The 4 stories we tell ourselves about death | Stephen Cave

Prevoditelj: Maja Covic Recezent: Vedrana Čemerin

I have a question:

Imam pitanje.

Who here remembers when they first realized

Tko ovdje se sjeća kada ste prvi put shvatili

they were going to die?

da ćete umrijeti?

I do. I was a young boy,

Ja se sjećam. Bio sam maleni dječak,

and my grandfather had just died,

moj djed je upravo bio umro.

and I remember a few days later lying in bed at night

Sjećam se da sam nekoliko dana poslije noću ležao u krevetu

trying to make sense of what had happened.

pokušavajući shvatiti smisao onoga što se dogodilo.

What did it mean that he was dead?

Što je značilo to što je on mrtav?

Where had he gone?

Kamo je otišao?

It was like a hole in reality had opened up

Činilo se kao da se otvorila rupa u stvarnosti

and swallowed him.

i progutala ga.

But then the really shocking question occurred to me:

No, tada mi se pojavilo zaista šokantno pitanje.

If he could die, could it happen to me too?

Ako je on mogao umrijeti, može li se to dogoditi i meni?

Could that hole in reality open up and swallow me?

Može li se ta rupa u stvarnosti otvoriti i progutati mene?

Would it open up beneath my bed

Hoće li se otvoriti ispod mog kreveta

and swallow me as I slept?

i progutati me dok spavam?

Well, at some point, all children become aware of death.

U jednom trenutku sva djeca postanu svjesna smrti.

It can happen in different ways, of course,

To se može dogoditi na razne načine

and usually comes in stages.

i uglavnom dolazi u fazama.

Our idea of death develops as we grow older.

Naše se poimanje smrti razvija kako odrastamo.

And if you reach back into the dark corners

Ako posegnete u tamne dijelove

of your memory,

vašeg sjećanja,

you might remember something like what I felt

možda ćete se sjetiti nečega poput onog što sam ja osjetio

when my grandfather died and when I realized

kada je moj djed umro i kada sam shvatio

it could happen to me too,

da bi se to moglo dogoditi i meni.

that sense that behind all of this

Onaj osjećaj da iza svega ovoga

the void is waiting.

čeka praznina.

And this development in childhood

Taj razvoj u djetinjstvu

reflects the development of our species.

odražava razvoj naše vrste.

Just as there was a point in your development

Kao što se u vašem razvoju pojavio trenutak

as a child when your sense of self and of time

kada vam je, kao djetetu, svijest o sebi i vremenu

became sophisticated enough

postala dovoljno razvijena

for you to realize you were mortal,

da shvatite kako ste smrtni,

so at some point in the evolution of our species,

tako je u jednom trenutku evolucije naše vrste,

some early human's sense of self and of time

rana ljudska svijest o sebi i vremenu

became sophisticated enough

postala dovoljno razvijena

for them to become the first human to realize,

da bi netko postao prvi čovjek koji je shvatio

"I'm going to die."

da će umrijeti.

This is, if you like, our curse.

Ovo je, ako hoćete, naše prokletstvo.

It's the price we pay for being so damn clever.

To je cijena toga što smo toliko pametni.

We have to live in the knowledge

Moramo živjeti sa znanjem

that the worst thing that can possibly happen

da će se najgora stvar koja se može dogoditi

one day surely will,

jednoga dana zasigurno i dogoditi.

the end of all our projects,

Kraj svih naših projekata,

our hopes, our dreams, of our individual world.

naših nada, snova, našeg individualnog svijeta.

We each live in the shadow of a personal

Svatko živi u sjeni osobne

apocalypse.

apokalipse.

And that's frightening. It's terrifying.

I to je zastrašujuće. Užasavajuće.

And so we look for a way out.

Stoga tražimo izlaz.

And in my case, as I was about five years old,

U mom slučaju, budući da sam imao pet godina,

this meant asking my mum.

to je značilo da sam pitao mamu.

Now when I first started asking

Kada sam prvi puta počeo postavljati pitanja

what happens when we die,

što se događa kada umremo,

the grown-ups around me at the time

odrasli oko mene tada su

answered with a typical English mix of awkwardness

odgovorili tipičnom engleskom mješavinom nespretnosti

and half-hearted Christianity,

i malodušnog kršćanstva.

and the phrase I heard most often

Najčešća fraza koju sam čuo

was that granddad was now

bila je da je djed sada

"up there looking down on us,"

"gore i gleda dolje na nas,"

and if I should die too, which wouldn't happen of course,

i ako bih i ja slučajno umro, što se zasigurno neće dogoditi,

then I too would go up there,

tada bih i ja otišao gore,

which made death sound a lot like

što je mi smrt predočilo kao kakvo

an existential elevator.

egzistencijalno dizalo.

