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仅做 整合 / 美化 处理
Think of a hard choice you'll face in the near future.
[AI] 想想你在不久的将来将面临的艰难选择。
It might be between two careers --
[AI] 可能在两个职业之间--
artist and accountant --
[AI] 艺术家和会计师--
or places to live -- the city or the country --
[AI] 或者居住的地方——城市还是乡村--
or even between two people to marry --
[AI] 甚至是两个人之间的婚姻--
you could marry Betty or you could marry Lolita.
[AI] 你可以嫁给贝蒂，也可以嫁给洛丽塔。
Or it might be a choice about whether to have children.
[AI] 或者这可能是一个关于是否要孩子的选择。
to have an ailing parent move in with you.
[AI] 让生病的父母搬来和你住。
to raise your child in a religion that your partner lives by
[AI] 在你的伴侣信奉的宗教中抚养你的孩子
but leaves you cold.
[AI] 但是让你觉得冷。
Or whether to donate your life savings to charity.
[AI] 或者是否将毕生积蓄捐给慈善机构。
Chances are. the hard choice you thought of was something big.
[AI] 可能性很大。你想到的艰难选择是一件大事。
something momentous. something that matters to you.
[AI] 重大的事情。对你很重要的事情。
Hard choices seem to be occasions
[AI] 艰难的选择似乎是不可能的
for agonizing. hand-wringing. the gnashing of teeth.
[AI] 因为痛苦。绞手。咬牙切齿。
But I think we've misunderstood hard choices
[AI] 但我认为我们误解了艰难的选择
and the role they play in our lives.
[AI] 以及他们在我们生活中扮演的角色。
Understanding hard choices
[AI] 理解艰难的选择
uncovers a hidden power each of us possesses.
[AI] 揭示了我们每个人都拥有的隐藏力量。
What makes a choice hard is the way the alternatives relate.
[AI] 使选择困难的是备选方案之间的关系。
In any easy choice.
[AI] 任何简单的选择。
one alternative is better than the other.
[AI] 一种选择比另一种好。
In a hard choice.
[AI] 在一个艰难的选择中。
one alternative is better in some ways.
[AI] 有一种选择在某些方面更好。
the other alternative is better in other ways.
[AI] 另一种选择在其他方面更好。
and neither is better than the other overall.
[AI] 两者都不比另一个好。
You agonize over whether to stay in your current job in the city
[AI] 你为是否继续在这个城市工作而苦恼
or uproot your life for more challenging work in the country.
[AI] 或者为了更具挑战性的工作而放弃你的生活。
because staying is better in some ways.
[AI] 因为在某些方面留下来更好。
moving is better in others.
[AI] 搬家对别人来说更好。
and neither is better than the other overall.
[AI] 两者都不比另一个好。
We shouldn't think that all hard choices are big.
[AI] 我们不应该认为所有艰难的选择都是巨大的。
Let's say you're deciding what to have for breakfast.
[AI] 假设你正在决定早餐吃什么。
You could have high fiber bran cereal
[AI] 你可以吃高纤维麦麸麦片
or a chocolate donut.
[AI] 或者巧克力甜甜圈。
Suppose what matters in the choice is tastiness and healthfulness.
[AI] 假设选择中最重要的是美味和健康。
The cereal is better for you.
[AI] 麦片对你更有益。
the donut tastes way better.
[AI] 这甜甜圈味道好多了。
but neither is better than the other overall.
[AI] 但总的来说，两者都不比另一个好。
a hard choice.
[AI] 一个艰难的选择。
Realizing that small choices can also be hard.
[AI] 认识到小的选择也可能是困难的。
may make big hard choices seem less intractable.
[AI] 可能会使重大的艰难选择看起来不那么棘手。
After all. we manage to figure out what to have for breakfast.
[AI] 毕竟我们设法弄清楚早餐吃什么。
so maybe we can figure out whether to stay in the city
[AI] 也许我们可以决定是否留在城里
or uproot for the new job in the country.
[AI] 或者为了在这个国家找到新工作而被连根拔起。
We also shouldn't think that hard choices are hard
[AI] 我们也不应该认为艰难的选择是艰难的
because we are stupid.
[AI] 因为我们很愚蠢。
When I graduated from college.
[AI] 当我大学毕业的时候。
I couldn't decide between two careers. philosophy and law.
[AI] 我无法在两种职业之间做出选择。哲学和法律。
I really loved philosophy.
[AI] 我真的很喜欢哲学。
There are amazing things you can learn as a philosopher.
[AI] 作为一个哲学家，你可以学到很多奇妙的东西。
and all from the comfort of an armchair.
