Annotated captions of STEPHEN FRY: WHAT I WISH I'D KNOWN WHEN I WAS 18 (Peter Samuelson's interview) in English
Last Modified By | Time | Content |
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liquidgold |
00:05 00:11 |
Technology is like a mirror. If an idiot looks in, you can't expect an apostle to look out. |
earlyadopter |
00:11 00:18 |
It's, it's... I remember when I first saw some Photoshop, |
liquidgold |
00:18 00:22 |
the very first version of it called Pixel, in fact a very early version, |
earlyadopter |
00:22 00:25 |
and I saw some things it could do, and I couldn't wait |
earlyadopter |
00:25 00:27 |
to put it on to floppy disks into my computer |
earlyadopter |
00:27 00:31 |
and I raised my fingers and I thought: |
earlyadopter |
00:31 00:37 |
"Oh, I don't have any artistic talent. Ha-ha-ha... what's the point?" |
earlyadopter |
00:37 00:42 |
It's like if you get a great keyboard, but you got nothing to express musically |
liquidgold |
00:42 00:44 |
it doesn't matter how good midi is |
earlyadopter |
00:44 00:49 |
and how many synthesized sampled instruments you have, it facilitates it. |
earlyadopter |
00:49 00:52 |
The great thing about social networking, |
liquidgold |
00:52 00:55 |
which at the time we're talking of course is still growing in what seems an exponential rate |
earlyadopter |
00:55 01:04 |
all the time upper curve of it is that everybody has a talent to interact with other people |
earlyadopter |
01:05 01:07 |
short of being on autistic spectrum of course, |
earlyadopter |
01:07 01:15 |
which is something many people are in very small ways or in greater ways. |
earlyadopter |
01:15 01:20 |
And even that could be helped by the interactions off the internet. |
earlyadopter |
01:21 01:25 |
And I think, forgetting the technology, forgetting what your device can do, |
liquidgold |
01:25 01:29 |
forgetting how good the camera is or anything like that, |
earlyadopter |
01:29 01:32 |
the most successful usage you can make of for example Twitter or Facebook |
liquidgold |
01:32 01:36 |
or any of those social networking services |
liquidgold |
01:36 01:41 |
are completely down to your personality, absolutely to do with who you are. |
earlyadopter |
01:42 01:46 |
I think, particularly in America, it's common more across the World |
earlyadopter |
01:46 01:54 |
there is this yearning for people to find answers to techniques that will make them happy or rich. |
liquidgold |
01:54 02:01 |
In fact probably the other order: rich and then happy, because of course richness gives happiness, doesn't it? Hm... |
earlyadopter |
02:01 02:12 |
Well, to me... if I had known when I was younger, chasing technique, chasing an answer is fatal. |
earlyadopter |
02:12 02:16 |
And I would say this, and many people will scream in disbelief, |
liquidgold |
02:16 02:20 |
the worst thing you can ever do in your life is set yourself goals. |
liquidgold |
02:21 02:27 |
I think goal orientation is absolutely disastrous in life. |
earlyadopter |
02:27 02:30 |
Two things happen: one — you don't meet your goals, you call yourself a failure. |
liquidgold |
02:30 02:34 |
Secondly — you meet your goal, you go: "Well, I'm here, and now what? |
earlyadopter |
02:34 02:43 |
I'm not happy. I've got this car, this job, I'm living in this address, which I always thought the place I wanted to be, and... what?" |
earlyadopter |
02:43 02:46 |
Because you're going for something outside yourself, and that's no good. |
earlyadopter |
02:46 02:50 |
My favorite quotation almost (or at least for the moment) is from Noel Coward |
earlyadopter |
02:50 02:56 |
who's very great actor, producer, writer, musician, |
liquidgold |
02:56 03:01 |
he is all around, he is known as the Master by everyone who knew, because he is so good in everything |
earlyadopter |
03:01 03:06 |
and he said: "Work is more fun than fun." |
earlyadopter |
03:07 03:15 |
And if I have known that real joy in life is work, and if you |
earlyadopter |
03:15 03:18 |
can say of the work you do that it's more fun than fun, then you're in the right place. |
earlyadopter |
03:18 03:22 |
Most of us of course don't have that all the time, |
earlyadopter |
03:22 03:26 |
but every time you look in the bathroom mirror in the morning, |
earlyadopter |
03:26 03:28 |
if you can say: "Is my work — more fun than fun? |
earlyadopter |
03:28 03:34 |
Or is it dreddy water, is it getting me to a wage package, which allows me to go to bars, |
earlyadopter |
03:34 03:40 |
and buy things." If that's it, then that's bit of a treadmill I think. |
earlyadopter |
03:40 03:46 |
And everyone has in them to express themselves that fundamental thing that they know they are inside |
earlyadopter |
03:46 03:53 |
that rather beautiful afraid person, which might get translated into aggression or silence |
earlyadopter |
03:53 03:59 |
or shines or all kinds of other things, but inside we know we are huggable, lovable, we want to love and be loved. |
earlyadopter |
04:00 04:07 |
That person is yearning for fulfillment to be the person they know they can be. |
