2023年经济学人 完美主义的陷阱

 

    Culture

    文艺版块

    Book review

    书评

    The enemy of the good

    优秀之敌

    The Perfection Trap. By Thomas Curran.

    完美陷阱。托马斯·柯伦著。

    In Nathaniel Hawthorne’s short story “The Birth-Mark”, a chemist called Aylmer marries a young woman, Georgiana, whose sole imperfection is a red blemish¹ on her left cheek.

    在纳撒尼尔·霍桑的短篇小说《胎记》中，一位名叫艾尔默的化学家娶了一位名叫乔治安娜的年轻女子，她唯一的缺陷就是左脸颊上有一块红色斑点。

    He considers it a “fatal flaw”; she pleads with him to use his skills to remove it.

    艾尔默认为这是一个“致命的缺陷”，乔治安娜恳求他用他的化学能力祛除红斑。

    Stumbling on his journal, however, Georgiana is astonished to find it is a catalogue of scientific mishaps².

    然而，乔治亚娜偶然发现了艾尔默的日记，她惊讶地发现日记上记录的都是各种科学失败事件。

    Might his loathing³ of her birthmark stem from his professional disappointment?

    艾尔默对她胎记的厌恶难道是源于他在工作上的失意？

    At length Aylmer concocts⁴ a potion that has the desired effect—and promptly⁵ kills her.

    最后，艾尔默炮制了一种药水，这种药水达到了预期的效果，但也立即让乔治安娜丧命。

    Hawthorne’s 180-year-old tale illustrates⁶ the perils⁷ of perfectionism.

    霍桑的这篇180年前的故事说明了完美主义的危险。

    It is Thomas Curran’s starting-point for a study of what he calls a “hidden epidemic”.

    这也是托马斯·柯伦对他所说的“隐藏的流行病”的研究起点。

    He thinks the obsessive⁸ pursuit of ever higher standards, rather than propelling achievement, is mainly a scourge⁹.

    柯伦认为，痴迷于追求更高的标准，而不是推动成就，在很大程度上是一种祸害。

    A social psychologist at the London School of Economics, he describes himself as “a recovering perfectionist”.

    作为伦敦政治经济学院的社会心理学家，他将自己描述为“一个正在康复的完美主义者”。

    Drawing on both academic research and his own experiences of “deficit thinking”, he makes a vigorous case, albeit¹⁰ one occasionally marked by cliché (he sees his younger self as a “chin-stroking, cardigan-wearing intellectual”).

    根据学术研究和他自己的“缺陷思维”经历，他提出了有力的论据，尽管偶尔有俗套的地方(他认为自己年轻时是一个“摸着下巴、穿着针织开衫的知识分子”)。

    Mr Curran distinguishes between three sorts of perfectionism.

    柯伦区分了三种完美主义。

    The first, which looks inward, is the relentless¹¹ self-scolding of the workaholic or punctilious¹² student.

    第一种是向内的，是工作狂或刻苦学生的严厉自责。

    A second version, directed towards others, is commonly found in bosses who have unrealistic expectations of their staff and decry¹³ their supposed failings (he cites Steve Jobs as an example).

    第二种是指向他人的，通常出现在那些对员工抱有不切实际的期望，并强烈批评员工的错误的老板身上(他举了史蒂夫·乔布斯的例子)。

    The third and most troublesome kind is the form imputed¹⁴ to society: “an all-encompassing belief that everybody, at all times, expects us to be perfect”.

    第三种也是最麻烦的一种，是将完美主义归因于社会：“一种包含一切的信念，认为所有人在所有时候都期望我们是完美的”。

    Its victims tend to feel lonely; often they harm themselves and harbour thoughts of suicide.

    这种完美主义的受害者往往感到孤独，他们经常伤害自己，并怀有自杀的想法。

    Having noted¹⁵ the ways in which this pathology inflames¹⁶ vulnerabilities and erodes¹⁷ resilience, Mr Curran suggests some causes.

    注意到这种病态心理如何让人变得更脆弱性并削弱人们的韧性后，柯伦提出了导致完美主义的一些原因。

    These include a lack of job security, neurotic¹⁸ supervision¹⁹ by helicopter parents and the gaudy²⁰ blandishments of advertising²¹, which fuel consumption and anxiety.

