Renata Salecl: Our unhealthy obsession with choice

Prevodilac: Maja Budišin Lukin Lektor: Mile Živković

When I was preparing for this talk,

Kada sam se pripremala za ovaj govor,

I went to search for a couple of quotes

potražila sam par citata

that I can share with you.

da bih ih podelila sa vama.

Good news: I found three

Dobra vest je da sam našla tri

that I particularly liked,

koja su mi se posebno dopala.

the first by Samuel Johnson, who said,

Prvi je od Samjuela Džonsona koji je rekao:

"When making your choice in life,

"Dok pravite svoj izbor u životu,

do not forget to live,"

ne zaboravite da živite."

the second by Aeschylus, who reminded us that

Drugi je od Eshila, koji nas je podsetio

"happiness is a choice that requires effort,"

da je "sreća izbor koji zahteva trud",

and the third is one by Groucho Marx

a treći je od Gruča Marksa

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

koji je rekao: "Ne bih odabrao da pripadam

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

bilo kojem klubu koji bi me prihvatio za člana. "

Now, bad news:

Sada loša vest:

I didn't know which one of these quotes

Nisam znala koji od tih citata

to choose and share with you.

da odaberem i podelim sa vama.

The sweet anxiety of choice.

Slatka anksioznost izbora.

In today's times of post-industrial capitalism,

U današnjim vremenima postindustrijskog kapitalizma,

choice, together with individual freedom

izbor, zajedno s individualnom slobodom

and the idea of self-making,

i idejom o samostalnom uspehu

has been elevated to an ideal.

je unapređen u ideal.

Now, together with this, we also have a belief

Uz to smo takođe uvereni

in endless progress.

u beskrajni napredak.

But the underside of this ideology

Ali pod tom ideologijom je takođe

has been an increase of anxiety,

povećanje anksioznosti,

feelings of guilt,

osećanja krivice,

feelings of being inadequate,

osećanja neadekvatnosti,

feeling that we are failing in our choices.

da promašujemo u svojim izborima.

Sadly, this ideology of individual choice

Nažalost, ova ideologija individualnog izbora

has prevented us from thinking about social changes.

nas je sprečila da razmišljamo o društvenim promenama.

It appears that this ideology was actually

Izgleda da nas ona u stvari

very efficient in pacifying us

veoma efikasno smiruje

as political and social thinkers.

kao političke i društvene mislioce.

Instead of making social critiques,

Umesto da smo društveno kritični,

we are more and more engaging in self-critique,

sve više se bavimo samokritikom,

sometimes to the point of self-destruction.

ponekad do tačke samouništenja.

Now, how come that ideology of choice

Kako to da je ideologija izbora

is still so powerful,

još uvek toliko jaka,

even among people who have

čak i među ljudima koji

not many things to choose among?

nemaju mnogo stvari da biraju?

How come that even people who are poor

Kako to da se čak i ljudi koji su siromašni

very much still identify with the idea of choice,

u velikoj meri identifikuju s idejom izbora,

the kind of rational idea of choice

kao sa nekakvim racionalnim izborom

which we embrace?

koji prihvatamo?

Now, the ideology of choice is very successful

Ideologija izbora je vrlo uspešna

in opening for us a space to think

u otvaranju prostora za razmišljanje

about some imagined future.

o nekoj zamišljenoj budućnosti.

Let me give you an example.

Dopustite mi da vam dam primer.

My friend Manya,

Moja prijateljica Manja,

when she was a student at university in California,

za vreme studija na univerzitetu u Kaliforniji,

was earning money

zarađivala je

by working for a car dealer.

radeći za prodavca automobila.

Now, Manya, when she encountered

Kada je Manja naišla

the typical customer, would debate with him

na tipičnog kupca, raspravljala bi s njim

about his lifestyle,

o njegovom životnom stilu,

how much he wants to spend,

koliko želi da potroši,

how many children he has,

koliko ima dece,

what does he need the car for?

za čega mu auto treba?

They would usually come to a good conclusion

Obično bi došli do dobrog rešenja

what would be a perfect car.

o savršenom autu.

