Mark Pagel: How language transformed humanity

翻译人员: Chunxiang Qian 校对人员: Angelia King

Each of you possesses

每一个人都拥有

the most powerful, dangerous and subversive trait

一个最强大，危险并具有颠覆性的特性

that natural selection has ever devised.

这一特性是自然选择前所未有的设计

It's a piece of neural audio technology

它是一个神经声频技术

for rewiring other people's minds.

用于与他人交流思想

I'm talking about your language, of course,

我说的当然就是语言

because it allows you to implant a thought from your mind

因为通过语言你可以将自己的想法

directly into someone else's mind,

直接灌输进别人脑子里

and they can attempt to do the same to you,

而他们亦可这样对你

without either of you having to perform surgery.

双方都不用动手术

Instead, when you speak,

实际上，当你讲话的时候

you're actually using a form of telemetry

使用的是一种遥测技术

not so different

这跟遥控器

from the remote control device for your television.

遥控电视的差别并不大

It's just that, whereas that device

差别仅是遥控器

relies on pulses of infrared light,

借助红外光

your language relies on pulses,

而你依靠的是脉冲

discrete pulses, of sound.

声音的不连续脉冲

And just as you use the remote control device

就如同使用遥控器

to alter the internal settings of your television

去修改电视机内部设定

to suit your mood,

迎合自己口味一样

you use your language

你使用语言

to alter the settings inside someone else's brain

来转变别人大脑内部的设定

to suit your interests.

以满足你的需要

Languages are genes talking,

语言是用来表达的基因

getting things that they want.

得到它们想要的表述

And just imagine the sense of wonder in a baby

试想从婴儿不可思议的视角来看

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

当婴儿发现仅仅通过发出声音

it can get objects to move across a room

他/她就能使音频穿过房间

as if by magic,

如魔法一样

and maybe even into its mouth.

甚至从他/她嘴里蹦出。

Now language's subversive power

如今，语言的颠覆性能力

has been recognized throughout the ages

已经在那些舆论审查的年代

in censorship, in books you can't read,

以及你无法读到的书籍

phrases you can't use

你不能使用的敏感词

and words you can't say.

和字眼中得到了印证

In fact, the Tower of Babel story in the Bible

事实上，圣经里巴别塔的故事

is a fable and warning

就是关于语言能力的

about the power of language.

一个寓言和警示

According to that story, early humans developed the conceit

这个故事说，远古的人类变得自以为是

that, by using their language to work together,

他们以为通过同一种语言一起合作

they could build a tower

可以建起一座

that would take them all the way to heaven.

带他们通往天堂的塔

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

上帝为此大逆不道的篡夺行为震怒

destroyed the tower,

因此毁了这座通天塔

and then to ensure

并为了确保

that it would never be rebuilt,

人类无法再建

he scattered the people by giving them different languages --

他通过赋予人们不同的语言将之拆散--

confused them by giving them different languages.

用不同的语言使他们迷惑

And this leads to the wonderful irony

所以这导致一个奇妙而讽刺的结果

that our languages exist to prevent us from communicating.

正是语言阻碍我们的交流

Even today,

甚至在今天

we know that there are words we cannot use,

仍有些字词我们不能用

phrases we cannot say,

有些短语不能说

because if we do so,

因为这样做

we might be accosted, jailed,

我们也许会锒铛入狱

or even killed.

甚至招来杀身之祸

And all of this from a puff of air

这一切只因为

emanating from our mouths.

口吐一口气而已

Now all this fuss about a single one of our traits

我们刚刚这番关于语言这一特性的长篇大论

tells us there's something worth explaining.

无非是要说有些东西值得去解释

And that is how and why

那就是语言这一奇妙特性

did this remarkable trait evolve,

是如何演变的及其原因

and why did it evolve

并且为什么

only in our species?

