Do schools kill creativity? | Sir Ken Robinson | TED

Translator: Juan Jose Sanchez Penas Reviewer: Juan Marcos Perez Gulin

Bo día. Como estades? Está sendo estupendo, verdade?

Good morning. How are you?

(Audience) Good.

It's been great, hasn't it?

Impresionoume moitísimo todo isto.

I've been blown away by the whole thing.

In fact, I'm leaving.

De feito, vou marchar. (Sorrisos)

(Laughter)

Houbo tres temas, verdade?

There have been three themes running through the conference,

repetíndose ao longo da conferencia, que son relevantes

which are relevant to what I want to talk about.

One is the extraordinary evidence of human creativity

para o que que quero dicir.

Un é a proba extraordinaria da creatividade humana

in all of the presentations that we've had

en todas as presentacións que tivemos

and in all of the people here;

just the variety of it and the range of it.

e en toda a xente que está aquí. Simplemente a variedade

e a amplitude da mesma. O segundo é que

The second is that it's put us in a place

where we have no idea what's going to happen

isto nos sitúa nun lugar no que non temos a menor idea do que vai acontecer,

in terms of the future.

en termos do futuro. Nin idea

No idea how this may play out.

sobre como isto vai evoluir.

I have an interest in education.

A min interésame a educación --

Actually, what I find is, everybody has an interest in education.

de feito, o que noto é que todo o mundo está interesado na educación.

Don't you?

Non credes? Penso que isto é moi interesante.

I find this very interesting.

Se estás nunha cea dunha festa, e dis

If you're at a dinner party, and you say you work in education --

que traballas na educación --

actually, you're not often at dinner parties, frankly.

realmente, non estás moito en festas, francamente, se traballas na educación.

(Laughter)

If you work in education, you're not asked.

(Sorrisos) Non vos convidan.

(Laughter)

E nunca voltades a ser convidados, curiosamente. Non o entendo.

And you're never asked back, curiously. That's strange to me.

But if you are, and you say to somebody,

Mais se estivérades e lle dixérades a alguén,

you know, they say, "What do you do?"

é dicir, eles preguntan, "A que te adicas?"

and you say you work in education,

e respondes que traballas na educación,

you can see the blood run from their face.

podes ver o sangue escapar da súa cara. Están pensando:

They're like, "Oh my God. Why me?"

(Laughter)

"Meu deus,", xa sabedes, "Por que eu? A única noite que saio en toda a semana." (Sorrisos)

"My one night out all week."

(Laughter)

But if you ask about their education, they pin you to the wall,

Mais se preguntas sobre a súa educación,

arrincónanche contra a parede. Porque é unha desas cousas

because it's one of those things that goes deep with people, am I right?

que a xente leva no máis fondo, estou no certo?

Like religion and money and other things.

Como a relixión, o diñeiro e outras cousas.

So I have a big interest in education, and I think we all do.

Teño moito interese na educación, e penso que todos o temos.

Temos un enorme interese persoal nela,

We have a huge vested interest in it,

partly because it's education that's meant to take us into this future

en parte porque é a educación o que se supón que

nos levará nese futuro que non podemos comprender.

that we can't grasp.

If you think of it,

Se o pensades, os nenos que comezan a escola este ano

children starting school this year will be retiring in 2065.

retiraranse no 2065. Ninguén ten nin idea -

Nobody has a clue,

despite all the expertise that's been on parade for the past four days,

a pesar de todo o coñecemento que leva desfilado nos últimos catro días -

de como vai ser o mundo

what the world will look like in five years' time.

dentro de cinco anos. E a pesar diso suponse

And yet, we're meant to be educating them for it.

que estamos educándoos para iso. Así que o impredecíbel, penso,

So the unpredictability, I think, is extraordinary.

é extraordinario.

And the third part of this is that we've all agreed, nonetheless,

E a terceira parte disto é que

todos estivemos dacordo, a pesar de todo, sobre

on the really extraordinary capacities that children have --

as capacidades realmente extraordinarias que teñen os nenos -

their capacities for innovation.

as súas capacidades para a innovación. Quero dicir, Sirena a pasada noite foi unha marabilla,

I mean, Sirena last night was a marvel, wasn't she?

non si? Simplemente ver o que ela pode facer.

Just seeing what she could do.

And she's exceptional, but I think she's not, so to speak,

E ela é excepcional, pero eu penso que non o é, por dicilo dalgún xeito,

non é excepcional entre todos os nenos.

exceptional in the whole of childhood.

