David Brooks: The lies our culture tells us about what matters -- and a better way to live
David Brooks: Die Lügen unserer Kultur über das, was zählt - und eine bessere Art zu leben.
Writer and thinker David Brooks has covered business, crime and politics over a long career in journalism. Full bio
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schlechte Phasen im Leben.
by that failed commitment.
oder zogen gerade von zu Hause weg.
or were leaving.
in the conservative movement,
Konservatismus geprägt,
und konzentrierte mich auf die Arbeit.
I lived alone in an apartment,
where there should have been utensils,
wo Besteck sein sollte,
waren statt der Teller Briefumschläge.
where there should have been plates,
but I didn't have weekend friends.
aber nicht fürs Wochenende.
were these long, howling silences.
waren lang und dröhnend still --
came to me in the form of --
a burning in my stomach.
just fluidity, lack of solidity.
Unbestimmtheit, Mangel an Stabilität.
war die Erkenntnis,
was the awareness
was just reflective of the emptiness
nur die Leere in mir selbst spiegelte
unserer Kultur hereingefallen war.
that our culture tells us.
career success is fulfilling.
Erfolg im Beruf bringt Erfüllung.
the shame I would feel
mich als Versager fühlen zu müssen,
nichts Positives gebracht.
Ich kann mich selbst glücklich machen.
7 Kilo abnehme, mehr Yoga mache,
on their deathbed will tell you,
is the deep relationships of life,
und der Verzicht auf Autarkie.
of the meritocracy.
die der Leistungsgesellschaft.
is you are what you accomplish.
lautet ihre Botschaft.
is you can earn dignity
durch das Nutzen renommierter Marken.
to prestigious brands.
is conditional love,
is you're not a soul to be purified,
nicht eine zu läuternde Seele,
zu maximierender Kompetenzen.
als andere erreicht haben,
a little more than others
a little more than others.
failing to show up for my friends,
war nicht für meine Freunde da.
that as I was falling into the valley --
war ein Tal der Abschottung;
were doing that, too.
the secret to my career;
passiert auch anderen.
to a lot of other people.
überdurchschnittlich gut reden.
with above average communication skills.
a lot of other people were detached
viele andere abgekoppelt,
from each other.
over 45 are chronically lonely.
sind chronisch einsam.
report having meaningful conversation
gute Gespräche mit ihren Nachbarn.
say they trust their neighbors,
bei der Generation Y sind es nur 18 %.
political party is unaffiliated.
sind Partei- und Religionslose.
movement is unaffiliated.
Krankheiten nehmen zu.
mental health problems are rising.
ist seit 1999 um 30 % gestiegen,
30 percent since 1999.
in den letzten Jahren sogar um 70 %.
over the last several years,
45.000 Amerikaner Selbstmord,
kill themselves every year;
steigt nicht, sie sinkt.
I flew out here to say
we have environmental crisis,
Umwelt- und politische Krise;
und eine Beziehungskrise,
and relational crisis;
coming out of Washington ...
wie kommt man aus dem Tal heraus?
"You suffer your way to wisdom."
"Weisheit entsteht durch Leiden".
habe ich einiges begriffen.
I've had a few realizations.
politische Freiheit ist toll,
political freedom is great,
because he's uncommitted to things.
da er sich zu nichts verpflichtet hat.
you want to swim in,
in dem man schwimmen will.
um sich drüben niederzulassen.
on the other side.
one of those bad moments in life,
kann man entweder zerbrechen
or grief, they get smaller,
und schlagen um sich.
they lash out.
gets transmitted."
wird übertragen."
Es unterbricht das Leben.
is that it's an interruption of life.
you thought you were.
wofür man sich hielt.
what you thought was the floor
für den Kellerboden der Seele hielt.
und darunter öffnet sich ein Raum.
revealing a cavity below,
revealing a cavity below.
ein weiterer Raum erscheint.
you never anticipated,
und gute Beziehungen können sie füllen.
will fill those depths.
verlässt man das Ego im Kopf
you get out of the head of the ego
is longing and love for another,
nach Verlangen und Liebe füreinander,
described in his book,
im Buch "Corellis Mandoline" beschrieb.