[AI] 所有这些都来自于一张舒适的扶手椅。
But I came from a modest immigrant family
[AI] 但我来自一个普通的移民家庭
where my idea of luxury
[AI] 我对奢侈品的想法在哪里
was having a pork tongue and jelly sandwich
[AI] 吃的是猪舌和果冻三明治
in my school lunchbox.
[AI] 在我学校的午餐盒里。
so the thought of spending my whole life
[AI] 所以一想到要度过我的一生
sitting around in armchairs just thinking ...
[AI] 坐在扶手椅上思考。。。
Well. that struck me as the height of extravagance and frivolity.
[AI] 好这给我的印象是极度奢侈和轻浮。
So I got out my yellow pad.
[AI] 所以我拿出我的黄色便笺簿。
I drew a line down the middle.
[AI] 我在中间画了一条线。
and I tried my best to think of the reasons
[AI] 我尽我最大的努力去想原因
for and against each alternative.
[AI] 赞成和反对每一种选择。
I remember thinking to myself.
[AI] 我记得自己在想。
if only I knew what my life in each career would be like.
[AI] 如果我知道我在每一个职业生涯中的生活会是什么样子就好了。
If only God or Netflix would send me a DVD of my two possible future careers.
[AI] 要是上帝或Netflix能寄给我一张关于我未来两种可能职业的DVD就好了。
I'd be set.
[AI] 我会准备好的。
I'd compare them side by side.
[AI] 我会把它们并排比较。
I'd see that one was better.
[AI] 我会看到那个更好。
and the choice would be easy.
[AI] 选择也很容易。
But I got no DVD.
[AI] 但是我没有DVD。
and because I couldn't figure out which was better.
[AI] 因为我不知道哪个更好。
I did what many of us do in hard choices:
[AI] 我做了我们许多人在艰难抉择中所做的事情：
I took the safest option.
[AI] 我选择了最安全的选择。
Fear of being an unemployed philosopher led me to become a lawyer.
[AI] 由于害怕成为一名失业的哲学家，我成为了一名律师。
and as I discovered. lawyering didn't quite fit.
[AI] 我发现。律师工作不太合适。
It wasn't who I was.
[AI] 那不是我是谁。
So now I'm a philosopher.
[AI] 所以我现在是个哲学家。
and I study hard choices.
[AI] 我学习艰难的选择。
and I can tell you. that fear of the unknown.
[AI] 我可以告诉你。对未知的恐惧。
while a common motivational default in dealing with hard choices.
[AI] 而在处理艰难选择时，一个常见的动机缺陷。
rests on a misconception of them.
[AI] 基于对它们的误解。
It's a mistake to think that in hard choices.
[AI] 在艰难的选择中这样想是错误的。
one alternative really is better than the other.
[AI] 一种选择确实比另一种好。
but we're too stupid to know which.
[AI] 但我们太蠢了，不知道是哪个。
and since we don't know which.
[AI] 因为我们不知道是哪个。
we might as well take the least risky option.
[AI] 我们不妨选择风险最小的方案。
Even taking two alternatives side by side
[AI] 即使两个选择并排出现
with full information. a choice can still be hard.
[AI] 有完整的信息。选择仍然很难。
Hard choices are hard not because of us or our ignorance;
[AI] 艰难的选择不是因为我们或我们的无知；
they're hard because there is no best option.
[AI] 他们很难，因为没有最好的选择。
Now. if there's no best option.
[AI] 现在如果没有最好的选择。
if the scales don't tip in favor of one alternative over another.
[AI] 如果天平不倾斜，偏向于一种选择而不是另一种。
then surely the alternatives must be equally good.
[AI] 那么，替代方案肯定也同样好。
So maybe the right thing to say in hard choices
[AI] 所以，在艰难的选择中，也许说对了
is that they're between equally good options.
[AI] 就是他们在两个同样好的选择之间。
But that can't be right.
[AI] 但那不可能是对的。
If alternatives are equally good. you should just flip a coin between them.
[AI] 如果替代品同样好。你应该在他们之间掷硬币。
and it seems a mistake to think.
[AI] 这似乎是一个错误的想法。
here's how you should decide between careers.
[AI] 以下是你应该如何选择职业。
places to live. people to marry:
[AI] 居住的地方。结婚的人：
Flip a coin.
[AI] 掷硬币。
There's another reason for thinking
[AI] 还有另一个思考的理由
that hard choices aren't choices between equally good options.
[AI] 艰难的选择不是在同样好的选择之间做出的选择。
Suppose you have a choice between two jobs:
[AI] 假设您可以在两种工作之间进行选择：
you could be an investment banker
[AI] 你可以成为一名投资银行家
or a graphic artist.
