So, you must be thinking

嗯，你們一定在想

"What do you have to do with problems of self control?"

「自制力的問題和你們有什麽關係？」

Let's take a little survey:

讓我們做個小調查：

How many people here in the last week

在這裡，有多少人在上星期

have procrastinated more than you wish you would?

耽擱了你原本所預計的工作？

How many people have exercised in the last week less than you wish you would?

上星期，多少人沒達到你原本想要達到的運動量？

Have eaten more than you wish you would?

多少人吃太多了？

Have had more unprotected sex than you wish you would?

多少人做了 比你預計更多的 不安全性行為？

(Laughter)

（笑聲）

So, I want to talk a little bit about self-control

所以，我想講一點關於自制力的問題，

and self control is basically the problems that

自制力的問題，基本上是根源於

we have all this desire from ourselves for the long-term,

我們自己所有訂定的長期欲望，

but then in the short-term we do very different things.

但然後在短期內，我們做了不同的事。

And to get us thinking about this, I want to tell you about

讓我們思考這個問題，我想告訴你們

one of my biggest challenge with self-control.

關於我自己自制力的最大挑戰之一。

So, I was in a hospital for a long time

我曾在醫院待了很長一段時間，

and one of those things I got in hospital was

我待在醫院的原因之一

a particular version of hepatitis.

是因為患了一種特定的肝炎，

I got a bad blood transfusion and I

我輸入了不良的血液，

got a liver disease as a consequence.

因此得了肝病。

And from time to time the liver disease would flur up

肝病時常惡化，

and I would get even sicker than I was anyway

我時常變得更虛弱，

and this was very unpleasant.

這非常令人不快。

And about 7 years after I was already out of the hospital,

我出院大約七年後，

after my injury, I had another one of those episodes

我受傷以後，我又遇到類似的壞事，

I checked myself into a hospital and they told me I had hepatitis C.

我住進了醫院，他們告訴我我得了 C 型肝炎，

And the good news was that the FDA was running a clinical trial

好消息是，美國食品藥品管理局 正在進行一項臨床試驗，

to figure out whether interfere on

爲了要弄清是否要重審

and medication that was originally approved for

毛細胞白血病對於治療 C 型肝炎 的成效，

hairy cell leukemia was going to be successful for treating hepatitis C.

這是原先已被核可的藥物。

So I said, "What would happen if I don't join this trial?"

於是我說：「如果我不參加這次試驗，會怎樣？」

They said, "Well, you have a good chance of dying of a liver cirrhosis

他們說：「嗯，你很有可能會死於肝硬化，

and it's not a good thing."

這不是一件好事。」

So, I took the medication.

所以，我拿了藥。

And these injections were kind of the essence of self-control.

而這些注射藥劑，本質上，是一種自我控制，

I had to get myself three injections a week for a year and a half.

整整一年半下來，我每星期必須注射三次，

And if I did it for a year and a half, there was a chance that

如果我做到了一年半，我很有可能

I might not have liver cirrhosis thirty years down the road.

在接下來的三十年內不會得到肝硬化，

But if I took the medication,

但如果我注射這些藥，

for sure I will be sick for about the next 16 hours,

我一定會在接下來的十六小時感到不適，

think something like headache, vomiting, shaking, stuff like that.

像頭痛、 嘔吐、 顫抖，這類的症狀。

Not really terrible compared to liver cirrhosis,

這些和肝硬化比起來並不可怕，

but unpleasant and immediate.

但是直接地感到不適。

And the fact is that when we are facing those decisions

事實上，當我們面對兩種決定時：

between something that is immediate and unpleasant

一個是直接的、令人不快的事、

versus something that is good, really good

而另一個是真正好、但卻存在長遠未來的事，

but in the long-term future, we often over-focus on the present

我們往往過度地專注於現在，

and sacrifice the future. So, anyway,

並犧牲了未來。

this is, of course, not a new problem. We all face this.

當然，這不是新的問題， 我們都在面對它，

This is the problem of Adam and Eve.

這是亞當與夏娃的問題。

You can say, "Who in the right mind

你們可以說：「有哪個正常人會拿一顆蘋果

will ever give an apple for eternity in the garden of Eden?"

換取伊甸園中的永恆啊？」

What a crazy trade-off. But there's a modern version of this

這是瘋狂的交易， 但這樣的交易有個現代版本，

you can say, "Who in the right mind will ever do this?"

你們可以問：「有哪個正常人會這麼做呢？」

(Laughter)

（笑聲）

How many people here ever texted while driving?

多少人在這裡曾經 一邊開車一邊傳短訊的？

I mean, it's an incredible thing, right?

