John Maeda: Designing for simplicity

Translator: David J. Kreps Finnemann Reviewer: Anders Finn Jørgensen

On simplicity. What a great way to start.

Om enkelhed. Hvilken en fantastisk måde at starte på.

First of all, I've been watching this trend

For det første, har jeg set på denne trend

where we have these books like such and such "For Dummies."

hvor vi har disse bøger som disse "For Dummies."

Do you know these books, these such and such "For Dummies?"

Kender I disse bøger, disse "For Dummies?"

My daughters pointed out that I'm very similar looking, so this is a bit of a problem.

Mine døtre pointerede at jeg ser meget lig ud, så det er lidt et problem.

(Laughter)

(Latter)

But I was looking online at Amazon.com for other books like this.

Men jeg kiggede online på Amazon.com for andre bøger som denne.

You know, there's also something called the "Complete Idiot's Guide?"

I ved, der er også noget der hedder "Complete Idiot's Guide?"

There's a sort of business model around being stupid in some sense.

Der er en slags virksomhedsmodel omkring det at være dum på en eller anden måde.

We like to have technology make us feel bad, for some strange reason.

Vi kan godt lide at have teknologi der får os til at føle os dårlige, af en eller anden mærkelig årsag.

But I really like that, so I wrote a book called "The Laws of Simplicity."

Men det kan jeg virkelig godt lide, så jeg skrev en bog der hedder "The Laws of Simplicity."

I was in Milan last week, for the Italian launch.

Jeg var i Milano forrige uge, til den italienske udgivelse.

It's kind of a book about questions, questions about simplicity.

Det er på en måde en bog om spørgsmål, spørgsmål om enkelhed.

Very few answers. I'm also wondering myself, what is simplicity?

Meget få svar. Jeg undrer mig også selv over, hvad er enkelhed?

Is it good? Is it bad? Is complexity better? I'm not sure.

Er det godt? Er det dårligt? Er kompleksitet bedre? Jeg er ikke sikker.

After I wrote "The Laws of Simplicity,"

Efter jeg skrev "The Laws of Simplicity,"

I was very tired of simplicity, as you can imagine.

var jeg meget træt af enkelhed, som I kan forestille jer.

And so in my life, I've discovered that

Så i mit liv, har jeg opdaget at

vacation is the most important skill for any kind of over-achiever.

ferie er den vigtigste egenskab for enhver stræber.

Because your companies will always take away your life,

Fordi ens virksomheder vil altid tage ens liv,

but they can never take away your vacation -- in theory.

men de kan aldrig tage ens ferie -- i teorien.

(Laughter)

(Latter)

So, I went to the Cape last summer to hide from simplicity,

Så, jeg tog til Cape [Cod] forrige sommer for at gemme mig fra enkeltheden,

and I went to the Gap, because I only have black pants.

og jeg tog til Gap, fordi jeg har kun sorte bukser.

So I went and bought khaki shorts or whatever,

Så jeg tog ind og købte khaki shorts eller noget,

and unfortunately, their branding was all about "Keep It Simple."

og uheldigvis, handlede deres branding om "Hold Det Enkelt."

(Laughter)

(Latter)

I opened up a magazine, and Visa's branding was,

Jeg åbnede et magasin, og Visa's branding var,

"Business Takes Simplicity."

"Forretning Kræver Enkelhed."

I develop photographs, and Kodak said, "Keep It Simple."

Jeg udviklede fotos og Kodak sagde, "Hold Det Enkelt."

So, I felt kind of weird that simplicity was sort of following me around.

Så, jeg havde det mærkeligt med at enkelhed fulgte mig over alt.

So, I turned on the TV, and I don't watch TV very much,

Så, jeg tændte for TV, og jeg ser ikke særlig meget tv,

but you know this person? This is Paris Hilton, apparently.

men kender I denne person? Dette er Paris Hilton, åbenbart.

And she has this show, "The Simple Life."

Og hun har dette show, "Det Simple Liv."

So I watched this. It's not very simple, a little bit confusing.

Så jeg så på dette. Det er ikke særlig simpelt, en lille smule forvirrende.

(Laughter)

(Latter)

So, I looked for a different show to watch.

Så, jeg kiggede efter et andet program jeg kunne se.

So, I opened up this TV Guide thing,

Så, jeg åbnede denne TV Guide ting,

and on the E! channel, this "Simple Life" show is very popular.

og på E! kanalen, er dette "Simple Life" show virkelig populært.

