TEDGlobal 2005
Barry Schwartz: The paradox of choice
Barry Schwartz sobre la paradoxa de decidir
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El psicòleg Barry Schwartz posa en el punt de mira un principi fonamental de les societats occidentals: la llibertat d'elecció. Segons Schwartz, la varietat d'opcions no ens ha fet més lliures sinó que ens ha paralitzat; i en comptes de ser més feliços, estem més insatisfets.
Barry Schwartz - Psychologist
Barry Schwartz studies the link between economics and psychology, offering startling insights into modern life. Lately, working with Ken Sharpe, he's studying wisdom. Full bio
Barry Schwartz studies the link between economics and psychology, offering startling insights into modern life. Lately, working with Ken Sharpe, he's studying wisdom. Full bio
Double-click the English transcript below to play the video.
00:25
I'm going to talk to you about some stuff that's in this book of mine
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Us parlaré de quatre coses d'un llibre meu;
00:28
that I hope will resonate with other things you've already heard,
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espero que us recordin altres coses que ja sabíeu
00:31
and I'll try to make some connections myself, in case you miss them.
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i miraré de lligar-ho tot plegat.
00:35
I want to start with what I call the "official dogma."
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Vull començar amb el que jo en dic "dogma oficial"
00:39
The official dogma of what?
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Dogma oficial de què?
00:41
The official dogma of all western industrial societies.
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El dogma oficial de les societats industrials occidentals.
00:45
And the official dogma runs like this:
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I el dogma oficial diu així:
00:47
if we are interested in maximizing the welfare of our citizens,
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si volem maximitzar el benestar dels nostres ciutadans
00:51
the way to do that is to maximize individual freedom.
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la manera d'aconseguir-ho és maximitzant la llibertat individual.
00:57
The reason for this is both that freedom is in and of itself good,
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És així perquè la llibertat en sí mateixa és bona,
01:02
valuable, worthwhile, essential to being human.
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valuosa, desitjable, essencial per a la persona
01:05
And because if people have freedom,
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i també perquè, si som lliures,
01:08
then each of us can act on our own
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cadascun de nosaltres podem actuar per nosaltres mateixos
01:10
to do the things that will maximize our welfare,
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per fer coses que maximitzen el nostre benestar,
01:12
and no one has to decide on our behalf.
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i ningú no ha de decidir per nosaltres.
01:16
The way to maximize freedom is to maximize choice.
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La manera de maximitzar la llibertat és maximitzant les opcions.
01:21
The more choice people have, the more freedom they have,
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Com més opcions tenim, més llibertat;
01:24
and the more freedom they have,
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i com més llibertat tenim,
01:26
the more welfare they have.
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més benestar.
01:29
This, I think, is so deeply embedded in the water supply
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Crec que aquesta convicció està tan arrelada
01:34
that it wouldn't occur to anyone to question it.
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que a ningú no se li ocorre qüestionar-la.
01:37
And it's also deeply embedded in our lives.
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I també ho tenim arrelat a la nostra vida.
01:42
I'll give you some examples of what modern progress has made possible for us.
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Alguns exemples del que ens ha aportat el progrés.
01:48
This is my supermarket. Not such a big one.
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Aquest és el meu supermercat. No és gaire gran.
01:52
I want to say just a word about salad dressing.
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Només en salses per a amanides...
01:54
175 salad dressings in my supermarket,
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Hi ha 175 salses d'amanida al meu supermercat,
01:57
if you don't count the 10 extra-virgin olive oils
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sense comptar els 10 olis d'oliva verge extra
02:00
and 12 balsamic vinegars you could buy
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i 12 vinagres balsàmics que teniu
02:03
to make a very large number of your own salad dressings,
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per fer-vos encara més vinagretes diferents,
02:06
in the off-chance that none of the 175 the store has on offer suit you.
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si no us fa peça cap de les 175 que hi ha a la botiga.
02:11
So this is what the supermarket is like.
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El supermercat és així.
02:13
And then you go to the consumer electronics store to set up a stereo system --
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Llavors vas a una botiga d'electrònica a comprar una cadena de música --
02:17
speakers, CD player, tape player, tuner, amplifier --
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altaveus, reproductor de CD i de cinta, controls, amplificador.
02:21
and in this one single consumer electronics store,
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I només en aquesta botiga d'electrònica
02:25
there are that many stereo systems.
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hi ha totes aquestes cadenes de música.
02:29
We can construct six-and-a-half-million different stereo systems
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Ens podem muntar 6,5 milions de cadenes diferents
02:34
out of the components that are on offer in one store.
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només amb els components d'aquesta botiga.
02:37
You've got to admit that's a lot of choice.
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No em direu que no són moltes opcions.
