TEDGlobal 2011
Mark Pagel: How language transformed humanity
Mark Pagel: Kako je jezik promijenio čovječanstvo
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Biolog Mark Pagel iznosi zanimljivu teoriju o tome zašto su ljudi razvili složen sustav jezika. Tvrdi da je jezik dio "društvene tehnologije" koja je prvim ljudskim plemenima omogućila pristup moćnom novom alatu: suradnji.
Mark Pagel - Evolutionary biologist
Using biological evolution as a template, Mark Pagel wonders how languages evolve. Full bio
Using biological evolution as a template, Mark Pagel wonders how languages evolve. Full bio
Double-click the English transcript below to play the video.
00:15
Each of you possesses
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Svatko od vas posjeduje
00:17
the most powerful, dangerous and subversive trait
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najmoćniju, najopasniju i najrazorniju sposobnost
00:20
that natural selection has ever devised.
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koju je prirodna selekcija ikad stvorila.
00:23
It's a piece of neural audio technology
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Radi se o moždanoj audiotehnologiji
00:26
for rewiring other people's minds.
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za povezivanje u umovima drugih ljudi.
00:28
I'm talking about your language, of course,
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Govorim o jeziku, naravno,
00:31
because it allows you to implant a thought from your mind
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jer on vam omogućava da neku svoju misao
00:34
directly into someone else's mind,
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usadite izravno u mozak nekog drugog,
00:37
and they can attempt to do the same to you,
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a drugi mogu pokušati učiniti to isto vama,
00:39
without either of you having to perform surgery.
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i čak nećete morati ni na operaciju.
00:42
Instead, when you speak,
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Umjesto toga, kad govorite,
00:44
you're actually using a form of telemetry
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koristite jedan oblik telemetrije
00:46
not so different
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koji se ne razlikuje značajno
00:48
from the remote control device for your television.
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od principa rada daljinskog upravljača.
00:50
It's just that, whereas that device
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No, dok spomenuti uređaj
00:52
relies on pulses of infrared light,
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radi pomoću valova infracrvenog svjetla,
00:54
your language relies on pulses,
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jezik se oslanja na valove,
00:57
discrete pulses, of sound.
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diskretne valove zvuka.
00:59
And just as you use the remote control device
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Jednako kao što koristite daljinski upravljač
01:02
to alter the internal settings of your television
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kako biste prilagodili unutarnje postavke televizora
01:04
to suit your mood,
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tako da odgovaraju vašem raspoloženju,
01:06
you use your language
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tako koristite i jezik
01:08
to alter the settings inside someone else's brain
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da biste prilagodili postavke u nečijem mozgu
01:10
to suit your interests.
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kako bi odgovarale vašim interesima.
01:12
Languages are genes talking,
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Jezici su geni koji govore,
01:14
getting things that they want.
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koji dobivaju stvari koje žele.
01:16
And just imagine the sense of wonder in a baby
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Zamislite samo čuđenje djeteta
01:19
when it first discovers that, merely by uttering a sound,
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kad otkrije da se, samo zato što je proizvelo zvuk,
01:22
it can get objects to move across a room
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predmeti kreću kroz sobu,
01:24
as if by magic,
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kao čarolijom,
01:26
and maybe even into its mouth.
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a možda mu čak dođu i u usta.
01:29
Now language's subversive power
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Razorna moć jezika
01:31
has been recognized throughout the ages
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stoljećima je poznata
01:33
in censorship, in books you can't read,
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u cenzuri, knjigama koje ne smijete čitati,
01:35
phrases you can't use
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izrazima koje ne smijete koristiti
01:37
and words you can't say.
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i riječima koje ne smijete izgovarati.
01:39
In fact, the Tower of Babel story in the Bible
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U stvari, biblijska priča o Kuli babilonskoj
01:42
is a fable and warning
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bajka je i upozorenje
01:44
about the power of language.
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na moć jezika.
01:46
According to that story, early humans developed the conceit
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Prema toj priči, prvi ljudi razvili su ideju
01:49
that, by using their language to work together,
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da, ako budu koristili jezik kako bi zajedno radili,
01:51
they could build a tower
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mogu izgraditi kulu
01:53
that would take them all the way to heaven.
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koja bi sezala sve do raja.
01:55
Now God, angered at this attempt to usurp his power,
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A Bog, razljućen tim pokušajem uzurpiranja njegove moći,
01:58
destroyed the tower,
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uništio je kulu
02:01
and then to ensure
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a zatim, kako bi osigurao
02:03
that it would never be rebuilt,
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da nikad neće biti ponovno sagrađena,
02:05
he scattered the people by giving them different languages --
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razdvojio je ljude tako što im je dao različite jezike --
02:08
confused them by giving them different languages.
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zbunio ih je tako što im je dao različite jezike.
02:11
And this leads to the wonderful irony
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To nas dovodi do divne ironije
02:13
that our languages exist to prevent us from communicating.
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da jezik postoji kako bi nas spriječio da komuniciramo.
02:16
Even today,
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Čak i danas,
02:18
we know that there are words we cannot use,
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znamo da postoje riječi koje ne smijemo koristiti,
02:20
phrases we cannot say,
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izrazi koje ne smijemo izgovarati,
02:22
because if we do so,
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jer ako to učinimo,
02:24
we might be accosted, jailed,
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možemo doživjeti protivljenje,
02:27
or even killed.
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biti zatvoreni ili čak ubijeni.