Now, before Manya's customer would go home

Pre nego što bi Manjin kupac otišao kući

and think things through,

da podrobno razmisli o svemu,

she would say to him,

ona bi mu rekla:

"The car that you are buying now is perfect,

"Auto koji kupujete je za sada savršen,

but in a few year's time,

ali za nekoliko godina,

when your kids will be already out of the house,

kada vaša deca odu iz kuće,

when you will have a little bit more money,

kada budete imali malo više novca,

that other car will be ideal.

ovaj će drugi auto biti idealan.

But what you are buying now is great."

Iako je to što sada kupujete super."

Now, the majority of Manya's customers

Većina Manjinih klijenata

who came back the next day

koji su se vratili sledećeg dana

bought that other car,

kupila je taj drugi auto,

the car they did not need,

koji im nije trebao

the car that cost far too much money.

i koji je koštao daleko više.

Now, Manya became so successful in selling cars

Manja je postala tako uspešna u prodaji automobila

that soon she moved on to selling airplanes.

da je ubrzo prešla na prodaju aviona.

(Laughter)

(Smeh)

And knowing so much about the psychology of people

Znajući toliko o psihologiji ljudi,

prepared her well for her current job,

to ju je dobro pripremilo

which is that of a psychoanalyst.

za sadašnji posao psihoanalitičara.

Now, why were Manya's customers so irrational?

Zašto su Manjini klijenti bili tako iracionalni?

Manya's success was that she was able

Manjin uspeh je bio da je bila u stanju

to open in their heads an image

da otvori sliku idealizovane budućnosti

of an idealized future,

u njihovim glavama,

an image of themselves

sliku o njima samima

when they are already more successful, freer,

kad su već uspešniji, slobodniji,

and for them, choosing that other car

i za njih je bio izbor tog drugog automobila

was as if they are coming closer to this ideal

kao da se približavaju tom idealu

in which it was as if Manya already saw them.

u kojem kao da ih je Manja već videla.

Now, we rarely make really totally rational choices.

Mi retko pravimo sasvim racionalne izbore.

Choices are influenced by our unconscious,

Izbori su pod uticajem našeg nesvesnog,

by our community.

naše zajednice.

We're often choosing

Često biramo

by guessing, what would other people

nagađanjem šta će drugi ljudi

think about our choice?

misliti o našem izboru?

Also we are choosing

Takođe biramo

by looking at what others are choosing.

gledajući šta su drugi izabrali

We're also guessing what is socially acceptable choice.

ili nagađamo šta je društveno prihvatljiv izbor.

Now, because of this, we actually

Zbog toga, mi u stvari

even after we have already chosen,

čak i posle toga što smo već izabrali,

like bought a car,

recimo, kupili auto,

endlessly read reviews about cars,

beskrajno čitamo recenzije o automobilima,

as if we still want to convince ourselves

kao da se želimo uveriti

that we made the right choice.

da smo napravili pravi izbor.

Now, choices are anxiety-provoking.

Biranje izaziva anksioznost.

They are linked to risks, losses.

Povezano je sa rizicima, gubicima.

They are highly unpredictable.

Veoma je nepredvidljivo.

Now, because of this,

Zbog toga,

people have now more and more problems

ljudi imaju danas sve više problema

that they are not choosing anything.

pa ne biraju ništa.

Not long ago, I was at a wedding reception,

Nedavno sam bila na svadbi

and I met a young, beautiful woman

i upoznala mladu, lepu ženu

who immediately started telling me about her anxiety over choice.

koja je odmah počela da mi priča o svojoj anksioznosti tokom izbora.

She said to me, "I needed one month

Rekla mi je: "Trebalo mi je mesec dana

to decide which dress to wear."

da se odlučim koju haljinu da obučem."

Then she said, "For weeks I was researching

Onda je rekla: "Nedeljama sam istraživala

which hotel to stay for this one night.

u kom hotelu da odsednem za tu jednu noć.

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

A sada, moram izabrati donatora sperme."

(Laughter)

(Smeh)

I looked at this woman in shock.

Pogledala sam ženu u šoku.

"Sperm donor? What's the rush?"

"Donatora sperme? Čemu žurba?"

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

Rekla je: "Punim 40 krajem ove godine,

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

a bila sam tako loša u biranju muškaraca u svom životu."

