TEDMED 2011
AJ Jacobs: How healthy living nearly killed me
A. J. Jacobs: como la vida saludable casi me mata
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Durante un año, A. J. Jacobs siguió cada uno de los consejos sobre salud que pudo-desde aplicarse protector solar en cantidades apropiadas hasta llevar un casco mientras hacía las compras. Sobre el escenario de TEDMED comparte sus sorprendentes aprendizajes.
AJ Jacobs - Author
Immersing himself in alternate lifestyles and long, hilarious experiments (usually with himself the guinea pig), writer AJ Jacobs tests the limits of behavior, customs, culture, knowledge -- and his wife's sense of humor. Full bio
Immersing himself in alternate lifestyles and long, hilarious experiments (usually with himself the guinea pig), writer AJ Jacobs tests the limits of behavior, customs, culture, knowledge -- and his wife's sense of humor. Full bio
Double-click the English transcript below to play the video.
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I've spent the last decade
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He pasado la última década
00:17
subjecting myself to pain and humiliation,
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sometiéndome al dolor y la humillación,
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hopefully for a good cause,
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con la esperanza de hacerlo por una buena causa,
00:22
which is self-improvement.
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que es el crecimiento personal.
00:25
And I've done this in three parts.
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Y lo he hecho en tres fases.
00:27
So first I started with the mind.
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Primero, comencé con la mente.
00:30
And I decided to try to get smarter
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Y decidí tratar de ser más inteligente
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by reading the entire Encyclopedia Britannica
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leyendo la versión completa de la Enciclopedia Británica
00:36
from A to Z --
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de la A a la Z,
00:38
or, more precisely, from "a-ak" to "Zywiec."
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más precisamente de "a-ak" a "Zywiec".
00:41
And here's a little image of that.
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Y aquí tienen una imagen.
00:43
And this was an amazing year.
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Fue un año sorprendente.
00:45
It was really a fascinating journey.
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Fue un viaje fascinante.
00:47
It was painful at times,
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Doloroso a veces,
00:50
especially for those around me.
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especialmente para los que están cerca de mí.
00:52
My wife started to fine me one dollar
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Mi esposa comenzó a cobrarme un dolar de multa
00:55
for every irrelevant fact I inserted into conversation.
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por cada comentario irrelevante que insertaba en las conversaciones.
00:58
So it had its downsides.
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Tuvo su lado malo.
01:02
But after that,
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Luego de eso,
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I decided to work on the spirit.
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decidí trabajar mi espíritu.
01:06
As I mentioned last year,
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Como mencioné el año pasado,
01:08
I grew up with no religion at all.
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crecí sin religión alguna.
01:10
I'm Jewish,
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Soy judío,
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but I'm Jewish in the same way the Olive Garden is Italian.
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pero tan judío como la comida del Olive Garden es italiana.
01:15
(Laughter)
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(Risas)
01:17
Not really.
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No mucho.
01:19
But I decided to learn about the Bible and my heritage
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Pero decidí aprender sobre la Biblia y mi herencia
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by actually diving in
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profundizando,
01:24
and trying to live it and immerse myself in it.
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tratando de vivir y sumergirme en ella.
01:26
So I decided to follow all the rules of the Bible.
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Decidí seguir todas las reglas de la Biblia.
01:29
And from the Ten Commandments
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Desde los diez mandamientos
01:31
to growing my beard --
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hasta dejarme la barba,
01:33
because Leviticus says you cannot shave.
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(porque el Levítico dice que no puedes afeitarte).
01:35
So this is what I looked like by the end.
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Así me veía al finalizar.
01:38
Thank you for that reaction.
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Gracias por su reacción.
01:40
(Laughter)
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(Risas)
01:43
I look a little like Moses, or Ted Kaczynski.
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Me parezco un tanto a Moisés o a Ted Kaczynski.
01:46
I got both of them.
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Un poco a cada uno.
01:48
So there was the topiary there.
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Tenía el topiario.
01:51
And there's the sheep.
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Y la oveja.
01:54
Now the final part of the trilogy
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Y la parte final de la trilogía
01:56
was I wanted to focus on the body
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fue que quise enfocarme en el cuerpo
01:59
and try to be the healthiest person I could be,
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y ser lo más sano posible,
02:01
the healthiest person alive.
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la persona viva más saludable.
02:03
So that's what I've been doing the last couple of years.