02:29
And all of this from a puff of air
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A sve to zbog daška zraka
02:31
emanating from our mouths.
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koji je izišao iz naših usta.
02:33
Now all this fuss about a single one of our traits
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Cijela ova strka oko jedne jedine ljudske osobine
02:36
tells us there's something worth explaining.
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znači da tu ima nešto što vrijedi objasniti.
02:38
And that is how and why
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A to je kako se i zašto
02:40
did this remarkable trait evolve,
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razvila ova fantastična sposobnost
02:42
and why did it evolve
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te zašto se razvila
02:44
only in our species?
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samo u našoj vrsti?
02:46
Now it's a little bit of a surprise
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Malo je iznenađujuće da,
02:48
that to get an answer to that question,
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da bismo dobili odgovor na to pitanje,
02:50
we have to go to tool use
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moramo proučiti korištenje alata
02:52
in the chimpanzees.
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kod čimpanza.
02:54
Now these chimpanzees are using tools,
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Čimpanze koriste alate
02:56
and we take that as a sign of their intelligence.
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i mi to smatramo znakom njihove inteligencije.
02:59
But if they really were intelligent,
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Ali ako su zaista inteligentne,
03:01
why would they use a stick to extract termites from the ground
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zašto koriste štap za vađenje termita iz tla,
03:04
rather than a shovel?
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a ne lopatu?
03:06
And if they really were intelligent,
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Ako su doista inteligentne,
03:09
why would they crack open nuts with a rock?
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zašto orahe razbijaju kamenom?
03:11
Why wouldn't they just go to a shop and buy a bag of nuts
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Zašto ne bi otišle u trgovinu i kupile vrećicu
03:14
that somebody else had already cracked open for them?
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s plodovima koje je već netko drugi izvadio umjesto njih?
03:17
Why not? I mean, that's what we do.
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Zašto ne? Mislim, tako mi to radimo.
03:19
Now the reason the chimpanzees don't do that
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Razlog zašto čimpanze to ne rade
03:21
is that they lack what psychologists and anthropologists call
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jest da nemaju ono što psiholozi i antropolozi zovu
03:24
social learning.
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društvenim učenjem.
03:26
They seem to lack the ability
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Izgleda da nemaju sposobnost
03:28
to learn from others
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učenja od drugih
03:30
by copying or imitating
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kopiranjem ili imitiranjem
03:32
or simply watching.
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ili jednostavnim promatranjem.
03:34
As a result,
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Rezultat toga
03:36
they can't improve on others' ideas
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jest da one ne mogu poboljšavati tuđe ideje
03:38
or learn from others' mistakes --
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ni učiti na tuđim pogreškama --
03:40
benefit from others' wisdom.
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imati koristi od tuđe mudrosti.
03:42
And so they just do the same thing
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I zato neprestano ponavljaju
03:44
over and over and over again.
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istu stvar.
03:46
In fact, we could go away for a million years and come back
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Zapravo, mogli bismo otići na milijun godina i vratiti se
03:50
and these chimpanzees would be doing the same thing
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i čimpanze bi i dalje radile iste stvari
03:53
with the same sticks for the termites
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s istim štapovima za termite
03:55
and the same rocks to crack open the nuts.
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i istim kamenjem za razbijanje oraha.
03:58
Now this may sound arrogant, or even full of hubris.
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Ovo možda zvuči arogantno ili čak oholo.
04:01
How do we know this?
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Kako to znamo?
04:03
Because this is exactly what our ancestors, the Homo erectus, did.
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Jer su upravo tako postupali naši preci, Homo erectus.
04:06
These upright apes
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Ti uspravni primati
04:08
evolved on the African savanna
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evoluirali su u afričkoj savani
04:10
about two million years ago,
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prije otprilike dva milijuna godina,
04:12
and they made these splendid hand axes
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i izrađivali su sjajne ručne sjekire
04:14
that fit wonderfully into your hands.
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koje su izvrsno odgovarale obliku ruke.
04:16
But if we look at the fossil record,
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Ali ako pogledamo fosilne ostatke,
04:18
we see that they made the same hand axe
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vidimo da su neprestano izrađivali
04:21
over and over and over again
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jednake ručne sjekire
04:23
for one million years.
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kroz milijun godina.
04:25
You can follow it through the fossil record.
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To se može pratiti u fosilnim ostacima.
04:27
Now if we make some guesses about how long Homo erectus lived,
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Ako pretpostavimo koliko je dugo živio Homo erectus,
04:29
what their generation time was,
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koje je bilo trajanje jedne generacije,
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that's about 40,000 generations
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to je oko 40.000 generacija
04:34
of parents to offspring, and other individuals watching,
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prenošenih s roditelja na potomke, i uz druge pojedince,
04:37
in which that hand axe didn't change.
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tijekom kojih se ta ručna sjekira nije promijenila.
04:39
It's not even clear
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Nije jasno
04:41
that our very close genetic relatives, the Neanderthals,
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niti jesu li naši bliski genski rođaci, Neandertalci,
04:43
had social learning.
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imali moć društvenog učenja.
04:45
Sure enough, their tools were more complicated
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Naravno, njihovi alati bili su složeniji
04:48
than those of Homo erectus,
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od onih koje je izrađivao Homo erectus,
04:50
but they too showed very little change
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ali ni oni se nisu mnogo mijenjali
04:52
over the 300,000 years or so
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kroz nekih 300.000 godina,
04:55
that those species, the Neanderthals,
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koliko je ta vrsta, Neandertalci,
04:57
lived in Eurasia.
