為什麼老是記不住別人的名字？

商場上給人最不好的第一印象就是「記不住名字」，不管是拜訪客戶、新人介紹，或是社交場合、party.... 記不住名字的尷尬情境常常發生。為什麼「記住別人名字」往往比「記住身家背景」還困難？ 我們一起讀這篇文章，你會發現，記不住名字，不是你的錯！閱讀前，請先想想這幾個詞怎麼用中文表達：

 

a)  等等！

b)  漏水的熱水瓶

c)  冒犯

 

Once, at a party, I was introduced to a friend of a friend. We shook hands, I told her my name, she told me hers. Then she did something that I was ever so grateful for.

a) “Hang on,”she said. “Can you say your name again? I wasn’t really listening.”

She saved me from having to later—possibly even at the same party—1) sheepishly admit that I, too, had already forgotten her name.

 

曾經在一次聚會上，一個朋友把我介紹給他的朋友。我們握手，互道姓名。然後她做了一件讓我很感激的事。

“等一下，”她說，“您可以重複一下您的名字嗎？我剛才沒注意聽。”

她拯救了我往後——有可能就在相同的聚會，不好意思地承認，我像她一樣，早已經忘記了她的名字。

 

Why are names so easy to forget? An informal poll of fellow Atlantic staffers confirmed that this is something that happens to even the most kind and conscientious among us. No sooner does someone utter the most fundamental factoid about themselves than the information flees our brains forever.　There are a few reasons why this occurs:

 

為什麼名字這樣難記呢？最近《大西洋月刊》的非正式調查證實了一個假設，就算是待人最好、最一絲不苟的人，也會忘記別人的名字。對方剛講完自我介紹，他的名字可能就已經從我們的腦海中永遠溜走了。主要的原因是：

 

1. The next-in-line effect: You don't remember what the person speaking before you said because you're thinking of what you're going to say.

輪流發言效應：你心裡一直想著該說什麼，於是別人說了什麼，你就沒特別留意。

 

2. You’re not really that interested: Your level of interest can impact how well you remember something.

你其實不感興趣：對一件事情的興趣程度會影響你的記憶程度。

 

3. A failure of working memory: There are two types of storage in the brain: Long-term and short-term. The short-term variety is called “working memory,” and it functions like a very b) leaky thermos. Information like a name needs to be transferred to a different brain system that creates long-term memories that persist over time.

工作記憶失誤：大腦儲存記憶方式分為長期和短期。心理學用 “工作記憶” 來代表短期記憶變化，它的作用就像是不斷漏水的熱水瓶。如名字這般的資訊，必須把記憶轉移到不同的大腦系統， 以產生長期記憶才可能記得久。

 

4. Names are kind of pointless: A name doesn’t actually tell you anything about the person you’re meeting, and thus it doesn’t give your brain anything to 2) cling to. 　So you get this funny phenomenon where you can remember lots about a person you recently met—everything except their name.

名字意義不大： 從一個人的名字其實很難提供你面前這個人的任何相關訊息，因此, 也就不會讓大腦有任何線索可以附著。所以你會發現一個很有趣的現象，你新認識的人，你可以記得很多和他們相關的事，但唯獨記不住名字。

 

So the next time you’d like to excuse yourself for forgetting someone’s name without c) offending the person, just say something like, “Oh sorry, I was just overly concerned with telling you my own name to remember yours.”

 

所以，下一次當你想為自己找個藉口，同時又不冒犯他人時，就可以說，「對不起，我剛才只顧著告訴您我的名字，沒有聽清楚您的名字！」

 

口語字彙

1. Sheepishly  羞怯地

sheep是綿羊，這種動物一般溫馴而膽小，於是從這個字衍生出兩個形容詞，一是sheeplike，意思是“綿羊般的，溫順的，盲從的”，二是sheepish表示“懦弱的、羞怯的”。

He answers the phone in a sheepish way.他接電話的時語氣又變得十分羞怯。

 

2. Cling to  黏著; 依附

Cling to黏著、依附，進一步延伸為依戀或堅持某種信念。cling to one's own view是堅持己見，墨守成規，可以用cling to old ideas。朋友黏在一起用cling together。

The smell of the smoke clings.  煙味經久不散。

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