TED2008
Wade Davis: The worldwide web of belief and ritual
听人类学家维德•戴维斯讲世界上的信念与仪式
Filmed:
Readability: 4.5
1,822,254 views
人类学家维戴•戴维斯讲述了他对世界上那些使人之为人的信念、仪式的思考。他给大家展示了他与埃尔德兄弟的照片和故事，这些人是内华达山脉的印第安人，他们的精神践履维持了世界的和谐。
Wade Davis - Anthropologist, ethnobotanist
A National Geographic Explorer-in-Residence, Wade Davis has been described as “a rare combination of scientist, scholar, poet and passionate defender of all of life’s diversity.” Full bio
A National Geographic Explorer-in-Residence, Wade Davis has been described as “a rare combination of scientist, scholar, poet and passionate defender of all of life’s diversity.” Full bio
Double-click the English transcript below to play the video.
00:12
You know, culture was born of the imagination,
0
0
4000
文化来自想象。
00:16
and the imagination -- the imagination as we know it --
1
4000
3000
这些想象
00:19
came into being when our species descended
2
7000
3000
当人类一代一代传承时这些想象逐渐形成，
00:22
from our progenitor, Homo erectus,
3
10000
3000
从直立行走的猿人，
00:25
and, infused with consciousness, began a journey that would carry it
4
13000
3000
人类就带着意识，开始了
00:28
to every corner of the habitable world.
5
16000
3000
把意识带到所居住的每一个角落的旅程。
00:31
For a time, we shared the stage with our distant cousins, Neanderthal,
6
19000
3000
那些曾经居住在这片土地的遥远的尼安德特人（穴居人）
00:34
who clearly had some spark of awareness,
7
22000
2000
就拥有意识的火花
00:36
but -- whether it was the increase in the size of the brain,
8
24000
3000
但是，或许是因为脑容量的增加
00:39
or the development of language,
9
27000
2000
或者是语言的发展
00:41
or some other evolutionary catalyst --
10
29000
2000
或者是因为其他进化的原因
00:43
we quickly left Neanderthal gasping for survival.
11
31000
4000
我们迅速地脱离了为生存而挣扎的尼安德特人。
00:47
By the time the last Neanderthal disappeared in Europe,
12
35000
3000
自从尼安德特人在欧洲大陆消失
00:50
27,000 years ago,
13
38000
2000
于两万七千年前，
00:52
our direct ancestors had already,
14
40000
2000
我们的直系祖先已经开始
00:54
and for 5,000 years,
15
42000
2000
持续五千年的
00:56
been crawling into the belly of the earth,
16
44000
2000
在土地上的耕作
00:58
where in the light of the flickers of tallow candles,
17
46000
3000
在牛油灯下
01:01
they had brought into being
18
49000
2000
他们开创了
01:03
the great art of the Upper Paleolithic.
19
51000
2000
旧石器时代的伟大艺术。
01:05
And I spent two months in the caves of southwest France
20
53000
3000
我在法国西南部的洞穴里居住了两个月
01:08
with the poet Clayton Eshleman, who wrote a beautiful book called "Juniper Fuse."
21
56000
3000
与诗人克莱顿•埃什尔曼一起，他写过一本优美的书《Juniper Fuse》
01:11
And you could look at this art and you could, of course,
22
59000
2000
你可以读一读这本书，并且，你一定会发现
01:13
see the complex social organization
23
61000
2000
复杂的社会组织
01:15
of the people who brought it into being.
24
63000
2000
以及创造这种组织的人们。
01:17
But more importantly, it spoke of a deeper yearning,
25
65000
3000
更重要的是，它表达出了一种深层次的渴望，
01:20
something far more sophisticated than hunting magic.
26
68000
3000
比狩猎艺术更为复杂。
01:23
And the way Clayton put it was this way.
27
71000
2000
克莱顿这样描述它
01:25
He said, "You know, clearly at some point,
28
73000
4000
他说：“我们知道，在某种程度上，
01:29
we were all of an animal nature, and at some point, we weren't."
29
77000
2000
我们本质上都是动物，但是有些时候我们又不是。”
01:31
And he viewed proto-shamanism as a kind of original attempt,
30
79000
2000
他把萨满教视为一种初始的尝试，
01:33
through ritual, to rekindle a connection
31
81000
3000
通过仪式，去恢复一种联系
01:36
that had been irrevocably lost.
32
84000
2000
这种联系已经无可挽回地丧失了。
01:38
So, he saw this art not as
33
86000
2000
所以他并不把这壁画视为
01:41
hunting magic, but as postcards of nostalgia.
34
89000
4000
对狩猎艺术的描绘，而是对往昔的追忆。
01:45
And viewed in that light,
35
93000
2000
从这种角度看，
01:47
it takes on a whole other resonance.
36
95000
2000
这就呈现为另外一种完全不同的反思。
01:49
And the most amazing thing about the Upper Paleolithic art
37
97000
2000
旧石器时代上层艺术中最不可思议的是，
01:51
is that as an aesthetic expression,
38
99000
3000
作为一种美学表现形式，
01:54
it lasted for almost 20,000 years.
39
102000
3000
壁画存在了两万年。
01:57
If these were postcards of nostalgia,
40
105000
3000
如果是追忆往昔的话，
02:00
ours was a very long farewell indeed.
41
108000
3000
我们追忆的过去距离现在非常遥远。
02:03
And it was also the beginning of our discontent,
42
111000
2000
并且，这是人类不满的开始，
02:05
because if you wanted to distill all of our experience
43
113000
2000
因为当你想获得人类的经验
02:07
since the Paleolithic, it would come down to two words:
44
115000
3000
自从旧石器时代，可以得到两个词：
02:10
how and why.
45
118000
2000
怎么样以及为什么。
02:12
And these are the slivers of insight upon which cultures have been forged.
46
120000
3000
这两个词汇锻造着人类的文化。
02:15
Now, all people share the same
47
123000
2000
现在，所有的人有着相同的
02:17
raw, adaptive imperatives.
48
125000
2000
原始的、适应生存的欲求。
02:19
We all have children.
49
127000
2000
我们都有孩子，
02:21
We all have to deal with the mystery of death,
50
129000
2000
我们必须面对神秘的死亡，
02:23
the world that waits beyond death,
51
131000
2000
以及死后将要进入的世界，
02:25
the elders who fall away into their elderly years.
