A kinder, gentler philosophy of success | Alain de Botton

Prevoditelj: Mislav Ante Omazić - EFZG Recezent: Predrag Pale

For me they normally happen, these career crises,

Za mene se one normalno događaju, te karijerne krize,

often, actually, on a Sunday evening,

često, u stvari, nedjeljom navečer,

just as the sun is starting to set,

upravo kada se sunce krene spuštati

and the gap between my hopes for myself and the reality of my life

i kada se jaz između mojih nada

i realnosti mog života, krene razilaziti toliko bolno

starts to diverge so painfully

that I normally end up weeping into a pillow.

da normalno završim plačući u jastuk.

I'm mentioning all this --

Spominjem sve ovo,

I'm mentioning all this because I think this is not merely a personal problem;

spominjem sve ovo jer mislim kako to nije isključivo osobni problem.

you may think I'm wrong in this,

Možda mislite kako sam u krivu.

but I think we live in an age when our lives are regularly punctuated

Ali ja mislim kako živimo u dobu u kojem su naši životi redovito

obilježeni karijernim krizama,

by career crises, by moments when what we thought we knew --

trenucima u kojima ono što smo mislili da znamo

about our lives, about our careers --

o našim životima, o našim karijerama,

comes into contact with a threatening sort of reality.

dolazi u dodir s prijetećom vrstom stvarnosti.

It's perhaps easier now than ever before to make a good living.

Danas je vjerojatno lakše, više nego ikada, zaraditi za pristojan život.

It's perhaps harder than ever before

Vjerojatno je teže nego ikada,

to stay calm, to be free of career anxiety.

ostati miran, oslobođen od karijerne tjeskobe.

I want to look now, if I may, at some of the reasons

Sada želim pogledati, ako smijem,

u neke od razloga zbog kojih

why we might be feeling anxiety about our careers.

osjećamo tjeskobu vezanu uz našu karijeru.

Why we might be victims of these career crises,

Zašto smo žrtve tih karijernih kriza,

as we're weeping softly into our pillows.

dok jecamo nježno u naš jastuk.

One of the reasons why we might be suffering

Jedan od razloga zašto patimo

is that we are surrounded by snobs.

jest činjenica kako smo okruženi snobovima.

In a way, I've got some bad news,

Sada, na neki način, imam loše vijesti,

particularly to anybody who's come to Oxford from abroad.

posebno za one koji su došli u Oxford iz inozemstva.

There's a real problem with snobbery,

Postoji stvarni problem sa snobizmom.

because sometimes people from outside the U.K.

Jer ponekad ljudi koji dolaze izvan VB zamišljaju

imagine that snobbery is a distinctively U.K. phenomenon,

kako je snobizam prepoznatljivi britanski fenomen

fixated on country houses and titles.

fiksiran uz kuće na selu i titule.

The bad news is that's not true.

Loša vijest je kako to nije istina.

Snobbery is a global phenomenon; we are a global organization,

Snobizam je globalni problem.

this is a global phenomenon.

Mi smo globalna organizacija. To je globalni fenomen.

What is a snob?

On postoji. Što je snob?

A snob is anybody who takes a small part of you,

Snob je svatko tko uzima mali dio vas

and uses that to come to a complete vision of who you are.

i na temelju toga stvara kompletnu sliku o vama.

That is snobbery.

To je snobizam.

The dominant kind of snobbery that exists nowadays is job snobbery.

I dominantna vrsta snobizma

koja postoji u današnjem društvu je ona povezana s poslom.

You encounter it within minutes at a party, when you get asked

Na to naiđete već nakon nekoliko minuta na zabavi,

kada vas pitaju to famozno, ikonsko pitanje

that famous iconic question of the early 21st century,

ranog 21. stoljeća: "Čime se bavite?"

"What do you do?"

According to how you answer that question,

I na temelju načina na koji odgovorite na to pitanje,

people are either incredibly delighted to see you,

ljudi će biti nevjerojatno sretni što vas vide,

or look at their watch and make their excuses.

ili će pogledati na sat i izmisliti ispriku.

(Laughter)

(Smijeh)

Now, the opposite of a snob is your mother.

Suprotnost snobu je vaša majka.

(Laughter)

(Smijeh)

Not necessarily your mother, or indeed mine,

Ne nužno vaša majka ili moja.

but, as it were, the ideal mother,

Već, idealna majka.

somebody who doesn't care about your achievements.

Netko tko ne mari za vaša postignuća.

Unfortunately, most people are not our mothers.

