What role does luck play in your life? | Barry Schwartz

Translator: Nathaniel Luis Reyhan Soesilo Reviewer: FITRIA HARDINI

Hello, everybody.

Halo semuanya,

I'm honored to be here to talk to you,

Sebuah kehormatan bagi saya untuk bicara di depan anda.

and what I'm going to talk about today is luck and justice

Hari ini saya akan membicarakan tentang keberuntungan dan keadilan

and the relation between them.

dan hubungan antara keduanya.

Some years ago,

Beberapa tahun lalu,

a former student of mine called me

mantan murid saya menghubungi saya untuk membicarakan putrinya.

to talk about his daughter.

It turns out his daughter was a high school senior,

Ternyata, putrinya sudah SMA, dan ingin mendaftar di Swarthmore,

was seriously interested in applying to Swarthmore,

where I taught,

tempat saya mengajar,

and he wanted to get my sense of whether she would get in.

dan dia ingin pendapat saya apakah anaknya akan diterima.

Swarthmore is an extremely hard school to get into.

Swarthmore adalah sekolah yang sangat sulit dimasuki.

So I said, "Well, tell me about her."

Jadi, saya berkata, "Ceritakan tentang anakmu."

And he told me about her,

Lalu dia menceritakannya,

what her grades were like, her board scores,

bagaimana nilai-nilainya, aktivitas ekstrakurikulernya.

her extracurricular activities.

And she just sounded like a superstar,

Dan dia kedengarannya seperti seorang superstar, anak hebat

wonderful, wonderful kid.

So I said, "She sounds fabulous.

Jadi saya bilang,

"Dia terdengar hebat, dia seperti anak yang diinginkan Swarthmore."

She sounds like just the kind of student

that Swarthmore would love to have."

And so he said, "Well, does that mean that she'll get in?"

Dan dia berkata, "Jadi, apa ini berarti dia akan diterima?"

And I said, "No.

Dan saya jawab,

"Tidak.

There just aren't enough spots in the Swarthmore class

Tidak ada cukup tempat di Swarthmore untuk semua orang pintar.

for everybody who's good.

There aren't enough spots at Harvard or Yale or Princeton or Stanford.

Tidak ada cukup tempat di Harvard, Yale, Princeton, Stanford.

There aren't enough spots at Google or Amazon or Apple.

Tidak ada cukup tempat di Google, Amazon, Apple.

There aren't enough spots at the TED Conference.

Tidak ada cukup tempat di Konferensi TED.

There are an awful lot of good people,

Ada banyak sekali orang pintar, dan tidak semuanya akan berhasil."

and some of them are not going to make it."

So he said, "Well, what are we supposed to do?"

Lalu, dia berkata, "Jadi, apa yang harus kami lakukan?"

And I said, "That's a very good question."

Dan saya jawab, "Itu pertanyaan yang bagus."

What are we supposed to do?

Apa yang harus kita lakukan?

And I know what colleges and universities have done.

Saya tahu apa yang telah dilakukan perguruan tinggi dan universitas.

In the interest of fairness,

Agar adil, mereka terus meningkatkan standarnya

what they've done is they've kept ratcheting up the standards

because it doesn't seem fair to admit less qualified people

karena tidak adil untuk menerima orang yang kurang berkualifikasi,

and reject better qualified people,

dan menolak orang yang lebih berkualifikasi.

so you just keep raising the standards higher and higher

Jadi, mereka makin meningkatkan standarnya semakin tinggi

until they're high enough that you can admit

sampai cukup tinggi hingga hanya sedikit siswa yang masuk.

only the number of students that you can fit.

And this violates a lot of people's sense of what justice and fairness is.

Ini melanggar pandangan banyak orang tentang arti keadilan yang sesungguhnya.

People in American society have different opinions

Orang-orang di Amerika punya pemahaman berbeda

about what it means to say that some sort of process is just,

tentang pengertian proses yang adil

but I think there's one thing that pretty much everyone agrees on,

tapi saya kira ada satu hal yang semua orang setuju,

that in a just system, a fair system,

bahwa di sistem yang adil, orang menerima apa yang pantas diterima.

people get what they deserve.