Now choice, because it's linked to risk,

Pošto je izbor povezan s rizikom,

is anxiety-provoking,

izaziva anksioznost,

and it was already the famous

i već je poznati

Danish philosopher Søren Kierkegaard

danski filozof Seren Kjerkegor

who pointed out that anxiety

istakao da je anksioznost

is linked to the possibility of possibility.

povezana sa mogućom mogućnosti.

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

Mi mislimo da možemo sprečiti te rizike.

We have endless market analysis,

Imamo beskrajne analize tržišta,

projections of the future earnings.

projekcije budućih zarada,

Even with market, which is about chance,

čak i tržište, gde se radi o riziku,

randomness, we think we can predict rationally

slučajnosti, mislimo da možemo racionalno predvideti

where it's going.

kako se kreće.

Now, chance is actually becoming very traumatic.

Rizik u stvari postaje vrlo traumatičan.

Last year, my friend Bernard Harcourt

Prošle godine je moj prijatelj, Bernar Herkur,

at the University of Chicago organized an event,

na univerzitetu u Čikagu organizovao događaj,

a conference on the idea of chance.

konferenciju o ideji rizika.

He and I were together on the panel,

On i ja smo bili zajedno na panelu

and just before delivering our papers —

i neposredno pre izlaganja svojih radova -

we didn't know each other's papers —

nismo znali radove jedni drugih -

we decided to take chance seriously.

odlučili smo da shvatimo slučajnost ozbiljno.

So we informed our audience

Tako smo obavestili našu publiku

that what they will just now hear

da će ono što će se sada čuti

will be a random paper,

biti slučajno predavanje,

a mixture of the two papers

mešavina dva rada

which we didn't know what each was writing.

pri čemu nismo unapred znali šta je ko pisao.

Now, we delivered the conference in such a way.

Postavili smo konferenciju na takav način.

Bernard read his first paragraph,

Bernar je pročitao svoj prvi pasus,

I read my first paragraph,

pa sam pročitala ja svoj prvi pasus,

Bernard read his second paragraph,

Bernar je pročitao svoj drugi pasus,

I read my second paragraph,

pa ja svoj drugi pasus,

in this way towards the end of our papers.

na taj način do kraja naših radova.

Now, you will be surprised

Bićete iznenađeni

that a majority of our audience

da većina naše publike

did not think that what they'd just listened to

nije mislila da je ono što su čuli

was a completely random paper.

bilo sasvim slučajno predavanje.

They couldn't believe that

Nisu mogli da veruju,

speaking from the position of authority

gledano s pozicije autoriteta,

like two professors we were,

da mi kao dva profesora,

we would take chance seriously.

tretiramo slučajnost ozbiljno.

They thought we prepared the papers together

Mislili su da smo radove pripremali zajedno

and were just joking that it's random.

i da se samo šalimo da se radi o slučajnosti.

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

Živimo u vremenima s puno informacija,

big data,

ogromnim podacima,

a lot of knowledge about the insides of our bodies.

mnogo znanja o unutrašnjosti naših tela.

We decoded our genome.

Dekodirali smo genom.

We know about our brains more than before.

Znamo o našim mozgovima više nego pre.

But surprisingly, people are more and more

Ali iznenađujuće je da ljudi sve više

turning a blind eye in front of this knowledge.

zatvaraju oči pred tim znanjem.

Ignorance and denial are on the rise.

Neznanje i poricanje su u porastu.

Now, in regard to the current economic crisis,

S obzirom na sadašnje ekonomske krize,

we think that we will just wake up again

mislimo da ćemo se probuditi

and everything will be the same as before,

i da će sve biti isto kao i pre,

and no political or social changes are needed.

da nisu potrebne političke i društvene promene.

In regard to ecological crisis,

Što se tiče ekološke krize,

we think nothing needs to be done just now,

mislimo da ništa ne treba da se uradi ovog časa

or others need to act before us.

ili da drugi treba da rade pre nas.

Or even when ecological crisis already happens,

Ili čak i kada se ekološka kriza već dogodi,

like a catastrophe in Fukushima,

kao katastrofa u Fukušimi,

often we have people living in the same environment

često imamo ljude koji žive u istom okruženju

with the same amount of information,

s istom količinom informacija,

and half of them will be anxious about radiation

i polovina će biti zabrinuta zbog zračenja

and half of them will ignore it.

a polovina će ga ignorisati.