[AI] 或者一个平面艺术家。
There are a variety of things that matter in such a choice.
[AI] 在这样的选择中，有很多重要的事情。
like the excitement of the work.
[AI] 喜欢工作的刺激。
achieving financial security.
[AI] 实现财政安全。
having time to raise a family. and so on.
[AI] 有时间养家糊口。等等
Maybe the artist's career puts you on the cutting edge
[AI] 也许艺术家的职业生涯让你走到了最前沿
of new forms of pictorial expression.
[AI] 新的图形表达形式。
Maybe the banking career puts you on the cutting edge
[AI] 也许银行业会让你走在最前沿
of new forms of financial manipulation. (Laughter)
[AI] 新形式的金融操纵。（众笑）
Imagine the two jobs however you like.
[AI] 想象一下这两份工作是你喜欢的。
so that neither is better than the other.
[AI] 所以两者都不比另一个好。
Now suppose we improve one of them. a bit.
[AI] 现在假设我们改进其中一个。一点。
Suppose the bank. wooing you.
[AI] 假设银行。向你求爱。
adds 500 dollars a month to your salary.
[AI] 每月给你的薪水增加500美元。
Does the extra money
[AI] 额外的钱呢
now make the banking job better than the artist one?
[AI] 现在让银行的工作比艺术家的工作更好？
Not necessarily.
[AI] 不一定。
A higher salary makes the banking job better than it was before.
[AI] 高薪使银行业的工作比以前更好了。
but it might not be enough
[AI] 但这可能还不够
to make being a banker better than being an artist.
[AI] 让银行家比艺术家更好。
But if an improvement in one of the jobs doesn't make it better than the other.
[AI] 但是如果其中一项工作的改进并不能使它比另一项工作更好。
then the two original jobs could not have been equally good.
[AI] 那两份原本的工作就不可能同样好了。
If you start with two things that are equally good.
[AI] 如果你从两件同样好的事情开始。
and you improve one of them.
[AI] 你可以改进其中一个。
it now must be better than the other.
[AI] 现在它一定比另一个好。
That's not the case with options in hard choices.
[AI] 艰难选择中的选择并非如此。
So now we've got a puzzle.
[AI] 现在我们有一个难题。
We've got two jobs.
[AI] 我们有两份工作。
Neither is better than the other. nor are they equally good.
[AI] 两个都不比另一个好。它们也不是同样好。
So how are we supposed to choose?
[AI] 那么我们应该如何选择呢？
Something seems to have gone wrong here.
[AI] 这里好像出了点问题。
Maybe the choice itself is problematic. and comparison is impossible.
[AI] 也许选择本身就有问题。而比较是不可能的。
But that can't be right.
[AI] 但那不可能是对的。
It's not like we're trying to choose between two things that can't be compared.
[AI] 我们并不是在两件无法比较的事情之间做出选择。
We're weighing the merits of two jobs. after all.
[AI] 我们正在权衡两份工作的优点。毕竟
not the merits of the number nine and a plate of fried eggs.
[AI] 不是九号和一盘煎蛋的优点。
A comparison of the overall merits of two jobs
[AI] 两种工作的总体优点比较
is something we can make.
[AI] 这是我们能做的。
and one we often do make.
[AI] 而且是我们经常做的。
I think the puzzle arises
[AI] 我认为谜团出现了
because of an unreflective assumption we make about value.
[AI] 因为我们对价值的假设是不可反思的。
We unwittingly assume that values like justice. beauty. kindness.
[AI] 我们不知不觉地认为，价值观就像正义一样。美女仁慈
are akin to scientific quantities. like length. mass and weight.
[AI] 与科学量相似。比如长度。质量和重量。
Take any comparative question not involving value.
[AI] 考虑任何不涉及价值的比较问题。
such as which of two suitcases is heavier.
[AI] 例如，两个行李箱中哪一个更重。
There are only three possibilities.
[AI] 只有三种可能性。
The weight of one is greater. lesser or equal to the weight of the other.
[AI] 一个人的重量更大。小于或等于另一个的重量。
Properties like weight can be represented by real numbers --
[AI] 像权重这样的属性可以用实数表示--
one. two. three and so on --
[AI] 一二三个等等--
and there are only three possible comparisons between any two real numbers.
[AI] 任何两个实数之间只有三种可能的比较。
One number is greater. lesser. or equal to the other.
[AI] 一个数字更大。较小的或者等于另一个。
Not so with values.
[AI] 价值观则不然。
As post-Enlightenment creatures.
