ABOUT THE SPEAKER
Uri Hasson - Neuroscientist
Why do great thoughts and stories resonate so strongly with so many people, and how do we communicate them? Using fMRI experiments, Uri Hasson is looking for the answers.

Why you should listen

Rather than purging real-world complexity from his experiments, Uri Hasson and his Princeton lab collaborators use messy, real-life stimuli to study how our brains communicate with other brains.

Using fMRI to peer into his subjects’ brain activity, Hasson has discovered that a great storyteller literally causes the neurons of an audience to closely sync with the storyteller’s brain -- a finding that has far-reaching implications for communicators, teachers, performers, and scientists alike.

More profile about the speaker
Uri Hasson | Speaker | TED.com
TED2016

Uri Hasson: This is your brain on communication

Uri Hasson: Este é o teu cerebro en comunicación

Filmed:
2,688,957 views

O neurocientífico Uri Hasson investiga as bases da comunicación humana, e os experimentos do seu laboratorio revelan que mesmo desde distintos idiomas, os nosos cerebros amosan unha actividade similar, ou "alíñanse", cando escoitamos a mesma idea ou o mesmo relato. Este sorprendente mecanismo neural permítenos transmitir padróns cerebrais, compartir recordos e coñecemento. "Podemos comunicarnos porque temos un código común que representa o significado", afirma Hasson.
- Neuroscientist
Why do great thoughts and stories resonate so strongly with so many people, and how do we communicate them? Using fMRI experiments, Uri Hasson is looking for the answers. Full bio

