TED英文演講：有選擇困難癥的人
這篇演講或許能真正改變你的人生。我該追尋何種職業(yè)?我應(yīng)該分手，還是結(jié)婚?我應(yīng)該住在哪?這樣的重要決定如此難以抉擇，折磨人心。但哲學(xué)家張美露認(rèn)為，這是因為我們的思考方式錯誤。她提供了一種有力的新模式來幫助塑造真正的自我。下面是小編為大家收集關(guān)于TED英文演講：有選擇困難癥的人，歡迎借鑒參考。
演講者：Ruth Chang
| 中英文演講稿 |
1.Think of a hard choice you'll face in the near future.
想想你在不久的將來會面臨的艱難抉擇。
2.It might be between two careers -- artist and accountant -- or places to live -- the city or the country -- or even between two people to marry --
這也許是在兩份職業(yè)中做出一個選擇， 藝術(shù)家還是會計師; 也許是選擇居住的地方，城市還是鄉(xiāng)村; 也許是在兩個人中
3.you could marry Betty or you could marry Lolita.
選擇和誰結(jié)婚，Betty 或者是Lolita;
4.Or it might be a choice about whether to have children, to have an ailing parent move in with you, to raise your child in a religion
抑或思考是否要孩子; 是否讓年老體衰的父母跟你一起住; 是否讓你的孩子信奉
5.that your partner lives by but leaves you cold.
即便你會因自身不信奉而被冷落;
6.Or whether to donate your life savings to charity.
又或者說，是否將畢生積儲捐贈給慈善機構(gòu)。
7.Chances are, the hard choice you thought of was something big, something momentous, something that matters to you.
有可能，你所思考的這些艱難抉擇 都十分龐大，十分重要 你也十分重視。
8.Hard choices seem to be occasions for agonizing, hand-wringing, the gnashing of teeth.
每當(dāng)困難的選擇出現(xiàn)， 他都會讓你感到痛苦、絕望， 讓你咬牙切齒。
9.But I think we've misunderstood hard choices and the role they play in our lives.
但我認(rèn)為我們誤解了艱難抉擇的定義， 更誤解了其在我們生活中扮演的角色。
10.Understanding hard choices uncovers a hidden power each of us possesses.
倘若能理解這些艱難決定， 我們每個人便會發(fā)掘出 一種隱藏的潛力。
11.What makes a choice hard is the way the alternatives relate.
一個抉擇之所以難 是由于選項之間相互關(guān)聯(lián)。
12.In any easy choice, one alternative is better than the other.
任何簡單的抉擇中， 總有一種選擇比另一種要好。
13.In a hard choice, one alternative is better in some ways, the other alternative is better in other ways, and neither is better than the other overall.
可在艱難抉擇中， 一種選擇在某些方面較好， 另一種選擇在其他方面較好， 二者各有千秋讓人無法定奪。
14.You agonize over whether to stay in your current job in the city or uproot your life for more challenging work in the country because staying is better in some ways,
你痛苦地糾結(jié)于 應(yīng)該繼續(xù)呆在這座城市里干這份工作， 還是改變一下你的生活方式 到鄉(xiāng)村去接受更具挑戰(zhàn)性的工作， 因為留下有留下的好處，
15.moving is better in others, and neither is better than the other overall.
離開也有好處， 兩種選擇各有千秋難以定奪。
16.We shouldn't think that all hard choices are big.
我們不應(yīng)該認(rèn)為所有的艱難抉擇都很龐大。
17.Let's say you're deciding what to have for breakfast.
打個比方，你正決定吃什么早餐。
18.You could have high fiber bran cereal or a chocolate donut.
你可以吃高纖維全谷干麥片， 或者吃巧克力甜甜圈。
19.Suppose what matters in the choice is tastiness and healthfulness.
假設(shè)在此抉擇中的決定性因素
20.The cereal is better for you, the donut tastes way better, but neither is better than the other overall, a hard choice.
