TEDGlobal 2012
Karen Thompson Walker: What fear can teach us
Karen Thompson Walker: Čemu nas strah može naučiti?
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Zamislite da ste mornar kojem je brod potonuo i plutate Tihim oceanom. Možete odabrati neki od tri smjera i spasiti sebe i svoje kolege - no, svaki izbor ima svoje strašne posljedice. Kako ćete odabrati? Uz pomoć priče o mornarima broda Essex, spisateljica Karen Thompson Walker objašnjava kako strah potiče maštu i tjera nas da zamišljamo sve moguće budućnosti te kako se s njima nositi.
Karen Thompson Walker - Novelist
Fiction writer Karen Thompson Walker explores the connection between fear and the imagination. Full bio
Fiction writer Karen Thompson Walker explores the connection between fear and the imagination. Full bio
Double-click the English transcript below to play the video.
00:16
One day in 1819,
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Jednog dana, 1819. godine,
00:18
3,000 miles off the coast of Chile,
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5000 km od obale Čilea,
00:21
in one of the most remote regions of the Pacific Ocean,
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na jednom od najudaljenijih
mjesta u Tihom oceanu,
mjesta u Tihom oceanu,
00:24
20 American sailors watched their ship flood with seawater.
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20 američkih mornara gledalo je
kako im se brod puni vodom.
kako im se brod puni vodom.
00:28
They'd been struck by a sperm whale, which had ripped
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Udario ih je kit ulješura i napravio
00:30
a catastrophic hole in the ship's hull.
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ogromnu rupu u trupu broda.
00:33
As their ship began to sink beneath the swells,
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Dok im je brod tonuo među valovima,
00:35
the men huddled together in three small whaleboats.
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mornari su se stisnuli
zajedno u tri mala čamca.
zajedno u tri mala čamca.
00:40
These men were 10,000 miles from home,
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Bili su 16 000 km udaljeni od kuće
00:42
more than 1,000 miles from the nearest scrap of land.
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i više od 1600 km udaljeni
od najbližeg kopna.
od najbližeg kopna.
00:45
In their small boats, they carried only
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U svojim čamcima imali su samo
00:47
rudimentary navigational equipment
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najosnovniju navigacijsku opremu
00:49
and limited supplies of food and water.
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i ograničene količine hrane i vode.
00:53
These were the men of the whaleship Essex,
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Bili su to kitolovci s broda Essex,
00:55
whose story would later inspire parts of "Moby Dick."
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čija priča će kasnije nadahnuti
neke dijelove "Moby Dicka".
neke dijelove "Moby Dicka".
00:57
Even in today's world, their situation would be really dire,
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Čak i danas bi takva situacija
bila strašna, no zamislite
bila strašna, no zamislite
01:00
but think about how much worse it would have been then.
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kako je strašno njima tada bilo.
01:02
No one on land had any idea that anything had gone wrong.
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Nitko na kopnu ne zna
da je nešto pošlo po zlu.
da je nešto pošlo po zlu.
01:05
No search party was coming to look for these men.
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Nije pokrenuta potraga za njima.
01:08
So most of us have never experienced a situation
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Većina nas se nikada nije našla
01:11
as frightening as the one in which these sailors found themselves,
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u tako strašnoj situaciji kao što je
to slučaj s ovim mornarima,
to slučaj s ovim mornarima,
01:15
but we all know what it's like to be afraid.
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ali svi znamo kako je to bojati se.
01:17
We know how fear feels,
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Znamo osjećaj straha,
01:19
but I'm not sure we spend enough time thinking about
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ali mislim da ne razmišljamo
dovoljno o tome
dovoljno o tome
01:21
what our fears mean.
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što naši strahovi znače.
01:23
As we grow up, we're often encouraged to think of fear
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Kada odrastamo, uče nas
da razmišljamo o strahu
da razmišljamo o strahu
01:26
as a weakness, just another childish thing to discard
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kao o slabosti, o još jednoj
djetinjoj stvari koje se treba riješiti,
djetinjoj stvari koje se treba riješiti,
01:28
like baby teeth or roller skates.
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poput mliječnih zuba ili koturaljki.