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

00:12
Imagine that you invented a device
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Imaxinen que se inventase un aparato
que puidese gravar os meus recordos,
00:14
that can record my memories,
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00:16
my dreams, my ideas,
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os meus soños, as miñas ideas,
00:18
and transmit them to your brain.
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e trasmitilos aos seus cerebros.
00:20
That would be a game-changing
technology, right?
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Sería unha tecnoloxía rompedora, non si?
00:23
But in fact, we already
possess this device,
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Pois o caso é que xa contamos con
ese dispositivo,
00:26
and it's called human communication system
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e chámase sistema de comunicación humana,
00:29
and effective storytelling.
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un narrador efectivo.
00:31
To understand how this device works,
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Para entender como funciona
este dispositivo,
00:34
we have to look into our brains.
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temos que mirar dentro do noso cerebro.
00:36
And we have to formulate the question
in a slightly different manner.
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E temos que formular a pregunta
dun xeito lixeiramente distinto.
00:40
Now we have to ask
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Temos que preguntar
00:42
how these neuron patterns in my brain
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como os padróns de neuronas do meu cerebro
00:44
that are associated
with my memories and ideas
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asociados cos meus recordos e ideas
00:48
are transmitted into your brains.
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se transmiten aos seus cerebros.
00:51
And we think there are two factors
that enable us to communicate.
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E cremos que hai dous factores
que nos permiten comunicarnos.
00:55
First, your brain is now
physically coupled to the sound wave
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O primeiro, os seus cerebros están agora
fisicamente acoplados ás ondas sonoras
00:59
that I'm transmitting to your brain.
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que eu estou a transmitir
cara a eles.
01:01
And second, we developed
a common neural protocol
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E o segundo, desenvolvemos un
protocolo neural común
01:05
that enabled us to communicate.
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que nos permite comunicarnos.
01:07
So how do we know that?
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Como sabemos isto?
01:09
In my lab in Princeton,
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No meu laboratorio en Princeton,
01:11
we bring people to the fMRI scanner
and we scan their brains
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levamos xente ao escáner de IRMf
e escaneamos os seus cerebros
01:14
while they are either telling
or listening to real-life stories.
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mentres contan ou escoitan
historias da vida real.
01:18
And to give you a sense
of the stimulus we are using,
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Para que se fagan unha idea
dos estímulos que usamos,
01:21
let me play 20 seconds
from a story that we used,
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permítanme que lles presente 20 seg
dun dos relatos que usamos,
01:25
told by a very talented storyteller,
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narrado por un excelente contacontos,
01:27
Jim O'Grady.
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Jim O'Grady.
01:30
(Audio) Jim O'Grady: So I'm banging out
my story and I know it's good,
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(Audio) Jim O'Grady: Estou a crear
o meu relato e sei que vai ser bo,
01:33
and then I start to make it better --
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e entón empezo facelo mellor --
01:35
(Laughter)
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(Risas)
01:38
by adding an element of embellishment.
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engadindo elementos que o embelecen.
01:41
Reporters call this "making shit up."
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Os xornalistas chámanlle a isto
"inventar da nada".
01:44
(Laughter)
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(Risas)
01:47
And they recommend
against crossing that line.
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E aconsellan non cruzar esa liña.
01:52
But I had just seen the line crossed
between a high-powered dean
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Pero veño de ver como se traspasaba
entre un poderoso decano
01:56
and assault with a pastry.
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e un ataque cun pastel.
01:58
And I kinda liked it."
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E como que me gustou."
01:59
Uri Hasson: OK, so now
let's look into your brain
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Uri Hasson: Ben, agora
"miremos" nos seus cerebros
02:02
and see what's happening
when you listen to these kinds of stories.
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e vexamos que pasa cando
escoitan este tipo de relatos.
02:05
And let's start simple -- let's start
with one listener and one brain area:
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Imos empezar polo fácil.
Empecemos cun oínte e unha área cerebral:
02:09
the auditory cortex that processes
the sounds that come from the ear.
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o córtex auditivo, que procesa
os sons que chegan ao ouvido.
02:13
And as you can see,
in this particular brain area,
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Como poden ver,
nesta área cerebral en particular,
02:15
the responses are going up and down
as the story is unfolding.
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as respostas soben e baixan
segundo transcorre o relato.
02:19