02:39
In other domains -- the world of communications.
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En altres àmbits -- el món de les comunicacions.
02:43
There was a time, when I was a boy,
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Fa temps, quan jo era petit,
02:45
when you could get any kind of telephone service you wanted,
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podies tenir el servei de telèfon que vulguessis,
02:48
as long as it came from Ma Bell.
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sempre que fos de la casa Bell.
02:50
You rented your phone. You didn't buy it.
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El telèfon era llogat. No es comprava.
02:52
One consequence of that, by the way, is that the phone never broke.
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Aquells telèfons, per cert, mai no es feien malbé.
02:55
And those days are gone.
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Això ha passat a la història.
02:58
We now have an almost unlimited variety of phones,
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Ara tenim una gamma gairebé il·limitada de telèfons,
03:01
especially in the world of cell phones.
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especialment en el món dels mòbils.
03:03
These are cell phones of the future.
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Aquests són els mòbils del futur.
03:06
My favorite is the middle one --
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El meu preferit és el del mig --
03:08
the MP3 player, nose hair trimmer, and creme brulee torch.
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té mp3, afaitadora i bufador de crema cremada.
03:12
And if by some chance you haven't seen that in your store yet,
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Si, per casualitat, encara no el trobeu a la vostra botiga,
03:18
you can rest assured that one day soon you will.
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tranquils que aviat hi serà.
03:20
And what this does is
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Tot plegat fa
03:22
it leads people to walk into their stores asking this question.
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que la gent demani mòbils amb menys coses.
03:26
And do you know what the answer to this question now is?
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I sabeu la resposta a dia d'avui?
03:28
The answer is "No."
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La resposta és: no.
03:30
It is not possible to buy a cell phone that doesn't do too much.
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No hi ha mòbils amb menys coses.
03:34
So, in other aspects of life that are much more significant than buying things,
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En altres aspectes molt més importants de la vida
03:39
the same explosion of choice is true.
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es dóna la mateixa explosió d'opcions.
03:43
Health care -- it is no longer the case in the United States
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La sanitat -- ara mateix als Estats Units
03:47
that you go to the doctor, and the doctor tells you what to do.
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ja no vas al metge i ell et diu què has de fer.
03:50
Instead, you go to the doctor,
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En canvi, vas a visitar-te
03:52
and the doctor tells you, "Well, we could do A, or we could do B.
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i el metge et diu: "podríem fer A, o B.
03:55
A has these benefits, and these risks.
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A té aquests beneficis, i aquests riscs.
03:58
B has these benefits, and these risks. What do you want to do?"
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B té aquests beneficis, i aquests riscs. Què s'estima més?"
04:02
And you say, "Doc, what should I do?"
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I tu dius: "Doctor, què haig de fer?"
04:05
And the doc says, "A has these benefits and risks, and B has these benefits and risks.
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I el metge et contesta: "A té aquests beneficis i riscs, i B té aquests beneficis i riscs."
04:09
What do you want to do?"
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Vostè què vol fer?
04:12
And you say, "If you were me, Doc, what would you do?"
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I tu dius, "Doctor, vostè en el meu cas què faria?"
04:15
And the doc says, "But I'm not you."
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I el metge diu: "Jo no sóc vostè".
04:19
And the result is -- we call it "patient autonomy,"
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I del resultat en diem "autonomia del pacient",
04:22
which makes it sound like a good thing,
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que sona com si fos una cosa bona
04:24
but what it really is is a shifting of the burden and the responsibility
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però en realitat és traspassar la càrrega i la responsabilitat
04:26
for decision-making from somebody who knows something --
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de la decisió: d'algú que en sap --
04:29
namely, the doctor --
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o sigui, el metge --
04:30
to somebody who knows nothing and is almost certainly sick
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a algú que no en sap i que segurament està malalt
04:33
and thus not in the best shape to be making decisions --
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i, per tant, no en el millor estat per prendre decisions --
04:36
namely, the patient.
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o sigui, el pacient.
04:38
There's enormous marketing of prescription drugs
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Es fan grans campanyes de medicaments amb recepta
04:41
to people like you and me,
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enfocades a vosaltres i a mi,
04:42
which, if you think about it, makes no sense at all,
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cosa que, ben mirada, no té cap sentit,
04:44
since we can't buy them.
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ja que no els podem comprar.
04:46
Why do they market to us if we can't buy them?
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Per què fan anuncis, si no els podem comprar?
04:48
The answer is that they expect us to call our doctors the next morning
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La resposta és que volen que truquem al metge
04:52
and ask for our prescriptions to be changed.
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i li demanem que ens canviï la recepta.
