TEDGlobal 2009
Alain de Botton: A kinder, gentler philosophy of success
Alain de Botton: En venligere, mildere filosofi om succes
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Alain de Botton undersøger vores opfattelse af succes og fiasko - og stiller spørgsmålstegn ved de antagelser, der ligger til grund for opfattelsen. Er succes altid velfortjent? Er fiasko? Han forklarer på en velformuleret og morsom måde, hvordan vi skal komme over snobberi for at finde sand glæde i vores arbejde.
Alain de Botton - Philosopher
Through his witty and literate books -- and his new School of Life -- Alain de Botton helps others find fulfillment in the everyday. Full bio
Through his witty and literate books -- and his new School of Life -- Alain de Botton helps others find fulfillment in the everyday. Full bio
Double-click the English transcript below to play the video.
00:12
For me they normally happen, these career crises,
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For mig opstår disse karriekriser normalt,
00:15
often, actually, on a Sunday evening,
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sågar ofte, en søndag aften,
00:17
just as the sun is starting to set,
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lige når solen er ved at gå ned,
00:19
and the gap between my hopes for myself,
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og afstanden mellem mine håb for mig selv,
00:22
and the reality of my life, start to diverge so painfully
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og virkelighedens verden begynder at blive så stor,
00:26
that I normally end up weeping into a pillow.
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at jeg normalt ender med at græde stille ned i min pude.
00:29
I'm mentioning all this,
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Jeg nænver alt dette,
00:31
I'm mentioning all this because I think this is not merely a personal problem.
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fordi jeg ikke mener, at det blot er et personligt problem.
00:34
You may think I'm wrong in this,
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I synes måske, at jeg har uret.
00:36
but I think that we live in an age when our lives are regularly
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Men jeg mener, vi lever i en tid, hvor vores liv sjældent
00:38
punctuated by career crises,
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forløber uden karriekriser.
00:40
by moments when what we thought we knew,
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Tidspunkter hvor det, vi troede vi vidste,
00:42
about our lives, about our careers,
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om vores liv, om vores karriere,
00:44
comes into contact with a threatening sort of reality.
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kommer i berøring med en truende slags realitet.
00:48
It's perhaps easier now than ever before to make a good living.
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Måske har det aldrig været nemmere at tjene nok penge, end det er nu.
00:51
It's perhaps harder than ever before
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Måske har det aldrig været sværere
00:54
to stay calm, to be free of career anxiety.
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at slappe af, at være fri for karriere-angst.
00:57
I want to look now, if I may,
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Jeg vil gerne have lov til
00:59
at some of the reasons why
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at se på nogle af grundene til,
01:01
we might be feeling anxiety about our careers.
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at vi kan føle angst for vores karriere.
01:04
Why we might be victims of these career crises,
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Hvorfor vi bliver ofre for disse karriere-kriser,
01:06
as we're weeping softly into our pillows.
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og derfor græder stille ned i vores hovedpuder.
01:10
One of the reasons why we might be suffering
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En af grundene til det er,
01:13
is that we are surrounded by snobs.
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at vi er omgivet af snobber.
01:15
In a way, I've got some bad news,
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Nu har jeg på en måde dårlige nyheder,
01:18
particularly to anybody who's come to Oxford from abroad.
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især til de, der er kommet til Oxford fra udlandet.
01:21
There is a real problem with snobbery.
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For dér er der et reelt problem med snobberi.
01:23
Because sometimes people from outside the U.K.
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Folk uden for Storbritannien tror nogle gange,
01:25
imagine that snobbery is a distinctively U.K. phenomenon
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at snobberi er forbeholdt Storbritannien,
01:27
fixated on country houses and titles.
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fokuseret på godser og titler.
01:30
The bad news is that's not true.
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Den dårlige nyhed er, at det ikke passer.
01:32
Snobbery is a global phenomenon.
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Snobberi er et globalt fænomen.
01:34
We are a global organization. This is a global phenomenon.
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Vi er en global organisation. Det her er et globalt fænomen.
01:36
It exists. What is a snob?
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Det eksisterer. Men hvad er en snob?
01:38
A snob is anybody who takes a small part of you
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En snob er en, som tager en lille del af dig
01:41
and uses that to come to a complete vision of who you are.
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og bruger det til at skabe et helhedsbillede af, hvem du er.
01:44
That is snobbery.
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Det er snobberi.
01:46
The dominant kind of snobbery
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Og den dominerende slags snobberi,
01:48
that exists nowadays is job snobbery.
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som eksisterer nu om dage, er job snobberi.
01:50
You encounter it within minutes at a party,
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Du oplever det inden for få minutter til fester,
01:52
when you get asked that famous iconic question
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når du bliver stillet det berømte spørgsmål fra det 21. århundrede:
01:55
of the early 21st century, "What do you do?"
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"Hvad laver du til daglig?"
01:58
And according to how you answer that question,
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Afhængig af, hvordan du svarer på spørgsmålet,
02:00
people are either incredibly delighted to see you,
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er folk enten enormt glade for at møde dig,
02:02
or look at their watch and make their excuses.
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eller også kigger de på deres ur og undskylder sig fra dit selskab.
02:04
(Laughter)
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(Publikum griner)
02:05
Now, the opposite of a snob is your mother.