我的意思是，這是令人難以置信的事，不是嗎？

And you say it's not the case that you said to yourself,

而你用不一樣的方式對自己說：

"How much do I enjoy living?"

「我有多享受生活？」

"How much do I not want to kill other people?"

「我多麼地不想殺死人？」

(Laughter)

（笑聲）

"How important is this text message right now?"

「這個短訊現在有多重要？」

And you said, "Yes, let me do this."

你說：「是的，讓我傳了再說。」

No, instead what happened is that

不，真正發生的

the impulse to answer this vibrating phone or to answer the ring

是那想要接通電話的衝動

overtakes us and we do lots of bad things as a consequence.

已掌控我們，我們因此做了很多不好的事。

So think about it the following way.

所以試著用下面這個方式思考，

Imagine I gave you a choice between half a box of chocolate right now

想像一下，在我給你們的兩種選擇之間做決定： 我現在給你半盒巧克力、

or a full box of chocolate in a week.

或者，在一星期後給你滿滿一盒，

And I took this fantastic Lindt chocolate and

同時呢，我把這條超棒的瑞士巧克力

I passed it around and you could see it and smell it

放在你身邊，你就會看到、 聞到它，

and you could choose between a half box of chocolate now

你可以選擇現在就要半盒巧克力

or a full box of chocolate in a week.

或在一星期後獲得滿滿一盒巧克力。

How many people in those conditions would delay the choice,

多少人在這些條件下會選擇等待？

say, I'll wait another week for another half a box of chocolate?

有人想再等一星期 就爲了得到另外半盒巧克力嗎？

Wave a few hands and I'm willing to bet that

舉一下手，我打賭，

if we actually had the chocolate passing around

如果我們現在把巧克力傳到你們手上

(Laughter) there would be few of those.

（笑聲） 很少人願意等的。

But most people say, "Give me the chocolate now,

但大多數人都會說：「現在就給我巧克力，

I'll take less chocolate now than more later."

我現在拿少一點巧克力，之後再拿更多。」

Imagine I pushed the choice to the future and I said,

想像一下，我把這個選擇推到未來，我說：

"What would you rather have: a half of box of chocolate in a year

「你會選哪個： 在一年內獲得半盒巧克力？

or a full box of chocolate in a year and a week?"

還是在一年又一星期中得到滿滿的一盒？」

Now realize it's the same choice.

現在，請瞭解，這是同樣的選擇，

It's asking, whether you'd be willing to wait another week

這個問題是，是否你願意 為半盒巧克力

for a half of box of chocolate,

再多等待一個星期，

but in this case, when both choices are in the future.

但在這個情況下，當兩種選擇都在未來時

How many people would wait another week for a full box of chocolate?

有多少人會多等另一個星期 以獲得滿滿一盒巧克力？

Everybody, right? Because in the future we are wonderful people!

對吧？因為在未來，我們都是優秀的人！

(Laughter)

（笑聲）

We will be patient, we will not procrastinate,

我們會耐心等待，我們絕對不耽擱工作，

we'll take our medication on time, we will exercise, we will eat.

我們會按時服用藥物，我們會運動，我們會吃。

The problem is that we never get to live in that future.

問題是，我們永遠不會活在未來，

We always live in the present

我們總是活在當下，

and in the present we're not exactly that wonderful people.

而在當下，我們不是那個優秀的人。

So that's a problem with how we treat present and future.

所以這問題就是關於 我們對待現在和未來的之間的方式。

So going back to my case, I took this medication,

回到我的情況，我服用這個藥，

the trial was here when I was a student at Duke.

這個臨床實驗是我還在 杜克大學當學生的時候所做的。

When I finished - they told me the good news:

當實驗完成時，他們告訴我一個好消息：

I got rid of my liver disease, that was fantastic news.

我根除我的肝病了，這真是一個超棒的消息，

The second news was that I was the only person

第二個消息是，我是

in this FDA protocol who always took their medication on time.

在這個食品藥品管理局約定中 唯一一個按時服藥的人。

The question is: How?

問題是：怎麼做到的？

Do I have more patience and self-control?

我有更多的耐心和自制力嗎？

Do I care more about my future? And the answer is no.

我關心我的未來嗎？答案是，沒有。

But the answer is that I developed a little trick for myself.

答案是，我為自己發明了一個小訣竅，

And my trick is that I love movies.

我的訣竅是，我愛看電影，

If I had time, I would watch lots and lots of movies.

如果我有時間，我會看大量的電影。

But I don't have much time and I don't watch that many movies.

