Why do humans wear clothing?

人類為什麼要穿衣服？

Sure, we need it for protection from the elements and fashion, to show our personalities,

當然，我們需要衣服的保護以免受物質的傷害，還有時尚以表現人格特質

but no other animal makes and wears clothing.

但沒有其他動物會製作和穿著衣服

More importantly, why do we feel embarrassed to be naked around other people?

更重要的是，為什麼在別人面前裸體會使我們感到難為情？

The word "embarrassed" comes from the Portuguese route,

「embarrassed (窘迫)」這個字源自於葡萄牙語

"embaraça", which means to entangle or entwine.

「embaraça」，意思是糾纏或纏繞

And feeling embarrassed often feels like being tied up or exposed.

而難為情的感覺就像是被綑綁或暴露

But how can a healthy amount of embarrassment be a sign

但適量的窘迫如何指示

that you are likeable, forgivable, and trustworthy.

你是令人喜歡的、可寬恕的、並且值得信任的

This t-shirt and hoodie come from the YouTube Space LA,

這件 T 恤和連帽外套來自洛杉磯 YouTube 空間

which opened in November of 2012.

該店開張於 2012 年 11 月

But clothing has been around a lot longer than that,

但是衣物存在時間比那長得多

for at least the last 100,000 years.

至少存在於過去十萬年

Clothing protects us from the cold, from rain, from the Sun

衣物保護我們免受風寒、避雨、遮陽

and it can also be an ornament.

也可以是裝飾

A way of accentuating certain parts of our bodies or showing off wealth, status.

一個突顯身體某部位的方式或炫耀財富、地位

It can even help us build our own identities.

甚至可以幫助我們建立個人身分

But today I'm interested in another use of clothing, modesty.

但今天我對衣服的另一項用途感興趣 — 羞怯

Why are humans afraid to be naked?

為什麼人們害怕裸體？

Why are we ashamed of nudity?

為什麼我們對於裸露感到羞愧？

Especially because animals pretty much walk around naked all the time.

尤其是當動物幾乎總是光溜溜地走來走去

Why aren't animals embarrassed to be naked?

為什麼動物不會為裸體感到難為情？

Well...

嗯 ...

Let's take a closer look at "embarrassment."

讓我們來細看「窘迫」

Embarrassment is a fascinating emotion and an extremely social one.

窘迫是一種迷人且極為社會化的情緒

You don't really ever feel embarrassed alone, when no one's watching you or listening to you.

你獨處時不會感覺到尷尬，沒有人在看你或聽你

So, embarrassment probably evolved because it is such a good influence on social cooperation.

所以，窘迫有可能是因為對社交合作有好的影響而發展

We feel embarrassed when we violate little social rules of conduct

當我們違反了一點社會行為規範，便會感到窘迫

and each of us individually hoping to avoid that,

而我們每一個人都希望能避免那樣

to avoid embarrassment, has helped all of us live together better.

避免窘迫，使我們所有人共同生活得更融洽

Healthy brains experience embarrassment.

健康的大腦可感受到窘迫

Neurodegeneration of the frontal and temporal lobes can lead to less awareness of yourself.

額葉和顳葉的神經變性

So a healthy amount of occasional embarrassment is a good thing.

所以偶爾適量的窘迫是好事

It's a sign of a socially adept and normally functioning brain.

這是擅長交際且運作正常的腦袋的象徵

A famous experiment involved participants watching an actor receive praise

有一個有名的實驗讓參與者看一名演員

for achieving a very very high score on an exam.

因考試得到極高分而受到稱讚

In some cases, the actor was told to feign pride in the achievement.

在幾組中，演員被指示要為他的成就假裝驕傲

And in others, they acted embarrassed to have attention put on themselves.

而其他組，他們因受到關注而表現得很不好意思

Later,

接下來

the actors and the participants played games together

演員和參與者一起玩遊戲

and the participants were more pro-social, friendly and cooperative with actors who earlier expressed embarrassment.

而參與者對於先前表現出不好意思的演員更加親社會、友善且協調

It suggested that the actor was to be trusted, that they desired to fit in and work together.

