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你有没有想过，为什么生活中总离不开幽灵、鬼怪、吸血鬼这类话题？为什么吸血鬼题材的文学作品和影视作品长盛不衰？一直以来，关于灵异现象的解释五花八门，且有增无减。在“闹鬼”的万圣节到来之际，我们来听听科学家的看法吧。
The Roots of 1）Vampires and Ghosts
Host A： Halloween’s nearly upon us. It’s time for 2）ghouls and ghosts and going round peoples’ houses and getting sweets.
Host B： We’re talking about vampires， 3）presumably that stems from a rather different sort of historical narrative. Can you tell us a bit about where vampires come from？
Deborah Hyde （Vampire Expert）： The modern perspective on vampires， it’s thought that it’s two things. It’s a kind of a 4）scapegoating mechanism in the context of people being 5）panicky because there’s been 6）epidemic death. And the second thing is their misunderstanding about the normal processes of 7）decomposition. And it’s very easy for us to be all 8）pompous and say， “Well， of course， this happens and that happens，” but we can observe these things in a safe context. And in historical times you would bury a body very， very quickly for the simple reason that it was a source of 9）contagion， so the fact that， for example， 10）rigor mortis wears off and a body becomes flexible again， or that not all bodies decompose at the same rate， or that the 11）viscera can appear to be fresh even after a while in the grave， would all mislead people into thinking that there was some more life left in the body where it wasn’t.
The vampire epidemic， as it was called at the time， in fact probably was a result of 12）Slavic 13）folklore originating in kind of like the 9th or 10th centuries. It’s very， very 14）primal folklore， but it suddenly hit the West after the 15）Ottoman Empire receded. So we had a Western government administering people who were previously under a different government， and these 16）lurid stories， that the governments misunderstood， or the doctors on the site misunderstood， were incredibly popular pamphlets and paperbacks， and that’s how the story got out.
Host A： One of the interesting things I find about this is that the people will genuinely believe that particular things have happened to them， or they’ll believe stories that they’ve heard from sort of “trusted others.” What other explanations have scientists come up with？
Chris French （Psychologist）： I mean， apart from the small minority of hoaxes， the vast majority of claims of ghosts， specifically ghostly encounters， are probably down to sincere misinterpretations of naturally-occurring events. I mean you look at the kind of literature on this， and there’s some very， very 17）obscure explanations for things that most people would never come up with， you know. You might hear some strange noise， and it turns out to be 18）beetles ticking in the woodwork， or， that are rats in the loft， or all kinds of possibilities. And just because people can’t think of an explanation doesn’t mean there isn’t one. But once you’ve got the idea that your house is 19）haunted， then even very 20）mundane ordinary things， like you can’t find your keys；“Hah， the ghosts moved them！” No， you’ve just forgotten where you’ve put them. That’s all it is. And as I say， you also get these kind of 21）anomalous psychological experiences. I mean， we all have that feeling sometimes that “Is someone behind us？”， or， you know， you find that context isn’t really important. If people walk round a building that they are told has...there’d been 22）paranormal activity there， they’ll report more of those experiences， even if it’s just not true. The mere suggestion is enough for people to start noticing changes in temperature， or even imagining those things. So all those kind of factors come in as well. Host B： Human beings are also 23）prone to finding meaning in thing. We want to find meanings， we want to create narratives， and we can do so even where they’re not there. So， if you ask a child to come up with a story about a polar bear in a white coat， he will come up with a why-based explanation instead of a how-based explanation， and coming up with a howbased explanation needs a lot of training. You’ve got to be educated into that. That it was a natural human way of thinking. So， if something will happen， we’ll pick out the bits that we want， then we’ll create a narrative， and that narrative will be based on the fact that there is something in the environment， whether you can directly 24）perceive it or not， that has 25）intention.
