TED2011
Rajesh Rao: A Rosetta Stone for a lost language
Rajesh Rao: Kamen iz Rosette za indsko pismo
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Rajesha Raa fascinira "majka svih križaljki": kako dešifrirati 4.000 godina staro indsko pismo. Za TED 2011 on objašnjava kako koristi suvremenu računalnu tehnologiju za čitanje indskog jezika, ključ za razumijevanje ove drevne civilizacije.
Rajesh Rao - Computational neuroscientist
Rajesh Rao seeks to understand the human brain through computational modeling, on two fronts: developing computer models of our minds, and using tech to decipher the 4,000-year-old lost script of the Indus Valley civilization. Full bio
Rajesh Rao seeks to understand the human brain through computational modeling, on two fronts: developing computer models of our minds, and using tech to decipher the 4,000-year-old lost script of the Indus Valley civilization. Full bio
Double-click the English transcript below to play the video.
00:15
I'd like to begin with a thought experiment.
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Htio bih započeti s misaonim eksperimentom.
00:19
Imagine that it's 4,000 years into the future.
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Zamislite da smo otišli 4.000 godina u budućnost.
00:22
Civilization as we know it
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Civilizacija kakvu poznajemo
00:24
has ceased to exist --
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prestala je postojati --
00:26
no books,
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nema knjiga,
00:28
no electronic devices,
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nema elektroničkih uređaja,
00:31
no Facebook or Twitter.
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nema ni Facebooka ni Twittera.
00:34
All knowledge of the English language and the English alphabet
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Svo znanje engleskog jezika i engleske abecede
00:37
has been lost.
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je izgubljeno.
00:39
Now imagine archeologists
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Sad zamislite kako arheolozi
00:41
digging through the rubble of one of our cities.
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prekapaju ruševine jednog od naših gradova.
00:43
What might they find?
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Što bi mogli naći?
00:45
Well perhaps some rectangular pieces of plastic
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Možda nekoliko pravokutnih komada plastike
00:48
with strange symbols on them.
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na kojima se nalaze neobični znakovi.
00:51
Perhaps some circular pieces of metal.
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Možda nekoliko kružnih komada metala.
00:54
Maybe some cylindrical containers
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Možda nekoliko cilindričnih spremnika
00:56
with some symbols on them.
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na kojima se nalaze neki znakovi.
00:58
And perhaps one archeologist becomes an instant celebrity
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I možda jedan arheolog postane instant zvijezda
01:01
when she discovers --
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nakon što otkrije --
01:03
buried in the hills somewhere in North America --
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zakopane negdje u sjevernoameričkim brdima --
01:05
massive versions of these same symbols.
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ogromne verzije istih znakova.
01:10
Now let's ask ourselves,
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Zapitajmo se sada
01:12
what could such artifacts say about us
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što bi takvi artefakti mogli reći o nama
01:15
to people 4,000 years into the future?
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ljudima koji će živjeti 4.000 godina poslije nas?
01:18
This is no hypothetical question.
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To nije hipotetsko pitanje.
01:20
In fact, this is exactly the kind of question we're faced with
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Zapravo, to je točno ono pitanje s kojim se suočavamo
01:23
when we try to understand the Indus Valley civilization,
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kad pokušavamo razumjeti civilizaciju doline Inda
01:26
which existed 4,000 years ago.
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koja je postojala prije 4.000 godina.
01:28
The Indus civilization was roughly contemporaneous
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Civilizacija doline Inda postojala je otprilike istovremeno
01:31
with the much better known Egyptian and the Mesopotamian civilizations,
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s mnogo poznatijim civilizacijama Egipta i Mezopotamije
01:34
but it was actually much larger than either of these two civilizations.
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no bila je zapravo mnogo veća nego ijedna od njih.
01:37
It occupied the area
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Zauzimala je područje
01:39
of approximately one million square kilometers,
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od otprilike milijun kvadratnih kilometara,
01:41
covering what is now Pakistan,
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obuhvaćajući današnji Pakistan,
01:43
Northwestern India
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sjeveroistočnu Indiju
01:45
and parts of Afghanistan and Iran.
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i dijelove Afganistana i Irana.
01:47
Given that it was such a vast civilization,
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S obzirom na to da se radilo o tako velikoj civilizaciji
01:49
you might expect to find really powerful rulers, kings,
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mogli biste očekivati da ćete naići na doista moćne vladare, kraljeve
01:53
and huge monuments glorifying these powerful kings.
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i ogromne spomenike koji veličaju njihovu moć.
01:56
In fact,
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Zapravo,
01:58
what archeologists have found is none of that.
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arheolozi nisu pronašli ništa slično.
02:00
They've found small objects such as these.
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Pronašli su malene predmete poput ovih.
02:03
Here's an example of one of these objects.
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Ovo je primjer jednog od tih predmeta.
02:06
Well obviously this is a replica.
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Očigledno se radi o replici.
02:08
But who is this person?
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No tko je ovo?
02:11
A king? A god?
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Kralj? Bog?
02:13
A priest?
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Svećenik?