Ali na nesreću, većina ljudi nisu poput naših majki.

Most people make a strict correlation between how much time,

Većina ljudi odmah strogu računicu između koliko će vremena uložiti

and if you like, love --

i, ako hoćete, ljubavi, ne mislim ovdje na romantičnu ljubav,

not romantic love, though that may be something --

premda bi to bilo nešto,

but love in general, respect -- they are willing to accord us,

već na općenitu ljubav, poštovanje

koje su nam ljudi spremni posvetiti, a koje će biti strogo ovisno

that will be strictly defined by our position in the social hierarchy.

naši položajem u društvenoj hijerarhiji.

And that's a lot of the reason why we care so much about our careers

I to je više nego valjan razlog zašto nam je toliko stalo do karijere.

and indeed start caring so much about material goods.

I zašto nam je toliko stalo do materijalnih dobara.

You know, we're often told that we live in very materialistic times,

Znate, često se govori kako živimo u prilično materijalističkom dobu,

that we're all greedy people.

da smo svi mi pohlepni ljudi.

I don't think we are particularly materialistic.

Ja ne mislim da smo posebni materijalisti.

I think we live in a society which has simply pegged certain emotional rewards

Mislim da živimo u društvu

koje je vezalo neke emocionalne nagrade

to the acquisition of material goods.

uz pribavljanje materijalnih stvari.

It's not the material goods we want; it's the rewards we want.

Nisu materijalna dobra ono što hoćemo nego te emocionalne nagrade.

It's a new way of looking at luxury goods.

I to je novi način gledanja na luksuzne stvari.

The next time you see somebody driving a Ferrari, don't think,

Slijedeći puta kada vidite da netko vozi Ferrari

nemojte pomisliti: "To je netko tko je pohlepan."

"This is somebody who's greedy."

Think, "This is somebody who is incredibly vulnerable and in need of love."

Pomislite: "To je netko nevjerojatno ranjiv i potrebit ljubavi."

Drugim riječima -- (Smijeh)

(Laughter)

Feel sympathy, rather than contempt.

osjetite simpatiju, umjesto prezira.

There are other reasons --

Postoje i drugi razlozi --

(Laughter)

(Smijeh)

There are other reasons why it's perhaps harder now to feel calm than ever before.

Postoje i drugi razlozi zašto je sada vjerojatno teže

nego ikada osjećati se spokojno.

One of these, and it's paradoxical,

Jedan od tih razloga, a paradoksalno je što je povezan s nečim prilično zgodnim,

because it's linked to something that's rather nice,

jest nada koju svi imamo naspram svojih karijera.

is the hope we all have for our careers.

Never before have expectations been so high

Nikada prije nisu očekivanja bila toliko visoka

about what human beings can achieve with their lifespan.

o tome koliko ljudi mogu postići tijekom svog života.

We're told, from many sources, that anyone can achieve anything.

Rečeno nam je, iz mnogo izvora, da svatko od nas može postići sve.

We've done away with the caste system,

Riješili smo se sustava društvenih klasa.

we are now in a system where anyone can rise to any position they please.

Sada živimo u sustavu gdje se svatko može uzdići

do svake pozicije koju zaželi.

And it's a beautiful idea.

I to je prekrasna ideja.

Along with that is a kind of spirit of equality;

S tim ide i duh jednakosti. Bazično smo svi jednaki.

we're all basically equal.

There are no strictly defined hierarchies.

Ne postoje striktno definirane

hijerarhije.

There is one really big problem with this,

Postoji jedan prilično veliki problem s time.

and that problem is envy.

A taj problem se zove zavist.

Envy, it's a real taboo to mention envy,

Zavist, pravi je tabu spomenuti zavist,

but if there's one dominant emotion in modern society, that is envy.

ali ako postoji jedan dominantni osjećaj modernog društva onda je to zavist.

And it's linked to the spirit of equality.

I ona je povezana s duhom jednakosti. Da vam objasnim.

Let me explain.

I think it would be very unusual for anyone here, or anyone watching,

Mislim da bi bilo prilično neuobičajno za svakoga ovdje, ili bilo koga tko gleda,

to be envious of the Queen of England.

da bude zavidan Engleskoj kraljici.

Even though she is much richer than any of you are,

Premda je ona bitno bogatija od svakoga od nas.

and she's got a very large house,

I ima jako veliku kuću.

the reason why we don't envy her is because she's too weird.

Razlog zašto nismo zavisni jest što je ona prilično čudna.

(Laughter)

She's simply too strange.

Ona nam je previše strana.

