本篇文章共分 10 個段落，文中由作者介紹學術團隊的研究成果。研究中指出人人皆能做出明智決定，此種成果主要是因環境影響而生。若能跳脫偏狹角度，站在客觀立場，根據經驗法則進行推理，那麼眾人皆可表現出成熟智慧。

本篇考題英文原文與對應之中文翻譯整理如下。練習作答解題時若有對語意不清楚之處，請仔細查閱對照，以提升閱讀理解能力。

How to Make Wise Decisions 如何做出明智決定

1. 人人皆能明智

   Across cultures, wisdom has been considered one of the most revered human qualities. Although the truly wise may seem few and far between, empirical research examining wisdom suggests that it isn’t an exceptional trait possessed by a small handful of bearded philosophers after all – in fact, the latest studies suggest that most of us have the ability to make wise decisions, given the right context.

   在各種文化中，智慧一直被認為是最受尊崇的人類特質之一。儘管真正有智慧的人似乎很少，但對智慧的實證研究表明，它畢竟不是一小撮大鬍子哲學家所擁有的特殊特質—事實上，最新的研究顯示，只要有合適的環境，我們大多數人都有能力做出明智的決定。

2. 智慧根源

   ‘It appears that experiential, situational, and cultural factors are even more powerful in shaping wisdom than previously imagined,’ says Associate Professor Igor Grossmann of the University of Waterloo in Ontario, Canada. ‘Recent empirical findings from cognitive, developmental, social, and personality psychology cumulatively suggest that people’s ability to reason wisely varies dramatically across experiential and situational contexts. Understanding the role of such contextual factors offers unique insights into understanding wisdom in daily life, as well as how it can be enhanced and taught.’

   「看起來，在塑造智慧方面，經驗、情景和文化因素比以前想像的還要強大。」 加拿大安大略省滑鐵盧大學的伊戈爾．格羅斯曼（Igor Grossmann）副教授說。「最近來自認知、發展、社會和人格心理學的經驗性發現累積起來表明，人們智慧推理的能力在不同的經驗和情景背景下有很大的差異。瞭解這種背景因素的作用，為理解日常生活中的智慧，以及如何加強和傳授智慧提供了獨特的見解。」

3. 環境造就智慧

   It seems that it’s not so much that some people simply possess wisdom and others lack it, but that our ability to reason wisely depends on a variety of external factors. ‘It is impossible to characterize thought processes attributed to wisdom without considering the role of contextual factors,’ explains Grossmann. ‘In other words, wisdom is not solely an “inner quality” but rather unfolds as a function of situations people happen to be in. Some situations are more likely to promote wisdom than others.’

   看起來並非是說有些人就是擁有智慧而其他人就是缺乏智慧，而是我們明智推理的能力取決於各種外部因素。「如果不考慮背景因素的作用，就不可能描述歸於智慧的思維過程。」格羅斯曼解釋說。「換句話說，智慧並不完全是一種『內在特質』，而是作為人們碰巧所處環境的一種功能而展開的。有些情況比其他情況更有可能促進智慧。」

4. 智慧四特徵

   Coming up with a definition of wisdom is challenging, but Grossmann and his colleagues have identified four key characteristics as part of a framework of wise reasoning. One is intellectual humility or recognition of the limits of our own knowledge, and another is appreciation of perspectives wider than the issue at hand. Sensitivity to the possibility of change in social relations is also key, along with compromise or integration of different attitudes and beliefs.

   給智慧下一個定義是很有挑戰性的，但格羅斯曼和他的同事已經確定了四個關鍵特徵，作為智慧推理框架的一部分。一個是智力上的謙遜，也就是承認我們自己知識的局限性，另一個是理解比當前問題更廣泛的視角。對社會關係變化可能性的敏感度也是關鍵，還有對不同態度和信念的妥協或整合。

5. 客觀視角

   Grossmann and his colleagues have also found that one of the most reliable ways to support wisdom in our own day-to-day decisions is to look at scenarios from a third-party perspective, as though giving advice to a friend. Research suggests that when adopting a first-person viewpoint we focus on ‘the focal features of the environment’ and when we adopt a third-person, ‘observer’ viewpoint we reason more broadly and focus more on interpersonal and moral ideals such as justice and impartiality. Looking at problems from this more expansive viewpoint appears to foster cognitive processes related to wise decisions.

