When you have 21 minutes to speak two million years seems like a really long time
与21分钟的演讲相比200万年看起来很长
But evolutionarily, two million years is nothing
但在进化长河中 200万年也不算什么
And yet in two years the human brain has nearly tripled in mass.
但是在两百万年里人类的大脑的重量已经增加了近三倍
going from the one-and-a-quarter pound brain of our ancestor here,
从我们远祖的能人1.25磅重的大脑
Habilis to the almost three-pound meatloaf that everybody here has between their ears.
到现在的 在座各位都拥有的近3磅重的大脑

What is it about a big brain that nature was so eager for every one of us to have one?
较重的大脑究竟有什么作用 以致于大自然很迫切地要赋予我们这样的特质呢
Well, it turns out when brains triple in size,
答案是 当人类大脑变大了三倍的时候
they don't just get three times bigger; they gain new structures
它们在体积上增大三倍的同时 也获得了新的组织结构
And one of the main reasons our brain got so big is because it got a new part, called the "frontal lobe".
我们大脑变得如此之大的最主要的原因之一是它有一个叫“额叶”的新结构
Particularly, a part called the "prefrontal cortex".
尤其是“前额叶皮层”这部分
What does a prefrontal cortex do for you that should justify the entire architectural overhaul of the human skull in the blink of evolutionary time?
前额叶皮层有什么样的作用才能证明在进化过程中的短时间内对人类头骨的整个架构大修是必要的呢
While it turns out the pre-frontal cortex does lots of things,
结果表明前额叶皮层有许多功能
but one of the most important things it does It's an experience simulator
但它最重要的功能之一是一个体验模拟器
You know…Pilots practice in flight simulators so that they don't make real mistakes in planes.
飞行员会在模拟飞行器上练习以便他们实际操控飞机时不会出事
Human beings have this marvellous adaptation that they can actually have experiences in their heads before they try them out in real life.
我们人类就具有这种非凡的适应性在实际尝试之前 我们可以在脑海里对它们有些体验
This is a trick that none of our ancestors could do,
这是我们的祖先做不到的
and that no other animal can do quite like we can.
并且其它的动物也做不到
It's a marvelous adaptation.
这是一次神奇的进化
It's up there with opposable thumbs and standing upright
如今我们有对生拇指 能背脊挺直
and language as one of the things that got our species out of trees and into the shopping mall. Now
还有作为重要特征之一的语言 它让我们人类这个物种走出森林进入了大商场
All of you have done this.
你们都经历过
I mean…you know…Ben and Jerry's doesn't have liver-and-onion ice cream,
Ben and Jerry's美国冰淇淋品牌也没有洋葱搭肝脏口味的冰淇淋
and it's not because they whipped some up, tried it and went, "Yuck."
这并不是因为他们做了一些这种口味的冰淇淋 尝试过后才感觉恶心
It's because, without leaving your armchair,
那是因为 你根本不用离开你的座椅
you can simulate that flavor and say "yuck" before you make it.
在你做之前就可以想像出那恶心的味道
Let's see how your experience simulators are working.
我们来看看经验模拟器如何运作的
Let's just run a quick diagnostic before I proceed with the rest of the talk.
在我说出其余的话之前让我们做一个快速诊断
Here's two different futures that I invite you to contemplate.
这里有两个截然不同的未来请你来仔细考虑一下
You can try to simulate them and tell me which one you think you might prefer.
你可以试图模拟 并且告诉我你认为你会更喜欢哪个
One of them is winning the lottery. This is about 314 million dollars.
其中一个是中了乐透彩票 大概3.14亿美元
And the other is becoming paraplegic.
另外一个是变成瘫痪
Just give it a moment of thought.
只用一会儿时间来考虑一下
You probably don't feel like you need a moment of thought.
你可能觉着都不需要任何思考的时间
Interestingly, there are data on these two groups of people, data on how happy they are.
有意思的是 这里有关于两个群体的一些数据这些数据是关于他们有多快乐的
And this is exactly what you expected, isn't it?
这正是你预料到的 不是吗？
But these aren't the data. I made these up! These are the data.
但这不是那些数据 是我编造的这些才是真正的数据
You failed the pop quiz in your hardly five minutes into the lecture.
你的课刚开始不到五分钟你就挂掉了突击测验
Because the fact is that a year after losing the use of their legs,
因为事实上 在瘫痪一年后
and a year after winning the lotto, lottery winners and paraplegics are equally happy with their lives.