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Eso es lo que estuve haciendo los últimos años.
02:06
And I just finished a couple of months ago.
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Y acabo de finalizar hace un par de meses.
02:08
And I have to say, thank God.
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Gracias a Dios, debo decir.
02:10
Because living so healthily was killing me.
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Porque vivir tan saludablemente me estaba matando.
02:13
(Laughter)
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(Risas)
02:15
It was so overwhelming,
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Fue tan sobrecogedor...
02:18
because the amount of things you have to do,
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debes hacer tantas cosas
02:20
it's just mind-boggling.
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que es alucinante.
02:22
I was listening to all the experts
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Escuchaba a todos los expertos
02:24
and talking to sort of a board of medical advisers.
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y hablaba con toda clase de asesores médicos.
02:26
And they were telling me
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Me decían
02:28
all the things I had to do.
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todo lo que debía hacer.
02:30
I had to eat right,
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Debía comer apropiadamente,
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exercise, meditate, pet dogs,
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ejercitarme, meditar, criar perros.
02:35
because that lowers the blood pressure.
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porque eso te baja la presión sanguínea.
02:37
I wrote the book on a treadmill,
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Escribí el libro en la caminadora
02:39
and it took me about a thousand miles
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y me llevó aproximadamente 1600 km
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to write the book.
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escribirlo.
02:43
I had to put on sunscreen.
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Tenía que usar protector solar.
02:45
This was no small feat,
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Esto no era una pequeñez
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because if you listen to dermatologists,
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porque si escuchas a los dermatólogos,
02:49
they say that you should have a shot glass full of sunscreen.
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dicen que debes aplicarte un vaso pequeño de protector solar.
02:52
And you have to reapply it every two to four hours.
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Y debes repetirlo cada dos o cuatro horas.
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So I think half of my book advance
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Creo que el avance de la mitad de mi libro
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went into sunscreen.
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se fue en el protector solar.
02:58
I was like a glazed doughnut
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Estuve más blanco que una momia
03:00
for most of the year.
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casi todo el año.
03:02
There was the washing of hands.
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También el lavado de manos.
03:04
I had to do that properly.
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Debía hacerlo correctamente.
03:06
And my immunologist told me
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Mi inmunólogo me dijo
03:08
that I should also wipe down
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que también debía limpiar
03:11
all of the remote controls and iPhones in my house,
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todos los controles remotos y iPhones de mi casa,
03:14
because those are just orgies of germs.
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porque albergan orgías de gérmenes,
03:17
So that took a lot of time.
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Eso me llevó muchísimo tiempo.
03:19
I also tried to be the safest person I could be,
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Traté también de ser la persona más segura.
03:22
because that's a part of health.
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porque eso es parte de la salud.
03:24
I was inspired
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Me inspiré
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by the Danish Safety Council.
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en el Consejo de Seguridad Danés.
03:28
They started a public campaign
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Iniciaron una campaña pública
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that says, "A walking helmet is a good helmet."
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que dice: "Un casco para caminar es un buen casco".
03:33
So they believe you should not just wear helmets for biking,
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Ellos creen que los cascos no deben usarse sólo para salir en bicicleta,
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but also for walking around.
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sino para caminar también.
03:40
And you can see there
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Pueden ver
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they're shopping with their helmets.
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que hacen las compras con sus cascos.
03:45
(Laughter)
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(Risas)
03:47
Well yeah, I tried that.
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Bueno, lo probé.
03:51
Now it's a little extreme, I admit.
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Debo admitir que es un poco extremo.
03:53
But if you think about this,
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Pero si lo piensan...
03:55
this is actually -- the "Freakonomics" authors wrote about this --
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los autores de "Freakonomics" han escrito sobre esto;
03:58
that more people die on a per mile basis
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más gente muere
04:01
from drunk walking
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por caminar ebrio
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than from drunk driving.
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que por conducir ebrio.
04:05
So something to think about tonight
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Algo para pensar esta noche
04:07
if you've had a couple.
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si tomaron un par de copas.
04:10
So I finished,
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Terminé, entonces,
04:12
and it was a success in a sense.
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y fue un éxito en cierto sentido.
04:14
All of the markers went in the right direction.
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Todos los marcadores fueron en la dirección correcta.
04:17
My cholesterol went down, I lost weight,
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Bajó mi colesterol, perdí peso,
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my wife stopped telling me that I looked pregnant.
