Paul Bloom: The origins of pleasure

Translator: Etrit Adami Reviewer: Ervis Bregu

I'm going to talk today

Une do te flas sot

about the pleasures of everyday life.

per kenaqesite e jetes tone te perditshme.

But I want to begin with a story

Por une dua ta filloj me nje histori

of an unusual and terrible man.

te nje njeriu te tmerrshem dhe te pazakonte.

This is Hermann Goering.

Ky eshte Hermann Goering ( Geringu )

Goering was Hitler's second in command in World War II,

Geringu ishte i dyti ne komande pas Hitlerit ne Luften e Dyte Boterore,

his designated successor.

trashgimtari i disenjuar pas tij.

And like Hitler,

Dhe si Hitleri,

Goering fancied himself a collector of art.

Geringu imagjinoi vehten si koleksionist arti.

He went through Europe, through World War II,

Gjate luftes se dyte boterore kaloi nepermes evropes,

stealing, extorting and occasionally buying

duke vjedhur, zhvatur dhe rastesisht duke blere

various paintings for his collection.

piktura te ndryshme per koleksionin e tij .

And what he really wanted was something by Vermeer.

Dhe ajo cfare ai donte vertet ishte dicka nga Vermeer.

Hitler had two of them, and he didn't have any.

Hitleri kishte dy piktura te tij, kurse ai nuk kishte asnje.

So he finally found an art dealer,

Keshtu perfundimisht gjeti nje tregtar të veprave artistike,

a Dutch art dealer named Han van Meegeren,

nje tregtar Holandez te quajtur Han van Meergeren,

who sold him a wonderful Vermeer

qe i shiti atij nje nje Vermeer te mrekullueshem

for the cost of what would now be 10 million dollars.

per vleren qe do te kishin sot 10 milion dollare.

And it was his favorite artwork ever.

Dhe ajo ishte vepra e preferuar e te gjitha koherave.

World War II came to an end,

Luftes se Dyte po i vinte fundi ,

and Goering was captured, tried at Nuremberg

dhe Geringu u kap, u gjykua ne Nuremberg

and ultimately sentenced to death.

dhe ne fund u denua me vdekje.

Then the Allied forces went through his collections

Me pas forcat aleate rremuan mes koleksioneve te tij

and found the paintings

dhe gjeten pikturat

and went after the people who sold it to him.

dhe me pas te gjenin njerezit qe ja kishin shitur atij.

And at some point the Dutch police came into Amsterdam

Dhe deri ne ate pike sa qe policia holandeze erdhi ne Amsterdam

and arrested Van Meegeren.

dhe arrestoi Van Meergeren.

Van Meegeren was charged with the crime of treason,

Van Meergeren u akuzua per tradhti ,

which is itself punishable by death.

qe eshte edhe e denueshme me vdekje.

Six weeks into his prison sentence,

Gjashte jave ne nje burg ku vuante denimin ,

van Meegeren confessed.

Van Meerengen foli .

But he didn't confess to treason.

Por ai nuk e pranoi tradhtine.

He said, "I did not sell a great masterpiece

Ai tha, " Une nuk i shita kryevepren e madhe

to that Nazi.

atij Nazisti.

I painted it myself; I'm a forger."

Une e pikturova vete: Une jam nje falsifikator."

Now nobody believed him.

Por asnjeri nuk i besoj atij.

And he said, "I'll prove it.

Dhe ai tha, " Une do ta deshmoj kete.

Bring me a canvas and some paint,

Me sillni nje canavace dhe bojra,

and I will paint a Vermeer much better

dhe une do ta pikturoj nje Vermeer me mire

than I sold that disgusting Nazi.

se sa ajo qe i shita atij Nazisti te shpifur..

I also need alcohol and morphine, because it's the only way I can work."

Edhe une dua te pi alkol dhe morfine, sepse eshte e vetmja menyre qe une te punoj.

(Laughter)

( Te qeshura )

So they brought him in.

Dhe ata i sollen ate qe kerkoi.

He painted a beautiful Vermeer.

Ai pikturoi nje Vermeer shume te bukur.

And then the charges of treason were dropped.

Dhe me pas akuza per tradhi ra poshte.

He had a lesser charge of forgery,

Ai mori nje akuze me te vogel per falsifikator,

got a year sentence

dhe beri nje vit burg

and died a hero to the Dutch people.

dhe vdiq si hero per Holandezet.