They'll play it over, and over, and over.

Det viser det igen, og igen, og igen.

(Laughter)

(Latter)

So it was traumatizing, actually.

Så, det var faktisk traumatiserende.

So, I wanted to escape again, so I went out to my car.

Så, jeg ville slippe væk igen, så jeg gik ud til min bil.

And Cape Cod, there are idyllic roads, and all of us can drive in this room.

Og Cape Cod, der er idylliske veje, og alle os i dette lokale kan køre.

And when you drive, these signs are very important.

Og når man kører, er disse skilte meget vigtige.

It's a very simple sign, it says, "road" and "road approaching."

Det er et meget simpelt skilt, det betyder "vej" og "vej

So I'm mostly driving along, okay, and then I saw this sign.

Så jeg kører bare derudaf, okay, og så så jeg dette skilt.

(Laughter)

(Latter)

So, I thought complexity was attacking me suddenly,

Så, jeg tænkte at kompleksiteten pludselig angreb mig,

so I thought, "Ah, simplicity. Very important."

så jeg tænkte, "Ah, enkelhed. Meget vigtigt."

But then I thought, "Oh, simplicity. What would that be like on a beach?

Men så tænkte jeg, "Åh, enkelhed. Hvordan ville det være på en strand?

What if the sky was 41 percent gray? Wouldn't that be the perfect sky?"

Hvad hvis himlen var 41 procent grå? Ville det ikke være den perfekte himmel?"

I mean that simplicity sky.

Jeg mener den enkle himmel.

But in reality, the sky looked like this. It was a beautiful, complex sky.

Men i virkeligheden, så himlen sådan ud. Det var en smuk, kompleks himmel.

You know, with the pinks and blues. We can't help but love complexity.

I ved, med det lyserøde og det blå. Vi kan ikke gøre for det at elske kompleksitet.

We're human beings: we love complex things.

Vi mennesker: vi elsker komplekse ting.

We love relationships -- very complex. So we love this kind of stuff.

Vi elsker forhold -- meget komplekst. Så vi elsker den slags ting.

I'm at this place called the Media Lab.

Jeg er et sted der hedder Media Lab.

Maybe some of you guys have heard of this place.

Måske har nogle af jer hørt om dette sted.

It's designed by I. M. Pei, one of the premier modernist architects.

Det er designet af I. M. Pei, en af de førende modernistiske arkitekter.

Modernism means white box, and it's a perfect white box.

Modernistisk betyder hvid kasse, og det er en perfekt hvid kasse.

(Laughter)

(Latter)

And some of you guys are entrepreneurs, etc., whatever.

Og nogle af jer er entreprenører, etc., eller noget.

Last month, I was at Google, and, boy, that cafeteria, man.

Forrige måned, var jeg hos Google, og, manner det cafeteria, manner.

You guys have things here in Silicon Valley like stock options.

I har ting her i Silicon Valley som aktieoptioner.

See, in academia, we get titles, lots of titles.

Se, i akademia, får vi titler, mange titler.

Last year at TED, these were all my titles. I had a lot of titles.

Forrige år ved TED, var dette mine titler. Jeg havde mange titler.

I have a default title as a father of a bunch of daughters.

Jeg har en standardtitel som far til en stak døtre.

This year at TED, I'm happy to report that I have new titles,

Dette år ved TED, er jeg glad for at kunne sige at jeg har en ny titel,

in addition to my previous titles.

udover mine foregående titler.

Another "Associate Director of Research."

Endnu en "Associate Director of Research."

And this also happened, so I have five daughters now.

Og dette skete også, så jeg har fem døtre nu.

(Laughter)

(Latter)

That's my baby Reina. (Applause) Thank you.

Dette er min baby Reina. (Bifald) Tak.

And so, my life is much more complex because of the baby, actually,

Så, mit liv er meget mere kompleks nu på grund af babyen, faktisk,

but that's okay. We will still stay married, I think.

men det er okay. Vi forbliver gift, tror jeg.

But looking way back, when I was a child --

Men når jeg ser langt tilbage, da jeg var barn --

you see, I grew up in a tofu factory in Seattle.

ser I, voksede jeg på i en tofu fabrik i Seattle.

Many of you may not like tofu because you haven't had good tofu,

Mange af jer kan måske ikke lide tofu, fordi I ikke har fået god tofu,

but tofu's a good food. It's a very simple kind of food.

men tofu er god mad. Det er en meget simpel form for mad.

