TEDxBratislava
Stephen Cave: The 4 stories we tell ourselves about death
Stephen Cave: Hadithi nne tunazoambia nafsi zetu kuhusu kifo
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Mwanaphilosophia Steven Cave anaanza kwa swali lenye kazi lakini la kulazimisha kufikiria:Lini ulitambua utakuja kufa?Na cha kusisimua zaidi:Kwa nini wanadamu huwa tunakwepa kifo?Katika hotuba hii ya kuvutia Bwana Cave anachambua vitu vinne katika maisha ya binadamu ambapo huwa tunaambia nafsi zetu "ili kutusaidia kupambana na uoga wa kifo"
Stephen Cave - Philosopher
Philosopher Stephen Cave wants to know: Why is humanity so obsessed with living forever? Full bio
Philosopher Stephen Cave wants to know: Why is humanity so obsessed with living forever? Full bio
Double-click the English transcript below to play the video.
00:12
I have a question:
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Nina swali:
00:14
Who here remembers when they first realized
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Ni wakina nani hapa walishawahi tambua lini
00:17
they were going to die?
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watakufa?
00:21
I do. I was a young boy,
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Natambua.Nilikuwa mvulana mdogo,
00:23
and my grandfather had just died,
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na babu yangu alikuwa amefariki,
00:26
and I remember a few days later lying in bed at night
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na nakumbuka siku chache baadaye nikiwa nimelala kitandani wakati wa usiku
00:30
trying to make sense of what had happened.
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nikijaribu kujiuliza kipi kilichotokea.
00:34
What did it mean that he was dead?
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Ilimaanisha nini kwamba amekufa?
00:36
Where had he gone?
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Atakuwa ameenda wapi?
00:38
It was like a hole in reality had opened up
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Ilikuwa ni kama shimo limefunguka
00:42
and swallowed him.
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na likammeza.
00:44
But then the really shocking
question occurred to me:
question occurred to me:
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Na swali la kushtua likanijia:
00:46
If he could die, could it happen to me too?
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Kama amekufa,inaweza ikanitokea na mimi?
00:50
Could that hole in reality open up and swallow me?
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Hilo shimo litafunguka na kunimeza?
00:53
Would it open up beneath my bed
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Litafunguka chini ya kitanda changu
00:55
and swallow me as I slept?
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na kunimeza wakati nimelala?
00:58
Well, at some point, all children
become aware of death.
become aware of death.
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Katika namna fulani,watoto wote wanakuja gundua kuhusu kifo.
01:02
It can happen in different ways, of course,
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Kinaweza kutokea katika njia nyingi tofauti,
01:04
and usually comes in stages.
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na kawaida huja kwa hatua.
01:06
Our idea of death develops as we grow older.
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Mawazo yetu kuhusu kifo yanakua kadiri tunavyozidi kuzeeka.
01:10
And if you reach back into the dark corners
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Na kama ukifika katika kona za giza
01:12
of your memory,
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za kumbukumbu yako,
01:14
you might remember something like what I felt
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utakumbuka kitu fulani kama nilichohisi mimi
01:17
when my grandfather died and when I realized
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wakati babu yangu alipofariki na nilipogundua
01:20
it could happen to me too,
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inaweza kunitokea na mimi pia,
01:22
that sense that behind all of this
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hiyo maana iliyopo nyuma ya haya yote
01:25
the void is waiting.
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ubatili unangojea.
01:28
And this development in childhood
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Na haya maendeleo katika utoto
01:31
reflects the development of our species.
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yanaakisi maendeleo ya aina yetu.
01:33
Just as there was a point in your development
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Kama kulivyokuwa na alama katika maendeleo yako
01:37
as a child when your sense of self and of time
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kama mtoto wakati utambuzi wako wa nafsi na muda
01:40
became sophisticated enough
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ulivyokuja kuchanganyika vya kutosha
01:42
for you to realize you were mortal,
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kiasi cha wewe kutambua haitaishi milele,
01:46
so at some point in the evolution of our species,
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kwa hiyo katika hali fulani ya mabadiliko yetu,
01:50
some early human's sense of self and of time
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baadhi ya utambuzi wa binadamu wa nafsi na muda
01:53
became sophisticated enough
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ukaja jichanganya vya kutosha.
01:55
for them to become the first human to realize,
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kwa wao kuja kuwa binadamu wa kwanza kutambua,
01:58
"I'm going to die."
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"naelekea kufa"
02:02
This is, if you like, our curse.
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Kama unapenda,laana yetu.
02:04
It's the price we pay for being so damn clever.
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Ni gharama tunayolipa kwa kuwa werevu wajinga.
