(单词翻译:单击)
The enemy of the good: The Perfection Trap
优秀之敌:完美主义的陷阱
In Nathaniel Hawthorne's short story "The Birth-Mark", a chemist called Aylmer marries a young woman, Georgiana, whose sole imperfection is a red blemish on her left cheek.
在纳撒尼尔·霍桑的短篇小说《胎记》中,一位名叫艾尔默的化学家娶了一位名叫乔治安娜的年轻女子,她唯一的缺陷就是左脸颊上有一块红色斑点
He considers it a "fatal flaw"; she pleads with him to use his skills to remove it. Stumbling on his journal, however, Georgiana is astonished to find it is a catalogue of scientific mishaps.
艾尔默认为这是一个"致命的缺陷",乔治安娜恳求他用他的化学能力祛除红斑
Might his loathing of her birthmark stem from his professional disappointment? At length Aylmer concocts a potion that has the desired effect--and promptly kills her.
艾尔默对她胎记的厌恶难道是源于他在工作上的失意?最后,艾尔默调制了一种药水,这种药水达到了预期的效果,但也立即让乔治安娜丧命
Hawthorne's 180-year-old tale illustrates the perils of perfectionism. It is Thomas Curran's starting-point for a study of what he calls a "hidden epidemic".
霍桑的这篇180年前的故事说明了完美主义的危险
He thinks the obsessive pursuit of ever higher standards, rather than propelling achievement, is mainly a scourge. A social psychologist at the London School of Economics, he describes himself as "a recovering perfectionist".
柯伦认为,痴迷于追求更高的标准,而不是推动成就,在很大程度上是一种祸害
Drawing on both academic research and his own experiences of "deficit thinking", he makes a vigorous case, albeit one occasionally marked by cliché (he sees his younger self as a "chin-stroking, cardigan-wearing intellectual").
根据学术研究和他自己的"缺陷思维"经历,他提出了有力的论据,尽管偶尔有俗套的地方(他认为自己年轻时是一个"摸着下巴、穿着羊毛开衫的知识分子")
Mr Curran distinguishes between three sorts of perfectionism. The first, which looks inward, is the relentless self-scolding of the workaholic or punctilious student.
柯伦区分了三种完美主义
A second version, directed towards others, is commonly found in bosses who have unrealistic expectations of their staff and decry their supposed failings (he cites Steve Jobs as an example).
第二种是指向他人的,通常出现在那些对员工抱有不切实际的期望,并强烈批评员工的所谓缺点的老板身上(他举了史蒂夫·乔布斯的例子)
The third and most troublesome kind is the form imputed to society: "an all-encompassing belief that everybody, at all times, expects us to be perfect". Its victims tend to feel lonely; often they harm themselves and harbour thoughts of suicide.
第三种也是最讨厌的一种,是将完美主义归咎于社会:"一种包含一切的信念,认为所有人不论什么时候都期望我们是完美的"