【英语时差8,16】假设思维

Imagine that you hit a deer with your car. You don't suffer any physical harm whatsoever¹. Your car suffers cosmetic² damage, but you have insurance.   So the question is this: are you the type to feel lucky to be alive? If you had been driving faster or had hit the deer at a different angle, you could have been killed.

Or are you the type who feels disappointment and regret? If only you'd never left the house? If only you'd made that pit stop? Why did you pick this weekend to visit Scotty?

These "If only" statements on what might have altered your outcome are all examples of counterfactual thinking, but they reflect two very different attitudes. That the same event can make some people feel satisfied or maybe even excited, while others experience regret, continues to elude³ psychologists.

What is clear is that while thinking on the bright side will probably put you in a better mood, thinking about what you could have done differently to have produced a better outcome is valuable too.

In a study, people were asked to un-scramble anagrams and then write some counterfactual thoughts. Some people were asked to think positive about what they accomplished⁴, others to write "if only" thoughts about what they could have done differently to improve their performance. In a second anagram test, those participants who were asked to think about how they could have performed better, did indeed perform better--significantly better than the other participants.

It looks like dwelling⁵ on how we could have done better can help us to learn from our actions, so that we may "do better" in the future.  

1 whatsoever   

adv.（用于否定句中以加强语气）任何；pron.无论什么

参考例句：

• There's no reason whatsoever to turn down this suggestion.没有任何理由拒绝这个建议。
• All things whatsoever ye would that men should do to you,do ye even so to them.你想别人对你怎样，你就怎样对人。

2 cosmetic   

n.化妆品；adj.化妆用的；装门面的；装饰性的

参考例句：

• These changes are purely cosmetic.这些改变纯粹是装饰门面。
• Laughter is the best cosmetic,so grin and wear it!微笑是最好的化妆品，所以请尽情微笑吧！

3 elude   

v.躲避，困惑

参考例句：

• If you chase it,it will elude you.如果你追逐着它， 它会躲避你。
• I had dared and baffled his fury.I must elude his sorrow.我曾经面对过他的愤怒，并且把它挫败了；现在我必须躲避他的悲哀。

4 accomplished   

adj.有才艺的；有造诣的；达到了的

参考例句：

• Thanks to your help,we accomplished the task ahead of schedule.亏得你们帮忙,我们才提前完成了任务。
• Removal of excess heat is accomplished by means of a radiator.通过散热器完成多余热量的排出。

5 dwelling   

n.住宅，住所，寓所

参考例句：

• Those two men are dwelling with us.那两个人跟我们住在一起。
• He occupies a three-story dwelling place on the Park Street.他在派克街上有一幢3层楼的寓所。