02:08
We have to live in the knowledge
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Tunatakiwa kuishi katika maarifa
02:10
that the worst thing that can possibly happen
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hicho ni kitu kibaya kinachoweza kutokea
02:13
one day surely will,
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siku moja kwa uhakika,
02:14
the end of all our projects,
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mwisho wa miradi yetu,
02:16
our hopes, our dreams, of our individual world.
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matumaini yetu,ndoto zetu,katika dunia ya kila mmoja.
02:19
We each live in the shadow of a personal
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Tunaishi katika kivuli cha
02:23
apocalypse.
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kuwaza mwisho wa dunia.
02:25
And that's frightening. It's terrifying.
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Na inaogopesha.Na kutisha.
02:27
And so we look for a way out.
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Kwa hiyo tunatafuta njia ya kujinasua.
02:29
And in my case, as I was about five years old,
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Kwa upande wangu,nilipokuwa na miaka mitano,
02:33
this meant asking my mum.
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hii ilimaanisha kumuuliza mama yangu.
02:36
Now when I first started asking
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Sasa nilipoanza kuuliza
02:38
what happens when we die,
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kipi kinatokea tukifarikia,
02:40
the grown-ups around me at the time
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watu wazima waliokuwa wananizunguka wakati huo
02:42
answered with a typical English mix of awkwardness
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walijibu katika mchanganyiko wa kiingereza na ulio mgumu kuelewa.
02:45
and half-hearted Christianity,
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na mkristo mwenye nusu moyo,
02:48
and the phrase I heard most often
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na kipande cha sentensi ninachosikia mara nyingi
02:50
was that granddad was now
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ilikuwa kwamba babu kwa sasa
02:52
"up there looking down on us,"
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"yuko juu akituangalia sisi"
02:54
and if I should die too, which
wouldn't happen of course,
wouldn't happen of course,
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na kama nikifa pia,
02:57
then I too would go up there,
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na mimi pia nitaenda juu,
03:00
which made death sound a lot like
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hiki kinafanya kifo kionekane kama
03:02
an existential elevator.
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lifti isiyoonekana kwa macho lakini inafanya kazi.
03:05
Now this didn't sound very plausible.
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Lakini hii haikuonekana kama ina ukweli sana.
03:08
I used to watch a children's
news program at the time,
news program at the time,
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Nilizoea kuangalia habari za watoto wakati huo,
03:11
and this was the era of space exploration.
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na huu ulikuwa wakati wa kujifunza kuhusu unajimu.
03:13
There were always rockets going up into the sky,
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Kulikuwa na roketi zinakwenda juu angani,
03:15
up into space, going up there.
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zinakwenda huko.
03:18
But none of the astronauts when they came back
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Hamna mnajimu ambaye alirudi
03:20
ever mentioned having met my granddad
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na akasema kwamba amekutana na babu yangu
03:24
or any other dead people.
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au mtu yoyote aliyekufa.
03:26
But I was scared,
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Lakini nilikuwa naogopa,
03:27
and the idea of taking the existential elevator
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wazo la kupanda lifti ya kifo
03:30
to see my granddad
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kumuona babu yangu
03:31
sounded a lot better than being swallowed
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naona ni bora zaidi kuliko kwenda kumezwa
03:33
by the void while I slept.
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wakati nimelala.
03:36
And so I believed it anyway,
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na nikaamini,
03:38
even though it didn't make much sense.
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pamoja haikuleta maana sana.
03:41
And this thought process that I went through
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Na hili wazo nililokuwa nalo
03:43
as a child, and have been through many times since,
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wakati nikiwa mtoto,nimekuwa nalo kwa muda sana
03:46
including as a grown-up,
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hadi nikiwa mtu mzima,
03:48
is a product of what psychologists call
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ni zao ambalo wanasaikolojia wanaita
03:50
a bias.
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upendeleo.
03:51
Now a bias is a way in which we systematically
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Sasa upendeleo ni njia ambayo
03:55
get things wrong,
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hufanya vitu kimakosa,
03:56
ways in which we miscalculate, misjudge,
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njia ambazo tunakosea kukokotoa,kutoa maamuzi,
03:59
distort reality, or see what we want to see,
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kuharibu uhalisia,au kuona tunachotaka kuona,
04:03
and the bias I'm talking about
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na upendeleo ninaoongelea
04:05
works like this:
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unafanya kazi kama hivi:
04:06
Confront someone with the fact
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Kumfata mtu na ukweli
04:09
that they are going to die
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kwamba atakufa
04:10
and they will believe just about any story
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na wataamini kuhusu hadithi yoyote
04:13
that tells them it isn't true
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ambayo inawaambia sio kweli
04:15
and they can, instead, live forever,
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na badala yake,wanaweza kuishi milele,
04:17
even if it means taking the existential elevator.
