A kinder, gentler philosophy of success | Alain de Botton

Translator: Lea Lipovšek Reviewer: Snežana Stone

For me they normally happen, these career crises,

Meni se karierne krize običajno dogajajo,

often, actually, on a Sunday evening,

v bistvu pogosto, v nedeljo zvečer,

just as the sun is starting to set,

ravno ko začne sonce zahajati

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

in se vrzel med mojimi upanji

ter dejanskim življenjem poveča do te mere,

starts to diverge so painfully

that I normally end up weeping into a pillow.

da ponavadi končam smrkajoč v blazino.

I'm mentioning all this --

Vse to razlagam,

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

ker mislim, da to ni le osebni problem.

you may think I'm wrong in this,

Morda mislite, da se motim.

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

A mislim, da živimo v času, ko so naša življenja

pogosto poudarjena s kariernimi krizami,

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

s trenutki, ko pride vse, kar smo mislili,

about our lives, about our careers --

da vemo o svojih življenjih, o svojih karierah,

comes into contact with a threatening sort of reality.

v stik z realnostjo grozeče vrste.

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

Mogoče je danes lažje kot kadarkoli prej dobro zaslužiti.

It's perhaps harder than ever before

Mogoče pa je težje kot kadarkoli prej

to stay calm, to be free of career anxiety.

ostati miren, brez bojazni za kariero.

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

Če dovolite, bi predstavil nekaj razlogov,

zaradi katerih se mogoče

why we might be feeling anxiety about our careers.

počutimo tesnobno ob misli na svoje kariere.

Why we might be victims of these career crises,

Zaradi katerih smo mogoče žrtve kariernih kriz,

as we're weeping softly into our pillows.

ko tiho smrkamo v naše blazine.

One of the reasons why we might be suffering

Eden od razlogov za naše trpljenje je,

is that we are surrounded by snobs.

da smo obkroženi s snobi.

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

Imam nekaj slabih novic,

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

posebej za tiste, ki so v Oxford prišli iz tujine.

There's a real problem with snobbery,

Snobovstvo je resničen problem.

because sometimes people from outside the U.K.

Ljudje, ki niso iz Velike Britanije, si včasih predstavljajo,

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

da je snobovstvo značilno za Britance,

fixated on country houses and titles.

obsedene s podeželskimi hišicami in nazivi.

The bad news is that's not true.

Slaba novica je, da to ni res.

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

Snobovstvo je globalni pojav.

this is a global phenomenon.

Vsi smo globalna organizacija. To je globalni pojav.

What is a snob?

Obstaja. Kdo je torej snob?

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

Snob je vsak, ki vzame delček vas

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

in ga uporabi za celotno vizijo tega, kdo ste.

That is snobbery.

To je snobovstvo.

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

Danes prevladuje

snobovstvo na podlagi zaposlitve.

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

Na zabavah prepoznate snoba v trenutku,

ko vam postavi znamenito vprašanje

that famous iconic question of the early 21st century,

zgodnjega 21. stoletja: "Kaj pa delate?"

"What do you do?"

According to how you answer that question,

In glede na vaš odgovor so ljudje

people are either incredibly delighted to see you,

ali izjemno veseli, da vas vidijo,

or look at their watch and make their excuses.

ali pa pogledajo na uro in najdejo izgovor.

(Laughter)

(smeh)

Now, the opposite of a snob is your mother.

Čisto nasprotje snoba je vaša mama.

(Laughter)

(smeh)

Not necessarily your mother, or indeed mine,

Ne nujno vaša mama ali moja.

but, as it were, the ideal mother,

Ampak idealna mama, če ta obstaja.

somebody who doesn't care about your achievements.

Nekdo, ki ga ne zanimajo vaši dosežki.

Unfortunately, most people are not our mothers.

Na žalost večina ljudi ni naša mama.