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Det modsatte af en snob er jeres mor.
02:08
(Laughter)
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(Publikum griner)
02:10
Not necessarily your mother, or indeed mine,
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Ikke nødvendigvis lige jeres mor, eller min mor, for den sags skyld.
02:13
but, as it were, the ideal mother,
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Men, den ideelle mor.
02:15
somebody who doesn't care about your achievements.
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En som ikke går op i, hvad man har opnået.
02:17
But unfortunately, most people are not our mothers.
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Men uheldigvis er de fleste mennesker ikke vores mødre.
02:19
Most people make a strict correlation between how much time,
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De fleste mennesker trækker en forbindelse mellem hvor meget tid,
02:22
and if you like, love -- not romantic love,
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og så, om I vil, kærlighed, ikke romantisk kærlighed,
02:24
though that may be something --
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selvom det måske kunne finde sted,
02:26
but love in general, respect,
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men kærlighed generelt, respekt,
02:28
they are willing to accord us, that will be strictly defined
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de er villige til at tildele os. Det bliver strengt defineret
02:31
by our position in the social hierarchy.
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ud fra vores placering i det sociale hierarki.
02:33
And that's a lot of the reason why we care so much about our careers
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Og det er derfor, vi bekymrer os så meget om vores karrierer,
02:36
and indeed start caring so much about material goods.
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og egentlig også om materielle goder.
02:40
You know, we're often told that we live in very materialistic times,
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Det siges ofte, at vi lever i en meget materialistisk tid,
02:43
that we're all greedy people.
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hvor vi alle sammen er grådige.
02:45
I don't think we are particularly materialistic.
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Jeg synes ikke, vi er specielt materialistiske.
02:47
I think we live in a society
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Jeg tror, at vi lever i et samfund,
02:49
which has simply pegged certain emotional rewards
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der simpelthen har svejset visse følelsesmæssige belønninger
02:51
to the acquisition of material goods.
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sammen med det at opnå materielle goder.
02:54
It's not the material goods we want. It's the rewards we want.
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Det er ikke de materielle goder, vi vil have. Det er belønningerne.
02:57
And that's a new way of looking at luxury goods.
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Og det er ny måde at anskue luksusgoder på.
02:59
The next time you see somebody driving a Ferrari
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Næste gang, I ser nogen køre i en Ferrari,
03:01
don't think, "This is somebody who is greedy."
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så lad være med at tænke "det er en, der er grådig".
03:03
Think, "This is somebody who is incredibly vulnerable and in need of love."
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Tænk "Det er en, som er ekstremt sårbar og har brug for kærlighed".
03:06
In other words -- (Laughter)
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Med andre ord -- (Publikum griner)
03:11
feel sympathy, rather than contempt.
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Føl sympati i stedet for foragt.
03:13
There are other reasons --
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Der er andre grunde --
03:15
(Laughter)
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(Publikum griner)
03:16
there are other reasons why it's perhaps harder now
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Der er andre grunde til, at det måske er sværere end nogensinde før
03:18
to feel calm than ever before.
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at føle sig afslappet.
03:20
One of these, and it's paradoxical because it's linked to something that's rather nice,
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En af dem, og det er paradoksalt fordi det er forbundet med noget dejligt,
03:23
is the hope we all have for our careers.
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er det håb, vi alle har for vores karrierer.
03:26
Never before have expectations been so high
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Aldrig før har forventningerne til, hvad mennesker kan opnå
03:28
about what human beings can achieve with their lifespan.
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med deres liv, været så høje.
03:31
We're told, from many sources, that anyone can achieve anything.
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Vi får at vide fra mange kilder, at enhver kan opnå hvad som helst.
03:34
We've done away with the caste system.
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Vi har fjernet kastesystemet.
03:36
We are now in a system where anyone can rise
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Vi befinder os nu i et system, hvor enhver kan opnå
03:38
to any position they please.
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en hvilken som helst position, vedkommende ønsker.
03:40
And it's a beautiful idea.
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Og det er en smuk idé.
03:42
Along with that is a kind of spirit of equality. We're all basically equal.
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Sammen med den idé er der en slags ligeværdighedsånd. Vi er alle sammen lige.
03:46
There are no strictly defined
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Der er ingen veldefinerede
03:48
kind of hierarchies.
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hierakier.
03:50
There is one really big problem with this,
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Dét er der et stort problem ved.
03:52
and that problem is envy.
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Problemet er misundelse.
03:54
Envy, it's a real taboo to mention envy,
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Misundelse - det er virkelig tabu at nævne misundelse,
03:57
but if there is one dominant emotion in modern society, that is envy.
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men hvis der er én dominerende følelse i det moderne samfund, så er det misundelse.
04:00
And it's linked to the spirit of equality. Let me explain.
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Og det hænger sammen med den der ligeværdighedsånd. Lad mig forklare.
04:04
I think it would be very unusual for anyone here, or anyone watching,
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Jeg tror det ville være usædvanligt, hvis nogen af jer herinde, eller nogen af seerne,
04:07
to be envious of the Queen of England.
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var misundelige på Dronningen af England.
04:09
Even though she is much richer than any of you are.