麥片對你身體好， 甜甜圈卻好吃很多， 但兩者都有自身優(yōu)勢， 這就是一個艱難抉擇。
21.Realizing that small choices can also be hard may make big hard choices seem less intractable.
如果意識到小的選擇 也可能會變得困難， 那面對大的艱難抉擇時我們可能就不會覺得那么棘手了。
22.After all, we manage to figure out what to have for breakfast, so maybe we can figure out whether to stay in the city or uproot for the new job in the country.
畢竟，我們總能決定早餐吃什么， 所以我們也許能夠想明白， 究竟要留在市區(qū)， 還是到鄉(xiāng)下接手新的工作。
23.We also shouldn't think that hard choices are hard because we are stupid.
同時，我們也不應(yīng)該覺得，選擇之所以難 是因為自己很愚蠢。
24.When I graduated from college, I couldn't decide between two careers, philosophy and law.
在我剛大學(xué)畢業(yè)的時候， 我無法從兩種職業(yè)中抉擇， 哲學(xué)還是法律。
25.I really loved philosophy.
我真心喜歡哲學(xué)，
26.There are amazing things you can learn as a philosopher, and all from the comfort of an armchair.
若能成為哲學(xué)家， 便能學(xué)到很多驚奇的東西， 而且舒舒服服地坐在椅子上就好。
27.But I came from a modest immigrant family where my idea of luxury was having a pork tongue and jelly sandwich in my school lunchbox,
可我出生自一個樸實簡素的移民家庭， 我對奢侈的概念， 就是能在上學(xué)的午餐盒里 找到一塊豬舌和一份果凍三明治。
28.so the thought of spending my whole life sitting around in armchairs just thinking, well, that struck me as the height of extravagance and frivolity.
所以這種一輩子 僅坐在椅子上思考的想法， 其實，對我來說只是一種奢侈和輕浮的假象罷了。
29.So I got out my yellow pad, I drew a line down the middle, and I tried my best to think of the reasons for and against each alternative.
所以我拿出自己黃色筆記本， 在中間劃了一條線， 然后竭盡所能地寫出 每種選擇的利與弊。
30.I remember thinking to myself, if only I knew what my life in each career would be like.
當(dāng)時我就想： 如果能知道選擇某種職業(yè)后 我的人生會變成怎樣就好了。
31.If only God or Netflix would send me a DVD of my two possible future careers, I'd be set.
如果上帝或者網(wǎng)飛公司能送我一張DVD 來向我描述這兩種充滿可能性的職業(yè)生涯，那我就能做出選擇了。
32.I'd compare them side by side, I'd see that one was better, and the choice would be easy.
我就能一一對比， 看看哪種更好， 這樣一來抉擇就簡單多了。
33.But I got no DVD, and because I couldn't figure out which was better, I did what many of us do in hard choices: I took the safest option.
但我沒有收到這種DVD， 而且由于我實在想不出哪一種更優(yōu)， 我就和大多數(shù)人一樣： 選擇了最安全的一項。
34.Fear of being an unemployed philosopher led me to become a lawyer, and as I discovered, lawyering didn't quite fit.
成為失業(yè)哲學(xué)家的恐懼， 驅(qū)使我成了一名律師。 可后來我發(fā)現(xiàn)， 當(dāng)律師不大適合我，
35.It wasn't who I was.
這不是真正的我。
36.So now I'm a philosopher, and I study hard choices, and I can tell you that fear of the unknown, while a common motivational default
所以我現(xiàn)在是名哲學(xué)家， 我鉆研艱難抉擇， 我可以告訴大家，對未知產(chǎn)生恐懼 是在進(jìn)行困難抉擇時的自然反應(yīng)，
37.in dealing with hard choices, rests on a misconception of them.
