我即将离开工作台几天，所以我决定在离开之际再发布一次我最爱的摘要之一——十个关于“快乐”的常见误区。
A while back, each day for two weeks, I posted about Ten Happiness Myths. Here they are, for your reading convenience. (Click on each myth to read a longer explanation of it.)
不久前的连续两周里，我每天都发布“十个关于快乐的误区”。这里为了大家阅读方便，我集中了起来。你们可以点击每个小标题以阅读更多的阐释。
1. Happy people are annoying and stupid.
1、“快乐的人又烦又傻。”
Wrong. Actually, studies show that people find happy people much more likable than their less-happy peers. Happy people are viewed as friendlier, smarter, warmer, less selfish, more self-confident, and more socially skilled — even more physically attractive.
错。实际上，研究表明人们发现快乐的人比不那么快乐的人更受欢迎。快乐的人被认为是更友善、更温暖、更无私、更自信、更擅长社交的——甚至在外表上也更迷人。
2. Nothing changes a person’s happiness level much.
2、“人们的快乐水平不能被改变多少。”
It’s true that there’s a powerful genetic link to happiness — usually it’s estimated to be about forty to fifty percent. Some people are born more Tigger-ish, and others are born more Eeyore-ish. And it’s also true that people are amazingly adaptive, both to good and bad fortune. Human resilience is extraordinary.
的确，快乐和各人的基因有较强的联系——通常这种联系占到百分之四十到百分之五十。有些人生来就是个乐天派（就像跳跳虎一样），有些人则更悲观（就像小驴屹耳）。并且确实人们有强大的适应性，无论是对好运还是厄运。人类的适应力是惊人的。
However, adaptation has its limits.
不过，适应也是有其局限性的。
3. Aggressively venting anger relieves it.
3、“带着敌意发泄怒气就算是排遣。”
Wrong. Contrary to popular notion, aggressive “venting” doesn’t relieve bad feelings, but fuels them. Studies show that blowing up, punching a pillow, yelling, or slamming doors makes you feel worse, not better.
错。与人们的通常观点恰恰相反，带着敌意的“发泄”不仅不能排遣不良情绪，反而火上浇油。研究表明，发火、打枕头、大吼或摔门只会让你觉得更糟，而不是更好。
Although we think we act because of the way we feel, in fact, we often feel because of the way we act.
尽管我们认为我们的感受导致了我们的行动，事实上，往往是我们的行动导致了我们的感受。
4. You’ll be happier if you insist on “the best.”
4、“如果你坚持要‘最好的’，你就会快乐。”
Maybe not. As Barry Schwartz explains in his fascinating book, The Paradox of Choice, there are two types of decision makers. Satisficers (yes, satisficers) make a decision once their criteria are met; when they find the hotel or the pasta sauce that has the qualities they want, they’re satisfied. Maximizers want to make the best possible decision; even if they see a bicycle that meets their requirements, they can’t make a decision until they’ve examined every option.
或许不是这样。就像Barry Schwartz在他很有意思的书《选择的矛盾》里阐释的那样，做决定的人分为两种。“易于满足者”（对，就叫“易于满足者”）只要是自己的要求得以满足就做出决定，一旦发现一间酒店或者意大利面酱合乎他们心意，他们就满足了。而“尽善尽美者”总想着做出最好的决定，就算他们看到一辆合乎自己要求的自行车，他们也不会做出决定——直到他们把所有的备选自行车都研究过一遍后。
5. A “treat” will cheer you up.
5、“‘奖励’会让你开心起来。”
It depends on what you choose. Treating yourself to a long walk in the park, say, is a good idea – but the things we choose as “treats” frequently aren’t good for us. When you’re feeling blue or overwhelmed, it’s tempting to try to pick yourself up by indulging in a guilty pleasure, but unfortunately, the pleasure lasts a minute, and then feelings of guilt, loss of control, and other negative consequences just deepen the blues.
这取决于你选的是什么“奖励”。比如，奖励自己一次公园散步是个不错的主意，但我们所选的“奖励”通常是对我们无益的。当你觉得低落、无助，它们会把你卷入一种“愧疚的欢乐”从而让你开心起来，但不幸的是，快乐只持续一会儿，接踵而至的就是愧疚感、失控感和其它消极的感觉，它们会让你更低落。
6. Money can’t buy happiness.
6、“金钱不能买到快乐。”
Well, money can’t buy happiness, but it sure can buy lots of things that contribute mightily to happiness.
的确，金钱不能买到快乐，但金钱可以买到很多很容易让你感到快乐的东西。
As the current financial downturn is making vividly clear, money contributes to happiness mostly in the negative; the lack of it brings much more unhappiness than possessing it brings happiness. (Good health is the same way – it’s easy to take money or health for granted until you don’t have it anymore.) People’s biggest worries include financial anxiety, health concerns, job insecurity, and having to do tiring and boring chores. Spent right, money can go a long way to relieving these problems.