O que tedes aí é unha persoa de dedicación extraordinaria

What you have there is a person of extraordinary dedication

who found a talent.

que atopou un talento. E a miña teoría é,

And my contention is, all kids have tremendous talents,

que todos os nenos teñen talentos fantásticos.

and we squander them, pretty ruthlessly.

E dilapidámolos, sen piedade.

Así que quero falar sobre educación e

So I want to talk about education,

and I want to talk about creativity.

quero falar sobre creatividade. A miña teoría é que

My contention is that creativity now is as important in education as literacy,

a creatividade é tan importante na educación como a alfabetización,

e deberíamos darlle o mesmo status.

and we should treat it with the same status.

(Applause)

(Aplausos) Grazas. Iso era todo, por certo.

Thank you.

(Applause)

That was it, by the way. Thank you very much.

Moitas grazas. (Sorrisos) Ben, quedan 15 minutos.

(Laughter)

So, 15 minutes left.

Ben, eu nacín... non. (Sorrisos)

(Laughter)

"Well, I was born ... "

(Laughter)

Escoitei unha gran historia recentemente -- encántame contala --

I heard a great story recently -- I love telling it --

dunha nena pequena que estaba nunha lección de debuxo. Tiña seis anos

of a little girl who was in a drawing lesson.

She was six, and she was at the back, drawing,

e estaba ao fondo, debuxando,

and the teacher said this girl hardly ever paid attention,

e a mestra díxo que esta neniña case nunca

atendía, e nesta clase de debuxo fíxoo.

and in this drawing lesson, she did.

The teacher was fascinated.

She went over to her, and she said, "What are you drawing?"

A mestra estaba fascinada e achegouse a ela

e dixo, "Que estás a debuxar?"

And the girl said, "I'm drawing a picture of God."

E a nena dixo, "Estou debuxando unha imaxe de Deus."

And the teacher said, "But nobody knows what God looks like."

E a mestra dixo, "Pero ninguén sabe como é Deus."

And the girl said, "They will in a minute."

E a nena dixo, "Saberán nun minuto."

(Laughter)

(Sorrisos)

Cando o meu fillo tiña catro anos en Inglaterra --

When my son was four in England --

de feito tiña catro en todas partes, a verdade. (Sorrisos)

actually, he was four everywhere, to be honest.

Se somos estrictos sobre o tema, onde queira que fomos, tiña catro aquel ano.

(Laughter)

If we're being strict about it, wherever he went, he was four that year.

He was in the Nativity play. Do you remember the story?

Estaba na representación da Natividade.

Lembrades a historia? Non, foi famosa.

(Laughter)

No, it was big, it was a big story.

Foi unha historia famosa. Mel Gibson fixo a secuela.

Mel Gibson did the sequel, you may have seen it.

(Laughter)

Quizais a vísedes: "Natividade II". Pero a James tocoulle a parte de Xosé,

"Nativity II."

But James got the part of Joseph, which we were thrilled about.

polo que estábamos encantados.

We considered this to be one of the lead parts.

Consideramos que era un dos papeis principais.

We had the place crammed full of agents in T-shirts:

Tíñamos todo o lugar cheo de axentes con camisetas:

"James Robinson É Xosé!" (Sorrisos)

"James Robinson IS Joseph!"

(Laughter)

He didn't have to speak, but you know the bit where the three kings come in?

El non tivo que falar, pero sabedes o momento

no que os tres reis magos chegan. Chegan cos agasallos,

They come in bearing gifts, gold, frankincense and myrrh.

traen ouro, incenso e mirra.

This really happened.

Isto aconteceu realmente. Estabamos sentados aló

We were sitting there, and I think they just went out of sequence,

e penso que se enganaron,

because we talked to the little boy afterward and said,

porque falamos co neniño despois e dixemos,

"You OK with that?" They said, "Yeah, why? Was that wrong?"

"Está todo correcto?" E dixo, "Si, por que? Que estivo mal?"

Simplemente confundíranse, iso foi todo.

They just switched.

The three boys came in, four-year-olds with tea towels on their heads.

De calquera xeito, os nenos entraron --

nenos de catro anos con panos de cociña nas súas cabezas --

e pousaron as caixas no chan,

They put these boxes down, and the first boy said, "I bring you gold."

e o primeiro neno dixo, "Traio ouro."

