Alison Gopnik: What do babies think?

Translator: Eulalia Baroja Reviewer: Xosé María Moreno

What is going on

Que está a suceder

in this baby's mind?

na mente desde bebé?

If you'd asked people this 30 years ago,

Se preguntásemos isto hai 30 anos,

most people, including psychologists,

a maioría da xente, psicólogos incluidos,

would have said that this baby was irrational,

diría que este bebé é irracional,

illogical, egocentric --

ilóxigo, egocéntrico...

that he couldn't take the perspective of another person

que non tería en conta a perspectiva doutra persoa

or understand cause and effect.

ou non entendería un proceso de causa-efecto.

In the last 20 years,

Nos últimos 20 anos,

developmental science has completely overturned that picture.

a ciencia do desenvolvemento anulou completamente esta teoría.

So in some ways,

En certo modo,

we think that this baby's thinking

cremos que o pensamento deste bebé

is like the thinking of the most brilliant scientists.

é coma o pensamento dos científicos máis destacados.

Let me give you just one example of this.

Dareilles un exemplo disto.

One thing that this baby could be thinking about,

Unha cousa que podería estar a pensar este bebé,

that could be going on in his mind,

que podería estar a pasar pola súa mente,

is trying to figure out

é tratar de descifrar

what's going on in the mind of that other baby.

o que está a ocorrer na mente doutro bebé.

After all, one of the things that's hardest for all of us to do

Á fin e ó cabo, unha das cousas máis difíciles para todos nós

is to figure out what other people are thinking and feeling.

é tratar de descifrar o que outras persoas pensan e senten.

And maybe the hardest thing of all

E quizais o máis difícil

is to figure out that what other people think and feel

sexa entender que o que outros pensan e senten

isn't actually exactly like what we think and feel.

non é o mesmo que o que nós pensamos e sentimos.

Anyone who's followed politics can testify

Calquera que estea ó tanto da política pode dicir

to how hard that is for some people to get.

o difícil que lles resulta isto a algunhas persoas.

We wanted to know

Nós queriamos saber

if babies and young children

se os bebés e os nenos pequenos

could understand this really profound thing about other people.

podían entender esta idea tan complexa sobre outras persoas.

Now the question is: How could we ask them?

A cuestión é: como podemos preguntarlles?

Babies, after all, can't talk,

Os bebés non falan,

and if you ask a three year-old

e se lle pedimos a un neno de 3 anos

to tell you what he thinks,

que nos conte o que pensa,

what you'll get is a beautiful stream of consciousness monologue

só conseguiremos un monólogo de pensamentos sobre

about ponies and birthdays and things like that.

ponis, cumpreanos e cousas polo estilo.

So how do we actually ask them the question?

Como podemos entón preguntarlles?

Well it turns out that the secret was broccoli.

Resulta que o secreto foi o brócoli.

What we did -- Betty Rapacholi, who was one of my students, and I --

Betty Rapacholi, unha das miñas estudantes, e mais eu,

was actually to give the babies two bowls of food:

démoslles ós bebés dous pratos con comida:

one bowl of raw broccoli

un con brócoli cru

and one bowl of delicious goldfish crackers.

e outro con deliciosas galletiñas saladas.

Now all of the babies, even in Berkley,

A todos os bebés, incluso en Berkeley,

like the crackers and don't like the raw broccoli.

lles gustan as galletiñas e non lles gusta o brócoli.

(Laughter)

(Risos)

But then what Betty did

Despois, o que facía Betty

was to take a little taste of food from each bowl.

era probar comida dos dous pratos.

And she would act as if she liked it or she didn't.

E facía que lle gustaba ou non o que probaba.

So half the time, she acted

A metade das veces,

as if she liked the crackers and didn't like the broccoli --

facía que lle gustaban as galletiñas e non o brócoli...

just like a baby and any other sane person.

como calquera bebé ou persoa normal.

But half the time,

Pero a outra metade,

what she would do is take a little bit of the broccoli

collía un pouco de brócoli

and go, "Mmmmm, broccoli.

e dicía "Mmmm, brócoli.

