We spend between one-third and one-half of our waking hours not living in the present.

人在清醒時，有三分之一到二分之一的時間是沒有活在當下的。

And what do we do during that time?

那我們在這段時間裡做什麼呢？

We're talking to ourselves.

在跟自己對話。

Your inner voice is your ability to silently use language to reflect on your life.

內心的聲音是讓你能默默用話語來反思生活的能力。

Chatter refers to the dark side of the inner voice.

「小對話」則是內心聲音的黑暗面。

When we turn our attention inward to make sense of our problems, we don't end up finding solutions.

在試圖弄清楚自身問題時，我們會把注意轉向內在，但這並不會帶領我們找到解答。

We end up ruminating, worrying, catastrophizing.

最終只會讓人陷入沉思、憂慮及負面漩渦。

We get stuck in a negative cycle that takes this remarkable tool that we possess, this inner voice,

我們被困在消極循環中，讓這種非凡的能力，也就是我們內心的聲音

and it turns it into a curse rather than a blessing.

成了種詛咒，而非祝福。

My name's Ethan Kross,

我叫伊森·克羅斯，

I'm a professor of psychology and management,

是名心理學及管理學教授，

and I'm the author of the book, "Chatter: The Voice in Our Head, Why It Matters, and How to Harness It."

我也是《強大內心的自我對話習慣》這本書的作者。

In terms of whether there's an evolutionary purpose to the inner voice,

關於這種內在的聲音是否具演化目的，

many scientists believe that language is a tool that helps us navigate the world,

許多科學家認為，語言是種引領我們瀏覽這個世界的工具。

and our ability to use language not only to communicate with others,

而語言不僅是為了與他人交流，

but to communicate with ourselves, provides us with a survival advantage.

也是為了與自己溝通，讓我們能有生存優勢。

It's an incredible problem-solving device.

言語是個令人驚豔的解決問題裝備。

At the most basic end of the spectrum,

從基本層面來看，

our inner voice is part of what we call our 'Verbal Working Memory System.'

我們內心的聲音就是所謂「語言工作記憶系統」的一部分。

It's a basic feature of the human mind that helps us keep verbal information active in our heads.

這是人類思維的一個基本特徵，能幫助語言資訊活躍於腦中。

Our inner voice also lets us simulate and plan.

內心的聲音也讓我們能模擬和計劃。

So before a big presentation,

在重要演講之前，

I'll go over in my head what I'm gonna say, what are the different talking points that I'm gonna run through-

我會在腦中演練要說的話，不同的談話要點是什麼，

I'll hear what questions the audience is gonna ask me,

設想觀眾會問的問題，

and then I'll respond in turn.

然後再依序回答。

I'm simulating that exchange, and I'm using my inner voice to help me do that.

模擬這種交流，用的正是內心的聲音。

Our inner voice helps us control ourselves.

內心的聲音能幫助我們自我控制。

Think about the last time you may have wanted to reach for a treat late at night,

想想你上次半夜正準備偷吃零食時，

but then you think to yourself,

腦中浮現的聲音，

"Don't do it. You'll regret it in the morning."

「不行，明天早上會後悔的。」

That's your inner voice.

那就是你內心的聲音。

And then finally, the inner voice helps us "storify" our lives.

然後最後，內心的聲音能幫助我們闡述生活故事。

Many of us turn our attention inward to come up with some narrative that explains our experiences

許多人會將注意力轉向內心，構思出足以表達人生經歷的故事，

in ways that give shape to our understanding of who we are, our identity.

塑造自我，理解自己的身份。

So sometimes this inner voice can be an incredible source of help,

有時，內心的聲音可以是很好的幫助資源，

but at other times it can really sink us.

但有時，它也會使我們沉淪。

First, it makes it incredibly hard for us to focus.

首先，它讓人極其難以集中注意力。

Chatter consumes our attention.

「小對話」會吞噬我們的注意力，

Chatter can also create friction in your relationships

也會阻礙關係。

because you're talking about your problems over and over again,

它會讓你重複談論自己的問題，

and not being a great listener to others.