只在人类中演变？

Now it's a little bit of a surprise

为获得以上问题的答案

that to get an answer to that question,

先要做点意料外的工作

we have to go to tool use

我们必须先研究

in the chimpanzees.

黑猩猩使用工具的能力

Now these chimpanzees are using tools,

这些黑猩猩正在利用工具

and we take that as a sign of their intelligence.

这被认为是它们智力的一个表现

But if they really were intelligent,

但是如果它们真的聪明的话

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

为什么它们要用根棍子把白蚁从地面里取出

rather than a shovel?

而不是用铲子挖呢？

And if they really were intelligent,

如果它们真的聪明

why would they crack open nuts with a rock?

为什么自己要用石头砸开坚果呢？

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

为什么它们不去商店买上一袋坚果

that somebody else had already cracked open for them?

在那里已经有砸好的坚果为它们准备好了？

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

为什么呢？因为那些是人类才能做的

Now the reason the chimpanzees don't do that

黑猩猩不那么做的原因

is that they lack what psychologists and anthropologists call

是它们缺乏心理学家和人类学家所谓的

social learning.

社会学习能力

They seem to lack the ability

它们似乎缺乏

to learn from others

向别人学习的能力

by copying or imitating

通过照搬或模仿

or simply watching.

或者仅仅观察

As a result,

理所当然

they can't improve on others' ideas

它们无法改进他人的想法

or learn from others' mistakes --

或者从别人错误中吸取教训

benefit from others' wisdom.

汲取别人的智慧

And so they just do the same thing

所以它们只是单纯做同一件事

over and over and over again.

重复一遍又一遍

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

事实上，如果我们能跨越一百万年，然后再追溯回来

and these chimpanzees would be doing the same thing

这些黑猩猩肯定还在做着同样的事

with the same sticks for the termites

用同样的棍子抓着白蚁

and the same rocks to crack open the nuts.

用同样的石头砸着坚果

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

也许这听上去有些傲慢，甚至狂妄自大

How do we know this?

我们怎么知道这些的？

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

因为我们的祖先--直立人就是这样

These upright apes

约二百万年前

evolved on the African savanna

这些直立猿人

about two million years ago,

在非洲的热带稀树草原进化

and they made these splendid hand axes

他们造出了精巧的手斧

that fit wonderfully into your hands.

能完全贴合手形

But if we look at the fossil record,

但如果我们查看化石

we see that they made the same hand axe

会发现他们造着同样的手斧

over and over and over again

重复着

for one million years.

持续了一百万年

You can follow it through the fossil record.

你可以通过各年代的化石看到

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

现在我们可以做几个关于猿人生存时间

what their generation time was,

和他们的世代的猜想

that's about 40,000 generations

在约四万代的时间里

of parents to offspring, and other individuals watching,

从父辈到子辈，以及周围人的观察中

in which that hand axe didn't change.

手斧没有任何改进

It's not even clear

我们甚至不太清楚

that our very close genetic relatives, the Neanderthals,

我们的近亲--尼安德特人是否

had social learning.

具备社会学习能力

Sure enough, their tools were more complicated

当然他们的工具

than those of Homo erectus,

比猿人要复杂得多

but they too showed very little change

但在30万年时间里

over the 300,000 years or so

他们也只表现出很少变化

that those species, the Neanderthals,

那些尼安德特人

lived in Eurasia.

生活在欧亚大陆

Okay, so what this tells us

这与我们所知的

is that, contrary to the old adage,

“有样学样”（猴子见什么学什么）的谚语

"monkey see, monkey do,"

完全相反

the surprise really is

令人惊讶的事实是

that all of the other animals

其他的所有动物

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

都无法做到有样学样，至少做到很少

And even this picture

甚至这张图片

has the suspicious taint of being rigged about it --

虽然它有人为操纵之嫌--

something from a Barnum & Bailey circus.

“不会是来自巴纳姆贝利马戏团吧”

But by comparison,

但是相比之下

we can learn.