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živjela u Euraziji.
04:59
Okay, so what this tells us
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Dakle, to nam govori da,
05:01
is that, contrary to the old adage,
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suprotno od stare izreke,
05:04
"monkey see, monkey do,"
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"majmun radi što majmun vidi",
05:07
the surprise really is
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iznenađenje je zapravo
05:09
that all of the other animals
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da nijedna druga životinja
05:11
really cannot do that -- at least not very much.
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zapravo nema tu sposobnost -- barem ne u znatnijoj mjeri.
05:14
And even this picture
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Čak i ova fotografija
05:16
has the suspicious taint of being rigged about it --
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izgleda nekako sumnjivo namješteno --
05:19
something from a Barnum & Bailey circus.
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kao nešto iz cirkusa Barnum & Bailey.
05:21
But by comparison,
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No, za usporedbu,
05:23
we can learn.
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mi možemo učiti.
05:25
We can learn by watching other people
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Možmo učiti gledanjem drugih ljudi
05:28
and copying or imitating
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i kopiranjem i imitiranjem
05:30
what they can do.
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onoga što oni rade.
05:32
We can then choose, from among a range of options,
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Mi možemo, dakle, od niza mogućnosti
05:35
the best one.
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izabrati najbolju.
05:37
We can benefit from others' ideas.
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Možemo imati koristi od tuđih ideja.
05:39
We can build on their wisdom.
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Možemo nadograditi njihovu mudrost.
05:41
And as a result, our ideas do accumulate,
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Kao rezultat toga, naše ideje se nakupljaju
05:44
and our technology progresses.
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i naša tehnologija napreduje.
05:48
And this cumulative cultural adaptation,
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A ta kumulativna kulturna adaptacija,
05:53
as anthropologists call
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kako antropolozi to zovu,
05:55
this accumulation of ideas,
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to nakupljanje ideja,
05:57
is responsible for everything around you
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izvor je svega oko vas
05:59
in your bustling and teeming everyday lives.
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u vašoj ubrzanoj svakodnevici.
06:01
I mean the world has changed out of all proportion
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Svijet se nevjerojatno promijenio
06:03
to what we would recognize
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u odnosu na nešto što bismo prepoznali
06:05
even 1,000 or 2,000 years ago.
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prije 1.000 ili 2.000 godina.
06:08
And all of this because of cumulative cultural adaptation.
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A sve to zbog kumulativne kulturne adaptacije.
06:11
The chairs you're sitting in, the lights in this auditorium,
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Stolice na kojima sjedite, svjetla u ovoj dvorani,
06:13
my microphone, the iPads and iPods that you carry around with you --
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moj mikrofon, iPadovi i iPodovi koji nosite sa sobom
06:16
all are a result
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svi su rezultat
06:18
of cumulative cultural adaptation.
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kumulativne kulturne adaptacije.
06:20
Now to many commentators,
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Mnogi komentatori
06:24
cumulative cultural adaptation, or social learning,
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kumulativnu kulturnu adaptaciju, ili društveno učenje,
06:27
is job done, end of story.
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smatraju gotovim poslom, krajem priče.
06:30
Our species can make stuff,
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Naša vrsta zna izrađivati stvari,
06:33
therefore we prospered in a way that no other species has.
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dakle napredovali smo kao nijedna druga vrsta.
06:36
In fact, we can even make the "stuff of life" --
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Zapravo možemo izrađivati čak i "stvari za život" --
06:39
as I just said, all the stuff around us.
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kao što sam upravo rekao, sve stvari oko nas.
06:41
But in fact, it turns out
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Ali, zapravo, izgleda da
06:43
that some time around 200,000 years ago,
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prije otprilike 200.000 godina,
06:46
when our species first arose
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kad se naša vrsta tek pojavila
06:48
and acquired social learning,
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i usvojila društveno učenje,
06:50
that this was really the beginning of our story,
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to je zapravo bio početak naše priče,
06:52
not the end of our story.
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a ne njezin kraj.
06:54
Because our acquisition of social learning
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Jer naše usvajanje društvenog učenja
06:57
would create a social and evolutionary dilemma,
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stvorilo bi društvenu i evolucijsku dilemu,
07:00
the resolution of which, it's fair to say,
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čije razrješenje bi, možemo s popriličnom sigurnošću reći,
07:03
would determine not only the future course of our psychology,
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utvrdilo ne samo daljnji razvoj naše psihologije,
07:07
but the future course of the entire world.
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već i daljnji razvoj cijelog svijeta.
07:09
And most importantly for this,
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A ono što je najvažnije,
07:12
it'll tell us why we have language.
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reći će nam zašto imamo jezik.
07:15
And the reason that dilemma arose
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Razlog zbog kojeg se pojavila ta dilema
07:17
is, it turns out, that social learning is visual theft.
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jest taj što ispada da je društveno učenje zapravo vizualna krađa.
07:20
If I can learn by watching you,
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Ako ja mogu učiti tako što te gledam,
07:23
I can steal your best ideas,
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mogu ukrasti tvoje najbolje ideje
07:25
and I can benefit from your efforts,
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i mogu imati koristi od tvog rada,
07:28
without having to put in the time and energy that you did
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a da nisam morao uložiti vrijeme i energiju koji su tebi
07:30
into developing them.
