The psychology of inequality and political division | Keith Payne

77,837 views ・ 2020-10-05

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Translator: nuno martinez Reviewer: Xosé María Moreno
00:12
You've probably heard by now
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Probablemente tes escoitado
00:14
that economic inequality is historically high,
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que a desigualdade económica é moi alta
00:17
that the wealthiest one-tenth of one percent in the United States
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que o 0,1% máis rico dos EEUU
00:20
have as much wealth as the bottom 90 percent combined,
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ten tanta riqueza como o 90% máis pobre,
00:24
or that the wealthiest eight individuals in the world
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ou que os oito individuos máis ricos
00:27
have as much wealth
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teñen tanta riqueza
00:28
as the poorest 3.5 billion inhabitants of the planet.
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como os tres mil cincocentos millóns máis pobres.
00:34
But did you know that economic inequality is associated with shorter lifespans,
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Pero sabías que a desigualdade se asocia a vidas máis curtas,
00:39
less happiness,
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menos felicidade,
00:41
more crime
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máis delitos
00:42
and more drug abuse?
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e máis drogadicción?
00:44
Those sound like problems of poverty,
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Soan a problemas da pobreza
00:47
but among wealthy, developed nations
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pero nos países desenvolvidos
00:49
those health and social problems
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estes problemas sociais e sanitarios
00:51
are actually more tightly linked to inequality between incomes
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están máis asociados á desigualdade de renda
00:56
than to absolute incomes.
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que á renda absoluta.
00:58
And because of that,
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Por iso,
01:00
the United States,
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os EEUU
01:01
the wealthiest and the most unequal of nations,
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o país máis rico e desigual,
01:04
actually fares worse than all other developed countries.
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ten a peor puntuación entre os desenvolvidos.
01:10
Surveys show that large majorities of Americans,
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As enquisas amosan que os norteamericanos,
01:13
both Democrats and Republicans,
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tanto demócratas como republicanos,
01:15
believe inequality is too high and want more equal pay.
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opinan que a desigualdade é alta demais e piden equidade salarial.
01:20
And yet as a society, we don't seem to be able to find the common ground,
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E ainda así, non atopamos o espazo común,
01:25
the consensus, the political will to do anything about it.
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o consenso, a vontade política de actuar.
01:30
Because, as inequality has risen in recent decades,
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Porque, ao crecer a desigualdade,
01:33
political polarization has risen along with it.
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creceu a polarización política.
01:38
We see those who disagree with us as idiots or as immoral.
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Vemos aos rivais como idiotas ou inmorais.
01:44
Nearly half of Democrats and Republicans
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Case a metade dos demócratas e dos republicanos
01:46
now think that the other side is not just mistaken
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cren que o rival non só está equivocado
01:49
but a threat to the nation.
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senon que é unha ameaza nacional.
01:52
And that animosity prevents us from finding the common ground
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Esta animosidade impide o consenso
01:55
to change things.
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para cambiar as cousas.
01:59
I'm a social psychology professor at the University of North Carolina,
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Eu son profesor de psicoloxía social na Universidade de Carolina do Norte,
02:02
and I study the effects of inequality on people's thinking and behavior.
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e estudo os efectos da desigualdade no pensamento e o comportamento da xente.
02:07
I'm going to argue that it's not just an unfortunate coincidence
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Argumentarei que non é unha coincidencia desafortunada
02:11
that inequality and political division have risen together.
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que a desigualdade e a división política aparezcan á vez.
02:16
There are good psychological reasons
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Existen boas razóns psicolóxicas
02:18
that inequality drives wedges in our politics.
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que explican por que a desigualdade crea divisións na nosa política.
02:22
That means there are good psychological paths
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Significa que existen camiños psicolóxicos
02:24
to improve both at once.
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para mellorar ambas á vez.
02:28
To understand why inequality is so powerful,
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Para entender o poder da desigualdade,
02:30
you have to first understand that we are constantly comparing ourselves
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cómpre saber que sempre nos comparamos
02:34
to other people,
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con outra xente
02:36
and when we do that,
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e cando facemos iso,
02:38
we really like to come out on top,
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gústanos aparecer coma gañadores,
02:40
and we find it painful to be on the bottom.
