Tyler Cowen: Be suspicious of simple stories
In his work, economist Tyler Cowen looks at clues from pop culture, art, food, to gather data and make observations on the world's globalizing culture and commerce. Full bio
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and tell you all stories,
un pastāstīt jums stāstus,
tell you why I'm suspicious of stories,
kāpēc uz stāstiem raugos ar aizdomām,
a story makes me feel,
kāds stāsts mani iedvesmo,
are often the trickiest ones.
bieži vien ir visviltīgākie.
is that they are a kind of filter.
ka tie ir sava veida filtri.
and they leave some of it out,
daļu no tās atstāj ārpusē,
that it always leaves the same things in.
vienmēr patur vienu un to pašu.
with the same few simple stories.
šie daži vienkāršie stāsti.
that just about every story
stāsts ir aprakstāms vārdiem
as "a stranger came to town."
tikai septiņi stāstu veidi.
just seven types of stories.
līdz pārticībai”, „meklējumi”,
„komēdija”, „traģēdija”, „atdzimšana”.
comedy, tragedy, rebirth.
tieši šim dalījumam,
with that list exactly,
if you think in terms of stories,
stāstām sev vienu un to pašu.
over and over again.
we asked some people--
kurā cilvēkiem jautājām –
aprakstīt savu dzīvi,
is how few people said "mess".
I don't mean that in a bad way.
es to nedomāju sliktā nozīmē.
"mess" can be empowering,
juceklis var dot spēkus,
of drawing upon multiple strengths.
kā izmantot dažādas spējas.
"My life is a journey."
„Mana dzīve ir ceļojums.”
his or her life into a story.
Again, that is a kind of story.
Arī tas ir sava veida stāsts.
5% said, "My life is a play."
5% teica: „Mana dzīve ir luga.”
"My life is a reality TV show."
„Mana dzīve ir realitātes šovs.”
on the mess we observe,
kārtību juceklim, ko redzam,
is in the form of a story,
ir pieņēmis stāsta formu,
kaut gan nevajadzētu.
and the cherry tree?
exactly what happened.
nav skaidri zināms, ka notika tieši tā.
that that is exactly the way it happened.
suspicious of stories.
mums jāuzmanās no stāstiem.
to respond to them.
ieprogrammēti reaģēt uz tiem.
They have social power.
Tiem piemīt sociālais spēks.
when we read novels.
kad lasām romānus.
we're really being fed stories.
mums patiesībā iebaro stāstus.
savā ziņā ir jaunā daiļliteratūra.
the new fiction.
stāstīts par patiesām lietām,
the same form of these stories.
šo pašu stāstu formu.
of relying too heavily on stories?
pārlieku liela paļaušanās uz stāstiem?
kāds tas ir vai kādam tam vajadzētu būt.
that it is or it ought to be.
I think of a few major problems
dažas būtiskas problēmas, kas rodas,
in terms of narrative.
ar domāšanu stāstījumos.
būt pārāk vienkāršiem,
is to strip it away,
you can present in a sentence or two.
vienā vai divos teikumos.
in terms of good versus evil,
„labais pret ļauno” izteiksmē,
or a story about politics.
par mūsu pašu dzīvi vai politiku.
ir „labais pret ļauno”,
good versus evil, we all know this, right?
the good versus evil story.
šo „labais pret ļauno” stāstu.
vienkārši iedomājieties, ka ikreiz,
you're telling a good versus evil story,
„labais pret ļauno” stāstu,
by ten points or more.
par 10 vai vairāk punktiem.
as a kind of inner mental habit,
kā iekšējo prāta ieradumu,
a lot smarter pretty quickly.
kā visai ātri kļūt gudrākam.
the good versus evil story,
„labais pret ļauno” stāstu,
par 10 vai vairāk punktiem.
by ten points or more.
or Michael Moore's movies,
vai Maikla Mūra filmas,
„Tas viss bija viens liels negadījums.”
"It was all a big accident."
people plotting together,
cilvēkiem, kas kopā slepus perina plānus,
a story is about intention.
or complex human institutions
vai sarežģītām cilvēces institūcijām,
but not of human design.
taču ne cilvēku dizaina rezultāts.
plotting together.
kas slepus perina plānus.
par slepenām sazvērestībām
plotting things together,
ko kopā kaldina plānus,
be especially suspicious?"
būt īpaši uzmanīgam?”
"Wow, that would make a great movie!"
„O! No šitā gan iznāktu laba filma!”
should pop in a bit more,
„o-ou” reakcijai,
is maybe a bit of a mess.
mazliet vairāk līdzinās juceklim.
the claim that we "have to get tough".
„jārīkojas stingrāk”.
dažādos kontekstos.