There's a lot more to be said about van Meegeren,

Ka me shume per te thene reth Van Meergeren,

but I want to turn now to Goering,

por dua te kthehem tani tek Geringu,

who's pictured here being interrogated at Nuremberg.

piktura e te cilit eshte bere objekt hetimi ne Nuremberg.

Now Goering was, by all accounts, a terrible man.

Geringu ishte, nga te gjitha anet, nje njeri i tmerrshem.

Even for a Nazi, he was a terrible man.

Madje edhe per Nazistet, ai ishte nje njeri i tmerrshem.

His American interrogators described him

Hetuesit Amrikane e pershkruajne ate

as an amicable psychopath.

si nje psikopat te dashur.

But you could feel sympathy

Por ju mund te ndjeni keqardhje

for the reaction he had

per reagimin qe ai pati

when he was told that his favorite painting

kur mori vesh qe piktuara e tij e preferuar

was actually a forgery.

ishte nje fallco.

According to his biographer,

Sipas biografeve te tij,

"He looked as if for the first time

"Ai dukej si nje njeri qe per here te pare

he had discovered there was evil in the world."

kishte zbuluar qe ne bote ekzistone e keqja."

(Laughter)

( Te qeshura )

And he killed himself soon afterwards.

Dhe ai vrau vehten me pas.

He had discovered after all

Ai kishte zbuluar mbi te gjtha

that the painting he thought was this

qe piktura qe ai mendonte ishte se ishte kjo

was actually that.

aktualisht ishte ajo .

It looked the same,

Dukej si e njejta,

but it had a different origin, it was a different artwork.

por kishte nje prejardhje tjeter, ishte nje punim atistik i ndryshem.

It wasn't just him who was in for a shock.

Nuk ishte vetem ai qe kishte pesuar nje tronditje.

Once van Meegeren was on trial, he couldn't stop talking.

Kur Van Meegeren doli ne gjygj, ai nuk ndalonte se foluri.

And he boasted about all the great masterpieces

Dhe ai mburrej per cdo veper artistike

that he himself had painted

qe ai kishte pikturuar

that were attributed to other artists.

qe i ishin atribuar artisteve te tjeere.

In particular, "The Supper at Emmaus"

Ne vecanti , "Darka ne Emmanus"

which was viewed as Vermeer's finest masterpiece, his best work --

qe ishte pare si nje prej kryeveprave te Vermeer-ut, puna e tij me e mire --

people would come [from] all over the world to see it --

njerezit vinin nga e gjithe bota per ta pare ate --

was actually a forgery.

dhe aktualisht ishte nje kopje e falsifikuar.

It was not that painting, but that painting.

Nuk ishte vetem piktura, por edhe stili piktures.

And when that was discovered,

Dhe kur kjo u zbulua,

it lost all its value and was taken away from the museum.

e humbi te gjithe vleren dhe u hoq nga muzeumi.

Why does this matter?

Perse kjo ka rendesi ?

I'm a psychologists -- why do origins matter so much?

Per ju psikologet, pse origjina ka rendesi kaq shume?

Why do we respond so much

Perse i pergigjemi kaq shume

to our knowledge of where something comes from?

njohurive tona prej ku dicka e ka origjinen?

Well there's an answer that many people would give.

Mire, ka nje pergjigje qe te gjithe do ta jepnin.

Many sociologists like Veblen and Wolfe

Disa sociologjiste ashtu sic Veblen dhe Wolfe

would argue that the reason why we take origins so seriously

do te argumentonin qe aryeja pse origjina duhet marre seriozisht

is because we're snobs, because we're focused on status.

eshte sepse ne jemi snoba, sepse jemi te fokusuar te statuti.

Among other things,

Midis shume gjerave,

if you want to show off how rich you are, how powerful you are,

nqs do te tregosh sa i pasur je , sa i fuqushem je ,

it's always better to own an original than a forgery

eshte gjithmone me mire te zoteresh dicka autentike sa sa nje kopje te saj

because there's always going to be fewer originals than forgeries.

sepse gjithmone do vazhdoje te kete me pak origjinale se sa fallco.

I don't doubt that that plays some role,

Une nuk dyshoj qe kjo ka rendesi,

but what I want to convince you of today

por ajo qe une dua qe t'ju mbush mendjen sot

is that there's something else going on.

eshte qe ka dicka tjeter qe po ndodh.

I want to convince you

Une dua tju bind juve

that humans are, to some extent, natural born essentialists.

qe njerzit jane, deri diku, thelbesisht te lindur natyral.

What I mean by this

Ajo cfare dua te them me kete

is we don't just respond to things as we see them,

eshte qe ne nuk i pershtatemi gjerave ashtu sic i shikojme,

or feel them, or hear them.

apo i ndiejme, apo i degjojme ato.

