Maria Bezaitis: The surprising need for strangeness

Translator: Joseph Geni Reviewer: Morton Bast

Prevodilac: Miloš Milosavljević Lektor: Tatjana Jevdjic

"Don't talk to strangers."

"Ne razgovaraj sa nepoznatima."

You have heard that phrase uttered

Slušali ste ovu frazu

by your friends, family, schools and the media for decades.

od vaših prijatelja, porodice, škole, medija, decenijama

It's a norm. It's a social norm.

To je norma. Društvena norma.

But it's a special kind of social norm,

Ali posebna vrsta društvene norme,

because it's a social norm that wants to tell us

zato što je to društvena norma koja hoće da nam kaže

who we can relate to and who we shouldn't relate to.

s kim možemo da stupamo u kontakt, a s kim ne bi trebalo.

"Don't talk to strangers" says,

"Ne razgovaraj sa nepoznatima", kaže,

"Stay from anyone who's not familiar to you.

"Kloni se svakoga ko ti nije poznat.

Stick with the people you know.

Drži se ljudi koje poznaješ.

Stick with people like you."

Drži se ljudi koji su kao ti."

How appealing is that?

Koliko je to primamljivo?

It's not really what we do, is it, when we're at our best?

To nije baš ono što radimo kad smo u elementu, zar ne?

When we're at our best, we reach out to people

Kad smo u elementu, idemo u susret ljudima

who are not like us,

koji nisu kao mi,

because when we do that, we learn from people

jer kad to radimo, učimo od ljudi

who are not like us.

koji nisu kao mi.

My phrase for this value of being with "not like us"

Moj izraz za "biti s nekim ko nije kao mi"

is "strangeness,"

je "nepoznatost"

and my point is that in today's digitally intensive world,

i moja poenta je da u današnjem digitalnom svetu

strangers are quite frankly not the point.

nepoznati, iskreno, nisu poenta.

The point that we should be worried about is,

Poenta je da bi trebalo da se brinemo za to

how much strangeness are we getting?

koliko "nepoznatosti" dobijamo?

Why strangeness? Because our social relations

Zašto "nepoznatost"? Zato što u našim društvenim odnosima,

are increasingly mediated by data,

u sve većoj meri posreduju podaci

and data turns our social relations into digital relations,

i podaci menjaju naše društvene odnose u digitalne odnose

and that means that our digital relations

i to znači da naši digitalni odnosi

now depend extraordinarily on technology

sada izuzetno mnogo zavise od tehnologije

to bring to them a sense of robustness,

koja im donosi osećaj robusnosti,

a sense of discovery,

osećaj otkrića,

a sense of surprise and unpredictability.

osećaj iznenađenja i nepredvidivosti.

Why not strangers?

Zašto ne nepoznati?

Because strangers are part of a world

Zato što su nepoznati deo sveta

of really rigid boundaries.

vrlo krutih granica.

They belong to a world of people I know

Oni pripadaju svetu ljudi koje poznajem

versus people I don't know,

naspram ljudi koje ne poznajem

and in the context of my digital relations,

i u kontekstu mojih digitalnih odnosa,

I'm already doing things with people I don't know.

ja već radim stvari sa ljudima koje ne poznajem.

The question isn't whether or not I know you.

Pitanje nije, da li vas poznajem ili ne.

The question is, what can I do with you?

Pitanje je, šta mogu da uradim sa vama?

What can I learn with you?

Šta mogu da naučim sa vama?

What can we do together that benefits us both?

Šta možemo oboje da uradimo što bi nam oboma koristilo?

I spend a lot of time thinking about

Provodim dosta vremena razmišljajući o tome

how the social landscape is changing,

kako se društveni pejzaž menja,

how new technologies create new constraints

kako nove tehnologije stvaraju nova ograničenja

and new opportunities for people.

i nove mogućnosti za ljude.

The most important changes facing us today

Najvažnije promene sa kojima se danas suočavamo

have to do with data and what data is doing

imaju veze sa podacima i s onim što podaci rade

to shape the kinds of digital relations

da oblikuju vrste digitalnih odnosa

that will be possible for us in the future.

koji će biti mogući za nas u budućnosti.

The economies of the future depend on that.

Ekonomije budućnosti zavise od toga.

Our social lives in the future depend on that.

Naši društveni životi u budućnosti zavise od toga.

The threat to worry about isn't strangers.

Ono što bi trebalo da nas brine, nisu nepoznati.