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Selvom hun er meget rigere end nogen af jer er.
04:12
And she's got a very large house.
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Og hun har et meget stort hus.
04:15
The reason why we don't envy her is because she's too weird.
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Vi er ikke misundelige på hende, fordi hun er for mærkelig.
04:19
She's simply too strange.
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Hun er simpelthen for underlig.
04:21
We can't relate to her. She speaks in a funny way.
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Vi kan ikke forholde os til hende. Hun taler mærkeligt,
04:23
She comes from an odd place.
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hun kommer fra et sært sted.
04:25
So we can't relate to her. And when you can't relate to somebody, you don't envy them.
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Så vi kan ikke forholde os til hende. Og når vi ikke kan forholde os til nogen, så misunder vi dem ikke.
04:29
The closer two people are, in age, in background,
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Jo mere ens to menneskers er, f.eks. aldersmæssigt og baggrundsmæssigt,
04:32
in the process of identification, the more there is a danger of envy --
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jo større fare er der for, at der opstår misundelse.
04:35
which is incidentally why none of you should ever go to a school reunion --
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Netop derfor bør ingen af jer nogensinde møde op til en klassegenforening.
04:38
because there is no stronger reference point
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For er der nogen man kan sammenligne sig selv med,
04:41
than people one was at school with.
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så er det folk, man har gået i skole med.
04:43
But the problem, generally, of modern society, is that it turns the whole world
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Men det generelle problem i det moderne samfund er, at hele verden bliver omdannet til en skole.
04:46
into a school. Everybody is wearing jeans, everybody is the same.
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Alle går i jeans, alle er ens.
04:48
And yet, they're not.
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Og så alligevel ikke.
04:50
So there is a spirit of equality, combined with deep inequalities.
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Så der er en ligeværdighedsånd, blandet med store uligheder.
04:53
Which makes for a very -- can make for a very stressful situation.
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Det kan skabe en ret anstrengende situation.
04:56
It's probably as unlikely that you would nowadays
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Nu til dags er det formentlig lige så usandsynligt
04:58
become as rich and famous as Bill Gates,
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at blive så rig og berømt som Bill Gates,
05:00
as it was unlikely in the 17th century
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som det var usandsynligt i det 17. århundrede
05:02
that you would accede to the ranks of the French aristocracy.
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at blive en del af det franske aristokrati.
05:05
But the point is, it doesn't feel that way.
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Men pointen er, at det ikke føles sådan.
05:07
It's made to feel, by magazines and other media outlets,
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Blade og andre medier skaber en følelse af,
05:10
that if you've got energy, a few bright ideas about technology,
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at hvis du har energi, et par gode idéer inden for teknologi
05:13
a garage, you too could start a major thing.
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og en garage - så kan du blive til noget stort.
05:17
(Laughter)
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(Publikum griner)
05:18
And the consequences of this problem make themselves felt in bookshops.
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Og konsekvenserne af dette problem kan ses i boghandlen.
05:21
When you go to a large bookshop and look at the self-help sections,
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Når man går ind i en stor boghandel og finder sektionen med selvhjælpsbøger,
05:24
as I sometimes do,
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hvad jeg nogle gange gør,
05:26
if you analyze self-help books that are produced
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hvis man analyserer de selv-hjælpsbøger, der bliver trykt i verden i dag,
05:28
in the world today, there are basically two kinds.
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viser det sig at der overordnet findes to slags.
05:30
The first kind tells you, "You can do it! You can make it! Anything is possible!"
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Den første slags siger "Du kan gøre det! Du kan klare det! Alt er muligt!"
05:33
And the other kind tells you how to cope
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Og den anden slags fortæller dig hvordan du overkommer det,
05:36
with what we politely call "low self-esteem,"
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vi så høfligt kalder "lavt selvværd",
05:39
or impolitely call "feeling very bad about yourself."
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eller uhøfligt kalder "at have det rigtig dårligt med sig selv".
05:41
There is a real correlationship,
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Der er en korrelation,
05:43
a real correlation between a society that tells people that they can do anything
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en korrelation mellem et samfund, der fortæller folk, at de kan opnå hvad som helst,
05:47
and the existence of low self-esteem.
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og så eksistensen af lavt selvværd.
05:49
So that's another way in which something that is quite positive
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Så det er endnu en måde hvorpå noget, der er ret positivt,
05:51
can have a nasty kickback.
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samtidig kan være ret modbydeligt.
05:53
There is another reason why we might be feeling more anxious,
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Der er en anden grund til, at vi i dag måske føler mere angst
05:56
about our careers, about our status in the world today, than ever before.
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for vores karrierer og for vores status i verden end nogensinde før.
06:00
And it is, again, linked to something nice,
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Og det er igen forbundet med noget godt.
06:02
and that nice thing is called meritocracy.
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"Noget godt" er i dette tilfælde meritokrati.
06:05
Everybody, all politicians on Left and Right,
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Alle politikere, både fra venstre og højre,
06:07
agree that meritocracy is a great thing,
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er enige om, at meritokrati er fantastisk,
06:09
and we should all be trying to make our societies really, really meritocratic.
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og at vi alle bør forsøge at gøre vores samfund rigtig meritokratisk.
06:13
In other words, what is a meritocratic society?
