Most of us are adult enough to know magic doesn't exist. And yet we're the same species that thinks fat rings are fairy-tale items which somehow "secure" another person's love, one step away from a "happily ever after".

    我们中的大多数都已经足够成熟，知道这个世界上并不存在什么魔法。我们同样也都知道用一颗大钻戒去“套住”一个人的心，然后“永远幸福地生活在一起”是只是童话中才会出现的故事。
    They're expensive, useless and, worse, are insulting to notions of actual love. As anyone who's been in a serious long-term relationship knows, you don't need geology to proclaim (let alone justify) said love.
    戒指又贵又没用，更糟糕的是，它们还侮辱了爱情的真谛。任何一个认真处在长久恋爱关系的人都知道，你并不需要通过地里埋藏的东西来宣告（甚至刻意证明）你的爱。
    Before you take me for a cheapskate who just doesn't want to spend the money on a ring, let me explain a bit more. Many of us, especially men, have strapped our feet to the commercialised notions of what constitutesrelationships. We've turned into zombies, hungry for all things red and supposedly lovey dovey. We buy into the baffling displays of romance like the nauseating crimson heart-shaped horror show we call Valentine's Day. Or the flowers and boxed chocolates we're supposed to deliver on anniversaries to celebrate monogamous tolerance and the disbelief you haven't murdered each other.
    在我被你们视为不愿花钱买戒指的吝啬鬼之前，请允许我多做一些解释。我们很多人，尤其是男人，已经被束缚在商业化概念构成的情感之中。我们变得像僵尸一样，渴望一切红色的东西和所谓的情爱缠绵。我们相信那些莫名其妙的浪漫表达方式，比如满眼红到令人作呕的恐怖心形物（我们称之为情人节），或者是我们应该在周年纪念日那天送上鲜花和盒装巧克力，以庆祝我们竟能在一夫一妻制下相互容忍而没有相互残杀。
    We speed through our finances and morals, enjoying the exhilaration of fitting in to societal expectation, as opposed to reflecting on whether our actions are warranted or justified. And our partners seem all too ready to go along with it.
我们忽视了自身的经济能力和个人信念，享受着因为符合社会期望而带来的喜悦，却没有反思我们的行为是否必要或者合理。我们的伴侣对此似乎也都是赞同的。
    Engagement rings – specifically expensive diamond ones – are often prime examples of this unthinking mindset. The problem isn't the rings themselves, but the justifications – or the lack of justifications – behind their acquisition.
    订婚戒指——尤其是昂贵的钻石戒指——往往是这种盲目心态的典型例子。问题并不在于戒指本身，而是在于买戒指这件事的合理性。