TED演讲:选择的困惑(1)

 I'm going to talk to you about some stuff¹ that's in this book of mine that I hope will resonate with other things you've already heard, 我想在这里谈谈我这本书里的部分内容，希望它和你们已经听到过的一些事物引起共鸣，

and I'll try to make some connections myself, in case you missed them. 如果有哪些你们不清楚的，我在这里会试着帮你把它们联系起来。

But I want to start with what I call the "official dogma." 我想从一个公认的信条讲起。

The official dogma of what? The official dogma of all Western industrial societies. 什么样的公认的信条呢？就是整个西方工业社会所笃信不疑的一个信条。

And the official dogma runs like this: if we are interested in maximizing the welfare of our citizens, 这个信条是这么说的：如果我们要想使民众获得最大限度的福利，

the way to do that is to maximize individual freedom. 其方法就是使个人自由达到最大化。

The reason for this is both that freedom is in and of itself good, valuable, worthwhile, essential to being human. 原因就是自由这东西在与本身就是美好的，具有价值，为人们所必需。

And because if people have freedom, then each of us can act on our own to do the things that will maximize our welfare, 另外，一旦人们有了自由，我们每个人都可以自己做主，用各种办法最大限度地获得福利，

and no one has to decide on our behalf². The way to maximize freedom is to maximize choice. 用不着别人来替我们做主。使自由达到极大化的途径就是最大限度的增加选择性。

The more choice people have, the more freedom they have, and the more freedom they have, the more welfare they have. 人们的选择越多，自由也就越多，自由越多，得到的福利也就越多。

This, I think, is so deeply embedded³ in the water supply that it wouldn't occur to anyone to question it. 我觉得，这个观念就像掺进了我们的自来水里那样根深蒂固，以至于没人想起来会对它提出疑问。

And it's also deeply embedded in our lives. 同样这个观念也深嵌于我们的日常生活之中。

I'll give you some examples of what modern progress has made possible for us. 我来给你们举些例子，看看当代社会的进步发展让我们变得有可能做些什么事。

1 stuff   

n.原料，材料，东西；vt.填满；吃饱

参考例句：

• We could supply you with the stuff in the raw tomorrow.明天我们可以供应你原材料。
• He is not the stuff.他不是这个材料。

2 behalf   

n.利益，方面；支持，赞成

参考例句：

• Ken is not present,so I shall accept the prize on his behalf.肯没有出席，所以我将代表他领奖。
• They fixed on him to speak on their behalf.他们已经确定他作为代表发言。

3 embedded   

a.扎牢的

参考例句：

• an operation to remove glass that was embedded in his leg 取出扎入他腿部玻璃的手术
• He has embedded his name in the minds of millions of people. 他的名字铭刻在数百万人民心中。