2010/09/07

Why two heads really are better than one 為什麼3個臭皮匠真的勝過1個諸葛亮

 ◎管淑平
If you are the type who takes a certain pride in being stubborn, look away now.
如果你是那種對於自己的固執感到有點驕傲的人,現在就別看下去了。
Scientists have shown that we make better decisions when we listen to others rather than relying on our own judgement.
科學家指出,當我們傾聽他人意見,而非靠我們自己的判斷時,會做出比較好的決定。
In a study that could help anyone from new couples to the leaders of the Coalition, researchers proved that pooling wisdom with a partner reliably produces better results. But there is a catch, it works only if both parties are of similar ability.
在1份從新婚夫妻到聯合政府領導人都可能從中獲益的研究中,研究人員證明,和一個可靠的夥伴集思,真能產生較好結果。但有個條件,這只有在雙方能力不相上下時才有用。
Researchers asked pairs of volunteers to pinpoint when a very faint image appeared on a screen. If they disagreed, they talked it through. The results showed joint decisions were indeed better than ones made by the stronger individual.
研究人員要求2人1組的自願者辨認螢幕上出現的非常模糊影像,若2人意見不同,就要用討論解決。結果顯示,共同做的決定,真的比能力較強的人單獨做的決定還好。
But a second test demonstrated the destructive effect an incompetent partner can have.
但是第2份測驗顯示1個無能的夥伴能造成怎樣的破壞效果。
The pairs were given the same task but one of the participants was surreptitiously made incompetent by being shown a more hazy image.
這1組的人被賦與同樣的任務,但是藉由故意讓其中1人看更模糊的影像,暗中使其能力較差。
In this case, the joint decisions were worse than the decision of the stronger of the pair – they would have been better off if the incompetent partner had been ignored, the report said.
在這種情況下做出的共同決定,比每組中由實力較強的人單獨做的決定還糟糕,如果忽視這名無能的夥伴的話,就會好多了,這份報告說。

新聞辭典:

two heads are better than one:諺語,3個臭皮匠,勝過1個諸葛亮。
take pride in:動詞片語,對某事/人感到自豪。例句:She took great pride in her own fashion sense.(她對她自己的時尚感感到自豪。)
catch:名詞,不易讓人發現、令人上當的陷阱或詭計,條件,值得掌握的對象。例句:The offer sounds like a good bargain, but there may be a catch. (這個出價聽起來很划算,但其中也許有詐。)

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