【媒库文选】技术瘾君子：开机，点开，滑动
2017-03-22 14:13 参考消息网
Apparently， half of the developed world is addicted to something， and the numbers are growing. But where once the bulk of our addictions were to substances，now they are to behaviours – things like online gaming， posting on Facebook and Instagram， binge-viewing on Netflix， and obsessively checking emails and mobile phones. This 21st-century pandemic is the subject of Adam Alter's Irresistible， a book which lives up to its title.
We used to distinguish between addicts and others， a view Alter is quick to dispel. We all have the potential to become addicted given the right/wrong environment. It's not you – it's the world you live in that makes behavioural addiction so very likely. In just a few years， he explains， technology and the media have become adept at the lucrative business of gaining and holding our attention. Today's high-tech environment is addictive by design.
You might doubt your iPhone or Fitbit use is an addiction. Until recently， neuroscientists would have agreed. But now we know addictive behaviours produce the same brain responses as drug abuse – the release of dopamine deep inside the brain and its uptake by receptors， resulting in an intense feeling of pleasure.
Meanwhile， psychologists are finding out more about the nature of addictive behaviours. For example， experiments where pigeons peck for rewards reveal the power of unpredictable feedback and explain why a near-win is more compelling than a guaranteed reward.
Feedback is one of six behavioural addiction factors Alter explores. The five others are:goals， which should be just beyond reach; progress， through a sense of incremental mastery; escalation， via progressively more difficult tasks; cliffhangers， to provide tension that demands resolution; and strong social connections. “Despite their diversity， today's behavioural addictions embody at least one of those six ingredients，” he writes.
Then we discover why the creative destruction of Tetris is so compelling， what makes the “juice” in Candy Crush， why World of Warcraft is so toxic， and how “colour coding” （adding coloured tags to different bits of computer code to see which are used most） has revealed that gamers will spend three times as long on a quest to kill as on one to save. And roll up for the “dollar auction” to find out how so-called predatory games are designed to trap you. There are characters galore， and statistics to make you gasp. It's very entertaining.
Irresistible is not all fun and games， though. Alter is concerned about the growth of behavioural addiction and has plenty to say about how we might keep it in check. That's tricky because going “cold turkey” is not an option; we can't live without technology.
But we can reduce temptation. We can use tech to motivate good behaviours. Meet SnuzNLuz， the alarm clock with a hotline to your bank – it donates to your least favourite charity when you press the snooze button. And we have the know-how to create experiences that are compelling but not addictive. Above all， we need to recognise that Instagram， multiplayer games and mobile phones are so enticing because they meet basic human needs.
Luckily for all of us， we also have low-tech ways to fulfil our desires.
很显然，发达国家一半的人都会沉迷于某种东西，而且这个数量还在增长。不过，以前我们沉迷的大部分是实物，现在是行为——比如在线游戏、在脸书（Facebook）和Instagram上发布图文，在奈飞（Netflix）网站上疯狂看片，或者不停地查看电子邮件和手机。这一21世纪流行病正是亚当·奥尔特的《不可抗拒》一书的主题，而这本书也的确没有辜负它的书名。
我们曾经把瘾君子区别于其他人，而奥尔特很快消除了这种观点。只要有正确或者错误的环境，我们都有可能成为瘾君子。不是你，是你所生活的这个世界让行为上瘾非常容易发生。他解释说，在短短几年时间里，技术和媒体就熟练地掌握了吸引并抓住我们的注意力这笔有利可图的生意。当今的高科技环境就是刻意要让人上瘾。
你可能不相信自己用iPhone手机或者Fitbit智能手环是一种瘾。不久之前，神经系统科学家还会赞同。不过现在我们知道了，成瘾行为与吸毒所引起的大脑反应是一样的——大脑深处释放出多巴胺并被受体所接收，从而带来强烈的愉悦感。
与此同时，心理学家对上瘾行为的特性有了更多了解。比如，鸽子啄食赢取奖励试验揭示了难以预测的反馈的力量，也解释了为什么差一点点的成功比有保证的回报更有吸引力。
奥尔特探讨了六个行为成瘾因素，反馈就是其中之一。其他五个分别是：应该正好够不着的目标、通过渐入佳境感取得的进步、通过逐步增加难度的任务实现的升级、能带来需要解决方案的紧张感的吊人胃口的场景、很强的社会关联性。“尽管多种多样，但当今的成瘾行为都包含这六个因素中的至少一个。”他写道。
接下来我们会发现，为什么“俄罗斯方块”的创造性破坏如此吸引人，“糖果粉碎传奇”的“带劲儿”之处是什么，为什么“魔兽世界”的毒性这么大，还有“彩色编码”（向不同的计算机代码添加色标，看看哪些用得最多）如何揭示游戏者考虑是否删除所花的时间比考虑是否保留所花的时间要多出两倍。还有，试试“美元拍卖”，看看所谓的掠夺性游戏是如何设计让你落入圈套的。书中有丰富的人物角色和统计数据让你倒吸一口凉气。非常有趣。
不过，《不可抗拒》一书也并不全部是笑料和游戏。奥尔特很关注行为上瘾的发展，对于如何对其进行约束也有很多见解。那很棘手，因为“完全戒掉”并不可行；我们的生活离不开技术。
但我们可以减少诱惑。我们还可以用技术去激励好的行为。看看SnuzNLuz吧，这是一款可设置连接到银行账户的闹钟——假如你按了“再睡一会儿”按钮，它就会自动捐款给你最不喜欢的慈善机构。而且，我们有技术手段创造引人入胜但又不会使人沉迷的体验。最重要的是，我们需要认识到，Instagram、多玩家游戏和手机之所以如此吸引人，是因为它们满足了人类的基本需要。
对所有人来说幸运的是，我们也有低技术的方式来满足自己的欲望。（王笛青译自英国《新科学家》周刊网站3月1日文章）
【媒库文选】互联网并非失败国家
2017-03-15 11:35 参考消息网
Is the internet a failed state？ The popularity of this metaphor is growing， along with the dark web， cyber crime，trolling， fake news， ransomware， sabotage，scamming， spamming， viruses and spying.
