On Vanity 關(guān)于虛榮心

Jessica Dang

Why do we buy stuff？ Not everything we buy is useful， so there must be other reasons why we work so hard to buy things.

Maybe its because we find a sense of happiness or satisfaction when we buy something new， but we all know that that feeling soon fades （even though we almost never remember this every time we buy something new）.

Why we buy stuff has less to do with the object itself than with ourselves. When we buy expensive clothes， the newest gadgets2 or a flashy3 car， its because we believe it will give us recognition from the people around us—well “show” them how successful we are so that theyll accept us， or even love us.

Humans crave4 recognition. To be part of a group， or at least not be in some elses shadow， most people are more influenced by what other people think of them than what they actually want themselves.

Think about it—if everyone in the world disappeared tomorrow and you were the only one left （apart from the upset you would have from losing your friends and loved ones）， what would you do now that you could have anything you desired？

You could just walk into someones mansion5， even the most beautiful castle， and have it all to yourself. You could pick and choose anyones finest clothing and jewelry， even put on the crown6 if you wanted to！Drive a Ferrari， swim in bank notes， have hundreds of iPhones. But after a while， what would happen？ With no one to impress， the chances are that youll find somewhere more convenient and easier to maintain than a huge house， youll wear clothes that are more comfortable， youll drive something more practical and youll get bored of the latest gadget.

Things you thought were worth a lot wont matter as much any more. Youre the last person on earth. Theres nothing left but to find something worthwhile to do， something that makes you happy， not anyone else.

If no one was around to validate7 our existence， as society has defined by how much stuff we have， we wouldnt actually care about it. Hardly anyone would actually choose to have their lifes purpose revolve8 around buying things， but so many people do exactly that every day， without stopping to question it.

We dont have to go as far as erasing9 every other person on Earth. If we just cared a little less about what other people think， wed care a little more about what we want， and what really matters to us.

我們?yōu)槭裁促I東西？不是我們買的東西都有用，所以我們樂(lè)此不疲地買東西一定有別的原因。

也許是因?yàn)槲覀冊(cè)谫I新東西時(shí)得到了幸福感或滿足感，但我們都知道這種感覺(jué)很快就會(huì)消褪（盡管我們每次買新東西時(shí)幾乎都不會(huì)記得這一點(diǎn)）。

我們買東西的原因與其說(shuō)是在于物品本身，不如說(shuō)是在于我們自己。當(dāng)我們買昂貴的衣服、最新的小玩意或華而不實(shí)的汽車時(shí)，那是因?yàn)槲覀兿嘈潘鼤?huì)給我們帶來(lái)周圍人的認(rèn)可——我們會(huì)向他們“展示”我們是多么成功，于是他們會(huì)接受我們，甚至喜歡我們。

人類渴望得到認(rèn)可。為了融入一個(gè)群體，或者至少不是活在別人的影子里，大多數(shù)人更多地是被別人對(duì)他們的看法而不是他們真正想要的所影響。

想想看，如果明天世界上的所有人都消失了，而你是剩下的唯一一個(gè)人（不考慮失去你的朋友和你愛(ài)的人們的煩惱的話），你可以得到你想要的任何東西，于是你現(xiàn)在會(huì)做什么？

你可以走進(jìn)別人的豪宅，甚至是最美麗的城堡，把一切都留給自己。你可以挑選任何最好的衣服和珠寶，如果你想要的話，甚至可以戴上皇冠！你可以駕駛一輛法拉利，在鈔票里游泳，擁有成百上千的蘋果手機(jī)。但之后會(huì)發(fā)生什么？你沒(méi)有人可以展示，你很可能會(huì)發(fā)現(xiàn)某個(gè)地方比大房子更方便、更容易維護(hù)，你會(huì)穿著更舒適的衣服，你會(huì)駕駛更實(shí)用的車，你會(huì)厭倦最新的小玩意。

你之前認(rèn)為很有價(jià)值的東西不再那么重要了。你是世界上唯一的一個(gè)人。除了去做值得做的事，去做讓你自己快樂(lè)而不是讓別人快樂(lè)的事情之外，什么都沒(méi)有意義。

如果沒(méi)有人來(lái)彰顯我們的存在，就像社會(huì)通過(guò)我們擁有多少東西來(lái)定義我們一樣，那么我們就不會(huì)真的去在意。幾乎沒(méi)有人會(huì)選擇讓自己的人生目標(biāo)圍繞著購(gòu)買東西而展開，但有很多人每天都在做這件事，卻沒(méi)有停下來(lái)去質(zhì)疑。

我們不必去消滅地球上的每一個(gè)人。如果我們少在意一點(diǎn)別人的想法，我們就會(huì)更關(guān)心我們自己想要什么，什么對(duì)我們來(lái)說(shuō)才是重要的。

Notes：

1. vanity n. 虛榮心；浮華；無(wú)價(jià)值的東西

2. gadget n. 小玩意；小配件

3. flashy adj. 閃光的；俗麗的

4. crave vt. 渴望；懇求

5. mansion n. 大廈；宅邸

6. crown n. 王冠

7. validate vt. 證實(shí)；確認(rèn)

8. revolve vi. 旋轉(zhuǎn)；循環(huán)出現(xiàn)；反復(fù)考慮

9. erase vt. 抹去；擦除