Design and destiny
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0:00 - 0:05You will understand nothing with my type of English.
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0:05 - 0:14It's good for you because you can have a break after all these fantastic people.
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0:14 - 0:19I must tell you I am like that, not very comfortable,
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0:19 - 0:25because usually, in life, I think my job is absolutely useless.
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0:25 - 0:29I mean, I feel useless.
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0:29 - 0:36Now after Carolyn, and all the other guys, I feel like shit.
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0:37 - 0:44And definitively, I don't know why I am here,
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0:44 - 0:48but -- you know the nightmare you can have, like you are an impostor,
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0:48 - 0:52you arrive at the opera, and they push you, "You must sing!"
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0:52 - 0:54I don't know. (Laughter)
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0:55 - 1:04So, so, because I have nothing to show, nothing to say,
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1:04 - 1:07we shall try to speak about something else.
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1:08 - 1:11We can start, if you want, by understanding --
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1:11 - 1:16it's just to start, it's not interesting, but -- how I work.
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1:16 - 1:23When somebody comes to me and ask for what I am known,
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1:23 - 1:32I mean, yes, lemon squeezer, toilet brush, toothpick, beautiful toilet seats,
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1:32 - 1:34and why not -- a toothbrush?
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1:34 - 1:39I don't try to design the toothbrush.
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1:39 - 1:42I don't try to say, "Oh, that will be a beautiful object," or something like that.
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1:42 - 1:43That doesn't interest me.
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1:43 - 1:46Because there is different types of design.
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1:46 - 1:51The one, we can call it the cynical design,
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1:51 - 1:54that means the design invented by Raymond Loewy in the '50s,
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1:54 - 2:01who said, what is ugly is a bad sale, la laideur se vend mal, which is terrible.
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2:01 - 2:06It means the design must be just the weapon for marketing,
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2:06 - 2:10for producer to make product more sexy, like that,
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2:10 - 2:14they sell more: it's shit, it's obsolete, it's ridiculous.
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2:14 - 2:17I call that the cynical design.
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2:18 - 2:23After, there is the narcissistic design:
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2:23 - 2:27it's a fantastic designer who designs only for other fantastic designers. (Laughter)
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2:30 - 2:36After, there is people like me, who try to deserve to exist,
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2:36 - 2:44and who are so ashamed to make this useless job, who try to do it in another way,
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2:44 - 2:51and they try, I try, to not make the object for the object but for the result,
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2:51 - 2:56for the profit for the human being, the person who will use it.
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2:56 - 3:01If we take the toothbrush -- I don't think about the toothbrush.
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3:01 - 3:06I think, "What will be the effect of the brush in the mouth?"
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3:06 - 3:11And to understand what will be the effect of the toothbrush in the mouth,
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3:11 - 3:14I must imagine: Who owns this mouth?
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3:15 - 3:21What is the life of the owner of this mouth? In what society [does] this guy live?
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3:21 - 3:25What civilization creates this society?
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3:26 - 3:30What animal species creates this civilization?
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3:30 - 3:35When I arrive -- and I take one minute, I am not so intelligent --
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3:35 - 3:40when I arrive at the level of animal species, that becomes real interesting.
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3:40 - 3:44Me, I have strictly no power to change anything.
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3:45 - 3:50But when I come back, I can understand why I shall not do it,
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3:50 - 3:58because today to not do it, it's more positive than do it, or how I shall do it.
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3:58 - 4:05But to come back, where I am at the animal species, there is things to see.
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4:05 - 4:08There is things to see, there is the big challenge.
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4:08 - 4:11The big challenge in front of us.
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4:11 - 4:15Because there is not a human production
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4:15 - 4:20which exists outside of what I call "the big image."
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4:20 - 4:25The big image is our story, our poetry, our romanticism.
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4:25 - 4:29Our poetry is our mutation, our life.
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4:30 - 4:35We must remember, and we can see that in any book of my son of 10 years old,
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4:35 - 4:43that life appears four billion years ago, around -- four billion point two?
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4:43 - 4:44Voice offstage: Four point five.
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4:44 - 4:49Yes, point five, OK, OK, OK! (Laughter) I'm a designer,
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4:49 - 4:51that's all, of Christmas gifts.
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4:52 - 4:57And before, there was this soup, called "soupe primordiale,"
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4:57 - 5:00this first soup -- bloop bloop bloop --
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5:01 - 5:04sort of dirty mud, no life, nothing.
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5:04 - 5:08So then -- pshoo-shoo -- lightning -- pshoo -- arrive --
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5:08 - 5:11pshoo-shoo -- makes life -- bloop bloop -- and that dies.
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5:11 - 5:16Some million years after -- pshoo-shoo, bloop-bloop -- ah, wake up!
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5:16 - 5:22At the end, finally, that succeeds, and life appears.
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5:22 - 5:29We was so, so stupid. The most stupid bacteria.
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5:29 - 5:34Even, I think, we copy our way to reproduce, you know what I mean,
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5:34 - 5:37and something of -- oh no, forget it.
