評論
打印
The reason the chimpanzees don't do that is that they lack what psychologists and anthropologists call social learning.
黑猩猩不這樣做的原因是它們不能進行心理學家和人類學家所稱的社會學習。
That is, they seem to lack the ability to learn from others by copying or imitating or simply watching.
也就是說，他們似乎缺乏通過復制、模仿或僅僅是觀看來向別人學習的能力。
As a result, they can't improve on others' ideas, learn from others' mistakes, or even benefit from others' wisdom.
因此，他們不能就別人的想法加以改進，不能從別人的錯誤中學習，甚至不能從別人的智慧中獲益。
And so they just do the same thing over and over and over again.
所以他們只是一遍又一遍地做同樣的事情。
In fact, we could go away for a million years and come back and these chimpanzees would be doing the same thing with the same rocks to crack open the nuts.
事實上，我們可以過100萬年再來看，這些黑猩猩會用同樣的石頭來敲開堅果。
Okay, so what this tells us is that, contrary to the old saying, "monkey see, monkey do," the surprise really is that all of the other animals really cannot do that -- at least not very much.
好的，這告訴我們，與“猴子看，猴子做（有樣學樣）”這句老話相反，所有其他動物都不能做到這一點——至少學到的不是很多。
But by comparison, we humans can learn.
但相比之下，我們人類可以學習。
We can learn by watching other people and copying or imitating what they can do.
我們可以通過觀察其他人，復制或模仿他們的行為來學習。
We can then choose, from among a range of options available, the best one.
然后，我們可以從一系列可供選擇的選項中選擇最好的一個。
We can benefit from others' ideas. We can build on their wisdom.
我們可以從別人的想法中獲益。我們可以依靠他們的智慧。
And as a result, our ideas do accumulate, and our technology progresses.
因此，我們的想法不斷積累，我們的技術不斷進步。
And this cumulative cultural adaptation, as anthropologists call this accumulation of ideas, is responsible for everything around you in your bustling and teeming everyday life.
這種累積的文化適應，正如人類學家所稱的，是思想的積累，與熙熙攘攘的日常生活中你周圍的一切都有關。
I mean the world has changed out of all proportion to what we would recognize even 1,000 or 2,000 years ago.
我的意思是，世界在飛速變化，與我們在1000年或2000年前所認識到的世界已經完全不一樣了。
And all of this is because of cumulative cultural adaptation.
所有這些都是由于累積的文化適應。
For instance, the chairs you're sitting in today, the lights in this lecture hall, my microphone, the iPads and the smart phones that you carry around with you -- all are a result of cumulative cultural adaptation.
例如，你們今天坐的椅子，這個演講廳的燈，我的麥克風，ipad和你們隨身攜帶的智能手機——所有這些都是累積文化適應的結果。
But, our acquisition of social learning would create an evolutionary dilemma, and the solution to the dilemma, it's fair to say, would determine not only the future course of our psychology, but the future course of the entire world.
但是，我們對社會學習能力的習得會造成一個進化困境，而這個困境的解決方案，公平地說，不僅會決定我們心理的未來走向，也會決定整個世界的未來走向。
And most importantly for this, it'll tell us why we have language.
最重要的是，它會告訴我們為什么我們有語言。
And the reason that dilemma arose is, it turns out, that social learning is visual theft.
之所以會出現這種困境，是因為，社會學習是視覺盜竊。
What I mean is, if I can learn by watching you, I can steal your best ideas, and I can benefit from your efforts, without having to put in the same time and energy that you did into developing them.
我的意思是，如果我能通過觀察你來學習，我就能竊取你最好的想法，我就能從你的努力中獲益，而不用像你那樣投入時間和精力去獲得它們。
Social learning really is visual theft.
社交學習真的是視覺盜竊。
