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  • Each of you possesses

    在座的每一位都擁有

  • the most powerful, dangerous and subversive trait

    一項物競天擇過程所衍生出的產物中,

  • that natural selection has ever devised.

    最強力,危險,且具有顛覆性的特徵。

  • It's a piece of neural audio technology

    這是一項用來跟他人進行心意溝通

  • for rewiring other people's minds.

    的神經性音頻技術。

  • I'm talking about your language, of course,

    我所說的正是語言,

  • because it allows you to implant a thought from your mind

    透過語言你可以將自己的想法

  • directly into someone else's mind,

    直接灌輸進他人的腦袋裡,

  • and they can attempt to do the same to you,

    而別人也能夠反過來這樣做,

  • without either of you having to perform surgery.

    這個過程並不需要透過手術才能達成。

  • Instead, when you speak,

    換個角度,當你開口說話時,

  • you're actually using a form of telemetry

    你其實是在使用一種

  • not so different

    跟電視遙控器幾乎沒什麼兩樣的

  • from the remote control device for your television.

    遙測技術。

  • It's just that, whereas that device

    差別只在於遙控器

  • relies on pulses of infrared light,

    是透過紅外線脈衝,

  • your language relies on pulses,

    而語言則是透過

  • discrete pulses, of sound.

    聲音的離散脈衝進行傳導。

  • And just as you use the remote control device

    就像你使用遙控器

  • to alter the internal settings of your television

    去改變電視機的內部設定

  • to suit your mood,

    以迎合自己當下的心情一樣,

  • you use your language

    你也透過語言

  • to alter the settings inside someone else's brain

    去改變別人腦袋裡的設定

  • to suit your interests.

    來配合自己的喜好。

  • Languages are genes talking,

    語言其實是基因開口

  • getting things that they want.

    獲得他們所需事物的表現。

  • And just imagine the sense of wonder in a baby

    讓我們設想一下發生在小嬰兒身上的神奇場面,

  • when it first discovers that, merely by uttering a sound,

    當小嬰兒首次發現僅僅是發出聲音

  • it can get objects to move across a room

    就能使物體橫越房間朝他而來,

  • as if by magic,

    甚至餵飽他的肚子,

  • and maybe even into its mouth.

    簡直就像變魔術一樣。

  • Now language's subversive power

    語言的顛覆性力量

  • has been recognized throughout the ages

    也已經在實施言論審查的年代,

  • in censorship, in books you can't read,

    透過不得閱讀的禁書、

  • phrases you can't use

    禁止使用的辭彙

  • and words you can't say.

    和文字而得到印證。

  • In fact, the Tower of Babel story in the Bible

    事實上,聖經中的巴別塔故事

  • is a fable and warning

    正是一則有關語言的力量

  • about the power of language.

    的預言和告誡。

  • According to that story, early humans developed the conceit

    根據故事的描述,遠古的人類藉由使用語言

  • that, by using their language to work together,

    得以彼此溝通,進而起了驕慢之心,

  • they could build a tower

    認為他們能夠共同合作建造一座

  • that would take them all the way to heaven.

    直上天庭的高塔。

  • Now God, angered at this attempt to usurp his power,

    上帝對人類這個形同篡權奪位的行為怒不可遏,

  • destroyed the tower,

    於是摧毀了高塔,

  • and then to ensure

    並且為了確保

  • that it would never be rebuilt,

    人類不再重建通天塔,

  • he scattered the people by giving them different languages --

    上帝透過變亂語言來混淆人類 --

  • confused them by giving them different languages.

    從而使他們分散各地。

  • And this leads to the wonderful irony

    而這也導致了一個奇妙且諷刺的狀況,

  • that our languages exist to prevent us from communicating.

    正是我們的語言阻礙了彼此之間的溝通。

  • Even today,

    即使在今天,

  • we know that there are words we cannot use,

    仍然有我們不得使用的字眼,

  • phrases we cannot say,

    不能使用的辭彙,

  • because if we do so,

    因為一旦這樣做,

  • we might be accosted, jailed,

    我們就可能面臨牢獄之災,

  • or even killed.

    甚至是殺身之禍。

  • And all of this from a puff of air

    而這一切不過都是

  • emanating from our mouths.

    起於口舌吞吐之間的一口氣罷了。

  • Now all this fuss about a single one of our traits

    剛剛這一長串針對語言能力的長篇大論

  • tells us there's something worth explaining.