    这些原因包括缺乏工作稳定感、直升机父母的神经质监督，以及加剧消费和焦虑的花言巧语的广告。

    “The very fabric²² of this economy”, he claims, “is woven from our discontent.”

    “这种经济的基本结构，”他称，“就是用我们的不满之情编织而成的。”

    Inevitably²³ he blames social media, which inundate²⁴ users with images of finely sculpted²⁵ bodies, flawless outfits²⁶, ambrosial²⁷ holidays and exquisite²⁸ weddings.

    不可避免地，柯伦将此归咎于社交媒体，社交媒体让用户淹没在雕塑般的优美身材、完美的穿搭、奢华优裕的度假和精致的婚礼图片之中。

    A less familiar culprit is Don Hamachek, an American psychologist, who in the 1970s coined the term “normal perfectionism”, thereby²⁹ legitimising morbid³⁰ self-criticism, says Mr Curran.

    柯伦还表示，另一个不太为人所知的罪魁祸首是美国心理学家唐·哈马切克，他在20世纪70年代创造了“正常的完美主义”一词，从而使病态的自我批评变得合理。

    He even reproaches Barack Obama for enjoining³¹ young people to learn from their mistakes.

    柯伦甚至指责贝拉克·奥巴马要求年轻人从错误中吸取教训。

    Instead, he says, failures should be “allowed to simply wash through us as a joyous³² reminder³³ of what it means to be a fallible human”.

    他说，相反，应该“让失败从生活中流过，愉快地提醒我们，人无完人意味着什么”。

    The author’s greatest odium, though, is directed at meritocracy.

    然而，作者最憎恨的是优绩主义。

    In this he draws on the thinking of Michael Sandel, a philosopher at Harvard.

    在这一点上，他借鉴了哈佛大学哲学家迈克尔·桑德尔的思想。

    Especially in “The Tyranny of Merit” (published in 2020), Professor Sandel has argued that using education as a giant sorting machine creates a toxic³⁴ obsession³⁵ with credentials³⁶, dividing society into winners and losers and depleting³⁷ the common good.

    尤其是在2020年出版的《精英的傲慢》一书中，桑德尔教授认为，把教育当作一台巨大的分类机器，会产生一种对成绩证书的有毒的痴迷，从而将社会分成赢家和输家，并让公共利益所剩无几。

    Like other critics of meritocracy, Mr Curran has a point—until you consider the alternatives.

    与其他批评优绩主义的人一样，柯伦的观点是有道理的--直到你考虑了其他选择。

    Daily life, in his view, now resembles an endless tribunal.

    在他看来，现在日常生活就像一个没有尽头的法庭。

    Young people suffer most from the constant scrutiny³⁸ of scores and rankings.

    持续不断的分数和排名方面的审视对年轻人影响最大。

    Decrying³⁹ a fixation on economic growth, he applauds countries, such as Bhutan and New Zealand, where decision-makers take account of citizens’ happiness.

    在谴责了对经济增长的偏执后，柯伦对不丹和新西兰等国家表示赞赏，这些国家的决策者会考虑公民的幸福感。

    Mr Curran’s preferred fix is a universal basic income, which he says would “extinguish the fire of perfectionism”.

    柯伦倾向的解决办法是全民基本收入，他认为这将“扑灭完美主义的火焰”。

    Whatever its economic merits, his argument errs⁴⁰ in treating perfectionism as a purely⁴¹ cultural phenomenon.

    无论其经济价值如何，他的观点都错误地将完美主义视为一种纯粹的文化现象。

    Might it not also be a disposition⁴² embedded⁴³ in the psyche⁴⁴?

    难道完美主义不也是一种根植于内在心理的倾向吗？

    Tellingly, his guidance—“Keep going. Do not yield”; “Keep practising that acceptance of fortune and fate”—is couched in the language of the perfectionist’s round-the-clock report card.