01:31
And I think it's no accident that we think this way.
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Mislim da nije slučajno
što tako razmišljamo.
što tako razmišljamo.
01:34
Neuroscientists have actually shown that human beings
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Neuroznanstvenici su, zapravo, dokazali
da su ljudi programirani
da budu optimisti.
da budu optimisti.
01:36
are hard-wired to be optimists.
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01:39
So maybe that's why we think of fear, sometimes,
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Zato možda nekada razmišljamo o strahu
01:42
as a danger in and of itself.
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kao o opasnosti.
01:44
"Don't worry," we like to say to one another. "Don't panic."
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"Ne brini", volimo reći
jedni drugima. "Bez panike".
jedni drugima. "Bez panike".
01:47
In English, fear is something we conquer.
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U engleskom je strah
nešto što pobjeđujemo.
nešto što pobjeđujemo.
01:49
It's something we fight. It's something we overcome.
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Nešto protiv čega se borimo.
Nešto što svladavamo.
Nešto što svladavamo.
01:53
But what if we looked at fear in a fresh way?
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No, što ako pogledamo strah
iz drugog kuta?
iz drugog kuta?
01:56
What if we thought of fear as an amazing act of the imagination,
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Što ako razmislimo o strahu
kao o nevjerojatnom djelu mašte,
kao o nevjerojatnom djelu mašte,
02:00
something that can be as profound and insightful
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nečem što može biti duboko i pronicljivo,
02:02
as storytelling itself?
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poput pričanja priča?
02:05
It's easiest to see this link between fear and the imagination
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Vezu između straha i
mašte najlakše je vidjeti
mašte najlakše je vidjeti
02:07
in young children, whose fears are often extraordinarily vivid.
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kod male djece, čiji su
strahovi često veoma snažni.
strahovi često veoma snažni.
02:11
When I was a child, I lived in California,
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Kao dijete sam živjela u Kaliforniji,
02:13
which is, you know, mostly a very nice place to live,
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koja je uglavnom lijepo mjesto za život,
02:16
but for me as a child, California could also be a little scary.
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ali tada je za mene
znala biti dosta strašna.
znala biti dosta strašna.
02:20
I remember how frightening it was to see the chandelier
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Sjećam se kako je zastrašujuće
bilo promatrati luster
bilo promatrati luster
02:23
that hung above our dining table swing back and forth
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iznad stola u blagovaonici kako se njiše
02:25
during every minor earthquake,
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za vrijeme svakog manjeg potresa
02:27
and I sometimes couldn't sleep at night, terrified
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i nekada noću nisam mogla spavati u strahu
02:29
that the Big One might strike while we were sleeping.
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da će Veliki udariti kada spavamo.
02:32
And what we say about kids who have fears like that
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Za djecu koja imaju takve strahove kažemo
02:35
is that they have a vivid imagination.
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da imaju bujnu maštu.
02:38
But at a certain point, most of us learn
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No, nakon nekog vremena većina nas
02:41
to leave these kinds of visions behind and grow up.
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ostavi takva zamišljanja
iza sebe i odraste.
iza sebe i odraste.
02:43
We learn that there are no monsters hiding under the bed,
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Naučimo da nema čudovišta ispod kreveta
02:46
and not every earthquake brings buildings down.
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i da neće svaki potres srušiti kuću.
02:49
But maybe it's no coincidence that some of our most creative minds
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No, možda nije slučajno da se
neki od najkreativnijih umova
neki od najkreativnijih umova
02:53
fail to leave these kinds of fears behind as adults.
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ne mogu riješiti tih
strahova ni kada odrastu.
strahova ni kada odrastu.
02:56
The same incredible imaginations that produced "The Origin of Species,"
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Mašte koje su nam dale "Podrijetlo vrsta,"
03:00
"Jane Eyre" and "The Remembrance of Things Past,"
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"Jane Eyre" i "U potrazi za
izgubljenim vremenom,"
izgubljenim vremenom,"
03:02
also generated intense worries that haunted the adult lives
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stvorile su i brige koje su
proganjale odrasle živote
proganjale odrasle živote
03:06
of Charles Darwin, Charlotte BrontĂŤ and Marcel Proust.