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bili potrebni da bi ih razvio.
07:32
If I can watch which lure you use to catch a fish,
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ako mogu gledati koji mamac koristiš da bi ulovio ribu,
07:35
or I can watch how you flake your hand axe
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ili mogu gledati kako obrađuješ ručnu sjekiru
07:37
to make it better,
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kako bi je poboljšao,
07:39
or if I follow you secretly to your mushroom patch,
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ili ako ako te potajno slijedim do mjesta gdje ima gljiva,
07:42
I can benefit from your knowledge and wisdom and skills,
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mogu imati koristi od tvojeg znanja, mudrosti i vještina,
07:45
and maybe even catch that fish
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i možda čak mogu i uloviti tu ribu
07:47
before you do.
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prije tebe.
07:49
Social learning really is visual theft.
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Društveno učenje je vizualna krađa.
07:52
And in any species that acquired it,
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I kod svake vrste koja ga je usvojila,
07:54
it would behoove you
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primoralo bi vas
07:56
to hide your best ideas,
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da skrivate svoje najbolje ideje
07:58
lest somebody steal them from you.
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kako vam ih netko ne bi ukrao.
08:02
And so some time around 200,000 years ago,
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I tako, prije otprilike 200.000 godina,
08:05
our species confronted this crisis.
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naša se vrsta susrela s tom krizom.
08:08
And we really had only two options
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Zapravo imamo samo dvije mogućnosti
08:11
for dealing with the conflicts
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za razrješavanje sukoba
08:13
that visual theft would bring.
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koje bi prouzrokovala vizualna krađa.
08:15
One of those options
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Jedna od tih mogućnosti
08:17
was that we could have retreated
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bila je da se vratimo nazad
08:20
into small family groups.
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u male obiteljske skupine.
08:22
Because then the benefits of our ideas and knowledge
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Jer tako bi korist od naših ideja i znanja
08:25
would flow just to our relatives.
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prelazila na naše rođake.
08:27
Had we chosen this option,
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Da smo izabrali tu mogućnost,
08:29
sometime around 200,000 years ago,
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prije nekih 200.000 godina,
08:32
we would probably still be living like the Neanderthals were
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vjerojatno bismo još uvijek živjeli poput Neandertalaca
08:35
when we first entered Europe 40,000 years ago.
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kad smo tek došli u Europu prije 40.000 godina.
08:38
And this is because in small groups
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Razlog tome je taj što u malim skupinama
08:40
there are fewer ideas, there are fewer innovations.
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ima manje ideja, manje inovacija.
08:43
And small groups are more prone to accidents and bad luck.
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Uz to, male skupine sklonije su nezgodama i nesrećama.
08:46
So if we'd chosen that path,
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Dakle, da smo izabrali taj put,
08:48
our evolutionary path would have led into the forest --
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naš evolucijski put vodio bi u šumu --
08:51
and been a short one indeed.
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i bio bi zaista kratak.
08:53
The other option we could choose
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Druga mogućnost koju smo mogli izabrati
08:55
was to develop the systems of communication
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bila je da razvijemo sustave komunikacije
08:58
that would allow us to share ideas
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koji bi nam omogućili da dijelimo ideje
09:00
and to cooperate amongst others.
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i da surađujemo jedni s drugima.
09:03
Choosing this option would mean
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Ako izaberemo ovu mogućnost, to znači
09:05
that a vastly greater fund of accumulated knowledge and wisdom
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da bi znatno veća količina nakupljenog znanja i mudrosti
09:08
would become available to any one individual
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postala dostupna svakom pojedincu
09:11
than would ever arise from within an individual family
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nego što bi ikad nastala unutar pojedine obitelji
09:14
or an individual person on their own.
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ili od bilo kojeg pojedinca.
09:18
Well, we chose the second option,
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Eto, izabrali smo drugu mogućnost
09:21
and language is the result.
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i jezik je rezultat toga.
09:24
Language evolved to solve the crisis
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Jezik se razvio kako bi riješio krizu
09:26
of visual theft.
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vizualne krađe.
09:28
Language is a piece of social technology
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Jezik je društvena tehnologija
09:31
for enhancing the benefits of cooperation --
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za povećavanje koristi od suradnje --
09:34
for reaching agreements, for striking deals
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za postizanje dogovora, za sklapanje poslova
09:37
and for coordinating our activities.
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i za usklađivanje naših aktivnosti.
09:41
And you can see that, in a developing society
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Vidimo da, u društvu koje se razvija,
09:43
that was beginning to acquire language,
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koje je tek počinjalo usvajati jezik,
09:45
not having language
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neimanje jezika
09:47
would be a like a bird without wings.
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bilo bi poput ptice bez krila.
09:49
Just as wings open up this sphere of air
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Baš kao što krila omogućavaju pticama
09:52
for birds to exploit,
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da iskorištavaju sferu zraka,
09:54
language opened up the sphere of cooperation
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tako je jezik omogućio ljudima
09:56
for humans to exploit.
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da iskoriste sferu suradnje.
09:58
And we take this utterly for granted,
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I to u potpunosti uzimamo zdravo za gotovo,
10:00
because we're a species that is so at home with language,
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zato što smo vrsta koja je tako naviknuta na jezik.
10:03
but you have to realize
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Ali morate shvatiti
10:05
that even the simplest acts of exchange that we engage in
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da i najjednostavnija komunikacija u kojoj sudjelujemo
10:08
are utterly dependent upon language.