I tasted the broccoli. Mmmmm."

Probei o brócoli. Mmmm."

And then she would take a little bit of the crackers,

E logo collía unhas galletiñas,

and she'd go, "Eww, yuck, crackers.

e dicía "Aj, puaj, galletiñas.

I tasted the crackers. Eww, yuck."

Probei as galletiñas. Aj, puaj."

So she'd act as if what she wanted

É dicir, facía coma se lle gustara

was just the opposite of what the babies wanted.

o contrario do que lles gustaba ós bebés.

We did this with 15 and 18 month-old babies.

Fixemos isto con bebés de 15 e 18 meses.

And then she would simply put her hand out and say,

Logo Betty extendía a man e dicía,

"Can you give me some?"

"Dásme un pouquiño?"

So the question is: What would the baby give her,

A cuestión era: daríanlle os bebés

what they liked or what she liked?

o que lles gustaba a eles ou a ela?

And the remarkable thing was that 18 month-old babies,

O sorprendente foi que os bebés de 18 meses,

just barely walking and talking,

que acaban de empezar a andar e falar,

would give her the crackers if she liked the crackers,

dábanlle as galletiñas se lle gustaran as galletiñas

but they would give her the broccoli if she liked the broccoli.

e o brócoli se lle gustara o brócoli.

On the other hand,

Por outro lado,

15 month-olds would stare at her for a long time

os bebés de 15 meses quedábanse fitando para ela

if she acted as if she liked the broccoli,

se parecía que lle gustara o brócoli,

like they couldn't figure this out.

coma se non puidesen entendelo.

But then after they stared for a long time,

E despois de mirala durante un rato longo,

they would just give her the crackers,

dábanlle galletiñas,

what they thought everybody must like.

o que pensaban que gustaría a todo o mundo.

So there are two really remarkable things about this.

Polo tanto, hai dous datos reveladores nisto.

The first one is that these little 18 month-old babies

Por un lado está que os bebés de 18 meses

have already discovered

xa teñen descuberto

this really profound fact about human nature,

este dato importante da natureza humana:

that we don't always want the same thing.

que non todos queremos o mesmo.

And what's more, they felt that they should actually do things

É mais, entenden que deben actuar para axudar

to help other people get what they wanted.

a outras persoas a conseguir o que queiran.

Even more remarkably though,

E máis interesante sen embargo,

the fact that 15 month-olds didn't do this

é que os bebés de 15 meses non fan isto;

suggests that these 18 month-olds had learned

o que suxire que os nenos de 18 meses aprenderon

this deep, profound fact about human nature

este dato profundo do ser humán

in the three months from when they were 15 months old.

nos 3 meses que os separan dos bebés de 15 meses.

So children both know more and learn more

Polo tanto, os bebés saben máis e aprenden máis

than we ever would have thought.

do que pensabamos ata agora.

And this is just one of hundreds and hundreds of studies over the last 20 years

E este é só un dos centos de estudos que se fixeron nos últimos 20 anos

that's actually demonstrated it.

demostrando este feito.

The question you might ask though is:

O que se poden preguntar agora é:

Why do children learn so much?

Por que os nenos aprenden tanto?

And how is it possible for them to learn so much

E como é posible que aprendan tanto

in such a short time?

en tan pouco tempo?

I mean, after all, if you look at babies superficially,

É dicir, a primeira vista, os bebés

they seem pretty useless.

parecen bastante inútiles.

And actually in many ways, they're worse than useless,

E en moitas ocasións, son peor que inútiles,

because we have to put so much time and energy

porque temos que empregar moito tempo e enerxía

into just keeping them alive.

simplemente en mantelos vivos.

