TEDGlobal 2011
Mark Pagel: How language transformed humanity
Mark Pejgl: Kako je jezik promenio čovečanstvo
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Biolog Mark Pagel predstavlja intrigantnu teoriju o tome zašto su ljudi razvili složen jezički sistem. On sugeriše da je jezik deo "socijalne tehnologije" koji je omogućio najranijim ljudskim plemenima pristup novom moćnom oruđu: saradnji.
Mark Pagel - Evolutionary biologist
Using biological evolution as a template, Mark Pagel wonders how languages evolve. Full bio
Using biological evolution as a template, Mark Pagel wonders how languages evolve. Full bio
Double-click the English transcript below to play the video.
00:15
Each of you possesses
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Svako od vas poseduje
00:17
the most powerful, dangerous and subversive trait
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najmoćniju, najopasniju i najsubverzivniju osobinu
00:20
that natural selection has ever devised.
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koju je prirodna selekcija ikada razvila.
00:23
It's a piece of neural audio technology
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To je deo neuralne audio tehnologije
00:26
for rewiring other people's minds.
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za međusobno povezivanje misli drugih ljudi.
00:28
I'm talking about your language, of course,
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Govorim o vašem jeziku, naravno,
00:31
because it allows you to implant a thought from your mind
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jer on omogućava da direktno usadite misao
00:34
directly into someone else's mind,
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iz svog u um druge osobe,
00:37
and they can attempt to do the same to you,
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i drugi to isto mogu pokušati sa vama,
00:39
without either of you having to perform surgery.
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bez potrebe za hirurškom intervencijom pri tom.
00:42
Instead, when you speak,
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Zapravo, dok govorite,
00:44
you're actually using a form of telemetry
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koristite jedan oblik telemetrije
00:46
not so different
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ne toliko različit
00:48
from the remote control device for your television.
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od daljinskog upravljača za vaš televizor.
00:50
It's just that, whereas that device
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Samo je razlika u tome što, dok se taj uređaj
00:52
relies on pulses of infrared light,
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oslanja na impulse infracrvenog svetla,
00:54
your language relies on pulses,
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vaš jezik se oslanja na impulse,
00:57
discrete pulses, of sound.
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diskretne impulse, zvuka.
00:59
And just as you use the remote control device
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I baš kao što koristite daljinski upravljač
01:02
to alter the internal settings of your television
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da podesite unutrašnje parametre televizora
01:04
to suit your mood,
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tako da vam odgovara,
01:06
you use your language
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vi koristite jezik
01:08
to alter the settings inside someone else's brain
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da podesite svojstva unutrašnjosti nečijeg mozga
01:10
to suit your interests.
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tako da odgovaraju vašim interesima.
01:12
Languages are genes talking,
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Jezici su geni koji govore,
01:14
getting things that they want.
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tako da sve bude po njihovom.
01:16
And just imagine the sense of wonder in a baby
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I samo zamislite začuđenost bebe
01:19
when it first discovers that, merely by uttering a sound,
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kada prvi put to otkrije, samo izgovaranjem zvuka,
01:22
it can get objects to move across a room
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može pomerati objekte po sobi
01:24
as if by magic,
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kao magijom,
01:26
and maybe even into its mouth.
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a možda ih čak uzeti i u svoja usta.
01:29
Now language's subversive power
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Subverzivna moć jezika
01:31
has been recognized throughout the ages
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je bila prepoznavana vekovima unazad
01:33
in censorship, in books you can't read,
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preko cenzura, preko knjiga koje ne smete čitati,
01:35
phrases you can't use
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izraza koje ne smete upotrebljavati
01:37
and words you can't say.
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i reči koje ne možete izgovoriti.
01:39
In fact, the Tower of Babel story in the Bible
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Zapravo, Vavilonska kula, priča iz Biblije
01:42
is a fable and warning
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upozorava
01:44
about the power of language.
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na moć jezika.
01:46
According to that story, early humans developed the conceit
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Prema toj priči, prvi ljudi su razvili uobrazilju
01:49
that, by using their language to work together,
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da će, ukoliko zajednički budu radili koristeći svoj jezik,
01:51
they could build a tower
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sagraditi kulu
01:53
that would take them all the way to heaven.
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koja će ih odvesti direktno na nebo.
01:55
Now God, angered at this attempt to usurp his power,
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Bog, razljućen ovim pokušajem da se uzurpira njegova moć,
01:58
destroyed the tower,
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srušio je kulu,
02:01
and then to ensure
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i kako bi se osigurao
02:03
that it would never be rebuilt,
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da se nikada ponovo neće izgraditi,
02:05
he scattered the people by giving them different languages --
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razdvojio je ljude tako što im je dao različite jezike --
02:08
confused them by giving them different languages.
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zbunio ih dajući im različite jezike.
02:11
And this leads to the wonderful irony
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I ovo vodi ka zadivljujućoj ironiji
02:13
that our languages exist to prevent us from communicating.
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da jezici postoje kako bi nam onemogućili komunikaciju.
02:16
Even today,
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Čak i danas,
02:18
we know that there are words we cannot use,
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znamo da postoje reči koje ne možemo koristiti,
02:20
phrases we cannot say,
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fraze koje ne možemo reći,
02:22
because if we do so,
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jer ako to uradimo,
02:24
we might be accosted, jailed,
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mogli bismo biti zatvoreni,
02:27
or even killed.
