投资 · 西方古典
托斯丹·凡勃伦:有闲阶级论·摘录 158
托斯丹·凡勃伦《有闲阶级论》· The Theory of the Leisure Class · 投资
The case is analogous to what happens in the purchase of any article of consumption by a purchaser who is not an expert judge of materials or of workmanship. He makes his estimate of value of the article chiefly on the ground of the apparent expensiveness of the finish of those decorative parts and features which have no immediate relation to the intrinsic usefulness of the article; the presumption being that some sort of ill-defined proportion subsists between the substantial value of an article and the expense of adornment added in order to sell it. The presumption that there can ordinarily be no sound scholarship where a knowledge of the classics and humanities is wanting leads to a conspicuous waste of time and labor on the part of the general body of students in acquiring such knowledge. The conventional insistence on a modicum of conspicuous waste as an incident of all reputable scholarship has affected our canons of taste and of serviceability in matters of scholarship in much the same way as the same principle has influenced our judgment of the serviceability of manufactured goods.
出处:
https://www.gutenberg.org/ebooks/833
定位:Excerpt 158 · 核对日期:2026-10-19 · 核验:短摘录
白话
凡勃伦把学术比作买东西:外行判断商品价值,主要看装饰部分是否显得昂贵,并假定价格与内在品质有某种模糊比例。同样,人们假定没有古典学养就没有扎实学问,于是学生普遍浪费大量时间精力去学古典语言。这种对“明显浪费”的坚持,影响了我们对学术品味和实用性的判断,就像它影响我们对商品实用性的判断一样。换句话说,我们常把“看起来费钱费力”误当成“有真价值”。要警惕这种光环效应,多问实质用途。
上下文
凡勃伦用商品消费的类比,说明学术评价中“明显浪费”如何被误认为品质保证。
今日一问
你最近一次判断某样东西“好”,是因为它真有用,还是因为它看起来费钱费力?
公版作品;原文逐字取自 Project Gutenberg,仅摘录段落并附全书链接。
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