But if we turn to evolution

Se recurrimos á evolución

for an answer to this puzzle

para buscar resposta a este misterio

of why we spend so much time

de por que perdemos tanto tempo

taking care of useless babies,

coidando a bebés inútiles,

it turns out that there's actually an answer.

resulta que si hai unha resposta

If we look across many, many different species of animals,

Se observamos varias especies distintas,

not just us primates,

non só outros primates coma nós,

but also including other mammals, birds,

senón tamén outros mamífeors, paxaros,

even marsupials

incluso marsupiais

like kangaroos and wombats,

coma os canguros ou os vombátidos,

it turns out that there's a relationship

resulta que hai relación

between how long a childhood a species has

entre a duración da infancia,

and how big their brains are compared to their bodies

e o tamaño relativo do cerebro

and how smart and flexible they are.

e a intelixencia e flexibilidade da especie.

And sort of the posterbirds for this idea are the birds up there.

Un exemplo disto sacámolo destes paxaros que podedes ver aquí.

On one side

Por unha banda

is a New Caledonian crow.

temos o corvo de Nova Caledonia.

And crows and other corvidae, ravens, rooks and so forth,

Os corvos e outros córvidos, grallas, pegas, etcétera,

are incredibly smart birds.

son paxaros moi intelixentes.

They're as smart as chimpanzees in some respects.

En certos sentidos son tan intelixentes coma os chimpancés.

And this is a bird on the cover of science

E este é un paxaro moi estudado

who's learned how to use a tool to get food.

que ten aprendido a usar ferramentas para conseguir comida.

On the other hand,

Por outra banda,

we have our friend the domestic chicken.

temos á nosa coñecida galiña doméstica.

And chickens and ducks and geese and turkeys

As galiñas, así coma os patos, pavos e gansos,

are basically as dumb as dumps.

son parvos coma pedras.

So they're very, very good at pecking for grain,

Son moi moi bos picando gran,

and they're not much good at doing anything else.

pero non son moi bos facendo calquera outra cousa.

Well it turns out that the babies,

Resulta que os bebés

the New Caledonian crow babies, are fledglings.

dos corvos de Nova Caledonia, os pitiños,

They depend on their moms

dependen de que as súas nais

to drop worms in their little open mouths

lles poñan os vermes na boca

for as long as two years,

ata os dous anos de vida,

which is a really long time in the life of a bird.

o que supón bastante tempo na curta vida dun paxaro.

Whereas the chickens are actually mature

Sen embargo, as galiñas son adultas

within a couple of months.

en apenas un par de meses.

So childhood is the reason

Por tanto, a infancia é a razón

why the crows end up on the cover of Science

pola que os corvos rematan na portada das revistas científicas

and the chickens end up in the soup pot.

mentras que as galiñas rematan no pote da sopa.

There's something about that long childhood

Hai algo nas infancias longas

that seems to be connected

que parece estar relacionado

to knowledge and learning.

co coñecemento e coa aprendizaxe.

Well what kind of explanation could we have for this?

Que explicación poderiamos ter para isto?

Well some animals, like the chicken,

Algúns animais, coma as galiñas,

seem to be beautifully suited

parecen creadas

to doing just one thing very well.

para facer unha cousa moi ben.

So they seem to be beautifully suited

Así que as galiñas son moi boas

to pecking grain in one environment.

picando gran nun entorno concreto.

Other creatures, like the crows,

Outras criaturas, coma os corvos,

aren't very good at doing anything in particular,

non son especialmente boas facendo nada particular,

but they're extremely good

pero son moi boas

at learning about laws of different environments.

aprendendo as normas de distintos entornos.

And of course, we human beings

E por suposto, nós, os seres humáns

are way out on the end of the distribution like the crows.

estamos moi lonxe nesa distribución.

We have bigger brains relative to our bodies

Temos cerebros máis grandes con relación ó noso corpo,

by far than any other animal.

moito máis que calquera outro animal.

We're smarter, we're more flexible,

Somo máis intelixentes, máis flexibles,

we can learn more,

podemos aprender mais,

we survive in more different environments,

podemos sobrevivir en moitos máis entornos:

we migrated to cover the world and even go to outer space.

temos emigrado por todo o planeta e incluso cara o espacio.

And our babies and children are dependent on us

E os nosos bebés e nenos dependen de nós

for much longer than the babies of any other species.

por moito máis tempo que os bebés doutras especies.

