Renata Salecl: Our unhealthy obsession with choice

Translator: Klavdija Cernilogar Reviewer: Žiga Domevšček

When I was preparing for this talk,

Ko sem se pripravljala na tale govor,

I went to search for a couple of quotes

sem iskala citate,

that I can share with you.

ki bi jih lahko delila z vami.

Good news: I found three

Dobra novica; našla sem tri,

that I particularly liked,

ki so mi bili posebej všeč.

the first by Samuel Johnson, who said,

Prvi je od Samuela Johnsona, ki je dejal:

"When making your choice in life,

"Ko v življenju izbirate,

do not forget to live,"

ne pozabite živeti."

the second by Aeschylus, who reminded us that

Druga je Ajshilova, ki nas opominja, da je

"happiness is a choice that requires effort,"

"sreča izbira, ki zahteva trud,"

and the third is one by Groucho Marx

tretjo pa si lasti Groucho Marx, ki pravi:

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

"Ne bi hotel pripadati nobenemu klubu, ki bi me hotel za člana."

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

Now, bad news:

Zdaj pa slaba novica:

I didn't know which one of these quotes

Nisem vedela, kateri citat naj izberem in delim z vami.

to choose and share with you.

The sweet anxiety of choice.

Sladka tesnoba izbire.

In today's times of post-industrial capitalism,

V teh časih postindustrijskega kapitalizma

choice, together with individual freedom

so izbira, posameznikova svoboda

and the idea of self-making,

in ideja samouresničitve

has been elevated to an ideal.

postale ideal.

Now, together with this, we also have a belief

Poleg tega nas vodi tudi vera v večni napredek.

in endless progress.

But the underside of this ideology

Črna plat te ideologije

has been an increase of anxiety,

pa se vidi v širitvi tesnobe,

feelings of guilt,

občutkov krivde,

feelings of being inadequate,

občutkov neprimernosti,

feeling that we are failing in our choices.

občutkov, da smo pri izbiranju neuspešni.

Sadly, this ideology of individual choice

Na žalost nam ideologija izbire posameznika

has prevented us from thinking about social changes.

preprečuje razmišljanje o družbenih spremembah.

It appears that this ideology was actually

Zdi se, da nas je ta ideologija pravzaprav

very efficient in pacifying us

zelo učinkovito umirila

as political and social thinkers.

v našem političnem in socialnem razmišljanju.

Instead of making social critiques,

Namesto socialne kritike

we are more and more engaging in self-critique,

se vse bolj obračamo k samokritiki,

sometimes to the point of self-destruction.

včasih celo samouničevalno.

Now, how come that ideology of choice

Zakaj je ideologija izbire še naprej tako močna,

is still so powerful,

even among people who have

celo med ljudmi, ki nimajo veliko izbire?

not many things to choose among?

How come that even people who are poor

Kako to, da se celo revni ljudje

very much still identify with the idea of choice,

tako identificirajo z idejo izbire,

the kind of rational idea of choice

s to racionalno idejo izbire,

which we embrace?

ki prevladuje med nami?

Now, the ideology of choice is very successful

Ideologija izbire zelo uspešno

in opening for us a space to think

odpira prostor za razmišljanje

about some imagined future.

o namišljeni prihodnosti.

Let me give you an example.

Dala vam bom primer.

My friend Manya,

Prijateljica Manja je med študijem na univerzi v Kaliforniji služila denar

when she was a student at university in California,

was earning money

by working for a car dealer.

z delom pri prodajalcu avtomobilov.

Now, Manya, when she encountered

Ko je srečala tipičnega kupca, se je z njim pogovarjala

the typical customer, would debate with him

about his lifestyle,

o načinu življenja,

how much he wants to spend,

o tem, koliko želi potrošiti,

how many children he has,

koliko otrok ima,

what does he need the car for?

zakaj potrebuje avtomobil.

They would usually come to a good conclusion

Tako sta ponavadi dosegla dobro rešitev

what would be a perfect car.

glede najprimernejšega avtomobila.

