Let's Talk About Death - Stephen Cave at TEDxBratislava
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0:12 - 0:14Good evening ladies and gentlemen.
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0:15 - 0:17So I have a question:
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0:18 - 0:24who here remembers when they first
realised they were going to die? -
0:24 - 0:29I do. I was a young boy and
my Grandfather had just died. -
0:30 - 0:33and I remember, a few days later,
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0:33 - 0:37lying in bed at night trying to make
sense of what had happened. -
0:37 - 0:40What did it mean that he was dead?
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0:40 - 0:42Where had he gone?
-
0:42 - 0:47It was like a hole in reality
had opened up and swallowed him. -
0:48 - 0:50But then the really shocking question
occured to me, -
0:50 - 0:53if he could die, could it happen to me to?
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0:54 - 0:57Could that hole in reality
open up and swallow me? -
0:57 - 1:00Would it open up beneath my bed
and swallow me as I slept? -
1:02 - 1:07Well, at some point all children
become aware of death. -
1:07 - 1:10It can happen in different ways, of course
and usually comes in stages. -
1:10 - 1:13Our idea of death develops
as we grow older, -
1:13 - 1:18And if you reach back into
the dark corners of your memory, -
1:18 - 1:23you might remember something
like what I felt when my grandfather died -
1:23 - 1:26and when I realized it could happen to me too.
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1:26 - 1:31That sense that behind all of this,
the void is waiting. -
1:32 - 1:37And this development in childhood reflects
the development of our species. -
1:37 - 1:42Just as there was a point
in your development as a child, -
1:42 - 1:46when you sense of self and of time
became sophisticated enough -
1:46 - 1:49for you to realize you were mortal.
-
1:50 - 1:53So at some point
in the evolution of our species -
1:53 - 1:59some early humans' sense of self
and of time became sophisticated enough -
1:59 - 2:03for them to become the first humans
to realize: "I'm going to die". -
2:05 - 2:08This is, if you like, our curse:
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2:08 - 2:11it's the price we pay
for being so damn clever. -
2:12 - 2:14We have to live in the knowledge
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2:14 - 2:18that the worst thing that can
possibly happen, one day surely will. -
2:18 - 2:23The end of all our projects, our hopes,
our dreams, of our individual world. -
2:23 - 2:28We each live in the shadow
of a personal apocalypse. -
2:29 - 2:33And that's frightening! It's terrifying,
and so we look for a way out. -
2:33 - 2:36And in my case,
as I was about five years old, -
2:36 - 2:38this meant asking my Mum.
-
2:40 - 2:44Now when I first started asking,
"what happens when we die?", -
2:44 - 2:48the grown-ups around me at the time
answered with a typical English mix -
2:48 - 2:51of awkwardness and
half-hearted christianity. -
2:54 - 2:56And the phrase I heard most often
was that Grandad was now -
2:56 - 2:58'up there looking down on us'.
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2:58 - 3:01And if I should die too,
which wouldn't happen of course, -
3:01 - 3:04then I too would go up there.
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3:04 - 3:07Which made death sound a lot
like an existential elevator. -
3:07 - 3:11Now this didn't sound very plausible.
-
3:12 - 3:14I used to watch a children's
news programme at the time -
3:15 - 3:17and this was the era
of space exploration. -
3:17 - 3:20There were always rockets
going up into the sky, -
3:20 - 3:22up into space, going 'up there'.
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3:22 - 3:24But none of the astronauts
when they came back -
3:24 - 3:27ever mentioned having met my grandad.
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3:27 - 3:31Or any other dead people.
But I was scared. -
3:31 - 3:34And the idea of taking
the existential elevator -
3:34 - 3:36to see my Grandad sounded a lot better
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3:36 - 3:39than being swallowed
by the void while I slept. -
3:39 - 3:44And so I believed it anyway,
even though it didn't make much sense. -
3:45 - 3:48And this thought process
that I went through as a child, -
3:48 - 3:51and have been through many times
since including as a grown-up, -
3:51 - 3:55is a product of what
psychologists call a 'bias'. -
3:55 - 4:00Now a bias is a way in which
we systematically get things wrong, -
4:00 - 4:04ways in which we miscalculate,
misjudge, distort reality -
4:04 - 4:06or see what we want to see.