My son is 23.

O meu fillo ten 23.

(Laughter)

(Risos)

And at least until they're 23,

Polo menos ata os 23,

we're still popping those worms

seguimos a poñerlles eses vermiños

into those little open mouths.

nas súas bocas abertas

All right, why would we see this correlation?

Moi ben, por que observamos esta correlación?

Well an idea is that that strategy, that learning strategy,

Unha idea é que esa estratexia, a estratexia da aprendizaxe,

is an extremely powerful, great strategy for getting on in the world,

é unha forma moi poderosa e forte de adentrarse neste mundo.

but it has one big disadvantage.

Pero ten unha gran desvantaxe:

And that one big disadvantage

resulta que

is that, until you actually do all that learning,

ata que se aprende todo,

you're going to be helpless.

se está indefenso.

So you don't want to have the mastodon charging at you

Non sería bo que nos perseguise un mastodonte

and be saying to yourself,

e estar a pensar:

"A slingshot or maybe a spear might work. Which would actually be better?"

"Empregarei un tiracroios ou unha lanza? Cal será mellor?"

You want to know all that

Sería mellor saber todo iso

before the mastodons actually show up.

antes de que aparezan os mastodontes.

And the way the evolutions seems to have solved that problem

E a forma en que a evolución solucionou este problema

is with a kind of division of labor.

foi, parece ser, cunha división do traballo.

So the idea is that we have this early period when we're completely protected.

Por iso temos este periodo de tempo no que estamos totalmente protexidos.

We don't have to do anything. All we have to do is learn.

Non temos que facer nada. Simplemente aprender.

And then as adults,

E logo, de adultos,

we can take all those things that we learned when we were babies and children

podemos coller iso que aprendemos de bebés e nenos

and actually put them to work to do things out there in the world.

e poñelo en práctica para saírmos polo mundo adiante.

So one way of thinking about it

Unha forma de pensar nisto

is that babies and young children

é que os bebés e os nenos pequenos

are like the research and development division of the human species.

son coma o departamento de Investigación e Desenvolvemento da especie humana.

So they're the protected blue sky guys

Son a xente protexida que investiga,

who just have to go out and learn and have good ideas,

os que só teñen que saír, aprender e ter boas ideas.

and we're production and marketing.

E nós somos a produción e comercialización.

We have to take all those ideas

Temos que coller todas esas ideas

that we learned when we were children

que aprendemos de nenos

and actually put them to use.

e poñelas en práctica.

Another way of thinking about it

Outra forma de velo é,

is instead of thinking of babies and children

en lugar de pensar nos bebés e os nenos

as being like defective grownups,

coma adultos incompletos,

we should think about them

pensar neles coma seres

as being a different developmental stage of the same species --

nun estado de desenvolvemento distinto da mesma especie;

kind of like caterpillars and butterflies --

coma os casulos e as bolboretas.

except that they're actually the brilliant butterflies

Pero os bebés serían as bolboretas

who are flitting around the garden and exploring,

que borbolean polo xardín explorando,

and we're the caterpillars

e nós seriamos os casulos

who are inching along our narrow, grownup, adult path.

encerrados no noso estreito camiño de adultos.

If this is true, if these babies are designed to learn --

Se isto é certo, se os bebés están deseñados para aprender,

and this evolutionary story would say children are for learning,

e esta historia da evolución nos mostra que así é,

that's what they're for --

que os nenos están para aprender,

we might expect

podemos esperar

that they would have really powerful learning mechanisms.

que sexan uns mecanismos de aprendizaxe bastante poderosos.

And in fact, the baby's brain

E de feito, o cerebro dun bebé

seems to be the most powerful learning computer

parece ser o ordenador de aprendizaxe máis poderoso

on the planet.

do planeta.

But real computers are actually getting to be a lot better.

Aínda que os verdadeiros ordenadores están a mellorar moito.

And there's been a revolution

Está a haber unha revolución

in our understanding of machine learning recently.

na nosa forma de entender as máquinas de aprendizaxe.