主持人甲：万圣节临近，又到了各路食尸鬼和众幽灵挨家挨户索要糖果的时候了。
主持人乙：我们正在谈论吸血鬼。吸血鬼的说法可能有很不一样的历史渊源。你能不能跟我们说说，吸血鬼是怎么来的？
德博拉·海德（吸血鬼研究专家）：从现代的角度看吸血鬼，它有两个方面。一是流行病导致人大批死亡，引发恐慌，吸血鬼成了替罪羊。二是当时人们对尸体分解腐烂这个正常过程缺乏了解。今天我们处于安全环境下，当然可以自负地说：“哦，当然了，这个、那个情况会相继发生。”而在历史上，人们会非常迅速地掩埋尸体。原因很简单，尸体就是疾病的传染源。但之后会出现一些现象：比如在尸僵缓解消失后，尸体会重新变软，可屈可直；或者不同尸体腐烂的速度不同；或者即使尸体已经埋在坟墓里一段时间，其内脏看起来还很新鲜等。这些现象都会让人产生一些误解，以为尸身里还有生命，其实不然。
当时把吸血鬼看成是疾病传播的元凶，事实上可能源自九、十世纪的斯拉夫民间传说。那是非常非常原始的民间传说，但在奥斯曼帝国衰落后，它突然传到了西方。由于此前被持不同理念的政府统治的人民如今处于西方政府治下，而政府对事情的误读，或者说现场医生的误解，都导致这些可怕的故事传说成了人气甚高的宣传资料。关于吸血鬼的说法就这样传播出去了。
主持人甲：我注意到一个有意思的现象，人们会真的相信在自己身上发生过某些灵异事件，或者说对某些“值得信任之人”的话信以为真。科学家对此有何解释呢？
克里斯·弗伦奇（心理学家）：我想说的是，除了小部分纯属骗局外，大部分声称鬼魂确实存在，特别是曾与鬼魂相遇的说法，都可能是对一些自然现象的善意误解。如果你翻看这方面的历史文献，你会看到一些如今绝大多数人都不会想到的、非常令人费解的解释。比如说，你听到一些奇怪的声音，那只不过是小虫子在木头上活动，又或者是阁楼里有老鼠，有各种各样的可能。人们没法说出个中缘由，并不等于说合理的解释就不存在。而你一旦相信你的房子闹鬼，那即使发生的事极为平常，比如说钥匙找不到了，你也会说：“哈，是鬼让钥匙挪了地方！”其实不是，只不过你忘了自己把钥匙放哪儿了。就这么简单。就像我说的，你还会有一些异常的心理体验。我指的是，我们都有过“是不是有人在身后？”的感觉，又或者，你知道吧，你会觉得真实的环境已经不重要了。人们如果被告知建筑里曾经出现过异常现象，那他们在里面走动的时候，就会报告更多类似的事例，即使那并不是实情。仅仅是暗示就足以让人注意到温度的变化，或者凭空想象出类似现象。因此以上这些因素都会起作用。
主持人乙：人类往往会给事情赋予某种意义。我们要找到它的内在含义，要编造某种故事，即便这些意义子虚乌有，我们也做得到。因此，如果你让一个孩子讲一个关于身穿白衣的北极熊的故事，他会想出一个解释事情为什么发生的故事，而不是事情如何发生的过程，而想一个解释事情如何发生的故事需要经过许多训练，人得受过教育才会这样思考问题。编造事情发生原因的做法是人类一种很自然的思维方式。因此，如果发生了什么事情，我们就会挑出自己想要的信息，然后再编出一个故事，而这个故事的根据就是我们所处的环境存在着某种有自己意图的东西——不管你是否直接感知到。
The Roots of 1）Vampires and Ghosts
Host A： Halloween’s nearly upon us. It’s time for 2）ghouls and ghosts and going round peoples’ houses and getting sweets.
Host B： We’re talking about vampires， 3）presumably that stems from a rather different sort of historical narrative. Can you tell us a bit about where vampires come from？
Deborah Hyde （Vampire Expert）： The modern perspective on vampires， it’s thought that it’s two things. It’s a kind of a 4）scapegoating mechanism in the context of people being 5）panicky because there’s been 6）epidemic death. And the second thing is their misunderstanding about the normal processes of 7）decomposition. And it’s very easy for us to be all 8）pompous and say， “Well， of course， this happens and that happens，” but we can observe these things in a safe context. And in historical times you would bury a body very， very quickly for the simple reason that it was a source of 9）contagion， so the fact that， for example， 10）rigor mortis wears off and a body becomes flexible again， or that not all bodies decompose at the same rate， or that the 11）viscera can appear to be fresh even after a while in the grave， would all mislead people into thinking that there was some more life left in the body where it wasn’t.
The vampire epidemic， as it was called at the time， in fact probably was a result of 12）Slavic 13）folklore originating in kind of like the 9th or 10th centuries. It’s very， very 14）primal folklore， but it suddenly hit the West after the 15）Ottoman Empire receded. So we had a Western government administering people who were previously under a different government， and these 16）lurid stories， that the governments misunderstood， or the doctors on the site misunderstood， were incredibly popular pamphlets and paperbacks， and that’s how the story got out.