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ili čak ubijeni.
02:29
And all of this from a puff of air
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I sve to samo od daška vazduha
02:31
emanating from our mouths.
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koji izađe iz naših usta.
02:33
Now all this fuss about a single one of our traits
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E sada, sva ova buka oko jedne od naših svojstava
02:36
tells us there's something worth explaining.
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govori nam da je tu nešto vredno objašnjavanja.
02:38
And that is how and why
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I to kako se
02:40
did this remarkable trait evolve,
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ovo neverovatno svojstvo razvilo,
02:42
and why did it evolve
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i zašto se razvilo
02:44
only in our species?
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samo među našom vrstom?
02:46
Now it's a little bit of a surprise
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Malo je iznenađujuće
02:48
that to get an answer to that question,
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to da bi dobili odgovor na ovo pitanje,
02:50
we have to go to tool use
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moramo da upotrebimo sredstvo
02:52
in the chimpanzees.
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koje ćemo naći kod šimpanzi.
02:54
Now these chimpanzees are using tools,
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Šimpanze upotrebljavaju oruđa,
02:56
and we take that as a sign of their intelligence.
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i to uzimamo kao znak njihove inteligencije.
02:59
But if they really were intelligent,
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Ali ako su oni zaista inteligentni,
03:01
why would they use a stick to extract termites from the ground
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zašto onda upotrebljavaju štap da izvade termite iz zemlje
03:04
rather than a shovel?
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a ne ašov?
03:06
And if they really were intelligent,
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I ako su zaista inteligentni,
03:09
why would they crack open nuts with a rock?
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zašto razbijaju orah kamenom?
03:11
Why wouldn't they just go to a shop and buy a bag of nuts
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Zašto jednostavno ne odu do prodavnice i kupe kesicu oraha
03:14
that somebody else had already cracked open for them?
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koje je neko drugi već očistio za njih?
03:17
Why not? I mean, that's what we do.
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Zašto ne? Pa mislim, to je ono što mi radimo.
03:19
Now the reason the chimpanzees don't do that
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Razlog zbog kog šimpanze to ne rade
03:21
is that they lack what psychologists and anthropologists call
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je u tome što psiholozi i antropolozi zovu
03:24
social learning.
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socijalno učenje.
03:26
They seem to lack the ability
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Izgleda da im nedostaje sposobnost
03:28
to learn from others
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da uče od drugih
03:30
by copying or imitating
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kopiranjem ili imitacijom
03:32
or simply watching.
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ili jednostavno gledanjem.
03:34
As a result,
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Kao rezultat,
03:36
they can't improve on others' ideas
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oni ne mogu da napreduju upijajući tuđe ideje
03:38
or learn from others' mistakes --
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niti učiti na tuđim greškama --
03:40
benefit from others' wisdom.
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niti se okoristiti o mudrost drugih.
03:42
And so they just do the same thing
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I tako oni rade jednu te istu stvar
03:44
over and over and over again.
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iznova i iznova.
03:46
In fact, we could go away for a million years and come back
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Zapravo, mogli bismo otići i vratiti se za milion godina
03:50
and these chimpanzees would be doing the same thing
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i šimpanze bi i dalje radile istu stvar
03:53
with the same sticks for the termites
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sa istim štapom za termite
03:55
and the same rocks to crack open the nuts.
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i sa istim kamenom za tucanje oraha.
03:58
Now this may sound arrogant, or even full of hubris.
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E sad, ovo može zvučati arogantno, ili čak jako oholo.
04:01
How do we know this?
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Kako mi to znamo?
04:03
Because this is exactly what our ancestors, the Homo erectus, did.
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Jer to je upravo ono što je naš predak, Homo erektus, radio.©
04:06
These upright apes
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Ovi uspravni majmuni
04:08
evolved on the African savanna
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evoluirali su u Afričkoj savani
04:10
about two million years ago,
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pre oko dva miliona godina,
04:12
and they made these splendid hand axes
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i oni su napravili ove izuzetne ručne sekire
04:14
that fit wonderfully into your hands.
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koje savršeno odgovaraju vašim rukama.
04:16
But if we look at the fossil record,
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Ali ako pogledamo u fosilne zapise,
04:18
we see that they made the same hand axe
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vidimo da su oni pravili istu ručnu sekiru
04:21
over and over and over again
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iznova i iznova
04:23
for one million years.
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tokom milion godina.
04:25
You can follow it through the fossil record.
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Možete to pratiti pomoću fosilnih zapisa.
04:27
Now if we make some guesses about how long Homo erectus lived,
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Sad, ako pretpostavimo koliko dugo je Homo erektus živeo,
04:29
what their generation time was,
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koliki je bio životni vek generacija,
04:31
that's about 40,000 generations
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to bi značilo da se kroz oko 40 000 generacija
04:34
of parents to offspring, and other individuals watching,
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posmatralo i prenosilo sa roditelja na potomke i druge pojedince
04:37
in which that hand axe didn't change.
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tokom kojih se ta ručna sekira nije menjala.
04:39
It's not even clear
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Nije čak ni jasno
04:41
that our very close genetic relatives, the Neanderthals,
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da li je naš blizak srodnik, Neandertalac,
04:43
had social learning.
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posedovao sposobnost socijalnog učenja.