而這種恐懼 來源于對艱難抉擇的誤解。
38.It's a mistake to think that in hard choices, one alternative really is better than the other, but we're too stupid to know which, and since we don't know which, we might as well
我們不應(yīng)該認(rèn)為，在艱難抉擇中 某種選擇總會會比另一種好， 可我們自身太愚蠢，所以無法辨別， 那既然我們無法定奪，
39.take the least risky option.
倒不如選風(fēng)險最小的那項。
40.Even taking two alternatives side by side with full information, a choice can still be hard.
就算你完全了解了兩種選項 并將其一一對照，你仍然很難決定。
41.Hard choices are hard not because of us or our ignorance; they're hard because there is no best option.
選擇之所以難， 不是因為我們無知; 難的原因在于沒有最優(yōu)選項。
42.Now, if there's no best option, if the scales don't tip in favor of one alternative over another, then surely the alternatives must be equally good.
那么，如果沒有最佳項， 如果衡量的天秤不會傾向于 任何一方， 那么任何選項都一定是好的。
43.So maybe the right thing to say in hard choices is that they're between equally good options.
所以面對艱難抉擇，可能正確的思維方式， 就是認(rèn)為選項雙方一樣好。
44.But that can't be right.
這種想法肯定不對。
45.If alternatives are equally good, you should just flip a coin between them, and it seems a mistake to think, here's how you should decide between careers,
如果選項都一樣好， 那還不如直接拋硬幣算了， 這樣就會產(chǎn)生思想誤區(qū)， 讓你認(rèn)為自己選擇事業(yè)、
46.places to live, people to marry: Flip a coin.
住處、婚嫁時都拋硬幣選擇就好了。
47.There's another reason for thinking that hard choices aren't choices between equally good options.
還有另外一個原因， 使艱難選擇 并非是在同等好的選項中抉擇。
48.Suppose you have a choice between two jobs: you could be an investment banker or a graphic artist.
假設(shè)你要在兩份工作中挑選： 你可以做投資銀行家， 或做平面設(shè)計師。
49.There are a variety of things that matter in such a choice, like the excitement of the work, achieving financial security, having time to raise a family, and so on.
在這個選擇當(dāng)中有頗多決定性因素， 譬如工作帶來的興奮程度、 能獲得的經(jīng)濟保障、 顧家時間等等。
50.Maybe the artist's career puts you on the cutting edge of new forms of pictorial expression.
也許藝術(shù)家這個職業(yè) 能讓你接觸最前沿的 圖像表達(dá)技術(shù)。
51.Maybe the banking career puts you on the cutting edge of new forms of financial manipulation.
或許當(dāng)銀行家 你就能接觸最前端的 金融操縱手段。
52.Imagine the two jobs however you like so that neither is better than the other.
你可以想象任何兩種你喜歡的職業(yè)， 但兩者都不會比另一方好的。
53.Now suppose we improve one of them a bit.
現(xiàn)在，假設(shè)我們能稍微改進(jìn)其中的一方。
54.Suppose the bank, wooing you, adds 500 dollars a month to your salary.
假設(shè)一間銀行嘗試討好你， 在你的月薪里增加500美元。
55.Does the extra money now make the banking job better than the artist one?
這一筆額外的金錢會不會讓這份銀行家的工作 優(yōu)于當(dāng)藝術(shù)家呢?
56.Not necessarily.
說不準(zhǔn)。
57.A higher salary makes the banking job better than it was before, but it might not be enough to make being a banker better than being an artist.
更高的薪酬讓銀行家的工作 優(yōu)于以前， 但額外薪水不一定足夠讓 成為銀行家變得比成為藝術(shù)家好。
58.But if an improvement in one of the jobs doesn't make it better than the other, then the two original jobs could not have been equally good.
可如果對其中一種職業(yè)進(jìn)行改進(jìn)后 結(jié)果并沒有讓一方優(yōu)于另一方， 那么兩種選擇本身 就不可能是一樣好。
59.If you start with two things that are equally good, and you improve one of them, it now must be better than the other.
如果兩件事一開始都同等的好 ， 當(dāng)你改進(jìn)了其中一件， 那它就一定會優(yōu)于另一個。
60.That's not the case with options in hard choices.