和在中彩票一年后 中奖的人和瘫痪的人对他们生活的快乐程度是相同的
Don't feel too bad about failing the first pop quiz,
别因为第一次突击测验没过而感到沮丧
because everybody fails all of the pop quizzes all of the time.
因为每个人都会挂掉所有的突击测验
The research that my laboratory has been doing,
我的实验室一直在做的研究
that economists and psychologists around the country have been doing,
是国内的经济学家和心理学家一直在做的
has revealed something really quite startling to us, something we call the "impact bias,"
它揭示了一些真正令我们感到惊讶的事我们称之为“不公平影响”
which is the tendency for the simulator to work badly.
这就是模拟器有工作不正常的倾向性
For the simulator to make you believe that different outcomes are more different than in fact they really are.
因为模拟器会让你相信不同的结果比实际存在的不同更不一样
From field studies to laboratory studies,
从实地研究到实验研究
we see that winning or losing an election, gaining or losing a romantic partner,
我们可以看到赢得一次选举或者落选 得到和失去一个爱情伴侣
getting or not getting a promotion, passing or not passing a college test,on and on,
一次晋级机会的得失 一次大学考试通过与不通过等等
have far less impact, less intensity and much less duration than people expect them to have.
这些事情对我们造成的影响远远比我们所期待的那样要小 而且这种影响的持续时间要短
In fact, a recent study, this almost floors me
其实 最近有个研究研究的结果几乎让我惊呆了
a recent study showing how major life traumas affect people
最近的一项关于严重的生活创伤如何影响人们的研究
suggests that if it happened over three months ago, with only a few exceptions,
表明 如果该事件发生了3个月之后除了少数例外情况
it has no impact whatsoever on your happiness. Why?
它对你的快乐感并没有任何影响 为什么呢
Because happiness can be synthesized.
因为快乐可以被人为制造出来
Sir Thomas Browne wrote in 1642, "I am the happiest man alive.
托马斯 布朗爵士在1642年写下 “我是人世间最快乐的人
I have that in me that can convert poverty to riches, adversity to prosperity.
我拥有化腐朽为神奇的能力
I am more invulnerable than Achilles; fortune hath not one place to hit me."
我无懈可击 比阿基里斯更无敌”
What kind of remarkable machinery does this guy have in his head?
他的大脑里得拥有何等卓越的机制呀
Well, it turns out it's precisely the same remarkable machinery that all of us have.
但结果表明我们每个人都是一样的 都拥有这样的机制
Human beings have something that we might think of as a "psychological immune system."
人类具有某种我们可以把它视为“心理免疫系统”的东西
A system of cognitive processes, largely non-conscious cognitive processes,
一个认知过程的系统 主要是无意识认知过程
that help them change their views of the world,
这种认知过程可以帮助人们改变对世界的看法
so that they can feel better about the worlds in which they find themselves.
以致于人们对这个他们能找到自我的世界感觉更好
Like Sir Thomas, you have this machine.
如同托马斯爵士一样　你也拥有这种能力
Unlike Sir Thomas, you seem not to know it.
不同之处在于 你好像没有认识到这点
We synthesize happiness, but we think happiness is a thing to be found.
我们创造快乐　但却认为快乐是需要苦苦追寻的
Now, you don't need me to give you too many examples of people synthesizing happiness, I suspect.
现在 我估计你不需要我再给你更多关于创造快乐的人们的例子
Though I'm going to show you some experimental evidence, you don't have to look very far for evidence.
不过我还是要给你看一些实验证据你就不用费力寻求证据了
I as challenge to myself, since I say this once in a while in lectures,
我 作为对自己的挑战 因为我会时不时地在我的课堂上讲这件事
I took a copy of the New York Times
我拿了一份纽约时报
and tried to find some instances of people synthesizing happiness.
并且试图找一些人们自己制造快乐的例子
Here are three guys synthesizing happiness.
这里有３个人的例子
"I'm so much better off physically, financially,emotionally, mentally and almost every other way.
我现在在心理上 经济上 感情上和精神上都比以前各方面好多了
"I don't have one minute's regret. It was a glorious experience."
我一点都不后悔 那是一个辉煌的经历”
"I believe it turned out for the best."
我相信它当时是最好的结果了”
Who are these characters who are so damn happy?
这都是些什么人物？谁特么会这么快乐?
Well, the first one is Jim Wright.
第一位是吉姆 莱特
Some of you are old enough to remember:
你们之中一些年纪大的人会记得
he was the chairman of the House of Representatives and he resigned in disgrace
他曾是众议院主席并且他在耻辱中辞了职
when this young Republican named Newt Gingrich found out about a shady book deal he had done.
