ABOUT THE SPEAKER
Dan Ariely - Behavioral economist
The dismal science of economics is not as firmly grounded in actual behavior as was once supposed. In "Predictably Irrational," Dan Ariely told us why.

Why you should listen

Dan Ariely is a professor of psychology and behavioral economics at Duke University and a founding member of the Center for Advanced Hindsight. He is the author of the bestsellers Predictably IrrationalThe Upside of Irrationality, and The Honest Truth About Dishonesty -- as well as the TED Book Payoff: The Hidden Logic that Shapes Our Motivations.

Through his research and his (often amusing and unorthodox) experiments, he questions the forces that influence human behavior and the irrational ways in which we often all behave.

More profile about the speaker
Dan Ariely | Speaker | TED.com
TEDxRiodelaPlata

Dan Ariely: What makes us feel good about our work?

Dan Ariely: Dan Ariely: Que nos fai sentir ben co noso traballo?

Filmed:
6,508,994 views

Que nos motiva para traballar? Contrariamente á sabedoría popular, non son só os cartos. Tampouco é exactamente unha cuestión de pracer. Semella que a meirande parte de nós traballamos movidos por facer progresos constantes e por un sentimento de propósito. O economista condutista Dan Ariely presenta dous experimentos reveladores sobre as nosas actitudes, inesperadas e cheas de matices, con respecto ao significado do noso traballo. (Filmado en TEDxRiodelaPlata.)
- Behavioral economist
The dismal science of economics is not as firmly grounded in actual behavior as was once supposed. In "Predictably Irrational," Dan Ariely told us why. Full bio

Double-click the English transcript below to play the video.