04:56
Something as dramatic as our identity
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Una cosa tan dramàtica com la identitat
05:00
has now become a matter of choice,
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ara s'ha convertit en qüestió d'elecció
05:02
as this slide is meant to indicate.
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com el gènere dels fills d'aquestes senyores de la vinyeta.
05:06
We don't inherit an identity; we get to invent it.
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No heretem la identitat, ens la podem inventar.
05:08
And we get to re-invent ourselves as often as we like.
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I ens podem reinventar tantes vegades com vulguem.
05:12
And that means that everyday, when you wake up in the morning,
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Això vol dir que cada dia, quan et lleves,
05:14
you have to decide what kind of person you want to be.
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has de decidir la mena de persona que vols ser.
05:19
With respect to marriage and family,
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Sobre el matrimoni i la família,
05:22
there was a time when the default assumption that almost everyone had
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abans, la idea que tenia gairebé tothom
05:28
is that you got married as soon as you could,
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era casar-se com més aviat millor
05:29
and then you started having kids as soon as you could.
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i començar a tenir criatures com més aviat millor.
05:31
The only real choice was who,
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L'única decisió real era amb qui;
05:35
not when, and not what you did after.
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no quan, ni què es feia després.
05:38
Nowadays, everything is very much up for grabs.
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Ara, tot està bàsicament obert.
05:41
I teach wonderfully intelligent students,
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Dono classes a alumnes molt intel·ligents
05:44
and I assign 20 percent less work than I used to.
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i poso un 20% menys de deures que abans.
05:47
And it's not because they're less smart,
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I no pas perquè siguin menys llestos,
05:50
and it's not because they're less diligent.
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ni menys treballadors.
05:52
It's because they are preoccupied, asking themselves,
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És perquè estan més pendents de decidir
05:56
"Should I get married or not? Should I get married now?
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"Em caso, o no? Em caso ara?
05:58
Should I get married later? Should I have kids first, or a career first?"
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Em caso més endavant? Tinc fills primer, o faig carrera?"
06:02
All of these are consuming questions.
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Són preguntes molt absorbents.
06:05
And they're going to answer these questions,
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I se les han de respondre,
06:07
whether or not it means not doing all the work I assign
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encara que tinguin els meus deures per fer,
06:09
and not getting a good grade in my courses.
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i treguin mala nota a les meves classes.
06:12
And indeed they should. These are important questions to answer.
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I fan bé. Són preguntes importants.
06:17
Work -- we are blessed, as Carl was pointing out,
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La feina -- tenim la sort, com assenyalava en Carl,
06:20
with the technology that enables us
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de tenir la tecnologia per poder
06:22
to work every minute of every day from any place on the planet --
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treballar cada minut de cada dia des de qualsevol lloc del món --
06:29
except the Randolph Hotel.
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excepte des de l'Hotel Randolph.
06:31
(Laughter)
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(Rialles)
06:36
There is one corner, by the way,
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Hi ha un racó, per cert,
06:38
that I'm not going to tell anybody about, where the WiFi works.
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que no us diré on és, on arriba el WiFi.
06:43
I'm not telling you about it because I want to use it.
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No us ho diré perquè el vull per a mi.
06:45
So what this means, this incredible freedom of choice
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Tot això vol dir, aquesta increïble llibertat d'elecció
06:48
we have with respect to work, is that we have to make a decision,
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que tenim respecte de la feina, que hem de prendre la decisió,
06:51
again and again and again,
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una vegada i una altra
06:53
about whether we should or shouldn't be working.
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sobre si hauríem d'estar treballant o no.
06:56
We can go to watch our kid play soccer,
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Anem a veure un partit de futbol dels fills,
06:59
and we have our cell phone on one hip,
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i tenim el mòbil a una banda,
07:01
and our Blackberry on our other hip,
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la Blackberry a l'altra,
07:03
and our laptop, presumably, on our laps.
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i el portàtil a la falda.
07:05
And even if they're all shut off,
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Encara que els tinguem apagats,
07:08
every minute that we're watching our kid mutilate a soccer game,
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cada minut que veiem el nen massacrar un partit de futbol,
07:10
we are also asking ourselves,
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també ens estem preguntant
07:12
"Should I answer this cell phone call?
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"Hauria d'agafar el telèfon?
07:15
Should I respond to this email? Should I draft this letter?"
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He de respondre aquest email? Redacto aquella carta?"
07:17
And even if the answer to the question is "no,"
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Fins i tot quan la resposta és "no",
07:20
it's certainly going to make the experience of your kid's soccer game
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segurament viurem el partit de futbol
07:23
very different than it would've been.
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de manera molt diferent.
07:26
So everywhere we look,
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Arreu on mirem,
07:28
big things and small things, material things and lifestyle things,
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les coses grans i les petites, les coses materials i les d'estil de vida,
07:31
life is a matter of choice.
