Birds Aren’t Real? How a Conspiracy Takes Flight | Peter McIndoe | TED

Prevodilac: Milenka Okuka Lektor: Strahinja Tomic

Hi, I'm Peter.

Zdravo, zovem se Piter.

And six years ago,

I pre šest godina

I received information that changed the course of the rest of my life.

dobio sam informaciju koja je promenila smer ostatka mog života.

From 1969 through 2001,

Od 1969. sve do 2001,

the US government murdered over 12 billion birds

vlada SAD-a je ubila preko 12 milijardi ptica

in the American skies.

na američkim nebesima.

They did this using poisonous toxins dropped from airplanes

Uradili su to upotrebom otrovnih toksina koji su ispuštani iz aviona,

that was contagious and murdered all of the birds

a koji su bili zarazni i pobili sve ptice

over the course of about 40 years.

tokom narednih četrdesetak godina.

Now, I know this is not the public understanding of this

Sad, znam da ovo nije opšteprihvaćeno razumevanje ovoga

and may sound absurd,

i možda zvuči apsurdno,

but please just bear with me and keep an open mind

ali molim vas ostanite prisebni i imajte otvoren um,

and just be respectful, please, as I share this information with you.

i samo budite učtivi, molim vas, dok delim ovu informaciju s vama.

I know a lot of you may be wondering

Znam da se mnogi od vas pitaju

why would the government kill 12 billion birds?

zašto bi vlada ubila 12 milijardi ptica?

It seems like an awful lot of trouble for a government to go through.

Čini se kao previše truda za vladu da se time bavi.

The reason is as devastating as it is simple.

Razlog je koliko poražavajući toliko i jednostavan.

For each bird the government killed,

Svaku pticu koju je vlada ubila,

they replaced it with a surveillance drone replica in disguise

zamenili su replikom prerušenog špijunskog drona

designed to spy on the American people.

osmišljenog da nadzire američki narod.

Now ...

Sad...

Some may say,

Neko će reći,

if you're the government, at least,

ako ste vlada, u najmanju ruku,

that this is a worthy sacrifice, these 12 billion lives,

ovo je vredno žrtve, ovih 12 milijardi života,

for the safety of the people, right?

zarad bezbednosti ljudi, zar ne?

I don't know about that,

Nisam siguran u to,

it seems like a pretty serious limit on our freedom,

čini se kao prilično ozbiljno ograničenje naših sloboda,

wouldn't you agree?

ne biste li se složili?

The proof that birds are robots is all around us, if you start looking.

Dokaz da su ptice roboti je svuda oko nas, ako počnete da zapažate.

For starters, birds charge their batteries on power lines --

Za početak, ptice pune svoje baterije na dalekovodima -

(Laughter)

(Smeh)

So they can refuel up high

Kako bi se dopunile na visinama

and they can watch the civilians, you know.

i mogle da nadgledaju civile, znate.

They also track civilians using a liquid tracking device.

Takođe prate civile upotrebom tečnih sprava za praćenje.

(Laughter)

(Smeh)

You ever wonder why birds poop on your car?

Da li ste se ikad zapitali zašto vam se ptice prazne po kolima?

Do you need more evidence?

Treba li vam još dokaza?

Really, I can go all day up here.

Stvarno, mogao bih ovako ceo dan.

Who here has seen a baby pigeon?

Ko je ovde video mladunče goluba?

You haven't, have you?

Niste, je l’ da?

It's weird.

Čudno je.

There's all these adult pigeons where are all the babies?

Imamo sve te odrasle golubove, gde su sva mladunčad?

They come out of the factory as adults, so ...

Iz fabrike izlaze kao odrasli, pa...

(Laughter)

(Smeh)

There's no organic growth, you know.

Nema organskog rasta, znate.

It's a smoking gun.

Radi se o inkriminišućem materijalu.

Over the years,

Tokom godina,

as I began putting this information together,

dok sam sastavljao ove informacije,

I began realizing the extent of all this.

počeo sam da uviđam razmere svega ovoga.

And there were times I wished I never even learned this.

I bilo je trenutaka kada sam želeo da nikad nisam saznao za ovo.

