Joshua Klein: The intelligence of crows

Traducător: Ioana Marin Corector: Laszlo Kereszturi

How many of you have seen the Alfred Hitchcock film "The Birds"?

Cati dintre voi ati vazut filmul lui Alfred Hitchcock, "Pasarile"?

E cineva care chiar s-a speriat de el?

Any of you get really freaked out by that?

You might want to leave now.

S-ar putea sa vreti sa plecati acum.

(Laughter)

(Rasete)

So this is a vending machine for crows.

Deci acesta este un automat de vanzare pentru ciori.

Over the past few days, many of you have been asking,

Si in anii trecuti multi dintre voi m-ati intrebat:

"How did you come to this? How did you get started doing this?"

"Cum ai venit cu ideea asta? Cum ai inceput sa faci asta?"

It started, as with many great ideas,

Si a inceput, la fel ca multe idei bune,

or many ideas you can't get rid of, anyway,

sau cel putin idei de care nu poti scapa oricum,

at a cocktail party.

la o petrecere de cocktail.

About 10 years ago, I was at a cocktail party with a friend of mine.

Acum aproximativ 10 ani, eram la o petrecere cu un prieten

si stateam acolo si el se plangea de ciorile

We were sitting there, and he was complaining about the crows

pe care le vazuse peste tot in gradina sa si faceau mare mizerie.

that were all over his yard and making a big mess.

And he was telling me we ought to eradicate these things,

Si imi spunea ca trebuie intr-adevar sa incercam sa eradicam chestiile astea.

Trebuie sa le omoram pentru ca fac mizerie.

kill them, because they're making a mess.

Am spus ca asta era stupid,

I said that was stupid,

stii, poate ca ar trebui doar sa le dresam sa faca ceva util.

maybe we should just train them to do something useful.

Si el a spus ca era imposibil.

And he said that was impossible.

And I'm sure I'm in good company in finding that tremendously annoying,

Si sunt sigur ca nu sunt singurul care gaseste foarte iritant

when someone tells you it's impossible.

cand cineva ii spune ca e imposibil.

Deci am petrecut urmatorii 10 ani citind despre ciori in timpul meu liber.

So I spent the next 10 years reading about crows in my spare time.

(Laughter)

(Rasete)

And after 10 years of this, my wife said,

Si dupa 10 ani de facut asta, sotia mea mi-a spus intr-un final:

"You've got to do this thing you've been talking about,

"Uite, stii, trebuie sa faci chestia asta

despre care ai tot vorbit, si sa construiesti automatul."

and build the vending machine."

Si l-am facut.

So I did.

Dar parte din motivul pentru care am crezut ca asta este interesant

But part of the reason I found this interesting is,

e ca am inceput sa observ ca noi

I started noticing that we're very aware of all the species

suntem foarte constienti de speciile pe cale

that are going extinct on the planet

de disparitie ca rezultat a expansiunii habitatului uman,

as a result of human habitation expansion,

si nimeni nu pare sa dea atentie

and no one seems to be paying attention to all the species

speciilor care de fapt traiesc - care supravietuiesc.

that are actually living; they're surviving.

Si vorbesc mai ales despre speciile sinantropice,

And I'm talking specifically about synanthropic species,

care sunt specii care s-au adaptat specific pentru ecologiile umane.

which have adapted specifically for human ecologies,

Specii ca sobolanii si gandacii si ciorile.

species like rats and cockroaches and crows.

And as I started looking at them, I was finding that they had hyper-adapted.

Si, cum am inceput sa le studiez, am gasit ca sunt hiper-adaptate.

Au devenit extrem de apte pentru a trai cu noi.

They'd become extremely adept at living with us.

And in return, we just tried to kill them all the time.

Si, in schimb, noi doar am incercat sa le omoram mereu.

(Laughter)

And in doing so, we were breeding them for parasitism.

Si, facand asta, le inmulteam pentru parazitism.

We were giving them all sorts of reasons to adapt new ways.

Le dadeam tot felul de motive pentru a se adapta in feluri noi.

So, for example, rats are incredibly responsive breeders.

De exemplu, sobolanii sunt incredibil de receptivi la inmultire.

