哲學(xué)家Renata Salecl認(rèn)為消費(fèi)者的選擇觀念實(shí)際是一種有害的錯(cuò)覺(jué)，會(huì)阻礙我們改變世界。

WORDS BY Renata Salecl

作者：Renata Salecl

ILLUSTRATION BY Jack Hudson

插圖：Jack Hudson

How do you choose what to eat in a restaurant? Do you ask your friends or the waiter? Do you branch out or stick with the usual? However you decide, the result is often the same: when the food arrives you end up casting envious glances at your companions’ dishes, secretly regretting the choice you’ve just made. In fact, the anxiety of choice is now so serious that one London restaurant is doing a roaring trade by offering a single dish on its menu. Is this evidence that people today are overwhelmed by the choices they face?

　　你去餐館吃飯時(shí)是如何點(diǎn)菜的？問(wèn)自己的朋友還是問(wèn)服務(wù)生？換花樣還是一成不變？無(wú)論你是怎么決定的，到上菜的時(shí)候，結(jié)果總是一樣：你向朋友點(diǎn)的菜投去羨慕嫉妒恨的目光，心里默默后悔自己點(diǎn)得不合適。事實(shí)上，選擇焦慮癥的嚴(yán)重程度不容小覷，以至于倫敦有家餐廳，菜譜上只有一道菜，生意卻出奇火爆。這是不是如今人們?cè)诟鞣N選擇面前不知所措的一個(gè)例證？

Of course, we consider ourselves fortunate to face the paralysis of choice, but there are darker consequences, too. The ideology of choice is all-pervasive in today’s society, and has contributed to growing feelings of anxiety and inadequacy among consumers. This anxiety has, in turn, affected our ability to make choices that lead to social change.

　　當(dāng)然，我們很幸運(yùn)，因?yàn)槿缃裎覀兠媲暗倪x擇甚至多到難以選擇的地步，但這種情況也有其不良后果。當(dāng)今社會(huì)，選擇的觀念無(wú)孔不入，種種選擇會(huì)導(dǎo)致人們?cè)桨l(fā)感到焦慮不安和力不從心。這種焦慮反過(guò)來(lái)又會(huì)影響我們做出選擇、進(jìn)而改變世界的能力。

Choice has always been linked to anxiety – Jean-Paul Sartre wrote that when we stand in front of the abyss, we’re not afraid that we’ll fall, only that we might throw ourselves in. Today, that anxiety has been multiplied, as we’re led to believe that life itself is a consumer choice.

　　選擇與焦慮從來(lái)就密不可分。讓·保羅·薩特曾經(jīng)寫(xiě)道，一個(gè)站在深淵邊緣的人，并不害怕失足跌落，反而害怕自己縱身躍下的可能性。耳濡目染之下，今天的我們相信生活本身就是一種消費(fèi)選擇，因此這種選擇焦慮也就被加倍放大。

We’re told that we can choose the type of life we live, the type of body we have, even the way our kids will turn out. But while we bask in the false promise of mastery, we forget that the choices we make are often irrational – either linked to other people’s choices (what is socially acceptable), or our own unconscious motives. And we forget – or refuse to remember – that with choice comes loss. After all, when I choose one direction in life, I lose the possibility of another.

　　總有人向我們灌輸這樣的理念：我們可以選擇自己的生活方式，可以選擇自己的身材，甚至可以選擇子女的未來(lái)。我們因?yàn)檫@種無(wú)所不能的虛假承諾而洋洋得意，同時(shí)卻忘記了，自己做出的選擇往往并不理智——要么受到別人選擇（社會(huì)認(rèn)同）的影響，要么受到自己內(nèi)心無(wú)意識(shí)動(dòng)機(jī)的影響。我們還忘記了，或者是拒絕記住，有選必有失。畢竟，選擇了人生的一個(gè)方向，就放棄了另一個(gè)方向的可能性。

And so the ideology of choice encourages people to turn inwards. We’re told that the choices we make after careful planning will bring us our desired results – happiness, security, contentment – and that with better choices, the traumatic feelings we have when facing loss, risk and uncertainty will be eliminated. But today, psychoanalysts see many patients who can’t understand why they feel empty. They ask themselves, ‘Why am I not happy when I have been choosing so carefully all my life?’