And the second boy said, "I bring you myrrh."

E o segundo neno dixo, "Traio mirra."

And the third boy said, "Frank sent this."

(Laughter)

E o terceiro neno dixo, "Frank manda isto." (Sorrisos) (en inglés rima con incenso)

What these things have in common is that kids will take a chance.

O que estas cousas teñen en común é que os nenos van probar sorte.

If they don't know, they'll have a go.

Se non saben, tentarano igual.

Non estou no certo? Non teñen medo de estar equivocados.

Am I right? They're not frightened of being wrong.

Agora ben, non estou a dicir que estar equivocado sexa a mesma cousa que ser creativo.

I don't mean to say that being wrong is the same thing as being creative.

What we do know is, if you're not prepared to be wrong,

O que sabemos é,

que se non estás preparado para equivocarte,

you'll never come up with anything original --

nunca proporás nada orixinal.

if you're not prepared to be wrong.

Se non estás preparado para estar equivocado. E en canto chegan a ser adultos,

And by the time they get to be adults, most kids have lost that capacity.

a maior parte dos nenos perden esa capacidade.

Pasaron a ter medo a equivocarse.

They have become frightened of being wrong.

And we run our companies like this.

E diriximos as empresas así, por certo.

We stigmatize mistakes.

Estigmatizamos os erros. E temos agora

And we're now running national education systems

sistemas nacionais de educación onde

where mistakes are the worst thing you can make.

os erros son a peor cousa que se pode facer.

And the result is that we are educating people

E o resultado é que estamos a educar á xente para que perda

out of their creative capacities.

as súas capacidades creativas. Picasso dixo isto unha vez.

Picasso once said this, he said that all children are born artists.

Dixo que todos os nenos nacen artistas.

The problem is to remain an artist as we grow up.

O problema é seguir sendo artista ao medrar. Creo nisto apaixoadamente,

I believe this passionately, that we don't grow into creativity,

que non medramos na creatividade,

we grow out of it.

medramos perdéndoa. Ou mellor dito, somos educados para perdela.

Or rather, we get educated out of it.

E por que acontece isto?

So why is this?

Vivín en Stratford-on-Avon ata fai cinco anos.

I lived in Stratford-on-Avon until about five years ago.

In fact, we moved from Stratford to Los Angeles.

De feito, mudámonos de Stratford a Los Ángeles.

Así que vos podedes imaxinar que transición máis doada foi.

So you can imagine what a seamless transition this was.

(Laughter)

(Sorrisos) De feito,

Actually, we lived in a place called Snitterfield,

vivimos nun lugar chamado Snitterfield,

just outside Stratford,

xusto ao sair de Stratford, que é onde

which is where Shakespeare's father was born.

o pai de Shakespeare naceu. Acábavos de invadir un novo pensamento? A min pasoume.

Are you struck by a new thought? I was.

You don't think of Shakespeare having a father, do you?

Nunca se pensa que Shakespeare tivese un pai, verdade?

Do you?

Verdade? Porque nunca se pensa que

Because you don't think of Shakespeare being a child, do you?

Shakespeare fose un neno, verdade?

Shakespeare being seven?

Shakespeare con sete anos? Nunca pensei niso. Quero dicir, tivo

I never thought of it.

I mean, he was seven at some point.

sete anos nalgún momento. Estivo na

He was in somebody's English class, wasn't he?

clase de inglés dalquén, non? Como de molesto sería iso?

(Laughter)

How annoying would that be?

(Sorrisos) "Precisa mellorar." Cando o seu pai o manda a durmir, por exemplo,

(Laughter)

"Must try harder."

(Laughter)

Being sent to bed by his dad, to Shakespeare, "Go to bed, now!"

a Shakespeare, "Vai á cama, agora,"

To William Shakespeare.

a William Shakespeare, "e deixa o lapiz apoiado.

"And put the pencil down!"

E deixa de falar así. Está confundindo a todo o mundo."

(Laughter)

"And stop speaking like that."

(Laughter)

"It's confusing everybody."

(Laughter)

(Sorrisos)

Anyway, we moved from Stratford to Los Angeles,

En calquera caso, movímonos de Stratford a Los Ángeles

e só quero dicir unhas palabras sobre a transición, de feito.

and I just want to say a word about the transition.

O meu fillo non quería vir.

Actually, my son didn't want to come.

I've got two kids; he's 21 now, my daughter's 16.

Teño dous fillos. El ten 21 agora; a miña filla 16.