My life would be so much easier.

Život bi mi bio mnogo lakši.

You know, I remember before I knew this information, I was happier,

Znate, pre nego što sam saznao ove informacije bio sam srećniji,

my steps were lighter, you know.

korak mi je bio lakši, znate.

But I always come back to this.

Međutim, uvek se vraćam ovome.

It is my moral obligation

Moralna mi je obaveza

as one of the few privileged enough to know this,

kao jednog od nekolicine dovoljno privilegovanih da znaju za ovo,

to share it with you, the blind sheep, you know.

da to podelim sa vama, slepim stadom, znate.

(Laughter)

(Smeh)

And that's what I've been doing for years now.

A to i radim sada već godinama.

I'm a part of a movement called Birds Aren't Real.

Deo sam pokreta nazvanog „Ptice nisu stvarne”.

And in 2021,

A 2021,

I was promoted to public information officer for the movement.

unapređen sam u portparola pokreta.

It's the honor of my life.

Radi se o životnoj počasti.

I had one job.

Imao sam jedno zaduženje.

Oh, thank you, thank you.

O, hvala vam, hvala.

(Applause)

(Aplauz)

Thank you.

Hvala vam.

My one job was to deprogram the public from the bird lie.

Moja jedina dužnost je bila da deprogramiram javnost od ptičjih laži.

And deprogram is a very specific word because you all are programmed.

A deprogramiranja je veoma specifična reč jer ste svi vi programirani.

You know that, right?

Znate to, zar ne?

We live in a pro-bird civilization drenched in propaganda.

Živimo u civilizaciji naklonjenoj pticama i uronjenoj u propagandu.

For instance, every state has a state bird,

Na primer, svaka država ima državnu pticu,

the national mascot is a bald eagle,

nacionalna maskota je beloglavi orao,

presidents don't talk, they tweet,

predsednici ne govore, cvrkuću,

then the tweets are covered on the bird-logo media.

a onda se ti cvrkuti prenose na mediju sa logom ptice.

Once I knew this, my first order of business

Čim sam saznao za ovo, prvo na dnevnom redu

was to get the information out to the American people,

mi je bilo da prenesem informacije američkom narodu,

get off the internet into the real world.

da iskoračim sa interneta u stvarni svet.

So that's what I did.

Pa sam to i uradio.

I bought a van,

Kupio sam kombi,

covered it in decals with facts.

prekrio ga nalepnicama u vidu činjenica.

I wanted to turn the highway into an information highway,

Želeo sam da pretvorim auto-put u informacijsku magistralu,

awaken the people.

da osvestim ljude.

I went city to city, holding rallies,

Išao sam od grada do grada, držeći mitinge,

meeting up with our thousands of supporters, growing by the day.

susrećući se sa hiljadama naših pristalica, koje su bile sve brojnije.

And I was putting up billboards wherever we went,

I postavljao sam bilborde kuda god bismo prošli,

sharing our simple but powerful message.

deleći našu prostu, ali snažnu poruku.

Look how beautiful it is.

Pogledajte kako je lepa.

Now, the government,

Sad, vlada,

(Laughter)

(Smeh)

the government did take note of what we were doing

vlada je zapazila šta smo radili

and they sent some intimidators to try and deter us from our mission.

i poslali su neke zastrašivače kako bi nas odvratili sa misije.

You can see them right there.

Možete da ih vidite ovde.

(Laughter)

(Smeh)

But we did not fold.

Međutim, nismo se pokolebali.

We kept on going.

Nastavili smo dalje.

We started holding rallies at some of the most evil pro-bird corporations

Počeli smo da se okupljamo ispred nekih od najpokvarenijih pro-ptičjih korporacija

in the world, starting with Twitter,

u svetu, započinjući sa Tviterom,

where we brought hundreds out to protest their pro-bird logo.

gde smo izveli stotine ljudi da protestuju protiv njihovog ptičjeg loga.

Months later, we brought 500 people out to CNN headquarters

Mesecima kasnije, doveli smo 500 ljudi ispred štaba Si-En-Ena

to demand fairer coverage for bird truthers on air.

kako bismo zahtevali poštenije izveštavanje o ptičjim vesnicima.

