青蛙、蝴蝶、鳥、人類，無一物種不行騙 Among male green frogs, some lower their voices to make themselves sound bigger. Devious Butterflies and Other Lying Species 王麗娟譯 偶然經過池塘，聽到滿池綠蛙嘓嘓叫時，不妨聽個仔細，當中可能有綠蛙正 在「吹牛」。 If you happen across a pond full of croaking green frogs, listen carefully. Some of them may be lying. 公綠蛙以嘓聲昭告其他綠蛙牠們有多大隻，體型越大，嘓聲越深沈。大蛙的 嘓聲足以嚇走其他公蛙，不敢侵犯牠們的地盤。 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. 嘓聲大多是誠實的，有些卻不是。有些小公蛙會刻意壓低嗓門，使自己聽起 來大隻一些。牠們的大塊頭嘓聲，嚇倒在公平決鬥裡會把牠們擺平的公蛙。 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. 青蛙只是會搞欺敵手段的許多物種之一。根據文獻，從鳥類到甲殼類到靈長 類，種種生物，當然包括人類，都有不老實的紀錄。杜克大學生物學家、2005年 《動物溝通演化》一書共同作者史蒂芬‧諾威基說：「人類的溝通就是謊話連篇 。只要讀一兩部莎翁戲劇就能明白這點。」 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.” 為什麼要欺騙，生物學家困惑已久。說謊按理會破壞動物間的誠信。為什麼 綠蛙始終相信，大嘓聲代表大青蛙？新的研究提供若干解答。一隻動物真話與謊 言混合，比較有利於通過天擇，聽眾廣大時尤其如此。 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. 康乃爾大學生物數學家史蒂芬‧艾納說：「我認為，這項研究成果解釋了包 括人類在內許多動物溝通的演化謎題。」 “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，科學家已記錄到一個物種誑騙另一個物種的例子。譬如， 有些無毒蝴蝶演化出和有毒蝴蝶一樣的翅膀花紋，用來警告鳥類保持距離。不過 ，在同一物種內部，誠實通常才是上策。動物會相互發出叫聲，彼此警告提防掠 食動物；雄性在打鬥中以叫聲傳達牠們的英勇；小動物以叫聲讓父母知道牠們餓 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. 諾威基說：「發出信號，是為了傳達信息。」 “The point of signaling was to get information across,” Dr. Nowicki said. 這種巧妙的安排只有一個漏洞，就是給說謊者大好的機會。例如，伯勞鳥經 常以叫聲警示有掠食者靠近。但有時伯勞也會拉假警報，嚇走同伴飛離食物。 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，伯勞拉假警報誆走其他伯勞。牠因此能多吃一點，連帶多生一些 幼鳥。但假警報拉多了，天擇理論對那些不上當的伯勞有利。 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. 科學家創造這項理論的數學模式時，發現欺騙可能破壞許多攸關重大的溝通。 When scientists created mathematical models of this theory, they found that dishonesty could undermine many vital kinds of communication. 特拉維夫大學生物學家阿莫茲‧札哈維提出誠實終獲勝利的原因。他的想法 是，誠實所以勝出，全因說謊要付出相對慘痛的代價。拿公雞以又大又紅的雞冠 吸引母雞為例，母雞選擇健康的公雞而獲益，因為牠的小雞也會健健康康。雞冠 愈大，顏色越鮮豔，代表公雞的狀況愈好。 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. 理論上，羸弱的公雞也能生出唬人的大雞冠，把母雞騙過來。不過，羸弱的 公雞頂著大雞冠，代價要比強壯的公雞大。利弊相權，造成弱公雞與強公雞傳遞 訊息還是誠實為上。 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，做過研究的人已經說明欺騙終難得逞，欺騙何以仍然盛行？ But if the doctors had explained why deception did not win out, why did it continue to thrive? 田納西大學博士後研究員強納森‧羅威爾，最近創造一個更複雜的動物信號 模式，可以解釋欺騙何以如此常見。 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. 羅威爾建立的數學模式，有兩個信息接收者，而不是一個。發信號的動物能 選擇誠實或欺騙，接收者也可以老實或不老實回應。 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. 羅威爾發現，在這個模式中，誠實與欺騙能維持穩定的共存狀態。發信號者 有時會騙人，但儘管其中有詐，接收者照信不誤。 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. 不同物種有不同程度的欺騙傾向。性喜獨行的動物可能演化成比在大團體裡 度過漫長一輩子的動物誠實。果真如此，人類極可能是隨時準備說謊的老手。 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. 和羅威爾共事的康乃爾大學演化生物學家柯恩‧芮夫說：「我們活在人人監 視我們的網絡裡。你向一人傳遞信號，其他許許多多人都在竊聽。」 “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 原文參照 http://www.iht.com/articles/2006/12/27/news/snspecies.php 關鍵字句 公綠蛙以嘓聲（croak），說明自己的體型，好嚇走（scare off） 其他公蛙， 不敢妄加覬覦（challenge）地盤（territory），但有些公蛙不老實 （dishonest），會以小裝大欺騙（deceive）大眾。 會騙人的物種（species），從鳥類、甲殼類（crustacean），到靈長類 （primate）都有，人類（Homo sapiens）自然也不例外，人類溝通（human communication）即充滿（be rife with）欺騙（deception）。 科學家對動物為何選擇欺騙，一直感到困惑（puzzle），畢竟，欺騙會破壞 （undermine）彼此信任。科學家發現，動物將真話與謊言混合（mix），更 有利於（favor）牠們通過天擇（natural selection）這一關，而在進化 （evolve）過程中，孤單獨行的（solitary）動物，可能變成比長期生活於 大社會的動物來得誠實。果真如此，人類在說謊話上，極可能早就是隨時準 備說謊的老手。（王麗娟） 【2007-01-08/聯合報/B6版/UNITED DAILY NEWS】 -- 趙客縵胡纓 吳鉤霜雪明 銀鞍照白馬 颯沓如流星 十步殺一人 千里不留行 事了拂衣去 深藏身與名 閒過信陵飲 脫劍膝前橫 將炙啖朱亥 持觴勸侯贏 三盃吐然諾 五嶽倒為輕 眼花耳熱後 意氣素霓生 救趙揮金槌 邯鄲先震驚 千秋二壯士 烜赫大梁城 縱使俠骨香 不慚世上英 誰能書閤下 白首太玄經 李白 俠客行 --

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