摘要：美國心理學會首席科學家，公開提醒父母應該警惕元宇宙給青少年帶來的心理危害，比社交媒體更嚴重，特別是在青少年正處於大腦智力及情感發展的重要階段。

（1）元宇宙中會投射出真實的，卻和現實生活截然不同的身份，會影響到青少年的自我身份認同。

（2）會有更多的機會接觸不健康的內容，也更容易製造孤獨感以及各種身體、形象問題。

‘This is creating more loneliness’: The metaverse could presumably be a significant issue for youths, specialists say

“這正在製造更多的孤獨感”：專家說，元宇宙可能對年輕人來說是一個重要的問題

If there’s one factor that tech firms, retailers, content material creators and traders can agree on, it’s this: There’s loads of cash to be made from the metaverse.

如果科技公司、零售商、內容創作者和貿易商都有一個認知，那就是：從元宇宙中可以賺取大量現金。

But as CEOs attempt to elbow past their rivals to achieve a foothold in the still nascent digital space, some psychologists and mental well being specialists say the race to turn a profit is taking consideration away from a crucial query: Will the metaverse be a safe place, particularly for youths and teens?

但是，隨著 CEO 們試圖超越他們的競爭對手，在仍處於萌芽狀態的數字領域站穩腳跟，一些心理學家和心理健康專家表示，盈利的競賽正在考慮一個關鍵問題：元宇宙會是一個安全的地方嗎？特別是對於年輕人和青少年？

The reply is not encouraging. Recent analysis has proven myriad unfavorable effects of social media on the psyches of youngsters and adolescents, from the prevalence of bullying and harassment to self-esteem and body image points. Those similar pitfalls could probably be just as prevalent — if not worse — in the wide-open metaverse, with its collection of huge virtual worlds meant for both work and play.

答覆並不令人鼓舞。最近的分析證明了社交媒體對青少年心理的無數不利影響，從欺凌和騷擾的盛行到自尊和身體形象點。在開放的虛擬世界中，這些類似的陷阱可能同樣普遍——如果不是更糟的話——它收集了用於工作和娛樂的巨大虛擬世界。

But if tech corporations take these considerations seriously from the beginning, and build solutions into their metaverse products, they could actually benefit children’s mental well being, some experts say.

但一些專家表示，如果科技公司從一開始就認真考慮這些因素，並在他們的虛擬世界產品中構建解決方案，它們實際上可以有益於兒童的心理健康。

“All of these new instruments, and all of those new prospects, might be used for good or for evil,” Mitch Prinstein, a medical psychologist who serves as chief science officer for the American Psychological Association, tells CNBC Make It.

美國心理學會首席科學官、醫學心理學家米奇·普林斯坦 (Mitch Prinstein) 告訴 CNBC Make It：“所有這些新工具，以及所有這些新前景，都可能用於善或惡。”

Potentially worse than social media

可能比社交媒體更糟糕

Today’s social media platforms are already dangerous for some kids and teens. Virtual actuality’s level of immersion might make these problems even worse, says Albert “Skip” Rizzo, a psychologist who serves as the director for medical virtual reality at USC’s Institute for Creative Technologies.

今天的社交媒體平臺對一些兒童和青少年來說已經很危險了。身為南加州大學創意技術研究所醫學虛擬現實主任的心理學家 Albert “Skip” Rizzo 說，虛擬現實的沉浸程度可能會使這些問題變得更糟。

“There’s a efficiency about being immersed in a world that’s totally different than observing and interacting…through a flat display monitor,” Rizzo says. “Once you are truly embodied in an area, even though you can’t be bodily touched, we could be uncovered to things that take on a level of realism that might be psychologically assaulting.”

“沉浸在一個完全不同於透過平板顯示器觀察和互動的世界中是一種效率，”Rizzo 說。“一旦你真正體現在一個區域中，即使你不能被身體觸控，我們也可能會發現具有一定程度的現實主義可能會受到心理攻擊的事物。”

This is creating extra loneliness. This is creating way more physique picture considerations and publicity to harmful content material that is associated to suicidality.

——Mitch Prinstein, Chief science officer, American Psychological Association

這會造成額外的孤獨感。這正在為與自殺相關的有害內容創造更多的體質圖片和曝光。

——米奇·普林斯坦·美國心理學會首席科學官

The use of 3D digital avatars in the metaverse carries another drawback, too: Being able to modify your likeness to challenge a version of your self that differs from actual life may be “fairly harmful for adolescents, particularly,” Prinstein says.