02:15
Or perhaps an ordinary person
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Ili možda običan čovjek
02:17
like you or me?
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poput mene ili vas?
02:19
We don't know.
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Ne znamo.
02:21
But the Indus people also left behind artifacts with writing on them.
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No ljudi Inda za sobom su ostavili i artefakte na kojima se nalaze zapisi.
02:24
Well no, not pieces of plastic,
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Pa, ne, nisu ostavili komade plastike
02:26
but stone seals, copper tablets,
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nego kamene pečate, bakrene pločice,
02:29
pottery and, surprisingly,
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lončariju i iznenađujuće
02:31
one large sign board,
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jednu veliku znakovnu ploču,
02:33
which was found buried near the gate of a city.
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koja je pronađena zakopana blizu vrata jednog grada.
02:35
Now we don't know if it says Hollywood,
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Ne znamo kazuje li Hollywood
02:37
or even Bollywood for that matter.
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ili Bollywood, što se toga tiče.
02:39
In fact, we don't even know
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Zapravo, ne znamo čak
02:41
what any of these objects say,
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ni što kazuje ijedan od ovih predmeta.
02:43
and that's because the Indus script is undeciphered.
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To je zato što pismo doline Inda nije dešifrirano.
02:46
We don't know what any of these symbols mean.
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Ne znamo što znači ijedan od ovih znakova.
02:48
The symbols are most commonly found on seals.
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Znakovi se najčešće nalaze na pečatima.
02:51
So you see up there one such object.
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Ondje gore vidite jedan takav predmet.
02:53
It's the square object with the unicorn-like animal on it.
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To je četvrtasti predmet koji krasi životinja poput jednoroga.
02:56
Now that's a magnificent piece of art.
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To je doista veličanstveno umjetničko djelo.
02:58
So how big do you think that is?
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Što mislite, koliko je velik?
03:00
Perhaps that big?
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Ovoliko?
03:02
Or maybe that big?
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Ili možda ovoliko?
03:04
Well let me show you.
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Dopustite da vam pokažem.
03:07
Here's a replica of one such seal.
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Ovo je replika jednog takvog pečata.
03:10
It's only about one inch by one inch in size --
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Velika je otprilike 2,5 x 2,5 cm --
03:12
pretty tiny.
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vrlo je malena.
03:14
So what were these used for?
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Za što su se takvi predmeti upotrebljavali?
03:16
We know that these were used for stamping clay tags
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Znamo da se ovo upotrebljavalo za utiskivanje oznaka u glinene pločice
03:19
that were attached to bundles of goods that were sent from one place to the other.
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koje su vješali na svežnjeve robe koju se slalo s jednog mjesta na drugo.
03:22
So you know those packing slips you get on your FedEx boxes?
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Dakle, znate li kako izgledaju tovarni listovi koje dobijete na FedExovim kutijama?
03:25
These were used to make those kinds of packing slips.
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Ovo se upotrebljavalo za izradu takvih tovarnih listova.
03:28
You might wonder what these objects contain
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Mogi biste se zapitati što ovi predmeti sadrže
03:31
in terms of their text.
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u tekstualnom smislu.
03:33
Perhaps they're the name of the sender
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Možda se radi o imenu pošiljatelja
03:35
or some information about the goods
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ili informacijama o robi
03:37
that are being sent from one place to the other -- we don't know.
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koju se šalje s jednog mjesta na drugo. Ne znamo.
03:40
We need to decipher the script to answer that question.
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Kako bismo mogli dati odgovor na to pitanje, moramo dešifrirati pismo.
03:42
Deciphering the script
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Dešifriranje tog pisma
03:44
is not just an intellectual puzzle;
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nije samo intelektualna zagonetka
03:46
it's actually become a question
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to je zapravo postalo pitanje
03:48
that's become deeply intertwined
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duboko isprepleteno
03:50
with the politics and the cultural history of South Asia.
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s politikom i kulturnom poviješću južne Azije.
03:53
In fact, the script has become a battleground of sorts
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Zapravo, pismo je postalo svojevrsno bojište
03:56
between three different groups of people.
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između triju različitih grupa ljudi.
03:58
First, there's a group of people
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Kao prvo, postoji grupa ljudi
04:00
who are very passionate in their belief
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koja strastveno vjeruje
04:02
that the Indus script
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kako indsko pismo
04:04
does not represent a language at all.
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uopće ne predstavlja jezik.
04:06
These people believe that the symbols
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Ti ljudi vjeruju kako su znakovi
04:08
are very similar to the kind of symbols you find on traffic signs
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vrlo slični onoj vrsti znakova koju nalazimo na prometnim znakovima
04:11
or the emblems you find on shields.
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ili amblemima koje nalazimo na štitovima.
04:14
There's a second group of people
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Druga grupa ljudi
04:16
who believe that the Indus script represents an Indo-European language.
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vjeruje kako indsko pismo predstavlja indoeuropski jezik.
04:19
If you look at a map of India today,
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Ako danas pogledate kartu Indije,
04:21
you'll see that most of the languages spoken in North India
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vidjet ćete kako većina jezika koji se govore u sjevernoj Indiji
04:24
belong to the Indo-European language family.
