How to see past your own perspective and find truth | Michael Patrick Lynch

Prevoditelj: Jelena Grobenski Recezent: Sanda L

So, imagine that you had your smartphone miniaturized

Zamislite da ste dali svoj pametni telefon smanjiti

and hooked up directly to your brain.

i priključiti izravno u svoj mozak.

If you had this sort of brain chip,

Da imate takav moždani čip,

you'd be able to upload and download to the internet

mogli biste učitavati i preuzimati s interneta

at the speed of thought.

brzinom misli.

Accessing social media or Wikipedia would be a lot like --

Pristupanje društvenim mrežama ili Wikipediji bilo bi vrlo slično,

well, from the inside at least --

barem iznutra,

like consulting your own memory.

konzultiranju s vlastitim pamćenjem.

It would be as easy and as intimate as thinking.

Bilo bi jednako lako i intimno kao razmišljanje.

But would it make it easier for you to know what's true?

Ali bi li vam bilo lakše znati što je istina?

Just because a way of accessing information is faster

Samo zato što je neki način pristupanja informacijama brži,

it doesn't mean it's more reliable, of course,

naravno, ne znači da je i pouzdaniji

i ne znači da bi ga svi protumačili na isti način.

and it doesn't mean that we would all interpret it the same way.

And it doesn't mean that you would be any better at evaluating it.

I ne znači da biste bili išta bolji u procjenjivanju.

In fact, you might even be worse,

Zapravo, možda biste čak bili gori

because, you know, more data, less time for evaluation.

jer, znate, više podataka znači manje vremena za procjenu.

Something like this is already happening to us right now.

Nešto takvo nam se već događa upravo sada.

We already carry a world of information around in our pockets,

Već nosimo ogromnu količinu podataka u svojim džepovima,

but it seems as if the more information we share and access online,

ali čini se da što više informacija dijelimo i dobivamo na internetu,

the more difficult it can be for us to tell the difference

to nam je teže odrediti

between what's real and what's fake.

što je stvarno, a što lažno.

It's as if we know more but understand less.

Kao da znamo više, ali razumijemo manje.

Now, it's a feature of modern life, I suppose,

To je, pretpostavljam, jedna od odlika modernog života,

that large swaths of the public live in isolated information bubbles.

to da velik dio javnosti živi u izoliranim balonima informacija.

We're polarized: not just over values, but over the facts.

Polarizirani smo: ne samo po pitanju vrijednosti, nego i činjenica.

One reason for that is, the data analytics that drive the internet

Jedan od razloga je to što nam analiza podataka koja pokreće internet

get us not just more information,

ne daje samo više informacija,

but more of the information that we want.

nego više informacija koje želimo.

Our online life is personalized;

Naš život na internetu je personaliziran;

everything from the ads we read

sve, od reklama koje čitamo,

to the news that comes down our Facebook feed

do vijesti koje nam se pojavljuju na Facebooku,

is tailored to satisfy our preferences.

skrojeno je prema našim sklonostima.

And so while we get more information,

I zato, dok dobivamo više informacija,

a lot of that information ends up reflecting ourselves

velika količina njih u konačnici odražava nas same,

as much as it does reality.

kao što nas odražava i stvarnost.

It ends up, I suppose,

Zbog njih se u konačnici

inflating our bubbles rather than bursting them.

naši baloni napuhuju, umjesto raspršuju.

And so maybe it's no surprise

Zbog toga možda nije čudno

that we're in a situation, a paradoxical situation,

da smo u situaciji, u paradoksalnoj situaciji,

of thinking that we know so much more,

zbog koje mislimo da znamo puno više,

and yet not agreeing on what it is we know.

bez da se slažemo oko onoga što znamo.

So how are we going to solve this problem of knowledge polarization?

Kako ćemo riješiti taj problem polarizacije znanja?

One obvious tactic is to try to fix our technology,

Jedna od očitih taktika je pokušati popraviti tehnologiju,

to redesign our digital platforms,

redizajnirati naše digitalne platforme,

so as to make them less susceptible to polarization.

kako bismo ih učinili manje podložnima polarizaciji.

And I'm happy to report

Sa zadovoljstvom prenosim

that many smart people at Google and Facebook are working on just that.

da mnogo pametnih ljudi iz Googlea i Facebooka rade samo na tome.

And these projects are vital.

I ti projekti su iznimno važni.