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la vida és qüestió de triar.
07:34
And the world we used to live in looked like this.
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Abans vivíem en un món així.
07:40
That is to say, there were some choices,
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És a dir, hi havia algunes opcions,
07:42
but not everything was a matter of choice.
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però no tot es podia triar.
07:44
And the world we now live in looks like this.
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I ara vivim en un món així.
07:47
And the question is, is this good news, or bad news?
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I la pregunta és: això és bo, o dolent?
07:53
And the answer is yes.
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I la resposta és: sí.
07:56
(Laughter)
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(Rialles)
07:58
We all know what's good about it,
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Tots sabem el que té de bo,
08:00
so I'm going to talk about what's bad about it.
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ara us parlaré del que té de dolent.
08:03
All of this choice has two effects,
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Tantes opcions tenen dos efectes,
08:06
two negative effects on people.
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dos efectes negatius sobre les persones.
08:09
One effect, paradoxically,
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Un efecte, paradoxalment,
08:11
is that it produces paralysis, rather than liberation.
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és que es produeix paràlisi en comptes de lliberació.
08:16
With so many options to choose from,
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Amb tantes opcions per triar,
08:18
people find it very difficult to choose at all.
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la gent troba molt difícil decidir-se.
08:22
I'll give you one very dramatic example of this:
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Us en donaré un exemple molt dramàtic,
08:25
a study that was done of investments in voluntary retirement plans.
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un estudi sobre inversions en plans de pensions a les empreses.
08:31
A colleague of mine got access to investment records from Vanguard,
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Una companya meva va tenir accés als arxius d'inversions de Vanguard,
08:36
the gigantic mutual fund company
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un gegant dels fons de pensions,
08:38
of about a million employees and about 2,000 different workplaces.
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d'un milió de treballadors i unes 2000 empreses diferents.
08:42
And what she found is that
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I la conclusió va ser que
08:44
for every 10 mutual funds the employer offered,
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per cada 10 plans de pensions que oferia l'empresa,
08:47
rate of participation went down two percent.
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la participació baixava un 2%
08:52
You offer 50 funds -- 10 percent fewer employees participate
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Si ofereixes 50 fons -- un 10% menys d'empleats n'agafaran un
08:56
than if you only offer five. Why?
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que si només n'ofereixes 5. Per què?
09:00
Because with 50 funds to choose from,
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Perquè si tens 50 fons per triar,
09:02
it's so damn hard to decide which fund to choose
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es tan fotut decidir quin et convé més
09:06
that you'll just put it off until tomorrow.
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que ho acabes deixant per demà.
09:08
And then tomorrow, and then tomorrow,
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I per demà, i per demà,
09:10
and tomorrow, and tomorrow,
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i per demà, i per demà,
09:12
and of course tomorrow never comes.
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i naturalment demà no arriba mai.
09:14
Understand that not only does this mean
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Això no vol dir només
09:16
that people are going to have to eat dog food when they retire
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que alguns jubilats menjaran pinso de gos
09:18
because they don't have enough money put away,
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perquè no tindran prou estalvis,
09:20
it also means that making the decision is so hard
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també vol dir que prendre la decisió és tan difícil
09:23
that they pass up significant matching money from the employer.
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que la gent renuncia als beneficis de l'empresa.
09:27
By not participating, they are passing up as much as 5,000 dollars a year
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No participant-hi, renuncien fins a 5000 dòlars l'any
09:31
from the employer, who would happily match their contribution.
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de l'empresa, que hauria igualat les contribucions personals.
09:35
So paralysis is a consequence of having too many choices.
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O sigui que la paràlisi és una conseqüència de tenir massa opcions.
09:39
And I think it makes the world look like this.
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Em penso que per això el món ens atabala tant.
09:41
(Laughter)
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(Rialles)
09:48
You really want to get the decision right if it's for all eternity, right?
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Has de triar bé quan la cosa és per sempre més, oi?
09:52
You don't want to pick the wrong mutual fund, or even the wrong salad dressing.
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No et vulguis equivocar de fons, ni de salsa per a l'amanida.
09:55
So that's one effect. The second effect is that
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O sigui que aquest n'és un efecte. El segon efecte és que,
09:58
even if we manage to overcome the paralysis and make a choice,
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fins i tot si aconseguim superar la paràlisi i triar,
10:03
we end up less satisfied with the result of the choice
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acabem menys satisfets amb el resultat de la tria
10:07
than we would be if we had fewer options to choose from.
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que si haguéssim tingut menys opcions.
10:10
And there are several reasons for this.
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Això és per diverses raons.