就在这位名叫 Newt Gingrich的青年共和党人发现了他进行的一桩黑幕交易事件之后
He lost everything.
他失去了一切
The most powerful Democrat in the country lost everything.
这位当时最有权势的民主党成员失去了一切
He lost his money, he lost his power.
他失去了他的金钱和权力
What does he have to say all these years later about it?
过了这么多年之后 他说了什么呢
"I am so much better off physically, financially, mentally and in almost every other way."
我现在在心理上 经济上 感情上以及其他一切方面都比以前好多了”
What other way would there be to be better off?
其他方面还能有什么能更好呢？
Vegetably? Minerally? Animally?
植物上 矿物上 动物上
He's pretty much covered them there.
他基本上都已经包括了
Moreese Bickham is somebody you've never heard of.
莫里斯·比可汉是位你从来没听说过的人
Moreese Bickham uttered these words upon being released.
他在出狱后说了这样的话
He was 78 years old.
他那时七十八岁了
He'd spent 37 years in a Louisiana State Penitentiary for a crime he didn't commit.
他因为一次误判在路易斯安那监狱度过了37年
He was ultimately exonerated at the age of 78 through DNA evidence.
通过DNA鉴定他最终被认定无罪
and what did he have to say about his experience?
关于这段经历 他说了些什么呢
"I don't have one minute's regret. It was a glorious experience." Glorious!
"我一分钟的后悔都没有过 那是段荣耀的经历"
This guy is not saying, "Well, there were some nice guys. They had a gym.
这并不是说“监狱里的人都挺好的 那还有一个健身房”
Glorious, a word we usually reserve for something like a religious experience.
荣耀一词 我们通常用来形容与宗教相关的经历
Harry S. Langerman uttered these words, and he's somebody you might have known
哈里·朗格曼吐露了这些话 他本应是你可能知道的人
but didn't, because in 1949 he read a little article in the paper
但你并不知道 因为在1949年他在报纸上看到了一篇
about a hamburger stand owned by two brothers named McDonalds.
关于一家汉堡摊的拥有者麦当劳兄弟的文章
And he thought, "That's a really neat idea!"
然后他想 这真是个好主意
So he went to find them. They said,
所以他就去找了麦当劳兄弟 他们说
"We can give you a franchise on this for 3,000 bucks."
“我们可以以3000美元的价格把连锁经营权卖给你”
Harry went back to New York, asked his brother, an investment banker,
他返回纽约向他做投资银行的兄弟借3000美元
to loan him the $3,000, and his brother's immortal words were,
但他的兄弟的神回复是
"You idiot, nobody eats hamburgers."
“你个白痴 没人吃汉堡”
He wouldn't lend him the money,
他的兄弟没有借给他钱
and of course, six months later Ray Kroc had exactly the same idea.
当然 六个月后 瑞·克罗克也有了同样的想法
It turns out people do eat hamburgers,
结果是人们喜欢吃汉堡
and Ray Kroc, for a while, became the richest man in America.
而且 克罗克就成为当时的美国的首富
Oh, and then, finally, you know, the best of all past of the world some of you recognize this young photo of Pete Best,
最后 你们中的一些人能认出这是 Pete Best的年轻时的照片
who was the original drummer for the Beatles,
他是甲壳虫乐队最开始的鼓手
until they, you know, sent him out on an errand and snuck away and picked up Ringo on a tour.
然后你知道的 他们支开贝斯特 自己溜走并且在一次巡演时选了林格加入
Well, in 1994, when Pete Best was interviewed yes, he's still a drummer; yes, he's a studio musician
他仍然是一名鼓手 还是一名做录音的音乐人
he had this to say, "I'm happier than I would have been with the Beatles."
关于这事 他说 如果留在甲壳虫乐队 我不会这么快乐
Okay. There's something important to be learned from these people,and it is the secret of happiness.
好 我们要从这些人身上学到的重要的东西是快乐的秘密
Here it is, finally to be revealed.
在这 这个秘密终于要被揭开了
First: accrue wealth, power, and prestige, then lose it.
首先 积累财富 权力和声望 然后全都失去它们
Second: spend as much of your life in prison as you possibly can.
其次 尽可能地在监狱里度过你的人生
Third: make somebody else really, really rich.
第三 让别人成为巨富
And finally: never ever join the Beatles. Okay, now
最后 永远别加入甲壳虫乐队 好的，现在
I, like Z. Frank can predict your next thought which is "Yeah, right."