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pripada indoeuropskoj jezičnoj porodici.
04:27
So some people believe that the Indus script
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Stoga neki ljudi vjeruju kako indsko pismo
04:29
represents an ancient Indo-European language such as Sanskrit.
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predstavlja drevni indoeuropski jezik poput Sanskrta.
04:32
There's a last group of people
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Posljednja grupa ljudi
04:34
who believe that the Indus people
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vjeruje kako su ljudi Inda
04:37
were the ancestors of people living in South India today.
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bili preci ljudi koji danas žive u južnoj Indiji.
04:40
These people believe that the Indus script
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Ti ljudi vjeruju kako indsko pismo
04:42
represents an ancient form
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predstavlja drevni oblik
04:44
of the Dravidian language family,
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dravidske jezične porodice,
04:46
which is the language family spoken in much of South India today.
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što je jezična porodica kojom govori veliki dio današnje južne Indije.
04:49
And the proponents of this theory
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Predstavnici ove teorije
04:51
point to that small pocket of Dravidian-speaking people in the North,
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ukazuju na džepić ljudi na sjeveru koji govore dravidskim jezicima
04:54
actually near Afghanistan,
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zapravo blizu Afganistana,
04:56
and they say that perhaps, sometime in the past,
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i tvrde kako su se možda, jednom u prošlosti,
04:59
Dravidian languages were spoken all over India
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dravidski jezici govorili u cijeloj Indiji
05:02
and that this suggests
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što upućuje na to
05:04
that the Indus civilization is perhaps also Dravidian.
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da je indska civilizacija možda također dravidska.
05:07
Which of these hypotheses can be true?
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Koja bi od ovih hipoteza mogla biti točna?
05:10
We don't know, but perhaps if you deciphered the script,
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Ne znamo, no možda ako dešifriramo pismo
05:12
you would be able to answer this question.
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budemo u mogućnosti dati odgovor na to pitanje.
05:14
But deciphering the script is a very challenging task.
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No dešifriranje pisma je vrlo zahtjevan zadatak.
05:16
First, there's no Rosetta Stone.
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Kao prvo, ne postoji nešto poput Kamena iz Rosette.
05:18
I don't mean the software;
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Pritom ne mislim na program,
05:20
I mean an ancient artifact
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nego na antički artefakt
05:22
that contains in the same text
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koji sadrži u istom zapisu
05:24
both a known text and an unknown text.
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i poznati i nepoznati tekst.
05:27
We don't have such an artifact for the Indus script.
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Nemamo takav artefakt za indsko pismo.
05:30
And furthermore, we don't even know what language they spoke.
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Štoviše, ne znamo ni kojim su jezikom govorili.
05:33
And to make matters even worse,
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Što je još gore,
05:35
most of the text that we have are extremely short.
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većina tekstova koje imamo su jako kratki.
05:37
So as I showed you, they're usually found on these seals
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Kao što sam vam pokazao, većinom ih nalazimo na ovim pečatima
05:39
that are very, very tiny.
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koji su vrlo, vrlo mali.
05:41
And so given these formidable obstacles,
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Uzevši u obzir ove znatne prepreke,
05:43
one might wonder and worry
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mogli bismo se zapitati i zabrinuti
05:45
whether one will ever be able to decipher the Indus script.
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hoćemo li ikad moći dešifrirati indsko pismo.
05:48
In the rest of my talk,
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U ostatku svog predavanja
05:50
I'd like to tell you about how I learned to stop worrying
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ispričat ću vam kako sam naučio prestati se brinuti
05:52
and love the challenge posed by the Indus script.
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i zavolio izazov koji indsko pismo predstavlja.
05:54
I've always been fascinated by the Indus script
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Indsko pismo me oduvijek fasciniralo
05:57
ever since I read about it in a middle school textbook.
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još otkako sam o njemu čitao u srednjoškolskom udžbeniku.
05:59
And why was I fascinated?
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Zašto me fasciniralo?
06:01
Well it's the last major undeciphered script in the ancient world.
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To je posljednje veliko nedešifrirano pismo antičkog svijeta.
06:05
My career path led me to become a computational neuroscientist,
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Moj me karijerni pravac odveo u smjeru računalne neuroznanosti,
06:08
so in my day job,
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tako da na svom svakodnevnom poslu
06:10
I create computer models of the brain
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stvaram računalne modele mozga
06:12
to try to understand how the brain makes predictions,
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kako bih pokušao razumjeti kako mozak vrši predviđanja,
06:15
how the brain makes decisions,
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kako donosi odluke,
06:17
how the brain learns and so on.
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kako uči i tako dalje.
06:19
But in 2007, my path crossed again with the Indus script.
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No 2007. godine ponovno mi se put ukrstio s indskim pismom.
06:22
That's when I was in India,
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Bilo je to kad sam bio u Indiji,
06:24
and I had the wonderful opportunity
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i imao čudesnu mogućnost
06:26
to meet with some Indian scientists
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upoznati neke indijske znanstvenike
06:28
who were using computer models to try to analyze the script.
