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I remember the good old times when I was around 16 or 17 years old when you wanted to find an attractive person,
我记得我16或17岁左右的美好时光，如果你想找一个有吸引力的人，
you just had to wait for the weekends and go to the local disco where everyone went to, and those people, in that place at that moment, were your options.
你只需要等到周末，去每个人都会去的当地迪斯科舞厅，那个地方和时刻，会有很多你的选择。
So, if you wanted anything, the moment was there. Now, the emergence of dating apps cursed the picky among us with literally hundreds of millions of users.
如果你想要什么，时机就在那里。现在，约会应用程序的出现诅咒了我们当中挑剔的人，因为这些应用程序拥有数亿用户。
The time the average person spends swiping and chatting on those apps just to get a date is ridiculous.
普通人花很多时间刷这些应用程序和聊天，却只是为了约会，这真是太荒谬了。
With all these choices, all these products screaming to be purchased, all this stuff we're afraid to miss out on, it's pretty easy to get lost.
面对所有这些选择，所有这些产品都迫切需要购买，所有这些我们害怕错过的东西，我们很容易迷失方向。
We spend so much energy, time, and money acquiring all these things we're supposed to have that consumerism has become a religion,
我们花费了如此多的精力、时间和金钱来获得所有我们应该拥有的东西，以至于消费主义已经成为一种宗教，
with shopping malls as the new churches, in which we don't look for God but seek to purchase the bigger, better thing.
购物中心成为了新的教堂，我们不是在那里寻找上帝，而是寻求购买更大、更好的东西。
So, what's a more potent way to break free from this than embracing simplicity?
那么，有什么比接受简单性更有效的方法来摆脱这种困境呢？
How about cultivating simple tastes, simple pleasures, simple choices, going for "good enough" instead of "always the best" (yes, that counts for dating, too)?
培养简单的品味、简单的快乐、简单的选择，追求“足够好”而不是“永远最好”（是的，约会也一样）怎么样？
How about cutting down your options instead of exposing yourself to the entire arsenal of choices, not comparing too much, and endlessly analyzing which purchase to make?
减少选择，而不是让自己暴露在各种选择中，不要过多比较，不要无休止地分析购买哪些东西怎么样？
How about contentment independent from all these tidal waves of stuff?
摆脱所有这些物质浪潮的满足感怎么样？
Such an embrace of simplicity frees us from rampant consumerism, which is an excellent benefit because being free from these shackles means we can spend our energy on, well, just living life,
拥抱简单让我们摆脱了猖獗的消费主义，这是一个非常好的好处，因为摆脱这些束缚意味着我们可以把精力花在生活上，
unless shopping till you drop and spending hours choosing what to buy is how you wish to live.
除非你想过着购物到筋疲力尽、花几个小时选择买什么的生活。
Quite related to consumerism is the next benefit of simplicity: In a previous video about self-worth and how this often depends on achievement, I mention philosopher Byung-Chul Han and his view on recent societal changes.
简单的下一个好处与消费主义非常相关：在之前关于自我价值以及这通常取决于成就的视频中，我提到了哲学家韩炳哲和他对最近社会变化的看法。
He observed that we've transitioned from a disciplinary society to an achievement society.
他观察到，我们已经从一个纪律严明的社会转变为一个功绩社会。
A disciplinary society is defined by prohibition: what we cannot do. It's a world of barracks, prisons, psychiatric facilities, and factories.
纪律严明的社会以禁令为定义：我们不能做什么。这是一个充满军营、监狱、精神病院和工厂的世界。
An achievement society is characterized by fancy corner offices, fitness studios, banks, airports, and shopping malls.
功绩社会的特点是豪华的角落办公室、健身房、银行、机场和购物中心。
The former generates criminals and madmen, the latter losers and failures.
前者产生罪犯和疯子，后者产生失败者。
When we compare those societies, we may think that the people of the disciplinary society are oppressed and even enslaved,
当我们比较这些社会时，我们可能会认为纪律社会的人受到压迫甚至奴役，
which is kind of true, but the people in the achievement society are free and blessed with endless opportunities.
而功绩社会的人是自由的，拥有无限的机会，这在某种程度上是正确的。
But when we look at it, those in the achievement society are just as enslaved, maybe even more.
但当我们审视它时，功绩社会的人同样受到奴役，甚至可能更加严重。
But instead of being whipped by their oppressors, they whip themselves and call it ambition, achieving success, grinding, crushing it.
但他们没有被压迫者鞭策，而是鞭策自己，并称之为野心，取得成功，磨练它、粉碎它。
Being 'functional' and 'relevant' (and simply not being a loser) in an achievement society requires immense effort.
在功绩社会中“发挥作用”和“与时俱进”（而不是成为失败者）需要付出巨大的努力。
We must keep up with the Joneses, polish our LinkedIn accounts with fancy job titles and resumes, and show the world how we're leading these amazing lives of boundless purpose and uninterrupted happiness. What an exhausting existence.
我们必须与人攀比，用花哨的职位头衔和简历来美化我们的领英账户，向世界展示我们如何过着目标无限、幸福无止境的精彩生活。这是多么令人疲惫的生活啊。
Perhaps just shutting your mouth and beavering away in a factory from 9 to 5 as a nameless nobody and getting scolded by the supervisor occasionally may actually be a more relaxing, carefree way to live.