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hata kama inamaanisha watapanda lifti.
04:22
Now we can see this as the biggest bias of all.
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Sasa tunaweza kuona huu ni upendeleo kupita wote.
04:26
It has been demonstrated in over 400
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Imeelezew katika zaidi ya masomo 400
04:29
empirical studies.
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ya undani.
04:31
Now these studies are ingenious, but they're simple.
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masomo haya ni ya werevu,lakini ni rahisi.
04:33
They work like this.
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Yanafanya kazi kama hivi.
04:35
You take two groups of people
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Unachukua makundi mawili ya watu
04:36
who are similar in all relevant respects,
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ambao wako sawasawa katika kila kitu,
04:39
and you remind one group that they're going to die
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na unawaambia kundi moja kwamba watafariki
04:42
but not the other, then you compare their behavior.
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wengine huwaambii,unalinganisha tabia zao.
04:45
So you're observing how it biases behavior
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Kwa hiyo unaangalia jinsi gani unafanya tabia zao kuwa
04:48
when people become aware of their mortality.
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watu wanapoanza kugundua kuhusu vifo vyao.
04:52
And every time, you get the same result:
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Na kila wakati,unapata matokeo yaleyale:
04:55
People who are made aware of their mortality
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Watu ambao tayari washatambua kuhusu vifo vyao
04:58
are more willing to believe stories
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wako tayari kuamini hadithi
05:00
that tell them they can escape death
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ambazo zinawaambia wanaweza kukwepa kifo
05:02
and live forever.
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na kuishi milele.
05:04
So here's an example: One recent study
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Huu ni mfano:Tafiti moja ya hivi karibuni
05:06
took two groups of agnostics,
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ilichukua makundi mawili ya wapagani,
05:09
that is people who are undecided
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hao ni watu ambao hawana maamuzi
05:10
in their religious beliefs.
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katika kuamini dini.
05:13
Now, one group was asked to think about being dead.
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Sasa,kundi moja liliambiwa kufikiria kuhusu kufa.
05:17
The other group was asked to think about
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Kundi lingine likaambiwa kufikiria kuhusu
05:18
being lonely.
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kuwa mpweke.
05:20
They were then asked again
about their religious beliefs.
about their religious beliefs.
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Waliulizwa tena kuhusu imani zao za kidini.
05:23
Those who had been asked
to think about being dead
to think about being dead
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Wale walioambiwa kufikiria kuhusu kifo
05:26
were afterwards twice as likely to express faith
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walikuwa wakielezea mara mbili zaidi hisia zao
05:29
in God and Jesus.
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kuhusu Mungu na Yesu.
05:31
Twice as likely.
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Mara mbili zaidi.
05:33
Even though the before they
were all equally agnostic.
were all equally agnostic.
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Pamoja na kwamba wote walikuwa wapagani.
05:35
But put the fear of death in them,
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Lakini weka uoga wa kifo ndani yao,
05:37
and they run to Jesus.
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watakimbila kwa Yesu.
05:41
Now, this shows that reminding people of death
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Sasa,hii inaonesha kwamba kuwakumbusha watu kuhusu kifo
05:45
biases them to believe, regardless of the evidence,
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inawachochea kuamini,bila kujali ukweli,
05:48
and it works not just for religion,
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na sio kwa dini tu,
05:50
but for any kind of belief system
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katika imani yoyote ile
05:52
that promises immortality in some form,
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ambayo inaeleza kifo katika njia tofauti tofauti,
05:56
whether it's becoming famous
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haijalishi kama inakuwa maarufu
05:57
or having children
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au kuwa na watoto
05:59
or even nationalism,
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au utaifa,
06:00
which promises you can live
on as part of a greater whole.
on as part of a greater whole.
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ambayo inasema utaishi siku zote.
06:03
This is a bias that has shaped
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Huu ni upendeleo uliotengeneza umbile
06:05
the course of human history.
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na historia y binadamu.
06:09
Now, the theory behind this bias
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Sasa,fikra iliyopo katika upendeleo huu
06:11
in the over 400 studies
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katika tafiti 400
06:13
is called terror management theory,
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inaitwa fikra ya usimamizi wa uoga,
06:15
and the idea is simple. It's just this.
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na wazo ni rahisi.Ni hivi.
06:17
We develop our worldviews,
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Tunakuza mawazo yetu kuhusu dunia,
06:20
that is, the stories we tell ourselves
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hivyo,hadithi tunazoambia nafsi zetu
06:22
about the world and our place in it,
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kuhusu dunia na sehemu yetu
06:25
in order to help us manage
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ili kusaidia kusimamia
06:27
the terror of death.
