用勇气和智慧摆脱对默认选项的依赖
用勇气和智慧摆脱对默认选项的依赖
人害怕做出选择，害怕因做错了选择而利益受损，因此会选择与大多数人干同样的事情。这时，这个人就放弃了决定自己的命运的机会。人们倾向于保持别人提供给我们的东西。人不愿意主动迈出那一步，去做出一个选择。
举一个例子，每年有超过8000位美国人在等待器官捐赠的同时死亡，这并不是因为美国人缺乏同情心，而是因为人们缺乏选择捐献器官或不捐献器官的意愿。正是因为捐赠器官是需要主动报名并同意的，这导致大量认同器官捐献的人无法行使自己的决定权，进而出现了很多人在濒死情况下仍要等待器官捐赠的场面。而在那些规定人们可自主选择退出器官捐献计划而非加入器官捐献计划的国家，往往发生这样具有戏剧性的一幕——捐献器官的人更多了。
同样，我们可以看到，用户在使用一个软件时，往往喜欢维持默认设置。在这种情况下，人们对一个事情的好与坏、优与劣自动做出了判断。大脑倾向于简单、而非复杂和困难。我们喜欢默认的事物；我们喜欢在一开始就摆在我们眼前的事物；我们依赖默认的选项而不去做判断、做选择。这是由于，依赖默认选项没有心理压力。正是因为我们在思考上的懒惰和精神上的脆弱，我们并没有听从自己的内心，去做出对自己真正负责任的一个选择。这个现象，在复杂和重大的事情决策上，尤为明显。
要知道自己想要什么；要知道自己喜欢什么；要知道自己的原则是什么。我们要明白，听从于默认选项的安排，放弃决定自己的意愿，后果往往是与预想相反的。有时我们会认为自己已经“成功地”做出了一个决定——选择了默认选项，实际上，结果与人的真心想法不符。这样的失误，轻则导致人们做出了与自己意愿不符的决定而懊悔，重则令人落入圈套、上当受骗。勇于亲自决定自己的命运与依赖默认选项的设计师的帮助做出决定，是决然不同的两个概念。做出的事没有遵从自己的真实想法，就有可能会酿成重大的后果。依赖默认选项，是一种手段较为温和的被操纵与被安排。人一旦被操纵，被安排，即便那件事是一件鸡毛蒜皮的小事，对一生的进取与发展都是不利的。
我们会被默认选项所吸引，我们会被没有意义的干扰选项所吸引，我们会被别人的选项所吸引。与此同时，我们更要擦亮眼睛、鼓起勇气，在那一念之间伸出双手、亲力亲为，以此做出属于自己的选择，把握属于自己的命运。
Unlearning Conformity
People are afraid of making decisions, specifically of making wrong decisions that hurt them in some way or another. Because of this, they often resort to doing what everyone else around them is doing. By conforming, they relinquish their ability to control their own paths and opportunities, remaining in the mold that everyone else has set.
Let’s look at an example. Every year, more than 8,000 Americans die while in line for organ transplants. This is not because Americans lack sympathy, but rather because people lack the initiative to decide whether or not to donate their organs. It is precisely because organ donation requires active registration and consent that has resulted in a large number of people not exercising this privilege of decision despite agreeing with the concept of organ donation itself. In countries that automatically opt people into organ donation and instead give them the choice of opting out, it is unsurprising that more people end up donating organs.
Similarly, in purchased software, users like to maintain default settings. In this situation, people make automatic judgments on whether or not something is good or bad based on what they are given. The brain tends to be simple rather than complex and difficult. We like the “regular” and the unchanged, and often resort to the default options instead of making active judgments and choices. This is because it’s simply easier for us to keep options unchanged, and is a result of our tendency to resort to shortcuts and unwillingness to take charge of a situation. This phenomenon is especially obvious in the decision-making of complex and important matters.
To know what you want, to know what you like, and to know what your principles are. We must understand that to follow the norm inherently means to lose sight of yourself, with consequences that are often contrary to your original expectations. Because these trains of thought can lead to making decisions that are inconsistent with one’s wishes, you may end up regretting your decisions more often than not. The courage to alter your own destiny with your own decisions and thoughts means rejecting manipulation at the hands of default options.
It is natural that we are attracted to the norm. However, in keeping our eyes open and mustering the courage to recognize and alter these attractions, we can create our own destiny.
Translation by Carina Lim ‘21