He didn't want to come to Los Angeles.

El non quería vir a Los Ángeles. Encantáballe,

He loved it, but he had a girlfriend in England.

pero tiña unha noiva en Inglaterra. O amor da súa vida, Sarah.

This was the love of his life, Sarah.

Coñecíaa dende facía un mes.

He'd known her for a month.

Tede en conta, que tiveran xa o seu cuarto aniversario,

(Laughter)

Mind you, they'd had their fourth anniversary,

porque é moito tempo cando tes 16.

because it's a long time when you're 16.

He was really upset on the plane.

En calquera caso, estaba moi enfadado no avión,

He said, "I'll never find another girl like Sarah."

e dixo, "Nunca atoparei outra rapaza como Sarah."

And we were rather pleased about that, frankly --

E estábamos encantados con iso, francamente,

porque ela era a principal razón pola que estabamos a deixar o país.

(Laughter)

because she was the main reason we were leaving the country.

(Laughter)

(Sorrisos)

Mais algo sorpréndeche cando te trasladas a América

But something strikes you when you move to America

e cando viaxas polo mundo:

and travel around the world:

Todo sistema educativo na terra ten a mesma xerarquía de contidos.

every education system on earth has the same hierarchy of subjects.

Todos. Independentemente de a onde vaias.

Every one. Doesn't matter where you go.

Un pensaría que sería diferente, pero non o é.

You'd think it would be otherwise, but it isn't.

No cumio están as matemáticas e as linguas,

At the top are mathematics and languages, then the humanities.

despois veñen as humanidades, e abaixo de todo as artes.

At the bottom are the arts. Everywhere on earth.

En calquera lugar da terra.

And in pretty much every system, too, there's a hierarchy within the arts.

E en case calquera sistema tamén,

existe unha xerarquía dentro das artes.

Art and music are normally given a higher status in schools

Arte e música teñen normalmente un estatus superior nas escolas

than drama and dance.

que drama ou baile. Non existe un sistema educativo no planeta

There isn't an education system on the planet

that teaches dance every day to children

que ensine baile todos os días aos nenos

the way we teach them mathematics.

do xeito que o facemos cosas matemáticas. Por que?

Why?

Why not?

Porque non? Penso que é bastante importante.

I think this is rather important.

Penso que as matemáticas son moi importantes, pero tamén o é o baile.

I think math is very important, but so is dance.

Children dance all the time if they're allowed to, we all do.

Os nenos bailan todo o tempo se se lles deixa, todos facémolo.

We all have bodies, don't we? Did I miss a meeting?

Todos temos corpos, non? Perdínme unha reunión?

(Laughter)

(Sorrisos) Sinceramente, o que ocorre é,

Truthfully, what happens is, as children grow up,

que cando os nenos medran, comezamos a educalos

we start to educate them progressively from the waist up.

progresivamente da cintura para arriba. E entón enfocámonos nas súas cabezas.

And then we focus on their heads.

E un pouco cara a un lado.

And slightly to one side.

Se estivésedes visitando a educación, como un extraterrestre,

If you were to visit education as an alien

and say "What's it for, public education?"

e dixérades "Para que é, a educación pública?"

I think you'd have to conclude, if you look at the output,

Penso que teríades que concluir -- se mirades o resultado,

who really succeeds by this,

a quen realmente triunfa nisto,

who does everything they should,

quenes fan todo o que deberían,

who gets all the brownie points, who are the winners --

quenes levan todos os puntos, os que son os triunfadores --

I think you'd have to conclude the whole purpose of public education

penso que teríades que concluir que o propósito da educación pública

throughout the world

en todo o mundo

is to produce university professors.

é producir profesores universitarios. Verdade?

Isn't it?

They're the people who come out the top.

Son as persoas que chegan ao cumio.

And I used to be one, so there.

(Laughter)

E eu soía ser un, nin máis nin menos. (Sorrisos)

E gústanme os profesores universitarios, pero sabedes,

And I like university professors,

but, you know, we shouldn't hold them up

non deberíamos consideralos a cota máis alta dos logros da humanidade.

as the high-water mark of all human achievement.

They're just a form of life.

Son simplemente un xeito de vida,

Another form of life.

outro xeito de vida. Pero son bastante curiosos,

But they're rather curious.

e digo isto con afecto cara a eles.

And I say this out of affection for them:

there's something curious about professors.