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hofu ya kifo.
06:30
And these immortality stories
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Na hizi hadithi za kifo
06:32
have thousands of different manifestations,
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zina maelfu ya shuhuda tofauti tofauti,
06:35
but I believe that behind the apparent diversity
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lakini naamini nyuma ya utofauti uliopo
06:38
there are actually just four basic forms
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kuna aina nne za muhimu
06:41
that these immortality stories can take.
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ambazo hizi hadithi za vifo zinahusiana.
06:44
And we can see them repeating themselves
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Na tunaweza kuona zinajirudia
06:46
throughout history, just with slight variations
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katika historia,na utofauti mdogo sana
06:49
to reflect the vocabulary of the day.
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kuakisi msamiati wa siku.
06:52
Now I'm going to briefly introduce these four
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Sasa nitatoa muhtasari wa hizi aina nne
06:55
basic forms of immortality story,
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kuu za hadithi za kifo,
06:57
and I want to try to give you some sense
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na ninataka kujaribu kukuonesha maana
06:58
of the way in which they're retold by each culture
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ni jinsi gani vinaelezewa kwa kuirudia katika kila utamaduni
07:01
or generation
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au kizazi
07:03
using the vocabulary of their day.
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kwa kutumia msamiati wa siku.
07:05
Now, the first story is the simplest.
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Sasa,hadithi ya kwanza ni rahisi sana.
07:07
We want to avoid death,
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Tunataka kukwepa kifo,
07:09
and the dream of doing that in this body
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na ndoto ya kufanya hicho katika mwili huu
07:12
in this world forever
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katika hii dunia milele
07:13
is the first and simplest kind of immortality story,
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ni hadithi ya kwanza na rahisi ya kifo,
07:17
and it might at first sound implausible,
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na inaweza kuonekana isiyo na maana kwa mara ya kwanza,
07:19
but actually, almost every culture in human history
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lakini kiukweli,karibia kila tamaduni katika historia ya binadamu
07:23
has had some myth or legend
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ilikuwa na mzimu au kiongozi mkongwe
07:25
of an elixir of life or a fountain of youth
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wa kutupa maisha au kurudisha wazee katika ujana
07:28
or something that promises to keep us going
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au kitu kinachotuahidi sisi kuendelea mbele
07:31
forever.
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milele.
07:34
Ancient Egypt had such myths,
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Wahenga wa Kimisri walikuwa na huo mzimu,
07:36
ancient Babylon, ancient India.
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Wahenga wa Babylon,wa India.
07:38
Throughout European history, we find them
in the work of the alchemists,
in the work of the alchemists,
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Katika historia ya ulaya,tunawaona katika kazi ya wanakemia wa kizamani,
07:41
and of course we still believe this today,
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na mpaka leo tunaamini,
07:44
only we tell this story using the vocabulary
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tunahdithia hizi hadithi kwa kutumia msamiati
07:46
of science.
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wa sayansi.
07:48
So 100 years ago,
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Miaka 100 iliyopita,
07:49
hormones had just been discovered,
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homoni zilikuwa zimegunduliwa,
07:51
and people hoped that hormone treatments
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na watu wakatumaini kwamba matibabu ya homoni
07:53
were going to cure aging and disease,
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yatatibu uzee na magonjwa,
07:56
and now instead we set our hopes on stem cells,
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na sasa tunaweka matumaini yetu katika kiini shina
07:58
genetic engineering, and nanotechnology.
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uhandisi wa gene,na teknolojia ya nano.
08:01
But the idea that science can cure death
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Lakini wazo kwamba sayansi inaweza kuponya kifo
08:05
is just one more chapter in the story
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liko sura moja mbele zaidi katika hadithi
08:07
of the magical elixir,
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ya maajabu ya kuweza kuishi milele,
08:09
a story that is as old as civilization.
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hadithi ambayo ni ya zamani kama ulivyo ustaarabu.
08:14
But betting everything on the idea of finding the elixir
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Lakini kuweka mawazo yote katika kufikiria kutafuta kuishi milele
08:16
and staying alive forever
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na kukaa wazima siku zote
08:18
is a risky strategy.
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ni mkakati wenye hatari sana.
08:20
When we look back through history
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2240
Tukiangalia nyuma katika historia
08:22
at all those who have sought an elixir in the past,
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wale waliotafuta kuishi milele huko nyuma,
08:25
the one thing they now have in common
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1829
kitu kimoja ambacho wote wanacho
08:27
is that they're all dead.
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ni kwamba wote wameshakufa.
