在自由社會，每個人都應該有自主權，做什麼不做什麼、向東或向西走，都是由自己決定。
事實上，大家的感覺都是如此。當然上班時要聽從老闆的指示，但那都是心甘情願的，我們會告訴自己，不喜歡隨時可以辭職不幹。
可是實情卻並非如此。原來不知不覺間，我們的行為都是被操縱。就如回email那麼簡單的事，我們其實都在跟從一些內在的聲音行事：
Most humans don't realize that when they exchange emails with someone, anyone, they are actually exhibiting certain unspoken rules about dominance and hierarchy.
Dominance是支配或統治的地位。Hierarchy解等級或階級制度。回email時，我們都會把寫email的寄件人分等級、分類別，我們怎樣回email、何時回，都會因應這等級和類別給予不同對待。
分級回復 反映關係
大家可能會說︰“不是吧！我不是這麼勢利的人！”Dario Maestripieri在 Games Primates Play中，就提出證據證明我們的行為真的跟從這個模式。
基本的原因是，email並不只是工作的工具，我們也用它來維繫與人的關係：
It's hard to deny that email makes our work lives significantly(重大地) easier and more efficient. Email, however, is not only about work. The truth is that, like most other people, I maintain social relationships via email. I exchange(交換) email with my mother and sister in Italy, with friends all over the world, with colleagues(同事) and students, and with other people I know.
在面對面的溝通中，我們會把自己的情緒和對對方的看法用表情、動作、行為表達，email交流是透過電腦，溝通時看不到對方，但我們卻聰明地用其他替代方法交換這些身份、地位和情緒的信息。
Social media users have found creative ways to communicate(表達) their moods with "emoticons" - smiling faces, winks(眨眼), and frowns - to compensate for the fact that the reader may have no idea whether you are serious or joking when we say such things as: "Sometimes you really make me want to kill you."
留意一下回email的方法，便大致估計到對方地位是較回件者高或低，是熟悉或只是工作上認識的人。
There are some clear patterns(格局) in the way we use email. First of all, email communication between people who know each other well occurs in "conversation" bouts(多回) in which several messages are exchanged back and forth over the course of minutes, hours, or a few days. Who starts and who ends the conversation, the time taken to reply, and the length of the transmissions are not random.
Random解隨機的、沒有特別安排的。Email的交流並不是random的。誰開始交談的過程、等待多久才回、回件的內容長短，全都決定於雙方的關係性質。
人類行為 特定模式
Dominant解主控的，若是上司下屬間或教授學生間的email往來，地位較高的一方，即上司和教授，通常都會等待較長時間才回答下屬或學生，回信也會點到即止。Email只是一個例子。雖說有自主，但人的行為其實都會依循一些特定的模式走。Games Primates Play便解釋了這些模式的由來。
文︰子慧
