0:00:20.118,0:00:25.748
The tongue is the most powerful[br]organ of our body.

0:00:27.088,0:00:32.357
Not only because it has 17 muscles,[br]but for all the things that it can do.

0:00:33.589,0:00:37.484
With your tongue[br]you can make them fall in love,

0:00:37.508,0:00:40.276
you can convince,

0:00:41.309,0:00:43.269
you can humiliate,

0:00:44.785,0:00:45.997
you can heal

0:00:47.448,0:00:49.926
and even bring somebody down.

0:00:50.919,0:00:55.236
Once, when my son was 5,pp

0:00:57.042,0:00:59.078
he got mad at me because I told him off.

0:01:00.355,0:01:03.812
It was Father's Day and he said:

0:01:04.685,0:01:08.860
"You know what? Happy NOTHING's Day."

0:01:08.884,0:01:11.019
(Laughter)

0:01:12.392,0:01:14.345
He tore me up.

0:01:16.662,0:01:20.447
He was tall as my knee[br]and he brought me down,

0:01:20.471,0:01:21.930
like David to Goliath.

0:01:21.954,0:01:23.421
Just with his tongue.

0:01:26.402,0:01:29.104
On the other hand, a friend of mine

0:01:29.128,0:01:33.471
used to sell rings[br]and earrings in the bars of Palermo.

0:01:35.048,0:01:40.866
He is of those "smart talkers"[br]who can make easy compliments.

0:01:42.633,0:01:44.762
He'd go from one table to another

0:01:44.786,0:01:48.442
and girls tried the rings,[br]and maybe one of them would say:

0:01:48.466,0:01:50.689
"How do I look with this earrings?"

0:01:50.713,0:01:53.665
And he'd look at her and say:

0:01:54.800,0:01:56.401
"You're something else."

0:01:56.425,0:01:58.291
(Laughter)

0:01:59.091,0:02:05.047
Truth is maybe the rings[br]and the earrings weren't so nice

0:02:05.071,0:02:08.404
but what was worth[br]there were my friend's words.

0:02:10.247,0:02:15.387
I mean, language has a really[br]strong persuasive power.

0:02:16.789,0:02:22.429
However, sometimes it seems like we make[br]all we can to take away that strength.

0:02:23.615,0:02:27.463
Some time ago

0:02:27.487,0:02:31.522
I used to dictate[br]writing courses for professionals.

0:02:32.370,0:02:35.785
And the biggest mistake that I noticed

0:02:35.809,0:02:38.751
was the use of the language in autopilot.

0:02:39.982,0:02:40.986
What is this?

0:02:41.010,0:02:43.614
It is when somebody starts to specialize

0:02:43.638,0:02:46.339
in a certain field and starts to use

0:02:47.806,0:02:51.867
some kind of vocabulary,[br]like an almost personal language.

0:02:52.816,0:02:55.231
And when they communicate with somebody

0:02:55.255,0:02:57.934
who is not that much[br]into the subject, they fail.

0:02:58.867,0:03:02.757
I remember once I had an allergy[br]and I went to the doctor

0:03:04.186,0:03:06.717
and they tell me:

0:03:06.741,0:03:09.127
"I'm going to prescribe you a cream,

0:03:09.151,0:03:12.804
you will apply it on the pruritic area."

0:03:16.132,0:03:19.796
"What is the pruritic area?"

0:03:19.820,0:03:21.420
"The place that itches!"

0:03:22.753,0:03:26.283
Well, he should have said[br]that from the beginning.

0:03:26.307,0:03:28.359
That is communication.

0:03:28.383,0:03:32.216
I don't want to know where the people[br]who didn't ask applied the cream.

0:03:35.025,0:03:41.745
So, when the doctor speaks as a doctor,[br]a lawyer speaks as a lawyer,

0:03:43.201,0:03:46.321
the computer technician speaks[br]as a computer technician,

0:03:46.345,0:03:50.361
and they try to communicate[br]with each other, they can't.

0:03:50.385,0:03:54.428
They need some kind of translator[br]to help them understand each other.

0:03:55.162,0:04:00.275
It's very important to try[br]to adapt the message,

0:04:00.299,0:04:03.899
to make the language fit[br]so the other understands me.

0:04:04.812,0:04:09.946
And this capacity language has[br]of adapting and transforming

0:04:09.970,0:04:12.570
is one of the secrets of its strength.

0:04:13.820,0:04:20.423
Think that we speak Spanish,

0:04:21.765,0:04:25.165
which actually derives[br]from spoken Latin, right?

0:04:26.504,0:04:30.815
Roman Empire disseminates all its power,

0:04:32.113,0:04:36.241
distributes that spoken Latin[br]they used to trade,

0:04:38.193,0:04:43.237
and also to dominate I guess,[br]and to legislate,

0:04:44.725,0:04:49.375
and in the 3rd century,[br]Romans' Wi-Fi failed,

0:04:51.326,0:04:54.033
the Empire falls, the roads are blocked,

0:04:55.399,0:05:02.000
but that daily used Latin[br]remains and in each isolated province

0:05:03.266,0:05:06.040
people start to speak Latin[br]in a particular way.

