem to be like Azealia Banks and staying out of drama
科学和宗教似乎像褪去了戏精身份的Azealia Banks，
but rather than have them constantly at odds,
与其让它们一直矛盾下去，
perhaps look at religion as a thing that developed as part of human social cognition and behavior over our evolutionary history.
或许我们可以把宗教看作是在进化过程中人类发展出的一种社会认知和社会行为。
The development of our prefrontal cortex over generations allows us to have that abstract, existential, and/or religious thought.
是历经一代又一代人的前额皮层的发展让我们拥有了那种抽象的、关于存在的和/或宗教的思想。
And that’s an important part of what makes us ‘human’-- as our brains were advancing physically,
这也是我们“人”之为人的重要组成部分- 因为我们的大脑也经历了物理发展，
religion and other belief systems came about to help us connect and understand each other.
宗教和其他信仰系统的出现是为了帮助我们加深彼此之间的联系和理解。
One common theme across religion is prosociality, basically “love thy neighbor;”
不同宗教都有一个共同的主题，那就是亲社会，本质上来讲就是“爱你的邻居”，
we relate to one another through what we believe.
我们就是通过我们的信仰来维持彼此之间的联系的。
And even if your beliefs are different from your neighbors’,
即便你和你的邻居信仰不同，
just remember ‘Theory of Mind’ —
只要记住'心灵理论'就好了 -
our brains have the capacity to understand and interpret their thoughts and perspectives,
记住我们的大脑有能力理解和解读他人的想法和观点，
so just be good to each other is all!
所以大家只要善待彼此就好了！
(Oh, and find out if midichlorians are real
（对了，麻烦大家帮我了解一下原力是否真的存在，
and if they’re found in the parietal lobe ‘cause I’m really trying to use the Force to clean my apartment. Like Laundry. Clean.)
科学家是否在顶叶中发现了原力，因为我真的非常想用它来打扫我的房间，洗衣服。拖地什么的。）
Yo, did someone say pray…ing mantis? I’m pretty sure someone in here said praying mantis.
哟，我好像听到有人说祈祷...螳螂了？我敢肯定刚才有人提到祈祷螳螂了。
If you want to find out more about praying mantises, check out this video right here on the mating rituals of the praying mantis.
想了解更多关于祈祷螳螂的信息，请点击这里查看螳螂交配仪式的视频。
And don’t forget to subscribe to Seeker for answers to all the questions you never knew you had! We have them.
还有，不要忘记订阅“科学探索之旅”频道喔。有些大家可能从来都没想到的问题，我们都给大家解答了。
We have all the answers.
没有我们没回答的，只有你没想到的。