Hai algo curioso nos profesores, na miña experiencia --

In my experience -- not all of them, but typically -- they live in their heads.

non todos eles, mais típicamente -- viven nas súas cabezas.

They live up there and slightly to one side.

Viven aí enriba, e lixeiramente cara a un lado.

Son incorpóreos, sabedes, dun xeito bastante literal.

They're disembodied, you know, in a kind of literal way.

They look upon their body as a form of transport for their heads.

Consideran o seu corpo

un medio de transporte para as súas cabezas, non credes?

(Laughter)

Don't they?

It's a way of getting their head to meetings.

(Sorrisos) É un medio para levar ás súas cabezas a reunións.

(Laughter)

Se queredes proba real de experiencias extracorpóreas,

If you want real evidence of out-of-body experiences, by the way,

por certo, ide a unha conferencia con aloxamento

get yourself along to a residential conference of senior academics

de académicos senior,

and pop into the discotheque on the final night.

e pasade pola discoteca na última noite.

(Laughter)

(Sorrisos) E alí o veredes -- homes e mulleres maduros

And there, you will see it.

Grown men and women writhing uncontrollably, off the beat.

retorcéndose incontrolábelmente, fora de ritmo,

(Laughter)

esperando a que remate para poder ir á casa e escreber un artigo sobre iso.

Waiting until it ends, so they can go home and write a paper about it.

O noso sistema educativo está baseado na idea da aptitude académica.

(Laughter)

Our education system is predicated on the idea of academic ability.

E hai unha razón.

And there's a reason.

Around the world, there were no public systems of education,

Todo o sistema foi inventado -- en todo o mundo, non había

sistemas de educación públicos, realmente, antes do século XIX.

really, before the 19th century.

Todos nacen

They all came into being to meet the needs of industrialism.

para satisfacer as necesidades do industrialismo.

De xeito que a xerarquía está enraizada en dúas ideas.

So the hierarchy is rooted on two ideas.

Number one, that the most useful subjects for work are at the top.

Primeiro, que as asignaturas máis útiles para o traballo

están no cumio. Así que seguramente mantivéronvos alonxados benévolamente

So you were probably steered benignly away from things at school

de cousas na escola cando erades nenos, cousas que vos gustaban,

when you were a kid,

coa xustificación de que

things you liked,

on the grounds you would never get a job doing that.

nunca teríades un traballo facendo iso. É así?

Is that right?

Non fagas música, non vas ser un músico;

"Don't do music, you're not going to be a musician;

non fagas arte, non vas ser un artista.

don't do art, you won't be an artist."

Benign advice -- now, profoundly mistaken.

Consello benigno -- mais profundamente equivocado. O mundo enteiro

The whole world is engulfed in a revolution.

está sumido nunha revolución.

And the second is academic ability,

E o segundo é a aptitude académica, que ten chegado a dominar

which has really come to dominate our view of intelligence,

a nosa visión da intelixencia,

porque as universidades deseñaron o sistema á súa imaxe.

because the universities design the system in their image.

Se o pensades, todo o sistema

If you think of it,

the whole system of public education around the world is a protracted process

de educación pública en todo o mundo é un alongado proceso

de entrada na universidade.

of university entrance.

E a consecuencia é que moitas persoas con talento,

And the consequence is that many highly talented,

brilliant, creative people think they're not,

brillantes e creativas, pensan que non o son,

because the thing they were good at at school

porque a cousa na que destacaban na escola

non se valoraba, ou estaba estigmatizada.

wasn't valued, or was actually stigmatized.

And I think we can't afford to go on that way.

E penso que non nos podemos permitir ir por ese camiño.

In the next 30 years, according to UNESCO,

Nos próximos 30 anos, según a UNESCO,

more people worldwide will be graduating through education

vaise graduar máis xente no mundo

than since the beginning of history.

no sistema educativo da que o fixo dende o comezo da historia.

More people.

Máis xente, e é a combinación

And it's the combination of all the things we've talked about:

de todas as cousas das que falamos --

technology and its transformational effect on work,

a tecnoloxía e o seu efecto transformador no traballo, e a demografía

and demography and the huge explosion in population.

e a enorme explosión da poboación.

Suddenly, degrees aren't worth anything.

De súpeto, os títulos non serven para nada. Non é certo?

Isn't that true?

Cando era un estudante, se tiñas un título, tiñas un traballo.

When I was a student, if you had a degree, you had a job.

