Renata Salecl: Our unhealthy obsession with choice

Prevoditelj: Maja Covic Recezent: Ivan Stamenković

When I was preparing for this talk,

Kada sam pripremala ovaj govor,

I went to search for a couple of quotes

potražila sam par citata

that I can share with you.

koje mogu podijeliti s vama.

Good news: I found three

Dobra je vijest da sam pronašla tri

that I particularly liked,

koji su mi se posebno svidjeli,

the first by Samuel Johnson, who said,

prvi pripada Samuelu Johnsonu, koji je rekao,

"When making your choice in life,

"Kada u životu donosite odluke,

do not forget to live,"

nemojte zaboraviti živjeti,"

the second by Aeschylus, who reminded us that

drugi je Eshilov, koji nas podsjeća da je

"happiness is a choice that requires effort,"

"sreća odluka koja zahtijeva trud,"

and the third is one by Groucho Marx

a treći pripada Grouchu Marxu

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

koji je izjavio, "Ne bih izabrao da pripadam

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

ijednom klubu koji bi me imao za člana."

Now, bad news:

Loša je vijest da

I didn't know which one of these quotes

nisam znala koji od ovih citata

to choose and share with you.

izabrati i podijeliti s vama.

The sweet anxiety of choice.

Slatka briga izbora.

In today's times of post-industrial capitalism,

U današnje vrijeme postindustrijskog kapitalizma,

choice, together with individual freedom

izbor, zajedno s individualnom slobodom

and the idea of self-making,

i idejom o samoostvarenju,

has been elevated to an ideal.

pretvoren je u ideal.

Now, together with this, we also have a belief

Uz to, vjerujemo i u

in endless progress.

beskonačni napredak.

But the underside of this ideology

No, s druge strane ove ideologije je

has been an increase of anxiety,

porast tjeskobe,

feelings of guilt,

osjećaja krivnje,

feelings of being inadequate,

osjećaja nedostatnosti,

feeling that we are failing in our choices.

osjećaja da podbacujemo u našim izborima.

Sadly, this ideology of individual choice

Na žalost, ova ideologija individualnog izbora

has prevented us from thinking about social changes.

spriječila nas je da razmišljamo o društvenim promjenama.

It appears that this ideology was actually

Čini se da nas je ta ideologija

very efficient in pacifying us

vrlo učinkovito onesposobila

as political and social thinkers.

kao političke i društvene mislioce.

Instead of making social critiques,

Umjesto da kritiziramo društvo,

we are more and more engaging in self-critique,

sve se više bavimo kritiziranjem sebe,

sometimes to the point of self-destruction.

ponekad do točke samouništenja.

Now, how come that ideology of choice

Kako to da je ta ideologija izbora

is still so powerful,

još uvijek toliko moćna,

even among people who have

čak i kod ljudi koji

not many things to choose among?

nemaju puno toga na biranje?

How come that even people who are poor

Kako to da se čak i siromašni ljudi

very much still identify with the idea of choice,

još uvijek snažno poistovjećuju s idejom izbora,

the kind of rational idea of choice

onom racionalnom idejom izbora

which we embrace?

koju smo prigrlili?

Now, the ideology of choice is very successful

Ideologija izbora vrlo nam uspješno

in opening for us a space to think

otvara prostor za promišljanje

about some imagined future.

o nekoj zamišljenoj budućnosti.

Let me give you an example.

Dat ću vam primjer.

My friend Manya,

Moja prijateljica Manya,

when she was a student at university in California,

dok je studirala na sveučilištu u Kaliforniji,

was earning money

zarađivala je novac

by working for a car dealer.

radeći za prodavača automobila.

Now, Manya, when she encountered

Kada bi Manya naišla na

the typical customer, would debate with him

tipičnog kupca, raspravljala bi s njim

about his lifestyle,

o njegovu životnom stilu,

how much he wants to spend,

koliko je spreman platiti,

how many children he has,

koliko djece ima,

what does he need the car for?

za što mu je potreban automobil.

They would usually come to a good conclusion

Obično bi došli do dobrog zaključka

what would be a perfect car.

koji bi automobil bio idealan.

