夜航船

幸福更常来自每天的小便利

富兰克林把一千几尼和一把剃刀放在一起比较。钱很多,却可能很快花完,只留下浪费后的懊悔;学会自己剃须、把剃刀磨好,省下的等待、不卫生和钝刀带来的烦恼会每天重复发生。

Human felicity is produced not so much by great pieces of good fortune that seldom happen, as by little advantages that occur every day. Thus, if you teach a poor young man to shave himself, and keep his razor in order, you may contribute more to the happiness of his life than in giving him a thousand guineas. The money may be soon spent, the regret only remaining of having foolishly consumed it; but in the other case, he escapes the frequent vexation of waiting for barbers, and of their sometimes dirty fingers, offensive breaths, and dull razors; he shaves when most convenient to him, and enjoys daily the pleasure of its being done with a good instrument.

这和 小确幸 很接近,都把注意力从罕见的大结果移到能够反复兑现的小事。差别在于,小确幸偏向一刻确定的满足,富兰克林讲的是能力和工具带来的长期便利。一次改善的幅度很小,使用频率让它积累出分量。

它也可以作为 习惯的复利效应:微小选择会沿时间放大 的生活版本。这里没有整齐的百分比,也没有远大的自我改造,只有每天少受一点麻烦。高频的小摩擦值得优先解决,因为同一个改动会被以后许多天重复使用。

能支配自己的时间,是钱能付的最高股息 是同一个方向上更彻底的一条,Housel 说他们获得快乐的绝大多数事情都不怎么花钱,所以很少觉得自己错过了什么。

狄德罗效应:一次消费会改写周围物品的标准奢侈品终将变成必需品 是它的反面机制:小便利会自己升级成新的基线,然后不再产生任何幸福。 富兰克林那条要成立,前提是那些小便利不被卷进这台机器。 ——收入 读书笔记 · 零星感触

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