13 大腦進化 · 我永遠不會送我的孩子去學校

# 13.大腦進化 [TOC=3,5] ## 13 Brain evolution ## 大腦進化 ### 13.1 Employing evolution ### 利用進化 Some smart people believe that evolution will help improve the brain to tolerate some of the challenges of the modern world. They are right. The evolution is an on-going process. However, the same smart people may tend to believe that pushing the brain to its limits has some evolutionary value. This thinking is extremely dangerous as it may justify the displeasure of learning in contradiction to the [fundamental law of learning](https://supermemo.guru/wiki/Fundamental_law_of_learning). 一些聰明人相信，進化將有助于改進大腦，使其能夠承受現代世界的一些挑戰。他們是對的。進化是一個持續的過程。然而，這些聰明人可能傾向于相信，將大腦推向極限具有一定的進化價值。這種想法是極其危險的，因為它可能使與[學習基本規律](https://supermemo.guru/wiki/Fundamental_law_of_learning)相矛盾的不悅合理化。 The claim is that we need to adapt to harder schooling because there are things that our grandmothers could never do. However, school stress is more likely to come from calculus that have been done since the time of Newton, i.e. long before granny was born. At the same time, our grandmothers never used iPhone, which kids love and schools often ban or place in cell hotels. 有人說，我們需要適應更艱苦的教育，因為有些事情是我們的祖母永遠做不到的。然而，學校的壓力更有可能來自于自牛頓時代就開始做的微積分，也就是說，遠在祖母出生之前。與此同時，我們的祖母從未使用過 iPhone，而孩子們喜歡 iPhone，并且學校經常禁止攜帶或把它們放在手機收納盒里。 The idea of pushing the limits leads parents and educators to believe that exposing kids to hardships of life early will result in building [resilience](https://supermemo.guru/wiki/Stress_resilience). Developmental acceleration that comes from hardship provide further feedback to the illusion that it benefits the brain. This is how the whole system of [harmful ideas](https://supermemo.guru/wiki/Baby_management) come to play: cram schools, alarm clocks, jam-packed educational and extracurricular schedules, accelerated curriculum, boot camps and brain boot camps, and more. 挑戰極限的想法使父母和教育工作者相信，讓孩子早早地接觸生活的艱辛將有助于培養他們的[適應力](https://supermemo.guru/wiki/Stress_resilience)。來自艱難困苦的發展加速，為「艱苦困苦有益于大腦」的錯覺提供了進一步的反饋。這就是整個[有害思想](https://supermemo.guru/wiki/Baby_management)體系發揮作用的方式：補習班、鬧鐘、擁擠的教育和課外計劃、速成課程、新兵訓練營和大腦訓練營等等。 This is all based on poor understanding of evolution. 這都是基于對進化理解的不足。 For starters, evolution is a snail-slow process that takes generations to produce changes that are hard to notice. Why rely on evolution, when we can get results on a few orders of magnitude better by taking the opposite strategy: relieving the pressures. Take an average school-age kid, let it get some sleep, let it relax, activate the [learn drive](https://supermemo.guru/wiki/Learn_drive), let him follow the [natural creativity cycle](https://supermemo.guru/wiki/Natural_creativity_cycle), and in a few months you may get 500% gain in brain power. Don't Google to verify the number. 500% is just my wild shot. I look at unhappy gaunt kids around and I know that what they crave for is their best medicine: freedom, incl. [freedom to learn](https://supermemo.guru/wiki/Why_kids_hate_school%3F). 首先，進化是一個緩慢的過程，需要幾代人的時間才能產生難以察覺的變化。當我們采取相反的策略：緩解壓力，就能在幾個數量級上取得更好的結果時，為什么還要依賴進化呢？以一個普通學齡兒童為例，讓他得到一些睡眠，讓他放松，激活[學習內驅力](https://supermemo.guru/wiki/Learn_drive)，讓他跟隨[自然創造力周期](https://supermemo.guru/wiki/Natural_creativity_cycle)，幾個月后，他的腦力可能會提高 500%。不要用谷歌來驗證這個數字。500%只是我的大膽猜測。我看著周圍那些郁郁寡歡、骨瘦如柴的孩子，我知道他們渴望的是最好的良藥：自由，包括[學習的自由](https://supermemo.guru/wiki/Why_kids_hate_school%3F)。 ### 13.2 Genius of neural computation ### 神經計算的天賦 There is a dangerous point of ignorance behind the idea that pushing the limits is good for the evolution of the brain. At the root of the error in judgement is the unawareness of evolutionary marvels such as the [learn drive](https://supermemo.guru/wiki/Learn_drive), [memory optimization in sleep](https://supermemo.guru/wiki/Memory_optimization_in_sleep), [spaced repetition](https://supermemo.guru/wiki/Spaced_repetition), and more. These are genius inventions of neural computing that cannot be improved using the concept of pushing the limits of brainwork. 在認為突破極限有利于大腦進化的觀點背后，存在著無知的危險。判斷錯誤的根源在于對進化奇跡的忽視，比如[學習內驅力](https://supermemo.guru/wiki/Learn_drive)、[睡眠中的記憶優化](https://supermemo.guru/wiki/Memory_optimization_in_sleep)、[間隔重復](https://supermemo.guru/wiki/Spaced_repetition)等等。這些都是神經計算的天才發明，不能用挑戰腦力勞動極限的概念加以改進。 Amazingly, many scientists in service of the army, education system, or the industry already work on weapons of mass brain destruction. Millions of dollars keep getting invested in harmful ideas such as eliminating sleep, eliminating forgetting, eliminating creative distraction, manipulating sleep stages, etc. 令人驚訝的是，許多為軍隊、教育系統或工業服務的科學家已經在研究大規模殺傷性武器。數百萬美元不斷地投入到有害的想法中，比如消除睡眠、消除遺忘、消除創造性分心、控制睡眠階段等等。 This would actually result in evolution in reverse! If we eliminate sleep, we kill intelligence. If we eliminate sleepiness, we kill memory optimization. If we eliminate the sense of boredom, we accept indiscriminate learning. If we eliminate forgetting, we kill abstract thinking, and so on. 這實際上會導致相反的進化！如果我們不睡覺，我們就扼殺了智力。如果我們消除了睡意，我們就扼殺了記憶優化。如果我們消除了無聊感，我們就接受了不加選擇的學習。如果我們消除遺忘，我們就扼殺了抽象思維，等等。 Moreover, all the push for bad sleep and bad learning would result in an epidemic of Alzheimer's disease. The garbage leftovers of excessive brainwork usually hit beyond the breeding age. This keeps senile dementia well protected from the reach of the evolution. Instead of having smarter students, we would have adults who would forget their own name by the time they were of my age. 此外，所有對睡眠不良和學習不良的推動都會導致阿爾茨海默氏癥的流行。過度腦力勞動所產生的垃圾通常會在生育年齡后造成嚴重影響。這使得老年癡呆不受進化的影響。我們不會有更聰明的學生，我們會有成年人在他們像我這么大的時候忘記自己的名字。 ### 13.3 Breeding perfect students ### 培育完美學生 It is a dream of every teacher to have an obedient, focused, and refreshed student who comes to school in time. Unfortunately, that dream is often realized with harmful means. Alarm clock ensures good timing. Modafinil improves alertness. Ritalin improves focus. Legal amphetamine, Adderall, improves both. [Learned helplessness](https://supermemo.guru/wiki/Learned_helplessness) leads to obedience. Instead of raising creative individuals, with this approach, we are raising intellectual zombies. 有一個聽話、專注、精神抖擻、按時到校的學生是每一位老師的夢想。不幸的是，這種夢想往往是通過有害的手段實現的。鬧鐘確保時間準確。莫達非尼提高警覺性。利他林提高專注。合法的安非他命改善了這兩方面。[習得性無助](https://supermemo.guru/wiki/Learned_helplessness)導致服從。用這種方法，我們培養的不是有創造力的個體，而是智力僵尸。 Coercive education is supposed to make sure kids tolerate boredom in order to withstand the hardships of learning. Teen suicide would be a form of natural selection of those who did not adapt to "modern lifestyle". Supposedly, the next generation is to get more resilient. Unfortunately, the opposite is true. If we tolerate boredom, frustration, and suppress the distractive [learn drive](https://supermemo.guru/wiki/Learn_drive), we eliminate the natural inflow of coherent knowledge, and replace it with indiscriminate inflow of knowledge that does not fit the semantic network status quo. This would naturally accelerate forgetting, which might perhaps be slowed down with drugs. One day this will inevitably spark a saying: _"he is a great student, he knows a lot, but he is as dumb as a hard disk"_. 