08:29
So we need a backup plan,
and exactly this kind of plan B
and exactly this kind of plan B
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Kwa hiyo tunahitaji mpango wa kutukomboa,na mpango huu mbadala
08:33
is what the second kind of immortality story offers,
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ni ambao aina ya pili ya kifo inaelezea,
08:36
and that's resurrection.
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ni kufufuka.
08:38
And it stays with the idea that I am this body,
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2374
Na hiyo inakuwa ni wazo kwamba mimi ni huu mwili,
08:41
I am this physical organism.
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Ni kiumbe kamili.
08:43
It accepts that I'm going to have to die
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Kinakubali kwamba kitakufa
08:45
but says, despite that,
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1374
lakini kinasema,pamoja na hilo,
08:46
I can rise up and I can live again.
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Ninaweza amka na nikaishi tena.
08:49
In other words, I can do what Jesus did.
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Katika maneno mengine,naweza fanya kama alichofanya Yesu.
08:51
Jesus died, he was three days in the [tomb],
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2045
Yesu alikufa,akakaa siku tatu kaburini,
08:53
and then he rose up and lived again.
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na baada ya hapo akafufuka na kuamka tena.
08:56
And the idea that we can all be
resurrected to live again
resurrected to live again
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3119
Na wazo ambalo tunaishi nalo ni kwamba wote sisi tunaweza fufuka na kuishi tena
08:59
is orthodox believe, not just for Christians
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hata waimani ya Orthodox wanaamini,si kwa wakristo tu
09:02
but also Jews and Muslims.
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hata Wayahudi na Waislamu.
09:04
But our desire to believe this story
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Lakini tamaa yetu katika kuamini hizi hadithi
09:07
is so deeply embedded
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2010
imefungamana kiundani sana
09:09
that we are reinventing it again
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2098
kwamba tunaivumbua tena
09:11
for the scientific age,
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1492
kwa enzi za kisayansi,
09:12
for example, with the idea of cryonics.
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2823
kwa mfano,kwa kutumia wazo la kutumia mazingira ya joto dogo sana ili kuweza kutunza kiumbe kirudi katika uhai
09:15
That's the idea that when you die,
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Wazo ni kwamba ukifa,
09:17
you can have yourself frozen,
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1999
unaweza kujigandisha mwenyewe,
09:19
and then, at some point when technology
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na baadaye,katika namna fulani teknolojia
09:21
has advanced enough,
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1211
imekua vya kutosha,
09:22
you can be thawed out and repaired and revived
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2120
unaweza kutengenezwa na tena kurudi katika uhai
09:24
and so resurrected.
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kwa kufufuka.
09:26
And so some people believe an omnipotent god
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Na watu wanaamini Mungu wa nguvu zote
09:29
will resurrect them to live again,
220
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1879
atawafufua na wataishi tena,
09:30
and other people believe an
omnipotent scientist will do it.
omnipotent scientist will do it.
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4143
na wengine wanaamini wanasayansci wenye nguvu na maarifa watawafufua nao pia.
09:35
But for others, the whole idea of resurrection,
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2714
Lakini kwa wengine,wazo zima ni kuhusu kufufuka,
09:37
of climbing out of the grave,
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2003
kwa kutoka nje ya kaburi,
09:39
it's just too much like a bad zombie movie.
224
567752
2719
ni kama zile sinema z kutisha za zombies.
09:42
They find the body too messy, too unreliable
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2791
Mwili unakuwa mchafu sana,usiotamanika
09:45
to guarantee eternal life,
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2148
kwa kuwezesha maisha ya milele,
09:47
and so they set their hopes on the third,
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3091
Watu wanaweka matumaini yao katika hili swala la tatu,
09:50
more spiritual immortality story,
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2117
hadithi ya kifo iliyokaa kiroho zaidi,
09:52
the idea that we can leave our body behind
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2336
wazo kwamba tutaiacha miili yetu nyuma
09:54
and live on as a soul.
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2297
na kuishi kama roho.
09:57
Now, the majority of people on Earth
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1989
Sasa,watu wengi katika dunia
09:59
believe they have a soul,
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1773
wanaamini wana roho,
10:01
and the idea is central to many religions.
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na wazo hili ni kuu kwa dini nyingi.
10:03
But even though, in its current form,
234
591423
2314
Lakini hata hivyo,katika mfumo wa sasa,
10:05
in its traditional form,
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1915
katika utamaduni wake,
10:07
the idea of the soul is still hugely popular,
236
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2163
wazo la roho ni maarufu sana,
10:09
nonetheless we are again
237
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1432
achilia yote hayo tunakuja tena
10:11
reinventing it for the digital age,
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2224
kuvumbua wazo hili katika nyakati za kidigitali,
10:13
for example with the idea
239
601471
1477
kwa mfano
10:14
that you can leave your body behind
240
602948
1990
unaweza kuacha mwili wako nyuma
10:16
by uploading your mind, your essence,
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2246
kwa kuwezesha akili yako,uhalisia wako,
10:19
the real you, onto a computer,
242
607184
1956
wewe halisi,kwenye kompyuta,
10:21
and so live on as an avatar in the ether.