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Med andre ord - hvad er et meritokratisk samfund?
06:17
A meritocratic society is one in which
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Det er et samfund,
06:19
if you've got talent and energy and skill,
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hvor det at have talent og færdigheder,
06:21
you will get to the top. Nothing should hold you back.
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vil få dig til tops. Intet burde kunne holde dig tilbage.
06:23
It's a beautiful idea. The problem is
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Det er en smuk idé. Problemet er,
06:26
if you really believe in a society
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at hvis man virkelig tror på et samfund,
06:28
where those who merit to get to the top, get to the top,
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hvor de, der fortjener at nå toppen, så også når toppen,
06:31
you'll also, by implication, and in a far more nasty way,
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så vil man også underforstået, og på en meget ondskabsfuld måde,
06:34
believe in a society where those who deserve to get to the bottom
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tro på et samfund hvor de, der fortjener at ende i bunden,
06:37
also get to the bottom and stay there.
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så også når bunden og bliver der.
06:40
In other words, your position in life comes to seem not accidental,
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Sagt på en anden måde: Ens position i livet virker ikke længere tilfældig,
06:43
but merited and deserved.
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men fortjent.
06:45
And that makes failure seem much more crushing.
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Det får fiasko til at virke meget mere alvorligt.
06:48
You know, in the Middle Ages, in England,
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Tilbage i middelalderen i England,
06:50
when you met a very poor person,
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når man så mødte en meget fattig person,
06:52
that person would be described as an "unfortunate" --
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så blev personen beskrevet som en "mindre heldig".
06:55
literally, somebody who had not been blessed by fortune, an unfortunate.
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Bogstavelig talt, en person som ikke var blevet velsignet af heldet.
06:59
Nowadays, particularly in the United States,
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Nu til dags, især i USA,
07:01
if you meet someone at the bottom of society,
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så hvis man møder nogen fra bunden af samfundet,
07:03
they may unkindly be described as a "loser."
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så bliver de ofte beskrevet som "tabere".
07:06
There is a real difference between an unfortunate and a loser,
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Der er stor forskel på en mindre heldig og en taber.
07:09
and that shows 400 years of evolution in society
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Det afspejler 400 års samfundsudvikling
07:12
and our belief in who is responsible for our lives.
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og vores syn på, hvem der er ansvarlig for vores liv.
07:15
It's no longer the gods, it's us. We're in the driving seat.
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Det er ikke længere guderne, nej det er os selv. Vi sidder i førersædet.
07:18
That's exhilarating if you're doing well,
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Det er fantastisk, hvis det går dig godt,
07:20
and very crushing if you're not.
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og meget nedslående, hvis det ikke går dig godt.
07:22
It leads, in the worst cases, in the analysis of a sociologist
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Ifølge sociologen Emil Durkhaim, kan det i værste tilfælde
07:25
like Emil Durkheim, it leads to increased rates of suicide.
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lede til forøgede selvmordsrater.
07:29
There are more suicides in developed individualistic countries
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Der er flere selvmord i udviklede, individualistiske lande,
07:32
than in any other part of the world.
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end i nogen anden del af verden.
07:34
And some of the reason for that is that people take what happens
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En af grundene til det er, at folk tager de ting, der sker,
07:36
to them extremely personally.
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meget personligt.
07:38
They own their success. But they also own their failure.
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De er selv skyld i deres succes. Men de er også selv skyld i deres fiasko.
07:42
Is there any relief from some of these pressures
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Er der overhovedet nogen lettelse fra alle de stressfaktorer,
07:44
that I've just been outlining?
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jeg lige har nævnt?
07:46
I think there is. I just want to turn to a few of them.
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Det mener jeg, der er. Jeg vil lige komme med et par af dem.
07:48
Let's take meritocracy.
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Lad os tage meritokrati.
07:50
This idea that everybody deserves to get where they get to,
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Idéen om, at alle har fortjent at nå dertil, hvor de når.
07:53
I think it's a crazy idea, completely crazy.
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Jeg mener at det er en skør idé, fuldstændig skør.
07:56
I will support any politician of Left and Right,
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Jeg støtter gerne enhver politiker på venstre eller højre fløj,
07:58
with any halfway decent meritocratic idea.
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der bare har en nogenlunde fornuftig meritokratisk opfattelse.
08:00
I am a meritocrat in that sense.
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Jeg er meritokrat, og sådan er det.
08:02
But I think it's insane to believe that we will ever
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Men jeg synes det er vanvittigt at tro, at vi nogensinde
08:04
make a society that is genuinely meritocratic. It's an impossible dream.
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skaber et samfund, der er fuldstændig meritokratisk. Det er en umulig drøm.
08:08
The idea that we will make a society
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Idéen om at skabe et samfund,
08:10
where literally everybody is graded,
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hvor alle bogstavelig talt bliver rangordnet,
08:12
the good at the top, and the bad at the bottom,
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de gode i toppen og de dårlige i bunden,
08:14
and it's exactly done as it should be, is impossible.
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er umulig.
08:16
There are simply too many random factors:
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Der er simpelthen for mange tilfældige faktorer.