04:45
Sure enough, their tools were more complicated
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Zasigurno, njegovo oruđe je bilo mnogo složenije
04:48
than those of Homo erectus,
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od onih koje je koristio Homo erektus,
04:50
but they too showed very little change
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ali je i on takođe pokazivao vrlo malo promena
04:52
over the 300,000 years or so
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tokom tih 300 000 godina
04:55
that those species, the Neanderthals,
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koliko je ta vrsta, Neandertalci,
04:57
lived in Eurasia.
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živela u Evroaziji.
04:59
Okay, so what this tells us
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Dobro, ono na šta nam ovo ukazuje
05:01
is that, contrary to the old adage,
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jeste da, suprotno od one stare izreke,
05:04
"monkey see, monkey do,"
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"što majmun vidi, majmun uradi",
05:07
the surprise really is
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iznenađujuće je
05:09
that all of the other animals
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da sve ostale životinje
05:11
really cannot do that -- at least not very much.
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ne mogu to da rade -- makar ne u većoj meri.
05:14
And even this picture
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Pa čak i ova slika
05:16
has the suspicious taint of being rigged about it --
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deluje nekako sumnjivo namešteno --
05:19
something from a Barnum & Bailey circus.
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nešto kao iz Barnum & Bejli cirkusa.
05:21
But by comparison,
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Ali zarad poređenja,
05:23
we can learn.
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mi možemo učiti.
05:25
We can learn by watching other people
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Mi možemo da učimo posmatrajući druge ljude
05:28
and copying or imitating
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kopiranjem i imitacijom
05:30
what they can do.
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onoga što oni rade.
05:32
We can then choose, from among a range of options,
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Potom možemo birati, između više opcija,
05:35
the best one.
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onu najbolju.
05:37
We can benefit from others' ideas.
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Možemo imati koristi od tuđih ideja.
05:39
We can build on their wisdom.
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Možemo nadograđivati njihovu mudrost.
05:41
And as a result, our ideas do accumulate,
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I kao rezultat toga, naše ideje se akumuliraju,
05:44
and our technology progresses.
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i naša tehnologija se razvija.
05:48
And this cumulative cultural adaptation,
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Ova kumulativna kulturna adaptacija,
05:53
as anthropologists call
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kako je antropolozi nazivaju
05:55
this accumulation of ideas,
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ova akumulacija ideja,
05:57
is responsible for everything around you
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odgovorna je za sve oko vas
05:59
in your bustling and teeming everyday lives.
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u vašim užurbanim svakodnevnicama.
06:01
I mean the world has changed out of all proportion
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Mislim, svet se toliko drastično promenio
06:03
to what we would recognize
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od onoga što bismo prepoznali
06:05
even 1,000 or 2,000 years ago.
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pre samo 1000 ili 2000 godina unazad.
06:08
And all of this because of cumulative cultural adaptation.
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I sve to samo zbog kumulativne kulturalne adaptacije.
06:11
The chairs you're sitting in, the lights in this auditorium,
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Stolice na kojima sedite, svetla u ovom auditorijumu,
06:13
my microphone, the iPads and iPods that you carry around with you --
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moj mikrofon, iPads i iPods koje nosite svuda sa sobom
06:16
all are a result
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su rezultat
06:18
of cumulative cultural adaptation.
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kumulativne kulturalne adaptacije.
06:20
Now to many commentators,
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E sada, za mnoge komentatore,
06:24
cumulative cultural adaptation, or social learning,
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kumulativna kultralna adaptacija, ili socijalno učenje,
06:27
is job done, end of story.
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je završen posao, kraj priče.
06:30
Our species can make stuff,
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Naša vrsta može praviti stvari,
06:33
therefore we prospered in a way that no other species has.
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stoga smo uznapredovali na način na koji ni jedna druga vrsta nije.
06:36
In fact, we can even make the "stuff of life" --
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Zapravo, možemo praviti "stvari za život" --
06:39
as I just said, all the stuff around us.
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kao što sam već rekao, sve stvari oko nas.
06:41
But in fact, it turns out
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Ali, zapravo, ispostavlja se
06:43
that some time around 200,000 years ago,
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da je nekad pre oko 200 000 godina,
06:46
when our species first arose
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kada je naša vrsta nastala
06:48
and acquired social learning,
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i usvojila socijalno učenje,
06:50
that this was really the beginning of our story,
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to bio početak priče,
06:52
not the end of our story.
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a ne kraj.
06:54
Because our acquisition of social learning
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Jer naše usvajanje socijalnog učenja
06:57
would create a social and evolutionary dilemma,
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će dovesti do socijalnih i evolucionih dilema,
07:00
the resolution of which, it's fair to say,
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čije će razrešenje, može se reći,
07:03
would determine not only the future course of our psychology,
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odrediti ne samo budući pravac psihologije,
07:07
but the future course of the entire world.
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već budući pravac čitavog sveta.
07:09
And most importantly for this,
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I što je najvažnije,
07:12
it'll tell us why we have language.
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reći će nam zašto imamo jezik.
07:15
And the reason that dilemma arose
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A razlog zbog kojeg je nastala ta dilema
07:17
is, it turns out, that social learning is visual theft.
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jeste zapravo taj da socijalno učenje predstavlja vizuelnu krađu.
07:20
If I can learn by watching you,
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Ukoliko ja mogu da učim posmatrajući te,
07:23
I can steal your best ideas,
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ja mogu da ukradem tvoje najbolje ideje,
07:25
and I can benefit from your efforts,
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i mogu prosperirati od tvojih napora,
07:28
without having to put in the time and energy that you did
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bez potrebe da uložim vreme i energiju koju si ti uložio
07:30
into developing them.
