A kinder, gentler philosophy of success | Alain de Botton

Prevodilac: Ana Ciric Lektor: Ivana Korom

For me they normally happen, these career crises,

U krize vezane za karijeru obično

often, actually, on a Sunday evening,

zapravo, često zapadam nedeljom uveče,

just as the sun is starting to set,

kad sunce počne da zalazi

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

i kad jaz između onoga čemu se nadam

i stvarnosti u kojoj živim počne tako bolno da raste

starts to diverge so painfully

that I normally end up weeping into a pillow.

da se na kraju obično isplačem.

I'm mentioning all this --

Sve vam ovo govorim,

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

jer mislim da se ne radi samo o mom ličnom problemu.

you may think I'm wrong in this,

Možda mislite da grešim.

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

Ali smatram da živimo u dobu kad svako od nas u životu

ima periode krize vezane za karijeru,

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

trenutke kad se ono sto smo mislili da znamo

about our lives, about our careers --

o svom životu i svojoj karijeri

comes into contact with a threatening sort of reality.

suočava s pretećom stvarnošću

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

Moguće je da je danas više nego ikad dosad lako dobro živeti.

It's perhaps harder than ever before

Moguće je i da je teže nego ikad

to stay calm, to be free of career anxiety.

ostati pribran, bez aknsioznosti u vezi s karijerom.

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

Sada bih se, ako dozvolite, posvetio

nekim od mogućih razloga

why we might be feeling anxiety about our careers.

za anksioznost po pitanju karijere.

Why we might be victims of these career crises,

Zbog čega smo žrtve tih kriza vezanih za karijeru

as we're weeping softly into our pillows.

zbog kojih nečujno ridamo u jastuk.

One of the reasons why we might be suffering

Jedan od mogućih razloga za tu našu patnju

is that we are surrounded by snobs.

jeste to što smo okruženi snobovima.

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

E sad, imam u neku ruku loše vesti,

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

naročito za one koji iz inostranstva dođu u Oksford.

There's a real problem with snobbery,

Postoji pravi problem u vezi sa snobizmom,

because sometimes people from outside the U.K.

jer oni koji nisu iz Velike Britanije nekad misle

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

da je snobizam tipično britanski fenomen,

fixated on country houses and titles.

koji podrazumeva kuću u provinciji i titulu.

The bad news is that's not true.

Loša vest je da to nije tačno.

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

Snobizam je globalni fenomen.

this is a global phenomenon.

Mi smo globalna organizacija. Radi se o globalnom fenomenu.

What is a snob?

On je prisutan. Dakle, šta je snob?

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

Snob je svaka osoba koja na osnovu jednog delića vaše ličnosti

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

stvara sliku o vama kao celini.

That is snobbery.

To je snobizam.

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

A dominantna vrsta snobizma

današnjice jeste poslovni snobizam.

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

Na svakom prijemu ćete se začas susresti s njim,

kad vam postave čuveno pitanje

that famous iconic question of the early 21st century,

21. veka: "Čime se bavite?"

"What do you do?"

According to how you answer that question,

I na osnovu toga kako odgovorite na to pitanje,

people are either incredibly delighted to see you,

biće im ili neopisivo drago sto vas vide

or look at their watch and make their excuses.

ili će baciti pogled na sat i izviniti se što moraju da idu.

(Laughter)

(Smeh)

Now, the opposite of a snob is your mother.

A suprotnost od snoba je majka.

(Laughter)

(Smeh)

Not necessarily your mother, or indeed mine,

Ne nužno baš vaša, pa ni moja majka.

but, as it were, the ideal mother,

Već, da tako kažem, idealna majka.

somebody who doesn't care about your achievements.

Neko kome nije bitno šta ste postigli u životu.

Unfortunately, most people are not our mothers.

Ali, nažalost, nisu nam svi majke.

Most people make a strict correlation between how much time,

Kod većine ljudi odluka o tome koliko su vremena

and if you like, love --

i ako želite, ljubavi, pri čemu ne mislim na romantičnu ljubav,

not romantic love, though that may be something --

mada i to može da bude od nekog značaja -

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

već ljubavi uopšte, poštovanja,

spremni da nam posvete, strogo je povezana

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

s našom pozicijom u društvenoj hijerarhiji.