強制教育的目的是為了讓孩子們忍受學習的艱辛而忍受無聊。青少年自殺是那些不適應「現代生活方式」的人的一種自然選擇。據推測，下一代人將變得更有韌性。不幸的是，事實正好相反。如果我們容忍無聊、挫折，抑制令人分心的[學習內驅力](https://supermemo.guru/wiki/Learn_drive)，我們就消除了連貫知識的自然流入，取而代之的是不符合語義網絡現狀的不加區分的知識流入。這自然會加速遺忘，而遺忘也許可以通過藥物來減緩。有一天，這將不可避免地產生一句諺語：「他是一個偉大的學生，他知道很多，但他像硬盤一樣笨」。 > Sleepiness and the sense of boredom are fantastic weapons against brain mismanagement. If we eliminate these, we expose the brain to the damage of bad sleep and bad learning. > > 困倦和無聊感是對付大腦管理不善的神奇武器。如果我們消除了這些，我們的大腦就會受到睡眠不良和學習不良的損害。 Due to the marvelous diversification of student interests, joy of learning is a frequent source of distraction in a classroom. While the teacher might be ready to explain the structure of the atom, the kid is more likely to think about that new cool [videogame](https://supermemo.guru/wiki/Videogame). To eliminate that distraction we need to eliminate the [learn drive](https://supermemo.guru/wiki/Learn_drive) \(the attractive force\) and creativity \(the distractive force\). Ritalin does a great job here. It makes sure that passions do not interfere with schooling. 由于學生興趣的驚人多樣化，學習的樂趣是課堂上經常分心的原因。雖然老師可能已經準備好解釋原子的結構，但孩子更有可能想到那個新的很酷的[電子游戲](https://supermemo.guru/wiki/Videogame)。為了消除這種干擾，我們需要消除學習內驅力（吸引力）和創造力（分心力）。利他林在這方面做得很好。它確保激情不會干擾學業。 Enjoying videogames, TV shows, or the need to spend 7 hours per day on sleep are just side effects of genius inventions of neural evolution. Those great evolutionary spoils cannot be overturned. They are also hard to improve upon in computational sense. They are an acme of millions of years of evolution. **Pushing the brain to the limits is like trying to improve bird flight by loading birds with weights that make flight impossible**. 享受電子游戲、電視節目，或者每天需要花 7 個小時睡覺，這些都只是神經進化的天才發明的副作用。這些偉大的進化帶來的好處是無法推翻的。它們在計算上也很難改進。它們是數百萬年進化的頂點。**把大腦推到極限就像給鳥類負重，讓它們無法飛行，以此來提高它們的飛行能力。** I wrote elsewhere that [resistance to chronic stress is not trainable](https://supermemo.guru/wiki/Stress_resilience). By pushing the limits early, we may induce brain adaptations that are shortcuts in development, but bring negative long-term outcomes. Daycare acceleration is the best example of pushing the limits that might spark evolution in the reverse, i.e. dumbing up future generations. Those kids who adapt best to the regimen early, e.g. for hormonal reasons, will be well equipped to freeze brain development at early stages. If we push the maladapted kids to suicide or non-reproduction, we get the exact opposite to the effect intended. In the extreme, we might even start pushing newborns to new heights of learning. Those stressed puppies might never get beyond the level of a well trained dog. 我在其他地方寫道，[適應慢性壓力](https://supermemo.guru/wiki/Stress_resilience)是無法訓練的。通過早期突破極限，我們可能會誘導大腦適應，這是發展的捷徑，但會帶來負面的長期結果。幼兒園加速是推動極限的最好例子，這種推動極限可能會引發相反的進化，也就是讓后代變得更笨。那些早期最能適應這種療法的孩子，比如因為荷爾蒙的原因，在早期階段就能很好地凍結大腦的發育。如果我們強迫不適應的孩子自殺或不生育，我們會得到完全相反的效果。在極端情況下，我們甚至可能開始把新生兒推向新的學習高峰。那些壓力過大的幼犬可能永遠無法達到訓練有素的狗的水平。 