52
133000
3000
面对那些沉浸在以往生活中的年长的人们。
02:28
All of this is part of our common experience,
53
136000
2000
这些都是我们拥有的相同的经历，
02:30
and this shouldn't surprise us, because, after all,
54
138000
2000
并不使我们感到惊奇，因为毕竟，
02:32
biologists have finally proven it to be true,
55
140000
2000
生物学家最终证明了这些都是真的，
02:34
something that philosophers have always dreamt to be true.
56
142000
3000
那些哲学家一直梦想其为真的：
02:37
And that is the fact that we are all brothers and sisters.
57
145000
2000
那就是，我们所有人都是兄弟姐妹的事实。
02:39
We are all cut from the same genetic cloth.
58
147000
3000
我们有着相同的基因。
02:42
All of humanity, probably, is descended from a thousand people
59
150000
3000
所有的人，或许都是那一千个人的后代，
02:45
who left Africa roughly 70,000 years ago.
60
153000
3000
那些人在7万年前离开了非洲。
02:48
But the corollary of that is that,
61
156000
2000
由此必然得来的推论是，
02:50
if we all are brothers and sisters
62
158000
2000
如果我们是兄弟姐妹，
02:52
and share the same genetic material,
63
160000
2000
且拥有相同的基因，
02:54
all human populations share the same raw human genius,
64
162000
2000
所有的人类都拥有相同的、原始的人类天赋，
02:56
the same intellectual acuity.
65
164000
2000
相同的智力水平，
02:58
And so whether that genius is placed
66
166000
2000
并且，无论这些天赋是否被应用于
03:00
into -- technological wizardry
67
168000
2000
——技术这个
03:02
has been the great achievement of the West --
68
170000
3000
西方世界最大的成就——
03:05
or by contrast, into unraveling the complex threads
69
173000
3000
或者相反，应用于理解复杂的
03:08
of memory inherent in a myth,
70
176000
2000
神话中寓意，
03:10
is simply a matter of choice and cultural orientation.
71
178000
2000
仅仅是一种简单选择和文化定位。
03:12
There is no progression of affairs
72
180000
2000
没有突破性的事件，
03:14
in human experience.
73
182000
2000
在人类的经验领域。
03:16
There is no trajectory of progress. There's no pyramid
74
184000
2000
没有已经铺就好的前进的轨道。没有
03:18
that conveniently places Victorian England at the apex
75
186000
3000
传统地把维多利亚时期的英国文明作为顶峰，
03:21
and descends down the flanks
76
189000
2000
把其他的视为
03:23
to the so-called primitives of the world.
77
191000
2000
所谓的原始世界的金字塔。
03:25
All peoples are simply cultural options,
78
193000
3000
所有的人类都是文化选择的结果，
03:28
different visions of life itself.
79
196000
2000
是对生活的不同理解。
03:30
But what do I mean by different visions of life
80
198000
2000
但是我所说的不同的视角
03:32
making for completely different
81
200000
2000
造就了完全不同的
03:34
possibilities for existence?
82
202000
2000
生活的可能性指的是什么呢？
03:36
Well, let's slip for a moment into the greatest culture sphere
83
204000
2000
现在，让我们回头看一眼最伟大的文化
03:38
ever brought into being by the imagination,
84
206000
3000
是人类所能想象的最伟大的，
03:41
that of Polynesia.
85
209000
2000
来自旧石器时代的文化。
03:43
10,000 square kilometers,
86
211000
2000
1万平方公里，
03:45
tens of thousands of islands flung like jewels upon the southern sea.
87
213000
3000
成千上万的小岛像被散扔在南部海上的珠宝。
03:48
I recently sailed on the Hokulea,
88
216000
2000
我最近在Hokulea航行，
03:50
named after the sacred star of Hawaii,
89
218000
3000
Hokulea取名自神圣的夏威夷星，
03:53
throughout the South Pacific to make a film
90
221000
2000
穿越南太平洋拍摄一部
03:55
about the navigators.
91
223000
2000
关于航海者的电影。
03:57
These are men and women who, even today, can name
92
225000
2000
那里的男男女女，即使到今天，仍然能够说出
03:59
250 stars in the night sky.
93
227000
2000
夜晚中超过250颗星星的名字。
04:01
These are men and women who can sense the presence of distant atolls
94
229000
3000
这些人能够感知到
04:04
of islands beyond the visible horizon,
95
232000
2000
那些不在视野范围内、遥远珊瑚礁的存在，
04:07
simply by watching the reverberation of waves
96
235000
2000
仅仅通过观察
04:09
across the hull of their vessel, knowing full well
97
237000
2000
拍打船壁的波浪的反射形状，
04:11
that every island group in the Pacific
98
239000
2000
他们清楚地知道太平洋上每个岛屿群
04:13
has its unique refractive pattern
99
241000
2000
都有着不一样的反射模式，
04:15
that can be read with the same perspicacity
100
243000
3000
通过洞察力
04:18
with which a forensic scientist would read a fingerprint.
101
246000
3000
就像法医能够解读指纹那样。
04:21
These are sailors who in the darkness, in the hull of the vessel,
102
249000
2000
这些水手在黑暗中，在船里，
04:23
can distinguish as many as 32 different sea swells
103
251000
3000
就能够及时分辨多达32种
04:26
moving through the canoe at any one point in time,
104
254000
3000
在任何时刻流过船体的海水的涨落，
04:29
distinguishing local wave disturbances
105
257000
2000
分辨本地海上的风浪，
04:31
from the great currents that pulsate across the ocean,
106
259000
3000
通过观察振动整个海洋的水流
04:34
that can be followed with the same ease
107
262000
2000
这对于他们非常轻松，
04:36
that a terrestrial explorer would follow a river to the sea.
108
264000
3000
就像地址学家追踪水流入海。
04:39
Indeed, if you took all of the genius
109
267000
2000
确实，如果你把所有
04:41
that allowed us to put a man on the moon
110
269000
2000
把人类送上月球的智慧
04:43
and applied it to an understanding of the ocean,
111
271000
2000
都用于理解海洋，
04:45
what you would get is Polynesia.
112
273000
2000
那你就会发现他们都是波利尼西亚人。
04:47
And if we slip from the realm of the sea
113
275000
2000
如果我们把视野从海上转往
04:49
into the realm of the spirit of the imagination,
114
277000
3000
想象的精神，
04:52
you enter the realm of Tibetan Buddhism.
115
280000
2000
你就进入了西藏佛教的领域。
04:54
And I recently made a film called "The Buddhist Science of the Mind."
116
282000
3000
我最近拍摄了一部名为“心灵的佛教科学”电影。
04:57
Why did we use that word, science?
