新视野第大学英语读写教程2-(第三版)-unit-6-课文原文

Doorcloser,areyou?1 Thenexttimeyou'redecidingbetween rival options,onewhichisprimaryandtheotherwhichis secondary,askyourselfthisquestion:Whatwould XiangYu do?2 XiangYuwasaChinese imperial generalinthethirdcenturyBCwhotookhistroopsacrossthe ZhangRiver ona raid intoenemyterritory. Tohistroops'astonishment,heorderedtheircookingpotscrushedandtheirsailingshipsburned.3 Heexplainedthathewasimposingonthemanecessityforattainingvictoryovertheir opponents. Whathesaidwassurelymotivating,butitwasn'treallyappreciatedbymanyofhis loyal soldiersastheywatchedtheir vessels goupinflames. Butthe genius ofGeneralXiangYu's conviction wouldbe validated bothonthebattlefieldandinmodernsocialscienceresearch. GeneralXiangYuwasarare exception tothenorm,a veteran leaderwhowashighlyrespectedforhismany conquests andwhoachievedthe summit ofsuccess.4 Heisfeaturedin DanAriely's enlightening new publication, Predictably Irrational,afascinating investigation ofseeminglyirrationalhumanbehavior,suchasthetendencyforkeepingmultipleoptionsopen. Mostpeoplecan't marshal thewillforpainfulchoices,notevenstudentsatthe MassachusettsInstituteofTechnology(MIT),whereDr.Arielyteaches behavioral economics. Inanexperimentthatinvestigateddecision-making,hundredsofstudentscouldn'tbeartolettheiroptionsvanish,eventhoughitwascleartheywouldprofit fromdoingso.5 Theexperiment revolved aroundagamethateliminatedtheexcusesweusuallyhaveforrefusingtoletgo. Intherealworld,wecanalwayssay,"It'sgoodto preserve ouroptions." Wantagoodexample? Ateenagerisexhaustedfromsoccer,ballet,piano,andChineselessons,butherparentswon'tstopanyoneofthembecausetheymightcomeinhandysomeday!6 Intheexperiment sessions,studentsplayedacomputergamethatprovidedcashbehindthreedoorsappearingonthescreen. Therulewasthemoremoneyyouearned,thebetterplayeryouwere,givenatotalof100clicks. Everytimethestudentsopenedadoorbyclickingonit,theywoulduseuponeclickbutwouldn'tgetanymoney. However,eachsubsequentclickonthatdoorwouldearnafluctuating sumofmoney,withonedooralwaysrevealingmoremoneythantheothers. Theimportantpartoftherulewaseachdoorswitch,thoughhavingnocashvalue,wouldalsouseuponeofthe100clicks. Therefore,thewinningstrategywastoquicklycheckallthedoorsandkeepclickingontheonewiththeseeminglyhighestrewards.7 Whileplayingthegame,studentsnoticeda modified visual element:Anydoorleftun-clickedforashortwhilewouldshrinkinsizeandvanish. Sincetheyalreadyunderstoodthegame,theyshouldhaveignoredthevanishingdoors. Nevertheless,theyhurriedtoclickonthelesserdoorsbeforetheyvanished,tryingtokeepthemopen. Asaresult,theywastedsomanyclicksrushingbacktothevanishingdoorsthattheylostmoneyintheend. Whywerethestudentssoattachedtothelesserdoors? Theywouldprobably protestthattheywere clinging tothedoorstokeepfutureoptionsopen,but,accordingtoDr.Ariely,thatisn'tthetrue factor.8 Insteadoftheexcusetomaintainfutureoptionsopen, underneath itallthestudents'desirewastoavoidtheimmediate,thoughtemporary,painofwatchingoptionsclose. "Closingadooronanoptionisexperiencedasaloss,andpeoplearewillingtopayabigpricetoavoidtheemotionofloss,"Dr.Arielysays. Intheexperiment,thepricewaseasilymeasuredinlostcash. Inlife,thecorrespondingcostsareoftenlessobvioussuchaswastedtimeormissedopportunities.9 "Sometimesthesedoorsareclosingtooslowlyforustoseethemvanishing,"Dr.Arielywrites."Wemayworkmorehoursatourjobswithoutrealizingthatthechildhoodofoursonsanddaughtersisslippingaway."10 So,whatcanbedoneto restore balanceinourlives? Oneanswer,Dr.Arielysays,isto implement moreprohibitionsonoverbooking. Wecanworktoreduceoptionsonourown, delegating taskstoothersandevengivingawayideasforotherstopursue.Hepointstomarriageasanexample,"Inmarriage,wecreateasituationwherewepromiseourselvesnottokeepoptionsopen.Weclosedoorsandannouncetootherswe'vecloseddoors."11 Sinceconductingthedoorexperiment,Dr.Arielysayshehasmadeaconsciousefforttolessenhisload. Heurgestherestofustoresignfromcommittees, prune holidaycardlists,rethinkhobbiesandrememberthelessonsofdoorcloserslikeXiangYu.12 Inotherwords,Dr.Arielyisencouragingusto discard thosethingsthatseemtohave outward meritinfavorofthosethingsthatactuallyenrichourlives. Wearenaturally prejudiced tobelievethatmoreisbetter,butDr.Ariely'sresearchprovidesa dose ofrealitythatstronglysuggestsotherwise.13 Whatpricedowepayfortryingtohavemoreandmoreinlife? Whatpleasureandsatisfactioncanbederivedfromfocusingourenergyandattentioninamoreconcentratedfashion? Surely,wewillhaveour respective answers.14 Considertheseimportantquestions:Willwehavemorebyalwaysincreasingoptionsorwillwehavemorewithfewer,carefullychosenoptions? Whatdoorsshouldwecloseinordertoallowtherightwindowsofopportunityandhappinesstoopen?