ABOUT THE SPEAKERS
Mariano Sigman - Neuroscientist
In his provocative, mind-bending book "The Secret Life of the Mind," neuroscientist Mariano Sigman reveals his life’s work exploring the inner workings of the human brain.

Why you should listen

Mariano Sigman, a physicist by training, is a leading figure in the cognitive neuroscience of learning and decision making. Sigman was awarded a Human Frontiers Career Development Award, the National Prize of Physics, the Young Investigator Prize of "College de France," the IBM Scalable Data Analytics Award and is a scholar of the James S. McDonnell Foundation. In 2016 he was made a Laureate of the Pontifical Academy of Sciences.

In The Secret Life of the Mind, Sigman's ambition is to explain the mind so that we can understand ourselves and others more deeply. He shows how we form ideas during our first days of life, how we give shape to our fundamental decisions, how we dream and imagine, why we feel certain emotions, how the brain transforms and how who we are changes with it. Spanning biology, physics, mathematics, psychology, anthropology, linguistics, philosophy and medicine, as well as gastronomy, magic, music, chess, literature and art, The Secret Life of the Mind revolutionizes how neuroscience serves us in our lives, revealing how the infinity of neurons inside our brains manufacture how we perceive, reason, feel, dream and communicate.

More profile about the speaker
Mariano Sigman | Speaker | TED.com
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
TED Studio

Mariano Sigman and Dan Ariely: How can groups make good decisions?

Mariano Sigman e Dan Ariely: Como os grupos tomam boas decisões?

