为什么我们越来越没有耐心了

耐心可能使人更长寿！

2016年，发表在《美国国家科学院院刊》（Proceedings of the National Academy of Sciences）的一项研究表明，缺乏耐心的人要比有耐心的人更容易衰老，并且相比男性，这一趋势在女性中尤为明显。

“你的职责是平整土地，而非焦虑时光。你做三四月的事，在八九月自有答案。”—— 余世存

无注释原文：

Think about it for a minute. We all want instant gratification and want things without waiting. We expect packages delivered the same day. We expect immediate results in the gym. We have food delivered to us already pre-cut so that we can get a meal cooked 10 minutes faster.  We can even have a book read to us or summarized for us so that we don't have to read them. I think that has lead us to a life where we have very little patience. Maybe it is time we slow down and practice a little patience.

Being Impatient Can Make You Age Faster, Study Shows

From: IFLScience

Feb 23 2016

Don’t wish your life away, or you may end up getting what you wished for a little sooner than expected, according to the results of a new study published in the Proceedings of the National Academy of Sciences. By looking at genetic markers associated with cellular aging, researchers found that people who are impatient face a greater risk of biological decline than those who are a little more easy-going.

To conduct the study, researchers recruited 1,158 participants to take part in an experiment designed to measure their level of impatience, before conducting a genetic analysis of their blood cells in order to determine the length of their telomeres. These are sequences of DNA found at the ends of chromosomes that act as a kind of protective cap for the genetic information they contain.

Each time a cell divides, these telomeres become slightly eroded, eventually becoming so short that the cell itself is no longer able to continue dividing, entering a stage known as senescence. As such, telomere length provides a measure of cellular aging and is a reliable predictor of a person’s risk of disease and early mortality.

Knowing that the erosion of telomeres can be increased by a number of factors that can be brought on by stress, such as inflammation, the study authors sought to determine if impatience could contribute to this acceleration. More specifically, they wanted to know how telomere length is affected by delay discounting, which refers to a person’s tendency to devalue future outcomes relative to immediate desires, and has been associated with a range of negative traits such as substance abuse and physical inactivity.

To measure this, the study authors designed a range of behavioral economic tasks, such as asking participants to choose between receiving $100 immediately or a larger sum in 30 days. By raising and lowering this amount, the researchers were able to determine each participant’s minimum acceptable amount (MAA), meaning the lowest sum of money they would be willing to wait 30 days to receive.

Analyzing their data, the study authors found that those with a higher MAA tended to have shorter telomeres, indicating a negative correlation between delay discounting and cellular aging. Interestingly, this effect was far more pronounced in women than in men, leading the researchers to conclude that, on a cellular level, females may be more susceptible to aging as a result of psychological stress and impatience than males.

Though the researchers admit that they cannot say at this stage whether shorter telomere length causes impatience or impatience accelerates telomere erosion, they speculate that the latter is more likely. This is because they found no evidence that shortened telomere length affected participants’ ability to make rational decisions regarding longer-term financial investments.

However, the degree by which impatience accelerates telomere erosion also seems to be mitigated by certain genetic factors. For instance, since estrogen is known to act as an antioxidant that protects telomeres, the researchers decided to look for relationships between telomere length and an estrogen receptor gene called ESR2. In doing so, they found that those who carried a particular version of this gene were protected from the apparent effects of impatience.

Similarly, participants with a certain variation of the gene for the oxytocin receptor did not suffer from shortened telomeres even if they had high levels of impatience, indicating that the chemical messenger oxytocin – which is associated with decreased stress levels – may also have a protective effect.

- ◆ -

注：中文文本为机器翻译仅供参考，并非一一对应

含注释全文：

Think about it for a minute. We all want instant gratification and want things without waiting. We expect packages delivered the same day. We expect immediate results in the gym. We have food delivered to us already pre-cut so that we can get a meal cooked 10 minutes faster.  We can even have a book read to us or summarized for us so that we don't have to read them. I think that has lead us to a life where we have very little patience. Maybe it is time we slow down and practice a little patience.

