老人與老猿的社交習性

    在美國的報上，看到下面社會學家對老人與老猿習性的研究報告， 覺得有趣， 翻譯出來，  讓人對老人， 也對已不年輕的自己， 有更多的了解。─ 通霄客注。 

                       Monkeys, Like Humans, Grow less Social

    Humans spend less time monkeying around as they get older - and according to a new study, so do monkeys. Both species tend to become less social with age.

    根據一項新的研究， 人們活到老年以後， 他們花較少的時間去撕混 （耍猴戲 monkeying around)， 猴子也是這樣。 兩種族類變老以後趨向於變成較少社交。

    Researchers in Europe tracked more than 100 macaques living in an enclosed 50-acre park in southern France. By the time they were around 20, the monkeys had fewer social contacts and approached others less frequently.

    在歐洲的研究人員， 追蹤一百隻彌猴， 生活在法國南部 一個五十英畝圈起來的公園裡。發現當牠們到達約20歲時， 社交就較少了， 牠門也較少接近其他牠猴子。 

    Social scientists theorize that humans become more choosy about companions with age in order to maximize their time as death nears. but there is no evidence that monkeys are aware of their mortality.

    社會學家的理論說， 當人類變老了， 接近死亡時， 為了最好的利用他們的時間， 他們就更為選擇同伴。 但並沒有證據說明猴子也知道牠門生命的有限。

    This theory may just be a way of rationalizing a natural behavior with biological roots, the research said.

    這項研究說， 這理論可能只是用生物的本性， 來推理自然界的行為。