Red hot and almost zero nutritional value. Why do we bother with chillies?
炙热得像团火，又没什么营养价值，但为什么小小的辣椒就把我们迷得神魂颠倒呢？
Dave's Red Hot. Mother Puckers. Green Bandit. Scorned Woman. Pain is Good. Blair's Death. No, they're not rock bands. These names represent just a small selection of the brands of hot sauce available at my local supermarket.
戴夫的红色激情（Dave's Red Hot），母亲的嘴唇（Mother Puckers），绿色强盗（Green Bandit），怨妇（Scorned Woman），痛并快乐着（Pain is Good），布莱尔之死（Blair's Death），这些可不是什么摇滚乐队的名字，它们是我在本地超市货架上找到的辣酱品牌，而且还只是一小部分而已。
Humans, apparently, enjoy torturing themselves. Spiciness, after all, is not a flavour, not like sweet or salty or sour. Spicy means pain. The sensation of spiciness is the result of the activation of pain receptors in the tongue. According to psychologist Paul Rozin of the University of Pennsylvania, about a third of the people around the world eat hot peppers every single day. Why? Because they "love the burn". At a symposium on gastro-psychology during this year's Association for Psychological Science convention, Rozin pointed out that humans are the only species – we know about – that specifically seek out what would otherwise be considered negative events.
很显然，人类是喜欢自虐的动物。辛辣不同于甜味、咸味和酸味，它并不是一种味道。辣是疼痛的代名词，它是舌头上痛觉感受器激活的结果。宾夕法尼亚大学的心理学家保罗·罗津（Paul Rozin）就认为，世界上约有三分之一的人每天都在吃辣椒。原因何在？因为他们“喜欢火烧般的感觉”。在今年召开的心理科学大会关于肠胃心理学（gastro-psychology）的专题研讨会上，罗津就指出，就目前我们所掌握的知识来看，人类是唯一会去寻求某些消极刺激的物种。
Healthy, sane humans do not stab themselves in the thighs, or bathe their eyes in lemon juice. So why do we so love to assault one of the most sensitive organs in the human body, the tongue, with what amounts to chemical warfare? Chillies are unique among foods that we should otherwise not enjoy. For example, humans also have natural aversions to the bitterness of coffee or the harshness of tobacco, but those substances have some addictive qualities, which might make them desirable. Capsaicin, the compound that provides the mouth-watering punch of chillies, does not seem to have any addictive qualities whatsoever. And yet the preference for capsaicin is almost universal; nearly every culture has incorporated it into their cuisine in some way, for milllennia.
任何心智健全的正常人都不会拿刀插自己的大腿，也不会用柠檬汁去喷自己的眼睛，但为什么我们却喜欢在自己最敏感的器官——舌头上大打化学战争呢？辣椒是一种人类本无法享用的独特食物。例如，人类对苦涩的咖啡或呛人的烟草存在天生的反感，但就是这些物质会让人有成瘾性，成瘾之后这些原本入不得口的东西会变得怡人起来。而赐予辣椒令人垂涎魔力的辣椒素却不具备这样的成瘾功能。然而，对辣椒素的偏爱之情依然无处不在；数千年以来，几乎每个民族的烹饪文化中都融入了这种辛辣的气息。
Rozin writes:
罗津写到：
"There are records suggesting use of chilli pepper dating back to 7000BC in Mesoamerica; they were domesticated some thousands of years after this. These fiery foods made their debut in the Old World when they were brought back by Columbus and other early explorers. In spite of their initial unpalatability, they became accepted as a basic part of the diet in many parts of the world: west and east Africa, India, south-east Asia, parts of China, Indonesia, Korea, and other smaller geographic regions, such as Hungary."
“相关记录表明，辣椒的使用可以追溯到公元前7000年的中美洲地区（Mesoamerica）；之后辣椒被驯化了数千年的时间。哥伦布和其他探险家们又将这种炽烈的食物带回旧大陆。在度过了开始的不适应期以后，辣椒渐渐被世界各地的人们所接受，在西非和东非、印度、东南亚、中国大部分地区、印度尼西亚、韩国以及匈牙利这样的微型地理区域，它都被视为饮食的基本组成部分。”
Most young children, even from cultures known for their spicy recipes, are averse to capsaicin. So maybe, then, instead of actually liking the pain, we're merely desensitising ourselves: what used to be really painful is now just sort of painful.
很多小孩子——甚至是来自以吃辣而闻名的国度——却拒绝接受辣椒素。因此有可能我们不是真正喜欢辣椒带来的痛苦，我们只是让自己的感觉迟钝了：曾经的痛苦不堪现在变成了若有若无。
Since capsaicin is a member of the vanilloid family of molecules, it binds to a receptor on the tongue called the vanilloid receptor subtype 1. Upon binding to the VR1 receptor, the sensation produced by the capsaicin molecule is the same sensation that heat would cause, which explains capsaicin's burn. When scientists discovered that the VR1 receptor was a member of the larger family of TRP ion channels, the VR1 receptor was renamed TRPV1. TRP receptors are known to be sensitive to changes in temperature and are likely responsible for temperature sensation. When chilli peppers are the source of the capsaicin, there isn't any actual tissue damage; but because it binds to the TRPV1 receptor, the brain is tricked into believing that the tongue truly is on fire.