I think that fixing technology is obviously really important,

Mislim da je, očito, popravljanje tehnologije vrlo važno,

but I don't think technology alone, fixing it, is going to solve the problem

no ne i da će se samo popravljanjem tehnologije riješiti problem

of knowledge polarization.

polarizacije znanja.

I don't think that because I don't think, at the end of the day,

To ne mislim jer, na kraju, ne smatram da je to

it is a technological problem.

tehnološki problem.

I think it's a human problem,

Mislim da je to ljudski problem,

having to do with how we think and what we value.

koji je povezan s time kako razmišljamo i što cijenimo.

In order to solve it, I think we're going to need help.

Mislim da ćemo trebati pomoć kako bismo ga riješili.

We're going to need help from psychology and political science.

Trebat će nam pomoć psihologije i politologije.

But we're also going to need help, I think, from philosophy.

Ali, smatram da će nam također trebati i pomoć filozofije.

Because to solve the problem of knowledge polarization,

Jer, kako bismo riješili problem polarizacije znanja,

we're going to need to reconnect

morat ćemo se ponovno povezati

with one fundamental, philosophical idea:

s jednom fundamentalnom idejom filozofije:

that we live in a common reality.

da živimo u zajedničkoj stvarnosti.

The idea of a common reality is like, I suppose,

Ideja zajedničke stvarnosti ista je kao, pretpostavljam,

a lot of philosophical concepts:

mnogo filozofskih koncepata:

laka za izjaviti,

easy to state

but mysteriously difficult to put into practice.

ali misteriozno teška za primjeniti.

Kako bismo je zbilja prihvatili,

To really accept it,

I think we need to do three things,

mislim da moramo učiniti tri stvari,

each of which is a challenge right now.

od kojih svaka trenutno predstavlja izazov.

First, we need to believe in truth.

Prvo, moramo vjerovati u istinu.

You might have noticed

Možda ste primjetili

that our culture is having something of a troubled relationship

da naša kultura trenutno ima problematičan odnos

with that concept right now.

s tim konceptom.

It seems as if we disagree so much that,

Čini se da, ako se toliko razilazimo u mišljenju,

as one political commentator put it not long ago,

kako je nedavno rekao jedan politički komentator,

it's as if there are no facts anymore.

izgleda kao da činjenice više ni ne postoje.

But that thought is actually an expression

Ta misao je zapravo izražaj

of a sort of seductive line of argument that's in the air.

zavodljive linije argumentacije koja visi u zraku.

It goes like this:

Ona je sljedeća:

we just can't step outside of our own perspectives;

jednostavno ne možemo odstupiti od vlastitih perspektiva;

we can't step outside of our biases.

ne možemo se odvojiti od vlastite pristranosti.

Every time we try,

Svaki put kada pokušamo,

we just get more information from our perspective.

samo dobivamo još informacija iz naše perspektive.

So, this line of thought goes,

I tako se taj niz misli razvija,

we might as well admit that objective truth is an illusion,

da možemo priznati kako je objektivna istina iluzija,

or it doesn't matter,

ili da nije važna,

because either we'll never know what it is,

jer je ili nikada nećemo pojmiti,

or it doesn't exist in the first place.

ili niti ne postoji.

That's not a new philosophical thought --

To nije nova filozofska misao -

skepticism about truth.

skepsa prema istini.

During the end of the last century, as some of you know,

Krajem prošlog stoljeća, kao što neki od vas znaju, bila je

it was very popular in certain academic circles.

vrlo popularna u određenim akademskim krugovima.

But it really goes back all the way to the Greek philosopher Protagoras,

Ali, zapravo datira iz vremena grčkog filozofa Protagore,

if not farther back.

ako nije i starija.

Protagoras said that objective truth was an illusion

Protagora je rekao da je objektivna istina iluzija,

because "man is the measure of all things."

jer je "čovjek mjerilo svih stvari".

Man is the measure of all things.

Čovjek je mjerilo svih stvari.

That can seem like a bracing bit of realpolitik to people,

To se ljudima može činiti temeljnim dijelom realpolitike,

ili oslobađajućim,

or liberating,

jer svakome od nas dopušta da otkrivamo ili stvaramo vlastitu istinu.

because it allows each of us to discover or make our own truth.

But actually, I think it's a bit of self-serving rationalization

Ali zapravo, ja to smatram racionalizacijom kojom si podilazimo,

disguised as philosophy.

maskirano u filozofiju.

It confuses the difficulty of being certain

Miješa teškoće bivanja sigurnim

with the impossibility of truth.

s nemogućnošću istine.