If you didn't have a job, it's because you didn't want one.

Se non tiñas un traballo era porque non o querías.

And I didn't want one, frankly.

E eu, non o quería, francamente. (Sorrisos)

(Laughter)

Mais agora os rapaces con títulos moitas veces

But now kids with degrees are often heading home

to carry on playing video games,

vanse á casa para seguir a xogar cos videoxogos,

porque precisas unha licenciatura onde o traballo anterior precisaba unha diplomatura,

because you need an MA where the previous job required a BA,

e agora precisas un doutoramento para o outro.

and now you need a PhD for the other.

It's a process of academic inflation.

É un proceso de inflación académica.

And it indicates the whole structure of education is shifting beneath our feet.

E indica que toda a estructura educativa

está mudando diante do noso nariz. Temos que repensar radicalmente

We need to radically rethink our view of intelligence.

a nosa visión da inteligencia.

Sabemos tres cousas sobre a intelixencia.

We know three things about intelligence.

Unha, que é diversa. Pensamos sobre o mundo de todos os xeitos

One, it's diverse.

We think about the world in all the ways that we experience it.

en que o experimentamos. Pensamos visualmente,

We think visually, we think in sound, we think kinesthetically.

pensamos en sóns, pensamos kinestésicamente.

We think in abstract terms, we think in movement.

Pensamos en termos abstractos, pensamos en movemento.

Secondly, intelligence is dynamic.

Segunda, que a intelixencia é dinámica.

If you look at the interactions of a human brain,

Se miramos as interacións do cerebro humano, tal e como escoitamos

as we heard yesterday from a number of presentations,

onte en varias presentacións,

intelligence is wonderfully interactive.

a intelixencia é marabillosamente interactiva.

The brain isn't divided into compartments.

O cerebro non está dividido en compartimentos.

In fact, creativity --

De feito, a creatividade -- que eu defino como o proceso

which I define as the process of having original ideas that have value --

de ter ideas orixinais que teñen valor --

more often than not comes about

a maior parte do tempo maniféstase pola interacción

through the interaction of different disciplinary ways of seeing things.

de diferentes xeitos disciplinarios de ver as cousas.

O cerebro é intencionadamente -- por certo,

By the way, there's a shaft of nerves that joins the two halves of the brain,

hai un conxunto de nervios que unen as dúas metades do cerebro

called the corpus callosum.

chamados corpus callosum. É máis groso nas mulleres.

It's thicker in women.

Continuando o que dixo Helen onte, penso

Following off from Helen yesterday,

que isto é probablemente polo que as mulleres son mellores na multi-tarefa.

this is probably why women are better at multitasking.

Because you are, aren't you?

Porque o sodes, non?

There's a raft of research, but I know it from my personal life.

Hai unha morea de investigación, pero eu seino pola miña vida persoal.

If my wife is cooking a meal at home, which is not often ...

Se a miña muller está cociñando na casa --

que non é moi de cotío, por sorte. (Sorrisos)

thankfully.

(Laughter)

Pero xa sabedes, ela está facendo -- non, ela é boa nalgunhas cousas --

No, she's good at some things.

pero se está cociñando, sabedes,

But if she's cooking, she's dealing with people on the phone,

está tratanco con xente no teléfono,

she's talking to the kids, she's painting the ceiling --

está falándolles aos nenos, está pintando o teito,

(Laughter)

está facendo ciruxía a corazón aberto aquí.

she's doing open-heart surgery over here.

If I'm cooking, the door is shut, the kids are out,

Se eu estou a cociñar, a porta está pechada, os nenos están fora,

the phone's on the hook,

o teléfono está colgado, se ela ven eu enfádome.

if she comes in, I get annoyed.

I say, "Terry, please, I'm trying to fry an egg in here."

Digo, "Terry, por favor, estou tentando fritir un ovo aquí. Dame un respiro." (Sorrisos)

(Laughter)

"Give me a break."

(Laughter)

Actually, do you know that old philosophical thing,

De feito, sabedes esa cousa filosófica,

"If a tree falls in a forest, and nobody hears it, did it happen?"

de que se unha árbore cae no bosque e ninguén a escoita,

pasou? Lembrades ese vella historia?

Remember that old chestnut?

I saw a great T-shirt recently, which said,

Vin unha camiseta estupenda recentemente que dicía, "Se un home di o que pensa

"If a man speaks his mind in a forest, and no woman hears him,

nun bosque, e ningunha muller o escoita,

is he still wrong?"

está igualmente equivocado?" (Sorrisos)

(Laughter)

And the third thing about intelligence is,

E a terceira cousa sobre a intelixencia é,

it's distinct.