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e é doloroso estarmos entre os que perden.
02:44
Psychologists call it the "better-than-average effect."
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Os psicólogos chámanlle: efecto "mellor cá media"
02:47
Most people believe they're better than average
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A maioría cre que é mellor cá media
02:50
at just about anything they care about,
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nas actividades que lles importan
02:55
which isn't strictly possible, because that's just what average means.
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o cal non é posible, porque iso é o que media significa.
02:59
(Laughter)
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(Risas)
03:01
But that's the way people feel.
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Pero así é cómo a xente se sente.
03:04
Most people think they're smarter than average,
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Cren ser más intelixentes cá media,
03:06
harder working than average
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máis traballadores cá media
03:08
and more socially skilled.
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e con máis habilidade social.
03:11
Most people think they're better drivers than average.
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Cren que son mellores condutores.
03:14
(Laughter)
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(Risas)
03:15
That's true even if you do the study with a sample of people
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Cúmprese incluso se o estudo se lle fai a unha mostra de xente
03:18
currently hospitalized for a car accident that they caused.
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hospitalizada por mor dun accidente de coche que eles causaron.
03:22
(Laughter)
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(Risas)
03:25
So we really want to see ourselves as better than average,
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Así que queremos vernos mellores cá media,
03:28
and if we find out otherwise,
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e se non o percibimos así,
03:29
it's a painful experience that we have to cope with.
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enton é doloroso e hai que superalo.
03:33
And we cope with it by shifting how we see the world.
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E superámolo cambiando a forma de vermos o mundo.
03:37
To understand how this works,
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Para entendernos como funciona,
03:39
my collaborators and I ran an experiment.
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o meu equipo e mais eu fixemos un experimento.
03:42
We asked participants to complete a decision-making task to earn some money,
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Pedímoslles aos participantes que fixesen unha tarefa para gañar diñeiro
03:47
and in reality, everyone earned the same amount of money.
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e en verdade todos gañan a mesma cantidade.
03:51
But we randomly divided them into two groups,
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Pero dividímolos en dous grupos,
03:53
and we told one group that they had done better than average,
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E dixémoslle a un deles que o fixeron mellor cá media,
03:56
and we told the other group they had done worse than average.
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e ao outro que o fixeron peor.
03:59
So now we have one group that feels richer and one group that feels poorer,
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Agora un grupo séntese máis rico e o outro máis pobre,
04:05
but for no objective reason.
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pero non por razóns obxectivas.
04:07
And then we asked them some questions.
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Entón fixémoslles algunhas preguntas
04:09
When we asked them, "How good are you at making decisions?"
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Cando lles preguntamos: Que tal se vos dá tomar decisións?
04:13
the better-than-average group said that they were more competent
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O grupo "mellor" dixo que eran máis competentes
04:17
than the below-average group.
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có outro.
04:20
The better-than-average group said that their success
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O grupo "mellor" dixo que o seu éxito
04:23
was a fair outcome of a meritocracy.
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fora unha pura cuestión de mérito.
04:26
The below-average group thought the system was rigged,
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O grupo "peor" creu que o sistema fallara,
04:29
and in this case, of course, they were right.
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e neste caso, tiñan razón.
04:32
(Laughter)
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(Risas)
04:35
Even though the two groups had the same amount of money,
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A pesar de teren o mesmo diñeiro,
04:38
the group that felt richer said we should cut taxes on the wealthy,
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o grupo que se sentía máis rico quería baixar os impostos á riqueza,
04:43
cut benefits to the poor.
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reducindo as axudas aos pobres.
04:45
Let them work hard and be responsible for themselves, they said.
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"Deixa que traballen duro e que sexan autorresponsables", dixeron.
04:50
These are attitudes that we normally assume are rooted in deeply held values
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Estas actitudes que asumimos como normais veñen de valores moi enraizados,
04:55
and a lifetime of experience,
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e do que experimentamos durante a nosa vida,
04:58
but a 10-minute exercise
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pero un exercicio de 10 minutos
05:00
that made people feel richer or poorer
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que lle fixo á xente sentirse máis rica ou máis pobre
05:03
was enough to change those views.
