青蛙、蝴蝶、鸟、人类，无一物种不行骗 Among male green frogs, some lower their voices to make themselves sound bigger. Devious Butterflies and Other Lying Species 王丽娟译 偶然经过池塘，听到满池绿蛙嘓嘓叫时，不妨听个仔细，当中可能有绿蛙正 在「吹牛」。 If you happen across a pond full of croaking green frogs, listen carefully. Some of them may be lying. 公绿蛙以嘓声昭告其他绿蛙牠们有多大只，体型越大，嘓声越深沈。大蛙的 嘓声足以吓走其他公蛙，不敢侵犯牠们的地盘。 A croak is how male green frogs tell other frogs how big they are. The bigger the male, the deeper the croak. The sound of a big male is enough to scare off other males from challenging him for his territory. 嘓声大多是诚实的，有些却不是。有些小公蛙会刻意压低嗓门，使自己听起 来大只一些。牠们的大块头嘓声，吓倒在公平决斗里会把牠们摆平的公蛙。 While most croaks are honest, some are not. Some small males lower their voices to make themselves sound bigger. Their big-bodied croaks intimidate frogs that would beat them in a fair fight. 青蛙只是会搞欺敌手段的许多物种之一。根据文献，从鸟类到甲壳类到灵长 类，种种生物，当然包括人类，都有不老实的纪录。杜克大学生物学家、2005年 《动物沟通演化》一书共同作者史蒂芬‧诺威基说：「人类的沟通就是谎话连篇 。只要读一两部莎翁戏剧就能明白这点。」 Green frogs are only one deceptive species among many. Dishonesty has been documented in creatures ranging from birds to crustaceans to primates, including, of course, Homo sapiens. “When you think of human communication, it’s rife with deception,” said Stephen Nowicki, a biologist at Duke University and the co-author of the 2005 book “The Evolution of Animal Communication.” “You just need to read a Shakespeare play or two to see that.” 为什麽要欺骗，生物学家困惑已久。说谎按理会破坏动物间的诚信。为什麽 绿蛙始终相信，大嘓声代表大青蛙？新的研究提供若干解答。一只动物真话与谎 言混合，比较有利於通过天择，听众广大时尤其如此。 Biologists have long puzzled over deception. Dishonesty should undermine trust between animals. Why, for example, do green frogs keep believing that a big croak means a big male? New research is offering some answers: Natural selection can favor a mix of truth and lies, particularly when an animal has a big audience. 康乃尔大学生物数学家史蒂芬‧艾纳说：「我认为，这项研究成果解释了包 括人类在内许多动物沟通的演化谜题。」 “I think it could explain a lot of mysteries in the evolution of communication in animals, including humans,” said Stephen P. Ellner, a mathematical biologist at Cornell University. 到1900年代中期，科学家已记录到一个物种诳骗另一个物种的例子。譬如， 有些无毒蝴蝶演化出和有毒蝴蝶一样的翅膀花纹，用来警告鸟类保持距离。不过 ，在同一物种内部，诚实通常才是上策。动物会相互发出叫声，彼此警告提防掠 食动物；雄性在打斗中以叫声传达牠们的英勇；小动物以叫声让父母知道牠们饿 了。 By the mid-1900s, scientists had documented deception in cases where one species fooled another. Some nonpoisonous butterflies, for example, evolved the same wing patterns that poisonous species used to warn off birds. Within a species, however, honesty usually prevailed. Animals gave each other alarm calls to warn of predators; males signaled their prowess in fighting; babies let their parents know they were hungry. 诺威基说：「发出信号，是为了传达信息。」 “The point of signaling was to get information across,” Dr. Nowicki said. 这种巧妙的安排只有一个漏洞，就是给说谎者大好的机会。例如，伯劳鸟经 常以叫声警示有掠食者靠近。但有时伯劳也会拉假警报，吓走同伴飞离食物。 There was just one hole in this happy arrangement: it presented a great opportunity for liars. Shrikes, for example, regularly use alarm calls to warn one another of predators. But sometimes the birds will use false alarm calls to scare other shrikes away from food. 想像一下，伯劳拉假警报诓走其他伯劳。牠因此能多吃一点，连带多生一些 幼鸟。但假警报拉多了，天择理论对那些不上当的伯劳有利。 Imagine that a shrike fools other shrikes with a false alarm. It eats more, and therefore may hatch more babies. If false alarms become common, natural selection should favor shrikes that are not fooled by them. 