08:18
accidents, accidents of birth,
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Tilfældigheder, de omstændigheder, man bliver født ind i,
08:20
accidents of things dropping on people's heads, illnesses, etc.
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tilfældigheder som når ting falder ned i hovedet på folk, sygdomme, osv.
08:23
We will never get to grade them,
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Vi kan aldrig rangordne dem.
08:25
never get to grade people as they should.
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Kommer aldrig til at rangordne folk i den rigtige rækkefølge.
08:27
I'm drawn to a lovely quote by St. Augustine in "The City of God,"
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Lad mig nævne et skønt citat af Skt. Augustin i "Guds By",
08:30
where he says, "It's a sin to judge any man by his post."
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hvor han siger "Det er en synd at dømme nogen mand ud fra hans post".
08:34
In modern English that would mean
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På nutidigt dansk betyder det,
08:36
it's a sin to come to any view of who you should talk to
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at det er en synd at vælge dem, man ønsker at snakke med,
08:38
dependent on their business card.
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ud fra deres visitkort.
08:40
It's not the post that should count.
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Det er ikke jobbet, der burde tælle.
08:42
According to St. Augustine,
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Og ifølge Skt. Augustin
08:44
it's only God who can really put everybody in their place.
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er det kun Gud, der egentlig kan placere folk på deres pladser.
08:46
And he's going to do that on the Day of Judgment
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Og det vil han gøre på Dommedag,
08:48
with angels and trumpets, and the skies will open.
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med engle og trompeter, og himlene vil åbne sig.
08:50
Insane idea, if you're a secularist person, like me.
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Vanvittig idé, hvis du spørger en verdslig som mig.
08:53
But something very valuable in that idea, nevertheless.
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Men der er nu engang noget virkelig sandt i idéen.
08:55
In other words, hold your horses when you're coming to judge people.
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At man ikke skal skue hunden på hårene.
08:59
You don't necessarily know what someone's true value is.
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Man ved ikke nødvendigvis, hvad andre virkelig står for.
09:02
That is an unknown part of them.
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Det er en ukendt del af dem.
09:04
And we shouldn't behave as though it is known.
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Og vi bør ikke opføre os som om den del er kendt.
09:07
There is another source of solace and comfort for all this.
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Der ligger endnu en trøst i det her.
09:10
When we think about failing in life, when we think about failure,
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Når vi tænker på fiaskoer her i livet, på nederlag,
09:13
one of the reasons why we fear failing is not just
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så er en af grundene til, at vi frygter at fejle,
09:15
a loss of income, a loss of status.
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ikke kun tab af indkomst og status.
09:17
What we fear is the judgment and ridicule of others. And it exists.
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Det, vi frygter, er at blive dømt og latterliggjort af andre. For det sker.
09:21
You know, the number one organ of ridicule
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Den største kilde til latterliggørelse i dag
09:23
nowadays, is the newspaper.
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er aviserne.
09:25
And if you open the newspaper any day of the week,
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Hver gang man åbner en avis,
09:27
it's full of people who've messed up their lives.
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er den fyldt med folk, der har ødelagt deres liv.
09:29
They've slept with the wrong person. They've taken the wrong substance.
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De har været i seng med den forkerte, taget noget forkert,
09:32
They've passed the wrong piece of legislation. Whatever it is.
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lovgivet forkert. Det kan være hvad som helst,
09:34
And then are fit for ridicule.
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og så bliver de latterliggjort.
09:37
In other words, they have failed. And they are described as "losers."
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Med andre ord har de fejlet. De beskrives som "tabere".
09:40
Now is there any alternative to this?
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Er der alternativer til dette?
09:42
I think the Western tradition shows us one glorious alternative,
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Jeg synes, den vestlige tradition har et strålende alternativ.
09:44
and that is tragedy.
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Nemlig tragedie.
09:47
Tragic art, as it developed in the theaters of ancient Greece,
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Tragisk kunst, som det udvikledes i det antikke Grækenlands teatre,
09:50
in the fifth century B.C., was essentially an art form
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tilbage i det femte århundrede før vor tidsregning, var i bund og grund en kunstform,
09:52
devoted to tracing how people fail,
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der var ivrig efter at finde ud af, hvordan folk fejler.
09:55
and also according them a level of sympathy,
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Og ivrig efter at vise dem sympati.
09:59
which ordinary life would not necessarily accord them.
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Som det ordinære liv ikke nødvendigvis gjorde.
10:03
I remember a few years ago, I was thinking about all this,
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For et par år siden tænkte jeg på alt det her.
10:04
and I went to see "The Sunday Sport,"
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Jeg besøgte "The Sunday Sport",
10:06
a tabloid newspaper that I don't recommend you to start reading
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en sladderavis som jeg ikke anbefaler jer at læse,
10:09
if you're not familiar with it already.
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hvis I ikke allerede kender den.
10:11
I went to talk to them
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Jeg besøgte dem for at tale med dem
10:13
about certain of the great tragedies of Western art.
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om de store tragedier i vestlig kunst.
10:16
I wanted to see how they would seize the bare bones
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Jeg ville se hvordan de ville opfatte essensen
10:18
of certain stories if they came in as a news item
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af bestemte historier, hvis de kom flyvende ind
10:21
at the news desk on a Saturday afternoon.
