【翻譯練習】錢的真正價值
The Real Value of Money
作者：Mark Manson
來源：https://markmanson.net/the-real-value-of-money
某個夏日午後，一群出社會不久的大學畢業生，決定登門拜訪他們最敬愛的教授。這些年輕人畢業將滿一年，一個個都已提槍上陣，殺進所謂的「現實世界」，面對紛至沓來的種種失望和困惑。
這天下午，這些畢業生向教授抱怨脫離學生身分後的日子有多難受。他們抱怨工時長，抱怨老闆機車，抱怨職場競爭，也抱怨不知為何每個人掛在口邊或放在心上的，就只是錢，錢，錢。
過了一會兒，教授起身去泡咖啡。教授拿了六只杯子，一人一杯，其中三杯是廉價的免洗杯，另外三杯是精緻的瓷杯，然後請各位同學自行取用咖啡。
短短幾秒，這群年輕人就開始討價還價。「喂，你怎麼可以拿那杯？」「怎樣，我就是要拿那杯，是我開車載你們來的耶。」「管你的，是我先拿到的，你去拿別杯啦。」他們笑鬧嗔怪著誰該拿哪一杯，友情當中默默透出競爭氣氛。
年輕人終於就坐，教授笑說：「看吧？問題出在你們自己。你們都在吵誰才有資格用漂亮的杯子，可是你們真正想擁有的，不就是杯子裡的咖啡嗎。」
錢是個敏感的話題，因為大多數人或多或少都把很大一部分的自我價值和身分，聯想到自己的工作和賺到多少錢。確實，錢可以說是一種市場價值，用來衡量我們的技巧和能力，所以每當談到錢，我們都顯得有些不耐煩，坐立難安。
可是，錢只不過是一種用來存放價值的載體，錢並不是價值的本體。
價值的載體，在人生中有很多種：時間是一種，知識是一種，幸福感和其他正面的情緒也是一種。錢往往只是扮演媒介角色，讓各種價值載體得以互換。
作者：Mark Manson
來源：https://markmanson.net/the-real-value-of-money
某個夏日午後，一群出社會不久的大學畢業生，決定登門拜訪他們最敬愛的教授。這些年輕人畢業將滿一年，一個個都已提槍上陣，殺進所謂的「現實世界」，面對紛至沓來的種種失望和困惑。
這天下午，這些畢業生向教授抱怨脫離學生身分後的日子有多難受。他們抱怨工時長，抱怨老闆機車，抱怨職場競爭，也抱怨不知為何每個人掛在口邊或放在心上的，就只是錢，錢，錢。
過了一會兒，教授起身去泡咖啡。教授拿了六只杯子，一人一杯，其中三杯是廉價的免洗杯，另外三杯是精緻的瓷杯，然後請各位同學自行取用咖啡。
短短幾秒，這群年輕人就開始討價還價。「喂，你怎麼可以拿那杯？」「怎樣，我就是要拿那杯，是我開車載你們來的耶。」「管你的，是我先拿到的，你去拿別杯啦。」他們笑鬧嗔怪著誰該拿哪一杯，友情當中默默透出競爭氣氛。
年輕人終於就坐，教授笑說：「看吧？問題出在你們自己。你們都在吵誰才有資格用漂亮的杯子，可是你們真正想擁有的，不就是杯子裡的咖啡嗎。」
錢是個敏感的話題，因為大多數人或多或少都把很大一部分的自我價值和身分，聯想到自己的工作和賺到多少錢。確實，錢可以說是一種市場價值，用來衡量我們的技巧和能力，所以每當談到錢，我們都顯得有些不耐煩，坐立難安。
可是，錢只不過是一種用來存放價值的載體，錢並不是價值的本體。
價值的載體，在人生中有很多種：時間是一種，知識是一種，幸福感和其他正面的情緒也是一種。錢往往只是扮演媒介角色，讓各種價值載體得以互換。
錢並不是人生富有的因，而是富有的果。同樣地，人們以為錢是導致問題發生的因，但其實是個誤會，錢通常是這些問題最顯而易見的果。
錢是流動的，唯有實際運用錢，才會實現錢的價值。因此，錢是一面鏡子，映射出錢財擁有者的價值和意念。