Then just last year,

Pre samo godinu,

we brought 2,000 people out to Washington Square in New York City

doveli smo 2000 ljudi na Vašingtonski trg u Njujorku

to demand that the mayor shut down every pigeon in the city.

kako bismo zahtevali od gradonačelnika da obori svakog goluba u gradu.

(Laughter)

(Smeh)

Here's what that looked like.

Evo kako je to izgledalo.

(Crowd shouting) Birds aren't real!

(Gomila viče) Ptice nisu stvarne!

Birds aren't real!

Ptice nisu stvarne!

Birds aren't real!

Ptice nisu stvarne!

Birds aren't real!

Ptice nisu stvarne!

(Laughter)

(Smeh)

Can't even tell you how that felt.

Ne mogu da vam opišem osećaj.

I took that video standing on the top of the van, megaphone in hand,

Napravio sam taj snimak na krovu kombija s megafonom u ruci,

knowing we were awakening a country that needs it so badly.

znajući da budimo državu kojoj je to očajnički potrebno.

I can't think of anything more beautiful.

Ništa lepše od toga mi ne pada na pamet.

OK, let me start this talk over.

U redu, počeću ispočetka.

I do not actually believe that birds are robots.

Ne verujem stvarno da su ptice roboti.

And everyone else in this picture is also in on the bit.

I svi ostali na ovoj slici su svesni šale.

This is a character that I played for four years.

Radi se o liku koga sam igrao četiri godine.

The leader of a fake movement with fake evidence and a fake history.

Vođi lažnog pokreta sa lažnim dokazima i lažnom istorijom.

Our goal was to convince the public

Cilj nam je bio da ubedimo javnost

that our satirical movement was a real one.

da je naš satirični pokret pravi.

And see if the media would believe what we were saying.

I da vidimo da li će mediji da poveruju u ono što govorimo.

To do this, I played this character that I just showed you.

Da bismo to postigli, glumio sam lika koga sam vam upravo pokazao.

We held rallies, put up billboards.

Držali smo mitinge, postavljali bilborde.

We even sent the media a lot of fake evidence.

Čak smo i slali medijima gomilu lažnih dokaza.

We hired an old actor to pose as an ex-CIA agent

Unajmili smo starog glumca da se predstavlja kao bivši agent CIA,

confessing to his crimes.

koji priznaje svoje zločine.

Poslali smo im istorijsko curenje mejlova naslovljeno „Afera krilce”

We sent them a historic email leak called "Poultry Gate"

that came out of the Pentagon,

koje je stiglo iz Pentagona,

(Laughter)

(Smeh)

where we forged hundreds of fake emails

gde smo falsifikovali stotine lažnih mejlova,

exposing elites and government officials in the bird drone surveillance plot.

razotkrivajući elite i vladine zvaničnike u zaveri špijuniranja ptičjim dronovima.

It didn't take much to convince the media.

Nije nam mnogo trebalo da ubedimo medije.

After just one summer holding rallies like this,

Nakon što smo držali mitinge samo jedno leto,

it became nationally syndicated news

postali smo vest s nacionalnom pokrivenošću

on tons of local news stations

na gomili lokalnih stanica

that we were a real movement that had been around for 50 years.

da smo pravi pokret koji postoji 50 godina.

And there was a resurgence happening where it was coming back

I da je u toku naš preporod tokom koga se vraćamo

and there was a radical new leader, myself, bringing the movement back

i imamo novog radikalnog vođu, mene, koji oživljava pokret

as the rise of conspiracy theories swept the nation.

dok plima teorija zavere preplavljuje naciju.

At this point, I'm sitting on my couch,

U ovoj tački, sedim na kauču,

watching the media report on my fake movement as a real one

gledam medijske izveštaje o svom lažnom pokretu kao pravom

and figure it is probably time to come out of character.

i shvatam da je verovatno vreme da izađem iz uloge.

One, because we'd accomplished what we came there to do.

Pod jedan, jer smo postigli ono što smo želeli.

But also, I didn't want this to snowball in anything that was never supposed to.