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Charlesa Darwina, Charlotte
Bronte i Marcela Prousta.
Bronte i Marcela Prousta.
03:10
So the question is, what can the rest of us learn about fear
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Pitanje je što mi ostali
možemo naučiti o strahu
možemo naučiti o strahu
03:13
from visionaries and young children?
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od vizionara i male djece?
03:16
Well let's return to the year 1819 for a moment,
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Vratimo se na trenutak u 1819. godinu,
03:19
to the situation facing the crew of the whaleship Essex.
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onome što proživljavaju mornari Essexa.
03:23
Let's take a look at the fears that their imaginations
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Pogledajmo strahove koji su se stvarali
03:25
were generating as they drifted in the middle of the Pacific.
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u njihovim glavama
dok su plutali Tihim oceanom.
dok su plutali Tihim oceanom.
03:29
Twenty-four hours had now passed since the capsizing of the ship.
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Prošla su 24 sata od prevrtanja broda.
03:32
The time had come for the men to make a plan,
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Došlo je vrijeme da naprave plan,
03:35
but they had very few options.
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ali su imali jako malo mogućnosti.
03:38
In his fascinating account of the disaster,
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U svom nevjerojatnom opisu te katastrofe,
03:40
Nathaniel Philbrick wrote that these men were just about
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Nathaniel Philbrick napisao je da su bili
03:43
as far from land as it was possible to be anywhere on Earth.
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na najvećoj mogućoj udaljenosti
od kopna na Zemlji.
od kopna na Zemlji.
03:47
The men knew that the nearest islands they could reach
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Znali su da je najbliži
otok do kojeg mogu stići
otok do kojeg mogu stići
03:50
were the Marquesas Islands, 1,200 miles away.
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Markižansko otočje udaljeno 1900 km.
03:53
But they'd heard some frightening rumors.
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No, čuli su uznemirujuće glasine.
03:56
They'd been told that these islands,
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Rečeno im je da te otoke
03:58
and several others nearby, were populated by cannibals.
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i nekoliko obližnjih, nastanjuju kanibali.
04:02
So the men pictured coming ashore only to be murdered
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Zamišljali su kako dolaze
do obale gdje će ih ubiti
do obale gdje će ih ubiti
04:04
and eaten for dinner.
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i pojesti za večeru.
04:06
Another possible destination was Hawaii,
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Druga mogućnost bili su Hawaii,
04:09
but given the season, the captain was afraid
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no zbog godišnjeg doba kapetan se bojao
04:11
they'd be struck by severe storms.
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da će upasti u jake oluje.
04:14
Now the last option was the longest, and the most difficult:
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Posljednja mogućnost
bila je najduža i najteža:
bila je najduža i najteža:
04:18
to sail 1,500 miles due south in hopes of reaching
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ploviti 2400 km na jug
nadajući se da će uhvatiti
nadajući se da će uhvatiti
04:21
a certain band of winds that could eventually
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određene vjetrove koji bi ih mogli
04:23
push them toward the coast of South America.
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pogurnuti prema obali Južne Amerike.
04:25
But they knew that the sheer length of this journey
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No, znali su da bi zbog
same duljine putovanja
same duljine putovanja
04:28
would stretch their supplies of food and water.
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morali jako štediti na
zalihama hrane i vode.
zalihama hrane i vode.
04:32
To be eaten by cannibals, to be battered by storms,
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Pojest će ih kanibali, umrijet će u oluji
04:35
to starve to death before reaching land.
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ili od gladi prije nego dođu do kopna.
04:38
These were the fears that danced in the imaginations of these poor men,
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Ti su strahovi zaokupljali
umove ovih jadnih mornara
umove ovih jadnih mornara
04:42
and as it turned out, the fear they chose to listen to
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i, kao što se pokazalo,
strah koji odluče poslušati
strah koji odluče poslušati
04:45
would govern whether they lived or died.
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odredit će hoće li
preživjeti ili umrijeti.
preživjeti ili umrijeti.
04:47
Now we might just as easily call these fears by a different name.
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Sve te strahove možemo
nazvati drugačijim imenom.
nazvati drugačijim imenom.