The web's early promise of a non-commercial， virtual world where netizens could freely engage with one another across national boundaries and without traditional information gatekeepers now seems naive.
But the same technology that powers this dystopian stew of horrors—and Donald Trump's tweets—is a lifeline for many often marginalised groups of people. Here is why.
A plethora of services such as Skype allow even impoverished people worldwide to speak and video call without limits and at zero cost. And they do so. Skype has hundreds of millions of users. Most are unaware that international phone calls were once strictly for the rich.
In Africa， a soon-to-launch phone app，Ugogo， promises to open up a global maker-to-consumer marketplace for craftspeople in remote villages. Artists making products such as jewellery will not need a bank account or even to be literate.
What3Words， the UK phone app， helps people who do not have a street address to take advantage of internet shopping. In the 18 months， it has been adopted by post offices in five countries， including Mongolia， Djibouti and Ivory Coast.
Victims of child abuse form support groups and share information using Facebook and WhatsApp.
Connected products such as webcams help us keep an eye on older people. A UK invention， Three Rings， is a plug that informs loved ones when an older person makes their morning cup of tea， letting them know they are OK.
A couple， Jo and Ron Jowett， have set up a charity， LoveLightRomania for disadvantaged Roma children in Transylvania.“The project has only been possible because of the internet，” Mrs Jowett says. They plan to sell Roma-made products online， from tablecloths to dog kennels.
Steve O'Hear is a successful technology journalist reporting on start-ups for TechCrunch， the AOL-owned technology news website. He is severely disabled and in a powered wheelchair. Mr O'Hear told me:“Once I had a mouse and a keyboard I could be as good as others. Actually， the best.”
Reporting used to be about notebooks and wearing out shoe leather. Connecting with sources online allows him to “break stories， and not always stories that people want to be broken， [that are happening in]cities I've never even been to”， he says.
The internet will probably continue to have its badlands. But connected technologies will continue to deliver progress in all fields for people who need help. Virtual reality will enable non-profits to show graphically to a world audience what is happening in conflict and disaster zones. Drones will fly medicines to places without roads. Translation technology will ease language barriers. And people without access to doctors will use smartphones to consult medics remotely.
The future is rolling out as it should， despite bumps on the road.
互联网有如一个失败国家吗？伴随着暗网、网络犯罪、网上挑衅、虚假新闻、勒索软件、人为破坏、网络诈骗、垃圾邮件、电脑病毒和间谍行为等的出现，这个隐喻正日益流行。
网络初时曾承诺建立一个非商业的虚拟世界，让网民能够跨越国界不受传统信息监管地相互自由交往，现在看来太天真。
但是，同样的科技不仅助长了这些反乌托邦的魑魅魍魉，还有唐纳德·特朗普的推文，也是屡遭排挤的芸芸众生的生命线。理由如下。
Skype等众多服务公司使得全世界哪怕一文不名的人都能无限制、零成本地通话和通视频。Skype拥有数以亿计的用户。大多数人都不知道国际长途一度仅供富人使用。
在非洲，即将推出的手机应用程序Ugogo有望为偏远乡村的手艺人开辟一个生产者直达消费者的全球性市场。制作珠宝等产品的能人高手无需银行账户，甚至不用识字。
英国的手机应用程序What3Words帮助无街道地址的人利用互联网购物的优势。18个月来，它已被蒙古国、吉布提和科特迪瓦等五国的邮局所采用。
虐童行为的受害者成立互助小组，使用脸书和WhatsApp共享信息。
联网产品（如网络摄像头）可帮助我们留意老年人。英国发明的“响三声”插头可在老人制作早茶时通知亲人报平安。
乔和罗恩·乔维特夫妇为特兰西瓦尼亚地区处于弱势的罗姆儿童设立了慈善机构LoveLightRomania。乔维特夫人说：“这个项目只因有互联网才成为可能。”他们计划在线销售罗姆人生产的产品，从桌布到狗窝。
史蒂夫·奥黑尔是一位成功的科技记者，供职于美国在线公司旗下的科技新闻网站TechCrunch，报道初创企业。他有严重残疾，离不开电动轮椅。奥黑尔先生告诉我：“只要我有鼠标和键盘，我就可以像其他人一样棒。其实是最棒的。”
以前，报道新闻靠的是笔记本和跑断腿。他说，在线联系消息源让他可以“报道（发生在）我从来没有去过的城市的新闻，未必是人家希望见诸报道的新闻”。
也许，互联网还会有法外之地存在。但互联技术将继续在各领域为需要帮助的人们带来进步。虚拟现实技术将使非营利组织能够形象生动地向世界观众展示交战区和灾区的情况。无人机将把药物空运到没有道路的地方。翻译技术将减少语言的障碍。就医无门的人们将使用智能手机远程咨询医务人员。
尽管道路崎岖，但未来正按照它应有的方式一一展现。（涂颀译自英国《金融时报》网站2月21日文章）
