各種奇葩的世界紀(jì)錄有意義嗎？

The second Thursday of each November is Guinness World Records Day. Every year, it’s a time when we get to appreciate the marvelous things that people have achieved.

11月的第二個(gè)星期四是吉尼斯世界紀(jì)錄日。每年的這個(gè)時(shí)候，我們都會為人們所能做到的非凡之事而驚嘆不已。

Well, perhaps it isn’t. Apparently, some of the record makers and breakers seem more admirable than others. It’s perfectly possible to appreciate the achievement of a sportsperson like Usain Bolt, for example, who is the only athlete to win the 100m and 200m Olympic titles three times in a row. Running is a tradition that goes all the way back to the Greek Olympic competitions.

好吧，或許事實(shí)也并非如此。很顯然，有些紀(jì)錄的創(chuàng)造者和打破者似乎要比其他人更令人敬佩。打個(gè)比方，尤塞恩·博爾特是唯一一位連續(xù)三年獲得男子100米及200米奧運(yùn)冠軍的運(yùn)動(dòng)員，像他這樣的運(yùn)動(dòng)員所取得的成就，得到人們的贊賞完全合理。賽跑是一項(xiàng)可追溯到古希臘奧林匹克運(yùn)動(dòng)會的傳統(tǒng)。

But one wonders whether the person who holds the record for growing the largest onion, or the one who holds the record for the most wooden toilet seats broken within a minute using only the forehead, is quite as worthy of our admiration as Bolt is.

但也有人好奇，像種出世界上最大的洋蔥，或者在1分鐘內(nèi)用額頭擊碎最多的木頭馬桶蓋，這樣的世界紀(jì)錄保持者是否應(yīng)該獲得人們像對博爾特一樣的敬重。

The Greek poet Pindar wrote great poems to the athletes of his day. It seems unlikely that anyone today would compose an ode to a man for growing an unusually big vegetable. In other words, some of these Guinness records seem a bit silly.

古希臘詩人品達(dá)寫下了一系列偉大的詩篇來歌頌與他同時(shí)代的運(yùn)動(dòng)員。但如今，似乎不大可能有人會為種出巨大蔬菜的人寫詩贊美。換言之，一些吉尼斯世界紀(jì)錄似乎有些無厘頭。

So, why do people choose to try and attain world record holder status for, to put it kindly, such pointless things? Perhaps the experts can help. Speaking to The Atlantic magazine, Stephen Garcia, a professor of psychology at the University of Michigan, tried to explain it. “People are always trying to find a way to make themselves seem like they are at the top,” he said.

所以，說好聽些，為什么人們會為這些毫無意義的事情創(chuàng)造并保持世界紀(jì)錄呢?或許專家們能進(jìn)行一些解釋。密歇根大學(xué)心理學(xué)教授史蒂芬·加西亞在接受《大西洋月刊》采訪時(shí)就試圖解釋這一點(diǎn)。“人們總是試圖找出一種方式，讓自己看起來似乎立于頂點(diǎn)，”他說道。

It’s not that they want to be the best at everything but just to be the best at something. They seek what he calls “optimal distinctiveness.” It seems to them that everyone stands out at something, and these record holders just want to discover what their “something” is.

人們并不指望在所有事情上都做到最好，但希望在某一方面成為第一。他們會在自己身上尋找加西亞所說的“最優(yōu)特性”。對于這些人而言，所有人都有其擅長之處，而這些紀(jì)錄保持者們只是想發(fā)現(xiàn)自己的“擅長之處”罷了。

That means it isn’t just crazy competitiveness that makes people consider spending a huge amount of time, effort and perhaps money being the best at a meaningless thing – like cycling backwards while playing a violin – but a desire to be part of society.

這意味著，人們愿意為了在一些無意義的事情上(如一邊倒騎自行車一邊拉小提琴)做到最好而花費(fèi)大量時(shí)間、精力、或許還有金錢，并不只是出于瘋狂的爭強(qiáng)好勝，還有想要成為社會一分子的欲望。

Guinness World Records Day is not only about fun. Above all, it’s about letting people count for something in the world.

吉尼斯世界紀(jì)錄日并不僅僅是為了好玩。最重要的是，它讓人們在這個(gè)世界中的某一方面實(shí)現(xiàn)了價(jià)值。