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på deres nyhedsbord en lørdag eftermiddag.
10:24
So I told them about Othello. They had not heard of it but were fascinated by it.
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Så jeg fortalte dem om Othello. De havde ikke hørt om stykket, men var fascinerede af det.
10:26
(Laughter)
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(Publikum griner)
10:27
And I asked them to write the headline for the story of Othello.
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Jeg bad dem skrive en overskrift til historien om Othello.
10:30
They came up with "Love-Crazed Immigrant Kills Senator's Daughter"
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De foreslog, at "Kærlighedssyg immigrant dræber senators datter"
10:33
splashed across the headline.
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var det, der skulle stå i overskriften.
10:35
I gave them the plotline of Madame Bovary.
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Jeg gav dem plottet til "Madame Bovary".
10:37
Again, a book they were enchanted to discover.
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Igen en bog, de var henrykte over at opdage.
10:39
And they wrote "Shopaholic Adulteress Swallows Arsenic After Credit Fraud."
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Og de skrev "Grådig ægteskabsbryder sluger gift efter bedrageri"
10:44
(Laughter)
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(Publikum griner)
10:45
And then my favorite.
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Og så min favorit.
10:47
They really do have a kind of genius all of their own, these guys.
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De har virkelig en særlig genialitet, de her gutter.
10:49
My favorite is Sophocles' Oedipus the King:
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Min yndlings er Sofokles' "Kong Ødipus".
10:51
"Sex With Mum Was Blinding"
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"Sex med mor gjorde blind"
10:54
(Laughter)
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(Publikum griner)
10:57
(Applause)
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(Applaus)
10:59
In a way, if you like, at one end of the spectrum of sympathy,
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I den ene ende af sympati-spektrummet
11:02
you've got the tabloid newspaper.
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er der sladderbladene.
11:04
At the other end of the spectrum you've got tragedy and tragic art,
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I den anden ende er der tragedie og tragisk kunst.
11:07
and I suppose I'm arguing that we should learn a little bit
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Hvad jeg vil frem til er nok, at vi bør lære lidt om,
11:09
about what's happening in tragic art.
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hvad det er, der sker i tragisk kunst.
11:11
It would be insane to call Hamlet a loser.
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Det ville være vanvittigt at kalde Hamlet for en taber.
11:14
He is not a loser, though he has lost.
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Han er ikke en taber, selvom han har tabt.
11:17
And I think that is the message of tragedy to us,
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Og jeg tror at det er tragediens budskab til os,
11:19
and why it's so very, very important, I think.
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og derfor er det så vigtigt, synes jeg.
11:22
The other thing about modern society
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En anden ting mht. vores moderne samfund,
11:24
and why it causes this anxiety
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og årsagen til at det skaber denne angst er,
11:26
is that we have nothing at its center that is non-human.
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at vi har ikke noget ikke-menneskeligt i centrum.
11:29
We are the first society to be living in a world
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Vi er det første samfund, der lever i en verden,
11:31
where we don't worship anything other than ourselves.
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hvor vi ikke tilbeder andet end os selv.
11:34
We think very highly of ourselves, and so we should.
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Vi tænker meget godt om os selv. Og det burde vi også.
11:36
We've put people on the moon. We've done all sorts of extraordinary things.
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Vi har sat mennesker på månen. Vi har gjort alle mulige ekstraordinære ting.
11:39
And so we tend to worship ourselves.
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Og derfor tilbeder vi i en vis udstrækning os selv.
11:41
Our heroes are human heroes.
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Vores helte er mennesker.
11:43
That's a very new situation.
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Det er en meget ny situation.
11:45
Most other societies have had, right at their center,
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De fleste andre samfund har som noget centralt
11:47
the worship of something transcendent: a god,
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tilbedt noget trancendent. En gud,
11:49
a spirit, a natural force, the universe,
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en ånd, en naturkraft, universet.
11:51
whatever it is, something else that is being worshiped.
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Lige meget hvad det er, er det ikke mennesket, der tilbedes.
11:54
We've slightly lost the habit of doing that,
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Nu har vi næsten glemt den vane.
11:56
which is, I think, why we're particularly drawn to nature.
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Og jeg tror, det er årsagen til, at vi føler os særligt dragede af naturen.
11:58
Not for the sake of our health, though it's often presented that way,
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Ikke for vores helbreds skyld, selvom det ofte bliver fremstillet sådan.
12:01
but because it's an escape from the human anthill.
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Men fordi det er en flugt væk fra den menneskelige myretue.
12:05
It's an escape from our own competition,
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Det er en flugt væk fra vores egen konkurrence,
12:07
and our own dramas.
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og vores egne dramaer.
12:09
And that's why we enjoy looking at glaciers and oceans,
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Det er derfor, vi holder af at kigge på gletsjere, og på havet,
12:11
and contemplating the Earth from outside its perimeters, etc.
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og af at betragte Jorden udefra, osv.
12:15
We like to feel in contact with something that is non-human,
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Vi kan godt lide at føle os i kontakt med noget, der ikke er menneskeligt.
12:19
and that is so deeply important to us.
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Det er meget vigtigt for os.
12:23
What I think I've been talking about really is success and failure.
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Det jeg egentlig har talt om i dag, er succes og fiasko.