Now this didn't sound very plausible.

To nije zvučalo vrlo uvjerljivo.

I used to watch a children's news program at the time,

U to vrijeme sam često gledao dječji program s vijestima

and this was the era of space exploration.

i to je bilo razdoblje istraživanja svemira.

There were always rockets going up into the sky,

Uvijek su nekakve rakete letjele uvis,

up into space, going up there.

u svemir, prema gore.

But none of the astronauts when they came back

No, nijedan od astronauta, kada bi se vratili,

ever mentioned having met my granddad

nikad nije spomenuo da je sreo mog djeda

or any other dead people.

ili bilo koga od umrlih.

But I was scared,

No, bojao sam se,

and the idea of taking the existential elevator

i pomisao da uđem u egzistencijalno dizalo

to see my granddad

da posjetim svog djeda

sounded a lot better than being swallowed

činila se boljom nego to da će me progutati

by the void while I slept.

praznina dok spavam.

And so I believed it anyway,

Tako da sam povjerovao tome,

even though it didn't make much sense.

iako nije imalo puno smisla.

And this thought process that I went through

Taj proces razmišljanja kroz koji sam prolazio

as a child, and have been through many times since,

kao dijete, i mnogo puta otada,

including as a grown-up,

i kao odrasla osoba,

is a product of what psychologists call

rezultat je onoga što psiholozi nazivaju

a bias.

pristranost.

Now a bias is a way in which we systematically

Pristranost je način na koji sustavno

get things wrong,

stvari shvaćamo krivo.

ways in which we miscalculate, misjudge,

Način na koji pogrešno računamo, sudimo,

distort reality, or see what we want to see,

iskrivljujemo stvarnost ili vidimo ono što želimo vidjeti.

and the bias I'm talking about

Pristranost o kojoj ja govorim

works like this:

djeluje ovako:

Confront someone with the fact

suočite nekoga sa činjenicom

that they are going to die

da će umrijeti

and they will believe just about any story

i povjerovat će bilo kakvoj priči

that tells them it isn't true

koja im kaže da to nije točno

and they can, instead, live forever,

i da, umjesto toga, mogu živjeti vječno,

even if it means taking the existential elevator.

čak i ako to uključuje vožnju egzistencijalnim dizalom.

Now we can see this as the biggest bias of all.

Vidimo da je to najveća od svih pristranosti.

It has been demonstrated in over 400

To je dokazano u više od 400

empirical studies.

empirijskih istraživanja.

Now these studies are ingenious, but they're simple.

Ta su istraživanja dosjetljiva, no jednostavna.

They work like this.

Ovako funkcioniraju.

You take two groups of people

Uzmete dvije skupine ljudi

who are similar in all relevant respects,

sličnih u svakom bitnom pogledu,

and you remind one group that they're going to die

i jednu skupinu podsjetite da će umrijeti

but not the other, then you compare their behavior.

no ne i drugu skupinu. Tada uspoređujete njihova ponašanja.

So you're observing how it biases behavior

Promatrate kako se u ponašanju pojavljuje pristranost

when people become aware of their mortality.

kada ljudi postanu svjesni svoje smrtnosti.

And every time, you get the same result:

I svaki put dobijete isti rezultat.

People who are made aware of their mortality

Ljudi koji su bili svjesni svoje smrtnosti

are more willing to believe stories

imaju veću tendenciju povjerovati pričama

that tell them they can escape death

koje ih uvjeravaju da mogu izbjeći smrt

and live forever.

i živjeti vječno.

So here's an example: One recent study

Evo primjera. Jedno nedavno ostraživanje

took two groups of agnostics,

uzelo je dvije skupine agnostika,

that is people who are undecided

to jest. ljudi koji su neodlučni

in their religious beliefs.

oko svojih vjerskih uvjerenja.

Now, one group was asked to think about being dead.

Jednu skupinu se zamolilo da razmisle o tome kako su mrtvi.

The other group was asked to think about

Drugu skupinu se zamolilo da razmisle o tome

being lonely.

kako su usamljeni.

They were then asked again about their religious beliefs.

Tada su ih ponovo ispitivali o njihovim vjerskim uvjerenjima.