The threat to worry about is whether or not

Ono što bi trebalo da nas brine je,

we're getting our fair share of strangeness.

da li dobijamo ili ne, svoj deo "nepoznatosti".

Now, 20th-century psychologists and sociologists

Psiholozi i sociolozi dvadesetog veka

were thinking about strangers,

su razmišljali o nepoznatima,

but they weren't thinking so dynamically about human relations,

ali nisu razmišljali tako dinamično o ljudskim odnosima

and they were thinking about strangers

i mislili su o nepoznatima

in the context of influencing practices.

u kontekstu uticajnih praksi.

Stanley Milgram from the '60s and '70s,

Stenli Milgram iz '60-ih i '70-ih,

the creator of the small-world experiments,

tvorac eksperimenata malog sveta,

which became later popularized as six degrees of separation,

koji su kasnije postali poznati kao šest nivoa razdvojenosti,

made the point that any two arbitrarily selected people

zaključio je da su bilo koja dva slučajno izabrana čoveka

were likely connected from between five to seven intermediary steps.

najverovatnije povezani preko 5 do 7 posrednih koraka.

His point was that strangers are out there.

Njegova poenta je bila da su nepoznati dostupni.

We can reach them. There are paths

Možemo da dođemo do njih. Postoje putevi

that enable us to reach them.

koji nam omogućavaju da dođemo do njih.

Mark Granovetter, Stanford sociologist, in 1973

Mark Granoveter, sociolog sa Stenforda, 1973.

in his seminal essay "The Strength of Weak Ties,"

u svom originalnom eseju "Jačina slabih veza"

made the point that these weak ties

zaključio je da su ove slabe veze

that are a part of our networks, these strangers,

koje su deo naših mreža, oni nepoznati,

are actually more effective at diffusing information to us

u stvari mnogo efikasniji u širenju informacija ka nama

than are our strong ties, the people closest to us.

nego naše jake veze, nama najbliži ljudi.

He makes an additional indictment of our strong ties

On dodatno optužuje naše jake veze

when he says that these people who are so close to us,

kada kaže da oni ljudi koji su nam najbliži,

these strong ties in our lives,

one jake veze u našim životima,

actually have a homogenizing effect on us.

u stvari imaju homogenizujući efekat na nas.

They produce sameness.

Proizvode jednakost.

My colleagues and I at Intel have spent the last few years

Moje kolege i ja u Intelu smo proveli poslednjih nekoliko godina

looking at the ways in which digital platforms

posmatrajuću načine na koje digitalne platforme

are reshaping our everyday lives,

preoblikuju naše živote,

what kinds of new routines are possible.

koje su vrste novih šablona moguće.

We've been looking specifically at the kinds

Posmatrali smo posebno vrste

of digital platforms that have enabled us

digitalnih platformi koje su nam omogućile

to take our possessions, those things that used to be

da uzmemo ono što nam pripada, one stvari koje su bile

very restricted to us and to our friends in our houses,

vrlo ograničene nama i našim prijateljima u našim kućama

and to make them available to people we don't know.

i učinile ih dostupnim ljudima koje ne poznajemo.

Whether it's our clothes, whether it's our cars,

Bilo da je to naša odeća ili naši automobili,

whether it's our bikes, whether it's our books or music,

naši bicikli, naše knjige ili muzika,

we are able to take our possessions now

sad možemo da uzmemo ono što je naše

and make them available to people we've never met.

i učinimo dostupnim ljudima koje nikad nismo sreli.

And we concluded a very important insight,

Zaključili smo nešto vrlo važno,

which was that as people's relationships

a to je da: kako se odnosi ljudi

to the things in their lives change,

sa stvarima u njihovom životu menjaju,

so do their relations with other people.

tako se menjaju i njihovi odnosi sa drugim ljudima.

And yet recommendation system

A sistemi preporuke

after recommendation system continues to miss the boat.

jedan za drugim nastavljaju da greše.

It continues to try to predict what I need

Oni nastavljaju da predviđaju šta mi je potrebno,

based on some past characterization of who I am,

zasnovano na prethodnom opisu onoga šta predstavljam,

of what I've already done.

onoga što sam već uradila.

Security technology after security technology

Tehnologije obezbeđenja jedna za drugom

continues to design data protection

nastavljaju da projektuju zaštitu podataka

in terms of threats and attacks,

od pretnji i napada,

keeping me locked into really rigid kinds of relations.

čuvajući me zaključanu u vrlo krutim vrstama odnosa.

