Steven Pinker: Is the world getting better or worse? A look at the numbers
Stiven Pinker (Steven Pinker): Da li svet postaje bolji ili gori? Osvrt na cifre
Steven Pinker is a professor of cognitive science (the study of the human mind) who writes about language, mind and human nature. Full bio
Double-click the English transcript below to play the video.
s vestima svakog jutra
the "Worst. Year. Ever."
„Najgora. Godina. Ikad."
for earlier decades,
za ranijim decenijama,
cleaner and more equal.
čistijim i s više jednakosti.
to understand the human condition
da razumemo ljudsko stanje
for the good old days
into seeing a decline
i da vidite propadanje,
headlines of the present
of the world look like
using a constant yardstick?
koristeći nepromenjivo merilo?
data on the present
at a rate of 5.3 per hundred thousand,
je bila 5.3 na sto hiljada,
of their citizens in poverty
je živelo u siromaštvu
of particulate matter
was 8.5 per hundred thousand,
je bila 8.5 na sto hiljada,
of particulate matter
in extreme poverty
je živelo u ekstremnom siromaštvu
nuklearnog oružja.
in extreme poverty
je živelo u ekstremnom siromaštvu
nuklearnog oružja.
for terrorism in Western Europe,
zbog terorizma u Zapadnoj Evropi,
that the world, for all its struggles,
da svet, uprkos previranjima,
old-fashioned notion of progress?
opštepoznati staromodni pojam napretka?
a certain amount of derision,
određenu dozu poruge
that intellectuals hate progress.
mrze napredak.
progressive really hate progress.
progresivnim zaista mrze napredak.
the fruits of progress, mind you.
plodove napretka, takoreći.
with anesthesia than without it.
sa anestezijom nego bez nje.
that rankles the chattering class.
koja uznemirava brbljivu klasu.
can improve their lot, I have been told,
svoju sudbinu, rečeno mi je,
in the outmoded superstition
u zastarelo sujeverje
of the myth of the onward march
for vulgar American can-doism,
američkog moguizma
of boardroom ideology,
and the Chamber of Commerce.
and, of course, a Pangloss,
i, naravno, Panglos,
character who declared,
koji je izjavio:
in the best of all possible worlds."
u najboljem od svih mogućih svetova."
as it happens, was a pessimist.
slučajno je pesimista.
da mnogo bolji svetovi mogu da postoje
there can be much better worlds
of whether progress has taken place
or seeing the glass as half full.
ili posmatranja čaše kao polupune.
on what goes into human well-being:
povodom toga šta je ljudska dobrobit:
peace, freedom, safety, knowledge,
mir, sloboda, bezbednost, znanje,
that, I submit, is progress.
to prihvatam kao napredak.
precious thing of all, life.
stvari od svih: životom.
life expectancy at birth was around 30.
životni vek po rođenju je bio oko 30.
countries of the world,
državama sveta,
did not live to see their fifth birthday,
svoj peti rođendan,
down a hundredfold.
less than six percent of children
manje od šest procenata dece
of the Apocalypse.
to any part of the world.
u bilo koji deo sveta.
and war-ravaged regions.
of the world's population
svetske populacije
at war with each other,
u ratu jedne s drugima,
interlude between wars.
at war with each other.
against China 65 years ago.
protiv Kine pre 65 godina.
have become fewer and less deadly.
su postali ređi i manje smrtonosni.
about 22 per hundred thousand per year
sa oko 22 na sto hiljada godišnje
očigledno nazadovanje
of authoritarian populism
more democratic
living in democracies.
koji su živeli u demokratijama.
and the code of vendetta
kad anarhiju i zakon osvete
under the control of centralized kingdoms,
pod kontrolu centralizovanih kraljevstava,
u kolonijalnoj Novoj Engleskoj,
when the sheriffs moved to town,
kada su se šerifi doselili u grad,
in just about every way.
skoro na svim poljima.