但我沒有很多時間，不能看很多電影。

But on Monday, Wednesday and Friday - which were the injection days -

但在星期一、 星期三和星期五 也就是需要注射的日子，

on the way to school I would stop in the video store,

我去學校的路上，會順道逛逛錄影帶出租店，

I would rent a few videos I wanted to watch,

我會租幾個我想要看的錄影帶，

I would carry them in my backpack the whole day

我會把它們放在我背包裡，放一整天，

anticipating watching them,

期待著看它們，

I would get home, I would inject myself and I would put a movie in,

然後我回家，施打藥劑，接著 把一部電影放到錄影機，

I would get the bucket and the blanket for the side effects,

我會準備水桶和毯子，爲了應付副作用，

but I took the injection immediately,

但我立即施打藥劑，

I didn't wait for the side-effects to start

我沒等副作用開始，

I connected something good with something bad

我把好事和壞事連在一起，

and this together with a fact that I don't have a particularly good memory -

此外，我的記憶力也不太好

so I could watch the same movies over and over (Laughter)

所以我可以一次又一次地 看同一部電影 （笑聲）

sustained me through this long time.

幫助我度過這一段長時間。

Now let's think about this.

現在，讓我們思考一下，

If we just thought of what is important in life,

如果我們思考一下，生命中重要的事是什麽，

we would say that livers are really important.

我們會說肝臟真的很重要。

(Laughter)

（笑聲）

Nobody could question that. We would also say that

沒人能質疑它。我們可能還會說，

side-effects of the medication are not that important, relatively speaking.

相對而言，這種藥物的副作用就不是那麼重要了。

And this difference in importance should have motivated me and

這種重要性的差異應該會激勵我，

every other patient in the protocol to take our medication on time.

每一位其他病人在實驗協約的病人 也會因此而按時服藥。

But the problem is that this is not how we view life.

但問題是，這不是我們看待生命的方式，

There's also a time domain.

我們有不同的時間觀。

And the liver is not affecting us right now,

肝臟現在不影響我們，

it will be long term in the future.

它在長遠的未來，會影響我們，

And because of that, it is vastly discounted.

因此，它在相當程度上，被低估了；

And the injections are now, which becomes much more focal,

然而，現在就得施打藥劑，才能更好地治療病因

and central, and take more control over our lives.

並更好地控制我們的生命。

Now, what was my trick? Did my trick get me to start caring

我的秘訣是什麼？我的秘訣是

about my liver? No, in fact, I substituted

我開始關心我的肝臟嗎？ 不，事實上，我拿錄影帶代替它。

it with videos. It's kind of crazy because

這聽起來很瘋狂，

videos are even less important than side-effects.

因為錄影帶甚至不比副作用還重要，

We call this reward-substitution.

我們稱這為替代獎勵。

And the idea is that there are many things in life,

這意思是指，我們不關心生活中的許多事，

particularly, delayed rewards that we're not designed to care about.

特別是，我們天生就不關心遲來的獎勵。

So can we get people to get excited about them?

所以，我們可以讓人們為此感到興奮嗎？

Very unlikely.

不太可能。

Think about something like global warming.

想想全球暖化吧，

Can we ever get people to wake up in the morning

我們今天可以使人們在早上醒來

and feel really excited about solving global warming today?

興奮地想要解決全球暖化嗎？

Very unlikely aside from a few [unclear].

不太可能，除了少數人之外。

I mean it's just not going to happen.

我的意思，這就是不會發生，

Actually it's worse than that.

事實上，它比這更糟。

Because if you thought the other way,

因為如果你反過來思考，

and you said, let me create a problem

你說，讓我創造一個

that people would not care about, that would maximize

人們不關心的問題，而這問題可以

human apathy, you would come up with global warming.

最大化人類的冷漠態度， 那答案就是全球暖化。

(Laughter)

（笑聲）

Think about all the reasons: long term in the future,

想想所有的理由： 在長遠的未來，

will happen to other people first,

會發生在其他人身上，

we don't see it progressing, we don't see anybody suffering,

我們看不到它的演變， 我們看不到任何人的痛苦，

anything we can do is a drop in a bucket.

我們可以做的任何事 都僅僅只是杯水車薪。

Can we really care? No. So what can we do?

我們真能關心嗎？不。 那我們能做什麼？

Can we do something like reward substitution?

我們能設計一些類似替代獎勵的方案嗎？

Can we get people to care or to behave as if they care

我們能夠使人們因為關心別的東西

because they care about something else?

而使他們關心、或至少 使他們表現得仿佛他們關心全球暖化嗎？

This thing is actually part of the solution, right?

這是實際的解決方案的一部分，對吧？

If you think about what makes the Toyota Prius so successful,

思考一下豐田普銳斯成功的原因，

my non-scientific observation is that

我非科學的觀察是

when you watch people who drive Toyota Priuses,

當你觀察開豐田普銳斯的人

they smile more than other people.