大部分人誤以為富有就是擁有很多物質，或達到某種名聲或地位。我可以刷爆信用卡，每個週末包下拉斯維加斯的貴賓包廂；我也可以跟伊凡卡．川普來張自拍，但這些舉止並不會讓我變富有，反而會讓我變成愛現的討厭鬼。
電影《鬥陣俱樂部》有句名言：「不管你擁有什麼，到最後都將反過來箝制你。(The things you own end up owning you.)」大致而言，物質主義可說是心靈的牢籠，無論你存多少錢，花多少錢，賺多少錢，多還要更多的貪念通病永遠如影隨形。同一時間，你的工時變得愈來愈長，承擔的任務愈來愈重，結果喪失掉愈來愈多的精華歲月。
錢本質上是中性的，充其量只是一種工具，用來讓兩個人交換彼此的經驗。你為別人創造經驗，從而為自己賺到錢；然後你把錢送到別人手中，回過頭來獲取別人的經驗。
即使你大手筆買下跑車、鑽石項鍊等物質，你買的不僅僅是實體物品，同時也買到駕馭跑車或佩戴項鍊的經驗。你買的是跟這些東西有關聯的權力、速度或社會地位的經驗。你買的是個人身分的裝飾物件，你也買到了知識，讓你得知擁有或使用這些東西會有什麼樣的感受，並得知是否會因此讓你心情變好。
嚴格來說，花錢購物所獲得的價值，大部分都不屬於金錢上的價值。
在某種意義上，你買美食的同時，其實買的是飢餓的經驗，為自己買了暫時的健康和幸福感。你花錢安排家族旅遊，其實是在買一種機會，藉這個機會體驗大家聚在一起的新滋味，並鞏固家族成員的連結。你買了上班用的一套新西裝，而你買到的不只是布料或品牌，還買了社群訊號，顯示出你肯投資在自己身上、你認真看待自己、以及你值得他人信賴。
錢是流動的，唯有實際運用錢，才會實現錢的價值。因此，錢是一面鏡子，映射出錢財擁有者的價值和意念。
大部分人誤以為富有就是擁有很多物質，或達到某種名聲或地位。我可以刷爆信用卡，每個週末包下拉斯維加斯的貴賓包廂；我也可以跟伊凡卡．川普來張自拍，但這些舉止並不會讓我變富有，反而會讓我變成愛現的討厭鬼。
電影《鬥陣俱樂部》有句名言：「不管你擁有什麼，到最後都將反過來箝制你。(The things you own end up owning you.)」大致而言，物質主義可說是心靈的牢籠，無論你存多少錢，花多少錢，賺多少錢，多還要更多的貪念通病永遠如影隨形。同一時間，你的工時變得愈來愈長，承擔的任務愈來愈重，結果喪失掉愈來愈多的精華歲月。
錢本質上是中性的，充其量只是一種工具，用來讓兩個人交換彼此的經驗。你為別人創造經驗，從而為自己賺到錢；然後你把錢送到別人手中，回過頭來獲取別人的經驗。
即使你大手筆買下跑車、鑽石項鍊等物質，你買的不僅僅是實體物品，同時也買到駕馭跑車或佩戴項鍊的經驗。你買的是跟這些東西有關聯的權力、速度或社會地位的經驗。你買的是個人身分的裝飾物件，你也買到了知識，讓你得知擁有或使用這些東西會有什麼樣的感受，並得知是否會因此讓你心情變好。
嚴格來說，花錢購物所獲得的價值，大部分都不屬於金錢上的價值。
在某種意義上，你買美食的同時，其實買的是飢餓的經驗，為自己買了暫時的健康和幸福感。你花錢安排家族旅遊，其實是在買一種機會，藉這個機會體驗大家聚在一起的新滋味，並鞏固家族成員的連結。你買了上班用的一套新西裝，而你買到的不只是布料或品牌，還買了社群訊號，顯示出你肯投資在自己身上、你認真看待自己、以及你值得他人信賴。
重點不在於物質，物質只是承載著你移動到某種形式的經驗。你花費的所有錢，所買到的就只是經驗而已。
正因為錢可以用來交換經驗，使得錢常常牽扯出經驗的迴圈：我們委屈自己投入某種 (不愉快的) 經驗去賺錢，再用賺來的錢去買另一種 (愉快的) 經驗。一旦錢花光了，我們不得不回到那不愉快的經驗，重複這樣的迴圈。
