Renata Salecl: Our unhealthy obsession with choice

Translator: Sofía Tuñas Puentes Reviewer: Serv. de Norm. Lingüística U. de Santiago de Compostela

When I was preparing for this talk,

Cando me estaba preparando para esta charla,

I went to search for a couple of quotes

fun buscar un par de citas

that I can share with you.

para compartir convosco.

Good news: I found three

Boas noticias: atopei tres

that I particularly liked,

que me gustaron moito.

the first by Samuel Johnson, who said,

A primeira, de Samuel Johnson, quen dixo,

"When making your choice in life,

“Cando tomes unha decisión na túa vida

do not forget to live,"

non esquezas vivir”

the second by Aeschylus, who reminded us that

Despois Esquilo, que nos lembraba que

"happiness is a choice that requires effort,"

“A felicidade é unha elección

que require esforzo”.

and the third is one by Groucho Marx

A terceira é unha de Groucho Marx:

who said, "I wouldn't want to choose to belong

“Non escollería pertencer

to any club that would have me as a member."

a un club que me admitise como membro”.

Now, bad news:

E agora, malas novas:

I didn't know which one of these quotes

non souben cal destas citas

to choose and share with you.

elixir para ensinárvolas.

The sweet anxiety of choice.

A ansiedade doce da elección

In today's times of post-industrial capitalism,

Nos tempos actuais de capitalismo postindustrial,

choice, together with individual freedom

A elección, xunto coa liberdade individual

and the idea of self-making,

e a idea de persoa feita a si mesma

has been elevated to an ideal.

elevouse ata un ideal.

Now, together with this, we also have a belief

Agora, xunto con iso, tamén cremos

in endless progress.

no progreso indefinido.

But the underside of this ideology

Pero o lado escuro desta ideoloxía

has been an increase of anxiety,

foi o aumento da ansiedade,

feelings of guilt,

da culpa,

feelings of being inadequate,

de sentirnos inadecuados,

feeling that we are failing in our choices.

do sentimento de estar fracasando nas nosas eleccións.

Sadly, this ideology of individual choice

Tristemente, esta ideoloxía da escolla individual

has prevented us from thinking about social changes.

evitou que pensásemos sobre cambios sociais.

It appears that this ideology was actually

Parece ser que esta ideoloxía foi en realidade

very efficient in pacifying us

moi eficaz calmándonos

as political and social thinkers.

como pensadores políticos e sociais.

Instead of making social critiques,

En vez de facer críticas sociais

we are more and more engaging in self-critique,

dedicámonos cada vez máis a autocriticarnos,

sometimes to the point of self-destruction.

ás veces ata o punto da nosa propia destrución.

Now, how come that ideology of choice

Como é posible que esa ideoloxía da elección

is still so powerful,

sexa aínda tan poderosa,

even among people who have

incluso entre a xente que non

not many things to choose among?

ten tanto entre o que elixir?

How come that even people who are poor

Como é posible que ata a xente que é pobre

very much still identify with the idea of choice,

aínda se identifica coa idea de elección,

the kind of rational idea of choice

o tipo de idea racional de escoller

which we embrace?

que aceptamos?

Now, the ideology of choice is very successful

Agora, a ideoloxía de poder elixir é moi exitosa

in opening for us a space to think

en canto a abrirnos un espazo para pensar

about some imagined future.

sobre un futuro imaxinario.

Let me give you an example.

Deixádeme poñervos un exemplo.

My friend Manya,

A miña amiga Manya,

when she was a student at university in California,

cando era estudante da Universidade de California,

was earning money

estaba gañando cartos

by working for a car dealer.

traballando para un vendedor de coches.

Now, Manya, when she encountered

Cando Manya se atopaba co típico cliente,

the typical customer, would debate with him

falaba con el

about his lifestyle,

sobre o seu estilo de vida,

how much he wants to spend,

cantos cartos quería gastar,

how many children he has,

cantos fillos ten,

what does he need the car for?

para que precisa o coche?