想一想。我们都想要即时满足感，想要不用等待的东西。我们希望包裹在同一天就送达。我们希望健身完立刻就有效果。我们有预先切好的食物，这样我们做一顿饭就可以快10分钟。我们甚至可以听书，或者让人为我们总结，这样我们就不必阅读了。我想这已经导致我们对生活几乎没有耐心了。也许是时候放慢脚步，多一点耐心了。

表示“满足；满意；快感；令人喜悦的事物”，英文解释为“the state of feeling pleasure when sth goes well for you or when your desires are satisfied; sth that gives you pleasure”

Being Impatient Can Make You Age Faster, Study Shows

From: IFLScience

Feb 23 2016

Don’t wish your life away, or you may end up getting what you wished for a little sooner than expected, according to the results of a new study published in the Proceedings of the National Academy of Sciences. By looking at genetic markers associated with cellular aging, researchers found that people who are impatient face a greater risk of biological decline than those who are a little more easy-going.

根据发表在《美国国家科学院院刊》（Proceedings of the National Academy of Sciences）上的一项最新研究，别忽视眼下而急着想将来，否则你可能会比预期更早地“如愿”。通过观察与细胞衰老相关的遗传标记，研究人员发现，缺乏耐心的人比那些更不慌不忙的人面临更大的衰老风险。

表示“（不采取任何行动而）希望问题消失；以主观希望其不存在来摆脱（某事物）”，英文解释为“to do nothing and hope that a problem will disappear”举个🌰：

Some people seem to think if they wish the disease away, then it will go away.

有些人似乎认为只要他们希望疾病消失，疾病就会自行消失。

1）表示“一系列事件；一系列活动”，英文解释为“a series of events that happen in a planned and controlled way”举个🌰：

Millions of people watched the proceedings on television.

数百万人通过电视观看了这一系列活动。

2）表示“诉讼”，英文解释为“legal action”举个🌰：

I started legal proceedings to try to have him taken away from his parents permanently.

我提起诉讼，想把他从父母身边永远带走。

3）表示“（会议等的）正式记录；公报”，英文解释为“the official written report of a meeting, etc.”

表示“基因的；遗传信息的”，英文解释为“belonging or relating to genes (= parts of the DNA in cells) received by each animal or plant from its parents”如：a genetic defect/disease 基因缺陷/遗传性疾病。

cellular /ˈsel.jə.lər/ 表示“细胞的”，英文解释为“connected with the cells of a plant or animal”

To conduct the study, researchers recruited 1,158 participants to take part in an experiment designed to measure their level of impatience, before conducting a genetic analysis of their blood cells in order to determine the length of their telomeres. These are sequences of DNA found at the ends of chromosomes that act as a kind of protective cap for the genetic information they contain.

为了进行这项研究，研究人员招募了1158名参与者，让他们参与一项旨在度量他们不耐心程度的实验，然后对他们的血细胞进行基因分析，以确定他们的染色体端粒长度。端粒是染色体末端的DNA序列，对染色体所含的基因信息起到保护帽的作用。

表示“招聘，吸收；（尤指军队）征募新兵”，英文解释为“to persuade someone to work for a company or become a new member of an organization, especially the army”举个🌰：

Even young boys are now being recruited into the army.

就连很年轻的男孩子都被征召入伍了。

telomere /ˈtiː.lə.mɪər/ 表示“（染色体的）端粒”，英文解释为“a structure at the end of a chromosome that protects it”

chromosome /ˈkrəʊ.mə.səʊm/ 表示“染色体”，英文解释为“any of the rod-like structures found in all living cells, containing the chemical patterns that control what an animal or plant is like”如：X and Y chromosomes X染色体和Y染色体。

Each time a cell divides, these telomeres become slightly eroded, eventually becoming so short that the cell itself is no longer able to continue dividing, entering a stage known as senescence. As such, telomere length provides a measure of cellular aging and is a reliable predictor of a person’s risk of disease and early mortality.

细胞每次分裂时，这些端粒都会被轻微侵蚀（缩短），最终短到细胞本身不再能够继续分裂，进入所谓的衰老阶段。因此，端粒长度提供了细胞衰老的衡量标准，也是一个人疾病和早期死亡风险的可靠预测指标。

表示“降低，削弱”，英文解释为“If the value of something erodes or is eroded by something such as inflation or age, its value decreases.”举个🌰：

Competition in the financial marketplace has eroded profits.

金融市场的竞争降低了利润。

还可以指“（气候）侵蚀，腐蚀；（岩石、土壤）风化”等（if the weather erodes rock or soil, or if rock or soil erodes, its surface is gradually destroyed），如：soil erosion 水土流失。

senescence /sɪˈnes.əns/ 表示“衰老，变老”，英文解释为“the fact of becoming older, and therefore being in less good condition and less able to function well”举个🌰：

Senescence refers to gradual deterioration with age and in animals is typically very obvious under zoo conditions.

