Peter Singer is Professor of Bioethics at Princeton University, Laureate Professor in the School of Historical and Philosophical Studies at the University of Melbourne, and founder of the non-profit organization The Life You Can Save. His books include
Animal Liberation, Practical Ethics, The Ethics of What We Eat (with Jim Mason), Rethinking Life and Death, The Point of View of the Universe, co-authored with Katarzyna de Lazari-Radek, The Most Good You Can Do, Famine, Affluence, and Morality, One World Now, Ethics in the Real World, and Utilitarianism: A Very Short Introduction, also with Katarzyna de Lazari-Radek. In 2013, he was named the world's third "most influential contemporary thinker" by the Gottlieb Duttweiler Institute.
发自墨尔本 —— 在新的一年里，你是否制定了些什么新年计划？也许你决心要健身，或者减肥，想存更多的钱，又或者打算少喝点酒。或许你有个更为大公无私的计划：向那些急需帮助的人伸出援手，或者减少自己的碳足迹（ 指个人能源消耗量和污染排放量 ）。但问题是，你果真能够把这份计划坚持下来吗？
虽然 2010 年才没开始几天，但已经有一系列研究显示，在那些制定了新年计划的人中，能够坚持执行超过一个月的还不到一半。而这个现象对人类本身的天性以及我们既明智又道德地生活的能力，又会带来些什么样的启示呢？
当然，一部分问题在于我们只会针对自己不喜欢做的事去制定计划。只有患了厌食症的人才会决心每星期至少吃一次雪糕，也只有工作狂才会决心花更多的时间去看电视。也正因如此，我们才会利用新年这个特殊时刻来尝试改变那些对自己来说很难改变的行为，而这也意味着很有可能要吞下失败的苦果。
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