壓力迴圈 —— 有人必須承受很大的壓力才賺得到錢，他們從事高壓力的工作，或者擔任一直會遭到批評或威脅的職位。然後這些人主要把錢花在紓壓上，以補償工作帶來的苦悶。最後他們落入壓力生起-壓力紓解的永恆迴圈，無法實際累積財富。
自尊迴圈 —— 有人的工作環境讓他們感到無力、無足輕重或不受重用。這種人會藉由把錢花在象徵地位的膚淺事物上，以消除內心的不安。他們在不安的情緒中賺錢，又花錢來壓制這股不安，還是無法實際累積財富。
痛苦迴圈 —— 還有人必須付出傷害自己的代價才能賺錢維生，有時是傷身 (職業摔角、表演吞劍)，有時則是傷害情緒/精神 (性工作、低賤工作、遭上司或同事欺壓)。這些人便花錢以求消憂解愁 —— 飲酒、吸毒和其他能令他們暫時忘卻痛苦的事物。
真正的財富，在於我們花錢並不僅只為了補償賺錢的辛苦，而是賺錢和花錢的用意相互契合 —— 我們在正面的經驗當中賺錢，再花錢以獲取其他正面的經驗。
落入上述三種迴圈的人，很快就會淪落到為五斗米折腰的奴隸。這種人開始把錢看作人生唯一的目的，錢變成支撐他們活著的全部動力。
自尊迴圈 —— 有人的工作環境讓他們感到無力、無足輕重或不受重用。這種人會藉由把錢花在象徵地位的膚淺事物上，以消除內心的不安。他們在不安的情緒中賺錢，又花錢來壓制這股不安，還是無法實際累積財富。
痛苦迴圈 —— 還有人必須付出傷害自己的代價才能賺錢維生，有時是傷身 (職業摔角、表演吞劍)，有時則是傷害情緒/精神 (性工作、低賤工作、遭上司或同事欺壓)。這些人便花錢以求消憂解愁 —— 飲酒、吸毒和其他能令他們暫時忘卻痛苦的事物。
真正的財富，在於我們花錢並不僅只為了補償賺錢的辛苦，而是賺錢和花錢的用意相互契合 —— 我們在正面的經驗當中賺錢，再花錢以獲取其他正面的經驗。
落入上述三種迴圈的人，很快就會淪落到為五斗米折腰的奴隸。這種人開始把錢看作人生唯一的目的，錢變成支撐他們活著的全部動力。
一旦發生這樣的悲劇，你的錢再也不是為你所有，而是反噬你的身心。錢不是貨幣了，你才是貨幣，在市場上任人交易。除非你自行阻止這一切，或除非你永離人世，否則你只會長長久久任錢擺布。
別再把錢當成衡量成功的標準，如此你才能切斷這種迴圈，終止對錢無窮盡的追求，並創造真正的財富。
既然價值有很多種定義，成功當然也有很多種定義。錢常常是一種通往成功的手段，但錢本身幾乎不等於成功。(作者註：在我看來，除非某個人實在窮到見底，這種情況才能把錢跟成功畫上等號。)
當我們把錢當作邁向成功的輔助工具，而不是以為有錢就是成功；當我們拿錢來換取我們覺得比錢更重要的經驗和價值；當我們用錢成立創新企業、啟發創造力或回饋社群；當錢能夠幫助我們養家糊口、經營友情或提升自身健康與滿足感；此時才會顯露錢的真正價值。
當我們跳脫對錢的汲汲營營，相信自己比錢更美好更重要；當我們瞭解到錢的真義不在於物質的累積，而是經驗的實踐；當我們認清該重視的不是裝咖啡的杯子，而是杯子裡的咖啡；此時才會領悟錢的真正價值。
One summer afternoon, a group of recent college graduates decided to visit their favorite professor at his home. The grads had been out of school for about a year and they were each making their foray into the quote-unquote “real world” and dealing with all of the frustrations and confusion that come with it.