We can't relate to her, she speaks in a funny way,

Ne možemo se povezati s njom. Govori na čudan nači.

she comes from an odd place.

Dolazi iz neobičnog mjesta.

So we can't relate to her,

Tako da se ne možemo povezati s njom. A kada se ne možemo povezati s nekim, onda ne možemo biti zavisni.

and when you can't relate to somebody, you don't envy them.

The closer two people are -- in age, in background,

Što su dvoje ljudi bliži, godinama, podrijetlom,

in the process of identification -- the more there's a danger of envy,

u procesu identifikacije, postoji veća opasnost za zavišću.

which is incidentally why none of you should ever go to a school reunion,

To je razlog više zašto nitko od vas ne bi trebao ići na školska okupljanja.

Jer ne postoji snažnija referentna točka

because there is no stronger reference point than people one was at school with.

od ljudi s kojima ste išli u školu.

The problem of modern society is it turns the whole world into a school.

Ali problem, općenito, modernog društva jest što cijeli svijet pretvara

Everybody's wearing jeans, everybody's the same.

u školu. Svi nose džins, svi su jednaki.

And yet, they're not.

A opet, nisu.

So there's a spirit of equality combined with deep inequality,

Dakle postoji duh jednakosti, koji je povezan s dubokim nejednakostima.

which can make for a very stressful situation.

Što stvara prilično -- može stvoriti prilično stresnu situaciju.

It's probably as unlikely that you would nowadays

Vjerojatnost da ćete danas

become as rich and famous as Bill Gates,

postati bogati i slavni poput Bill Gatesa,

as it was unlikely in the 17th century

jednaka je vjerojatnosti da ćete tijekom 17. stoljeća

that you would accede to the ranks of the French aristocracy.

postati dijelom francuske aristrokracije.

But the point is, it doesn't feel that way.

Poanta je u tome što se tako ne bismo smjeli osjećati.

It's made to feel, by magazines and other media outlets,

Taj osjećaj su umjetno stvorili časopisi i drugi mediji,

that if you've got energy, a few bright ideas about technology, a garage --

koji nam prikazuju da je dovoljno imati energiju, nekoliko dobrih ideja o tehnologiji,

garažu, i svatko može pokrenuti veliku stvar.

you, too, could start a major thing.

(Laughter)

(Smijeh)

The consequences of this problem make themselves felt in bookshops.

A posljedice tih problema su vidljive i u knjižarama.

When you go to a large bookshop and look at the self-help sections,

Ako odete u veliku knjižaru i pogledate odjeljak s knjigama za samo-pomoć,

as I sometimes do --

kao što ja ponekad napravim,

if you analyze self-help books produced in the world today,

i analizirate knjige za samo-pomoć koje se pišu

u današnjem svijetu, vidjeti ćete u osnovi dvije vrste.

there are basically two kinds.

The first kind tells you, "You can do it! You can make it! Anything's possible!"

Prva vrsta vam govori: "Vi to možete napraviti! Možete to učiniti! Sve je moguće!"

I druga vrsta koja vam govori o tome kako se nositi

The other kind tells you how to cope with what we politely call "low self-esteem,"

s onime što pristojno zovemo "manjak samopouzdanja",

or impolitely call, "feeling very bad about yourself."

ili nepristojno zovemo "osjećati se jako loše u vlastitoj koži".

There's a real correlation

Postoji stvarna korelacija,

between a society that tells people that they can do anything,

stvarna korelacija između društva koje govori ljudima da mogu učiniti sve,

and the existence of low self-esteem.

i postojanja niskog samopouzdanja.

So that's another way in which something quite positive can have a nasty kickback.

To je još jedan način kako se nešto što je prilično pozitivno

može pretvoriti u nešto neugodno.

There is another reason why we might be feeling more anxious --

Postoji još jedan razlog zašto se sve više osjećamo zabrinuto

about our careers, about our status in the world today, than ever before.

kada je riječ o našim karijerama, o našem statusu u današnjem svijetu.

And it's, again, linked to something nice.

I opet je povezan s nečim lijepim.

And that nice thing is called meritocracy.

A ta lijepa stvar se zove meritokracija.

Everybody, all politicians on Left and Right,

Sada se svi, svi lijevi i desni političari,

agree that meritocracy is a great thing,

slažu da je meritokracija sjajna stvar,

and we should all be trying to make our societies really, really meritocratic.

i da bi se svi trebali truditi kako da učinimo društvo stvarno meritokratskim.

In other words -- what is a meritocratic society?

Drugim riječima, što je meritokratsko društvo?