Now we can take these responses
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Agora podemos coller esas respostas
02:20
and compare them to the responses
in other listeners
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e comparalas coas doutros ouvintes
02:23
in the same brain area.
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na mesma área cerebral.
02:24
And we can ask:
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E podemos preguntarnos:
02:26
How similar are the responses
across all listeners?
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En que medida as respostas
de todos os ouvintes son similares?
02:30
So here you can see five listeners.
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Aquí poden ver cinco ouvintes.
02:32
And we start to scan their brains
before the story starts,
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Empezamos a escanear os seus cerebros
antes de que empece o relato,
02:36
when they're simply lying in the dark
and waiting for the story to begin.
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cando só están deitados ás escuras,
agardando que comece a historia
02:40
As you can see,
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Como poden ver,
02:41
the brain area is going up and down
in each one of them,
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esta área cerebral vai arriba e abaixo
en todos eles,
02:43
but the responses are very different,
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pero as respostas son distintas,
02:45
and not in sync.
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non están sincronizadas.
02:47
However, immediately
as the story is starting,
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Porén, en canto o relato comeza,
02:50
something amazing is happening.
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ocorre algo asombroso.
02:52
(Audio) JO: So I'm banging out my story
and I know it's good,
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(Audio) JO: Estou a crear o meu relato
e sei que vai ser bo,
02:55
and then I start to make it --
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e entón empezo a...
02:57
UH: Suddenly, you can see
that the responses in all of the subjects
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UH: Ei! De súpeto, poden ver que
as respostas de todos os suxeitos
03:00
lock to the story,
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se axustan ao relato,
03:01
and now they are going up and down
in a very similar way
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e agora soben e baixan
de xeito moi parecido
03:05
across all listeners.
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en todos os ouvintes.
03:06
And in fact, this is exactly
what is happening now in your brains
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E, de feito, exactamente iso está a pasar
agora nos seus cerebros
03:09
when you listen to my sound speaking.
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mentres escoitan as miñas palabras.
03:12
We call this effect "neural entrainment."
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A isto chamámoslle efecto de
"sincronización neural".
03:16
And to explain to you
what is neural entrainment,
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E para explicarlles o que é
déixenme primeiro explicar
que é a sincronización física.
03:18
let me first explain
what is physical entrainment.
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03:22
So, we'll look and see five metronomes.
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Miremos para estes cinco metrónomos.
03:24
Think of these five metronomes
as five brains.
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Imaxinen que son cinco cerebros.
03:27
And similar to the listeners
before the story starts,
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E igual que os ouvintes antes de
que empezara o relato
03:30
these metronomes are going to click,
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os metrónomos van soar,
03:32
but they're going to click out of phase.
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pero van facelo fóra de fase.
03:35
(Clicking)
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(Tictacs)
03:39
Now see what will happen
when I connect them together
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Agora vexan o que pasa
cando os poño en contacto
03:42
by placing them on these two cylinders.
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poñendoos enriba destes cilindros.
03:45
(Clicking)
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(Tictacs)
03:49
Now these two cylinders start to rotate.
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Agora os cilindros empezan a xirar.
03:51
This rotation vibration
is going through the wood
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A vibración da rotación
transmítese pola madeira
03:54
and is going to couple
all the metronomes together.
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e consegue acoplar todos os metrónomos.
03:57
And now listen to the click.
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Escoiten agora o tictac.
03:59
(Synchronized clicking)
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(Tictac sincronizado)
04:09
This is what you call
physical entrainment.
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Isto é o que se chama
sincronización física.
04:12
Now let's go back to the brain and ask:
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Agora de volta aos cerebros,
preguntémonos:
04:14
What's driving this neural entrainment?
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Que é o que guía esta
sincronización neural?
04:16
Is it simply the sounds
that the speaker is producing?
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Son, simplemente, os sons
que produce o falante?
04:19
Or maybe it's the words.
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ou tal vez son as palabras,
04:21
Or maybe it's the meaning
that the speaker is trying to convey.
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ou se cadra é o significado
que o relator tenta transmtir.
04:24
So to test it, we did
the following experiment.
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Para poñelo a proba, fixemos
os seguintes experimentos.
04:27
