電擊能否讓你改掉亂花錢的習慣

Tech companies believe that knowledge is power, and the digital banks vying for the world’s savers are no exception. By offering colourful apps that promise users control over their finances, companies such as Atom, Monzo and Tandem think that giving people more information will help them make smarter decisions.

科技公司認爲，知識就是力量。而這一點也獲得正在爭奪全球儲戶的數字銀行的認同。Atom、Monzo和Tandem等公司向用戶提供各式各樣的應用，它們標榜這些應用能幫助用戶控制其財務狀況。這些公司認爲，向人們提供更多信息會有助於他們做出更加明智的財務決定。

But a dark question stalks these ambitions: what if people have no self-control? What if, when told they spend a third of their monthly salary on takeaway coffee, they continue overspending? When it comes to money, sometimes people just don’t want to know.

但是，一個潛在的問題令這些公司雄心勃勃的計劃倍受困擾：如果人們沒有自我控制力，情況會如何呢？如果被告知外賣咖啡已經花掉了他們月工資的三分之一後，他們仍舊超支，這又該如何處理呢？ 當涉及到錢時，有時候人們就是不想知道真相。

Enter a new breed of sneaky financial apps, which also collect information about your spending habits. They don’t, however, bother telling you about them but quietly take action on your behalf. I’m thinking of apps such as Plum and Chip, which monitor your spending and move cash from your current account into your savings when you spend less than usual.

市面上出現了一批鬼祟的新型財務應用，它們也會收集你的支出習慣信息。不過，這些應用不會費那個勁告知你的消費習慣究竟如何，而是默默地代表你採取行動。我想到的類似應用包括Plum和Chip。這兩款應用能監控你的支出，如果支出低於平常水平，應用就會將錢從你的往來賬戶轉入儲蓄賬戶。

The problem is that they still don’t actually stop you spending. While the digital banks try to horrify you by illustrating your monthly caffeine spend with a neatly drawn pie chart, the sneaky apps just accept that you’re an idiot and get on with the job of saving you from yourself where they can.

但問題是，他們仍然無法阻止你消費。數字銀行會嘗試用一張漂亮的餅圖來嚇唬你，讓你知道你每月的咖啡消費是多麼驚人，而那些鬼祟的應用只會把你假定爲一個白癡，不由分說地擔負起在它們功能所及的範圍內爲你省錢的重任。

For many, this undercover assistance will be helpful. But for anyone really serious about stopping their coffee habit, there’s a new way. Pavlok — its name inspired by Russian psychologist Ivan Pavlov — is a bracelet that gives you a mild electric shock if you do something you don’t want to do. This method has no interest in your comfort and dignity, only in “allowing you to achieve 100 per cent of your goals 100 per cent of the time” (in the words of its creator).

對於許多人來說，這種不知不覺的幫助會很有用。不過，對於那些真正認真考慮戒掉喝咖啡習慣的人，可以嘗試一種新的方式——巴甫洛克(Pavlok)手環。這個名字的靈感來自俄羅斯心理學家伊萬?巴甫洛夫(Ivan Pavlov)。如果你做了一些你不希望自己做的事情，手環就會輕微地電你一下。這種方法對你的舒適感和尊嚴不感興趣，（用其設計者的話說），只在乎 “讓你在100%的時間裏100%達成目標”。

Pavlok agrees with Chip and Plum’s conclusion that you can’t be trusted to make good decisions. More data cannot help you resist Pret coffees but what if someone electrocuted you every time you bought one? Might it work?

巴甫洛克手環認同Chip和Plum得出的結論，即靠你自己做出明智的決定是靠不住的。再多的數據也無法幫助你抵禦Pret（英國連鎖健康快餐品牌Pret a Manger的簡稱——譯者注）咖啡的誘惑，但是，如果你每次買咖啡時，就電你一下，會有效嗎？

Maneesh Sethi, Pavlok’s inventor, admits that people have been slow to catch on to the idea of negative stimuli instead of rewards — although he has sold about 50,000 Pavloks so far. Sethi invented this bracelet because he had what he described as “a severe addiction to Facebook”. In a neat circle, technology is rounding on itself, getting your attention to stop you squandering your attention. “The thing is, there are lots of positive stimuli in the world, and people get addicted to checking their phones,” says Sethi. “With this, your hand reaches in for your phone and it zaps you.”

