职场综合征：觉得自己的工作毫无意义？

 　　A growing number of people think their job is useless. Time to rethink the meaning of work

　　越来越多的人认为自己的工作毫无用途，是时候重新思考工作的意义了

　　A great deal has been written in recent years about the perils¹ of automation. With predicted mass unemployment, declining wages, and increasing inequality, clearly we should all be afraid.

　　近年来，自动化所带来的风险不断被提及。显然，我们应该为此感到恐惧，因为人们预言，自动化会造成大规模失业，减少工资，以及加剧不平等现象。

　　By now it’s no longer just the Silicon² Valley trend watchers and technoprophets who are apprehensive³. In a study that has already racked up several hundred citations⁴, scholars at Oxford⁵ University have estimated that no less than 47% of all American jobs and 54%?of those in Europe are at a high risk of being usurped⁶ by machines.

　　如今，观察员和科技预言家们已经不再只忧心于硅谷的趋势了。一项研究已经取得了上百个例证，牛津的学者们估计至少有47%的美国岗位和54%的欧洲岗位会被机器取代。

　　I admit, we’ve heard it all before. Employees have been worrying about the rising tide of automation for 200 years now, and for 200 years employers have been assuring them that new jobs will naturally materialize to take their place. After all, if you look at the year 1800, some 74% of all Americans were farmers, whereas by 1900 this figure was down to 31%, and by 2000 to a mere⁷ 3%. Yet this hasn’t led to mass unemployment. In 1930, the famous economist⁸ John Maynard Keynes was predicting that we’d all be working just 15-hour weeks by the year 2030. Yet, since the 1980s, work has only been taking up more of our time, bringing waves of burnouts and stress in its wake.

　　我承认，以上这些消息我们早已见怪不怪了。从200年以前，雇员们就开始担心不断发展的自动化，雇主们也不断说服自己会有新的工作应运而生，取代他们的位置。让我们回顾一下，1800年，那时美国的农民大约占总人口的74%，而到了1900年这一比率降到了31%，到了2000年农民只占全美总人口的3%。然而农民的减少并没有造成大规模失业。1930年，著名经济学家约翰·凯恩斯曾预言：到2030年我们一周只需工作15小时，而自从20世纪80年代开始，工作在我们生活中所占的比重只增不减，还带来了过度疲劳和压力过大等一系列问题。

　　Meanwhile, the crux⁹ of the issue isn’t even being discussed. The real question we should be asking ourselves is: what actually constitutes “work” in this day and age?

　　但同时，我们甚至没有讨论到问题的核心。我们需要扪心自问的真正问题是：如今，是什么驱动着我们继续“工作”?

　　What is “work” anyway?

　　到底什么是“工作”?

　　In a 2013 survey of 12,000 professionals by the Harvard Business Review, half said they felt their job had no “meaning and significance,” and an equal number were unable to relate to their company’s mission, while another poll among 230,000 employees in 142 countries showed that only 13% of workers actually like their job. A recent poll among Brits revealed that as many as 37% think they have a job that is utterly¹⁰ useless.

　　2013年，《哈佛商业评论》杂志对12000名专业人员进行了调查，感觉自己的工作“既无意义也不重要”的人约占50%，剩下的50%则不能将自己的工作和他们公司的使命联系起来。而在另一项调查中，来自142个国家的23万的人中只有13%的人真正热爱自己的工作。最近一项对于英国人的民意调查显示，37%的人认为自己的工作是毫无用处的。

　　So, will there still be enough jobs for everyone a few decades from now? Anybody who fears mass unemployment underestimates capitalism’s extraordinary ability to generate new bullshit jobs. If we want to really reap the rewards of the huge technological¹¹ advances made in recent decades (and of the advancing robots), then we need to radically¹² rethink our definition of “work.”

　　几十年后，世界上是否还有足够的工作?那些担心会出现大规模失业现象的人低估了资本主义创造新工作的卓越能力。如果在近几十年，我们想从科技的巨大进步中捞取好处，就必须主动地重新思考“工作”的真正含义。

　　The paradox¹³ of progress

　　进步的悖论

　　It starts with an age-old question: what is the meaning of life? Most people would say the meaning of life is to make the world a little more beautiful, or nicer, or more interesting. But how? These days, our main answer to that is: through work.

