经济学人·世界2018特辑 | 你现在开心吗？
HAPPINESS
Happy now
现在开心吗？
Modern life can both add to and subtract from well-being
现代生活对人们幸福感的影响可能有正有负
Bill Ridgers
比尔·瑞杰斯
《世界2018》英文版副主编
In 2018, Americans are expected to take 554m business trips—3.1% more than the year before, predicts the Global Business Travel Association, a trade group. That should be a cause for happiness. Business travel reflects economic confidence. And when firms are bullish[1], the population as a whole tends to share their glee because people are less likely to fret[2] about losing their job. They may also have more money to spend on nice things.
据国际商务旅行协会预计，2018年美国商务旅行总数将高达5.54亿次，比2017年增加3.1%。这本应让人欣喜，商务旅行反映了经济信心，倘若企业看好经济，整个社会都将更加乐观，因为人们不太会担心失业，也有更多钱来买好东西。
[1]bullish (adj.)
1）giving your opinions in a powerful and confident way 乐观的；充满信心的
2）A bullish financial market is one in which share prices are rising. 股票行情看涨的；牛市的
[2]fret：to be nervous or worried 烦躁不安；苦恼，发愁
She spent the day fretting about/over what she'd said to Nicky.
她为对尼基说的话而担心了一整天。
Yet pity the poor road warrior[3]. Those extra miles will mean more health problems, according to a study by academics at the University of Surrey in Britain and Lund University in Sweden. Among other ailments, the “hypermobile” suffer from premature ageing and an increased risk of heart attacks. They will also succumb[4]to more emotional stress, caused by isolation, loneliness and overwork. In large organisations frequent business travellers can be three times more likely to make a claim on their health insurance for a psychological problem than their desk-bound[5] colleagues.
但请对这些可怜的差旅人士报以怜悯之心。英国萨里大学（Surrey University）和瑞典隆德大学（Lund University）的学者研究显示，更多里程意味着更多健康问题。“极端频繁的差旅”会使人过早衰老，心脏病发作几率更高，患上其他疾病的风险也更大。他们还面对孤立、孤独和过度工作带来的额外情绪压力。大型组织中，经常出差的人士因心理问题索偿健康保险的概率比不出差的同事高三倍。
[3]road warrior：马路勇士，指经常旅行的人，特别是出公差的人
[4]succumb：to die or suffer badly from an illness 感染；病死；生病；受病痛折磨
Thousands of cows have succumbed to the disease in the past few months.
过去几个月里几千头奶牛都得了这种病。
[5]deskbound：used to refer to someone who has to work in an office, sitting at a desk 需要伏案工作的，做办公室工作的
When it comes to happiness, the modern world gives with one hand and takes with the other. A fine example is another thing that affects people at work, greater connectivity. By the end of 2018, a third of the world's population will own a smartphone, forecasts eMarketer, a research firm. And workers now have a dizzying number of ways to remain bonded to their offices.
在快乐方面，现代社会一面给予、一面夺走。其中一个很好的例子是更高的互联性。互联性也对职场人士有着深远影响，据研究机构eMarketer预测，截至2018年底，全世界三分之一的人将拥有智能手机。如今，将员工和其工作场所连接起来的方式多得让人目眩。
Some management scholars argue that this has resulted in a better work-life balance. As small tasks, such as answering an urgent e-mail, can be done quickly at home, workers need spend fewer hours at their desks and can increase their time with the family. Try telling that to spouses whose meals are interrupted by their partners' constantly bleeping phones. More researchers now tend to warn of the dangers of employees being “always on”. The unread e-mails people carry around in their pocket, or place on their bedside table at night, have become a source of anxiety. A competitive culture, in which employees dash off[6] missives[公函;公文] late at night to prove they are still hard at work, does not help.
某些管理学学者认为，这将让人们能更好地平衡工作和生活。如今，回复紧急邮件这样的小任务能迅速在家完成，这能让人们减少在办公桌后花的时间，从而有更多时间和家人共处。这话你去跟那些吃饭时配偶手机响个不停的人去说吧。更多研究者现在更倾向于警告“永远在线”对员工造成的危害。未读邮件会让人产生焦虑，无论是平时揣在兜里还是晚上放在床头柜上都一样。而不少公司文化还让员工竞相在深夜匆忙完成公文，这更是加深了他们的焦虑。
[6]dash off：to write something quickly, putting little effort into it 匆忙写下，随手写下
She dashed the letter off in five minutes.