Rather, our response is conditioned on our beliefs,

Perkundrazi, pergjigja jone eshte e kushtezuar nga besimi yne,

about what they really are, what they came from,

por cfare jane ne te vertete, nga kane ardhur keto,

what they're made of, what their hidden nature is.

prej cfare jane bere, cfare karakteri te fshehur kane.

I want to suggest that this is true,

Une dua te sugjeroj qe kjo eshte e vertete,

not just for how we think about things,

jo vetem per nga menyra se si ne mendojme per gjerat,

but how we react to things.

por se si ne reagojme me gjerat.

So I want to suggest that pleasure is deep --

Keshtu qe une dua te sugjeroj qe kenaqesia eshte e thelle --

and that this isn't true

dhe kjo nuk eshte e vertete

just for higher level pleasures like art,

vetem per nje nivel te larte te kenaqesise si arti ,

but even the most seemingly simple pleasures

por madje edhe me sa duket kenaqesite e thjeshta

are affected by our beliefs about hidden essences.

jane influencuar nga besimi yne per esencat e fshehura.

So take food.

Le te marrim ushqimin.

Would you eat this?

A do ta hanit kete ?

Well, a good answer is, "It depends. What is it?"

Mire pra, nje pergjigje e mire eshte, " Varet. Cfare eshte?"

Some of you would eat it if it's pork, but not beef.

Disa nga ju do ta hanin ate n.q.s. do ishte mish derri, por jo mish lope.

Some of you would eat it if it's beef, but not pork.

Disa nga ju do ta hanin n.q.s eshte mish lope, por jo derri.

Few of you would eat it if it's a rat

Disa nga ju do ta hanin n.q.s eshte mish miu

or a human.

apo njeriu.

Some of you would eat it only if it's a strangely colored piece of tofu.

Disa nga ju do ta hanin sikur te ishte nje cope ushqimi vegjetarian e cudtishme e ngjyrosur .

That's not so surprising.

Kjo nuk eshte e cuditshme.

But what's more interesting

Por ajo qe eshte me interesante

is how it tastes to you

eshte se si ti e shijon ate

will depend critically on what you think you're eating.

do te percaktoje forte se cfare ti po mendon se ti po ha.

So one demonstration of this was done with young children.

Keshtu, nje demonstrim i kesaj eshte bere me femijet.

How do you make children

Si do ti benit ju femijet

not just be more likely to eat carrots and drink milk,

jo vetem te hane karrota dhe te pijne qumesht,

but to get more pleasure from eating carrots and drinking milk --

por te kenaqen nga karrotat dhe pirja e qumshtit --

to think they taste better?

qe te mendojne qe ato shijone me mire?

It's simple, you tell them they're from McDonald's.

Eshte e thjeshte, ju i thoni atyre qe eshte bere prej McDonaldit

They believe McDonald's food is tastier,

Ata besojne qe ushqimi i MCDonald-it eshte me i shijshem,

and it leads them to experience it as tastier.

dhe i con ata ne perjetimin qe eshte me e shijshme.

How do you get adults to really enjoy wine?

Si do i beni te rriturit te besojne qe te pelqejne veren?

It's very simple:

Eshte shume e thjeshte:

pour it from an expensive bottle.

derdhe ate nga nje shishe e shtrenjte .

There are now dozens, perhaps hundreds of studies showing

Sot ka qindra, ndoshta mijera studime qe tregojne

that if you believe you're drinking the expensive stuff,

qe n.q.s ti ti mendon qe po pi dicka te shtrenjte,

it tastes better to you.

ajo te shijon me shume .

This was recently done with a neuroscientific twist.

Kjo eshte bere se fundmi nje gershetim me neuroshkencen.

They get people into a fMRI scanner,

Ata marrin njerez i fusin ne fMRI skaner,

and while they're lying there, through a tube,

dhe ndersa ata qendrojne aty, permes nje tubi,

they get to sip wine.

atyre ju japin nje gllenjke vere.

In front of them on a screen is information about the wine.

Perpara tyre ne nje ekran gjendet informacioni rreth veres.

Everybody, of course,

Cdonjeri, patjeter,

drinks exactly the same wine.

pi ekzaktesisht te njejen vere.

But if you believe you're drinking expensive stuff,

Por n.q.s ti beson qe ti po pi dicka qe eshte e shrenjte,

parts of the brain associated with pleasure and reward

disa pjese te trurit te lishur me kenaqesine dhe shperblimin

light up like a Christmas tree.

te krijojne pershtypjen e nje peme Krishtlindjeje.