[AI] 作为后启蒙时代的生物。
we tend to assume
[AI] 我们倾向于假设
that scientific thinking holds the key to everything of importance in our world.
[AI] 科学思想掌握着世界上一切重要事物的关键。
but the world of value is different from the world of science.
[AI] 但价值世界与科学世界不同。
The stuff of the one world can be quantified by real numbers.
[AI] 一个世界的东西可以用实数来量化。
The stuff of the other world can't.
[AI] 其他世界的东西不能。
We shouldn't assume that the world of is. of lengths and weights.
[AI] 我们不应该假设世界是这样的。长度和重量。
has the same structure as the world of ought.
[AI] 具有与应然世界相同的结构。
of what we should do.
[AI] 我们应该做什么。
So if what matters to us --
[AI] 那么，如果什么对我们重要--
a child's delight. the love you have for your partner —
[AI] 孩子的快乐。你对伴侣的爱-
can't be represented by real numbers.
[AI] 不能用实数来表示。
then there's no reason to believe
[AI] 那就没有理由相信了
that in choice. there are only three possibilities --
[AI] 这是我的选择。只有三种可能性--
that one alternative is better. worse or equal to the other.
[AI] 那一种选择更好。比另一个差或相等。
We need to introduce a new. fourth relation
[AI] 我们需要引进一种新的方法。第四关系
beyond being better. worse or equal.
[AI] 除了变得更好。更差或相等。
that describes what's going on in hard choices.
[AI] 这描述了在艰难的选择中发生的事情。
I like to say that the alternatives are "on a par."
[AI] 我喜欢说替代方案是“同等的”。
When alternatives are on a par.
[AI] 当替代品是同等的。
it may matter very much which you choose.
[AI] 你选择哪一个可能很重要。
but one alternative isn't better than the other.
[AI] 但一种选择并不比另一种好。
Rather. the alternatives are in the same neighborhood of value.
[AI] 相当地备选方案在相同的价值邻域内。
in the same league of value.
[AI] 在同一价值联盟中。
while at the same time being very different in kind of value.
[AI] 同时在价值上也有很大的不同。
That's why the choice is hard.
[AI] 这就是为什么选择很难。
Understanding hard choices in this way
[AI] 以这种方式理解艰难的选择
uncovers something about ourselves we didn't know.
[AI] 揭露了一些我们不知道的事情。
Each of us has the power to create reasons.
[AI] 我们每个人都有创造理由的能力。
Imagine a world in which every choice you face
[AI] 想象一个你所面临的每一个选择
is an easy choice.
[AI] 这是一个容易的选择。
that is. there's always a best alternative.
[AI] 就是。总有最好的选择。
If there's a best alternative. then that's the one you should choose.
[AI] 如果有最好的选择。那就是你应该选择的。
because part of being rational
[AI] 因为这是理性的一部分
is doing the better thing rather than the worse thing.
[AI] 是做更好的事，而不是做更坏的事。
choosing what you have most reason to choose.
[AI] 选择你最有理由选择的。
In such a world.
[AI] 在这样的世界里。
we'd have most reason
[AI] 我们有充分的理由
to wear black socks instead of pink socks.
[AI] 穿黑袜子而不是粉红袜子。
to eat cereal instead of donuts.
[AI] 吃谷类食品而不是甜甜圈。
to live in the city rather than the country.
[AI] 住在城市而不是乡下。
to marry Betty instead of Lolita.
[AI] 嫁给贝蒂而不是洛丽塔。
A world full of only easy choices would enslave us to reasons.
[AI] 一个只有简单选择的世界将使我们受制于理性。
When you think about it. (Laughter)
[AI] 当你想起来的时候。（众笑）
it's nuts to believe that the reasons given to you
[AI] 相信给你的理由是愚蠢的
dictated that you had most reason to pursue
[AI] 说明你有最充分的理由追求
the exact hobbies you do.
[AI] 就是你的爱好。
to live in the exact house you do.
[AI] 住在你所住的房子里。
to work at the exact job you do.
[AI] 去做你所做的工作。
Instead. you faced alternatives that were on a par --
[AI] 相反你面临着同等的选择--
hard choices --
[AI] 艰难的选择--
and you made reasons for yourself
[AI] 你为自己找了理由
to choose that hobby. that house and that job.
[AI] 选择那个爱好。那房子和那份工作。
When alternatives are on a par.
[AI] 当替代品是同等的。
the reasons given to us.
[AI] 给我们的理由。
the ones that determine whether we're making a mistake.
[AI] 那些决定我们是否犯了错误的人。
are silent as to what to do.
[AI] 他们对该做什么保持沉默。
It's here. in the space of hard choices.