00:12
I want to talk a little bit today
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Hoxe quero falar un pouco
00:14
about labor and work.
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sobre traballo e emprego.
00:18
When we think about how people work,
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Cando pensamos en como traballa a xente,
00:21
the naive intuition we have
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a intuición inocente que temos
00:23
is that people are like rats in a maze --
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é que a xente é como as ratas no labirinto:
00:25
that all people care about is money,
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que o que lle importa á xente é os cartos,
00:28
and the moment we give people money,
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e que mentres lles deamos cartos
00:29
we can direct them to work one way,
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podemos dirixilos para que traballen nunha dirección,
00:31
we can direct them to work another way.
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podemos dirixilos para que traballen noutra dirección.
00:33
This is why we give bonuses to bankers and pay in all kinds of ways.
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Por iso lles damos primas aos banqueiros
e pagamos de moitas maneiras.
00:36
And we really have this incredibly simplistic view
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E realmente temos esta visión incriblemente simplista
00:40
of why people work and what the labor market looks like.
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de por que a xente traballa e de como é o mercado de traballo.
00:44
At the same time, if you think about it,
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Ao mesmo tempo, se nos paramos a pensalo,
00:47
there's all kinds of strange behaviors in the world around us.
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hai todo tipo de comportamentos
inusuais ao noso arredor.
00:50
Think about something like mountaineering and mountain climbing.
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Pensade en algo como o alpinismo ou a escalada.
00:53
If you read books of people who climb mountains, difficult mountains,
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Se lemos libros de persoas que
escalan montañas, montañas difíciles,
00:58
do you think that those books are full of moments of joy and happiness?
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credes que estes libros están cheos
de momentos de xúbilo e ledicia?
01:03
No, they are full of misery.
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Non, están cheos de penalidades.
01:05
In fact, it's all about frostbite and difficulty to walk
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De feito, do que falan é de
conxelación, de dificultade para andar
01:09
and difficulty of breathing --
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e dificultade para respirar...
01:11
cold, challenging circumstances.
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de frío, de circunstancias esixentes.
01:14
And if people were just trying to be happy,
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E se a xente quixese simplemente ser feliz,
01:16
the moment they would get to the top,
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en canto chegasen ao cume
01:18
they would say, "This was a terrible mistake.
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dirían: "Isto foi un erro tremendo.
01:20
I'll never do it again."
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Non o farei nunca máis."
01:21
(Laughter)
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(Risos)
01:23
"Instead, let me sit on a beach somewhere drinking mojitos."
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"Prefiro sentar nunha praia e beber mojitos."
01:27
But instead, people go down,
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Pero no canto diso, descenden
01:30
and after they recover, they go up again.
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e, cando se recuperan, volven a subir.
01:33
And if you think about mountain climbing as an example,
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E se pensamos na escalada como exemplo,
01:36
it suggests all kinds of things.
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vemos que implica todo tipo de cousas.
01:38
It suggests that we care about reaching the end, a peak.
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Implica que lle damos
importancia a chegar ao final, a un cume.
01:42
It suggests that we care about the fight, about the challenge.
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Implica que lle damos
importancia á loita, ao reto.
01:46
It suggests that there's all kinds of other things
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Implica que hai moitas outras cousas
01:48
that motivate us to work or behave in all kinds of ways.
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que nos motivan para traballar ou
para comportarnos de moitas maneiras.
01:53
And for me personally, I started thinking about this
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Eu persoalmente comecei a pensar nisto
01:56
after a student came to visit me.
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cando un alumno veu visitarme.
01:59
This was a student that was one of my students a few years earlier.
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Era un alumno ao que
lle dera clase había uns anos.
02:03
And he came one day back to campus.
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E un día volveu polo campus.
02:05
And he told me the following story:
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E contoume esta historia:
02:08
He said that for more than two weeks, he was working on a PowerPoint presentation.
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Contoume que durante máis de dúas semanas
traballara nunha presentación PowerPoint.
02:13
He was working in a big bank.
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Estaba traballando nun banco importante.
02:15
This was in preparation for a merger and acquisition.
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Era para preparar unha fusión e adquisición.
02:19
And he was working very hard on this presentation --
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E estaba a traballar con moito afán
nesta presentación:
02:21
graphs, tables, information.
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gráficas, táboas, información.
02:23
He stayed late at night every day.
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Ficaba ata ben tarde todas as noites.
02:27
And the day before it was due,
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E o día antes da data de entrega,
02:29
he sent his PowerPoint presentation to his boss,
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envioulle a presentación
PowerPoint ao seu xefe,
02:32
and his boss wrote him back and said,
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e o seu xefe contestoulle dicindo:
02:35
"Nice presentation, but the merger is canceled."
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"Boa presentación, pero
a fusión cancelouse."
02:40
And the guy was deeply depressed.
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E o rapaz sentiuse moi abatido.
02:42
Now at the moment when he was working,
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O caso é que mentres estaba traballando,
02:44
he was actually quite happy.
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sentíase bastante contento.
02:46
Every night he was enjoying his work,
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Cada noite desfrutaba co seu traballo,
02:48
he was staying late, he was perfecting this PowerPoint presentation.
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ficaba ata tarde, perfeccionando
a presentación PowerPoint.
02:53
But knowing that nobody would ever watch that made him quite depressed.
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Pero saber que ninguén a vería
fíxolle sentirse bastante abatido.
02:58
So I started thinking about how do we experiment
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Así que comecei a pensar
en como experimentar
03:01
with this idea of the fruits of our labor.