It's not just that you say it's more pleasurable, you say you like it more,

Nuk eshte vetem qe ti thua eshte me e pelqyeshme, ti thua qe me pelqen me shume,

you really experience it in a different way.

por ti vertet e perjeton ate ne nje menyre tjeter.

Or take sex.

Ose te marrim seksin.

These are stimuli I've used in some of my studies.

Ka disa stimilues qe une kame perdorur ne disa nga studimet e mia.

And if you simply show people these pictures,

Dhe ne qofte se ti i tregon njerezve keto foto,

they'll say these are fairly attractive people.

ata do te thone qe ato jane njefarsoj terheqese per njerzit.

But how attractive you find them,

Por sa terheqese jane per ty,

how sexually or romantically moved you are by them,

sa terhiqeni ju prej tyre seksualisht apo romantikisht,

rests critically on who you think you're looking at.

qendron kryesisht mbi ke ti mendon se po veshtron.

You probably think the picture on the left is male,

Ti mbase mendon qe piktura ne te majte eshte nje mashkull,

the one on the right is female.

tjetra ne te djathe eshte femer.

If that belief turns out to be mistaken, it will make a difference.

N.q.s ky besim ngaterrohet, do te perbente ndryshim .

(Laughter)

(E qeshur)

It will make a difference if they turn out to be

Ndryshimi do te ishte sikur ato te dilnin qe te ishin

much younger or much older than you think they are.

shume me te rinj se sa te vjeter nga c'mendoje ti .

It will make a difference if you were to discover

Do te bente ndryshim n.q.s se ti do te zbuloje

that the person you're looking at with lust

qe personi qe ti po shikon me deshire

is actually a disguised version of your son or daughter,

eshte aktualisht nje version i maskuar i djalit apo vajzes tende,

your mother or father.

mamase apo babait.

Knowing somebody's your kin typically kills the libido.

Te dish se dikush eshte gjaku yt, zakonisht e vret epshin.

Maybe one of the most heartening findings

Ndoshta nje nga rezultatet me inkurajuese

from the psychology of pleasure

nga psikologjia e kenaqesise

is there's more to looking good than your physical appearance.

eshte me e rendesishme te dukesh mire se sa aparenca fizike.

If you like somebody, they look better to you.

N.q.s. ti do nje person, ata te duken me te mire per ty.

This is why spouses in happy marriages

Kjo eshte arsyeja sepse nuset kur martohen

tend to think that their husband or wife

kane tendence te mendojne qe burri i tyre apo gruaja

looks much better than anyone else thinks that they do.

duket me mire se cdo njeri tjeter e sheh se duket .

(Laughter)

( Te qeshura )

A particularly dramatic example of this

Nje shembull i vecante e dramatik i kesaj

comes from a neurological disorder known as Capgras syndrome.

vjen si pasoje e c'regullimit reurologjik i njohur si sindroma Capgras.

So Capgras syndrome is a disorder

Keshtu, sindroma Capgras eshte nje crregullim

where you get a specific delusion.

ku ti vuan nje zhgenjim specifik.

Sufferers of Capgras syndrome

Ata qe vuajne nga sindroma Capgras

believe that the people they love most in the world

mendojne qe se njerzit qe ata duan me shume ne te gjithe boten

have been replaced by perfect duplicates.

jane zevendesuar nga disa kopje te ngjashme.

Now often, a result of Capgras syndrome is tragic.

Dhe shpesh, pasojat e sindromes Cargras jane tragjike.

People have murdered those that they loved,

Njerezit kane vrare ata qe kane dashur me shume

believing that they were murdering an imposter.

duke menduar qe po vrasin nje mashtrues.

But there's at least one case

Por ka te pakten nje rast

where Capgras syndrome had a happy ending.

ku sindroma Capgras ka nje fund te mire.

This was recorded in 1931.

Eshte regjistruar me 1931.

"Research described a woman with Capgras syndrome

"Kerkuesit pershkruan nje grua me sindromen Capgras

who complained about her poorly endowed and sexually inadequate lover."

qe ankohej per te dashurin e saj te varfer dhe te pa papershtatshem seksualisht "

But that was before she got Capgras syndrome.

Por kjo ishte perpara se ajo te semurej nga sindroma Capgras.

After she got it, "She was happy to report

Mbasi ajo e mori , "Ajo ishte e lumtur dhe thoshte

that she has discovered that he possessed a double

qe kishte gjetur nje njeri identik si ai

who was rich, virile, handsome and aristocratic."

qe ishte i pasur, me pamje mashkullore, i pashem, dhe aristoktrat."