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u potpunosti ovisi o jeziku.
10:11
And to see why, consider two scenarios
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A da bismo vidjeli zašto, zamislite dva scenarija
10:13
from early in our evolution.
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iz ranih stadija naše evolucije.
10:15
Let's imagine that you are really good
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Zamislimo da znate izrađivati
10:17
at making arrowheads,
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stvarno dobre vrhove strelica,
10:19
but you're hopeless at making the wooden shafts
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ali vam nikako ne ide izrađivanje drvenih tijela strelica
10:22
with the flight feathers attached.
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s perima za usmjeravanje leta.
10:25
Two other people you know are very good at making the wooden shafts,
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Poznajete još dvoje ljudi kojima ide izrađivanje drvenih tijela,
10:28
but they're hopeless at making the arrowheads.
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ali nikako im ne ide izrađivanje vrhova strelica.
10:31
So what you do is --
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Dakle ono što ćete učiniti jest --
10:33
one of those people has not really acquired language yet.
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jedan od tih ljudi još nije baš usvojio jezik.
10:36
And let's pretend the other one is good at language skills.
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A zamislimo da drugi ima dobre jezične vještine.
10:38
So what you do one day is you take a pile of arrowheads,
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Tako ćete jednog dana uzeti hrpu vrhova strelica,
10:41
and you walk up to the one that can't speak very well,
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i doći do onoga koji ne govori baš dobro,
10:43
and you put the arrowheads down in front of him,
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i spustit ćete vrhove strelica pred njega
10:45
hoping that he'll get the idea that you want to trade your arrowheads
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u nadi da će shvatiti da želite prodati svoje vrhove
10:48
for finished arrows.
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za gotove strijele.
10:50
But he looks at the pile of arrowheads, thinks they're a gift,
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Ali on pogleda hrpu vrhova strelica, misli da je to dar,
10:52
picks them up, smiles and walks off.
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podigne ih, nasmiješi se i otiđe.
10:55
Now you pursue this guy, gesticulating.
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Vi krenete za njim gestikulirajući.
10:57
A scuffle ensues and you get stabbed
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Nastane gužva i bivate ubodeni
10:59
with one of your own arrowheads.
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jednim od svojih vrhova strelica.
11:02
Okay, now replay this scene now, and you're approaching the one who has language.
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U redu, sad ponovimo tu scenu, ali prilazite onome koji ima jezik.
11:05
You put down your arrowheads and say,
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Spustite svoje vrhove strelica i kažete,
11:07
"I'd like to trade these arrowheads for finished arrows. I'll split you 50/50."
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"Želim prodati ove vrhove za gotove strijele. Dijelimo pola-pola."
11:10
The other one says, "Fine. Looks good to me.
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A drugi kaže, "Može, meni se to čini u redu.
11:12
We'll do that."
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Učinit ćemo tako."
11:15
Now the job is done.
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Posao obavljen.
11:18
Once we have language,
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Kad imamo jezik,
11:20
we can put our ideas together and cooperate
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možemo ujediniti ideje i raditi zajedno
11:22
to have a prosperity
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kako bismo postigli blagostanje
11:24
that we couldn't have before we acquired it.
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koje ne bismo mogli imati prije nego smo usvojili jezik.
11:27
And this is why our species
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I zato je naša vrsta
11:29
has prospered around the world
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bila tako uspješna u cijelom svijetu
11:31
while the rest of the animals
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dok ostatak životinja
11:33
sit behind bars in zoos, languishing.
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još boravi u zoološkim vrtovima i slabi.
11:36
That's why we build space shuttles and cathedrals
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Zato smo mi izgradili svemirske letjelice i katedrale,
11:39
while the rest of the world sticks sticks into the ground
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dok ostatak svijeta štapom kopa po tlu
11:41
to extract termites.
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kako bi izvadili termite.
11:43
All right, if this view of language
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U redu, ako je ovaj pogled na jezik
11:46
and its value
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i njegovu vrijednost
11:48
in solving the crisis of visual theft is true,
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za rješavanje krize vizualne krađe ispravan,
11:51
any species that acquires it
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tada bi svaka vrsta koja ga usvoji
11:53
should show an explosion of creativity and prosperity.
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trebala imati eksploziju kreativnosti i blagostanja.
11:56
And this is exactly what the archeological record shows.
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I upravo to pokazuju arheološki dokazi.
11:59
If you look at our ancestors,
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Ako pogledate naše pretke,
12:01
the Neanderthals and the Homo erectus, our immediate ancestors,
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Neandertalce i Homo erectusa, naše izravne pretke,
12:04
they're confined to small regions of the world.
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oni su ograničeni na male regije u svijetu.
12:07
But when our species arose
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Ali kad se naša vrsta uzdigla
12:09
about 200,000 years ago,
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prije otprilike 200.000 godina,
12:11
sometime after that we quickly walked out of Africa
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neko vrijeme nakon toga brzo smo izišli iz Afrike
12:14
and spread around the entire world,
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i proširili se po cijelom svijetu
12:17
occupying nearly every habitat on Earth.
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i nastanili se gotovo u svakom staništu na Zemlji.
12:20
Now whereas other species are confined
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Dok su druge vrste vezane
12:23
to places that their genes adapt them to,
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za mjesta na koja su prilagođene genima,
12:26
with social learning and language,
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pomoću društvenog učenja i jezika,
12:28
we could transform the environment
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mi smo mogli preobraziti okoliš
12:30
to suit our needs.