Over the course of the afternoon, the grads complained to their professor about how difficult life was after school. They complained about the long hours, the demanding bosses, the competitive job market, and how all anybody seemed to talk about or care about was money, money, money.
After a while, the professor got up and made some coffee. He got out six cups, one for each student. Three of them were cheap disposable cups and the other three were made of his nicest porcelain. He then invited everyone to get up and help themselves.
Within seconds the bargaining had already begun. “Wait, why do you get that cup?” “No, let me have it, I drove here.” “No way, I got here first, go get your own.” The students laughed and gently chided each other over who got to drink what out of what. A silent competition among friends.
When the kids finally sat back down the professor smiled and said, “You see? This is your problem. You are all arguing over who gets to drink out of the nice cups when all you really wanted was the coffee.”
Money is a touchy subject. That’s because most of us, to a certain degree, associate a lot of our self-worth and identity to our job and how much money we make. It is, quite literally, a market valuation of our skills and competence as a person, and therefore we all get a little bit testy and scooch around uncomfortably in our chairs whenever money is brought up.
But money is merely an arbitrary store of value. It is not value itself.
There are many stores of value in life. Time is a form of value. Knowledge is a form of value. Happiness and other positive emotions are a form of value. Money is often just the vehicle of interchanging these various forms of value with one another.
Money is not the cause of wealth in one’s life. It is the effect. Similarly, when people assume that money is the cause of their problems, they are actually mistaken. Money is usually the most noticeable effect of their problems.
Money is fluid. Its value only becomes realized when it’s put into motion. Therefore, money is a reflection of the owner’s values and intentions.
Most people mistake being rich for owning lots of stuff or achieving some sort of fame or status. I could max out my credit card buying VIP tables in Vegas all weekend and take selfies with Ivanka Trump, but that doesn’t make me rich. On the contrary, it would make me kind of a douchebag.
There is that old saying from Fight Club, “The things you own end up owning you.” Materialism, by and large, is a psychological trap. No matter how much you own, how much you buy, how much you earn, the disease of more never goes away. Meanwhile, you’re working longer hours, taking bigger risks, foregoing more and more parts of your life.
Money is inherently neutral. It’s merely a vessel for the exchange of experience between two people. You make your money by creating experiences for others. You then give your money to others to receive experiences in return.
Even when you buy some material good like a sports car or a diamond necklace, you’re not just buying the physical goods, you’re buying the experience of driving that car or wearing that necklace. You’re buying the experience of power, speed, or social status that’s associated with it. You’re buying that ornament to your identity, that knowledge of what owning and using it feels like and whether it makes you happy or not.
Arguably most of the value of any purchase is not monetary.
When you buy food, you are, in a sense, buying away the experience of hunger. You’re buying your own temporary health and happiness. When you buy a trip with your family you are buying the opportunity to experience something new together and strengthen your relationships with one another. When you buy a new suit for work, you aren’t just buying the fabric or the brand, you are buying the social signals that you invest in yourself, that you take yourself seriously and can be relied upon by others.
It’s not about the stuff. The stuff is merely there to shuttle you into some form of experience. Everything you spend money on is simply experience.
Because money is an exchange of experiences, money often results in experience cycles: we give up one (negative) experience to earn money that then purchases the opposite (positive) experience. Once the money runs out, we’re forced back to the negative experience and the cycle starts again.
Stress Cycles – Some people earn money through a great deal of stress. They work a high-pressure job or in a role where they are constantly criticized or threatened in some way. They then spend their money primarily on stress-relief to compensate for the rigor their job creates. These people end up in a constant cycle of stress-generation and stress-relief while failing to actually build much wealth.
Ego Cycles – Some people work in environments where they feel powerless, insignificant or useless. These people then take out their insecurity by spending their money on superficial status symbols (see: the thirty thousand dollar millionaire). They earn their money through insecurity, and then spend their money on quelling their insecurities, thus never actually building wealth.