Most people make a strict correlation between how much time,

Večina ljudi se odloči, koliko časa

and if you like, love --

in ljubezni, ne romantične ljubezni,

not romantic love, though that may be something --

čeprav bi to lahko bilo nekaj,

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

ampak ljubezni na splošno, spoštovanja,

so nam pripravljeni dati v skladu

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

z našim položajem v družbeni hierarhiji.

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

Zato se toliko ukvarjamo s karierami.

and indeed start caring so much about material goods.

Zato se toliko ukvarjamo z materialnimi dobrinami.

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

Dostikrat slišimo, da živimo v zelo materialističnih časih,

that we're all greedy people.

da smo vsi pohlepni ljudje.

I don't think we are particularly materialistic.

Mislim, da nismo posebno materialistični.

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

Mislim, da živimo v družbi,

ki je preprosto povezala določene čustvene nagrade

to the acquisition of material goods.

s pridobivanjem materialnih dobrin.

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

Nočemo materialnih dobrin. Hočemo nagrade.

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

To je nov način gledanja na luksuzne dobrine.

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

Naslednjič, ko vidite nekoga v Ferariju,

ne pomislite: "Ta je pa pohlepen."

"This is somebody who's greedy."

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

Pomislite: "Ta človek je izjemno ranljiv in potrebuje ljubezen."

Z drugimi besedami ... (smeh)

(Laughter)

Feel sympathy, rather than contempt.

Namesto prezira občutite sočustvovanje.

There are other reasons --

So še drugi razlogi ...

(Laughter)

(smeh)

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

So še drugi razlogi, da se morda danes težje

kot kdajkoli prej počutimo mirne.

One of these, and it's paradoxical,

Eden od njih - presenetljivo povezan z nečim prijetnim -

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

je upanje, ki ga vsi gojimo za svoje kariere.

is the hope we all have for our careers.

Never before have expectations been so high

Nikoli prej niso bila pričakovanja o tem,

about what human beings can achieve with their lifespan.

kaj lahko človek doseže v svojem življenju, tako visoka.

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

Iz različnih virov slišimo, da vsakdo lahko doseže karkoli.

We've done away with the caste system,

Odpravili smo kastni sistem.

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

Živimo v sistemu, kjer lahko vsakdo doseže

položaj, ki si ga želi.

And it's a beautiful idea.

To je lepa ideja.

Along with that is a kind of spirit of equality;

Vsebuje nekakšen duh enakosti. Vsi smo v bistvu enaki.

we're all basically equal.

There are no strictly defined hierarchies.

Ni nobenih strogo določenih

vrst hierarhij.

There is one really big problem with this,

Samo en problem je pri tem.

and that problem is envy.

Ta problem je zavist.

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

Zavist. Pravi tabu je govoriti o zavisti,

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

ampak v moderni družbi je zavist prevladujoče čustvo.

And it's linked to the spirit of equality.

Povezana je z duhom enakosti. Naj razložim.

Let me explain.

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

Mislim, da bi bilo zelo nenavadno, če bi kdorkoli

to be envious of the Queen of England.

zavidal Angleški kraljici.

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

Čeprav je dosti bogatejša od vseh nas.

and she's got a very large house,

Ima zelo veliko hišo.

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

Ne zavidamo ji, ker je preveč čudaška.

(Laughter)

She's simply too strange.

Preprosto preveč čudna je.

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

Ne občutimo povezave z njo. Smešno govori.

she comes from an odd place.

Prihaja iz nenavadnega kraja.

So we can't relate to her,

Ne občutimo povezave z njo. Če ne občutiš povezave z nekom, mu ne zavidaš.

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

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

Bližje sta si dva človeka po starosti in preteklosti,

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

večja je nevarnost zavidanja pri procesu identifikacije.

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

Zato ne hodite na obletnico mature.

Kajti ni močnejše povezave, kot je tista z ljudmi,

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

s katerimi smo hodili v šolo.

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

Problem moderne družbe je, da spreminja cel svet v šolo.