-
4:06 - 4:10And the bias I am talking about
works like this: -
4:10 - 4:14confront someone with the fact that
they are going to die -
4:14 - 4:18and they will believe just about any story
that tells them it isn't true -
4:18 - 4:21and then can instead live for ever.
-
4:21 - 4:24Even if it means taking
the existential elevator. -
4:26 - 4:30Now, we can see this
as the biggest bias of all. -
4:30 - 4:34It has been demonstrated in over
400 empirical studies. -
4:34 - 4:38Now these studies are ingenious but
they're simple, they work like this: -
4:38 - 4:43you take two groups of people who are
similar in all relevant respects -
4:43 - 4:47and you remind one group that
they're going to die but not the other; -
4:47 - 4:49and then you compare their behaviour.
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4:49 - 4:52So you're observing how it biases behaviour
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4:52 - 4:55when people become aware
of their mortality. -
4:56 - 4:59And every time, you get the same result:
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4:59 - 5:01people who are made aware
of their mortality -
5:01 - 5:06are more willing to believe stories
that tell then that they came escape death -
5:06 - 5:07and live forever.
-
5:07 - 5:12So here's an example: one recent study
took two groups of agnostics, -
5:12 - 5:16that is people who are undecided
in their religious beliefs. -
5:16 - 5:20Now one group was asked
to think about being dead, -
5:20 - 5:23the other group was asked
to think about being lonely. -
5:23 - 5:27They were then again asked
about their religious beliefs: -
5:27 - 5:29those who had been asked
to think about being dead -
5:29 - 5:34were afterwards twice as likely
to express faith in God and Jesus. -
5:35 - 5:37Twice as likely.
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5:37 - 5:39Even though before they were
equally agnostic. -
5:39 - 5:42But put the fear of death
in them and they run to Jesus. -
5:45 - 5:50Now, this shows that reminding people
of death biases them to believe, -
5:50 - 5:52regardless of the evidence.
-
5:52 - 5:56And it works not just for religion
but for any kind of belief system -
5:56 - 5:59that promises immortality in some form,
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5:59 - 6:04whether it's becoming famous,
or having children, or even nationalism -
6:04 - 6:07which promises you can live on
as part of a greater whole. -
6:07 - 6:11This is a bias that has shaped
the course of human history. -
6:12 - 6:17Now the theory behind this bias
in nearly 400 studies is called -
6:17 - 6:20terror management theory.
And the idea is simple, it's just this: -
6:20 - 6:26we develop our world views, that is
the stories we tell ourselves -
6:26 - 6:28about the world and our place in it,
-
6:29 - 6:32in order to help us manage
the terror of death. -
6:34 - 6:38And these immortality stories have
thousands of different manifestations. -
6:38 - 6:43But I believe that behind
the apparent diversity, there are actually -
6:43 - 6:48just four basic forms that
these immortality stories can take. -
6:50 - 6:53And we can see them repeating
themselves throughout history. -
6:53 - 6:57Just with slight variations to reflect
the vocabulary of the day. -
6:57 - 7:02Now I am going to briefly introduce
these four basic forms of immortality story -
7:02 - 7:06and I want to try to give you some sense
of the way in which they're retold -
7:06 - 7:08by each culture or generation,
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7:08 - 7:10using the vocabulary of their day.
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7:10 - 7:16Now, the first story is the simplest:
we want to avoid death. -
7:17 - 7:20And the dream of doing that in this body,
in this world, forever, -
7:20 - 7:23is the first and simplest kind
of immortality story. -
7:23 - 7:26And it might at first sound implausible,
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7:26 - 7:29but actually almost every culture
in human history -
7:29 - 7:34has had some myth or legend
of a elixir of life, -
7:34 - 7:37or a fountain of youth or
something that promises -
7:37 - 7:39to keep us going forever.