我们有学习能力

We can learn by watching other people

我们可以通过观察别人

and copying or imitating

以及照搬或模仿

what they can do.

别人所做的来学习

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

然后我们可以在一系列选择中挑选

the best one.

最好的选择

We can benefit from others' ideas.

我们可以汲取别人的想法

We can build on their wisdom.

可以发展他人的智慧

And as a result, our ideas do accumulate,

所以我们的智慧可以累积

and our technology progresses.

技术得以进步

And this cumulative cultural adaptation,

这种人类学家所称

as anthropologists call

累积性的文化适应

this accumulation of ideas,

这种想法的积累

is responsible for everything around you

是你周围所有一切的根源

in your bustling and teeming everyday lives.

并存在于你繁忙和与人合作的日常生活中

I mean the world has changed out of all proportion

这个世界

to what we would recognize

跟一千或者两千年前相比

even 1,000 or 2,000 years ago.

已经发生了翻天覆地的变化

And all of this because of cumulative cultural adaptation.

这一切都归因于累积性文化适应

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

你们坐着的椅子，礼堂里的灯

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

我的手机，你们携带的iPad和iPod

all are a result

这些都是

of cumulative cultural adaptation.

累积性文化适应的结果

Now to many commentators,

对许多评论者来说

cumulative cultural adaptation, or social learning,

累积性文化适应，或者说社会学习

is job done, end of story.

已经大功告成

Our species can make stuff,

人类这一物种可以创造事物

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

所以我们比任何其他物种都要繁荣先进

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

事实上我们甚至可以创造“生命本身的东西”--

as I just said, all the stuff around us.

如我所说，我们周围的一切

But in fact, it turns out

实际上

that some time around 200,000 years ago,

大约二十万年前

when our species first arose

当我们的祖先开始直立行走

and acquired social learning,

并获得社会学习的能力

that this was really the beginning of our story,

这的确是故事的开始，

not the end of our story.

但不是结尾

Because our acquisition of social learning

因为社会学习能力的获得

would create a social and evolutionary dilemma,

会令社会和进化陷入一个进退两难的地步

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

其解决方法

would determine not only the future course of our psychology,

不但决定了未来人类心理的轨迹

but the future course of the entire world.

也决定了整个世界的未来走向

And most importantly for this,

最重要的是

it'll tell us why we have language.

它告诉我们为什么我们有语言

And the reason that dilemma arose

两难局面的出现是因为

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

社会学习实际是一种观察性窃取

If I can learn by watching you,

如果我可以通过观察你而学习

I can steal your best ideas,

我就可以窃取你最好的想法

and I can benefit from your efforts,

从你的努力中坐收渔利

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

而不用像你一样投入时间和精力

into developing them.

去开发想法

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

如果我可以观察你用什么饵钓鱼

or I can watch how you flake your hand axe

如何削薄手斧

to make it better,

改进它

or if I follow you secretly to your mushroom patch,

或者偷偷跟踪你去你的蘑菇地

I can benefit from your knowledge and wisdom and skills,

我就可以从你的知识，智慧和技能中获益

and maybe even catch that fish

甚至在你之前

before you do.

就抓走鱼

Social learning really is visual theft.

社会学习确实是种观察性窃取

And in any species that acquired it,

任何具备该能力的物种

it would behoove you

必然都会

to hide your best ideas,

隐藏自己最好的点子

lest somebody steal them from you.

以防别人偷走

And so some time around 200,000 years ago,

大约二十万年前

our species confronted this crisis.

人类遇到了这一困境

And we really had only two options

我们只有两种选择

for dealing with the conflicts

来解决

that visual theft would bring.

观察性窃取导致的冲突

One of those options

一个选择是

was that we could have retreated

我们可以退回到

into small family groups.

小的家庭单位

Because then the benefits of our ideas and knowledge

如此一来我们的想法和知识

would flow just to our relatives.