在艱難抉擇中并非如此。
61.So now we've got a puzzle.
那么現(xiàn)在我們就有一個疑惑了。
62.We've got two jobs.
這兩份工作，
63.Neither is better than the other, nor are they equally good.
沒有一方能完勝另一方， 但又不是同等的好。
64.So how are we supposed to choose?
究竟該怎么選擇呢?
65.Something seems to have gone wrong here.
貌似有些事情出錯了。
66.Maybe the choice itself is problematic and comparison is impossible.
可能選項的本身就存在問題， 導(dǎo)致我們無法比較。
67.But that can't be right.
但這也不對啊。
68.It's not like we're trying to choose between two things that can't be compared.
我們并不是要在 兩種不能被對比的事物間選擇。
69.We're weighing the merits of two jobs, after all, not the merits of the number nine and a plate of fried eggs.
我們說到底是在衡量兩份工作的利弊， 不是對比數(shù)字9和 一盤煎雞蛋的好處。
70.A comparison of the overall merits of two jobs is something we can make, and one we often do make.
對比兩份工作的總體優(yōu)勢 是我們能做到的， 也是我們經(jīng)常做的事。
71.I think the puzzle arises because of an unreflective assumption we make about value.
我認(rèn)為疑惑產(chǎn)生的原因 源于一種我們對價值的 草率設(shè)想。
72.We unwittingly assume that values like justice, beauty, kindness, are akin to scientific quantities, like length, mass and weight.
我們不知不覺地認(rèn)為， 諸如正義、美麗、善良的價值觀 都與一些科學(xué)度量類似，都能被量度， 譬如長度、質(zhì)量、重量。
73.Take any comparative question not involving value, such as which of two suitcases is heavier.
試想一個與價值觀毫不相關(guān)的比較， 例如兩個行李箱中哪個更重。
74.There are only three possibilities.
僅有三種可能性。
75.The weight of one is greater, lesser or equal to the weight of the other.
其中一個的重量大于、小于 或等于另一個。
76.Properties like weight can be represented by real numbers -- one, two, three and so on -- and there are only three possible comparisons
像重量這樣的性質(zhì)能夠 用真實的數(shù)字來表達(dá)——1,2,3…… 而且在兩個數(shù)字間的比較中
77.between any two real numbers.
只有三種可能。
78.One number is greater, lesser, or equal to the other.
一個數(shù)字大于、小于 或等于另一個數(shù)字。
79.Not so with values.
價值觀卻不是如此。
80.As post-Enlightenment creatures, we tend to assume that scientific thinking holds the key to everything of importance in our world,
作為后啟蒙時期的生物， 我們總是設(shè)想 科學(xué)思維可以解決 世界上一切重要的問題，
81.but the world of value is different from the world of science.
但價值觀的世界 不同于科學(xué)的世界。
82.The stuff of the one world can be quantified by real numbers.
科學(xué)界中， 一切事物可被數(shù)字度量。
83.The stuff of the other world can't.
可價值觀的世界中卻不能。
84.We shouldn't assume that the world of is, of lengths and weights, has the same structure as the world of ought, of what we should do.
我們不能認(rèn)為 充斥著“是否”、“長度”和“重量”的數(shù)字世界 與“該不該”和“該做什么”的價值世界 有著同樣的架構(gòu)。
85.So if what matters to us -- a child's delight, the love you have for your partner — can't be represented by real numbers, then there's no reason to believe
所以，如果我們覺得重要的東西， 如：孩子的幸福、對另一半的愛， 不能用數(shù)字來表示， 那么我們就沒有理由相信，
86.that in choice, there are only three possibilities -- that one alternative is better, worse or equal to the other.
在抉擇過程中只有三種可能性： 其中一選項總會優(yōu)于、劣于或等于 另一項。
87.We need to introduce a new, fourth relation beyond being better, worse or equal, that describes what's going on in hard choices.