04:51
What if instead of calling them fears,
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Što ako ih umjesto strahovima,
04:54
we called them stories?
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nazovemo pričama?
04:55
Because that's really what fear is, if you think about it.
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Ako malo razmislite, strah je upravo to.
04:58
It's a kind of unintentional storytelling
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Kao neka nenamjerna priča
05:01
that we are all born knowing how to do.
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koju od rođenja znamo pričati.
05:04
And fears and storytelling have the same components.
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Strah i pričanje priča
imaju ista obilježja.
imaju ista obilježja.
05:06
They have the same architecture.
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Imaju istu strukturu.
05:08
Like all stories, fears have characters.
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Kao i sve priče, strahovi imaju likove.
05:11
In our fears, the characters are us.
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U našim strahovima mi smo ti likovi.
05:13
Fears also have plots. They have beginnings and middles and ends.
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Strahovi imaju i zaplete.
Imaju početak, sredinu i kraj.
Imaju početak, sredinu i kraj.
05:18
You board the plane. The plane takes off. The engine fails.
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Ukrcate se na avion. Avion
poleti. Motor se pokvari.
poleti. Motor se pokvari.
05:22
Our fears also tend to contain imagery that can be
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Naši strahovi sadrže i slike
koje mogu biti stvarne poput onih
koje nalazite na stranicama romana.
koje nalazite na stranicama romana.
05:24
every bit as vivid as what you might find in the pages of a novel.
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05:28
Picture a cannibal, human teeth
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Zamislite kanibala, ljudske zube
05:31
sinking into human skin,
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kako grizu ljudsku kožu,
05:33
human flesh roasting over a fire.
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ljudsko meso kako se peče na vatri.
05:36
Fears also have suspense.
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Strahovi imaju i trenutak neizvjesnosti.
05:39
If I've done my job as a storyteller today,
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Ako sam danas dobro ispričala priču,
05:41
you should be wondering what happened
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trebali biste se pitati
što se dogodilo mornarima broda Essex.
05:42
to the men of the whaleship Essex.
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05:45
Our fears provoke in us a very similar form of suspense.
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Naši strahovi u nama bude
sličan osjećaj neizvjesnosti.
sličan osjećaj neizvjesnosti.
05:49
Just like all great stories, our fears focus our attention
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Kao i sve velike priče, naši
strahovi zadržavaju nam pažnju
strahovi zadržavaju nam pažnju
05:52
on a question that is as important in life as it is in literature:
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na pitanju koje je važno
i u životu i u književnosti:
i u životu i u književnosti:
05:56
What will happen next?
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Što će se sljedeće dogoditi?
05:59
In other words, our fears make us think about the future.
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Dakle, strahovi nas tjeraju da
razmišljamo o budućnosti.
razmišljamo o budućnosti.
06:02
And humans, by the way, are the only creatures capable
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A ljudi su jedina stvorenja koja mogu
06:04
of thinking about the future in this way,
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na taj način razmišljati o budućnosti,
06:05
of projecting ourselves forward in time,
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zamisliti sebe u budućem vremenu
06:08
and this mental time travel is just one more thing
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i to mentalno putovanje
kroz vrijeme je još jedna
kroz vrijeme je još jedna
06:11
that fears have in common with storytelling.
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zajednička značajka
strahova i pričanja priča.
strahova i pričanja priča.
06:14
As a writer, I can tell you that a big part of writing fiction
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Kao spisateljica znam da je
kod pisanja fikcije važno
kod pisanja fikcije važno
06:17
is learning to predict how one event in a story
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naučiti predvidjeti kako jedan događaj
06:19
will affect all the other events,
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utječe na sve ostale događaje,
06:20
and fear works in that same way.
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a strah funkcionira na isti način.
06:22
In fear, just like in fiction, one thing always leads to another.
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Kod straha, kao i kod fikcije,
jedna stvar vodi drugoj.
jedna stvar vodi drugoj.
06:28
When I was writing my first novel, "The Age Of Miracles,"
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Kada sam pisala svoj
prvi roman "Doba čuda",
prvi roman "Doba čuda",
06:30
I spent months trying to figure out what would happen
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mjesecima sam pokušavala
saznati što bi se dogodilo
saznati što bi se dogodilo
06:33
if the rotation of the Earth suddenly began to slow down.