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

I upravo to je razlog zašto nam je karijera toliko bitna

and indeed start caring so much about material goods.

i naravno, zašto su nam materijalna dobra postala toliko bitna.

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

Vidite, često čujemo da živimo u vreme materijalizma

that we're all greedy people.

i da smo svi veoma pohlepni.

I don't think we are particularly materialistic.

Ne mislim da smo posebno materijalistički nastrojeni.

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

Smatram da živimo u društvu

u kojem je sticanje materijalnih dobara

to the acquisition of material goods.

povezano sa izvesnim emotivnim priznanjem.

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

Mi ne želimo ta materijalna dobra. Mi želimo priznanje.

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

To je novi stav prema luksuznoj robi.

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

Kad sledeći put vidite nekog ko se vozi u Ferariju

nemojte odmah da pomislite: "Ovaj je pohlepan".

"This is somebody who's greedy."

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

Pomislite: "Ovo je neko ko je neverovatno ranjiv i ko vapi za ljubavlju".

Drugim rečima -- (Smeh)

(Laughter)

Feel sympathy, rather than contempt.

nemojte ga prezreti, već imajte razumevanja za njega.

There are other reasons --

Ima i drugih razloga --

(Laughter)

(Smeh)

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

Ima i drugih razloga zašto je danas možda teže

biti pribran nego ikad ranije.

One of these, and it's paradoxical,

Jedan od njih, paradoksalno je da se odnosi na nešto prilično prijatno,

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

jeste nada koju gajimo po pitanju svoje karijere.

is the hope we all have for our careers.

Never before have expectations been so high

Nikad dosad se od ljudi nije očekivalo

about what human beings can achieve with their lifespan.

da tako mnogo postignu tokom svog životnog veka.

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

Mnogi izvori nam govore da nema toga što neko ne može da postigne.

We've done away with the caste system,

Rešili smo se kastinskog sistema.

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

U našem sistemu svako može da dostigne

položaj koji želi.

And it's a beautiful idea.

To je divna pomisao.

Along with that is a kind of spirit of equality;

Rame uz rame s tim stoji neka vrsta duha jednakosti. U principu smo svi jednaki.

we're all basically equal.

There are no strictly defined hierarchies.

Nema strogo definisanih

hijerarhija.

There is one really big problem with this,

S tim u vezi postoji jedan veliki problem.

and that problem is envy.

A taj problem je zavist.

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

Zavist, sam njen pomen je tabu,

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

ali ako se za neku emociju može reći da dominira u modernom društvu, to je onda zavist.

And it's linked to the spirit of equality.

I ona je povezana s duhom jednakosti. Da objasnim.

Let me explain.

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

Mislim da bi bilo veoma neobično kad bi neko od vas ovde i neko ko ovo gleda

to be envious of the Queen of England.

bio ljubomoran na englesku kraljicu.

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

Bez obzira na to što je bogatija od bilo koga od vas,

and she's got a very large house,

i što ima veliku kuću.

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

Razlog za to jeste to što previše odskače od uobičajenog.

(Laughter)

She's simply too strange.

Naprosto se previše razlikuje.

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

Ne možemo se porediti s njom. Ona čudno govori.

she comes from an odd place.

Dolazi s neuobičajenog mesta,

So we can't relate to her,

pa ne možemo da se poredimo s njom. A ako s nekim ne možete da se poredite, onda mu i ne zavidite.

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

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

Što je dvoje ljudi sličnije, kad je reč o starosti, miljeu iz kojeg potiču,

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

procesu identifikacije, to je veća opasnost od zavisti.

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

Zbog toga nikada ne bi trebalo da idete na godišnjice mature,

jer se ljudi najčešće porede

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

s onima s kojima su išli u školu.

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

Međutim, problem modernog društva u celini jeste što se ceo svet

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

pretvorio u školu. Svi nose farmerke, svi su isti.

And yet, they're not.

A s druge strane nisu.