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7:41 - 7:44Ancient Egypt had such myths,
ancient Babylon, ancient India, -
7:44 - 7:48throughout European history,
we find them in the work of the alchemists -
7:48 - 7:50and of course
we still believe this today. -
7:50 - 7:54Only we tell this story using
the vocabulary of science. -
7:55 - 7:58So a hundred years ago, hormones
had just been discovered, -
7:58 - 8:02and people hoped that hormone treatments
were going to cure aging and disease. -
8:02 - 8:06And now instead we set our hopes
on stem cells, genetic engineering -
8:06 - 8:08and nanotechnology.
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8:08 - 8:11But the idea that science can cure death
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8:11 - 8:16is just one more chapter
in the story of the magical elixir, -
8:16 - 8:20a story that is as old as civilization.
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8:20 - 8:23But betting everything on the idea
of finding the elixir -
8:23 - 8:26and staying alive forever
is a risky strategy. -
8:26 - 8:28When we look back through history
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8:28 - 8:32at all those who have sought
an elixir in the past, -
8:32 - 8:35the one thing that they now have
in common is that they're all dead. -
8:35 - 8:36(Laughter)
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8:36 - 8:40So we need a back up plan,
and exactly this type of plan B -
8:40 - 8:43is what the second kind of
immortality story offers, -
8:43 - 8:45and that's resurrection.
-
8:45 - 8:48And it's staged with the idea that
I am this body, -
8:48 - 8:49I am this physical organism,
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8:49 - 8:51it accepts that I am going to have to die,
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8:51 - 8:55but says despite that, I can rise up
and I can live again. -
8:56 - 8:58In other words, I can do what Jesus did.
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8:58 - 9:02Jesus died, he was three days in the tomb
and he rose up and lived again. -
9:03 - 9:08And the idea that we can all be resurrected
to live again is orthodox belief, -
9:08 - 9:11not just for Christians
but also Jews and Muslims. -
9:11 - 9:15But our desire to believe this story
is so deeply embedded -
9:15 - 9:19that we are reinventing it again
for the scientific age. -
9:19 - 9:21For example with the idea of cryonics.
-
9:21 - 9:25That's the idea that when you die,
you can have yourself frozen, -
9:26 - 9:29and then at some point
when technology is advanced enough, -
9:29 - 9:33you can be thawed out and repaired
and revived and so ressurrected. -
9:33 - 9:37So some people believe an omnipotent God
will ressurect them to live again -
9:37 - 9:40and other people believe
an omnipotent scientist will do it. -
9:41 - 9:44But for others, the whole idea
of ressurection, -
9:44 - 9:48of climbing out of the grave,
is just too much like a bad zombie movie. -
9:48 - 9:53They find the body too messy,
too unreliable to guarantee eternal life. -
9:53 - 9:59And so they set their hopes on the third
more spiritual immortality story, -
9:59 - 10:03the idea we can leave our body behind
and live on as a soul. -
10:03 - 10:07Now the majority of people on Earth
believe they have a soul -
10:07 - 10:10and the idea is central to many religions.
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10:10 - 10:14But even though in its current form
and its traditional form, -
10:14 - 10:16the idea of the soul is still hugely popular,
-
10:16 - 10:20nonetheless we are again reinventing it
for the digital age. -
10:20 - 10:23For example, with the idea
that you can leave your body behind -
10:23 - 10:27by uploading your mind, your essence,
the real you, onto a computer. -
10:27 - 10:30and so live on as an avatar in the ether.
-
10:32 - 10:36But of course there are skeptics who say
if we look at the evidence of science, -
10:36 - 10:41particularly neuroscience, it suggests
that your mind, your essence, the real you, -
10:41 - 10:44is very much dependant
on a particular part of your body -
10:44 - 10:45that is your brain.