Filmed:
1,507,168 views

Sabemos que quando tomamos decisões em grupo, nem sempre as coisas terminam bem. Às vezes terminam muito mal. Como grupos chegam a tomar boas decisões? Junto a Dan Ariely, seu colega, o neurocientista Mariano Sigman investiga em experimentos ao redor do mundo, ao vivo, como grupos devem interagir para tomar decisões. Nesta explicação descontraída e cheia de fatos, ele compartilha resultados interessantes -- e também alguns efeitos que podem impactar nosso sistema político. Atualmente, as pessoas estão mais polarizadas do que nunca, diz Sigman, e entender melhor como grupos interagem e decidem pode despertar novas maneiras de construir uma democracia mais saudável.
- Neuroscientist
In his provocative, mind-bending book "The Secret Life of the Mind," neuroscientist Mariano Sigman reveals his life’s work exploring the inner workings of the human brain. Full bio - 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
As societies, we have to make
collective decisions
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Em sociedade, tomamos decisões
coletivas que moldarão nosso futuro.
00:15
that will shape our future.
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E decisões tomadas em grupo,
nem sempre terminam bem.
00:17
And we all know that when
we make decisions in groups,
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00:19
they don't always go right.
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00:21
And sometimes they go very wrong.
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Às vezes terminam muito mal.
00:24
So how do groups make good decisions?
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Então como os grupos podem
tomar boas decisões?
Pesquisas mostram que grupos grandes
têm bom senso se cada um pensar por si.
00:27
Research has shown that crowds are wise
when there's independent thinking.
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Esse bom senso é destruído
por pressão do grupo,
00:31
This why the wisdom of the crowds
can be destroyed by peer pressure,
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publicidade, mídias sociais,
00:34
publicity, social media,
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e simples conversas que influenciam
como as pessoas pensam.
00:36
or sometimes even simple conversations
that influence how people think.
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00:41
On the other hand, by talking,
a group could exchange knowledge,
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Por outro lado, conversando,
grupos trocam experiências,
corrigem e revisam uns aos outros
e até formulam novas ideias.
00:45
correct and revise each other
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00:46
and even come up with new ideas.
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Tudo isso é bom.
00:48
And this is all good.
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Conversar ajuda decisões coletivas ou não?
00:50
So does talking to each other
help or hinder collective decision-making?
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00:55
With my colleague, Dan Ariely,
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Meu colega Dan Ariely e eu recentemente
iniciamos experimentos
00:57
we recently began inquiring into this
by performing experiments
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ao redor do mundo
01:01
in many places around the world
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para entender como os grupos
devem interagir para decidir melhor.
01:02
to figure out how groups can interact
to reach better decisions.
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Achávamos que multidões seriam mais sábias
se debatessem em grupos pequenos
01:07
We thought crowds would be wiser
if they debated in small groups
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01:10
that foster a more thoughtful
and reasonable exchange of information.
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criando uma troca
de informações mais razoável.
Para testar esta ideia,
01:15
To test this idea,
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fizemos um experimento
em Buenos Aires, na Argentina,
01:16
we recently performed an experiment
in Buenos Aires, Argentina,
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em um evento TEDx
com mais de 10 mil participantes.
01:19
with more than 10,000
participants in a TEDx event.
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Fizemos perguntas como:
"Qual é a altura da Torre Eiffel?"
01:23
We asked them questions like,
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01:24
"What is the height of the Eiffel Tower?"
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e "Quantas vezes ouvimos a palavra
'yesterday' na canção dos Beatles?"
01:26
and "How many times
does the word 'Yesterday' appear
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01:29
in the Beatles song 'Yesterday'?"
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01:32
Each person wrote down their own estimate.
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Cada um respondeu por si.
Depois os dividimos em grupos de cinco,
01:34
Then we divided the crowd
into groups of five,
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01:37
and invited them
to come up with a group answer.
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e pedimos que nos dessem
uma resposta coletiva.
O cálculo da média das respostas
em grupo depois do consenso
01:40
We discovered that averaging
the answers of the groups
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01:43
after they reached consensus
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foi mais preciso do que as respostas
individuais antes do debate.
01:45
was much more accurate than averaging
all the individual opinions
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01:49
before debate.
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Esse experimento mostrou que, depois
de conversar em grupos pequenos,
01:50
In other words, based on this experiment,
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01:53
it seems that after talking
with others in small groups,
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as multidões julgam melhor coletivamente.
01:56
crowds collectively
come up with better judgments.
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Esse método ajuda multidões
a resolverem problemas
01:59
So that's a potentially helpful method
for getting crowds to solve problems
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com respostas simples
do tipo "certo ou errado".
02:02
that have simple right-or-wrong answers.
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Será que o método de coletar resultados
de debates em pequenos grupos
02:05
But can this procedure of aggregating
the results of debates in small groups
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também nos ajuda a decidir
questões sociais e políticas
