On Vanity 于虚荣心.docVIP

On Vanity 关于虚荣心 　　Why do we buy stuff？ Not everything we buy is useful， so there must be other reasons why we work so hard to buy things. 中国论文网 /1/viewhtm　　Maybe it’s because we find a sense of happiness or satisfaction when we buy something new， but we all know that that feeling soon fades （even though we almost never remember this every time we buy something new）. 　　Why we buy stuff has less to do with the object itself than with ourselves. When we buy expensive clothes， the newest gadgets2 or a flashy3 car， it’s because we believe it will give us recognition from the people around us―we’ll “show” them how successful we are so that they’ll accept us， or even love us. 　　Humans crave4 recognition. To be part of a group， or at least not be in some else’s shadow， most people are more influenced by what other people think of them than what they actually want themselves. 　　Think about it―if everyone in the world disappeared tomorrow and you were the only one left （apart from the upset you would have from losing your friends and loved ones）， what would you do now that you could have anything you desired？ 　　You could just walk into someone’s mansion5， even the most beautiful castle， and have it all to yourself. You could pick and choose anyone’s finest clothing and jewelry， even put on the crown6 if you wanted to！Drive a Ferrari， swim in bank notes， have hundreds of iPhones. But after a while， what would happen？ With no one to impress， the chances are that you’ll find somewhere more convenient and easier to maintain than a huge house， you’ll wear clothes that are more comfortable， you’ll drive something more practical and you’ll get bored of the latest gadget. 　　Things you thought were worth a lot won’t matter as much any more. You’re the last person on earth. There’s nothing left but to find something worthwhile to do， something that makes you happy， not anyone else. 　　If no one was around to validate7 our existence， as society has defined by how much stuff we