we've become 96 percent less likely
umanjili smo za 96% šanse
to be mowed down on the sidewalk,
da nas pokose na trotoaru,
to die in a plane crash,
da poginemo u padu aviona,
to be killed on the job,
da poginemo na radnom mestu,
to be killed by an act of God,
da poginemo od strane više sile,
wildfire, storm, volcano,
požara, oluje, vulkana,
has become less angry with us
postao manje ljut na nas,
in the resilience of our infrastructure.
naše infrastrukture.
the quintessential act of God,
to be killed by a bolt of lightning.
grom je umanjen za 97%.
could read or write.
je moglo da čita ili piše.
achieved universal literacy
su postigli univerzalnu pismenost
of the world's population
svetske populacije
worked more than 60 hours per week.
su radili preko 60 sati nedeljno.
of running water and electricity
tekuće vode i električne energije
of washing machines, vacuum cleaners,
mašina za veš, usisivača,
stoves and microwaves,
rerni i mikrotalasnih pećnica,
that we forfeit to housework
koje posvećujemo kućnim poslovima
wealth, safety, knowledge and leisure
bogatstvu, bezbednosti, znanju i dokolici
of faith or optimism,
vere, niti optimizma,
ljudske istorije.
been covered in the news?
obrađuje u vestima?
emotion words in news stories
emocionalnih reči u pričama iz vesti
in which humanity has gotten healthier,
je čovečanstvo postajalo zdravije,
has become increasingly morose
have gotten steadily glummer.
postajali mrzovoljniji.
from our cognitive psychology.
iz naše kognitivne psihologije.
called the "availability heuristic."
koja se naziva "heuristikom dostupnosti".
something from memory,
comes from the nature of journalism,
iz prirode novinarstva,
from "The Onion,"
ovim satiričnim naslovom iz "Oniona":
da bi odlučili
Panic About For Rest of Day."
trebalo da paniče do kraja dana."
not stuff that doesn't happen.
ne o onome što se ne dešava.
that has been at peace for 40 years,"
koja je u miru već 40 godina",
been attacked by terrorists.
teroristički napad.
from extreme poverty yesterday"
iz ekstremnog siromaštva"
leaving poverty behind,
ljudi kojima je siromaštvo prošlost,
on our morbid interest
od naših morbidnih interesovanja
"If it bleeds, it leads."
politikom: "Ako ima krvi, biće i publike".
with the nature of news,
predrasude sa prirodom vesti,
has been coming to an end
some questions about progress
to many of you.
mnogima od vas pala na pamet.
biti pesimističan
rekli istinu onima na vlasti?
of suffering and danger
patnje i opasnosti
toga kako možemo da ih umanjimo
of how they can be reduced,
to indiscriminate pessimism.
u nediskriminatorskom pesimizmu.
intelligence will --
veštačka inteligencija -
to enjoy life while we can,
u životu dok možemo,
for tomorrow we die.
jer ćemo sutra da umremo.
pessimism is radicalism.
pesimizma je radikalizam.
and beyond hope for reform,
i nema nade za reforme,
is to seek to smash the machine,
je da se teži uništenju mašine,
rises out of the ashes
than what we have now.
od onoga što trenutno imamo.
such a thing as progress,
or dialectic lifting us ever higher.
ili dijalektičko uznošenje više i više.
bending toward justice.
koji se poginje ka pravdi.
governed by an idea,
koje vodi ideja,
with the 18th century Enlightenment,
sa prosvetiteljstvom iz XVIII veka,
Naravno da nije.
that everything becomes better
and progress is not a miracle
which have to be solved in their turn.
koje u tom slučaju treba rešiti.
facing the world today are gargantuan,
suočava današnji svet su džinovski,
kao na probleme koje treba rešiti,
as problems to be solved,
for climate change
za klimatske promene
go against human nature?
suprotstavljeno ljudskoj prirodi?
of the existence of human nature,
toga da postoji ljudska priroda
and perversities.
is more tragic than utopian
izgledi pre tragični nego utopijski
we are not golden
we are getting back to the garden.
