Maybe it's a weakness for fast food, staying out with friends later than you planned, or a tendency to watch just one more episode before going to bed.

也許是喜歡吃速食，也許是出去玩到很晚，也許是睡覺前還想再看一集。

We often think of these as guilty pleasures, or even failures of willpower, but they might be better seen as something more basic.

我們常常認為這是罪惡的享受，甚至是意志力的失敗，但其實它們是一些基本的本能。

The result of an essential evolutionary process, and in particular, one extraordinarily powerful chemical, dopamine.

這是基本進化的結果，特別是一種異常強大的化學物質--多巴胺。

Dopamine is a neurotransmitter, a chemical certain brain cells use to communicate with each other.

多巴胺是一種神經傳導物質，是腦細胞用來相互溝通的化學物質。

The brain has dozens of these, but dopamine plays a special role in motivating our behaviour.

大腦中有數十種多巴胺，它用於激勵我們的行為。

Something it's able to do, simply because it makes us feel really good.

它可以讓我們感覺變的非常好。

We've evolved to receive hits of dopamine for things that will help ensure our survival, making us want to repeat whatever action triggered its release.

在人類進化過程中，多巴胺會刺激我們去做那些有助生存的事情，讓我們想要重複做那些觸發多巴胺釋放的行為。

Found some high-energy food?

找到高能量食物了嗎？

Great!

好極了

Starvation averted!

避免了飢餓

Come back for more tomorrow!

明天再來看！

Made a friend?

交了朋友？

Fantastic!

太棒了

There's safety in numbers!

人多才安全！

Do it again!

再來一次

Heard a captivating story?

聽過這個好聽的故事嗎？

Awesome!

棒極了

You've learned something about how the world works!

你已經瞭解了世界是如何運轉的！

Keep listening!

繼續聽！

Each of these experiences causes a dopamine spike, building positive associations and shaping our habits and desires.

每種體驗都會引起多巴胺飆升，建立連結，塑造我們的習慣和慾望。

The problem is that evolution is very slow, and this whole motivation and reward system developed over millions of years, when food, friends and fables were relatively scarce.

問題是，人類的進化是非常緩慢的，我們的動機和獎勵系統是在食物、朋友和故事相對稀缺的情況下，經過數百萬年發展起來的。

But all that's changed in an evolutionary millisecond, and our brains haven't begun to catch up.

但在這一切都發生進化的瞬間，我們的大腦還沒有跟上。

Instead of hunting and gathering, there's fast food.

速食取代了狩獵和採集。

Instead of small tribes, worldwide social media networks.

社交媒體取代了部落八卦。

Instead of tales around the campfire, on-demand TV with seemingly infinite content.

串流平台取代了篝火旁的故事。

This surplus of everything nature has programmed us to crave, pushes our dopamine circuits into overdrive, and as a result, snacking, scrolling and streaming, as we probably all experience, can become habits bordering on addictions.

大自然為我們設定了欲望，這些過度渴望會推動我們的多巴胺迴路超速運轉。吃零食、滑手機和串流平台可能讓我們上癮。

But these habits aren't just unfortunate byproducts of our evolution, they're also the outcome of deliberate design.

但這些習慣並不只是我們進化過程中的副產品，它們也是刻意設計的結果。

Whether companies sell hamburgers or advertising spots, to maximize their profits they need loyal customers, and one way of getting them is to hotwire people's neurons to keep them coming back.

無論是賣漢堡的公司，還是廣告公司，要想賺更多錢，都需要忠實的客戶，而獲得客戶的方法之一，就是讓人們的神經元熱起來，讓他們不斷回來光顧。

Fast food chains have been at it for decades, but more recently another sector has been getting in on the action, the tech industry.

速食連鎖店幾十年來一直如此，但最近科技業也加入了這一行列。

As if to show just how blatant this can be, Nir Eyal's 2014 book Hooked is explicitly pitched as a guide to designing habit-forming products.

尼爾-埃亞爾（Nir Eyal）在2014年出版的《鉤癮效應》（Hooked）一書中，解釋科技產品如何讓人成癮。

What he calls the Hooked Cycle has four stages.