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da ih razviješ.
07:32
If I can watch which lure you use to catch a fish,
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Ako mogu da vidim kakav mamac si koristio da upecaš ribu,
07:35
or I can watch how you flake your hand axe
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ili ako mogu da gledam kako obrađuješ svoju ručnu sekiru
07:37
to make it better,
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kako bi je poboljšao,
07:39
or if I follow you secretly to your mushroom patch,
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ili ako bih te krišom pratio do tvog skladišta pečuraka,
07:42
I can benefit from your knowledge and wisdom and skills,
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mogu imati koristi od tvog znanja i mudrosti i sposobnosti,
07:45
and maybe even catch that fish
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možda čak i da upecam ribu
07:47
before you do.
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pre tebe.
07:49
Social learning really is visual theft.
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Socijalno učenje je zaista vizuelna krađa.
07:52
And in any species that acquired it,
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I ako bi ga neka vrsta usvojila,
07:54
it would behoove you
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to bi vas nateralo
07:56
to hide your best ideas,
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da krijete vaše najbolje ideje,
07:58
lest somebody steal them from you.
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jer bi vam ih neko mogao ukrasti.
08:02
And so some time around 200,000 years ago,
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I tako se pre nekih 200 000 godina
08:05
our species confronted this crisis.
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naša vrsta suočila sa ovom krizom.
08:08
And we really had only two options
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I mi zaista imamo samo dve opcije
08:11
for dealing with the conflicts
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da se izborimo sa konfliktima
08:13
that visual theft would bring.
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koje bi vizuelna krađa donela.
08:15
One of those options
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Jedna od tih opcija
08:17
was that we could have retreated
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je bila da se povučemo
08:20
into small family groups.
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u male porodične grupe.
08:22
Because then the benefits of our ideas and knowledge
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Jer u tom slučaju prednosti naših ideja i saznanja
08:25
would flow just to our relatives.
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zadržale bi se samo u okviru naše zajednice
08:27
Had we chosen this option,
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Da smo izabrali tu opciju,
08:29
sometime around 200,000 years ago,
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nekada pre oko 200 000 godina,
08:32
we would probably still be living like the Neanderthals were
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danas bismo verovatno i dalje živeli kao što su živeli Neandertalci
08:35
when we first entered Europe 40,000 years ago.
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kada smo prvi put došli u Evropu pre 40 000 godina.
08:38
And this is because in small groups
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I to je zbog toga što u malim grupama
08:40
there are fewer ideas, there are fewer innovations.
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postoji malo ideja, a samim tim i malo inovacija.
08:43
And small groups are more prone to accidents and bad luck.
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A male grupe su sklonije nezgodama i lošoj karmi.
08:46
So if we'd chosen that path,
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I tako, da smo izabrali taj put,
08:48
our evolutionary path would have led into the forest --
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naš evolucioni put bi nas odveo u šumu --
08:51
and been a short one indeed.
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i bio bi zbilja kratak.
08:53
The other option we could choose
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Druga opcija koju smo mogli izabrati
08:55
was to develop the systems of communication
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bila je ta da razvijemo sistem komunikacije
08:58
that would allow us to share ideas
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koji bi nam omogućio da delimo ideje
09:00
and to cooperate amongst others.
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i da međusobno sarađujemo.
09:03
Choosing this option would mean
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Izbor ove opcije bi značio
09:05
that a vastly greater fund of accumulated knowledge and wisdom
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da bi mnogo veći fond akumuliranog znanja i mudrosti
09:08
would become available to any one individual
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bio dostupan svakoj osobi
09:11
than would ever arise from within an individual family
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nego što bi on ikada narastao u okvirima jedne porodice
09:14
or an individual person on their own.
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ili jedne osobe.
09:18
Well, we chose the second option,
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Pa, izabrali smo drugu opciju,
09:21
and language is the result.
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i rezultat toga je jezik.
09:24
Language evolved to solve the crisis
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Jezik se razvio da bi rešio krizu
09:26
of visual theft.
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vizuelne krađe.
09:28
Language is a piece of social technology
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Jezik je deo socijalne tehnologije
09:31
for enhancing the benefits of cooperation --
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za poboljšanje prednosti saradnje --
09:34
for reaching agreements, for striking deals
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za postizanje dogovora i ugovaranje poslova
09:37
and for coordinating our activities.
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i za koordinisanje aktivnosti.
09:41
And you can see that, in a developing society
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I možete videti da u društvu u razvoju
09:43
that was beginning to acquire language,
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koje je počelo da usvaja jezik,
09:45
not having language
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nemati ga
09:47
would be a like a bird without wings.
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bilo bi isto kao pticama bez krila.
09:49
Just as wings open up this sphere of air
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Baš kao što se krila otvaraju sferi vazduha
09:52
for birds to exploit,
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pticama da istražuju,
09:54
language opened up the sphere of cooperation
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jezik se otvara sferi saradnje
09:56
for humans to exploit.
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ljudima da istražuju.
09:58
And we take this utterly for granted,
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A mi to uzimamo zdravo za gotovo,
10:00
because we're a species that is so at home with language,
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jer smo mi kao vrsta potpuno odomaćeni sa jezikom.