earlyadopter |
04:07 04:11 |
And that's a constant journey, a process. |
earlyadopter |
04:11 04:17 |
It's not about acquiring this thing, and then that thing, getting to this place, learning this technique, |
earlyadopter |
04:17 04:22 |
finding out how this works. It's about, I suppose to me |
earlyadopter |
04:22 04:27 |
it's about the fact that other people are always more interesting than oneself. |
earlyadopter |
04:27 04:32 |
And if there is a thing... Let's forget what successful people have in common, |
earlyadopter |
04:32 04:35 |
but if there is a thing what unsuccessful people have in common - it's: |
earlyadopter |
04:35 04:38 |
they talk about themselves all the time. |
earlyadopter |
04:38 04:43 |
"I need to do this. I need..." — the first two words are usually "I need", |
earlyadopter |
04:43 04:48 |
and that's why nobody likes them, and that's why they'll never get where they want to be. |
earlyadopter |
04:48 04:54 |
Because it's "I need, I, me, I, my..." — |
earlyadopter |
04:54 04:58 |
there is an English word for that: egocentric or egoistical or egotistical. |
earlyadopter |
04:58 05:01 |
That all of it from "ego" that I think of an "I"... |
earlyadopter |
05:01 05:04 |
and if you just say "I" all the time, you'll get nowhere. |
rogneda |
05:05 05:10 |
If you interested in other people, if you use your eyes to look out, not to be looked into, |
liquidgold |
05:10 05:12 |
and then you connect, then you're interesting, |
rogneda |
05:12 05:15 |
then people want to be around you, |
rogneda |
05:15 05:18 |
and it's about the warmth and the charm you can radiate |
rogneda |
05:18 05:21 |
that is real because of your positive interest in others |
rogneda |
05:21 05:29 |
and if you expected to come to you "I've never had this" or "I was..." you know, you hate people... |
earlyadopter |
05:29 05:33 |
You know I happened to love... I know a lot of people don't. |
earlyadopter |
05:33 05:37 |
But I happened to love the works of William Shakespeare, the poet and playwriter, |
rogneda |
05:37 05:41 |
I think they are amongst the greatest things humanity has ever done. |
liquidgold |
05:41 05:45 |
Up there, with the Pyramids, or whatever it is you want to choose. |
liquidgold |
05:45 05:49 |
You know the number of times you hear people say "Oh, it was ruined for me at school" |
liquidgold |
05:49 05:58 |
and I, I tend to say to them "Yeah, I don't really like the Grand Canyon, or the Lake District, or the Mountains Of Scotland |
rogneda |
05:58 06:01 |
because I’ve had really bad Geography teacher so I don't find either of it very beautiful" |
earlyadopter |
06:01 06:03 |
I mean just non-sensical. |
rogneda |
06:03 06:09 |
You just.. It's a sign of people stopping back and blaming something else rather than just saying |
rogneda |
06:09 06:12 |
"Oh, I wasn't ready for that, maybe I never will be, |
rogneda |
06:12 06:15 |
but I'm not gonna blame someone else for it". |
rogneda |
06:15 06:19 |
It's.. It's attitude of looking in wounds |
rogneda |
06:19 06:21 |
and American television is filled with people |
rogneda |
06:21 06:23 |
sitting in chairs on it's sort of afternoon talk-shows |
liquidgold |
06:23 06:28 |
going "I need"-whining, whining about their lives. |
liquidgold |
06:28 06:30 |
"I'm beautiful, I'm lovely and yet nobody... You know, I'm special, I have needs..." |
rogneda |
06:30 06:33 |
Oh! Shut up, stop whining. |
rogneda |
06:33 06:36 |
Just grow up and get a life, |
rogneda |
06:36 06:38 |
and look around you to other people, |
rogneda |
06:38 06:41 |
and don't expect other people to care, |
rogneda |
06:41 06:43 |
don't expect people to be interested. |
earlyadopter |
06:43 06:47 |
Who, who'd you feel more sorryful, who'd you actually want to hug? |
rogneda |
06:47 06:49 |
The person you happen to know |
rogneda |
06:49 06:52 |
has a tumor and he just getting through life |
liquidgold |
06:52 06:56 |
not talking about it, smiling, trying not to embarrass anybody about it, |
rogneda |
06:56 06:59 |
or that kind of person "I have a leg that hurt, that one.. |
liquidgold |
07:00 07:03 |
and I have this pain here, and doctors don't know what to do about it, and I get these flashes.." |
rogneda |
07:03 07:07 |
Oh, Christ, I'm sure it's terrible for you, dear, but shut up! |
liquidgold |
07:07 07:12 |
You just don't... No, of course, we do our best to feel sorry for all kinds of people |
liquidgold |
07:12 07:18 |
or we show sympathy, but the real heroism of people who quietly get on with their lives |
liquidgold |
07:18 07:21 |
and think of others should be ruled and usually is |
liquidgold |
07:21 07:26 |
by the fact they are liked and if you like people want to be with you, people want to be with you, |
rogneda |
07:26 07:33 |
they show opportunities with you, and you observe the way they do things and your life can open up, |
liquidgold |
07:33 07:35 |
and there are opportunities everywhere, whether it is a small town |
rogneda |
07:35 07:40 |
or a tiny apartment in the huge city - there are opportunities. |