-
10:45 - 10:50And such skeptics can find comfort
in the fourth kind of immortality story, -
10:50 - 10:52and that is legacy.
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10:52 - 10:57The idea that you can live on
through the echo you leave in the world. -
10:57 - 11:01Like the great Greek warrior Achilies,
who sacrificed his life fighting at Troy -
11:01 - 11:04so that he might win immortal fame.
-
11:05 - 11:08And the pursuit of fame is
as widespread and popular now -
11:08 - 11:09as it ever was.
-
11:09 - 11:12And in our digital age,
it's even easier to achieve. -
11:12 - 11:16You don't need to be a great warrior
like Achilies or a great king or hero, -
11:16 - 11:19all you need is an internet connection
and a funny cat. -
11:19 - 11:21(Laughter)
-
11:21 - 11:25But some people prefer to leave
a more tangible, biological legacy, -
11:25 - 11:26children for example.
-
11:26 - 11:30Or they like, they hope, to live on
as part of some greater whole -
11:30 - 11:34a nation, or family, or tribe,
their gene pool. -
11:35 - 11:40But again there are skeptics, who doubt
whether legacy really is immortality. -
11:40 - 11:42Woody Allen for example, who said,
-
11:42 - 11:45"I dont want to live on
in the hearts of my countrymen, -
11:45 - 11:47I want to live on in my apartment".
-
11:47 - 11:48(Laughter)
-
11:48 - 11:50And if you want to live on
in your apartment -
11:50 - 11:52you need a elixir of course.
-
11:52 - 11:55Which was our first kind
of immortality story. -
11:56 - 11:59So those are the four basic kinds
of immortality stories -
11:59 - 12:03and I've tried to give just some sense
of how they're retold by each generation, -
12:03 - 12:06with just slight variations
to fit the fashions of the day. -
12:06 - 12:12And the fact that they reccur in this way,
in such a similar form -
12:12 - 12:15but in such different belief systems,
suggests I think -
12:15 - 12:16that we should be skeptical
-
12:16 - 12:20of the truth of any particular version
of these stories. -
12:21 - 12:23The fact that some people believe
-
12:23 - 12:26an omnipotent God
will ressurrect them to live again, -
12:26 - 12:30and others believe
an omnipotent scientist will do it, -
12:30 - 12:35suggests that neither are really believing
this on the strength of the evidence. -
12:35 - 12:40Rather we believe these stories because
we are biased to believe them, -
12:40 - 12:45and we are bias to believe them because
we are so afraid of death. -
12:46 - 12:51So the question is, are we doomed
to lead the one life we have -
12:51 - 12:55in a way that is shaped
by fear and denial? -
12:55 - 12:58Or can we overcome this bias?
-
12:58 - 13:02Well the Greek philosopher Epicurus
thought we could. -
13:02 - 13:08He argued that the fear of death
is natural but it is not rational. -
13:09 - 13:12Death, he said, is nothing to us,
-
13:12 - 13:14because when we are here, death is not,
-
13:14 - 13:17and when death is here, we are gone.
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13:19 - 13:23Now this is often quoted but it's difficult
to really grasp, to really internalise, -
13:23 - 13:27because exactly this idea of being gone
is so difficult to imagine. -
13:27 - 13:31So two thousand years later
another philosopher, Ludovic Wittgenstein, -
13:31 - 13:32put it like this:
-
13:32 - 13:35death is not an event in life,
-
13:35 - 13:39we do not live
to experience death. -
13:39 - 13:43And so he added, in this sense
life has no end. -
13:44 - 13:49So it was natural for me as a child
to fear being swallowed by the void, -
13:49 - 13:53but it wasn't rational, because
being swallowed by the void -
13:53 - 13:57is not something that any of us
will ever live to experience. -
13:58 - 14:00Now overcoming this bias is not easy
-
14:00 - 14:03because the fear of death is
so deeply embedded in us. -
14:03 - 14:08Yet when we see that
the fear itself is not rational -
14:08 - 14:11and when we bring out into the open
-
14:11 - 14:13the ways in which
it can unconsciously bias us, -
14:13 - 14:16then we can at least start to try
-
14:16 - 14:19to minimize the influence
it has on our lives. -
14:19 - 14:24Now, I find it helps to see life
as being like a book. -
14:24 - 14:28Just as a book is bounded by its covers,
by beginning and end, -
14:28 - 14:31so our lives are bounded
by birth and death. -
14:31 - 14:35And even though a book
is limited by beginning and end, -
14:35 - 14:40it can encompass distant landscapes,
exotic figures, fantastic adventures. -
14:40 - 14:44And even though a book is limited
by beginning and end, -
14:44 - 14:48the characters within it
know no horizons. -
14:48 - 14:52They only know the moments
that make up their story, -
14:52 - 14:53even when the book is closed.