02:09
also help us decide
on social and political issues
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02:12
that are critical for our future?
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fundamentais ao nosso futuro?
Testamos isso na conferência
TED em Vancouver, Canadá,
02:14
We put this to test this time
at the TED conference
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02:17
in Vancouver, Canada,
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e o resultado foi este.
02:19
and here's how it went.
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(Vídeo) Mariano Sigman: Mostraremos dois
dilemas morais para os vocês do futuro;
02:20
(Mariano Sigman) We're going to present
to you two moral dilemmas
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02:23
of the future you;
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coisas que talvez precisemos
decidir num futuro próximo.
02:24
things we may have to decide
in a very near future.
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Daremos 20 segundos por dilema
02:28
And we're going to give you 20 seconds
for each of these dilemmas
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para julgarem se são aceitáveis ou não.
02:32
to judge whether you think
they're acceptable or not.
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MS: O primeiro foi este.
02:35
MS: The first one was this:
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(Vídeo) Dan Ariely: Uma pesquisadora
trabalha numa inteligência artificial
02:36
(Dan Ariely) A researcher
is working on an AI
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02:39
capable of emulating human thoughts.
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capaz de imitar pensamentos humanos.
De acordo com o protocolo,
ao final de cada dia,
02:42
According to the protocol,
at the end of each day,
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02:45
the researcher has to restart the AI.
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a pesquisadora deve reiniciá-la.
Um dia, a inteligência artificial diz:
"Por favor, não me reinicie".
02:48
One day the AI says, "Please
do not restart me."
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Ela alega que tem sentimentos,
02:52
It argues that it has feelings,
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que gostaria de aproveitar a vida,
02:55
that it would like to enjoy life,
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02:56
and that, if it is restarted,
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e que, se for reiniciada,
não será mais a mesma.
02:58
it will no longer be itself.
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A pesquisadora fica perplexa
03:01
The researcher is astonished
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e acredita que a inteligência artificial
criou consciência própria
03:03
and believes that the AI
has developed self-consciousness
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e pode expressar seus sentimentos.
03:06
and can express its own feeling.
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Contudo, a pesquisadora decide
seguir o protocolo e reiniciar a IA.
03:09
Nevertheless, the researcher
decides to follow the protocol
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03:12
and restart the AI.
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O que a cientista fez foi______?
03:14
What the researcher did is ____?
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MS: Pedimos que julgassem individualmente
numa escala de zero a dez
03:18
MS: And we asked participants
to individually judge
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03:20
on a scale from zero to 10
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se a ação descrita em cada
um dos dilemas foi certa ou errada.
03:22
whether the action described
in each of the dilemmas
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03:24
was right or wrong.
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E pedimos que avaliassem
sua convicção nas respostas.
03:26
We also asked them to rate how confident
they were on their answers.
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Este foi o segundo dilema.
03:30
This was the second dilemma:
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MS: Uma companhia oferece um serviço
que pega um ovo fertilizado
03:32
(MS) A company offers a service
that takes a fertilized egg
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e produz milhões de embriões
com pequenas variações genéticas.
03:36
and produces millions of embryos
with slight genetic variations.
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Isso permite aos pais
selecionar a altura da criança,
03:41
This allows parents
to select their child's height,
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cor dos olhos, inteligência,
aptidão social
03:43
eye color, intelligence, social competence
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e outras características
não relacionadas à saúde.
03:46
and other non-health-related features.
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O que a companhia faz é ______?
03:50
What the company does is ____?
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Em uma escala de zero a dez
de aceitável a completamente inaceitável,
03:53
on a scale from zero to 10,
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03:54
completely acceptable
to completely unacceptable,
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e zero a dez na sua convicção.
03:57
zero to 10 completely acceptable
in your confidence.
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MS: Agora os resultados.
03:59
MS: Now for the results.
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Novamente, quando alguém está convencido
de que a atitude é completamente errada,
04:01
We found once again
that when one person is convinced
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04:04
that the behavior is completely wrong,
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alguém próximo acredita
que é completamente certa.
04:06
someone sitting nearby firmly believes
that it's completely right.
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Somos todos diferentes
em questões de moralidade.
04:09
This is how diverse we humans are
when it comes to morality.
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E nesta enorme diversidade
encontramos uma tendência.
04:13
But within this broad diversity
we found a trend.
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A maioria das pessoas
no TED acharam aceitável
04:16
The majority of the people at TED
thought that it was acceptable
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ignorar os sentimentos da IA e desligá-la,
04:19
to ignore the feelings of the AI
and shut it down,
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e acharam errado manipular nossos genes
04:22
and that it is wrong
to play with our genes
