120. Are decisions that people make quickly always wrong?
If the question asked was whether or not a decision that is quickly made is always wrong, and required an absolute yes-no answer, I think the answer had to be a resounding "no". While carefully thinking out decisions can be important, there are many decisions that are best suited to impulsive, spontaneous outcomes.
Consider I am sitting home alone one morning, contemplating what to do with my day. There are a number of things I should get done during the day: I have to clean my apartment, as well as do some grocery shopping. A friend calls, and invites me to see an art exhibition that sounds very interesting. This situation does not require a carefully thought out decision. I can easily put off my small errands for later in the day, or even until the next day. The decision was made very quickly, and, in my opinion, was definitely not wrong.
A second example can be seen at the workplace. I am employed at a busy real estate office. I have a number of responsibilities that I have to contend with during the day. If I took the time to carefully think out each decision I made during the day, my company would quickly lose many important deals. In some situations, one must act on instinct in order to get the job done as quickly and efficiently as possible.
With that said, there are, of course, situations which do require careful thought and consideration before reaching a decision. For example, buying an apartment or a house is a very big decision to make. In this circumstance, I would not make a choice without careful evaluation of all of the information available.
While some decisions require very careful thought, others can easily be made quickly and still be correct. If I had to carefully consider all of the decisions I have to make in a day, I would never get anything accomplished.
译文
120. 匆忙做出的决定总是错误的吗？
如果所问的问题是，迅速做出的决定是否总是错误的，而且需要一个绝对的答案的话，我想回答肯定是一个响亮的“不是”。虽然谨慎思考做出的决定可能很重要，但是有许多适宜的决定也是靠直觉瞬间做出的。
假设我一天早晨独自坐在家里，沉思着我的一天要做些什么。这一天里有许多事情应该完成：我必须清扫我的公寓，还要购买一些食品。这时一个朋友打来电话，邀请我去观赏一个美术展，听起来非常有趣。这种状况不需要一个深思熟虑的决定。我可以轻易地把自己的一些小件杂事推迟到当天的晚些时候，或者甚至是直到第二天再做。这个决定做得非常迅速，而且在我看来，肯定不是错误的。
第二个例子可以发生在工作的地方。我受雇于一家忙碌的房地产事务所。白天我有很多事务必须处理。如果我花时间仔细思考我白天做的每一个决定，我的公司就会很快丢掉许多重要的生意。在有些情况下，一个人必须凭直觉来行事，以便尽可能快速而有效地将工作完成。
尽管如此，当然也存在做出决定之前确实需要深思熟虑的情况。比如，购买公寓或房屋就是一个非常重大的决定。在这种情况下，我不会未经仔细评估所有手头信息而做出决定。
虽然有些决定需要非常谨慎的思考，但是其他的决定可以轻而易举地迅速做出，而且依然是正确的。如果我必须仔细地考虑自己一天中需要做出的所有决定，那我将永远一事无成。
Word List
- resounding ［riˈzaundiŋ］ adj. 响亮的
- impulsive ［imˈpʌlsiv］ adj. 冲动的
- spontaneous ［spa:nˈteiniəs］ adj. 自然的
- contemplate ［ˈka:ntəmˌpleit］ v. 沉思
- apartment ［əˈpa:tmənt］ n. 公寓
- grocery ［ˈgrəusəri］ n. 食品
- real estate 房地产
- contend with 处理，应对
- on instinct 凭直觉
- evaluation ［iˌvæljuˈeiʃən］ n. 评估
- accomplish ［əˈka:mpliʃ］ v. 完成