Now, before Manya's customer would go home

Preden je Manjin kupec odšel,

and think things through,

da bi premislil o nakupu,

she would say to him,

mu je dejala:

"The car that you are buying now is perfect,

"Avto, ki ga boste kupili, je popoln,

but in a few year's time,

a čez nekaj let,

when your kids will be already out of the house,

ko bodo otroci odšli od doma,

when you will have a little bit more money,

ko boste imeli malo več denarja,

that other car will be ideal.

bo popoln tisti drugi avto.

But what you are buying now is great."

A kar kupujete zdaj, je odlično."

Now, the majority of Manya's customers

Večina Manjinih kupcev,

who came back the next day

ki se je naslednji dan vrnila,

bought that other car,

je kupila tisti drugi avtomobil,

the car they did not need,

ki ga niso potrebovali,

the car that cost far too much money.

ki je stal odločno preveč denarja.

Now, Manya became so successful in selling cars

Manja je bila pri prodaji avtomobilov tako uspešna,

that soon she moved on to selling airplanes.

da je kmalu začela prodajati letala.

(Laughter)

(smeh)

And knowing so much about the psychology of people

Ker je toliko vedela o psihologiji ljudi,

prepared her well for her current job,

je bila dobro pripravljena za trenutno službo

which is that of a psychoanalyst.

psihoanalitičarke.

Now, why were Manya's customers so irrational?

Zakaj so bili Manjini kupci tako neracionalni?

Uspešna je bila, ker je znala

Manya's success was that she was able

to open in their heads an image

v njihovih glavah narisati sliko

of an idealized future,

idealizirane prihodnosti,

an image of themselves

sliko njih samih

when they are already more successful, freer,

uspešnejših, bolj svobodnih,

and for them, choosing that other car

in zanje je bila izbira drugega avtomobila

was as if they are coming closer to this ideal

znak, da se bližajo idealu,

in which it was as if Manya already saw them.

v katerem jih je Manja že videla.

Zelo redko izbiramo povsem racionalno.

Now, we rarely make really totally rational choices.

Choices are influenced by our unconscious,

Na izbiro vpliva naša podzavest,

by our community.

naša skupnost.

Pogosto izbiramo

We're often choosing

by guessing, what would other people

z ugibanjem, kaj bi drugi

think about our choice?

menili o naši izbiri.

Also we are choosing

Izbiramo tudi

by looking at what others are choosing.

z opazovanjem, kaj izbirajo drugi.

We're also guessing what is socially acceptable choice.

Ugibamo, kaj je družbeno sprejemljiva izbira.

Zaradi tega celo potem,

Now, because of this, we actually

even after we have already chosen,

ko smo že izbrali,

like bought a car,

denimo kupili avtomobil,

endlessly read reviews about cars,

še vedno beremo ocene avtomobilov,

as if we still want to convince ourselves

kot da se želimo prepričati,

that we made the right choice.

da smo prav izbrali.

Now, choices are anxiety-provoking.

Izbira povzroča tesnobo.

They are linked to risks, losses.

Povezana je s tveganji, izgubo.

They are highly unpredictable.

Je zelo nepredvidljiva.

Now, because of this,

Zaradi tega imajo ljudje

people have now more and more problems

vedno več težav s tem,

that they are not choosing anything.

da ne izberejo ničesar.

Not long ago, I was at a wedding reception,

Pred kratkim sem bila na poroki,

kjer sem srečala lepo mlado žensko,

and I met a young, beautiful woman

who immediately started telling me about her anxiety over choice.

ki mi je takoj začela razlagati o njeni tesnobi pri izbiri.

Dejala je: "Mesec dni sem potrebovala,

She said to me, "I needed one month

to decide which dress to wear."

da sem se odločila, kaj obleči."

Dodala je: "Tedne sem iskala

Then she said, "For weeks I was researching

which hotel to stay for this one night.

hotel za tole noč.

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

Zdaj pa moram izbrati darovalca sperme."

(Laughter)

(smeh)

I looked at this woman in shock.

Bila sem šokirana.

"Sperm donor? What's the rush?"

"Darovalca sperme? Zakaj se mudi?"

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

Rekla je: "Konec leta bom stara 40 let

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

in zelo slabo sem izbirala moške."

