送禮是一門學問，會送禮的人可以得到他人的歡心。禮物雖小，卻能反映出送禮人的心意和用意，同時也代表送禮人的眼光和品位。快來看看如何挑選禮物吧！
What's the worst holiday gift you've ever received?
你收到過的最糟糕的節日禮物是什麼？
For me, it's easy.
要我說的話，這個很容易回答。
My mom used to consider Chanukah a belated back-to-school holiday.
我媽媽曾經認為光明節是一個推遲的返校假期。
We would get binders, pens, staplers.
我們（在那天）會收到活頁夾、鋼筆、訂書機。
Once my mom wrapped this huge mystery present that my sister thought was a dollhouse.
有一次，我媽把一個神秘大禮裹了起來，我姐姐還以為是一個玩具屋。
But it wasn't a dollhouse.
但那不是玩具屋。
It was a trash can.
而是一個垃圾桶。
Most of us are actually terrible at giving gifts.
事實上，我們大多數人都不擅長送禮物。
About $70 billion worth of presents are returned every year in the U. S.
在美國，每年大約有價值700億美元的禮物被退回。
So how do we get. . . less terrible?
那我們該怎麼做才能不這麼慘呢？
Here are 3 ways to improve your gift-giving game around the holidays.
這兒有3種方法可以用來提升在節假日期間送禮物的技巧。
Research has shown that givers are obsessed with the moment of unwrapping a gift even more than the gift itself.
研究表明，送禮者更喜歡拆開禮物那一刻的感覺，而不是禮物本身。
We envision the look of delirious happiness and the ecstatic exclamations.
想像他們（收到禮物時）狂喜的神情和驚呼。
Ironically, givers are selfish.
諷刺的是，送禮的人很自私。
We want something from giving: those looks of delight.
我們想從給予中獲得某些東西:那些快樂的表情。
Those exclamations.
那些驚呼。
This is why items like hyper-specific kitchen gadgets and fancy vintage clocks all seem like fantastic gifts.
所以，像別致的廚具和精緻的古董鍾這樣的東西看起來都是很棒的禮物。
But it turns out, recipients often want things that are far more practical -- things they can actually use.
但事實證明，收禮者通常想要些更實用的東西——他們能真正使用的東西。
In one study, researchers asked givers and recipients to rate gifts along two metrics: Desirability, like a fancy but complicated coffee maker, and feasibility, like a coffee maker you can actually use without studying the instructions.
在一項研究中，研究人員讓送禮者和收禮者根據兩項指標給禮物打分:受歡迎程度，就像一個高端但複雜的咖啡壺；和可行性，比如一個不用看說明就能用的咖啡壺。
They found that givers reliably chose the desirable gifts.
他們發現送禮者確實會選擇理想型的禮物。
But recipients preferred feasibility.
但收禮者更喜歡實用型的禮物。
So what's the most practical gift you can give that people might actually be grateful for?
那麼，你送出的最能讓人感動的禮物是什麼呢？
When economists study gift giving, they're very concerned with one thing: waste.
當經濟學家研究贈送禮物時，他們非常關注一件事:浪費。
Let's "hypothetically" say that my grandmother buys me a sweater that I hate, and your grandmother also buys you sweater that you hate.
就比如說奶奶給我買了一件我不喜歡的毛衣，你奶奶也給你買了一件你不喜歡的毛衣。
(Sorry, grandmothers! )Before long, we're talking about billions of dollars in waste in the economy.
（奶奶，我錯了！）用不了多久，我們就會談到經濟中數十億美元的浪費。
Economists call it "deadweight loss" and they estimate that up to 30% of the value of all gifts is wasted.
經濟學家稱之為「無謂損失」，他們估計所有禮物中有高達30%的價值被浪費了。
That means -- the company wasted time making the gift, the giver wasted time buying it, and the recipients wasted time returning it.
這意味著公司浪費了時間製作禮物，送禮者浪費時間買禮物，收禮者浪費時間還禮物。
There's a way to fix this.
有個辦法可以解決這個問題。
There is a very specific gift that is always worth the exact same to both giver and receiver.
有一份非常特別的禮物，它對送禮者和收受者的價值都是一樣的。
The good thing about cash is that the receiver can always make use of 100 percent of its value.
現金的好處是接受方總是可以百分之百利用它的價值。
The bad thing about cold, hard cash is that. . . it's cold.
不好的地方在於，沒有溫度。
It doesn't say anything except,"Here's some money."So this is a conundrum.
它的意思只是「給你些錢」，別的什麼也表達不了，所以這是個難題。
How do we design a gift-giving formula that is as efficient as cash and as sentimental as you want to be?
我們如何設計一個送禮的程式，既能像現金一樣有效，又能像你希望的那樣情感豐富？
A good way to get what you want is shocker!
有個一舉兩得的好辦法，它會讓你震驚的。
To tell people what you want.
那就是告訴人們你想要的東西。
A 2011 study looked at Amazon wish lists to determine if people were more appreciative of gifts from the list versus gifts that were total surprises.
2011年的一項研究調查了亞馬遜的願望清單，以確定人們是更喜歡清單上的禮物，還是更喜歡讓他們驚喜的禮物。
It turned out that people got gifts that weren't on their list, they actually saw them as less thoughtful and less personal.
結果人們收到的禮物不在他們的清單上，他們便認為對方不夠體貼，不夠有個性。
Surprise is overrated -- we're happier to get what we ask for.
「驚喜」這個因素被高估了——我們更樂於得到我們想要的東西。
We do everything we can to keep gifts top secret: We wrap them so they don't look like they came from a store.
我們盡一切可能去保密:把禮物包裝起來，這樣它們看起來就不會像從商店買來的。
We tear the price tags off.
我們把價籤撕下來。
But we are spending money here.
但依然是花了錢。
If you want to make your gift count, some obsessing about the moment of unwrapping and surprise.
如果你想讓禮物有價值，要知道一些人會沉迷於打開禮物時的驚喜。
Find out what the people that you love want-- and get it for them.
去發現你愛的人想要什麼，然後送給他們。
This is You Are Here, a show about the science of everyday life.
這裡是You Are Here，一檔關於日常生活科學的節目。
I'm Derek Thompson.
我是Derek Thompson。
Thank you for watching.
感謝您的收看。