我們需要一種全新的思考維度，第四種關(guān)系 除了優(yōu)于、劣于和等于之外， 第四種關(guān)系能描述艱難抉擇的運行模式。
88.I like to say that the alternatives are on a par.
我偏好把各選項看做 “等價”。
89.When alternatives are on a par, it may matter very much which you choose, but one alternative isn't better than the other.
當(dāng)所有選項等價時， 你的選擇就變得極為重要， 但選項本身卻沒有哪個比其他的好。
90.Rather, the alternatives are in the same neighborhood of value, in the same league of value, while at the same time being very different
反之，所有的選擇項 都有類似的價值， 都處于同一種價值范疇當(dāng)中， 但同時他們又具有
91.in kind of value.
不同的價值。
92.That's why the choice is hard.
這正是讓選擇變得困難的原因。
93.Understanding hard choices in this way uncovers something about ourselves we didn't know.
如此理解艱難抉擇， 我們就會在自己身上發(fā)現(xiàn)一些意料之外的東西。
94.Each of us has the power to create reasons.
我們每個人都有能力 去創(chuàng)造理由。
95.Imagine a world in which every choice you face is an easy choice, that is, there's always a best alternative.
想象一下若在某個世界中 你只需面對簡單抉擇， 那么，永遠(yuǎn)都有最佳項。
96.If there's a best alternative, then that's the one you should choose, because part of being rational is doing the better thing rather than the worse thing,
若有最佳項， 你就應(yīng)該選它， 因為保持理智 就意味著選好的不選壞的，
97.choosing what you have most reason to choose.
選最合理的。
98.In such a world, we'd have most reason to wear black socks instead of pink socks, to eat cereal instead of donuts, to live in the city rather than the country,
在這樣的世界里， 我們有充足的理由 去穿黑襪子而不穿粉色襪子， 去吃干麥片不吃甜甜圈， 去留在城市里不轉(zhuǎn)向鄉(xiāng)區(qū)，
99.to marry Betty instead of Lolita.
去娶Betty而不娶Lolita。
100.A world full of only easy choices would enslave us to reasons.
充滿簡單抉擇的世界， 會讓我們成為“原由”的奴隸。
101.When you think about it, it's nuts to believe that the reasons given to you dictated that you had most reason to pursue the exact hobbies you do,
當(dāng)你這樣想， 你會發(fā)現(xiàn)自己一定是瘋了才會相信 擺在你面前的選擇 會決定你追尋各種事物的理由， 會決定你的愛好，
102.to live in the exact house you do, to work at the exact job you do.
讓你住現(xiàn)在的房子， 讓你選現(xiàn)在的工作。
103.Instead, you faced alternatives that were on a par — hard choices — and you made reasons for yourself to choose that hobby, that house and that job.
事實上，當(dāng)你面對的是多個選擇， 多個等價的選擇，困難的選擇， 你會為自己制造理由 來選擇這項愛好、這所房子和這份工作。
104.When alternatives are on a par, the reasons given to us, the ones that determine whether we're making a mistake, are silent as to what to do.
當(dāng)各選項等價時， 我們面前的各種理性原由， 這些讓我們分清對錯的原由， 都無法給予我們一個答案。
105.It's here, in the space of hard choices, that we get to exercise our normative power, the power to create reasons for yourself, to make yourself
唯有在這個有艱難抉擇的世界里， 我們才能鍛煉自己的 規(guī)范性力量， 以創(chuàng)造自我的原由， 讓自己變成
106.into the kind of person for whom country living is preferable to the urban life.
心中想成為的人， 一種更喜愛鄉(xiāng)村生活 而不是城市生活的人。
107.When we choose between options that are on a par, we can do something really rather remarkable.
當(dāng)我們需要 在等價選項間抉擇時， 我們能做出一些十分了不起的事。
108.We can put our very selves behind an option.
我們能把自身放在一個選項之后。
109.Here's where I stand.