They would usually come to a good conclusion

Habitualmente chegaban a unha boa conclusión

what would be a perfect car.

de cal sería o coche perfecto

Now, before Manya's customer would go home

Antes de que o cliente de Manya marchase para casa

and think things through,

e lle dese voltas a isto,

she would say to him,

ela dicíalle:

"The car that you are buying now is perfect,

“O coche que vas comprar é perfecto,

but in a few year's time,

pero nuns anos,

when your kids will be already out of the house,

cando os teus fillos estean xa fóra da casa,

when you will have a little bit more money,

cando teñas algo máis de cartos,

that other car will be ideal.

esoutro coche será ideal.

But what you are buying now is great."

Pero o que estás comprando está ben”

Now, the majority of Manya's customers

Deste xeito, a maior parte da clientela de Manya

who came back the next day

que volveu ao día seguinte

bought that other car,

comprou o outro coche,

the car they did not need,

o coche que non precisaban,

the car that cost far too much money.

o coche que custaba demasiados cartos.

Now, Manya became so successful in selling cars

Manya tivo tanto éxito vendendo coches

that soon she moved on to selling airplanes.

que axiña pasou a vender avións.

(Laughter)

(Risas)

And knowing so much about the psychology of people

E saber tanto da psicoloxía da xente

prepared her well for her current job,

prepararouna moi ben para o seu traballo actual:

which is that of a psychoanalyst.

psicanalista.

Now, why were Manya's customers so irrational?

E por que eran os clientes de Manya tan irracionais?

Manya's success was that she was able

O éxito de Manya debíase a que era capaz

to open in their heads an image

de xerar nas súas cabezas a imaxe

of an idealized future,

dun futuro idealizado,

an image of themselves

unha imaxe deles mesmos

when they are already more successful, freer,

cando son moito máis exitosos, libres,

and for them, choosing that other car

E para eles, escoller esoutro coche

was as if they are coming closer to this ideal

era como achegarse a ese ideal

in which it was as if Manya already saw them.

no que Manya xa os vía.

Now, we rarely make really totally rational choices.

Poucas veces facemos eleccións completamente racionais.

Choices are influenced by our unconscious,

As eleccións están influenciadas polo noso subconsciente,

by our community.

pola nosa comunidade.

We're often choosing

Acaso non decidimos a miúdo

by guessing, what would other people

pensando no que van dicir os demais

think about our choice?

sobre a nosa elección?

Also we are choosing

Tamén estamos escollendo

by looking at what others are choosing.

fixándonos no que o resto escolle.

We're also guessing what is socially acceptable choice.

Ademais pensamos en cal é a elección socialmente aceptada.

Now, because of this, we actually

Por isto, nós en realidade

even after we have already chosen,

incluso despois de ter escollido,

like bought a car,

por exemplo comprar un coche,

endlessly read reviews about cars,

lemos sen parar recensións sobre coches,

as if we still want to convince ourselves

como se aínda quixéramos convencernos

that we made the right choice.

de que tomamos a mellor decisión.

Now, choices are anxiety-provoking.

As eleccións crean ansiedade.

They are linked to risks, losses.

Están unidas co risco, coa perda.

They are highly unpredictable.

Son moi imprevisibles.

Now, because of this,

Por culpa disto,

people have now more and more problems

a xente ten máis e máis problemas

that they are not choosing anything.

por non escoller nada.

Not long ago, I was at a wedding reception,

Non hai moito, estaba na recepción dunha voda,

and I met a young, beautiful woman

e coñecín a unha fermosa rapaza que

who immediately started telling me about her anxiety over choice.

inmediatamente comezou a falar da ansiedade que lle producía elixir.

She said to me, "I needed one month

Díxome: “preciso un mes

to decide which dress to wear."

para decidir que poñerme”

Then she said, "For weeks I was researching

E engadiu: “Durante semanas estiven buscando

which hotel to stay for this one night.

en que hotel quedarme esta noite.

And now, I need to choose a sperm donor."

E agora teño que elixir un doador de esperma”.

(Laughter)

(Risas)

I looked at this woman in shock.

Mireina con asombro.

"Sperm donor? What's the rush?"

Un doador de esperma? Cal é a présa?

She said, "I'm turning 40 at the end of this year,

Díxome: “cumpro 40 a finais de ano,

and I've been so bad in choosing men in my life."

e ata agora escollín moi mal os homes da miña vida.”