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koji su pokušavali analizirati pismo koristeći računalne modele.
06:31
And so it was then that I realized
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Tako sam shvatio
06:33
there was an opportunity for me to collaborate with these scientists,
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da postoji mogućnost da surađujem s tim znanstvenicima,
06:36
and so I jumped at that opportunity.
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pa sam zgrabio tu mogućnost.
06:38
And I'd like to describe some of the results that we have found.
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Htio bih opisati neke rezultate do kojih smo došli.
06:40
Or better yet, let's all collectively decipher.
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Ili još bolje, hajdemo svi zajedno dešifrirati.
06:43
Are you ready?
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Jeste li spremni?
06:45
The first thing that you need to do when you have an undeciphered script
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Prva stvar koju morate napraviti kad imate nedešifrirano pismo
06:48
is try to figure out the direction of writing.
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jest pokušati shvatiti smjer pisanja.
06:50
Here are two texts that contain some symbols on them.
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Ovdje imam dva teksta koji sadrže neke znakove.
06:53
Can you tell me
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Možete li mi reći
06:55
if the direction of writing is right to left or left to right?
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je li smjer pisanja s desna na lijevo ili s lijeva na desno?
06:58
I'll give you a couple of seconds.
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Dat ću vam par sekundi.
07:01
Okay. Right to left, how many? Okay.
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Dobro. Koliko vas misli s desna na lijevo? Dobro.
07:04
Okay. Left to right?
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Dobro. S lijeva na desno?
07:06
Oh, it's almost 50/50. Okay.
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Omjer je skoro 50/50, dobro.
07:08
The answer is:
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Odgovor je:
07:10
if you look at the left-hand side of the two texts,
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ako pogledate na lijevu stranu dvaju tekstova,
07:12
you'll notice that there's a cramping of signs,
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primijetit ćete zgušnjavanje znakova,
07:15
and it seems like 4,000 years ago,
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i čini se da je prije 4.000 godina
07:17
when the scribe was writing from right to left,
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kada je pisar pisao s lijeva na desno
07:19
they ran out of space.
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ostao bez prostora.
07:21
And so they had to cram the sign.
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Pa su morali zgusnuti znak.
07:23
One of the signs is also below the text on the top.
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Jedan od znakova je također ispod teksta na vrhu.
07:25
This suggests the direction of writing
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To upućuje na to da je smjer pisanja
07:27
was probably from right to left,
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vjerojatno bio s desna na lijevo.
07:29
and so that's one of the first things we know,
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Dakle, jedna od prvih stvari koje smo saznali
07:31
that directionality is a very key aspect of linguistic scripts.
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jest to kako je direkcionalnost ključni aspekt jezičnih pisama.
07:34
And the Indus script now has
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Indsko pismo sada
07:36
this particular property.
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ima tu određenu karakteristiku.
07:38
What other properties of language does the script show?
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Koje druge karakteristike pokazuje to pismo?
07:40
Languages contain patterns.
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Jezici sadrže uzorke.
07:42
If I give you the letter Q
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Ako vam dam slovo Q
07:44
and ask you to predict the next letter, what do you think that would be?
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i zatražim da predvidite sljedeće slovo, što mislite koje bi to bilo?
07:47
Most of you said U, which is right.
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Većina vas je rekla U, što je točno.
07:49
Now if I asked you to predict one more letter,
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Ako sada zatražim da pogodite još jedno slovo,
07:51
what do you think that would be?
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što mislite koje će to biti?
07:53
Now there's several thoughts. There's E. It could be I. It could be A,
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Sada imamo nekoliko ideja. Moglo bi biti E. Ili I. Ili A,
07:56
but certainly not B, C or D, right?
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ali sigurno ne B,C ili D, zar ne?
07:59
The Indus script also exhibits similar kinds of patterns.
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Indsko pismo također iskazuje sličnu vrstu uzoraka.
08:02
There's a lot of text that start with this diamond-shaped symbol.
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Mnogo tekstova započinje s ovim znakom u obliku dijamanta.
08:05
And this in turn tends to be followed
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Koji potom često slijedi
08:07
by this quotation marks-like symbol.
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ovaj znak koji nalikuje navodnicima.
08:09
And this is very similar to a Q and U example.
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To je vrlo slično primjeru sa Q i U.
08:11
This symbol can in turn be followed
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Ovaj znak zatim mogu slijediti
08:13
by these fish-like symbols and some other signs,
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ovi znaci nalik ribama i neki drugi znaci,
08:16
but never by these other signs at the bottom.
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no nikad ovi drugi znakovi na dnu.
08:18
And furthermore, there's some signs
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Štoviše, postoje neki znakovi
08:20
that really prefer the end of texts,
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koje uglavnom nalazimo na kraju tekstova,
08:22
such as this jar-shaped sign,
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poput ovog znaka nalik ćupu.
08:24
and this sign, in fact, happens to be
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Ovaj se znak, zapravo,
08:26
the most frequently occurring sign in the script.