And it all depends on the ideas of this guy,

E todo a causa das ideas deste home,

the Reverend Thomas Bayes,

o reverendo Thomas Bayes,

who was a statistician and mathematician in the 18th century.

un estatístico e matemático do século XVIII.

And essentially what Bayes did

Básicamente, Bayes proporcionou

was to provide a mathematical way

un procedemento matemático que empregaba

using probability theory

a teoría da probabilidade

to characterize, describe,

para caracterizar e describir

the way that scientists find out about the world.

a forma na que os científicos descubrían cousas do mundo.

So what scientists do

O que os científicos fan

is they have a hypothesis that they think might be likely to start with.

é plantexar unha hipótese, algo co que poder comezar.

They go out and test it against the evidence.

Logo evalúan esa hipótese con probas.

The evidence makes them change that hypothesis.

As probas fanlles cambiar a hipótese,

Then they test that new hypothesis

que volven a evaluar con novas probas,

and so on and so forth.

e así sucesivamente.

And what Bayes showed was a mathematical way that you could do that.

O que Bayes mostrou foi un procedemenento matemático que podía facer iso.

And that mathematics is at the core

E as matemáticas son a base

of the best machine learning programs that we have now.

dos mellores programas de aprendizaxe que temos hoxe en día.

And some 10 years ago,

Hai dez anos,

I suggested that babies might be doing the same thing.

suxerín que os bebés debían estar a facer o mesmo.

So if you want to know what's going on

Se queremos saber o que está a pasar

underneath those beautiful brown eyes,

baixo estes preciosos olliños marróns,

I think it actually looks something like this.

penso que é algo moi parecido

This is Reverend Bayes's notebook.

ó atopado nas notas do reverendo Bayes.

So I think those babies are actually making complicated calculations

Penso que os bebés están a facer cálculos moi complicados

with conditional probabilities that they're revising

con probabilidades condicionadas que revisan

to figure out how the world works.

e así descobren como funciona o mundo.

All right, now that might seem like an even taller order to actually demonstrate.

Ben, isto é aínda máis dificil de demostrar.

Because after all, if you ask even grownups about statistics,

Se preguntamos a un adulto sobre estatística,

they look extremely stupid.

pódese sentir bastante estúpido.

How could it be that children are doing statistics?

Como é posible que os nenos fagan estatísticas?

So to test this we used a machine that we have

Para probar isto, empregamos unha máquina que

called the Blicket Detector.

demos en chamar o Detector Blicket.

This is a box that lights up and plays music

É unha caixa que se acende e soa

when you put some things on it and not others.

cando se poñen encima dela uns obxectos determinados.

And using this very simple machine,

Empregando esta máquina tan simple,

my lab and others have done dozens of studies

no meu laboratorio, e tamén noutros, se realizaron

showing just how good babies are

ducias de estudos sobre o bos

at learning about the world.

que son os nenos aprendendo sobre o mundo.

Let me mention just one

Mostrarei simplemente un

that we did with Tumar Kushner, my student.

que fixemos con Tumar Kushner, un dos meus estudantes.

If I showed you this detector,

Se vos mostrase este detector

you would be likely to think to begin with

probablemente empezariades por pensar

that the way to make the detector go

que a forma de activalo

would be to put a block on top of the detector.

é colocar un bloque sobre o detector.

But actually, this detector

Pero o caso é que o detector

works in a bit of a strange way.

funciona dunha forma un tanto estraña.

Because if you wave a block over the top of the detector,

Se se abanea un bloque enriba do detector,

something you wouldn't ever think of to begin with,

algo no que non pensariamos nun principio,

the detector will actually activate two out of three times.

o detector se activa dúas de cada tres veces.

Whereas, if you do the likely thing, put the block on the detector,

Namentres que se colocamos o bloque enriba, o que sería o lóxico,

it will only activate two out of six times.

só se activa dúas de cada seis veces.

So the unlikely hypothesis

Polo tanto, a hipótese menos probable

actually has stronger evidence.

ten probas máis evidentes.

