Annoyed by cellphones? Scientists explain why 被手機惹毛了嗎？科學家解釋原因

◎俞智敏

Ever wonder why overhearing a cellphone conversation is so annoying? American researchers think they have found the answer.

你是否曾想過為何聽到別人用手機講話那麼惹人討厭？美國研究人員認為他們找到了答案。

Whether it is the office, on a train or in a car, only half of the conversation is overheard which drains more attention and concentration than when overhearing two people talking, according to scientists at Cornell University.

不論是在辦公室、在火車上或在汽車裡，只旁聽到一半的對話，要比旁聽到兩個人談話耗損更多的注意力與專注力，康乃 爾大學科學家表示。

"We have less control to move away our attention from half a conversation （or halfalogue） than when listening to a dialogue," said Lauren Emberson, a co-author of the study. "Since halfalogues really are more distracting and you can’t tune them out, this could explain why people are irritated," she said.

「比起聽到完整對話，只聽到一半的對話 （halfalogue）時，我們會更難轉移注意力，」這項研究的作者之一安伯森表示。「由於一半的對話反而更令人分心，你又不能聽而不聞，這就可以解釋 為什麼聽話者會感到惱火，」她說。

Worldwide, there are about 4.6 billion cellphone subscribers, according to the International Telecommunications Union, a U.N. agency. The number is equal to about two-thirds of the world’s population, leaving few corners of the globe where public spaces are free of mobile-tethered babblers.

全球目前共有46億名手機用戶，據聯合國旗下機構國際電訊 聯盟統計。這個數字相當於全球3分之2的人口，也表示全球幾乎沒有任何地方的公共空間裡看不到拿著手機開講的人。

Emberson said people try to make sense of snippets of conversation and predict what speakers will say next. "When you hear half of a conversation, you get less information and you can’t predict as well," she said. "It requires more attention."

安伯森指出，人們會試圖從片段對話中理解上下文，並預測說話者接下來會說些什麼。 「當你只聽到一半的對話，你只能得到較少的資訊，也無法有效預測，」她說。「這需要更多注意力。」

新聞辭典

overhear：動詞，指偶然聽到、無意中聽到或偷聽，如He overheard his daughter telling her teddy not to be so naughty.（他無意間聽到女兒叫玩具熊不要淘氣。）或We overheard them say that they didn’t really like the meal.（我們偶然聽到他們說，這頓飯其實不太合他們的胃口。）

tune out：動詞片語，非正式用法，指對某人或某事沒有反應、忽視、不再感到興趣，如She tried to tune out the children’s screaming.（她試圖不理會小孩的尖叫。）或He talks such garbage that I just tune him out.（他胡言亂語，我只好當作沒聽見。）

babbler：名詞，指說話模糊不清的人、嘮叨的人或胡言亂語的人，動詞 為babble，指模糊不清地說、隨口洩漏秘密等，如She was babbling something about her ring being stolen.（她喋喋不休地說著什麼戒指被偷的事。）作名詞時則指持續低語或模糊不清的聲音，尤指好幾個人同時說話，如I could hear the babble of voices in the next room.（我可以聽到隔壁房間隱約傳來數人說話的聲音。）