衰老是指随着年龄的增长功能逐渐退化，在动物园条件下，动物的衰老通常非常明显。

mortality /mɔːˈtælɪtɪ/ 表示“死亡数量；死亡率”，英文解释为“the number of deaths in a particular situation or period of time”。

区分：

📍morbidity /mɔːˈbɪdɪtɪ/ 表示“发病（率）”，英文解释为“the morbidity of a disease is how many people have it in a particular population”。

Knowing that the erosion of telomeres can be increased by a number of factors that can be brought on by stress, such as inflammation, the study authors sought to determine if impatience could contribute to this acceleration. More specifically, they wanted to know how telomere length is affected by delay discounting, which refers to a person’s tendency to devalue future outcomes relative to immediate desires, and has been associated with a range of negative traits such as substance abuse and physical inactivity.

考虑到由压力引发的多种因素（如炎症）会增加端粒的受侵蚀程度，研究作者们试图确定不耐烦是否会加速端粒受侵蚀。更具体地说，他们想知道端粒长度是如何受到延迟贴现（delay discounting）影响的，延迟贴现是指一个人往往轻视未来的结果，而不是眼前的欲望（注：即延迟满足还是及时行乐），并且与药物滥用和缺乏身体锻炼等一系列负面特征有关。

表示“侵蚀；腐蚀；磨损”，英文解释为“the fact of soil, stone, etc. being gradually damaged and removed by the waves, rain, or wind”如：soil/coastal erosion 水土流失/海岸侵蚀。

表示“发炎；炎症”，英文解释为“An inflammation is a painful redness or swelling of a part of your body that results from an infection, injury, or illness.”

1）表示“（思想、行为等的）倾向”，英文解释为“If someone has a tendency to do or like something, they will probably do it or like it.”举个🌰：

His tendency to exaggerate is well known.

他喜欢夸张是出了名的。

2）表示“（某事发展的）倾向”，英文解释为“If there is a tendency to do something, it starts to happen more often or starts to increase.”举个🌰：

There is a growing tendency to regard money more highly than quality of life.

越来越多的人倾向于把金钱看得重于生活质量。

表示“贬低；轻视”，英文解释为“to cause someone or something to be considered less valuable or important”举个🌰：

I don't want to devalue his achievement, but he managed to get a promotion without working very hard.

我不想贬低他的成绩，但他似乎没有真正努力就得到了升迁。

To measure this, the study authors designed a range of behavioral economic tasks, such as asking participants to choose between receiving $100 immediately or a larger sum in 30 days. By raising and lowering this amount, the researchers were able to determine each participant’s minimum acceptable amount (MAA), meaning the lowest sum of money they would be willing to wait 30 days to receive.

为了衡量这一点，研究作者设计了一系列行为经济学任务，比如要求参与者在立即收到100美元或30天内收到更大金额之间做出选择。通过提高和降低这一金额，研究人员能够确定每个参与者的最低可接受金额（MAA），这意味着他们愿意等待30天才能收到的最低金额。

Analyzing their data, the study authors found that those with a higher MAA tended to have shorter telomeres, indicating a negative correlation between delay discounting and cellular aging. Interestingly, this effect was far more pronounced in women than in men, leading the researchers to conclude that, on a cellular level, females may be more susceptible to aging as a result of psychological stress and impatience than males.

研究作者在分析他们的数据时发现，那些具有较高最低可接受金额的人往往具有较短的端粒，这表明延迟贴现和细胞老化之间存在着负相关关系。有趣的是，这种影响在女性中远比在男性中明显，这使得研究人员得出结论，在细胞层面上，由于心理压力和缺乏耐心，女性可能比男性更容易衰老。

pronounced /prəˈnaʊnst/ 表示“明显的；明确的”，英文解释为“very noticeable or certain”举个🌰：

I'm told I have a very pronounced Chinese accent when I speak English.

有人告诉我说，我在说英语时有明显的中式口音。

susceptible /səˈseptəbl/ 表示“易受影响（或伤害等）；敏感；过敏”，英文解释为“very likely to be influenced, harmed or affected by sb/sth”举个🌰：

Some of these plants are more susceptible to frost damage than others.