Now, before Manya's customer would go home

Prije no što bi njen kupac otišao kući

and think things through,

i promislio o svemu,

she would say to him,

rekla bi mu,

"The car that you are buying now is perfect,

"Automobil koji sada kupujete je savršen,

but in a few year's time,

ali za nekoliko godina,

when your kids will be already out of the house,

kada će vam djeca napustiti dom,

when you will have a little bit more money,

kada ćete imati malo više novca,

that other car will be ideal.

onaj drugi automobil će biti idealan.

But what you are buying now is great."

No, ovo što sada kupujete je odlično."

Now, the majority of Manya's customers

Većina Manyjinih kupaca

who came back the next day

kada bi se vratili idući dan

bought that other car,

kupili bi onaj drugi auto,

the car they did not need,

auto koji nisu trebali,

the car that cost far too much money.

koji je bio preskup.

Now, Manya became so successful in selling cars

Manya je postala toliko uspješna u prodavanju automobila

that soon she moved on to selling airplanes.

da se brzo prebacila na prodaju zrakoplova.

(Laughter)

(Smijeh)

And knowing so much about the psychology of people

Dobro poznavanje ljudske psihologije

prepared her well for her current job,

pripremilo ju je dobro za njen sadašnji posao,

which is that of a psychoanalyst.

psihoanalitičara.

Now, why were Manya's customers so irrational?

Zašto su Manyjini klijenti bili toliko iracionalni?

Manya's success was that she was able

Njen uspjeh je bilo to što je uspijevala

to open in their heads an image

u njihovim umovima stvoriti sliku

of an idealized future,

idealizirane budućnosti,

an image of themselves

sliku njih samih

when they are already more successful, freer,

kada su već bili uspješniji, slobodniji,

and for them, choosing that other car

i za njih je odabir drugog automobila

was as if they are coming closer to this ideal

bilo približavanje tom idealu

in which it was as if Manya already saw them.

u kojem ih je Manya već mogla vidjeti.

Now, we rarely make really totally rational choices.

Rijetko donosimo zaista potpuno racionalne odluke.

Choices are influenced by our unconscious,

Na naše odabire utječe naša nesvjesna strana,

by our community.

naša zajednica.

We're often choosing

Često biramo

by guessing, what would other people

tako što pogađamo, što bi drugi ljudi

think about our choice?

mislili o našoj odluci.

Also we are choosing

Odabiremo i tako što

by looking at what others are choosing.

gledamo što drugi odabiru.

We're also guessing what is socially acceptable choice.

Također pogađamo koji je odabir društveno prihvatljiv.

Now, because of this, we actually

Zbog toga,

even after we have already chosen,

čak i nakon što smo odabrali,

like bought a car,

na primjer, kupili automobil,

endlessly read reviews about cars,

još neprekidno čitamo kritike o autima,

as if we still want to convince ourselves

kao da se još uvijek želimo uvjeriti

that we made the right choice.

da smo donijeli pravu odluku.

Now, choices are anxiety-provoking.

Izbori potiču osjećaj tjeskobe.

They are linked to risks, losses.

Vežu se uz rizike, gubitke.

They are highly unpredictable.

Vrlo su nepredvidivi.

Now, because of this,

Zbog toga,

people have now more and more problems

ljudi imaju sve više problema

that they are not choosing anything.

tako da ništa ne odabiru.

Not long ago, I was at a wedding reception,

Nedavno sam bila na vjenčanju,

and I met a young, beautiful woman

i upoznala prelijepu mladu ženu

who immediately started telling me about her anxiety over choice.

koja mi je odmah počela govoriti o svojem strahu kod donošenja odluka.

She said to me, "I needed one month

Rekla mi je, "Trebalo mi je mjesec dana

to decide which dress to wear."

da odaberem koju ću haljinu nositi."

Then she said, "For weeks I was researching

Nastavila je, "Tjednima sam istraživala

which hotel to stay for this one night.

u kojem ću hotelu provesti ovu jednu noć.

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

A sada trebam odabrati donatora sperme."

(Laughter)

(Smijeh)

I looked at this woman in shock.

Pogledala sam je šokirano.

"Sperm donor? What's the rush?"

"Donatora sperme? Čemu žurba?"

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

Odgovorila je, "Krajem godine navršavam 40 godina,

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

i dosad sam jako loše odabirala muškarce."

