双语｜当自我约束和账户余额都不能控制你时，电击能否改变你乱花钱

双语｜当自我约束和账户余额都不能控制你时，电击能否改变你乱花钱

摘要

你是否买过一些财力无法承受的物品？是否在购物时经常无法控制自己？如果一款手环通过电击惩罚来抑制你的购物欲，你会购买吗？ T ech companies believe that knowledge is power, and the digit......你是否买过一些财力无法承受的物品？是否在购物时经常无法控制自己？如果一款手环通过电击惩罚来抑制你的购物欲，你会购买吗？

Tech companies believe that knowledge is power, and the digital banks vying for the world’s savers are no exception. By offering colorful apps that promise users control over their finances, companies such as Atom, Monzo and Tandem think thatgiving people more information will help them make smart decisions.

科技公司认为，知识就是力量。而这一点也获得正在争夺全球储户的数字银行的认同。Atom、Monzo和Tandem等公司向用户提供各式各样的应用，它们标榜这些应用能帮助用户控制其财务状况。这些公司认为，向人们提供更多信息会有助于他们做出更加明智的财务决定。

But a dark question stalks these ambitions:what if people have no self-control? What if, when told they spend a third of their monthly salary on takeaway coffee, the continue overspending? When it comes to money, sometimes people just don't wnat to know.

但是，一个潜在的问题令这些公司雄心勃勃的计划倍受困扰：如果人们没有自我控制力，情况会如何呢？如果被告知外卖咖啡已经花掉了他们月工资的三分之一后，他们仍旧超支，这又该如何处理呢？ 当涉及到钱时，有时候人们就是不想知道真相。

Enter a new breed of sneaky financial apps, which alsocollect information about your spending habits. They don’t, however, bother telling you about them but quietly take action on your behalf. I’m thinking of apps such as Plum and Chip, whichmonitor your spendingand move cash from your current account into your savings when you spend less than usual.

市面上出现了一批鬼祟的新型财务应用，它们也会收集你的支出习惯信息。不过，这些应用不会费那个劲告知你的消费习惯究竟如何，而是默默地代表你采取行动。我想到的类似应用包括Plum和Chip。这两款应用能监控你的支出，如果支出低于平常水平，应用就会将钱从你的往来账户转入储蓄账户。

The problem is that they still don’t actually stop you spending. While the digital banks try to horrify you by illustrating your monthly caffeine spend with a neatly drawn pie chart, the sneaky apps just accept that you’re an idiot and get on with the job of saving you from yourself where they can.

但问题是，他们仍然无法阻止你消费。数字银行会尝试用一张漂亮的饼图来吓唬你，让你知道你每月的咖啡消费是多么惊人，而那些鬼祟的应用只会把你假定为一个白痴，不由分说地担负起在它们功能所及的范围内为你省钱的重任。

For many, thisundercover assistance will be helpful. But for anyone really serious about stopping their coffee habit, there’s a new way. Pavlok ― its name inspired byRussian psychologist Ivan Pavlov― is a bracelet that gives you a mild electric shock if you do something you don’t want to do. This method has no interest in your comfort and dignity,only in “allowing you to achieve 100 per cent of your goals 100 per cent of the time” (in the words of its creator).

对于许多人来说，这种不知不觉的帮助会很有用。不过，对于那些真正认真考虑戒掉喝咖啡习惯的人，可以尝试一种新的方式――巴甫洛克(Pavlok)手环。这个名字的灵感来自俄罗斯心理学家伊万・巴甫洛夫(IvanPavlov)。如果你做了一些你不希望自己做的事情，手环就会轻微地电你一下。这种方法对你的舒适感和尊严不感兴趣，，只在乎“让你在100%的时间里100%达成目标”。

Pavlok agrees with Chip and Plum’s conclusion thatyou can’t be trusted to make good decisions. More data cannot help you resist Pret coffees but what if someone electrocuted you every time you bought one? Might it work?