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

Dakle, prisutan je jedan duh jednakosti u kombinaciji s oštrim nejednakostima,

which can make for a very stressful situation.

što izaziva - može da izazove veoma stresnu situaciju.

It's probably as unlikely that you would nowadays

Danas je verovatno podjednako mala verovatnoća

become as rich and famous as Bill Gates,

da ćete postati bogati i slavni kao Bil Gejts

as it was unlikely in the 17th century

kao što je u 17. veku bila mala verovatnoća

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

da ćete postati deo francuske aristokratije.

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

Ali se radi o tome da je osećaj drugačiji.

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

Časopisi i drugi mediji doprinose tome da mislite da,

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

ako imate energije, par genijalnih tehnoloških ideja

i garažu, i vi možete da lansirate neki veliki projekat.

you, too, could start a major thing.

(Laughter)

(Smeh)

The consequences of this problem make themselves felt in bookshops.

A posledice tog problema se osećaju po knjižarama.

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

Ako u nekoj većoj knjižari odete na odeljenje s knjigama iz oblasti "sam svoj psiholog",

as I sometimes do --

što ja ponekad činim,

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

i proanalizirate knjige iz te oblasti

koje se danas izdaju, videćete da se one, u suštini, mogu svrstati u dve vrste.

there are basically two kinds.

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

Prva vrsta vam govori: "Možeš ti to! Uspećeš! Sve je moguće!",

a druga vrsta vam objašnjava kako da se nosite

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

s onim što bi se učtivo moglo nazvati "niskim samopoštovanjem",

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

a neučtivo da se "osećate kao krpa".

There's a real correlation

Postoji realna korelacija

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

između društava koja ljudima govore da su u stanju sve da učine

and the existence of low self-esteem.

i postojanja niskog samopoštovanja.

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

To je, dakle, još jedan od slučajeva kad nešto što je sasvim pozitivno,

može da ima veoma negativne posledice.

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

Postoji još jedan razlog iz kojeg bismo mogli da budemo anksiozniji

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

nego ikad kad je reč o karijeri i statusu u današnjem svetu,

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

i on je takođe povezan s nečim pozitivnim.

And that nice thing is called meritocracy.

Ta pozitivna pojava zove se meritokratija.

Everybody, all politicians on Left and Right,

Svi redom, svi političari i levica i desnica,

agree that meritocracy is a great thing,

slažu se da je meritokratija odlična

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

i da svi treba da se trudimo da naše društvo postane stvarno meritokratsko.

In other words -- what is a meritocratic society?

Drugim rečima, šta je meritokratsko društvo?

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

Meritokratsko je ono društvo u kojem ćete,

ako raspolažete talentom, energijom i umećem,

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

dosegnuti vrh. Ne bi trebalo ništa da vas spreči.

It's a beautiful idea.

To je divna zamisao. Problem je u tome

The problem is, if you really believe in a society

što, ako zaista verujete u neko društvo,

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

u kojem oni koji to zaslužuju stižu do vrha,

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

vi istovremeno, što je mnogo negativnije, implicitno

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

verujete u društvo gde oni koji zaslužuju da padnu na dno,

also get to the bottom and stay there.

zaista tamo padaju i ostaju.

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

Drugim rečima, vaš položaj u društvu više ne deluje kao slučajnost,

but merited and deserved.

već postaje pravedno zaslužen.

And that makes failure seem much more crushing.

Na taj način neuspeh postaje mnogo pogubniji.

You know, in the Middle Ages, in England,

Vidite, u Srednjem veku u Engleskoj

when you met a very poor person,

siromašna osoba

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

nazivana je "nesrećnikom".

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

Bukvalno, takva osoba smatrana je nekim kome se sreća nije osmehnula, dakle, nesrećnikom.

Nowadays, particularly in the United States,

Danas, naročito u Sjedinjenim Državama,

if you meet someone at the bottom of society,

neko ko se nalazi na dnu društvene lestvice

they may unkindly be described as a "loser."

mogao bi bezdušno biti nazvan "gubitnikom".