仅仅在亲属间交流

Had we chosen this option,

假如我们在大约二十万年前的时候

sometime around 200,000 years ago,

选择了这个方法

we would probably still be living like the Neanderthals were

那也许4万年前我们进入欧洲的时候

when we first entered Europe 40,000 years ago.

还过着尼安德特人一样的生活

And this is because in small groups

这是因为小团体

there are fewer ideas, there are fewer innovations.

只能产生很少的想法和发明

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

却更有发生事故和厄运的倾向

So if we'd chosen that path,

所以如果我们选择了那条路

our evolutionary path would have led into the forest --

我们的进化之路就会通向森林

and been a short one indeed.

并且是短命之路

The other option we could choose

另一个选择

was to develop the systems of communication

就是发展交流的系统

that would allow us to share ideas

从而分享想法

and to cooperate amongst others.

和相互合作

Choosing this option would mean

选择这条路意味着

that a vastly greater fund of accumulated knowledge and wisdom

积累起来的海量知识和智慧

would become available to any one individual

向每一个个体开放

than would ever arise from within an individual family

而不仅仅是单个家庭的

or an individual person on their own.

或者个人的积累

Well, we chose the second option,

我们选了第二条路

and language is the result.

语言就是产物

Language evolved to solve the crisis

语言的进化解决了

of visual theft.

观察性窃取的危机

Language is a piece of social technology

语言是社会技术

for enhancing the benefits of cooperation --

用于加强合作的益处

for reaching agreements, for striking deals

达成共识，买卖交易

and for coordinating our activities.

以及协调活动

And you can see that, in a developing society

你可以看到，处于发展中形态的社会

that was beginning to acquire language,

刚刚开始习得语言

not having language

还没有完全掌握

would be a like a bird without wings.

就像一个没有翅膀的鸟儿

Just as wings open up this sphere of air

就像翅膀之于鸟儿

for birds to exploit,

扇动空气去探索天空

language opened up the sphere of cooperation

语言之于人类

for humans to exploit.

开启合作来探索未来

And we take this utterly for granted,

我们以为这是理所当然

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

因为我们是纯熟掌握语言的物种

but you have to realize

但是你应当意识到

that even the simplest acts of exchange that we engage in

甚至我们最简单的交换行为

are utterly dependent upon language.

也完全依赖于语言

And to see why, consider two scenarios

为了弄清为什么

from early in our evolution.

请假想进化早期的两个场景

Let's imagine that you are really good

假设

at making arrowheads,

你擅长制造箭头

but you're hopeless at making the wooden shafts

但是完全不会

with the flight feathers attached.

制造嵌着飞羽的箭杆

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

你知道另外两人擅长制箭杆

but they're hopeless at making the arrowheads.

但他们不会造箭头

So what you do is --

那么

one of those people has not really acquired language yet.

那两人中一个还没真正学会使用语言

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

另外一个熟练语言技巧

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

有一天你带了一堆箭头

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

去找那个不太会说话的人

and you put the arrowheads down in front of him,

你把箭头放在他面前

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

希望他明白你想用箭头

for finished arrows.

交换做好的箭

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

但他看着一堆箭头，以为是礼物

picks them up, smiles and walks off.

就捡起来冲你一笑就走了

Now you pursue this guy, gesticulating.

你追上他连比带划地解释

A scuffle ensues and you get stabbed

结果打起来了

with one of your own arrowheads.

被他用你自己的箭头捅伤了

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

好的，现在再重复这个场景， 你去找有语言的那个人

You put down your arrowheads and say,

你放下箭头说

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

“我想用这些跟你交换做好的箭，我们对半分”

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

那人说：“没问题。”

We'll do that."

“就这么办。”

Now the job is done.

交易做成了。

Once we have language,

一旦我们有了语言

we can put our ideas together and cooperate

我们可以分享想法并合作

to have a prosperity

从而创造繁荣

that we couldn't have before we acquired it.

