TED演讲：语言如何改变人类(8)

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　　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 has prospered¹ around the world 这就是为什么人类在全世界繁衍发展

　　while the rest of the animals sit behind bars in zoos, languishing². 而其他的动物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 to extract termites³. 而它们用棍子捅地抓白蚁

　　All right, if this view of language and its value in solving the crisis of visual theft is true, 如果这个角度看语言及其价值，对解决观察性窃取是无可争议的

　　any species that acquires it should show an explosion of creativity and prosperity. 任何物种获得了它，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, the Neanderthals and the Homo erectus, our immediate⁴ ancestors, 如果研究我们的祖先--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 about 200,000 years ago, 而人类在大约二十万年前

　　sometime after that we quickly walked out of Africa and spread around the entire world, occupying nearly every habitat on Earth. 迅速地走出了非洲，分布到了全世界，占据了地球几乎每一处栖息地

　　Now whereas other species are confined to places that their genes⁵ adapt them to, 现在当其他物种还受限于他们基因适应的地方

　　with social learning and language, we could transform the environment to suit our needs. 拥有社会学习能力和语言的我们，已经可以改造环境，满足我们的需求了

　　And so we prospered in a way that no other animal has. 所以我们的文明比其他任何动物都要繁荣

　　Language really is the most potent⁶ trait that has ever evolved. 语言确实是我们进化出的最有利的特性

　　It is the most valuable trait we have for converting new lands and resources 这是我们拥有的最有价值的特性，以此我们将新土地和资源

　　into more people and their genes that natural selection has ever devised. 转化成更多的人和他们的基因，这比自然选择做的还要多。

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