243
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4612
na kuishi kama avatar.
10:25
But of course there are skeptics who say
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2023
Lakini kuna wabishi ambao wanasema
10:27
if we look at the evidence of science,
245
615775
1844
tukiangalia katika ukweli wa sayansi,
10:29
particularly neuroscience,
246
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1644
hasa sayansi ya mishipa ya fahamu,
10:31
it suggests that your mind,
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1829
inadokeza kwamba,akili yako
10:33
your essence, the real you,
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1580
uhalisi wako,
10:34
is very much dependent on a particular part
249
622672
2413
vinategemea sana upande fulani
10:37
of your body, that is, your brain.
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2221
wa mwili wako,ambao ni ubongo.
10:39
And such skeptics can find comfort
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2521
Na aho wenye wasiwasi wanaweza pata faraja
10:41
in the fourth kind of immortality story,
252
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2258
katika aina ya nne ya hadithi ya kifo,
10:44
and that is legacy,
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2357
na huo ni urithi,
10:46
the idea that you can live on
254
634442
1480
wazo kwamba unaweza ishi
10:47
through the echo you leave in the world,
255
635922
2251
mpaka kwenye mwangi unaiacha dunia,
10:50
like the great Greek warrior Achilles,
256
638173
2349
kama mwanajeshi hodari wa Kigiriki Achilles,
10:52
who sacrificed his life fighting at Troy
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2629
aliyetoa sadaka ya maisha yake kwa Troy
10:55
so that he might win immortal fame.
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3053
ili kupata umaarufu wa kifo.
10:58
And the pursuit of fame is as widespread
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2266
Na umaarufu ulisambaa
11:00
and popular now as it ever was,
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2141
na ni maarufu kama ilivyokuwa zamani,
11:02
and in our digital age,
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1579
na katika nyakati hizi za kidigitali,
11:04
it's even easier to achieve.
262
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1528
ni rahisi sana kufanikiwa.
11:05
You don't need to be a great warrior like Achilles
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2324
Huitaji kuwa kama mwanajeshi hodari kama Achilles
11:08
or a great king or hero.
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1693
au kuwa mfalme hodari au shujaa.
11:09
All you need is an Internet connection
and a funny cat. (Laughter)
and a funny cat. (Laughter)
265
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4823
Unachohitaji ni mtandao wa intaneti na paka anayefurahisha(Vicheko)
11:14
But some people prefer to leave a more tangible,
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2463
Lakini watu wengi wanapendelea kuacha vile vionekanavyo,
11:17
biological legacy -- children, for example.
267
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2844
urithi wa kibiolojia--watoto,kwa mfano.
11:19
Or they like, they hope, to live on
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2276
Au wapo hivi,wana imani,kuishi
11:22
as part of some greater whole,
269
670141
1717
katika nafasi ya maisha yote,
11:23
a nation or a family or a tribe,
270
671858
2449
taifa au familia au kabila,
11:26
their gene pool.
271
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2466
gene zao.
11:28
But again, there are skeptics
272
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1513
Lakini tena,wanakuwa na wasiwasi
11:30
who doubt whether legacy
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1713
wana wasiwasi kwamba urithi
11:31
really is immortality.
274
679999
1975
kiuhalisia ni kuhusu kifo.
11:33
Woody Allen, for example, who said,
275
681974
2077
Kwa mfano,Woody Allen alisema,
11:36
"I don't want to live on in
the hearts of my countrymen.
the hearts of my countrymen.
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2496
"Sitaki kuishi katika mioyo ya watu wa nchi yangu.
11:38
I want to live on in my apartment."
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2197
Nataka kuishi katika nyumba yangu"
11:40
So those are the four
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1767
Hizo ni
11:42
basic kinds of immortality stories,
279
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2183
aina nne kuu za hadithi za kifo,
11:44
and I've tried to give just some sense
280
692694
1642
na nimejaribu kuonesha maana
11:46
of how they're retold by each generation
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2293
ni jinsi zinasemwa na kila jamii
11:48
with just slight variations
282
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1587
na utofauti mdogo sana
11:50
to fit the fashions of the day.
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2305
kutosha fasheni ya siku.