And cockroaches, as anyone who's tried to get rid of them knows,

Iar gandacii, dupa cum oricine care a incercat sa scape de ei stie,

have become really immune to the poisons that we're using.

au devenit chiar imuni la otravurile pe care le folosim.

So I thought, let's build something that's mutually beneficial;

Deci, m-am gandit, hai sa construim ceva care e reciproc benefic.

Ei bine, atunci hai sa construim ceva din care putem amandoi sa beneficiem

something that we can both benefit from,

si sa gasim o cale de a crea o noua relatie cu aceste specii.

and find some way to make a new relationship with these species.

Deci am construit automatul.

So I built the vending machine.

But the story of the vending machine is a little more interesting

Dar povestea automatului e un pic mai interesanta

daca stii mai multe despre ciori.

if you know more about crows.

It turns out, crows aren't just surviving with human beings;

Se adevereste ca ciorile nu doar supravietuiesc cu oamenii -

chiar prospera.

they're actually thriving.

They're found everywhere on the planet except for the Arctic

Se gasesc peste tot pe planeta in afara de Antarctica

si varful de sud din America de Sud.

and the southern tip of South America.

Si pe toata aria aceasta, doar rar se gasesc

And in all that area, they're only rarely found breeding

traind la mai mult de cinci kilometri de oameni.

more than five kilometers away from human beings.

Deci s-ar putea sa nu ne gandim la ele,

So we may not think about them, but they're always around.

dar ele sunt mereu prin preajma.

And not surprisingly, given the human population growth,

Si, nesurprinzator, data fiind cresterea populatiei,

more than half of the human population is living in cities now.

mai mult de jumatate din populatia umana traieste acum in orase.

And out of those, nine-tenths of the human growth population

Si din aceia, noua zecimi

din cresterea populatiei are loc in orase.

is occurring in cities.

We're seeing a population boom with crows.

Vedem cum cresterea populatiei ciorilor a luat avant.

So bird counts are indicating

Deci numaratorile de pasari indica ceea ce ar putea fi

that we might be seeing up to exponential growth in their numbers.

pana la o crestere exponentiala in numarul lor.

Deci nu e o mare surpriza.

So that's no great surprise.

But what was really interesting to me was to find out

Dar ceea ce chiar a fost interesant pentru mine a fost sa aflu ca

that the birds were adapting in a pretty unusual way.

pasarile se adaptau intr-un mod destul de neobisnuit.

Si va voi da un exemplu.

And I'll give you an example of that.

Deci aceasta este Betty. Ea este o cioara din Noua Caledonie.

This is Betty. She's a New Caledonian crow.

And these crows use sticks in the wild

Si aceste ciori, in salbaticie, folosesc betisoare

to get insects and whatnot out of pieces of wood.

pentru a scoate insecte si alte chestii din bucati de lemn.

Here, she's trying to get a piece of meat out of a tube.

Aici incearca sa scoata o bucata de carne dintr-un tub.

Dar cercetatorii au avut o problema.

But the researchers had a problem.

They messed up and left just a stick of wire in there.

Au facut o greseala si au lasat doar un bat de sarma acolo.

Si ea nu a avut posibilitatea sa faca asta inainte.

And she hadn't had the opportunity to do this before.

Vedeti, nu functioneaza foarte bine.

You see, it wasn't working very well.

So she adapted.

Deci s-a adaptat.

Acum, acesta este complet spontan. Ea nu mai vazuse niciodata facandu-se asta.

Now, this is completely unprompted; she had never seen this done before.

No one taught her to bend this into a hook

Nimeni nu a invatat-o sa indoaie sarma ca un carlig;

or had shown her how it could happen.

nu i-a aratat ca s-ar putea intampla.

Dar ea a facut asta de una singura.

But she did it all on her own.

So keep in mind -- she's never seen this done.

Deci tineti minte ca ea nu a vazut asta niciodata.

(Laughter)

Right.

Da.

(Laughter)

(Rasete)

Yeah. All right.

Da. In regula.

(Applause)

(Aplauze)

So that's the part where the researchers freak out.

Deci asta e partea la care cercetatorii se sperie.

(Laughter)

(Rasete)

It turns out,

Deci se face ca aflam din ce in ce mai mult

we've been finding more and more that crows are really intelligent.

ca ciorile sunt foarte foarte inteligente.