我像Z Frank一样能预料到你接下来的想法那就是“是的 太对了"
Because when people synthesize happiness,
因为当人们制造快乐的时候
as these gentlemen seem to have done,
就像这几位先生们做的一样
we all smile at them, but we kind of roll our eyes and say,
我们都会冲他们微笑着 但又翻楞着眼睛说
"Yeah right, you never really wanted the job."
"嗯! 对! 你本来也没真心想要那份工作”
"Oh yeah, right. You really didn't have that much in common with her,
“噢 对呀！你本来就和她没什么共同点
and you figured that out just about the time
"当你刚刚明白这事的时候"
she threw the engagement ring in your face."
"她就把婚戒扔在你脸上了"
We smirk because we believe that synthetic happiness
我们冷笑是因为我们认为人工制造的快乐
is not of the same quality as what we might call "natural happiness."
比不上自然的快乐
What are these terms?
这两者的概念是什么
Natural happiness is what we get when we get what we wanted,
自然的快乐是当我们得到我们想要的东西的时候所获得的快乐
and synthetic happiness is what we make when we don't get what we wanted.
刻意制造的快乐的情况正好与之相反
And in our society, we have a strong belief that synthetic happiness is of an inferior kind.
在我们的社会中我们都坚信刻意制造的快乐更加劣质
Why do we have that belief?
为什么我们会这样认为呢
Well, it's very simple.
很简单
What kind of economic engine would keep churning if we believed that not getting what we want could make us just as happy as getting it?
虽然得不到自己想要的东西 但我们仍然可以让自己就像得到了它那样快乐如果我们相信这点要怎样的经济引擎才会持续运转呢
With all apologies to my friend Matthieu Ricard,
先向我的朋友马修 李卡德 抱歉
A shopping mall full of Zen monks
一个挤满了和尚的购物商场
is not going to be particularly profitable,
是赚不了多少钱的
because they don't want stuff enough.
因为和尚想要的东西不多
I want to suggest to you that synthetic happiness
我想向你表明的是 人为制造的快乐是
is every bit as real and enduring
真实和持久
as the kind of happiness you stumble upon
就像自然碰到的快乐一样
when you get exactly what you were aiming for.
和你达到你想要的目的时产生的快乐一样
I'm a scientist, so I'm going to do this not with rhetoric,
我是个科学家 所以我不会用华而不实的言辞去说服你
but by marinating you in a little bit of data.
只是让你浸泡在一小点数据里腌一腌而已
Let me first show you an experimental paradigm that is used
首先让我来告诉你一个实验范例 它是用来
to demonstrate the synthesis of happiness among regular old folks.
展示 在普通老年人中的人为制造的快乐
And this isn't mine.
这不是关于我的
It's a 50-year-old paradigm called the "free choice paradigm."
是一位50岁老人的例子 叫做“自由选择范例”
It's very simple.
非常简单
You bring in, say, six objects,
你带来六样东西
and you ask a subject to rank them from the most to the least liked.
然后你要求一个来参加试验的人 从最喜欢到最不喜欢排列它们
In this case, because this experiment will tell you about uses them,
在这种情况下 因为这个实验会告诉你它们的使用
these are Monet prints.
这些印刷品是莫奈的画
So, everybody can rank these Monet prints
每个人都可以对这些作品进行排序
from the one they like the most, to the one they like the least.
从最喜欢的 到最不喜欢的
Now we give you a choice:
现在 我们给你一个选择
"We happen to have some extra prints in the closet.
我们刚好还有有六幅在柜子里
We're going to give you one as your prize to take home.
我们会送给你一张带回家作为奖励
We happen to have number three and number four," we tell the subject.
我们刚好有第三幅和第四幅” 我们告诉被实验者
This is a bit of a difficult choice,
这是一个有点难的选择
because neither one is preferred strongly to the other,
因为哪个都没有比另外的好多少
but naturally, people tend to pick number three
但很自然地 人们都会去选第三幅
because they liked it a little better than number four.
因为他们认为三号要比四号好一点
Sometime later -- it could be 15 minutes; it could be 15 days --
过了一会儿 也许是15分钟 也许是15天之后
the same stimuli are put before the subject,
同样的实验刺激品即莫奈的印刷品摆在被试验者面前
and the subject is asked to rerank the stimuli.
被试验者需要重新排列喜恶顺序
"Tell us how much you like them now."
“告诉我们你现在有多喜欢它们”
What happens?
发生什么了呢？
Watch as happiness is synthesized.
看看人为制造快乐是怎样的
This is the result that has been replicated over and over again.