Those who had been asked to think about being dead

Kod onih koji su bili zamoljeni da razmisle o tome kako su mrtvi

were afterwards twice as likely to express faith

kasnije je postojala dvostruko veća vjerojatnost da će izraziti vjeru

in God and Jesus.

u Boga i Isusa.

Twice as likely.

Dvostruko veća vjerojatnost.

Even though the before they were all equally agnostic.

Iako su ranije svi bili u jednakoj mjeri agnostici.

But put the fear of death in them,

No, unesite strah od smrti u njih,

and they run to Jesus.

i odmah trče Isusu.

Now, this shows that reminding people of death

Ovo pokazuje da ako ljude podsjetimo na smrt

biases them to believe, regardless of the evidence,

da će kod njih razviti sklonost da povjeruju, bez obzira na dokaze,

and it works not just for religion,

i to tako funkcionira ne samo za religiju,

but for any kind of belief system

već za svaki sustav vjerovanja

that promises immortality in some form,

koji obećava neku vrstu besmrtnosti,

whether it's becoming famous

bilo da ćete postati poznata osoba

or having children

ili imati djecu

or even nationalism,

ili čak u slučaju nacionalizma,

which promises you can live on as part of a greater whole.

koji obećava da možete živjeti i dalje kao dio veće cjeline.

This is a bias that has shaped

Ovo je pristranost koja je oblikovala

the course of human history.

tijek ljudske povijesti.

Now, the theory behind this bias

Teorija iza te pristranosti

in the over 400 studies

u više od 400 istraživanja

is called terror management theory,

zove se Teorija suočavanja s užasom,

and the idea is simple. It's just this.

a koncept je jednostavan. Radi se o ovome.

We develop our worldviews,

Razvijamo naše poglede na svijet,

that is, the stories we tell ourselves

to jest, priče koje si pričamo

about the world and our place in it,

o svijetu i našem mjestu u njemu,

in order to help us manage

kako bismo pomogli sami sebi da se suočimo

the terror of death.

s užasom smrti.

And these immortality stories

Te priče o besmrtnosti

have thousands of different manifestations,

imaju tisuće različitih manifestacija,

but I believe that behind the apparent diversity

no vjerujem da iza očite raznolikosti

there are actually just four basic forms

postoje četiri osnovna oblika

that these immortality stories can take.

koje te priče preuzimaju.

And we can see them repeating themselves

Možemo vidjeti kako se oni ponavljaju

throughout history, just with slight variations

tijekom povijesti, s vrlo malim izmjenama

to reflect the vocabulary of the day.

kako bi se prilagodili aktualnom rječniku.

Now I'm going to briefly introduce these four

Ukratko ću predstaviti ta četiri

basic forms of immortality story,

osnovna oblika priča o besmrtnosti,

and I want to try to give you some sense

i volio bih pokušati smisleno objasniti

of the way in which they're retold by each culture

način na koji ih prepričava svaka kultura

or generation

ili generacija

using the vocabulary of their day.

koristeći rječnik svoga vremena.

Now, the first story is the simplest.

Prva priča je najjednostavnija.

We want to avoid death,

Želimo izbjeći smrt,

and the dream of doing that in this body

a san da to ostvarimo u ovome našem tijelu

in this world forever

u ovome svijetu zauvijek

is the first and simplest kind of immortality story,

je prvi i najjednostavniji oblik priče o besmrtnosti.

and it might at first sound implausible,

Na prvu možda zvuči nevjerojatno,

but actually, almost every culture in human history

no, zapravo skoro svaka kultura u povijesti čovječanstva

has had some myth or legend

imala je nekakav mit ili legendu

of an elixir of life or a fountain of youth

o eliksiru života ili vrelu mladosti

or something that promises to keep us going

ili nečemu što obećava da će nas očuvati

forever.

zauvijek.

Ancient Egypt had such myths,

Drevni Egipćani imali su takve mitove,

ancient Babylon, ancient India.

drevni Babilonci, drevni Indijci.

Throughout European history, we find them in the work of the alchemists,

Kroz cijelu europsku povijest nalazimo ih u djelima alkemičara,

and of course we still believe this today,

i naravno da još uvijek u to vjerujemo,

only we tell this story using the vocabulary

samo što si te priče pripovijedamo rječnikom

of science.

znanosti.