Of course, it was the same man,

Sigurisht, ishte po i njejti njeri,

but she was seeing him in different ways.

por ajo e kishte pare ate menyre tjeter.

As a third example,

Shembulli trete,

consider consumer products.

eshte per produktet e konsumit.

So one reason why you might like something is its utility.

Pra, nje arsye pse ju mund te mendoni se dicka eshte e nevojshme.

You can put shoes on your feet; you can play golf with golf clubs;

Ti mund te veshesh kepuce ne kembe; mund te luash golf ne klubet e golfit;

and chewed up bubble gum doesn't do anything at all for you.

dhe te pertypesh nje camcakez qe s'ben agje per ty .

But each of these three objects has value

Por secila nga keto sende ka nje vlere

above and beyond what it can do for you

siper dhe pertej asa qe ai mund te beje per ty

based on its history.

bazuar ne historine e vet.

The golf clubs were owned by John F. Kennedy

Klubet e golfit ishin te John. F. Kennedy

and sold for three-quarters of a million dollars at auction.

dhe ai i shiti per 3/4 e nje milioni ne ankand.

The bubble gum was chewed up by pop star Britney Spears

Camcakizi ishte pertypur nga nje pop star si Britney Spears

and sold for several hundreds of dollars.

dhe eshte shitur per disa qindra dollare.

And in fact, there's a thriving market

Dhe ne fakt, aty eshte nje market qe lulezon

in the partially eaten food of beloved people.

ne tregun e ushqimeve pjeserisht te ngrena prej njerezve te dashur.

(Laughter)

(Te qeshura)

The shoes are perhaps the most valuable of all.

Kepucet jane ndoshta me me vlere se te gjitha.

According to an unconfirmed report,

Sipas nje lajmi te pakonfirmuar,

a Saudi millionaire offered 10 million dollars

nje milioner arab ofroi 10 milione dollare

for this pair of shoes.

per keto pale kepuce.

They were the ones thrown at George Bush

Ishin ato qe iu gjuajten Gorxh Bushit

at an Iraqi press conference several years ago.

ne Irak ne nje konference disa vite me pare.

(Applause)

(Duartrokitje)

Now this attraction to objects

Tani kjo joshje per sendet

doesn't just work for celebrity objects.

nuk funsionon vetem per objektete te famshmeve.

Each one of us, most people,

Cdokush nga ne, shumica e njerezve

have something in our life that's literally irreplaceable,

kane dicka ne jeten e tyre qe eshte vertete e pazevendesueshme,

in that it has value because of its history --

ne aspektin se ajo ka vlere prej historise se saj --

maybe your wedding ring, maybe your child's baby shoes --

ndoshta unaza e marteses, apo kepucet e bebit --

so that if it was lost, you couldn't get it back.

keshtu n.q.s. ajo humbet, ti nuk mund ta marresh mbrapsht.

You could get something that looked like it or felt like it,

Ti mund te gjesh dicka qe ngjan me te apo te ben te ndjehesh ngjashem,

but you couldn't get the same object back.

por ti nuk mund t'a kesh te njejtin objekt perseri.

With my colleagues George Newman and Gil Diesendruck,

Me koleget e mi George Newman dhe Diesendruck,

we've looked to see what sort of factors, what sort of history, matters

ne kemi vene re per te pare cfare lloj faktoresh, cfare lloj ngjarjesh, kane rendesi

for the objects that people like.

per sendet qe njerezit duan.

So in one of our experiments,

Keshtu qe ne nje nga eksperimentet tona,

we asked people to name a famous person who they adored,

ne kemi pyetur njerzit per te permendur nje person te famshem qe ata e kishin adhuruar,

a living person they adored.

nje person qe jeton qe ata e adhuronin.

So one answer was George Clooney.

Keshtu pergjigjja e dikujy ishte Xhorxh Kluni .

Then we asked them,

Dhe ne i pyetem ata,

"How much would you pay for George Clooney's sweater?"

"Sa do te paguanit per pulovren e Xhorxh Klunit?"

And the answer is a fair amount --

Dhe pergjigja ishte nje shume e konsiderueshme --

more than you would pay for a brand new sweater

me shume sesa do te paguaje per nje pulover te re

or a sweater owned by somebody who you didn't adore.

apo nje pulover qe e ka pasur dikush qe nuk e pelqeni.

