TAMARA: Shall we go through the notes we've made from our research into loneliness now, DEV?

塔玛拉：德夫，我们现在来复习一下我们关于孤独的研究笔记好吗？

DEV: OK, TAMARA. It's been a real eye-opener.

德夫：好的，塔玛拉。这真是让人大开眼界。

I had no idea that loneliness has been increasing steadily for the last twenty years.

我完全不知道过去二十年来，孤独感一直在稳步增长。

TAMARA: I know. And it's the same all over the world – the downside of a modern lifestyle I guess.

塔玛拉：我知道。全世界都是如此 —— 我猜这是现代生活方式的负面影响。

DEV: Did you come to any conclusions about what the reasons for the increase are?

德夫：关于孤独感增加的原因，你有什么结论吗？

TAMARA: Well, I'd assumed it was mainly an issue for the elderly – but in fact it's something which affects young people just as much.

塔玛拉：嗯，我原本以为这主要是老年人的问题 —— 但实际上，它对年轻人的影响同样严重。

DEV: Mmm. So nothing really to do with longer lifespans.

德夫：嗯。所以这与更长的寿命其实没什么关系。

What about social media?

那么社交媒体呢？

In my case, far from making me feel isolated, it actually does the opposite.

对我来说，孤独非但没有让我感到孤立，反而起到了相反的作用。

TAMARA: It definitely does more good than harm.

塔玛拉：这绝对是好处多于坏处。

I'd say loneliness has a lot to do with the way cities are designed – people living in high-rise flats with not much opportunity to speak to their neighbours.

我认为孤独感与城市的设计方式有很大关系 —— 人们住在高层公寓里，没有太多机会与邻居交谈。

DEV: I think you're right.

德夫：我觉得你说得对。

TAMARA: Another possible reason is that people are having fewer children and don't live in large extended family groups.

塔玛拉：另一个可能的原因是人们生育的孩子越来越少，而且不再生活在大型的大家庭群体中。

DEV: But, in this country anyway, that all changed decades ago and yet loneliness is a more recent problem.

德夫：但是，至少在这个国家，一切都在几十年前发生了变化，而孤独却是一个更近期的问题。

TAMARA: I suppose so. A more plausible explanation is that people are having to move around for work and often end up living miles away from their family and friends.

塔玛拉：我想是的。一个更合理的解释是，人们不得不四处奔波工作，最终常常住在离家人和朋友数英里之外的地方。

DEV: That's true.

德夫：确实如此。

TAMARA: Looking at the studies on health risks and loneliness, there are claims that loneliness has as much impact as smoking 15 cigarettes a day.

塔玛拉：看看关于健康风险和孤独感的研究，有人声称孤独感的影响相当于每天吸 15 支烟。

DEV: Or similar to the risks caused by obesity. But I'm not sure there's enough evidence for some of these claims.

德夫：或者类似于肥胖引起的风险。但我不确定是否有足够的证据支持这些说法。

TAMARA: Well – what about that one in Finland which showed that loneliness increased the risk of cancer by about ten per cent? And those findings have been supported by other studies too.

塔玛拉：那么，芬兰的那项研究呢？那项研究表明，孤独会使癌症风险增加约 10%。这些发现也得到了其他研究的支持。

DEV: You're right about that one. I was actually thinking of the studies on dementia.

德夫：你说得对。我其实是在想关于痴呆症的研究。

Some found no association between loneliness and dementia and others found the opposite.

一些人发现孤独与痴呆症之间没有关联，而另一些人则发现了相反的结果。

TAMARA: Not exactly reliable then.

塔玛拉：那就不太可靠了。

There's been a lot of research on cardiovascular disease and whether loneliness contributes to that.

关于心血管疾病以及孤独是否会导致心血管疾病的研究很多。

DEV: Yes, I read that it was hard to reach a judgement as the definition of loneliness varied quite a lot and the responses from participants were too subjective.

德夫：是的，我读到过，由于孤独的定义差异很大，而且参与者的反应过于主观，因此很难做出判断。

But there's no doubt that loneliness contributes to a weakened immune system.

但毫无疑问，孤独会导致免疫系统减弱。

TAMARA: Unquestionably. The data on that is sound.

塔玛拉：毫无疑问。关于这一点的数据是可靠的。

DEV: What did you think about the evolutionary theory of loneliness?

德夫：你对孤独的进化理论有什么看法？

TAMARA: Well, I thought the idea that loneliness evolved because it motivated people to be with other people quite convincing.

塔玛拉：嗯，我认为孤独感之所以能够进化，是因为它能够以令人信服的方式激励人们与他人在一起。

Survival often depended on group cooperation.

生存往往依赖于群体合作。

DEV: But I don't think there's enough evidence to claim that there must be a group of neurons in our brains which influence social behaviour, by making us feel bad when we're alone.

德夫：但我认为没有足够的证据证明，我们大脑中一定存在一组神经元，它们通过让我们独处时感到不舒服来影响社交行为。

TAMARA: There are a few studies which support the theory but not conclusively enough. More evidence is needed.

塔玛拉：有一些研究支持这个理论，但还不够确凿。需要更多的证据。

DEV: Mmm. And anyway, this theory's not really useful when it comes to solving the problem of loneliness today.

德夫：嗯。无论如何，这个理论在解决当今的孤独问题时并没有真正的用处。

TAMARA: True.

塔玛拉：没错。