“仲永生五年，未尝识书具，忽啼求之……”王安石的《伤仲永》的故事，相信我们都不会觉得陌生。仲永明明是一个天资聪颖的孩子，为什么越长大就越平凡呢？真的就因为仲永的父亲不在意他后天的学习所导致的？

在现实生活中，大家应该也见过不少聪明的学生越长大就越平庸。明明小时候是敏而好学、聪明才智的一个人，为什么后面却越来越平庸了呢？这真的就是正常的现象、规律吗？其实，并不是的。近日，外媒公布了让人变得越来越平庸的原因了！！原来问了这个这个问题的答案，歪果仁专门去统计数据，进行了一番调查。

We have previously examined which Britons believed they were “just about managing” and were naturally interested in the public’s self-perceptions of ordinariness. So we asked more than 23,000 people whether or not they considered themselves to be “ordinary”.

Using YouGov Profiles, which allows us to compare groups against more than 240,000 variables, we can reveal some of the key characteristics that differentiate Britons who consider themselves ordinary from those who don’t.

英语马上学：

Variables ['vɛrɪəbl] n. 变量。

原来从聪明才智到逐渐变得平庸、平凡，是有原因的！阿卡索小编这就带大家来盘点盘点，那些导致人变得“平庸”的原因吧！

1、 年龄是关键的因素

这次的调查是以英国人为主体进行研究调查的。超过80%的英国人认为他们很“普通”、平庸，只有15%的英国人认为他们并不普通，5%的人表示不知道自己是否平庸普通。而调查人员发现，年龄是自我认知“平庸”的主要指标，年龄越大，就会越觉得自己“普通”、“平庸”。虽然也有不少的英国青少年认为自己很“普通”，但是年龄更大的人都认为自己很“平庸”。

Given the nature of ordinariness, it is perhaps not surprising that the overwhelmingly majority of Brits (80%, in fact) believe they are “ordinary”. By contrast, only 15% do not think they are, while the remaining 5% don’t know.

Age is the single most important indicator of self-perceived ordinariness – the older someone is, the more likely they are to consider themselves ordinary. While 58% of 20-24 year olds consider themselves ordinary, this rises across the age groups to as high as 93% among 70-74 year olds.

2、 人口趋势

英国习惯将人口按照年龄分成三代。分别是千禧一代（18-34岁）、X一代（35-54岁）和婴儿潮一代（55-74岁）。在这三代人中，认为自己平庸的人则更可能会有孩子，也就是说在英国的几代人中，认为自己平庸的人更有可能会结婚。而“不普通”的人则更可能会认为，婚姻对自己并无太大吸引力。

而教育也是衡量自己是否“平庸”的一大指标，不过仅限于X一代人和婴儿潮一代人。因为这两个时代的人认为他们如果接受了大学教育，就会变得“不平庸”。而英国的千禧一代人则无这种差距，因为在过去的二十多年里，英国的千禧一代都接受了高等教育。

There seems to be a strong connection between family life and perceptions of ordinariness. Across all three generations, people who consider themselves ordinary are more likely to have children than those who do not.

Education is another key indicator – but only for Gen X-ers and Boomers. People from these generations who don’t think they are ordinary are substantially more likely than their ordinary counterparts to have been in their twenties when they finished their full-time education (i.e. went to university). In fact, among Baby Boomers continuing education into their twenties is the second strongest single indicator of whether they are not-ordinary.

英语马上学：

Indicator ['ɪndɪkeɪtə] n. 指示器、 指示剂、 指示符、压力计。

3、 个性

“平庸”的英国人与不平庸的英国人在描述自己的方式中最大的区别就是，普通的“平庸”英国人都会习惯描述一个群体的温暖和美好。那么那些不平庸的人呢？人们对那些不平庸的人描述多是：古怪、个人主义等。对于兴趣而言，“平庸”的人会更倾向于看电视、旅行和假期。不平庸的人则对科学和政治更感兴趣。

英国的研究报告指出，看电视的习惯也成为了区分普通人和非普通人的一大关键。在X一代人中，他们都认为自己非常平庸的原因是因为他们依赖于电视。从电视上获得新闻，或者说电视他们的主要新闻来源。

Looking at the biggest differences in the way ordinary and not-ordinary Brits describe themselves paints a warm and rosy picture of the former group. Each of the three generations of ordinary people are statistically more likely to describe themselves as “homely” and “friendly” than their not-ordinary counterparts. Most of the other descriptions used evoked a similar sentiment.

Not-ordinary people are more likely to give descriptions that imply nonconformity: “wacky”, “idiosyncratic”, “individualistic” and “alternative”. Impressions of intelligence or capability are also more prevalent: given what we know about their relative education, it may not be surprising that not-ordinary Boomers are most likely to describe themselves as “well educated” compared to their ordinary peers.

英语马上学：

Sentiment ['sentɪm(ə)nt] n. 感情、情绪、情操、观点、多愁善感。

Idiosyncratic

[,ɪdɪə(ʊ)sɪŋ'krætɪk] adj. 特质的、特殊的、异质的。

Prevalent ['prev(ə)l(ə)nt] adj. 流行的、普遍的、广传的。

看完英国的“平庸”和不平凡的人之间的区别，才知道原来让一个聪明人变得平庸、平凡也是有很多原因的。认真、坚定则是那些“不平凡”的人们都独具的个性。话说，你觉得哪个原因最让人觉得扎心呢？

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