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mi esposa dejó de decirme que estaba embarazado.
04:24
So that was nice.
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Eso fue bueno.
04:27
And it was successful overall.
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Y fue un éxito general.
04:30
But I also learned that I was too healthy,
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Pero, también aprendí que estaba demasiado saludable,
04:32
and that was unhealthy.
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y eso era insalubre.
04:34
I was so focused on doing all these things
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Estaba tan enfocado haciendo todas estas cosas
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that I was neglecting my friends and family.
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que dejé de lado a mis amigos y familia.
04:40
And as Dan Buettner can tell you,
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Y, como Dan Buettner puede decirles,
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having a strong social network
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tener una red social fuerte
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is so crucial to our health.
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es crucial para nuestra salud.
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So I finished.
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Entonces, finalicé.
04:48
And I kind of went overboard
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Y me excedí
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on the week after the project was over.
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la semana siguiente a finalizar el proyecto.
04:54
I went to the dark side,
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Pasé al lado oscuro
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and I just indulged myself.
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y me dí todos los gustos.
04:58
It was like something out of Caligula.
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Era como si fuera Caligula.
05:00
(Laughter)
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(Risas)
05:02
Without the sex part.
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Sin el sexo.
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Because I have three young kids,
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Porque tengo tres hijos pequeños
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so that wasn't happening.
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y eso no pasaba.
05:09
But the over-eating and over-drinking, definitely.
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Pero el exceso de comida y bebida, definitivamente.
05:12
And I finally have stabilized.
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Finalmente me he estabilizado.
05:17
So now I'm back
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Estoy nuevamente
05:19
to adopting many -- not all; I don't wear a helmet anymore --
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adoptando muchas pero no todas. No uso ya casco,
05:22
but dozens of healthy behaviors
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pero he adoptado docenas
05:25
that I adopted during my year.
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de las conductas saludables que probé.
05:28
It was really a life-changing project.
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Fue un proyecto que realmente me cambió la vida.
05:31
And I, of course, don't have time to go into all of them.
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Por supuesto, no tengo tiempo para detenerme en todas.
05:34
Let me just tell you two really quickly.
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Permítanme contarles sobre dos de ellas rápidamente.
05:37
The first is -- and this was surprising to me;
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La primera es... y esto me sorprendió,
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I didn't expect this to come out --
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no esperaba que esto ocurriera,
05:41
but I live a much quieter life now.
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pero vivo una vida mucho más tranquila.
05:44
Because we live in such a noisy world.
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Porque vivimos en un mundo tan ruidoso.
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There's trains and planes and cars
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Hay trenes, aviones, autos
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and Bill O'Reilly, he's very noisy.
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y Bill O´Reilly, que es muy ruidoso.
05:54
(Laughter)
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(Risas)
05:57
And this is a real underestimated, under-appreciated health hazard --
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Y esta es una amenaza a la salud desestimada, poco apreciada;
06:02
not just because it harms our hearing, which it obviously does,
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no sólo porque daña nuestra audición, que la daña,
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but it actually initiates
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sino que realmente inicia
06:08
the fight-or-flight response.
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un reflejo de lucha o huída.
06:10
A loud noise will get your fight-or-flight response going.
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Un ruido fuerte iniciará tu reflejo de pelea o huída.
06:13
And this, over the years,
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Y esto, con los años,
06:16
can cause real damage, cardiovascular damage.
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puede causar daño cardiovascular.
06:19
The World Health Organization just did a big study
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La Organización Mundial de la Salud ha realizado un estudio
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that they published this year.
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que ha publicado este año
06:24
And it was done in Europe.
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y que se llevó a cabo en Europa.
06:26
And they estimated
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Estimaron
06:28
that 1.6 million years of healthy living
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que 1,6 millones de años saludables
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are lost every year in Europe
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se pierden cada año en Europa
06:35
because of noise pollution.
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debido a la contaminación acústica.
06:38
So they think it's actually very deadly.
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Creen que es mortal
06:41
And by the way,
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y, por cierto,
06:43
it's also terrible for your brain.
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es también terrible para el cerebro.
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It really impairs cognition.
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Afecta a la cognición.
06:49
And our Founding Fathers knew about this.
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Nuestros Padres Fundadores lo sabían.
06:51
When they wrote the Constitution,
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Cuando escribieron la Constitución,
06:53
they put dirt all over the cobblestones outside the hall
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pusieron tierra sobre el empedrado fuera del salón
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so that they could concentrate.