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kada bi se Zemlja odjednom
počela sve sporije okretati.
počela sve sporije okretati.
06:36
What would happen to our days? What would happen to our crops?
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Što bi se dogodilo s danima?
Što bi se dogodilo s usjevima?
Što bi se dogodilo s usjevima?
06:39
What would happen to our minds?
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Što bi se dogodilo s našim umovima?
06:41
And then it was only later that I realized how very similar
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Tek kasnije sam shvatila
koliko su ta pitanja
koliko su ta pitanja
06:44
these questions were to the ones I used to ask myself
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slična onima koja sam si postavljala
06:47
as a child frightened in the night.
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kao uplašeno dijete tijekom noći.
06:49
If an earthquake strikes tonight, I used to worry,
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Brinula sam se što će se
dogoditi s našom kućom
dogoditi s našom kućom
06:51
what will happen to our house? What will happen to my family?
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ako dođe do potresa večeras?
Što će se dogoditi mojoj obitelji?
Što će se dogoditi mojoj obitelji?
06:55
And the answer to those questions always took the form of a story.
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Odgovor na to pitanje
uvijek je bio u obliku priče.
uvijek je bio u obliku priče.
07:00
So if we think of our fears as more than just fears
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Ako mislimo o strahovima kao o nečem više,
07:02
but as stories, we should think of ourselves
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kao o pričama, moramo misliti o sebi
07:05
as the authors of those stories.
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kao o autorima tih priča.
07:08
But just as importantly, we need to think of ourselves
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Što je još važnije, moramo misliti o sebi
07:10
as the readers of our fears, and how we choose
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kao o čitateljima naših
strahova i način na koji
strahova i način na koji
07:12
to read our fears can have a profound effect on our lives.
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čitamo svoje strahove može
veoma utjecati na naš život.
veoma utjecati na naš život.
07:16
Now, some of us naturally read our fears more closely than others.
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Neki od nas svoje strahove
čitaju pažljivije od drugih.
čitaju pažljivije od drugih.
07:19
I read about a study recently of successful entrepreneurs,
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Nedavno sam čitala o istraživanju
o uspješnim poduzetnicima
o uspješnim poduzetnicima
07:22
and the author found that these people shared a habit
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i autor je saznao da
svi imaju jednu naviku
svi imaju jednu naviku
07:25
that he called "productive paranoia," which meant that
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koju je nazvao "produktivnom
paranojom", što znači
paranojom", što znači
07:28
these people, instead of dismissing their fears,
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da su ti ljudi, umjesto da
ignoriraju strahove,
ignoriraju strahove,
07:31
these people read them closely, they studied them,
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pažljivo pročitali svoje
strahove, proučili ih
strahove, proučili ih
07:34
and then they translated that fear into preparation and action.
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i zatim ih pretvorili u
pripremu i djelovanje.
pripremu i djelovanje.
07:37
So that way, if their worst fears came true,
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Tako je njihovo poslovanje bilo spremno
07:39
their businesses were ready.
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ako dođe do ostvarivanja
najgorih strahova.
najgorih strahova.
07:41
And sometimes, of course, our worst fears do come true.
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Ponekad se, naravno, naši
najgori strahovi i ostvare.
najgori strahovi i ostvare.
07:45
That's one of the things that is so extraordinary about fear.
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To je jedna od nevjerojatnih
stvari kod strahova.
stvari kod strahova.
07:49
Once in a while, our fears can predict the future.
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Tu i tamo naši strahovi mogu
predvidjeti budućnost.
predvidjeti budućnost.
07:54
But we can't possibly prepare for all of the fears
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No, ne možemo se
pripremiti za sve strahove
pripremiti za sve strahove
07:57
that our imaginations concoct.
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koje naš um može izmisliti.
07:59
So how can we tell the difference between
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Kako onda možemo razlikovati strahove
08:01
the fears worth listening to and all the others?
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koje treba slušati od
svih ostalih strahova?
svih ostalih strahova?