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abondou para cambiaren as súas opinións.
05:07
This difference between being rich or poor and feeling rich or poor is important,
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A diferenza entre ser rico ou pobre e sentirse rico ou pobre é importante
05:13
because the two don't always line up very well.
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porque non sempre cadran ben un co outro.
05:16
You often hear people say with nostalgia,
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Pódese oír á xente dicir con nostalxia,
05:18
"We were poor, but we didn't know it."
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"eramos pobres, pero non o sabiamos."
05:21
That was the case for me growing up,
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Ese foi o meu caso ao crecer,
05:24
until one day,
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até que un día,
05:25
in the fourth-grade lunch line,
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na cola do comedor
05:27
we had a new cashier who didn't know the ropes,
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tiñamos unha caixeira que non coñecía o sistema,
05:30
and she asked me for 1.25 dollars.
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e que me pediu 1,25 dólares.
05:34
I was taken aback, because I had never been asked to pay for my lunch before.
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Asusteime porque nunca tivera que pagar pola comida.
05:39
I didn't know what to say, because I didn't have any money.
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Non souben que dicir, porque non tiña diñeiro
05:43
And suddenly, I realized for the first time
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E de súpeto decateime que
05:46
that we free lunch kids were the poor ones.
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os nenos que comiamos gratis eramos os pobres.
05:51
That awkward moment in the school lunch line
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Aquel estraño momento na cola do comedor
05:54
changed so much for me,
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cambioume moito,
05:56
because for the first time, I felt poor.
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porque por primeira vez, sentinme pobre.
06:00
We didn't have any less money than the day before,
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Non tiñamos menos diñeiro ca onte,
06:03
but for the first time,
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pero por primeira vez,
06:05
I started noticing things differently.
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comecei a ver as cousas doutro xeito.
06:07
It changed the way I saw the world.
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Cambiou como vía o mundo.
06:10
I started noticing how the kids who paid for their lunch
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Comecei a ver que os nenos que pagaban a comida
06:13
seemed to dress better than the free lunch kids.
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vestían mellor que os que non a pagaban.
06:17
I started noticing the big yellow blocks of government cheese
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Comecei a decatarme das barras amarelas de queixo do goberno
06:20
that showed up at our door
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que aparecían na porta da casa
06:21
and the food stamps my mother would pull out at the grocery store.
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e os cupóns de comida que mamá usaba para ir á compra.
06:25
I was always a shy kid,
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Eu era un neno tímido,
06:27
but I hardly talked at all after that at school.
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pero despois dese día case deixei de falar na escola.
06:30
Who was I to speak up?
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Con quen ía falar?
06:34
For decades, social scientists looked for evidence
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Durante décadas, os investigadores buscaron probas
06:38
that feeling deprived compared to other people
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que confirmasen que sentirse pobre en comparación con outros
06:40
would motivate political action.
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podería mover á acción política.
06:42
They thought it would mobilize protests, strikes,
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Crían que provocaría protestas, folgas,
06:45
maybe even revolutions.
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quizais ata revolucións.
06:48
But again and again what they found was that it paralyzed people,
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Pero unha e outra vez confirmaban que paralizaba a xente
06:53
because the truth is,
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porque a verdade é que,
06:55
feeling less than other people
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sentirse menos ca outra xente
06:56
brings shame.
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fai que nos avergoñemos.
06:58
It makes people turn away,
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Fai que a xente se retire,
07:00
disgusted with the system.
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anoxada co sistema.
07:03
Feeling better than other people, though --
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En cambio, sentírmonos mellor ca outra xente...
07:05
now that is motivating.
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iso si que é motivador.
07:07
It motivates us to protect that position,
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Motívanos a protexer ese estatus,
07:10
and it has important consequences for our politics.
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e ten importantes consecuencias para as nosas posicións políticas.
07:15
To see why, consider another experiment.