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con esta idea dos
froitos do noso traballo.
03:05
And to start with, we created a little experiment
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E para comezar, creamos
un pequeno experimento
03:09
in which we gave people Legos, and we asked them to build with Legos.
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no que dabamos a unhas persoas Legos,
e lles pedíamos que construísen cos Legos.
03:15
And for some people, we gave them Legos and we said,
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E a algunhas das persoas
démoslles Legos e dixémoslles:
03:19
"Hey, would you like to build this Bionicle for three dollars?
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"Oes, gustaríache construír
este Bionicle por tres dólares?
03:24
We'll pay you three dollars for it."
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Pagarémosche tres dólares por facelo."
03:26
And people said yes, and they built with these Legos.
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E as persoas dicían que si,
e construían con estes Legos.
03:29
And when they finished, we took it, we put it under the table,
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E cando remataban, colliámolo,
poñiámolo debaixo da mesa,
03:33
and we said, "Would you like to build another one, this time for $2.70?"
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e dicíamos: "Gustaríache construír
outro máis, esta vez por 2,70 $?"
03:38
If they said yes, we gave them another one.
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Se dicían que si, dabámoslles outro máis.
03:40
And when they finished, we asked them,
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E cando remataban, preguntabámoslles:
03:41
"Do you want to build another one?" for $2.40, $2.10, and so on,
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"Queres construír outro máis?"
por 2,40 $, 2,10 $ etc.,
03:46
until at some point people said, "No more. It's not worth it for me."
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ata que nalgún momento dicían:
"Xa abonda. Non me paga a pena."
03:51
This was what we called the meaningful condition.
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Isto é o que chamamos
a condición significativa.
03:54
People built one Bionicle after another.
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As persoas construían
un Bionicle detrás doutro.
03:57
After they finished every one of them, we put them under the table.
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Ao rematar cada un,
poñiámolo baixo a mesa.
04:00
And we told them that at the end of the experiment,
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E diciámoslles que
ao final do experimento,
04:03
we will take all these Bionicles, we will disassemble them,
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colleriámos todos eses Bionicles,
desfariámolos,
04:06
we will put them back in the boxes, and we will use it for the next participant.
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poñeriámolos de novo nas caixas e
usariámolos para o seguinte participante.
04:11
There was another condition.
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Había outra condición.
04:13
This other condition was inspired by David, my student.
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Estoutra condición estivo inspirada
por David, o meu alumno.
04:17
And this other condition we called the Sisyphic condition.
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E a esta outra condición
chamámola a condición sisífica.
04:21
And if you remember the story about Sisyphus,
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Se lembrades a historia de Sísifo,
04:23
Sisyphus was punished by the gods to push the same rock up a hill,
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Sísifo fora castigado polos deuses
a empurrar unha roca costa arriba,
04:28
and when he almost got to the end,
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e cando estivera a chegar
ao cume do outeiro,
04:30
the rock would roll over, and he would have to start again.
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a roca rodaría para abaixo,
e tería que volver a comezar de novo.
04:33
And you can think about this as the essence of doing futile work.
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E podemos considerar isto
como a esencia do traballo fútil.
04:38
You can imagine that if he pushed the rock on different hills,
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Podemos imaxinar que
se empurrase a roca por distintos outeiros,
04:41
at least he would have some sense of progress.
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polo menos tería algunha noción de progreso.
04:44
Also, if you look at prison movies,
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Tamén se pensamos en filmes de cárceres
04:46
sometimes the way that the guards torture the prisoners
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ás veces a forma que teñen
os gardas de torturar os presos
04:50
is to get them to dig a hole
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é mandarlles cavar un burato
04:52
and when the prisoner is finished, they ask him to fill the hole back up and then dig again.
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e cando o preso remata, mándanlle
reencher o burato e cavalo de novo.
04:56
There's something about this cyclical version
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Hai algo nesta versión cíclica
04:59
of doing something over and over and over
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de facer algo unha e outra vez
05:01
that seems to be particularly demotivating.
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que semella desmotivar especialmente.
05:04
So in the second condition of this experiment, that's exactly what we did.
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Entón na segunda condición
do experimento foi iso o que fixemos.
05:07
We asked people, "Would you like to build one Bionicle for three dollars?"
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Preguntabamos: "Gustaríache
construír un Bionicle por tres dólares?"
05:12
And if they said yes, they built it.
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E se dicían que si, construíano.
05:14
Then we asked them, "Do you want to build another one for $2.70?"
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Entón preguntabámoslles:
"Queres construír outro por 2,70 $?"
05:18
And if they said yes, we gave them a new one,
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E se dicían que sí, dabámoslles un novo,
05:21
and as they were building it,
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e mentres o construían,
05:23
we took apart the one that they just finished.
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desfaciamos o que viñan de rematar.
05:26
And when they finished that,
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E cando remataban,
05:29
we said, "Would you like to build another one, this time for 30 cents less?"
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diciamos: "Gustaríache construír outro,
esta vez por 30 centavos menos?"
05:32
And if they said yes, we gave them the one that they built and we broke.
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E se dicían que sí, dabámoslles
o que construíran e nós desfixeramos.
05:36
So this was an endless cycle
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Co cal era un ciclo sen fin
05:39
of them building and us destroying in front of their eyes.
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no que eles construían e
nós desfaciamos diante dos seus ollos.
05:44
Now what happens when you compare these two conditions?
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E que acontece cando se comparan
estas dúas condicións?
05:48
The first thing that happened
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O primeiro que aconteceu
05:49
was that people built many more Bionicles -- they built 11 versus seven --
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foi que a xente construíu
moitos máis Bionicles (11 fronte a 7)
05:53
in the meaningful condition versus the Sisyphus condition.
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coa condición significativa fronte á condición sisífica.
05:56
And by the way, we should point out that this was not a big meaning.