rogneda |
07:40 07:46 |
You know, you can simply by talking more to the person in a coffee shop, |
liquidgold |
07:46 07:51 |
in a coffee store, in your Starbucks or whatever, simply by just having a few extra words... |
liquidgold |
07:51 07:57 |
they are probably doing a concert somewhere, in a little bar in the evening |
earlyadopter |
07:57 08:02 |
and you might go along and you meet there, and they need someone else and you might, you might… |
rogneda |
08:02 08:05 |
who knows... that's how some people become managers or musicians. |
rogneda |
08:05 08:08 |
They go out and they find talent, they look at it in other people. |
rogneda |
08:08 08:12 |
So that really to me... if life has any secret it's... |
rogneda |
08:12 08:17 |
it's abnegation of self, efface yourself, don't talk, just don't say, |
liquidgold |
08:17 08:20 |
if you can't stop saying "me" or "I" too often you are on the wrong track. |
liquidgold |
08:20 08:26 |
I think in the same way you turn in yourself |
liquidgold |
08:26 08:31 |
it is very negative and sort of... destructive to finding opportunity |
liquidgold |
08:31 08:36 |
simply staying in the same place and knowing what you know all the time |
liquidgold |
08:36 08:45 |
I once wanted to open a restaurant where you always get the dish that the person next to you have ordered |
rogneda |
08:45 08:47 |
because that is the one you wish you had. |
rogneda |
08:47 08:55 |
And I always thought this thing like Netflix they should send you a DVD |
rogneda |
08:55 08:59 |
the exact opposite to the kind that you like, last the way you look. |
rogneda |
08:59 09:06 |
So the Amazon said “I see you liked this novel by this novelist why not try this...” |
earlyadopter |
09:06 09:12 |
And you “Yeah, but this completely...” Yes, that is the point, it is completely different, it is not your usual thing. |
liquidgold |
09:12 09:15 |
You know how we always buy, you know how your partner always says |
rogneda |
09:15 09:17 |
"why are you buying that shirt, you got one that exactly like it", |
rogneda |
09:17 09:21 |
you say "it is not exactly like it, it has slightly different color". |
rogneda |
09:21 09:23 |
We like that in life, we tend to settle so quickly |
rogneda |
09:23 09:28 |
and the best way to stop that to keep reinventing oneself, |
rogneda |
09:28 09:35 |
I think travel is a fantastic way, that has never been easier, there are ways now, I think, |
liquidgold |
09:35 09:37 |
a lot of us try to be responsible in our travel because, of course, |
rogneda |
09:37 09:40 |
you know, what we do to the environment by travelling, |
rogneda |
09:40 09:43 |
but there are ways of sharing travel, travelling with other people, especially amongst the young, |
rogneda |
09:43 09:46 |
they travel around the world, they share books. |
rogneda |
09:46 09:53 |
This thing I only discovered a few years ago, this is very common in the places where young people travel a lot, |
earlyadopter |
09:53 09:57 |
like, say, in Inca Trail in Peru or in the South East Asia, you know. |
rogneda |
09:57 10:02 |
People just leave a book, and they leave the name on it and a little note, |
rogneda |
10:02 10:04 |
they just leave it in a public place, anywhere, |
liquidgold |
10:04 10:08 |
and someone picks it up and say “Oh, that is good”, and they read the last note, they read, and then they leave it. |
liquidgold |
10:08 10:12 |
These books have a magical history, going round. |
liquidgold |
10:13 10:19 |
Travel and reading to me are such extraordinary pleasures |
liquidgold |
10:19 10:23 |
I couldn't conceive a life without them. They constantly teach you |
liquidgold |
10:23 10:27 |
And they don't just teach you about the rest of the world, they teach you about where you come from |
liquidgold |
10:27 10:30 |
There was this saying... I think, that was Kipling who said it: |
liquidgold |
10:30 10:37 |
"What do they of England know, that only England know?" |
mbravo |
10:37 10:41 |
And what do you know about your own country if your own country is the only country you know? |
liquidgold |
10:41 10:44 |
You don't know America unless you've travelled outside and you see... |
liquidgold |
10:44 10:48 |
And then you think: "Oh! Gosh, we do things differently, I didn't know!" |
liquidgold |
10:48 10:52 |
"I thought the way we did it was the only natural and normal, but they do it completely differently!" |
liquidgold |
10:52 10:56 |
You learn so much about your own country by travelling |
liquidgold |
10:56 11:00 |
Also, I think, to me, the people I was in the head most..[]. I've had heroes |
liquidgold |
11:00 11:03 |
I'm sort of shameless about the fact that you admire other people |
liquidgold |
11:03 11:09 |
If there is a phrase that makes my heart sink, that's - "Not impressed". |
liquidgold |
11:10 11:13 |
People just say: "Yeah, it's so... I'm not impressed." |
liquidgold |
11:13 11:19 |
As if, well... who cares with your "impressed"? It's such a vain thing to say. |
liquidgold |
11:19 11:25 |
If your standards are so high that you need to be impressed, "to impress me you've got to be damn good", |