117
285000
3000
为什么我们采用“科学”一词？
05:00
What is science but the empirical pursuit of the truth?
118
288000
2000
如果追究真理的实践都不被称为科学，那科学还是什么？
05:02
What is Buddhism but 2,500 years
119
290000
2000
佛教就是两千五百年来对
05:04
of empirical observation
120
292000
2000
对心灵本质
05:06
as to the nature of mind?
121
294000
2000
进行观察的经验结果。
05:08
I travelled for a month in Nepal with our good friend, Matthieu Ricard,
122
296000
3000
我与我的好朋友，马修•李卡得在尼泊尔旅行了一个月，
05:11
and you'll remember Matthieu famously said to all of us
123
299000
2000
或许你还记得马修曾给我们做过一个讲座，
05:13
here once at TED,
124
301000
2000
在TED。
05:15
"Western science is a major response to minor needs."
125
303000
3000
“西方科学是对小需求的大反应。”
05:18
We spend all of our lifetime trying to live to be 100
126
306000
2000
我们花费一生的时间尽力保证牙齿不掉，活到
05:20
without losing our teeth.
127
308000
2000
100岁。
05:22
The Buddhist spends all their lifetime trying to understand the nature of existence.
128
310000
3000
佛教徒花费一生的时间极力去理解存在的本质。
05:25
Our billboards celebrate naked children in underwear.
129
313000
2000
我们宣传的是庆祝给赤裸的孩子穿上衣裤。
05:27
Their billboards are manuals,
130
315000
2000
他们宣传的是手册，
05:29
prayers to the well-being of all sentient creatures.
131
317000
3000
为众生的幸福祈祷。
05:32
And with the blessing of Trulshik Rinpoche, we began a pilgrimage
132
320000
2000
带着，第十四代达赖喇嘛Trulshik Rinpoche的祝福，我们开始了
05:34
to a curious destination,
133
322000
2000
前往好奇之地的朝圣之旅，
05:36
accompanied by a great doctor.
134
324000
2000
和我们同行的还有一个医生。
05:38
And the destination was a single room in a nunnery,
135
326000
3000
目的地是尼姑庵中的一个小房间
05:41
where a woman had gone into lifelong retreat
136
329000
2000
在那里有一位终身隐居的女士，
05:43
55 years before.
137
331000
3000
55年前就开始了隐居。
05:46
And en route, we took darshan from Rinpoche,
138
334000
3000
沾了Rinpoche的光，
05:49
and he sat with us and told us about the Four Noble Truths,
139
337000
3000
他坐在我们身边，告诉我们四大真理，
05:52
the essence of the Buddhist path.
140
340000
2000
佛教徒之路的精髓。
05:54
All life is suffering. That doesn't mean all life is negative.
141
342000
3000
生命即苦难。这并不代表我们就可以否定生命。
05:57
It means things happen.
142
345000
2000
它的意思是事事皆可能发生。
05:59
The cause of suffering is ignorance.
143
347000
2000
苦难的根源在于无知。
06:01
By that, the Buddha did not mean stupidity;
144
349000
2000
通过这句话，佛并不是愚蠢。
06:03
he meant clinging to the illusion
145
351000
2000
他坚守这样的信念，
06:05
that life is static and predictable.
146
353000
2000
即生活是静止的、可预测的。
06:07
The third noble truth said that ignorance can be overcome.
147
355000
2000
第三个真理是无知是能够被克服的。
06:09
And the fourth and most important, of course,
148
357000
2000
第四个也是最重要的，当然，
06:11
was the delineation of a contemplative practice
149
359000
2000
是对冥想做法的描述，
06:13
that not only had the possibility
150
361000
2000
冥想带来人类心灵的升华
06:15
of a transformation of the human heart,
151
363000
2000
不仅仅是一种可能，
06:17
but had 2,500 years of empirical evidence
152
365000
3000
已经有两千五百年的经验证据，
06:20
that such a transformation was a certainty.
153
368000
3000
表明升华是注定的。
06:23
And so, when this door opened onto the face of a woman
154
371000
2000
所以当门打开，看到那个女人，
06:25
who had not been out of that room in 55 years,
155
373000
3000
那个55年都没有出门的人，
06:28
you did not see a mad woman.
156
376000
2000
你并没有看到一个疯子。
06:30
You saw a woman who was more clear
157
378000
2000
你看到了一个比山间清泉
06:32
than a pool of water in a mountain stream.
158
380000
3000
更澄澈的人。
06:35
And of course, this is what the Tibetan monks told us.
159
383000
3000
事实上，藏族和尚告诉我们：
06:39
They said, at one point, you know, we don't really believe
160
387000
3000
他们说，有时，正如你们所知，我们也不信
06:42
you went to the moon, but you did.
161
390000
2000
人类到达了月球，但是事实就是如此。
06:44
You may not believe that we achieve enlightenment
162
392000
2000
你或许并不相信一辈子可以到达开悟的境界，
06:46
in one lifetime, but we do.
163
394000
3000
但是事实就是如此。
06:49
And if we move from the realm of the spirit
164
397000
2000
让我们从精神领域转到
06:51
to the realm of the physical,
165
399000
2000
生理领域，
06:53
to the sacred geography of Peru --
166
401000
2000
到神圣的秘鲁地界。
06:55
I've always been interested in the relationships of indigenous people
167
403000
3000
我时常对当地人的关系感兴趣，
06:58
that literally believe that the Earth is alive,
168
406000
2000
他们真的相信土地是活的，
07:00
responsive to all of their aspirations,
169
408000
2000
能够对他们的渴望，
07:02
all of their needs.
170
410000
2000
他们的需求做出回应。
07:04
And, of course, the human population
171
412000
2000
当然，人类
07:06
has its own reciprocal obligations.
172
414000
2000
有着繁衍后代的责任。
07:08
I spent 30 years living amongst
173
416000
2000
我曾经花了30年时间生活在
07:10
the people of Chinchero
174
418000
2000
Chincherro族人中，
07:12
and I always heard about an event that I always wanted to participate in.
175
420000
3000
我时常听说一种我一直期待能够参与的仪式。
07:15
Once each year, the fastest young boy
176
423000
3000
每年，跑的最快的年轻男子
07:18
in each hamlet is given the honor of becoming a woman.
177
426000
3000
每村，都被给予成为女人的荣耀。
07:21
And for one day, he wears the clothing of his sister
178
429000
2000
那一天，他可以穿上姐姐或妹妹的衣服，
07:23
and he becomes a transvestite,
179
431000
2000
成为一个异装者，
07:25
a waylaka. And for that day,
180
433000
2000
一个“waylaka”。并且，那天，
07:27
he leads all able-bodied men on a run,
181
435000
3000
他带领所有健壮的男子奔跑，
07:30
but it's not your ordinary run.