And what I was telling my former student

Dan saya bilang pada mantan murid saya, dalam hal penerimaan perguruan tinggi

is that when it comes to college admissions,

tidak benar bahwa tiap orang mendapatkan apa yang pantas diterima.

it just isn't true that people get what they deserve.

Some people get what they deserve, and some people don't,

Sebagian orang mendapatkan apa yang pantas dan sebagian tidak.

and that's just the way it is.

Dan memang begitulah adanya.

When you ratchet up requirements as colleges have done,

Ketika syarat dinaikkan oleh perguruan tinggi,

what you do is you create a crazy competition

ini membuat kompetisi besar di antara anak-anak SMA,

among high school kids,

because it's not adequate to be good,

karena menjadi pintar saja tidak cukup, menjadi cukup pintar saja tidak cukup,

it's not adequate to be good enough,

you have to be better than everybody else who is also applying.

Anda harus menjadi lebih baik dari semua yang juga mendaftar.

And what this has done,

Dan ini mengakibatkan, atau berkontribusi kepada

or what this has contributed to,

is a kind of epidemic of anxiety and depression

epidemi kegelisahan dan depresi yang meremukkan para remaja kita.

that is just crushing our teenagers.

We are wrecking a generation with this kind of competition.

Kita merusak sebuah generasi dengan kompetisi seperti ini.

As I was thinking about this,

Seraya saya berpikir,

it occurred to me there's a way to fix this problem.

saya punya cara untuk mengatasi masalah ini,

And here's what we could do:

dan inilah yang bisa kita lakukan:

when people apply to college,

ketika orang-orang daftar ke perguruan tinggi,

we distinguish between the applicants who are good enough to be successful

kita pisahkan antara mereka yang cukup pintar untuk berhasil

and the ones who aren't,

dan mereka yang tidak,

and we reject the ones who aren't good enough to be successful,

dan kita menolak mereka yang tidak cukup pintar,

and then we take all of the others, and we put their names in a hat,

dan lalu kita ambil sisanya, menaruh nama mereka di dalam topi,

and we just pick them out at random

dan mengambilnya secara acak dan menerima mereka.

and admit them.

In other words, we do college admissions by lottery,

Dalam kata lain, kita menerima mahasiswa dengan bertaruh,

and maybe we do job offers at tech companies by lottery,

dan mungkin juga memberi pekerjaan di perusahaan teknologi dengan bertaruh.

and -- perish the thought --

Dan amit-amit,

maybe we even make decisions about who gets invited to talk at TED

mungkin kita juga memilih siapa yang berceramah di TED dengan bertaruh.

by lottery.

Now, don't misunderstand me,

Jangan keliru memahami saya,

a lottery like this is not going to eliminate the injustice.

Bertaruh seperti ini tidak akan menghapus ketidakadilan.

There will still be plenty of people who don't get what they deserve.

Akan masih ada banyak orang yang tak mendapatkan apa yang pantas.

But at least it's honest.

Tapi, setidaknya, ini jujur.

It reveals the injustice for what it is instead of pretending otherwise,

Ini menunjukkan ketidakadilannya, daripada berpura-pura,

and it punctures the incredible pressure balloon

dan ini melepaskan tekanan besar dari anak-anak SMA kita saat ini.

that our high school kids are now living under.

So why is it that this perfectly reasonable proposal,

Lalu mengapa proposal yang menurut saya masuk akal ini,

if I do say so myself,

doesn't get any serious discussion?

tidak serius dibahas?

I think I know why.

Saya tahu mengapa.

I think it's that we hate the idea

Saya kira karena kita benci akan ide

that really important things in life might happen by luck or by chance,

bahwa hal penting dalam hidup bisa terjadi karena keberuntungan,

that really important things in our lives are not under our control.

bahwa hal tersebut tidak di bawah kendali kita.