Look --

Gledajte,

of course it's difficult to be certain about anything;

naravno da je teško oko ičega biti siguran;

we might all be living in "The Matrix."

možda svi živimo u "Matrici".

You might have a brain chip in your head

Možda u svojoj glavi imate čip

feeding you all the wrong information.

koji vas hrani pogrešnim informacijama.

But in practice, we do agree on all sorts of facts.

Ali u praksi, slažemo se oko raznih činjenica.

We agree that bullets can kill people.

Slažemo se da metci mogu ubiti ljude.

We agree that you can't flap your arms and fly.

Slažemo se da ne možemo zamahnuti rukama i poletjeti.

We agree -- or we should --

Slažemo se, ili bismo se trebali složiti,

that there is an external reality

da postoji vanjska stvarnost

and ignoring it can get you hurt.

i da si ignoriranjem toga možemo naštetiti.

Nonetheless, skepticism about truth can be tempting,

Ipak, skepsa prema istini može biti primamljiva

because it allows us to rationalize away our own biases.

jer nam dopušta da racionaliziramo vlastitu pristranost.

When we do that, we're sort of like the guy in the movie

Kada to radimo, skoro smo kao onaj tip u filmu

who knew he was living in "The Matrix"

koji je znao da živi u "Matrici",

but decided he liked it there, anyway.

ali je zaključio da mu se tamo svejedno sviđa.

After all, getting what you want feels good.

Na kraju krajeva, dobar je osjećaj dobiti ono što želiš.

Being right all the time feels good.

Dobar je osjećaj biti stalno u pravu.

So, often it's easier for us

I tako, često nam je lakše

to wrap ourselves in our cozy information bubbles,

zatvoriti se u svoje komforne balone informacija,

live in bad faith,

živjeti kroz licemjerje

and take those bubbles as the measure of reality.

i te balone smatrati mjerilom stvarnosti.

An example, I think, of how this bad faith gets into our action

Mislim da je primjer toga kako to licemjerje utječe na naše djelovanje

is our reaction to the phenomenon of fake news.

naša reakcija na fenomen lažnih vijesti.

The fake news that spread on the internet

Lažne vijesti koje su se internetom širile

during the American presidential election of 2016

u vrijeme američkih predsjedničkih izbora 2016.

was designed to feed into our biases,

bile su dizajnirane da hrane našu pristranost,

designed to inflate our bubbles.

dizajnirane da napuhuju naše balone.

But what was really striking about it

Ali, ono zbilja zapanjujuće

was not just that it fooled so many people.

nije bilo samo to što su zavarale toliko ljudi.

What was really striking to me about fake news,

Ono što mi je zbilja zapanjujuće po pitanju lažnih vijesti,

the phenomenon,

tog fenomena,

is how quickly it itself became the subject of knowledge polarization;

je to koliko su one same postale subjektom polarizacije znanja,

so much so, that the very term -- the very term -- "fake news"

toliko da sâm pojam "lažne vijesti"

now just means: "news story I don't like."

sada znači samo "vijest koja mi se ne sviđa".

That's an example of the bad faith towards the truth that I'm talking about.

To je primjer licemjerja prema istini o kojoj govorim.

But the really, I think, dangerous thing

No, ono što mislim da je uistinu opasna stvar

about skepticism with regard to truth

kod skepse prema istini,

is that it leads to despotism.

to što vodi k despotizmu.

"Man is the measure of all things"

"Čovjek je mjerilo svih stvari"

inevitably becomes "The Man is the measure of all things."

neizbježno postaje "TAJ čovjek je mjerilo svih stvari".

Just as "every man for himself"

Kao što "svaki čovjek za sebe"

always seems to turn out to be "only the strong survive."

čini se, uvijek ispada da je "samo snažni opstaju".

At the end of Orwell's "1984,"

Na kraju Orwellove "1984."

the thought policeman O'Brien is torturing the protagonist Winston Smith

misaoni policajac O'Brien muči protagonistu Winstona Smitha

into believing two plus two equals five.

s ciljem uvjeravanja da je dva plus dva jednako pet.

What O'Brien says is the point,

Ono što O'Brien navodi kao cilj

is that he wants to convince Smith that whatever the party says is the truth,

je to da želi uvjeriti Smitha da što god partija kaže jest istina,

and the truth is whatever the party says.

a istina je što god partija kaže.

And what O'Brien knows is that once this thought is accepted,

I ono što O'Brien zna jest da, čim ta misao bude prihvaćena,

critical dissent is impossible.

kritičko neslaganje postaje nemoguće.

