TED演讲：语言如何改变人类(2)（打印版）

　　In fact, the Tower of Babel story in the Bible is a fable and warning about the power of language. 事实上，圣经里巴别塔的故事就是关于语言能力的一个寓言和警示

　　According to that story, early humans developed the conceit that, by using their language to work together, 这个故事说，远古的人类变得自以为是，他们以为通过同一种语言一起合作

　　they could build a tower that would take them all the way to heaven. 可以建起一座带他们通往天堂的塔

　　Now God, angered at this attempt to usurp his power, destroyed the tower, 上帝为此大逆不道的篡夺行为震怒，因此毁了这座通天塔

　　and then to ensure that it would never be rebuilt, 并为了确保人类无法再建

　　he scattered the people by giving them different languages -- confused them by giving them different languages. 他通过赋予人们不同的语言将之拆散--用不同的语言使他们迷惑

　　And this leads to the wonderful irony that our languages exist to prevent us from communicating. 所以这导致一个奇妙而讽刺的结果，正是语言阻碍我们的交流

　　Even today, we know that there are words we cannot use, phrases we cannot say, 甚至在今天，仍有些字词我们不能用，有些短语不能说

　　because if we do so, we might be accosted, jailed, or even killed. 因为这样做，我们也许会锒铛入狱，甚至招来杀身之祸

　　And all of this from a puff of air emanating from our mouths. 这一切只因为口吐一口气而已

　　Now all this fuss about a single one of our traits tells us there's something worth explaining. 我们刚刚这番关于语言这一特性的长篇大论，无非是要说有些东西值得去解释

　　And that is how and why did this remarkable trait evolve, and why did it evolve only in our species? 那就是语言这一奇妙特性是如何演变的及其原因，并且为什么只在人类中演变？

　　Now it's a little bit of a surprise that to get an answer to that question, 为获得以上问题的答案，先要做点意料外的工作

　　we have to go to tool use in the chimpanzees. 我们必须先研究黑猩猩使用工具的能力

　　Now these chimpanzees are using tools, and we take that as a sign of their intelligence. 这些黑猩猩正在利用工具，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 rather than a shovel? 为什么它们要用根棍子把白蚁从地面里取出，而不是用铲子挖呢？

　　And if they really were intelligent, why would they crack open nuts with a rock? 如果它们真的聪明，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 that somebody else had already cracked open for them? 为什么它们不去商店买上一袋坚果，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。