liquidgold |
11:25 11:31 |
I mean, there are things we don't like, there are things we think of as substandard or ordinary which we can turn away from |
liquidgold |
11:31 11:36 |
But it's wonderful - the rush, the headlong of something with enthusiasm, like a puppy |
liquidgold |
11:36 11:39 |
for things you admire and people you admire. |
liquidgold |
11:39 11:45 |
Sometimes they'll disappoint you, some great singer or some fabulous painter or writer |
liquidgold |
11:45 11:50 |
may turn out to have a pretty horrifying private life or do unpleasant things to animals |
liquidgold |
11:50 11:55 |
or whatever, but to admire is enormously helpful. |
liquidgold |
11:55 11:58 |
I think because it's one of the most natural things. And mentoring is, of course |
liquidgold |
11:58 12:01 |
at the heart of these most natural things |
liquidgold |
12:01 12:06 |
is to sit at the feet of a master and to learn, you know, you see it in all cultures. |
mbravo |
12:06 12:09 |
In the Eastern cultures you see a particular image of the, you know, |
liquidgold |
12:09 12:16 |
like a kung-fu or something, you know, with a grasshopper sitting at the feet of his Shaolin priest, |
mbravo |
12:16 12:20 |
teaching him so many things about mind and spirit and body and so on |
liquidgold |
12:20 12:25 |
but also if you wish to learn, say, the guitar, |
mbravo |
12:25 12:28 |
if not exactly a master then is usually a friend |
liquidgold |
12:28 12:34 |
and they hand you, like, "Put your finger like that, play that, and then play that in that rhythm, |
mbravo |
12:34 12:37 |
and then it's time for the change, and then that one, eh?" |
earlyadopter |
12:37 12:43 |
and then you play awhile and say: "Wow! I found a new chord, and look at this, and oh, it's very good" |
mbravo |
12:43 12:47 |
And slowly you're learning the guitar and the time may come when you know enough chords |
earlyadopter |
12:47 12:54 |
"I should take a book or a video or take proper lessons" - if you wanted proper lessons in that way, |
liquidgold |
12:54 12:59 |
But you're learning with friends, you're showing each other, you're learning together. |
liquidgold |
12:59 13:01 |
And that's really what education is. To me |
earlyadopter |
13:01 13:07 |
if I was go back to me after I got in university and there were some splendid professors there, |
mbravo |
13:07 13:10 |
magnificent, world-renowned people. |
liquidgold |
13:10 13:13 |
And they were charming to talk to and they knew a lot of things. |
liquidgold |
13:13 13:15 |
But all the learning I really did was |
liquidgold |
13:15 13:19 |
sitting with coffee in a room with friends talking about everything - |
liquidgold |
13:19 13:28 |
cosmos, and God, and Marxism, and history, and psychology, and truth, and lies, and honesty - |
liquidgold |
13:28 13:32 |
all the things that seemed very pretentious later on, they seemed a bit over-earnest, perhaps. |
mbravo |
13:32 13:37 |
but you may [] with your friends, you learn of each other, you take pleasure, |
mbravo |
13:38 13:43 |
like, say, "Have you seen this new chord?" and some new ideas you've picked up |
liquidgold |
13:43 13:46 |
So, again, - learning is all about other people. |
mbravo |
13:46 13:49 |
It's not about yourself with your head in a book. I mean there are things you can learn of course, |
mbravo |
13:49 13:54 |
i.e. dummies' guides and serious instructional works, but |
liquidgold |
13:54 13:59 |
I don't think that many people I know who've mastered anything have done so from that. |
liquidgold |
13:59 14:02 |
They've done it through their interaction with others. |
liquidgold |
14:02 14:14 |
I would say that probably one of the most wonderful things you can be given in life is the ability to give. |
liquidgold |
14:14 14:22 |
Sometimes, because I've had a lucky life, I have an opportunity to give something, whatever, |
liquidgold |
14:22 14:27 |
it was time or money or whether it might be, or presentation, or speech, or something, |
earlyadopter |
14:27 14:31 |
[and people say... which I guess is ...] Which would you rather be? |
liquidgold |
14:31 14:35 |
Would you rather be someone who asked for help or money |
liquidgold |
14:35 14:38 |
or would you rather be someone who is in the position to give it? |
liquidgold |
14:38 14:43 |
So obvious, which it is. No one wants to ask, everyone wants to give. |
earlyadopter |
14:43 14:52 |
And it's astonishes me when I do meet people in my profession who are closed to turning up to anything. |
earlyadopter |
14:52 14:58 |
I mean I can understand somebody who wish to guard their privacy and they don't want to be on a red carpet just because it is a charity event |
liquidgold |
14:58 15:07 |
but there are so many ways you can use any accumulated wealth or reputation or influence |
liquidgold |
15:07 15:10 |
you may or may not have, that are helpful for other people! |
liquidgold |
15:10 15:14 |
And that's just most natural and wonderful thing to pass it on. |
liquidgold |
15:14 15:18 |