而無暇顧及他人意見。

It can also make us more irritable, and lead to something called 'displaced aggression.'

小對話還會讓人煩躁，導致所謂的「替代性攻擊」。

Finally, we know that chatter can have severe, negative, physical health effects.

最後，小對話會對身體造成嚴重負面影響。

You've probably heard that stress kills-

你可能聽說過，壓力會壓死人，

that's not exactly true.

但這並不完全正確。

A stress response is a really adaptive response.

緊迫反應是種適應性反應。

What makes stress toxic is when it remains chronically-elevated over time.

壓力慢性增加才是真正讓其變得有害的原因。

This is precisely what chatter does.

這正是小對話對人的影響。

We experience a stressor in our life.

我們在生活中經歷壓力來源，

It then ends, but in our minds our chatter perpetuates it.

事情會過去，但在腦海中，小對話會將它延續下去。

We keep thinking about that event over and over and over again.

我們一次又一次地回想。

And that keeps that stress response active in ways that can predict things

使緊迫反應持續活躍，可能導致諸多疾病，

like cardiovascular disease, chronic inflammation, and even cancer.

如心血管疾病、慢性發炎，甚至癌症，

It's hard to overstate how negative the implications of chatter can be.

如何強調其消極影響都不為過。

The good news is there is a science-based toolkit that you can use to regain control of your inner voice.

好消息是，有個科學方法可以幫助你重新控制自己內心的聲音。

There are things we can do on our own,

有能幫助自身、

ways of harnessing our relationships with other people,

駕馭與他人關係，

and even ways of interacting with physical environments.

甚至是與環境互動的一些方法。

One really great example of these tools are rituals.

其中一個很好的例子就是儀式。

We love having control.

我們喜歡掌控事務。

When you experience chatter, you often feel like your thoughts are in control of you.

腦中出現「小對話」時，往往會感覺被這些念頭控制了。

One of the things that we've learned through science

通過科學，我們瞭解到，

is that we can compensate for this feeling out of control

是有方法能彌補這種失控感的。

by creating order around us- rituals are one way to do that.

那就是在周遭建立秩序，儀式就是其中一種方式。

A ritual is an ordered sequence of behaviors that you rigidly perform the same way each time

儀式是一系列有序的行為，每次都嚴格按照相同的方式執行。

by engaging the same sequence of behaviors every time the same way.

每次都以相同的順序執行同樣的事。

That's giving you a sense of order and control.

這會給你一種秩序和控制的感覺。

That can feel really good when you're mired in chatter.

幫助你在腦中有「小對話」時調適情感。

The tennis great, Rafael Nadal,

網球名將拉斐爾·納達爾說過，

he said the hardest thing that he struggles to do on the tennis court is manage the voices inside his head.

在網球場上最困難的便是調適腦中的聲音。

He engages in rituals.

他有自己的儀式。

During breaks between play he goes over to his bench.

在比賽間隙的休息時間，他會走到自己的板凳。

First, he takes a sip out of one water bottle.

首先，從其中一個水瓶中喝口水。

Then he takes a sip out of another.

然後再拿起另一瓶喝另一口。

Then he puts each water bottle back exactly where he picked them up from on a diagonal to the court.

然後他會把水瓶準確地放回原本的位置，對著場上的對角線。

It's a ritual he does to manage his chatter.

這就是他控制腦中聲音的儀式。

There are no individual tools that work for all people in all situations to help manage your chatter.

在調適內心聲音這塊，世上沒有一種能適用於所有人方式。

Instead, the real challenge is to figure out

相反，真正的挑戰是要弄清楚

what are the unique combinations of tools that work best for you?

有哪些獨特的組合對你來說最有效？

Are you weaker for experiencing chatter?

腦中有小對話代表自己比其他人軟弱嗎？

Absolutely not.

絕對不是。

You are human for experiencing chatter,

正是生而為人，才會受內心的聲音所困。

so welcome to the human condition.

歡迎成為人類的一員。