第1463期:The fear of missing out

Have you got an addictive nature? Are you unable to stop yourself joining in with the latest obsession for collecting or doing something? 

你有上瘾的本性吗？您是否无法阻止自己加入对收集或做某事的最新痴迷？

This probably describes most of us because it's only human nature to not want to miss out on something that everyone else is talking about.

这可能描述了我们大多数人，因为不想错过其他人都在谈论的事情只是人类的天性。

Most fads arrive suddenly and enthusiasm for them spreads quickly.

大多数时尚来得突然，对它们的热情迅速蔓延。

 They become a talking point on social media; we read about them, give them a try and, before we know it, we are hooked. 

它们成为社交媒体上的话题；我们读到它们，试一试，不知不觉中，我们就上瘾了。

In the past, these have been objects such as toys and games.

过去，这些都是玩具和游戏等物品。 

Maybe you were the proud owner of a Rubik's cube, which became the best-selling toy of all time – around 350 million have been sold so far.

也许您是魔方的骄傲拥有者，魔方已成为有史以来最畅销的玩具——迄今为止已售出约 3.5 亿个。

Now, technology is driving the latest crazes. 

现在，技术正在推动最新的热潮。

In some parts of the world, flavour of the month is Pokémon Go – a game that uses augmented reality, where little virtual monsters pop up onto your phone and you have to catch them. 

在世界的某些地方，本月的热门话题是 Pokémon Go——一款使用增强现实的游戏，在手机上会出现小虚拟怪物，你必须抓住它们。

And games such as Angry Birds and Minecraft are other crazes, available on smartphones and tablets, that have been hard to put down.

诸如《愤怒的小鸟》和《我的世界》之类的游戏是其他热潮，可在智能手机和平板电脑上使用，并且难以放下。

Our keeness to participate in crazes has been analysed by experts.

专家分析了我们参与狂热的热情。

 One of them, Dr Ben Michaelis, a clinical psychologist, explains that we want to experience the benefit that another person, or group of people, have experienced from something and this "hooks into an ancient evolutionary fear of being left behind or abandoned by our tribes"; we have to join in or lose out.

其中一位临床心理学家 Ben Michaelis 博士解释说，我们想体验另一个人或一群人从某事中所获得的好处，而这“与一种古老的进化恐惧相联系，即害怕被我们抛在后面或被我们抛弃。部落”；我们必须加入或失败。

Although becoming addicted to a computer game might not seem like a 'benefit', it can at least give you credibility or popularity among your friends. 

虽然沉迷于电脑游戏可能看起来不像是一种“好处”，但它至少可以让你在朋友中获得可信度或受欢迎程度。

It allows you to learn new skills and gives you something to talk about at parties!

它可以让您学习新技能，并让您在聚会上谈论一些事情！

But fashions come and go and most fads are just a flash in the pan so if one of them is not your cup of tea, don't worry: there'll be a new craze arriving very soon. 

但是时尚来来去去，大多数时尚只是昙花一现，所以如果其中一个不是你的一杯茶，别担心：很快就会有新的热潮到来。

Look at the addiction to the unsophisticated loom bands – those little rubber bands you could make jewellery and other things out of. 

看看对简单的织布机带的上瘾——那些你可以用来制作珠宝和其他东西的小橡皮筋。

For a brief period they were the must-have item for any schoolchild, now they're the bargain bucket item in a discount shop or worse still, trash filling up our landfill sites! What crazes have you been addicted to?

在短时间内，它们是任何小学生的必备品，现在它们是折扣店的便宜货，或者更糟的是，垃圾填满了我们的垃圾填埋场！你沉迷于哪些狂热？

词汇表

addictive nature （易）上瘾的天性
obsession 使人痴迷的人或事
fad 一时的流行，短暂的狂热
enthusiasm 热情，巨大兴趣
talking point 话题
hooked 上瘾的，入迷的
best-selling 畅销的
flavour of the month （某时期内）最受欢迎的人或物
augmented reality 增强现实
virtual 虚拟的
to put down 放下
credibility 威信
come and go 来来去去
a flash in the pan 昙花一现
not your cup of tea 不合你的心意
loom bands 橡皮筋
must-have 必须的，必备的