　　因此，選擇觀念促使人們轉(zhuǎn)而關(guān)注內(nèi)心自我。別人告訴我們，精打細(xì)算再做選擇，會(huì)為我們帶來(lái)幸福、安全、滿足等等想要的結(jié)果；他們還說(shuō)，做出正確的選擇，就不會(huì)因?yàn)槊鎸?duì)損失、風(fēng)險(xiǎn)和未知而感到痛苦。但今天，心理醫(yī)生遇到的很多患者依然為莫名的空虛而困擾，他們總是自問(wèn)：“我一輩子都在謹(jǐn)慎選擇，為什么還是不快樂(lè)？”

It is precisely the anxiety and guilt that we feel over our choices – and the inadequacy we experience in our lives – that powers today’s consumer ideology and prevents social change. We have grown so introspective that we fail to make choices that contribute to social transformation.

　　正是我們?cè)谶x擇面前產(chǎn)生的焦慮、自責(zé)和力不從心，促進(jìn)了今天的消費(fèi)觀念的發(fā)展，也阻礙了社會(huì)改變的進(jìn)程。不停內(nèi)省的結(jié)果，就是我們?cè)僖膊荒茏龀鐾苿?dòng)社會(huì)變革的選擇。

Since the Enlightenment, society and democracy have been linked to the idea of freedom and choice. Today, however, we find it almost impossible to imagine that we have a choice over how society could be better organised in the future. Even in the midst of an economic crisis, we’re only able to see the future as a continuation of the present. Where are the alternative theories about new social structures? When did we lose the appetite to make political choices?

　　從啟蒙運(yùn)動(dòng)開(kāi)始，社會(huì)、民主就與自由、選擇的概念聯(lián)系在一起。然而，如今我們幾乎無(wú)法想象自己還有選擇讓未來(lái)社會(huì)變得更好。即使經(jīng)濟(jì)危機(jī)當(dāng)頭，我們也只能把未來(lái)看作現(xiàn)在的延續(xù)而已。其他有關(guān)新的社會(huì)結(jié)構(gòu)的理論都在哪兒呢？我們什么時(shí)候失去了參與政治選擇的興趣呢？

“The ideology of choice is all-pervasive in today’s society, and has contributed to growing feelings of anxiety and inadequacy among consumers.”

　　“當(dāng)今社會(huì)，選擇的觀念無(wú)孔不入，種種選擇會(huì)導(dǎo)致人們?cè)桨l(fā)感到焦慮不安和力不從心。”

So now we have less power and fewer real (non-material) choices than ever, and yet we’ve been taught to blame ourselves for the state of our lives. The danger is that if we become sufficiently anxious, we might very quickly give the few choices left to us away, identifying with an authority that tells us what to do. We might hire a coach, follow a guru or turn to an autocratic leader whose confidence seems soothing in an era of uncertainty.

　　因此，我們?nèi)缃裣碛械臋?quán)利和真正（非物質(zhì)）的選擇比以往任何一個(gè)年代都要少，同時(shí)人們卻要求我們?yōu)樯瞵F(xiàn)狀而自責(zé)。更危險(xiǎn)的是，過(guò)度焦慮的情況下，我們可能會(huì)放棄面前的幾個(gè)選擇，而直接選擇跟從權(quán)威。我們可能會(huì)聘請(qǐng)一位教練，追隨一位導(dǎo)師，甚至聽(tīng)從一位獨(dú)裁者的意見(jiàn)——在不確定性面前，他的自信似乎會(huì)讓人情緒安定。

The solution is to accept that life is defined by uncertainty, risk and unpredictability. And that although choices have a wonderful potential to affect change, we cannot predict the nature of the change they will bring nor avoid the losses that come with them. Unless we learn to live with those consequences, we’re destined to eat the same dish day after day.

　　要想解決這一問(wèn)題，我們就要接受，人生的實(shí)質(zhì)就在于它不確定、有風(fēng)險(xiǎn)、難以預(yù)知。我們要知道，盡管選擇對(duì)于事情變化有著潛在而神奇的影響，我們依然不能預(yù)測(cè)變化為我們帶來(lái)的改善，也不能避免隨之而來(lái)的損失。只有學(xué)會(huì)接受選擇帶來(lái)的所有結(jié)果，才能真正享受新鮮美好、千變?nèi)f化的每一天。