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najčešće pojavljuje u pismu.
08:28
Given such patterns, here was our idea.
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Uzevši u obzir takve uzorke, naša je ideja bila ovakva.
08:31
The idea was to use a computer
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Ideja je bila koristiti računalo
08:33
to learn these patterns,
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kako bismo ga naučili ove uzorke
08:35
and so we gave the computer the existing texts.
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pa smo unijeli u računalo postojeće tekstove.
08:38
And the computer learned a statistical model
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Računalo je naučilo statistički model
08:40
of which symbols tend to occur together
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koji se znakovi imaju tendenciju pojavljivati zajedno
08:42
and which symbols tend to follow each other.
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i koji znakovi obično slijede jedni druge.
08:44
Given the computer model,
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Uzevši računalni model
08:46
we can test the model by essentially quizzing it.
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možemo ispitati model u osnovi mu postavljajući kviz pitanja.
08:49
So we could deliberately erase some symbols,
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Mogli bismo namjerno izbrisati pojedine znakove,
08:51
and we can ask it to predict the missing symbols.
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i upitati ga da pogodi nedostajuće znakove.
08:54
Here are some examples.
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Evo nekih primjera.
09:00
You may regard this
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Možete ovo smatrati
09:02
as perhaps the most ancient game
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možda najstarijom igrom
09:04
of Wheel of Fortune.
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Kola sreće.
09:08
What we found
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Što smo otkrili
09:10
was that the computer was successful in 75 percent of the cases
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jest to da je računalo bilo uspješno u 75% slučajeva
09:12
in predicting the correct symbol.
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predviđanja točnog znaka.
09:14
In the rest of the cases,
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U ostalim slučajevima,
09:16
typically the second best guess or third best guess was the right answer.
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najčešće je drugi ili treći odgovor bio točan.
09:19
There's also practical use
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Postoji i praktična primjena
09:21
for this particular procedure.
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ovog postupka.
09:23
There's a lot of these texts that are damaged.
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Mnogo je tekstova oštećeno.
09:25
Here's an example of one such text.
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Ovo je primjer jednog takvog teksta.
09:27
And we can use the computer model now to try to complete this text
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I sada možemo upotrijebiti računalni model kako bismo pokušali upotpuniti ovaj tekst
09:30
and make a best guess prediction.
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i predvidjeti najbolji pogodak.
09:32
Here's an example of a symbol that was predicted.
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Ovdje je primjer znaka koji je bio predviđen.
09:35
And this could be really useful as we try to decipher the script
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I to bi moglo biti uistinu korisno pri pokušaju dešifriranja pisma
09:37
by generating more data that we can analyze.
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stvaranjem više podataka koje možemo analizirati.
09:40
Now here's one other thing you can do with the computer model.
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Evo još jedne stvari koju možete napraviti s računalnim modelom.
09:43
So imagine a monkey
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Zamislite majmuna
09:45
sitting at a keyboard.
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kako sjedi za tipkovnicom.
09:47
I think you might get a random jumble of letters that looks like this.
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Mislim da biste mogli dobiti slučajnu mješavinu slova koja izgleda ovako.
09:50
Such a random jumble of letters
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Takve slučajne mješavine slova
09:52
is said to have a very high entropy.
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navodno imaju vrlo visoku entropiju.
09:54
This is a physics and information theory term.
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To je pojam iz fizike i informacijske teorije.
09:56
But just imagine it's a really random jumble of letters.
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No samo zamislite kako je to doista slučajna mješavina slova.
09:59
How many of you have ever spilled coffee on a keyboard?
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Koliko vas je ikad prolilo kavu po tipkovnici?
10:03
You might have encountered the stuck-key problem --
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Možda ste se susreli s problemom smrznute tipkovnice --
10:05
so basically the same symbol being repeated over and over again.
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u principu znak koji se uvijek iznova ponavlja.
10:08
This kind of a sequence is said to have a very low entropy
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Za takav slijed kažu kako ima vrlo nisku entropiju
10:11
because there's no variation at all.
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zato što uopće nema varijacije.
10:13
Language, on the other hand, has an intermediate level of entropy;
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Jezik, s druge strane, ima srednju razinu entropije,
10:16
it's neither too rigid,
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nije ni previše striktna
10:18
nor is it too random.
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ni previše slučajna.
10:20
What about the Indus script?
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Što je s indskim pismom?
10:22
Here's a graph that plots the entropies of a whole bunch of sequences.
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Ovo je grafikon koji prikazuje entropije cijelog niza slijedova.
10:26
At the very top you find the uniformly random sequence,
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Na samom vrhu nalazimo ravnomjerno slučajan slijed,
10:28
which is a random jumble of letters --
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koji je slučajna mješavina slova --
10:30
and interestingly, we also find
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i, zanimljivo, također nalazimo
10:32
the DNA sequence from the human genome and instrumental music.
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slijed DNK iz ljudskog genoma i instrumentalnu glazbu.
10:35
And both of these are very, very flexible,
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Oba ova slijeda su jako fleksibilna,
10:37
which is why you find them in the very high range.