First, we took the story
and played it backwards.
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Primeiro, collemos o relato
e reproducímolo ao revés.
04:30
And that preserved many
of the original auditory features,
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Isto preserva moitas das
características auditivas orixinais,
04:33
but removed the meaning.
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pero elimina o significado,
04:35
And it sounds something like that.
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e vén soando así:
04:37
(Audio) JO: (Unintelligible)
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(Audio) JO: (Inintelixible)
04:43
And we flashed colors in the two brains
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Poñemos cores nos dous cerebros
04:45
to indicate brain areas that respond
very similarly across people.
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para indicar as áreas que responden
de modo moi similar en todo o mundo.
04:49
And as you can see,
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Como poden ver, este son
04:50
this incoming sound induced entrainment
or alignment in all of the brains
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induce a sincronización ou
aliñamento en todos os cerebros
04:54
in auditory cortices
that process the sounds,
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nos córtex auditivos que procesan os sons,
04:57
but it didn't spread
deeper into the brain.
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pero non se estende máis alá no cerebro.
05:00
Now we can take these sounds
and build words out of it.
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Agora podemos coller eses sons
e construír palabras con eles.
05:03
So if we take Jim O'Grady
and scramble the words,
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Se remexemos as palabras
do relato de Jim O'Grady
e sacamos unha lista de palabras.
05:06
we'll get a list of words.
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05:07
(Audio) JO: ... an animal ...
assorted facts ...
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(Audio) JO: ... un animal...
... surtido de sucesos... e dereito
05:09
and right on ... pie man ...
potentially ... my stories
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home torta ...
potencialmente... meus contos
E poden ver que estas palabras
empezan a inducir un aliñamento
05:12
UH: And you can see that these words
start to induce alignment
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05:15
in early language areas,
but not more than that.
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nas áreas temperás da linguaxe,
pero non máis alá.
05:18
Now we can take the words
and start to build sentences out of them.
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E agora collemos as palabras
e empezamos a facer frases con elas.
05:23
(Audio) JO: And they recommend
against crossing that line.
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(Audio) JO: E aconsellan
non cruzar ese límite.
05:28
He says: "Dear Jim,
Good story. Nice details.
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Di: "Prezado Jim,
Un bo conto. Fermosos detalles.
05:32
Didn't she only know
about him through me?"
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Acaso ela non o coñecía só por min?
UH: E agora poden ver que as respostas
en todas as áreas lingüísticas
05:34
UH: Now you can see that the responses
in all the language areas
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05:37
that process the incoming language
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que procesan a linguaxe entrante
aparecen aliñadas ou semellantes
en todos os oíntes.
05:39
become aligned or similar
across all listeners.
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05:42
However, only when we use
the full, engaging, coherent story
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No entanto, só cando poñemos
o relato completo, interesante, coherente
05:46
do the responses spread
deeper into the brain
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as respostas espállanse mais
no cerebro, nas áreas de orde superior,
05:49
into higher-order areas,
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05:50
which include the frontal cortex
and the parietal cortex,
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que inclúen o córtex frontal e
o córtex parietal,
05:53
and make all of them
respond very similarly.
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e fan que todas elas respondan
de xeito moi similar.
05:56
And we believe that these responses
in higher-order areas are induced
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E pensamos que estas respostas
nas áreas de orde superior son inducidas
05:59
or become similar across listeners
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ou se igualan en todos os ouvintes
06:01
because of the meaning
conveyed by the speaker,
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debido ao significado
transmitido polo falante,
06:04
and not by words or sound.
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e non polo son das palabras.
06:06
And if we are right,
there's a strong prediction over here
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E se estamos no certo,
disto derívase unha sólida predición:
06:09
if I tell you the exact same ideas
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se eu lles conto as mesmas ideas
06:11
using two very different sets of words,
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expresadas con diferentes palabras,
06:14
your brain responses
will still be similar.
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as súas respostas cerebrais
han ser similares.
06:17
And to test it, we did
the following experiment in my lab.
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Para probalo, no meu laboratorio
fixemos o seguinte experimento:
06:21
We took the English story
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Collemos o relato en inglés
06:22
and translated it to Russian.
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e traducímolo ao ruso.
06:25
Now you have two different sounds
and linguistic systems
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Así teñen dous sons e sistemas
lingüísticos diferentes
06:29