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5:37 - 5:43After, we become a fish; after, we become a frog;
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5:43 - 5:50after, we become a monkey; after, we become what we are today: a super-monkey,
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5:50 - 5:56and the fun is, the super-monkey we are today, is at half of the story.
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5:57 - 6:01Can you imagine? From that stupid bacteria to us,
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6:01 - 6:07with a microphone, with a computer, with an iPod: four billion years.
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6:07 - 6:15And we know, and especially Carolyn knows, that when the sun will implode,
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6:15 - 6:19the earth will burn, explode, I don't know what,
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6:19 - 6:23and this is scheduled for four, four billion years?
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6:23 - 6:29Yes, she said, something like that. OK, that means we are at half of the story.
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6:29 - 6:32Fantastic! It's a beauty!
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6:32 - 6:34Can you imagine? It's very symbolic.
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6:34 - 6:39Because the bacteria we was had no idea of what we are today.
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6:39 - 6:45And today, we have no idea of what we shall be in four billion years.
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6:45 - 6:48And this territory is fantastic.
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6:48 - 6:53That is our poetry. That is our beautiful story.
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6:53 - 6:58It's our romanticism. Mu-ta-tion. We are mutants.
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6:58 - 7:05And if we don't deeply understand, if we don't integrate that we are mutants,
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7:05 - 7:07we completely miss the story.
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7:08 - 7:12Because every generation thinks we are the final one.
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7:12 - 7:15We have a way to look at Earth like that, you know,
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7:15 - 7:19"I am the man. The final man.
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7:19 - 7:25You know, we mutate during four billion years before, but now, because it's me, we stop. Fin. (Laughter)
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7:25 - 7:31For the end, for the eternity, it is one with a red jacket."
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7:31 - 7:36Something like that. I am not sure of that. (Laughter)
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7:36 - 7:42Because that is our intelligence of mutation and things like that.
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7:42 - 7:46There is so many things to do; it's so fresh.
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7:46 - 7:54And here is something: nobody is obliged to be a genius,
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7:54 - 7:57but everybody is obliged to participate.
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7:57 - 8:04And to participate, for a mutant, there is a minimum of exercise, a minimum of sport.
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8:04 - 8:06We can say that.
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8:06 - 8:08The first, if you want -- there is so many --
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8:08 - 8:14but one which is very easy to do, is the duty of vision.
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8:14 - 8:16I can explain you. I shall try.
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8:17 - 8:26If you walk like that, it's OK, it's OK, you can walk,
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8:26 - 8:32but perhaps, because you walk with the eyes like that, you will not see, oh, there is a hole.
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8:32 - 8:35And you will fall, and you will die. Dangerous.
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8:35 - 8:41That's why, perhaps, you will try to have this angle of vision.
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8:41 - 8:48OK, I can see, if I found something, up, up, and they continue, up up up.
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8:48 - 8:57I raise the angle of vision, but it's still very -- selfish, selfish, egoiste -- yes, selfish.
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8:57 - 8:59You, you survive. It's OK.
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9:00 - 9:06If you raise the level of your eyes a little more you go,
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9:06 - 9:10"I see you, oh my God you are here, how are you, I can help you,
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9:10 - 9:15I can design for you a new toothbrush, new toilet brush," something like that.
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9:15 - 9:19I live in society; I live in community.
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9:19 - 9:27It's OK. You start to be in the territory of intelligence, we can say.
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9:27 - 9:34From this level, the more you can raise this angle of view,
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9:34 - 9:38the more you will be important for the society.
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9:38 - 9:43The more you will rise, the more you will be important for the civilization.
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9:43 - 9:49The more you will rise, to see far and high, like that,
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9:49 - 9:53the more you will be important for the story of our mutation.
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9:53 - 9:59That means intelligent people are in this angle. That is intelligence.
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10:00 - 10:04From this to here, that, it's genius.
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10:04 - 10:08Ptolemy, Eratosthenes, Einstein, things like that.
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10:08 - 10:10Nobody's obliged to be a genius.
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10:10 - 10:12It's better, but nobody.
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10:13 - 10:19Take care, in this training, to be a good mutant.
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10:19 - 10:23There is some danger, there is some trap. One trap: the vertical.
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10:23 - 10:26Because at the vertical of us, if you look like that,
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10:26 - 10:29"Ah! my God, there is God. Ah! God!"
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10:29 - 10:36God is a trap. God is the answer when we don't know the answer.
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10:36 - 10:44That means, when your brain is not enough big, when you don't understand,
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10:44 - 10:47you go, "Ah, it's God, it's God." That's ridiculous.
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10:47 - 10:51That's why -- jump, like that? No, don't jump.
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10:51 - 10:54Come back. Because, after, there is another trap.
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10:54 - 10:57If you look like that, you look to the past,
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10:57 - 11:01or you look inside if you are very flexible, inside yourself.
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11:01 - 11:04It's called schizophrenia, and you are dead also.
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11:04 - 11:09That's why every morning, now, because you are a good mutant,
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11:09 - 11:12you will raise your angle of view.
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11:13 - 11:17Out, more of the horizontal. You are an intelligence.
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11:17 - 11:20Never forget -- like that, like that.