Almost everything that I do, I sort of aim at my 14-15-year-old self |
earlyadopter |
15:18 15:22 |
I had a very troubled childhood - it ended up with me going to prison |
liquidgold |
15:22 15:28 |
I still want to talk to that young me, I still want to do things for him |
earlyadopter |
15:28 15:36 |
And this is the book I would like him to have read when he was 16 - so the thing I write |
liquidgold |
15:36 15:39 |
Not that I hope that my books are preachy or teachy |
liquidgold |
15:39 15:48 |
But I just think - sharing the benefits of life *is* the benefit of life, oddly enough. |
mbravo |
15:49 15:56 |
I think probably everybody watching me now has more power, in any real sense, in which power matters, |
liquidgold |
15:56 15:59 |
than, say, Louis the XIV or Napoleon |
liquidgold |
15:59 16:05 |
without the power of life and of death, which is probably what we don't want, so it is quite good |
liquidgold |
16:05 16:08 |
just in times when Napoleon wanted to know something |
earlyadopter |
16:08 16:12 |
even he had to send some people out to Egypt and bring him back stones or something |
earlyadopter |
16:12 16:16 |
and scholars will gather and talk about it and similarly, if he wanted the spice, |
mbravo |
16:16 16:21 |
he'd ships go away and come back and we could go to a store in a corner of the street |
liquidgold |
16:21 16:25 |
where the bounty of all five continents is heaped up in ways that never been known. |
liquidgold |
16:25 16:30 |
We have access to everything. And most importantly, to information, to knowledge. |
liquidgold |
16:30 16:35 |
But is it knowledge? And where does it come from? How can we trust it? |
liquidgold |
16:35 16:37 |
And is knowledge the same thing as truth? |
liquidgold |
16:37 16:43 |
Is knowing that the Spanish Armada attacked Britain in 1588, actually knowledge, |
liquidgold |
16:43 16:46 |
or is it simply, in today's technology terms, |
liquidgold |
16:46 16:50 |
a sort of piece of metadata that just flagged in history? |
liquidgold |
16:50 16:51 |
It's really no more than that. |
liquidgold |
16:51 16:59 |
Without knowing what that means - 1588, Armada - it's pointless - or 1776, or whatever date you choose. |
liquidgold |
16:59 17:08 |
And for me, I think, the history of the world that has arrived to this point where I can speak and it can be watched |
liquidgold |
17:08 17:11 |
by people in all kinds of ways and with all kinds of devices, |
liquidgold |
17:11 17:15 |
and can stay for eternity, [rest you on service] and who knows where |
liquidgold |
17:15 17:23 |
[the whole things] - it all comes from inquiry, it all comes from open inquiry. |
mbravo |
17:23 17:30 |
And the word really is "empiricism," which is a strange word, but what it means is testing things. |
liquidgold |
17:30 17:34 |
You don't take anything on trust. You test it out. |
liquidgold |
17:34 17:43 |
If a book says, like: "You shall have no foreskin," or "You must not eat shellfish," |
liquidgold |
17:43 17:47 |
you can choose to say: "This is the Word of the Divine Being," if you like. |
earlyadopter |
17:47 17:50 |
It doesn't really get you very much forward, |
mbravo |
17:50 17:54 |
but it can connect you to the history of your people. I'm not here to disrespect that. |
earlyadopter |
17:54 18:05 |
Those happen to be a lot of that for my people, as it happens in -- I don't know -- [] that I have no choice and I eat sea food... whatever |
liquidgold |
18:05 18:12 |
But for the rest, I need to know why is that, why somebody's telling me what is the case. |
liquidgold |
18:12 18:20 |
I need to question it and to test it. Authority comes from the validity of information, |
liquidgold |
18:20 18:29 |
being repeatable, being open, being free, and not coming with a threat, |
liquidgold |
18:29 18:36 |
and not being just told: "This is the case, and you must believe it - or you die." |
liquidgold |
18:36 18:40 |
which is, as we know, probably the biggest problem facing the world, the people who says things like that. |
liquidgold |
18:40 18:45 |
And unfortunately, it's the young they appeal to. |
liquidgold |
18:45 18:51 |
You're unlikely to find a 50-year-old being converted to a fundamentalist belief in something |
mbravo |
18:51 18:54 |
which means that they think people should die for, not |
mbravo |
18:54 19:00 |
believing the right thing, or using casual language about their divinity, or whatever. |
liquidgold |
19:00 19:05 |
You won't find a 50-year-old who - you may find one who's grown up, but try to persuade a 50-year-old |
liquidgold |
19:05 19:08 |
They just know the world too well, they'll go "oh, come on!". |
mbravo |
19:08 19:15 |
But unfortunately, a 18-year-old, who's lost, or feels that the world is unjust - he's right, you know, it *is* unjust - |
liquidgold |
19:15 19:20 |
it might be better, if we all ordered and well-behaved. It might be! |
liquidgold |
19:20 19:24 |
But we know that "ordered" is a dangerous word. |
liquidgold |
19:25 19:31 |
And the riotous, chaotic freedom we enjoy, which causes so much of a headache for all of us, |
mbravo |