這意味著演員受到信任，他們渴望融入並合作

Now, the fact that embarrassment displays our knowledge of others and our desire to be liked may explain

窘迫顯示了我們對他人的了解以及被喜歡的渴望，這或許可以解釋

why evoking embarrassment in others, whether it be flirtation or playful teasing, is so common

為何當我們有點喜歡某人時，常常引起他人尷尬

when we kind of like the other person.

不論是挑逗或是鬧著玩的戲弄

"Shame" is a stronger emotion. And shame, when it comes to our private parts,

「羞恥」是更強烈的情緒。當論及我們的私處

the kind nearly every society - western or not - shares to some degree is related to the root of our question today: modesty.

幾乎所有社會 - 西方或其他 - 在一定程度上與我們的今日問題根源有關 : 羞怯

Havelock Ellis' writing on the evolution of modesty is a bit antiquated when it comes to vocabulary,

Havelock Ellis 有關羞怯演化的著作在詞彙上有點過時

but he discusses quite well.

但他闡述得滿好的

Two possible reasons for our fear of nakedness,

兩個我們懼怕赤裸的可能原因

both of which predate clothing and are not unique to humans.

兩者都早於衣物而且非人類所獨有

The first is the vital phenomenon of "refusal."

第一個是「拒絕」的重要現象

Before mating, many animals play a game of chase,

在交配前，許多動物都會玩遊戲

hard to get,

追不到

a game of acceptance and then flight,

一場接受然後逃跑的遊戲

forcing the pursuer to keep up

促使追求者加把勁

and prove their determination before being chosen as a desirable mate.

並且在被選為理想伴侶前證明牠們的決心

So, when it comes to humans, we can think of clothing, paradoxically, as both a means of drawing attention to one's body

那麼，至於人類，自相矛盾地，我們可以把衣物認為是引人注意你身體的方式

and simultaneously as a way to cover the body modestly,

同時也是羞怯地遮掩身體的一種方式

making us less available to every and any potential mate, rendering, breeding more selective.

使我們較不易遇上任何潛在交配對象，表現和繁衍方面都更有選擇

Ellis also mentions the fear of evoking disgust.

Ellis 也提到了害怕引起厭惡

And it's easy to see why individuals of a species, who avoid things we consider disgusting, would survive better.

這是很顯而易見的，一個物種中的個體，若能避免被厭惡的行為，便更適合生存

Fecal material, waste, rubbish, other bodily secretions can spread disease.

排泄物、廢物、垃圾和其他身體分泌物可以傳播疾病

For instance,

舉例來說

animals whose poop likely contains dangerous parasites avoid grazing around or hanging out around their waste.

糞便可能含危險寄生蟲的動物會避免在牠們的糞便周圍吃草或閒逛

Habits like that lead to more sanitary conditions

像那樣的習慣可使環境較為衛生

and a species more likely to survive.

而且物種較容易存活

It's a satisfying piece of evidence as to why clothing once invented was so quickly used to cover private areas.

這充分證明了為什麼衣物一被發明就被用來遮蓋私部

In 2009, the BBC investigated another influential factor - raising children.

2009 年，BBC 調查了另一項影響因素 - 撫養小孩

In species where the young are born pretty much ready for life,

在幼畜一出生便已對生命準備好的物種

it makes more sense to spend your time making babies,

較為合理的是把時間花在製造小孩

as opposed to sitting around raising them. They don't need it.

而非坐在一旁照顧他們。他們不需要

Super precocial animals, like the megapode, hatch with full flight feathers

超級早熟的動物，像是塚雉，孵化時已長好羽毛

and can fly on their own within hours of hatching.

而且在孵化後幾小時內就可以自己飛

Human babies, on the other hand, are pretty darn altricial.

然而，人類嬰兒卻相當晚成

We are born barely able to do much besides swallow food put directly into our mouths.

我們一出生幾乎什麼都不會，除了吞下直接送入我們口中的食物

Newborns can't walk or talk or cook meals for themselves or drive themselves to work.