巴甫洛克手环认同Chip和Plum得出的结论，即靠你自己做出明智的决定是靠不住的。再多的数据也无法帮助你抵御Pret咖啡的诱惑，但是，如果你每次买咖啡时，就电你一下，会有效吗？

Maneesh Sethi, Pavlok’s inventor, admits that people have been slow to catch on to the idea of negative stimuli instead of rewards ― although he has sold about 50,000 Pavloks so far. Sethi invented this bracelet because he had what he described as “a severe addiction to Facebook”.In a neat circle, technology is rounding on itself, getting your attention to stop you squandering your attention.

“The thing is, there are lots of positive stimuli in the world, and people get addicted to checking their phones,” says sethi. “With this, your hand reaches in for your phone and it zaps you.”

巴甫洛克手环的发明人马内什・塞西承认，人们对负面刺激而不是奖励这种想法的接受速度还是有点慢――尽管如此，他迄今为止已售出了约5万个巴甫洛克手环。塞西之所以发明这个手环，是因为他患上了自己所述的“严重脸书上瘾症”。这真是“一报还一报”：技术开始自己对付自己，通过获得你的注意来阻止你挥霍你的注意力。“事实上，世界上有很多刺激是正面的，而且人们确实是查看手机成瘾，”塞西说，“戴上这个手环后，当你伸手去拿手机时，它就会电击你。”

Intelligent Environments, another tech company, which develops software for large banks, has linked the Pavlok bracelet directly to users’ bank accounts.Tom Stinton, head of product at the company, says technologie such as contac-lessdebit cardsor Amazon buttons areheloping people spend their money more swiffly. But our growing aversion to physical cash means people now find it harder to monitor their spending. For Intelligent Environments, the answer is not a digital bank but an “internet of things bank”.

另一家为大型银行开发软件的科技公司“智能环境”，将巴甫洛克手环直接与用户的银行账户相连接。该公司的产品负责人汤姆・斯廷顿表示，非接触式借记卡或亚马逊一键购物按钮等技术正在帮助人们更快速地花钱。但是，我们越来越不喜欢使用实物现金，意味着人们现在发现对支出进行监控的难度加大。对“智能环境”而言，解决之道不是数字银行，而是“物联网银行”。

The “internet of things” is the name given to the fast-growing array of day-to-day objects that can connect to the internet.The commonly used example is afridgethat orders its own milk when you're running low. The Pavlok fits right into this concept but instead of buying you milk, it electrocutes you.

“物联网”指的是越来越多的可以与互联网连接的日常物品组成的网络。最常见的例子就是冰箱。当存放的牛奶快用完时，冰箱会自动订购。巴甫洛克手环与这个概念非常契合，不过，它不是帮你买牛奶，而是用电击的方式提醒你。

Unfortunately, Intelligent Environment’s clients (ie, large banks) have yet to be persuaded that electrocuting their customers is a good idea. Fear not, though, because Pavlok has found another way to tame your manic profligacy. Its new version can, somewhat worryingly, track your movements and electrocute you if you go anywhere you’re not supposed to (like the coffee shop.)

遗憾的是，“智能环境”尚未说服其客户相信电击提醒客户是个好主意。不过，也毋须担心，因为巴甫洛克手环已经找到了另一种缓解你的挥霍狂躁症的方法。新款手环可以跟踪你的行踪，如果你去了不该去的地方，它就会电击你。

Noneofthisisparticularlysophisticated,ofcourse.

Butperhapsit’sthelogicalconclusionofthenever- ending clam for our attention and cash. Maybe our willpower is weaker than before, just as our attention spans are shorter, and the pavlok is both the result of a tech-powered information overload and an antidote to it.

当然，这些都不是特别复杂的技术。不过，在无休止地抱怨我们注意力不集中和钱花得太快后，这或许最合理的解决方式。也许我们的意志力已大不如前，正如我们保持注意力的时间变短了一样，巴甫洛克手环是技术发展导致信息超载的产物，同时也是信息超载的一剂解药。

ThereisonlyonemoreproblembutSethiseemsto have considred it slready. What if I just decide to take off the bracelet? "We're developing a lock," he replies.

最后还剩下一个问题，不过，塞西似乎已经考虑过了。如果我决定摘掉手环，那怎么办？“我们正在开发一个手环锁，”他回答说。

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