Then we asked other groups of subjects --

Pastaj pyetem nje grup tjeter --

we gave them different restrictions

i dhame atyre kufizime te ndryshme

and different conditions.

dhe kushte te ndryshme.

So for instance, we told some people,

Keshtu ne kete rast, ne i thame disave prej tyre,

"Look, you can buy the sweater,

"Shikoni, ju mund te blini nje pulover,

but you can't tell anybody you own it,

por pa i thene njeriut qe ju e keni ate,

and you can't resell it."

dhe qe ju nuk mund ta rishisni."

That drops the value of it,

Kjo beri qe vlera e saj te binte ,

suggesting that that's one reason why we like it.

duke sugjeruar qe kjo ishte aryeja pse ne e donim ate.

But what really causes an effect

Por e ajo qe shkakton vertete nje ndikim

is you tell people, "Look, you could resell it, you could boast about it,

eshte ti thuash njerezve, "Shikoni, ju mund ta shisni ate, mund te mburreni me te,

but before it gets to you,

por perpara se ta merrni ju,

it's thoroughly washed."

ajo eshte pastruar rrenjesisht."

That causes a huge drop in the value.

Kjo shkakton nje ulje te madhe ne vlere.

As my wife put it, "You've washed away the Clooney cooties."

Sic e thote gruaja ime "I ke hequr morrat e Klunit."

(Laughter)

(Te qeshura)

So let's go back to art.

Keshtu, le te kthehemi perseri tek arti.

I would love a Chagall. I love the work of Chagall.

Do vdisja per nje Chagall. Une i dashuroj veprat e Chagallit.

If people want to get me something at the end of the conference,

Nqs se dikush do te me jape dicka ne fund te konferences,

you could buy me a Chagall.

mund te me blini nje Chagall.

But I don't want a duplicate,

Por une nuk dua nje dublikate te tij,

even if I can't tell the difference.

megjithse, une nuk mund t'a kuptoj ndryshimin.

That's not because, or it's not simply because,

Kjo nuk eshte sepse, ose nuk eshte vetem se

I'm a snob and want to boast about having an original.

une jam nje snobist dhe dua te mburrem qe kam nje origjinale.

Rather, it's because I want something that has a specific history.

Por, sepse une dua dicka qe mbart ne vetevete nje histori te rralle.

In the case of artwork,

Ne rastin e veprave artistike,

the history is special indeed.

historia eshte e vecante, vertete.

The philosopher Denis Dutton

Filozofi Denis Dutton

in his wonderful book "The Art Instinct"

ne librin e tij te famshem "Instikti i Artit"

makes the case that, "The value of an artwork

e pershkruan rastin si, "Vlera e nje vepre arti

is rooted in assumptions about the human performance underlying its creation."

i ka rrenjet ne supozimet rreth performances njerezore gjate krijimit te saj."

And that could explain the difference

Dhe kjo mund te shpjegoje ndryshimin

between an original and a forgery.

mes nje origjinali dhe nje falsoje.

They may look alike, but they have a different history.

Ato mund te ngjajne, por kane histori te ndryshme.

The original is typically the product of a creative act,

Origjinali eshte ne menyre tipike produkti i nje arti krijues,

the forgery isn't.

kurse fallcifikimi s'eshte.

I think this approach can explain differences

Une mendoj qe kjo arritje mund te na shpjegoje ndryshimin

in people's taste in art.

ne shijet e njerezve ne art.

This is a work by Jackson Pollock.

Ky eshte nje punim nga Jackson Pollock.

Who here likes the work of Jackson Pollock?

Kujt ketu i pelqejne punimet e Jackson Pollock ?

Okay. Who here, it does nothing for them?

Mire. Kush prej jush, nuk e pelqen ate?

They just don't like it.

Thjesht se pelqejne.

I'm not going to make a claim about who's right,

Une nuk do te them se kush ka te drejte,

but I will make an empirical claim

por do ta beje nje gjykim empirik

about people's intuitions,

rreth intuites se njerzve,

which is that, if you like the work of Jackson Pollock,

qe eshte, n.q.s. ju pelqeni punet e Jackson Pollock,

you'll tend more so than the people who don't like it

ju do te pepiqeni me shume ne menyre qe njerezit qe nuk i pelqejne ato

to believe that these works are difficult to create,

te besojne qe keto punime jane te veshtira per tu krijuar,

that they require a lot of time and energy

qe ato kerkojne shume kohe dhe energji

and creative energy.

dhe energji krijuese.