    正說明了有些值得闡釋的事情。

  • And that is how and why

    也就是語言這個不尋常的特徵

  • did this remarkable trait evolve,

    是基於什麼成因,又是以什麼方式發展的?

  • and why did it evolve

    並且,為何

  • only in our species?

    只在人類的世界衍繹?

  • Now it's a little bit of a surprise

    比較出人意表的是,

  • that to get an answer to that question,

    為了解答這個問題,

  • we have to go to tool use

    我們得先研究一下

  • in the chimpanzees.

    黑猩猩使用工具的情形。

  • Now these chimpanzees are using tools,

    這些黑猩猩正在使用工具,

  • and we take that as a sign of their intelligence.

    這被認為是牠們智力的一種表現。

  • But if they really were intelligent,

    但如果黑猩猩真的很聰明的話,

  • why would they use a stick to extract termites from the ground

    為什麼牠們會用棍子去挖土裡的白蟻,

  • rather than a shovel?

    卻不用鏟子呢?

  • And if they really were intelligent,

    如果牠們真的那麼聰明,

  • why would they crack open nuts with a rock?

    又為什麼要費事自己拿石頭砸開堅果?

  • Why wouldn't they just go to a shop and buy a bag of nuts

    為什麼不直接到商店裡

  • that somebody else had already cracked open for them?

    去買一袋別人已經開好的堅果呢?

  • Why not? I mean, that's what we do.

    為什麼不?我的意思是,我們不就是這樣做的嗎?

  • Now the reason the chimpanzees don't do that

    黑猩猩不會這樣做的理由

  • is that they lack what psychologists and anthropologists call

    是因為牠們缺乏心理學家和人類學家稱之為

  • social learning.

    社會學習的能力。

  • They seem to lack the ability

    牠們似乎缺乏

  • to learn from others

    透過複製或摹仿,

  • by copying or imitating

    甚至於單純觀察他人

  • or simply watching.

    而從中學習的能力。

  • As a result,

    於是乎,

  • they can't improve on others' ideas

    牠們也就無法透過改良他人的創意,

  • or learn from others' mistakes --

    或以他人的錯誤爲借鏡 --

  • benefit from others' wisdom.

    從而汲取他人的智慧。

  • And so they just do the same thing

    因此牠們只能一再而再的

  • over and over and over again.

    重複做相同的事情。

  • In fact, we could go away for a million years and come back

    事實上,如果我們前進到一百萬年後,再倒溯回來,

  • and these chimpanzees would be doing the same thing

    那些黑猩猩肯定還在做著相同的事情,

  • with the same sticks for the termites

    用同樣的棍子挖白蟻,

  • and the same rocks to crack open the nuts.

    用同樣的石塊砸開堅果。

  • Now this may sound arrogant, or even full of hubris.

    這樣說聽起來或者很傲慢,甚至於很狂妄。

  • How do we know this?

    我們怎麼會知道這些呢?

  • Because this is exactly what our ancestors, the Homo erectus, did.

    因為我們的老祖宗,直立人,就是這樣做的。

  • These upright apes

    距今約兩百萬年前,

  • evolved on the African savanna

    這些直立猿人

  • about two million years ago,

    在非洲的熱帶草原上演化,

  • and they made these splendid hand axes

    他們製作了這些能夠完美符合掌型

  • that fit wonderfully into your hands.

    的精巧手斧。

  • But if we look at the fossil record,

    但假使我們查看化石紀錄的話,

  • we see that they made the same hand axe

    就會發現他們是一再而再

  • over and over and over again

    不斷重複的製作同樣的手斧

  • for one million years.

    時間長達一百萬年。

  • You can follow it through the fossil record.

    你可以從追溯化石紀錄發現這一點。

  • Now if we make some guesses about how long Homo erectus lived,

    如果我們對於直立人存在的時間,

  • what their generation time was,

    和他們的世代做一些假設的話,

  • that's about 40,000 generations

    從對經過約莫40,000代的

  • of parents to offspring, and other individuals watching,

    父子傳承,和其他個體的觀察來看,

  • in which that hand axe didn't change.

    手斧的製作全然未有改變。

  • It's not even clear

    我們甚至不太清楚,

  • that our very close genetic relatives, the Neanderthals,

    我們的近親,尼安德塔人,

  • had social learning.

    是否具備了社會學習的能力。

  • Sure enough, their tools were more complicated

    當然,他們的工具和直立人所使用的相較之下

  • than those of Homo erectus,

    是複雜得多了,

  • but they too showed very little change

    只不過,這些住在歐亞大陸的人類,

  • over the 300,000 years or so

    尼安德塔人,

  • that those species, the Neanderthals,

    在超過300,000年的時間裡,

  • lived in Eurasia.