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E, por certo, temos que ter en conta
que isto non tiña un significado enorme.
05:59
People were not curing cancer or building bridges.
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Non se trataba de curar o cancro
nen de construír pontes.
06:02
People were building Bionicles for a few cents.
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O que facían era construír Bionicles
por uns cantos centavos.
06:06
And not only that, everybody knew that the Bionicles would be destroyed quite soon.
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E non só iso, senon que todos sabían
que os Bionicles se desfarían ao pouco tempo.
06:11
So there was not a real opportunity for big meaning.
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O cal non era moi propicio
para un significado importante.
06:14
But even the small meaning made a difference.
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Pero mesmo este significado miúdo
tiña o seu impacto.
06:18
Now we had another version of this experiment.
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Tamén tiñamos outra versión
deste experimento.
06:20
In this other version of the experiment,
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Nesta outra versión
06:22
we didn't put people in this situation,
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non poñiamos a xente nesta situación,
06:24
we just described to them the situation, much as I am describing to you now,
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soamente lles describiamos a situación,
case como a estou describindo agora,
06:28
and we asked them to predict what the result would be.
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e pediámoslles que predixesen o resultado.
06:31
What happened?
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Que aconteceu?
06:33
People predicted the right direction but not the right magnitude.
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A predición foi correcta
pero a magnitude non o foi.
06:37
People who were just given the description of the experiment
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As persoas ás que so se
lles describiu o experimento
06:41
said that in the meaningful condition people would probably build one more Bionicle.
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dixeron que coa condición significativa
a xente probablemente construiría un Bionicle máis.
06:45
So people understand that meaning is important,
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Ou sexa que a xente comprende
que o significado é importante,
06:47
they just don't understand the magnitude of the importance,
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só que non comprende
a magnitude da súa importancia,
06:50
the extent to which it's important.
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ata que punto é importante.
06:52
There was one other piece of data we looked at.
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Houbo ademais outro dato que analizamos.
06:55
If you think about it, there are some people who love Legos and some people who don't.
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Se o pensades, hai persoas ás que lles encantan
os Legos e hai persoas ás que non.
07:00
And you would speculate that the people who love Legos
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E poderiamos conxecturar que
as persoas ás que lles encantan os Legos
07:02
will build more Legos, even for less money,
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construirían máis Legos, mesmo por menos cartos,
07:05
because after all, they get more internal joy from it.
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porque á fin e ao cabo desfrutarían máis.
07:08
And the people who love Legos less will build less Legos
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E as persoas ás que lles gustaran menos os Legos,
construirían menos
07:11
because the enjoyment that they derive from it is lower.
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porque o desfrute que obterían sería menor.
07:14
And that's actually what we found in the meaningful condition.
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E iso é de feito o que atopamos
coa condición significativa.
07:17
There was a very nice correlation between love of Lego
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Houbo unha correlación clara
entre o gusto polo Lego
07:20
and the amount of Legos people built.
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e a cantidade de Legos construídos.
07:22
What happened in the Sisyphic condition?
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Que aconteceu coa condición sisífica?
07:25
In that condition the correlation was zero.
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Nesa condición a correlación foi de cero.
07:28
There was no relationship between the love of Lego and how much people built,
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Non houbo relación entre o gusto
polo Lego e a cantidade construída,
07:32
which suggests to me that with this manipulation
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o cal implica para min
que con esta manipulación
07:35
of breaking things in front of people's eyes,
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de desfacer estas figuras
diante dos seus olllos,
07:37
we basically crushed any joy that they could get out of this activity.
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o que faciamos era esnaquizar
calquera satisfacción que puideran obter.
07:42
We basically eliminated it.
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Basicamente suprimiámola.
07:45
Soon after I finished running this experiment,
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Pouco despois de rematar este experimento
07:49
I went to talk to a big software company in Seattle.
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fun falar cunha empresa importante
de software en Seattle.
07:53
I can't tell you who they were, but they were a big company in Seattle.
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Non podo dicirvos cal era, pero
era unha grande empresa en Seattle.
07:56
And this was a group within this software company that was put in a different building.
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Era cun grupo desta empresa de software
que traballaba nun edificio distinto.
08:01
And they asked them to innovate and create the next big product for this company.
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Pedíronlles que innovasen e que creasen
o novo produto estrela da empresa.
08:06
And the week before I showed up,
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E unha semana antes de eu aparecer,
08:08
the CEO of this big software company went to that group, 200 engineers,
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o director executivo desta empresa
dirixiuse a ese grupo, 200 enxeñeiros,
08:12
and canceled the project.
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e cancelou o proxecto.
08:15
And I stood there in front of 200 of the most depressed people I've ever talked to.
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E velaí estaba eu diante das 200 persoas
máis deprimidas coas que falara nunca.
08:20
And I described to them some of these Lego experiments,
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Describinlles algún dos
experimentos de Lego
08:23
and they said they felt like they had just been through that experiment.
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e dicían que se sentían xusto coma se
acabaran de facer ese experimento.
08:28
And I asked them, I said,
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Pregunteilles:
08:30
"How many of you now show up to work later than you used to?"
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"Cantos de vós chegades agora ao traballo
máis tarde que antes?"
08:33
And everybody raised their hand.
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E todos levantaron a man.
08:35
I said, "How many of you now go home earlier than you used to?"
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Dixen: "Cantos de vós marchades a casa
máis cedo que antes?"
08:38
And everybody raised their hand.
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E todos levantaron a man.
08:40