It looks as if the waving

Parece que a estratexia

is a more effective strategy than the other strategy.

de abanear o obxecto é mais efectiva que a outra.

So we did just this; we gave four year-olds this pattern of evidence,

Así que explicamos estes datos ós nenos de catro anos

and we just asked them to make it go.

e pedémoslles que o intentasen.

And sure enough, the four year-olds used the evidence

E con seguridade, os nenos de catro anos empregaron os datos

to wave the object on top of the detector.

e abanearon o obxecto enriba do detector.

Now there are two things that are really interesting about this.

Hai dous datos interesantes neste feito.

The first one is, again, remember, these are four year-olds.

A primeira, recordade que son nenos de catro anos,

They're just learning how to count.

que están aprendendo a contar;

But unconsciously,

pero inconscientemente

they're doing these quite complicated calculations

xa están a facer cálculos complexos

that will give them a conditional probability measure.

que lles dan unha medida de probabilidades condicionadas.

And the other interesting thing

O segundo dato interesante

is that they're using that evidence

é que están a usar as probas

to get to an idea, get to a hypothesis about the world,

para chegar a unha idea, a unha hipótese sobre o mundo,

that seems very unlikely to begin with.

que parece algo pouco probable ó principio.

And in studies we've just been doing in my lab, similar studies,

En estudos que realizamos no laboratorio, outros similares,

we've show that four year-olds are actually better

demostramos que estes nenos de catro anos son mellores

at finding out an unlikely hypothesis

descubrindo hipóteses pouco probables

than adults are when we give them exactly the same task.

ca os adultos, dada a mesma tarefa.

So in these circumstances,

Nestas circunstancias,

the children are using statistics to find out about the world,

os nenos fan estatísticas para desvelar cousas sobre o mundo.

but after all, scientists also do experiments,

Pero os científicos experimentan, despois de todo,

and we wanted to see if children are doing experiments.

e queriamos ver se os nenos experimentaban tamén.

When children do experiments we call it "getting into everything"

É o que normalmente chamamos "meterse en todo"

or else "playing."

ou "xogar".

And there's been a bunch of interesting studies recently

Ten habido moitos estudos interesantes ultimamente

that have shown this playing around

que mostraron que estes xogos

is really a kind of experimental research program.

son coma unha especie de programa de investigación experimental.

Here's one from Cristine Legare's lab.

Mostramos un do laboratorio de Cristine Legare.

What Cristine did was use our Blicket Detectors.

Cristine empregou de novo Detectores Blicket.

And what she did was show children

Mostrou aos nenos que

that yellow ones made it go and red ones didn't,

os bloques amarelos facíano funcionar e os vermellos non,

and then she showed them an anomaly.

ademais de mostrarlles unha anomalía.

And what you'll see

O que veremos agora é

is that this little boy will go through five hypotheses

a este rapaz formulando 5 hipóteses

in the space of two minutes.

en 2 minutos de tempo.

(Video) Boy: How about this?

Neno: E así?

Same as the other side.

Neno: Igual que no outro lado.

Alison Gopnik: Okay, so his first hypothesis has just been falsified.

Alison: Ben, a primeira hipótese rexéitase.

(Laughter)

Neno: Nada (Risos)

Boy: This one lighted up, and this one nothing.

Neno: Este acéndese, pero este non.

AG: Okay, he's got his experimental notebook out.

Alison: Empeza a describir a experimentación.

Boy: What's making this light up.

Neno: Por que este si que se encende?

(Laughter)

(Risos)

I don't know.

Neno: Non o entendo.

AG: Every scientist will recognize that expression of despair.

Alison: Os científicos han recoñecer esa cara de desesperación.

(Laughter)

(Risos)

Boy: Oh, it's because this needs to be like this,

Neno: Oh, é porque este ten que estar así,

and this needs to be like this.

e este ten que estar así.

AG: Okay, hypothesis two.

Alison: Lista, hipótese 2.

Boy: That's why.

Neno: Así ten que ser.

Oh.

Neno: Oh... non pode ser.