12:26
And one of the interesting things about success
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En interessant ting ved succes er,
12:29
is that we think we know what it means.
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at vi tror, at vi ved hvad det betyder.
12:31
If I said to you that there is somebody behind the screen
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Hvis jeg sagde til jer, at der sidder en bag ved skærmen,
12:33
who is very very successful, certain ideas would immediately come to mind.
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som er meget succesfuld, ville I straks begynde at tænke på noget bestemt.
12:36
You would think that person might have made a lot of money,
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I ville tænke at personen sandsynligvis havde mange penge,
12:38
achieved renown in some field.
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havde opnået berømmelse på et eller andet felt.
12:41
My own theory of success -- and I'm somebody
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Min egen teori om succes, og jeg er altså
12:43
who is very interested in success. I really want to be successful.
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meget interesseret i succes. Jeg vil virkelig gerne være succesfuld.
12:46
I'm always thinking, "How could I be more successful?"
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Jeg tænker konstant "Hvordan kan jeg blive mere succesfuld?"
12:48
But as I get older, I'm also very nuanced
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Men efterhånden som jeg bliver ældre, bliver jeg mere nuanceret
12:50
about what that word "success" might mean.
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i forhold til, hvad ordet "succes" kan betyde.
12:52
Here's an insight that I've had about success.
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Det her er en indsigt om succes, som jeg har opnået.
12:54
You can't be successful at everything.
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Man kan ikke være succesfuld i alting.
12:57
We hear a lot of talk about work-life balance.
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Vi hører en masse snak om balance mellem arbejdsliv og privatliv.
12:59
Nonsense. You can't have it all. You can't.
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Vrøvl. Man kan ikke det hele. Det kan man bare ikke.
13:02
So any vision of success
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Så ethvert syn på succes
13:04
has to admit what it's losing out on,
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indebærer spørgsmålet om, hvad der så går tabt,
13:06
where the element of loss is.
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hvilke tabte elementer, der er.
13:08
I think any wise life will accept,
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Jeg tror ethvert liv kan tåle,
13:11
as I say, that there is going to be an element where we are not succeeding.
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som jeg siger, at der er steder hvor vi ikke har succes.
13:14
Thing about a successful life
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Det der med et succesfuldt liv,
13:16
is, a lot of the time, our ideas
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ofte er det faktisk sådan, at den opfattelse vi har af,
13:18
of what it would mean to live successfully are not our own.
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hvad det vil sige at være succesfuld, ikke er vores egen.
13:21
They are sucked in from other people:
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Den kommer fra andre mennesker.
13:23
chiefly, if you're a man, your father,
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Hvis du er mand, så først og fremmest fra din far.
13:25
and if you're a woman, your mother.
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Og hvis du er kvinde, så fra din mor.
13:27
Psychoanalysis has been drumming home this message for about 80 years.
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Psykoanalyser har sagt det i cirka 80 år.
13:30
No one is quite listening hard enough, but I very much believe that that's true.
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Ingen hører dog rigtigt efter. Men jeg tror på, at det er sandt.
13:33
And we also suck in messages
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Vi får også hele tiden beskeder
13:35
from everything from the television, to advertising,
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fra fjernsyn, gennem annoncer,
13:37
to marketing, etc.
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i reklamer osv.
13:39
These are hugely powerful forces
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Det er enormt stærke kræfter,
13:41
that define what we want and how we view ourselves.
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der definerer hvad vi vil, og hvordan vi ser på os selv.
13:45
When we're told that banking is a very respectable profession
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Når vi får at vide, at det at være bankmand er en meget respekteret profession,
13:48
a lot of us want to go into banking.
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så vil mange af os gerne være bankmand.
13:50
When banking is no longer so respectable, we lose interest in banking.
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Når bankverdenen ikke længere er så respekteret, mister vi interessen for det.
13:53
We are highly open to suggestion.
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Vi er meget åbne for forslag.
13:56
So what I want to argue for is not that we should give up
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Så det jeg gerne vil sige er ikke, at vi skal opgive
13:59
on our ideas of success,
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vores egne idéer om, hvad succes er.
14:01
but we should make sure that they are our own.
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Men vi skal sørge for, at de idéer er vores egne.
14:03
We should focus in on our ideas
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Vi bør fokusere på vores idéer,
14:05
and make sure that we own them,
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sørge for at vi ejer dem,
14:08
that we are truly the authors of our own ambitions.
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at vi skaber vores egne ambitioner.
14:10
Because it's bad enough, not getting what you want,
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For det er slemt nok ikke at opnå det, man gerne vil.
14:12
but it's even worse to have an idea
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Men det er endnu værre at have en idé om,
14:15
of what it is you want and find out at the end of a journey,
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hvad det er man vil, og så til sidst finde ud af,
14:18
that it isn't, in fact, what you wanted all along.
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at det overhovedet ikke var, hvad man ønskede.
14:21
So I'm going to end it there.
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Jeg vil slutte her.
14:23
But what I really want to stress is
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Men hvad jeg gerne vil fremhæve er,
14:26
by all means, success, yes.
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at selv om succes er fint,
14:28
But let's accept the strangeness of some of our ideas.