10:03
but you have to realize
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Ali morate da shvatite
10:05
that even the simplest acts of exchange that we engage in
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da je čak i najmanji akt razmene u kom učestvujemo
10:08
are utterly dependent upon language.
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duboko zavisan od jezika.
10:11
And to see why, consider two scenarios
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I da bismo videli kako, razmotrite dva scenarija
10:13
from early in our evolution.
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iz naše najranije evolucije.
10:15
Let's imagine that you are really good
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Zamislimo da ste jako dobri
10:17
at making arrowheads,
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u pravljenju vrhova strela,
10:19
but you're hopeless at making the wooden shafts
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ali ste beznadežni u pravljenju drvenih delova
10:22
with the flight feathers attached.
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sa prikačenim perima.
10:25
Two other people you know are very good at making the wooden shafts,
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Dva čoveka koje poznajete su veoma dobri u praveljnju tih drvenih delova strele,
10:28
but they're hopeless at making the arrowheads.
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ali su beznadežni u pravljenju vrhova.
10:31
So what you do is --
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I ono što vi radite je --
10:33
one of those people has not really acquired language yet.
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jedan od ljudi nije još usvojio jezik.
10:36
And let's pretend the other one is good at language skills.
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I hajde da zamislimo da je drugi jako dobar u jezičkim sposobnostima.
10:38
So what you do one day is you take a pile of arrowheads,
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I tako vi jednog dana uzmete gomilu vrhova strela,
10:41
and you walk up to the one that can't speak very well,
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i odete do onog koji ne zna da priča baš dobro,
10:43
and you put the arrowheads down in front of him,
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i stavite tu gomilu ispred njega,
10:45
hoping that he'll get the idea that you want to trade your arrowheads
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nadajući se da će dobiti ideju da želite da razmenite svoje vrhove strela
10:48
for finished arrows.
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za završene drvene delove.
10:50
But he looks at the pile of arrowheads, thinks they're a gift,
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Ali on gleda u tu gomilu, misleći da je to poklon,
10:52
picks them up, smiles and walks off.
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pokupi ih, nasmeje se i ode.
10:55
Now you pursue this guy, gesticulating.
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Sada vi počnete da mu objašnjavate gestikulacijom.
10:57
A scuffle ensues and you get stabbed
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Nastaje kavga i vi bivate izbodeni
10:59
with one of your own arrowheads.
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jednom od svojih strela.
11:02
Okay, now replay this scene now, and you're approaching the one who has language.
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Dobro, vratite sada scenu nazad, i zamislite da ste prišli onom ko zna jezik.
11:05
You put down your arrowheads and say,
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Spustite vaše vrhove strela i kažete,
11:07
"I'd like to trade these arrowheads for finished arrows. I'll split you 50/50."
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"Želeo bih da razmenim ove vrhove strela za završene strele. Podelimo ih 50/50".
11:10
The other one says, "Fine. Looks good to me.
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On odgovori, "U redu. Dogovoreno.
11:12
We'll do that."
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Tako ćemo."
11:15
Now the job is done.
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I posao je gotov.
11:18
Once we have language,
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Onog trenutka kada imamo jezik,
11:20
we can put our ideas together and cooperate
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možemo izneti svoje ideje i sarađivati
11:22
to have a prosperity
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kako bismo napredovali
11:24
that we couldn't have before we acquired it.
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kako nikada ranije ne bismo uspeli.
11:27
And this is why our species
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I to je razlog zašto je naša vrsta
11:29
has prospered around the world
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napredovala širom sveta
11:31
while the rest of the animals
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dok ostale životinje
11:33
sit behind bars in zoos, languishing.
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čežnjivo čame iza rešetaka u zoološkim vrtovima,
11:36
That's why we build space shuttles and cathedrals
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Zato smo uspeli da izgradimo rakete i katedrale
11:39
while the rest of the world sticks sticks into the ground
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dok ostatak sveta zabada štapove u zemlju
11:41
to extract termites.
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da izvuče insekte.
11:43
All right, if this view of language
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U redu, ako je ovaj pogled na jezik
11:46
and its value
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i njegovu vrednost
11:48
in solving the crisis of visual theft is true,
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u rešavanju problema vizuelne krađe ispravan,
11:51
any species that acquires it
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bilo koja vrsta da ga usvoji
11:53
should show an explosion of creativity and prosperity.
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trebala bi da pokaže eksploziju kreativnosti i prosperiteta.
11:56
And this is exactly what the archeological record shows.
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To je upravo ono što arheološki nalazi pokazuju.
11:59
If you look at our ancestors,
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Ako pogledate naše pretke,
12:01
the Neanderthals and the Homo erectus, our immediate ancestors,
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Neandertalce i Homo erektus, naše neposredne pretke,
12:04
they're confined to small regions of the world.
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oni su bili ograničeni na male oblasti sveta.
12:07
But when our species arose
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Ali kada je naša vrsta nastala
12:09
about 200,000 years ago,
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pre od prilike 200 000 godina,
12:11
sometime after that we quickly walked out of Africa
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ubrzo nakon toga smo otišli iz Afrike
12:14
and spread around the entire world,
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i proširili se po čitavom svetu,
12:17
occupying nearly every habitat on Earth.
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okupirajući skoro svako stanište na Zemlji.
12:20
Now whereas other species are confined
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Dok su druge vrste ograničene
12:23
to places that their genes adapt them to,
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na mesta na kojima su se njihovi geni adaptirali,
12:26
with social learning and language,
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sa socijalnim učenjem i jezikom,
12:28
we could transform the environment
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mi smo mogli transformisati okruženje
12:30
to suit our needs.