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

Postoji stvarna razlika između nesrećnika i gubitnika.

and that shows 400 years of evolution in society

Ona se vidi iz 400 godina društvene evolucije

and our belief in who is responsible for our lives.

i naših uverenja u vezi s tim ko je odgovoran za naš život.

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

Više to nisu bogovi, već mi sami. Mi imamo glavnu reč,

That's exhilarating if you're doing well,

što je sjajno ako nam dobro ide,

and very crushing if you're not.

i pogubno ako nam loše ide.

It leads, in the worst cases --

U najgorim slučajevima, u skladu s analizom sociologa

in the analysis of a sociologist like Emil Durkheim --

kao sto je Emil Dirkem, to dovodi do povišene stope samoubistava.

it leads to increased rates of suicide.

There are more suicides in developed, individualistic countries

Samoubistva su češća u razvijenim individualizovaim društvima

than in any other part of the world.

nego u bilo kom drugom delu sveta.

And some of the reason for that

Jedan od razloga za to jeste to što ljudi veoma lično

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

shvataju ono što im se dešava.

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

Kako svoje uspehe, tako i neuspehe.

Is there any relief from some of these pressures

Mogu li se ublažiti neki od pritisaka

that I've been outlining?

koje sam upravo opisao?

I think there is.

Mislim da mogu. Objasniću neke od načina.

I just want to turn to a few of them.

Let's take meritocracy.

Uzmimo za primer meritokratiju.

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

Polazi se od toga da svako zaslužuje ono što ga je snašlo.

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

Mislim da je to luda ideja, veoma luda.

I will support any politician of Left and Right,

Podržaću bilo kojeg političara, levičara ili desničara,

with any halfway-decent meritocratic idea;

koji zastupa iole pristojno meritokratsko stanovište.

I am a meritocrat in that sense.

Ja sam meritokrata i to je to.

But I think it's insane to believe

Ali, ja smatram da je besmisleno verovati da ćemo ikada

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

stvoriti zaista meritokratsko društvo. To je neostvariv san.

it's an impossible dream.

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

Ideja da ćemo stvoriti društvo

u kojem je bukvalno svako svrstan u neku kategoriju

the good at the top, bad at the bottom,

gde su dobri na vrhu, a loši na dnu,

exactly done as it should be, is impossible.

i to bez greške, to je nemoguće.

There are simply too many random factors:

Naprosto ima previše nasumičnih faktora.

accidents, accidents of birth,

Nesrećnih slučajeva, bilo da se radi o rođenju

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

ili kad nekom nešto padne na glavu ili bolesti i sl.

We will never get to grade them,

Takve stvari nikad nećemo moći da svrstamo u neku kategoriju.

never get to grade people as they should.

Nikad nećemo moći da klasifikujemo ljude kakvi jesu.

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

Ovde bih naveo jedan lep citat svetog Avgustina iz "Božjeg grada"

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

gde on kaže: "Greh je suditi o čoveku na osnovu njegovog položaja".

In modern English that would mean

Na jeziku današnjice to bi značilo:

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

"Greh je odlučivati o tome s kim ćete govoriti

na osnovu njegove vizit-karte."

dependent on their business card.

It's not the post that should count.

Položaj ne bi trebalo da se računa.

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

Prema svetom Avgustinu,

jedino Bog može svakom da odredi mesto.

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

On će to učiniti na Sudnji dan

with angels and trumpets, and the skies will open.

uz anđele i trube i nebesa će se otvoriti.

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

To je besmislena pomisao ukolliko ste sekularno opredeljeni, kao ja.

But something very valuable in that idea, nevertheless.

Ali u njoj ipak ima nečeg veoma vrednog.

Drugim rečima, obuzdajte se kad vam dođe da sudite o ljudima.

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

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

Ne mora da znači da zaista znate koliko neko zaista vredi.

That is an unknown part of them,

To je nepoznati deo čoveka,

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

i ne bi trebalo da se ponašamo kao da je poznat.

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

Za sve ovo postoji još jedan izvor utehe.

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

Kad razmišljamo u neuspehu u životu,

one of the reasons why we fear failing

mi se ne bojimo neuspeha samo kao

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

gubitka prihoda, gubitka statusa.