Now choice, because it's linked to risk,

Budući da se veže uz rizik, odabir

is anxiety-provoking,

izaziva tjeskobu,

and it was already the famous

i već je poznati

Danish philosopher Søren Kierkegaard

danski filozof Søren Kierkegaard

who pointed out that anxiety

istaknuo da je tjeskoba

is linked to the possibility of possibility.

povezana s mogućnošću mogućnosti.

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

Danas mislimo da možemo spriječiti rizike.

We have endless market analysis,

Imamo bezbrojne analize tržišta,

projections of the future earnings.

predviđanja budućih prihoda.

Even with market, which is about chance,

Čak i s tržištem, koje se svodi na slučaj,

randomness, we think we can predict rationally

nasumičnost, mislimo da možemo racionalno predvidjeti

where it's going.

kamo ono ide.

Now, chance is actually becoming very traumatic.

Slučajnost postaje vrlo traumatična.

Last year, my friend Bernard Harcourt

Prošle godine moj prijatelj Bernard Harcourt

at the University of Chicago organized an event,

sa Sveučilišta u Chicagu, organizirao je događaj,

a conference on the idea of chance.

konferenciju o ideji o slučajnosti.

He and I were together on the panel,

Sastali smo se na vijeću,

and just before delivering our papers —

netom prije no što smo trebali prezentirati svoje radove -

we didn't know each other's papers —

nijedan od nas nije znao o čemu će onaj drugi govoriti -

we decided to take chance seriously.

odlučili smo slučajnost shvatiti ozbiljno.

So we informed our audience

Objasnili smo našoj publici

that what they will just now hear

da je ono što će ubrzo čuti

will be a random paper,

neki nasumičan rad,

a mixture of the two papers

mješavinu naša dva rada,

which we didn't know what each was writing.

s kojima nismo bili međusobno upoznati.

Now, we delivered the conference in such a way.

Tako smo održali konferenciju.

Bernard read his first paragraph,

Bernard je pročitao svoj prvi paragraf,

I read my first paragraph,

ja sam pročitala svoj prvi paragraf,

Bernard read his second paragraph,

Bernard je pročitao svoj drugi paragraf,

I read my second paragraph,

ja sam pročitala svoj drugi paragraf,

in this way towards the end of our papers.

i tako do kraja naših radova.

Now, you will be surprised

Iznenadit će vas to

that a majority of our audience

da većina naše publike

did not think that what they'd just listened to

nije mislila da je upravo slušala

was a completely random paper.

potuno nasumičan rad.

They couldn't believe that

Nisu mogli vjerovati da

speaking from the position of authority

bismo, govoreći kao autoriteti,

like two professors we were,

budući da smo oboje profesori,

we would take chance seriously.

uzeli slučajnost tako ozbiljno.

They thought we prepared the papers together

Mislili su da smo zajedno pripremili radove

and were just joking that it's random.

i da se samo šalimo da je rad nasumičan.

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

Živimo u vremenu s puno informacija,

velikih podataka,

big data,

puno saznanja o unutrašnjosti našeg tijela.

a lot of knowledge about the insides of our bodies.

Dekodirali smo genom.

We decoded our genome.

Znamo o našem mozgu više no prije.

We know about our brains more than before.

No, začudo, ljudi sve više

But surprisingly, people are more and more

ignoriraju to znanje.

turning a blind eye in front of this knowledge.

Sve je više neznanja i poricanja.

Ignorance and denial are on the rise.

U odnosu na sadašnju gospodarsku krizu,

Now, in regard to the current economic crisis,

vjerujemo da ćemo se samo opet probuditi

we think that we will just wake up again

i da će sve biti kao i prije,

and everything will be the same as before,

i da nam nisu potrebne nikakve političke ili društvene promjene.

and no political or social changes are needed.

U odnosu na ekološku krizu,

In regard to ecological crisis,

mislimo da ne treba još ništa učiniti,

we think nothing needs to be done just now,

ili da drugi trebaju nešto napraviti prije nas.

or others need to act before us.

Čak i kada se dogodi ekološka kriza,

Or even when ecological crisis already happens,

kao katastrofa u Fukushimi,

like a catastrophe in Fukushima,

često se dogodi da ljudi žive na tom istom području

often we have people living in the same environment

s jednakom količinom informacija,

with the same amount of information,

i polovicu njih brinut će radijacija

and half of them will be anxious about radiation

a druga će je polovica ignorirati.

and half of them will ignore it.

