10. The Body/Mind Connection 身心關(guān)聯(lián)

身心相連

　　Medical science is only beginning to understand the ways in which the mind influences the body. The placebo effect, for example, demonstrates that people can at times cause a relief in medical symptoms or suffering by believing the cures to be effective--whether they actually are or not. Using processes only poorly understood, the body's ability to heal itself is far more amazing than anything modern medicine could create.

　　對(duì)于心靈影響身體的各種方式，我們的醫(yī)學(xué)只是剛剛有所了解。比如說，安慰劑效應(yīng)表明人有時(shí)候能通過相信治療有效來減輕癥狀和痛苦——不論治療是否真的有效。我們的身體能通過一系列我們至今知之甚少的過程來自我療救，其治愈能力遠(yuǎn)比現(xiàn)代醫(yī)學(xué)所能創(chuàng)造的一切更加令人驚嘆。

　　9. Psychic powers and ESP 靈力與超感知覺

靈力與超感知覺

　　Psychic powers and extra-sensory perception (ESP) rank among the top ten unexplained phenomena if for no other reason than that belief in them is so widespread. Many people believe that intuition  is a form of psychic power, a way of accessing arcane or special knowledge about the world or the future. Researchers have tested people who claim to have psychic powers, though the results under controlled scientific conditions have so far been negative or ambiguous. Some have argued that psychic powers cannot be tested, or for some reason diminish in the presence of skeptics or scientists. If this is true, science will never be able to prove or disprove the existence of psychic powers.

　　對(duì)靈力和超感知覺（簡(jiǎn)稱ESP）的信仰流布甚廣，就憑這一點(diǎn)，這兩樣?xùn)|西也應(yīng)該進(jìn)入十大未解之謎的行列。許多人相信，直覺就是靈力的一種表現(xiàn)形式、一種獲取有關(guān)世界或未來的特異知識(shí)的方法。研究人員已經(jīng)對(duì)一些自稱擁有靈力的人進(jìn)行了測(cè)試，但是迄今為止，他們?cè)谑芸貙?shí)驗(yàn)室條件下得到的都還是否定或含糊的結(jié)果。有些人辯稱靈力不可測(cè)試，因?yàn)樗鼤?huì)因懷疑論者或科學(xué)家的在場(chǎng)而莫名其妙地減弱。如果這是真的，科學(xué)就永遠(yuǎn)無法證明或駁斥靈力的存在。

　　8. Near-Death Experiences and Life After Death 瀕死體驗(yàn)與死后生活

瀕死體驗(yàn)與死后生活

　　People who were once near death have sometimes reported various mystical experiences (such as going into a tunnel and emerging in a light, being reunited with loved ones, a sense of peace, etc.) that may suggest an existence beyond the grave. While such experiences are profound, no one has returned with proof or verifiable information from "beyond the grave." Skeptics suggest that the experiences are explainable as natural and predictable hallucinations of a traumatized brain, yet there is no way to know with certainty what causes near-death experiences, or if they truly are visions of "the other side."

　　曾經(jīng)瀕臨死亡的人有時(shí)會(huì)宣稱自己有各式各樣的神奇體驗(yàn)（比如進(jìn)入一條隧道、出現(xiàn)在光之中、與親愛的人重聚、獲得一種平靜感，如此等等），這樣的體驗(yàn)也許暗示著人死后有知。但是，盡管這些體驗(yàn)讓人刻骨銘心，但卻沒有人從“墳?zāi)鼓沁叀睅Щ剡^什么證據(jù)或是可資驗(yàn)證的信息。懷疑論者的看法是，瀕死體驗(yàn)可以解釋，但是是受損大腦可以預(yù)期的自然幻覺。然而，我們還是不能確切知道瀕臨體驗(yàn)的來由，也無法知道它們是否真的是“那邊”的景象。

　　7. UFOs 不明飛行物

不明飛行物

　　There is no doubt that UFOs (Unidentified Flying Objects) exist - many people see things in the skies that they cannot identify, ranging from aircraft to meteors. Whether or not any of those objects and lights are alien spacecraft is another matter entirely; given the fantastic distances and effort involved in just getting to Earth from across the universe, such a scenario seems unlikely. Still, while careful investigation has revealed known causes for most sighting reports, some UFO incidents will always remain unexplained.

