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不快樂是人類進化的需要嗎？
2013-08-27 11:53
來源：WSJ
作者：
Does Evolution Want Us To Be Unhappy?
Samuel Johnson called it the vanity of human wishes, and Buddhists talk about the endless cycle of desire. Social psychologists say we get trapped on a hedonic treadmill. What they all mean is that we wish, plan and work for things that we think will make us happy, but when we finally get them, we aren't nearly as happy as we thought we'd be.
塞繆爾·詹森(Samuel Johnson)稱之為人生希望的空幻，佛教徒在談論欲望的輪迴，社會心理學家則說，我們被困在一架「快樂水車」上。他們的意思都是說，我們認為自己會因獲得某些東西而快樂，於是我們憧憬這些東西，並為之籌劃和努力，但當我們最終得到這些東西時，卻遠不如當初想像的那麼快樂。
Summer makes this particularly vivid. All through the busy winter I longed and planned and saved for my current vacation. I daydreamed about peaceful summer days in this beautiful village by the Thames with nothing to do but write. Sure enough, the first walk down the towpath was sheer ecstasy -- but by the fifth, it was just another walk. The long English evenings hang heavy, and the damned book I'm writing comes along no more easily than it did in December.
對我來說，這一點在今年夏季得到十分生動的印證。在整個繁忙的冬季，我一直期待這個假期，並且在做計劃和存錢。我幻想在寧靜的夏日待在泰晤士河(Thames)沿岸這座美麗的村莊裡，除了寫作什麼也不做。當然了，第一次沿著河邊纖道漫步時絕對有種欣喜若狂的感覺──但到了第五次，就變成稀鬆平常的散步了。英國漫長的夜晚無聊透頂，而我手頭這本該死的書寫起來並不比去年12月的時候簡單。
This looks like yet another example of human irrationality. But the economist Arthur Robson has an interesting evolutionary explanation. Evolution faces what economists call a principal-agent problem. Evolution is the principal, trying to get organisms (its agents) to increase their fitness. But how can it get those dumb animals to act in accordance with this plan? (This anthropomorphic language is just a metaphor, of course -- a way of saying that the fitter organisms are more likely to survive and reproduce. Evolution doesn't have intentions.)
這看起來像是說明人類非理性的又一例證。但經濟學家阿瑟?羅布森(Arthur Robson)給出了一種有趣的進化論解釋：進化面對的是一個被經濟學家稱為「委託-代理問題」的困局，進化是委託人，它試圖增強生物體（其代理人）的適應性。但它怎樣才能讓那些愚蠢的動物按照這一計劃行事呢？（當然，這種擬人化的語言只是個隱喻──藉此說明適應性較強的生物體更易生存和繁衍。進化本身是沒有意志的。）
For simple organisms like slugs, evolution can build in exactly the right motivations (move toward food and away from light). But it is harder with a complicated, cognitive organism like us. We act by imagining many alternative futures and deciding among them. Our motivational system has to be designed so that we do this in a way that tends to improve our fitness.
對蛞蝓這種簡單的生物體來說，進化可以為他們置入精確的動機（向食物移動，並遠離光線），但對於我們人類這樣複雜的、有認知能力的生物體來說則比較難。我們會設想許多種未來的選擇方案，從中做出選擇，繼而採取行動。我們的動機系統必須經過設計，使我們能以傾向於增強適應性的方式行動。
Suppose I am facing a decision between two alternative futures. I can stay where I am or go on to the next valley where the river is a bit purer, the meadows a bit greener and the food a bit better. My motivational system ensures that when I imagine the objectively better future it looks really great, far better than all the other options -- I'll be so happy! So I pack up and move. From evolution's perspective that is all to the good: My fitness has increased.
假設我要在未來兩種選擇中做出一項選擇。我可以停留在原地，也可以繼續前往下一個河水更清一點兒、草坪更綠一點兒、食物更美味一點兒的山谷。我的動機系統確保當我想像客觀上更好的未來時，會感覺這種選擇很棒，比其他所有選擇都要棒得多──我會非常快樂！於是我收拾起行囊向前走。從進化的角度來看，這一切都是向好的：我的適應性增強了。
But now suppose that I have actually already made the decision. I am in the next valley. It does me no additional good to continue admiring the river, savoring the green of the meadow and the taste of the fruit. I acted, I have gotten the benefit, and feeling happy now is, from evolution's perspective, just a superfluous luxury.
但現在假設我實際上已經做出了決定。我已經到了下一個山谷。繼續觀賞河水、欣賞綠草、品嘗水果並不能讓我獲得更多益處。我已經採取了行動並從中獲益，現在從進化角度來說，感覺快樂只是多餘的奢侈。
Wanting to be happy and imagining the happy future made me act in a way that really did make me better off; feeling happy now doesn't help. To keep increasing my fitness, I should now imagine the next potential source of happiness that will help me to make the next decision. (Doesn't that tree just over the next hill have even better fruit?)
希望獲得快樂以及想像快樂的未來讓我採取了確實能讓我境遇改善的行動；而現在感覺快樂則無助於改善境遇。要繼續增強適應性，我現在應該想像能幫助我做出下一個決定的新的潛在快樂源泉。（下一座山的樹上是不是有更好吃的水果？）
It is as if every time we make a decision that actually makes us better off, evolution resets our happiness meter to zero. That prods us to decide to take the next action, which will make us even better off -- but no happier.
似乎我們每次做出一個真正能改善處境的決定時，進化就會把我們的快樂計量儀歸零。這會促使我們決定採取下一次行動，會進一步改善我們的境遇──但不會讓我們更快樂。
Of course, I care about what I want, not what evolution wants. But what do I want? Should I try to be better off objectively even if I don't feel any happier? After all, the Thames really is beautiful, the meadows are green, the food -- well, it's better in England than it used to be. And the book really is getting done.
當然，我在乎的是我要什麼，而不是進化要什麼。但我想要什麼呢？我是否應該努力改善自己的客觀處境，即便我並不會感到更快樂？畢竟，泰晤士河真的很美，草坪很綠，吃的嘛──英國菜比以前好吃了。我的書也寫得差不多了。
Or would it be better to defy evolution, step off the treadmill of desire and ambition and just rest serenely at home in Buddhist contentment? At least we humans can derive a bit of happiness, however fleeting, from asking these questions, perhaps because the answers always seem to be just over the next hill.
或者，如果我們反抗進化，跳下欲望和雄心的水車，只是帶著佛家知足的心境，在家中靜靜地休息會不會更好呢？至少，我們人類能夠從提出這些問題中獲得一點快樂（不管這快樂是多麼短暫），也許是因為答案似乎永遠在下一座山上。
（實習編輯：於曉偉）
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