that convey the exact same meaning.
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que transmiten o mesmo significado.
06:31
And you play the English story
to the English listeners
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E presentamos o relato en inglés
aos ouvintes ingleses
06:35
and the Russian story
to the Russian listeners,
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e o relato en ruso
aos ouvintes rusos,
06:37
and we can compare their responses
across the groups.
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e así podemos comparar
as respostas nos dous grupos.
06:40
And when we did that, we didn't see
responses that are similar
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E cando o facemos, non vemos
respostas iguais
06:44
in auditory cortices in language,
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nos córtex auditivos,
nas áreas lingüisticas,
06:46
because the language
and sound are very different.
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porque a linguaxe e os sons
son moi distintos.
06:49
However, you can see
that the responses in high-order areas
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No entanto, poden ver que as respostas
nas áreas de orde superior
06:51
were still similar
across these two groups.
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aínda son similares nos dous grupos.
06:55
We believe this is because they understood
the story in a very similar way,
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Cremos que isto se debe a que
entenden o relato de xeito semellante,
06:59
as we confirmed, using a test
after the story ended.
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tal e como confirmamos pasándolles
un test ao remate do conto.
07:04
And we think that this alignment
is necessary for communication.
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E pensamos que este aliñamento
é necesario para a comuniciación.
07:08
For example, as you can tell,
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Por exemplo, como vostedes perciben,
07:10
I am not a native English speaker.
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eu non son un falante inglés nativo.
07:12
I grew up with another language,
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A miña lingua materna é outra,
07:14
and the same might be for many
of you in the audience.
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e seguramente este é o caso
de moitos de vostedes.
07:17
And still, we can communicate.
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E aínda así, podemos comunicarnos.
07:19
How come?
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Como?
07:20
We think we can communicate
because we have this common code
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Podemos comunicarnos porque
temos este código común
07:23
that presents meaning.
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que os presentes entendemos.
07:25
So far, I've only talked about
what's happening in the listener's brain,
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Polo de agora, só lles falei
do que ocorre no cerebro do ouvinte,
07:29
in your brain, when
you're listening to talks.
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no seu cerebro,
mentres escoitan o que lles conto.
07:31
But what's happening
in the speaker's brain, in my brain,
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Pero que ocorre
no cerebro do falante, no meu,
07:34
when I'm speaking to you?
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cando lles falo?
07:36
To look in the speaker's brain,
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Para mirar no cerebro do falante,
07:38
we asked the speaker
to go into the scanner,
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pedímoslle a este
que se metese no escáner,
07:41
we scan his brain
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escaneamos o seu cerebro
07:42
and then compare his brain responses
to the brain responses of the listeners
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e comparamos as súas respostas cerebrais
coas dos ouvintes
07:46
listening to the story.
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que estaban a oír o relato.
07:48
You have to remember that producing speech
and comprehending speech
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Teñen que lembrar que a produción
e a comprensión da fala
07:52
are very different processes.
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son procesos moi distintos.
07:54
Here we're asking: How similar are they?
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E aquí preguntámonos:
Canto se parecen?
07:58
To our surprise,
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Para a nosa sorpresa,
07:59
we saw that all these complex
patterns within the listeners
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vimos que todos estes complexos
padróns de resposta nos ouvintes
08:04
actually came from the speaker brain.
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en realidade veñen do cerebro do falante.
08:07
So production and comprehension
rely on very similar processes.
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Así que a produción e a comprensión
asentan en procesos moi similares.
08:10
And we also found
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E tamén atopamos
08:12
the stronger the similarity
between the listener's brain
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que canto máis semellanza hai
entre o cerebro do ouvinte
08:16
and the speaker's brain,
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e o do falante,
08:17
the better the communication.
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mellor é a comunicación.
08:19
So I know that if you
are completely confused now,
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Deste xeito, sei que se vostedes
están agora totalmente confusos,
08:23
and I do hope that this is not the case,
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e agardo que non sexa así,
as súas respostas cerebrais
serán distintas das miñas.
08:25
your brain responses
are very different than mine.
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Pero tamén sei que se realmente
están a me entender,
08:28
But I also know that if you really
understand me now,