So 100 years ago,

Prije 100 godina

hormones had just been discovered,

otkriveni su hormoni,

and people hoped that hormone treatments

i ljudi su se nadali da će hormonske terapije

were going to cure aging and disease,

izliječiti starenje i bolesti.

and now instead we set our hopes on stem cells,

Danas mi nadu polažemo u matične stanice,

genetic engineering, and nanotechnology.

genetski inženjering i nanotehnologiju.

But the idea that science can cure death

No ideja da znanost može izliječiti bolesti

is just one more chapter in the story

samo je još jedno poglavlje u priči

of the magical elixir,

o čarobnom eliksiru,

a story that is as old as civilization.

priči koja je stara koliko i civilizacija.

But betting everything on the idea of finding the elixir

No ulaganje svega u ideju o pronalasku eliksira

and staying alive forever

i vječnom životu

is a risky strategy.

riskantna je strategija.

When we look back through history

Kad pogledamo kroz povijest

at all those who have sought an elixir in the past,

sve koji su tragali za eliksirom,

the one thing they now have in common

jedna stvar koja im je svima zajednička

is that they're all dead.

jest da su svi mrtvi.

So we need a backup plan, and exactly this kind of plan B

Tako da trebamo rezervni plan, a upravo takav plan B

is what the second kind of immortality story offers,

nudi nam drugi oblik priča o besmrtnosti,

and that's resurrection.

a to je uskrsnuće.

And it stays with the idea that I am this body,

U skladu je s idejom da sam u ovome tijelu,

I am this physical organism.

da sam tjelesni organizam.

It accepts that I'm going to have to die

Prihvaća da ću trebati umrijeti

but says, despite that,

no, tvrdi da, unatoč tome,

I can rise up and I can live again.

mogu ponovo ustati i dalje živjeti.

In other words, I can do what Jesus did.

Drugim riječima, mogu napraviti što je napravio Isus.

Jesus died, he was three days in the [tomb],

Isus je umro, tri dana bio u grobu,

and then he rose up and lived again.

a onda je ustao i nastavio živjeti.

And the idea that we can all be resurrected to live again

Ideja da svi možemo uskrsnuti na ponovni život

is orthodox believe, not just for Christians

ortodoksno je vjerovanje, ne samo za kršćane,

but also Jews and Muslims.

već i za Židove i muslimane.

But our desire to believe this story

No, naša želja da povjerujemo toj priči

is so deeply embedded

toliko je duboko usađena

that we are reinventing it again

da je uvijek iznova izmišljamo

for the scientific age,

za doba znanosti.

for example, with the idea of cryonics.

Na primjer, uz ideju o krionici.

That's the idea that when you die,

To je ideja da, kada umrete

you can have yourself frozen,

mogu vas zamrznuti,

and then, at some point when technology

a zatim, kada tehnologija

has advanced enough,

postane dovoljno napredna,

you can be thawed out and repaired and revived

mogu vas odmrznuti, "popraviti" i oživjeti

and so resurrected.

i tako uskrsnuti.

And so some people believe an omnipotent god

Neki ljudi vjeruju u svemogućeg boga

will resurrect them to live again,

koji će ih uskrsnuti,

and other people believe an omnipotent scientist will do it.

dok drugi vjeruju u svemogućeg znanstvenika koji će učiniti isto.

But for others, the whole idea of resurrection,

No, za druge ljude cijela ideja o uskrsnuću,

of climbing out of the grave,

izlasku iz groba,

it's just too much like a bad zombie movie.

previše podsjeća na loš film sa zombijima.

They find the body too messy, too unreliable

Smatraju da je tijelo previše problematično, nepouzdano

to guarantee eternal life,

da bi garantiralo vječni život.

and so they set their hopes on the third,

Stoga nade polažu u treću

more spiritual immortality story,

priču o duhovnoj besmrtnosti.

the idea that we can leave our body behind

Ideji da možemo ostaviti tijelo

and live on as a soul.

i dalje živjeti kao duša.

Now, the majority of people on Earth

Većina ljudi na Zemlji

believe they have a soul,

vjeruje da ima dušu,

and the idea is central to many religions.

a to je i središnja ideja mnogih religija.

But even though, in its current form,

No, iako je, u svom sadašnjem obliku,

in its traditional form,

u svom tradicionalnom obliku,

the idea of the soul is still hugely popular,

ideja o duši još uvijek jako popularna,

nonetheless we are again

mi je ponovo

reinventing it for the digital age,

osmišljavamo za digitalno doba.

for example with the idea

Na primjer, idejom

that you can leave your body behind

da možete ostaviti svoje tijelo

by uploading your mind, your essence,

tako da prenesete svoj um, svoju suštinu,

the real you, onto a computer,

pravo sebe, na računalo

and so live on as an avatar in the ether.

i tako nastaviti živjeti u eteru kao avatar.