这些植物中有一些较其他的易受霜冻危害。

Though the researchers admit that they cannot say at this stage whether shorter telomere length causes impatience or impatience accelerates telomere erosion, they speculate that the latter is more likely. This is because they found no evidence that shortened telomere length affected participants’ ability to make rational decisions regarding longer-term financial investments.

尽管研究人员承认，他们目前还不能说端粒长度较短会导致缺乏耐心还是缺乏耐心会加速端粒受侵蚀，但他们推测后者更有可能。这是因为他们没有发现任何证据表明端粒长度缩短会影响参与者对长期财务投资做出理性决策的能力。

表示“推测；猜测；推断”，英文解释为“to form an opinion about sth without knowing all the details or facts”举个🌰：

We all speculated about the reasons for her resignation.

我们大家都推测过她辞职的原因。

📺美剧《24小时》（24 Hours）中的台词提到：I wouldn't want to speculate at this time, 这次我不想妄加揣测。

表示“头脑清醒的；理智的”，英文解释为“based on clear thought and reason”举个🌰：

There must be some rational explanation for what happened.

对发生的事一定有一个理性的解释。

However, the degree by which impatience accelerates telomere erosion also seems to be mitigated by certain genetic factors. For instance, since estrogen is known to act as an antioxidant that protects telomeres, the researchers decided to look for relationships between telomere length and an estrogen receptor gene called ESR2. In doing so, they found that those who carried a particular version of this gene were protected from the apparent effects of impatience.

然而，缺乏耐心加速端粒受侵蚀的程度似乎也会被某些遗传因素所缓解。例如，由于雌性激素被认为是一种保护端粒的抗氧化剂，研究人员决定探索端粒长度与一种名为ESR2的雌姓激素受体基因之间的关系。在这一过程中，他们发现那些携带该基因特定版本的人得到了保护，明显未受到缺乏耐心的影响。

表示“减轻，缓解，缓和”，英文解释为“to make a situation or the effects of something less unpleasant, harmful, or serious”举个🌰：

Measures need to be taken to mitigate the environmental effects of burning more coal. 需要采取措施来减轻燃煤增加对环境造成的影响。

英式 oestrogen 美式 estrogen 表示“雌激素”，英文解释为“a female hormone that causes development and change in the reproductive organs (= organs involved in producing babies)”

antioxidant /ˌæn.tiˈɒk.sɪ.dənt/ 表示“抗氧化剂，阻氧化剂，防老（化）剂”，英文解释为“a substance that slows down the rate at which something decays because of oxidization”

表示“感受器；受体”，英文解释为“a nerve ending which receives information about changes in light, heat etc and causes the body to react in particular ways”。

Similarly, participants with a certain variation of the gene for the oxytocin receptor did not suffer from shortened telomeres even if they had high levels of impatience, indicating that the chemical messenger oxytocin – which is associated with decreased stress levels – may also have a protective effect.

同样，拥有催产素受体基因某种变体的参与者即使不耐烦程度很高，也不会出现端粒缩短的情况，这表明与压力水平降低相关的化学信使催产素也可能具有保护作用。

表示“变种，变体；变化了的东西”，英文解释为“something that is slightly different from the usual form or arrangement”举个🌰：

There are wide variations in the way pensioners have benefited from the system.

养老金领取者从这个体制中受益的情况有很大差别。

oxytocin /ˌɑːk.sɪˈtoʊ-/ 表示“催产素”，英文解释为“a hormone that helps with labour (= the process of pushing out a baby) and helps women and female mammals to produce milk.”

- 今日盘点 -

gratification

wish sth away

proceedings

genetic

cellular

recruit

telomere

chromosome

erode

senescence

mortality

erosion

inflammation

tendency

devalue

pronounced

susceptible

speculate

rational

mitigate

estrogen

antioxidant

receptor

variation

oxytocin

公众号后台对话框里发送：666

参与抽奖（8月27日0点开）

公众号后台对话框里发送：沙发

查看沙发计划，抢沙发拿奖励

公众号后台对话框里发送：打卡

参与每天持续行动打卡计划

公众号后台对话框里发送：提问

查看提问指南，不懂先查再问

- 推荐阅读 -

2022政府工作报告中英文对照注释版

为了这个合集，准备了整整1年7月

「LearnAndRecord」2021大盘点

写在七周年的话

- END -