Now choice, because it's linked to risk,

As eleccións, ao supoñer risco,

is anxiety-provoking,

provocan ansiedade.

and it was already the famous

Xa o famoso

Danish philosopher Søren Kierkegaard

filósofo danés Soren Kierkegaard

who pointed out that anxiety

sinalou que a ansiedade

is linked to the possibility of possibility.

está conectada coa posibilidade da posibilidade.

Now, we think today that we can prevent these risks.

Hoxe pensamos que podemos previr os riscos.

We have endless market analysis,

Temos interminables análises de mercado,

projections of the future earnings.

proxeccións de futuras ganancias.

Even with market, which is about chance,

Incluso co mercado, que se move arredor do azar,

randomness, we think we can predict rationally

da aleatoriedade, pensamos que podemos predicir racionalmente

where it's going.

cara a onde vai. A casualidade

Now, chance is actually becoming very traumatic.

estase realmente convertendo en algo traumático.

Last year, my friend Bernard Harcourt

O ano pasado, o meu amigo Bernard Hartcourt,

at the University of Chicago organized an event,

organizou un evento na Universidade de Chicago,

a conference on the idea of chance.

un congreso sobre a idea do azar.

He and I were together on the panel,

El e mais eu compartiamos panel,

and just before delivering our papers —

e xusto antes de ler as nosas comunicacións

we didn't know each other's papers —

-ningún sabía nada sobre a charla do outro-

we decided to take chance seriously.

decidimos tomar a probabilidade en serio.

So we informed our audience

Así que informamos ao público

that what they will just now hear

de que o que ían escoitar

will be a random paper,

ía ser unha comunicación ao azar,

a mixture of the two papers

unha mestura de dous documentos

which we didn't know what each was writing.

sen saber que estaba escribindo o outro.

Now, we delivered the conference in such a way.

Demos a conferencia deste xeito.

Bernard read his first paragraph,

Bernard leu o seu primeiro parágrafo,

I read my first paragraph,

eu lin o meu primeiro,

Bernard read his second paragraph,

Bernard leu o seu segundo,

I read my second paragraph,

eu lin o segundo meu

in this way towards the end of our papers.

e así ata rematar a comunicación.

Now, you will be surprised

Sorprenderavos

that a majority of our audience

que a maior parte da audiencia

did not think that what they'd just listened to

non creu que o que acaban de escoitar

was a completely random paper.

eran textos aleatorios.

They couldn't believe that

Non podían crer que

speaking from the position of authority

falando dende a posición de autoridade

like two professors we were,

como dous profesores que eramos,

we would take chance seriously.

fóramos tomar a casualidade en serio.

They thought we prepared the papers together

Pensaron que tiñamos preparados os documentos xuntos

and were just joking that it's random.

e que só estabamos finxindo.

Now, we live in times with a lot of information,

Vivimos en tempos de moita información,

big data,

macrodatos,

a lot of knowledge about the insides of our bodies.

un montón de coñecemento sobre o interior dos nosos corpos.

We decoded our genome.

Decodificamos o noso xenoma.

We know about our brains more than before.

Sabemos máis ca nunca sobre o cerebro.

But surprisingly, people are more and more

Pero sorprendentemente, cada vez máis

turning a blind eye in front of this knowledge.

facemos caso omiso deste coñecemento.

Ignorance and denial are on the rise.

A ignorancia e a negación van en aumento.

Now, in regard to the current economic crisis,

Con respecto á crise económica actual,

we think that we will just wake up again

Pensamos que imos espertar de novo

and everything will be the same as before,

e todo vai estar coma antes,

and no political or social changes are needed.

e que non é necesario ningún cambio político ou social.

In regard to ecological crisis,

En canto á crise ecolóxica,

we think nothing needs to be done just now,

pensamos que agora non fai falla facer nada,

or others need to act before us.

ou que outros teñen que actuar antes ca nós.

Or even when ecological crisis already happens,

Ou incluso cando xa se produce unha crise ecolóxica,

like a catastrophe in Fukushima,

coma a catástrofe de Fukushima,

often we have people living in the same environment

a miúdo atopamos que a xente que vive nesa contorna,

with the same amount of information,

coa graos de información semellantes,

and half of them will be anxious about radiation

a metade deles preocúpanse pola radiación

and half of them will ignore it.

e a outra metade ignóraa.