Psihoanalitičari jako dobro znaju

Now, psychoanalysts know very well

da ljudi, nekim čudom, nemaju

that people surprisingly don't have

strast za znanjem

passion for knowledge

već strast za neznanjem.

but passion for ignorance.

Što to znači?

Now, what does that mean?

Recimo da kada se suočavamo

Let's say when we are facing

sa smrtnom bolešću,

a life-threatening illness,

mnogi ljudi to ne žele znati.

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

Radije bi poricali bolest,

They'd rather prefer denying the illness,

pa nije mudro da im se to kaže

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

ako sami ne pitaju.

if they don't ask.

Začudo, istraživanja pokazuju da ponekad

Surprisingly, research shows that sometimes

ljudi koji poriču svoju bolest

people who deny their illness

žive dulje od onih koji racionalno odabiru

live longer than those who are rationally choosing

najbolje liječenje.

the best treatment.

Međutim, to neznanje

Now, this ignorance, however,

ne pomaže puno na društvenoj razini.

is not very helpful on the level of the social.

Kada ne znamo kamo idemo,

When we are ignorant about where we are heading,

to može prouzročiti mnogo društvene štete.

a lot of social damage can be caused.

Uz suočavanje s neznanjem,

Now, on top of facing ignorance,

danas se suočavamo i

we are also facing today

s nekom vrstom očitosti.

some kind of an obviousness.

Francuski filozof

Now, it was French philosopher

Louis Althusser istaknuo je

Louis Althusser who pointed out

kako ideologija djeluje na način

that ideology functions in such a way

da stvara veo očitosti.

that it creates a veil of obviousness.

Prije no što počnemo kritizirati društvo,

Before we do any social critique,

trebamo podići taj veo očitosti

it is necessary really to lift that veil of obviousness

i promisliti na malo drukčiji način.

and to think through a little bit differently.

Ako se vratimo ideologiji

If we go back to this ideology

individualnog, racionalnog odabira,

of individual, rational choice

koji često prihvaćamo,

we often embrace,

upravo je ovdje potrebno

it's necessary precisely here

podići tu očitost

to lift this obviousness

i drukčije promisliti.

and to think a little bit differently.

Za mene je često pitanje

Now for me, a question often is

zašto još uvijek prihvaćamo tu ideju o samoostvarenom čovjeku

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

u koju se pouzdavao kapitalizam od svog početka?

on which capitalism relied from its beginning?

Zašto vjerujemo da smo zaista veliki gospodari

Why do we think that we are really such masters

naših života da možemo racionalno

of our lives that we can rationally

donositi najidealnije odabire,

make the best ideal choices,

pa da ne prihvaćamo gubitke i rizike?

that we don't accept losses and risks?

Za mene je šokantno vidjeti vrlo siromašne ljude,

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

na primjer, koji ne podupiru ideju

for example, not supporting the idea

o višim porezima za bogate.

of the rich being taxed more.

Vrlo često se poistovjećuju

Quite often here they still identify

s mentalitetom lutrije.

with a certain kind of a lottery mentality.

Možda ne misle da će oni uspjeti

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

u budućnosti, ali možda vjeruju

in the future, but maybe they think,

da će im sin postati sljedeći Bill Gates.

my son might become the next Bill Gates.

A tko bi htio oporezivati vlastitog sina?

And who would want to tax one's son?

Moje sljedeće pitanje je

Or, a question for me is also,

zašto ljudi koji nemaju zdravstveno osiguranje

why would people who have no health insurance

ne bi htjeli prihvatiti univerzalno zdravstvo?

not embrace universal healthcare?

Ponekad to ne prihvate,

Sometimes they don't embrace it,

poistovjećujući se opet s idejom o izboru,

again identifying with the idea of choice,

no, zpravo nemaju nikakav izbor.

but they have nothing to choose from.

Margaret Thatcher izgovorila je poznatu rečenicu

Now, Margaret Thatcher famously said

kako nema ničeg poput društva.

that there is nothing like a society.

Društvo ne postoji, već samo pojedinci

Society doesn't exist, it is only individuals

i njihove obitelji.

and their families.