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08:31
then your brain ... and your brain
... and your brain
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entón o seu cerebro... e o seu...
e o seu...
08:34
are really similar to mine.
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son moi similares ao meu.
08:37
Now, let's take all
this information together and ask:
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Agora xuntemos toda esta
información e preguntémonos:
08:40
How can we use it to transmit
a memory that I have
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Como podo usala para
transmitir un recordo meu
08:44
from my brain to your brains?
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desde o meu cerebro aos seus?
08:47
So we did the following experiment.
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Así que fixemos o seguinte experimento.
08:49
We let people watch,
for the first time in their life,
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Puxemos xente a ver,
por primeira vez na súa vida,
08:52
a TV episode from the BBC series
"Sherlock," while we scanned their brains.
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un capítulo da serie "Sherlock" da BBC,
mentres escaneábamos os seus cerebros.
08:56
And then we asked them
to go back to the scanner
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Logo pedímoslles que
volveran meterse no escáner
08:59
and tell the story to another person
that never watched the movie.
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e lle contaran a historia a outra persoa
que nunca vira a serie.
09:03
So let's be specific.
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Concretemos.
09:04
Think about this exact scene,
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Pensen nesta escena,
09:06
when Sherlock is entering
the cab in London
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cando Sherlock entra en Londres no taxi
09:09
driven by the murderer he is looking for.
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conducido polo asasino que está a buscar.
09:12
With me, as a viewer,
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Se eu son o espectador,
09:14
there is a specific brain pattern
in my brain when I watch it.
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hai un padrón específico no meu cerebro
cando a estou a ver.
09:19
Now, the exact same pattern,
I can reactivate in my brain again
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Pois podo reactivar ese mesmo padrón
no meu cerebro de novo
09:22
by telling the world:
Sherlock, London, murderer.
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dicindo as palabras:
Sherlock, Londres, asasino.
09:27
And when I'm transmitting
these words to your brains now,
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E agora, cando transmito
estas palabras aos seus cerebros,
09:30
you have to reconstruct it in your mind.
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vostedes poden reconstruílo na súa mente.
09:33
In fact, we see that pattern
emerging now in your brains.
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De feito, vemos estes padróns
emerxendo nos seus cerebros.
09:37
And we were really surprised to see
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E quedariamos abraiados ao ver
09:40
that the pattern you have
now in your brains
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que o padrón que teñen
agora nos seus cerebros
09:42
when I'm describing to you these scenes
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cando lles describo estas escenas
09:44
would be very similar to the pattern
I had when I watched this movie
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sería moi semellante ao que
tiña eu mentres vía a película
09:48
a few months ago in the scanner.
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hai uns meses, dentro do escáner.
09:50
This starts to tell you
about the mechanism
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Isto empeza a explicarlles o mecanismo
09:52
by which we can tell stories
and transmit information.
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polo que podemos contar historias
e transmitir información.
09:55
Because, for example,
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1876
Porque, por exemplo,
09:57
now you're listening really hard
and trying to understand what I'm saying.
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agora están a escoitar atentos
e tratan de entender o que lles conto.
10:01
And I know that it's not easy.
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E ben sei que non é doado.
10:02
But I hope that at one point
in the talk we clicked, and you got me.
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Pero agardo que nun momento dado
na charla nos conectemos, e me sigan.
10:06
And I think that in a few hours,
a few days, a few months,
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E creo que dentro dunhas horas,
uns días, uns meses,
10:10
you're going to meet someone at a party,
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atoparán a alguén nunha festa,
10:12
and you're going to tell him
about this lecture,
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e falaranlle desta charla,
10:16
and suddenly it will be as if
he is standing now here with us.
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e de súpeto, será como se esa persoa
estivese agora connosco.
10:20
Now you can see
how we can take this mechanism
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Así poden ver como
podemos usar este mecanismo
10:23
and try to transmit memories
and knowledge across people,
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e tratar de transmitirlles recordos
e coñecementos á xente,
10:26
which is wonderful, right?
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614956
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o que é marabilloso, non si?
10:29
But our ability to communicate
relies on our ability
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Pero a nosa capacidade para comunicar
aséntase na nosa capacidade
10:32
to have common ground.
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620218
2566
para ter unha base común.
10:34
Because, for example,
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622808
1205