    也只呈現了極少的變化。

  • Okay, so what this tells us

    這跟諺語

  • is that, contrary to the old adage,

    “有樣學樣“告訴我們的道理

  • "monkey see, monkey do,"

    正好完全相反。

  • the surprise really is

    令人驚訝的是

  • that all of the other animals

    其它所有動物

  • really cannot do that -- at least not very much.

    都無法做到有樣學樣 -- 至少程度上極為有限。

  • And even this picture

    即使這張照片

  • has the suspicious taint of being rigged about it --

    都不免有人為操控之嫌 --

  • something from a Barnum & Bailey circus.

    像是出自巴納姆貝利馬戲團之手似的。

  • But by comparison,

    但在相較之下,

  • we can learn.

    人類具備了學習能力。

  • We can learn by watching other people

    我們能透過觀察他人,

  • and copying or imitating

    複製或摹仿他人的行為

  • what they can do.

    而從中學習。

  • We can then choose, from among a range of options,

    然後我們就能在許多不同選項裡

  • the best one.

    挑選出最好的一個。

  • We can benefit from others' ideas.

    我們能夠從別人的想法中受益。

  • We can build on their wisdom.

    以別人的智慧爲基礎加以發展。

  • And as a result, our ideas do accumulate,

    而最終,我們的創意得以累積,

  • and our technology progresses.

    科技也因而進步。

  • And this cumulative cultural adaptation,

    這種人類學家稱之爲

  • as anthropologists call

    累積文化適性的

  • this accumulation of ideas,

    想法累積,

  • is responsible for everything around you

    是與你繁忙的群體日常生活裡

  • in your bustling and teeming everyday lives.

    各種事物都習習相關的。

  • I mean the world has changed out of all proportion

    跟1,000或2,000年前相比

  • to what we would recognize

    這個世界

  • even 1,000 or 2,000 years ago.

    已經發生徹頭徹尾的改變。

  • And all of this because of cumulative cultural adaptation.

    這一切都是拜累積文化適性所賜。

  • The chairs you're sitting in, the lights in this auditorium,

    各位所坐的椅子,會場裡的燈光,

  • my microphone, the iPads and iPods that you carry around with you --

    我手上的麥克風,各位隨身攜帶的 iPad 和 iPod

  • all are a result

    全都是

  • of cumulative cultural adaptation.

    累積文化適性的產物。

  • Now to many commentators,

    對許多評論家而言,

  • cumulative cultural adaptation, or social learning,

    累積文化適性,或者社會學習能力,

  • is job done, end of story.

    都已經算發展完成,劃上句點。

  • Our species can make stuff,

    人類有生產製造的能力,

  • therefore we prospered in a way that no other species has.

    因此我們比其它物種發展得更加繁榮昌盛。

  • In fact, we can even make the "stuff of life" --

    事實上,我們甚至能製造“生活用品“ --

  • as I just said, all the stuff around us.

    也就是我方才所說的,所有我們周遭的事物。

  • But in fact, it turns out

    然而實際上,

  • that some time around 200,000 years ago,

    在距今約莫200,000萬年前,

  • when our species first arose

    當現代人類出現

  • and acquired social learning,

    並取得社會學習能力時,

  • that this was really the beginning of our story,

    那才是人類故事的開端,

  • not the end of our story.

    而非故事的終結。

  • Because our acquisition of social learning

    由於社會學習能力的獲得

  • would create a social and evolutionary dilemma,

    讓社會與進化陷入了進退維谷的兩難,

  • the resolution of which, it's fair to say,

    解決之道,持平而言,

  • would determine not only the future course of our psychology,

    不僅勢將決定人類未來心理層面的課題,

  • but the future course of the entire world.

    更會左右整個世界未來的走向。

  • And most importantly for this,

    最重要的是,

  • it'll tell us why we have language.

    它將會揭示:為什麼人類會有語言。

  • And the reason that dilemma arose

    兩難局面產生的理由

  • is, it turns out, that social learning is visual theft.

    是因為社會學習實際上是一種視覺竊取。

  • If I can learn by watching you,

    如果我可以藉著觀察你來學習,

  • I can steal your best ideas,

    我就能偷取你的創意,

  • and I can benefit from your efforts,

    而且無須像你一樣付出時間和精力

  • without having to put in the time and energy that you did

    投注在改善創意之上,

  • into developing them.