182
438000
2000
但是这不是惯常的跑步。
07:32
You start off at 11,500 feet.
183
440000
3000
在11500高英尺的地方开始奔跑，
07:35
You run down to the base of the sacred mountain, Antakillqa.
184
443000
2000
跑到圣山Antkilka的山脚下，
07:37
You run up to 15,000 feet,
185
445000
2000
然后再爬上15000英尺，
07:39
descend 3,000 feet.
186
447000
2000
下去3000英尺，
07:41
Climb again over the course of 24 hours.
187
449000
2000
在24小时之内再次往上爬。
07:44
And of course, the waylakama spin,
188
452000
2000
当然，Waylakamaspin，
07:46
the trajectory of the route,
189
454000
2000
也就是这一线路，
07:48
is marked by holy mounds of Earth,
190
456000
2000
是以地球上的圣山为标志的
07:50
where coke is given to the Earth, libations of alcohol to the wind,
191
458000
3000
可可献给大地，美酒献给为风，
07:53
the vortex of the feminine is brought to the mountaintop.
192
461000
3000
女性的旋风被带到山顶，
07:56
And the metaphor is clear: you go into the mountain as an individual,
193
464000
3000
寓意很明显：你独自一人如山，
07:59
but through exhaustion, through sacrifice,
194
467000
3000
历经疲倦，历经牺牲，
08:02
you emerge as a community that has once again
195
470000
2000
你最终成为集体的一员
08:04
reaffirmed its sense of place in the planet.
196
472000
3000
再一次确认了存在于地球的意义。
08:07
And at 48, I was the only outsider ever to go through this,
197
475000
3000
在48岁的年纪，我是唯一一个跑完全程的外来者，
08:10
only one to finish it.
198
478000
2000
唯一跑完的一个。
08:12
I only managed to do it by chewing more coca leaves in one day
199
480000
3000
我在那一天咀嚼了多于4000年以来任何人一天吃的更多的可可叶
08:15
than anyone in the 4,000-year history of the plant.
200
483000
3000
才能够跑完的。
08:19
But these localized rituals become pan-Andean,
201
487000
2000
这种区域性的仪式变成了整个安第斯山的传统，
08:21
and these fantastic festivals,
202
489000
2000
这些极好的节日，
08:23
like that of the Qoyllur Rit'i, which occurs
203
491000
2000
像Qoyllur Rit'i的节日，
08:25
when the Pleiades reappear in the winter sky.
204
493000
3000
当昴宿星出现在冬日的天空时，
08:28
It's kind of like an Andean Woodstock:
205
496000
2000
就像安第斯山的伍德斯托克音乐节：
08:30
60,000 Indians on pilgrimage
206
498000
2000
6万印第安那原著民
08:32
to the end of a dirt road
207
500000
2000
踏上土地
08:34
that leads to the sacred valley, called the Sinakara,
208
502000
2000
走往名叫“ Sinakara”的圣村，
08:36
which is dominated by three tongues
209
504000
2000
这个圣村有3种说法，
08:38
of the great glacier.
210
506000
2000
关于冰山。
08:40
The metaphor is so clear. You bring the crosses from your community,
211
508000
3000
寓意也很明显。你从你的群体中带来十字架，
08:43
in this wonderful fusion of Christian
212
511000
2000
在这个融合基督精神
08:45
and pre-Columbian ideas.
213
513000
2000
和前哥伦比亚思想的地方。
08:47
You place the cross into the ice,
214
515000
2000
你把十字架放入冰河中
08:49
in the shadow of Ausangate, the most sacred of all Apus,
215
517000
3000
在Ausangate的阴影中，所有Apus中最神圣的，
08:52
or sacred mountains of the Inca.
216
520000
2000
或者说Inca最神圣的山。
08:54
And then you do the ritual dances that empower the crosses.
217
522000
3000
之后，你跳起为十字架赋予力量的宗教舞蹈。
08:57
Now, these ideas and these events
218
525000
2000
现在，这些思想和事件
08:59
allow us even to deconstruct iconic places
219
527000
3000
允许我们得以重构这些象征性的地方
09:02
that many of you have been to, like Machu Picchu.
220
530000
2000
像你们很多人去过的马丘比丘。
09:04
Machu Picchu was never a lost city.
221
532000
2000
马丘比丘并不是一个失落之城。
09:06
On the contrary, it was completely linked in
222
534000
2000
相反，它完全与
09:08
to the 14,000 kilometers of royal roads
223
536000
3000
印加人在最近一个世纪修的
09:11
the Inca made in less than a century.
224
539000
2000
一万四千公里圣道相联系。
09:13
But more importantly, it was linked in
225
541000
2000
更重要的是，它与
09:15
to the Andean notions of sacred geography.
226
543000
3000
安第斯山所谓的神圣地理相联系。
09:18
The intiwatana, the hitching post to the sun,
227
546000
3000
Intiwatana，挽留太阳的地方，
09:21
is actually an obelisk that constantly reflects the light
228
549000
3000
事实上一座持续反射光线的方尖石塔
09:24
that falls on the sacred Apu of Machu Picchu,
229
552000
3000
坐落在神圣的马丘比丘的Apu，
09:27
which is Sugarloaf Mountain, called Huayna Picchu.
230
555000
3000
是座圆锥形的山，叫做Huayna Picchu。
09:30
If you come to the south of the intiwatana, you find an altar.
231
558000
3000
当你到达 Intiwatana南部时，你会发现一个圣坛。
09:33
Climb Huayna Picchu, find another altar.
232
561000
2000
爬上Huayna Picchu，你会发现另外一个圣坛。
09:35
Take a direct north-south bearing,
233
563000
2000
向正南-北的方向看，
09:37
you find to your astonishment
234
565000
2000
你会惊奇地发现，
09:39
that it bisects the intiwatana stone,
235
567000
2000
它把Intiwatana一分为二，
09:41
goes to the skyline,
236
569000
2000
一直延伸到天际线，
09:43
hits the heart of Salcantay, the second of the most important mountains
237
571000
3000
到达Salcantay山的正中心，Salcantay是第二座最重要的山
09:46
of the Incan empire.