普林斯坦說，在虛擬世界中使用 3D 數字化身也有另一個缺點：能夠修改自己的肖像來挑戰與現實生活不同的自我可能“尤其是對青少年相當有害”。

“You are what different individuals think about you in adolescence,” he says. “And the thought of being able to fictionalize your identification and obtain very totally different suggestions can actually mess with an adolescent’s identity.”

“在青春期意識到，你是不同的人” 他說。“能夠虛構你的身份並獲得完全不同的建議的想法，實際上可能會混淆青少年的身份。”

Prinstein worries that tech corporations are focusing on their social media and metaverse platforms at this highly suggestible demographic — during an necessary stretch of their brains’ psychological and emotional improvement — with potentially dire consequences.

普林斯坦擔心，科技公司正將注意力集中在他們的社交媒體和虛擬世界平臺上——在他們大腦的心理和情感改善的必要階段——這可能會帶來可怕的後果。

“This is just an exacerbation of the issues that we’ve already began to see with the consequences of social media,” he says. “This is creating more loneliness. This is creating way more body picture concerns [and] publicity to dangerous content that is associated to suicidality.”

“這只是加劇了我們已經開始看到的社交媒體後果的問題，”他說。“這正在製造更多的孤獨感。一些危險內容，比如自殺，給予了更多的關注和曝光。”

Some problems are already here

有些問題已經存在了

In December, Meta launched a digital actuality social platform, Horizon Worlds. Last March, Microsoft launched a cloud collaboration service for virtual 3D enterprise conferences. Other firms, like Roblox and Epic Games, are grabbing toeholds in the metaverse through in style online games.

12 月，Meta 推出了數字現實社交平臺 Horizon Worlds。去年 3 月，微軟推出了用於虛擬 3D 企業會議的協作服務。其他公司，如 Roblox 和 Epic Games，正在透過風格獨特的線上遊戲在虛擬世界中站穩腳跟。

One such sport writer, VRChat, already exhibits evidence of dangers for younger users. In December, analysis from the nonprofit Center for Countering Digital Hate (CCDH) found that minors were frequently exposed to graphic sexual content material, racist and violent language, bullying and other types of harassment on VRChat’s platform, which is usually accessed through Meta’s Oculus headsets.

一位這樣的體育作家 VRChat 已經展示了年輕使用者面臨危險的證據。去年 12 月，非營利性反數字仇恨中心 (CCDH) 他們分析發現，未成年人經常會在 VRChat 平臺上接觸到色情內容、種族主義和暴力語言、欺凌和其他型別的騷擾，通常透過 Meta 的 Oculus 耳機訪問.

I think parents will be asking themselves: Do I really feel secure knowing that Mark Zuckerberg is the guy in command of deciding who influences my children?

父母會問自己：知道馬克·扎克伯格是決定影響我孩子的人，我真的感到安全嗎？

Imran Ahmed——CEO, Center for Countering Digital Hate

伊姆蘭·艾哈邁德——打擊數字仇恨中心執行長

Meta and Oculus have insurance policies prohibiting these types of adverse behaviors on their VR platforms. When reached for remark, a Meta spokesperson referred CNBC Make It to the company’s previous statements on making an attempt to construct a metaverse “responsibly,” and the Oculus platform’s instruments for reporting abuse and blocking other customers. VRChat did not immediately reply to CNBC Make It’s request for remark.

That’s a half of the problem, says CCDH CEO Imran Ahmed: Safety insurance policies, nonetheless well-intentioned, may be troublesome to observe and enforce in digital spaces.

Meta 和 Oculus 都有保險政策，禁止在其 VR 平臺上出現此類不良行為。採訪時，Meta 發言人將 CNBC Make It 提到了該公司先前關於“負責任地”構建元節的宣告，以及 Oculus 平臺報告濫用行為和阻止其他客戶的工具。VRChat 沒有立即回覆 CNBC Make It 的置評請求。

CCDH 執行長伊姆蘭·艾哈邁德 (Imran Ahmed) 表示，這就是問題的一半：儘管出於善意，安全保險政策在數字空間中可能難以遵守和執行。

“Virtual actuality really does want plenty of security in-built from the start, as a outcome of you can’t search [the metaverse] for hate or sexual abuse,” he says. “You can’t. It occurs immediately [and] there’s nothing you can do.”