    就能輕易坐享其成。

  • If I can watch which lure you use to catch a fish,

    如果我可以觀察你使用什麼魚餌釣魚,

  • or I can watch how you flake your hand axe

    或如何削薄手斧

  • to make it better,

    讓它更加順手,

  • or if I follow you secretly to your mushroom patch,

    或者,偷偷跟蹤你到你的蘑菇採集點,

  • I can benefit from your knowledge and wisdom and skills,

    我就能夠從你的知識、智慧和技巧受惠,

  • and maybe even catch that fish

    甚至可能比你更早一步

  • before you do.

    抓到魚。

  • Social learning really is visual theft.

    社會學習實際上就是一種視覺竊取。

  • And in any species that acquired it,

    任何具備這種能力的物種,

  • it would behoove you

    最終都會

  • to hide your best ideas,

    隱藏起自己最好的創意,

  • lest somebody steal them from you.

    免得被別人給偷走了。

  • And so some time around 200,000 years ago,

    就在大約200,000年前,

  • our species confronted this crisis.

    人類面臨了這個危機。

  • And we really had only two options

    對於視覺竊取

  • for dealing with the conflicts

    所帶來的衝突狀況

  • that visual theft would bring.

    我們僅有兩個選擇。

  • One of those options

    一個是

  • was that we could have retreated

    將自己退回

  • into small family groups.

    小家庭單位的族群。

  • Because then the benefits of our ideas and knowledge

    如此一來,因為我們的創意和知識所生的利益

  • would flow just to our relatives.

    就可以留在自己的親族之間。

  • Had we chosen this option,

    如果在大約200,000年前

  • sometime around 200,000 years ago,

    我們選擇的是這個做法,

  • we would probably still be living like the Neanderthals were

    很可能在40,000年前人類首度進入歐洲的時候

  • when we first entered Europe 40,000 years ago.

    我們都還維持著跟尼安德塔人一樣的生活方式。

  • And this is because in small groups

    因為在小團體裡

  • there are fewer ideas, there are fewer innovations.

    能產生的發想有限,創新也有限。

  • And small groups are more prone to accidents and bad luck.

    但卻更易於遭遇事故和厄運。

  • So if we'd chosen that path,

    因此如果我們當初選擇的是這條路,

  • our evolutionary path would have led into the forest --

    我們的進化之道就會通向密林 --

  • and been a short one indeed.

    並且十分短命。

  • The other option we could choose

    另一個選擇則是

  • was to develop the systems of communication

    發展出得以相互交流創意

  • that would allow us to share ideas

    和彼此相互合作的

  • and to cooperate amongst others.

    溝通系統。

  • Choosing this option would mean

    選擇這個方式意味著

  • that a vastly greater fund of accumulated knowledge and wisdom

    豐厚的累積知識和智慧資產

  • would become available to any one individual

    將對所有人開放。

  • than would ever arise from within an individual family

    而不僅是拘限於個別家族之間的流傳,

  • or an individual person on their own.

    或一己的私藏。

  • Well, we chose the second option,

    我們當初選擇了第二個方法,

  • and language is the result.

    語言即是此一抉擇下的產物。

  • Language evolved to solve the crisis

    語言的進化解決了

  • of visual theft.

    視覺竊取所產生的危機。

  • Language is a piece of social technology

    語言是一種用來

  • for enhancing the benefits of cooperation --

    加強合作的利益的社會科技 --

  • for reaching agreements, for striking deals

    用來達成協議,完成交易,

  • and for coordinating our activities.

    和協調各種活動的進行。

  • And you can see that, in a developing society

    各位可以想見,對一個尚位於發展階段,

  • that was beginning to acquire language,

    剛開始學習語言的國家而言,

  • not having language

    缺乏對於語言的掌握

  • would be a like a bird without wings.

    處境就如同沒有翅膀的鳥一樣。

  • Just as wings open up this sphere of air

    就像鳥類,

  • for birds to exploit,

    展開翅膀劃破空氣翱翔一般。

  • language opened up the sphere of cooperation

    人類也藉由語言

  • for humans to exploit.

    開啟彼此合作之門。

  • And we take this utterly for granted,

    而我們將此視為理所當然,

  • because we're a species that is so at home with language,

    因為我們對於語言的掌握已臻嫻熟。

  • but you have to realize

    但我們應當理解到

  • that even the simplest acts of exchange that we engage in

    即使是我們最簡單的交換行為

  • are utterly dependent upon language.