é única. Estou a escreber un novo libro agora

I'm doing a new book at the moment called "Epiphany,"

chamado "Epifanía," que está baseado nunha serie de

which is based on a series of interviews with people

entrevistas con xente sobre como descubriron

about how they discovered their talent.

o seu talento. Estou fascinado por como a xente chegou aí.

I'm fascinated by how people got to be there.

Está realmente provocado por unha conversa que tiven

It's really prompted by a conversation I had with a wonderful woman

cunha muller marabillosa da que se cadra a maioría da xente

who maybe most people have never heard of, Gillian Lynne.

nunca escoitou falar, chamada Gillian Lynne,

escoitáchedes falar dela? Algúns si. É coreógrafa

Have you heard of her? Some have.

She's a choreographer, and everybody knows her work.

e todo o mundo coñece o seu traballo.

Fixo "Cats," e "A pantasma da ópera."

She did "Cats" and "Phantom of the Opera."

É marabillosa. Eu soía estar no consello do Royal Ballet, en Inglaterra,

She's wonderful.

I used to be on the board of The Royal Ballet, as you can see.

como podedes ver.

(Laughter)

De calquera xeito, Gillian e eu almorzamos un día e dixen,

Gillian and I had lunch one day. I said, "How did you get to be a dancer?"

"Gillian, como chegaches a ser unha bailarina?" E ela dixo

It was interesting.

que era interesante, que cando estaba na escola,

When she was at school, she was really hopeless.

estaba desesperada. E a escola, nos anos 30,

And the school, in the '30s, wrote to her parents and said,

escrebeu aos seus pais dicindo, "Pensamos

"We think Gillian has a learning disorder."

que Gillian ten trastornos de aprendizaxe." Non se podía concentrar,

She couldn't concentrate; she was fidgeting.

estaba inqueda. Penso que agora dirían

I think now they'd say she had ADHD.

que ela tiña déficit de atención (ADHD). Non credes? Pero eran os anos 30,

Wouldn't you?

But this was the 1930s, and ADHD hadn't been invented at this point.

e o ADHD non se inventara ainda.

It wasn't an available condition.

Non era unha enfermidade disponíbel. (Sorrisos)

(Laughter)

A xente non sabía que podían ter iso.

People weren't aware they could have that.

De calquera xeito, ela foi ver este especialista. Entón, un cuarto revestido de carballo,

(Laughter)

Anyway, she went to see this specialist.

e ela estaba aló coa súa nai,

So, this oak-paneled room, and she was there with her mother,

guiárona para que se sentara nunha cadeira ao final,

e sentouse sobre as súas máns durante 20 minutos mentres

and she was led and sat on this chair at the end,

este home falaba coa súa nai sobre todos

and she sat on her hands for 20 minutes,

os problemas que Gillian estaba a ter na escola. E ao final de todo --

while this man talked to her mother

about all the problems Gillian was having at school,

porque ela estaba a molestar á xente,

because she was disturbing people, her homework was always late, and so on.

os seus deberes sempre os facía tarde, etcétera,

pequena de 8 anos -- e ao final, o doctor foi e sentouse

Little kid of eight.

In the end, the doctor went and sat next to Gillian and said,

ao lado de Gillian e dixo, "Gillian,

"I've listened to all these things your mother's told me.

escoitei todas estas cousas que a túa nai

me contou, e preciso falar con ela en privado."

I need to speak to her privately.

Dixo, "Espera aquí, voltaremos, non tardaremos moito."

Wait here. We'll be back. We won't be very long,"

and they went and left her.

e fóronse e deixárona.

Pero ao sair do cuarto, encendeu a radio

But as they went out of the room,

he turned on the radio that was sitting on his desk.

que estaba apoiada na súa mesa. E candosairon

do cuarto, díxolle á súa nai,

And when they got out of the room,

"Simplemente queda de pé e míraa." E ao minuto de que eles sairan,

he said to her mother, "Just stand and watch her."

And the minute they left the room,

dixo, ela estaba de pé, movéndose coa música.

she was on her feet, moving to the music.

E miraron por uns minutos

And they watched for a few minutes, and he turned to her mother and said,

e el xirou cara á súa nai e dixo,

"Mrs. Lynne, Gillian isn't sick.