Porque, por exemplo,
10:36
if I'm going to use the British synonym
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3767
se chego a usar o sinónimo
10:39
"hackney carriage" instead of "cab,"
219
627828
2378
"coche con condutor" no canto de "taxi",
10:42
I know that I'm going to be misaligned
with most of you in the audience.
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630230
4039
seguro que me perdería o aliñamento
con moitos de vostedes, da audiencia.
Este aliñamento depende
non só da nosa capacidade
10:46
This alignment depends
not only on our ability
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2191
10:48
to understand the basic concept;
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para comprender o concepto básico;
10:50
it also depends on our ability to develop
common ground and understanding
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638993
4795
tamén da capacidade para desenvolver
unha base común
e entender e compartir
o sistema de crenzas.
10:55
and shared belief systems.
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1787
10:57
Because we know that in many cases,
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1834
Porque sabemos que en moitos casos,
10:59
people understand the exact
same story in very different ways.
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4043
a xente entende de modos distintos
a mesma historia.
11:04
So to test it in the lab,
we did the following experiment.
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3041
Para poñelo a proba no laboratorio,
fixemos o seguinte experimento.
11:08
We took a story by J.D. Salinger,
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2931
Collimos un relato de J.D. Salinger,
11:11
in which a husband lost track
of his wife in the middle of a party,
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4335
no que un home lle perde a pista
á súa muller durante unha festa,
11:15
and he's calling his best friend, asking,
"Did you see my wife?"
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3687
e chama ao seu mellor amigo e pregúntalle,
"Viches á miña muller?"
11:19
For half of the subjects,
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1207
Á métade dos suxeitos
11:21
we said that the wife was having
an affair with the best friend.
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4141
dixémoslles que a muller estaba
a ter unha aventura co mellor amigo.
11:25
For the other half,
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1151
Á outra metade,
11:26
we said that the wife is loyal
and the husband is very jealous.
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5105
dixémoslles que a muller era fiel
e o home moi ciumento.
11:32
This one sentence before the story started
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Esta única frase antes de empezar o relato
11:34
was enough to make the brain responses
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682839
2301
abondou para que as respostas cerebrais
11:37
of all the people that believed
the wife was having an affair
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685164
3044
dos que crían que a muller
estaba a ter unha aventura
11:40
be very similar in these high-order areas
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2437
fosen moi similares nestas
áreas de orde superior
11:42
and different than the other group.
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690693
2222
e diferentes das do outro grupo.
11:44
And if one sentence is enough
to make your brain similar
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3673
E se unha frase abonda para facer
que os seus cerebros se parezan
11:48
to people that think like you
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1603
aos da xente que pensa coma vostedes
11:50
and very different than people
that think differently than you,
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698263
2953
e se diferencien de quen pensa distinto,
11:53
think how this effect is going
to be amplified in real life,
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3477
pensen en como se amplificará
este efecto na vida real,
11:56
when we are all listening
to the exact same news item
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2892
onde todos escoitamos
exactamente as mesmas noticias
11:59
after being exposed
day after day after day
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3748
despois de estarmos expostos día tras día
a diferentes medios de comunicación,
12:03
to different media channels,
like Fox News or The New York Times,
246
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3812
como os informativos da Fox
ou o New York Times,
12:07
that give us very different
perspectives on reality.
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3113
que nos dan perspectivas
moi distintas da realidade.
12:11
So let me summarize.
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Resumamos.
12:13
If everything worked as planned tonight,
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2089
Se todo funciona como planeei esta noite,
12:15
I used my ability to vocalize sound
to be coupled to your brains.
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4299
usei a miña capacidade de vocalización
para acoplarme cos seus cerebros.
12:19
And I used this coupling
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1503
E usei este acoplamento
12:21
to transmit my brain patterns associated
with my memories and ideas
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729492
3841
para transmitir os meus padróns cerebrais
asociados cos meus recordos e ideas
12:25
into your brains.
253
733357
1316
aos seus cerebros.
12:27
In this, I start to reveal
the hidden neural mechanism
254
735201
3798
Con isto, empezo a revelar
o mecanismo neural oculto
12:31
by which we communicate.
255
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1635
polo que nos comunicamos.
12:32
And we know that in the future
it will enable us to improve
256
740682
2967
E sabemos que no futuro
isto hanos permitir mellorar
12:35
and facilitate communication.
257
743673
1990
e facilitar a comunicación.
12:38
But these studies also reveal
258
746111
1694
Pero estes estudos tamén revelan
12:40
that communication relies
on a common ground.
259
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3286
que a comunicación asenta
nunha base común.