辣椒素是香草酸（vanilloid）分子家族的成员之一，它会与舌头上香草酸受体1亚型(vanilloid receptor subtype 1)结合。结合以后，辣椒素分子给人带来的感觉与热刺激完全相同，这也解释了为什么辣椒素会让人有灼热感。科学家们发现VR1受体是瞬时受体电位通道（TRP ion channels）家族的一员，于是VR1受体又被命名为TRPV1。众所周知，TRP受体对温度变化敏感，负责感受温度。辣椒中的辣椒素被摄入人体以后并不会产生实际的组织伤害；但因为和TRPV1受体结合，大脑便错误的认为舌头着火了。
In 1980, Rozin and a colleague, Deborah Schiller, reported a study in which they compared the pepper preferences of Mexicans and Americans. Mexicans generally eat chillies several times per day, while Americans only eat chillies a few times a week. If desensitisation could explain our preference for oral pain, then Mexicans should show higher tolerance for capsaicin than Americans, and Americans should more easily detect capsaicin, even in small amounts, than Mexicans.
1980年，罗津和同事黛博拉·席勒（Deborah Schiller）完成了一项关于墨西哥人和美国人辣椒偏好性的研究。墨西哥人通常在一天之内吃好几次辣椒，而美国人在一周以内才会品尝几次。如果脱敏作用能够解释我们对辣味的偏爱，那么墨西哥人应该比美国人表现出更高的辣椒素耐受性，而美国人对辣椒素的敏感性应该比墨西哥人更高。
The data only weakly supported these predictions: the differences were seen, but were not statistically significant. Another prediction made by the desensitisation hypothesis is that individual tolerance should increase with exposure, and therefore with age. Rozin and Schiller found no correlation between age and tolerance though. Experiments conducted to try to induce a preference for capsaicin in rats, using traditional reinforcement techniques, proved futile.
但研究得出的数据无法支持上述预测：差异的确存在，只是缺少统计显著性。脱敏假设还带来了另一项预测，即个人耐受性会随着暴露次数（与年龄正相关）的增加而增加。但罗津和席勒发现年龄和辣椒素耐受性之间并无相关性。他们还尝试利用传统的强化技术来诱导老鼠对辣椒素产生兴趣，但都以失败而告终。
In the late 1970s, Frito-Lay tried to market a brand of corn chips in Mexico that had the flavour of chilli peppers, but without any capsaicin. As would be expected in a culture that actually enjoys the burn, the product was a failure. Likewise, bell peppers, which have some pepper flavour but no capsaicin, are not at all popular in Mexico.
上世纪70年代后期，菲多利食品公司（Frito-Lay）尝试在墨西哥市场销售一款具有辣椒风味但不含辣椒素的玉米片品牌。不出所料，在这个嗜辣国度，这款产品根本不行销。另外，同样具有辣椒风味但不含辣椒素的柿子椒在墨西哥也一点不受欢迎。
While most scientists still do not quite have a handle on the human preference for spicy foods, the best explanation comes from a mechanism called "hedonic reversal", or "benign masochism". Something happens, in millions of humans each year, which changes a negative evaluation into a positive evaluation, like flipping a light switch.
当大多数科学家对于人类喜爱辛辣食物的原因感到一筹莫展时，心理学领域的“享乐逆转（hedonic reversal）”或被称为“良性自虐（benign masochism）”机制却对此作出了最好的解释。这种情况在大多数人身上都会经常发生，其后果是导致原先的负面评价转变成为正面评价，就像电灯开关从一头跳到另一头。
Rozin writes: "If the oral receptors are sending the same message to the brain in the chilli liker and the chilli hater, then the chilli liker must have come to like the very same sensation that the chilli hater, the infant, and nonhuman animals find aversive. One gets to like the burn." Only humans seem to be able to derive pleasure from the negative sensation itself. Animals have been trained to endure self-harm, but only within the context of positive reinforcement.
罗津写到：“如果嗜辣者和憎辣者在接触辣椒以后，其口腔受体向大脑传递的讯息是相同的，久而久之，嗜辣者会渐渐喜欢上这种令憎辣者如婴儿或非人动物感到厌恶的感觉，即那种火烧般的感觉。”只有人类会从负面感受中获取快感。虽然动物在被训练过以后能够承受自伤行为，但这种承受能力也只能体现在正强化的环境中。
Perhaps we seek out the painful experience of snacking on chillies while consciously maintaining awareness that there is no real danger to ourselves. After all, people seem to enjoy – and actively seek out – many other sensations that are otherwise undesirable but are ostensibly safe: the sensation of falling provided by rollercoasters or skydiving, the feelings of fear and anxiety while watching horror movies, the physical pain experienced upon jumping into icy water, or even the feelings of sadness that come while watching a tear-jerker. Perhaps it is this cognitive mismatch itself that provides the thrill: like strapping into a rollercoaster or popping Hostel into your DVD player over and over again, the burn of capsaicin only seems to be threatening.
也许我们从吃辣椒中获取痛苦体验的同时，也清醒的意识到这种刺激对我们自身不会有真正的危险。毕竟，人们似乎很享受——甚至会主动获取——一些并不愉悦但明显安全的感觉，如坐过山车或高空跳伞产生的坠落感，看恐怖电影带来的恐惧和焦虑感，跳入冰水经历的生理疼痛，或观看苦情剧时伴随的悲伤感。也许正是这种认知上的无法调和提供了兴奋的真正来源，绑在过山车中起起伏伏，一遍又一遍的将恐怖片放入影碟机中，让舌头感受辣椒素的热情火焰，这些行为都是看上去充满了危险。
Want a thrill? Go out and buy yourself a bottle of One Fuckin' Drop At A Time Hot Sauce. It comes with an eye-dropper for portion control. Benign masochism, indeed.
想刺激一下？出门去超市买上一瓶“一次一滴多滴辣死不负责牌辣酱（One Fuckin' Drop At A Time Hot Sauce）”，附赠滴管以控制取量，这样才能达到良性自虐的效果。
Jason Goldman is a developmental psychologist and blogs at The Thoughtful Animal
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