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i prilagoditi ga našim potrebama.
12:32
And so we prospered in a way
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I tako smo prosperirali na način
12:34
that no other animal has.
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na koji nije ni jedna druga životinja.
12:36
Language really is
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Jezik je zaista
12:39
the most potent trait that has ever evolved.
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najmoćnije svojstvo koje je ikada razvijeno.
12:42
It is the most valuable trait we have
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To je najvrednija osobina koju imamo
12:45
for converting new lands and resources
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za preoblikovanje novih predela i resursa
12:48
into more people and their genes
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u još više ljudi i njihovih gena
12:51
that natural selection has ever devised.
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nego što je to prirodna selekcija ikad uspela.
12:53
Language really is
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Jezik je zaista
12:55
the voice of our genes.
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glas naših gena.
12:57
Now having evolved language, though,
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Ipak, sada kada imamo razvijen jezik
12:59
we did something peculiar,
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uradili smo nešto čudno,
13:01
even bizarre.
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čak bizarno.
13:03
As we spread out around the world,
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Kako smo se raširili po celom svetu,
13:05
we developed thousands of different languages.
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razvili smo na hiljade različitih jezika.
13:08
Currently, there are about seven or 8,000
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Trenutno, postoji oko sedam ili osam hiljada
13:10
different languages spoken on Earth.
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različitih govornih jezika na Zemlji.
13:13
Now you might say, well, this is just natural.
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Sada, možete reći, pa, to je prirodno.
13:15
As we diverge, our languages are naturally going to diverge.
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Kako se razdvajamo, prirodno je i da se naši jezici razlikuju.
13:18
But the real puzzle and irony
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Ali prava zagonetka i ironija
13:20
is that the greatest density of different languages on Earth
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je da je najveća gustina različitih jezika na Zemlji
13:23
is found where people are most tightly packed together.
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pronađena tamo gde su ljudi najtešnje povezani.
13:27
If we go to the island of Papua New Guinea,
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Ako odemo na ostrvo Papua Nova Gvineja,
13:29
we can find about 800 to 1,000
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možemo naći oko 800 do 1000
13:32
distinct human languages,
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različitih jezika,
13:34
different human languages,
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različitih ljudskih jezika,
13:36
spoken on that island alone.
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koji se govore samo na tom ostrvu.
13:38
There are places on that island
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Postoje mesta na ovom ostrvu
13:40
where you can encounter a new language
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gde možete naići na novi jezik
13:42
every two or three miles.
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nakon dve ili tri milje.
13:44
Now, incredible as this sounds,
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Koliko god to neverovatno zvučalo,
13:46
I once met a Papuan man, and I asked him if this could possibly be true.
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jednom sam sreo čoveka sa Papue, i pitao ga kako je moguće da je to tako.
13:49
And he said to me, "Oh no.
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A on mi je rekao: "O ne.
13:51
They're far closer together than that."
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Oni su mnogo bliži od toga."
13:54
And it's true; there are places on that island
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I to je tačno; postoje mesta na tom ostrvu
13:56
where you can encounter a new language in under a mile.
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gde možete naići na nov jezik i na manje od jedne milje.
13:59
And this is also true of some remote oceanic islands.
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A tako je i na nekim zabačenim okeanskim ostrvima.
14:03
And so it seems that we use our language,
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I deluje da koristimo naš jezik,
14:05
not just to cooperate,
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ne samo da sarađujemo,
14:07
but to draw rings around our cooperative groups
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već i da povlačimo granice među našim kooperativnim grupama
14:10
and to establish identities,
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i da izgradimo identitete,
14:12
and perhaps to protect our knowledge and wisdom and skills
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i možda da zaštitimo naše znanje i mudrost i veštine
14:15
from eavesdropping from outside.
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od prisluškivanja sa strane.
14:18
And we know this
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A to znamo
14:20
because when we study different language groups
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jer, proučavajući različite grupe jezika
14:22
and associate them with their cultures,
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i povezujući ih sa njihovim kulturama,
14:24
we see that different languages
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vidimo da različiti jezici
14:26
slow the flow of ideas between groups.
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usporavaju tok ideja među grupama.
14:29
They slow the flow of technologies.
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Usporavaju tok tehnologija.
14:32
And they even slow the flow of genes.
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Usporavaju čak i tok gena.
14:35
Now I can't speak for you,
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Ne mogu govoriti u vaše ime,
14:37
but it seems to be the case
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ali izgleda da
14:39
that we don't have sex with people we can't talk to.
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da ne možemo imati ni seks sa osobama sa kojima ne možemo da pričamo.
14:43
(Laughter)
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(Smeh)
14:45
Now we have to counter that, though,
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Morali bismo to uporediti
14:47
against the evidence we've heard
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sa dokazima koje smo čuli
14:49
that we might have had some rather distasteful genetic dalliances
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da smo možda imali neke prilično neukusne genetičke igre
14:52
with the Neanderthals and the Denisovans.
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sa Neandertalcima i Sibirskim ljudima.
14:54
(Laughter)
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(Smeh)
14:56
Okay, this tendency we have,
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Dobro, ta sklonost koju imamo,
14:58
this seemingly natural tendency we have,
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ova naizgled prirodna sklonost koju posedujemo,
15:00
towards isolation, towards keeping to ourselves,
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ka izoalciji, ka zadržavanju za sebe,
15:03
crashes head first into our modern world.