It's very hard work to make tofu.

Det er meget hårdt arbejde at lave tofu.

As a child, we used to wake up at 1 a.m. and work till 6 p.m., six days a week.

Som barn, plejede vi at stå op kl.1 og arbejde til kl.18, seks dage om ugen.

My father was kind of like Andy Grove, paranoid of the competition.

Min far var lidt ligesom Andy Grove, paranoid over konkurrence.

So often, seven days a week. Family business equals child labor.

Så tit, syv dage om ugen. Familievirksomhed er lig med børnearbejde.

We were a great model. So, I loved going to school.

Vi var en fantastisk model. Så, jeg elskede at gå i skole.

School was great, and maybe going to school

Skole var fantastisk, og måske hjalp det at gå i skole

helped me get to this Media Lab place, I'm not sure.

med at komme til dette Media Lab sted, jeg er ikke sikker.

(Laughter)

(Latter)

Thank you.

Tak.

But the Media Lab is an interesting place, and it's important to me

Men Media Lab er et interessant sted, og det er vigtigt for mig

because as a student, I was a computer science undergrad,

fordi som studerende, var jeg bachelor i datalogi

and I discovered design later on in my life.

og jeg opdagede design senere i mit liv.

And there was this person, Muriel Cooper.

Og der var denne person, Muriel Cooper.

Who knows Muriel Cooper? Muriel Cooper?

Hvem kender Muriel Cooper? Muriel Cooper?

Wasn't she amazing? Muriel Cooper. She was wacky.

Var hun ikke fantastisk? Muriel Cooper. Hun var gakket.

And she was a TEDster, exactly, and she showed us,

Og hun var en TEDster, præcis, og hun viste os,

she showed the world how to make the computer beautiful again.

hun viste verden hvordan man gør computeren smuk igen.

And she's very important in my life,

Og hun er meget vigtig i mit liv,

because she's the one that told me to leave MIT and go to art school.

fordi hun er den der fortalte mig at jeg skulle forlade MIT og at gå på kunstskole.

It was the best advice I ever got. So I went to art school, because of her.

Det var det bedste råd jeg nogensinde havde fået. Så jeg tog til kunstskole, på grund af hende.

She passed away in 1994,

Hun døde i 1994,

and I was hired back to MIT to try to fill her shoes, but it's so hard.

og jeg blev hyret tilbage til MIT for at prøve at fylde hendes sko, men det er så svært.

This amazing person, Muriel Cooper.

Denne fantastiske person, Muriel Cooper.

When I was in Japan -- I went to an art school in Japan --

Da jeg var i Japan -- jeg tog til kunstskole i Japan --

I had a nice sort of situation, because somehow I was connected to Paul Rand.

jeg havde en fin situation, fordi jeg var på en eller anden måde forbundet med Paul Rand.

Some of you guys know Paul Rand,

Nogle af jer kender Paul Rand,

the greatest graphic designer -- I'm sorry -- out there.

det bedste grafiske designer -- undskyld -- derude.

The great graphic designer Paul Rand

Den bedste grafiske designer Paul Rand

designed the IBM logo, the Westinghouse logo.

designede IBM logoet, Westinghouse logoet.

He basically said, "I've designed everything."

Han sagde dybest set, "Jeg har designet alt."

And also Ikko Tanaka was a very important mentor in my life --

Og var ligesom Ikko Tanaka en meget vigtig mentor i mit liv --

the Paul Rand of Japan. He designed most of the major icons of Japan,

den japanske Paul Rand. Han designede de fleste store ikoner i Japan,

like Issey Miyake's brand and also Muji.

ligesom Issey Miyakes brand og også Muji.

When you have mentors -- and yesterday,

Når man har mentorer -- og i går talte,

Kareem Abdul-Jabbar talked about mentors,

Kareem Abdul-Jabbar om mentorer,

these people in your life -- the problem with mentors is that they all die.

disse mennesker i ens liv -- problemet med mentorer er at de alle dør.

This is a sad thing, but it's actually a happy thing in a way,

Dette er en trist ting, men det er faktisk en glædelig ting på en måde,

because you can remember them in their pure form.

fordi man husker dem i deres rene form.

I think that the mentors that we all meet sort of humanize us.

Jeg mener at alle de mentorer vi møder på en måde menneskeliggør os.