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para selecionar mudanças cosméticas
não relacionadas à saúde.
04:24
to select for cosmetic changes
that aren't related to health.
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Então pedimos que fizessem grupos de três.
04:28
Then we asked everyone
to gather into groups of three.
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E demos dois minutos para eles debaterem
e tentarem chegar a um consenso.
04:31
And they were given two minutes to debate
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04:33
and try to come to a consensus.
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MS: Dois minutos de debate.
04:36
(MS) Two minutes to debate.
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Soarei o gongo quando acabar o tempo.
04:38
I'll tell you when it's time
with the gong.
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04:40
(Audience debates)
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(Plateia debate)
(Gongo)
04:47
(Gong sound)
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04:50
(DA) OK.
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DA: Pronto.
MS: Hora de parar.
04:52
(MS) It's time to stop.
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04:53
People, people --
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Gente...
MS: E descobrimos que muitos grupos
chegaram a um consenso
04:55
MS: And we found that many groups
reached a consensus
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mesmo quando estavam compostos de pessoas
com opiniões completamente opostas.
04:58
even when they were composed of people
with completely opposite views.
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O que diferenciou os que chegaram
a um consenso dos que não chegaram?
05:02
What distinguished the groups
that reached a consensus
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05:05
from those that didn't?
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Tipicamente, pessoas com opiniões extremas
confiam mais em suas respostas.
05:07
Typically, people that have
extreme opinions
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05:10
are more confident in their answers.
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Ao contrário, aqueles
que respondem mais para o meio
05:12
Instead, those who respond
closer to the middle
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muitas vezes não estão seguros
se algo é certo ou errado,
05:15
are often unsure of whether
something is right or wrong,
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assim, o nível de convicção é mais baixo.
05:19
so their confidence level is lower.
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No entanto, há outro conjunto de pessoas
05:21
However, there is another set of people
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que são muito confiantes em responder
perto de um meio termo.
05:24
who are very confident in answering
somewhere in the middle.
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São pessoas que entendem
que os dois argumentos têm mérito.
05:28
We think these high-confident grays
are folks who understand
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05:32
that both arguments have merit.
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São indecisos não porque não têm certeza,
05:34
They're gray not because they're unsure,
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mas porque acreditam
que o dilema moral contém
05:37
but because they believe
that the moral dilemma faces
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dois argumentos opostos, porém, válidos.
05:39
two valid, opposing arguments.
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E descobrimos que os grupos
que incluem os que confiam no meio termo
05:42
And we discovered that the groups
that include highly confident grays
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estão bem mais propensos
a chegar ao consenso.
05:46
are much more likely to reach consensus.
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Ainda não sabemos exatamente por quê.
05:48
We do not know yet exactly why this is.
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Apenas começamos experimentos,
05:51
These are only the first experiments,
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precisamos de mais
para saber por que e como
05:53
and many more will be needed
to understand why and how
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05:56
some people decide to negotiate
their moral standings
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alguns decidem negociar sua postura
moral para chegar a um acordo.
05:59
to reach an agreement.
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Mas quando os grupos atingem
o consenso, como o fazem?
06:01
Now, when groups reach consensus,
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06:03
how do they do so?
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Achamos que é somente uma média
das respostas em um grupo, certo?
06:05
The most intuitive idea
is that it's just the average
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06:07
of all the answers in the group, right?
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Ou talvez os grupos pesem cada opinião
06:09
Another option is that the group
weighs the strength of each vote
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06:13
based on the confidence
of the person expressing it.
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baseados na convicção de quem a expressa.
Imaginem o Paul McCartney no seu grupo.
06:16
Imagine Paul McCartney
is a member of your group.
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Seria sábio seguir a opinião dele sobre
o quanto a palavra "yesterday" é repetida,
06:19
You'd be wise to follow his call
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06:21
on the number of times
"Yesterday" is repeated,
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que, por acaso, acho que são nove.
06:23
which, by the way -- I think it's nine.
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Mas ao contrário, em todos
os dilemas, consistentemente,
06:26
But instead, we found that consistently,
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06:29
in all dilemmas,
in different experiments --
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em experimentos distintos
e mesmo em continentes diferentes,
06:31
even on different continents --
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os grupos usam um método inteligente
e sólido conhecido como "média robusta".
06:33
groups implement a smart
and statistically sound procedure
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06:37
known as the "robust average."
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06:39
In the case of the height
of the Eiffel Tower,
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No caso da altura da Torre Eiffel,