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

Vsi nosijo kavbojke, vsi so enaki.

And yet, they're not.

Ampak niso.

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

Tu je torej duh enakosti, združen z globokimi neenakostmi.

which can make for a very stressful situation.

Kar je lahko zelo stresna situacija.

It's probably as unlikely that you would nowadays

Verjetno je danes malo verjetno,

become as rich and famous as Bill Gates,

da bi postali bogati in slavni kot Bill Gates,

as it was unlikely in the 17th century

kot je bilo v 17. stoletju malo verjetno,

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

da bi napredovali na položaje francoske aristokracije.

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

Ampak bistvo je, da nimamo tega občutka.

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

Zaradi revij in drugih medijev se počutimo,

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

da bi lahko začeli velik posel, če bi imeli voljo,

nekaj pametnih idej o tehnologiji in garažo.

you, too, could start a major thing.

(Laughter)

(smeh)

The consequences of this problem make themselves felt in bookshops.

Posledice tega problema začutite v knjigarnah.

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

Ko v veliki knjigarni zavijete na oddelek za samopomoč,

as I sometimes do --

kot jaz včasih naredim,

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

in preučite knjige za samopomoč, ki so na voljo,

najdete v bistvu dve vrsti.

there are basically two kinds.

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

Prva vam govori: "To lahko naredite! Vse je mogoče!"

Druga vrsta vam govori, kako se soočati

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

s prijazno poimenovano "nizko samozavestjo" ali

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

neprijazno rečeno "zelo slabim mnenjem o sebi".

There's a real correlation

Obstaja dejanska povezava

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

med družbo, ki sporoča ljudem, da lahko dosežejo vse,

and the existence of low self-esteem.

in obstojem nizke samozavesti.

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

To je še en način, kako nekaj precej pozitivnega

grdo udari nazaj.

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

Še en razlog je, da morda danes bolj kot kdajkoli prej

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

občutimo tesnobo zaradi svojih karier in položaja v svetu.

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

Tudi ta je povezan z nečim prijetnim.

And that nice thing is called meritocracy.

Ta prijetna stvar je meritokracija.

Everybody, all politicians on Left and Right,

Danes se vsi, vsi politiki na levi in desni,

agree that meritocracy is a great thing,

strinjajo, da je meritokracija krasna stvar.

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

Vsi bi se morali truditi, da bi bile naše družbe meritokratske.

In other words -- what is a meritocratic society?

Kaj je torej meritokratska družba?

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

To je družba, v kateri boš prišel do vrha,

če imaš talent, voljo in veščine.

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

Nič te ne bi smelo ustaviti.

It's a beautiful idea.

To je lepa ideja.

The problem is, if you really believe in a society

A če verjameš v družbo,

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

kjer tisti, ki si zaslužijo priti do vrha, pridejo do vrha,

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

boš posledično, na dosti grši način,

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

verjel v družbo, kjer tisti, ki si zaslužijo priti na dno,

also get to the bottom and stay there.

tudi pridejo na dno in tam ostanejo.

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

Tvoj položaj v življenju se ne zdi več naključen,

but merited and deserved.

ampak zaslužen.

And that makes failure seem much more crushing.

To naredi neuspeh dosti bolj uničujoč.

You know, in the Middle Ages, in England,

Če bi v srednjeveški Angliji

when you met a very poor person,

srečal zelo revnega človeka,

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

bi ga opisal kot "nekoga, ki nima sreče".

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

Dobesedno nekdo, ki ni bil blagoslovljen s srečo, nesrečnež.

Nowadays, particularly in the United States,

Če danes, predvsem v ZDA,

if you meet someone at the bottom of society,

srečaš nekoga z dna družbe,

they may unkindly be described as a "loser."

je ta neprijazno označen kot "zguba".

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

Razlika med nesrečnežem in zgubo je velika.

and that shows 400 years of evolution in society

Kaže na 400 let evolucije v družbi

and our belief in who is responsible for our lives.

in našega prepričanja o tem, kdo je odgovoren za naša življenja.