When you get older, and you're all freaked out, whatever,

Når man bliver ældre, og man er går helt agurk,

the mentors calm us down.

vejlederne får os til at være mere besindige.

And I'm grateful for my mentors, and I'm sure all of you are too.

Og jeg er taknemmelig for mine vejledere, og det er jeg sikker på I også alle sammen er.

Because the human thing is very hard when you're at MIT.

Fordi den menneskelige side er meget svær når man er på MIT.

The T doesn't stand for "human," it stands for "technology."

T'et står ikke for menneskelig, det står for "teknologi."

And because of that, I always wondered about this human thing.

Og på grund af det, undrede jeg mig altid over denne menneskelige ting.

So, I've always been Googling this word, "human,"

Så, jeg har altid googlet dette ord, "menneskelig,"

to find out how many hits I get.

for at finde ud af hvor mange hits jeg får.

And in 2001, I had 26 million hits, and for "computer,"

Og i 2001, havde jeg 26 millioner hits, og på "computer,"

because computers are against humans a bit,

fordi computere lidt er imod mennesker,

I have 42 million hits. Let me do an Al Gore here.

har jeg 42 millioner hits. Lad mig lave en Al Gore her.

So, if you sort of compare that, like this,

Så, hvis man på en måde sammenligner det, sådan her,

you'll see that computer versus human --

vil man se at computer mod mennesker --

I've been tracking this for the last year --

jeg har fulgt dette i det sidste år --

computer versus human over the last year has changed.

computer imod mennesker i løbet af det sidste år har ændret sig.

It used to be kind of two to one. Now, humans are catching up.

Det plejede at være cirka to mod en. Nu, kommer menneskerne bedre med.

Very good, us humans! We're catching up with the computers.

Rigtig godt, os mennesker!

In the simplicity realm, it's also interesting.

I enkelhedens verden, er det også interessant.

So if you compare complexities to simplicity,

Så hvis man sammenligner kompleksitet med enkelhed,

it's also catching up in a way, too.

indhenter det også på en måde.

So, somehow humans and simplicity are intertwined, I think.

Så, på en måde er mennesker og enkelhed sammenflettet, tror jeg.

I have a confession: I'm not a man of simplicity.

Jeg har en tilståelse: jeg er ikke et enkelt menneske.

I spent my entire early career making complex stuff.

Jeg tilbragte hele min tidlige karriere med at lave komplekse ting.

Lots of complex stuff.

Mange komplekse ting.

I wrote computer programs to make complex graphics like this.

Jeg skrev computerprogrammer til at lave komplekse grafiker som denne.

I had clients in Japan to make really complex stuff like this.

Jeg havde kunder i Japan til at lave virkelig komplekse ting som dette.

And I've always felt bad about it, in a sense.

Og jeg har altid haft det dårligt med det, på en måde.

So, I hid in a time dimension.

Så, jeg gemte mig i en tids dimension.

I built things in a time-graphics dimension.

Jeg byggede ting i en tids grafisk dimension.

I did this series of calendars for Shiseido.

Jeg lavede denne serie af kalendere for Shiseido.

This is a floral theme calendar in 1997,

Dette er en kalender med blomster tema fra 1997,

and this is a firework calendar. So, you launch the number into space,

og dette er en kalender med fyrværkeri tema. Så, man skyder nummeret ud i rummet,

because the Japanese believe that when you see fireworks,

fordi japanerne tror på at når man ser fyrværkeri,

you're cooler for some reason.

er man af en eller anden årsag køligere.

This is why they have fireworks in the summer.

Dette er grunden til de har fyrværkeri om sommeren.

A very extreme culture.

En meget ekstrem kultur.

Lastly, this is a fall-based calendar,

Sidst, dette er en kalender med efterårs tema,

because I have so many leaves in my yard.

fordi jeg har så mange blade i min have.

So this is the leaves in my yard, essentially.

Så dette er bladene i min have, dybest set.

And so I made a lot of these types of things.

Så jeg lavede mange af denne slags ting.

I've been lucky to have been there before people made these kind of things,

Jeg er heldig at have været der inden mennesker lavede denne slags ting,

and so I made all this kind of stuff that messes with your eyes.

så jeg lavede denne slags ting der driller ens øjne.

I feel kind of bad about that.

Jeg har det lidt dårligt med det.

Tomorrow, Paola Antonelli is speaking. I love Paola.

I morgen, holder Paola Antonelli et foredrag. Jeg elsker Paola.