I asked them, "How many of you now add not-so-kosher things to your expense reports?"
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Pregunteilles: "Cantos engadides agora
cousas extra aos gastos de empresa?"
08:46
And they didn't really raise their hands,
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E a verdade é que non levantaron a man
08:48
but they took me out to dinner and showed me what they could do with expense reports.
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pero invitáronme a cear e mostráronme o que
podían facer a cargo da empresa.
08:53
And then I asked them, I said,
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Entón pregunteilles:
08:55
"What could the CEO have done to make you not as depressed?"
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"Que puido ter feito o director executivo
para non vos deprimir tanto?"
09:00
And they came up with all kinds of ideas.
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Ocorréronselles todo tipo de ideas.
09:02
They said the CEO could have asked them to present to the whole company
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Dixeron que o director podía terlles pedido
que presentaran ao resto da empresa
09:05
about their journey over the last two years and what they decided to do.
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a súa traxectoria dos dous últimos anos
e o que decidiran facer.
09:09
He could have asked them to think about which aspect of their technology
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Podía terlles pedido que pensaran
que aspecto da súa tecnoloxía
09:12
could fit with other parts of the organization.
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podería encaixar noutras partes
da organización.
09:16
He could have asked them to build some prototypes, some next-generation prototypes,
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Podería terlles pedido que construísen prototipos,
prototipos de nova xeración
09:19
and seen how they would work.
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e observar o seu funcionamento.
09:21
But the thing is that any one of those
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O que pasa é que calquera destas ideas
09:23
would require some effort and motivation.
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precisaría de certo esforzo e motivación.
09:26
And I think the CEO basically did not understand the importance of meaning.
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E penso que o director simplemente
non comprendeu a importancia do significado.
09:30
If the CEO, just like our participants,
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Se o director executivo, como os nosos participantes,
09:33
thought the essence of meaning is unimportant,
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pensase que a esencia do significado
non era importante,
09:36
then he [wouldn't] care.
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entón non lle importaría.
09:37
And he would tell them, "At the moment I directed you in this way,
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Diríalles: "Nese momento
dirixinvos nesa dirección,
09:40
and now that I am directing you in this way,
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1602
e agora estouvos dirixindo nestoutra;
09:42
everything will be okay."
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1960
todo irá ben."
09:44
But if you understood how important meaning is,
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Pero se se entende a importancia do significado,
09:46
then you would figure out that it's actually important
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un daríase conta de que paga a pena
09:49
to spend some time, energy and effort
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investir tempo, enerxía e esforzo
09:50
in getting people to care more about what they're doing.
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en que a xente se preocupe máis polo que fai.
09:54
The next experiment was slightly different.
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O seguinte experimento foi un pouco diferente.
09:57
We took a sheet of paper with random letters,
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Collemos unha folla de papel con letras ao chou,
09:59
and we asked people to find pairs of letters that were identical next to each other.
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e pedimos aos participantes que atopasen
pares de letras idénticas que estivesen xuntas.
10:04
That was the task.
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Esa era a tarefa.
10:05
And people did the first sheet.
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E fixeron a primeira folla.
10:06
And then we asked them if they wanted to do the next sheet for a little bit less money
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Entón preguntámoslles se querían facer outra folla
por un pouco menos de diñeiro
10:09
and the next sheet for a little bit less money, and so on and so forth.
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e outra folla por un pouco
menos de diñeiro etc.
10:12
And we had three conditions.
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1883
E tiñamos tres condicións.
10:14
In the first condition, people wrote their name on the sheet,
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Na primeira condición, tiñan
que escribir o seu nome na folla,
10:18
found all the pairs of letters, gave it to the experimenter.
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3678
atopar todos os pares de letras e
entregarlla ao experimentador.
10:22
The experimenter would look at it, scan it from top to bottom,
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O experimentador tiña que mirala,
examinala de arriba a abaixo,
10:25
say "uh huh" and put it on the pile next to them.
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dicir "ahá" e poñela no montón.
10:30
In the second condition, people did not write their name on it.
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Na segunda condición,
non tiñan que escribir o seu nome.
10:33
The experimenter looked at it,
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O experimentador tiña que mirala,
10:36
took the sheet of paper, did not look at it, did not scan it,
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coller a folla de papel,
non mirala, non examinala
10:39
and simply put it on the pile of pages.
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3599
soamente poñela
no montón de follas.
10:42
So you take a piece, you just put it on the side.
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Ou sexa, coller o papel
e poñelo ao lado.
10:45
And in the third condition,
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1146
Na terceira condición,
10:46
the experimenter got the sheet of paper and directly put it into a shredder.
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o experimentador tiña que coller a folla
e directamente metela na trituradora de papel.
10:54
What happened in those three conditions?
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Que aconteceu nesas tres condicións?
10:57
In this plot I'm showing you at what pay rate people stopped.
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4432
Nesta gráfica amósase en que
cantidade de cartos a xente parou.
11:02
So low numbers mean that people worked harder. They worked for much longer.
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4518
Os números baixos significan que a xente traballou máis.
Traballaron moito máis tempo.
11:06
In the acknowledged condition, people worked all the way down to 15 cents.
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4916
Na condición recoñecida, a xente traballou
ata chegar aos 15 centavos.
11:11
At 15 cents per page, they basically stopped these efforts.
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3744
Aos 15 centavos por páxina,
deixaban de facer o esforzo.
11:15
In the shredder condition, it was twice as much -- 30 cents per sheet.
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4755
Na condición da trituradora,
foi o dobre: 30 centavos por páxina.
11:20
And this is basically the result we had before.
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2173
E isto no fondo é o mesmo resultado que antes.
11:22
You shred people's efforts, output,