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Para ver por qué, consideremos outro experimento:
07:19
Again, we asked participants to make decisions to earn some money,
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De novo pedímoslles aos participantes que tomen decisións para gañaren cartos,
07:23
and we told one group that they had done better than average
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e a un grupo dicímoslle que o fixo mellor cá media
07:26
and the other group that they had done worse than average.
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e ao outro que peor.
07:29
And again, the better-than-average group said it's a fair meritocracy,
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E outra vez, o grupo "mellor" dixo que foi grazas aos seus méritos,
07:33
cut taxes on the wealthy,
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quere baixarlle impostos aos ricos,
07:35
cut benefits on the poor.
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recortarlles axudas aos pobres.
07:39
But this time, we also asked them what did they think
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Pero esta vez, preguntámoslles ademais que pensan
07:42
about other participants who disagree with them
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dos outros participantes que non concordan con eles
07:45
on those issues.
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na cuestión dos impostos.
07:46
Are they smart or incompetent?
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Son listos ou parvos?
07:49
Are they reasonable or are they biased?
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Son razoables ou interesados?
07:54
The better-than-average group said anybody who disagrees with them
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O grupo "mellor" di que quen non opina coma eles
07:58
must be incompetent, biased,
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teñen que ser incompetentes, interesados,
08:01
blinded by self-interest.
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cegados polo interese propio.
08:04
The below-average group
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O grupo "peor"
08:06
didn't assume that about their opponents.
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non opinan iso dos seus opoñentes.
08:10
Now, there are lots of psychology studies
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Existen múltiples estudos psicolóxicos que mostran
08:12
showing that when people agree with us,
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que cando a xente concorda con nós
08:14
we think they're brilliant,
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témola por intelixente,
08:16
and when people disagree with us,
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e cando non concorda,
08:17
we tend to think they're idiots.
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pensamos que son idiotas.
08:19
(Laughter)
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(Risas)
08:21
But this is new because we found it was driven entirely by the group
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Pero isto é novo, porque descubrimos que só ocorre no grupo
08:25
that felt better than average,
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que se ve superior á media,
08:27
who felt entitled to dismiss those people who disagree with them.
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quen se sente co dereito de desprezar a aqueles que non pensan coma eles.
08:33
So think about what this is doing to our politics,
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E pensemos no que isto provoca na nosa política,
08:37
as the haves and have-nots spread further and further apart.
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cando as diferenzas entre ricos e pobres aumentan máis e máis.
08:43
Yes, a lot of us think that people on the other side are idiots,
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Si, moitos pensan que os outros son idiotas,
08:48
but the people politically engaged enough to be yelling at each other about politics
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mais a xente tan implicada en política como discutir con outros sobre ela
son en realidade os ricos.
08:54
are actually mostly the well-off.
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08:57
In fact, as inequality has grown in recent decades,
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De feito, mentres a desigualdade crecía nestas últimas décadas,
09:01
political interest and participation among the poor has plummeted.
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o interese e a participación en política dos pobres afundiuse.
09:06
Again, we see that people who feel left behind
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Outra vez, vemos como a xente que se sente abandonada
09:09
aren't taking to the streets to protest or organize voter registration drives.
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non protesta na rúa nin organiza inscricións de votantes.
09:14
Often, they aren't even voting.
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Moitas veces, nin vota.
09:17
Instead, they're turning away and dropping out.
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No canto, viran as costas e desinterésanse.
09:22
So if we want to do something about extreme inequality,
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Asi que se queremos facer algo en relación á desigualdade extrema,
09:25
we have to fix our politics.
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temos que arranxar a nosa política.
09:27
And if we want to fix our politics,
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E se queremos arranxala,
09:29
we have to do something about inequality.
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hai que facer algo coa desigualdade.
09:32
So what do we do?
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Que podemos facer?
09:35
The wonderful thing about spirals
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O marabilloso das espirais,
09:37
is that you can interrupt at any point in the cycle.
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é que poden interromperse en calquera punto do ciclo.
09:42
I think our best bet starts with those of us
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Coido que a nosa mellor aposta empeza entre aqueles de nós,
09:45
who have benefited the most from inequality's rise,
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máis beneficiados no aumento da desigualdade,
09:49
those of us who have done better than average.
