TED演讲:选择的困惑(10)

 I want to say -- just a little autobiographical moment -- that I actually am married to a wife, and she's really quite wonderful. 我想抽一点时间说说自己，我娶了我现在的太太，她是一个很好的妻子。

I couldn't have done better. I didn't settle. But settling isn't always such a bad thing. 这件事上我没有凑合，我尽力了。但是能凑合并不一定是坏事。

Finally -- One consequence of buying a bad-fitting pair of jeans when there is only one kind to buy is that when you are dissatisfied¹, 最后，买一条不合身的牛仔裤的结果之一就是，当商店里只有一种样式可以买到时，你觉得不满意，

and you ask why, who's responsible, the answer is clear: the world is responsible. 想知道为什么，这责任归谁？答案很明显。这个世界该为此负责。

What could you do? When there are hundreds of different styles of jeans available, 你有什么能做的么？现如今店里有上百种牛仔裤供你选择，

and you buy one that is disappointing, and you ask why, who's responsible? 你买了一条回来，觉得不满意，这时候你问为什么，谁的责任？

It is equally clear that the answer to the question is "you." 现在这个问题的答案显然就是：你。

You could have done better. With a hundred different kinds of jeans on display, there is no excuse for failure. 你完全可以做得更好。那里摆着上百种牛仔裤，你没有借口把事情搞砸。

And so when people make decisions, and even though the results of the decisions are good, 结果是，当人们做出决定时，即使那个决定达到的结果很好，

they feel disappointed about them; they blame themselves. 他们还是（对决定）感到失望，要责备自己。

Clinical depression has exploded in the industrial world in the last generation. 在我们过去的这一代人里，工业化世界中临床压抑症爆炸性增长。

I believe a significant² -- not the only, but a significant -- contributor to this explosion³ of depression, and also suicide⁴, 我相信造成这种爆炸性增长的压抑和自杀的一个重要的，不是唯一的，但是是重要的因素，

is that people have experiences that are disappointing because their standards are so high, 就是人们所有的那些的令人失望的经历。原因就是他们的标准太高。

and then when they have to explain these experiences to themselves, they think they're at fault. 当他们必须去解释这些经历到底是怎么回事时，他们认为这是他们自己的过错。

And so the net result is that we do better in general, objectively⁵, and we feel worse. 最后的净效果就是，尽管客观上我们做得比以往好了，但是感觉上却不如从前。

So let me remind you. This is the official dogma, the one that we all take to be true, and it's all false. It is not true. 我再提醒大家，这个（选择带来幸福）的公认的信条，我们都觉得是对的，其实是错的。完全不对。

There's no question that some choice is better than none, but it doesn't follow from that that more choice is better than some choice. 毫无疑问有选择比没选择要好，但是不能就此推论选择越多越好。

There's some magical amount. I don't know what it is. 这里有一个关键值，我不知道是多少。

I'm pretty confident that we have long since passed the point where options improve our welfare. 但是我可以肯定我们早就远远超出了‘选择令我们富有’所需要的这个关键值了。

1 dissatisfied   

a.不满的

参考例句：

• If you are dissatisfied with our service, please write to the manager. 对我们的服务如有不满，请函告经理。
• There was a dissatisfied look in the magager's eyes. 经理的眼睛里露出不满的神色。

2 significant   

adj.相当数量的；意义重大的；意味深长的

参考例句：

• Your success today may be significant for your whole future.你今天的成功对你的整个未来可能是重要的。
• She cast him a significant smile.她向他投去意味深长的一笑。

3 explosion   

n.爆发，发出，爆炸

参考例句：

• The police arrived right at the moment of the explosion.警察就在爆炸的那个时候赶到了。
• The shock of the explosion was felt far away.爆炸引起的震动很远都可感觉到。

4 suicide   

n.自杀，自毁，自杀性行为

参考例句：

• The number of suicide has increased.自杀案件的数量增加了。
• The death was adjudged a suicide by sleeping pills.该死亡事件被判定为服用安眠药自杀。

5 objectively   

ad.客观地，客观上地

参考例句：

• Everything that exists objectively can be understood. 客观存在的事物都是能够被理解的。
• He hoped they would write objectively about China. 他希望他们能客观地报道中国的情况。