A meritocratic society is one in which, if you've got talent and energy and skill,

Meritokratsko društvo je ono u kojem

ako imate talent, energiju i vještine

you will get to the top, nothing should hold you back.

popesti ćete se na vrh. Ništa vas u tome neće spriječiti.

It's a beautiful idea.

To je prekrasna ideja. Problem je

The problem is, if you really believe in a society

ako stvarno vjerujete u društvo

where those who merit to get to the top, get to the top,

u kojem će oni koji imaju sposobnosti za vrh, uistinu doći tamo,

you'll also, by implication, and in a far more nasty way,

isto tako, se implicira na pomalo ružan način

believe in a society where those who deserve to get to the bottom

uvjerenje u društvu da će oni koji zasluže biti na dnu

also get to the bottom and stay there.

doći i ostati tamo.

In other words, your position in life comes to seem not accidental,

Drugim riječima, vaša pozicija u životu nije plod slučajnosti

but merited and deserved.

već sposobnosti i zasluga.

And that makes failure seem much more crushing.

I to čini neuspjehe još snažnijim.

You know, in the Middle Ages, in England,

Znate, u srednjevjekovnoj Engleskoj,

when you met a very poor person,

kada biste sreli siromašnu osobu

that person would be described as an "unfortunate" --

ta osoba bi se opisala kao "nesretna".

literally, somebody who had not been blessed by fortune, an unfortunate.

Doslovno, to bi bio netko tko nije bio blagoslovljen srećom, netko nesretan.

Nowadays, particularly in the United States,

Danas, posebno u Sjedinjenim Državama,

if you meet someone at the bottom of society,

ako sretnete nekoga s dna društvene ljestvice,

they may unkindly be described as a "loser."

oni će biti, neljubazno, opisani kao "gubitnici".

There's a real difference between an unfortunate and a loser,

Postoji velika razlika između "nesretnika" i "gubitnika".

and that shows 400 years of evolution in society

I to nam ukazuje na 400godišnju evoluciju društva,

and our belief in who is responsible for our lives.

i našeg uvjerenja tko je odgovoran za naše živote.

It's no longer the gods, it's us. We're in the driving seat.

To nisu više bogovi, to smo mi. Mi se nalazimo na vozačkom sjedalu.

That's exhilarating if you're doing well,

To je sjajno ako vam ide dobro,

and very crushing if you're not.

ali i razarajuće ako vam ne ide.

It leads, in the worst cases --

To nas vodi, u najgorim slučajevima, u analizama sociologa

in the analysis of a sociologist like Emil Durkheim --

poput Emila Durkheima, vodi nas k povećanom broju samoubojstava.

it leads to increased rates of suicide.

There are more suicides in developed, individualistic countries

Veća je stopa samoubojstava u razvijenim individualističkim zemljama

than in any other part of the world.

nego u bilo kojem drugom dijelu svijeta.

And some of the reason for that

A neki od razloga tome su da ljudi ono što se njima dogodi

is that people take what happens to them extremely personally --

doživljavaju ekstremno osobno.

they own their success, but they also own their failure.

Oni posjeduju vlastiti uspjeh. Ali također posjeduju i neuspjeh.

Is there any relief from some of these pressures

Postoji li ikakvo olakšanje za ove pritiscke

that I've been outlining?

koje sam upravo opisao?

I think there is.

Mislim da postoji. Osvrnuti ću se na neke od njih.

I just want to turn to a few of them.

Let's take meritocracy.

Uzmimo meritokraciju.

This idea that everybody deserves to get where they get to,

Ta ideja kako je svatko zaslužio doći upravo tamo gdje je došao.

I think it's a crazy idea, completely crazy.

Mislim kako je to luda ideja, potpuno luda.

I will support any politician of Left and Right,

Ja ću podržati svakog političara bilo lijevog ili desnog,

with any halfway-decent meritocratic idea;

s čak i poluozbiljnom meritokratskom idejom.

I am a meritocrat in that sense.

Ja sam meritokrat i to je to.

But I think it's insane to believe

Ali mislim kako je suludo vjerovati kako će ikada

that we will ever make a society that is genuinely meritocratic;

potojati društvo koje će biti stvarno meritokratsko. To je nemoguć san.

it's an impossible dream.

The idea that we will make a society where literally everybody is graded,

Ideja da ćemo stvoriti društvo

gdje će svatko biti ocijenjen i odgovarajuće pozicioniran,

the good at the top, bad at the bottom,

dobri na vrhu, a loši na dnu,

exactly done as it should be, is impossible.

i da će to biti napravljeno baš kako treba, je nemoguća.