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kako bi odgovarao našim potrebama.
12:32
And so we prospered in a way
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Tako smo napredovali
12:34
that no other animal has.
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kao nijedna druga životinja.
12:36
Language really is
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Jezik je doista
12:39
the most potent trait that has ever evolved.
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najmoćnija osobina koja se ikad razvila.
12:42
It is the most valuable trait we have
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To je najvrednija sposobnost koju imamo
12:45
for converting new lands and resources
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za pretvaranje nove zemlje i resursa
12:48
into more people and their genes
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u još više ljudi i njihovih gena
12:51
that natural selection has ever devised.
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nego što je prirodni odabir ikad stvorio.
12:53
Language really is
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Jezik je zaista
12:55
the voice of our genes.
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glas naših gena.
12:57
Now having evolved language, though,
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Sad kad smo razvili jezik,
12:59
we did something peculiar,
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učinili smo nešto neobično,
13:01
even bizarre.
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čak bizarno.
13:03
As we spread out around the world,
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Kako smo se širili po cijelom svijetu,
13:05
we developed thousands of different languages.
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razvili smo tisuće različitih jezika.
13:08
Currently, there are about seven or 8,000
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Trenutno se na svijetu govori
13:10
different languages spoken on Earth.
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oko sedam ili osam tisuća različitih jezika.
13:13
Now you might say, well, this is just natural.
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Mogli biste reći da je to sasvim prirodno.
13:15
As we diverge, our languages are naturally going to diverge.
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Kako se udaljavamo, i naši jezici se prirodno udaljavaju.
13:18
But the real puzzle and irony
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Ali prava zagonetka i ironija
13:20
is that the greatest density of different languages on Earth
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jest to da je najveća raznolikost jezika na Zemlji
13:23
is found where people are most tightly packed together.
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prisutna kod ljudi koji žive vrlo blizu jedni drugih.
13:27
If we go to the island of Papua New Guinea,
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Ako odemo na otok Papua Nova Gvineja,
13:29
we can find about 800 to 1,000
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pronaći ćemo 800 do 1.000
13:32
distinct human languages,
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zasebnih ljudskih jezika,
13:34
different human languages,
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različitih ljudskih jezika,
13:36
spoken on that island alone.
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koji se govore samo na tom otoku.
13:38
There are places on that island
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Postoje mjesta na tom otoku
13:40
where you can encounter a new language
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gdje možete čuti novi jezik
13:42
every two or three miles.
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svakih četiri ili pet kilometara.
13:44
Now, incredible as this sounds,
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Koliko god nevjerojatno to zvučalo,
13:46
I once met a Papuan man, and I asked him if this could possibly be true.
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jednom sam upoznao čovjeka s Papue i pitao ga je li moguće da je to istina.
13:49
And he said to me, "Oh no.
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A on mi je odgovorio, "Ma ne.
13:51
They're far closer together than that."
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Oni su na mnogo manjoj udaljenosti."
13:54
And it's true; there are places on that island
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I to je istina, postoje mjesta na tom otoku
13:56
where you can encounter a new language in under a mile.
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gdje možete čuti novi jezik nakon manje od dva kilometra.
13:59
And this is also true of some remote oceanic islands.
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A tako je i na nekim udaljenim oceanskim otocima.
14:03
And so it seems that we use our language,
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I tako izgleda da koristimo naš jezik,
14:05
not just to cooperate,
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ne samo kako bismo surađivali,
14:07
but to draw rings around our cooperative groups
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već i da bismo ogradili grupe u kojima surađujemo
14:10
and to establish identities,
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te da bismo utvrdili svoj identitet
14:12
and perhaps to protect our knowledge and wisdom and skills
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i možda i zaštitili svoje znanje, mudrost i vještine
14:15
from eavesdropping from outside.
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od prisluškivanja izvana.
14:18
And we know this
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A to znamo
14:20
because when we study different language groups
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zato što, kad proučavamo različite skupine jezika,
14:22
and associate them with their cultures,
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i povezujemo ih s njihovim kulturama,
14:24
we see that different languages
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vidimo da različiti jezici
14:26
slow the flow of ideas between groups.
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usporavaju protok ideja između grupa.
14:29
They slow the flow of technologies.
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Usporavaju protok tehnologija.
14:32
And they even slow the flow of genes.
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I usporavaju čak i protok gena.
14:35
Now I can't speak for you,
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Ne znam kako vi,
14:37
but it seems to be the case
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ali izgleda
14:39
that we don't have sex with people we can't talk to.
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da se ne seksamo s ljudima s kojima ne možemo razgovarati.
14:43
(Laughter)
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(Smijeh)
14:45
Now we have to counter that, though,
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Sad to moramo usporediti
14:47
against the evidence we've heard
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s dokazima koje smo imali
14:49
that we might have had some rather distasteful genetic dalliances
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da smo prilično neukusno genetski dangubili
14:52
with the Neanderthals and the Denisovans.
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s Neandertalcima i Denisovancima.
14:54
(Laughter)
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(Smijeh)
14:56
Okay, this tendency we have,
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U redu, ta sklonost koju imamo,
14:58
this seemingly natural tendency we have,
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ta naizgled prirodna sklonost koju imamo,
15:00
towards isolation, towards keeping to ourselves,
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da se izoliramo, da se držimo za sebe,
15:03
crashes head first into our modern world.