    很能说明问题的是，他的指导建议--“继续前进，不要屈服”“不断练习接受或好或坏的命运”--就是用完美主义者时刻不停的成绩报告单式的语言表述的。

1 blemish   

v.损害；玷污；瑕疵，缺点

参考例句：

• The slightest blemish can reduce market value.只要有一点最小的损害都会降低市场价值。
• He wasn't about to blemish that pristine record.他本不想去玷污那清白的过去。

2 mishaps   

n.轻微的事故，小的意外( mishap的名词复数 )

参考例句：

• a series of mishaps 一连串的倒霉事
• In spite of one or two minor mishaps everything was going swimmingly. 尽管遇到了一两件小小的不幸，一切都进行得很顺利。 来自《现代汉英综合大词典》

3 loathing   

n.厌恶，憎恨v.憎恨，厌恶( loathe的现在分词)；极不喜欢

参考例句：

• She looked at her attacker with fear and loathing . 她盯着襲擊她的歹徒，既害怕又憎恨。
• They looked upon the creature with a loathing undisguised. 他们流露出明显的厌恶看那动物。 来自《现代英汉综合大词典》

4 concocts   

v.将（尤指通常不相配合的）成分混合成某物( concoct的第三人称单数 )；调制；编造；捏造

参考例句：

• She concocts wonderful soup. 她调制美味的汤。 来自互联网
• To help his teammate, Krillin concocts an outlandish plan that you'll have to see to believe! 为了帮助他的战友，小林想出了一个绝妙的怪招。这可真是你必须亲眼见到才能相信的一招！ 来自互联网

5 promptly   

adv.及时地，敏捷地

参考例句：

• He paid the money back promptly.他立即还了钱。
• She promptly seized the opportunity his absence gave her.她立即抓住了因他不在场给她创造的机会。

6 illustrates   

给…加插图( illustrate的第三人称单数 )； 说明； 表明； （用示例、图画等）说明

参考例句：

• This historical novel illustrates the breaking up of feudal society in microcosm. 这部历史小说是走向崩溃的封建社会的缩影。
• Alfred Adler, a famous doctor, had an experience which illustrates this. 阿尔弗莱德 - 阿德勒是一位著名的医生，他有过可以说明这点的经历。 来自中级百科部分

7 perils   

极大危险( peril的名词复数 )； 危险的事（或环境）

参考例句：

• The commander bade his men be undaunted in the face of perils. 指挥员命令他的战士要临危不惧。
• With how many more perils and disasters would he load himself? 他还要再冒多少风险和遭受多少灾难？

8 obsessive   

adj. 着迷的, 强迫性的, 分神的

参考例句：

• Some people are obsessive about cleanliness.有些人有洁癖。
• He's becoming more and more obsessive about punctuality.他对守时要求越来越过分了。

9 scourge   

n.灾难，祸害；v.蹂躏

参考例句：

• Smallpox was once the scourge of the world.天花曾是世界的大患。
• The new boss was the scourge of the inefficient.新老板来了以后，不称职的人就遭殃了。

10 albeit   

conj.即使；纵使；虽然

参考例句：

• Albeit fictional,she seemed to have resolved the problem.虽然是虚构的，但是在她看来好象是解决了问题。
• Albeit he has failed twice,he is not discouraged.虽然失败了两次，但他并没有气馁。

11 relentless   

adj.残酷的，不留情的，无怜悯心的

参考例句：

• The traffic noise is relentless.交通车辆的噪音一刻也不停止。
• Their training has to be relentless.他们的训练必须是无情的。

12 punctilious   

adj.谨慎的，谨小慎微的

参考例句：

• He was a punctilious young man.他是个非常拘礼的年轻人。
• Billy is punctilious in the performance of his duties.毕利执行任务总是一丝不苟的。

13 decry   

v.危难，谴责

参考例句：

• Some people will decry this,insisting that President Obama should have tried harder to gain bipartisan support.有些人会对此表示谴责，坚持说奥巴马总统原本应该更加努力获得两党的支持。
• Now you decry him as another Hitler because he is a threat to the controlling interest of oil in the middle east.现在你却因为他对中东石油控制权益构成了威胁而谴责他为另一个希特勒。

14 imputed   

v.把（错误等）归咎于( impute的过去式和过去分词 )

参考例句：

• They imputed the accident to the driver's carelessness. 他们把这次车祸归咎于司机的疏忽。 来自《现代英汉综合大词典》
• He imputed the failure of his marriage to his wife's shortcomings. 他把婚姻的失败归咎于妻子的缺点。 来自辞典例句

15 noted   

adj.著名的，知名的

参考例句：

• The local hotel is noted for its good table.当地的那家酒店以餐食精美而著称。
• Jim is noted for arriving late for work.吉姆上班迟到出了名。

16 inflames   

v.（使）变红，发怒，过热( inflame的第三人称单数 )