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Trituras o esforzo da xente: o resultado
11:25
you get them not to be as happy with what they're doing.
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é que non desfrutan do que están a facer.
11:28
But I should point out, by the way,
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1535
Debería sinalar, por certo,
11:29
that in the shredder condition, people could have cheated.
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2965
que na condición da trituradora,
a xente podía ter feito trampa.
11:32
They could have done not so good work,
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2181
Podían ter feito un traballo menos bo,
11:34
because they realized that people were just shredding it.
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2503
porque vían que se ía triturar.
11:37
So maybe the first sheet you would do good work,
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1867
Daquela, coa primeira folla
farían un bo traballo,
11:39
but then you see nobody is really testing it,
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1919
pero logo verían que
ninguén o ía comprobar
11:41
so you would do more and more and more.
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2195
e farían máis e máis e máis.
11:43
So in fact, in the shredder condition,
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1562
Entón na condición da trituradora
11:45
people could have submitted more work and gotten more money
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2874
poderían ter entregado máis traballo
e recibido máis cartos
11:47
and put less effort into it.
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695904
2419
facendo un esforzo menor.
11:50
But what about the ignored condition?
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698323
2147
E que houbo da condición ignorada?
11:52
Would the ignored condition be more like the acknowledged or more like the shredder,
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3513
Pareceríase máis á recoñecida
ou á da trituradora,
11:55
or somewhere in the middle?
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703983
2019
ou sería un punto medio?
11:58
It turns out it was almost like the shredder.
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3356
Aconteceu que foi case
igual que a da trituradora.
12:01
Now there's good news and bad news here.
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2807
Isto supón boas e malas novas.
12:04
The bad news is that ignoring the performance of people
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4635
As malas novas son que ignorar o traballo da xente
12:08
is almost as bad as shredding their effort in front of their eyes.
229
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4500
é case tan negativo como triturar
o seu esforzo diante dos seus ollos.
12:13
Ignoring gets you a whole way out there.
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3750
Ignorar ten consecuencias moi negativas.
12:17
The good news is that by simply looking at something that somebody has done,
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4400
As boas novas son que simplemente
mirar o traballo que alguén fixo,
12:21
scanning it and saying "uh huh,"
232
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2215
examinalo e dicir "ahá"
12:23
that seems to be quite sufficient
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1404
semella abondo
12:25
to dramatically improve people's motivations.
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3243
para aumentar considerablemente
a motivación da xente.
12:28
So the good news is that adding motivation doesn't seem to be so difficult.
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5481
Ou sexa, as boas novas son que aumentar
a motivación non semella tan complicado.
12:33
The bad news is that eliminating motivations
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2297
O malo é que eliminar motivacións
12:36
seems to be incredibly easy,
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1775
semella ser tremendamente sinxelo
12:37
and if we don't think about it carefully, we might overdo it.
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3691
e se non pensamos nisto con xeito,
poderiamos pasarnos.
12:41
So this is all in terms of negative motivation
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3485
Todo isto é en termos de motivación negativa
12:45
or eliminating negative motivation.
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2883
ou de eliminar a motivación negativa.
12:47
The next part I want to show you is something about the positive motivation.
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4490
Na seguinte parte quero mostrarvos algo
acerca da motivación positiva.
12:52
So there is a store in the U.S. called IKEA.
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4128
Sabedes que hai unha tenda
nos EE.UU. que se chama IKEA.
12:56
And IKEA is a store with kind of okay furniture that takes a long time to assemble.
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6848
IKEA é unha tenda con mobles aceptables
que leva moito tempo montar.
13:03
(Laughter)
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771390
1950
(Risos)
13:05
And I don't know about you, but every time I assemble one of those,
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2840
E non sei vós, pero a min, cada vez
que monto un deses mobles,
13:08
it takes me much longer, it's much more effortful, it's much more confusing.
246
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4086
lévame moito tempo, moito esforzo,
é unha lea moi grande.
13:12
I put things in the wrong way.
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2920
Poño as pezas ao revés.
13:15
I can't say enjoy those pieces.
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2604
Non podo dicir que desfrute montándoos.
13:17
I can't say I enjoy the process.
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3250
Non podo dicir que desfrute do proceso.
13:21
But when I finish it, I seem to like those IKEA pieces of furniture
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789040
3863
Mais cando o remato, semella
que eses mobles de IKEA
13:24
more than I like other ones.
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2371
me gustan máis que ningún outro.
13:27
And there's an old story about cake mixes.
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4372
Hai unha anécdota sobre preparados de torta.
13:31
So when they started cake mixes in the '40s,
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3028
Cando apareceron os preparados
de torta nos anos 40,
13:34
they would take this powder and they would put it in a box,
254
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3815
consistían nun po que viña nunha caixa
13:38
and they would ask housewives to basically pour it in, stir some water in it,
255
806489
4439
e o que tiña que facer a ama de casa
non era máis que botalo, engadir auga,
13:42
mix it, put it in the oven, and -- voila! -- you had cake.
256
810928
4512
remexer, meter no forno e voilá!
A torta estaba lista.
13:47
But it turns out they were very unpopular.
257
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2199
Pero resultaron ser un fracaso.
13:49
People did not want them.
258
817639
1785
A xente non as quería.
13:51
And they thought about all kinds of reasons for that.
259
819424
2299
E consideraron os máis diversos motivos de fracaso.
13:53
Maybe the taste was not good.
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1433
Pode que non souberan ben.
13:55
No, the taste was great.
261
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1500
Non, o sabor era estupendo.
13:56
What they figured out was that there was not enough effort involved.
262
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5024
O que descubriron foi que se precisaba
demasiado pouco esforzo.
14:01
It was so easy that nobody could serve cake to their guests
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3401
Era tan doado que ninguén podía
servirlles a torta aos seus invitados
14:05
and say, "Here is my cake."
264
833081
2308
e dicirlles: "Velaquí a miña torta."
14:07
No, no, no, it was somebody else's cake.
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1569
Non, non, non, era a torta doutra persoa.
14:08
It was as if you bought it in the store.
266
836958
2015