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izravno se sukobljava s modernim svijetom.
15:06
This remarkable image
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Ova zadivljujuća slika
15:08
is not a map of the world.
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nije karta svijeta.
15:10
In fact, it's a map of Facebook friendship links.
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Zapravo, to je karta prijateljstava na Facebooku.
15:14
And when you plot those friendship links
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A kad prikažete ta prijateljstva
15:16
by their latitude and longitude,
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po njihovoj dužini i širini,
15:18
it literally draws a map of the world.
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doslovno biva iscrtana karta svijeta.
15:21
Our modern world is communicating
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Naš suvremeni svijet komunicira
15:23
with itself and with each other
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sam sa sobom i s nama
15:25
more than it has
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više nego što je to bio slučaj
15:27
at any time in its past.
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ikad u prošlosti.
15:29
And that communication, that connectivity around the world,
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I ta komunikacija, ta povezanost u cijelom svijetu,
15:32
that globalization
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ta globalizacija
15:34
now raises a burden.
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sada postaje teret.
15:37
Because these different languages
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Jer ti različiti jezici
15:39
impose a barrier, as we've just seen,
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predstavljaju prepreku, kao što smo upravo vidjeli,
15:41
to the transfer of goods and ideas
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dobara i ideja
15:43
and technologies and wisdom.
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i tehnologija i mudrosti.
15:45
And they impose a barrier to cooperation.
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I predstavljaju prepreku komunikaciji.
15:48
And nowhere do we see that more clearly
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Najjasnije to vidimo
15:51
than in the European Union,
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u Europskoj uniji,
15:53
whose 27 member countries
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u čijih se 27 zemalja članica
15:56
speak 23 official languages.
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3000
govore 23 službena jezika.
15:59
The European Union
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Europska unija
16:01
is now spending over one billion euros annually
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sada troši preko milijarde eura godišnje
16:05
translating among their 23 official languages.
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na prevođenje na svoja 23 službena jezika,
16:08
That's something on the order
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To je negdje oko
16:10
of 1.45 billion U.S. dollars
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1,45 milijardi američkih dolara
16:12
on translation costs alone.
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samo za troškove prevođenja.
16:15
Now think of the absurdity of this situation.
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Razmislite o apsurdnosti ove situacije.
16:17
If 27 individuals
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Ako 27 ljudi
16:19
from those 27 member states
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iz tih 27 zemalja
16:21
sat around table, speaking their 23 languages,
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sjedi za stolom i govori svoja 23 jezika,
16:24
some very simple mathematics will tell you
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jednostavnom matematikom zaključit ćete
16:26
that you need an army of 253 translators
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da je potrebna vojska od 253 prevoditelja
16:30
to anticipate all the pairwise possibilities.
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kako bi se mogli prevoditi svi parovi jezika.
16:34
The European Union employs a permanent staff
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Europska unija ima oko 2.500
16:37
of about 2,500 translators.
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stalno zaposlenih prevoditelja.
16:39
And in 2007 alone --
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A samo u 2007. godini --
16:41
and I'm sure there are more recent figures --
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a siguran sam da postoje i noviji podaci --
16:43
something on the order of 1.3 million pages
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negdje oko 1,3 milijuna stranica
16:46
were translated into English alone.
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prevedeno je samo na engleski jezik.
16:49
And so if language really is
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Ako jezik doista jest
16:52
the solution to the crisis of visual theft,
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rješenje krize vizualne krađe,
16:55
if language really is
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ako jezik zaista jest
16:57
the conduit of our cooperation,
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vodič naše suradnje,
16:59
the technology that our species derived
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tehnologija koju je stvorila naša vrsta
17:02
to promote the free flow and exchange of ideas,
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kako bi promicala slobodan tijek i razmjenu ideja
17:06
in our modern world,
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u našem suvremenom svijetu,
17:08
we confront a question.
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suočavamo se s jednim pitanjem.
17:10
And that question is whether
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A to je pitanje
17:12
in this modern, globalized world
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možemo li si u ovom modernom, globaliziranom svijetu
17:14
we can really afford to have all these different languages.
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stvarno priuštiti da imamo toliko različitih jezika.
17:17
To put it this way, nature knows no other circumstance
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Recimo to ovako, u prirodi nisu poznate druge okolnosti
17:20
in which functionally equivalent traits coexist.
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u kojima istovremeno postoje funkcionalno ekvivalentne sposobnosti.
17:25
One of them always drives the other extinct.
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Uvijek izumru sve osim jedne.
17:28
And we see this in the inexorable march
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I to vidimo u nezaustavljivom kretanju
17:30
towards standardization.
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prema standardizaciji.
17:32
There are lots and lots of ways of measuring things --
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Postoje mnogi načini mjerenja stvari --
17:35
weighing them and measuring their length --
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vaganja i mjerenja duljine --
17:37
but the metric system is winning.
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ali metrički sustav pobjeđuje.
17:39
There are lots and lots of ways of measuring time,
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Postoje mnogi načini mjerenja vremena,
17:42
but a really bizarre base 60 system
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ali bizaran sustav s bazom 60,
17:45
known as hours and minutes and seconds
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poznatiji kao sati i minute i sekunde
17:47
is nearly universal around the world.
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gotovo je univerzalan u cijelom svijetu.
17:50
There are many, many ways
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Postoji zaista mnogo načina
17:52
of imprinting CDs or DVDs,
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snimanja CD-a ili DVD-a,
17:54
but those are all being standardized as well.