Now choice, because it's linked to risk,

Izbira, ker je povezana s tveganjem,

is anxiety-provoking,

povzroča tesnobo.

and it was already the famous

Že slavni danski filozof

Danish philosopher Søren Kierkegaard

Søren Kierkegaard

who pointed out that anxiety

je dejal, da je tesnoba

is linked to the possibility of possibility.

povezana z možnostjo možnosti.

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

Domišljamo si, da danes znamo preprečiti ta tveganja.

We have endless market analysis,

Obstaja neskončna analiza trga,

projections of the future earnings.

projekcije zaslužka v prihodnosti.

Even with market, which is about chance,

Celo za trg, ki temelji na naključju,

randomness, we think we can predict rationally

na poljubnosti, menimo, da lahko

racionalno predvidimo, kam gre.

where it's going.

Now, chance is actually becoming very traumatic.

Naključje postaja zelo travmatično.

Lani je moj prijatelj Bernard Harcourt

Last year, my friend Bernard Harcourt

at the University of Chicago organized an event,

z Univerze v Chicagu organiziral

konferenco o ideji naključja.

a conference on the idea of chance.

He and I were together on the panel,

Skupaj sva bila na okrogli mizi

and just before delivering our papers —

in malo pred predstavitvijo esejev,

we didn't know each other's papers —

nisva poznala esejev drug drugega,

we decided to take chance seriously.

sva se odločila, da bova naključje vzela resno.

So we informed our audience

Občinstvo sva obvestila,

that what they will just now hear

da bodo slišali

will be a random paper,

naključni esej,

a mixture of the two papers

mešanico dveh del,

which we didn't know what each was writing.

pri čemer nisva vedela, kaj bo povedal drugi.

Now, we delivered the conference in such a way.

Konferenca je potekala takole:

Bernard je prebral svoj prvi odstavek,

Bernard read his first paragraph,

I read my first paragraph,

jaz sem prebrala mojega prvega,

Bernard read his second paragraph,

on je prebral svojega drugega,

jaz sem prebrala mojega drugega

I read my second paragraph,

in this way towards the end of our papers.

in tako naprej do konca najinih esejev.

Now, you will be surprised

Presenetilo vas bo,

da večina ljudi,

that a majority of our audience

ni menila, da so poslušali

did not think that what they'd just listened to

was a completely random paper.

povsem naključni esej.

Niso mogli verjeti,

They couldn't believe that

speaking from the position of authority

da bi tako spoštovana profesorja,

like two professors we were,

kot sva midva,

we would take chance seriously.

resno vzela naključje.

They thought we prepared the papers together

Menili so, da sva eseja pripravila skupaj

and were just joking that it's random.

ter se le delala, da sta naključna.

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

Živimo v času obilja informacij,

big data,

"velikih podatkov",

a lot of knowledge about the insides of our bodies.

veliko znanja o notranjosti naših teles.

We decoded our genome.

Razvozlali smo genom.

We know about our brains more than before.

O možganih vemo več kot prej.

But surprisingly, people are more and more

Toda ljudje, presenetljivo,

turning a blind eye in front of this knowledge.

vse bolj ignorirajo to znanje.

Ignorance and denial are on the rise.

Nevednost in zanikanje naraščata.

Now, in regard to the current economic crisis,

Tudi glede gospodarske krize

we think that we will just wake up again

menimo, da se bomo enostavno prebudili

and everything will be the same as before,

in vse bo tako kot prej,

and no political or social changes are needed.

da politične ali družbene spremembe niso potrebne.

In regard to ecological crisis,

Tudi glede okoljske krize

we think nothing needs to be done just now,

menimo, da v tem trenutku ni kaj storiti,

or others need to act before us.

ali da morajo drugi kaj storiti pred nami.

Or even when ecological crisis already happens,

Tudi ko se okoljska kriza zgodi,

like a catastrophe in Fukushima,

denimo katastrofa v Fukušimi,

often we have people living in the same environment

bo od ljudi iz istega okolja,

with the same amount of information,

z istimi informacijami,

and half of them will be anxious about radiation

polovica prestrašena zaradi sevanja,

and half of them will ignore it.

polovica pa ga bo ignorirala.