新生兒不會走路、說話或煮飯給自己吃，也不會開車去上班

It's ridiculous.

太荒謬了

Why are human babies born so unready for life?

為什麼人類小孩在尚未準備好的時候就出生了？

Why is so much development time still needed after human kids are born?

為什麼人類小孩出生後仍需這麼多時間發育？

Well, one explanation is that it's because we are so brilliant.

一種解釋是因為我們太聰明了

Brain size is correlated with the body size. Bigger bodies require bigger brains.

腦部大小與體型相關，愈大的身體需要愈大的腦袋

The shrew has a smaller brain than a human, but us humans have smaller brains than whales.

鼩鼱的腦袋比人類的小，但我們人類的腦袋比鯨魚的小

Of course, a bigger brain is not indicative of intelligence.

當然，較大的腦袋並不代表智力

For one thing, larger animals literally just have more cells they need to worry about and control.

一個原因是，大動物就只是有更多需要操心和控制的細胞

What matters more when it comes to intelligence is the proportion of brain size to body size.

關於智力更重要的是腦與身體大小的比例

Compared to the size of our bodies,

相較於我們的身體

our brains are gigantic, they're outliers, they're off the charts.

我們的腦很巨大，它們是異類，超越了正常值

It's crazy. And a consequence of this is that in order to to have a brain as big as ours,

太瘋狂了。而這個的一個後果是，為了要讓我們這麼大的腦

come out of a mother as small as a human,

從人類這麼小的媽媽身體出來

we have to come out with brains that aren't fully formed. Brains and heads

我們必須在大腦未完全形成時出生。腦和頭

that aren't as big as they will eventually grow to be.

不會像它們終將長成的那樣大

And this is why human babies require so much care and so much time to develop

而這就是為什麼人類嬰兒需要這麼多關照和這麼長的時間去發育

before their brains are ready for them to go off on their own.

直到大腦準備好讓他們自立

Under this theory, being naked and mating all of the time might be a little bit less of a priority for humans.

在這個理論下，時時刻刻裸體交配對人類來說可能不是個優先選項

Humans and societies that privilege modesty would have more time and resources to put toward raising children

人類和重視羞怯的社會把更多時間和資源放在撫養小孩

and avoiding extra mates, instead of just conceiving more kids,

並且避免額外的伴侶，讓孩子適當地發育並繁衍後代

allowing kids to develop properly and reproduce themselves.

而不是只是懷有更多小孩

Clothing serves this purpose quite well.

衣物將這個目的發揮得滿好的

It conceals the privates and allows more time to be spent on other things.

遮擋私處讓我們有更多時間花在其他事情上

Clothes,

衣物

clothing,

服裝

may, in a way, actually be a consequence of our unique intelligence.

可能，以某種方式，其實是我們獨特智力的結果

So the next time you put on clothes,

所以下一次你穿衣服的時候

keep in mind that one of the reasons you're not running out into the world butt-naked is because you have such a big brain.

記住你不光著屁股跑出去的其中一個原因，是因為你有如此大的腦袋

No matter how dumb the clothing is that you're putting on,

不論你穿的衣服有多愚蠢

it's a reminder that we are smart.

都是在提醒我們是有智慧的

And as always, thanks for watching.

老樣子，感謝收看

Kevin, thank you for joining me. Thanks for having me.

Kevin，謝謝你加入我。謝謝你的邀請

I hear that there is an insect wing that can naturally shred bacteria.

我聽說有一種昆蟲的翅膀可以自然地切碎細菌

That's right. I talk all about that and other mind-blowing things over on Vsauce2 in the new episode of Mind Blow.

沒錯。我會在 Vsauce2 的 Mind Blow 節目最新一集中談論這個以及其他令人驚奇的事情

Alright, well, let's go over there and watch it. In fact, you guys can come with us too.

好，我們去那裡看吧。事實上，你們大家也可以跟我們一起來

Click this annotation or the link at the top of the description for Mind Blow number 60.

點擊這個註解或是說明處最頂端的連結，到 Mind Blow 60 號

I hope to see you there. Let's go.

期待在那兒見到你。走吧！