238
574000
2000
印加帝国中，
09:48
And then beyond Salcantay, of course,
239
576000
2000
过了Salcantay山，当然，
09:50
when the southern cross reaches the southernmost point in the sky,
240
578000
3000
当到达天际的最南端，
09:53
directly in that same alignment, the Milky Way overhead.
241
581000
3000
你会发现银河就在头顶，呈现相同的布局。
09:56
But what is enveloping Machu Picchu from below?
242
584000
3000
包围马丘比丘的是：
09:59
The sacred river, the Urubamba, or the Vilcanota,
243
587000
3000
圣河，乌鲁班巴，或叫Vilcanota，
10:02
which is itself the Earthly equivalent of the Milky Way,
244
590000
3000
与银河一样古老，
10:05
but it's also the trajectory that Viracocha walked
245
593000
3000
这也是Viracocha走过的道路
10:08
at the dawn of time when he brought the universe into being.
246
596000
3000
在他创造宇宙那天的傍晚。
10:11
And where does the river rise?
247
599000
2000
这条河的起源在哪里？
10:13
Right on the slopes of the Koariti.
248
601000
4000
正在Koiariti的斜坡上。
10:17
So, 500 years after Columbus,
249
605000
2000
所以在哥伦布发现新大陆的五百年之后，
10:19
these ancient rhythms of landscape
250
607000
3000
这些古老的对大自然的赞美之歌
10:22
are played out in ritual.
251
610000
2000
在仪式中得以体现。
10:24
Now, when I was here at the first TED,
252
612000
2000
在我第一次到TED时，
10:26
I showed this photograph: two men of the Elder Brothers,
253
614000
3000
我展示了这张照片——兄弟俩的照片，
10:29
the descendants, survivors of El Dorado.
254
617000
3000
理想黄金国（Eldorado）的幸存者，子孙。
10:32
These, of course, are the descendants
255
620000
3000
他们，当然是后裔
10:35
of the ancient Tairona civilization.
256
623000
3000
是古老的荣泰纳（Tairona）文化的后继者。
10:38
If those of you who are here remember that I mentioned
257
626000
2000
如果你们中有人还记得我提到过的
10:40
that they remain ruled by a ritual priesthood,
258
628000
3000
他们仍然被仪式祭司管束，
10:43
but the training for the priesthood is extraordinary.
259
631000
2000
但是训练成为祭司是很特别的。
10:45
Taken from their families, sequestered in a shadowy world of darkness
260
633000
3000
从家里面被带出来，躲避在黑暗的地方
10:48
for 18 years -- two nine-year periods deliberately chosen
261
636000
3000
长达18年——特意挑选两个九年来
10:51
to evoke the nine months they spend in the natural mother's womb.
262
639000
3000
唤起在母亲子宫中度过的九个月。
10:54
All that time, the world only exists as an abstraction,
263
642000
4000
在那时，整个世界就是抽象的，
10:58
as they are taught the values of their society.
264
646000
2000
此时，他们被教导以他们社会的价值规范。
11:00
Values that maintain the proposition that their prayers,
265
648000
3000
那种价值观让他们相信
11:03
and their prayers alone, maintain the cosmic balance.
266
651000
3000
他们的祈祷本身就可以维系宇宙的平衡。
11:06
Now, the measure of a society is not only what it does,
267
654000
3000
现今，对社会的衡量已经不仅如此，
11:09
but the quality of its aspirations.
268
657000
2000
还包括它有什么美好的渴望。
11:11
And I always wanted to go back into these mountains,
269
659000
2000
我时常想回到那些山里，
11:13
to see if this could possibly be true,
270
661000
3000
去看这是否是真的，
11:16
as indeed had been reported by the great anthropologist,
271
664000
3000
就像伟大的人类学家，
11:19
Reichel-Dolmatoff.
272
667000
2000
雷赫尔•多尔马托夫报道的那样。
11:21
So, literally two weeks ago,
273
669000
2000
事实上两周以前，
11:23
I returned from having spent six weeks with the Elder Brothers
274
671000
3000
我刚回来，与兄弟们度过了六周时间
11:26
on what was clearly the most
275
674000
2000
这个旅程，
11:28
extraordinary trip of my life.
276
676000
2000
无疑是我生命中最奇特的。
11:30
These really are a people who live and breathe
277
678000
3000
他们真的是生活在、呼吸着
11:33
the realm of the sacred,
278
681000
2000
神圣的气息，
11:35
a baroque religiosity that is simply awesome.
279
683000
2000
异常虔诚。
11:37
They consume more coca leaves than any human population,
280
685000
3000
他们消费的可可叶比其他民族都多，
11:40
half a pound per man, per day.
281
688000
2000
每天每个男人半英镑。
11:42
The gourd you see here is --
282
690000
3000
你在这里能看到的是——
11:45
everything in their lives is symbolic.
283
693000
3000
每样事物都具有寓意。
11:48
Their central metaphor is a loom.
284
696000
2000
他们核心的隐喻是织布机。
11:50
They say, "Upon this loom, I weave my life."
285
698000
2000
生活就像一个织布机，而自己就在这台机器上编织着五光十色的人生。
11:52
They refer to the movements as they exploit the ecological niches of the gradient
286
700000
3000
他们将他们开发倾斜的生态壁橱的做法视为
11:55
as "threads."
287
703000
2000
“穿线”。
11:57
When they pray for the dead, they make these gestures with their hands,
288
705000
3000
当他们为死去的人们祈祷时，他们就用他们的双手做出这样的姿势，
12:00
spinning their thoughts into the heavens.
289
708000
3000
将他们的思想带入天堂。
12:03
You can see the calcium buildup on the head of the poporo gourd.
290
711000
3000
你能够看到钙质在Poporo 瓢的顶部结晶。
12:06
The gourd is a feminine aspect; the stick is a male.
291
714000
3000
葫芦的外表是雌性的，梗是雄性的。
12:09
You put the stick in the powder
292
717000
2000
当你把梗研成粉末
12:11
to take the sacred ashes -- well, they're not ashes,
293
719000
2000
得到神圣的粉末——它们也不是普通的粉末，
12:14
they're burnt limestone --
294
722000
1000
它们是烧过的石灰石——
12:15
to empower the coca leaf, to change
295
723000
2000
能够使得可可叶具有
12:17
the pH of the mouth to facilitate the absorption
296
725000
2000
改变嘴里PH值以帮助
12:19
of cocaine hydrochloride.