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

Niso več bogovi, mi smo. Mi smo za volanom.

That's exhilarating if you're doing well,

To je zelo razveseljivo, če vam gre dobro,

and very crushing if you're not.

in zelo uničujoče, če vam ne gre.

It leads, in the worst cases --

V najslabših primerih vodi, po analizah sociologov,

in the analysis of a sociologist like Emil Durkheim --

kot je na primer Emil Durkheim, v povišano število samomorov.

it leads to increased rates of suicide.

There are more suicides in developed, individualistic countries

V razvitih individualističnih državah je več samomorov

than in any other part of the world.

kot kjerkoli drugje po svetu.

And some of the reason for that

Eden od razlogov je tudi to, da ljudje jemljejo stvari,

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

ki se jim zgodijo, skrajno osebno.

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

Posedujejo svoj uspeh. Vendar posedujejo tudi svoj neuspeh.

Is there any relief from some of these pressures

Lahko kaj olajša te pritiske,

that I've been outlining?

o katerih govorim?

I think there is.

Mislim, da lahko. Poglejmo nekaj primerov.

I just want to turn to a few of them.

Let's take meritocracy.

Vzemimo meritokracijo.

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

Zamisel, da si vsakdo zasluži biti, kjer je.

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

Mislim, da je to nora ideja, popolnoma nora.

I will support any politician of Left and Right,

Podprl bom kateregakoli politika, levega ali desnega,

with any halfway-decent meritocratic idea;

s katerokoli napol dostojno idejo meritokracije.

I am a meritocrat in that sense.

V tem smislu sem meritokrat.

But I think it's insane to believe

Ampak mislim, da je noro verjeti, da bomo kdaj

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

dejansko zgradili meritokratsko družbo. To so nemogoče sanje.

it's an impossible dream.

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

Zamisel, da bomo kdaj ustvarili družbo,

kjer je dobesedno vsak ocenjen,

the good at the top, bad at the bottom,

dobri na vrhu in slabi na dnu,

exactly done as it should be, is impossible.

in to točno tako, kot si zaslužijo, je nemogoča.

There are simply too many random factors:

Preprosto preveč naključnih dejavnikov je.

accidents, accidents of birth,

Nesreče, nesreče pri rojstvu,

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

stvari, ki po nesreči padejo ljudem na glavo, bolezni, itd.

We will never get to grade them,

Nikoli jih ne bo mogoče oceniti.

never get to grade people as they should.

Nikoli ne bo mogoče oceniti ljudi, kot si zaslužijo.

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

Všeč mi je ljubek citat sv. Avguština v "Božjem mestu",

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

ki pravi: "Greh je soditi kogarkoli po njegovem položaju."

In modern English that would mean

Danes bi to pomenilo,

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

da se je greh odločati, s kom boste govorili,

na podlagi njegove vizitke.

dependent on their business card.

It's not the post that should count.

Položaj ne bi smel biti pomemben.

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

In po sv. Avguštinu

je samo Bog tisti, ki lahko razsodi, kdo kam spada.

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

To bo naredil na sodni dan

with angels and trumpets, and the skies will open.

z angelčki in s trobentami, in nebo se bo odprlo.

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

Nora ideja, če tako kot jaz niste verni.

But something very valuable in that idea, nevertheless.

Ne glede na to je nekaj zelo dragocenega v njej.

Ustavite torej konje, ko želite soditi o ljudeh.

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

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

Ni nujno, da poznate dejansko vrednost nekega človeka.

That is an unknown part of them,

To je neznan del njih.

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

Ne bi se smeli obnašati, kot da ga poznamo.

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

Obstaja še en vir tolažbe in lagodja.

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

Ko pomislimo, da nam v življenju ne bo uspelo,

one of the reasons why we fear failing

se ne bojimo neuspeha le zaradi

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

izgube prihodka ali izgube položaja.