参考例句：

• The Captain inflames the crew with his rhetoric. 船长以他的辩才点燃了船员心中之火。 来自辞典例句
• However, the release of antibodies also inflames the bronchi and bronchioles. 然而，抗体的产生也导致了了支气管和细支气管群的发炎。 来自互联网

17 erodes   

侵蚀，腐蚀( erode的第三人称单数 )； 逐渐毁坏，削弱，损害

参考例句：

• The sea erodes the rock. 海水侵蚀岩石。
• The sea erodes the land. 海洋侵蚀陆地。

18 neurotic   

adj.神经病的，神经过敏的；n.神经过敏者，神经病患者

参考例句：

• Nothing is more distracting than a neurotic boss. 没有什么比神经过敏的老板更恼人的了。
• There are also unpleasant brain effects such as anxiety and neurotic behaviour.也会对大脑产生不良影响，如焦虑和神经质的行为。

19 supervision   

n.监督，管理

参考例句：

• The work was done under my supervision.这项工作是在我的监督之下完成的。
• The old man's will was executed under the personal supervision of the lawyer.老人的遗嘱是在律师的亲自监督下执行的。

20 gaudy   

adj.华而不实的；俗丽的

参考例句：

• She was tricked out in gaudy dress.她穿得华丽而俗气。
• The gaudy butterfly is sure that the flowers owe thanks to him.浮华的蝴蝶却相信花是应该向它道谢的。

21 advertising   

n.广告业；广告活动 a.广告的；广告业务的

参考例句：

• Can you give me any advice on getting into advertising? 你能指点我如何涉足广告业吗?
• The advertising campaign is aimed primarily at young people. 这个广告宣传运动主要是针对年轻人的。

22 fabric   

n.织物，织品，布；构造，结构，组织

参考例句：

• The fabric will spot easily.这种织品很容易玷污。
• I don't like the pattern on the fabric.我不喜欢那块布料上的图案。

23 inevitably   

adv.不可避免地；必然发生地

参考例句：

• In the way you go on,you are inevitably coming apart.照你们这样下去，毫无疑问是会散伙的。
• Technological changes will inevitably lead to unemployment.技术变革必然会导致失业。

24 inundate   

vt.淹没，泛滥，压倒

参考例句：

• If the dam breaks,it will inundate large parts of the town.如果水坝坍塌，该城的大部分将被淹没。
• The course changes frequently,and the area is so flat that a small change in the level of the river may inundate a considerable area.河道变化多端，下游地区却很平坦，水位少许上涨河流就会淹没一大片土地。

25 sculpted   

adj.经雕塑的

参考例句：

• a display of animals sculpted in ice 冰雕动物展
• The ladies had their hair sculpted by the leading coiffeur of the day. 女士们的发型都是当代有名的理发师做的。

26 outfits   

n.全套装备( outfit的名词复数 )；一套服装；集体；组织v.装备，配置设备，供给服装( outfit的第三人称单数 )

参考例句：

• He jobbed out the contract to a number of small outfits. 他把承包工程分包给许多小单位。 来自辞典例句
• Some cyclists carry repair outfits because they may have a puncture. 有些骑自行车的人带修理工具，因为他们车胎可能小孔。 来自辞典例句

27 ambrosial   

adj.美味的

参考例句：

• The ambrosial aroma of the roast whetted our appetites.烤肉的美味香气刺激了我们的食欲。
• Are you nostrils a quiver and tingling as well at that delicate,luscious ambrosial smell?您是否感到香气扑鼻、熏人欲醉、垂涎欲滴？

28 exquisite   

adj.精美的；敏锐的；剧烈的，感觉强烈的

参考例句：

• I was admiring the exquisite workmanship in the mosaic.我当时正在欣赏镶嵌画的精致做工。
• I still remember the exquisite pleasure I experienced in Bali.我依然记得在巴厘岛所经历的那种剧烈的快感。

29 thereby   

adv.因此，从而

参考例句：

• I have never been to that city,,ereby I don't know much about it.我从未去过那座城市，因此对它不怎么熟悉。
• He became a British citizen,thereby gaining the right to vote.他成了英国公民，因而得到了投票权。

30 morbid   

adj.病的；致病的；病态的；可怕的

参考例句：

• Some people have a morbid fascination with crime.一些人对犯罪有一种病态的痴迷。
• It's morbid to dwell on cemeteries and such like.不厌其烦地谈论墓地以及诸如此类的事是一种病态。