Those who dream of turning brains into computers should be aware that soon the opposite will happen. Computers will mimic brains, and in the end, they will outsmart the smartest of us. Those future computers, as envisaged by [Jeff Hawkins](https://en.wikipedia.org/wiki/Jeff_Hawkins) and others, will borrow richly from the wisdom of evolution instead of trying to override it. 那些夢想把大腦變成電腦的人應該意識到，很快就會發生相反的事情。電腦會模仿大腦，最終，它們會比我們當中最聰明的人更聰明。[Jeff Hawkins](https://en.wikipedia.org/wiki/Jeff_Hawkins) 等人設想的未來計算機，將充分借鑒進化的智慧，而不是試圖推翻它。 ### 13.4 Eugenics ### 優生學 By definition, [eugenics](https://en.wikipedia.org/wiki/Eugenics) is a good thing. Its a quest to improve the genetic make up of humanity. It may involve eliminating some lethal genetic disorders. Eugenics was given a bad name by Hitler, the Nazis, and others. That Nazi variant could be called a _"hate optimization"_. Instead of improving the gene pool, it was to be made supposedly better but keeping it monoracial. Races are a treasure. They enrich the human gene pool, incl. the pool of genes responsible for multiple intelligences. 根據定義，[優生學](https://en.wikipedia.org/wiki/Eugenics)是一件好事。這是一項改善人類基因構成的探索。它可能包括消除一些致命的遺傳疾病。優生學被希特勒、納粹和其他一些人冠以惡名。納粹的變種可以被稱為「仇恨優化」。不是改善基因庫，而是應該使其變得更好，但要保持其單一性。種族是一種財富。它們豐富了人類的基因庫，包括負責多元智能的基因庫。 We are all guilty of good eugenics. When we choose a mate or spouse we usually go for healthy, nice, and smart. We also go for beautiful, which is an approximate surrogate for measuring good health. In that act of choice, we commit eugenics. The main problem with artificial eugenics is that, in wrong hands, instead of producing future smarter generations we might end up with a tabloid genome whose quality would not differ from the quality of discussions on most Internet fora. 我們都是優生學的罪人。當我們選擇伴侶時，我們通常選擇健康、友善和聰明的。我們也追求美麗，這是衡量健康的近似替代品。在選擇的過程中，我們進行優生學。人工優生學的主要問題在于，如果掌握在錯誤的人手中，我們可能不會培養出未來更聰明的后代，而是得到一個八卦小報式的基因組，其質量與大多數互聯網論壇上討論的質量沒有什么不同。 Today, our reproductive choices are subject to the [Idiocracy problem](https://supermemo.guru/wiki/Idiocracy_problem). Smart people are less likely to reproduce early. This way they commit dysgenics instead. The problem of late reproduction or non-reproduction is particularly rampant among productivity freaks \(like myself\). Flynn effect seems to suggest that we are on the right path, however, if we want to prevent dysgenics, we should rather solve the problem of the evolutionary disadvantage of smart brains. Cranking up school pressure might have the opposite effect again. 今天，我們的生育選擇受制于[愚蠢的問題](https://supermemo.guru/wiki/Idiocracy_problem)。聰明的人不太可能早生育。這樣他們就會出現基因異常。晚育或不生育的問題在生產力怪胎（我自己）中尤其泛濫。弗林效應似乎表明，我們正走在正確的道路上，然而，如果我們想要防止基因異常，我們更應該解決聰明大腦進化劣勢的問題。加大學校壓力可能會再次產生相反的效果。 For the evolution to work, we need to employ the right selection criteria. The pressures of modern life provide wrong criteria. Imagine a Nazi-like scenario in which, to foster smart and precocious brains, we prevent reproduction of kids who speak late. For starters, Einstein would be in front of the queue for the chopping block. If we reward early speech, we promote speedy freeze on brain function and short reproductive cycles. We might end up with fruit fly babies ready to crawl from mama's womb to generate parrot-like speech. It is the exact opposite of what humanity is. We want prolonged and rich brain growth. It takes decades to bring that organ to true heights of genius. 