科学家创造这项理论的数学模式时，发现欺骗可能破坏许多攸关重大的沟通。 When scientists created mathematical models of this theory, they found that dishonesty could undermine many vital kinds of communication. 特拉维夫大学生物学家阿莫兹‧札哈维提出诚实终获胜利的原因。他的想法 是，诚实所以胜出，全因说谎要付出相对惨痛的代价。拿公鸡以又大又红的鸡冠 吸引母鸡为例，母鸡选择健康的公鸡而获益，因为牠的小鸡也会健健康康。鸡冠 愈大，颜色越鲜艳，代表公鸡的状况愈好。 Amotz Zahavi, a biologist at Tel Aviv University, proposed a way for honesty to prevail. His idea was that honesty won out only because lying carried a relatively large cost. Roosters attract hens, for example, with their large red combs. Hens benefit from choosing mates in good condition, because their chicks will tend to be in good condition as well. The bigger and brighter a comb, the better condition the rooster is in. 理论上，羸弱的公鸡也能生出唬人的大鸡冠，把母鸡骗过来。不过，羸弱的 公鸡顶着大鸡冠，代价要比强壮的公鸡大。利弊相权，造成弱公鸡与强公鸡传递 讯息还是诚实为上。 Theoretically, a weak rooster could fool hens by growing a deceptively large comb. But it costs a weak rooster more than it does a strong one to build a big comb. This tradeoff leads to honest signals from weak and strong roosters. 但是，做过研究的人已经说明欺骗终难得逞，欺骗何以仍然盛行？ But if the doctors had explained why deception did not win out, why did it continue to thrive? 田纳西大学博士後研究员强纳森‧罗威尔，最近创造一个更复杂的动物信号 模式，可以解释欺骗何以如此常见。 Jonathan Rowell, a postdoctoral researcher at the University of Tennessee, recently created a more complicated model of animal signals that may explain why deception is so common. 罗威尔建立的数学模式，有两个信息接收者，而不是一个。发信号的动物能 选择诚实或欺骗，接收者也可以老实或不老实回应。 Dr. Rowell built a mathematical model with two receivers instead of one. The signaling animal could choose to be honest or dishonest. The receivers could respond to the signal as an honest one or a dishonest one. 罗威尔发现，在这个模式中，诚实与欺骗能维持稳定的共存状态。发信号者 有时会骗人，但尽管其中有诈，接收者照信不误。 Dr. Rowell discovered that honesty and deception could reach a stable coexistence in the model. The signalers could sometimes be dishonest, and yet the receivers continued to believe the signals despite the deception. 不同物种有不同程度的欺骗倾向。性喜独行的动物可能演化成比在大团体里 度过漫长一辈子的动物诚实。果真如此，人类极可能是随时准备说谎的老手。 Different species may be prone to different levels of deception. Solitary animals may evolve to be more honest than animals that spend long lives in big societies. If that is true, then humans may be exquisitely primed to deceive. 和罗威尔共事的康乃尔大学演化生物学家柯恩‧芮夫说：「我们活在人人监 视我们的网络里。你向一人传递信号，其他许许多多人都在窃听。」 “We’re in a network of individuals watching us,” said Dr. H. Kern Reeve, an evolutionary biologist at Cornell who worked with Dr Rowell. “If you provide a signal to one individual, it’s being eavesdropped on by lots of other people.” By CARL ZIMMER / NY TMES 原文参照 http://www.iht.com/articles/2006/12/27/news/snspecies.php 关键字句 公绿蛙以嘓声（croak），说明自己的体型，好吓走（scare off） 其他公蛙， 不敢妄加觊觎（challenge）地盘（territory），但有些公蛙不老实 （dishonest），会以小装大欺骗（deceive）大众。 会骗人的物种（species），从鸟类、甲壳类（crustacean），到灵长类 （primate）都有，人类（Homo sapiens）自然也不例外，人类沟通（human communication）即充满（be rife with）欺骗（deception）。 科学家对动物为何选择欺骗，一直感到困惑（puzzle），毕竟，欺骗会破坏 （undermine）彼此信任。科学家发现，动物将真话与谎言混合（mix），更 有利於（favor）牠们通过天择（natural selection）这一关，而在进化 （evolve）过程中，孤单独行的（solitary）动物，可能变成比长期生活於 大社会的动物来得诚实。果真如此，人类在说谎话上，极可能早就是随时准 备说谎的老手。（王丽娟） 【2007-01-08/联合报/B6版/UNITED DAILY NEWS】 -- 赵客缦胡缨 吴钩霜雪明 银鞍照白马 飒沓如流星 十步杀一人 千里不留行 事了拂衣去 深藏身与名 闲过信陵饮 脱剑膝前横 将炙啖朱亥 持觞劝侯赢 三盃吐然诺 五岳倒为轻 眼花耳热後 意气素霓生 救赵挥金槌 邯郸先震惊 千秋二壮士 烜赫大梁城 纵使侠骨香 不惭世上英 谁能书合下 白首太玄经 李白 侠客行 --

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