297
727000
2000
可卡因盐酸盐的吸收。
12:21
But if you break a gourd, you cannot simply throw it away,
298
729000
3000
但是当你打开一根梗，你不能轻易扔掉它，
12:24
because every stroke of that stick
299
732000
2000
因为一旦扔掉那个梗
12:26
that has built up that calcium,
300
734000
2000
那些用于累积钙质的梗，
12:28
the measure of a man's life,
301
736000
2000
对一个男士生活的衡量
12:30
has a thought behind it.
302
738000
3000
也就被扔掉了。
12:33
Fields are planted in such an extraordinary way,
303
741000
2000
耕种田地的方式如此特别，
12:35
that the one side of the field
304
743000
2000
以至于田地的一边
12:37
is planted like that by the women.
305
745000
2000
就像被女性耕种过一样。
12:39
The other side is planted like that by the men. Metaphorically,
306
747000
3000
另一边像被男性耕种过，
12:42
you turn it on the side, and you have a piece of cloth.
307
750000
3000
你在旁边改变它，你就会得到一块布。
12:45
And they are the descendants of the ancient Tairona civilization,
308
753000
3000
他们是原始的泰荣纳（Tairona）文明的后裔，
12:48
the greatest goldsmiths of South America,
309
756000
1000
南美最伟大的铁匠，
12:49
who in the wake of the conquest,
310
757000
2000
那些人在征战的年代，
12:51
retreated into this isolated volcanic massif
311
759000
3000
隐退到这片荒凉的火山区域
12:54
that soars to 20,000 feet
312
762000
2000
比加勒比海岸的平原
12:56
above the Caribbean coastal plain.
313
764000
2000
高出2万英尺。
12:58
There are four societies:
314
766000
2000
这里有四个社会：
13:00
the Kogi, the Wiwa, the Kankwano and the Arhuacos.
315
768000
3000
the Kogi, the Wiwa, the Kankuamo and the Arhuacos。
13:03
I traveled with the Arhuacos,
316
771000
2000
我与 Arhuacos一同旅行，
13:05
and the wonderful thing about this story
317
773000
2000
关于这个故事美妙的事情是
13:07
was that this man, Danilo Villafane --
318
775000
3000
这个名叫Danilo Viathanya的男人，
13:10
if we just jump back here for a second.
319
778000
3000
如果我们可以在此跳回过去。
13:13
When I first met Danilo, in the Colombian embassy in Washington,
320
781000
3000
当我第一次在华盛顿的哥伦比亚大使馆见到达尼洛的时候，
13:16
I couldn't help but say, "You know,
321
784000
2000
我脱口说出，
13:18
you look a lot like an old friend of mine."
322
786000
2000
你很像我的一个老朋友。
13:20
Well, it turns out he was the son of my friend, Adalberto,
323
788000
3000
事实是他就是我朋友Aroberto的儿子，
13:23
from 1974, who had been killed by the FARC.
324
791000
3000
Aroberto于1974年被哥伦比亚武装力量打死，
13:26
And I said, "Danilo, you won't remember this,
325
794000
3000
并且我说，Danilo,你肯定不记得，
13:29
but when you were an infant, I carried you on my back,
326
797000
2000
当你还是婴儿的时候，我把你背在背上
13:31
up and down the mountains."
327
799000
2000
穿越高山。
13:33
And because of that, Danilo invited us
328
801000
2000
正因为如此，达尼罗邀请我们
13:35
to go to the very heart of the world,
329
803000
2000
去世界的正中心，
13:37
a place where no journalist had ever been permitted.
330
805000
2000
一个任何记者都不被允许进入的地区。
13:39
Not simply to the flanks of the mountains,
331
807000
2000
我们不仅到了山的侧翼，
13:41
but to the very iced peaks which are the destiny of the pilgrims.
332
809000
3000
也到了冰雪覆盖的山顶，也就是朝圣的目的地。
13:44
And this man sitting cross-legged
333
812000
2000
这个盘腿坐的男人
13:46
is now a grown-up Eugenio,
334
814000
2000
是一个长大的 “Yuhenio”，
13:48
a man who I've known since 1974.
335
816000
3000
我自从1974年就认识他了。
13:51
And this is one of those initiates.
336
819000
2000
这就是早期的加入者之一。
13:53
No, it's not true that they're kept in the darkness for 18 years,
337
821000
3000
不对，他们在黑暗中待18年的说法并不对，
13:56
but they are kept within the confines
338
824000
2000
但是他们是被限制在
13:58
of the ceremonial men's circle
339
826000
2000
男仪式主持者的圈子中
14:00
for 18 years.
340
828000
2000
长达18年。
14:02
This little boy will never step outside
341
830000
2000
这些小孩子从没有机会走到
14:04
of the sacred fields
342
832000
2000
圣地的外面
14:06
that surround the men's hut for all that time,
343
834000
3000
圣地由男人的小屋包围着，
14:09
until he begins his journey of initiation.
344
837000
3000
任何时候都不准出去直到宗教旅途的开始。
14:12
For that entire time, the world only exists as an abstraction,
345
840000
3000
在整个时间里，世界被视为一种抽象的存在，
14:15
as he is taught the values of society,
346
843000
2000
他被教以社会的价值，
14:17
including this notion that their prayers alone
347
845000
2000
包括这样的观念，即祈祷者独自
14:19
maintain the cosmic balance.
348
847000
3000
在维持宇宙的和谐。
14:22
Before we could begin our journey,
349
850000
2000
在旅程开始之前，
14:24
we had to be cleansed at the portal of the Earth.
350
852000
2000
我们在洞穴的门口清洁干净自己。
14:26
And it was extraordinary to be taken by a priest.
351
854000
2000
被神父带领是个很神奇的经历——
14:28
And you see that the priest never wears shoes because holy feet --
352
856000
3000
你会看到神父永远不穿鞋子，因为神圣的双脚——
14:31
there must be nothing between the feet
353
859000
2000
对Mamo来说，脚与大地之间
14:33
and the Earth for a mamo.
354
861000
3000
必须不能存在任何东西。
14:36
And this is actually the place where the Great Mother
355
864000
2000
这里也是伟大母亲
14:38
sent the spindle into the world
356
866000
2000
将纺锤置于世界
14:40
that elevated the mountains and created the homeland
357
868000
2000
抬高了山脉，创造了家园
14:42
that they call the heart of the world.
358
870000
2000
他们称之为世界之心的地方。
14:44
We traveled high into the paramo,
359
872000
2000
我们爬到Potomo的高处，
14:46
and as we crested the hills,
360
874000
2000
当我们沿着山脊攀爬时，
14:48
we realized that the men were interpreting
361
876000
2000
当地人们对
14:50
every single bump on the landscape
362
878000
2000
每个自然景色的诠释
14:52
in terms of their own intense religiosity.