19:31 19:36 |
is infinitely better than rigidity of tyranny and control. |
liquidgold |
19:36 19:41 |
And religious fundamentalism is just another kind of fascism, it's another kind of communism, |
mbravo |
19:41 19:44 |
it's an extreme, dictatorial way of telling people how to behave. |
mbravo |
19:44 19:55 |
And given that my power comes from a book, whether it's Karl Marx or it's a holy text - that's, to me, the dangerous thing. |
liquidgold |
19:55 20:00 |
The truth is [bully] and complicated and difficult and all but an [ "oooh, huh..."] |
liquidgold |
20:00 20:05 |
I trust people, you know, the great, one of the wisest heads who ever lived on this planet |
mbravo |
20:05 20:09 |
was a philosopher called Socrates, and he's famous for asking questions |
mbravo |
20:09 20:11 |
he never gave answers |
mbravo |
20:11 20:15 |
but the questions are so acute; the innocence of a Socratic question: |
earlyadopter |
20:15 20:18 |
"I wonder what we mean by that." You know? |
mbravo |
20:18 20:21 |
and even down to, you know, ethics |
mbravo |
20:21 20:27 |
at what age might it be right ever to abort a foetus, on what age? |
mbravo |
20:27 20:30 |
if you did it on Wednesday, it would be child-killing |
mbravo |
20:30 20:33 |
if its on the Tuesday before, it's okay, how can that be? |
mbravo |
20:33 20:37 |
You know, these things are very complicated, and never stop thinking like that! |
mbravo |
20:37 20:41 |
Never stop being a child, who says "Why? Can that be right?" |
earlyadopter |
20:41 20:44 |
There's Zeno, one of my favourite philosophers, |
mbravo |
20:44 20:47 |
had a pupil next to him and he gave him a bean and said |
mbravo |
20:47 20:50 |
to put it on the table in front of him and said "Is that a heap?" |
mbravo |
20:50 20:53 |
And the pupil said - "No!" So he added another one, "Is that a heap?" |
mbravo |
20:53 20:55 |
Pupil said "No, it's not." |
mbravo |
20:55 20:57 |
He kept adding and eventually pupil said - "that's a heap" |
mbravo |
20:57 21:00 |
So then he says, oh, then the heap is 17, I take this away, it's not heap anymore. |
mbravo |
21:00 21:04 |
Is a heap 17? And he was making that exact point |
liquidgold |
21:04 21:10 |
"Oh, I see, this number of days is a life, take one away, it's just a mass of chemicals" |
mbravo |
21:10 21:14 |
Life is full of these complexities, like age of consent is a similar one, you know? |
mbravo |
21:14 21:20 |
the police enter a room and there's a couple making love and |
mbravo |
21:20 21:27 |
if they entered the day before it would be statutory rape |
mbravo |
21:27 21:30 |
but because it was the day after the birthday - it wasn't |
mbravo |
21:30 21:33 |
now, it's such a peculiar way to order a society like that |
liquidgold |
21:33 21:38 |
and I think that sort of flexibility, of being able to |
earlyadopter |
21:38 21:41 |
to think openly about all kinds of problems |
mbravo |
21:41 21:47 |
is really important for one's happiness and one's sense of self and connection with other people |
mbravo |
21:47 21:51 |
I think, one of the interesting things about social networking |
mbravo |
21:51 21:58 |
is what it's doing to democracy and how it is reactivating many sides of democracy |
earlyadopter |
21:58 22:01 |
that both internationally, when there is, you know |
mbravo |
22:01 22:06 |
it's not necessarily changing the world in one fell swoop but I think |
mbravo |
22:06 22:11 |
politicians have to be so much more careful now, because what they say is not just in the hands of journalists |
mbravo |
22:11 22:15 |
who, after all, trade favours with them and may will let this one off for saying this |
mbravo |
22:15 22:23 |
but we're all citizen journalists to some extent by blogging or microblogging which is what Twitter is |
liquidgold |
22:23 22:28 |
and I think it allows us to engage more in politics and I think in young people |
mbravo |
22:28 22:33 |
there of course still is same level of cynicism which is a perfectly justified level to some extent |
mbravo |
22:33 22:35 |
who call it realism more than cynicism |
mbravo |
22:35 22:41 |
??? the human beings in these positions of power and |
mbravo |
22:41 22:48 |
you can take silly, sort of conspiracy theory view, be paranoid about it and all, but |
mbravo |
22:48 22:52 |
actually, we know, because we were at school with some people who are now |
mbravo |
22:52 22:58 |
politicians of my age running the country, and we know how stupid they are |
liquidgold |
22:58 23:03 |
we know how stupid we are! And the idea that they are clever enough to conspire in some |
mbravo |
23:03 23:08 |
brilliant way to, you know, with heads of business to keep secrets... |
mbravo |
23:08 23:14 |
they can't keep what they do in their trousers a secret, the idea that they can keep anything serious a secret is absurd! |
mbravo |
23:14 23:20 |
And I think they have to be so much more honest now... openness. |
mbravo |
23:20 23:25 |
I think there's one thing that can really transform our lives |
mbravo |
23:25 23:27 |
it is increasing levels of openness |
mbravo |
