環(huán)球英語 — 581：How Violent Are You?

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Voice 1

Hello, and welcome to Spotlight. I'm Marina Santee.

Voice 2

And I'm Ruby Jones. This programme uses a special English method of broadcasting. It is easier for people to understand, no matter where in the world they live.

Voice 1

Two men stand face to face on a dry, dusty piece of land. They are a similar size and shape. One man wears a special, thick rubber hat. This is to protect his head. The other man wears brightly coloured clothes. A woman sits nearby, watching the men. She calls out: "Ready...go!" Then, the two men start to fight. The man in the colourful clothes hits the other man a number of times. The other man steps back. He is trying to protect himself from the blows. He does not really seem to want to fight. However, the other man continues. And after some time, the man in the rubber hat starts to fight back. He starts to attack the other fighter. And, with one hit, he manages to knock the man in the colourful clothes to the ground.

Voice 2

In fact, the fight was an experiment. The man in the rubber hat is called Michael Portillo. Michael was once a member of the British government. Now, he writes for television, radio and newspapers. Michael always thought of himself as a peace-loving man. But he wanted to discover if there was ever a situation where he would turn to violence. So, he made a television programme for the BBC. He called it "How Violent Are You?" And, that is how he found himself fighting another man!

Voice 1

The fight took place in Bolivia. Michael had gone to this South American country to examine the custom of Tinku. This is a local word meaning encounter, or meeting. Tinku is an important and traditional part of life in some native Bolivian communities. It seems almost like a yearly celebration of violence! People from different villages meet together to settle disputes through fighting. Anyone can ask another person to fight - men, women, children. But the rules dictate that you must only fight a person of the same age and size.

Voice 2

Michael Portillo found this cultural attitude to violence very difficult to understand. When he was growing up, people had told him that fighting was the wrong way to solve a problem. And he was concerned at how Tinku affected the children involved. He talked to Doctor Maria Couppis. She is an expert on how violence affects human behaviour. She has studied the native Bolivian community a lot. She said:

Voice 3

"Our minds are shaped by the environment...we learn from relating to our parents and our teachers...As these children have more and more experience of Tinku, they are going to behave like that more often."

Voice 1

Doctor Couppis explained that humans are born being able to be hostile and violent when they need to. It is part of their ‘animal' nature. At first, Michael did not accept that he could possibly become violent. His education had taught him how to control his basic animal desires - his instincts. So, Doctor Couppis organised a Tinku fight for Michael. She even claimed that he would enjoy it! At first, Michael did not fight back. Then his instinct to protect himself started to control his actions. He began hitting the other man. He even managed to push him to the ground! But did Michael enjoy his first fight? He said:

Voice 4

"Well, I enjoyed the times when I got a hit on the man's helmet or on his body - and when he fell over! I enjoyed that."

Voice 1

So, how can a usually peace-loving man enjoy violence? Doctor Couppis explains:

Voice 3

"Our brains work in a way that make us enjoy being hostile. Usually when we fight, we cause the centres in our brain that deal with pleasant feelings and events to react."

Voice 2

So, it is in human nature to be violent. But few of us ever perform acts of extreme violence. Michael wondered what prevents humans from doing so. To find out more, he visited a school. He watched the teacher give a group of three year old children a toy to play with. Then, the two adults left the room. Soon, a fight developed between two of the children. They both wanted the toy! And fighting was their way of deciding the argument. A few minutes later, the teacher returned. He explained that fighting was not the best way to solve a dispute. He talked about how important it is to share. The children had to learn from people in authority - teachers or their parents - how to control their natural urges. Only then would they be able to operate better as social beings.

Voice 1

The violence control device in our brains develops as we grow older. So the younger we begin training it, the stronger it should become. However in some situations, this device can get damaged. Our violent urges could then start to guide our behaviour. Michael involved himself in another experiment. He had to care for two babies by himself and do a normal job. The babies were not real. Scientists organising the experiment controlled the babies' movements and sounds at a distance by computer. Michael spent the next sixty hours with very little sleep. The scientists made the babies cry a lot at night. And in the day, Michael had to work as a cook's helper in a very busy kitchen! As time went on, he felt that he was losing control:

Voice 4

"It is really amazing. When I did not have enough sleep, I felt my character changing. I always thought that my character was fixed, but it is not! Our sense of self is extremely easy to break. A blow to the head - a week's bad sleep - and we could change into someone that we would not recognise! What I have discovered has helped me to understand the possible reasons behind crimes of high emotion - why a parent would shake a baby, for example. Any one of us at any time could break!"

Voice 2

Michael learned that violence is part of all of us. But most people have learned to control it. But what about people who do lose control of their violent nature? Michael wanted to find out what makes one person choose to kill other people. In the second programme about violence, we look at how Michael Portillo tried to discover the answer to this question.