    也完全是倚靠語言來完成的。

  • And to see why, consider two scenarios

    請想像兩個

  • from early in our evolution.

    進化早期的場景。

  • Let's imagine that you are really good

    想像你非常

  • at making arrowheads,

    擅於製作箭頭,

  • but you're hopeless at making the wooden shafts

    但卻對於製作帶著羽毛的箭柄

  • with the flight feathers attached.

    完全無計可施。

  • Two other people you know are very good at making the wooden shafts,

    另外兩個你認識的人則是非常擅於製作箭柄,

  • but they're hopeless at making the arrowheads.

    卻完全不會製作箭頭。

  • So what you do is --

    於是 --

  • one of those people has not really acquired language yet.

    其中一位是尚未掌握語言能力的。

  • And let's pretend the other one is good at language skills.

    然後我們假設另一位則具備很好的語言能力。

  • So what you do one day is you take a pile of arrowheads,

    於是有一天你帶著一堆箭頭

  • and you walk up to the one that can't speak very well,

    去找那位還不太會說話的人,

  • and you put the arrowheads down in front of him,

    然後把那堆箭頭放在他面前,

  • hoping that he'll get the idea that you want to trade your arrowheads

    期待他能了解你想用箭頭跟他交換

  • for finished arrows.

    箭柄的想法。

  • But he looks at the pile of arrowheads, thinks they're a gift,

    然而他看著那堆箭頭,認為那是你送他的禮物,

  • picks them up, smiles and walks off.

    就拿起箭頭,笑一笑走開了。

  • Now you pursue this guy, gesticulating.

    你追上前去,對他比手畫腳。

  • A scuffle ensues and you get stabbed

    拉拉扯扯之間,

  • with one of your own arrowheads.

    你就被自己做的箭頭給戳傷了。

  • Okay, now replay this scene now, and you're approaching the one who has language.

    接著再我們重複相同的場景,這回你換成去找那個會說話的人。

  • You put down your arrowheads and say,

    你把箭頭放下之後對他說:

  • "I'd like to trade these arrowheads for finished arrows. I'll split you 50/50."

    “我想用這些箭頭換你做好的箭柄。我們對半分吧。“

  • The other one says, "Fine. Looks good to me.

    對方會說:“好,聽起來還不賴。

  • We'll do that."

    就這麼辦!“

  • Now the job is done.

    交易完成了。

  • Once we have language,

    一旦擁有語言,

  • we can put our ideas together and cooperate

    我們就可以交換想法並合作

  • to have a prosperity

    創造出

  • that we couldn't have before we acquired it.

    沒有語言之前無法達成的繁榮。

  • And this is why our species

    這也是為什麼人類

  • has prospered around the world

    得以在世界各地方繁衍發展,

  • while the rest of the animals

    而其它的動物

  • sit behind bars in zoos, languishing.

    卻只能被關在動物園的鐵欄裡,逐漸凋零。

  • That's why we build space shuttles and cathedrals

    這也是為什麼我們能建造太空梭和大教堂,

  • while the rest of the world sticks sticks into the ground

    而其它動物只會用棍子挖地

  • to extract termites.

    找白蟻。

  • All right, if this view of language

    好了,如果這個關於語言

  • and its value

    和它具備解決

  • in solving the crisis of visual theft is true,

    視覺竊取危機的價值的看法屬實,

  • any species that acquires it

    則任何取得語言能力的物種

  • should show an explosion of creativity and prosperity.

    都會展現出爆炸性的創造力和繁榮發展。

  • And this is exactly what the archeological record shows.

    這正是考古紀錄揭露的事實。

  • If you look at our ancestors,

    如果研究一下我們的祖先,

  • the Neanderthals and the Homo erectus, our immediate ancestors,

    尼安德塔人和直立人,我們的直系祖先,

  • they're confined to small regions of the world.

    他們的活動範圍僅限於世界的某個小區域裡。

  • But when our species arose

    但當人類

  • about 200,000 years ago,

    在約莫200,000年前出現後,

  • sometime after that we quickly walked out of Africa

    很快的我們就走出非洲

  • and spread around the entire world,

    並散佈在世界各地,

  • occupying nearly every habitat on Earth.

    幾乎佔據了地球上所有的棲息地。

  • Now whereas other species are confined

    如今當其它物種還受限於

  • to places that their genes adapt them to,

    牠們的基因所能適應的生存區域時,

  • with social learning and language,

    藉著社會學習能力和語言的力量,

  • we could transform the environment

    我們已經能夠轉化環境

  • to suit our needs.