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direktno se kosi sa modernim svetom.
15:06
This remarkable image
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Ova zadivljujuća slika
15:08
is not a map of the world.
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nije mapa sveta.
15:10
In fact, it's a map of Facebook friendship links.
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Zapravo, to je mapa veza prijateljstava na Fejsbuku.
15:14
And when you plot those friendship links
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I kada se prikažu veze tih prijateljstava
15:16
by their latitude and longitude,
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njihovom dužinom i širinom,
15:18
it literally draws a map of the world.
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to bukvalno ocrtava mapu sveta.
15:21
Our modern world is communicating
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Naš moderni svet komunicira
15:23
with itself and with each other
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međusobno
15:25
more than it has
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više nego što je ikada
15:27
at any time in its past.
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u prošlosti.
15:29
And that communication, that connectivity around the world,
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I ta komunikacija, ta povezanost širom sveta,
15:32
that globalization
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ta globalizacija
15:34
now raises a burden.
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sada predstavlja teret.
15:37
Because these different languages
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Jer različiti jezici
15:39
impose a barrier, as we've just seen,
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stvaraju barijeru, kao što smo videli,
15:41
to the transfer of goods and ideas
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prenosu dobara i ideja
15:43
and technologies and wisdom.
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i tehnologija i mudrosti.
15:45
And they impose a barrier to cooperation.
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I predstavljaju prepreku saradnji.
15:48
And nowhere do we see that more clearly
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I nigde se to tako dobro ne vidi
15:51
than in the European Union,
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kao u Evropskoj Uniji,
15:53
whose 27 member countries
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gde 27 zemalja članica
15:56
speak 23 official languages.
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ima 23 zvanična jezika.
15:59
The European Union
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Evropska Unija
16:01
is now spending over one billion euros annually
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trenutno troši preko milijardu evra godišnje
16:05
translating among their 23 official languages.
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prevodeći na svaki od svoja 23 jezika.
16:08
That's something on the order
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To je nešto
16:10
of 1.45 billion U.S. dollars
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oko 1,45 milijardi američkih dolara
16:12
on translation costs alone.
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samo na troškove prevođenja.
16:15
Now think of the absurdity of this situation.
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Pomislite samo kako je to apsurdno.
16:17
If 27 individuals
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Ako 27 osoba
16:19
from those 27 member states
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iz 27 zemalja članica
16:21
sat around table, speaking their 23 languages,
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sede za stolom, i govore svoja 23 jezika,
16:24
some very simple mathematics will tell you
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jednostavna matematika će vam reći
16:26
that you need an army of 253 translators
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da vam treba vojska od 253 prevodioca
16:30
to anticipate all the pairwise possibilities.
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da bi pokrila sve moguće jezičke parove.
16:34
The European Union employs a permanent staff
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Evropska Unija zapošljava
16:37
of about 2,500 translators.
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oko 2 500 stalnih prevodilaca.
16:39
And in 2007 alone --
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A samo u 2007. --
16:41
and I'm sure there are more recent figures --
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a siguran sam da ima i novijih statistika --
16:43
something on the order of 1.3 million pages
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nešto oko 1.3 miliona stranica
16:46
were translated into English alone.
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je prevedeno samo na engleski jezik.
16:49
And so if language really is
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Pa ako je jezik zaista
16:52
the solution to the crisis of visual theft,
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rešenje za krizu vizuelne krađe,
16:55
if language really is
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ako je jezik zaista
16:57
the conduit of our cooperation,
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ključ za našu saradnju,
16:59
the technology that our species derived
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tehnologija koju je naša vrsta proizvela
17:02
to promote the free flow and exchange of ideas,
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da bi omogućila slobodan tok i razmenu ideja,
17:06
in our modern world,
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u našem modernom svetu,
17:08
we confront a question.
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suočavamo se sa pitanjem.
17:10
And that question is whether
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A to pitanje je da li
17:12
in this modern, globalized world
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u ovom modernom, globalizovanom svetu
17:14
we can really afford to have all these different languages.
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možemo sebi priuštiti postojanje toliko različitih jezika.
17:17
To put it this way, nature knows no other circumstance
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Da postavimo ovako, priroda ne poznaje druge okolnosti
17:20
in which functionally equivalent traits coexist.
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u kojima koegzistiraju funkcionalno ekvivalentne sposobnosti.
17:25
One of them always drives the other extinct.
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Jedna od njih uvek dovodi do istrebljenja drugih.
17:28
And we see this in the inexorable march
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I sve to vidimo u nezaustavljivom maršu
17:30
towards standardization.
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ka standardizaciji.
17:32
There are lots and lots of ways of measuring things --
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Postoje mnogi i mnogi načini merenja stvari --
17:35
weighing them and measuring their length --
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merenje njihove težine, njihove dužine --
17:37
but the metric system is winning.
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ali metrički sistem pobeđuje.
17:39
There are lots and lots of ways of measuring time,
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Postoje mnogi načini merenja vremena,
17:42
but a really bizarre base 60 system
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ali zaista bizaran način sa bazom 60
17:45
known as hours and minutes and seconds
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poznat kao sati i minuti i sekunde
17:47
is nearly universal around the world.
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je skoro univerzalan u svetu.