What we fear is the judgment and ridicule of others.

Ono čega se bojimo jeste osuda i podsmeh drugih ljudi. A oni su prisutni.

And it exists.

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

Vidite, prvenstveni instrument podsmeha

danas jeste štampa.

If you open the newspaper any day of the week,

Ako otvorite novine bilo kojeg dana u nedelji,

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

videćete da su pune priča o ljudima koji su uprskali svoj život.

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

Ili su spavali s pogrešnom osobom ili su se odali pogrešnoj supstanci

passed the wrong piece of legislation --

ili su doneli pogrešan zakon. Šta god da je u pitanju,

whatever it is, and then are fit for ridicule.

oni su postali predmet podsmeha.

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

Drugim rečima, neuspešni su. Opisani su kao "gubitnici".

Now, is there any alternative to this?

Postoji li bilo kakva alternativa za to?

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

Mislim da nam tradicija Zapada nudi jednu veličanstvenu alternativu.

A to je tragedija.

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

Umetnost tragedije, kakva je nastala u pozorištima antičke Grčke

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

u 5. veku pre nove ere, bila je u suštini vid umetnosti

devoted to tracing how people fail,

posvećen traganju za načinima ljudskog neuspeha

and also according them a level of sympathy,

i pridavanju izvesnog stepena saosećanja

which ordinary life would not necessarily accord them.

koje im u običnom životu ne bi nužno pripalo.

A few years ago, I was thinking about this,

Sećam se da sam pre nekoliko godina razmišljao o svemu tome.

and I went to "The Sunday Sport,"

Išao sam da se vidim s ljudima iz "The Sunday Sport",

a tabloid newspaper I don't recommend you start reading

tabloida koji vam ne bih preporučio

if you're not familiar with it already.

ukoliko vam nije već poznat.

(Laughter)

Išao sam da razgovaram s njima

And I went to talk to them

about certain of the great tragedies of Western art.

o izvesnim velikim tragedijama u umetnosti Zapada.

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

Hteo sam da vidim kako će reagovati na okosnicu

izvesnih priča ako se pojave kao novinska vest

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

na televiziji u subotu uveče.

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

Ispričao sam im priču o Otelu. Nisu je ranije čuli, ali su bili fascinirani.

(Laughter)

(Smeh)

I asked them to write a headline for the story.

Zamolio sam ih da napišu naslov za priču o Otelu.

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

Sastavili su naslov: "Imigrant zaslepljen ljubavlju ubio senatorovu ćerku"

Splashed across the headline.

ispisan preko cele stranice.

I gave them the plotline of Madame Bovary.

Ispričao sam im radnju "Madam Bovari".

Again, a book they were enchanted to discover.

I ovog puta su bili oduševljeni otkrićem nove knjige,

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

i napisali su "Preljubnica opsednuta šopingom proneverila kreditnu karticu pa se otrovala arsenikom".

(Laughter)

(Smeh)

And then my favorite --

A sad moj omiljeni.

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

Znate, ti tipovi su stvarno na neki način genijalni.

my favorite is Sophocles' Oedipus the King:

Moj omiljeni je Sofoklov "Kralj Edip".

"Sex With Mum Was Blinding."

"Seks s majkom zaslepljuje".

(Laughter)

(Smeh)

(Applause)

(Aplauz)

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

Na neki način, da tako kažemo, na jednom kraju spektra saosećajnosti

you've got the tabloid newspaper.

imamo taboide.

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

Na drugom kraju imamo tragediju i umetnost tragedije.

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

Ovde otprilike hoću da kažem da bi nešto trebalo da naučimo

about what's happening in tragic art.

o tome šta se dešava u tragediji.

It would be insane to call Hamlet a loser.

Bilo bi besmisleno nazvati Hamleta gubitnikom.

He is not a loser, though he has lost.

On nije gubitnik, mada gubi.

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

I mislim da je to poruka koju treba da izvučemo iz tragedije,

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

mislim da je zato to toliko važno.