11:52
And the fact that they recur in this way,
284
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3489
Na ukweli kwamba zinajirudia katika hii njia,
11:56
in such a similar form but
in such different belief systems,
in such different belief systems,
285
704010
2988
katika mfumo uleule lakini katika aina tofauti za kuamini,
11:58
suggests, I think,
286
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1578
Nadhani,
12:00
that we should be skeptical of the truth
287
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2402
tunatakiwa kuwa na wasiwasi wa ukweli
12:02
of any particular version of these stories.
288
710978
3761
katika aina yoyote ya hadithi hizi.
12:06
The fact that some people believe
289
714739
2111
Ukweli kwamba watu wanaamini
12:08
an omnipotent god will resurrect them to live again
290
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2665
mungu mwenye nguvu atawafufua na kuishi tena
12:11
and others believe an omnipotent scientist will do it
291
719515
3701
na wengine wanaamini wanasayansi wenye nguvu watawafufua na kuishi tena.
12:15
suggests that neither are really believing this
292
723216
3038
inasema kwamba hamna anayeamini hili
12:18
on the strength of the evidence.
293
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2670
au nguvu ya ukweli.
12:20
Rather, we believe these stories
294
728924
2426
ila,tunaamini hadithi hizi
12:23
because we are biased to believe them,
295
731350
1983
kwa sababu tunachochewa kuziamini,
12:25
and we are biased to believe them
296
733333
1828
na tunachochewa kuziamini
12:27
because we are so afraid of death.
297
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4270
kwa sababu tunaogopa kifo.
12:31
So the question is,
298
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2055
Kwa hiyo swali ni,
12:33
are we doomed to lead the one life we have
299
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3472
je,tunapotoshwa kuongoza maisha tuliyonayo
12:36
in a way that is shaped by fear and denial,
300
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3693
katika njia ya uoga na kupotosha ukweli?
12:40
or can we overcome this bias?
301
748651
3075
au tunaweza kushinda huu uchochezi?
12:43
Well the Greek philosopher Epicurus
302
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2467
Mphilosophia wa kigiriki Epicurus
12:46
thought we could.
303
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1728
alifikiri tunaweza.
12:47
He argued that the fear of death is natural,
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3548
Alihoji kwamba uoga wa kifo ni kitu cha asili,
12:51
but it is not rational.
305
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2415
lakini sio cha mantiki.
12:53
"Death," he said, "is nothing to us,
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2658
"kifo",alisema,"si kitu kwetu,
12:56
because when we are here, death is not,
307
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2850
kwa sababu tuko hapa,kifo hakipo,
12:59
and when death is here, we are gone."
308
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3753
na wakati kifo kikiwa hapa,na sisi tunakuwa hatupo"
13:03
Now this is often quoted, but it's difficult
309
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1798
Mara nyingi kauli hii huwa inanukuliwa,lakini ni vigumu
13:04
to really grasp, to really internalize,
310
772943
2322
kuielewa,kiundani zaidi,
13:07
because exactly this idea of being gone
311
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2163
kwa sababu kiuhakika wazo hili la kuondoka
13:09
is so difficult to imagine.
312
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2139
ni gumu sana kulifikiria.
13:11
So 2,000 years later, another philosopher,
313
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2231
Miaka 2000 baadaye,mphilosophia mwingine,
13:13
Ludwig Wittgenstein, put it like this:
314
781798
3457
Ludwig Wittgenstein,alisema:
13:17
"Death is not an event in life:
315
785255
2944
"Kifo sio tukio la maisha:
13:20
We do not live to experience death.
316
788199
3642
Hatuishi ili kuzoea kifo.
13:23
And so," he added,
317
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1194
Akaongeza kwa kusema,
13:25
"in this sense, life has no end."
318
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2935
"katika maana hii,maisha hayana mwisho"
13:27
So it was natural for me as a child
319
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3176
Kwa hiyo ilikuwa halisi kwa mimi kama mtoto
13:31
to fear being swallowed by the void,
320
799146
2367
kuogopa kumezwa na shimo la kifo,
13:33
but it wasn't rational,
321
801513
1879
lakini haikuwa na mantiki,
13:35
because being swallowed by the void
322
803392
1985
kwa sababu kumezwa na shimo la kifo
13:37
is not something that any of us
323
805377
2078
sio kitu ambacho mtu yoyote kati yetu
13:39
will ever live to experience.
324
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3270
ataishi na kukutana nacho.