没有语言这是无法完成的

And this is why our species

这就是为什么人类

has prospered around the world

在全世界繁衍发展

while the rest of the animals

而其他的动物

sit behind bars in zoos, languishing.

只能干坐在动物园的笼子里，怨断愁肠

That's why we build space shuttles and cathedrals

这就是为什么我们建起航天飞机和大教堂

while the rest of the world sticks sticks into the ground

而它们用棍子捅地

to extract termites.

抓白蚁

All right, if this view of language

如果这个角度看语言

and its value

及其价值

in solving the crisis of visual theft is true,

对解决观察性窃取是无可争议的

any species that acquires it

任何物种获得了它

should show an explosion of creativity and prosperity.

都应该有创造和繁荣昌盛的表现

And this is exactly what the archeological record shows.

考古学记录证实了这一点

If you look at our ancestors,

如果研究我们的祖先--

the Neanderthals and the Homo erectus, our immediate ancestors,

尼安德特人和猿人，我们的直系祖先

they're confined to small regions of the world.

他们活动于世界的小范围区域

But when our species arose

而人类在

about 200,000 years ago,

大约二十万年前

sometime after that we quickly walked out of Africa

迅速地走出了非洲

and spread around the entire world,

分布到了全世界

occupying nearly every habitat on Earth.

占据了地球几乎每一处栖息地

Now whereas other species are confined

现在当其他物种还受限于

to places that their genes adapt them to,

他们基因适应的地方

with social learning and language,

拥有社会学习能力和语言的我们

we could transform the environment

已经可以改造环境

to suit our needs.

满足我们的需求了

And so we prospered in a way

所以我们的文明

that no other animal has.

比其他任何动物都要繁荣

Language really is

语言确实是

the most potent trait that has ever evolved.

我们进化出的最有利的特性

It is the most valuable trait we have

这是我们拥有的最有价值的特性

for converting new lands and resources

以此我们将新土地和资源

into more people and their genes

转化成更多的人和他们的基因

that natural selection has ever devised.

这比自然选择做的还要多

Language really is

语言的确是

the voice of our genes.

我们基因的声音

Now having evolved language, though,

尽管我们有发达的语言

we did something peculiar,

但我们也做了件特殊

even bizarre.

甚至可以说是件奇怪的事

As we spread out around the world,

当我们分散到全世界

we developed thousands of different languages.

我们发展出成千上万种语言

Currently, there are about seven or 8,000

目前，全球大约有

different languages spoken on Earth.

七千到八千种在使用的语言

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

也许你觉得这是很自然的事

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

当我们越分散，语言也越高度分化

But the real puzzle and irony

但真正令人困惑并且讽刺的是

is that the greatest density of different languages on Earth

世界上最密集的语言分布区域

is found where people are most tightly packed together.

恰恰是人口最密集聚居的地方

If we go to the island of Papua New Guinea,

在巴布新几内亚

we can find about 800 to 1,000

那里有八百到一千种

distinct human languages,

独特的人类语言

different human languages,

不同的人类语言

spoken on that island alone.

仅仅在那一座岛上

There are places on that island

岛上一些地方

where you can encounter a new language

你每走上两三英里

every two or three miles.

就能碰上一种新语言

Now, incredible as this sounds,

更神奇的是

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

有次我碰上一个巴布人，问他这是不是真的

And he said to me, "Oh no.

他说：“不，不是。”

They're far closer together than that."

“比这要近多了。”

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

这是真的，岛上有些地方

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

一英里之内就能发现另一语言的使用

And this is also true of some remote oceanic islands.

同样在一些遥远的大洋小岛上也是这样

And so it seems that we use our language,

这样看来我们利用语言

not just to cooperate,

不仅仅是为了合作

but to draw rings around our cooperative groups

也是在集团周围划分界限

and to establish identities,

确立身份

and perhaps to protect our knowledge and wisdom and skills

也许是保护我们的知识，智慧和技能

from eavesdropping from outside.