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ali i oni se standardiziraju.
17:57
And you can probably think of many, many more
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I vjerojatno se možete sjetiti još mnogih primjera
18:00
in your own everyday lives.
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iz svakodnevnog života.
18:02
And so our modern world now
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I tako se naš suvremeni svijet
18:05
is confronting us with a dilemma.
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danas suočava s dilemom.
18:07
And it's the dilemma
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A to je dilema
18:09
that this Chinese man faces,
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s kojom se suočava ovaj Kinez,
18:11
who's language is spoken
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čiji jezik u svijetu
18:13
by more people in the world
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govori više ljudi
18:15
than any other single language,
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nego bilo koji drugi jezik,
18:18
and yet he is sitting at his blackboard,
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a on ipak sjedi ispred ploče
18:22
converting Chinese phrases
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i pretvara rečenice na kineskom
18:25
into English language phrases.
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u rečenice na engleskom jeziku.
18:27
And what this does is it raises the possibility to us
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Rezultat toga jest povećanje mogućnosti za nas
18:30
that in a world in which we want to promote
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da u svijetu u kojem želimo promovirati
18:32
cooperation and exchange,
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suradnju i razmjenu,
18:34
and in a world that might be dependent more than ever before
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i u svijetu koji bi mogao više nego ikad
18:37
on cooperation
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ovisiti o suradnji
18:39
to maintain and enhance our levels of prosperity,
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kako bi zadržao i povisio naše razine napretka,
18:42
his actions suggest to us
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njegovi postupci nam govore
18:44
it might be inevitable
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da bi moglo biti neizbježno
18:46
that we have to confront the idea
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da se moramo sučiti s idejom
18:48
that our destiny is to be one world with one language.
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da je naša sudbina da budemo jedan svijet s jednim jezikom.
18:51
Thank you.
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Hvala.
18:53
(Applause)
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(Pljesak)
19:01
Matt Ridley: Mark, one question.
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Matt Ridley: Mark, jedno pitanje.
19:03
Svante found that the FOXP2 gene,
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Svante je otkrio da gen FOXP2,
19:06
which seems to be associated with language,
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za koji se čini da je povezan s jezikom,
19:08
was also shared in the same form
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u istom obliku
19:10
in Neanderthals as us.
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dijelimo i mi i Neandertalci.
19:12
Do we have any idea
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Imaš li kakvu ideju
19:14
how we could have defeated Neanderthals
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kako smo mogli pobijediti Neandertalce
19:16
if they also had language?
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ako su i oni imali jezik?
19:18
Mark Pagel: This is a very good question.
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Mark Pagel: Ovo je vrlo dobro pitanje.
19:20
So many of you will be familiar with the idea that there's this gene called FOXP2
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Mnogima od vas poznata je ideja da postoji gen zvan FOXP2,
19:23
that seems to be implicated in some ways
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za koji se čini da je na neki način povezan
19:26
in the fine motor control that's associated with language.
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s finom motorikom koja je povezana s jezikom.
19:29
The reason why I don't believe that tells us
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Razlog zašto ja ne vjerujem da nam to govori
19:31
that the Neanderthals had language
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da su Neandertalci imali jezik
19:33
is -- here's a simple analogy:
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jest -- evo jednostavne analogije:
19:36
Ferraris are cars that have engines.
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Ferrariji su automobili koji imaju motore.
19:39
My car has an engine,
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Moj automobil ima motor,
19:41
but it's not a Ferrari.
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ali on nije Ferrari.
19:43
Now the simple answer then
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Jednostavan odgovor na to
19:45
is that genes alone don't, all by themselves,
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jest da sami geni, samostalno,
19:47
determine the outcome
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ne određuju ishod
19:49
of very complicated things like language.
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tako kompliciranih stvari kao što je jezik.
19:51
What we know about this FOXP2 and Neanderthals
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Ono što znamo o genu FOXP2 i Neandertalcima
19:53
is that they may have had fine motor control of their mouths -- who knows.
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jest da su možda imali finu motoriku u ustima -- tko zna.
19:57
But that doesn't tell us they necessarily had language.
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Ali to ne znači nužno da su imali jezik.
19:59
MR: Thank you very much indeed.
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MR: Hvala vam puno.
20:01
(Applause)
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(Pljesak)
ABOUT THE SPEAKER
Mark Pagel - Evolutionary biologistUsing biological evolution as a template, Mark Pagel wonders how languages evolve.
Why you should listen
Mark Pagel builds statistical models to examine the evolutionary processes imprinted in human behavior, from genomics to the emergence of complex systems -- to culture. His latest work examines the parallels between linguistic and biological evolution by applying methods of phylogenetics, or the study of evolutionary relatedness among groups, essentially viewing language as a culturally transmitted replicator with many of the same properties we find in genes. He’s looking for patterns in the rates of evolution of language elements, and hoping to find the social factors that influence trends of language evolution.
At the University of Reading, Pagel heads the Evolution Laboratory in the biology department, where he explores such questions as, "Why would humans evolve a system of communication that prevents them with communicating with other members of the same species?" He has used statistical methods to reconstruct features of dinosaur genomes, and to infer ancestral features of genes and proteins.
He says: "Just as we have highly conserved genes, we have highly conserved words. Language shows a truly remarkable fidelity."
Mark Pagel | Speaker | TED.com