　　UFO（不明飛行物）的存在是毫無疑問的，因?yàn)橛性S多人在天上看到過自己無法識(shí)別的東西，從飛行器到流行應(yīng)有盡有。至于說這些物體和光影當(dāng)中有沒有外星人的宇宙飛船就完全是另外一回事了——但是想想穿越宇宙空間來到地球的遙遠(yuǎn)距離與巨大困難，你就會(huì)覺得這樣的事情不太可能。但是，盡管大多數(shù)目擊報(bào)告已經(jīng)借由認(rèn)真的調(diào)查得到了平平無奇的解釋，有些不明飛行物事件還是會(huì)一直神秘下去。

　　6. Deja vu 幻覺記憶

幻覺記憶

　　Deja vu is a French phrase meaning 'already seen,' referring to the distinct, puzzling, and mysterious feeling of having experienced a specific set of circumstances before. A woman might walk into a building, for example, in a foreign country she'd never visited, and sense that the setting is eerily and intimately familiar. Some attribute deja vu to psychic experiences or unbidden glimpses of previous lives. As with intuition, research into ,human psychology can offer more naturalistic explanations, but ultimately the cause and nature of the phenomenon itself remains a mystery.

　　Deja vu（幻覺記憶）是一句法文短語，意為“似曾相識(shí)”，指的是一種令人不解的特殊神秘體驗(yàn)，就是你覺得自已以前經(jīng)歷過某個(gè)特定的場(chǎng)景。舉例來說，一個(gè)女人可能會(huì)走進(jìn)她初次拜訪的異國(guó)的一座建筑，但卻覺得眼前的景象似曾相識(shí)，感覺怪異又親切。有些人認(rèn)為幻覺記憶是通靈體驗(yàn)的產(chǎn)物，或是因?yàn)槿嗽诓唤?jīng)意間瞥見了前世的光景。跟直覺一樣，人類心理學(xué)研究也可以為這種現(xiàn)象提供更為自然主義的解釋，但這種現(xiàn)象本身的來由和性質(zhì)始終還是個(gè)謎。

　　5. Ghosts 鬼魂

鬼魂

　　From the Shakespeare play "MacBeth" to the NBC show "Medium," spirits of the dead have long made an appearance in our culture and folklore. Many people have reported seeing apparitions of both shadowy strangers and departed loved ones. Though definitive proof for the existence of ghosts remains elusive, sincere eyewitnesses continue to report seeing, photographing, and even communicating with ghosts. Ghost investigators hope to one day prove that the dead can contact the living, providing a final answer to the mystery.

　　從莎士比亞的劇作《麥克佩斯》到美國(guó)國(guó)家廣播公司的電視節(jié)目《靈媒緝兇》，亡者的魂靈一直在我們的文化和傳說中縈繞不去。許多人都聲稱自己曾目睹鬼魂現(xiàn)身，其中既有面目模糊的陌生人，也有業(yè)已故去的親朋好友。鬼魂存在的可靠證據(jù)至今還是無從取得，虔信不疑的目擊者們卻依然在繼續(xù)報(bào)告自己看到鬼魂、拍到鬼魂乃至與鬼魂交流的經(jīng)歷。致力調(diào)查鬼魂的人們希望有一天能證明死者可以和生者接觸，由此為這個(gè)謎題找出最終的答案。

　　4. Mysterious Disappearances 神秘消失

神秘消失

　　People disappear for various reasons. Most are runaways, some succumb to accident, a few are abducted or killed, but most are eventually found. Not so with the truly mysterious disappearances. From the crew of the Marie Celeste to Jimmy Hoffa, Amelia Earhart, and Natalee Holloway, some people seem to have vanished without a trace. When missing persons are found, it is always through police work, confession, or accident never by 'psychic detectives'). But when the evidence is lacking and leads are lost, even police and forensic science can't always solve the crime.

