Name: 【TED】Renata Salecl: 我們對選擇的固執 (Renata Salecl: Our unhealthy obsession with choice)
Uploaded: 2014-10-12T06:54:12.000Z
Duration: 15 min 3 s
Description: 現代人每天都面臨著排山倒海而來的選擇，漸漸的練就出迅速分析利弊得失、抓住每一個機會的本領；但當結果不如預期時，我們也更患得患失。其實選擇一定會帶來改變，端看我們用什麼樣的態度應變、面對。 1. instead of 代替 2. to the point of 到…的程度 3. reflect on 深思、考慮 4. sort...

When I was preparing for this talk, I went to search for a couple of quotes that I can share with you.

我在準備今天演講的時候 去找了有沒有適合分享的名言佳句

情態副詞

Good news, I found three that I particularly liked.

好消息是: 我找到了3個特別喜歡的

“When making your choice in life, do not forget to live.”

「我們不停在生活中做出選擇，但不要忘了把握當下」

The second by Aeschylus, who reminded us that,

第二個是埃斯庫羅斯(註: 希臘詩人及悲劇作家) 他提醒了我們

“Happiness is a choice that requires effort.”

「快樂是自己的選擇，加上額外的努力」

And the third is one by Groucho Marx who said,

第三個是格魯喬˙馬克思(註: 美國喜劇演員、電影明星)說的

“I wouldn’t want to choose to belong to any club that would have me as a member.”

「我不想選擇任何一個俱樂部，將自己侷限於他們的會員身分」

Now, bad news, I didn’t know which one of these quotes to choose and share with you.

壞消息是: 我現在不知道該選哪個來分享了

In today’s times of post-industrial capitalism,

在今天這個後工業資本主義的時代

choice, together with individual freedom and the idea of self-making,

人們對與選擇掛勾的個人自由及自我塑造理念

Now, together with this, we also have a belief in endless progress.

But the underside of this ideology has been an increase of anxiety,

這種意識形態的缺點是它讓人們感到焦慮

feeling of guilt, feeling of being inadequate,

感到罪惡、覺得自己有太多不足

feeling that we are failing in our choices.

Sadly, this ideology of individual choice has prevented us to think about social changes.

遺憾的是 這種個人選擇的意識形態更讓我們忽視了社會變遷

It appears that this ideology was actually very efficient in pacifying us as political and social thinkers.

不過這種思想對於政治家或社會思想家卻有安撫的作用

Instead of making social critique, we are more and more engaging in self-critique,

相較於批判社會 我們更常批評指教自己

sometimes to the point of self-destruction.

有時候甚至到了自我毀滅的程度

Now, how come that ideology of choice is still so powerful,

那為什麼這種意識形態依然如此盛行呢?

even among people who have not many things to choose among?

也仍然影響著沒有太多選擇的人?

How come that even people who are poor very much still identify with the idea of choice, the kind of rational idea of choice which we embrace?

為什麼貧窮的人 也認同我們接受的「理性選擇」概念呢?

Now, the ideology of choice is very successful in sort of opening for us

a space to think about some imagined future.

My friend Manya, when she was a student at university in California,

我朋友曼雅 當她還在加州讀大學時

was earning money by working for a car dealer.

Now, Manya, when she encountered the typical customer,

would debate with him about his life style, how much he wants to spend,

她會問客戶的生活型態、預算、

how many children he has, what does he need the car for?

They would usually come to a good conclusion what would be a perfect car.

Now, before Manya’s customer would go home and think things through,

“The car that you are buying now is perfect,

but in the few year’s time, when your kids will be already out of the house,

when you will have a little bit more money,

但原本的最符合你現在所有需要」

Now, the majority of Manya’s customers who came back the next day bought that other car,

大部分客戶都會隔天回來買下那另一台車

the car they did not need, the car that cost far too much money.

那台他們現在不需要、也更貴的車

Now, Manya became so successful in selling cars that soon she moved on to selling airplanes.

曼雅越賣越成功 她很快就改行去賣飛機了

And knowing so much about the psychology of people

prepared her well for her current job, which is that of a psychoanalyst.

讓她對現在的職業－心理分析師 更加得心應手

Now, why were Manya’s customers so irrational?