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para poder concentrarse.
07:00
So without noise reduction technology,
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Sin tecnología de reducción de ruido,
07:03
our country would not exist.
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nuestro país no existiría.
07:06
So as a patriot,
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Como patriota,
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I felt it was important to --
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sentí que era importante...
07:10
I wear all the earplugs and the earphones,
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Uso tapones en los oídos y auriculares,
07:12
and it's really improved my life
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y esto ha mejorado mi vida
07:15
in a surprising and unexpected way.
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de una manera inesperada.
07:18
And the second point I want to make, the final point,
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El segundo punto que quisiera marcar, el final,
07:21
is that -- and it's actually been a theme of TEDMED --
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es que... (y esto ha sido tema de TEDMED)
07:26
that joy is so important to your health,
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la alegría es tan importante para la salud,
07:30
that very few of these behaviors
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que conservaré sólo aquellas
07:34
will stick with me
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sólo aquellas conductas,
07:36
unless there's some sense of pleasure and joy in them.
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en las que encuentre algo de placer y alegría.
07:41
And just to give you one instance of this:
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Sólo por ponerles un ejemplo:
07:44
food.
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la comida.
07:46
The junk food industry
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La industria de la comida basura
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is really great
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es fantástica
07:51
at pressing our pleasure buttons
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para presionar los botones del placer
07:53
and figuring out what's the most pleasurable.
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y encontrar qué es lo más placentero.
07:56
But I think we can use their techniques
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Pienso que podemos usar sus técnicas
07:58
and apply them to healthy food.
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y aplicarlas a la comida saludable.
08:00
To give just one example,
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Por ponerles un ejemplo,
08:02
we love crunchiness, mouthfeel.
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nos encanta la sensación crujiente en la boca.
08:05
So I basically have tried to incorporate crunchiness
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He tratado, básicamente, de incorporar alimentos crujientes
08:09
into a lot of my recipes --
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a muchas de mis recetas
08:11
throw in some sunflower seeds.
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poniendo algunas pipas.
08:13
And you can almost trick yourself
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Así puedes engañarte
08:15
into thinking you're eating Doritos.
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pensando que comes doritos.
08:17
(Laughter)
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(Risas)
08:19
And it has made me a healthier person.
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Esto me ha hecho una persona más saludable.
08:21
So that is it.
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Eso es todo.
08:23
The book about it comes out in April.
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El libro sobre esto saldrá en abril.
08:25
It's called "Drop Dead Healthy."
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Se llamará "Múerete saludable".
08:27
And I hope that I don't get sick during the book tour.
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Espero no enfermar durante la gira de presentación.
08:29
That's my greatest hope.
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Ése es mi mayor deseo.
08:31
So thank you very much.
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Muchas gracias.
08:33
(Applause)
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(Aplausos)
ABOUT THE SPEAKER
AJ Jacobs - AuthorImmersing himself in alternate lifestyles and long, hilarious experiments (usually with himself the guinea pig), writer AJ Jacobs tests the limits of behavior, customs, culture, knowledge -- and his wife's sense of humor.
Why you should listen
AJ Jacobs' writings stand at the intersection of philosophy, Gonzo journalism and performance art. Stubbornly curious and slyly perceptive, he takes immersive learning to its irrational and profoundly amusing extreme -- extracting wisdom and meaning after long stints as a self-styled guinea pig. For his widely circulated Esquire article "My Outsourced Life," he explored the phenomenon of outsourcing by hiring a team in Bangalore to take care of every part of his life -- from reading his emails to arguing with his wife to reading bedtime stories to his own son. A previous article, "I Think You're Fat," chronicled a brief, cringe-inducing attempt to live his life in Radical Honesty, telling all the truth, all the time.
Jacobs is author of The Know-It-All, which documents the year he spent reading the Encyclopedia Britannica from A to Z, uncovering both funny and surprising factoids but also poignant insight into history and human nature. In 2007 he released The Year of Living Biblically, in which he attempted to follow every single rule in the Bible as literally as possible for an entire year. His recent book The Guinea Pig Diaries: My Life as an Experiment is a collection of numerous personal experiments. including living according to George Washington's rules of conduct, outsourcing every single task to India, and posing as a woman on an online dating site.
AJ Jacobs | Speaker | TED.com