[AI] 在这儿。在艰难选择的空间里。
that we get to exercise our normative power --
[AI] 我们可以行使我们的规范权力--
the power to create reasons for yourself.
[AI] 为自己创造理由的能力。
to make yourself into the kind of person
[AI] 使自己成为那种人
for whom country living is preferable to the urban life.
[AI] 对他们来说，乡村生活比城市生活更美好。
When we choose between options that are on a par.
[AI] 当我们在标准的选项之间进行选择时。
we can do something really rather remarkable.
[AI] 我们可以做一些非常了不起的事情。
We can put our very selves behind an option.
[AI] 我们可以把自己放在一个选项后面。
Here's where I stand.
[AI] 这就是我的立场。
Here's who I am. I am for banking.
[AI] 这就是我。我支持银行业。
I am for chocolate donuts. (Laughter)
[AI] 我喜欢巧克力甜甜圈。（众笑）
This response in hard choices is a rational response.
[AI] 在艰难选择中的这种反应是一种理性的反应。
but it's not dictated by reasons given to us.
[AI] 但这并不是由给我们的理由决定的。
Rather. it's supported by reasons created by us.
[AI] 相当地这是由我们创造的理由支持的。
When we create reasons for ourselves
[AI] 当我们为自己创造理由时
to become this kind of person rather than that.
[AI] 成为这样的人而不是那样的人。
we wholeheartedly become the people that we are.
[AI] 我们全心全意地成为我们现在的样子。
You might say that we become the authors of our own lives.
[AI] 你可能会说，我们成为自己生活的作者。
So when we face hard choices. we shouldn't beat our head against a wall
[AI] 所以当我们面临艰难的选择时。我们不应该把头撞在墙上
trying to figure out which alternative is better.
[AI] 试图找出哪种选择更好。
There is no best alternative.
[AI] 没有最好的选择。
Instead of looking for reasons out there.
[AI] 而不是寻找原因。
we should be looking for reasons in here:
[AI] 我们应该在这里寻找原因：
Who am I to be?
[AI] 我是谁？
You might decide to be a pink sock-wearing.
[AI] 你可能会决定穿粉红色的袜子。
cereal-loving. country-living banker.
[AI] 喜欢谷类食品。乡村生活银行家。
and I might decide to be a black sock-wearing.
[AI] 我可能会决定穿黑袜子。
urban. donut-loving artist.
[AI] 城市的喜欢甜甜圈的艺术家。
What we do in hard choices is very much up to each of us.
[AI] 在艰难的选择中，我们做什么完全取决于我们每个人。
Now. people who don't exercise their normative powers in hard choices
[AI] 现在在艰难的选择中不行使规范权力的人
are drifters.
[AI] 他们是流浪者。
We all know people like that.
[AI] 我们都认识这样的人。
I drifted into being a lawyer.
[AI] 我渐渐成为一名律师。
I didn't put my agency behind lawyering.
[AI] 我并没有让我的代理机构支持律师工作。
I wasn't for lawyering.
[AI] 我不是律师。
Drifters allow the world to write the story of their lives.
[AI] 漂泊者让世界书写他们的生活故事。
They let mechanisms of reward and punishment --
[AI] 他们让奖惩机制失效--
pats on the head. fear. the easiness of an option --
[AI] 拍拍头。害怕选择的容易--
to determine what they do.
[AI] 决定他们做什么。
So the lesson of hard choices:
[AI] 因此，艰难选择的教训是：
reflect on what you can put your agency behind.
[AI] 思考一下你能为你的机构做些什么。
on what you can be for.
[AI] 关于你能做什么。
and through hard choices.
[AI] 通过艰难的选择。
become that person.
[AI] 成为那个人。
Far from being sources of agony and dread.
[AI] 远非痛苦和恐惧的根源。
hard choices are precious opportunities
[AI] 艰难的选择是宝贵的机会
for us to celebrate what is special about the human condition.
[AI] 让我们来庆祝人类状况的特殊之处。
that the reasons that govern our choices as correct or incorrect
[AI] 决定我们选择的原因是正确的还是错误的
sometimes run out.
[AI] 有时会用完。
and it is here. in the space of hard choices.
[AI] 就在这里。在艰难选择的空间里。
that we have the power to create reasons for ourselves
[AI] 我们有能力为自己创造理由
to become the distinctive people that we are.
[AI] 成为与众不同的人。
And that's why hard choices are not a curse
[AI] 这就是为什么艰难的选择不是诅咒
but a godsend.
[AI] 但这是上帝的恩赐。
Thank you.
[AI] 非常感谢。
(Applause)
[AI] （掌声）