She has this show right now at MoMA,

Hun har dette show lige nu på MoMA,

where some of these early works are here on display at MoMA, on the walls.

hvor nogle af disse tidlige værker er i display på MoMA, på væggene.

If you're in New York, please go and see that.

Hvis man er i New York, tag venligst derhen og se det.

But I've had a problem, because I make all this flying stuff

Men jeg har haft et problem, fordi jeg laver alle disse flyvende ting

and people say, "Oh, I know your work.

og mennesker siger, "Åh, jeg kender dit arbejde.

You're the guy that makes eye candy."

Du er fyren der laver øjenguf."

And when you're told this, you feel kind of weird.

Og når man får dette fortalt, føler man sig lidt mærkelig.

"Eye candy" -- sort of pejorative, don't you think?

"Øjenguf" -- lidt nedsættende, synes I ikke?

So, I say, "No, I make eye meat," instead.

Så, jeg siger, "Nej, jeg laver øjenkød," i stedet for.

(Laughter)

(Latter)

And eye meat is something different, something more fibrous,

Og øjenkød er noget andet, noget mere fibrøst,

something more powerful, perhaps. But what could that be, eye meat?

noget kraftigere, måske. Men hvad kunne det være, øjenkød?

I've been interested in computer programs all my life, actually.

Jeg har været interesseret i computerprogrammer hele mit liv, faktisk.

Computer programs are essentially trees,

Computer programmer er dybest set træer,

and when you make art with a computer program, there's kind of a problem.

og når man skaber kunst med et computer program, er der et problem.

Whenever you make art with a computer program,

Når man laver kunst med et computer program,

you're always on the tree, and the paradox is that

er man altid i træet, og paradokset er at

for excellent art, you want to be off the tree.

til fremragende kunst, skal man være ude af træet.

So, this is sort of a complication I've found.

Så, dette er en komplikation jeg har fundet.

So, to get off the tree, I began to use my old computers.

Så, for at komme ud af træet, begyndte jeg at bruge mine gamle computere.

I took these to Tokyo in 2001 to make computer objects.

Jeg tog disse i Tokyo i 2001 for at lave computer objekter.

This is a new way to type, on my old, color Classic.

Dette er en ny måde at taste, på min gamle, farvede Classic.

You can't type very much on this.

Man kan ikke taste særlig meget på den.

I also discovered that an IR mouse responds to CRT emissions

Jeg opdagede også at en IR mus svarer på CRT udladninger

and starts to move by itself, so this is a self-drawing machine.

og begynder at flytte sig af sig selv, så dette er en selv tegnende maskine.

And also, one year, the G3 Bondi Blue thing --

Og også, et år, G3 Bondi Blue tingesten --

that caddy would come out, like, dangerous, like, "whack," like that.

caddien kommer på den måde, farlig, ligesom, "whack," bare sådan.

But I thought, "This is very interesting. What if I make like a car crash test?"

Men jeg tænkte, "Dette er meget interessant. Hvad hvis jeg laver en bil crash test?"

So I have a crash test.

Så jeg laver en crash test.

(Laughter)

(Latter)

And sort of measure the impact. Stuff like this are things I made,

Og mere eller mindre måler kollisionen. Denne slags ting er ting jeg lavede,

just to sort of understand what these things are.

bare for på en måde at forstå hvad disse ting er.

(Laughter)

(Latter)

Shortly after this, 9/11 happened, and I was very depressed.

Kort efter dette, skete 11. september, og jeg var meget deprimeret.

I was concerned with contemporary art

Jeg beskæftigede mig med nutidig kunst

that was all about piss, and sort of really sad things,

der alt sammen handlede om pis, og virkelig sørgelige ting,

and so I wanted to think about something happy.

så jeg ville tænke på noget glædeligt.

So I focused on food as my area --

Så jeg fokuserede på mad som mit område --

these sort of clementine peel things.

denne slags klementin skrælle tingester.

In Japan, it's a wonderful thing to remove the clementine peel

I Japan, er det en vidunderlig ting at fjerne klementin skrællen

just in one piece. Who's done that before? One-piece clementine?

i et stykke. Hvem har gjort det før? Et stykke klementin?

Oh, you guys are missing out, if you haven't done it yet.

Åh, I går glip af noget, hvis I ikke har gjort det endnu.

It was very good, and I discovered I can make sculptures out of this,

Det var rigtig godt, og jeg opdagede at jeg kan lave skulpturer ud af dette,

actually, in different forms.

faktisk, i forskellige former.