Manya’s success was that she was able to open in their heads an image of an idealized future,

曼雅的成功秘訣就在於她為客戶編織了一個未來的美夢

an image of themselves when they are already more successful, freer.

自己變得更成功、更自由自在的美夢

And for them, choose that other car was as if they are coming closer to this ideal

對買主來說 選擇那另一台車 就表示離美夢又更近了點

in which it was as if Manya already saw them.

離那個好像一定會實現的夢更近了點

Now, we rarely make really totally rational choices.

我們很少做出百分之百理性的選擇

Choices are influenced by our unconscious, by our community.

選擇會受到潛意識、所處的社會環境影響

We’re often choosing by guessing, what would other people think about our choice?

通常也都包含極多臆測成分－要是我選了這個 別人會怎麼想?

Also we are choosing by looking at what others are choosing.

We’re also guessing what is socially acceptable choice.

Now, because of this, we actually even after we have already chosen, like bought a car,

正因為如此 我們才會在做出選擇後－比方說 已經買了車

卻還一直在瀏覽各廠牌車子的評價

as if we still want to convince ourselves that we made the right choice.

Now, because of this, people have now more and more problems that they are not choosing anything.

太多選擇反而帶來困擾 所以有些人開始一樣都不選

Not long ago, I was at a wedding reception.

And I met a young, beautiful woman who immediately started telling me about her anxiety over choice.

遇到一位年輕貌美的女士 她馬上開始向我抱怨她對於選擇的煩惱

She said to me, “I needed one month to decide which dress to wear.”

她說: 「我需要一個月來決定到底穿哪件洋裝;

Then she said, “For weeks I was researching which hotel to stay for this one night.

新婚之夜住的旅館 我也找了好幾個禮拜;

And now, I need to choose a sperm donor.”

然後我現在又需要一個精子捐贈者」

「精子捐贈者?! 會不會太早了?」

She said, “I’m turning 40 at the end of this year,

and I’ve been so bad in choosing men in my life.”

Now choice, because it’s linked to risks, is anxiety-provoking.

因為選擇挾帶了風險 所以我們會擔心、會害怕

And it was already the famous Danish philosopher Søren Kierkegaard

丹麥哲學家索倫˙奧貝˙齊克果也早就說過

who pointed out that anxiety is linked to the possibility of possibility.

這種恐慌感和極度的不確定性息息相關

Now, we think today that we can prevent these risks.

我們認為在這個時代 風險已經可以避免

Even with market, which is about chance, randomness, we think we can predict rationally where it’s going.

即使是市場這種充滿機率、變動的東西 我們也還是覺得可以準確預測它的走向

Now, chance is actually becoming very traumatic.

事實上 「機率」可能導致嚴重的後果

Last year, my friend Bernard Harcourt at the University of Chicago organized an event,

去年我朋友柏納˙哈克在芝加哥大學籌畫了一個活動

是一場探討「偶然與機會」的座談

He and I were together on the panel, and just before delivering our papers,

we didn’t know each other’s papers, we decided to take chance seriously.

兩人都不知道對方稿子的內容 但我們決定冒個險

So we informed our audience that what they will just now hear will be a random paper,

我們跟底下的人說 他們將會聽到兩份內容參雜在一起、

a mixture of the two papers, which we didn’t know what you know, each was writing.

Now, we delivered the conference in such a way.

Bernard read his second paragraph, I read my second paragraph,

伯納念他的第二段 然後我念我的第二段

in this way towards the end of our papers.

Now, you will be surprised that a majority of our audience

did not think that what they’d just listened was a complete random paper.

They couldn’t believe that speaking from the position of authority

他們無法相信具有專業、權威的

like two professors we were, we would take you know, chance seriously.

兩個教授居然會把演講稿混著用

They thought we prepared the paper together

聽眾以為我們一起準備了演講稿

Now, we live in times with a lot of information, big data,

這是個資訊、數據、關於人體臟器知識

a lot of knowledge about the insides of our body.

We know about our brains more than before.

對腦內運作達到前所未有的了解

字幕列表影片播放

【TED】Renata Salecl: 我們對選擇的固執 (Renata Salecl: Our unhealthy obsession with choice)

anxiety

individual

people

crisis