For me, it's pretty easy.

對我來說，要舉例很簡單。

Uh... my mom used to consider Chanukah like a belated back-to-school holiday.

嗯……我媽曾認為光明節就像一個遲來的開學日。

We would get binders, pens, staplers.

我們會收到活頁夾、筆以及釘書機。

Once my mom wrapped this huge mystery present for my sister that she thought was a dollhouse.

有一次我媽包了一個神祕大禮給我妹妹，我妹妹還以為是娃娃屋。

It wasn't a dollhouse.

但那不是娃娃屋。

Uh...was a trash can.

呃……是一個垃圾桶。

Most of us are actually terrible at giving gifts.

大部分的人都很不會送禮物。

About $70 billion dollars worth of presents are returned every year in the U.S.

在美國，每年有價值大約 700 億美元的禮物被退回。

So how do we get... less terrible?

所以我們要怎麼送禮才不會這麼糟呢？

Here are three ways to improve your gift-giving game around the holidays.

以下有三種方式讓你可以增進送對禮物的能力。

One. Stop trying to make your gift so dame delightful.

一、不要把禮物包裝得那麼精緻。

Research has shown that givers are obsessed with the moment of unwrapping a gift even more than the gift itself.

研究顯示，比起禮物本身，送禮者更著迷於禮物被拆開的瞬間。

We envision the look of delirious happiness on their faces and the ecstatic exclamations.

我們會想像收禮者極度興奮喜悅的臉和他們欣喜若狂的驚呼。

Like, " Wow!"

像：「哇嗚！」

"Oh my gosh!"

「我的天啊！」

"You really know me!"

「你真的很懂我誒！」

Ironically, givers are selfish.

諷刺的是，送禮者都是自私的。

We want something from giving, those looks of delight, those exclamations.

我們想要從給禮物中獲得一些什麼，像是那些喜悅的神情或是驚呼讚嘆。

This is why items like hyper-specific kitchen gadgets and fancy vintage clocks all seem like fantastic gifts.

這就是為什麼超級特別的廚房小工具，或是華麗的古董鐘看起來都是很棒的禮物。

But it turns out, recipients often want things that are far more practical, things they can actually use.

但事實證明，收禮者想要更加實際的東西，那些他們真正用得到的東西。

In one study, researchers asked givers and recipients to rate gifts along two metrics.

一個研究中，研究人員要送禮者及收禮者以兩項指標來評選禮物。

Desirability, like a complicated but fancy coffee maker; and feasibility, like a coffee maker you can actually use without studying the instructions for several hours.

渴望程度，例如一台華麗但是操作很複雜的咖啡機；和實用程度，例如一台你可以不需要花好幾小時看說明就會使用的咖啡機。

They found that givers reliably chose desirable gifts, but recipients just preferred feasibility.

他們發現送禮者不意外地選擇了渴望程度較高的禮物，但收禮者則是傾向於實用性高的禮物。

So what's the most practical gift you can give that people might actually be grateful for?

那麼，什麼禮物是最實用並且別人收到會真的感激你的呢？

Two. When in doubt, give cash.

二、不確定的話，那就送現金。

When economists study gift giving, they're very concerned with one thing: waste.

當經濟學家研究送禮行為時，最關注的一件事就是：浪費。

Let's say "hypothetically" that my grandmother buys me a sweater that I hate, and your grandmother buys you a sweater that you hate.

讓我們來「假設」一下，我的奶奶給我買了件我不喜歡的毛衣，而你的奶奶也給你買了件你不喜歡的毛衣。

Sorry, grandmothers!

抱歉啦，奶奶們！

Before long, we're talking about billions of dollars of waste in the economy.

接著，我們在這裡要討論的就是經濟裡數十億美元的浪費。

Economists call it "deadweight loss" and they estimate that up to 30% of the value of all gifts is wasted.

經濟學家稱之為「無謂損失」，而他們估算禮物中，有高達 30% 的價值被浪費了。

That means the company wasted time making the gifts.

這意味著公司浪費時間製作禮物 。

It means the giver wasted the time picking it up.

送禮者浪費時間挑選禮物。

And it means the recipients wasted time returning it.

而收禮者也浪費時間退還禮物。

There's a way to fix this.

有個方法可以解決這個問題。

There is a very specific gift that is always worth the exact same to both the giver and the receiver.

有一個非常具體的禮物，無論對送禮者和收禮者來說，價值都是一樣的。

It's called cash.

那就是現金。

The good thing about cash is that the receiver can always make use of 100% of its value.

現金的好處就是收禮者能夠百分之百的利用其價值。

The bad thing about cold, hard cash is that... it's cold.

現金的壞處就是，它很冷冰冰。

It doesn't say anything except, "Here, take some money."

它除了表示：「來，給你一些錢！」外就什麼都沒有了。

So this is a conundrum.

所以，這是一個難題。

How do we design a gift-giving formula that is as efficient as cash and as sentimental as you want to be?

我們要如何設計出一個送禮公式，既可以像現金一樣有用，又能夠傳達你的情感呢？

Three. Just give people what they ask for.

三、就送他們說想要的禮物。

A good way to get what you want is—shocker, to tell people what you want.

得到想要東西的好方法就是……登愣 ！告訴別人你想要什麼。

A 2011 study looked at Amazon wish lists to determine if people were more appreciative of gifts that were on that wish list versus gifts that were total surprises.

2011 年，一份報告調查了亞馬遜的願望清單，用來研究人們是否更喜歡收到清單上的禮物，而不是出乎意料的禮物。

It turned out that when people got gifts that weren't on their list, they consider them less thoughtful and less personal.

結果發現，人們收到非心願清單上的禮物時，他們會認為送禮的人不夠體貼，也不夠瞭解對方。

Surprise is overrated; we're happier to get what we ask for.

驚喜被捧過頭了。我們更想要得到我們想要的東西。

We do everything we can to keep gifts top secret.

我們想盡辦法把禮物當成最高機密。

We wrap them so they don't look like they came from a store, we tear the price tags off.

我們包裝禮物，這樣它們看起來就不像從店裡買來的、我們會把價格標籤撕掉。

But we are spending money here.

但我們在這上面花錢。

If you want to make your gift count, stop obsessing about the moment of unwrapping and surprise.

如果想讓禮物變得有價值，不要再執迷於拆開禮物的瞬間以及驚喜。

Find out what the people that you love want and get it for them.

找出你愛的人想要什麼，然後送給他們。

This is "You Are Here," a show about the science of everyday life.

這裡是 You Are Here ，一檔關於日常科學的節目。

I'm Derek Thompson. Thank you for watching.

我是 Derek Thompson ，感謝您的收看。