以防落入外人之手

And we know this

我们也深知如此

because when we study different language groups

因为当我们研究不同的语言群落

and associate them with their cultures,

他们有着各自的文化

we see that different languages

会发现不同的语言

slow the flow of ideas between groups.

减缓了群落间想法的交流

They slow the flow of technologies.

也阻碍了技术交流

And they even slow the flow of genes.

甚至是基因交流

Now I can't speak for you,

虽然我不能完全代表你们

but it seems to be the case

但可以这样说

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

我们不会跟无法交流的人去做爱

(Laughter)

（笑声）

Now we have to counter that, though,

不过也许现在得算上这种情况

against the evidence we've heard

基于已有证据表明

that we might have had some rather distasteful genetic dalliances

我们曾与尼安德特人和丹尼索夫人有些不甚美好的浪漫史

with the Neanderthals and the Denisovans.

（早期现代人类与尼安德特人及丹尼索夫人杂交的科学发现）

(Laughter)

（笑声）

Okay, this tendency we have,

我们发现的趋势

this seemingly natural tendency we have,

这种看似自然的趋势

towards isolation, towards keeping to ourselves,

即这种趋向分离，趋向自我孤立的势头

crashes head first into our modern world.

一头撞上了现代社会，就被击破

This remarkable image

这幅令人影响深刻的图片

is not a map of the world.

并不是世界地图

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

而是Facebook脸谱朋友群分布的一副地图

And when you plot those friendship links

当你把朋友的位置

by their latitude and longitude,

依照他们所在的经纬度连起来

it literally draws a map of the world.

就画出了一副世界地图

Our modern world is communicating

现代社会在不停地

with itself and with each other

与自身和其他人交流

more than it has

这种交流

at any time in its past.

比历史上任何时候都频繁

And that communication, that connectivity around the world,

这种交流，这种世界性的连接

that globalization

也就是全球化下

now raises a burden.

正在渐渐浮起的隐忧

Because these different languages

因为这些不同的语言

impose a barrier, as we've just seen,

变成一道屏障

to the transfer of goods and ideas

阻碍了货物和思想的交流

and technologies and wisdom.

技术和智慧的交流

And they impose a barrier to cooperation.

在合作上施加了障碍

And nowhere do we see that more clearly

比起其他地方

than in the European Union,

这在欧盟尤为显著

whose 27 member countries

欧盟有27个盟国

speak 23 official languages.

23种官方语言

The European Union

欧盟

is now spending over one billion euros annually

现在每年要花费超过十亿欧元

translating among their 23 official languages.

用于互翻23种官方语言

That's something on the order

这大约是

of 1.45 billion U.S. dollars

十四亿五千万美元的

on translation costs alone.

翻译开销

Now think of the absurdity of this situation.

现在试想下这种奇怪的状况：

If 27 individuals

如果27个

from those 27 member states

来自各个盟国的人

sat around table, speaking their 23 languages,

围坐在桌边，说着23种语言

some very simple mathematics will tell you

简单计算就可以知道

that you need an army of 253 translators

你需要一个253人的翻译队伍

to anticipate all the pairwise possibilities.

来保证配对说话的可能性

The European Union employs a permanent staff

欧盟雇了

of about 2,500 translators.

大约2500名永久编制的翻译

And in 2007 alone --

仅2007年一年--

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

当然应该有最新的数据可查

something on the order of 1.3 million pages

仅是翻译成英文的文件

were translated into English alone.

就大约为一百三十万页

And so if language really is

如果语言真是

the solution to the crisis of visual theft,

观察性窃取的解决方法

if language really is

如果语言真是

the conduit of our cooperation,

我们合作的媒介

the technology that our species derived

是人类发明的

to promote the free flow and exchange of ideas,

用于促进思想无障碍流通和交换的技术

in our modern world,

那么在现代社会

we confront a question.