Now, psychoanalysts know very well

Os psicanalistas saben moi ben

that people surprisingly don't have

que as persoas, sorprendentemente, non teñen

passion for knowledge

paixón polo coñecemento,

but passion for ignorance.

senón pola ignorancia.

Now, what does that mean?

E que significa isto?

Let's say when we are facing

Poñamos que nos estamos enfrontando

a life-threatening illness,

a unha enfermidade que pon en perigo a nosa vida.

a lot of people don't want to know that.

Moita xente non quere sabelo.

They'd rather prefer denying the illness,

Prefiren negar a enfermidade,

which is why it's not so wise to inform them

polo que non é prudente informalos

if they don't ask.

se non preguntan.

Surprisingly, research shows that sometimes

Sorprendentemente, os estudos mostran que ás veces

people who deny their illness

a xente que nega a súa enfermidade

live longer than those who are rationally choosing

vive máis cós que escollen de forma razoada

the best treatment.

o mellor tratamento.

Now, this ignorance, however,

Esta ignorancia, con todo,

is not very helpful on the level of the social.

non axuda moito no nivel social.

When we are ignorant about where we are heading,

Cando ignoramos cara a onde nos diriximos,

a lot of social damage can be caused.

pódese causar moito dano social.

Now, on top of facing ignorance,

Ademais de enfrontarnos á ignorancia,

we are also facing today

hoxe en día tamén nos enfrontamos

some kind of an obviousness.

a unha especie de evidencia.

Now, it was French philosopher

Foi un filósofo francés,

Louis Althusser who pointed out

Louis Althusser quen sinalou

that ideology functions in such a way

que a ideoloxía funciona dun modo

that it creates a veil of obviousness.

que crea un veo de evidencia.

Before we do any social critique,

Antes de facer calquera crítica social,

it is necessary really to lift that veil of obviousness

é necesario que levantemos ese veo

and to think through a little bit differently.

e pensemos detidamente un pouco distinto.

If we go back to this ideology

Se volvemos a esta ideoloxía

of individual, rational choice

da elección individual, racional,

we often embrace,

que a miúdo aceptamos,

it's necessary precisely here

cómpre precisamente aquí

to lift this obviousness

levantar esa evidencia

and to think a little bit differently.

e pensar un pouco dunha forma distinta.

Now for me, a question often is

Considero que moitas veces a cuestión é

why we still embrace this idea of a self-made man

por que seguimos a aceptar a idea do home feito a si mesmo

on which capitalism relied from its beginning?

na que se baseou o capitalismo dende os seus comezos?

Why do we think that we are really such masters

Por que pensamos que somos ata tal punto donos

of our lives that we can rationally

das nosas vidas que podemos racionalmente

make the best ideal choices,

tomar as mellores decisións,

that we don't accept losses and risks?

sen aceptar perdas nin riscos?

And for me, it's very shocking to see sometimes very poor people,

Para min, é moi chocante ver as veces a xente moi pobre,

for example, not supporting the idea

por exemplo, que non apoia a idea

of the rich being taxed more.

de que aos ricos cómpre cobrarlles máis impostos.

Quite often here they still identify

A miúdo aquí aínda se identifican

with a certain kind of a lottery mentality.

cunha especie de mentalidade de lotería.

Okay, maybe they don't think that they will make it

Vale, ao mellor non pensan que o van conseguir eles no futuro,

in the future, but maybe they think,

pero se cadra pensan:

my son might become the next Bill Gates.

o meu fillo podería converterse no próximo BIll Gates.

And who would want to tax one's son?

E quen quere que o seu propio fillo pague máis impostos?

Or, a question for me is also,

Ou, outra pregunta para min tamén é,

why would people who have no health insurance

por que os que non teñen seguro de saúde

not embrace universal healthcare?

non defenden a sanidade pública?

Sometimes they don't embrace it,

Ás veces non o fan,

again identifying with the idea of choice,

outra vez identificándose coa idea de escoller,

but they have nothing to choose from.

pero eles non teñen nada entre o que escoller.

Now, Margaret Thatcher famously said

Unha frase célebre de Margaret Thatcher di

that there is nothing like a society.

que non hai sociedade.

Society doesn't exist, it is only individuals

A sociedade non existe, só os individuos

and their families.

e as súas familias.