08:05
I think the end of the story of the whaleship Essex
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Mislim da završetak priče o brodu Essexu
08:08
offers an illuminating, if tragic, example.
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nudi poučan, iako tragičan primjer.
08:12
After much deliberation, the men finally made a decision.
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Nakon mnogo razmišljanja,
mornari su konačno odlučili.
mornari su konačno odlučili.
08:17
Terrified of cannibals, they decided to forgo the closest islands
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U strahu od kanibala odlučili
su zaobići najbliže otoke
su zaobići najbliže otoke
08:20
and instead embarked on the longer
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i uputiti se na duže
08:23
and much more difficult route to South America.
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i puno teže putovanje do Južne Amerike.
08:26
After more than two months at sea, the men ran out of food
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Nakon više od dva mjeseca na
moru, ponestalo im je hrane,
moru, ponestalo im je hrane,
08:29
as they knew they might,
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kao što su i znali,
08:30
and they were still quite far from land.
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a bili su još daleko od kopna.
08:33
When the last of the survivors were finally picked up
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Kada su posljednje preživjele
08:36
by two passing ships, less than half of the men were left alive,
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spasila dva broda, manje od polovice
mornara je bilo živo,
mornara je bilo živo,
08:41
and some of them had resorted to their own form of cannibalism.
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a neki su pribjegli vlastitom
obliku kanibalizma.
obliku kanibalizma.
08:45
Herman Melville, who used this story as research for "Moby Dick,"
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Herman Melville, koji je tu priču
koristio pri pisanju "Moby Dicka",
koristio pri pisanju "Moby Dicka",
08:49
wrote years later, and from dry land, quote,
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kasnije je, s kopna, napisao,
08:53
"All the sufferings of these miserable men of the Essex
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"Sve patnje ovih jadnih mornara Essexa
08:55
might in all human probability have been avoided
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mogle su se izbjeći
08:58
had they, immediately after leaving the wreck,
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da su odmah nakon napuštanja broda
09:01
steered straight for Tahiti.
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krenuli ravno prema Tahitiju.
09:02
But," as Melville put it, "they dreaded cannibals."
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Ali, Melville kaže,
"bojali su se kanibala."
"bojali su se kanibala."
09:07
So the question is, why did these men dread cannibals
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Pitanje je, zašto su se kanibala bojali
09:10
so much more than the extreme likelihood of starvation?
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više od vjerojatnosti
da će umrijeti od gladi?
da će umrijeti od gladi?
09:14
Why were they swayed by one story
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Zašto ih je jedna priča ponijela
09:16
so much more than the other?
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više od druge priče?
09:19
Looked at from this angle,
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Ako pogledamo iz tog kuta,
09:20
theirs becomes a story about reading.
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njihova priča je priča o čitanju.
09:24
The novelist Vladimir Nabokov said that the best reader
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Pisac Vladimir Nabokov rekao je
da je najbolji čitatelj
da je najbolji čitatelj
09:26
has a combination of two very different temperaments,
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spoj dvaju različitih temperamenata,
09:29
the artistic and the scientific.
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umjetničkog i znanstvenog.
09:32
A good reader has an artist's passion,
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Dobar čitatelj ima strast umjetnika,
09:34
a willingness to get caught up in the story,
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volju da se izgubi u priči,
09:37
but just as importantly, the readers also needs
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ali isto tako potrebna je
09:39
the coolness of judgment of a scientist,
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i objektivnost znanstvenika
09:42
which acts to temper and complicate
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koja umiruje i komplicira
09:44
the reader's intuitive reactions to the story.
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čitateljevu reakciju na priču.
09:47
As we've seen, the men of the Essex had no trouble with the artistic part.
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Očito mornari Essexa nisu imali
problema s umjetničkim dijelom.
problema s umjetničkim dijelom.
09:50
They dreamed up a variety of horrifying scenarios.
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Zamislili su mnogo
različitih strašnih scenarija.
različitih strašnih scenarija.
09:54
The problem was that they listened to the wrong story.
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Problem je bio što su
poslušali krivu priču.
poslušali krivu priču.