363
880000
3000
都带有强烈的宗教色彩。
14:55
And then of course, as we reached our final destination,
364
883000
3000
当然，等我们到达最终的目的地，
14:58
a place called Mamancana,
365
886000
2000
一个叫做Mananakana的地方时，
15:00
we were in for a surprise,
366
888000
2000
我们着实吃了一惊，
15:02
because the FARC were waiting to kidnap us.
367
890000
2000
因为哥伦比亚革命武装力量等着绑架我们。
15:04
And so we ended up being taken aside into these huts,
368
892000
3000
所以当我们最终被带到他们的洞穴，
15:07
hidden away until the darkness.
369
895000
2000
在黑暗中被藏起来。
15:09
And then, abandoning all our gear,
370
897000
2000
然后丢掉我们所有的工具，
15:11
we were forced to ride out in the middle of the night,
371
899000
3000
我们在午夜被强制赶着骑行离开，
15:14
in a quite dramatic scene.
372
902000
2000
那是一个很戏剧化的场面。
15:16
It's going to look like a John Ford Western.
373
904000
2000
看起来就像导演约翰•福特拍摄的西部片。
15:18
And we ran into a FARC patrol at dawn, so it was quite harrowing.
374
906000
3000
当黎明时我们遇到了哥伦比亚革命武装力量的巡逻队，所以是很惨的经历。
15:21
It will be a very interesting film. But what was fascinating
375
909000
3000
那一定会是一部非常有趣的电影。但是更神奇的是
15:24
is that the minute there was a sense of dangers,
376
912000
2000
当感到危险的那一刻，
15:26
the mamos went into a circle of divination.
377
914000
3000
Mamos做了个占卜。
15:29
And of course, this is a photograph
378
917000
2000
当然，这张照片
15:31
literally taken the night we were in hiding,
379
919000
2000
实际上拍摄于我们躲起来的那个晚上，
15:33
as they divine their route
380
921000
2000
那时他们占卜出了
15:35
to take us out of the mountains.
381
923000
2000
带领我们出山的道路。
15:37
We were able to, because we had trained
382
925000
2000
我们能够，因为我们事前训练过
15:39
people in filmmaking,
383
927000
2000
人们如何拍摄电影，
15:41
continue with our work,
384
929000
2000
继续我们的工作，
15:43
and send our Wiwa and Arhuaco filmmakers
385
931000
3000
把我们的Wiwa和 Arhuaco 的电影制作者派到
15:46
to the final sacred lakes
386
934000
2000
终点的圣湖
15:48
to get the last shots for the film,
387
936000
2000
去拍摄最后一个场景，
15:50
and we followed the rest of the Arhuaco back to the sea,
388
938000
2000
我们让其他的Arhuaco回到海上，
15:52
taking the elements from the highlands to the sea.
389
940000
3000
从山丘处拍摄海。
15:55
And here you see how their sacred landscape
390
943000
2000
现在我们就看到了神圣的景色
15:57
has been covered by brothels and hotels and casinos,
391
945000
3000
被妓院、旅店和赌场包围着，
16:00
and yet, still they pray.
392
948000
3000
他们仍然，祈祷。
16:03
And it's an amazing thing to think
393
951000
2000
想到
16:05
that this close to Miami,
394
953000
3000
距离迈阿密这么近，
16:08
two hours from Miami, there is an entire civilization of people
395
956000
3000
两个小时的车程，这里有一个完整的民族
16:11
praying every day for your well-being.
396
959000
3000
为你的幸福在日日祈祷。
16:14
They call themselves the Elder Brothers.
397
962000
2000
他们自称为兄长。
16:16
They dismiss the rest of us who have ruined the world
398
964000
3000
他们将我们这些毁坏世界的人
16:19
as the Younger Brothers. They cannot understand
399
967000
2000
称作弟弟。他们无法理解
16:21
why it is that we do what we do to the Earth.
400
969000
3000
我们对大自然的破坏行为。
16:24
Now, if we slip to another end of the world,
401
972000
2000
现今，如果我们到世界的另一端。
16:26
I was up in the high Arctic
402
974000
2000
我在北极
16:28
to tell a story about global warming,
403
976000
2000
讲述全球变暖的故事，
16:30
inspired in part by
404
978000
2000
部分受到
16:32
the former Vice President's wonderful book.
405
980000
2000
副总统的著作的启发。
16:34
And what struck me so extraordinary
406
982000
2000
使我震惊的是
16:36
was to be again with the Inuit --
407
984000
2000
再次与因纽特人在一起——
16:38
a people who don't fear the cold, but take advantage of it.
408
986000
3000
这个民族的人并不惧怕寒冷反而利用它。
16:41
A people who
409
989000
2000
这个民族的人
16:43
find a way, with their imagination,
410
991000
2000
发现了用想象，
16:45
to carve life out of that very frozen.
411
993000
3000
在冰天雪地中开创生活。
16:48
A people for whom blood on ice
412
996000
2000
这个民族的人们并不会把冰上的血滴
16:50
is not a sign of death, but an affirmation of life.
413
998000
3000
视为死亡的标志，反而是对生活的肯定。
16:53
And yet tragically, when you now go to those northern communities,
414
1001000
2000
悲惨的是，当你现在再去那些北方地区，
16:55
you find to your astonishment
415
1003000
2000
你会吃惊地发现
16:57
that whereas the sea ice used to come in in September
416
1005000
2000
那些在九月份冻结起来，
16:59
and stay till July,
417
1007000
2000
直到次年七月的冰，
17:01
in a place like Kanak in northern Greenland,
418
1009000
2000
在像被格陵兰到的Kanak地区，
17:03
it literally comes in now in November
419
1011000
2000
事实上到十二月份才结冰，
17:05
and stays until March.
420
1013000
2000
三月份就化掉了。
17:07
So, their entire year has been cut in half.
421
1015000
3000
所以他们的整年就被一分两半。
17:10
Now, I want to stress that none of these peoples
422
1018000
2000
现在，我想强调的是，
17:12
that I've been quickly talking about here
423
1020000
2000
这些我快速讲述的民族，
17:14
are disappearing worlds.
424
1022000
2000
并没有消失。
17:16
These are not dying peoples.
425
1024000
2000
他们并不是垂死挣扎的人们。
17:18
On the contrary, you know,
426
1026000
2000
相反，正如你所指，
17:20
if you have the heart to feel and the eyes to see,
427
1028000
2000
如果你用心去感受，用眼睛去观察，
17:22
you discover that the world is not flat.