她用5分钟时间匆忙写了那封信。
The evidence clearly suggests that constant connectivity is harming productivity, argues Annie McKee of the University of Pennsylvania and the author of “How to be Happy at Work”. When people are unable to switch off from the office, they become less smart and more cynical, she says. No wonder. In a study conducted in 2015 by Erin Reid of Boston University, professional-services firms were unable to tell which of their staff were working 80 hours a week and which 50.
《如何在职场得到快乐》（“How to be Happy at Work”）一书作者——宾夕法尼亚大学的安妮·麦基认为，证据清晰地显示，时时在线有损生产力。无时无刻都在处理公事会让人们智商下降，并且更加愤世嫉俗。波士顿大学叶林·雷德于2015年进行的一项研究发现，专业服务公司无法分辨自己哪些员工每周工作80小时和哪些每周工作50小时。
In 2018 more organisations will take notice. Many bosses realise it is self-defeating[7] to expect 24-hour fealty. Some will give guidelines on out-of-office working. Daimler, a carmaker, has a system that allows workers to delete e-mails automatically when they are on holiday. Today's younger employees are less likely to put up with a relentless work culture, thinks Ms McKee.
2018年将会有更多机构注意到这个现象。许多老板将会意识到，期望员工24小时在线会弄巧成拙。一些公司将制定关于在办公室之外工作的指引。汽车制造厂商戴姆勒的系统允许员工度假时设置自动删除邮件。麦基认为，现在年轻一些的员工也不大会忍受索求无度的工作文化。
[7]self-defeating：used to describe something that causes or makes worse the problem it was designed to avoid or solve 自我挫败的；适得其反的；弄巧成拙的
self-defeating regulations
弄巧成拙的规定
The importance of work to well-being is well documented. Since 2006, the American Psychological Association (APA) has reported on the most common causes of stress among Americans. Until recently, work had always been considered the greatest cause for anxiety. Over the past ten years stress among Americans has gradually decreased; in 2016 it was at its lowest since the survey began. But in 2017 anxiety was on the increase again. This time, the main driver was not work or money, but politics.
有充足文献表明，工作对幸福感十分重要。自2006年以来，美国心理学会（American Psychological Association，APA）就在报告最广泛影响美国人的压力源。直到最近，工作都是焦虑的最主要成因。过去十年间美国人受到的压力逐渐下降，2016年达到了这个调查有史以来的最低值，在2017年又有所增加，然而这次最重要的影响因素不是工作或是金钱，而是政治。
Stress seems to have been exacerbated[8] by social media. Those without social-media accounts worry less about the political future than those with one, according to the APA. Two out of five American adults say that political discussions on platforms such as Facebook and Twitter have produced anxiety. According to John Cacioppo, a loneliness expert at the University of Chicago, social media work well for those who already have an abundance of friends and family to interact with. Indeed, for such people, Facebook and the rest are likely to add to their happiness. But they have the opposite effect on the lonely. For them, these are merely a way to watch other people socialising, which entrenches[9] isolation.
社交媒体似乎对压力起到了推波助澜的作用。根据美国心理学会的调查，没有社交账户的人对政治未来的担忧比有社交账户的人少。每五个美国成年人中就有两个认为，脸书和推特等平台上的政治讨论让他们感到焦虑。芝加哥大学研究孤独的专家约翰·卡乔波认为，社交媒体对已经有不少亲朋好友可以来往的人来说挺有用，事实上，对此类人来说，脸书等可能增加其幸福感。但对孤独的人却不然，社交媒体不过让他们目睹其他人进行社交，这徒然增加了他们的孤独感。
[8]exacerbate：to make something that is already bad even worse 使恶化；使加重；使加剧
[9]entrench：to firmly establish something, especially an idea or a problem, so that it cannot be changed 使处于牢固地位，使根深蒂固，牢固确立（尤指观念、问题）
Help may be at hand. Pharmacologists are working on drugs that might help the brain overcome the social blocks that reinforce loneliness. It is possible that the initial results of a trial will be released in late 2018. That could be a lifesaver. Several studies have linked the stress of loneliness to early death. Changing that would be a cause for happiness indeed.
他们也许将会得到帮助。药物学家在研制的一些药物也许能让大脑克服社交障碍，降低孤独感。初步的实验结果可能在2018年下半年发布。几项研究显示，孤独带来的压力和过早死亡有关，这些药物可能将挽救不少人的生命。这的确是件值得高兴的事情。
中文翻译来源：《财经》杂志
相关阅读