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zato ih nalazimo u vrlo visokom rasponu.
10:39
At the lower end of the scale,
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Na donjem kraju ljestvice
10:41
you find a rigid sequence, a sequence of all A's,
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nalazimo striktni slijed, slijed koji čini niz slova A
10:43
and you also find a computer program,
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te također nalazimo računalni program,
10:45
in this case in the language Fortran,
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u ovom slučaju jezika Fortran,
10:47
which obeys really strict rules.
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koji poštuje vrlo stroga pravila.
10:49
Linguistic scripts
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Jezična pisma
10:51
occupy the middle range.
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zauzimaju položaj na sredini.
10:53
Now what about the Indus script?
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Što je s indskim pismom?
10:55
We found that the Indus script
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Otkrili smo kako indsko pismo
10:57
actually falls within the range of the linguistic scripts.
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zapravo potpada unutar raspona jezičnih pisama.
10:59
When this result was first published,
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Kada je to otkriće prvi put objavljeno
11:01
it was highly controversial.
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bilo je vrlo kontroverzno.
11:04
There were people who raised a hue and cry,
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Bilo je ljudi koji su podigli hajku
11:07
and these people were the ones who believed
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i to su bili ljudi koji su vjerovali
11:09
that the Indus script does not represent language.
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kako indsko pismo ne predstavlja jezik.
11:12
I even started to get some hate mail.
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Čak sam počeo dobivati i prijetnje u pošti.
11:14
My students said
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Moji studenti su rekli
11:16
that I should really seriously consider getting some protection.
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kako bih trebao ozbiljno razmisliti o traženju zaštite.
11:19
Who'd have thought
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Tko bi pomislio
11:21
that deciphering could be a dangerous profession?
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da dešifriranje može biti opasno zanimanje?
11:23
What does this result really show?
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Što ovi rezultati doista pokazuju?
11:25
It shows that the Indus script
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Oni pokazuju kako indsko pismo
11:27
shares an important property of language.
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dijeli važnu karakteristiku jezika.
11:29
So, as the old saying goes,
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Tako da, kao što kaže stara izreka,
11:31
if it looks like a linguistic script
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ako izgleda kao jezično pismo
11:33
and it acts like a linguistic script,
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i ponaša se kao jezično pismo,
11:35
then perhaps we may have a linguistic script on our hands.
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možda u rukama držimo jezično pismo.
11:38
What other evidence is there
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Koji drugi dokaz imamo
11:40
that the script could actually encode language?
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da bi pismo zapravo moglo sadržavati jezik?
11:42
Well linguistic scripts can actually encode multiple languages.
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Pa, jezična pisma zapravo mogu sadržavati više jezika.
11:45
So for example, here's the same sentence written in English
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Na primjer, evo iste rečenice napisane engleskim
11:48
and the same sentence written in Dutch
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i nizozemskim jezikom
11:50
using the same letters of the alphabet.
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koristeći ista slova abecede.
11:52
If you don't know Dutch and you only know English
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Ako ne znate nizozemski i zante samo engleski
11:55
and I give you some words in Dutch,
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a ja vam dam neke nizozemske riječi,
11:57
you'll tell me that these words contain
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reći ćete mi kako te riječi sadrže
11:59
some very unusual patterns.
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neke vrlo neobične uzorke.
12:01
Some things are not right,
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Neke stvari nisu u redu,
12:03
and you'll say these words are probably not English words.
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i reći ćete kako ove riječi vjerojatno nisu engleske riječi.
12:06
The same thing happens in the case of the Indus script.
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Isto se događa u slučaju indskog pisma.
12:08
The computer found several texts --
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Računalo je pronašlo nekoliko tekstova --
12:10
two of them are shown here --
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dva su prikazana ovdje --
12:12
that have very unusual patterns.
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koji imaju vrlo neobične uzorke.
12:14
So for example the first text:
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Na primjer, prvi tekst:
12:16
there's a doubling of this jar-shaped sign.
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ovaj znak u obliku ćupa je udvostručen.
12:19
This sign is the most frequently-occurring sign
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Ovaj znak je znak koji se najčešće pojavljuje
12:21
in the Indus script,
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u indskom pismu,
12:23
and it's only in this text
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i samo se u ovom tekstu
12:25
that it occurs as a doubling pair.
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pojavljuje u udvostručenom paru.
12:27
Why is that the case?
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Zašto je to tako?
12:29
We went back and looked at where these particular texts were found,
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Otišli smo natrag i potražili mjesto gdje su ovi određeni tekstovi nađeni,
12:32
and it turns out that they were found
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i ispostavilo se da su nađeni
12:34
very, very far away from the Indus Valley.
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vrlo daleko od doline Inda.
12:36
They were found in present day Iraq and Iran.
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Nađeni su u današnjem Iraku i Iranu.
12:39
And why were they found there?
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Zašto su nađeni ondje?
12:41
What I haven't told you is that
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Ono što vam nisam rekao
12:43
the Indus people were very, very enterprising.
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jest to da su ljudi Inda bili vrlo, vrlo poduzetni.