What we fear is the judgment and ridicule of others.

Bojimo se obsojanja in posmeha drugih ljudi. Posmeh obstaja.

And it exists.

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

Številka ena na področju posmeha

je danes časopis.

If you open the newspaper any day of the week,

Odprite časopis katerikoli dan v tednu.

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

Poln je ljudi, ki so zavozili svoja življenja.

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

Spali so z napačno osebo. Vzeli so napačno substanco.

passed the wrong piece of legislation --

Sprejeli so napačen zakon. Karkoli že.

whatever it is, and then are fit for ridicule.

Nato so primerni za posmeh.

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

Odpovedali so. Nato so označeni za "zgube".

Now, is there any alternative to this?

Ali obstaja kakšna alternativa?

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

Mislim, da nam je zahodna tradicija

dala veličastno alternativo: tragedijo.

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

Tragična umetnost, kot je bila razvita v gledališčih antične Grčije

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

v 5. stoletju pr.n.št., je bila v bistvu oblika umetnosti,

devoted to tracing how people fail,

posvečena orisu človekovega neuspeha.

and also according them a level of sympathy,

A mu je dala tudi določeno mero sočutja,

which ordinary life would not necessarily accord them.

ki mu je običajno življenje ne bi nujno podarilo.

A few years ago, I was thinking about this,

Nekaj let nazaj, ko sem razmišljal o tem,

and I went to "The Sunday Sport,"

sem šel do rumenega časopisa

a tabloid newspaper I don't recommend you start reading

"The Sunday Sport". A ne priporočam, da ga začnete brati,

if you're not familiar with it already.

če ga še ne poznate.

(Laughter)

Z njimi sem želel govoriti

And I went to talk to them

about certain of the great tragedies of Western art.

o nekaterih velikih tragedijah zahodne umetnosti.

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

Hotel sem videti, kako bi se lotili bistva

določenih zgodb, če bi te kot novice

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

prišle v uredništvo v soboto popoldne.

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

Za Othella še niso slišali, a jih je prevzel.

(Laughter)

(smeh)

I asked them to write a headline for the story.

Prosil sem jih, naj napišejo naslov za zgodbo o Othellu.

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

Izmislili so si "Od ljubezni nor imigrant ubije hčerko senatorja"

Splashed across the headline.

čez celo naslovnico.

I gave them the plotline of Madame Bovary.

Povedal sem jim zgodbo Gospe Bovary.

Again, a book they were enchanted to discover.

Še ena knjiga, nad katere odkritjem so bili navdušeni.

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

Napisali so "Zapravljiva prešuštnica pogoltnila arzenik po posojilni prevari".

(Laughter)

(smeh)

And then my favorite --

In še moja najljubša.

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

Ti ljudje imajo resnično neko svojo vrsto genialnosti.

my favorite is Sophocles' Oedipus the King:

Moja najljubša je Sofoklesov "Ojdip".

"Sex With Mum Was Blinding."

"Seks z mamo je bil oslepljujoč"

(Laughter)

(smeh)

(Applause)

(aplavz)

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

Na nek način imamo na eni strani spektra sočutja

you've got the tabloid newspaper.

rumene časopise.

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

Na drugi strani spektra imamo tragedijo in tragično umetnost.

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

Mislim, da si moramo pobliže ogledati,

about what's happening in tragic art.

kaj se dogaja pri tragični umetnosti.

It would be insane to call Hamlet a loser.

Noro bi bilo reči, da je Hamlet zguba.

He is not a loser, though he has lost.

Ni zguba, čeprav je izgubil.

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

Mislim, da je to zelo, zelo pomembno

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

sporočilo tragedije za nas.

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

Moderna družba

povzroča tesnobo tudi zato,

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

ker je v njenem središču človek.

We are the first society to be living in a world

Mi smo prva družba na svetu,

where we don't worship anything other than ourselves.

ki ne časti nič drugega razen samih sebe.