You can't speak truth to power

Ne možete govorenjem istine prkositi vlasti,

if the power speaks truth by definition.

ako vlast po definiciji govori istinu.

I said that in order to accept that we really live in a common reality,

Rekao sam, kako bismo prihvatili da uistinu živimo u zajedničkoj stvarnosti,

we have to do three things.

moramo činiti tri stvari.

The first thing is to believe in truth.

Prva je vjerovati u istinu.

The second thing can be summed up

Druga može biti sažeta

by the Latin phrase that Kant took as the motto for the Enlightenment:

kroz latinsku izreku koju je Kant uzeo kao moto prosvjetiteljstva:

"Sapere aude,"

"Sapere aude",

or "dare to know."

ili "usudi se znati".

Or as Kant wants, "to dare to know for yourself."

Ili, kao što Kant ističe, "usudi se znati sâm".

I think in the early days of the internet,

Mislim da je u ranim danima interneta

mnogo nas smatralo da će nam

a lot of us thought

that information technology was always going to make it easier

informacijska tehnologija uvijek olakšati

for us to know for ourselves,

da znamo sami

and of course in many ways, it has.

i, naravno, na puno načina i jest.

But as the internet has become more and more a part of our lives,

Ali kako internet sve više postaje dijelom naših života,

our reliance on it, our use of it,

naše oslanjanje ili korištenje njega

has become often more passive.

postalo je pasivnije.

Much of what we know today we Google-know.

Mnogo toga što danas znamo, znamo zbog Googlea.

We download prepackaged sets of facts

Preuzimamo već upakirane setove činjenica

and sort of shuffle them along the assembly line of social media.

i miješamo ih na pokretnoj traci društvenih mreža.

Now, Google-knowing is useful

Znanje putem Googlea je korisno,

precisely because it involves a sort of intellectual outsourcing.

zato što uključuje vrstu intelektualnog outsourcing-a.

We offload our effort onto a network of others and algorithms.

Dio našeg truda prebacujemo na mrežu drugih i na algoritme.

And that allows us, of course, to not clutter our minds

To nam dopušta, naravno, da umove ne zatrpavamo

with all sorts of facts.

raznim vrstama činjenica.

We can just download them when we need them.

Možemo ih jednostavno preuzeti kada ih trebamo.

And that's awesome.

I to je fantastično.

But there's a difference between downloading a set of facts

Ali, postoji razlika između preuzimanja seta činjenica

and really understanding how or why those facts are as they are.

i pravog razumijevanja toga kako ili zašto te činjenice jesu to što jesu.

Understanding why a particular disease spreads,

Razumjeti zašto se određena bolest širi,

or how a mathematical proof works,

ili kako matematički dokaz funkcionira,

or why your friend is depressed,

ili zašto vam je prijatelj u depresiji,

involves more than just downloading.

uključuje više od preuzimanja.

It's going to require, most likely,

Zahtjevat će, najvjerojatnije,

doing some work for yourself:

da dio posla obavite sami:

having a little creative insight;

da imate nešto kreativnog uvida,

using your imagination;

koristite maštu,

getting out into the field;

izlazite na teren,

doing the experiment;

radite eksperiment,

razrađujete dokaz,

working through the proof;

talking to someone.

razgovarate s nekim.

Now, I'm not saying, of course, that we should stop Google-knowing.

Ja, naravno, ne govorim da trebamo prestati stjecati Google znanje.

I'm just saying

Samo kažem

we shouldn't overvalue it, either.

da ga ne trebamo ni precjenjivati.

We need to find ways of encouraging forms of knowing that are more active,

Moramo pronaći načine da potičemo oblike znanja koji su aktivniji

and don't always involve passing off our effort into our bubble.

i koji ne uključuju uvijek da naš trud prebacujemo na naš balon.

Because the thing about Google-knowing is that too often it ends up

Jer, stvar s Google znanjem je to što ono prečesto ispadne

being bubble-knowing.

balon-znanje.

And bubble-knowing means always being right.

A balon-znanje znači da smo uvijek u pravu.

But daring to know,

Ali usuditi se znati,

daring to understand,

usuditi se razumjeti,

means risking the possibility that you could be wrong.

znači riskirati mogućnost da možemo biti u krivu.

It means risking the possibility

To znači riskirati mogućnost

that what you want and what's true are different things.

da su ono što želimo i ono što je istinito dvije različite stvari.