(Laughter)

(Risos)

AG: Now this is his next idea.

Alison: Agora vén a seguinte idea.

He told the experimenter to do this,

Pediulle á investigadora que

to try putting it out onto the other location.

tentase poñelo enriba do outro.

Not working either.

Tampouco funcionou.

Boy: Oh, because the light goes only to here,

Neno: Oh, é porque a luz só vai ata aquí,

not here.

non ata aquí.

Oh, the bottom of this box

Baixo esta caixa

has electricity in here,

hai electricidade,

but this doesn't have electricity.

pero esta non ten.

AG: Okay, that's a fourth hypothesis.

Alison: Ben, esa sería a cuarta hipótese.

Boy: It's lighting up.

Neno: Agora si se acende!

So when you put four.

Se pos catro bloques.

So you put four on this one to make it light up

Se pos catro bloques neste, acéndese

and two on this one to make it light up.

e dous para que se encenda o outro.

AG: Okay,there's his fifth hypothesis.

Alison: Ben, esa é a quinta hipótese.

Now that is a particularly --

Este neno é...

that is a particularly adorable and articulate little boy,

é un neno moi riquiño e elocuente,

but what Cristine discovered is this is actually quite typical.

pero Cristine descubriu que é un neno moi típico.

If you look at the way children play, when you ask them to explain something,

Se observamos como xogan os nenos, se lles pedimos que expliquen algo,

what they really do is do a series of experiments.

o que fan é experimentar.

This is actually pretty typical of four year-olds.

Moi típico dos nenos de 4 anos.

Well, what's it like to be this kind of creature?

Ben, e que se sente sendo este tipo de criatura?

What's it like to be one of these brilliant butterflies

Que se sente sendo unha destas bolboretas

who can test five hypotheses in two minutes?

que poden probar 5 hipóteses en 2 minutos?

Well, if you go back to those psychologists and philosophers,

Se volvemos ás teoría de psicólogos e filósofos,

a lot of them have said

moitas din que

that babies and young children were barely conscious

os bebés e os nenos apenas son conscientes,

if they were conscious at all.

ou incluso que non o son en absoluto.

And I think just the opposite is true.

Pero eu penso que é o contrario.

I think babies and children are actually more conscious than we are as adults.

Penso que os bebés e os nenos son máis conscientes ca os adultos.

Now here's what we know about how adult consciousness works.

Isto é o que sabemos sobre como funciona a conciencia adulta.

And adults' attention and consciousness

A conciencia e atención dun adulto

look kind of like a spotlight.

parécese a un foco.

So what happens for adults

O que ocorre nos adultos

is we decide that something's relevant or important,

é que cando decidimos que algo é importante ou relevante,

we should pay attention to it.

prestámoslle atención.

Our consciousness of that thing that we're attending to

A conciencia niso no que nos fixamos

becomes extremely bright and vivid,

vólvese relucente e intensa,

and everything else sort of goes dark.

mentras que o resto case que se apaga.

And we even know something about the way the brain does this.

Tamén sabemos como ocorre isto no cerebro.

So what happens when we pay attention

Cando prestamos atención a algo,

is that the prefrontal cortex, the sort of executive part of our brains,

a parte frontal do cerebro, a parte que executa as accións,

sends a signal

manda un sinal

that makes a little part of our brain much more flexible,

que fai que unha pequena parte do cerebro se flexibilice,

more plastic, better at learning,

se volva máis plástica, mellor para aprender;

and shuts down activity

e apaga a actividade

in all the rest of our brains.

no resto do cerebro.

So we have a very focused, purpose-driven kind of attention.

Temos así unha atención moi centrada, orientada ó propósito.

If we look at babies and young children,

Se observamos os bebés e nenos,

we see something very different.

vemos algo moi distinto.

I think babies and young children

Penso que os bebés e os nenos

seem to have more of a lantern of consciousness

parecen ter unha conciencia máis parecida

than a spotlight of consciousness.

a unha lanterna ca a un foco.

