Turmoil lets out the fight in me.

[WilliamTaft]

Let's be honest and say, "Thank heavens for darkness."
Turmoil lets out the fight in me.
I need monsters.
When I was a kid, I liked to pretend I was Zeus, a Greek god that can split the sky in two with a lightning bolt, strike down monsters, and watch the entire world as it burns.
I was a kid, and there was a storm underneath my skin, and I so badly liked to hear about a man powerful enough as to let his storm out.

Source: His Name Was Nikola Tesla, Hadar Lazar, TEDxUChicago
...

What does the bolded sentence mean?

 

[Tarheel]

As usual, it doesn't mean anything by itself. As part of the longer piece, I'd say he say it means he doesn't avoid fights but instead looks for them.

 

[jutfrank]

Those words are pretty clear and she goes on to explain what she means with the story about Zeus. She's giving the audience some context about her character and what motivates her as a scientist, as well making the connection to Tesla's work on electrical current.

Which of those words do you not understand well enough? Is it 'turmoil', or 'lets out', or 'the fight in me'?

 

[WilliamTaft]

Which of those words do you not understand well enough? Is it 'turmoil', or 'lets out', or 'the fight in me'?

Thank you, jutfrank.

"the fight in me," especially, "fight."

 

[jutfrank]

I see.

She later rephrases 'the fight in me' with the metaphor 'a storm underneath my skin'. She's talking about the turmoil of her feelings. She also uses the metaphor of 'monsters' to explain what she wants to fight.

Later on (I can't remember exactly where) she describes her feelings as trying to "burst out" of her. In English (I think it's the same in Chinese) we have the idea that one's feelings are contained inside the body.

 

[Tarheel]

That's right. She talks about her feelings bursting out of her. It's important to note that she didn't say anything an audience of native speakers would have any trouble understanding. Also, there is context, and context within the context. What do I mean by that? The story she tells is part of the overall presentation, and it's in just the right place delivered in just the right way.

That story didn't come from nowhere. She told a little story about herself to illustrate her larger point about Nikola Tesla.

I'm a little confused about why you are confused.