428
1030000
2000
你会发现世界并不是平的。
17:24
The world remains a rich tapestry.
429
1032000
3000
世界仍然是色彩丰富的挂毯。
17:27
It remains a rich topography of the spirit.
430
1035000
3000
它仍然像精神领域高低不平的地质。
17:30
These myriad voices of humanity
431
1038000
2000
人类种种不同的声音
17:32
are not failed attempts at being new,
432
1040000
2000
并不是缺乏经验的失败的尝试，
17:34
failed attempts at being modern.
433
1042000
2000
并不是时髦时代失败的尝试。
17:36
They're unique facets of the human imagination.
434
1044000
2000
他们是人类想象的不同方面。
17:38
They're unique answers to a fundamental question:
435
1046000
3000
他们是对终极问题的别出心裁的回答：
17:41
what does it mean to be human and alive?
436
1049000
3000
这个问题就是人是什么？活着意味着什么？
17:44
And when asked that question, they respond
437
1052000
2000
当被问及这个问题是，他们有
17:46
with 6,000 different voices.
438
1054000
2000
6千种不同的回答。
17:48
And collectively, those voices become our human repertoire
439
1056000
3000
最终，这些声音成为人类
17:51
for dealing with the challenges that will confront us
440
1059000
2000
解决我们所面临的挑战的所有方法
17:53
in the ensuing millennia.
441
1061000
2000
在接下来的千年中。
17:55
Our industrial society is scarcely
442
1063000
2000
我们的工业社会不过
17:57
300 years old.
443
1065000
2000
3百年历史。
17:59
That shallow history shouldn't suggest to anyone
444
1067000
2000
这短浅的历史暗示我们
18:01
that we have all of the answers
445
1069000
2000
我们并没有得到
18:03
for all of the questions that will confront us
446
1071000
2000
回答我们面临的所有问题的答案
18:05
in the ensuing millennia.
447
1073000
2000
在接下来的千年中。
18:07
The myriad voices of humanity are not failed attempts at being us.
448
1075000
3000
人类解决问题的多样性并非是对人类自我的否定，
18:10
They are unique answers to that fundamental question:
449
1078000
3000
而是人们是对终极问题的不同回答：
18:13
what does it mean to be human and alive?
450
1081000
2000
身为人类和活着的意义何在？
18:15
And there is indeed a fire burning over the Earth,
451
1083000
3000
地球上确实燃烧着烈火，
18:18
taking with it not only plants and animals,
452
1086000
3000
不仅带着了植物和动物，
18:21
but the legacy of humanity's brilliance.
453
1089000
2000
还带走了人类辉煌的传统。
18:23
Right now, as we sit here in this room,
454
1091000
2000
此刻，当我们坐在这个房间，
18:25
of those 6,000 languages spoken the day that you were born,
455
1093000
3000
你出生时正在被使用的六千种语言中，
18:28
fully half aren't being taught to children.
456
1096000
3000
足有一般都没有传授给下一代的孩子们。
18:31
So, you're living through a time
457
1099000
1000
所以你生活在这样一个时代
18:32
when virtually half of humanity's intellectual,
458
1100000
3000
一半的人类智慧、
18:35
social and spiritual legacy
459
1103000
2000
社会和精神遗产
18:37
is being allowed to slip away.
460
1105000
2000
都在悄然流逝。
18:39
This does not have to happen.
461
1107000
2000
后果不一定是这样。
18:41
These peoples are not failed attempts at being modern --
462
1109000
3000
这些人并不是现代化尝试的失败者——
18:44
quaint and colorful and destined to fade away
463
1112000
2000
奇怪、色彩鲜艳并且注定会消亡
18:46
as if by natural law.
464
1114000
2000
就像是遵循自然法则一样。
18:48
In every case, these are dynamic, living peoples
465
1116000
2000
任何时代，都有活着的人们
18:50
being driven out of existence by identifiable forces.
466
1118000
3000
被认同的压力驱赶着走向灭绝。
18:53
That's actually an optimistic observation,
467
1121000
3000
这事实上是一次积极的观察，
18:56
because it suggests that if human beings
468
1124000
2000
因为它暗示着如果人类
18:58
are the agents of cultural destruction,
469
1126000
2000
是破坏文化的罪魁祸首，
19:00
we can also be, and must be,
470
1128000
2000
我们同样能够成为，且必须成为，
19:02
the facilitators of cultural survival.
471
1130000
2000
文化的守护者。
19:04
Thank you very much.
472
1132000
2000
非常感谢！
ABOUT THE SPEAKER
Wade Davis - Anthropologist, ethnobotanistA National Geographic Explorer-in-Residence, Wade Davis has been described as “a rare combination of scientist, scholar, poet and passionate defender of all of life’s diversity.”
Why you should listen
Wade Davis is perhaps the most articulate and influential western advocate for the world's indigenous cultures. A National Geographic Explorer-in-Residence, he has been described as “a rare combination of scientist, scholar, poet and passionate defender of all of life’s diversity.” Trained in anthropology and botany at Harvard, he travels the globe to live alongside indigenous people, and document their cultural practices in books, photographs, and film. His stunning photographs and evocative stories capture the viewer's imagination. As a speaker, he parlays that sense of wonder into passionate concern over the rate at which cultures and languages are disappearing -- 50 percent of the world's 7,000 languages, he says, are no longer taught to children. He argues, in the most beautiful terms, that language is much more than vocabulary and grammatical rules. Every language is an old-growth forest of the mind.
Indigenous cultures are not failed attempts at modernity, let alone failed attempts to be us. They are unique expressions of the human imagination and heart, unique answers to a fundamental question: What does it mean to be human and alive? When asked this question, the peoples of the world respond in 7,000 different voices, and these collectively comprise our human repertoire for dealing with all the challenges that will confront us as a species over the coming centuries.
Davis is the author of 15 books including The Serpent and the Rainbow, One River, and The Wayfinders. His many film credits include Light at the Edge of the World, an eight-hour documentary series produced for the National Geographic. In 2009 he received the Gold Medal from the Royal Canadian Geographical Society for his contributions to anthropology and conservation, and he is the 2011 recipient of the Explorers Medal, the highest award of the Explorers’ Club, and the 2012 recipient of the Fairchild Medal for Plant Exploration. His latest books are Into the Silence: The Great War, Mallory and the Conquest of Everest and The Sacred Headwaters: the Fight to Save the Stikine, Skeena and the Nass.
Wade Davis | Speaker | TED.com