über seine tote Frau.
wenn das Verliebtsein verbrannt ist.
when being in love is burned away.
und glücklicher Zufall.
and a fortunate accident.
towards each other underground,
abgefallen waren, merkten wir:
had fallen from our branches,
one tree and not two."
you discover is your soul.
sondern um einen Teil in Ihnen,
or not believe in God,
that there's a piece of you
Farbe noch Gewicht hat,
Würde und Wert gibt.
infinite dignity and value.
don't have more of this
nicht mehr davon als weniger erfolgreiche.
it's an obliteration of another soul.
weil sie Seelen vernichtet.
nicht nur Körpermoleküle an,
on a bunch of physical molecules,
another person's soul.
is it yearns for righteousness.
die Seele nach Gerechtigkeit.
the soul yearns for righteousness.
von Einstein geborgten Erkenntnis:
which I borrowed from Einstein:
is not going to be solved
auf der Bewusstseinsebene lösen,
on which you created it.
to a different level of consciousness."
Bewusstseinsniveau gehen.
auf Ihre Freunde
is you throw yourself on your friends
Gespräche als je zuvor.
that you ever had before.
allein irgendwohin in die Natur,
into the wilderness.
where there's nobody there to perform,
und sich auflöst.
and it crumbles,
geliebt zu werden.
of being loved.
seit der Geburt ihrer Tochter wisse sie,
that when her daughter was born,
more than evolution required.
als von der Evolution vorgesehen.
that's at the deep of ourself,
den Frieden tief in uns,
you're ready to be rescued.
ist Rettung in Sicht.
when you're in the valley
schaffen Sie es nicht allein heraus;
namens Kathy und David eingeladen
by a couple named Kathy and David,
public school, his name's Santi.
in Washington zur Schule.
da die Mutter nicht gesund war.
who needed a place to stay
der hatte wieder einen usw.
and that kid had a friend.
25 around the kitchen table,
downstairs in the basement.
begrüßen wollte, sagte er:
shake hands here.
on the face of the earth,
wenn ich in der Stadt bin,
every Thursday night when I'm in town,
where you're showing all the way up.
das Heilmittel der Übel unserer Kultur:
for all the ills of our culture
really putting relationship first,
these communities are everywhere.
das Projekt "Weave: The Social Fabric".
called "Weave: The Social Fabric."
weavers anywhere, everywhere.
und finden Weber -- überall.
who grew up in --
aus Englewood in Chicago,
in a tough neighborhood.
wollte sie gerade wegziehen,
because it was so dangerous,
and she saw two little girls
mit kaputten Flaschen spielten.
with broken bottles,
and she said, "We're not leaving.
die einfach geht."
that abandon that."
and now she runs R.A.G.E.,
das große Gemeinschaftsprojekt dort.
have had tough valleys.
who came home from an antiquing trip
sie kam gerade von einer Antiquitätenjagd.
had killed himself and their two kids.
sich und beide Kinder umgebracht.
engagiert sich gemeinnützig,
she volunteers in the community,
mit Gewalt umzugehen.
with violence, she teaches.
experience because I was angry.
ließ mich innerlich wachsen.
was er mir antun wollte,
what he tried to do to me
verdammt, du schaffst es nicht.' "
screw you, you're not going to do it.'"
an individualistic life,
kein individualistisches Leben,
they have a different set of values.
mit anderen Werten.
they have planted themselves down.
hielt ein Mann ein Schild hoch:
in the town square,
leitet "Wurzeln der Empathie".
called Roots of Empathy.
a bunch of kids, an eighth grade class,
what the infant is thinking,
was das Baby denkt --
war größer als die anderen.
who was bigger than the rest
been through the foster care system,
im Pflegekind-System gelandet,
denn er wirkte unheimlich.
because he looked big and scary.