10:13
One of them is that with a lot of different salad dressings to choose from,
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Una raó és que, amb tantes salses per triar,
10:17
if you buy one, and it's not perfect -- and, you know, what salad dressing is? --
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si en compres una que no és perfecta -- i, en fi, quina salsa ho és?
10:20
it's easy to imagine that you could have made a different choice
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fàcilment pensaràs que en podies haver triat una altra
10:23
that would have been better. And what happens is
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de millor. I el que passa és
10:27
this imagined alternative induces you to regret the decision you made,
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que aquesta alternativa imaginària et fa pensar que t'has equivocat
10:32
and this regret subtracts from the satisfaction you get out of the decision you made,
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i aquest penediment et resta satisfacció per la decisió presa
10:36
even if it was a good decision.
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encara que fos una bona decisió.
10:39
The more options there are, the easier it is to regret anything at all
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Com més opcions, més fàcil és penedir-se d'un detall
10:42
that is disappointing about the option that you chose.
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que et decebi de l'opció que has triat.
10:45
Second, what economists call "opportunity costs."
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Segon, el que els economistes anomenen cost d'oportunitat.
10:48
Dan Gilbert made a big point this morning
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Dan Gilbert ha posat èmfasi aquest matí
10:50
of talking about how much the way in which we value things
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en fins a quin punt el valor que donem a les coses
10:55
depends on what we compare them to.
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depèn amb què les comparem.
10:57
Well, when there are lots of alternatives to consider,
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Bé, quan hi ha moltes opcions possibles,
11:01
it is easy to imagine the attractive features
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es fàcil pensar en les coses bones
11:04
of alternatives that you reject,
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de les alternatives que descartes,
11:07
that make you less satisfied with the alternative that you've chosen.
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que et fan estar menys satisfet de l'opció triada.
11:12
Here's an example. For those of you who aren't New Yorkers, I apologize.
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Un exemple. Als que no sou de Nova York: perdó.
11:16
(Laughter)
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(Rialles)
11:17
But here's what you're supposed to be thinking.
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Però la qüestió és aquesta.
11:19
Here's this couple on the Hamptons.
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Aquí hi ha una parella als Hamptons.
11:21
Very expensive real estate.
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Unes cases caríssimes.
11:23
Gorgeous beach. Beautiful day. They have it all to themselves.
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Platja magnífica. Dia preciós. Ho tenen tot.
11:26
What could be better? "Well, damn it,"
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Què hi ha de millor? "Vaja,"
11:28
this guy is thinking, "It's August.
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pensa aquest home, "És agost,
11:30
Everybody in my Manhattan neighborhood is away.
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al meu barri de Manhattan tothom és fora.
11:34
I could be parking right in front of my building."
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Ara mateix podria aparcar davant de casa."
11:38
And he spends two weeks nagged by the idea
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I es passa dues setmanes fastiguejat
11:41
that he is missing the opportunity, day after day, to have a great parking space.
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perquè perd l'oportunitat, un dia rere l'altre, d'aparcar bé.
11:48
Opportunity costs subtract from the satisfaction we get out of what we choose,
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El cost d'oportunitat ens resta satisfacció de les nostres decisions,
11:52
even when what we choose is terrific.
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fins i tot quan el que hem triat és fantàstic.
11:55
And the more options there are to consider,
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Com més opcions hi ha,
11:57
the more attractive features of these options
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més aspectes positius d'aquestes opcions
11:59
are going to be reflected by us as opportunity costs.
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ens perdem en forma de cost d'oportunitat.
12:03
Here's another example.
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Un altre exemple.
12:09
Now this cartoon makes a lot of points.
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Aquesta vinyeta va de moltes coses.
12:11
It makes points about living in the moment as well,
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Va de viure el moment
12:15
and probably about doing things slowly.
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i de fer les coses a poc a poc.
12:17
But one point it makes is that whenever you're choosing one thing,
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Però sobretot diu que, quan tries una cosa,
12:20
you're choosing not to do other things.
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deixes de triar-ne d'altres.
12:22
And those other things may have lots of attractive features,
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I aquestes altres coses poden tenir aspectes interessants,
12:24
and it's going to make what you're doing less attractive.
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que faran menys interessant el que has triat.
12:27
Third: escalation of expectations.
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Tercer: expectatives augmentades.
12:29
This hit me when I went to replace my jeans.
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Me'n vaig adonar comprant texans.
12:32
I wear jeans almost all the time.
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Gairebé sempre vaig amb texans.
12:34
And there was a time when jeans came in one flavor,
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Abans els texans eren sempre iguals,
12:37
and you bought them, and they fit like crap,
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te'ls compraves, et quedaven fatal,
12:39
and they were incredibly uncomfortable,
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eren molt incòmodes,
12:41
and if you wore them long enough and washed them enough times,
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i si els duies prou temps i els rentaves molt,
12:43
they started to feel OK.