Međutim, isto, nisam želeo da ovo preraste u nešto što mi nije bila namera.

So in 2021, I broke character,

Pa sam 2021. napustio ulogu,

revealed the movement was a farce on the front page of The New York Times.

otkrio da je pokret farsa na naslovnici Njujork tajmsa.

And I was very proud, as you can see.

I bio sam veoma ponosan, kao što vidite.

Allow me to reintroduce myself one more time.

Dozvolite da se predstavim još jedanput.

Hi, I'm Peter.

Zdravo, zovem se Piter.

Can you say, "Hi, Peter?"

Možete li reći: „Zdravo, Pitere”?

(Audience) Hi, Peter.

(Publika) Zdravo, Pitere.

Hey.

Hej.

I'd like to tell you a little bit about myself.

Želeo bih da vam kažem ponešto o sebi.

I grew up in Arkansas in Little Rock,

Odrastao sam u Arkansasu, u Litl Roku,

where I was home-schooled on the outskirts of town.

gde sam školovan kod kuće na obodu grada.

The community that I grew up with was hyper conservative and religious,

Zajednica u kojoj sam odrastao bila je veoma konzervativna i religiozna,

and almost everyone that I knew believed in some form of conspiracy theory,

i gotovo da je svako koga sam poznavao verovao u neki oblik teorije zavere,

whether it was that Obama was the Antichrist

bilo da je Obama antihrist

or that there are microchips in the vaccines.

ili da stavljaju mikročipove u vakcine.

During my entire life, I always felt like I was on the fringes of normal society.

Čitavog mog života, uvek sam se osećao kao da sam na obodima normalnog društva.

So, as you can imagine,

Pa, kao što možete da zamislite,

when it became time for me to play a character,

kada je došlo vreme da igram lika,

the conspiracy theorist was a pretty easy one for me to tap into.

glumiti teoretičara zavere je za mene bilo prilično lako.

During the years in character, I used the same cadence,

Tokom godina glumljenja lika, koristio sam isti naglasak,

logic and arguments as those I grew up around,

logiku i argumente onih sa kojima sam odrastao,

just with a different theory swapped in.

samo sam ubacio drugu teoriju.

I was really dedicated to playing this character as convincingly as I could,

Uistinu sam bio posvećen što uverljivijem igranju ovog lika,

as method as possible.

što metodičnije moguće.

Te sam ponekad provodio dane unutar lika,

So I spent days, sometimes, in character,

a lot of time out in public with the van there,

mnogo vremena napolju u javnosti sa kombijem,

just talking with strangers.

prosto razgovarajući sa strancima.

It led to hundreds of interactions with strangers

To je dovelo do stotina interakcija sa strancima

who thought that I was a real conspiracy theorist.

koji su mislili da sam stvarno teoretičar zavere.

I'd often be out there, cowboy hat on,

Često bih bio napolju sa kaubojskim šeširom,

handing out fliers that said things like,

deleći flajere na kojima je pisalo:

"If it flies, it's spies."

„Svi letači su nadzirači.”

(Laughter)

(Smeh)

Imali smo flajer na kom je pisalo:

We had another flyer that said,

"Birdwatching goes both ways."

„Posmatranje ptica je obostrano.”

(Laughter)

(Smeh)

And during these times, as I'm handing out flyers and talking with people,

I tokom vremena, dok sam delio flajere i razgovarao s ljudima,

there were hundreds, maybe thousands of instances over the years

bilo je na stotine, možda hiljade slučajeva tokom godina

where strangers would approach me.

gde bi mi stranci prilazili.

You know, they'd see me in public and I'd see them notice me.

Znate, videli bi me u javnosti, i ja bih video kako su me zapazili.

And walk up to me with complete disdain on their face.

Prilazili su mi sa krajnjim prezirom na licu.

They thought that I was a real conspiracy theorist.

Mislili su da sam pravi teoretičar zavere.

And time and time again, they'd come up to me,

I iznova i iznova su mi prilazili,

pogledali bi me pravo u oči, skroz izbliza kao što sam ja vama ovde,

look me right in the eyes, just as close as I am to you right here,

and they would tell me how stupid I am.

i rekli bi mi koliko sam glup.