　　一切都要归为一个古老的问题：生命的意义是什么?大部分人会回答说生命的意义在于使生活变得更美，或更好，或更加有趣。但是，如何实现呢?如今，大部分人会回答说：“通过工作。”

　　That’s one of the biggest taboos¹⁴ of our times. Our whole system of finding meaning could dissolve like a puff¹⁵ of smoke.

　　那是我们这个时代最大特征之一，我们寻找意义的理论体系可能会如烟般散去。

　　The irony¹⁶ is that technological progress is only exacerbating¹⁷ this crisis. Historically, society has been able to afford more bullshit jobs precisely¹⁸ because our robots kept getting better. As our farms and factories grew more efficient, they accounted for a shrinking share of our economy. And the more productive agriculture and manufacturing became, the fewer people they employed. Call it the paradox of progress: the richer we become, the more room we have to waste our time. It’s like Brad Pitt says in Fight Club: too often, we’re “working jobs we hate so we can buy shit we don’t need.”

　　讽刺的是，科技进步正在加剧这个危机。过去，社会之所以能够提供更多的工作正是由于我们的机器人越来越先进。随着农场和工厂变得越来越有效率，它们在经济中的所占的比重也随之减少。农业和制造业效率越高，它们所需要的人力就越少。这就是进步的悖论：我们越是富有，可供挥霍的时间就越多。正如布拉德·皮特在《搏击俱乐部》中所说，我们经常“干着自己不喜欢的工作来买自己压根不需要的东西。”

　　I believe in a future where the value of your work is not determined¹⁹ by the size of your paycheck, but by the amount of happiness you spread and the amount of meaning you give. I believe in a future where the point of education is not to prepare you for another useless job, but for a life well lived. I believe in a future where “jobs are for robots and life is for people.”

　　我相信，一定会有那么一天，我们工作价值的大小不再取决于薪资的高低，而是取决于你散播了多少快乐，给世界带来了多少意义。到那时候，教育的目的不再是给你一份毫无用途的工作，而是为了让你过上更好的生活。有那么一天，我们会实现“工作是属于机器人的，而生活才是属于全人类的”这一理念。

　　And if basic income sounds Utopian to you, then I’d like to remind you that every milestone²⁰ of civilization – from the end of slavery to democracy to equal rights for men and women – was once a Utopian fantasy too. Or, as Oscar Wilde wrote long ago: “Progress is the realization²¹ of Utopias.”

　　如果最基本的工资对你来说是一个空想，我可以提醒你：人类文明进程中的每一个里程碑——从废除奴隶制到实现男女平等——曾经也都是如空想一般的存在。或许，正如奥斯卡·王尔德所说：“进步就是将一个个不切实际的梦想实现的过程。”

1 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？

2 silicon   

n.硅(旧名矽)

参考例句：

• This company pioneered the use of silicon chip.这家公司开创了使用硅片的方法。
• A chip is a piece of silicon about the size of a postage stamp.芯片就是一枚邮票大小的硅片。

3 apprehensive   

adj.担心的，恐惧的，善于领会的

参考例句：

• She was deeply apprehensive about her future.她对未来感到非常担心。
• He was rather apprehensive of failure.他相当害怕失败。

4 citations   

n.引用( citation的名词复数 )；引证；引文；表扬

参考例句：

• The apt citations and poetic gems have adorned his speeches. 贴切的引语和珠玑般的诗句为他的演说词增添文采。 来自《现代汉英综合大词典》
• Some dictionary writers use citations to show what words mean. 有些辞典的编纂者用引文作例证以解释词义。 来自辞典例句

5 Oxford   

n.牛津（英国城市）

参考例句：

• At present he has become a Professor of Chemistry at Oxford.他现在已是牛津大学的化学教授了。
• This is where the road to Oxford joins the road to London.这是去牛津的路与去伦敦的路的汇合处。

6 usurped   

篡夺，霸占( usurp的过去式和过去分词 )； 盗用； 篡夺，篡权

参考例句：

• That magazine usurped copyrighted material. 那杂志盗用了版权为他人所有的素材。
• The expression'social engineering'has been usurped by the Utopianist without a shadow of light. “社会工程”这个词已被乌托邦主义者毫无理由地盗用了。