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t'hi començaves a trobar bé.
12:45
So I went to replace my jeans after years and years of wearing these old ones,
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Vaig anar a comprar texans al cap de molts anys,
12:48
and I said, you know, "I want a pair of jeans. Here's my size."
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i vaig dir: "Miri, uns texans d'aquesta talla".
12:51
And the shopkeeper said,
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I el dependent em va dir:
12:52
"Do you want slim fit, easy fit, relaxed fit?
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"Els vol estrets, normals o amples?
12:55
You want button fly or zipper fly? You want stonewashed or acid-washed?
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De botons, o de cremallera? Rentats a la pedra, o a l'àcid?
12:58
Do you want them distressed?
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Els vol gastats?
13:00
You want boot cut, you want tapered, blah blah blah ..." On and on he went.
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De campana, o rectes, bla, bla, bla... " Moltes coses.
13:03
My jaw dropped, and after I recovered, I said,
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Em vaig quedar parat, i al final vaig dir:
13:06
"I want the kind that used to be the only kind."
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"En vull uns com els de tota la vida".
13:09
(Laughter)
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(Rialles)
13:14
He had no idea what that was,
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No tenia ni idea del que li deia,
13:16
so I spent an hour trying on all these damn jeans,
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o sigui que em vaig emprovar un munt de texans,
13:20
and I walked out of the store -- truth! -- with the best-fitting jeans I had ever had.
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i vaig sortir de la botiga -- la veritat sigui dita -- amb els millors texans que he tingut mai.
13:25
I did better. All this choice made it possible for me to do better.
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Vaig millorar. Tantes opcions em van permetre millorar.
13:29
But I felt worse.
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Però em vaig sentir pitjor.
13:33
Why? I wrote a whole book to try to explain this to myself. (Laughter)
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Per què? Vaig escriure un llibre sencer per mirar d'explicar-ho.
13:37
The reason I felt worse is that,
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Em vaig sentir pitjor perquè,
13:45
with all of these options available,
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amb tantes opcions per triar,
13:48
my expectations about how good a pair of jeans should be went up.
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les meves expectatives sobre els texans es van disparar.
13:54
I had very low --
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Abans n'esperava ben poc.
13:55
I had no particular expectations when they only came in one flavor.
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No esperava res perquè només n'hi havia uns.
13:58
When they came in 100 flavors, damn it,
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Un cop en tens de 100 gustos, coi,
14:00
one of them should've been perfect.
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en vols uns de perfectes.
14:02
And what I got was good, but it wasn't perfect.
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I els meus estaven bé, però no eren perfectes.
14:04
And so I compared what I got to what I expected,
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Comparant el resultat amb l'expectativa,
14:07
and what I got was disappointing in comparison to what I expected.
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em va decebre en comparació amb el que m'esperava.
14:10
Adding options to people's lives
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Sumant opcions a la vida de la gent
14:13
can't help but increase the expectations people have
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és inevitable disparar les expectatives
14:17
about how good those options will be.
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sobre aquestes opcions.
14:19
And what that's going to produce is less satisfaction with results,
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Això ens farà estar menys satisfets amb el resultat,
14:22
even when they're good results.
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encara que sigui un bon resultat.
14:25
Nobody in the world of marketing knows this,
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Això no ho saben els de màrqueting.
14:28
because if they did, you wouldn't all know what this was about.
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Si ho sabessin, no ens faria tanta gràcia tot plegat.
14:34
The truth is more like this.
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La veritat és més així.
14:37
(Laughter)
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(Rialles)
14:40
The reason that everything was better back when everything was worse
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Tot era millor quan tot era pitjor
14:44
is that when everything was worse,
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perquè, quan tot era pitjor,
14:46
it was actually possible for people to have experiences that were a pleasant surprise.
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les coses et podien sorprendre agradablement.
14:51
Nowadays, the world we live in -- we affluent, industrialized citizens,
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Avui dia -- com a ciutadans rics i industrialitzats
14:55
with perfection the expectation --
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l'expectativa és la perfecció --
14:57
the best you can ever hope for is that stuff is as good as you expect it to be.
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el millor que pot passar és que les coses estiguin a l'alçada.
15:01
You will never be pleasantly surprised
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Mai no t'enduràs una sorpresa agradable
15:03
because your expectations, my expectations, have gone through the roof.
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perquè les teves expectatives, i les meves, s'han disparat.
15:07
The secret to happiness -- this is what you all came for --
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El secret de la felicitat -- que per això heu vingut --
15:10
the secret to happiness is low expectations.
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el secret de la felicitat és esperar poc.