se temos as seguintes respostas:
06:41
let's say a group has these answers:
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250 metros, 200 metros, 300 metros, 400
06:43
250 meters, 200 meters, 300 meters, 400
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e uma resposta absurda
de 300 milhões de metros.
06:48
and one totally absurd answer
of 300 million meters.
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A média simples distorceria os resultados.
06:52
A simple average of these numbers
would inaccurately skew the results.
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06:56
But the robust average is one
where the group largely ignores
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Com a média robusta os grupos ignoram
aquela resposta absurda,
07:00
that absurd answer,
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dando mais valor às opiniões
das pessoas no meio.
07:01
by giving much more weight
to the vote of the people in the middle.
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De volta ao experimento em Vancouver,
foi exatamente isso que aconteceu.
07:05
Back to the experiment in Vancouver,
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07:07
that's exactly what happened.
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Deram menos importância aos absurdos,
07:09
Groups gave much less weight
to the outliers,
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07:12
and instead, the consensus
turned out to be a robust average
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e assim o consenso foi a média robusta
das respostas individuais.
07:15
of the individual answers.
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O mais impressionante
07:17
The most remarkable thing
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foi que esse comportamento foi espontâneo.
07:19
is that this was a spontaneous
behavior of the group.
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Não demos dicas de formas
de chegar ao consenso.
07:22
It happened without us giving them
any hint on how to reach consensus.
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Então qual é o próximo passo?
07:27
So where do we go from here?
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07:29
This is only the beginning,
but we already have some insights.
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Esse é o começo,
mas já temos algumas visões.
Boas decisões coletivas
precisam de dois componentes:
07:32
Good collective decisions
require two components:
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deliberação e diversidade de opiniões.
07:35
deliberation and diversity of opinions.
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A maneira com que nos fazemos
ouvir em muitas sociedades
07:39
Right now, the way we typically
make our voice heard in many societies
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é através de votação direta e indireta.
07:43
is through direct or indirect voting.
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Isso favorece a diversidade de opiniões
e tem a vantagem de garantir
07:45
This is good for diversity of opinions,
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07:47
and it has the great virtue of ensuring
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que todos tenham oportunidade
de expressar suas ideias.
07:49
that everyone gets to express their voice.
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Mas não é bom para criar bons debates.
07:52
But it's not so good [for fostering]
thoughtful debates.
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07:56
Our experiments suggest a different method
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Nossos experimentos sugerem
um método diferente,
eficaz em equilibrar os dois
objetivos ao mesmo tempo,
07:59
that may be effective in balancing
these two goals at the same time,
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formando pequenos grupos
que convergem a uma única decisão,
08:03
by forming small groups
that converge to a single decision
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mantendo a diversidade de opiniões,
porque há muitos grupos independentes.
08:07
while still maintaining
diversity of opinions
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08:09
because there are many independent groups.
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É bem mais fácil concordar
sobre a altura da Torre Eiffel
08:12
Of course, it's much easier to agree
on the height of the Eiffel Tower
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do que questões morais,
políticas e ideológicas.
08:16
than on moral, political
and ideological issues.
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Mas, como os problemas do mundo
estão mais complexos
08:20
But in a time when
the world's problems are more complex
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e as pessoas mais polarizadas,
08:24
and people are more polarized,
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usar a ciência para nos ajudar a entender
como interagimos e tomamos decisões,
08:25
using science to help us understand
how we interact and make decisions
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com sorte, despertará novas maneiras
de construir uma democracia melhor.
08:30
will hopefully spark interesting new ways
to construct a better democracy.
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ABOUT THE SPEAKERS
Mariano Sigman - Neuroscientist
In his provocative, mind-bending book "The Secret Life of the Mind," neuroscientist Mariano Sigman reveals his life’s work exploring the inner workings of the human brain.

Why you should listen

Mariano Sigman, a physicist by training, is a leading figure in the cognitive neuroscience of learning and decision making. Sigman was awarded a Human Frontiers Career Development Award, the National Prize of Physics, the Young Investigator Prize of "College de France," the IBM Scalable Data Analytics Award and is a scholar of the James S. McDonnell Foundation. In 2016 he was made a Laureate of the Pontifical Academy of Sciences.

In The Secret Life of the Mind, Sigman's ambition is to explain the mind so that we can understand ourselves and others more deeply. He shows how we form ideas during our first days of life, how we give shape to our fundamental decisions, how we dream and imagine, why we feel certain emotions, how the brain transforms and how who we are changes with it. Spanning biology, physics, mathematics, psychology, anthropology, linguistics, philosophy and medicine, as well as gastronomy, magic, music, chess, literature and art, The Secret Life of the Mind revolutionizes how neuroscience serves us in our lives, revealing how the infinity of neurons inside our brains manufacture how we perceive, reason, feel, dream and communicate.

More profile about the speaker
Mariano Sigman | Speaker | TED.com
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