There are simply too many random factors:

Jednostavno postoji previše nekontroliranih varijabli.

accidents, accidents of birth,

Incidenata, incident rođenja,

accidents of things dropping on people's heads, illnesses, etc.

incident stvari koje mogu pasti ljudima na glavu, bolesti, itd.

We will never get to grade them,

Nikada nećemo uspjeti adekvantno evaluirati sve.

never get to grade people as they should.

Nikada nećemo uspjeti ocjeniti ljude kako bi trebali.

I'm drawn to a lovely quote by St. Augustine in "The City of God,"

Sviđa mi se dražestan citat Sv. Augustina u "Gradu Boga"

where he says, "It's a sin to judge any man by his post."

gdje kaže: "Grijeh je suditi o bilo kojem čovjeku temeljem njegovog položaja."

In modern English that would mean

U suvremenom jeziku to bi značilo,

it's a sin to come to any view of who you should talk to,

grijeh je suditi o važnosti razgovora s bilo kime

temeljem njihove posjetnice.

dependent on their business card.

It's not the post that should count.

Nije položaj taj koji je ključan.

According to St. Augustine, only God can really put everybody in their place;

Prema Sv. Augustinu,

jedino Bog može svakoga točno pozicionirati u društvu.

he's going to do that on the Day of Judgment,

I on će to učiniti na Sudnji dan,

with angels and trumpets, and the skies will open.

s anđelima i trubama, i nebo će se otvoriti.

Insane idea, if you're a secularist person, like me.

Luda ideja, ako ste sekularna osoba, poput mene.

But something very valuable in that idea, nevertheless.

Ali nešto je jako vrijedno u toj ideji, kako bilo.

Drugim riječima, suspregnite se kada trebate suditi o drugim ljudima.

In other words, hold your horses when you're coming to judge people.

You don't necessarily know what someone's true value is.

Ne morate nužno znati gdje se krije nečija vrijednost.

That is an unknown part of them,

To je njihov nepoznati dio.

and we shouldn't behave as though it is known.

I mi se ne bi smjeli ponašati kao da znamo gdje je.

There is another source of solace and comfort for all this.

Postoji još jedan izvor ohrabrenja i utjehe u svemu ovom.

When we think about failing in life, when we think about failure,

Kada razmišljamo o životnim promašajima, kada razmišljamo o greškama,

one of the reasons why we fear failing

jedan od razloga zašto se bojimo pogriješiti nije samo

is not just a loss of income, a loss of status.

gubitak prihoda, gubitak statusa.

What we fear is the judgment and ridicule of others.

Ono čega se bojimo jest sud i podsmjeh drugih. I taj strah postoji.

And it exists.

The number one organ of ridicule, nowadays, is the newspaper.

Znate, ključan instrument podsmjeha

danas, jesu novine.

If you open the newspaper any day of the week,

Ako otvorite novine bilo koji dan u tjednu

it's full of people who've messed up their lives.

pun je ljudi koji su zabrljali s vlastitim životima.

They've slept with the wrong person, taken the wrong substance,

Spavali su s krivom osobom. Uzeli su krivu supstancu.

passed the wrong piece of legislation --

Donijeli su krivi zakon. Što god bilo.

whatever it is, and then are fit for ridicule.

I sada su predmet podsmjeha.

In other words, they have failed. And they are described as "losers."

Drugim riječima, doživjeli su neuspjeh. I označeni su kao "gubitnici".

Now, is there any alternative to this?

Postoji li alternativa tome?

I think the Western tradition shows us one glorious alternative, which is tragedy.

Mislim da nam Zapadna tradicija daje sjajnu alternativu.

I to je tragedija.

Tragic art, as it developed in the theaters of ancient Greece,

Tragična umjetnost, onako kako se razvila u kazalištima antičke Grčke,

in the fifth century B.C., was essentially an art form

u 5 st. p. k., bila je u svojem korjenu umjetnički oblik

devoted to tracing how people fail,

koji je bio posvećen otkrivanju načina na koji su ljudi pogriješili.

and also according them a level of sympathy,

I u skladu s time bila je prisutna određena razina simpatije.

which ordinary life would not necessarily accord them.

Što nije u skladu s običnim životom.

A few years ago, I was thinking about this,

Sjećam se prije nekoliko godina, dok sam razmišljao o ovome.

and I went to "The Sunday Sport,"

Otišao sam pogledati "Nedjeljni sport",

a tabloid newspaper I don't recommend you start reading

tabloid koji vam nikako ne preporučujem za čitanje,

if you're not familiar with it already.

ako već niste s njime upoznati.

