Is Sensitivity an Advantage?敏感到底是優點還是缺點？

All the time the message sensitive people get isn’t to celebrate who they are. It’s that they should “overcome” their sensitivity and “toughen up”. Putting aside that this approach doesn’t work， it’s wrongheaded. Sensitivity is largely genetic， and not something you can turn off. It is a trait related to giftedness and something we should accept with pleasure. In fact， according to three decades of research， it’s not only a healthy trait， but it also serves as a powerful advantage.

As a personality trait， being sensitive means you take in more information from your environment， and you do more with it. Sensitive people are wired at a brain level to process information more deeply than others do. That includes sensory input， emotional input， and ideas. If you’re sensitive， this deep processing changes the way you see the world. You probably notice what others miss， think， and feel deeply， and have a vivid inner life.

The most well-known and celebrated sensitive gift is creativity. Sensitive people tend to be highly creative， and many—perhaps most—artists， musicians， and actors are themselves sensitive people. Many of our greatest scientists throughout history have been sensitive people， including Charles Darwin. Sensitive people have this capacity for creation because they tend to be deep thinkers who spend more time and energy turning problems over in their heads—and end up seeing more possibilities and solutions.

一直以來，敏感的人得到的信息并不是慶祝自己是個敏感的人，而是應該“克服”自己的敏感，“堅強起來”。撇開這種方法行不通不說，這種做法也是錯誤的。敏感在很大程度上是遺傳的，無法去除。它是一種與天賦有關的特質，我們應該欣然接受。事實上，根據三十年的研究，敏感不僅是一種健康的特質，而且還是一種強大的優勢。

作為一種人格特質，敏感意味著你能從周圍環境中獲取更多信息，并利用這些信息做更多事情。敏感的人的大腦比其他人能更深入地處理包括感覺、情緒和想法等信息。如果你是敏感的人，這種深入處理信息的能力會改變你看待世界的方式。你可能會注意到別人想念的、思考的和深切感受的東西，并擁有豐富的內心世界。

最為人所知且備受贊譽的敏感天賦是創造力。敏感的人往往具有極高的創造力，許多也許是大多數藝術家、音樂家和演員本身就是敏感的人。歷史上許多最偉大的科學家都是敏感的人，包括查爾斯·達爾文。敏感的人之所以具有這種創造力，是因為他們往往是深思熟慮的人，會花更多的時間和精力思考問題，最終看到更多的可能性和解決方案。

Another strength sensitive people have is their decision-making ability. This decision-making ability may give sensitive people an evolutionary advantage. In a 2008 computer simulation of natural selection， creatures who spent more resources considering their options and comparing them with past results， as sensitive people do， came out ahead in the long run compared with less-sensitive creatures. They gradually got more resources over time and out-survived others. In the wilderness， that might mean tracking down game when everyone is hungry. In the meeting room， it means guiding the company towards the top of their industry.

Sensitive people do pay a price for these gifts， however， by becoming overstimulated. Overstimulation is what happens when there is simply too much information for the brain to keep going deep. But sensitive people can learn to largely prevent it—particularly by building time into each day to simply let the mind process and “catch up”.

So， if you’re a sensitive person， stop hiding from your sensitivity. Accept it with pleasure， and show it to the world.

敏感的人的另一優勢是他們的決策能力。這種決策能力可能會給敏感的人帶來進化優勢。在2008年的一項有關自然選擇的計算機模擬中，那些像敏感的人那樣花費更多資源考慮自己的選擇，并將其與過去的結果進行比較的生物，與不太敏感的生物相比，從長遠來看更有優勢。隨著時間的推移，它們逐漸獲得了更多的資源，比其他生物活得更久。在野外，這可能意味著它在大家都饑餓的時候去追蹤獵物。在會議室里，這意味著引領公司走向行業巔峰。

然而，敏感的人的確為這些天賦付出了代價，那就是反應過度。反應過度發生在信息量過多，大腦無法深入思考時。但是，敏感的人可以學會最大限度地避免反應過度，特別是通過每天抽出一些時間，讓大腦處理和加工信息，“回到正軌”。

所以，如果你是一個敏感的人，就不要再躲避你的敏感了。愉快地接受它，并將它展現給全世界。

Word Bank

genetic /d??'net?k/ adj. 基因的；遺傳學的

trait /tre?t/ n. （人的個性的）特征，特性

capacity /k?'p?s?ti/ n. 領悟（或理解、辦事）能力

game /ɡe?m/ n. 獵物；野禽

These are the men who shot game for food.