Darren, hold the baby.
asking questions about parenthood.
stellte er Fragen zur Elternschaft.
kannst du dann ein guter Vater sein?"
do you think you can be a good father?"
holt Menschen aus dem Tal.
people out of the valley.
andere bleiben ihm treu.
they have an intensity to them.
called "Naturalist," about his childhood.
mit dem Titel "Des Lebens ganze Fülle".
his parents were divorcing.
seine Eltern scheiden.
to Paradise Beach in North Florida.
Paradise Beach in Nordflorida.
und noch nie eine Qualle gesehen.
It existed beyond my imagination."
einen Stachelrochen schwimmen.
float beneath his feet.
in the awe and wonder.
wurde ein Naturforscher geboren.
doppelt so groß wie als Erwachsener."
as you do as an adult.
denn Kinder wollen moralische Kraft,
is that moral intensity,
over to something
doppelt so groß wie normale Menschen.
at twice the size as normal people.
when we're shooting for our career,
beim Start der Karriere,
it's the expansion of self.
Ihr Team gewinnt den Super Bowl,
your team wins the Super Bowl,
it's the dissolving of self.
sondern seine Auflösung.
disappears between a mother and her child,
die Grenze zwischen Mutter und Kind.
feels just free in nature.
ein Naturforscher in der Natur frei.
in your work or a cause,
to aim for than happiness.
of people when they lose it.
bevor sie entgleiten.
wondering where her handbag was.
ihrer Handtasche.
mit riesigen Augen im Gewühl die Hand.
reached across a sea of bodies
over and over, 'Are you feeling it?'
'Fühlst du es?'
I was terrified that I might die,
ich hatte Angst zu sterben.
overwhelmed with delight
der Weltgeschichte
should happen to be playing
in the history of the world
und ging in 'Teen Spirit' über.
into 'Teen Spirit.'
the top of my head blew away,
mein Kopf explodierte.
we gave ourselves up to joy."
wir gaben uns der Freude hin."
is two different life mindsets.
für das Leben zu beschreiben.
individual happiness and career success.
und Erfolg in der Karriere.
I have nothing against it.
nichts entgegenzusetzen haben.
the other mindset to balance it.
about ourselves as a people,
kein Selbstwertgefühl mehr,
faith in our future,
in die Gestaltung der Zukunft,
we don't treat each other as well.
behandeln einander nicht gut.
and environmental change.
and relational revolution.
in Kultur und Beziehungen.
of a recovered society.
sich erholenden Gesellschaft benennen.
have found that language.
die Weber haben sie gefunden.
is that society changes
ändert sich die Gesellschaft,
eine bessere Lebensart finden
find a better way to live,
a better way to live.
all around the country.
we're a weaver."
das Sozialgefüge wird repariert.
the social unity gets repaired.
ABOUT THE SPEAKER
David Brooks - Op-ed columnistWriter and thinker David Brooks has covered business, crime and politics over a long career in journalism.
Why you should listen
David Brooks became an Op-Ed columnist for The New York Times in September 2003. He is currently a commentator on "The PBS Newshour," NPR’s "All Things Considered" and NBC's "Meet the Press."
He is the author of Bobos in Paradise and The Social Animal. In April 2015, he released with his fourth book, The Road to Character, which was a #1 New York Times bestseller.
Brooks also teaches at Yale University, and is a member of the American Academy of Arts & Sciences.
Born on August 11, 1961 in Toronto, Canada, Brooks graduated a bachelor of history from the University of Chicago in 1983. He became a police reporter for the City News Bureau, a wire service owned jointly by the Chicago Tribune and Sun-Times.
He worked at The Washington Times and then The Wall Street Journal for nine years. His last post at the Journal was as Op-ed Editor. Prior to that, he was posted in Brussels, covering Russia, the Middle East, South Africa and European affairs. His first post at the Journal was as editor of the book review section, and he filled in as the Journal's movie critic.
He also served as a senior editor at The Weekly Standard for 9 years, as well as contributing editor for The Atlantic and Newsweek.
David Brooks | Speaker | TED.com