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If you've ever dashed into the grocery store to pick up a tube of toothpaste, you've likely been stopped in your tracks by the glut of options available. There are at least more than a dozen brands, each one presenting several different specialties of cleaning ability: anti-cavity, whitening, better breath and healthier gums. Add to that the different costs, flavors and colors, and before you know it, an employee is asking you to make your way to the registers so the store can close.
如果你沖進雜貨店去買一支牙膏，過多的選擇很可能會讓你停下來。至少有超過十二種品牌，每一種上都標注著幾種清潔能力的不同特性：抗齲齒、美白、口氣清新和健康牙齦。再加上不同的價格、味道和顏色，不知不覺中，商店里的雇員就催你去付款了，因為商品要關門了。
But it's not just the number of options that gives us pause -- it's the amount of information each option has that trips us up, too. Social scientist Barry Schwartz interprets research on the subject to mean, in part, that an abundance of choices and information may make us falsely believe that the stakes are higher than they really are regarding the outcome of our decision.
但是，我們停下來并不僅僅是因為選擇的數量太多——每種選擇所帶給我們的信息也占部分原因。社會科學家巴里-施瓦茨對相關的研究進行了解釋，在某種程度上，大量的選擇和信息使我們錯誤地高估了選錯的風險。
He suggests that because we are presented with so much information, the overload of options and data leads us to falsely believe that, even a fairly mundane task like shopping for toothpaste, has great significance than it really does.
他指出，由于我們面臨著如此之多的信息，選擇和數據的過量讓我們錯誤地高估了任務的重要性，即便是像買牙膏這樣相當常見的任務。
Schwartz also points out that our increased ability to access information through the Internet can actually make matters worse. Inundated with results from a simple Web search, we must now choose which site among the hundreds of thousands to begin our evaluation.
施瓦茨同時指出，我們訪問互聯網信息的能力日益增強，這會讓事情變得更糟。一次簡單的網頁搜索就會出來大量的結果將我們淹沒，我們必須對幾十萬的網站進行評估，從中進行選擇。
Our goal is to make the "perfect" choice. When we make decisions, we're motivated not only by the opportunity for gain, but also by the fear of loss. The decision-making process isn't a purely analytical one -- researchers using functional magnetic resonance imaging on subjects who were faced with decisions discovered that the process of making a choice lights up portions of our brains that deal with regret and emotional memories: the medial orbitofrontal region, the anterior cingulate cortex and the hippocampus.
我們的目標是做出“完美”的選擇。當我們在做決定時，我們不僅僅是希望有所得，我們也害怕有所失。決策的過程不是單純的分析過程——研究人員使用功能性磁共振成像技術對面臨決策的受試者進行了研究，他們發現做決策的過程點亮了大腦中處理遺憾和情感記憶的部分：內側眶額區、前扣帶回皮質和海馬區。
But what we may regret most, according to Schwartz, is the extra time spent analyzing and comparing each and every bit of information, which can lead to frustration and fatigue, ultimately diminishing our decision-making ability.
據施瓦茨所說，我們最后悔的，是花費在分析和比較信息上的那些時間，它會讓我們沮喪和疲勞，最終削弱我們制定決策的能力。
One good approach is to place a value on the time it takes to make your decision, compared to the value of the decision itself. In the case of toothpaste, you probably serve your interests sufficiently by quickly choosing any toothpaste that keeps white teeth securely rooted in your minty mouth.
其中的一種好的方法是給做選擇所花的時間定一個值，并與做選擇本身的價值進行比較。在牙膏的這個例子中，你很有可能會快速地隨便選擇一管牙膏，其實這樣就能夠滿足你的要求了，因為任何一種牙膏都能讓你的牙齒潔白并讓你的口氣保持清新。