Now, psychoanalysts know very well

Psihoanalitiki dobro vedo,

that people surprisingly don't have

da ljudje začuda

passion for knowledge

ne čutijo strasti do znanja,

but passion for ignorance.

temveč do neznanja.

Now, what does that mean?

Kaj to pomeni?

Let's say when we are facing

Recimo, da nas ogroža

a life-threatening illness,

smrtno nevarna bolezen,

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

veliko ljudi tega noče vedeti.

They'd rather prefer denying the illness,

Raje zanikajo bolezen,

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

zato jih ni pametno obveščati,

if they don't ask.

če sami ne vprašajo.

Surprisingly, research shows that sometimes

Raziskave so presenetljivo pokazale,

people who deny their illness

da ljudje, ki zanikajo svojo bolezen,

live longer than those who are rationally choosing

včasih živijo dlje od tistih, ki razumsko izberejo

the best treatment.

najboljše zdravljenje.

Now, this ignorance, however,

To neznanje

is not very helpful on the level of the social.

na družbeni ravni ne pomaga dosti.

When we are ignorant about where we are heading,

Če ne vemo, kam gremo,

a lot of social damage can be caused.

lahko napravimo veliko socialne škode.

Poleg neznanja

Now, on top of facing ignorance,

we are also facing today

se danes soočamo tudi

some kind of an obviousness.

z nekakšno očitnostjo.

Now, it was French philosopher

Francoski filozof

Louis Althusser who pointed out

Louis Althusser je pokazal,

that ideology functions in such a way

da ideologija deluje tako,

that it creates a veil of obviousness.

da ustvari tančico očitnosti.

Before we do any social critique,

Preden sprožimo družbeno kritiko,

it is necessary really to lift that veil of obviousness

je treba to tančico odstreti

and to think through a little bit differently.

in malo drugače razmisliti.

If we go back to this ideology

Če se vrnemo k ideologiji

of individual, rational choice

posameznikove racionalne izbire,

we often embrace,

pogosto sprejmemo,

it's necessary precisely here

nujno je, da ravno tu,

to lift this obviousness

da bomo šli preko očitnosti

and to think a little bit differently.

in razmišljali malo drugače.

Pogosto se sprašujem,

Now for me, a question often is

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

zakaj še vedno verjamemo v idejo samoustvarjenega človeka,

on which capitalism relied from its beginning?

na katerega se je kapitalizem od vsega začetka zanašal.

Why do we think that we are really such masters

Zakaj mislimo, da smo taki gospodarji

of our lives that we can rationally

lastnih življenj, da lahko racionalno

make the best ideal choices,

izbiramo najboljše,

that we don't accept losses and risks?

da ne sprejemamo izgub in tveganja?

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

Šokantno se mi zdi, da včasih zelo revni ljudje

for example, not supporting the idea

denimo ne podpirajo ideje

of the rich being taxed more.

višjih davkov za bogate.

Quite often here they still identify

Pogosto se še naprej identificirajo

with a certain kind of a lottery mentality.

z nekakšno mentaliteto loterije.

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

No, morda ne verjamejo,

da bodo v prihodnosti uspeli, a morda menijo,

in the future, but maybe they think,

my son might become the next Bill Gates.

da bo njihov sin mogoče novi Bill Gates.

And who would want to tax one's son?

In kdo bi obdavčil lastnega sina?

Or, a question for me is also,

Sprašujem se tudi,

zakaj ljudje brez zdravstvenega zavarovanja

why would people who have no health insurance

not embrace universal healthcare?

ne podpirajo univerzalne zdravstvene oskrbe?

Sometimes they don't embrace it,

Včasih je ne podprejo, ker se identificirajo

again identifying with the idea of choice,

but they have nothing to choose from.

z idejo izbire,

a saj nimajo med čim izbirati.

Now, Margaret Thatcher famously said

Margaret Thatcher je dejala,

that there is nothing like a society.

da družba ne obstaja.

Society doesn't exist, it is only individuals

Družbe ni, so samo posamezniki

and their families.

in njihove družine.