我们碰上了难题

And that question is whether

这就是

in this modern, globalized world

在这个全球化的现代社会

we can really afford to have all these different languages.

我们是否承担得起使用如此多语言的代价

To put it this way, nature knows no other circumstance

可以这样说，自然的法则是

in which functionally equivalent traits coexist.

具有同等功能的特性是难以共存的

One of them always drives the other extinct.

其中的一个往往战胜其他的而存活下去

And we see this in the inexorable march

我们在向着标准化的大步前进中

towards standardization.

可以清楚地看到这一点

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

在许多测量物体的方法中

weighing them and measuring their length --

包括称重和量长

but the metric system is winning.

公制计量制度赢了

There are lots and lots of ways of measuring time,

在许多计量时间的方法中

but a really bizarre base 60 system

古怪的60进制制度

known as hours and minutes and seconds

也就是时分秒计量单位

is nearly universal around the world.

几乎被全世界采用

There are many, many ways

有很多很多方法

of imprinting CDs or DVDs,

压印CD和DVD

but those are all being standardized as well.

但它们也同样标准化了

And you can probably think of many, many more

也许你可以想到更多

in your own everyday lives.

生活中的例子

And so our modern world now

那么现代社会

is confronting us with a dilemma.

面临着一个困境

And it's the dilemma

这个困境

that this Chinese man faces,

也是这个中国人面临的

who's language is spoken

他的口头语言

by more people in the world

比起世界上任何其他的单一语言

than any other single language,

都有更多的使用者

and yet he is sitting at his blackboard,

但是他坐在黑板前

converting Chinese phrases

把中文词组

into English language phrases.

翻译成英文词组

And what this does is it raises the possibility to us

这个行为给我们提出了一种可能性

that in a world in which we want to promote

在这世界上，我们想要促进

cooperation and exchange,

合作和交流的可能性

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

在一个史无前例地

on cooperation

依赖于合作的世界上

to maintain and enhance our levels of prosperity,

为了去维持和促进我们的繁荣程度

his actions suggest to us

他的行为告诉我们

it might be inevitable

也许

that we have to confront the idea

我们不得不承认

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

我们的命运会是：一个世界一种语言。

Thank you.

谢谢

(Applause)

（鼓掌）

Matt Ridley: Mark, one question.

马特·瑞德里：马克，我有个问题。

Svante found that the FOXP2 gene,

斯万特发现FOXP2基因

which seems to be associated with language,

好像它与语言有关

was also shared in the same form

而尼安德特人

in Neanderthals as us.

也像我们一样有此基因

Do we have any idea

那么我们有没有什么办法

how we could have defeated Neanderthals

能够打败尼安德特人

if they also had language?

如果他们也有语言的话？

Mark Pagel: This is a very good question.

马克·佩格尔：这是个很好的问题。

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

很多人将会了解这个语言基因叫FOXP2

that seems to be implicated in some ways

它应该是

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

在一个与语言有关的精巧的运动神经控制中

The reason why I don't believe that tells us

我不相信这个发现足以说明

that the Neanderthals had language

尼安德特人拥有语言的原因是

is -- here's a simple analogy:

打个比方：

Ferraris are cars that have engines.

法拉利是有引擎的汽车

My car has an engine,

我的车也有引擎

but it's not a Ferrari.

但它不是法拉利

Now the simple answer then

简单来说就是

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

基因本身

determine the outcome

并不决定了

of very complicated things like language.

如语言这样复杂的结果

What we know about this FOXP2 and Neanderthals

我们对FOXP2基因和尼安德特人的了解是

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

也许他们口腔里具备这样一个精巧的运动神经控制--不过谁知道呢

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

但这并不表明他们一定拥有语言

MR: Thank you very much indeed.

马特·瑞德里：非常感谢

(Applause)

（鼓掌）