Creierele lor sunt proportionale,

Their brains are in the same proportion as chimpanzee brains are.

in aceleasi proportii cu ale cimpanzeilor.

Sunt tot felul de anecdote despre tipurile diferite de inteligenta pe care le au.

There's all kinds of anecdotes

for the different kinds of intelligence they have.

De exemplu, in Suedia

For example, in Sweden, crows will wait for fishermen

ciorile asteapta ca pescarii sa arunce unditele prin gauri in gheata.

to drop lines through holes in the ice.

Si dupa ce pescarii se dau la o parte,

And when the fishermen move off,

ciorile zboara jos, scot unditele, si mananca pestii sau momelile.

the crows fly down, reel up the lines, and eat the fish or the bait.

E destul de enervant pentru pescari.

It's pretty annoying for the fishermen.

On an entirely different tack,

Pe de alta parte,

at University of Washington a few years ago,

la Universitatea din Washington - acum cativa ani,

au facut un experiment in care au capturat cateva ciori din campus.

they were doing an experiment where they captured some crows on campus.

Cativa studenti mergeau afara si prindeau cateva ciori,

Some students went out, netted some crows, brought them in,

le aduceau inauntru si... le cantareau, le masurau si altele,

weighed and measured them, and let them back out again.

dupa care le lasau din nou afara.

And they were entertained to discover that for the rest of the week,

Si au fost amuzati sa descopere

ca pentru restul saptamanii, aceste ciori,

de fiecare data cand acesti studenti mergeau prin campus,

whenever these particular students walked around campus,

ciorile acelea croncaneau la ei

these crows would caw at them and run around,

si zburau in jurul lor facandu-le viata destul de mizerabila.

and make their life kind of miserable.

(Laughter)

Studentii au fost semnificativ mai putin amuzati cand situatia a continuat saptamana urmatoare.

They were significantly less entertained

when this went on for the next week.

Si luna urmatoare. Si dupa vacanta de vara.

And the next month.

And after summer break.

Until they finally graduated and left campus,

Pana cand in sfarsit au absolvit si au plecat din campus -

and -- glad to get away, I'm sure --

si, fericiti sa plece, sunt sigur -

came back sometime later, and found the crows still remembered them.

s-au intors ceva mai tarziu si au aflat ca ciorile inca ii tineau minte.

(Laughter)

Deci, morala este - nu scoateti ciorile din sarite.

So, the moral being: don't piss off crows.

Iar acum, studentii de la Universitatea din Washington

So now, students at the University of Washington

that are studying these crows, do so with a giant wig and a big mask.

care studiaza aceste ciori

fac asta cu o peruca gigantica si o masca mare.

(Laughter)

(Rasete)

It's fairly interesting.

Este destul de interesant.

(Laughter)

So we know these crows are really smart,

Deci acum stim ca aceste ciori sunt foarte destepte dar,

but the more I dug into this, the more I found

pe masura ce ma afund in asta, gasesc mai mult

ca ele au o adaptare chiar mai semnificativa.

that they actually have an even more significant adaptation.

Video: Crows have become highly skilled at making a living

Video: Ciorile au devenit foarte pricepute sa

traiasca in aceste noi medii urbane.

in these new urban environments.

In this Japanese city, they have devised a way of eating a food

In acest oras japonez, au inventat un mod de a

manca mancare pe care in mod normal nu ar putea-o obtine -

that normally they can't manage:

drop it among the traffic.

sa o scape in trafic.

The problem now is collecting the bits, without getting run over.

Problema acum este colectarea bucatilor

fara sa fie calcate.

Wait for the light to stop the traffic.

Asteapta semaforul sa opreasca traficul.

Then, collect your cracked nut in safety.

Apoi ia-ti nuca sparta in siguranta.

(Laughter)

(Rasete)

(Applause)

(Aplauze)

Joshua Klein: Yeah, pretty interesting.

Joshua Klen: Da, da. Destul de interesant.

What's significant about this isn't that crows are using cars

Deci ce e important despre asta nu e ca ciorile folosesc masini sa sparga nuci.

to crack nuts.

De fapt, asta e poveste veche pentru ciori.

In fact, that's old hat for crows.

Asta s-a intamplat acum vreo 10 ani

This happened about 10 years ago

in a place called Sendai City, at a driving school

intr-un loc numit Sendai City, la o scoala de sofat

in the suburbs of Tokyo.

in suburbiile din Tokyo.