7 mere   

adj.纯粹的；仅仅，只不过

参考例句：

• That is a mere repetition of what you said before.那不过是重复了你以前讲的话。
• It's a mere waste of time waiting any longer.再等下去纯粹是浪费时间。

8 economist   

n.经济学家，经济专家，节俭的人

参考例句：

• He cast a professional economist's eyes on the problem.他以经济学行家的眼光审视这个问题。
• He's an economist who thinks he knows all the answers.他是个经济学家，自以为什么都懂。

9 crux   

adj.十字形；难事，关键，最重要点

参考例句：

• The crux of the matter is how to comprehensively treat this trend.问题的关键是如何全面地看待这种趋势。
• The crux of the matter is that attitudes have changed.问题的要害是人们的态度转变了。

10 utterly   

adv.完全地，绝对地

参考例句：

• Utterly devoted to the people,he gave his life in saving his patients.他忠于人民，把毕生精力用于挽救患者的生命。
• I was utterly ravished by the way she smiled.她的微笑使我完全陶醉了。

11 technological   

adj.技术的；工艺的

参考例句：

• A successful company must keep up with the pace of technological change.一家成功的公司必须得跟上技术变革的步伐。
• Today,the pace of life is increasing with technological advancements.当今， 随着科技进步，生活节奏不断增快。

12 radically   

ad.根本地，本质地

参考例句：

• I think we may have to rethink our policies fairly radically. 我认为我们可能要对我们的政策进行根本的反思。
• The health service must be radically reformed. 公共医疗卫生服务必须进行彻底改革。

13 paradox   

n.似乎矛盾却正确的说法；自相矛盾的人(物)

参考例句：

• The story contains many levels of paradox.这个故事存在多重悖论。
• The paradox is that Japan does need serious education reform.矛盾的地方是日本确实需要教育改革。

14 taboos   

禁忌( taboo的名词复数 )； 忌讳； 戒律； 禁忌的事物（或行为）

参考例句：

• She was unhorsed by fences, laws and alien taboos. 她被藩蓠、法律及外来的戒律赶下了马。
• His mind was charged with taboos. 他头脑里忌讳很多。

15 puff   

n.一口(气)；一阵(风)；v.喷气，喘气

参考例句：

• He took a puff at his cigarette.他吸了一口香烟。
• They tried their best to puff the book they published.他们尽力吹捧他们出版的书。

16 irony   

n.反语，冷嘲；具有讽刺意味的事，嘲弄

参考例句：

• She said to him with slight irony.她略带嘲讽地对他说。
• In her voice we could sense a certain tinge of irony.从她的声音里我们可以感到某种讥讽的意味。

17 exacerbating   

v.使恶化，使加重( exacerbate的现在分词 )

参考例句：

• This pedagogical understretch is exacerbating social inequalities. 这种教学张力不足加重了社会不平等。 来自互联网
• High fertilizer prices are exacerbating the problem. 高涨的肥料价格更加加剧了问题的恶化。 来自互联网

18 precisely   

adv.恰好，正好，精确地，细致地

参考例句：

• It's precisely that sort of slick sales-talk that I mistrust.我不相信的正是那种油腔滑调的推销宣传。
• The man adjusted very precisely.那个人调得很准。

19 determined   

adj.坚定的；有决心的

参考例句：

• I have determined on going to Tibet after graduation.我已决定毕业后去西藏。
• He determined to view the rooms behind the office.他决定查看一下办公室后面的房间。

20 milestone   

n.里程碑；划时代的事件

参考例句：

• The film proved to be a milestone in the history of cinema.事实证明这部影片是电影史上的一个里程碑。
• I think this is a very important milestone in the relations between our two countries.我认为这是我们两国关系中一个十分重要的里程碑。

21 realization   

n.实现；认识到，深刻了解

参考例句：

• We shall gladly lend every effort in our power toward its realization.我们将乐意为它的实现而竭尽全力。
• He came to the realization that he would never make a good teacher.他逐渐认识到自己永远不会成为好老师。