They'd tell me I was uneducated, that I was crazy.

Govorili su mi da sam neobrazovan, da sam lud.

That I was the problem with this country.

Da sam sve što je problematično u ovoj državi.

When this happens,

Kada bi se ovo desilo,

I didn't feel the emotions of the character that I thought I would.

nisam se osećao kako sam mislio da hoću.

My out-of-character self may interpret these interactions

Moje ja izvan lika bi tumačilo ove interakcije

as a funny response to someone that fell for the comedy project,

kao smešni odgovor na nekoga ko je naseo na komični projekat,

but instead I felt the emotions of the character.

međutim, umesto toga, imao sam osećanja lika.

I felt emboldened and I felt sad and angry.

Osećao sam se ohrabreno, i osećao sam se tužno i besno.

Like they didn't even take the time to know me.

Kao, nisu čak ni odvojili vreme da me upoznaju.

They instantly condemned me, judged me and othered me.

Momentalno su me osudili, etiketirali i izopštili.

I'd found myself on the opposite side of this equation that I'd grown up around,

Zatekao sam se sa suprotne strane jednačine uz koju sam odrastao,

the normal and the fringe.

normalnog i rubnog.

And in those moments when those people were talking to me,

I u tim trenucima, kada bi ti ljudi razgovarali sa mnom,

they could not have been more ineffective

nisu mogli biti neefikasniji

at what I would assume they really want.

u onome što pretpostavljam da su zaista želeli.

Less conspiracy theorists in the world.

Manje teoretičara zavere u svetu.

These experiences, hundreds of them over the years,

Ova iskustva, na stotine njih tokom godina,

watching how people interact with those on the fringes of our society

posmatranja kako ljudi interaguju sa onima na obodima našeg društva

gave me an entirely new perspective on our approach to conspiracy theorists,

su mi podarila skroz novu perspektivu na naš pristup teoretičarima zavere,

whether it's how we frame them in the conventional media,

bilo na to kako ih predstavljamo u konvencionalnim medijima,

to how we deal with those in our own lives.

do toga kako se odnosimo prema onima u stvarnom životu.

If our goal is to live in a shared reality with our neighbors,

Ako nam je cilj da živimo u zajedničkoj stvarnosti sa našim komšijama,

what if our current approach isn't bringing us any closer to that?

šta ako nas naš trenutni pristup nimalo ne približava tome?

What if by talking to conspiracy theorists like they're ignorant and stupid,

Šta ako razgovrajući sa teoretičarima zavere kao da su neznalice ili glupaci,

we're actually pushing them farther away from the truth

zapravo ih guramo sve dalje od istine

that we want them to see?

koju želimo da uvide?

Because what happens when someone tells you that you're stupid,

Jer šta se dešava kada vam neko kaže da ste glupi,

you're all wrong, you're the problem?

da uopšte niste u pravu, da ste problem?

You'll feel judged and dismissed.

Osećate se etiketirano i odbačeno.

And most importantly, you’ll feel othered,

I što je najvažnije, osećate se izopšteno,

which may lead you to look for safety

a to vas može navesti da tražite sigurnost

in those who are like-minded

među onima sličnim vama

to do what they have been doing for you.

kako bi vam pružili ono što oni pružaju.

Affirm your selfhood, give you a sense of identity, belonging.

Potvrdu vas kao osobe, vašeg osećaja identiteta, pripadanja.

These are some of the most basic human desires.

Ovo su neke od najosnovnijih ljudskih težnji.

We have to consider that conspiracy theorists

Moramo da uzmemo u obzir da teoretičari zavere

are not just joining these groups for no reason.

ne pristupaju ovim grupama bez razloga.

They're getting rewards out of these,

Dobijaju nagradu iz svega toga,

things that we are all looking for,

stvari za kojima svi mi tragamo,

a sense of purpose, community.

osećanje svrhe, zajedništva.

I grew up with the internet

Odrastao sam uz internet,

and during my time with this project, especially out of character,

i tokom vremena na ovom projektu, naročito dok sam bio izvan lika,

people have talked to me about the misinformation age

ljudi su mi govorili o dobu lažnih informacija

and this, you know, terrifying problem of online echo chambers

i ovom, znate, zastrašujućem problemu eho-komora na internetu

and conspiracy theorists.

i teoretičara zavere.