And since that time,

Si de atunci,

all the crows in the neighborhood are picking up this behavior.

toate ciorile din cartier adopta acest comportament.

Iar acum, fiecare cioara pe o raza de cinci kilometrii sta pe un trotuar

Now every crow within five kilometers is standing by a sidewalk,

asteptand sa-si adune pranzul.

waiting to collect its lunch.

So they're learning from each other. And research bears this out.

Deci invata unele de la altele. Si cercetarile confirma asta.

Parintii par sa isi invete puii.

Parents seem to be teaching their young.

Ei au invatat-o de la prietenii lor; au invatat-o de la inamicii lor.

They learn from their peers, they learn from their enemies.

If I have a little extra time,

Daca am putin mai mult timp, va voi spune despre un caz de infidelitate cioreasca

I'll tell you about a case of crow infidelity

care ilustreaza bine asta.

that illustrates that nicely.

Ideea fiind ca au dezvoltat o adaptare culturala.

The point being, they've developed cultural adaptation.

Si, dupa cum am auzit ieri,

And as we heard yesterday,

that's the Pandora's box that's getting human beings in trouble,

aceasta e Cutia Pandorei care pune probleme oamenilor,

si incepem sa o vedem cu ele (ciorile).

and we're starting to see it with them.

Sunt capabile sa se adapteze foarte repede si foarte flexibil

They're able to very quickly and very flexibly adapt

to new challenges and new resources in their environment,

la noi provocari si noi resurse din mediul lor,

which is really useful if you live in a city.

ceea ce e foarte folositor daca traiesti intr-un oras.

Deci stim ca sunt multe ciori.

So we know that there's lots of crows.

Am aflat ca sunt foarte destepte, si am aflat ca se pot invata unele pe altele.

We found out they're really smart and they can teach each other.

Si cand asta mi-a fost clar,

When all this became clear,

I realized the only obvious thing to do is build a vending machine.

am realizat ca singurul lucru de facut e sa construiesc un automat.

So that's what we did.

Si asta am facut noi.

This is a vending machine for crows.

Acesta este un automat pentru ciori.

And it uses Skinnerian training to shape their behavior over four stages.

Foloseste dresarea Skinneriana pentru a le modela comportamentul in patru etape.

Este destul de simplu.

It's pretty simple.

Basically, what happens is that we put this out in a field

Practic, se intampla in felul urmator: noi punem automatul afara pe un camp,

or someplace where there's lots of crows.

sau un loc unde sunt multe ciori,

We put coins and peanuts all around the base of the machine.

si punem monede si alune de jur-imprejurul bazei masinii.

Iar ciorile vin in final si mananca alunele

Crows eventually come by, eat the peanuts,

si se obisnuiesc ca masina sa fie acolo.

and get used to the machine being there.

Si, intr-un final, mananca toate alunele.

Eventually, they eat all the peanuts.

Si atunci vad ca sunt alune aici, pe tava de alimentare,

Then they see peanuts here on the feeder tray,

and hop up and help themselves.

si sar si se servesc.

Then they leave, the machine spits up more coins and peanuts,

Apoi ele pleaca, iar automatul da afara mai multe monede si alune,

si viata devine chiar grozava daca esti o cioara.

and life is dandy if you're a crow --

Apoi poti sa vii oricand inapoi si sa-ti iei o aluna.

you can come back anytime and get yourself a peanut.

So when they get really used to that, we move on to the crows coming back.

Si cand se obisnuiesc bine cu asta, ne mutam la faza ciorilor care se intorc.

Acum, ca s-au obisnuit cu sunetul masinii, si continua sa se intoarca

Now they're used to the sound of the machine;

they keep coming back and digging out peanuts

si sa scoata aceste alune din gramada de monede care e acolo.

from the pile of coins that's there.

Si cand sunt foarte fericite cu asta,

When they get really happy about this, we stymie them.

noi continuam si le incurcam.

We move to the third stage, where we only give them a coin.

Si ne mutam la partea a treia, cand le dam doar o moneda.

Now, like most of us who have gotten used to a good thing,

Acum, ca pe majoritatea dintre noi care s-au obisnuit cu un lucru bun,

asta chiar le scoate din sarite.

this really pisses them off.