12:45
They used to trade with people pretty far away from where they lived,
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Trgovali su s ljudima vrlo daleko od područja gdje su živjeli.
12:48
and so in this case, they were traveling by sea
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U ovom slučaju, putovali su morem
12:51
all the way to Mesopotamia, present-day Iraq.
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cijelim putem do Mezopotamije, do današnjeg Iraka.
12:54
And what seems to have happened here
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I čini se da se ondje dogodilo to
12:56
is that the Indus traders, the merchants,
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da su indski trgovci
12:59
were using this script to write a foreign language.
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koristili ovo pismo za pisanje na stranom jeziku.
13:02
It's just like our English and Dutch example.
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To je poput našeg primjera s engleskim i nizozemskim.
13:04
And that would explain why we have these strange patterns
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I to bi objasnilo zašto imamo ove neobične uzorke
13:06
that are very different from the kinds of patterns you see in the text
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koji se jako razlikuju od vrsta uzoraka koje vidimo u tekstovima
13:09
that are found within the Indus Valley.
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pronađenim u dolini Inda.
13:12
This suggests that the same script, the Indus script,
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To upućuje na to da je isto pismo, indsko pismo,
13:14
could be used to write different languages.
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moglo biti korišteno za zapisivanje različitih jezika.
13:17
The results we have so far seem to point to the conclusion
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Čini se da rezultati koje do sad imamo ukazuju na zaključak
13:20
that the Indus script probably does represent language.
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kako indsko pismo vjerojatno doista predstavlja jezik.
13:23
If it does represent language,
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Ako predstavlja jezik,
13:25
then how do we read the symbols?
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kako da onda čitamo znakove?
13:27
That's our next big challenge.
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To je naš sljedeći veliki izazov.
13:29
So you'll notice that many of the symbols
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Primijetit ćete da mnogi znakovi
13:31
look like pictures of humans, of insects,
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izgledaju poput slika ljudi, kukaca,
13:33
of fishes, of birds.
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riba ili ptica.
13:36
Most ancient scripts
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Većina antičkih pisama
13:38
use the rebus principle,
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koristi princip rebusa
13:40
which is, using pictures to represent words.
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što znači, koriste slike koje predstavljaju riječi.
13:43
So as an example, here's a word.
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Na primjer, evo jedne riječi.
13:46
Can you write it using pictures?
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Možete li je napisati koristeći slike?
13:48
I'll give you a couple seconds.
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Dat ću vam nekoliko sekundi.
13:50
Got it?
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Jeste li?
13:52
Okay. Great.
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Dobro. Super.
13:54
Here's my solution.
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Ovo je moje rješenje.
13:56
You could use the picture of a bee followed by a picture of a leaf --
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Možete upotrijebiti sliku pčele koju slijedi slika lista --
13:58
and that's "belief," right.
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i to je uvjerenje (belief), da.
14:00
There could be other solutions.
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Mogu postojati i druga rješenja.
14:02
In the case of the Indus script,
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U slučaju indskog pisma,
14:04
the problem is the reverse.
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problem je obrnut.
14:06
You have to figure out the sounds of each of these pictures
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Morate pronaći zvukove svake od ovih slika
14:09
such that the entire sequence makes sense.
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kako bi cijeli slijed imao smisla.
14:11
So this is just like a crossword puzzle,
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To je poput križaljke,
14:14
except that this is the mother of all crossword puzzles
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samo što je ovo majka svih križaljki,
14:17
because the stakes are so high if you solve it.
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zato što su ulozi tako visoki ako je riješite.
14:21
My colleagues, Iravatham Mahadevan and Asko Parpola,
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Moji kolege, Iravatham Mahadevan i Asko Parpola
14:24
have been making some headway on this particular problem.
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ponešto su napredovali po pitanju ovog određenog problema.
14:26
And I'd like to give you a quick example of Parpola's work.
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Htio bih vam pokazati brzi primjer Parpolina rada.
14:28
Here's a really short text.
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Evo jednog vrlo kratkog teksta.
14:30
It contains seven vertical strokes followed by this fish-like sign.
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On sadrži sedam vertikalnih poteza koje slijedi ovaj znak nalik ribi.
14:33
And I want to mention that these seals were used
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Želim napomenuti kako su ovi pečati korišteni
14:35
for stamping clay tags
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za utiskivanje u glinene pločice
14:37
that were attached to bundles of goods,
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koje su bile zakvačene na svežnjeve robe,
14:39
so it's quite likely that these tags, at least some of them,
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tako da je vrlo vjerojatno da barem neke od njih
14:42
contain names of merchants.
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sadrže imena trgovaca.
14:44
And it turns out that in India
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Ispada kako u Indiji
14:46
there's a long tradition
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postoji duga tradicija
14:48
of names being based on horoscopes
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imena baziranih na horoskopu
14:50
and star constellations present at the time of birth.
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i zvjezdanim konstelacijama prisutnim u trenutku rođenja.
14:53
In Dravidian languages,
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U dravidskim jezicima
14:55
the word for fish is "meen"
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riječ za ribu je "meen"
14:57
which happens to sound just like the word for star.