"The Blank Slate" was published.
je objavljena „Prazna ploča".
the statistics of human progress,
ljudskog napretka,
every other aspect of our well-being,
sve druge aspekte našeg blagostanja,
our tribulations and woes,
by Enlightenment norms and institutions,
normama prosvetiteljstva i institucija,
to replicate my own data-driven epiphany
moje lično proviđenje vođeno podacima
that intellectuals hate progress,
da tvrdim da intelektualci mrze napredak,
that there has been progress.
da uopšte ima napretka.
just leaves them cold.
prosto ostavlja ravnodušnim.
I have received from readers is gratitude,
koji sam dobio od čitalaca je zahvalnost,
their view of the world
pogled na svet
of the Enlightenment
with greater artistic flare
većeg umetničkog nadahnuća
i prenesu dalje.
against life-enabling order
protiv poretka koji omogućuje život
that is ruthlessly competitive.
nemilosrdnog takmičenja.
been blessed with resources
blagoslovena resursima
for a kind of redemption.
za neki vid iskupljenja.
to combine ideas recursively,
da iznova kombinujemo ideje,
of our ingenuity and experience.
plodove naše genijalnosti i iskustva.
with the capacity for sympathy,
sposobnošću za saučešće,
compassion, commiseration.
samilost, saosećanje.
to magnify their own power.
da uvećavaju sopstvenu moć.
and electronic word.
and the narrative arts.
i pripovednim umetnostima.
have been multiplied
racionalne moći su umnožene
otvorenom debatom,
against the forces that grind us down,
protiv sila koje nas mrve,
of our own nature.
naše sopstvene prirode.
of the cosmos, including life and mind.
uključujući život i um.
i više uživamo u sitnim zadovoljstvima
assaulted, enslaved, exploited
porobljavaju, izrabljuju
with peace and prosperity are growing
mira i napretka rastu
da obuhvate planetu.
have been voiced,
o tome kako da ih umanjimo
are yet to be conceived.
tek treba da se začne.
koja možemo da postignemo,
to the betterments we can attain
to enhance human flourishing.
kako bi uvećali ljudski procvat.
is not just another myth.
ali ova priča je istinita,
which is the only truth we can have.
koje je jedina istina koju imamo.
continue to be true and which ones false,
su i dalje tačni, a koji nisu,
and any could become.
i bilo koji može da postane.
with the power of reason
koje poseduje moć razuma
than ignorance and superstition.
ABOUT THE SPEAKER
Steven Pinker - PsychologistSteven Pinker is a professor of cognitive science (the study of the human mind) who writes about language, mind and human nature.
Why you should listen
Steven Pinker grew up in the English-speaking community of Montreal but has spent his adult life bouncing back and forth between Harvard and MIT. He is interested in all aspects of human nature: how we see, hear, think, speak, remember, feel and interact.
To be specific: he developed the first comprehensive theory of language acquisition in children, used verb meaning as a window into cognition, probed the limits of neural networks and showed how the interaction between memory and computation shapes language. He has used evolution to illuminate innuendo, emotional expression and social coordination. He has documented historical declines in violence and explained them in terms of the ways that the violent and peaceable components of human nature interact in different eras. He has written books on the language instinct, how the mind works, the stuff of thought and the doctrine of the blank slate, together with a guide to stylish writing that is rooted in psychology.
In his latest book, Enlightenment Now: The Case for Reason, Science, Humanism, and Progress, he writes about progress -- why people are healthier, richer, safer, happier and better educated than ever. His other books include The Language Instinct, How the Mind Works, The Blank Slate: The Modern Denial of Human Nature, The Stuff of Thought, and The Better Angels of Our Nature.
Steven Pinker | Speaker | TED.com