Categories like "friends" and "family"

Kategorije kao "prijatelji" i "porodica"

and "contacts" and "colleagues"

i "kontakti" i "kolege",

don't tell me anything about my actual relations.

ne govore mi ništa o mojim stvarnim odnosima.

A more effective way to think about my relations

Efikasniji način za razmišljanje o mojim odnosima

might be in terms of closeness and distance,

možda bi bio u vezi bliskosti i udaljenosti,

where at any given point in time, with any single person,

gde sam u svakom trenutku sa svakom osobom,

I am both close and distant from that individual,

podjednako blizu i daleko od te osobe,

all as a function of what I need to do right now.

a sve u funkciji toga šta treba da uradim sada.

People aren't close or distant.

Ljudi nisu blizu ili udaljeni.

People are always a combination of the two,

Ljudi su uvek kombinacija ova dva

and that combination is constantly changing.

i ta kombinacija se stalno menja.

What if technologies could intervene

Šta ako bi tehnologije mogle da se umešaju

to disrupt the balance of certain kinds of relationships?

da poremete ravnotežu određenih vrsta odnosa?

What if technologies could intervene

Šta ako bi tehnologije mogle da se umešaju

to help me find the person that I need right now?

da mi pomognu da nađem osobu koja mi je potrebna sada?

Strangeness is that calibration

Nepoznatost je to podešavanje

of closeness and distance

bliskosti i udaljenosti

that enables me to find the people that I need right now,

koje mi omogućava da nađem ljude koji su mi sada potrebni,

that enables me to find the sources of intimacy,

koje mi omogućava da nađem izvore intimnosti,

of discovery, and of inspiration that I need right now.

otkrića i inspiracije koji su mi potrebni sada.

Strangeness is not about meeting strangers.

"Nepoznatost" nije upoznavanje stranaca.

It simply makes the point that we need

To je jednostavno suština onoga što nam treba

to disrupt our zones of familiarity.

da poremetimo naše zone bliskosti.

So jogging those zones of familiarity is one way to think about strangeness,

Drmusanje ovih zona bliskosti je jedan od načina da se misli o nepoznatosti

and it's a problem faced not just by individuals today,

i to je problem sa kojim se danas suočavaju ne samo pojedinci

but also by organizations,

nego takođe i organizacije,

organizations that are trying to embrace massively new opportunities.

organizacije koje pokušavaju da prigrle nove prilike.

Whether you're a political party

Bilo da ste politička partija

insisting to your detriment on a very rigid notion

koja insistira, na vašu štetu, na vrlo krutom pogledu na to

of who belongs and who does not,

ko pripada, a ko ne,

whether you're the government

bilo da ste vlada

protecting social institutions like marriage

koja štiti društvene institucije kao što je brak

and restricting access of those institutions to the few,

i ograničava pristup ovim institucijama na samo nekoliko,

whether you're a teenager in her bedroom

bilo da ste tinejdžerka u svojoj sobi

who's trying to jostle her relations with her parents,

koja pokušava da pogura svoje odnose sa roditeljima,

strangeness is a way to think about how we pave the way

"nepoznatost" je način da mislimo kako smo olakšali razvoj

to new kinds of relations.

novih vrsta odnosa.

We have to change the norms.

Moramo da promenimo norme.

We have to change the norms in order to enable

Moramo da promenimo norme da bismo omogućili

new kinds of technologies

nove vrste tehnologija

as a basis for new kinds of businesses.

kao osnovu za nove vrste poslova.

What interesting questions lie ahead for us

Koja zanimljiva pitanja su pred nama

in this world of no strangers?

u ovom svetu bez nepoznatih?

How might we think differently about our relations with people?

Kako bismo mogli da razmišljamo drugačije o našim odnosima s ljudima?

How might we think differently about our relations

Kako bismo mogli da razmišljamo drugačije o našim odnosima

with distributed groups of people?

sa raširenim grupama ljudi?

How might we think differently about our relations with technologies,

Kako bismo mogli da mislimo drugačije o našim odnosima sa tehnologijama,

things that effectively become social participants

stvarima koje postaju učesnici u društvu

in their own right?

svojom zaslugom?

The range of digital relations is extraordinary.

Opseg digitalnih odnosa je neverovatan.

In the context of this broad range of digital relations,

U kontekstu ovog širokog opsega digitalnih odnosa

safely seeking strangeness might very well be

bezbedno traženje nepoznatosti moglo bi da bude

a new basis for that innovation.

nova osnova za tu inovaciju.

Thank you.

Hvala.

(Applause)

(Aplauz)