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bør vi acceptere, at nogle af vores ideer er underlige.
14:30
Let's probe away at our notions of success.
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Lad os undersøge vores opfattelse af succes.
14:33
Let's make sure our ideas of success are truly our own.
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Lad os sørge for, at vores opfattelse af succes er helt vores egen.
14:37
Thank you very much.
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Mange tak skal I have.
14:39
(Applause)
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(Klapsalve)
14:55
Chris Anderson: That was fascinating. How do you reconcile
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Chris Anderson: Det var fascinerende. Hvordan forener du
14:57
this idea of someone being --
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denne opfattelse af, at nogle --
15:02
it being bad to think of someone as a loser
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at det er dårligt at se på nogle som tabere,
15:05
with the idea, that a lot of people like, of seizing control of your life.
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med den idé, som mange synes om, om at tage styringen i sit liv.
15:09
And that a society that encourages that
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Og at et samfund, der opmuntrer hertil,
15:12
perhaps has to have some winners and losers.
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måske er nødt til at have vindere og tabere?
15:15
Alain de Botton: Yes. I think it's merely the randomness
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Alain de Botton: Ja. Det er blot tilfældigheden
15:18
of the winning and losing process that I wanted to stress.
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ved vinder- og taberprocessen som jeg ville fremhæve.
15:20
Because the emphasis nowadays is so much
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Fordi der i disse dage bliver lagt så meget vægt på
15:22
on the justice of everything,
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altings retfærdighed.
15:24
and politicians always talk about justice.
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Og politikere taler altid om retfærdighed.
15:26
Now I am a firm believer in justice, I just think that it is impossible.
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Jeg går meget ind for retfærdighed. Jeg tror bare, det er umuligt.
15:29
So we should do everything we can,
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Så vi bør gøre alt hvad vi kan,
15:31
we should do everything we can to pursue it.
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vi bør gøre alt hvad vi kan for at forfølge den.
15:33
But at the end of the day we should always remember
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Men når alt kommer til alt skal vi altid huske på,
15:35
that whoever is facing us, whatever has happened in their lives,
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at alle vi møder, ligegyldigt hvad der er sket i deres liv,
15:38
there will be a strong element of the haphazard.
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vil der være et stærkt element af vilkårlighed i hændelserne.
15:41
And it's that that I'm trying to leave room for.
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Og det er dét, jeg forsøger at gøre plads til.
15:43
Because otherwise it can get quite claustrophobic.
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For ellers kan det blive ret klaustrofobisk.
15:45
CA: I mean, do you believe that you can combine
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Chris Anderson: Jeg mener, tror du at du kan kombinere
15:47
your kind of kinder, gentler philosophy of work
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din venligere, mildere arbejdsfilosofi
15:49
with a successful economy?
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med en succesfuld økonomi?
15:53
Or do you think that you can't?
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Eller tror du ikke, det kan lade sig gøre?
15:55
But it doesn't matter that much that we're putting too much emphasis on that?
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Men det gør ikke noget, at vi fokuserer for meget på det?
15:57
AB: The nightmare thought
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Alain de Botton: Mareridtstanken er,
16:00
is that frightening people is the best way to get work out of them,
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at den bedste måde at få folk til at arbejde på, er ved at skræmme dem.
16:04
and that somehow the crueler the environment
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Jo ondere miljøet er,
16:07
the more people will rise to the challenge.
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jo flere mennesker vil forsøge at klare udfordringen.
16:09
You want to think, who would you like as your ideal dad?
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Overvej, hvem den ideelle far er.
16:13
And your ideal dad is somebody who is tough but gentle.
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Den idéelle far er hård men venlig.
16:16
And it's a very hard line to make.
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Det er en meget svær linje at tegne op.
16:18
We need fathers, as it were, the exemplary father figures in society,
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Vi har brug for fædre, der kan være eksemplariske faderfigurer i samfundet,
16:22
avoiding the two extremes,
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hvor vi undgår de to ekstremer.
16:24
which is the authoritarian, disciplinarian, on the one hand,
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Den autoritære, disciplinære på den ene side,
16:28
and on the other, the lax, no rules option.
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og den afslappede, regelløse på den anden side.
16:32
CA: Alain de Botton.
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Chris Anderson: Alain de Botton.
16:34
AB: Thank you very much.
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Alain de Botton: Mange tak skal I have.
16:36
(Applause)
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(Klapsalve)
ABOUT THE SPEAKER
Alain de Botton - PhilosopherThrough his witty and literate books -- and his new School of Life -- Alain de Botton helps others find fulfillment in the everyday.
Why you should listen
It started in 1997, when Alain de Botton turned away from writing novels and instead wrote a touching extended essay titled How Proust Can Change Your Life, which became an unlikely blockbuster in the "self-help"category. His subsequent books take on some of the fundamental worries of modern life (am I happy? where exactly do I stand?), informed by his deep reading in philosophy and by a novelist's eye for small, perfect moments. His newest book is The Pleasures and Sorrows of Work.
In 2008, de Botton helped start the School of Life in London, a social enterprise determined to make learning and therapy relevant in today's uptight culture. His goal is (through any of his mediums) to help clients learn "how to live wisely and well."
Alain de Botton | Speaker | TED.com