I hate that idea.

Saya benci ide itu.

It's not surprising that people hate that idea,

Tidak mengagetkan bahwa orang-orang juga membencinya,

but it simply is the way things are.

tapi itulah kenyataannya.

First of all, college admissions already is a lottery.

Pertama, penerimaan perguruan tinggi itu saja sudah sebuah taruhan.

It's just that the admissions officers pretend that it isn't.

Hanya saja, kantor penerimaan berpura-pura sebaliknya.

So let's be honest about it.

Jadi, marilah jujur akan hal ini.

And second,

Dan kedua,

I think if we appreciated that it was a lottery,

saya kira jika kita menerima bahwa ini adalah taruhan,

it would also get us to acknowledge the importance of good fortune

kita juga akan mengakui pentingnya keberuntungan dalam hidup.

in almost every one of our lives.

Take me.

Contohnya saya.

Almost all the most significant events in my life have occurred,

Hampir semua kejadian signifikan yang terjadi dalam hidup saya,

to a large degree,

adalah hasil dari keberuntungan.

as a result of good luck.

When I was in seventh grade, my family left New York

Saat saya kelas 7, keluarga saya pindah dari New York ke Westchester County.

and went to Westchester County.

Right at the beginning of school,

Tepat saat sekolah mulai,

I met a lovely young girl who became my friend,

saya bertemu gadis cantik yang menjadi teman saya,

then she became my best friend,

lalu menjadi teman baik saya,

then she became my girlfriend

lalu menjadi pacar saya,

and then she became my wife.

dan lalu menjadi istri saya.

Happily, she's been my wife now

Bahagianya, kami sudah bersama selama 52 tahun.

for 52 years.

I had very little to do with this. This was a lucky accident.

Saya tidak berperan besar di sini. Ini kebetulan yang menguntungkan.

I went off to college,

Saat saya kuliah, dan di semester pertama,

and in my first semester, I signed up for a class in introduction to psychology.

saya mendaftar di kelas "Pengantar Psikologi."

I didn't even know what psychology was,

Saya tidak tahu apa itu psikologi, tapi jadwalnya cocok dan memenuhi syarat,

but it fit into my schedule and it met requirements,

so I took it.

maka saya ambil.

And by luck, the class was taught

Beruntungnya,

kelasnya diajarkan oleh guru psikologi yang legendaris.

by a superstar introductory psychology teacher, a legend.

Because of that, I became a psychology major.

Karena itu, saya masuk ke jurusan psikologi.

Went off to graduate school.

Lanjut ke pascasarjana.

I was finishing up.

Saya mulai menyelesaikannya.

A friend of mine who taught at Swarthmore decided

Teman saya yang mengajar di Swarthmore tidak ingin menjadi profesor lagi,

he didn't want to be a professor anymore,

and so he quit to go to medical school.

jadi dia berhenti untuk kuliah kedokteran.

The job that he occupied opened up,

Posisi dia yang dulu menjadi lowong,

I applied for it, I got it,

saya melamar pekerjaan itu dan diterima, satu-satunya pekerjaan yang saya lamar.

the only job I've ever applied for.

I spent 45 years teaching at Swarthmore,

Saya mengajar di Swarthmore selama 45 tahun,

an institution that had an enormous impact on the shape that my career took.

sebuah institusi yang berdampak besar dalam membentuk karier saya.

And to just give one last example,

Dan satu contoh terakhir,

I was giving a talk about some of my work in New York,

saya sedang memberi ceramah tentang karya saya di New York,

and there was somebody in the audience who came up to me after my talk.

dan ada seorang hadirin yang mendatangi saya setelah ceramah.

He introduced himself.

Dia memperkenalkan dirinya.

He said, "My name is Chris.

"Nama saya Chris. Apa Anda ingin memberi ceramah di TED?"

Would you like to give a talk at TED?"

And my response was, "What's TED?"

Dan respon saya saat itu, "Apa itu TED?"