We had to get tough with the labor unions.
ar arodbiedrībām.
with some other country,
ar kādu citu valsti,
someone we're negotiating with.
kādu, ar ko vedam pārrunas.
against getting tough.
was a good thing.
ar nacistiem, bija labi.
upon all too readily, all too quickly.
pārlieku viegli un pārlieku ātri.
why something happened,
kāpēc kaut kas ir noticis,
"We need to get tough with them!"
„Mums ar viņiem jākļūst stingrākiem!”
nevienam nebija ienācis prātā,
to your predecessor,
as a kind of mental laziness.
par sava veida prāta slinkumu.
"We need to get tough,
„Mums jārīkojas stingrāk,
vai būs jārīkojas stingrāk.”
we will have to get tough."
brīdinājuma signāls.
into your mind at once,
vien zināmu daudzumu stāstu,
or even over the course of a lifetime.
vai pat visas dzīves laikā.
too many purposes.
pārāk daudziem mērķiem.
out of bed in the morning,
what you're doing is really important
tas, ko darāt, ir patiešām svarīgi,
that story even when it's not.
stāstām šo stāstu pat tad, ja tā nav.
when I need to change that story.
kad šis stāsts ir jāmaina.
that I grab onto it and I hold it,
tam pieķerties un pie tā turēties,
that is actually just a waste of time,
kas patiesībā ir tikai laika šķiešana,
that got me out of bed,
kas palīdz man tikt ārā no gultas.
very complex story map in my mind,
kādai ļoti sarežģītai stāstu kartei,
and a matrix of computation, and the like,
skaitļošanas matricai un tamlīdzīgi,
tiem jābūt vienkāršiem,
have to be simple,
to others, easily remembered.
tos jāspēj viegli atcerēties.
and conflicting purposes,
un konfliktējošiem mērķiem,
within the camp of economists,
and I was allied with other good guys,
apvienojies ar citiem labajiem,
the ideas of the bad guys.
"Hey, I wasn't one of the good guys."
„Eu, es nebiju viens no labajiem.”
in the sense of having evil intent,
tādā ziņā, ka man bija ļauni nolūki,
to get away with that story.
tikt galā ar šo stāstu.
about cognitive biases
aizspriedumi, izziņas aizspriedumi
of so many books these days.
the Sway book, the Blink book,
šīs vienvārda grāmatas
kā mēs lietas salaižam grīstē,
is that none of these books identify
ka neviena no grāmatām
galveno un vissvarīgāko veidu,
most important way we screw up,
ourselves too many stories,
sev pārāk daudz stāstu
are all about stories.
ir vieni vienīgi aizspriedumi.
you're learning about some of your biases,
uzzinām par saviem aizspriedumiem,
of your other biases essentially worse.
ievērojami lielākus.
are part of your cognitive bias.
ir izziņas aizspriedumu daļa.
as a kind of talisman, like:
kā sava veida talismanus:
Es nebūšu „Paredzami iracionāls”.”
'Predictably Irrational'."
for it or defend against it.
sagatavoties vai aizstāvēties.
such a market for pessimism.
gets you somewhere,
that the most dangerous people
ka visbīstamākie cilvēki ir tie,
some financial literacy.
and make the worst mistakes.
vislielākās kļūdas.
they don't know anything at all,
ka neko nezina,
manipulate us using stories,
only works on the other guy,
nostrādā tikai uz pārējiem,
advertising works on all of us.
reklāma ietekmē mūs visus.
selling products come along,
kas mēģina kaut ko pārdot,
their product with a story.
and the story go together.
kā strādā kapitālisms,
of stories about cars.
par automašīnām.
partners and a fascinating life."
attiecības un aizraujoša dzīve.”
ir popularizēt šo stāstu.
to promote that story.
as nice as your income would indicate.
kā norāda tavi ienākumi.
at what your peers do and copy them.
tavi biedri un atdarini viņus.
for lots of problems,
vienkārši pērc Toyota.”
just buy a Toyota."
more money off the luxury cars,
ar savām luksus automašīnām
you end up hearing,
the seductive stories,
valdzinošos stāstus.
don't trust them.
your love of stories to manipulate you.
pret stāstiem, lai ar jums manipulētu.
kurus neviens nav ieinteresēts stāstīt?”
that no one has an incentive to tell?"
vai kāds no jūsu lēmumiem mainās.
if any of your decisions change.
of thinking in terms of stories,
to which you think in stories,
cik lielā mērā mēs šādi domājam,
I'm wondering, of course,
from Tyler Cowen?
no Tailera Kauena?
like the story of the quest.
meklējumu stāstam.
not to think so much in terms of stories."
nedomāt tik daudz stāstos.”
you could tell about this talk.
ko pastāstīt par šo runu.
pazīstamam modelim.