    來配合我們的需求。

  • And so we prospered in a way

    而我們也的確是以一種其它動物

  • that no other animal has.

    都難以望其項背的方式在繁衍發展。

  • Language really is

    語言的確是

  • the most potent trait that has ever evolved.

    演化過程中所發展出的最有力特徵。

  • It is the most valuable trait we have

    是我們擁有的最具價值的特徵,

  • for converting new lands and resources

    藉此我們將新的土地和資源轉化成

  • into more people and their genes

    更多的人和他們的基因,

  • that natural selection has ever devised.

    遠勝於物競天擇所創造出的機制。

  • Language really is

    語言的確是

  • the voice of our genes.

    我們基因的發聲。

  • Now having evolved language, though,

    但儘管語言進化如此發達,

  • we did something peculiar,

    我們做的也是件獨特,

  • even bizarre.

    甚至是奇怪的事情。

  • As we spread out around the world,

    當人類散佈到世界各地的同時,

  • we developed thousands of different languages.

    我們也發展出上千種不同的語言。

  • Currently, there are about seven or 8,000

    目前,地球上有大約七到八千種

  • different languages spoken on Earth.

    語言被人們所使用。

  • Now you might say, well, this is just natural.

    你可能會認為這是很自然的事情。

  • As we diverge, our languages are naturally going to diverge.

    當我們越分散,我們的語言自然也會變得越加分化。

  • But the real puzzle and irony

    但最是令人感到困惑和諷刺的是

  • is that the greatest density of different languages on Earth

    地球上密度最高的語言分化區域,

  • is found where people are most tightly packed together.

    正是人口聚集密度最高的區域。

  • If we go to the island of Papua New Guinea,

    在巴布亞新幾內亞,

  • we can find about 800 to 1,000

    那裡有共計約 800 到 1,000 種

  • distinct human languages,

    不同的人類語言,

  • different human languages,

    光是在那個小島

  • spoken on that island alone.

    就有各種不同的人類語言被使用著。

  • There are places on that island

    在那座島上

  • where you can encounter a new language

    每隔兩到三英哩,

  • every two or three miles.

    你就會碰上一種新語言。

  • Now, incredible as this sounds,

    讓人難以置信的是,

  • I once met a Papuan man, and I asked him if this could possibly be true.

    有回碰到一個巴布亞人,我問他這件事是不是真的。

  • And he said to me, "Oh no.

    他對我說:“噢,不。

  • They're far closer together than that."

    距離比這近多了。“

  • And it's true; there are places on that island

    這是真的;在這座島上

  • where you can encounter a new language in under a mile.

    有些地方相隔不到一英哩用的就是不同的語言了。

  • And this is also true of some remote oceanic islands.

    在某些偏遠的遠洋小島情形也是一樣。

  • And so it seems that we use our language,

    如此看來,我們不僅是使用語言

  • not just to cooperate,

    來進行合作,

  • but to draw rings around our cooperative groups

    也用在劃分團體周邊的界限

  • and to establish identities,

    和確立身分認同,

  • and perhaps to protect our knowledge and wisdom and skills

    也或許是用來保護知識、智慧和技術

  • from eavesdropping from outside.

    以避免隔牆有耳。

  • And we know this

    我們對此亦深有所知,

  • because when we study different language groups

    因為當我們研究不同的語言族群,

  • and associate them with their cultures,

    並將他們的文化加以連結時,

  • we see that different languages

    會發現不同的語言

  • slow the flow of ideas between groups.

    會減緩創意在族群間傳遞的速度。

  • They slow the flow of technologies.

    也減緩了科技傳播的速度。

  • And they even slow the flow of genes.

    甚至於減緩了基因交流的速度。

  • Now I can't speak for you,

    雖然我不能代表各位發言,

  • but it seems to be the case

    不過就這個例子來說,

  • that we don't have sex with people we can't talk to.

    我們是不會去跟無法溝通的人做愛的。

  • (Laughter)

    (笑聲)

  • Now we have to counter that, though,

    儘管現在我們或許要推翻這種說法了,

  • against the evidence we've heard

    根據證據顯示

  • that we might have had some rather distasteful genetic dalliances

    我們的老祖宗或許跟尼安德塔人和丹尼索瓦人

  • with the Neanderthals and the Denisovans.