If you dry them quick, you can make, like, elephants and steers and stuff,

Hvis man tørrer dem hurtigt, kan man lave, en slags, elefanter og tyre og den slags,

and my wife didn't like these, because they mold, so I had to stop that.

og min kone kunne ikke lide disse, fordi de mugner, så jeg måtte stoppe med det.

So, I went back to the computer, and I bought five large fries,

Så, jeg tog tilbage til computeren, og jeg købte fem store pomfritter,

and scanned them all. And I was looking for some kind of food theme,

og jeg skannede dem alle sammen. Og jeg kiggede efter en eller anden form for mad tema,

and I wrote some software to automatically lay out french-fry images.

og jeg skrev noget software til automatisk at lægge nogle pomfrit billeder ud.

And as a child, I'd hear that song, you know,

Og som barn, hørte jeg den sang, I ved,

"Oh, beautiful, for spacious skies, for amber waves of grain,"

"Oh, smukt, for rummelige himmelstrøg, for ravgule bølger af korn,"

so I made this amber waves image.

så jeg lavede dette ravgule bølge billede.

It's sort of a Midwest cornfield out of french fries.

Det er en form for kornmark i Midtvesten lavet af pomfritter.

And also, as a child, I was the fattest kid in class,

Og også, som barn, var jeg det hurtigste barn i klassen,

so I used to love Cheetos. Oh, I love Cheetos, yummy.

så jeg plejede at elske Cheetos. Åh, jeg elsker Cheetos, mums.

So, I wanted to play with Cheetos in some way.

Så, jeg ville lege med Cheetos på en eller anden måde.

I wasn't sure where to go with this. I invented Cheeto paint.

Jeg var ikke sikker på hvor jeg skulle hen med dette. Jeg opfandt Cheeto maling.

Cheeto paint is a very simple way to paint with Cheetos.

Cheeto maling er en meget simpel måde at male på med Cheetos.

(Laughter)

(Latter)

I discovered that Cheetos are good, expressive material.

Jeg fandt ud af at Cheetos er et godt, udtryksfuldt materiale.

And with these Cheetos, I began to think,

Og med disse Cheetos, begyndte jeg at tænke,

"What can I make with these Cheetos?"

"Hvad kan jeg lave med disse Cheetos?"

And so, I began to crinkle up potato chip flecks, and also pretzels.

Så, jeg begyndte at folde kartoffelchip pletter, og også saltkringler.

I was looking for some kind of form,

Jeg ledte efter en eller anden skabelon,

and in the end, I made 100 butter-fries. Do you get it?

og til slut, lavede jeg 100 smør pomfritter. Forstår I den?

(Laughter)

(Latter)

And each butter-fry is composed of different pieces.

Og hver smør pomfrit er sammensat af forskellige stykker.

People ask me how they make the antenna.

Mennesker spørger mig om hvordan de laver antennen.

Sometimes, they find a hair in the food. That's my hair.

Nogle gange, finder de et hår i maden. Det er mit hår.

My hair's clean -- it's okay.

Mit hår er rent -- det er okay.

I'm a tenured professor, which means, basically, I don't have to work anymore.

Jeg er en fastansat professor, hvilket betyder, dybest set, at jeg ikke behøver at arbejde mere.

It's a strange business model. I can come into work everyday

Det er en mærkelig forretningsmodel. Jeg kan komme ind på arbejdet hver dag

and staple five pieces of paper and just stare at it with my latte.

og klipse fem stykker papir og bare stirre på det med min latte.

End of story.

Det er det.

(Laughter)

(Latter)

But I realized that life could be very boring,

Men jeg blev klar over at det liv kunne være meget kedeligt,

so I've been thinking about life, and I notice that my camera --

så jeg har tænkt over livet, og jeg lagde mærke til at mit kamera --

my digital camera versus my car, a very strange thing.

mit digitale kamera kamera kontra min bil, en meget mærkelig ting.

The car is so big, the camera is so small,

Bilen er så stor, kameraet er så småt,

yet the manual for the camera is so much bigger than the car manual.

alligevel er manualen til kameraet så meget større end manualen til bilen.

It doesn't make any sense.

Det giver ingen mening.

