快樂誰人不想？想自己快樂，想孩子快樂，想自己關心的人快樂。大家天天都以尋找快樂為目標。
      衣食豐足就會快樂？但不時都會進行的快樂指數調查，發現很多先進富裕西方國家的人都不怎麼快樂。香港人相對生活豐足，卻不見得十分快樂。Guardian(《衛報》)的特寫記者、心理學專欄作家Oliver Burkeman在他的The Antidote書序這樣說：
      Self-help books don't seem to work. Few of the many advantages of modern life seem capable of lifting our collective mood. Wealth - even if you can get it - doesn't lead to happiness. Romance, family life and work often seem to bring stress as much as joy. We can't even agree on what "happiness" means.
      (自助式的書籍幫不上忙。現代生活的種種好處也未能提升我們的集體心情。財富——就算給你得到——也不能帶來快樂。愛情、家庭生活和工作也像只是苦樂參半。大家連什麼是“快樂”也莫衷一是。)
      在自由社會中，大家都有追求快樂的權利，看看身邊不快樂的人也不少。明顯地，普遍追求快樂的方法很可能出了偏差。但問題出在哪裏？

      消極更快樂
      Oliver Burkeman認為經常以追求快樂為目標就正是製造不快樂的主因：
      ...the effort to try to feel happy is often precisely the thing that makes us miserable(悽慘). And that it is our constant efforts to eliminate the negative - insecurity(局促不安), uncertainty, failure, or sadness - that is what causes us to feel so insecure, anxious, uncertain, or unhappy.
      很多專家都提倡以positive thinking(積極的思想)為快樂的途徑。但Oliver Burkeman卻認為這是錯誤的。他研究不同的哲學和宗教思想，提出相反的建議：要消極才會有長久快樂。他稱這為the negative path(負面的途徑)。
      The negative path to happiness is not an argument for bloody-minded contrarianism at all costs: you won't do yourself any favours by walking into the path of oncoming buses, say, rather than trying to avoid them. Nor should it be taken as implying that there's necessarily anything wrong with optimism.
      Contrarian是那些做法與一般大眾想法相反的人。Contrarianism可以說是凡事唱反調，“循負面找快樂不是要你“凡事唱反調”，明明有巴士迎面而來還要走出馬路；也不代表optimism(樂觀)一定有問題。

      問題簡單化
      Negative path並不是一套解決所有問題的哲學，也包含了很多不同方法︰
      This negative path, it should be emphasized, isn't one single comprehensive, neatly packaged philosophy; the antidote(解藥) is not a panacea(萬能藥). Positive thinking的問題就正是把問題簡單化︰"its desire to reduce big questions to one-size-fits-all self-help tricks or ten-point plans." One-size-fits-all解釋為任何人任何情況都合用。
      By contrast, the negative path offers no such single solution. Some of its proponents(倡議者) stress embracing negative feelings and thoughts, while others might better be described as advocating indifference(置之不理) towards them.

      文︰子慧