也许闭上嘴巴，作为一个无名小卒从朝九晚五在工厂里埋头苦干，偶尔被主管责骂，实际上是一种更轻松、无忧无虑的生活方式。
At least we don't have to spend the rest of our free time convincing others how successful we are.
至少我们不必把剩下的空闲时间都花在向别人证明我们有多成功上。
So, how can simplicity help resist the pressure of the achievement society and the burnout it eventually leads to?
那么，简单如何有助于抵抗功绩社会的压力以及其最终导致的倦怠呢？
According to Han, excess positivity characterizes our society. It's all about ambition, success, accomplishment, et cetera, which sounds good.
据韩炳哲说，过度的积极性是功绩社会的特征。一切都是关于雄心、成功、成就等等，这听起来不错。
But an excess of this positivity, which is the case in an achievement society, isn't all that great, as it harms our well-being.
但是，在功绩社会中，这种积极性的过度并不是什么好事，因为它会损害我们的幸福感。
Han argues that we can counterbalance this positivity by adding more 'negativity' to our lives, which may sound weird, but here's what he said about it: "Not all negativity is destructive.
韩炳哲认为，我们可以通过在生活中增加更多“消极情绪”来抵消这种积极情绪，这可能听起来很奇怪，但他是这样说的：“并非所有的消极情绪都是破坏性的。
Not infrequently, forms of negativity such as hesitation, pausing, boredom, waiting, or rage prove constructive, though they are threatened with disappearance in the course of society's increasing positivization." End quote.
犹豫、停顿、无聊、等待或愤怒等消极情绪往往具有建设性，尽管在社会日益积极化的过程中，它们面临着消失的威胁。”
What characterizes these forms of negativity is that they carry an aspect of nothingness. They're like little breaks from the constant striving and go-getting.
这些消极情绪的特点是它们带有一种虚无的方面。它们就像是不断奋斗和努力中的小小休息。
I'm not sure about rage, but things like boredom, pausing, waiting, and even hesitation fit the idea of simplicity quite well.
我不确定愤怒是否如此，但无聊、停顿、等待甚至犹豫等情绪非常符合简单的想法。
How about doing less, slowing down, not doing many things simultaneously, but focusing on cultivating one or two? Less is more.
少做点，放慢速度，不要同时做很多事情，而是专注于培养一两件事。少即是多。
We may end up with smaller bank accounts and less amazing Instagram posts, but we're also less likely to burn out and might experience life much deeper and more beautifully. Instead of constant self-optimization, what about more leisure?
我们最终可能会拥有更少的银行账户和更少的精彩Instagram帖子，但我们也不太可能倦怠，可能会体验到更深刻、更美好的生活。与其不断自我优化，不如多些休闲？
Instead of running from goal to goal, how about sitting down and thinking about what we've been doing all these years? Chances are we're miserable.
与其从一个目标跑到另一个目标，不如坐下来想想这些年来我们都做了些什么？我们很可能过得很痛苦。
So, could there be a correlation between our misery and our self-exploitation? I'm in Indonesia at the moment.
我们的痛苦和自我剥削之间会不会有关联？我现在在印度尼西亚。
And the other day, I was paying close attention to the guys who help people park their cars in exchange for a couple of thousands of rupiah.
前几天，我密切关注着那些帮人停车以换取几千卢比的人。
There are many of them. And their social standing is among the lowest. Even though their job is helpful, it's also pretty laid back.
他们人数众多。他们的社会地位最低。虽然他们的工作很有帮助，但也相当悠闲。
They mostly sit around, chatting, laughing, smoking cigarettes, and when a car arrives or departs, they do their thing, get their money, and then chill out again.
他们大多坐在一起，聊天、大笑、抽烟，当汽车到达或离开时，他们做自己的事情，拿到钱，然后再次放松。
I even saw one invited a whole group of friends, and they were just having a blast in the parking lot. They make a nice living, I heard.
我甚至看到一个人邀请了一群朋友，他们在停车场玩得很开心。我听说他们过着不错的生活。
And overall, they look pretty happy: they look happier than the people getting out of those cars, who may have it better financially but generally pay for it with stresses these parking guys don't seem to have.
总的来说，他们看起来相当幸福：他们看起来比那些下车的人更幸福，那些下车的人可能经济条件更好，但通常要承受这些停车工似乎没有的压力。
Imagine you could be happy and content doing such a simple job. As I said, these parking guys have low social standing. But who knows? The simple guy parking your car may have been there.
想象一下，做这么简单的工作，你会感到快乐和满足。正如我所说，这些停车工的社会地位很低。但谁知道呢？那个帮你停车的简单人可能也在那里。
Just like the stone cutter, he was the sun, the clouds, and the mountain, but then he realized that the simple life yields as much contentment as those prestigious positions but at a much lower price. Thank you for watching.
就像石匠一样，他是太阳、云朵和山，但后来他意识到，简单的生活能带来与那些声望很高的职位一样多的满足感，但代价要低得多。谢谢你的观看。