Now, psychoanalysts know very well

Psihoanalitičari vrlo dobro znaju

that people surprisingly don't have

da ljudi začudo nemaju

passion for knowledge

strast za znanjem

but passion for ignorance.

već za neznanjem.

Now, what does that mean?

Šta to znači?

Let's say when we are facing

Recimo kad se suočavamo

a life-threatening illness,

sa životno opasnim bolestima,

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

puno ljudi ne želi za to da zna.

They'd rather prefer denying the illness,

Radije bi negirali bolest,

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

zato nije baš mudro da im to saopštite

if they don't ask.

ako ne pitaju.

Surprisingly, research shows that sometimes

Iznenađujuće je da istraživanje pokazuje da ponekad

people who deny their illness

ljudi koji negiraju svoju bolest

live longer than those who are rationally choosing

žive duže od onih koji racionalno odaberu

the best treatment.

najbolji tretman.

Now, this ignorance, however,

To neznanje, međutim,

is not very helpful on the level of the social.

nije od velike pomoći na nivou društva.

When we are ignorant about where we are heading,

Kad smo u neznanju o tome kuda idemo,

a lot of social damage can be caused.

mnogo društvene štete može biti prouzrokovano.

Now, on top of facing ignorance,

Povrh suočavanja sa neznanjem,

we are also facing today

danas se takođe suočavamo

some kind of an obviousness.

sa nekakvom očiglednošću.

Now, it was French philosopher

Bio je to francuski filozof

Louis Althusser who pointed out

Luj Altiser, koji je istakao

that ideology functions in such a way

da ideologija funkcioniše na takav način

that it creates a veil of obviousness.

da stvara veo očiglednosti.

Before we do any social critique,

Pre nego što napravimo bilo kakvu društvenu kritiku,

it is necessary really to lift that veil of obviousness

zaista je potrebno podići veo očiglednosti

and to think through a little bit differently.

i razmisliti malo drugačije.

If we go back to this ideology

Ako se vratimo na tu ideologiju

of individual, rational choice

individualnog, racionalnog izbora

we often embrace,

često prihvatamo

it's necessary precisely here

da je potrebno upravo tu

to lift this obviousness

podići očiglednost

and to think a little bit differently.

i razmišljati malo drugačije.

Now for me, a question often is

Često se pitam

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

zašto još uvek prihvatamo ideju o uspešnom čoveku

on which capitalism relied from its beginning?

na kojem se kapitalizam oslanjao od početka?

Why do we think that we are really such masters

Zašto mislimo da smo stvarno takvi gospodari

of our lives that we can rationally

svojih života da možemo racionalno

make the best ideal choices,

da napravimo idealan izbor,

that we don't accept losses and risks?

da ne prihvatamo gubitke i rizike?

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

Za mene je vrlo šokantno da ponekad vidim vrlo siromašne ljude,

for example, not supporting the idea

koji na primer ne podržavaju ideju

of the rich being taxed more.

da se bogati oporezuju više.

Quite often here they still identify

Vrlo često se oni identifikuju

with a certain kind of a lottery mentality.

s određenom vrstom mentaliteta lutrije.

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

Ok, možda ne misle da će im uspeti

in the future, but maybe they think,

u budućnosti, ali možda misle,

my son might become the next Bill Gates.

moj sin bi mogao postati novi Bil Gejts.

And who would want to tax one's son?

A ko bi hteo da oporezuje rođenog sina?

Or, a question for me is also,

Ili, pitam se

why would people who have no health insurance

zašto ljudi koji nemaju zdravstveno osiguranje

not embrace universal healthcare?

ne prihvataju univerzalnu zdravstvenu zaštitu?

Sometimes they don't embrace it,

Ponekad je ne prihvataju,

again identifying with the idea of choice,

poistovećujući ​​se sa idejom o izboru,

but they have nothing to choose from.

iako nemaju ništa da biraju.

Now, Margaret Thatcher famously said

Slavna izjava Margaret Tačer

that there is nothing like a society.

je da ne postoji ništa kao društvo.

Society doesn't exist, it is only individuals

Društvo ne postoji, to su samo pojedinci

and their families.

i njihove porodice.