But of course there are skeptics who say

Dakako, postoje skeptici koji tvrde da

if we look at the evidence of science,

ako pogledamo znanstvene dokaze,

particularly neuroscience,

posebice neuroznanosti,

it suggests that your mind,

vidimo da naš um,

your essence, the real you,

naša suština, pravi mi,

is very much dependent on a particular part

uvelike ovisimo o određenom dijelu

of your body, that is, your brain.

našeg tijela, našem mozgu.

And such skeptics can find comfort

Takve skeptike može utješiti

in the fourth kind of immortality story,

četvrta vrsta priče o besmrtnosti,

and that is legacy,

o našem nasljeđu.

the idea that you can live on

Ideji da možemo nastaviti živjeti

through the echo you leave in the world,

kroz jeku koju ostavite u svijetu,

like the great Greek warrior Achilles,

poput velikog grčkog ratnika Ahileja,

who sacrificed his life fighting at Troy

koji je žrtvovao svoj život boreći se pod Trojom

so that he might win immortal fame.

kako bi postigao besmrtnu slavu.

And the pursuit of fame is as widespread

Stremljenje za slavom je rašireno

and popular now as it ever was,

i popularno danas kao što je oduvijek bilo,

and in our digital age,

a u naše digitalno doba

it's even easier to achieve.

lakše je ostvarivo.

You don't need to be a great warrior like Achilles

Ne trebate biti veliki ratnik poput Ahileja

or a great king or hero.

ili veliki kralj ili junak.

All you need is an Internet connection and a funny cat. (Laughter)

Sve što trebate je internetska veza i smiješna mačka. (Smijeh)

But some people prefer to leave a more tangible,

No, neki ljudi bi radije ostavili konkretnije,

biological legacy -- children, for example.

biološko nasljeđe - djecu, na primjer.

Or they like, they hope, to live on

Ili bi radije živjeli dalje

as part of some greater whole,

kao dio nečeg većeg od njih,

a nation or a family or a tribe,

nacije ili obitelji ili plemena,

their gene pool.

njihove genske zalihe.

But again, there are skeptics

Međutim, ima skeptika

who doubt whether legacy

koji sumnjaju da je nasljeđe

really is immortality.

prava besmrtnost.

Woody Allen, for example, who said,

Woody Allen, primjerice, koji je rekao,

"I don't want to live on in the hearts of my countrymen.

"Ne želim nastaviti živjeti u srcima svojih sunarodnjaka."

I want to live on in my apartment."

" Želim nastaviti živjeti u svom stanu."

So those are the four

Ovo su te četiri

basic kinds of immortality stories,

osnovne vrste priča o besmrtnosti.

and I've tried to give just some sense

Pokušao sam smisleno objasniti

of how they're retold by each generation

kako ih prepričava svaka generacija

with just slight variations

sa samo malim izmjenama

to fit the fashions of the day.

kako bi ih prilagodili svojem vremenu.

And the fact that they recur in this way,

Činjenica da se tako ponavljaju,

in such a similar form but in such different belief systems,

u tako sličnim oblicima ali toliko različitim vjerskim sustavima,

suggests, I think,

vjerujem da sugerira

that we should be skeptical of the truth

da bismo trebali biti skeptični u vezi istinitosti

of any particular version of these stories.

bilo koje verzije tih priča.

The fact that some people believe

Činjenica da neki ljudi vjeruju

an omnipotent god will resurrect them to live again

da će ih svemogući bog uskrsnuti,

and others believe an omnipotent scientist will do it

a drugi da će to učiniti svemogući znanstvenik

suggests that neither are really believing this

upućuje na to da niti jedni od njih ne vjeruju u to

on the strength of the evidence.

na temelju nekih dokaza.

Rather, we believe these stories

Umjesto toga, vjerujemo u te priče

because we are biased to believe them,

jer smo im skloni vjerovati,

and we are biased to believe them

a skloni smo im vjerovati,

because we are so afraid of death.

jer se toliko bojimo smrti.

So the question is,

Stoga je pitanje:

are we doomed to lead the one life we have

jesmo li osuđeni živjeti ovaj jedan život koji imamo

in a way that is shaped by fear and denial,

tako da ga oblikuju strah i poricanje,

or can we overcome this bias?

ili možemo prevladati tu sklonost?