12:43
And we have to be
really worried as a society
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2462
E como sociedade temos que preocuparnos
12:46
if we lose this common ground
and our ability to speak with people
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de se perdemos esta base común
e a nosa capacidade para falar coa xente
12:50
that are slightly different than us
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2117
que é lixeiramente diferente a nós
12:52
because we let a few very strong
media channels
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3388
porque deixamos que uns poucos e poderosos
medios de comunicación
12:55
take control of the mic,
264
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1541
teñan o control do micrófono,
12:57
and manipulate and control
the way we all think.
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3775
e manipulen e controlen
a nosa forma de pensar.
Eu non estou certo de como amañar isto,
porque só son un científico.
13:01
And I'm not sure how to fix it
because I'm only a scientist.
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2901
13:04
But maybe one way to do it
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Pero tal vez un xeito de facelo
13:06
is to go back to the more
natural way of communication,
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2647
sexa volver á forma
mais natural de comunicación,
13:09
which is a dialogue,
269
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1602
que é o diálogo,
13:11
in which it's not only me
speaking to you now,
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2507
que non son só eu
falándolles a vostedes,
13:13
but a more natural way of talking,
271
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senón unha forma
máis natural de conversar,
13:16
in which I am speaking and I am listening,
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na que falo e escoito,
13:19
and together we are trying to come
to a common ground and new ideas.
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e xuntos tratamos de chegar
a unha base común e a novas ideas.
13:24
Because after all,
274
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1158
Porque ao fin,
13:25
the people we are coupled to
define who we are.
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as persoas coas que estamos
acoplados definen quen somos.
13:29
And our desire to be coupled
to another brain
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E o noso desexo de estar
acoplados a outro cerebro
13:31
is something very basic
that starts at a very early age.
277
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4517
é algo moi básico, que aparece
a unha idade moi temperá.
13:36
So let me finish with an example
from my own private life
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4187
Así que déixenme rematar
cun exemplo da miña vida privada
13:41
that I think is a good example
of how coupling to other people
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que penso que é amosa ben
como acoplarnos con outros
13:45
is really going to define who we are.
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realmente define quen somos.
13:48
This my son Jonathan at a very early age.
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Este é o meu fillo Jonathan
cando era moi noviño.
13:51
See how he developed
a vocal game together with my wife,
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Miren como desenvolve
un xogo vocal coa miña muller,
13:55
only from the desire and pure joy
of being coupled to another human being.
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só por xogo e polo puro desexo
de estar acoplado con outro ser humano.
14:01
(Both vocalizing)
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(Os dous vocalizando)
(Risas)
14:14
(Laughter)
285
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2328
14:17
Now, think how the ability of my son
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3797
Agora, pensen como a
capacidade do meu fillo
14:21
to be coupled to us
and other people in his life
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2762
de acoplarse con nós e
con outra xente na súa vida
14:23
is going to shape the man
he is going to become.
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2858
vai dar forma ao home
que chegará a ser no futuro.
14:26
And think how you change on a daily basis
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E pensen en como vostedes
cambian diariamente
14:29
from the interaction and coupling
to other people in your life.
290
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4323
mediante a interacción e o acoplamento
con outras persoas na súa vida.
14:34
So keep being coupled to other people.
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Sigan a acoplarse con outras persoas,
a espallar as súas ideas,
14:37
Keep spreading your ideas,
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porque a suma de todos nós
xuntos, acoplados,
14:38
because the sum of all of us
together, coupled,
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é maior que as nosas partes.
14:41
is greater than our parts.
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1594
14:43
Thank you.
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Grazas.
(Aplausos)
14:44
(Applause)
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Translated by Socorro Rodríguez
Reviewed by Xusto Rodriguez

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ABOUT THE SPEAKER
Uri Hasson - Neuroscientist
Why do great thoughts and stories resonate so strongly with so many people, and how do we communicate them? Using fMRI experiments, Uri Hasson is looking for the answers.

Why you should listen

Rather than purging real-world complexity from his experiments, Uri Hasson and his Princeton lab collaborators use messy, real-life stimuli to study how our brains communicate with other brains.

Using fMRI to peer into his subjects’ brain activity, Hasson has discovered that a great storyteller literally causes the neurons of an audience to closely sync with the storyteller’s brain -- a finding that has far-reaching implications for communicators, teachers, performers, and scientists alike.

More profile about the speaker
Uri Hasson | Speaker | TED.com

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