这就是一遍遍被复制出的结果
You're watching happiness be synthesized.
你正在看的就是制造出来的快乐
Would you like to see it again?
你还想再看一次吗
Happiness!
这就是快乐
"The one I got is really better than I thought
“我得到的比我想的好多了
That other one I didn't get sucks!"
我没选的那幅差远了”
That's the synthesis of happiness.
这就是人为制造的快乐
Now, what's the right response to that? "Yeah, right!"
那么现在 什么是对此正确的回应呢？“是啊 太对了!"
Now, here's the experiment we did, and I hope this is going to convince you that "Yeah, right!" was not the right response.
现在我们做一个实验 我希望它能让你相信 “是呀 太对了”这样的反应是错误的
We did this experiment with a group of patients who had anterograde amnesia.
我们这次的实验对象是一群患有顺序性遗忘症的病人
These are hospitalised patients
这些都住院
Most of them have Korsakoff's syndrome,
他们大多数患有严重记忆障碍的酒精导致的遗忘综合症
a polyneuritic psychosis that they drank way too much, and they can't make new memories.
一个多发性神经炎症的精神病 他们因长时间饮酒过量 所以不能留下新的记忆
OK? They remember their childhood, but if you walk in and introduce yourself, and then leave the room,
他们记得他们的童年 但如果你走房间介绍你自己然后离开
when you come back, they don't know who you are.
当你回来的时候 他们就不知道你是谁了
We took our Monet prints to the hospital.
我们带着莫奈的印刷品到医院
And we asked these patients to rank them from the one they liked the most to the one they liked the least.
然后我们让这些病人按照从喜欢到不喜欢跟它们排序
We then gave them the choice between number three and number four.
然后我们让他们从第三幅和第四幅画中选择一幅
Like everybody else, they said, "Gee, thanks Doc! That's great! I could use a new print. I'll take number three."
和其他人一样，他们说 “多谢了 医生 那太棒了 我正想要一副新画 我选三号”
We explained we would have number three mailed to them.
我们解释说会把第三号寄给他们
We gathered up our materials and we went out of the room, and counted to a half hour.
就收拾起东西离开了房间 在屋外等了半个小时后
Back into the room, we say, "Hi, we're back."
回到房间里 说 “你们好 我们回来了”
The patients, bless them, say, "Ah, Doc, I'm sorry,
上帝保佑这些病人 一位病人说 “哦 医生 对不起
I've got a memory problem; that's why I'm here.
我的记忆不好 这是为什么我在这治疗
If I've met you before, I don't remember."
我是不是以前见过你 我记不起来了”
"Really, you don't remember? I was just here with the Monet prints?"
“真的吗？你不记得我了？我刚刚在这里带着莫奈的画?"
"Sorry, Doc, I just don't have a clue."
"对不起 医生 我真没有印象了”
"No problem, Jim. All I want you to do is rank these for me from the one you like the most to the one you like the least."
“没关系 吉米 我要你做的就是将这些作品按照你的喜爱程度从好到坏排个序”
What do they do?
他们做什么呢
Well, let's first check and make sure they're really amnesiac.
让我们检查一下确认他们是不是真的有遗忘症
We ask these amnesiac patients to tell us which one they own,
我们让这些遗忘症患者告诉我们他们选完的那张是哪一张
which one they chose last time, which one is theirs.
哪一张是他们刚刚选的 哪张是他们的
And what we find is amnesiac patients just guess.
我们发现遗忘症患者只是去猜测
These are normal controls, where if I did this with you,
这些是正常的控制 如果给你们做这个实验
all of you would know which print you chose.
你们所有人都会知道你们选过那一张
But if I do this with amnesiac patients, they don't have a clue.
但如果是遗忘症患者 他们就完全不知道了
They can't pick their print out of a lineup.
他们从列出的画中挑不出自己选过的
Here's what normal controls do: they synthesize happiness.
这是正常控制所做的 他们制造快乐
Right? This is the change in liking score,
对吗? 这是喜好得分的变化
the change from the first time they ranked to the second time they ranked.
是从第一次喜好的排序 到第二次排序的变化
Normal controls show -- that was the magic I showed you;
正常控制显示 我给你展示的是个魔术
now I'm showing it to you in graphical form --
现在我要以图示的方式给你看
"The one I own is better than I thought.
“我拥有的这幅比我想过的要好多了
The one I didn't own, the one I left behind, is not as good as I thought."
那个没有得到的 没拿走的并不是我以为的那么好”
Amnesiacs do exactly the same thing. Think about this result.