I use Jackson Pollock on purpose as an example

Une perdora Jackson Pollock me qellim si nje shembull

because there's a young American artist

sepse eshte nje nje artist i ri American

who paints very much in the style of Jackson Pollock,

qe pikturon ngjashem me stilin e Jackson Pollock,

and her work was worth

dhe punet e saj vlejne

many tens of thousands of dollars --

disa dhjetera mijera dollare --

in large part because she's a very young artist.

ne pjesen me te madhe sepse ajo eshte nje artistte e re.

This is Marla Olmstead

Kjo eshte Marla Olmstead

who did most of her work when she was three years old.

qe ka bere pjesen me te madhe te veprave te saj ne moshen tre vjecare.

The interesting thing about Marla Olmstead

Gjeja interesante rreth Marla Olmstead

is her family made the mistake

eshte se familja e saj beri nje gabim

of inviting the television program 60 Minutes II into their house

dhe ftoi nje program televiziv te quajtur "60 minuta 2" ne shtepine e saj

to film her painting.

per te filmuar pikturat.

And they then reported that her father was coaching her.

Dhe me pas ata thane qe babai i saj e drejtonte ate.

When this came out on television,

Kur kjo gje u shfaq ne televizion,

the value of her art dropped to nothing.

vlera e artit te saj u kthye ne hic.

It was the same art, physically,

Ishte i njejti art, fizikisht,

but the history had changed.

por histoira rreth tij ndryshoi.

I've been focusing now on the visual arts,

Une jam fokusuar tani tek artet pamore,

but I want to give two examples from music.

por dua t'ju jap dhe dy shembuj nga muzika.

This is Joshua Bell, a very famous violinist.

Ky eshte Joshua Bell, nje violinist i famshem.

And the Washington Post reporter Gene Weingarten

Dhe reporteri i Washington Postit Gene Weingarten

decided to enlist him for an audacious experiment.

vendosi ta rekrutoje ate per nje eksperiment te guximshem.

The question is: How much would people like Joshua Bell,

Pyetja eshte: Sa e duan njerezit Joashua Bell,

the music of Joshua Bell,

muziken e Joshua Bellit,

if they didn't know they were listening to Joshua Bell?

sikur ata mos ta dinin qe ata po degjonin Joshua Bell?

So he got Joshua Bell to take his million dollar violin

Keshtu qe ai morri Joshua Bell te merrte violinen e tij te shtrenjte

down to a Washington D.C. subway station

poshte ne nje metro te Warshington D.C

and stand in the corner and see how much money he would make.

te qendronte ne nje cep dhe te shihte se sa leke do te fitonte.

And here's a brief clip of this.

Dhe ky eshte klipi i shkurter i tij.

(Violin music)

( Muzike Violine )

After being there for three-quarters of an hour,

Pasi kishin qendruar aty rreth 45 min,

he made 32 dollars.

ai fitoi 32 $.

Not bad. It's also not good.

Jo keq, por jo dhe aq mire.

Apparently to really enjoy the music of Joshua Bell,

Sic duket nqs vertet do te kenaqesh me muziken e Joshua Bell-it,

you have to know you're listening to Joshua Bell.

ti duhet te dish qe po degjon Joshua Bell-in.

He actually made 20 dollars more than that,

Ai ne fakt fitoi edhe 20$ me shume se kaq,

but he didn't count it.

por ai nuk i numuroi ato.

Because this woman comes up --

Sepse vjen kjo gruaja --

you see at the end of the video -- she comes up.

e shikoni qe ne fund te videos -- ajo vjen .

She had heard him at the Library of Congress a few weeks before

Ajo e kishte degjuar ate ne Librarine e Kongresit disa jave perpara

at this extravagant black-tie affair.

me kete kollare te zeze ektsravagante pune.

So she's stunned that he's standing in a subway station.

Ajo ngeli e habitur qe ai po qendronte ne stacionin e metrose.

So she's struck with pity.

Keshtu qe ajo u godit nga keqardhja.

She reaches into her purse and hands him a 20.

Ajo futi doren ne kuleten e saj dhe i hodhi 20 $.

(Laughter)

( Te qeshura )

(Applause)

( Duartrokitje )

The second example from music

Rasti i dyte nga muzika

is from John Cage's modernist composition,

eshte nga kompozitori modern John Cage's,

"4'33"."

"4'33"."

As many of you know,

Sic e dine te gjithe

this is the composition where the pianist sits at a bench,

ky eshte nje kompozim ku pianisti ulet ne nje stol,

opens up the piano

hap pianon

and sits and does nothing for four minutes and 33 seconds --

dhe ulet dhe nuk ben asgje per 4 minuta dhe 33 sekonda --

that period of silence.

kete kohe qetesie.