23:29 23:34 |
it is really allowing transparency in the way people behave and transact |
mbravo |
23:34 23:39 |
in business and in politics at all levels |
mbravo |
23:39 23:43 |
and I think it's all to the good, I really do |
mbravo |
23:43 23:50 |
and I think the fact that it's harder to be private is something, of course, that we juggle all the time |
mbravo |
23:50 23:55 |
if all this openness is around, it's like we're all living in glass houses with no curtains |
mbravo |
23:55 23:58 |
and maybe people feel a bit exposed |
mbravo |
24:00 24:04 |
by participating in the openness of the world but in ten years time |
mbravo |
24:04 24:10 |
almost everything we do will be so locked in to electronic systems and it already is to a huge extent |
earlyadopter |
24:10 24:15 |
and even more so. I mean, just including the way we thought and |
mbravo |
24:15 24:17 |
so much information will be known about us and |
mbravo |
24:18 24:20 |
we have to just make sure |
mbravo |
24:20 24:24 |
and I think that's the beauty in it, there's lots of guardians for us out there |
liquidgold |
24:24 24:28 |
who do make a fuss when liberty is threatened. |
liquidgold |
24:29 24:32 |
The world is full and the history of the world is full of stories of people |
mbravo |
24:32 24:36 |
who feel out of place in some way |
mbravo |
24:36 24:38 |
either in their family or in their community |
mbravo |
24:38 24:43 |
that they just feel that the stork dropped them down the wrong chimney |
mbravo |
24:43 24:47 |
and, I mean, a very common one, like me, is - I'm gay |
liquidgold |
24:48 24:52 |
so, especially when I was growing up, it was pretty difficult to be open about being gay |
mbravo |
24:52 24:58 |
there were very few people in public life that were known openly gay but they were somewhat openly camp |
mbravo |
24:58 25:01 |
and it was a sort of an open secret |
payalnik |
25:01 25:02 |
But that's not what being gay is about |
mbravo |
25:02 25:05 |
Flouncing around in purple dresses isn't exactly the whole gay experience |
payalnik |
25:09 25:15 |
But also, there may be people who are born football player |
payalnik |
25:15 25:17 |
Who grow up in a family of musicians or belly dancers |
payalnik |
25:19 25:27 |
It's not all just bright sensitive artistic people throttled by the commonplace philistinism of their parents |
payalnik |
25:27 25:33 |
It can be quite the reverse, you can just want to be ordinary decent citizen |
payalnik |
25:33 25:37 |
who plays sport and isn't interested in all things that your parents are. |
payalnik |
25:37 25:40 |
You feel kind of trapped |
payalnik |
25:40 25:43 |
Most of us feel different, I think |
mbravo |
25:43 25:49 |
Teenagers in particular, but almost all life-uncertain people. |
liquidgold |
25:49 25:56 |
There is this tension: on the one hand, you want to belong, you want to be a part of the tribe. |
liquidgold |
25:56 26:06 |
You want to be enclosed in a community and feel the friendship and all the fellowship of being connected. |
mbravo |
26:06 26:11 |
And another part: one wants to stand alone, and be an individual who is utterly different from everyone else. |
liquidgold |
26:11 26:16 |
"They are the tribe -- they are the muddy philistines, and I'm the artistic sensitive soul." |
liquidgold |
26:16 26:19 |
See, you want to be a part of the tribe, but you want to be apart from the tribe. |
earlyadopter |
26:19 26:23 |
And it's that pull that I think gives enormous creative tension, that allows people... |
liquidgold |
26:23 26:30 |
It's that spark of electricity, if you like, that makes people creative. |
mbravo |
26:30 26:34 |
It's the desire to be absolutely unique but also a desire to belong. |
mbravo |
26:34 26:39 |
[That sense of...] so they understand other people, what is to be a part of the community. |
liquidgold |
26:39 26:45 |
But they also understand the status of an alien and an outsider. |
liquidgold |
26:45 26:51 |
And youth cultures that old people stupidly mock, 'cause they say: "Oh, you're trying to be different, but you're all just the same!" |
liquidgold |
26:51 26:56 |
Oh-ho-ho-ho. You just don't get it, you know, that's not the point! |
liquidgold |
26:56 27:00 |
They really do [here] [outsider] ['cause they think they're being] clever! |
liquidgold |
27:00 27:07 |
"Ha! You all wear the same... rings and gothic... whatevers, and now you say you just want to be different - well, you're not!" |
liquidgold |
27:07 27:14 |
No, it's not this. What they are doing - as I've described, they are belonging, but they're outside. |
liquidgold |
27:14 27:21 |
And it's that paradox [??] that counterflow |
liquidgold |
27:21 27:29 |
that I think makes life exciting and gives them [the rosin that our ballet shoes can grip the state with], if you like. |
liquidgold |
27:29 27:32 |
That's a strange metaphor, I don't know where it came from, but you know what I mean |
liquidgold |
27:32 27:41 |
I think, a very good point about technology is - yes, it connects you to people who may be as rare as you are. |
mbravo |
27:41 27:44 |