15:16
(Laughter)
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(Rialles)
15:18
(Applause)
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[Ja m'està bé.] (Aplaudiments)
15:24
I want to say -- just a little autobiographical moment --
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Vull dir -- com a petita nota biogràfica --
15:28
that I actually am married to a wife,
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que estic casat amb la meva senyora,
15:31
and she's really quite wonderful.
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i, la veritat, és bastant meravellosa.
15:33
I couldn't have done better. I didn't settle.
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Millor no podria ser. No em vaig conformar.
15:36
But settling isn't always such a bad thing.
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Però conformar-se no sempre és dolent.
15:39
Finally, one consequence of buying a bad-fitting pair of jeans
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Al final, una conseqüència de comprar texans mal girbats
15:44
when there is only one kind to buy
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quan eren els únics que hi havia
15:47
is that when you are dissatisfied, and you ask why,
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era que, si no t'agradaven i preguntaves
15:49
who's responsible, the answer is clear:
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de qui era la culpa, la resposta era clara.
15:51
the world is responsible. What could you do?
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La culpa era del món. No hi havia res a fer.
15:54
When there are hundreds of different styles of jeans available,
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En canvi ara, amb centenars d'estils per triar,
15:57
and you buy one that is disappointing,
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si te'n compres uns que no et fan el pes,
16:00
and you ask why, who's responsible?
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i et preguntes qui en té la culpa
16:02
It is equally clear that the answer to the question is you.
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és igualment clar que la resposta és: tu.
16:07
You could have done better.
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Ho podies haver fet millor.
16:09
With a hundred different kinds of jeans on display,
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Amb cent texans per triar,
16:12
there is no excuse for failure.
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no tens excusa quan t'equivoques.
16:14
And so when people make decisions,
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Quan prens decisions,
16:16
and even though the results of the decisions are good,
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i encara que els resultats siguin bons,
16:19
they feel disappointed about them;
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si et sents decebut,
16:22
they blame themselves.
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te'n dónes la culpa.
16:24
Clinical depression has exploded in the industrial world in the last generation.
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La depressió clínica s'ha disparat al món industrialitzat en una generació.
16:28
I believe a significant -- not the only, but a significant -- contributor
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Crec que el que ha contribuït -- no totalment, però sí en part --
16:32
to this explosion of depression, and also suicide,
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a aquesta explosió de la depressió, i del suïcidi,
16:35
is that people have experiences that are disappointing
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es que vivim experiències que ens deceben
16:38
because their standards are so high,
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perquè tenim expectatives massa altes.
16:40
and then when they have to explain these experiences to themselves,
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I, quan refexionem sobre aquestes experiències,
16:43
they think they're at fault.
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pensem que ens hem equivocat.
16:45
And so the net result is that we do better in general, objectively,
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El resultat final és que, objectivament, ens va millor
16:49
and we feel worse.
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i ens sentim pitjor.
16:52
So let me remind you.
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Resumint.
16:55
This is the official dogma, the one that we all take to be true,
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Aquest és el dogma oficial, que tots donem per bo,
16:59
and it's all false. It is not true.
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i és fals. No és veritat.
17:03
There's no question that some choice is better than none,
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Sens dubte, tenir opcions és millor que no tenir-ne,
17:07
but it doesn't follow from that that more choice is better than some choice.
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però tenir moltes opcions no és millor que tenir-ne unes quantes.
17:12
There's some magical amount. I don't know what it is.
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Hi ha una xifra màgica. No sé quina és.
17:15
I'm pretty confident that we have long since passed the point
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Estic segur que fa temps que ens hem passat del punt
17:18
where options improve our welfare.
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on més varietat significava més benestar.
17:20
Now, as a policy matter -- I'm almost done --
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Ara, com a norma general -- i ja acabo --
17:23
as a policy matter, the thing to think about is this:
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com a norma general, reflexionem sobre això.
17:27
what enables all of this choice in industrial societies is material affluence.
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Les societats industrials tenim tantes opcions per l'abundància material.
17:34
There are lots of places in the world,
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Hi ha molts llocs del món,
17:36
and we have heard about several of them,
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d'alguns n'hem sentit a parlar,
17:38
where their problem is not that they have too much choice.
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on el problema no és tenir massa opcions;
17:40
Their problem is that they have too little.
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el problema és tenir-ne massa poques.
17:43
So the stuff I'm talking about is the peculiar problem
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Parlo del problema específic
17:46
of modern, affluent, Western societies.
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de les societats occidentals modernes i riques.
17:49
And what is so frustrating and infuriating is this:
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El que fa més ràbia és això:
17:53
Steve Levitt talked to you yesterday about how
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Ahir, Steve Levitt us va explicar que
17:55
these expensive and difficult-to-install child seats don't help. It's a waste of money.