Which brings me to the third thing that I think we need to do

Što me dovodi do treće stvari koju mislim da moramo činiti,

if we want to accept that we live in a common reality.

ako želimo prihvatiti to da živimo u zajedničkoj stvarnosti.

That third thing is: have a little humility.

Treća stvar je: imajmo malo skromnosti.

By humility here, I mean epistemic humility,

Pod skromnost mislim na epistemičku skromnost,

which means, in a sense,

što znači, u nekom smislu,

knowing that you don't know it all.

da znamo da ne znamo sve.

But it also means something more than that.

Ali, to znači i više od toga.

It means seeing your worldview as open to improvement

To znači gledanje vlastitog svjetonazora kao otvorenog prema poboljšanju

by the evidence and experience of others.

kroz dokaze i iskustva drugih.

Seeing your worldview as open to improvement

Gledanje svog svjetonazora

by the evidence and experience of others.

kao otvorenog prema poboljšanju kroz dokaze i iskustva drugih.

To je više od otvorenosti prema promjenama.

That's more than just being open to change.

It's more than just being open to self-improvement.

To je više od otvorenosti prema samonapretku.

It means seeing your knowledge as capable of enhancing

To znači uviđanje da vaše znanje može biti poboljšano

or being enriched by what others contribute.

i obogaćeno kroz doprinos drugih.

That's part of what is involved

To je dio onoga što je uključeno

in recognizing there's a common reality

u prepoznavanje zajedničke stvarnosti

that you, too, are responsible to.

za koju ste i vi odgovorni.

I don't think it's much of a stretch to say

Mislim da nije previše nategnuto reći

that our society is not particularly great at enhancing or encouraging

da naše društvo nije posebno dobro u poboljšavanju ili poticanju

that sort of humility.

takve vrste skromnosti.

That's partly because,

To je djelomično tako jer,

well, we tend to confuse arrogance and confidence.

pa, imamo tendenciju miješati aroganciju i samopouzdanje.

And it's partly because, well, you know,

I djelomično je tako jer je, znate,

arrogance is just easier.

arogancija jednostavno lakša.

It's just easier to think of yourself as knowing it all.

Jednostavno je lakše misliti da znamo sve.

It's just easier to think of yourself as having it all figured out.

Jednostavno je lakše misliti da smo sve shvatili.

But that's another example of the bad faith towards the truth

Ali, to je drugi primjer licemjerja prema istini

that I've been talking about.

o kojoj sam govorio.

So the concept of a common reality,

I tako se koncept zajedničke stvarnosti,

like a lot of philosophical concepts,

kao mnogi filozofski koncepti,

can seem so obvious,

može činiti tako očitim

that we can look right past it

da ga možemo zanemariti

and forget why it's important.

i zaboraviti zašto je važan.

Democracies can't function if their citizens don't strive,

Demokracije ne mogu funkcionirati ako njezini građani ne teže,

at least some of the time,

barem dio vremena,

to inhabit a common space,

tome da nastanjuju isti prostor,

a space where they can pass ideas back and forth

prostor u kojem mogu razmjenjivati ideje

when -- and especially when --

naročito kada

they disagree.

se ne slažu.

But you can't strive to inhabit that space

Ali, ne možete težiti tome da nastanjujete taj prostor

if you don't already accept that you live in the same reality.

ako već ne prihvatite da živite u istoj stvarnosti.

To accept that, we've got to believe in truth,

Da bismo to prihvatili, moramo vjerovati u istinu

we've got to encourage more active ways of knowing.

i moramo poticati aktivnije znanje.

And we've got to have the humility

I moramo imati skromnosti

to realize that we're not the measure of all things.

da shvatimo da nismo mjerilo svih stvari.

We may yet one day realize the vision

Možda jednog dana ostvarimo viziju

of having the internet in our brains.

posjedovanja interneta u našim mozgovima.

But if we want that to be liberating and not terrifying,

Ali, ako želimo da to bude oslobađajuće, a ne zastrašujuće,

if we want it to expand our understanding

ako želimo da to proširi naše razumijevanje

and not just our passive knowing,

a ne samo naše pasivno znanje,

we need to remember that our perspectives,

moramo zapamtiti da naše perspektive,

as wondrous, as beautiful as they are,

koliko god čudesne i prekrasne bile,

are just that --

su samo to -

perspectives on one reality.

perspektive jedne stvarnosti.

Thank you.

Hvala vam.

(Applause)

(Pljesak)