Pain Cycles – Other people actually hurt themselves to make a living. It may be physically (professional wrestling, sword swallower) or it may be emotionally/psychologically (sex work, demeaning jobs, abusive bosses or co-workers). These people then spend their money on pain relief — alcohol, drugs, and other diversions.
True wealth occurs when the way we spend our money is not simply compensating for how we earn it. Wealth occurs when the way we earn money and the way we spend money are aligned with one another — when our money is earned through a positive experience and spent on other positive experiences.
People who fall into these experience cycles with their money soon become slaves to earning a buck. They begin to see money as the singular purpose of their life. It becomes the whole of their motivation.
Once this happens, you no longer own your money; your money owns you. It is not the currency, you are. And money will spend you as long as it can, until either you stop it or you die.
The way to short-circuit these cycles, the way to escape the endless chase for another buck and the way to create genuine wealth, is to stop using money as your metric for success.
Just as there are many definitions for value, there are many definitions for success as well. Money is often a means towards success, but it is rarely success itself.1
The real value of money emerges when we leverage it as a tool towards our success rather than making it success itself. When we channel it towards the experiences and values that we find more important. When we use it to build an innovative business, when it fuels our creativity or infuses our community, when it supports our family or shares love with our friends or adds to our personal health and satisfaction.
The real value of money begins when we look beyond it and see ourselves as better, as more valuable, than it is. When it’s not about the accumulation of stuff but rather the enactment of experiences. When it’s not about the mug but rather the coffee that’s in it.
別再把錢當成衡量成功的標準，如此你才能切斷這種迴圈，終止對錢無窮盡的追求，並創造真正的財富。
既然價值有很多種定義，成功當然也有很多種定義。錢常常是一種通往成功的手段，但錢本身幾乎不等於成功。(作者註：在我看來，除非某個人實在窮到見底，這種情況才能把錢跟成功畫上等號。)
當我們把錢當作邁向成功的輔助工具，而不是以為有錢就是成功；當我們拿錢來換取我們覺得比錢更重要的經驗和價值；當我們用錢成立創新企業、啟發創造力或回饋社群；當錢能夠幫助我們養家糊口、經營友情或提升自身健康與滿足感；此時才會顯露錢的真正價值。
當我們跳脫對錢的汲汲營營，相信自己比錢更美好更重要；當我們瞭解到錢的真義不在於物質的累積，而是經驗的實踐；當我們認清該重視的不是裝咖啡的杯子，而是杯子裡的咖啡；此時才會領悟錢的真正價值。
One summer afternoon, a group of recent college graduates decided to visit their favorite professor at his home. The grads had been out of school for about a year and they were each making their foray into the quote-unquote “real world” and dealing with all of the frustrations and confusion that come with it.
Over the course of the afternoon, the grads complained to their professor about how difficult life was after school. They complained about the long hours, the demanding bosses, the competitive job market, and how all anybody seemed to talk about or care about was money, money, money.
After a while, the professor got up and made some coffee. He got out six cups, one for each student. Three of them were cheap disposable cups and the other three were made of his nicest porcelain. He then invited everyone to get up and help themselves.
Within seconds the bargaining had already begun. “Wait, why do you get that cup?” “No, let me have it, I drove here.” “No way, I got here first, go get your own.” The students laughed and gently chided each other over who got to drink what out of what. A silent competition among friends.
When the kids finally sat back down the professor smiled and said, “You see? This is your problem. You are all arguing over who gets to drink out of the nice cups when all you really wanted was the coffee.”
Money is a touchy subject. That’s because most of us, to a certain degree, associate a lot of our self-worth and identity to our job and how much money we make. It is, quite literally, a market valuation of our skills and competence as a person, and therefore we all get a little bit testy and scooch around uncomfortably in our chairs whenever money is brought up.
But money is merely an arbitrary store of value. It is not value itself.
There are many stores of value in life. Time is a form of value. Knowledge is a form of value. Happiness and other positive emotions are a form of value. Money is often just the vehicle of interchanging these various forms of value with one another.