13:42
Now, overcoming this bias is not easy because
325
810725
2529
Sasa,kukwepa uchochezi huu sio kitu rahisi kwa sababu
13:45
the fear of death is so deeply embedded in us,
326
813254
2959
hofu ya kifo imo ndani yetu,
13:48
yet when we see that the fear itself is not rational,
327
816213
4482
wakati huohuo tunaona uoga huna mantiki,
13:52
and when we bring out into the open
328
820695
2130
na tunapoonyesha uoga
13:54
the ways in which it can unconsciously bias us,
329
822825
2698
katika njia ambazo tunachochewa bila kujitambua,
13:57
then we can at least start
330
825523
1851
angalau tunaweza kuanza
13:59
to try to minimize the influence it has
331
827374
2634
kupunguza ule msukumo ulionao
14:02
on our lives.
332
830008
1883
katika maisha yetu.
14:03
Now, I find it helps to see life
333
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2818
Sasa,naona inasaidia kuona maisha
14:06
as being like a book:
334
834709
1844
ykifanana na kama kitabu:
14:08
Just as a book is bounded by its covers,
335
836553
2468
Kama kilivyozungukwa na kava,
14:11
by beginning and end,
336
839021
1277
mwanzoni na mwishoni,
14:12
so our lives are bounded by birth and death,
337
840298
3738
kwa hiyo maisha yetu yamezungukwa kwa kuzaliwa na kifo,
14:16
and even though a book is
limited by beginning and end,
limited by beginning and end,
338
844036
3515
na hata kama kitabu kina mipaka mwanzoni na mwishoni,
14:19
it can encompass distant landscapes,
339
847551
2136
inaweza jumuisha mazingira ya mbali,
14:21
exotic figures, fantastic adventures.
340
849687
3230
maumbile ya kusisimua,matukio mazuri sana.
14:24
And even though a book is
limited by beginning and end,
limited by beginning and end,
341
852917
3349
Na hata kama kitabu kina mipaka mwanzoni na mwishoni,
14:28
the characters within it
342
856266
1823
wahusika ndani yake
14:30
know no horizons.
343
858089
2842
hawajui mwisho wa upeo wa macho.
14:32
They only know the moments
that make up their story,
that make up their story,
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3157
Wanajua nyakati zinazohusu hadithi zao,
14:36
even when the book is closed.
345
864088
2940
hata kama kitabu kikifungwa.
14:39
And so the characters of a book
346
867028
2136
kwa wahusika katika kitabu
14:41
are not afraid of reaching the last page.
347
869164
3482
hawaogopi kufika ukurasa wa mwisho.
14:44
Long John Silver is not afraid of you
348
872646
2278
Long John Silver hakuogopi
14:46
finishing your copy of "Treasure Island."
349
874924
2835
kumalizia nakala yako ya "Treasure Island"
14:49
And so it should be with us.
350
877759
1700
na itakuwa na sisi.
14:51
Imagine the book of your life,
351
879459
2144
Fikiria kitabu cha maisha yako,
14:53
its covers, its beginning and end,
and your birth and your death.
and your birth and your death.
352
881603
2784
inakava,mwanzoni na mwishoni,kuzaliwa kwako na kufa kwako.
14:56
You can only know the moments in between,
353
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2177
Unaweza kujua nyakati,
14:58
the moments that make up your life.
354
886564
1935
zinazofanya maisha yako.
15:00
It makes no sense for you to fear
355
888499
1947
Haileti maana kwa wewe kuogopa
15:02
what is outside of those covers,
356
890446
2090
kilicho nje ya kava,
15:04
whether before your birth
357
892536
1470
kama ni kabla ya kuzaliwa
15:06
or after your death.
358
894006
1976
au baada ya kifo chako.
15:07
And you needn't worry how long the book is,
359
895982
2529
Na hautakiwi kuwa na wasiwasi kitabu ni kirefu kiasi gani,
15:10
or whether it's a comic strip or an epic.
360
898511
3473
au ni cha kichekesho au kinaelezea ukubwa wa kitu.
15:13
The only thing that matters
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1542
Kitu kimoja cha msingi
15:15
is that you make it a good story.
362
903526
3498
ni kwamba unaifanya iwe hadithi nzuri.
15:19
Thank you.
363
907024
2220
Asante.
15:21
(Applause)
364
909244
4185
(Makofi)
ABOUT THE SPEAKER
Stephen Cave - PhilosopherPhilosopher Stephen Cave wants to know: Why is humanity so obsessed with living forever?
Why you should listen
Stephen Cave is a writer and philosopher who is obsessed with our obsession with immortality. In 2012 he published Immortality: The Quest to Live Forever and How It Drives Civilization, an inquiry into humanity's rather irrational resistance to the inevitability of death. Cave moves across time and history's major civilizations and religions to explore just what drives this instinct -- and what that means for the future. Cave writes for The Financial Times and contributes to The New York Times, The Guardian and Wired.
Stephen Cave | Speaker | TED.com