巴甫洛克手環的發明人馬內什?塞西(Maneesh Sethi)承認，人們對負面刺激而不是獎勵這種想法的接受速度還是有點慢 —— 儘管如此，他迄今爲止已售出了約5萬個巴甫洛克手環。塞西之所以發明這個手環，是因爲他患上了自己所述的“嚴重臉書(Facebook)上癮症”。這真是“一報還一報”：技術開始自己對付自己，通過獲得你的注意來阻止你揮霍你的注意力。“事實上，世界上有很多刺激是正面的，而且人們確實是查看手機成癮，”塞西說，“戴上這個手環後，當你伸手去拿手機時，它就會電擊你。”

Intelligent Environments, another tech company, which develops software for large banks, has linked the Pavlok bracelet directly to users’ bank accounts. Tom Stinton, head of product at the company, says technologies such as contactless debit cards or Amazon buttons are helping people spend their money more swiftly. But our growing aversion to physical cash means people now find it harder to monitor their spending. For Intelligent Environments, the answer is not a digital bank but an “internet of things bank”.

另一家爲大型銀行開發軟件的科技公司“智能環境”(Intelligent Environments)，將巴甫洛克手環直接與用戶的銀行賬戶相連接。該公司的產品負責人湯姆?斯廷頓(Tom Stinton)表示，非接觸式借記卡或亞馬遜(Amazon)一鍵購物按鈕等技術正在幫助人們更快速地花錢。但是，我們越來越不喜歡使用實物現金，意味着人們現在發現對支出進行監控的難度加大。對“智能環境”而言，解決之道不是數字銀行，而是“物聯網銀行”。

The “internet of things” is the name given to the fast-growing array of day-to-day objects that can connect to the internet. The commonly used example is a fridge that orders its own milk when you’re running low. The Pavlok fits right into this concept but instead of buying you milk, it electrocutes you.

“物聯網”指的是越來越多的可以與互聯網連接的日常物品組成的網絡。最常見的例子就是冰箱。當存放的牛奶快用完時，冰箱會自動訂購。巴甫洛克手環與這個概念非常契合，不過，它不是幫你買牛奶，而是用電擊的方式提醒你。

Unfortunately, Intelligent Environment’s clients (ie, large banks) have yet to be persuaded that electrocuting their customers is a good idea. Fear not, though, because Pavlok has found another way to tame your manic profligacy. Its new version can, somewhat worryingly, track your movements and electrocute you if you go anywhere you’re not supposed to (like the coffee shop).

遺憾的是，“智能環境”尚未說服其客戶（即大銀行）相信電擊提醒客戶是個好主意。不過，也毋須擔心，因爲巴甫洛克手環已經找到了另一種緩解你的揮霍狂躁症的方法。新款手環可以跟蹤你的行蹤（這有點令人擔心），如果你去了不該去的地方（如咖啡店等），它就會電擊你。

None of this is particularly sophisticated, of course. But perhaps it’s the logical conclusion of the never-ending clamour for our attention and cash. Maybe our willpower is weaker than before, just as our attention spans are shorter, and the Pavlok is both the result of a tech-powered information overload and an antidote to it.

當然，這些都不是特別複雜的技術。不過，在無休止地抱怨我們注意力不集中和錢花得太快後，這或許最合理的解決方式。也許我們的意志力已大不如前，正如我們保持注意力的時間變短了一樣，巴甫洛克手環是技術發展導致信息超載的產物，同時也是信息超載的一劑解藥。

There is only one more problem but Sethi seems to have considered it already. What if I just decide to take off the bracelet? “We’re developing a lock,” he replies.

最後還剩下一個問題，不過，塞西似乎已經考慮過了。如果我決定摘掉手環，那怎麼辦？“我們正在開發一個手環鎖，”他回答說。