31 enjoining   

v.命令( enjoin的现在分词 )

参考例句：

• Then enjoining him to keep It'strictly confidential, he told him the whole story. 叮嘱他严守秘密，然后把这事讲出来。 来自汉英文学 - 围城
• The act or an instance of enjoining; a command, a directive, or an order. 命令的动作或例子；命令，指令或训谕。 来自互联网

32 joyous   

adj.充满快乐的；令人高兴的

参考例句：

• The lively dance heightened the joyous atmosphere of the scene.轻快的舞蹈给这场戏渲染了欢乐气氛。
• They conveyed the joyous news to us soon.他们把这一佳音很快地传递给我们。

33 reminder   

n.提醒物，纪念品；暗示，提示

参考例句：

• I have had another reminder from the library.我又收到图书馆的催还单。
• It always took a final reminder to get her to pay her share of the rent.总是得发给她一份最后催缴通知，她才付应该交的房租。

34 toxic   

adj.有毒的，因中毒引起的

参考例句：

• The factory had accidentally released a quantity of toxic waste into the sea.这家工厂意外泄漏大量有毒废物到海中。
• There is a risk that toxic chemicals might be blasted into the atmosphere.爆炸后有毒化学物质可能会进入大气层。

35 obsession   

n.困扰，无法摆脱的思想(或情感)

参考例句：

• I was suffering from obsession that my career would be ended.那时的我陷入了我的事业有可能就此终止的困扰当中。
• She would try to forget her obsession with Christopher.她会努力忘记对克里斯托弗的迷恋。

36 credentials   

n.证明，资格，证明书，证件

参考例句：

• He has long credentials of diplomatic service.他的外交工作资历很深。
• Both candidates for the job have excellent credentials.此项工作的两个求职者都非常符合资格。

37 depleting   

使大大的减少，使空虚( deplete的现在分词 )； 耗尽，使枯竭

参考例句：

• Regulations are outlawing certain refrigerants, such as chlorofluorocarbons, which contain ozone-depleting chemicals. 随后出台的政策禁用了部分制冷剂，如破坏臭氧层的氟氯碳化合物。
• Aging, being a series of continual losses, can be keenly depleting. 老龄化，作为一个系列的连续亏损，可以清楚地消耗。

38 scrutiny   

n.详细检查，仔细观察

参考例句：

• His work looks all right,but it will not bear scrutiny.他的工作似乎很好，但是经不起仔细检查。
• Few wives in their forties can weather such a scrutiny.很少年过四十的妻子经得起这么仔细的观察。

39 decrying   

v.公开反对，谴责( decry的现在分词 )

参考例句：

• Soon Chinese Internet users, including government agencies, were decrying the' poisonous panda. 不久，中国网民以及政府机构纷纷谴责“影响极坏的熊猫烧香”。 来自互联网
• Democratic leaders are decrying President Bush's plan to indefinitely halt troop withdrawals from Iraq after July. 民主党领导公开谴责布什总统七月后无限停止从伊拉克撤兵的举动。 来自互联网

40 errs   

犯错误，做错事( err的第三人称单数 )

参考例句：

• Man errs so long as he strives. 人只要奋斗就会犯错误。 来自每日一句
• He that talks much errs much. [谚]言多必有失。

41 purely   

adv.纯粹地，完全地

参考例句：

• I helped him purely and simply out of friendship.我帮他纯粹是出于友情。
• This disproves the theory that children are purely imitative.这证明认为儿童只会单纯地模仿的理论是站不住脚的。

42 disposition   

n.性情，性格；意向，倾向；排列，部署

参考例句：

• He has made a good disposition of his property.他已对财产作了妥善处理。
• He has a cheerful disposition.他性情开朗。

43 embedded   

a.扎牢的

参考例句：

• an operation to remove glass that was embedded in his leg 取出扎入他腿部玻璃的手术
• He has embedded his name in the minds of millions of people. 他的名字铭刻在数百万人民心中。

44 psyche   

n.精神；灵魂

参考例句：

• His exploration of the myth brings insight into the American psyche.他对这个神话的探讨揭示了美国人的心理。
• She spent her life plumbing the mysteries of the human psyche.她毕生探索人类心灵的奥秘。