健忘症患者会做一摸一样的选择 想想这个实验结果
These people like better the one they own, but they don't know they own it.
这些人更喜欢它们所拥有的那幅但他们却不知道他们已经拥有它了
"Yeah, right" is not the right response!
“是啊 太对了”并不是正确的回应
What these people did when they synthesized happiness is they really, truly changed their affective, hedonic, aesthetic reactions to that poster.
当这些人制造快乐的时候 他们所做的就是他们真正地改变了对那幅画的情感 享受以及审美上的反应
They're not just saying it because they own it, because they don't know they own it.
他们不是因为拥有了才那么说毕竟他们不知道他们拥有它
When psychologists show you bars, you know that they are showing you averages of lots of people.
当心理学家向你展示统计图表时你知道他们展示给你的是大多数人通常的行为
And yet, all of us have this psychological immune system, this capacity to synthesize happiness,
但我们所有人都有这样的神经免疫系统这种制造快乐的能力
but some of us do this trick better than others.
只不过我们中的有些人更擅长做这种把戏
And some situations allow anybody to do it more effectively than other situations do.
而且在某些情况下会比在其他情况下让任何人做得更有效
It turns out that freedom, the ability to make up your mind and change your mind,is the friend of natural happiness,
事实表明 这种自由也就是打定主意和改变主意的能力
because it allows you to choose among all those delicious futures
它是自然快乐的朋友 因为它允许你在所有那些具有诱惑力的未来中去选择
and find the one that you would most enjoy.
并且找到你最享受的那一个
But freedom to choose, to change and make up your mind, is the enemy of synthetic happiness.
但自由选择去改变或打定主意却是人制造快乐的敌人
And I'm going to show you why.
接下来我要告诉你为什么
Dilbert already knows, of course.
Dilbert 当然已经知道了
you're reading the cartoons as I'm talking
我在说话的时候你在看这本卡通
"Dogbert's tech support. How may I abuse you?"
"您好 这里是道格伯特技术支持 您需要怎样的虐待
"My printer prints a blank page after every document."
"我的打印机每次打完文件都会出一张白纸”
"Why would you complain about getting free paper?"
"免费得到的纸你有什么好抱怨的?"
"Free? Aren't you just giving me my own paper?"
"免费的? 你刚刚给我的不就是我自己的纸吗?"
"Look at the quality of the free paper compared to your lousy regular paper!
"看看这免费纸的质量 和你糟糕的普通纸比比
Only a fool or a liar would say that they look the same!"
只有傻子或骗子才会说他们看上去一样"
"Now that you mention it, it does seem a little silkier!"
“听你现在这么一说 它的确看上去更丝滑"
"What are you doing?"
“你现在在做什么?"
"I'm helping people accept the things they cannot change." Indeed.
"我正在帮助人们去接受他们不能改变的事情” 的确如此
The psychological immune system works best when we are totally stuck, when we are trapped.
当我们完全陷入困境的时侯 就是心理免疫系统的作用发挥得最好的时候
This is the difference between dating and marriage, right?
这就是约会与婚姻的不同之处 对吗？
I mean, you go out on a date with a guy, and he picks his nose; you don't go out on another date.
我是说 比如你和一个家伙出去约会他用手指挖鼻子 你不会再去和他约会了
You're married to a guy and he picks his nose?
那如果你嫁给了一个挖鼻孔的家伙呢？
You know, he has a heart of gold. Don't touch the fruitcake! Right?
你知道 他有颗金子般的心 只是别碰那块他做的水果蛋糕哈! 是这样吗？
You find a way to be happy with what's happened.
虽然事情发生了 你会找到一种方式让自己开心
Now, what I wanna show you is that people don't know this about themselves,
现在 我想要告诉你的是人们不知道他们自己这一点
and not knowing this can work to our supreme disadvantage.
而不知道这点却能解决我们最大的缺点
Here's an experiment we did at Harvard.
这是一项我们在哈佛大学做的实验
We created a black-and-white photography course,
我们开设了一门黑白照片摄影课
and we allowed students to come in and learn how to use a darkroom.
并且我们允许学生们进入到暗室学习怎样使用它
So we gave them cameras; they went around campus;
我们发给他们相机 他们在校园里到处拍照
they took 12 pictures of their favorite professors
他们给他们最喜爱的教授拍了12张照片
and their dorm room and their dog,
还拍了他们的宿舍 他们的狗狗
and all the other things they wanted to have Harvard memories of.
