TED演讲:选择的困惑(11)

 Now, as a policy matter -- I'm almost done -- as a policy matter, the thing to think about is this: 我快说完了。现在说说一个政策问题，我们该想想的一个政策问题是，

what enables all of this choice in industrial societies is material affluence¹. 给我们这个工业化社会带来这么多选择的，是物质的极大丰富。

There are lots of places in the world, and we have heard about several of them, 我们这个世界上还有很多地方，至少我们听说过其中几个，

where their problem is not that they have too much choice. Their problem is that they have too little. 在那里问题不是选择太多，而是几乎没有。

So the stuff I'm talking about is the peculiar² problem of modern, affluent³, Western societies. 所以我在这里谈的这个话题是现代富裕的西方社会的一个特殊问题。

And what is so frustrating⁴ and infuriating is this: 令人气愤的问题是，

Steve Levitt talked to you yesterday about how these expensive and difficult-to-install child seats don't help. It's a waste of money. 史蒂夫·里维特昨天就说过，我们生产的那些昂贵而又难以操作的婴儿汽车座椅于事无补，只是在浪费钱。

What I'm telling you is that these expensive, complicated choices -- it's not simply that they don't help. They actually hurt. 而我今天要说的就是这些昂贵的，复杂的选择不仅仅是于事无补，它们其实在给我们带来伤害。

They actually make us worse off. 它们其实让我们变得不如从前。

If some of what enables people in our societies to make all of the choices we make 如果我们把给这个社会创造出这些选择的人力物力拿出一部分来，

were shifted to societies in which people have too few options, not only would those people's lives be improved, 投入到那些现在人们还没有足够选择的社会中去，那么不仅那里人们的生活可以得到改善，

but ours would be improved also, which is what economists⁵ call a "Pareto-improving move." 我们自己的生活质量也同样得到提高。这就是经济学家称之为的帕累托改善的做法。

Income redistribution will make everyone better off -- not just poor people -- because of how all this excess choice plagues us. 产品的再分配会使得所有人，不仅仅是穷人的生活好起来，因为我们摆脱了那些像瘟疫般困扰我们的多余的选择。

So to conclude. You're supposed to read this cartoon, and, being a sophisticated person, say, 结束之前，你们该看看这幅漫画，并站在一个智者的立场说，

"Ah! What does this fish know? You know, nothing is possible in this fishbowl." “哼，这条鱼懂什么？告诉你，在这个鱼缸里一切都是不可能的。”

Impoverished⁶ imagination, a myopic⁷ view of the world -- and that's the way I read it at first. 毫无想象力，目光短浅，我第一次看到这幅画时是这么解读的。

The more I thought about it, however, the more I came to the view that this fish knows something. 可是，我越想越明显地感到这鱼肯定知道些什么。

Because the truth of the matter is that if you shatter the fishbowl so that everything is possible, you don't have freedom. You have paralysis⁸. 因为说实话，如果你想让一切都变得有可能而把鱼缸打破，你得到的不是自由，而是瘫痪（鱼会死）。

If you shatter this fishbowl so that everything is possible, you decrease satisfaction. 如果你想让一切都变得有可能而把鱼缸打破，你反而降低了满意度。

You increase paralysis, and you decrease satisfaction. 你增加了的是瘫痪，减少了的是满足。

Everybody needs a fishbowl. This one is almost certainly too limited -- perhaps even for the fish, certainly for us. 每个人都需要这么个“鱼缸”。至于这个（鱼缸）嘛，对这条鱼可能是小了点，对于我们几乎肯定是太小了。

But the absence of some metaphorical⁹ fishbowl is a recipe for misery¹⁰, and, I suspect, disaster. Thank you very much. 但是，没有这么个象征性的鱼缸，那就意味着苦难将至，也许是，灾难。非常感谢。

1 affluence   

n.充裕，富足

参考例句：

• Their affluence is more apparent than real.他们的富有是虚有其表。
• There is a lot of affluence in this part of the state because it has many businesses.这个州的这一部分相当富有，因为它有很多商行。

2 peculiar   

adj.古怪的，异常的；特殊的，特有的

参考例句：

• He walks in a peculiar fashion.他走路的样子很奇特。
• He looked at me with a very peculiar expression.他用一种很奇怪的表情看着我。

3 affluent   

adj.富裕的，富有的，丰富的，富饶的

参考例句：

• He hails from an affluent background.他出身于一个富有的家庭。
• His parents were very affluent.他的父母很富裕。

4 frustrating   

adj.产生挫折的，使人沮丧的，令人泄气的v.使不成功( frustrate的现在分词 )；挫败；使受挫折；令人沮丧

参考例句：

• It's frustrating to have to wait so long. 要等这么长时间，真令人懊恼。
• It was a demeaning and ultimately frustrating experience. 那是一次有失颜面并且令人沮丧至极的经历。 来自《简明英汉词典》

5 economists   

n.经济学家，经济专家( economist的名词复数 )

参考例句：

• The sudden rise in share prices has confounded economists. 股价的突然上涨使经济学家大惑不解。
• Foreign bankers and economists cautiously welcomed the minister's initiative. 外国银行家和经济学家对部长的倡议反应谨慎。 来自《简明英汉词典》

6 impoverished   

adj.穷困的，无力的，用尽了的v.使（某人）贫穷( impoverish的过去式和过去分词 )；使（某物）贫瘠或恶化

参考例句：

• the impoverished areas of the city 这个城市的贫民区
• They were impoverished by a prolonged spell of unemployment. 他们因长期失业而一贫如洗。 来自《简明英汉词典》

7 myopic   

adj.目光短浅的，缺乏远见的

参考例句：

• The Government still has a myopic attitude to spending.政府在开支问题上仍然目光短浅。
• Myopic views could be potentially damaging for us.目光短浅会给我们带来严重的后果。

8 paralysis   

n.麻痹(症)；瘫痪(症)

参考例句：

• The paralysis affects his right leg and he can only walk with difficulty.他右腿瘫痪步履维艰。
• The paralysis affects his right leg and he can only walk with difficulty.他右腿瘫痪步履维艰。

9 metaphorical   

a.隐喻的，比喻的

参考例句：

• Here, then, we have a metaphorical substitution on a metonymic axis. 这样，我们在换喻（者翻译为转喻，一种以部分代替整体的修辞方法）上就有了一个隐喻的替代。
• So, in a metaphorical sense, entropy is arrow of time. 所以说，我们可以这样作个比喻：熵像是时间之矢。

10 misery   

n.痛苦，苦恼，苦难；悲惨的境遇，贫苦

参考例句：

• Business depression usually causes misery among the working class.商业不景气常使工薪阶层受苦。
• He has rescued me from the mire of misery.他把我从苦海里救了出来。