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11:20 - 11:23It's very, very, very important.
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11:23 - 11:32What, what else we can say about that? Why do that?
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11:32 - 11:43It's because we -- if we look from far, we see our line of evolution.
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11:43 - 11:48This line of evolution is clearly positive.
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11:48 - 11:52From far, this line looks very smooth, like that.
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11:52 - 11:59But if you take a lens, like that, this line is ack, ack, ack, ack, ack. Like that.
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11:59 - 12:04It's made of light and shadow.
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12:04 - 12:08We can say light is civilization, shadow is barbaria.
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12:08 - 12:11And it's very important to know where we are.
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12:11 - 12:17Because some cycle, there is a spot in the cycle,
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12:17 - 12:23and you have not the same duty in the different parts of the cycle.
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12:23 - 12:29That means, we can imagine -- I don't say it was fantastic,
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12:29 - 12:36but in the '80s, there was not too much war, like that, it was --
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12:36 - 12:43we can imagine that the civilization can become civilized.
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12:43 - 12:47In this case, people like me are acceptable.
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12:47 - 12:50We can say, "It's luxurious time."
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12:50 - 12:54We have time to think, we have time to I don't know what,
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12:54 - 12:56speak about art and things like that.
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12:56 - 12:59It's OK. We are in the light.
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12:59 - 13:10But sometimes, like today, we fall, we fall so fast, so fast to shadow, we fall so fast to barbaria.
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13:10 - 13:15With many, many, many, many face of barbaria.
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13:15 - 13:22Because it's not, the barbaria we have today, it's perhaps not the barbaria we think.
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13:22 - 13:24There is different type of barbaria.
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13:24 - 13:27That's why we must adapt.
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13:27 - 13:37That means, when barbaria is back, forget the beautiful chairs, forget the beautiful hotel,
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13:37 - 13:40forget design, even -- I'm sorry to say -- forget art.
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13:40 - 13:44Forget all that. There is priority; there is urgency.
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13:44 - 13:48You must go back to politics, you must go back to radicalization,
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13:48 - 13:51I'm sorry if that's not very English.
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13:51 - 13:53You must go back to fight, to battle.
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13:53 - 13:57That's why today I'm so ashamed to make this job.
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13:57 - 14:02That's why I am here, to try to do it the best possible.
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14:02 - 14:06But I know that even I do it the best possible
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14:06 - 14:08-- that's why I'm the best -- it's nothing.
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14:08 - 14:10Because it's not the right time.
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14:10 - 14:21That's why I say that. I say that, because, I repeat, nothing exist if it's not in the good rhythym,
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14:21 - 14:26the rhythym of our beautiful dream, of this civilization.
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14:26 - 14:32And because we must all work to finish this story.
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14:32 - 14:36Because the scenario of this civilization
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14:36 - 14:40-- about love, progress, and things like that -- it's OK,
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14:40 - 14:46but there is so many different, other scenarios of other civilizations.
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14:46 - 14:55This scenario, of this civilization, was about becoming powerful, intelligent,
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14:55 - 14:59like this idea we have invented, this concept of God.
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14:59 - 15:03We are God now. We are. It's almost done.
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15:03 - 15:05We have just to finish the story.
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15:05 - 15:07That is very, very important.
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15:07 - 15:11And when you don't understand really what's happened,
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15:11 - 15:17you cannot go and fight and work and build and things like that.
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15:17 - 15:21You go to the future back, back, back, back, like that.
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15:22 - 15:24And you can fall, and it's very dangerous.
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15:24 - 15:27No, you must really understand that.
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15:28 - 15:32Because we have almost finished, I'll repeat this story.
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15:32 - 15:41And the beauty of this, in perhaps 50 years, 60 years, we can finish completely this civilization,
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15:41 - 15:48and offer to our children the possibility to invent a new story,
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15:48 - 15:50a new poetry, a new romanticism.
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15:50 - 15:58With billions of people who have been born, worked, lived and died before us,
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15:58 - 16:00these people who have worked so much,
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16:00 - 16:07we have now bring beautiful things, beautiful gifts, we know so many things.
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16:07 - 16:14We can say to our children, OK, done, that was our story. That passed.
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16:14 - 16:20Now you have a duty: invent a new story. Invent a new poetry.
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16:20 - 16:27The only rule is, we have not to have any idea about the next story.
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16:27 - 16:32We give you white pages. Invent.
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16:32 - 16:40We give you the best tools, the best tools, and now, do it.
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16:40 - 16:47That's why I continue to work, even if it's for toilet brush.
- Title:
- Design and destiny
- Speaker:
- Philippe Starck
- Description:
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Designer Philippe Starck -- with no pretty slides to show -- spends 18 minutes reaching for the very roots of the question "Why design?" Listen carefully for one perfect mantra for all of us, genius or not.
- Video Language:
- English
- Team:
- closed TED
- Project:
- TEDTalks
- Duration:
- 16:50
Brian Greene edited English subtitles for Design and destiny | ||
TED edited English subtitles for Design and destiny | ||
Jenny Zurawell approved English subtitles for Design and destiny | ||
TED added a translation |