You could tell it to other people.
Jūs varētu to pastāstīt citiem.
„Nedomājiet tik daudz stāstos!”
Let me tell you what happened today!'"
you might tell a story of rebirth.
atdzimšanas stāstu.
too much in terms of stories
pārāk daudz domāju stāstos,
ko atcerēsieties,
and again, it may stick.
un arī tas, iespējams, paliks prātā.
a story of deep tragedy.
arī ļoti traģisku stāstu.
in terms of stories,
pārlieku daudz domā stāstos.”
too much in terms of stories."
Is it like quest, rebirth, tragedy?
Meklējumi, atdzimšana, traģēdija?
and I'm not here to tell you
un mans mērķis nav aicināt jūs
and throw out your Tolstoy.
un izmest savu Tolstoju.
is fundamentally human.
memoir "Living to Tell the Tale"
Gabriels Garsija Markess raksta,
to make sense of what we've done,
lai piešķirtu jēgu izdarītajam,
connections with other people.
lai izveidotu saikni ar citiem cilvēkiem.
should go away, or can go away.
nedrīkst un nevar pazust.
I'm thinking about life on the margin,
es domāju par ieguvumu
or less in terms of stories?
vajadzētu vairāk vai mazāk?
should we be more suspicious?
mums būtu jābūt uzmanīgākiem?
should we be suspicious of?
mums vajadzētu uzmanīties?
very often, that you like the most,
stāsti, kas mums patīk visvairāk,
the most inspiring.
kas šķiet visiedvesmojošākie.
on opportunity cost,
alternatīvajām izmaksām
consequences of human action,
cilvēku rīcības sekām,
does not make for a good story.
of triumph, a story of struggle;
par triumfu, par cīņu,
which are either evil or ignorant;
kuri ir vai nu ļauni, vai nezinoši,
someone making a voyage,
kāds, kurš ceļo,
but don't let them make you too happy.
tām darīt jūs pārāk laimīgus.
- again, no burning of Tolstoy -
and quests, and battles,
tie ceļojumi un meklējumi, un cīņas,
can't I just have my life
nevaru dzīvot savu dzīvi
- I hesitate to use the word - glory
es baidos lietot vārdu „krāšņumā”,
some kind of narrative?
kaut kādam stāstījumam?
that make you feel good.
kas liek jums justies labi.
a few areas to be agnostic in,
kurās būt agnostiķim,
about religion, or politics."
agnostiķis reliģijā vai politikā.”
to be more dogmatic elsewhere, right?
dogmatismu citviet, vai ne?
ir tie, kas izvēlas vienu jomu
are the ones who pick one area,
tik stūrgalvīgi nesaprātīgi,
so pig-headedly unreasonable,
vispār spēj kam tādam ticēt?”
"How can they possibly believe that?"
they can be pretty open-minded.
visai brīvi no aizspriedumiem.
ka, ja reiz esat agnostiski kādā jomā,
because you're agnostic on some things,
un brīvību no aizspriedumiem.
and your open-mindedness.
of epistemological hovering,
šo epistemoloģisko nenoteiktību,
ties up into a neat bow,
glīti pārsiet ar lentīti,
messy reason or reasons,
iemesla vai iemeslu dēļ,
and maybe I don't know what it is,
un varbūt es nezinu šo iemeslu,
ka mani uzaicināja,
and thank you all for listening.
ABOUT THE SPEAKER
Tyler Cowen - EconomistIn his work, economist Tyler Cowen looks at clues from pop culture, art, food, to gather data and make observations on the world's globalizing culture and commerce.
Why you should listen
Tyler Cowen is a professor of economics at George Mason University, and partners with Alex Tabarrok to write the economics blog Marginal Revolution, where he hunts for clues to whatever is coming next, in the space where economics and culture entwine. His outlook is fairly libertarian, but it's not ivory-tower -- in fact, he's been accused of "cute-o-nomics" for daring to use economic models to explain real-world problems instead of theoretical abstractions.
His latest book is a short ebook called The Great Stagnation: How America Ate All the Low-Hanging Fruit of Modern History, Got Sick, and Will (Eventually) Feel Better. In it, he suggests that while the days of easy growth are probably over for the US, it's probably not in a death spiral just yet.
Cowen is also a passionate foodie (check out his blog Tyler Cowen's Ethnic Dining Guide); in fact, his next book is An Economist Gets Lunch: New Rules for Everyday Foodies.
Find a transcript for Tyler Cowen's TEDxMidAtlantic talk on lesswrong.com >>
Tyler Cowen | Speaker | TED.com