為了讓進化發揮作用，我們需要使用正確的選擇標準。現代生活的壓力提供了錯誤的標準。想象一個納粹式的場景，為了培養聰明和早熟的大腦，我們阻止了晚說話的孩子的生育。首先，愛因斯坦會排在砧板前面。如果我們獎勵早期說話的人，我們就能促進大腦功能的快速凍結和生殖周期的縮短。我們可能會有果蠅寶寶準備從媽媽的子宮里爬出來，產生鸚鵡學舌的言語能力。這與人性是完全相反的。我們想要延長和豐富的大腦生長。要花上幾十年的時間才能使這個器官達到真正的天才水平。 Selecting for early speech would be an example of dysgenics. We might opt for selecting for bigger brains instead. This would not interfere with neural computing and might provide more brain tissue to run the computation. However, size would not necessarily guarantee better brains. Size isn't necessarily the bottleneck of human brain computational power. Availability of time for learning, thinking and creativity seems far more limiting. Instead of smarter generations, we might be like \[chihuahuas\]\([https://en.wikipedia.org/wiki/Chihuahua\_\(dog](https://en.wikipedia.org/wiki/Chihuahua_%28dog)\)\), requiring C-section to guarantee healthy delivery. Instead of smarter humans, we would wave goodbye to natural birth in the lap of nature. 選擇早期語言能力將是劣生學的一個例子。我們可能會選擇更大的大腦。這將不會干擾神經計算，并可能提供更多的腦組織運行計算。然而，尺寸并不一定保證大腦更好。大小并不一定是人腦計算能力的瓶頸。學習、思考和創造力的時間似乎更有限。我們可能會像\[吉娃娃狗\]\([https://en.wikipedia.org/wiki/Chihuahua\_\(dog\)\)一樣，需要剖腹產來保證健康分娩，而不是聰明的一代。我們將告別自然的誕生，而不是更聰明的人類。](https://en.wikipedia.org/wiki/Chihuahua_%28dog%29%29一樣，需要剖腹產來保證健康分娩，而不是聰明的一代。我們將告別自然的誕生，而不是更聰明的人類。) The right approach to brain eugenics might be to select for excellent opus vitae. We might, for example, go for a [Genius Sperm Bank](https://en.wikipedia.org/wiki/Repository_for_Germinal_Choice), and pay women to conceive and deliver babies using sperm from the bank. Even then, however, we cannot discount the nurture factor. Instead of a genius generation, we might breed more cases of [Ted Kaczynski](https://en.wikipedia.org/wiki/Ted_Kaczynski). It seems classical mating and old-fashioned families still come on top in breeding best brains. Instead of "pushing the limits", we should respect the rules of a healthy lifestyle and a healthy brainwork. 大腦優生學的正確方法可能是選擇優生優育。例如，我們可以找一家[天才精子庫](https://en.wikipedia.org/wiki/Repository_for_Germinal_Choice)，付錢給婦女，讓她們用精子庫的精子懷孕和分娩。然而，即便如此，我們也不能忽視養育因素。我們可能會培養更多的 [Ted Kaczynski](https://en.wikipedia.org/wiki/Ted_Kaczynski) 這樣的人，而不是天才一代。傳統的交配和傳統的家庭似乎仍然在培養最優秀的大腦方面處于領先地位。我們應該尊重健康生活方式和腦力勞動的規則，而不是「挑戰極限」。 > **Pushing the brain to its limits does not benefit the evolution of the brain. It may exert an evolutionary pressure opposite to the one intended** > > **把大腦逼到極限不利于大腦的進化。它可能會產生與預期相反的進化壓力** ### 13.5 Summary: Brain evolution ### 摘要：腦進化 * [learn drive](https://supermemo.guru/wiki/Learn_drive) and the [natural creativity cycle](https://supermemo.guru/wiki/Natural_creativity_cycle) are marvels of the evolution that are hard to improve upon * [學習內驅力](https://supermemo.guru/wiki/Learn_drive)和[自然創造力周期](https://supermemo.guru/wiki/Natural_creativity_cycle)是進化的奇跡，難以改進 * sleepiness and boredom are defense weapons that protect the brain * 困倦和無聊是保護大腦的防御性武器 * evolution of the brain is too slow to benefit mankind much nowadays * 如今，大腦的進化太慢了，不能給人類帶來太多好處 * respecting the needs of the brain can bring dramatic returns in intellectual productivity * 尊重大腦的需求可以在智力生產力方面帶來巨大的回報 * early intervention and acceleration in child care may result in stress and worse long-term outcomes * 兒童保育的早期干預和加速可能導致壓力和更糟的長期結果 * pushing the brain to the limits does not benefit the evolution of the brain * 把大腦推向極限不利于大腦的進化