Ahmed’s prediction: Parents will must be cautious about their youngsters’ entry to the metaverse. “I think dad and mom will be asking themselves: Do I really feel secure figuring out that Mark Zuckerberg is the guy in charge of deciding who influences my children, who might have the ability to bully them, and whether or not or not they’re protected in cyberspace?” he says.

“虛擬現實確實需要從一開始就內建大量安全性，因為你無法在 [元宇宙] 中搜索仇恨或性虐待，你不能。即使它正在發生，您也無能為力。”

艾哈邁德的預測：父母必須謹慎對待他們的孩子進入虛擬世界。“

爸爸和媽媽會問自己：我真的感到安全嗎？馬克扎克伯格是負責決定，誰影響我的孩子，誰可能有能力欺負他們，以及他們是否欺負他們的人”在網路空間重新受到保護？” 。

‘They’re incentivized to make a revenue’

他們被激勵賺取收入

The irony is that digital actuality and the metaverse have massive promise for improving customers’ mental well being. Rizzo’s research at USC, for instance, shows potential for virtual actuality remedies to advertise empathy in sufferers and help with issues like psychological trauma and PTSD.

具有諷刺意味的是，數字現實和虛擬世界對改善客戶的心理健康有著巨大的希望。例如，裡佐在南加州大學的研究表明，虛擬現實療法有可能宣傳患者的同理心，並幫助解決心理創傷和 PTSD 等問題。

But Rizzo and Prinstein agree the onus is on tech firms to prioritize the safety of their customers over their very own incentive to show a profit.

但 Rizzo 和 Prinstein 一致認為，科技公司有責任優先考慮客戶的安全，而不是他們自己展示利潤的動機。

Ahmed says tech corporations might employ instruments to ensure the metaverse’s safety for younger customers, together with strict age verification tools to prevent predators from posing as youthful customers, plentiful content material moderators and “fast response” when customers report violations of inappropriate habits.

“There’s no reason why there could not be the presence of moderators in areas by which youngsters are current [or] digital chaperones,” he says. “But, in fact, that might require cash.”

Incentivize these corporations to use these good instruments to truly improve society … Right now, they’re incentivized to make a profit.

艾哈邁德說，科技公司可能會使用工具來確保年輕客戶的虛擬世界的安全，包括嚴格的年齡驗證工具來防止掠奪者冒充年輕客戶、豐富的內容版主以及在客戶報告違反不當習慣時“快速響應”。

“沒有理由在年輕人面前，或是數字伴侶之間，沒有管理者。但事實上，這可能需要現金。”

現金激勵這些公司使用這些好的工具來真正改善社會……但是現在，他們被激勵去盈利。

重點詞彙

可以抄在小本本上加深印象

agree on 對某事有同樣的看法，商定某事或商定做某事

loads of 大量 ; 許多

be made from 由…製成的

attempt to 企圖

foothold 立足處 ; 穩固地位，找到立足點

nascent 新生的 ; 萌芽的 ; 未成熟的

well being 生活平安

race to 跑到 ; 快速地把…送到…

away from 離開

youths 青年時期 ; 年輕 ; 青春 ; 朝氣 ; 青年男子 ; 小夥子 ; youth的複數​

think about 考慮 ; 思考 ; 探討 ; 為…費心思 ; 想像

able to 可以 ; 有能力 ; 原來能夠按時完成

fictionalize 把改編成小說

mess with 干涉 ; 捲入 ; 與…有牽連

social media 社交網路媒介that is 即 ; 用於糾正之前說過的內容

types of 型別 ; 的型態 ; 債券的種類

Make It to 趕上，到達

attempt to 企圖

did not 沒有 ; 未 ; 的縮寫

reply to 答覆 ; 回答

Safety insurance 安全險

may be 多半​

See The World In English

語言是接觸世界的媒介，英語在用才有價值，每天10分鐘讀一篇英文論文報告或深度好文，學習英語的同時，觸控世界的深度和廣度。

• 原文&譯文：對照學習
• 重點詞彙：有考試需求的童鞋可以重點學習
• 摘要總結：時間緊急的可以直接看摘要總結