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

Zelo visoko mnenje imamo o sebi. In prav je tako.

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

Poslali smo ljudi na luno. Naredili smo izjemne stvari.

Zato častimo sami sebe.

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

Naši junaki so človeški junaki.

That's a very new situation.

To je popolnoma nova situacija.

Most other societies have had, right at their center,

Večina drugih družb je imela v samem središču

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

čaščenje nečesa transcedentnega.

Boga, duha, naravne sile, vesolje.

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

Karkoli že, nekaj drugega je čaščeno.

We've slightly lost the habit of doing that,

Mi smo izgubili to navado.

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

Kar je po mojem mnenju razlog, da nas tako privlači narava.

Ne zaradi zdravja, čeprav je velikokrat tako predstavljeno.

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

Ampak ker je v naravi pobeg pred človeškim mravljiščem.

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

It's an escape from our own competition,

V naravo zbežimo pred svojo lastno tekmovalnostjo

and our own dramas.

in svojimi lastnimi dramami.

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

Zato tako uživamo, ko gledamo ledenike in oceane

and contemplating the Earth from outside its perimeters, etc.

ter razmišljamo o Zemlji zunaj njenih meja, itd.

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

Radi smo v stiku z nečim, kar ni človeško.

and that is so deeply important to us.

To nam je zelo pomembno.

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

Mislim, da sem dejansko govoril o uspehu in neuspehu.

And one of the interesting things about success

Zanimivo dejstvo o uspehu je,

is that we think we know what it means.

da mislimo, da vemo, kaj pomeni.

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

Če bi vam rekel, da je za zaslonom nekdo,

ki je zelo uspešen, bi takoj dobili določene zamisli.

certain ideas would immediately come to mind.

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

Mislili bi, da je morda zaslužil veliko denarja,

dosegel ugled na nekem področju.

achieved renown in some field.

My own theory of success --

Moja osebna teorija o uspehu, in jaz sem človek,

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

ki ga uspeh zelo zanima. Res želim biti uspešen.

I really want to be successful,

always thinking, how can I be more successful?

Vedno razmišljam: "Kako bi bil bolj uspešen?"

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

A z leti imam vedno več odtenkov

pomena besede "uspeh".

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

Tole je vpogled, ki sem ga dobil o uspehu.

Ne morete biti uspešni pri vsem.

You can't be successful at everything.

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

Veliko se govori o ravnotežju med službo in življenjem.

Nonsense.

Neumnost. Ne morete imeti vsega. Ne morete.

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

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

Vsaka vizija uspeha mora priznati,

na katerem področju izgublja,

where the element of loss is.

kje je dejavnik izgube.

And I think any wise life will accept,

Mislim, da se bo vsak pameten človek strinjal,

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

ko rečem, da na nekem področju ne bomo uspešni.

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

Dejstvo o uspešnem življenju je,

da velikokrat naše ideje o tem,

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

kaj pomeni, da živimo uspešno, niso naše.

They're sucked in from other people;

Vsrkamo jih od drugih ljudi.

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

Če ste moški, predvsem od očeta.

In če ste ženska, od mame.

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

Psihoanaliza oznanja to sporočilo že 80 let.

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

Nihče zares ne posluša, ampak jaz mislim, da zelo drži.

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

Prav tako vsrkavamo sporočila

televizije, oglaševanja,

to advertising, to marketing, etc.

marketinga, itd.

These are hugely powerful forces

To so zelo močne sile,

that define what we want and how we view ourselves.

ki določajo, kaj hočemo in kako vidimo sami sebe.

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

Ko nam rečejo, da je bankirstvo spoštovanja vreden poklic,

a lot of us want to go into banking.

nas hoče dosti delati na banki.

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

Ko delo na banki ni več tako spoštovano, izgubimo interes.

We are highly open to suggestion.

Zelo smo dovzetni za vplive.