    有過幾筆不甚美好的風流帳。

  • (Laughter)

    (笑聲)

  • Okay, this tendency we have,

    好了,人類的這種傾向,

  • this seemingly natural tendency we have,

    這種看似天生的傾向,

  • towards isolation, towards keeping to ourselves,

    趨向隔絕,趨向自閉,

  • crashes head first into our modern world.

    一頭撞進了我們處身的現代社會。

  • This remarkable image

    這張精彩的圖像

  • is not a map of the world.

    並不是世界地圖。

  • In fact, it's a map of Facebook friendship links.

    事實上,這是臉書友誼連結的分布標示圖。

  • And when you plot those friendship links

    當你把臉書朋友所在的位置

  • by their latitude and longitude,

    按照經緯度排列定位後,

  • it literally draws a map of the world.

    就會畫出一幅像這樣的世界地圖。

  • Our modern world is communicating

    現代社會正不斷的

  • with itself and with each other

    在與其自身和他人溝通交流,

  • more than it has

    頻繁的程度

  • at any time in its past.

    遠勝於歷史上任何時刻。

  • And that communication, that connectivity around the world,

    而這種溝通,這種全球性的連線,

  • that globalization

    這種全球化的舉動

  • now raises a burden.

    如今正凸顯出某個隱憂。

  • Because these different languages

    因為各種不同的語言

  • impose a barrier, as we've just seen,

    就如我們方才所看到的,

  • to the transfer of goods and ideas

    為貨物和創意的交流,

  • and technologies and wisdom.

    和科技與智慧的傳遞設下了一道屏障。

  • And they impose a barrier to cooperation.

    為合作設下了一道屏障。

  • And nowhere do we see that more clearly

    相較於其他地方,

  • than in the European Union,

    在歐盟這種狀況尤其明顯,

  • whose 27 member countries

    歐盟的27個會員國

  • speak 23 official languages.

    共有23種官方語言。

  • The European Union

    目前歐盟

  • is now spending over one billion euros annually

    每年用在23種會員國官方語言互譯的經費

  • translating among their 23 official languages.

    超過十億歐元之多。

  • That's something on the order

    亦即

  • of 1.45 billion U.S. dollars

    相當於十四億五千萬美元的費用

  • on translation costs alone.

    做為翻譯之用。

  • Now think of the absurdity of this situation.

    讓我們想像一下這個荒誕的場面。

  • If 27 individuals

    來自其它27個會員國

  • from those 27 member states

    的27位代表圍桌而坐,

  • sat around table, speaking their 23 languages,

    分別操23種不同的語言,

  • some very simple mathematics will tell you

    用簡單的數學算式就可以得出,

  • that you need an army of 253 translators

    需要一個多達253名翻譯成員的隊伍

  • to anticipate all the pairwise possibilities.

    才能確保各會員國皆能配對對話的可能性。

  • The European Union employs a permanent staff

    歐盟總共雇用了高達2,500名

  • of about 2,500 translators.

    正式編制的翻譯人員。

  • And in 2007 alone --

    而單是2007年一年 --

  • and I'm sure there are more recent figures --

    當然我相信有更新的數據可查 --

  • something on the order of 1.3 million pages

    光是翻譯成英文的文件數量

  • were translated into English alone.

    就多達了一百三十萬頁之多。

  • And so if language really is

    因此,如果語言真的是

  • the solution to the crisis of visual theft,

    視覺竊取危機的解決之道,

  • if language really is

    如果語言真的是

  • the conduit of our cooperation,

    我們彼此合作交流的導管,

  • the technology that our species derived

    是人類為了促進

  • to promote the free flow and exchange of ideas,

    思想在現代社會能自由交換流通

  • in our modern world,

    而衍繹出的科技的話,

  • we confront a question.

    我們也面臨了一個問題。

  • And that question is whether

    這個問題就是

  • in this modern, globalized world

    在這個現代,全球化的世界上

  • we can really afford to have all these different languages.

    我們是否真的負擔得起使用這麼多語種的代價。

  • To put it this way, nature knows no other circumstance

    換句話說,就自然法則而言

  • in which functionally equivalent traits coexist.

    功能相等的特徵是難以同時共存的。

  • One of them always drives the other extinct.

    其中一個往往會戰勝,迫使另一個走向消亡。

  • And we see this in the inexorable march

    我們在朝向勢不可擋的標準化進程上

  • towards standardization.