   格羅斯曼和他的同事們還發現，在我們自己的日常決策中支援智慧的最可靠的方法之一是從第三方的角度來看待所處情景，就像給朋友提供建議一樣。研究顯示，當採用第一人稱視角時，我們關注的是「環境的焦點特徵」，而當我們採用第三人稱的「觀察者」視角時，我們的推理會更廣泛，更關注人際關係和道德理想，如正義與公平。從這種更廣泛的角度看問題，似乎可以促進與明智決定有關的認知過程。

6. 多方角度

   What are we to do, then, when confronted with situations like a disagreement with a spouse or negotiating a contract at work, that require us to take a personal stake? Grossmann argues that even when we aren’t able to change the situation, we can still evaluate these experiences from different perspectives.

   那麼，當遇到像與配偶的分歧或工作中的合同談判這樣的情況，需要我們承擔個人的利弊得失時，我們該怎麼做呢？格羅斯曼認為，即使我們沒有能力改變情況，我們仍然可以從不同的角度評估這些經驗。

7. 距離產生智慧

   For example, in one experiment that took place during the peak of a recent economic recession, graduating college seniors were asked to reflect on their job prospects. The students were instructed to imagine their career either ‘as if you were a distant observer’ or ‘before your own eyes as if you were right there’. Participants in the group assigned to the ‘distant observer’ role displayed more wisdom-related reasoning (intellectual humility and recognition of change) than did participants in the control group.

   例如，在一項於最近經濟衰退高峰期間進行的實驗中，即將畢業的大學畢業生被要求思考他們的工作前景。學生們被要求想像他們的職業生涯，要麼「就像你是一個在遠處的觀察者」，要麼「在你自己的眼前，好像你就在那裡」。與對照組的參與者相比，被分配到「遠方觀察者」角色的參與者表現出更多與智慧相關的推理（智力謙遜和對變化的認識）。

8. 他人角度

   In another study, couples in long-term romantic relationships were instructed to visualize an unresolved relationship conflict either through the eyes of an outsider or from their own perspective. Participants then discussed the incident with their partner for 10 minutes, after which they wrote down their thoughts about it. Couples in the ‘other’s eyes’ condition were significantly more likely to rely on wise reasoning – recognizing others’ perspectives and searching for a compromise – compared to the couples in the egocentric condition.

   在另一項研究中，長期浪漫關係中的夫婦被指示以透過局外人的眼光或是從他們自己的角度來想像一項未解決的關係衝突。然後參與者與他們的伴侶討論該事件 10 分鐘，之後寫下他們對該事件的想法。與以自我為中心的情侶相比，「他人的眼睛」條件下的情侶明顯更有可能依靠明智的推理—認識到他人的觀點並尋找妥協的辦法。

9. 除去自我

   ‘Ego-decentering promotes greater focus on others and enables a bigger picture, conceptual view of the experience, affording recognition of intellectual humility and change,’ says Grossmann.

   格羅斯曼說：「不以自我為中心促進了對他人的更大關注，並使人們能夠從更大的角度、概念上看待經驗，使人們認識到智力的謙遜和變化。」

10. 情境影響智慧

    We might associate wisdom with intelligence or particular personality traits, but research shows only a small positive relationship between wise thinking and crystallized intelligence and the personality traits of openness and agreeableness. ‘It is remarkable how much people can vary in their wisdom from one situation to the next, and how much stronger such contextual effects are for understanding the relationship between wise judgment and its social and affective outcomes as compared to the generalized “traits”,’ Grossmann explains. ‘That is, knowing how wisely a person behaves in a given situation is more informative for understanding their emotions or likelihood to forgive [or] retaliate as compared to knowing whether the person may be wise “in general”.’

    我們可能會將智慧與智力或特定的人格特質聯繫起來，但研究指出，智慧思維與洗鍊的智力以及開放性和合群性的人格特質之間只有很小的正相關性。「人們的智慧在不同的情況下會有多大的差異著實令人訝異，而且這種背景效應對於理解智慧判斷及其社會和情感結果之間的關係來說，與一般化的『特質』相比要強得多。」格羅斯曼解釋說。「也就是說，瞭解一個人在特定情況下的明智行為程度對於理解他們的情緒或原諒[或]報復的可能性來說，比瞭解這個人『一般來說』是否明智更有參考價值。」