09:58
Of all the narratives their fears wrote,
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Od svih priča koje su
im strahovi napisali,
im strahovi napisali,
10:00
they responded only to the most lurid, the most vivid,
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reagirali su samo na onu
najgrozniju, najživopisniju,
najgrozniju, najživopisniju,
10:04
the one that was easiest for their imaginations to picture:
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onu koju je bilo najlakše zamisliti:
10:07
cannibals.
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kanibali.
10:09
But perhaps if they'd been able to read their fears
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No, da su možda uspjeli
pročitati svoje strahove
poput znanstvenika, s više objektivnosti,
poput znanstvenika, s više objektivnosti,
10:11
more like a scientist, with more coolness of judgment,
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10:15
they would have listened instead to the less violent
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poslušali bi manje nasilnu,
10:17
but the more likely tale, the story of starvation,
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ali vjerojatniju priču,
priču o umiranju od gladi,
priču o umiranju od gladi,
10:21
and headed for Tahiti, just as Melville's sad commentary suggests.
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i krenuli prema Tahitiju, kao
što je to predložio i Melville.
što je to predložio i Melville.
10:26
And maybe if we all tried to read our fears,
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Kada bismo i mi probali
čitati svoje strahove,
čitati svoje strahove,
10:29
we too would be less often swayed
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možda bismo se manje zanosili
10:31
by the most salacious among them.
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onim najsočnijim pričama.
10:33
Maybe then we'd spend less time worrying about
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Možda bismo provodili manje vremena
10:35
serial killers and plane crashes,
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brinući se o serijskim
ubojicama i nesrećama,
ubojicama i nesrećama,
10:37
and more time concerned with the subtler
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a više vremena brinući se o tišoj
10:39
and slower disasters we face:
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i sporijoj katastrofi koja nas čeka:
10:41
the silent buildup of plaque in our arteries,
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tiho začepljivanje arterija,
10:43
the gradual changes in our climate.
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postupne promjene u klimi.
10:46
Just as the most nuanced stories in literature are often the richest,
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Baš kao što su najdetaljnije priče
u književnosti često i najbogatije,
u književnosti često i najbogatije,
10:50
so too might our subtlest fears be the truest.
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tako i naši najmanji
strahovi mogu biti istiniti.
strahovi mogu biti istiniti.
10:54
Read in the right way, our fears are an amazing gift
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Ako ih dobro pročitamo,
naši strahovi su poklon
naši strahovi su poklon
10:57
of the imagination, a kind of everyday clairvoyance,
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naše mašte nama, vrsta
svakodnevne vidovitosti,
svakodnevne vidovitosti,
11:00
a way of glimpsing what might be the future
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način da vidimo što
može donijeti budućnost,
može donijeti budućnost,
11:02
when there's still time to influence how that future will play out.
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dok još imamo vremena da utječemo
na to kako će ta budućnost izgledati.
na to kako će ta budućnost izgledati.
11:06
Properly read, our fears can offer us something as precious
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Ispravno pročitani, strahovi nam
mogu ponuditi nešto vrijedno,
mogu ponuditi nešto vrijedno,
11:09
as our favorite works of literature:
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kao i naša omiljena književna djela:
11:11
a little wisdom, a bit of insight
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malo mudrosti, malo opažanja
11:14
and a version of that most elusive thing --
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i inačicu one najnedostižnije stvari -
11:17
the truth.
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istine.
11:18
Thank you. (Applause)
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Hvala vam. (Pljesak)
ABOUT THE SPEAKER
Karen Thompson Walker - NovelistFiction writer Karen Thompson Walker explores the connection between fear and the imagination.
Why you should listen
In Karen Thompson Walker's 2012 book The Age of Miracles, a young girl and her family awake one morning to discover that the rotation of the Earth has suddenly begun to slow, stretching the length of the 24-hour day and throwing the natural world into disarray. It's a big, speculative book, but at heart, it's a simple human drama, told through the eyes of an observant adolescent girl.
A former book editor at Simon & Schuster, Walker worked on the novel for three years, an hour each morning before work. Fun fact: The Age of Miracles was published on June 21, 2012 -- the longest day of the year. Since then, the bestselling, much-awarded book has been translated into 29 languages.
Karen Thompson Walker | Speaker | TED.com