Money is not the cause of wealth in one’s life. It is the effect. Similarly, when people assume that money is the cause of their problems, they are actually mistaken. Money is usually the most noticeable effect of their problems.
Money is fluid. Its value only becomes realized when it’s put into motion. Therefore, money is a reflection of the owner’s values and intentions.
Most people mistake being rich for owning lots of stuff or achieving some sort of fame or status. I could max out my credit card buying VIP tables in Vegas all weekend and take selfies with Ivanka Trump, but that doesn’t make me rich. On the contrary, it would make me kind of a douchebag.
There is that old saying from Fight Club, “The things you own end up owning you.” Materialism, by and large, is a psychological trap. No matter how much you own, how much you buy, how much you earn, the disease of more never goes away. Meanwhile, you’re working longer hours, taking bigger risks, foregoing more and more parts of your life.
Money is inherently neutral. It’s merely a vessel for the exchange of experience between two people. You make your money by creating experiences for others. You then give your money to others to receive experiences in return.
Even when you buy some material good like a sports car or a diamond necklace, you’re not just buying the physical goods, you’re buying the experience of driving that car or wearing that necklace. You’re buying the experience of power, speed, or social status that’s associated with it. You’re buying that ornament to your identity, that knowledge of what owning and using it feels like and whether it makes you happy or not.
Arguably most of the value of any purchase is not monetary.
When you buy food, you are, in a sense, buying away the experience of hunger. You’re buying your own temporary health and happiness. When you buy a trip with your family you are buying the opportunity to experience something new together and strengthen your relationships with one another. When you buy a new suit for work, you aren’t just buying the fabric or the brand, you are buying the social signals that you invest in yourself, that you take yourself seriously and can be relied upon by others.
It’s not about the stuff. The stuff is merely there to shuttle you into some form of experience. Everything you spend money on is simply experience.
Because money is an exchange of experiences, money often results in experience cycles: we give up one (negative) experience to earn money that then purchases the opposite (positive) experience. Once the money runs out, we’re forced back to the negative experience and the cycle starts again.
Stress Cycles – Some people earn money through a great deal of stress. They work a high-pressure job or in a role where they are constantly criticized or threatened in some way. They then spend their money primarily on stress-relief to compensate for the rigor their job creates. These people end up in a constant cycle of stress-generation and stress-relief while failing to actually build much wealth.
Ego Cycles – Some people work in environments where they feel powerless, insignificant or useless. These people then take out their insecurity by spending their money on superficial status symbols (see: the thirty thousand dollar millionaire). They earn their money through insecurity, and then spend their money on quelling their insecurities, thus never actually building wealth.
Pain Cycles – Other people actually hurt themselves to make a living. It may be physically (professional wrestling, sword swallower) or it may be emotionally/psychologically (sex work, demeaning jobs, abusive bosses or co-workers). These people then spend their money on pain relief — alcohol, drugs, and other diversions.
True wealth occurs when the way we spend our money is not simply compensating for how we earn it. Wealth occurs when the way we earn money and the way we spend money are aligned with one another — when our money is earned through a positive experience and spent on other positive experiences.
People who fall into these experience cycles with their money soon become slaves to earning a buck. They begin to see money as the singular purpose of their life. It becomes the whole of their motivation.
Once this happens, you no longer own your money; your money owns you. It is not the currency, you are. And money will spend you as long as it can, until either you stop it or you die.
The way to short-circuit these cycles, the way to escape the endless chase for another buck and the way to create genuine wealth, is to stop using money as your metric for success.
Just as there are many definitions for value, there are many definitions for success as well. Money is often a means towards success, but it is rarely success itself.1
The real value of money emerges when we leverage it as a tool towards our success rather than making it success itself. When we channel it towards the experiences and values that we find more important. When we use it to build an innovative business, when it fuels our creativity or infuses our community, when it supports our family or shares love with our friends or adds to our personal health and satisfaction.
The real value of money begins when we look beyond it and see ourselves as better, as more valuable, than it is. When it’s not about the accumulation of stuff but rather the enactment of experiences. When it’s not about the mug but rather the coffee that’s in it.
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