还有其他所有他们认为应留在他们哈佛记忆中的东西
They bring us the camera; we make up a contact sheet;
他们把相机拿回来 我们做一个联系方式表格
they figure out which are the two best pictures;
他们选出两张最好的照片
and we now spend six hours teaching them about darkrooms.
之后我们花六个小时的时间给他们讲关于暗室的知识
And they blow two of them up,
然后他们选出两张
and they have two gorgeous eight-by-10 glossies of meaningful things to them, and we say,
他们有了两张8寸x10寸表面处理为光面的照片拍的是对他们来说很有意义的东西 然后我们说
"Which one would you like to give up?"
"你愿意放弃哪一张呢?"
"I have to give one up?"
"我必须要放弃一张吗?"
"Oh, yes, we need one as evidence of the class project.
"是的 当然 我们需要一张作为班级项目的证据
So you have to give me one. You have to make a choice.
你得给我一张 你就不得不做出个选择
You get to keep one, and I get to keep one."
你保留一张 我保留一张
Now, there are two conditions in this experiment.
这时 在这项试验里有两个条件
In one case, the students are told,
在一种情况下 学生们被告知
"But you know, if you want to change your mind,
"你知道 如果你改变主意
I'll always have the other one here,
我这里会一直保留另外一张 直到
and in the next four days, before I actually mail it to headquarters"
四天以后 我就要把它寄到总部了”
I'd be glad to...Yeah, "headquarters"
我会很高兴地.....是的 “总部”
"I'll be glad to swap it out with you.
“我会很高兴地帮你把它换过来
In fact, I'll come to your dorm room to give, just give me an email.
其实我也可以把它送到你的宿舍门口 给我你的邮箱地址就行了
Better yet, I'll check with you.
最好是 我到时会再向你确认一下
You ever want to change your mind, it's totally returnable."
看你是不是想改主意 它完全是可以退还的"
The other half of the students are told exactly the opposite:
但另外一半的学生被告知的内容却是完全相反
"Make your choice, and by the way, the mail is going out, gosh, in two minutes, to England.
“做出你的选择 顺便说一下邮件两分钟后就发去英格兰了
Your picture will be winging its way over the Atlantic.
你拍的照片会飞越大西洋
You will never see it again."
你就永远都见不到它了"
Now, half of the students in each of these conditions are asked to make predictions about
现在 每一组条件下的一半学生被要求作出预测
how much they're going to come to like the picture that they keep and the picture they leave behind.
预测他们会多喜欢保留的照片和挑剩下的照片
Other students are just sent back to their little dorm rooms
其他学生只是被送回他们的小宿舍
and they are measured over the next three to six days on their liking, satisfaction with the pictures.
他们根据自己的喜好在接下来的3-6天內衡量对照片的喜欢及满意的成度
And look at what we find.
看看我们发现了什么
First of all, here's what students think is going to happen.
首先 学生们认为要发生的事情是
They think they're gonna maybe come to like the picture they chose a little more than the one they left behind,
他们觉得自己可能会喜欢他们已选择的照片比他们挑剩的那张更多些
but these are not statistically significant differences
但在统计方面没有什么显著的区别
It's really a very small increase, and it doesn't much matter
真的只是一个非常小的增加
whether they were in the reversible or irreversible condition.
无论他们处于可逆转或不可逆转状态 这都并不重要
Wrong-o. Bad simulators. Because here's what's really happening.
选错了也好 糟糕的模拟器也好 这才是真正发生的事情
Both right before the swap and five days later,
可交换时和五天后
people who are stuck with that picture,
那些只能选择那张照片
who have no choice,
没有其他选择
who can never change their mind, like it a lot!
也不会改变主意的人十分喜欢那张照片
And people who are deliberating -- "Should I return it?
那些正在仔细考虑"我是不是应该用它把另一张换回来”
Have I gotten the right one? Maybe this isn't the good one?
“我选出的对不对?" "可能这张并不好”
Maybe I left the good one?" -- have killed themselves.
"我可能没拿好的那张”的那些人为考虑这些问题把自己折磨死了
They don't like their picture,
他们不喜欢自己挑出的照片
and in fact even after the opportunity to swap has expired,
而且实际上甚至是过了可交换的最后期限之后
they still don't like their picture.
他们还是不喜欢他们的照片
Why? Because the irreversible condition is not conducive to the synthesis of happiness.
为什么呢 因为不可逆转的条件是不利于人为制造快乐的
So here's the final piece of this experiment.