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les cadiretes infantils dels cotxes són cares, i no van bé. Diners llençats.
18:06
What I'm telling you is that these expensive, complicated choices --
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El que us dic és que aquestes opcions cares i complicades --
18:10
it's not simply that they don't help.
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no és que no serveixin per a res.
18:12
They actually hurt.
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És que fan mal.
18:14
They actually make us worse off.
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Ens fan estar pitjor.
18:17
If some of what enables people in our societies to make all of the choices we make
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Si una part del ventall d'opcions que tenim a les nostres societats
18:22
were shifted to societies in which people have too few options,
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es traslladés a societats on la gent té poques opcions,
18:27
not only would those people's lives be improved,
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no només milloraria la vida d'aquestes persones,
18:29
but ours would be improved also.
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la nostra vida també milloraria.
18:32
This is what economists call a "Pareto-improving move."
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Els economistes en diuen "òptim de Pareto".
18:35
Income redistribution will make everyone better off -- not just poor people --
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La redistribució de la riquesa fa millorar tothom -- no només els pobres --
18:40
because of how all this excess choice plagues us.
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perquè la varietat excessiva ens empesta.
18:44
So to conclude. You're supposed to read this cartoon,
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Per acabar. En veure aquesta vinyeta,
18:48
and, being a sophisticated person, say,
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com que sou gent sofisticada, direu:
18:50
"Ah! What does this fish know?
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Pobre peix, si es pensa que pot fer el que vulgui.
18:52
You know, nothing is possible in this fishbowl."
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En aquesta peixera, és impossible.
18:56
Impoverished imagination, a myopic view of the world --
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Té la imaginació atrofiada, una visió miop del món --
18:58
and that's the way I read it at first.
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En principi, jo també ho vaig entendre així.
19:00
The more I thought about it, however,
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Però, com més hi penso,
19:02
the more I came to the view that this fish knows something.
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més m'adono que el peix sí que en sap.
19:06
Because the truth of the matter is that
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Perquè la realitat és que,
19:08
if you shatter the fishbowl so that everything is possible,
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si trenques la peixera perquè tot sigui possible,
19:13
you don't have freedom. You have paralysis.
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no tens llibertat. Tens parlàlisi.
19:16
If you shatter this fishbowl so that everything is possible,
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Si trenques la peixera perquè tot sigui possible,
19:19
you decrease satisfaction.
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tens menys satisfacció.
19:23
You increase paralysis, and you decrease satisfaction.
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Creix la paràlisi, i es redueix la satisfacció.
19:27
Everybody needs a fishbowl.
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Tothom necessita una peixera.
19:29
This one is almost certainly too limited --
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Aquesta segurament és massa limitada --
19:31
perhaps even for the fish, certainly for us.
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potser per al peix, i de ben segur per a nosaltres.
19:34
But the absence of some metaphorical fishbowl is a recipe for misery,
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Però l'absència de peixera metafòrica ens aboca al misteri
19:38
and, I suspect, disaster.
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i sospito que al desastre.
19:41
Thank you very much.
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Moltes gràcies.
19:43
(Applause)
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(Aplaudiments)
ABOUT THE SPEAKER
Barry Schwartz - PsychologistBarry Schwartz studies the link between economics and psychology, offering startling insights into modern life. Lately, working with Ken Sharpe, he's studying wisdom.
Why you should listen
In his 2004 book The Paradox of Choice, Barry Schwartz tackles one of the great mysteries of modern life: Why is it that societies of great abundance — where individuals are offered more freedom and choice (personal, professional, material) than ever before — are now witnessing a near-epidemic of depression? Conventional wisdom tells us that greater choice is for the greater good, but Schwartz argues the opposite: He makes a compelling case that the abundance of choice in today's western world is actually making us miserable.
Infinite choice is paralyzing, Schwartz argues, and exhausting to the human psyche. It leads us to set unreasonably high expectations, question our choices before we even make them and blame our failures entirely on ourselves. His relatable examples, from consumer products (jeans, TVs, salad dressings) to lifestyle choices (where to live, what job to take, who and when to marry), underscore this central point: Too much choice undermines happiness.
Schwartz's previous research has addressed morality, decision-making and the varied inter-relationships between science and society. Before Paradox he published The Costs of Living, which traces the impact of free-market thinking on the explosion of consumerism -- and the effect of the new capitalism on social and cultural institutions that once operated above the market, such as medicine, sports, and the law.
Both books level serious criticism of modern western society, illuminating the under-reported psychological plagues of our time. But they also offer concrete ideas on addressing the problems, from a personal and societal level.
Schwartz is the author of the TED Book, Why We Work.
Barry Schwartz | Speaker | TED.com