But I want to remind us that there are humans behind a lot of these screens.

Želim ipak da vas podsetim da su ljudi iza većine tih ekrana.

It's not just numbers.

Nisu samo brojevi.

Everyone’s unique experience influences their own narrative about the world,

Svačije jedinstveno iskustvo utiče na njihove sopstvene priče o svetu,

and there's no blueprint for how to deal with this yet.

i još uvek ne postoji obrazac kako da se nosimo s ovim.

But I do not think that online echo chambers of conspiracy theorists

Međutim, ne smatram da su eho-komore teoretičara zavere na internetu

are this inevitable symptom of life online.

neizbežni simptom života na mreži.

The internet is about 30 years old and things are changing quickly,

Internet je star oko 30 godina i stvari se brzo menjaju,

and I think it'll be very important that we develop new solutions

i smatram da bi bilo veoma važno da razvijemo nova rešenja

for these new problems on a fundamental level.

za ove nove probleme, na suštinskom nivou.

What if by addressing belief before belonging,

Šta ako baveći se ubeđenjima, a ne pripadanjem,

we're starting the conversation at the wrong place?

započinjemo razgovor na pogrešnom mestu?

Instead of sitting in collective bewilderment and frustration

Umesto što sedimo u koletivnoj sluđenosti i frustriranosti

about how these people could believe these things,

zbog toga kako ovi ljudi mogu da veruju u te stvari,

these crazies,

te besmislice,

what if we first looked under the hood

šta ako bismo prvo zagrebali ispod površine

and thought about what made them vulnerable to this information

i razmislili o tome zbog čega su pre svega podložni ovim informacijama?

in the first place?

Šta potencijalno dobijaju iz ovoga

What might they be getting out of this

that they're not getting in their everyday lives?

što ne dobijaju u svojim svakodnevnim životima?

How much does it have to do with a different truth,

Koliko sve to ima veze sa drugačijom istinom

or how much does it have to do with the community that that truth brings?

ili koliko sve to ima veze sa zajednicom koju ta istina donosi?

We need to think about people's circumstances

Moramo da razmišljamo o ljudskim okolnostima

and reference points,

i referentnim tačkama,

to see them as fellow human beings who want to believe in something

da ih vidimo kao sabraću koja žele da veruju u nešto

and want to belong, just like all of us do in this room.

i žele da pripadaju, baš kao i svi mi u ovoj prostoriji.

Because if we continue with our current approach of arguing

Jer ako nastavimo s trenutnim pristupom raspravljanja

on the level of belief,

na nivou ubeđenja,

it's not going to get us anywhere.

neće nas odvesti nikuda.

We're going to end up with more echo chambers,

Završićemo sa još više eho-komora,

more disinformation and more polarization.

još više dezinformacija i većom polarizacijom.

Instead, we can do the harder work of looking into what is fueling the need

Umesto toga, možemo da odradimo teži posao razmatranja šta pokreće potrebu

for an alternate truth.

za alternativnom istinom.

Not only would this lend us more empathy

Ne samo da bismo time postali empatičniji

for those who think differently than us,

prema onima koji misle drugačije od nas,

but I really think this might be the only actually productive means,

već zaista smatram da bi ovo mogao da bude jedini zapravo produktivan način,

productive means,

produktivan način,

of moving toward the shared reality that we all want to live in.

pomeranja ka zajedničkoj stvarnosti u kojoj svi želimo da živimo.

Let's direct our energy toward the crisis of belonging.

Usmerimo našu energiju na krizu pripadanja.

And then maybe we will understand the crisis of belief.

I onda ćemo možda da razumemo krizu verovanja.

Before I go, I'll leave with one more word.

Pre nego što odem, ostavljam vas sa još jednom rečju.

Just don’t forget:

Samo ne zaboravite:

if it flies, it's spies.

svi letači su nadzirači.

Thank you.

Hvala vam.

(Cheers and applause)

(Ovacije i aplauz)