那么这就是这试验的最后一部分
We bring in a whole new group of naive Harvard students
我们带来了全新的一组没经验的哈佛学生
and we say, "You know, we're doing a photography course,
我们说 “你知道 我们正在开一门摄影课
and we can do it one of two ways.
我们可以两种方式选其一
We could do it so that when you take the two pictures,
我们可以这样做 那就是当你拍摄这两张照片时
you'd have four days to change your mind,
你会有四天的时间去考虑是否改变主意
or we're doing another course where you take the two pictures
或者我们开另外一个课程 你可以在拍那两张照片时
and you make up your mind right away and you can never change it.
就做决定 而且你不能改变这个决定
Which course would you like to be in?" Duh!
你会选择上哪一门课呢?" 还用说吗！
prefer to be in the course where they have the opportunity to change their mind.
喜欢选择有机会改变主意的课程
Hello? 66 percent of the students choose to be in the course
也就是66%的学生会选择
in which they will ultimately be deeply dissatisfied with the picture.
最终会让你有那张非常不满意的照片的课程
Because they do not know the conditions under which synthetic happiness grows.
因为他们不知道制造快乐形成的条件
The Bard said everything best, of course, and he's making my point here
莎翁说的一切当然都是最好的 他在这句话里也说出了我的观点
but he's making it hyperbolically:
但他的观点是有些夸张的
"'Tis nothing good or bad / But thinking makes it so."
"世上之事本无好坏之分 只是想法决定了其好坏而已"
It's nice poetry, but that can't exactly be right.
这是首好诗 但却不是绝对正确的
Is there really nothing good or bad?
世上的事物真的没有好坏之分吗?
Is it really the case that gallbladder surgery and a trip to Paris are just the same thing?
胆囊炎手术和一次去巴黎的旅行真的是一回事吗？
That seems like a one-question IQ test.
这似乎是个只有一题的智商测试
They can't be exactly the same.
它们不可能一样
In more turgid prose, but closer to the truth, was the father of modern capitalism, Adam Smith, and he said this.
在更多的散文作品里 更接近事实的是现代资本主义理论之父 亚当·史密斯 说过
This is worth contemplating:
值得好好考虑他的话：
"The great source of both the misery and disorders of human life seems to arise from overrating the difference between one permanent situation and another
人生痛苦的最大根源似乎都来源于我们过分夸大了一种长久的情形和另外一种的差距
Some of these situations may, no doubt, deserve to be preferred to others,
这些情况中的一些 毫无疑问 可能被部分人所喜好
but none of them can deserve to be pursued
但没有任何情况值得
with that passionate ardor which drives us to violate the rules
我们被激情与狂热驱使而违反规则地去追求
either of prudence or of justice,
无论是谨慎的还是正义的
or to corrupt the future tranquility of our minds,
又或是对我们思想的未来安宁的破坏
either by shame from the remembrance of our own folly,
无论是因为我们自己愚昧的记忆而感到耻辱
or by remorse for the horror of our own injustice."
还是因为我们自己不公正的恐惧而产生的悔恨
In other words: yes, some things are better than others.
换句话说 是的 有些事情比其他的事情更好
We should have preferences that lead us into one future over another.
我们应该要有那些 能够把我们带入到一个超越了另一个未来的偏好
But when those preferences drive us too hard and too fast
但因为我们过分高估了两个未来之间的不同
because we have overrated the difference between these futures, we are at risk.
而让这些偏好极力地过快地驱驶我们 我们就会有风险
When our ambition is bounded, it leads us to work joyfully.
当我们的野心被限定的时候 它会使我们愉快地工作
When our ambition is unbounded,it leads us to lie, to cheat, to steal, to hurt others,to sacrifice things of real value.
当我们的野心无限膨胀的时候 它会诱使我们去撒谎 欺骗 盗窃 和伤害他人 甚至会使我们失去那些真正有价值的东西
When our fears are bounded, we're prudent, we're cautious, we're thoughtful.
当我们的恐惧是有限的的时候我们是审慎的 小心的我们是考虑周到的
When our fears are unbounded and overblown, we're reckless, and we're cowardly.
当我们的恐惧是无底限而且过分夸大的我们是鲁莽的 懦弱的
The lesson I want to leave you with,
我想留给你思考的课题就是
from these data, is that our longings and our worries are both to some degree overblown,
从这些数据我们可以看出 我们的期望和担心都在某种程度上被夸大了
because we have within us the capacity to manufacture the very commodity
因为我们自身有制造这种有价值的事物的能力
we're constantly chasing when we choose experience. Thank you.
这是在我们选择经验时不断追寻的 谢谢大家！