Well the Greek philosopher Epicurus

Grčki filozof Epikur

thought we could.

vjerovao je da možemo.

He argued that the fear of death is natural,

Smatrao je da je strah od smrti prirodan,

but it is not rational.

no ne i racionalan.

"Death," he said, "is nothing to us,

Rekao je da "nama smrt nije ništa,

because when we are here, death is not,

jer kada smo živi, smrti nema,

and when death is here, we are gone."

a kada nastupi smrt, nema nas."

Now this is often quoted, but it's difficult

Ovo se često citira, no teško je

to really grasp, to really internalize,

doista shvatiti, zadržati u sebi,

because exactly this idea of being gone

upravo zato jer je ideju da nas više nema

is so difficult to imagine.

toliko teško pojmiti.

So 2,000 years later, another philosopher,

2000 godina kasnije, drugi filozof,

Ludwig Wittgenstein, put it like this:

Ludwig Wittgenstein, sročio je to ovako:

"Death is not an event in life:

"Smrt nije događaj u životu:

We do not live to experience death.

ne živimo toliko da iskusimo smrt.

And so," he added,

Stoga,

"in this sense, life has no end."

u tom smislu, život nema kraja."

So it was natural for me as a child

Tako je meni kao djetetu bilo prirodno

to fear being swallowed by the void,

bojati se da će me progutati praznina,

but it wasn't rational,

no nije bilo racionalno,

because being swallowed by the void

jer takvo što

is not something that any of us

nitko od nas neće

will ever live to experience.

nikad doživjeti.

Now, overcoming this bias is not easy because

Nadvladavanje te sklonosti nije lako

the fear of death is so deeply embedded in us,

jer je strah od smrti duboko usađen u nama.

yet when we see that the fear itself is not rational,

Međutim, kada shvatimo da sam strah nije racionalan,

and when we bring out into the open

i kada otkrijemo

the ways in which it can unconsciously bias us,

načine na koji nas nesvjesno može učiniti pristranima,

then we can at least start

tada barem možemo

to try to minimize the influence it has

pokušati umanjiti utjecaj koji

on our lives.

ima na naše živote.

Now, I find it helps to see life

Smatram da pomaže ako život

as being like a book:

promatramo kao knjigu.

Just as a book is bounded by its covers,

Kao što je knjiga omeđena svojim koricama,

by beginning and end,

početkom i krajem,

so our lives are bounded by birth and death,

tako su i naši životi omeđeni rođenjem i smrću.

and even though a book is limited by beginning and end,

I iako je knjiga ograničena početkom i krajem,

it can encompass distant landscapes,

može sadržavati daleke krajolike,

exotic figures, fantastic adventures.

egzotične likove, fantastične pustolovine.

And even though a book is limited by beginning and end,

I iako je knjiga ograničena početkom i krajem,

the characters within it

njeni likovi

know no horizons.

ne poznaju granica.

They only know the moments that make up their story,

Poznati su im samo trenuci od kojih je sačinjena njihova priča,

even when the book is closed.

čak i kada je knjiga zatvorena.

And so the characters of a book

Likovi u knjizi

are not afraid of reaching the last page.

ne boje se doći do posljednje stranice.

Long John Silver is not afraid of you

Long John Silver ne boji se da ćete

finishing your copy of "Treasure Island."

pročitati do kraja "Otok s blagom".

And so it should be with us.

Tako bi trebalo biti i s nama.

Imagine the book of your life,

Zamislite knjigu vašeg života,

its covers, its beginning and end, and your birth and your death.

njene korice, početak i kraj, i vaše rođenje i smrt.

You can only know the moments in between,

Možete samo poznavati trenutke između,

the moments that make up your life.

trenutke od kojih je sačinjen vaš život.

It makes no sense for you to fear

Nema smisla da se bojite

what is outside of those covers,

što je izvan tih korica,

whether before your birth

bilo prije vašeg rođenja,

or after your death.

ili nakon vaše smrti.

And you needn't worry how long the book is,

Ne biste se trebali brinuti ni koliko je knjiga dugačka,

or whether it's a comic strip or an epic.

niti je li ona strip ili epska priča.

The only thing that matters

Jedino što je važno

is that you make it a good story.

jest da se pobrinete da je to dobra priča.

Thank you.

Hvala vam.

(Applause)

(Pljesak)