(Laughter)

I otišao sam razgovarati s njima

And I went to talk to them

about certain of the great tragedies of Western art.

o nekim velikim tragedijama Zapadne umjetnosti.

I wanted to see how they would seize the bare bones of certain stories,

Želio sam vidjeti kako će se nosititi s osnovom

neke od priča kada bi im se pojavila kao vijest

if they came in as a news item at the news desk on a Saturday afternoon.

u subotu popodne.

I mentioned Othello; they'd not heard of it but were fascinated.

Tako sam im ispričao o Otelu. Oni nisu prije čuli za priču, ali su bili njome fascinirani.

(Laughter)

(Smijeh)

I asked them to write a headline for the story.

Pitao sam ih koji bi naslov stavili Otelu?

They came up with "Love-Crazed Immigrant Kills Senator's Daughter."

Došli su do: "Ljubavlju zaluđeni sin imigranta ubio je Sentorovu kći"

Splashed across the headline.

naslova preko cijele naslovnice.

I gave them the plotline of Madame Bovary.

Ispričao sam im i sažetak priče o "Madame Bovary".

Again, a book they were enchanted to discover.

Opet, knjiga koju su otkrili s oduševljenjem.

And they wrote "Shopaholic Adulteress Swallows Arsenic After Credit Fraud."

I njoj su dali naslov. "Preljubnica ovisnica o kupovini progutala arsen zbog kreditne prijevare".

(Laughter)

(Smijeh)

And then my favorite --

I na kraju moj favorit.

they really do have a kind of genius of their own, these guys --

Oni su na neki svoj način genijalni, ti dečki.

my favorite is Sophocles' Oedipus the King:

Moj favorit je Sofoklov "Kralj Edip"

"Sex With Mum Was Blinding."

"Seks s mamom je bio zasljepljujući".

(Laughter)

(Smijeh)

(Applause)

(Pljesak)

In a way, if you like, at one end of the spectrum of sympathy,

Na neki način, ako želite na jednom kraju spektra simpatija,

you've got the tabloid newspaper.

nalaze se tabloidi.

At the other end of the spectrum, you've got tragedy and tragic art.

na drugom kraju spektra imate tragediju i tragičnu umjetnost.

And I suppose I'm arguing that we should learn a little bit

Moja argumentacija je da bismo malo trebali naučiti

about what's happening in tragic art.

što se događa u tragičnoj umjetnosti.

It would be insane to call Hamlet a loser.

Bilo bi suludo nazvati Hamleta gubitnikom.

He is not a loser, though he has lost.

On nije gubitnik, premda je izgubio.

And I think that is the message of tragedy to us,

Mislim da je to poruka tragedije za nas,

and why it's so very, very important, I think.

i zašto je to toliko važno.

The other thing about modern society and why it causes this anxiety,

Druga stvar vezana uz moderno društvo,

i zašto uzrokuje toliko nesigurnosti,

is that we have nothing at its center that is non-human.

jest da u svojoj srži nema ništa nehumano.

We are the first society to be living in a world

Mi smo prvo društvo koje živi na ovom Planetu

where we don't worship anything other than ourselves.

a koje ne obožava ikoga osim sebe.

We think very highly of ourselves, and so we should;

Imamo jako visoko mišljenje o sebi. I trebali bismo ga imati.

we've put people on the Moon, done all sorts of extraordinary things.

Mi smo doveli ljude na Mjesec. Napravili smo puno nevjerojatnih stvari.

I zato imamo tendenciju obožavati sami sebe.

And so we tend to worship ourselves. Our heroes are human heroes.

Naši heroji su ljudski heroji.

That's a very new situation.

To je nova situacija.

Most other societies have had, right at their center,

Većina drugih društava je imala u svom centru

the worship of something transcendent: a god, a spirit, a natural force,

obožavanje naspram nečega transcendentnog. Boga,

duha, prirodnu silu, svemir.

the universe, whatever it is -- something else that is being worshiped.

Što god to bilo, nešto se drugo obožavalo.

We've slightly lost the habit of doing that,

Mi smo pomalo izgubili tu naviku.

which is, I think, why we're particularly drawn to nature.

Što je razlog, po mom mišljenju, zašto smo toliko privučeni prirodom.

Ne zbog našeg zdravlja, premda se to tako često predstavlja.

Not for the sake of our health, though it's often presented that way,

Već zato jer nam služi kao bijeg od ljudskog mravinjaka.

but because it's an escape from the human anthill.