最近经济低迷的形势越来越明显，金钱对于快乐的作用往往是负面的，比起拥有金钱给人快乐来说，失去金钱带给人的痛苦感觉更明显。（健康也是一样，失去了才会珍惜。）人们最担心的就是金钱问题，健康问题，就业问题，然后才是累人无聊的琐事。
7. Doing “random acts of kindness” brings happiness.
7、“做‘随手的善事’会让你快乐。”
Half wrong. It is true that studies show that if you commit a random act of kindness, you’ll feel happier. What’s considered a “random act of kindness”? Giving a flower to a stranger, paying the toll for the car behind you, or putting coins in someone’s meter are typical examples.
半对半错。研究表明随手行善后的人的确会更快乐。那什么是“随手的善事”？给陌生人一束花，为后边那辆车交过路费，在别人的停车收费器里放上几枚硬币，这些都是典型的例子。
Doing something thoughtful for someone else is a surefire way to make yourself happier. Do good, feel good.
做几件为别人着想的善事绝对会让你觉得更快乐。做好事，收获好心情。
8. You’ll be happy as soon as you…
8、“你只要...就会觉得快乐。”
We often imagine that we’ll be happy as soon as we get a job/make partner/get tenure/get married/get that promotion/have a baby/move. As a writer, I often find myself imagining some happy future: “Once I sell this proposal…” or “Once this book comes out…”
我们总想象自己一旦找到了工作/交到了男女朋友/就任要职/结婚/升职/有了孩子/跳槽（搬家？）了，就会觉得快乐。作为一个作家，我常发现自己在幻想一些未来发生的美事：“我一旦把这点子卖出去了...”（？）或者“这本书一出版...”
In his book Happier, Tal Ben-Shahar calls this the “arrival fallacy,” the belief that when you arrive at a certain destination, you’ll be happy. (Other fallacies include the “floating world fallacy,” the belief that immediate pleasure, cut off from future purpose, can bring happiness, and the “nihilism fallacy,” the belief that it’s not possible to become happier.) The arrival fallacy is a fallacy because arriving rarely makes you as happy as you expect.
在著作《更快乐》中，Tal Ben-Shahar把这种行为称作“抵达错觉”——相信自己到了某个目的地，就会变得快乐。（其它错觉有“悬浮世界错觉”，相信当前的、不理会未来后果的快乐；“虚无主义错觉”，相信人不可能变得更快乐。）“抵达错觉”其实是种谬误，因为现实往往会和你的理想有差距，让你失望不乐。
9. Spending some time alone will make you feel better.
9、“花点时间独处会让你感觉更好。”
Wrong. Although it can be tempting to take a “personal day” when you’re feeling blue, or to isolate yourself until you feel better, you’re better off doing just the opposite.
错误。尽管情绪低落时给自己独处的一天或与世隔绝直到感觉好点能是件好事，你最好还是别这么干。
Note: I wish that in this post, I’d made it clearer that I wasn’t talking about restorative, peaceful solitude, which most people crave to a greater or lesser degree (I certainly need enormous quantities, myself) — but rather the drained, can’t-get-off-the-couch kind of isolation that sometimes sets in when you’re feeling too blue to connect with others. In that state, pushing yourself to see other people is likely to give a lift.
注：我希望在这期文章里，我能够清晰地声明我不是在讨论人们或多或少都在渴望的康复良药——平静健康的独处（事实上我自己也需要大量独处），我指的是你低落到不想与人接触时可能会陷入的、颓靡的、甚至在沙发上久卧不起的那种独处。如果你处于那种状态，你要强迫自己和人交往，这样才对你有好处。
10. It’s selfish to try to be happier.
10、“变快乐是自私的。”
Myth No. 10 is the most pernicious myth about happiness. It comes in a few varieties. One holds that “In a world so full of suffering, you can be happy only if you’re callous and self-centered.” Another one is “Happy people become wrapped up in their own pleasure; they’re complacent and uninterested in the world.”
这第十条误区是最最有害的一条。这种误区有很多种表现。一种人觉得“这个世界上有很多人在受苦，你快乐了，就说明你冷漠自私。”另一种人觉得“快乐的人沉浸在自己的欢乐中，他们洋洋自得，对外界漠不关心。”
Wrong. Studies show that, quite to the contrary, happier people are more likely to help other people, they’re more interested in social problems, they do more volunteer work, and they contribute more to charity.
大错特错。研究表明，与这种观点截然不同的是，快乐的人更倾向于帮助别人，他们对社会问题更加关注，他们做更多的志愿工作，他们对慈善事业更加热心。
Agree? Disagree? Am I missing an important myth?
以上的，你们同意吗？或者我有没有漏掉一个重要误区？
I may miss a few posts, but you can still get a daily Moment of Happiness with a happiness quotation in your email inbox! Sign up here or email me at gretchenrubin1 at gmail.com.
我可能会暂停几期文章，但你依然可以每天在电子邮箱里收到一份《快乐时刻》，里面有关于快乐的语录。只要在这儿报名订阅或者给我发邮件（gretchenrubin1@gmail.com）
联系客服