So babies and young children are very bad

Ós bebés e ós nenos cústalles moito

at narrowing down to just one thing.

limitar a atención a unha soa cousa.

But they're very good at taking in lots of information

Pero dáselles moi ben ter en conta moita información

from lots of different sources at once.

de moitas fontes á vez.

And if you actually look in their brains,

E se observamos os seus cerebros,

you see that they're flooded with these neurotransmitters

o que vemos é que están asolagados de neurotransmisores

that are really good at inducing learning and plasticity,

que inducen á aprendizaxe e á plasticidade,

and the inhibitory parts haven't come on yet.

e que a inhibición aínda non se leva a cabo.

So when we say that babies and young children

Por iso cando dicimos que os bebés e os nenos

are bad at paying attention,

teñen problemas para prestar atención,

what we really mean is that they're bad at not paying attention.

o que realmente significa é que lles custa non prestar atención.

So they're bad at getting rid

Cústalles desfacerse

of all the interesting things that could tell them something

das cousas interesantes que lles poderían dicir algo

and just looking at the thing that's important.

por só mirar ó que é importante.

That's the kind of attention, the kind of consciousness,

Ese é o tipo de atención, o tipo de conciencia

that we might expect

que debemos esperar

from those butterflies who are designed to learn.

desas bolboretas que están deseñadas para aprender.

Well if we want to think about a way

Se queremos pensar nunha forma

of getting a taste of that kind of baby consciousness as adults,

de sentir ese tipo de conciencia infantil coma adultos,

I think the best thing is think about cases

penso que a mellor forma é pensar sobre casos

where we're put in a new situation that we've never been in before --

nos que estamos ante unha situación nova na que non estivemos nunca;

when we fall in love with someone new,

cada vez que nos enamoramos de alguén,

or when we're in a new city for the first time.

ou cando vamos a unha cidade por primeira vez.

And what happens then is not that our consciousness contracts,

Neses casos a conciencia non se contrae,

it expands,

senón que se expande,

so that those three days in Paris

por iso parece que en 3 días en Paris

seem to be more full of consciousness and experience

hai máis conciencia e experiencias

than all the months of being

que en todos os meses

a walking, talking, faculty meeting-attending zombie back home.

de volta na casa, andando, falando, indo a clases coma zombis.

And by the way, that coffee,

Por certo, ese café,

that wonderful coffee you've been drinking downstairs,

ese magnífico café que tomamos abaixo,

actually mimics the effect

en realidade imita o efecto

of those baby neurotransmitters.

dos neurotransmisores dos bebés.

So what's it like to be a baby?

Así que, cómo é ser un bebé?

It's like being in love

É coma estar namorado,

in Paris for the first time

en París, por primeira vez,

after you've had three double-espressos.

despois de tomarse 3 expresos dobres.

(Laughter)

(Risos)

That's a fantastic way to be,

Unha sensación marabillosa,

but it does tend to leave you waking up crying at three o'clock in the morning.

pero que adoita espertarnos chorando ás 3 da mañá.

(Laughter)

(Risos)

Now it's good to be a grownup.

Pero está ben ser adulto.

I don't want to say too much about how wonderful babies are.

Non quero dicir demasiado sobre o magníficos que son os bebés.

It's good to be a grownup.

Está ben ser adulto.

We can do things like tie our shoelaces and cross the street by ourselves.

Podemos facer cousas coma atarnos os zapatos ou cruzar a rúa sós.

And it makes sense that we put a lot of effort

E ten sentido que poñamos moito esforzo

into making babies think like adults do.

en facer que os bebés pensen coma os adultos.

But if what we want is to be like those butterflies,

Pero se o que queremos é ser coma esas bolboretas,

to have open-mindedness, open learning,

ter a mente aberta, estar abertos á aprendizaxe,

imagination, creativity, innovation,

imaxinación, creatividade, innovación...

maybe at least some of the time

quizais, polo menos ás veces,

we should be getting the adults

debamos facer que os adultos

to start thinking more like children.

pensen un pouco coma os nenos.

(Applause)

(Aplausos)