It's an escape from our own competition,

To je bijeg od naše vlastite konkurencije,

and our own dramas.

i od naših drama.

And that's why we enjoy looking at glaciers and oceans,

To je razlog zašto toliko uživamo gledajući glečere i oceane,

and contemplating the Earth from outside its perimeters, etc.

promatrajući Zemlju izvan njenog opsega, itd.

We like to feel in contact with something that is non-human,

Sviđa nam se povezanost s nečim što nije ljudsko.

and that is so deeply important to us.

A toliko je važno za nas.

What I think I've been talking about really is success and failure.

Ono o čemu sam stvarno pričao jest uspjeh i neuspjeh.

And one of the interesting things about success

I jedna od zanimljivih stvari povezanih s uspjehom

is that we think we know what it means.

jest kako mislimo da znamo što to točno znači.

If I said that there's somebody behind the screen who's very successful,

Ako bih vam rekao da je netko iza ekrana

tko je jako, jako uspješan, dobili biste odmah neke ideje u svojim glavama.

certain ideas would immediately come to mind.

You'd think that person might have made a lot of money,

Pomislili biste kako je ta osoba zaradila puno novca,

postala poznata u nekom polju djelovanja.

achieved renown in some field.

My own theory of success --

Moja osobna teorija uspjeha, a ja sam netko

I'm somebody who's very interested in success,

tko je jako zainteresiran za uspjeh. Ja stvarno želim biti uspješan.

I really want to be successful,

always thinking, how can I be more successful?

Stalno razmišljam: "Kako mogu biti uspješniji?"

But as I get older, I'm also very nuanced about what that word "success" might mean.

Ali dok starim, postajem također jako istančan

o tome što bi mogao značiti "uspjeh".

Here's an insight that I've had about success:

Ovo je moj pogled na "uspjeh".

Ne možete biti uspješni u svemu.

You can't be successful at everything.

We hear a lot of talk about work-life balance.

Čujemo puno toga o ravnoteži između posla i života.

Nonsense.

Glupost. Ne možete imati sve. Ne možete.

You can't have it all. You can't.

So any vision of success has to admit what it's losing out on,

Dakle svaka vizija uspjeha

mora priznati što se time (uspjehom) gubi

where the element of loss is.

koji je element gubitka.

And I think any wise life will accept,

I svatko tko pametno živi će prihvatiti

as I say, that there is going to be an element where we're not succeeding.

kada kažem da će uvijek postojati elementi života u kojima nismo uspjeli.

And the thing about a successful life is that a lot of the time,

Stvar vezana uz uspješan život,

jest što često naše ideje,

our ideas of what it would mean to live successfully are not our own.

ono što bi prividno značilo da živimo uspješno, nisi naše vlastite.

They're sucked in from other people;

One su nam nametnute od drugih ljudi.

chiefly, if you're a man, your father, and if you're a woman, your mother.

Uglavnom, ako ste muškarac, od Vašeg oca.

A ako ste žena, od Vaše majke.

Psychoanalysis has been drumming home this message for about 80 years.

Psihoanalitičari trube o tome već 80ak godina.

No one's quite listening hard enough, but I very much believe it's true.

I nitko ih dovoljno pažljivo ne sluša. Ali ja vjerujem kako je to istina.

And we also suck in messages from everything from the television,

I mi smo također prihvatili tu poruku

od svega poput televizije do promocije,

to advertising, to marketing, etc.

i marketinga i tako dalje.

These are hugely powerful forces

To su enormno snažne sile

that define what we want and how we view ourselves.

koje definiraju ono što želimo i način na koji se vidimo.

When we're told that banking is a very respectable profession,

Kada nam se kaže kako je bankarstvo vrlo respektabilna profesija

a lot of us want to go into banking.

jako puno nas se želi baš time baviti.

When banking is no longer so respectable, we lose interest in banking.

Kada nam se bankarstvo prikaže kao ne tako respektabilno, gubimo interes za njime.

We are highly open to suggestion.

Jako smo otvoreni na sugestije.

So what I want to argue for is not that we should give up

Dakle ono što ja zastupam nije da trebamo odustati

on our ideas of success,

od svojih ideja uspjeha.

but we should make sure that they are our own.

Ali bismo trebali biti sigurni kako su to naše vlastite ideje.

We should focus in on our ideas,

Trebali bismo se fokusirati na naše ideje.

and make sure that we own them;

I biti sigurni kako ih posjedujemo,

that we are truly the authors of our own ambitions.

kako smo mi uistinu autori naših ambicija.