Gives you a connection used to be - for example, if you liked |
liquidgold |
27:44 27:50 |
a particular writer, or particular comic, you would have to go to the nearest big town where may be one specialist store |
liquidgold |
27:50 27:56 |
where you would hang around for a fat comic guy would come out, like, "Whaat are you peeople dooiing?", |
mbravo |
27:56 28:00 |
and you would say, "How much is that comic?" |
liquidgold |
28:00 28:06 |
and you meet other collectors, but then you had to go thirty miles out of town, [by home of your smaller town], |
liquidgold |
28:06 28:08 |
and you'd feel disconnected. |
liquidgold |
28:08 28:14 |
Now, of course, you're constantly locked with conversations with your fellow collectors |
mbravo |
28:14 28:19 |
and it could go down to the minutest form of specialization, |
liquidgold |
28:19 28:25 |
but it still could be three hundred people on the planet who have that, and they can now be connected to each other. |
liquidgold |
28:25 28:28 |
Which must be very exciting. |
liquidgold |
28:28 28:31 |
On the other hand, I suppose, if you've grown up with the Internet, |
earlyadopter |
28:31 28:36 |
as we now have of course - people in their twenties who've known nothing but the World Wide Web |
liquidgold |
28:36 28:43 |
- almost twenty years old, I mean - so that is a heck of a thought, isn't it? |
earlyadopter |
28:43 28:49 |
And maybe they are not so surprised, they just pick out that is natural, that have fellow interests, |
liquidgold |
28:49 28:52 |
Collect! And that's a miracle! It's a wonderful thing! |
liquidgold |
28:52 28:57 |
Of course, yes, against that there's a privacy issue and everything else, but |
liquidgold |
28:57 29:02 |
as long as... there are dark sides in the Internet - i mean, obviously - |
liquidgold |
29:02 29:09 |
it's not just the manifest [?] once to do with terrible pornography or whatever, but |
liquidgold |
29:09 29:17 |
there's real problems that come back to the personality disorders, if you like, of those who are obsessed with self. |
earlyadopter |
29:17 29:26 |
Either if I see a YouTube film or read a blog, my eyes go below to the bottom of the screen |
liquidgold |
29:26 29:30 |
Because I get so fantastically upset by people who write comments... |
liquidgold |
29:30 29:34 |
I don't even know anybody who writes comments! I think that's the point! |
earlyadopter |
29:34 29:41 |
The kind of people who put comments are themselves so weird and unhappy and alone and strange - |
liquidgold |
29:41 29:45 |
it's called 'trolling', you know, vicious comments about things |
liquidgold |
29:45 29:52 |
I mean, really weird. Either politically weird or religiously weird or just so intolerant or so desperate to be heard! |
liquidgold |
29:52 29:58 |
So offensive! Just pleading: "Please listen to meee!" - they're saying all the time. "Listen to me!" |
liquidgold |
29:58 30:01 |
And of course you don't want to, and if you do, it just gets upset - |
earlyadopter |
30:01 30:09 |
you might even be tricked into replying with an aggressive reply to some idiot, and with vile opinions about things. |
earlyadopter |
30:09 30:13 |
which they will use on a copmlete... it might be a puppy running around... |
earlyadopter |
30:13 30:19 |
Some random youtube thing, and it somehow manages to get a thread of nastiness into it. |
liquidgold |
30:19 30:26 |
and they just want to be heard, and they are so resentful, and so annoyed, especially due to other people's blogs |
earlyadopter |
30:26 30:31 |
the fact that somebody's reading someone else's blog and not theirs - is madly enough! |
earlyadopter |
30:31 30:33 |
And they may be like someone they hate |
earlyadopter |
30:33 30:38 |
And this even happens in technology - if you write |
liquidgold |
30:38 30:41 |
"Oh, I saw my friend the other day" [?] |
liquidgold |
30:41 30:45 |
[] like, two pages of anti-Apple madness - talk about 'get a life'! |
liquidgold |
30:45 30:51 |
But that all comes down to the same problem - these are self-obsessed people. |
liquidgold |
30:51 30:57 |
And because they are self-obsessed, they just [] build up these poisons, build up inside them, they have to get out. |
liquidgold |
30:57 31:01 |
Maybe it's better that they get out in the common pages of the Internet, than in violence on the streets, |
liquidgold |
31:01 31:04 |
but it's still distressing for us all to see. |
earlyadopter |
31:04 31:07 |
I suppose the thing that I most would like to have known or to be re-assured about |
liquidgold |
31:07 31:12 |
is that in the world what counts more than talent, that counts more than energy or concentration, |
liquidgold |
31:12 31:16 |
or commitment, or anything else, is kindness. |
earlyadopter |
31:16 31:19 |
And the more in the world you encounter kindness |
earlyadopter |
31:19 31:22 |
and cheerfulness (which is its' kind of amiable uncle, or aunt) |
earlyadopter |
31:22 31:25 |
the better world always is. |
earlyadopter |
31:25 31:28 |
And all the big words: [], justice, truth -- are dwarfed by the greatness of kindness. |