Sadly, this ideology still functions very well,

Nažalost, ova ideologija još uvek funkcioniše vrlo dobro,

which is why people who are poor might feel

zato siromašne ljude može biti

ashamed for their poverty.

sramota zbog svog siromaštva.

We might endlessly feel guilty that we are

Beskrajno se možemo osećati krivima

not making the right choices,

što ne biramo pravilno

and that's why we didn't succeed.

i da zato nismo uspeli.

We are anxious that we are not good enough.

Anksiozni smo, jer smatramo da nismo dovoljno dobri.

That's why we work very hard,

Zato naporno radimo,

long hours at the workplace

provodimo duge sate na radnom mestu

and equally long hours on remaking ourselves.

i jednako duge sate na prepravljanju sebe.

Now, when we are anxious over choices,

Kada nas izbor učini anksioznim,

sometimes we easily give our power of choice away.

ponekad ga se jednostavno odreknemo.

We identify with the guru

Identifikujemo se s guruom

who tells us what to do,

koji nam govori šta da radimo,

self-help therapist,

terapeutom za samopomoć,

or we embrace a totalitarian leader

ili prihvatamo totalitarnog vođu

who appears to have no doubts about choices,

koji deluje kao da se oko izbora ne koleba,

who sort of knows.

već nekako zna šta radi.

Now, often people ask me,

Često me ljudi pitaju:

"What did you learn by studying choice?"

"Šta ste naučili proučavajući izbor?"

And there is an important message that I did learn.

I važna poruka je da jesam naučila.

When thinking about choices,

Kad razmišljam o biranju,

I stopped taking choices too seriously, personally.

prestala sam da izbor uzimam previše ozbiljno.

First, I realized a lot of choice I make

Prvo zato što sam shvatila da mnogi moji izbori

is not rational.

nisu racionalni.

It's linked to my unconscious,

To je povezano s mojom podsvešću,

my guesses of what others are choosing,

mojim nagađanjima o tome šta drugi biraju,

or what is a socially embraced choice.

ili šta je društveno prihvatljiv izbor.

I also embrace the idea

Takođe prihvatam ideju

that we should go beyond

da bi trebalo ići dalje

thinking about individual choices,

od razmišljanja o individualnim izborima,

that it's very important to rethink social choices,

da je vrlo važno da se promisli o društvenim izborima,

since this ideology of individual choice has pacified us.

jer nas je ova ideologija individualnog izbora smirila.

It really prevented us to think about social change.

Stvarno nas je sprečila da razmišljamo o društvenim promenama.

We spend so much time choosing things for ourselves

Proveli smo toliko vremena birajući stvari za sebe

and barely reflect on

i jedva se osvrnuli na

communal choices we can make.

javne izbore koje možemo napraviti.

Now, we should not forget that choice

Ne smemo zaboraviti da je izbor

is always linked to change.

uvek vezan za promenu.

We can make individual changes,

Možemo da napravimo individualne promene,

but we can make social changes.

ali možemo napraviti i društvene promene.

We can choose to have more wolves.

Možemo izabrati da imamo više vukova.

We can choose to change our environment

Možemo izabrati da promenimo našu okolinu

to have more bees.

imajući više pčela.

We can choose to have different rating agencies.

Možemo izabrati da imamo različite rejting agencije.

We can choose to control corporations

Možemo izabrati da kontrolišemo korporacije

instead of allowing corporations to control us.

umesto što dozvoljavamo da korporacije kontrolišu nas.

We have a possibility to make changes.

Imamo mogućnost da napravimo promene.

Now, I started with a quote from Samuel Johnson,

Počela sam citatom Samjuela Džonsona,

who said that when we make choice in life,

koji je rekao da kada u životu pravimo izbor,

we shouldn't forget to live.

ne treba da zaboravimo da živimo.

Finally, you can see

Konačno, vidite,

I did have a choice

imala sam izbor

to choose one of the three quotes

jednog od tri citata

with which I wanted to start my lecture.

kojima sam htela da započnem svoje predavanje.

I did have a choice,

Imala sam izbor,

such as nations, as people,

takav kao što kao nacije i ljudi

we have choices too to rethink

takođe imamo izbore da promislimo

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

u kakvom društvu želimo da živimo u budućnosti.

Thank you.

Hvala vam.

(Applause)

(Aplauz)