Because it's bad enough not getting what you want,

Jer je dovoljno loše ne dobiti ono što želite.

Ali je još gore imati ideju

but it's even worse to have an idea of what it is you want,

o tome što želite i onda otkriti na kraju životnog puta

and find out, at the end of the journey,

that it isn't, in fact, what you wanted all along.

kako to nije bilo ono što ste uistinu željeli.

So, I'm going to end it there.

S ovim ću završiti.

But what I really want to stress is: by all means, success, yes.

Ono što želim istaknuti

svim sredstvima, jest uspjeh: da.

But let's accept the strangeness of some of our ideas.

Ali želim da prihvatimo bizarnost nekih naših ideja.

Let's probe away at our notions of success.

Ispitajmo vlastito shvaćanje uspjeha.

Let's make sure our ideas of success are truly our own.

Budimo sigurni kako su ideje o uspjehu uistinu naše.

Thank you very much.

Puno vam hvala.

(Applause)

(Pljesak)

Chris Anderson: That was fascinating.

Chris Anderson: Ovo je bilo fascinantno. Kako ste povezali

But how do you reconcile this idea

tu ideju o nekome tko je ---

of it being bad to think of someone as a "loser,"

da je loše o nekom misliti da je gubitnik,

with the idea that a lot of people like, of seizing control of your life,

s idejom koju voli veliki broj ljudi o uzimanju kontrole nad svojim životom.

and that a society that encourages that,

I da društvo koje to potiče

perhaps has to have some winners and losers?

možda mora imati pobjednike i gubitnike.

Alain De Botton: Yes, I think it's merely the randomness

Alain de Botton: Da. Mislim da je slučajnost

of the winning and losing process that I want to stress,

procesa dobivanja i gubljenja ono što želim istaknuti.

because the emphasis nowadays is so much on the justice of everything,

Danas je snažan naglasak

na pravednosti svega.

and politicians always talk about justice.

Političari stalno govore o pravednosti.

Now I'm a firm believer in justice, I just think that it's impossible.

Ja čvrsto vjerujem u pravednost. Samo što mislim da je to nemoguće.

So we should do everything we can to pursue it,

Zato bismo trebali napraviti sve što možemo,

sve što možemo ne bismo li to slijedili.

but we should always remember that whoever is facing us,

Ali na kraju dana bismo se uvijek trebali sjetiti

s kime god da smo suočeni, što god da se dogodilo u njihovim životima,

whatever has happened in their lives,

there will be a strong element of the haphazard.

uvijek će postojati snažan element slučajnosti.

That's what I'm trying to leave room for;

I to je ono što ja pokušavam istaknuti i ostaviti prostor za.

otherwise, it can get quite claustrophobic.

U suprotnom može postati prilično klaustrofobično.

CA: I mean, do you believe that you can combine

Chris Anderson: Vjerujete li da možete povezati

your kind of kinder, gentler philosophy of work

svoju ideju o ljubaznijoj, nježnijoj filozofiji rada

s uspješnom ekonomijom?

with a successful economy?

Or do you think that you can't,

Ili mislite da ne možete?

but it doesn't matter that much that we're putting too much emphasis on that?

Je li uistinu važno koliko važnosti svemu tome pridajemo?

Alain de Botton: Stravična je ideja

AB: The nightmare thought

is that frightening people is the best way to get work out of them,

kako je najbolji način da ljudi obave posao tako da ih zastrašujemo.

and that somehow the crueler the environment,

I da što je nemilosrdnije okruženje

the more people will rise to the challenge.

više će ljudi biti doraslo tom izazovu.

You want to think, who would you like as your ideal dad?

Razmislite o tome tko bi bio vaš idealni otac?

And your ideal dad is somebody who is tough but gentle.

Vaš idealni otac bi bio netko tko je čvrst, ali blag.

And it's a very hard line to make.

I to je jako tanka linija.

We need fathers, as it were, the exemplary father figures in society,

Trebamo očeve, kao što su bili, primjerene očinske figure u društvu

avoiding the two extremes,

izbjegavajući dva ekstrema.

which is the authoritarian disciplinarian on the one hand,

Autoritativan, strogi odgajatelj, s jedne strane.

and on the other, the lax, no-rules option.

A s druge, opušten, nesklon pravilima.

CA: Alain De Botton.

Chris Anderson: Alain de Botton.

AB: Thank you very much.

Alain de Botton: Puno vam hvala.

(Applause)

(Pljesak)