And people have different views on this.

Dhe njerezit kishin pikpamje te ndryshme per kete gje.

But what I want to point out

Por ajo qe une dua te nxjerr

is you can buy this from iTunes.

eshte qe ju mund ta blini ate nga iTunes.

(Laughter)

( Te qeshura )

For a dollar 99,

Per 1, 99 dollar,

you can listen to that silence,

ju mund te degjoni ate heshtje,

which is different than other forms of silence.

qe eshte e ndryshme nga te gjitha format e heshtjes.

(Laughter)

(Te qeshura)

Now I've been talking so far about pleasure,

Deri tani isha duke folur rreth kenaqesise,

but what I want to suggest

por une dua t'ju them

is that everything I've said applies as well to pain.

se cdo gje qe kam thene, vlen edhe per dhimbjen.

And how you think about what you're experiencing,

Dhe si ajo qe ju mendoni rreth asaj qe ju po perjetoni,

your beliefs about the essence of it,

besimin tuaj rreth thelbit te saj,

affect how it hurts.

ndikon se si ajo dhemb.

One lovely experiment

Nje eksperiment i bukur

was done by Kurt Gray and Dan Wegner.

eshte bere nga Kurt Gray dhe Dan Wegner.

What they did was they hooked up Harvard undergraduates

Ajo qe ata bene ishte te merrnin e te lidhnin studente te Harvardit

to an electric shock machine.

me nje makineri me dridhje elektrike.

And they gave them a series of painful electric shocks.

Dhe i shkaktuan atyre disa dridhje te dhimbshme elektrike.

So it was a series of five painful shocks.

Keshtu, ishte nje seri prej pese dridhjeve te dhimbshme.

Half of them are told that they're being given the shocks

Gjysmave te tyre ju tha qe keto dridhje do t'ju beheshin

by somebody in another room,

prej dikujt ne nje dhome tjeter,

but the person in the other room doesn't know they're giving them shocks.

por personi ne dhomen tjeter nuk e di qe do t'ju japin atyre keto te dridhura.

There's no malevolence, they're just pressing a button.

S'ka asnje dashakeqesi, ata vetem shtypin nje buton.

The first shock is recorded as very painful.

Goditja e pare eshte shenuar si shume e dhimbshme.

The second shock feels less painful, because you get a bit used to it.

Goditja e dyte ndihet me pak e dhimbshme, sepse mesohesh me te.

The third drops, the fourth, the fifth.

E treta bie, e katerta, e pesta.

The pain gets less.

Dhe dhimja lehtesohet.

In the other condition,

Ne nje rast tjeter,

they're told that the person in the next room

atyre iu thuhet qe personi ne dhomen tjeter

is shocking them on purpose -- knows they're shocking them.

i godet ata me qellim -- ai e di qe ata goditen nga dridhjet.

The first shock hurts like hell.

Goditja e pare dhemb shume.

The second shock hurts just as much,

Dhe e dyta i dhemb po aq shume,

and the third and the fourth and the fifth.

dhe e treta dhe e katerta dhe e pesta.

It hurts more

Te dhemb me shume

if you believe somebody is doing it to you on purpose.

nqs se ti beson qe dikush po e ben ate me qellim.

The most extreme example of this

Dhe shembulli me ekstrem i kesaj

is that in some cases,

eshte qe ne disa raste,

pain under the right circumstances

dhimbja ne rrethanat e duhura

can transform into pleasure.

mund te shendrrohet ne kenaqesi.

Humans have this extraordinarily interesting property

Njerezit kane kete veti interesante dhe te jashtezakonshme

that will often seek out low-level doses of pain

qe shpeshhere kane nevoje per doza te ulta dhimbjeje

in controlled circumstances

ne kushte te kontrolluara

and take pleasure from it --

dhe marrin kenaqesi prej saj --

as in the eating of hot chili peppers

sikurse kur ha speca djeges

and roller coaster rides.

apo nje xhiro me tren ne parkun e lojerave.

The point was nicely summarized

Kjo gje eshte permbledhur bukur

by the poet John Milton

nga poeti John Milton

who wrote, "The mind is its own place,

i cili ka shkruajtur, "Mendja eshte vendi i vete,

and in itself can make a heaven of hell,

dhe ne ne vetvete e kthen nje parajse ferri,

a hell of heaven."

ne nje ferr parajse."

And I'll end with that. Thank you.

Dhe me kete po e mbyll. Falemderit.

(Applause)

( Duartrokitje )