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

Ne pravim, da bi morali opustiti

on our ideas of success,

svoje ideje o uspehu.

but we should make sure that they are our own.

Ampak da bi se morali prepričati, da so res naše.

We should focus in on our ideas,

Osredotočiti bi se morali na svoje lastne ideje.

and make sure that we own them;

In se prepričati, da so res naše,

that we are truly the authors of our own ambitions.

da smo mi res avtorji naših ambicij.

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

Ker že tako je slabo, če ne dobimo, kar hočemo.

Ampak še slabše je, če nimamo pojma,

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

kaj sploh hočemo, in na koncu poti odkrijemo,

and find out, at the end of the journey,

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

da v bistvu to ni to, kar smo ves čas hoteli.

So, I'm going to end it there.

S tem bom zaključil.

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

To, kar hočem dejansko poudariti,

je vsekakor uspeh.

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

Ampak sprejmimo nenavadnost nekaterih naših idej.

Let's probe away at our notions of success.

Raziščimo svoje pojmovanje uspeha.

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

Prepričajmo se, da so naše ideje o uspehu resnično naše lastne.

Thank you very much.

Hvala lepa.

(Applause)

(aplavz)

Chris Anderson: That was fascinating.

To je bilo fascinantno.

But how do you reconcile this idea

Kako uskladite idejo, da je nekdo ...

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

da je slabo misliti o nekom, da je zguba,

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

z idejo, ki je veliko ljudem všeč - prevzeti kontrolo nad svojim življenjem.

and that a society that encourages that,

Da družba, ki to spodbuja,

perhaps has to have some winners and losers?

morda mora imeti nekaj zmagovalcev in nekaj poražencev.

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

Da. Mislim, da je samo naključnost procesa zmagovanja

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

in izgubljanja tisto, kar sem hotel poudariti.

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

Ker je danes poudarek predvsem

na pravičnosti vsega.

and politicians always talk about justice.

Politiki vedno govorijo o pravičnosti.

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

Trdo verjamem v pravičnost. A mislim, da jo je nemogoče doseči.

So we should do everything we can to pursue it,

Morali bi narediti vse, kar lahko,

da jo poskušamo doseči.

but we should always remember that whoever is facing us,

A na koncu dneva se moramo spomniti,

da je vedno prisoten zelo močan dejavnik naključja,

whatever has happened in their lives,

there will be a strong element of the haphazard.

ne glede na to, kdo nam stoji nasproti in kaj se mu je v življenju zgodilo.

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

Temu želim pustiti nekaj prostora.

otherwise, it can get quite claustrophobic.

Ker drugače lahko postane precej klavstrofobično.

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

Ali verjamete, da lahko združite

your kind of kinder, gentler philosophy of work

vašo prijaznejšo, nežnejšo filozofijo dela

z uspešnim gospodarstvom?

with a successful economy?

Or do you think that you can't,

Ali morda menite, da to ni možno?

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

Da morda niti ni pomembno in da temu dajemo preveč poudarka?

Morasta misel je, da je ustrahovanje

AB: The nightmare thought

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

najboljši način, da ljudje dobro delajo.

and that somehow the crueler the environment,

Bolj bo okolje kruto,

the more people will rise to the challenge.

bolj se bodo ljudje soočili z izzivom.

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

Pomislite, koga bi radi za svojega idealnega očeta?

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

Vaš idealni oče je strog, ampak nežen.

And it's a very hard line to make.

To črto je zelo težko potegniti.

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

Potrebujemo očete, recimo temu zgledne očetovske figure v družbi,

avoiding the two extremes,

ki se bodo izogibale obeh skrajnosti.

which is the authoritarian disciplinarian on the one hand,

Samovoljnosti in discipliniranja po eni strani,

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

in ohlapnosti brez pravil po drugi.

CA: Alain De Botton.

Alain de Botton.

AB: Thank you very much.

Najlepša hvala.

(Applause)

(aplavz)