Era como comprala xa feita da tenda.
14:10
It didn't really feel like your own.
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2411
Non daba a sensación de ser túa.
14:13
So what did they do?
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1659
Entón, que foi o que fixeron?
14:15
They took the eggs and the milk out of the powder.
269
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3667
Quitaron os ovos e o leite do po.
14:18
(Laughter)
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1353
(Risos)
14:20
Now you had to break the eggs and add them.
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3841
Agora tiñas que romper os ovos e engadilos.
14:23
You had to measure the milk and add it, mixing it.
272
851904
2970
Tiñas que medir o leite e
engadilo, mesturándoo.
14:26
Now it was your cake. Now everything was fine.
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2815
Agora a torta era túa.
Agora todo ía ben.
14:29
(Applause)
274
857689
9586
(Aplausos)
14:39
Now I think a little bit like the IKEA effect,
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867275
2768
Penso que é un pouco
como o efecto IKEA:
14:42
by getting people to work harder,
276
870043
1966
pedíndolle á xente máis traballo
14:44
they actually got them to love what they're doing to a higher degree.
277
872009
3753
o que acadaron foi que a xente
desfrutase máis do que facía.
14:47
So how do we look at this question experimentally?
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875762
3022
Como tratamos esta cuestión
de forma experimental?
14:50
We asked people to build some origami.
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878784
2439
Pedímoslles a unhas persoas que
construísen figuras de papiroflexia.
14:53
We gave them instructions on how to create origami,
280
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2853
Démoslles instrucións
de como crear as figuras
14:56
and we gave them a sheet of paper.
281
884076
1686
e démoslles unha folla de papel.
14:57
And these were all novices, and they built something that was really quite ugly --
282
885762
4314
Eran todos principiantes e
construíron figuras máis ben feas...
15:02
nothing like a frog or a crane.
283
890076
2667
nada de ras nin de grúas.
15:04
But then we told them, we said, "Look, this origami really belongs to us.
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3532
Entón dixémoslles: "Mira, esta figura
perténcenos a nós.
15:08
You worked for us, but I'll tell you what, we'll sell it to you.
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896275
2817
Traballaches para nós, pero vouche
propoñer unha cousa: podémoscha vender.
15:11
How much do you want to pay for it?"
286
899092
2135
Canto pagarías por ela?"
15:13
And we measured how much they were willing to pay for it.
287
901227
2983
E medimos canto estaban
dispostos a pagar por ela.
15:16
And we had two types of people.
288
904210
1973
Tiñamos dous tipos de persoas.
15:18
We had the people who built it,
289
906183
1927
Tiñamos as persoas que a construíran
15:20
and we had the people who did not build it and just looked at it as external observers.
290
908110
4914
e tiñamos persoas que non a construíran
e que eran observadores externos.
15:25
And what we found was that the builders thought
291
913024
2404
O que descubrimos foi que
os construtores achaban
15:27
that these were beautiful pieces of origami,
292
915428
3514
que eran figuras preciosas de papiroflexia
15:30
and they were willing to pay for them five times more
293
918942
2539
e estaban dispostos a pagar
por elas cinco veces máis
15:33
than the people who just evaluated them externally.
294
921481
3158
que a xente que soamente
as avaliaba de forma externa.
15:36
Now you could say, if you were a builder,
295
924639
3025
Se vós construísedes a figura,
15:39
do you think that, "Oh, I love this origami, but I know that nobody else would love it?"
296
927664
6439
pensariades: "Encántame esta figura,
pero sei que a ninguén máis lle vai encantar"?
15:46
Or do you think, "I love this origami, and everybody else will love it as well?"
297
934103
5694
Ou pensariades: "Encántame esta figura
e aos demais tamén lles vai encantar"?
15:51
Which one of those two is correct?
298
939797
2469
Cal das dúas é correcta?
15:54
Turns out the builders not only loved the origami more,
299
942266
3157
Resultou que aos construtores
non só lles gustaba a figura moito máis,
15:57
they thought that everybody would see the world in their view.
300
945423
3498
senón que tamén pensaban
que todo o mundo tería a mesma opinión.
16:00
They thought everybody else would love it more as well.
301
948921
3021
Pensaron que a todo o mundo
lle encantaría.
16:03
In the next version we tried to do the IKEA effect.
302
951942
3052
Na seguinte versión
tentamos acadar o efecto IKEA.
16:06
We tried to make it more difficult.
303
954994
1799
Tentamos facelo máis difícil.
16:08
So for some people we gave the same task.
304
956793
2910
A algúns démoslles a mesma tarefa.
16:11
For some people we made it harder by hiding the instructions.
305
959703
4022
E a outros puxémosllelo máis difícil
agochando as instrucións.
16:15
At the top of the sheet, we had little diagrams of how do you fold origami.
306
963725
4272
Na parte superior da folla puxemos pequenos
diagramas de como dobrar a figura.
16:19
For some people we just eliminated that.
307
967997
2746
Pero, nalgúns casos, eliminamos esa parte.
16:22
So now this was tougher. What happened?
308
970743
2959
Co cal agora era máis difícil. Que aconteceu?
16:25
Well in an objective way, the origami now was uglier, it was more difficult.
309
973702
5907
Pois sendo obxectivos, as figuras
eran máis feas: fora máis difícil.
16:31
Now when we looked at the easy origami,
310
979609
2102
Cando analizamos as figuras fáciles,
16:33
we saw the same thing: Builders loved it more, evaluators loved it less.
311
981711
4392
vimos o mesmo: aos construtores gustábanlles
máis, aos avaliadores gustábanlles menos.
16:38
When you looked at the hard instructions,
312
986103
2161
Cando analizamos as figuras difíciles,
16:40
the effect was larger.
313
988264
2930
o efecto era maior.
16:43
Why? Because now the builders loved it even more.
314
991194
5078
Por que? Porque agora aos construtores
gustábanlles aínda máis.
16:48
They put all this extra effort into it.
315
996272
2654
Esforzáranse máis en facelas.
16:50
And evaluators? They loved it even less.
316
998926
4098
E aos avaliadores? Gustábanlles aínda menos.
16:55
Because in reality it was even uglier than the first version.
317
1003024
4405
Porque en realidade eran máis feas
que as da primeira versión.
16:59
Of course, this tells you something about how we evaluate things.
318
1007429
5097
Por suposto, isto dinos algo
sobre como avaliamos as cousas.
17:04
Now think about kids.
319
1012526
2205
Agora pensemos en fillos.
17:06
Imagine I asked you, "How much would you sell your kids for?"
320
1014731
4414
Imaxina que eu che preguntara:
"Por canto venderías os teus fillos?"
17:11
Your memories and associations and so on.
321
1019145
2635
As memorias, as asociacións etc.
17:13
Most people would say for a lot, a lot of money --
322
1021780
3423
A meirande parte da xente diría
que por moitos, moitísimos cartos...
17:17
on good days.
323
1025203
1836
nun bo día.
17:19
(Laughter)
324
1027039
1264
(Risos)
17:20
But imagine this was slightly different.
325
1028303
1768
Pero imaxina se isto
fose un pouco distinto.
17:22
Imagine if you did not have your kids,
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1030071
1579
Imaxina que non tes fillos
17:23
and one day you went to the park and you met some kids,
327
1031650
3334
e un día vas ao parque
e coñeces uns cativos
17:26
and they were just like your kids.
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1034984
1237
que fosen como os teus fillos.
17:28
And you played with them for a few hours.
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1036221
1721
Xogas con eles unhas horas.
17:29
And when you were about to leave, the parents said,
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1037942
2220
E cando estás a piques de marchar,
os seus pais dinche:
17:32
"Hey, by the way, just before you leave, if you're interested, they're for sale."
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1040162
4130
"Oes, por certo, antes de que marches,
se che interesa, están á venda."
17:36
(Laughter)
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1044292
2273
(Risos)
17:38