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što slučajno zvuči točno kao riječ za zvijezdu.
15:00
And so seven stars
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Tako bi sedam zvijezda
15:02
would stand for "elu meen,"
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značilo "elu meen"
15:04
which is the Dravidian word
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što je dravidski naziv
15:06
for the Big Dipper star constellation.
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za zviježđe Velikog medvjeda.
15:08
Similarly, there's another sequence of six stars,
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Slično tome, postoji još jedan slijed od šest zvijezda,
15:11
and that translates to "aru meen,"
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koji prevodimo kao "aru meen"
15:13
which is the old Dravidian name
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što je staro dravidsko ime
15:15
for the star constellation Pleiades.
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za zviježđe Plejada.
15:17
And finally, there's other combinations,
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Na kraju, postoje druge kombinacije
15:20
such as this fish sign with something that looks like a roof on top of it.
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poput ovog ribljeg znaka s nečim što nalikuje krovu povrh njega.
15:23
And that could be translated into "mey meen,"
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To možemo prevesti kao "mey meen"
15:26
which is the old Dravidian name for the planet Saturn.
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što je stari dravidski naziv za planet Saturn.
15:29
So that was pretty exciting.
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Ovo je bilo vrlo uzbudljivo.
15:31
It looks like we're getting somewhere.
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Čini se da nešto postižemo.
15:33
But does this prove
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No dokazuje li ovo
15:35
that these seals contain Dravidian names
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da ovi pečati sadrže dravidska imena
15:37
based on planets and star constellations?
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bazirana na planetima i zviježđima?
15:39
Well not yet.
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Pa, ne još.
15:41
So we have no way of validating
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Tako da nemamo način na koji bismo potvrdili
15:43
these particular readings,
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ova pojedinačna čitanja,
15:45
but if more and more of these readings start making sense,
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no ako sve više takvih čitanja bude imalo smisla
15:48
and if longer and longer sequences
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i sve duži slijedovi
15:50
appear to be correct,
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se budu činili točnima
15:52
then we know that we are on the right track.
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znat ćemo da smo na pravom putu.
15:54
Today,
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Danas
15:56
we can write a word such as TED
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možemo napisati riječ poput TED
15:59
in Egyptian hieroglyphics and in cuneiform script,
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koristeći egipatske hijeroglife i klinasto pismo
16:02
because both of these were deciphered
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zato što su oba dešifrirana
16:04
in the 19th century.
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u 19. stoljeću.
16:06
The decipherment of these two scripts
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Dešifriranje ovih dvaju pisama
16:08
enabled these civilizations to speak to us again directly.
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omogućilo je tim civilizacijama da nam se ponovno izravno obrate.
16:11
The Mayans
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Maje
16:13
started speaking to us in the 20th century,
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su nam se počele obraćati u 20. stoljeću
16:15
but the Indus civilization remains silent.
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no civilizacija doline Inda ostaje nijema.
16:18
Why should we care?
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Zašto bi nas bilo briga?
16:20
The Indus civilization does not belong
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Indska civilizacija ne pripada
16:22
to just the South Indians or the North Indians
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samo južnim ili sjevernim Indijcima
16:24
or the Pakistanis;
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ili Pakistancima,
16:26
it belongs to all of us.
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ona pripada svima nama.
16:28
These are our ancestors --
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Oni su naši preci --
16:30
yours and mine.
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vaši i moji.
16:32
They were silenced
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Utihnuli su
16:34
by an unfortunate accident of history.
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nesretnim povijesnim slučajem.
16:36
If we decipher the script,
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Ako dešifriramo pismo
16:38
we would enable them to speak to us again.
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omogućili bismo im da ponovno razgovaraju s nama.
16:40
What would they tell us?
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Što bi nam rekli?
16:43
What would we find out about them? About us?
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Što bismo saznali o njima? O sebi?
16:46
I can't wait to find out.
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Jedva čekam da to saznam.
16:49
Thank you.
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Hvala vam.
16:51
(Applause)
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(Pljesak)
ABOUT THE SPEAKER
Rajesh Rao - Computational neuroscientistRajesh Rao seeks to understand the human brain through computational modeling, on two fronts: developing computer models of our minds, and using tech to decipher the 4,000-year-old lost script of the Indus Valley civilization.
Why you should listen
Rajesh Rao is looking for the computational principles underlying the brain's remarkable ability to learn, process and store information -- hoping to apply this knowledge to the task of building adaptive robotic systems and artificially intelligent agents.
Some of the questions that motivate his research include: How does the brain learn efficient representations of novel objects and events occurring in the natural environment? What are the algorithms that allow useful sensorimotor routines and behaviors to be learned? What computational mechanisms allow the brain to adapt to changing circumstances and remain fault-tolerant and robust?
By investigating these questions within a computational and probabilistic framework, it is often possible to derive algorithms that not only provide functional interpretations of neurobiological properties but also suggest solutions to difficult problems in computer vision, speech, robotics and artificial intelligence.
Rajesh Rao | Speaker | TED.com