    可以清楚看到這一點。

  • There are lots and lots of ways of measuring things --

    在許許多多測量事物的方法上

  • weighing them and measuring their length --

    比方秤重和高度測量

  • but the metric system is winning.

    公制度量贏了。

  • There are lots and lots of ways of measuring time,

    在許許多多計算時間的方法上

  • but a really bizarre base 60 system

    古怪的60進位制

  • known as hours and minutes and seconds

    也就是以時分秒爲計算單位的方式

  • is nearly universal around the world.

    幾乎被全世界所普遍採用。

  • There are many, many ways

    壓製CD和DVD的方式

  • of imprinting CDs or DVDs,

    其實有很多很多種選擇,

  • but those are all being standardized as well.

    但現在也都被標準化了。

  • And you can probably think of many, many more

    各位還可以想出日常生活中

  • in your own everyday lives.

    更多更多類似的例子。

  • And so our modern world now

    所以說,現代社會

  • is confronting us with a dilemma.

    如今正面臨著一個兩難的問題。

  • And it's the dilemma

    這個中國人

  • that this Chinese man faces,

    目前也面臨著相同的難題,

  • who's language is spoken

    比起世界上其它任何語種,

  • by more people in the world

    中文擁有更多

  • than any other single language,

    的使用人口,

  • and yet he is sitting at his blackboard,

    然而這個中國人現在卻坐在黑板前,

  • converting Chinese phrases

    想辦法把中文辭彙

  • into English language phrases.

    适譯成英語辭彙。

  • And what this does is it raises the possibility to us

    這個行為讓我們得出一個可能性,

  • that in a world in which we want to promote

    亦即在這個我們極欲

  • cooperation and exchange,

    促進合作和交流的世界上,

  • and in a world that might be dependent more than ever before

    在這個歷史上

  • on cooperation

    為維持和加強繁榮富足

  • to maintain and enhance our levels of prosperity,

    而越來越依賴相互合作關係的時代,

  • his actions suggest to us

    這個中國人的行為提醒了我們,

  • it might be inevitable

    或許我們終將

  • that we have to confront the idea

    無法避免去正視這個議題,

  • that our destiny is to be one world with one language.

    亦即我們的命運會走向一個世界,一種語言。

  • Thank you.

    謝謝各位。

  • (Applause)

    (掌聲)

  • Matt Ridley: Mark, one question.

    麥特.瑞德里:馬克,我有個問題。

  • Svante found that the FOXP2 gene,

    帕波教授發現

  • which seems to be associated with language,

    尼安德塔人也跟我們一樣,

  • was also shared in the same form

    都擁有似乎跟語言存在著關連性的

  • in Neanderthals as us.

    FOXP2基因。

  • Do we have any idea

    假設尼安德塔人也有語言的話,

  • how we could have defeated Neanderthals

    您認為我們該用什麼方式

  • if they also had language?

    才能贏過尼安德塔人呢?

  • Mark Pagel: This is a very good question.

    馬克.佩葛:這個問題非常好。

  • So many of you will be familiar with the idea that there's this gene called FOXP2

    很多人未來勢必會對這個叫做FOXP2的基因更加熟悉,

  • that seems to be implicated in some ways

    它似乎在許多層面上都跟與語言相關的

  • in the fine motor control that's associated with language.

    精巧動作控制有所牽連。

  • The reason why I don't believe that tells us

    但我並不認為這個發現足以證明

  • that the Neanderthals had language

    尼安德塔人擁有語言,

  • is -- here's a simple analogy:

    原因是 -- 打個簡單的比方:

  • Ferraris are cars that have engines.

    法拉利是有引擎的汽車。

  • My car has an engine,

    我的車也有引擎,

  • but it's not a Ferrari.

    但不代表它就是法拉利。

  • Now the simple answer then

    簡單來說,

  • is that genes alone don't, all by themselves,

    光是基因本身

  • determine the outcome

    並不足以成為

  • of very complicated things like language.

    影響語言這種複雜事物產生的決定性要素。

  • What we know about this FOXP2 and Neanderthals

    我們對於 FOXP2 和尼安德塔人的了解

  • is that they may have had fine motor control of their mouths -- who knows.

    是他們的口部或許也具有精巧動作控制的能力 -- 但誰曉得呢?

  • But that doesn't tell us they necessarily had language.

    不過這也並不足以說明他們擁有語言。

  • MR: Thank you very much indeed.

    麥特.瑞德里:真的非常感謝您。

  • (Applause)

    (掌聲)

Each of you possesses

在座的每一位都擁有

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