Sadly, this ideology still functions very well,

Tristemente, esta ideoloxía aínda funciona moi ben,

which is why people who are poor might feel

e é a razón pola que os pobres poden

ashamed for their poverty.

sentir vergoña da súa pobreza.

We might endlessly feel guilty that we are

Sentímonos culpables continuamente de

not making the right choices,

non estarmos a adoptar as eleccións adecuadas,

and that's why we didn't succeed.

e por iso non triunfamos.

We are anxious that we are not good enough.

Preocúpanos non ser abondo bos.

That's why we work very hard,

Por iso traballamos moi duro,

long hours at the workplace

moitas horas no traballo

and equally long hours on remaking ourselves.

e o mesmo número de horas refacéndonos a nos mesmos.

Now, when we are anxious over choices,

Cando estamos ansiosos polas nosas eleccións,

sometimes we easily give our power of choice away.

ás veces renunciamos ao noso poder de elección.

We identify with the guru

Identificámonos co gurú

who tells us what to do,

que nos di que facer,

self-help therapist,

co terapeuta de autoaxuda,

or we embrace a totalitarian leader

ou seguimos a un líder totalitario

who appears to have no doubts about choices,

que semella non ter dúbidas á hora de elixir,

who sort of knows.

que parece saber.

Now, often people ask me,

A miúdo a xente pregúntame,

"What did you learn by studying choice?"

“Que aprendiches cando estudaches elección?

And there is an important message that I did learn.

Aprendín unha mensaxe moi importante.

When thinking about choices,

Ao pensar nas miñas opcións,

I stopped taking choices too seriously, personally.

deixei de tomar demasiado en serio, como algo persoal, as decisións.

First, I realized a lot of choice I make

Primeiro, decateime de que moitas eleccións que fago

is not rational.

non son racionais.

It's linked to my unconscious,

Están ligadas ao meu subconsciente,

my guesses of what others are choosing,

ao que creo que os demais escollen,

or what is a socially embraced choice.

ou a que opción é a que promove a sociedade.

I also embrace the idea

Tamén defendo a idea

that we should go beyond

de que deberiamos ir máis alá

thinking about individual choices,

de pensar en eleccións individuais,

that it's very important to rethink social choices,

de que é importante volver pensar nas eleccións sociais,

since this ideology of individual choice has pacified us.

porque esta ideoloxía das eleccións individuais amansounos.

It really prevented us to think about social change.

En realidade evitou que pensásemos no cambio social.

We spend so much time choosing things for ourselves

Pasamos moito tempo elixindo cousas para nós mesmos

and barely reflect on

e apenas reflexionamos

communal choices we can make.

sobre as decisións comunais que podemos tomar.

Now, we should not forget that choice

Non debemos esquecer que elixir

is always linked to change.

está sempre conectado co cambio.

We can make individual changes,

Podemos facer cambios individuais,

but we can make social changes.

pero podemos facer cambios sociais.

We can choose to have more wolves.

Podemos escoller ter máis lobos.

We can choose to change our environment

Podemos elixir cambiar o noso medio ambiente

to have more bees.

para ter máis abellas.

We can choose to have different rating agencies.

Podemos escoller ter axencias de cualificación diferentes

We can choose to control corporations

Podemos escoller controlar as corporacións

instead of allowing corporations to control us.

en vez de permitir elas nos controlen a nós.

We have a possibility to make changes.

Temos a oportunidade de facer cambios.

Now, I started with a quote from Samuel Johnson,

Comecei cunha cita de Samuel Johnson,

who said that when we make choice in life,

que dixo que cando tomamos unha decisión na nosa vida,

we shouldn't forget to live.

non deberíamos esquecer vivir.

Finally, you can see

Finalmente, como vedes,

I did have a choice

tiven a oportunidade

to choose one of the three quotes

de escoller entre as tres citas

with which I wanted to start my lecture.

coas que quixen comezar a miña charla.

I did have a choice,

Tiven elección,

such as nations, as people,

igual que como nacións, como persoas,

we have choices too to rethink

tamén temos opcións para repensar

in what kind of society we want to live in the future.

en que tipo de sociedade queremos vivir no futuro.

Thank you.

Moitas grazas.

(Applause)

(Aplausos)