You have, by now, probably come across the notion of maxxing(最大化)—looks-maxxing, sleep-maxxing, protein-maxxing, potassium-maxxing, sun-maxxing, testosterone-maxxing. Etymologically speaking, maxxing seems to be a descendant of somewhat recent slang—for those of us who remember the late 20th century, “maxin’ and relaxin’ ” and “to the max” both come to mind—but in practice, maxxing is a reductionist worldview cloaked in expansionist language.(从词源上讲，maxxing似乎是近期俚语的后代——对于我们这些记得20世纪末的人来说，“尽情放松”和“达到极致”都会浮现在脑海中——但在实践中，maxxing是一种用扩张性语言伪装起来的简化主义世界观。)
你到现在可能已经听说过“最大化”这个概念了——颜值最大化、睡眠最大化、蛋白质最大化、钾最大化、晒太阳最大化、睾酮最大化。从词源上讲，“最大化”似乎是近些年俚语的后代——对于我们这些记得20世纪末的人来说，“尽情放松”和“达到极致”都会浮现在脑海中——但在实践中，“最大化”是一种用扩张性语言伪装起来的简化主义世界观。
The term is often invoked(被提及) to describe a narrowly focused goal: If you’re maxxing, you’re likely trying to make yourself smaller, sharper, more chiseled(轮廓分明的). Maxxing requires sacrifice. It requires careful measurement. And in this way, maxxing is a consequence of our broader optimization-obsessed culture, a fixation fueled by every product, device, app, and service that trains people to collect and analyze data generated by their own behavior.(这样一来，“最大化”就是我们更广泛的痴迷优化文化的产物，这种痴迷被每一个产品、设备、应用和服务所助长，它们训练人们收集和分析自身行为产生的数据。)
这个词常被用来描述一个狭隘聚焦的目标：如果你在“最大化”，你很可能是在试图让自己更小、更锐利、更棱角分明。“最大化”需要牺牲。它需要仔细测量。这样一来，“最大化”就是我们更广泛的痴迷优化文化的产物，这种痴迷被每一个产品、设备、应用和服务所助长，它们训练人们收集和分析自身行为产生的数据。
This culture of optimization has been building for some time now, since at least the 19th century, when industrialism(工业主义) made efficiency a core ideal of working life. Later, when offices overtook(超越) factories as the emblem(象征) of work, efficiency became more abstract. Productivity began to be measured not only in profits maximized, but also in meetings shortened, messages answered, and bottlenecks removed.(生产力开始不仅以利润最大化来衡量，还以会议缩短、消息回复和瓶颈消除来衡量。) Over time, workers started managing themselves preemptively(预先地) in accordance with(按照) the mandate(要求) of efficiency, optimizing their own calendars and lunch breaks. This optimization mindset leaked out of business and into everything else. People stopped asking what activities were for and started asking how to do them better, faster, or more completely.
这种优化文化已经发展了一段时间，至少从19世纪开始，当时工业主义使效率成为工作生活的核心理想。后来，当办公室取代工厂成为工作的象征时，效率变得更加抽象。生产力开始不仅以利润最大化来衡量，还以会议缩短、消息回复和瓶颈消除来衡量。随着时间的推移，工人们开始按照效率的要求预先管理自己，优化自己的日程和午休时间。这种优化思维从商业渗透到其他一切领域。人们不再问活动是为了什么，而是开始问如何做得更好、更快或更完整。