他所說的 "上鉤循環 "分為四個階段。

First, a trigger, such as an email or notification, gives you a nudge, prompting the action of logging in and using the service, which provides what Eyal calls a variable reward.

首先，觸發點（如通知）會給你一個提示，叫你登入並使用APP。

And this is where the neuroscience kicks in.

這就是神經科學的作用所在。

You see dopamine surges after unexpected rewards, and gets weaker when things are more predictable.

你會發現，多巴胺會在意外獎勵後激增，而當事情更容易預測時會減弱。

So the promise of new posts, episodes and other goodies renews the novelty factor and the neurological response.

所以新po文、新劇集和其他好東西會重新激發人們的新奇感和神經反應。

The final stage in the Hooked Cycle is investment.

上鉤循環的最後階段是投入。

The more time, effort, data or even money you put into the service, the more reason you'll have to use it again.

你將投入更多時間、精力、數據甚至金錢，也就更有理由再次使用這個APP。

This cycle can be reinitiated any time a developer likes, simply by sending you a notification.

APP只需向您發送通知，即可重新啟動這一循環。

But soon enough those external triggers won't even be necessary, once a habit has formed, your brain will provide the triggers itself.

但很快，這些外部觸發因素就沒有必要了，一旦形成習慣，你的大腦就會自己提供觸發因素。

In fairness, Eyal says his modelers should only be used to build products that help people form good habits, like exercising.

埃亞爾說，平心而論，上鉤模型只能用來製造幫助人們養成良好習慣的產品，比如鍛鍊身體。

More recently, he's written about how to be indistractable.

最近，他又寫了一篇關於如何做到不分心的文章。

And this is part of a larger trend, with companies like Apple adding features such as time limits on apps to help people try and break the loop.

這也是趨勢，蘋果等公司在APP上增加了時間限制等功能，以幫助人們嘗試打破上鉤迴圈。

But it seems reasonable to be wary of solutions offered up by the same companies who benefit from creating the problem in the first place.

但是我們也須常保持警惕。

So, how can we get ourselves unhooked?

那麼，要怎樣才能讓自己脫鉤呢？

The key to this lies in recognising the Hooked Cycle and dismantling it, step by step.

其中的關鍵在於意識到 "上鉤循環"，並一步步破除。

First, preparation trumps willpower.

首先，準備比意志力更重要。

So rather than trying to ignore triggers, remove them by changing settings to receive fewer notifications and reorganising your home screen to make tempting apps less visible or deleting them altogether.

與其忽略通知，不如減少接收的次數，在主螢幕刪掉誘人的APP，或直接完全刪掉。

Second, plan alternative actions.

第二，規劃替代行動。

Try substituting something more wholesome, whether that's setting yourself a reading challenge or spending time offline with friends.

試著用一些更健康的東西來代替，無論是給自己設定一個閱讀挑戰，還是花時間與朋友進行實體交流。

This should provide its own variable rewards, and you can allow yourself others, including the occasional indulgence.

這應該會給你帶來不同的獎勵，你也可以給自己其他的獎勵，例如偶爾的放縱。

A burger now and then won't kill you, and neither will the odd binge watch.

偶爾吃漢堡不會要你命，偶爾看電影也不會要你命。

Finally, remember that unhooking is really just learning a different habit.

最後請記住，脫鉤其實就是改變習慣。

It'll take time to retrain your brain, so don't be discouraged if it doesn't happen overnight.

重新訓練你的大腦需要時間，所以如果沒有馬上成功，也不要氣餒。

Manipulating neurochemistry for profit isn't some unprecedented evil.

利用人的習慣來賺錢並不是什麼前所未有的罪惡。

It's a sliding scale, with restaurants changing their menus at one end and criminal gambling rings taking people's life savings at the other.

這是一個滑動的天平，一端是餐館更改菜單，另一端是詐騙集團拿走人們的畢生積蓄。

But now that digital devices are everywhere, tech companies have more and more opportunities to get inside our heads, meaning we need to be more aware of what we're doing, how much agency we're exercising, and how much control we might be giving up.

但現在，手機無處不在，科技公司有越來越多的機會進入我們的大腦，這意味著我們需要更加清楚自己在做什麼，意識到自己放棄了多少對生活的控制權。