How much would you pay for them now?
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1046565
2859
Canto pagarías por eles agora?
17:41
Most people say not that much.
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1049424
2500
A maioría da xente non moito.
17:43
And this is because our kids are so valuable,
335
1051924
4819
E isto é porque os nosos fillos
son tan valiosos
17:48
not just because of who they are,
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1056743
2065
non só por quen son
17:50
but because of us, because they are so connected to us
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1058808
3908
senón por nós, porque están
conectados a nós
17:54
and because of the time and connection.
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2268
e polo tempo e a conexión.
17:56
And by the way, if you think that IKEA instructions are not good,
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1064984
3258
Por certo, se credes que
as instrucións de IKEA non son boas,
18:00
think about the instructions that come with kids.
340
1068242
1919
pensade nas instrucións
que veñen cos cativos.
18:02
Those are really tough.
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1237
Esas si que son difíciles.
18:03
(Laughter)
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1071398
1074
(Risos)
18:04
By the way, these are my kids, which, of course, are wonderful and so on.
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1072472
4480
Por certo, estes son os meus fillos,
que por suposto son fantásticos e todo iso.
18:08
Which comes to tell you one more thing,
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1076952
1948
O que me leva a dicirvos unha cousa máis:
18:10
which is, much like our builders,
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1078900
2316
que, igual que os construtores
18:13
when they look at the creature of their creation,
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1081216
3745
cando miran o resultado da súa creación,
18:16
we don't see that other people don't see things our way.
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1084961
4741
nós tampouco nos damos conta de que os
demais non ven as cousas como as vemos nós.
18:21
Let me say one last comment.
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1089702
3131
Permitídeme facer un último comentario.
18:24
If you think about Adam Smith versus Karl Marx,
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1092833
3397
Se pensades en Adam Smith comparado con Karl Mark,
18:28
Adam Smith had the very important notion of efficiency.
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1096230
4116
Adam Smith falaba dunha noción
moi importante: a eficiencia.
18:32
He gave an example of a pin factory.
351
1100346
2834
Usou como exemplo unha fábrica de alfinetes.
18:35
He said pins have 12 different steps,
352
1103180
3265
Dicía que un alfinete ten 12 fases distintas
18:38
and if one person does all 12 steps, production is very low.
353
1106445
4117
e se unha persoa fai as 12 fases, a produción é moi baixa.
18:42
But if you get one person to do step one
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1110562
2500
Pero se unha persoa fai a primeira fase,
18:45
and one person to do step two and step three and so on,
355
1113062
2403
outra persoa a segunda fase,
outra a terceira e así sucesivamente,
18:47
production can increase tremendously.
356
1115465
2798
a produción pode aumentar enormemente.
18:50
And indeed, this is a great example and the reason for the Industrial Revolution and efficiency.
357
1118263
5534
E de feito este é un exemplo moi bo
e a razón da Revolución Industrial e a eficiencia.
18:55
Karl Marx, on the other hand,
358
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2083
Karl Marx, por outra banda,
18:57
said that the alienation of labor is incredibly important
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1125880
3301
dixo que a alienación do traballo
é de grande importancia
19:01
in how people think about the connection to what they are doing.
360
1129181
3604
para a forma na que a xente se sente
conectada co que están a facer.
19:04
And if you make all 12 steps, you care about the pin.
361
1132785
3294
E que se fas as 12 fases,
vaiche importar o alfinete.
19:08
But if you make one step every time, maybe you don't care as much.
362
1136079
3824
Pero se fas sempre unha única fase,
quizais non che importe tanto o alfinete.
19:11
And I think that in the Industrial Revolution,
363
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2883
E eu penso que na Revolución Industrial
19:14
Adam Smith was more correct than Karl Marx,
364
1142786
3344
Adam Smith estaba máis no certo que Karl Marx,
19:18
but the reality is that we've switched
365
1146130
2817
pero a verdade é que mudamos
19:20
and now we're in the knowledge economy.
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1148947
2366
e agora estamos na economía do coñecemento.
19:23
And you can ask yourself, what happens in a knowledge economy?
367
1151313
2733
E podemos preguntarnos: que acontece
nunha economía do coñecemento?
19:26
Is efficiency still more important than meaning?
368
1154046
3418
A eficiencia é aínda máis importante
que o significado?
19:29
I think the answer is no.
369
1157464
1582
Penso que a resposta é non.
19:31
I think that as we move to situations
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2167
Penso que a medida que
avanzamos cara a situacións
19:33
in which people have to decide on their own
371
1161213
2983
nas que a xente ten que decidir pola súa conta
19:36
about how much effort, attention, caring, how connected they feel to it,
372
1164196
3788
canto esforzo, atención, cariño, canta conexión senten,
19:39
are they thinking about labor on the way to work and in the shower and so on,
373
1167984
4050
se están pensando no traballo
de camiño a el, na ducha etc.,
19:44
all of a sudden Marx has more things to say to us.
374
1172034
4459
de súpeto Marx ten máis sentido para nós.
19:48
So when we think about labor, we usually think about motivation and payment as the same thing,
375
1176493
4937
De xeito que cando pensamos no traballo,
xeralmente pensamos en motivación e paga como a mesmo
19:53
but the reality is that we should probably add all kinds of things to it --
376
1181430
3758
pero en realidade deberíamos
probablemente engadir todo tipo de cousas:
19:57
meaning, creation, challenges, ownership, identity, pride, etc.
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1185188
4355
significado, creación, retos,
propiedade, identidade, orgullo etc.
20:01
And the good news is that if we added all of those components and thought about them,
378
1189543
4307
E a boa nova é que se engadísemos
todos eses compoñentes e pensaramos neles,
20:05
how do we create our own meaning, pride, motivation,
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3398
en como crear un significado
de noso, orgullo, motivación,
20:09
and how do we do it in our workplace and for the employees,
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1197248
3433
e como facelo no lugar de traballo
para os empregados,
20:12
I think we could get people to both be more productive and happier.
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1200681
3823
penso que poderiamos facer que a xente
fose máis produtiva e á vez máis feliz.
20:16
Thank you very much.
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1680
Moitas grazas.
20:18
(Applause)
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1800
(Aplausos)
Translated by Violeta Reimunde
Reviewed by Carme Paz

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ABOUT THE SPEAKER
Dan Ariely - Behavioral economist
The dismal science of economics is not as firmly grounded in actual behavior as was once supposed. In "Predictably Irrational," Dan Ariely told us why.

Why you should listen

Dan Ariely is a professor of psychology and behavioral economics at Duke University and a founding member of the Center for Advanced Hindsight. He is the author of the bestsellers Predictably IrrationalThe Upside of Irrationality, and The Honest Truth About Dishonesty -- as well as the TED Book Payoff: The Hidden Logic that Shapes Our Motivations.

Through his research and his (often amusing and unorthodox) experiments, he questions the forces that influence human behavior and the irrational ways in which we often all behave.

More profile about the speaker
Dan Ariely | Speaker | TED.com