(說道)這就是我的選擇，
110.Here's who I am. I am for banking.
這就是我。我選銀行業(yè)。
111.I am for chocolate donuts.
我選巧克力甜甜圈。
112.This response in hard choices is a rational response, but it's not dictated by reasons given to us.
在艱難抉擇中，這種反應(yīng) 是一種理性反應(yīng)， 但卻不是由我們面前的各種原由所決定的。
113.Rather, it's supported by reasons created by us.
反而，這是由我們自己創(chuàng)造的理由所支撐起來的。
114.When we create reasons for ourselves to become this kind of person rather than that, we wholeheartedly become the people that we are.
當(dāng)我們?yōu)樽晕覄?chuàng)造原由 去成為這種人而非那種人時， 我們就打心底里完完全全地成就了真正的自己。
115.You might say that we become the authors of our own lives.
你可以說， 我們成了譜寫自我人生篇章的作者。
116.So when we face hard choices, we shouldn't beat our head against a wall trying to figure out which alternative is better.
所以當(dāng)面對艱難抉擇， 不應(yīng)該拿腦袋撞墻 絞盡腦汁地去想哪個選項更優(yōu)。
117.There is no best alternative.
最佳項并不存在。
118.Instead of looking for reasons out there, we should be looking for reasons in here: Who am I to be?
與其在外界苦命尋找理由， 我們該往心里找： 我想成為什么樣的人?
119.You might decide to be a pink sock-wearing, cereal-loving, country-living banker, and I might decide to be a black sock-wearing, urban, donut-loving artist.
你可能會決定成為一個穿粉色襪子、 愛好干麥片，還住在鄉(xiāng)村的銀行家。 而我可能會決定成為一個穿黑襪子， 住在城市里，喜歡吃甜甜圈的藝術(shù)家。
120.What we do in hard choices is very much up to each of us.
面臨艱難抉擇時的反應(yīng)很大程度上 取決于我們自己每個人。
121.Now, people who don't exercise their normative powers in hard choices are drifters.
那些不鍛煉自己規(guī)范性力量的人 會成為“漂流者”。
122.We all know people like that.
我們都認(rèn)識那樣的人。
123.I drifted into being a lawyer.
我(被理性原由限定)“漂流”成了律師。
124.I didn't put my agency behind lawyering.
我并沒有全身心投入到律師業(yè)務(wù)當(dāng)中。
125.I wasn't for lawyering.
我不適合當(dāng)律師。
126.Drifters allow the world to write the story of their lives.
漂流者允許這個世界 譜寫他們的生命篇章(被拖著走)。
127.They let mechanisms of reward and punishment -- pats on the head, fear, the easiness of an option — to determine what they do.
他們讓獎罰機制—— 鼓勵、畏懼、選擇的簡單性—— 來決定自己的道路。
128.So the lesson of hard choices: reflect on what you can put your agency behind, on what you can be for, and through hard choices, become that person.
所以艱難抉擇教會我們 要審視自己能把身心與精力放到何處， 自己究竟追求什么， 并通過困難抉擇 來成為那種人。
129.Far from being sources of agony and dread, hard choices are precious opportunities for us to celebrate what is special about the human condition,
艱難抉擇不是痛苦和恐懼的來源， 而是難得的機遇 讓我們慶幸人類有如此 特殊的選擇權(quán)利，
130.that the reasons that govern our choices as correct or incorrect sometimes run out, and it is here, in the space of hard choices, that we have the power
慶幸有時候區(qū)分選擇 正誤的理性原由 會用盡， 而且，慶幸有在這個具有艱難抉擇的世界里， 我們有能力
131.to create reasons for ourselves to become the distinctive people that we are.
去為自己創(chuàng)造理由， 去成為與眾不同的自己。
132.And that's why hard choices are not a curse but a godsend.
這就是為什么，艱難抉擇不是一種詛咒， 而是天賜之物。
133.Thank you.
謝謝.
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