Sadly, this ideology still functions very well,

Na žalost ta ideologija še vedno dobro deluje,

which is why people who are poor might feel

zato se revni včasih

ashamed for their poverty.

sramujejo svoje revščine.

We might endlessly feel guilty that we are

Lahko se počutimo neskončno krive za to,

not making the right choices,

da ne izbiramo prav,

and that's why we didn't succeed.

da zato nismo uspeli.

We are anxious that we are not good enough.

Strah nas je, da nismo dovolj dobri.

That's why we work very hard,

Zato trdo delamo:

long hours at the workplace

dolge ure smo v službi

and equally long hours on remaking ourselves.

in dolge ure spreminjamo sebe.

Now, when we are anxious over choices,

Ko nas je strah izbire,

sometimes we easily give our power of choice away.

se včasih hitro odpovemo moči izbire.

Poistovetimo se z gurujem,

We identify with the guru

who tells us what to do,

ki nam naroča, kaj početi,

self-help therapist,

s terapevtom za samopomoč

or we embrace a totalitarian leader

ali s totalitarnim voditeljem,

who appears to have no doubts about choices,

ki na videz nima dvomov o izbiri,

who sort of knows.

ki na nek način ve.

Now, often people ask me,

Ljudje me pogosto sprašujejo:

"What did you learn by studying choice?"

"Kaj si se naučila s proučevanjem izbire?"

And there is an important message that I did learn.

Odkrila sem pomembno sporočilo.

When thinking about choices,

Pri razmišljanju o izbiri

I stopped taking choices too seriously, personally.

sem jo nehala jemati preresno, preveč osebno.

First, I realized a lot of choice I make

Prvič, ugotovila sem, da veliko mojih izbir

ni racionalnih.

is not rational.

It's linked to my unconscious,

Povezane so z podzavestjo,

my guesses of what others are choosing,

z ugibanji o tem, kaj izbirajo drugi

or what is a socially embraced choice.

ali kaj je družbeno sprejeta izbira.

I also embrace the idea

Sprejemam tudi idejo,

that we should go beyond

da moramo preseči

thinking about individual choices,

razmišljanje o posameznikovi izbiri,

that it's very important to rethink social choices,

da je treba premisliti družbene izbire,

since this ideology of individual choice has pacified us.

saj je ideologija izbire za posameznika kot pomirjevalo.

It really prevented us to think about social change.

Preprečuje nam razmišljanje o družbenih spremembah.

We spend so much time choosing things for ourselves

Toliko časa zapravimo za lastno izbiro,

and barely reflect on

da komajda razmišljamo

communal choices we can make.

o skupnih izbirah, ki so na voljo.

Now, we should not forget that choice

Ne smemo pozabiti, da je izbira

is always linked to change.

vedno povezana s spremembo.

We can make individual changes,

Lahko delamo posamezne spremembe.

but we can make social changes.

Lahko pa delamo tudi družbene.

We can choose to have more wolves.

Lahko izberemo več volkov.

We can choose to change our environment

Lahko izberemo spremembo okolja,

to have more bees.

da bi imeli več čebel.

We can choose to have different rating agencies.

Lahko izberemo drugačne bonitetne agencije.

Lahko izberemo nadzor nad korporacijami,

We can choose to control corporations

instead of allowing corporations to control us.

namesto da jim dovolimo, da one nadzorujejo nas.

We have a possibility to make changes.

Imamo možnost spreminjanja.

Now, I started with a quote from Samuel Johnson,

Začela sem z mislijo Samuela Johnsona

ki je dejal, da ko v življenju izbiramo,

who said that when we make choice in life,

we shouldn't forget to live.

ne smemo pozabiti živeti.

Finally, you can see

Konec koncev, vidite,

I did have a choice

sem imela izbiro,

to choose one of the three quotes

katero od treh misli vzeti

with which I wanted to start my lecture.

za uvod v moj govor.

I did have a choice,

Imela sem izbiro,

such as nations, as people,

kot imamo narodi, ljudje

we have choices too to rethink

izbiro, da premislimo,

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

v kakšni družbi želimo v prihodnje živeti.

Thank you.

Hvala.

(Applause)

(aplavz)