Well, I mean, he told me,

Lalu dia memberi tahu saya, dan TED dulunya berbeda dari sekarang.

and TED then wasn't what it is now.

But in the intervening years,

Beberapa tahun kemudian,

the talks I've given at TED have been watched

Ceramah yang saya berikan di TED sudah ditonton lebih dari 20 juta orang.

by more than 20 million people.

So the conclusion is, I'm a lucky man.

Jadi, kesimpulannya, saya orang beruntung.

I'm lucky about my marriage.

Saya beruntung di pernikahan.

I'm lucky about my education.

Saya beruntung di pendidikan.

I'm lucky about my career.

Saya beruntung di karier.

And I'm lucky to have had a platform and a voice at something like TED.

Dan saya beruntung untuk bisa memiliki suara di TED.

Did I deserve the success I've had?

Apa saya pantas mendapat kesuksesan ini?

Sure I deserve that success,

Tentu, saya pantas,

just as you probably deserve your success.

seperti Anda juga pantas menerima kesuksesan Anda.

But lots of people also deserve successes like ours

Tapi banyak orang juga pantas mendapat kesuksesan seperti kita,

who haven't had it.

tapi belum mendapatkannya.

So do people get what they deserve?

Jadi apakah orang-orang menerima apa yang pantas diterima?

Is society just?

Apakah masyarakat adil?

Of course not.

Tentu tidak.

Working hard and playing by the rules is just no guarantee of anything.

Bekerja keras dan menaati peraturan tidak menjamin apa pun.

If we appreciate the inevitability of this kind of injustice

Jika kita menerima keniscayaan akan ketidakadilan ini

and the centrality of good fortune,

dan pentingnya keberuntungan, kita harus bertanya,

we might ask ourselves

apa kewajiban kita pada mereka yang kita anggap pahlawan saat pandemi ini

what responsibilities do we have

to the people we are now celebrating as heroes in this time of the pandemic

yang keluarganya sakit parah

when a serious illness befalls their family

to make sure that they remain whole and their lives aren't ruined

untuk memastikan bahwa hidup mereka tidak hancur akibat penyakitnya?

by the cost of dealing with the illness?

What do we owe people who struggle,

Apa utang kita kepada mereka yang berjuang,

work hard and are less lucky than we are?

bekerja keras, dan kurang beruntung dari kita?

About a half century ago,

Sekitar setengah abad lalu,

the philosopher John Rawls wrote a book called "A Theory of Justice,"

filsuf John Rawls menulis buku berjudul "Teori Keadilan,"

and in that book, he introduced a concept that he called "the veil of ignorance."

dan dalam buku itu, dia memperkenalkan konsep bernama "kabut ketidaktahuan."

The question he posed was:

Ia mengatakan:

If you didn't know what your position in society was going to be,

jika Anda tidak tahu posisi Anda nantinya dalam masyarakat,

what kind of a society would you want to create?

masyarakat seperti apa yang ingin Anda ciptakan?

And what he suggested

Dan dia menyatakan,

is that when we don't know whether we're going to enter society

kalau kita tidak tahu apakah kita akan memasuki masyarakat

at the top or at the bottom,

dari atas atau bawah,

what we want is a society that is pretty damn equal,

yang kita inginkan adalah masyarakat yang seimbang,

so that even the unlucky

agar orang yang tidak beruntung pun

will be able to live decent, meaningful and satisfying lives.

bisa punya kehidupan yang layak, berarti, dan memuaskan.

So bring this back, all of you lucky, successful people, to your communities,

Jadi Anda yang beruntung dan sukses, sampaikan ini pada komunitas Anda,

and do what you can to make sure that we honor and take care of

dan lakukan yang Anda bisa untuk menghargai dan merawat

people who are just as deserving of success as we are,

mereka yang juga pantas mendapatkan kesuksesan seperti kita,

but just not as lucky.

hanya saja tidak beruntung.

Thank you.

Terima kasih.