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

Druga stvar vezana za savremeno društvo

i zašto se u njemu javlja ta aknsioznost

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

jeste to što u njegovom središtu nema ničeg što nije ljudskog porekla.

We are the first society to be living in a world

Mi smo prvo društvo koje živi u svetu

where we don't worship anything other than ourselves.

u kojem ne služimo nikom osim sebi.

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

Mi imamo veoma visoko mišljenje o sebi, što je u redu.

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

Poslali smo čoveka na Mesec. Postigli smo niz izuzetnih stvari.

Zato obožavamo sami sebe.

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

Naši junaci su ljudska bića.

That's a very new situation.

To je nova situacija.

Most other societies have had, right at their center,

Većina društava je u samom svom središtu

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

kao predmet obožavanja imala nešto transcendentno. Boga,

duh, prirodnu silu, univerzum.

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

Predmet obožavanja uvek je bio nešto drugo, šta god on bio.

We've slightly lost the habit of doing that,

Mi smo izgubili naviku da to činimo.

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

Što je, po mom mišljenju, razlog što smo toliko okrenuti prirodi.

Ne iz zdravstvenih razloga, mada se to često tako predstavlja.

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

Već zato što to predstavlja beg iz ljudskog mravinjaka.

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

It's an escape from our own competition,

To je beg od našeg sopstvenog nadmetanja

and our own dramas.

i naših sopstvenih drama.

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

Zato nam prija da gledamo glečere i okeane

and contemplating the Earth from outside its perimeters, etc.

i zamišljamo kakva je zemlja izvan njenih granica, itd.

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

Želimo da osetimo dodir s nečim što nije ljudsko.

and that is so deeply important to us.

To nam je veoma bitno.

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

U stvari, ja zapravo govorim o uspehu i neuspehu.

And one of the interesting things about success

Ono što je zanimljivo kad je reč o uspehu

is that we think we know what it means.

jeste što mislimo da znamo šta on znači.

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

Ako vam kažem da iza scene stoji neko

ko je strašno uspešan, odmah će vam pasti na pamet izvesne stvari.

certain ideas would immediately come to mind.

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

Pomislićete da je ta osoba zaradila puno novca,

da je priznata na nekom polju.

achieved renown in some field.

My own theory of success --

Prema mojoj vlastitoj teoriji uspeha, a ja sam neko koga uspeh

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

veoma zanima. Stvarno želim da budem uspešan.

I really want to be successful,

always thinking, how can I be more successful?

Uvek se pitam: "Kako bih mogao da budem još uspešniji?"

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

Međutim, kako starim, sve više pravim tanane razlike

između raznih značenja pojma "uspeh".

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

Evo mog poimanja uspeha.

Ne može se biti uspešan u svemu.

You can't be successful at everything.

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

Dosta slušamo o ravnoteži između posla i života.

Nonsense.

To je besmislica. Ne može se sve postići. Ne može.

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

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

Tako da se u svakoj viziji uspeha

mora priznati na čemu se gubi,

where the element of loss is.

šta je element gubitka.

And I think any wise life will accept,

Smatram da će svako razborito biće,

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

da tako kažem, prihvatiti da postoji i element u kojem neće uspeti.

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

Kad je reč o uspešnom životu,

činjenica je da često naše viđenje

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

uspeha u životu ustvari nije naše.

They're sucked in from other people;

Preuzeto je od drugih.

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

Ukoliko ste muško, to je najčešće vaš otac,

ukoliko ste žensko, to je vaša majka.

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

Psihoanalitičari to ponavljaju već osamdesetak godina.

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

Niko ne sluša baš pažljivo, ali ja sam uveren da je to tačno.

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

Ideje upijamo i iz

svega što vidimo na televiziji, preko reklama,

to advertising, to marketing, etc.

do propagandnih poruka itd.

These are hugely powerful forces

To su izuzetno moćne sile

that define what we want and how we view ourselves.

koje definišu ono što želimo i kako vidimo sami sebe.

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

Kad nam je rečeno da je bankarstvo cenjena profesija,

a lot of us want to go into banking.

mnogi od nas su želeli da postanu bankari.