Prin urmare fac ceea ce fac in natura cand cauta ceva -

So they do what they do in nature when they're looking for something:

indeparteaza lucrurile din calea lor cu ciocul.

sweep things out of the way with their beak.

Si fac asta aici, si asta impinge moneda in deschizatura,

They do that here, and that knocks the coins down the slot.

When that happens, they get a peanut.

si, ce se intampla, primesc o aluna.

This goes on for some time.

Si asta se intampla pentru ceva timp.

Ciorile invata ca tot ce trebuie e sa faca e sa vina,

The crows learn that all they have to do is show up,

sa astepte ca moneda sa iasa afara, sa o puna in deschizatura, si apoi isi primesc aluna.

wait for the coin to come out, put it in the slot,

then get their peanut.

Si cand sunt foarte fericite si confortabile cu asta,

When they're good and comfortable with that,

ne mutam in stagiul final, in care ele vin si nu se intampla nimic.

we move to the final stage, where they show up and nothing happens.

This is where we see the difference between crows and other animals.

Si aici vedem diferenta intre ciori si alte animale.

Veveritele, de exemplu, ar veni, ar cauta aluna, ar pleca.

Squirrels, for example, would show up, look for the peanut, go away.

Vin inapoi, cauta aluna, pleaca.

Come back, look for the peanut, go away.

They do this maybe half a dozen times before they get bored,

Fac asta poate de vreo 10 ori pana cand se plictisesc,

and then they go off and play in traffic.

si apoi se duc si se joaca in trafic.

Crows, on the other hand, show up and they try and figure it out.

Ciorile, pe de alta parta, vin si incearca sa se dumireasca.

They know this machine has been messing with them

Stiu ca masina asta le joaca feste

through three different stages of behavior.

in trei stagii de comportament.

(Laughter)

(Rasete)

They figure there must be more to it.

Isi dau seama ca trebuie sa fie ceva mai mult.

So they poke at it and peck at it.

Asa ca o inghiontesc si o ciocanesc si tot asa.

And eventually some crow gets a bright idea:

Si, in final, uneia din ciori ii vine ideea geniala:

"Hey, there's lots of coins lying around from the first stage,

"Hey, sunt o multime de monede aici jos din primul stagiu,"

Sare jos, o ridica si o pune in deschizatura.

hops down, picks it up, drops it in the slot, and we're off to the races.

Si apoi suntem la curse.

That crow enjoys a temporary monopoly on peanuts,

Cioara respectiva se bucura de un monopol temporar asupra alunelor,

pana cand prietenii ei isi dau seama cum sa faca, si... asta e!

until his friends figure out how to do it, and then there we go.

So, what's significant about this to me

Ceea ce e semnificativ pentru mine in situatia asta

isn't that we can train crows to pick up peanuts.

nu este ca putem dresa ciori sa adune alune.

Mind you, there's 216 million dollars' worth of change lost every year,

Desi, 216 milioane de dolari in monede sunt pierduti in fiecare an,

but I'm not sure I can depend on that ROI from crows.

dar nu cred ca pot sa depind pe aceasta investitie de la ciori.

(Laughter)

Instead, I think we should look a little bit larger.

In schimb, cred ca putem privi putin mai in perspectiva.

I think crows can be trained to do other things.

Cred ca ciorile pot fi dresate sa faca alte lucruri.

For example, why not train them to pick up garbage after stadium events?

De exemplu, de ce sa nu le dresam sa adune gunoiul dupa evenimente pe stadioane?

Or find expensive components from discarded electronics?

Sau sa gaseasca componente scumpe din aparate electronice aruncate?

Sau poate sa ajute in acordarea primului ajutor.

Or maybe do search and rescue?

Cel mai important lucru, ideea principala, pentru mine in toata asta

The main point of all this for me is,

we can find mutually beneficial systems for these species.

este ca putem gasi sisteme reciproc benefice pentru aceste specii.

Putem gasi moduri de a interactiona cu aceste alte specii,

We can find ways to interact with these other species

care nu implica exterminarea lor,

that doesn't involve exterminating them,

ci gasirea unui echilibru cu ele.

but involves finding an equilibrium with them that's a useful balance.

Thanks very much.

Multumesc frumos.

(Applause)

(Aplauze)