(Laughter)

(Latter)

So, I was in the Cape one time, and I typed the word "simplicity,"

Så, jeg var i Cape en gang, og jeg tastede ordet "enkelhed,"

and I discovered, in this weird, M. Night Shyamalan way,

og jeg opdagede, på denne mærkelige, M. Night Shyamalan måde,

that I discovered [the] letters, M, I, T. You know the word?

at jeg opdagede bogstaverne, M, I, T. Kender I ordet?

In the words "simplicity" and "complexity," M, I, T occur in perfect sequence.

I ordene "simplicity" [enkelhed] og "complexity" [kompleksitet] kommer M, I, T i perfekt rækkefølge.

It's a bit eerie, isn't it?

Det er en smule mystisk, er det ikke?

So, I thought, maybe I'll do this for the next twenty years or something.

Så, jeg tænkte, måske gør jeg dette de næste tyve år eller sådan noget.

And I wrote this book, "The Laws of Simplicity."

Og jeg skrev denne bog, "The Laws of Simplicity."

It's a very short, simple book. There are ten laws and three keys.

Det er en meget kort, enkel bog. Der er ti love og tre nøgler.

The ten laws and three keys -- I won't go over them because that's why I have a book,

De ti love og de tre nøgler -- jeg vil ikke gennemgå dem fordi det er grunden til jeg har en bog,

and also that's why it's on the Web for free.

og det er også grunden til den er gratis på nettet.

But the laws are kind of like sushi in a way: there are all kinds.

Men lovene er lidt ligesom sushi på en måde: der er alle mulige.

In Japan, they say that sushi is challenging.

I Japan, siger de at sushi er udfordrende.

You know the uni is the most challenging, so number ten is challenging.

I ved uni er den mest udfordrende, så nummer ti er udfordrende.

People hate number ten like they hate uni, actually.

Mennesker hader nummer ti ligesom de hader uni, faktisk.

The three keys are easy to eat, so this is anago, cooked already, so easy to eat.

De tre nøgler er nemme at spise, så dette er anago, forkogt, så nem at spise.

So enjoy your sushi meal later, with the laws of simplicity.

Så nyd jeres sushi måltid senere, med enkelhedens love.

Because I want to simplify them for you.

Fordi jeg vil forenkle dem for jer.

Because that's what this is about. I have to simplify this thing.

Fordi det er det dette handler om. Jeg skal forenkle denne ting,

So, if I simplify the laws of simplicity,

Så, hvis jeg forenkler enkelhedens love,

I have what's called the cookie versus laundry thing.

jeg har det der kaldes en småkage kontra vasketøj ting.

Anyone who has kids knows that if you offer a kid

Enhver der har børn ved at hvis man tilbyder et barn

a big cookie or a small cookie,

en stor småkage eller en lille småkage,

which cookie are they going to take? The big cookie.

hvilken småkage tager de så? Den store småkage.

You can say the small cookie has Godiva chocolate bits in it,

Man kan sige den lille småkage har Godiva chokolade stykker i,

but it doesn't work. They want the big cookie.

men det virker ikke. De vil have den store småkage.

But if you offer kids two piles of laundry to fold,

Men hvis man tilbyder børn to stakke vasketøj at lægge sammen,

the small pile or the big pile, which will they choose?

den lille stak eller den store stak, hvilken vælger de?

Strangely, not the big pile. So, I think it's as simple as this.

Mærkeligt nok, ikke den store stak. Så, jeg tror det er så simpelt som dette.

You know, when you want more, it's because you want to enjoy it.

I ved, når man vil have mere, er det fordi man vil nyde det.

When you want less, it's because it's about work.

Når man vil have mindre, er det fordi det handler om arbejde.

And so, to boil it all down, simplicity is about living life

Så, for at koge det ned, enkelhed handler om at leve livet

with more enjoyment and less pain.

med mere nydelse og mindre smerte.

I think this is sort of simple more versus less.

Jeg tror dette er en slags simpel mere kontra mindre.

Basically, it always depends.

Dybest set, kommer det altid an på noget.

This book I wrote because I want to figure out life.

Denne bog skrev jeg fordi jeg ville finde ud af livet.

I love life. I love being alive. I like to see things.

Jeg elsker livet. Jeg elsker at være i live. Jeg kan lide at se ting.

And so life is a big question, I think, in simplicity,

Så livet er et stort spørgsmål, tror jeg, enkelhed,

because you're trying to simplify your life.

fordi man prøver at forenkle ens liv.

And I just love to see the world. The world is an amazing place.