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aqueles que o fixemos mellor cá media.
09:53
If you've been successful,
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Se tiveches éxito
09:55
it's natural to chalk up your success to your own hard work.
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é normal ligares o teu éxito ao teu esforzado traballo.
09:59
But, like the studies I showed you,
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Pero, como xa vimos,
10:01
everybody does that,
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todo o mundo pensa así,
10:03
whether or not it really was the hard work that mattered most.
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sen saber se en realidade o esforzo foi ou non o factor principal.
10:10
Every successful person I know
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Todas as persoas de éxito que coñezo
10:12
can think of times when they worked hard and struggled to succeed.
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poden pensar en momentos en que traballaron duro e triunfaron.
10:18
They can also think of times
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Tamén poden pensar en momentos
10:20
when they benefited from good luck or a helping hand
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en que se beneficiaron da boa sorte ou da axuda de alguén,
10:23
but that part is harder.
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pero iso é máis difícil.
10:25
Psychologists Shai Davidai and Tom Gilovich
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Os psicólogos Shai Davidai e Tom Gilovich
10:28
call it the "headwind-tailwind asymmetry."
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chámanlle asimetría vento de proa - vento de popa.
10:32
When you're struggling against headwinds,
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Cando te esforzas contra os ventos de proa
10:34
those obstacles are all you can see.
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só podes ver os obstáculos.
10:37
It's what you notice and remember.
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É o que percibes e recordas.
10:40
But when the wind's at your back and everything's going your way,
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Pero cando o vento zoa de popa e todo vai ben,
10:43
all you notice is yourself
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só te ves a ti
10:45
and our own amazing talents.
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e as túas incribles aptitudes.
10:48
So we have to stop and think for a minute
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Temos que parar por un minuto e pensar
10:51
to recognize those tailwinds helping us along.
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para recoñecer eses ventos de popa que nos axudaron.
10:57
It's so easy to see what's wrong with people
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É moi doado ver os defectos na xente
10:59
who disagree with you.
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que non concorda connosco.
11:01
Some of you decided that I was an idiot in the first two minutes,
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Algúns de vós concluístes que era idiota nos primeiros dous minutos
11:04
because I said inequality was harmful.
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cando dixen que a desigualdade era daniña.
11:06
(Laughter)
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(Risas)
11:08
The hard part is to recognize
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A parte difícil é recoñecer
11:10
that if you were in a different position,
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que se o voso estatus fose outro,
11:12
you might see things differently,
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poderiades ver as cousas diferentes,
11:14
just like the subjects in our experiments.
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como os suxeitos do noso experimento.
11:19
So if you're in the above-average group in life --
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Así que, se estás por riba da media,
11:22
and if you're watching a TED talk, you most likely are --
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e se estás vendo unha charla TED, é moi probable que o esteas
11:24
(Laughter)
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(Risas)
11:26
then I leave you with this challenge:
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quero deixarche este reto:
11:29
the next time you're tempted to dismiss someone who disagrees with you
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a próxima vez que esteas tentado a catalogar a quen non pensa coma ti
11:33
as an idiot,
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como idiota
11:34
think about the tailwinds that helped you get where you are.
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pensa nos ventos de popa que te impulsaron até onde estás.
11:39
What lucky breaks did you get
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Qué momentos de sorte tiveches
11:40
that might have turned out differently?
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que puideron acabar de xeito distinto?
11:43
What helping hands are you grateful for?
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A que man amiga lle estás agradecido?
11:46
Recognizing those tailwinds gives us the humility we need
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Recoñecermos eses ventos de popa dános a humildade necesaria
11:49
to see that disagreeing with us doesn't make people idiots.
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para ver que quen non opina coma nós non son idiotas
11:54
The real hard work is in finding common ground,
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O traballo difícil é atoparmos intereses e valores en común,
11:57
because it's the well-off who have the power
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porque os que vivimos mellor somos quen temos o poder
11:59
and the responsibility to change things.
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e a responsabilidade de cambiarmos as cousas.
12:02
Thank you.
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Grazas.
12:04
(Applause)
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(Aplausos)
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