-
14:55 - 15:00And so the characters of the book
are not afraid of reaching the last page. -
15:00 - 15:04Long John Silver is not afraid of you
finishing your copy of Treasure Island. -
15:04 - 15:07And so it should be with us.
-
15:07 - 15:10Imagine the book of your life, its covers,
-
15:10 - 15:12its beginning and end
are your birth and your death. -
15:12 - 15:14You can only know
the moments in between, -
15:14 - 15:16the moments that make up your life.
-
15:16 - 15:20It makes no sense for you to fear
what is outside of those covers, -
15:20 - 15:23whether before your birth,
or after your death. -
15:23 - 15:26And you needn't worry
how long the book is, -
15:26 - 15:29or whether it's a comic strip or an epic.
-
15:29 - 15:34The only thing that matters is
that you make it a good story. -
15:34 - 15:36Thank you.
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15:36 - 15:40(Applause)
- Title:
- Let's Talk About Death - Stephen Cave at TEDxBratislava
- Description:
-
Death. It's kind of a heavy subject. And, according to Stephen Cave, we fear it so much that we avoid thinking about it at all costs -- even when death is exactly what we think we're talking about. At TEDxBratislava, he outlines the four common narratives that cultures throughout history have used to dodge thinking about dying, and gives us a reason to stop getting caught up on dying and start focusing on living.
- Video Language:
- English
- Team:
- closed TED
- Project:
- TEDxTalks
- Duration:
- 15:59
Elisabeth Buffard edited English subtitles for Let's Talk About Death - Stephen Cave at TEDxBratislava | ||
Elisabeth Buffard edited English subtitles for Let's Talk About Death - Stephen Cave at TEDxBratislava | ||
Elisabeth Buffard edited English subtitles for Let's Talk About Death - Stephen Cave at TEDxBratislava | ||
Elisabeth Buffard approved English subtitles for Let's Talk About Death - Stephen Cave at TEDxBratislava | ||
Elisabeth Buffard commented on English subtitles for Let's Talk About Death - Stephen Cave at TEDxBratislava | ||
Elisabeth Buffard edited English subtitles for Let's Talk About Death - Stephen Cave at TEDxBratislava | ||
Elisabeth Buffard edited English subtitles for Let's Talk About Death - Stephen Cave at TEDxBratislava | ||
Elisabeth Buffard edited English subtitles for Let's Talk About Death - Stephen Cave at TEDxBratislava |
Filipe Malafaia
"And if I should die to" - corrected to "And if I should die too"
Many times I had to correct the word "skeptic".
"people who are made awrae" - corrected into "people who are made aware"
"whether its becoming" - "whether it's becoming"
"This is a bias which has shaped..." - "This is a bias that has shaped..."
Elisabeth Buffard
I fixed this, but really, 1 subtitle = 2 lines max, and 1 line = 42 characters max is the basic rule to be applied at all time.
Punctuation matters, I filled in what was missing.
The frequent typos and misheard words also hint that the review has not really been done, which is a shame, perhaps tackle some lighter subjects or shorter talks more to your inclinations.