他們笑地比別人多。

(Laughter) And I think for a good reason: they drive

（笑聲）我認為那理由是： 他們開車時

and they say to themselves:

對自己說：

"Look at me, I'm a wonderful human being!"

「看看我，我是個多麼棒的人啊！」

([Laughter)

（笑聲）

"And not only that. Other people can see me

「不僅如此。其他人也可以看到我

and they recognize what a wonderful human being I am."

他們會知道我是個多麼棒的人。」

Can we do the same thing with our heating systems

我們能用同樣的方法 處理我們的暖氣系統嗎？

or can we do the same thing with how much insulation we have in our attic

或，我們能用同樣的方法 促使我們在頂樓裝設隔熱板？

or what kind of temperature we keep our houses on in winter and in summer?

或，在冬天和夏天，以同樣的方法 設定我們屋內的溫度？

I think that one solution to self-control problem in general

我認為這，一般來說，自制力的解決方案

is reward substitution. It's taking the environment

是替代獎勵。它適應環境、

and changing it and getting people to behave in the right way

改變它，讓人們因為錯誤的理由

because of the wrong reason.

而做正確的事。

The second solution I want to talk to you about

我想要和你談的第二個解決方案，

is called "self-control contract".

它叫做「自我控制合約」。

This goes back to the story of Ulysses and the Sirens.

這得回到尤利西斯與海妖的故事。

So if you remember the story,

如果你還記得那個故事的話，故事中

Ulysses knew that when the sirens come he will be temped,

尤利西斯知道海妖塞壬來的時候，他會受誘惑，

so he tied himself to the mast,

所以他把自己綁在桅杆上，

asked his men to tie themselves to the mast

也要他的手下把自己拴在桅杆上

and to put dough in their ears,

並把麵團塞進耳朵裡，

so that they wouldn't be tempted, either.

使他們也不受誘惑。

Now what's this situation? It's not exactly reward substitution.

這是什麼樣的情況？ 它不完全是替代獎勵。

It's a situation in which we know we will be tempted.

它是一個我們知道我們 將會遭受誘惑的一種處境，

And we're doing something to make [ourselves] not able to be temped.

而必須做些什麼來來使自己不被引誘。

That's another version of dealing with self-control.

這就是處理自制力的另一個版本。

Now before we talk about people,

在我們談論人們之前，

let's think about rats and pigeons for a few minutes.

讓我們先想想老鼠和鴿子幾分鐘。

So imagine you're a rat or a pigeon and I teach you for a while

想像一下你是一隻老鼠或一隻鴿子， 而我已經教你們一段時間了，

that the green button means one pellet of food immediately

我教你們知道 綠色按鈕代表 立刻獲得一盤食物，

and the purple button means you have to wait 10 seconds

而紫色按鈕代表 你們必須等待 10 秒

and then you then get 10 pellets of food.

然後你再吃 10 盤食物。

I teach you this for a long time:

我教你們一段時間後：

green - 1, purple - 10; you learn this and then I give you both

綠色 -1，紫色 -10 ；你學會了，然後我把它們都給你們

and I say, "What would you rather have: green or purple?"

我問：「你寧願要哪個？ 綠色或紫色？」

Now, realize that for a rat 10 seconds is like a week for us.

必須瞭解，老鼠的 10 秒就像我們的一星期。

(Laughter) Really long time.

（笑聲）真的是很長的時間。

So what do you think they choose? They choose the green.

所以你覺得牠們會怎麼選？他們選擇綠色。

Not so good. It actually gets a little worse.

不是很好。實際上，它所得到就只是少一些。

You start the trial, the purple button appears

你們的試驗開始，紫色的按鈕出現了

they press on it.

牠們按它，

A couple of seconds pass, the green button appears.

幾秒鐘過去了， 綠色按鈕出現了，

If they can only hold off and not press on anything,

如果他們能夠忍一會兒，不按任何東西，

they'll get 10 pellet of food, but they can't.

他們會得到 10 盤食物，但他們不能。

They press on the green and they get 1 pennant instead of 10.

他們按綠色的鈕，他們得到 1 盤而不是 10 盤。

But there's one interesting version:

但有一個有趣的版本：

the trial starts, the purple button appears,

在試驗開始時，紫色按鈕出現，

they press on it, a second passes a red button appears.

牠們按它，兩秒鐘後，紅色按鈕出現了。

And the red button does nothing good.

紅色按鈕沒什麼不好，

There's no food connected to it, and rats and pigeons

就只是沒食物，老鼠和鴿子

don't enjoy pressing buttons particularly.

便不特別喜歡按下它了。

(Laughter)

（笑聲）