Host A： One of the interesting things I find about this is that the people will genuinely believe that particular things have happened to them， or they’ll believe stories that they’ve heard from sort of “trusted others.” What other explanations have scientists come up with？
Chris French （Psychologist）： I mean， apart from the small minority of hoaxes， the vast majority of claims of ghosts， specifically ghostly encounters， are probably down to sincere misinterpretations of naturally-occurring events. I mean you look at the kind of literature on this， and there’s some very， very 17）obscure explanations for things that most people would never come up with， you know. You might hear some strange noise， and it turns out to be 18）beetles ticking in the woodwork， or， that are rats in the loft， or all kinds of possibilities. And just because people can’t think of an explanation doesn’t mean there isn’t one. But once you’ve got the idea that your house is 19）haunted， then even very 20）mundane ordinary things， like you can’t find your keys；“Hah， the ghosts moved them！” No， you’ve just forgotten where you’ve put them. That’s all it is. And as I say， you also get these kind of 21）anomalous psychological experiences. I mean， we all have that feeling sometimes that “Is someone behind us？”， or， you know， you find that context isn’t really important. If people walk round a building that they are told has...there’d been 22）paranormal activity there， they’ll report more of those experiences， even if it’s just not true. The mere suggestion is enough for people to start noticing changes in temperature， or even imagining those things. So all those kind of factors come in as well. Host B： Human beings are also 23）prone to finding meaning in thing. We want to find meanings， we want to create narratives， and we can do so even where they’re not there. So， if you ask a child to come up with a story about a polar bear in a white coat， he will come up with a why-based explanation instead of a how-based explanation， and coming up with a howbased explanation needs a lot of training. You’ve got to be educated into that. That it was a natural human way of thinking. So， if something will happen， we’ll pick out the bits that we want， then we’ll create a narrative， and that narrative will be based on the fact that there is something in the environment， whether you can directly 24）perceive it or not， that has 25）intention.
主持人甲：万圣节临近，又到了各路食尸鬼和众幽灵挨家挨户索要糖果的时候了。
主持人乙：我们正在谈论吸血鬼。吸血鬼的说法可能有很不一样的历史渊源。你能不能跟我们说说，吸血鬼是怎么来的？
德博拉·海德（吸血鬼研究专家）：从现代的角度看吸血鬼，它有两个方面。一是流行病导致人大批死亡，引发恐慌，吸血鬼成了替罪羊。二是当时人们对尸体分解腐烂这个正常过程缺乏了解。今天我们处于安全环境下，当然可以自负地说：“哦，当然了，这个、那个情况会相继发生。”而在历史上，人们会非常迅速地掩埋尸体。原因很简单，尸体就是疾病的传染源。但之后会出现一些现象：比如在尸僵缓解消失后，尸体会重新变软，可屈可直；或者不同尸体腐烂的速度不同；或者即使尸体已经埋在坟墓里一段时间，其内脏看起来还很新鲜等。这些现象都会让人产生一些误解，以为尸身里还有生命，其实不然。
当时把吸血鬼看成是疾病传播的元凶，事实上可能源自九、十世纪的斯拉夫民间传说。那是非常非常原始的民间传说，但在奥斯曼帝国衰落后，它突然传到了西方。由于此前被持不同理念的政府统治的人民如今处于西方政府治下，而政府对事情的误读，或者说现场医生的误解，都导致这些可怕的故事传说成了人气甚高的宣传资料。关于吸血鬼的说法就这样传播出去了。
主持人甲：我注意到一个有意思的现象，人们会真的相信在自己身上发生过某些灵异事件，或者说对某些“值得信任之人”的话信以为真。科学家对此有何解释呢？
克里斯·弗伦奇（心理学家）：我想说的是，除了小部分纯属骗局外，大部分声称鬼魂确实存在，特别是曾与鬼魂相遇的说法，都可能是对一些自然现象的善意误解。如果你翻看这方面的历史文献，你会看到一些如今绝大多数人都不会想到的、非常令人费解的解释。比如说，你听到一些奇怪的声音，那只不过是小虫子在木头上活动，又或者是阁楼里有老鼠，有各种各样的可能。人们没法说出个中缘由，并不等于说合理的解释就不存在。而你一旦相信你的房子闹鬼，那即使发生的事极为平常，比如说钥匙找不到了，你也会说：“哈，是鬼让钥匙挪了地方！”其实不是，只不过你忘了自己把钥匙放哪儿了。就这么简单。就像我说的，你还会有一些异常的心理体验。我指的是，我们都有过“是不是有人在身后？”的感觉，又或者，你知道吧，你会觉得真实的环境已经不重要了。人们如果被告知建筑里曾经出现过异常现象，那他们在里面走动的时候，就会报告更多类似的事例，即使那并不是实情。仅仅是暗示就足以让人注意到温度的变化，或者凭空想象出类似现象。因此以上这些因素都会起作用。
主持人乙：人类往往会给事情赋予某种意义。我们要找到它的内在含义，要编造某种故事，即便这些意义子虚乌有，我们也做得到。因此，如果你让一个孩子讲一个关于身穿白衣的北极熊的故事，他会想出一个解释事情为什么发生的故事，而不是事情如何发生的过程，而想一个解释事情如何发生的故事需要经过许多训练，人得受过教育才会这样思考问题。编造事情发生原因的做法是人类一种很自然的思维方式。因此，如果发生了什么事情，我们就会挑出自己想要的信息，然后再编出一个故事，而这个故事的根据就是我们所处的环境存在着某种有自己意图的东西——不管你是否直接感知到。