Na žalost, ova ideologija još uvijek dobro funkcionira,

Sadly, this ideology still functions very well,

zbog čega bi se siromašni mogli

which is why people who are poor might feel

sramiti svog siromaštva.

ashamed for their poverty.

Možemo neprestano osjećati krivnju da

We might endlessly feel guilty that we are

ne donosimo pravilne odluke,

not making the right choices,

i da je to razlog zašto nismo uspjeli.

and that's why we didn't succeed.

Stahujemo da nismo dovoljno dobri.

We are anxious that we are not good enough.

Zato toliko puno radimo,

That's why we work very hard,

puno sati na radnom mjestu,

long hours at the workplace

i jednako toliko vremena na ponovnom samoizgrađivanju.

and equally long hours on remaking ourselves.

Kada strepimo pred odlukama,

Now, when we are anxious over choices,

ponekad lako izdajemo svoju moć izbora.

sometimes we easily give our power of choice away.

Poistovjećujemo se s guruom

We identify with the guru

koji nam govori što da činimo,

who tells us what to do,

terapeutom za samopomoć,

self-help therapist,

ili prihvatimo ulogu totalitarnog vođe

or we embrace a totalitarian leader

koji ne sumnja u svoje odluke,

who appears to have no doubts about choices,

koji na neki način zna što čini.

who sort of knows.

Ljudi me često pitaju,

Now, often people ask me,

"Što si naučila proučavanjem odluka?"

"What did you learn by studying choice?"

Naučila sam važnu lekciju.

And there is an important message that I did learn.

Kada razmišljam o odlukama,

When thinking about choices,

više ih ne shvaćam preozbiljno, osobno.

I stopped taking choices too seriously, personally.

Prvo sam shvatila da puno odluka koje donosim

First, I realized a lot of choice I make

nisu racionalne.

is not rational.

Povezane su s mojom nesvjesnom stranom,

It's linked to my unconscious,

mojim nagađanjima što drugi odabiru,

my guesses of what others are choosing,

ili koja je društveno prihvatljiva odluka.

or what is a socially embraced choice.

Također sam prihvatila ideju

I also embrace the idea

da se trebamo odmaknuti od

that we should go beyond

razmišljanja o individualnim odlukama,

thinking about individual choices,

da je jako bitno opet promisliti o društvenim odlukama,

that it's very important to rethink social choices,

budući da nas je ta ideologija individualne odluke umrtvila.

since this ideology of individual choice has pacified us.

Spriječila nas je u razmišljanju o društvenim promjenama.

It really prevented us to think about social change.

Toliko vremena provodimo odabirući stvari za sebe

We spend so much time choosing things for ourselves

da se jedva sjetimo

and barely reflect on

kolektivnih odluka koje možemo donositi.

communal choices we can make.

Ne smijemo zaboraviti da se izbor

Now, we should not forget that choice

uvijek veže uz promjenu.

is always linked to change.

Možemo donositi individualne promjene,

We can make individual changes,

ali i društvene promjene.

but we can make social changes.

Možemo odabrati da imamo više vukova.

We can choose to have more wolves.

Možemo odabrati promjenu našeg okoliša

We can choose to change our environment

kako bi imali više pčela.

to have more bees.

Možemo odlučiti da imamo druge agencije za rangiranje.

We can choose to have different rating agencies.

Možemo odlučiti kontrolirati korporacije

We can choose to control corporations

umjesto da im dopustimo da one kontroliraju nas.

instead of allowing corporations to control us.

Imamo mogućnost donijeti promjene.

We have a possibility to make changes.

Počela sam citatom Samuela Johnsona,

Now, I started with a quote from Samuel Johnson,

koji je rekao da kada u životu donosimo odluke,

who said that when we make choice in life,

ne smijemo zaboraviti živjeti.

we shouldn't forget to live.

Napokon, možete vidjeti

Finally, you can see

da sam zaista imala mogućnost

I did have a choice

odabrati jedan od ona tri citata

to choose one of the three quotes

s kojim sam htjela započeti svoj govor.

with which I wanted to start my lecture.

Imala sam izbor,

I did have a choice,

kao što kao nacije, ljudi,

such as nations, as people,

imamo mogućnost ponovo promisliti

we have choices too to rethink

u kakvom bismo društvu htjeli živjeti u budućnosti.

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

Hvala.

Thank you.

(Pljesak)

(Applause)