These days, there are so many choices to labor through, from the most basic, such as paper or plastic at thegrocery(食品杂货店)checkout counter, to the nearly suicide-inducing, such as the friends-and-family plan or unlimited texting.
In these tough times, the abundance of life-changing decisions—finances, health care, career moves—can beoverwhelming(压倒性的,势不可挡的). But don’t take it from me. Ask the guy who wrote the book The Psychology of Judgment and Decision Making. That would be Scott Plous, a psychology professor at Wesleyan University. “There’s no question that we have more choices than ever before, Plous agreed. “And decisions are generally harder and more time-consuming when there are lots of alternatives.
Even Steve Jobs, whose technology allows us the misery of 18,000 music selections in our pockets, has to counteract so many choices by wearing the same outfit—blue jeans, blackturtleneck(高领翻毛衣), New Balance sneakers—every single day of his life. With every move you make, you’re bombarded withpredicaments(窘况,困境)from the banal to the extraordinary, and you obviously can’t trust yourself to make the right decisions anymore—look where that’s gotten you.
I know I’m not alone in this. We’re all feeling a little needy. Whom can we turn to? Friends and family always have their own agendas; therapists are useless. So, who’s left?
Strangers, of course. They’re everywhere.
“Excuse me, I said to the woman behind me one morning in the queue at Dunkin’ Donuts. “I’m currently asking strangers to make all my decisions. Would you mind picking out a dozendoughnuts(甜甜圈)for me?
“I’ll order two, but then you’re on your own, she said.
“Never mind.
Everyone knows the first two doughnuts are the easy ones.
“I’ll do it, but you’ll have to tell me what you like, agangly(身材瘦长的)woman who had overheard theprevious exchange said.
“Thanks, but that kind of defeats my purpose, I responded. “As long as you’re paying, a thick-armed guy shrugged at me just as it was his turn to order.
He attacked the chore withglee(快乐,欢欣). His choices were a blur of glaze and frosting. He stopped only once, looked back at me and said, “Sprinkles, two sprinkles, and they fell into the box with the majesty of a fireworks grand finale.
It was a win-win, a successful random act ofindecision(优柔寡断,犹豫不决)(RAI). And I was striking a blow for science. “Your experiment will reveal how much pleasure in a dessert comes from it simply being a dessert, rather than a dessert that you would have chosen, Plous had observed. “In many cases, the difference in benefit between two choices is smaller than we’d guess.
This may be the best idea I’ve ever had. For two weeks, Irelinquished(放弃,放手)control over my decisions. I turned thereins(肾脏,腰部)over to perfect strangers.
At a Starbucks, I wasperspiring(流汗)heavily from a bike ride when I started to ask the woman beside me what I wanted to drink. She cut me off midway through myspiel(流利夸张的讲话)about how I was conducting a social experiment andwhatnot(放古董的架子,不可名状的东西).
“Just have a water, she said, snatching a bottle from the front case and thrusting it at me.
She herself ordered something that took thebarista(咖啡师)11 moves to make, but I was suddenly a model of simplicity: a sweaty man drinking cold water.
Moments later, I asked a man at the newsstand if I should become a night shaver instead of a morning shaver. I always wanted to be a night shaver—go to bed cleanly shaven and wake up with sexystubble(发茬,须茬)that would bealluring(诱惑的)until at least noon and...
“Absolutely not, the gentleman said.
I’m sure he’s right.
Later in the day, when I asked a sandy-haired woman at Old Navy to pick out a shirt for me, she quickly devoted herself to the cause.
“I want you to have acrisper(保鲜盒), cleaner look, she exclaimed.
I was still feeling crisp and clean when I stopped at the library. The mission: to give a stranger the chore of selecting a book for me to read.
“You sure? Picking out a book... that’s kind of an intimate decision, the chosen one said. She was sitting at a tiny table with a little boy and looking up at me as if I were one more irritation in an already long day. But once I said I was positive, she popped up as if she’d just adopted me.
2017届高考英语一轮复习课时训练:Unit 24 Society
2016届安徽省高考英语二轮高效课时检测:14 动词的时态和语态
2016届安徽省高考英语二轮高效课时检测:13 非谓语动词
2017届高考英语一轮基础知识复习:Unit 2 English around the world(新人教版必修1)
2016届安徽省高考英语二轮高效课时检测:6 词形变化
2017届高考英语一轮复习课时训练:Unit 1 Lifestyles
2016届安徽省高考英语二轮高效课时检测:20 议论文
2017届高考英语一轮复习课时训练:Unit 10 Money
2017届高考英语一轮复习课时训练:Unit 3 Celebration
2016届安徽省高考英语二轮高效课时检测:24 细节理解
2017届高考英语一轮基础知识复习:Unit 1 Great Scientists(新人教版必修5)
2017届高考英语一轮复习课时训练:Unit 6 Design
2017届高考英语一轮专题突破解题策略课件:7 必修4 阅读理解之七选五(新人教版)
2017届高考英语一轮复习课时训练:Unit 12 Culture Shock
2016届安徽省高考英语二轮高效课时检测:4 并列句和复合句
2017届高考英语一轮复习课时训练:Unit 7 The Sea
2016届安徽省高考英语二轮高效课时检测:25 介词和介词短语
2017届高考英语一轮基础知识复习:Unit 2 Cloning(新人教版选修8)
2016届安徽省高考英语二轮高效课时检测:7 信息归纳
2017届高考英语一轮复习课时训练:Unit 8 Adventure
2017届高考英语一轮专题突破解题策略课件:6 必修3 阅读理解之写作目的与观点态度题(新人教版)
2017届高考英语一轮基础知识复习:Unit 2 Healthy eating(新人教版必修3)
2016届安徽省高考英语二轮高效课时检测:9 提纲类
2016届安徽省高考英语二轮高效课时检测:5 代词和数词
2017届高考英语一轮复习课时训练:Unit 4 Cyberspace
2017届高考英语一轮专题突破解题策略课件:10 必修5 完形填空之逻辑推理不严密(新人教版)
2017届高考英语一轮专题突破解题策略课件:12 选修6 完形填空之对作者的写作意图不明了(新人教版)
2016届安徽省高考英语二轮高效课时检测:12 动词和动词短语
2016届安徽省高考英语二轮高效课时检测:19 填写原词
2017届高考英语一轮复习课时训练:Unit 9 Wheels
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