“你長大想干啥”：成人之問可休矣

英文原文

Stop Asking Kids What They Want to Be When They Grow Up

不要再問孩子長大后想做什么了

By Adam Grant

“What do you want to be when you grow up?”

“你長大之后想做什么？”

When I was a kid, I dreaded the question. Adults always seemed terribly disappointed that I wasn’t dreaming of becoming something grand or heroic, like a filmmaker or an astronaut.

小時候，我很害怕這個問題。我沒有夢想成為什么大人物或者英雄，像是電影制片人或是宇航員之類的，這似乎總是讓大人們十分失望。

Now, as an organizational psychologist, my job is to fix other people’s jobs, and I’ve become convinced that asking youngsters what they want to be does them a disservice.

如今，作為一名組織心理學家，我的工作就是去解決其他人工作中遇到的問題，我已經十分確定，問年輕人想做什么對他們有害無益。

My first beef with the question is that it forces kids to define themselves in terms of work. When you’re asked what you want to be when you grow up, it’s not socially acceptable to say, “A father”, or, “A mother”, let alone, “A person of integrity”.

對這個問題，我首先不滿的地方在于它迫使孩子們用工作來定義自己。當你被問到長大后想做什么，回答“一位父親”或者“一位母親”是不被社會接受的，更不用說回答做“一個正直誠實的人”了。

The second problem is the implication that there is one calling out there for everyone. Although having a calling can be a source of joy, research shows that searching for one leaves students feeling lost and confused.

第二個問題是，它暗示了每個人都有一個使命在前方召喚。盡管擁有使命可能會是快樂的源泉，但研究卻顯示追尋使命讓學生們感到失落和迷惘。

The third hurdle: Careers rarely live up to your childhood dreams. In one study, looking for the ideal job left college seniors feeling more anxious, stressed, overwhelmed and depressed throughout the process — and less satisfied with the outcome.

第三個問題：人們的職業(yè)成就很少能符合童年時代的夢想。一項研究表明，執(zhí)著于尋找理想的工作讓大學高年級生在找工作的過程中感到更焦慮、更有壓力、更挫敗，也更沮喪，同時也對結果更不滿意。

Asking kids what they want to be leads them to claim a career identity they might never want to earn. Instead, invite them to think about what kind of person they want to be — and about all the different things they might want to do.

問孩子們想做什么會促使他們聲稱自己有某種職業(yè)認同感，但是這種認同感，可能他們其實永遠都不想得到。相反，（我們應該）讓孩子們去思考他們想成為怎樣的人——想想他們可能想做的各種不同的事。

【內容拓展】

▍作者簡介：

Adam Grant 是美國一位組織心理學家organizational psychologist，現(xiàn)任美國賓夕法尼亞大學沃頓商學院教授，28歲被評為終身教授，也是沃頓商學院最年輕的終身教授。

生詞好句

1.dread

英 [dred] 美 [dred]

vt. 害怕

拓展:

n. 恐懼（great fear or terror）；恐懼之事（the thing that is greatly feared）

She has a dread of hospitals. 她最怕上醫(yī)院。

Poverty is many people’s constant dread. 人就怕窮。

vt. 恐懼（fear sth. greatly）

dread illness 怕生病

I’m dreading having to meet his parents.

要見他的父母，我特別緊張。

I dread that I may never see you again.

我害怕再也見不到你。

I dread to think what they say about me behind my back.

我就怕他們在背后說我壞話。

Liberty means responsibility. That is why most men dread it.

自由即責任，難怪大多數(shù)人懼怕自由。

The fear of death is more to be dreaded than death itself.

怕死比死亡本身更可怕。

dreadful adj. 可怕的

Writing is a dreadful labour, yet not so dreadful as idleness.

寫作累人，然而無所事事更累。

2.grand

英 [ɡr?nd] 美 [ɡr?nd]

adj. 宏偉的

拓展:

grand themes 宏大的主題

grand schemes 宏偉的計劃

The Grand Canyon (美國)大峽谷

3.heroic

英 [h??r???k] 美 [h??ro??k]

adj. 勇敢的（very brave）

拓展:

a heroic act/deed 英勇的行為

4.organizational psychologist

組織心理學家

拓展:

industrial and organizational psychologist 工業(yè)與組織心理學家

組織心理學家的內容包括職業(yè)評估，開展員工訓練，工作滿意度評估，為別人出謀劃策等。

5.disservice

英 [?d?s?s??v?s] 美 [?d?s?s??rv?s]

n. 損害，傷害

拓展:

Calling him a liar does him a great disservice.

叫他騙子，給他帶來了巨大的傷害。

6.beef

英 [bi?f] 美 [bi?f]

n. 牛肉；（俚語）抱怨；爭論（a complaint or an argument）

拓展:

beef up 加強

“抱怨”這個詞義來源于1888年英文報紙登的一則消息：美國大兵抱怨國家給他們提供的牛肉，質次量少。

My main beef about the job is that I have to work on Saturdays.

我對這項工作最不滿意的地方就是周六要上班。

I am having a beef with my boss.

我和老板有分歧。

7.let alone

更不必說

拓展:

He would never even read a newspaper, let alone a book.

他從來不看報，更別提看書了。

8.integrity

英 [?n?teɡr?ti] 美 [?n?teɡr?ti]

n. 誠實（being honest）；正直（having strong moral principles that you refuse to change）

拓展:

The integrity of man is to be measured by their conduct not by their professions.

君子之風不在乎他干什么，而在乎他干了什么。

9.calling

英 [?k??l??] 美 [?kɑ?l??]

n. （深藏不露的）天賦；使命感

拓展:

To answer your calling 聽從你內心的召喚

About 17 million urban middle-school graduates answered Mao's calling and flocked to the countryside.

大約1700萬高中畢業(yè)生響應毛主席的號召，到農村去。

10.hurdle

英 [?h??d?l] 美 [?h??rd?l]

n. 障礙物

11.rarely

英 [?re?li] 美 [?rerli]

adv. 很少地（not often）

12.live up to

達到；實現(xiàn)（achieve what is expected）

拓展:

Her/His performance lived up to our expectations.

她/他沒有辜負我們的殷切希望。

13.overwhelmed

英 [???v??welmd] 美 [?o?v?r?welmd]]

adj. 有挫敗感的

14.claim

英 [kle?m] 美 [kle?m]

vt. 聲稱

15.earn

英 [??n] 美 [??n]

vt. 贏得

拓展:

standing ovation 長時間起立鼓掌