"Señora Lynne, Gillian non está enferma, é unha bailarina.

She's a dancer.

Lévea a unha escola de baile."

Take her to a dance school."

I said, "What happened?"

E eu dixen, "E que aconteceu?"

She said, "She did. I can't tell you how wonderful it was.

E ela dixo, "Fíxoo. E non che podo dicir o marabilloso que era.

We walked in this room, and it was full of people like me --

Entramos naquel cuarto e estaba cheo de

people who couldn't sit still,

xente coma min. Persoas que non podían quedarse quedas.

people who had to move to think."

Persoas que se tiñan que mover para pensar." Que tiñan que moverse para pensar.

Who had to move to think.

Fixeron ballet, fixeron claqué, fixeron jazz,

They did ballet, they did tap, jazz; they did modern; they did contemporary.

fixeron baile moderno, fixeron contemporáneo.

Ela probou finalmente para a Royal Ballet School,

She was eventually auditioned for the Royal Ballet School.

convertiuse nunha solista, tivo unha carreira marabillosa

She became a soloist; she had a wonderful career at the Royal Ballet.

no Royal Ballet. Finalmente licenciouse

She eventually graduated from the Royal Ballet School,

da Royal Ballet School,

formou a súa propia compañía -- a Gillian Lynne Dance Company --

founded the Gillian Lynne Dance Company,

met Andrew Lloyd Webber.

coñeceu a Andrew Lloyd Weber. E é responsable de

She's been responsible for

some of the most successful musical theater productions in history,

algunha das produccións de teatro musical

she's given pleasure to millions,

máis exitosas da historia, deu placer a millóns,

and she's a multimillionaire.

Somebody else might have put her on medication and told her to calm down.

e é multimillonaria. Outro

(Applause)

teríaa medicado e teríalle dito

que se calmase.

Agora ben, eu penso... (Aplausos) O que se pode concluir é isto:

What I think it comes to is this:

Al Gore spoke the other night

Al Gore falou a outra noite

about ecology and the revolution that was triggered by Rachel Carson.

sobre ecoloxía, e a revolución que fora iniciada por Rachel Carson.

Penso que a nosa única esperanza para o futuro

I believe our only hope for the future

is to adopt a new conception of human ecology,

é adoptar unha nova concepción de ecoloxía humana,

unha na que podamos comezar a reconstituir a nosa concepción

one in which we start to reconstitute our conception

of the richness of human capacity.

da riqueza da capacidade humana.

Our education system has mined our minds

O noso sistema educativo explotou as nosas mentes do xeito

in the way that we strip-mine the earth for a particular commodity.

no que nós explotamos a terra: na busca dun producto concreto.

E para o futuro, non nos servirá.

And for the future, it won't serve us.

We have to rethink the fundamental principles

Temos que repensar os principios fundamentais

on which we're educating our children.

nos que estamos a educar aos nosos nenos. Había

There was a wonderful quote by Jonas Salk, who said,

unha marabillosa cita de Jonas Salk, que dixo, "Se todos os insectos

"If all the insects were to disappear from the Earth,

desapareceran da terra,

within 50 years, all life on Earth would end.

en 50 anos a vida na Terra desaparecería.

Se todos os seres humanos desapareceran da terra,

If all human beings disappeared from the Earth,

en 50 anos todo tipo de formas de vida florecerían.

within 50 years, all forms of life would flourish."

E ten razón.

And he's right.

O que TED celebra é o don da imaxinación humana.

What TED celebrates is the gift of the human imagination.

Temos que ter coidado agora de usar ese don

We have to be careful now that we use this gift wisely,

con sabiduría, e de impedir algúns escenarios

and that we avert some of the scenarios that we've talked about.

escenarios dos que falamos. E o único xeito

And the only way we'll do it is by seeing our creative capacities

de facer isto é ver as nosas capacidades creativas

for the richness they are

polo ricas que son, e ver

and seeing our children for the hope that they are.

aos nosos fillos pola esperanza que representan. E a nosa tarefa

And our task is to educate their whole being,

é educar o seu completo ser, para que podan afrontar este futuro.

so they can face this future.

By the way -- we may not see this future,

Por certo -- se cadra nós non veremos este futuro,

but they will.

pero eles verano. E o noso traballo é axudarlles

And our job is to help them make something of it.

a obter proveito del. Moitas grazas.

Thank you very much.

(Applause)