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

Kad bankarstvo prestane da bude tako cenjeno, mi gubimo interesovanje za njega.

We are highly open to suggestion.

Veoma smo podložni sugestiji.

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

Dakle, ono što hoću da kažem, jeste da ne treba da odustajemo

on our ideas of success,

od svog poimanja uspeha.

but we should make sure that they are our own.

Ali treba da se postaramo da je ono zaista naše.

We should focus in on our ideas,

Treba da se usredsredimo na svoje ideje

and make sure that we own them;

i budemo sigurni da su one naše,

that we are truly the authors of our own ambitions.

da smo zaista mi autori svojih sopstvenih ambicija.

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

Jer je već dovoljno loše ako ne postignete ono što želite,

ali je još gore kad imate neku ideju

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

o tome šta želite i na kraju shvatite

and find out, at the end of the journey,

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

da to uopšte nije ono što ste želeli.

So, I'm going to end it there.

Ovim ću završiti.

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

Ali ono što bih svakako želeo da istaknem

jeste uspeh.

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

Ali pokušajmo da shvatimo da su neke od naših ideja strane,

Let's probe away at our notions of success.

ispitajmo svoje viđenje uspeha.

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

Budimo sigurni da su naše ideje o uspehu zaista naše.

Thank you very much.

Hvala najlepše.

(Applause)

(Aplauz)

Chris Anderson: That was fascinating.

Kris Andreson: Ovo je bilo fascinantno. Kako pomiriti

But how do you reconcile this idea

ideju da je neko -

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

da je loše nekog smatrati gubitnikom

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

s idejom koja je mnogim ljudima privlačna, a to je da kontrolišu svoj zivot?

and that a society that encourages that,

I da u društvu koje to podstiče

perhaps has to have some winners and losers?

moraju da postoje i dobitnici i gubitnici.

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

Alan de Boton: Da. Smatram da je nasumičnost

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

procesa dobijanja, odnosno gubljenja ono što sam hteo da istaknem.

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

Jer se danas u velikoj meri ističe

pravičnost u svemu.

and politicians always talk about justice.

Političari neprestano pričaju o pravdi.

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

Ja duboko verujem u pravdu, ali mislim da ona nije moguća.

So we should do everything we can to pursue it,

Stoga treba da učinimo sve što je u našoj moći

da je dostignemo.

but we should always remember that whoever is facing us,

Ali, na kraju svega, uvek treba da imamo na umu

da u životnim događajima svakoga s kim se sretnemo,

whatever has happened in their lives,

there will be a strong element of the haphazard.

postoji snažan element nasumičnosti.

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

To je ono čemu želim da ostavim prostor.

otherwise, it can get quite claustrophobic.

Jer bi inače moglo da postane prilično klaustrofobično.

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

KA: Znači, Vi verujete da je moguća kombinacija

your kind of kinder, gentler philosophy of work

vaše blaže, prijatnije filozofije rada

i uspešne ekonomije?

with a successful economy?

Or do you think that you can't,

Ili mislite da nije?

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

Ali nije naročito bitno ako na tome previše insistiramo?

AB: Zastrašujuća pomisao

AB: The nightmare thought

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

jeste da je najbolji način da se ljudi nateraju da rade da im se utera strah u kosti.

and that somehow the crueler the environment,

I da, što je okrutnije okruženje,

the more people will rise to the challenge.

to će ljudi bolje reagovati na izazov.

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

Razmislite, kakav bi bio vaš idealni otac?

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

To bi bio neko ko je strog ali blag.

And it's a very hard line to make.

A to je teško postići.

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

U društvu su nam potrebni očevi, neko na koga ćemo se ugledati,

avoiding the two extremes,

koji nisu zašli ni u jednu od te dve krajnosti.

which is the authoritarian disciplinarian on the one hand,

To znači da, s jedne strane, imaju autoritet i zavode disciplinu,

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

a s druge strane opušteni, koji ne nameću pravila.

CA: Alain De Botton.

KA: Ovo je bio Alan de Boton.

AB: Thank you very much.

AB: Mnogo vam hvala.

(Applause)

(Aplauz)