17:50
There are many, many ways
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Postoji mnogo, mnogo načina
17:52
of imprinting CDs or DVDs,
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snimanja CD-a ili DVD-a,
17:54
but those are all being standardized as well.
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ali oni su takođe standardizovani.
17:57
And you can probably think of many, many more
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I sigurno se možete prisetiti još mnogih primera
18:00
in your own everyday lives.
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iz vašeg svakodnevnog života.
18:02
And so our modern world now
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I tako se naš moderni svet sada
18:05
is confronting us with a dilemma.
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suočava sa dilemom.
18:07
And it's the dilemma
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A to je dilema
18:09
that this Chinese man faces,
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sa kojom se ovaj Kinez suočava,
18:11
who's language is spoken
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čiji jezik govori
18:13
by more people in the world
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više ljudi na svetu
18:15
than any other single language,
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nego ijedan drugi jezik,
18:18
and yet he is sitting at his blackboard,
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pa ipak on sedi ispred svoje table,
18:22
converting Chinese phrases
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prevodeći kineske fraze
18:25
into English language phrases.
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na engleski jezik.
18:27
And what this does is it raises the possibility to us
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Rezultat toga je da nam povećava mogućnost
18:30
that in a world in which we want to promote
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da u svetu u kom želimo da podstičemo
18:32
cooperation and exchange,
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saradnju i razmenu,
18:34
and in a world that might be dependent more than ever before
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i u svetu koji više nego ikada zavisi
18:37
on cooperation
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od saradnje
18:39
to maintain and enhance our levels of prosperity,
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da održimo i povećamo nivo prosperiteta,
18:42
his actions suggest to us
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njegova dela nam sugerišu
18:44
it might be inevitable
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da je možda neizbežno
18:46
that we have to confront the idea
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da se suočimo sa idejom
18:48
that our destiny is to be one world with one language.
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da je naša sudbina da živimo u svetu sa jednim jezikom.
18:51
Thank you.
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Hvala vam.
18:53
(Applause)
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(Aplauz)
19:01
Matt Ridley: Mark, one question.
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Met Ridli: Mark, jedno pitanje.
19:03
Svante found that the FOXP2 gene,
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Svante je otkrio da se FOXP2 gen,
19:06
which seems to be associated with language,
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koji izgleda da je povezan sa jezikom,
19:08
was also shared in the same form
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takođe nalazio u istom obliku
19:10
in Neanderthals as us.
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kod Neandertalaca kao i kod nas.
19:12
Do we have any idea
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Da li imamo ikakvu ideju
19:14
how we could have defeated Neanderthals
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kako smo uspeli pobediti Neandertalce
19:16
if they also had language?
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ako su oni takođe imali jezik?
19:18
Mark Pagel: This is a very good question.
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Mark Pagel: To je veoma dobro pitanje.
19:20
So many of you will be familiar with the idea that there's this gene called FOXP2
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Mnogima od vas je poznata ideja da postoji gen nazvan FOXP2
19:23
that seems to be implicated in some ways
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koji izgleda da je upleten na više načina
19:26
in the fine motor control that's associated with language.
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u finu motornu kontrolu povezanu sa jezikom.
19:29
The reason why I don't believe that tells us
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Razlog zbog kog ne verujem u to
19:31
that the Neanderthals had language
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da su Neandertalci imali jezik
19:33
is -- here's a simple analogy:
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je -- evo jednostavne analogije:
19:36
Ferraris are cars that have engines.
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Ferari su auta koja imaju motor.
19:39
My car has an engine,
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Moj auto ima motor,
19:41
but it's not a Ferrari.
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ali nije Ferari.
19:43
Now the simple answer then
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Prost odgovor na to je
19:45
is that genes alone don't, all by themselves,
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da geni sami, samo od sebe,
19:47
determine the outcome
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ne određuju ishode
19:49
of very complicated things like language.
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toliko komplikovanih stvari kao što je jezik.
19:51
What we know about this FOXP2 and Neanderthals
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Ono što znamo o tom FOXP2 i Neandertalcima
19:53
is that they may have had fine motor control of their mouths -- who knows.
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je da su oni možda imali finu motoriku u ustima -- ko zna.
19:57
But that doesn't tell us they necessarily had language.
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Ali to nam ne govori da su nužno imali jezik.
19:59
MR: Thank you very much indeed.
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MR: Puno ti hvala.
20:01
(Applause)
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(Aplauz)
ABOUT THE SPEAKER
Mark Pagel - Evolutionary biologistUsing biological evolution as a template, Mark Pagel wonders how languages evolve.
Why you should listen
Mark Pagel builds statistical models to examine the evolutionary processes imprinted in human behavior, from genomics to the emergence of complex systems -- to culture. His latest work examines the parallels between linguistic and biological evolution by applying methods of phylogenetics, or the study of evolutionary relatedness among groups, essentially viewing language as a culturally transmitted replicator with many of the same properties we find in genes. He’s looking for patterns in the rates of evolution of language elements, and hoping to find the social factors that influence trends of language evolution.
At the University of Reading, Pagel heads the Evolution Laboratory in the biology department, where he explores such questions as, "Why would humans evolve a system of communication that prevents them with communicating with other members of the same species?" He has used statistical methods to reconstruct features of dinosaur genomes, and to infer ancestral features of genes and proteins.
He says: "Just as we have highly conserved genes, we have highly conserved words. Language shows a truly remarkable fidelity."
Mark Pagel | Speaker | TED.com