Why Do We Get Goosebumps?
為什麼我們會起雞皮疙瘩？
Imagine you're watching a scary movie and a masked man suddenly appears and kills the beautiful girl, scaring the hell out of you and giving you those infamous "goosebumps".
想象一下，你正在看一部恐怖電影，一個蒙面人突然出現，殺死了那個美麗的女孩，吓得你魂不附體，還讓你起了些難看的“雞皮疙瘩”。
To get over the scary film that you were just watching, you decide to go for a swim in a nearby lake.
為了忘掉剛才看的恐怖電影，你決定去附近的湖裡遊泳。
The water is quite warm, but there is a strong wind blowing, and the moment you step out of the water, you feel chilly and for the second time that night, you get goosebumps.
水很暖和，但是刮起了大風，當你走出水面的時候，你感到寒冷，這天晚上你又一次起了雞皮疙瘩。
That same night, you're listening to some old music, and it brings back some fond memories.
還是同一天晚上，你在聽一些老歌，它們勾起了你一些美好的回憶。
You begin to get all nostalgic（懷舊的） and emotional, and guess what! You get "goosebumps" yet again!
你開始變得懷舊和情緒化，你猜怎麼着！你又起雞皮疙瘩了！
So, why do these three unrelated events all seem to produce the same physical reaction in the body?
那麼，為什麼這三個不相關的事件似乎都能在體内産生相同的生理反應呢？
What are goosebumps and why do we get them?
什麼是雞皮疙瘩？又為什麼會起雞皮疙瘩呢？
Goosebumps are tiny elevations of the skin at the base of the hair, causing our skin to resemble（像） the skin of poultry（家禽） after the feathers have been plucked.
雞皮疙瘩是毛發底部皮膚的微小隆起，導緻我們的皮膚看起來像家禽拔毛後的皮膚。
The physical reaction of goosebumps have been passed to humans from our animal ancestors, who once had a lot more hair on their bodies.
起雞皮疙瘩的生理反應是從我們的動物祖先那裡傳下來的，他們的身上曾經有很多毛發。
Goosebumps are caused when stress (cold temperature, perceived（感覺到的） threat, intense emotions etc.) is experienced by our brain.
當我們的大腦感受到壓力（寒冷的溫度、感覺到的威脅、強烈的情緒等）時，就會起雞皮疙瘩。
In these moments, the nervous system sends a message to nerve endings that trigger the arrector（立肌） pili muscles, which cause goosebumps to appear.
在這些時刻，神經系統向神經末梢發送資訊，觸發豎毛肌，進而引起雞皮疙瘩。
In animals with long hair, goosebumps help them protect against cold weather, as standing hair provides more insulation（隔離） to the body.
對于毛發長的動物來說，雞皮疙瘩可以幫助它們抵禦寒冷的天氣，因為直立的毛發讓身體更多地與外界隔離。
Also, a number of animals, including cats, use goosebumps to look larger and more intimidating when they feel threatened.
此外，包括貓在内的許多動物在感到威脅時會起雞皮疙瘩，好讓自己看起來更大更吓人。
In humans, goosebumps are a pretty useless feature, as we do not have much hair on our skin, but it can be a good indicator（訓示） of our surroundings, whether we are too chilly, nervous, overextended, or emotionally drained!
對人類來說，雞皮疙瘩是一個相當無用的特征，因為我們的皮膚上沒有多少毛發，但它可以很好地訓示我們周圍的環境，無論我們是太冷、太緊張、過度伸展，還是情緒失控！