　　人們會(huì)因?yàn)楦鞣N各樣的理由消失不見，大多數(shù)是自行逃遁，有一些是碰上了事故，還有少數(shù)則是遭人綁架或殺害。但是，其中的大多數(shù)最終都會(huì)被人找到。真正神秘的消失就不是這樣了。從“瑪麗·塞萊斯特號(hào)”船員、吉米·霍法、艾米莉·亞艾爾哈特到娜塔莉·霍洛威，有些人似乎消失得無影無蹤了。失蹤人口被人找到不外乎警方破案、相關(guān)人員等自供以及偶然發(fā)現(xiàn)等幾種原因，絕沒有借助“通靈偵探”的情形。但是，在證據(jù)不足、線索中斷的情況下，即便是警方和鑒證科學(xué)也并不總能解決罪案。

　　3. Intuition 直覺

直覺

　　Whether we call it gut feelings, a "sixth sense", or something else, we have all experienced intuition at one time or another. Of course, gut feelings are often wrong (how many times during aircraft turbulence have you been sure your plane was going down?), but they do seem to be right much of the time. Psychologists note that people subconsciously pick up information about the world around us, leading us to seemingly sense or know information without knowing exactly how or why we know it. But cases of intuition are difficult to prove or study, and psychology may only be part of the answer.

　　說是“心底的感覺”也好，“第六感”也好，別的什么東西也好，我們或多或少都有過直覺的體驗(yàn)。當(dāng)然，心底的感覺經(jīng)常會(huì)錯(cuò)（有多少次，坐飛機(jī)顛簸的時(shí)候你覺得它肯定會(huì)掉下去呢？），可也有很多時(shí)候似乎是正確的。心理學(xué)家們已經(jīng)發(fā)現(xiàn)，人們會(huì)下意識(shí)地收集周遭世界的信息，由此便似乎能在不自知如何或?yàn)楹蔚那闆r下感知或了解信息。但是，直覺的案例很難證明，也很難分析，而心理學(xué)家也可能只是答案的一部分而已。

　　2. Bigfoot 大腳

大腳

　　For decades, large, hairy, manlike beasts called Bigfoot have occasionally been reported by eyewitnesses across America. Despite the thousands of Bigfoot that must exist for a breeding population, not a single body has been found. Not one has been killed by a hunter, struck dead by a speeding car, or even died of natural causes. In the absence of hard evidence like teeth or bones, support comes down to eyewitness sightings and ambiguous photos and films. Since it is logically impossible to prove a universal negative, science will never be able to prove that creatures like Bigfoot and the Loch Ness monster do not exist, and it is possible that these mysterious beasts lurk far from prying eyes.

　　幾十年當(dāng)中，美國(guó)各地都不時(shí)有目擊者聲稱自己看到了人稱“大腳”的巨型多毛人形野獸。盡管目擊者口中的“大腳”數(shù)以千計(jì)、足以構(gòu)成一個(gè)繁殖種群，人們卻連一具尸體也未曾找到。沒有一個(gè)“大腳”被獵人殺死或是被超速的汽車撞死，連自然死亡的都沒有。沒有牙齒骨骼之類的實(shí)在證物，“大腳”存在的依據(jù)只是證人目擊以及模糊不清的照片和錄像。要證明一個(gè)全稱否定判斷從邏輯上說是不可能的，因此科學(xué)將永遠(yuǎn)不能證明“大腳”和尼斯湖怪獸之類的東西不存在。也有可能，這些神秘莫測(cè)的生物的確潛藏在人們好奇視線之外的遠(yuǎn)處。

　　1. The Taos Hum 陶斯之聲

陶斯之聲

　　Some residents and visitors in the small city of Taos, New Mexico, have for years been annoyed and puzzled by a mysterious and faint low-frequency hum in the desert air. Oddly, only about 2 percent of Taos residents report hearing the sound. Some believe it is caused by unusual acoustics; others suspect mass hysteria or some secret, sinister purpose. Whether described as a whir, hum, or buzz and whether psychological, natural, or supernatural no one has yet been able to locate the sound's origin.

　　多年以來，美國(guó)新墨西哥州小城市陶斯的部分居民和訪客一直被沙漠空氣中一種微弱的低頻噪聲所困擾。奇怪的是，只有大約2%的陶斯居民說自己聽見了這種聲音。有些人認(rèn)為它產(chǎn)生于特殊的聲學(xué)作用，也有些人懷疑這是集體幻覺或是某種神秘邪惡行為的產(chǎn)物。不管人們形容這種聲響還是呼呼聲、嗡嗡聲還是咝咝聲，也不管它究竟是心理作用、自然產(chǎn)物還是超自然產(chǎn)物，至今還沒人能找到它的來源。