Og jeg elsker bare at se verden. Verden er et fantastisk sted.

By being at TED, we see so many things at one time.

Ved at være hos TED, ser vi mange ting på en gang.

And I can't help but enjoy looking at everything in the world.

Og jeg kan ikke andet end være glad for at se alt i verden.

Like everything you see, every time you wake up.

Ligesom alt man ser, hver gang man vågner op.

It's such a joy to sort of experience everything in the world.

Det er sådan en glæde at opleve alt i verden.

From everything from a weird hotel lobby,

Fra alt fra en mærkelig hotel lobby,

to Saran wrap placed over your window,

til Saran indpakning sat over ens vindue,

to this moment where I had my road in front of my house paved dark black,

til dette øjeblik hvor jeg havde min vej lagt ud foran mit hus brolagt mørk sort,

and this white moth was sitting there dying in the sun.

og denne hvide natsværmer sad der og døde i solen.

And so, this whole thing has struck me as exciting to be here,

Så, hele denne ting har slået mig som spændende at være her,

because life is finite.

fordi livet er endelig.

This was given to me by the chairman of Shiseido.

Dette blevet givet til mig af formanden af Shiseido.

He's an expert in aging. This horizontal axis is how old you are --

Han er en ekspert i aldring. Den horisontale akse er hvor gammel man er --

twelve years old, twenty-four years old, seventy-four, ninety-six years old --

tolv år gammel, fire og tyve år gammel, fire og halvfjerds, ni og halvfems år gammel --

and this is some medical data. So, brain strength increases up to 60,

og dette er medicinske data. Så, stiger hjerne styrke til 60,

and then after 60, it sort of goes down. Kind of depressing in a way.

og efter 60, går det nedad. Lidt deprimerende på en måde.

Also, if you look at your physical strength.

Så, hvis man ser på fysisk styrke.

You know, I have a lot of cocky freshmen at MIT, so I tell them,

I ved, jeg har en masse kæphøje førsteårselever ved MIT, så jeg fortæller dem,

"Oh, your bodies are really getting stronger and stronger,

"Åh, jeres kroppe bliver virkelig stærkere og stærkere,

but in your late twenties and mid-thirties, cells, they die."

en slutningen af tyverne og midten af trediverne, cellerne, de dør."

OK. It gets them to work harder, sometimes.

OK. Det får dem til at arbejde hårdere, nogen gange.

And if you have your vision, vision is interesting.

Og hvis man har sit syn, er synet interessant.

As you age from infant age, your vision gets better,

Som man vokser fra at være spædbarn, bliver ens syn bedre,

and maybe in your late teens, early twenties, you're looking for a mate,

og måske i slutningen af teenageårene, starten af tyverne, man ser efter en mage,

and your vision goes after that.

og ens syn bliver bedre efter det.

(Laughter)

(Latter)

Your social responsibility is very interesting.

Ens sociale ansvarlighed er meget interessante.

So, as you get older, you may, like, have kids, whatever.

Så, i takt med at man bliver ældre, vil man måske, altså, have børn, eller noget.

And then the kids graduate, and you have no responsibility any more --

Og så dimitterer ungerne, og man har ikke noget ansvar mere --

that's very good, too.

det er også meget godt.

But if any of you people ask,

Men hvis nogen af jer spørger,

"What actually goes up? Does anything go up?

"Hvad går opad? Er der noget der går opad?

What's the positive part of this, you know?" I think wisdom always goes up.

Hvad er den positive side af dette, I ved?" Jeg mener visdom altid går op.

I love these eighty-year-old, ninety-year-old guys and women.

Jeg elsker disse firsårige, halvfemsårige fyre og kvinder.

They have so many thoughts, and they have so much wisdom,

De har så mange overvejelser, og de har så meget visdom,

and I think -- you know, this TED thing, I've come here.

og jeg tænker -- I ved, denne TED ting, jeg er kommet her.

And this is the fourth time, and I come here for this wisdom, I think.

Og dette er den fjerde gang, og jeg kommer her for denne visdom, tror jeg.

This whole TED effect, it sort of ups your wisdom, somehow.

Denne hele TED effekt, det hæver ens visdom, på en eller anden måde.

And I'm so glad to be here, and I'm very grateful to be here, Chris.

Og jeg er så glad for at være her, og jeg er meget taknemmelig for at være her, Chris.

And this is an amazing experience for me as well.

Og dette er en fantastisk oplevelse for mig også.