0:05:06.064,0:05:08.691
As they didn't need to communicate,

0:05:08.715,0:05:13.089
or they couldn't, with the other[br]provinces, in each place Latin derives

0:05:13.113,0:05:16.483
in a specific direction, mixed up[br]with the conquered tongues.

0:05:17.981,0:05:24.042
That's how Italian, French,[br]Portuguese, Spanish are formed.

0:05:25.515,0:05:30.968
I mean, we speak a slang Latin.

0:05:32.911,0:05:34.271
A "fierita" Latin.

0:05:36.539,0:05:37.890
What happened?

0:05:37.914,0:05:39.448
It started to transform

0:05:39.472,0:05:41.944
like some kind of mutant virus[br]through the ages

0:05:41.968,0:05:47.115
that spoken Latin changed[br]from generation to generation,

0:05:47.139,0:05:49.190
adapting to the new needs

0:05:50.963,0:05:55.210
and we ended in this Spanish[br]that keeps transforming,

0:05:55.234,0:05:57.963
because language transforms constantly.

0:06:00.389,0:06:01.889
I'll give you an example.

0:06:03.485,0:06:05.837
In my writing workshop,

0:06:05.861,0:06:09.784
sometimes I tell the participants:

0:06:09.808,0:06:12.884
"Be careful with this part of the text,

0:06:12.908,0:06:16.635
the "needle kind of jumps out"[br]in that part of the text.

0:06:17.578,0:06:20.322
And now, people in their 20s[br]look at me and say:

0:06:20.346,0:06:22.680
"What does "the needle jumps out" mean?"

0:06:22.704,0:06:23.705
(Laughter)

0:06:23.729,0:06:28.911
Unless they are retro[br]and they like vinyls.

0:06:28.935,0:06:32.230
And if you update that and you say:[br]"The CD jumps in that part."

0:06:32.254,0:06:35.570
That will last for some time now,[br]but CDs are getting out of use.

0:06:39.333,0:06:40.713
I end up saying:

0:06:40.737,0:06:43.711
"Watch out, in that part[br]the text kind of makes some noise."

0:06:43.735,0:06:44.936
That still works.

0:06:44.960,0:06:48.147
Or the expression[br]"their Wi-Fi fails to connect",

0:06:48.171,0:06:51.481
it will be understood for some years[br]until something else comes

0:06:51.505,0:06:53.577
and people don't know anymore[br]what Wi-Fi is.

0:06:54.431,0:06:58.050
So this capacity of the language,

0:06:58.074,0:07:02.930
of being all the time adapting[br]in order to shine,

0:07:02.954,0:07:05.718
or to call our attention,

0:07:05.742,0:07:08.953
to make us laugh,

0:07:08.977,0:07:14.659
to let us keep insulting each other[br]as we always do,

0:07:14.683,0:07:16.318
to keep falling in love,

0:07:16.342,0:07:18.635
it's like the language[br]sharpens all the time.

0:07:19.467,0:07:20.534
It gets renewed.

0:07:21.508,0:07:25.302
We live inside our language,

0:07:25.326,0:07:30.689
it's hard to see how much[br]are we made of our language,

0:07:30.713,0:07:34.861
because we grew up inside a language[br]and that language grows inside us.

0:07:37.587,0:07:42.982
And we can only see how much[br]we are made of that language

0:07:43.006,0:07:47.225
with people that has some kind[br]of neurological disease

0:07:47.249,0:07:50.156
like aphasia.

0:07:50.180,0:07:51.758
Aphasia is the loss of language.

0:07:51.782,0:07:55.161
When the aphasia is gradual,

0:07:55.185,0:07:59.954
we notice that the person's dictionary[br]gets deleted little by little.

0:08:01.066,0:08:02.780
So, at first,

0:08:02.803,0:08:06.082
they want to say something[br]but they don't remember the word,

0:08:06.106,0:08:07.345
"Pass me the..."

0:08:08.934,0:08:12.968
Later, they won't know[br]what they want to say

0:08:12.992,0:08:15.497
because their inner dictionary[br]is being deleted,

0:08:15.521,0:08:18.385
the internal language[br]structures are being erased.

0:08:19.321,0:08:24.787
And that causes a gradual absence,[br]they become absent.

0:08:25.546,0:08:29.603
They start to be like lost to themselves,

0:08:29.627,0:08:32.027
because they can't think themselves.

0:08:33.349,0:08:36.601
Language is a way we have to be in time.

0:08:37.568,0:08:40.523
For example, I know that today I am here,

0:08:40.547,0:08:43.576
yesterday I did some things,[br]tomorrow I will do other things.

0:08:43.600,0:08:44.878
I can think myself

0:08:44.901,0:08:47.316
and language helps me to do that,

0:08:47.340,0:08:50.153
it's like a big GPS that guides me

0:08:50.177,0:08:54.450
through all my emotions and memories.

0:08:57.121,0:08:59.630
And you have your whole life inside you.

0:08:59.654,0:09:03.750
There is a verse at the end of a poem[br]by Dylan Thomas that says:

0:09:03.774,0:09:06.975
"The ball I threw[br]while playing in the park

0:09:06.999,0:09:08.975
has not yet reached the ground."

0:09:11.094,0:09:14.205
There is childhood floating there.

0:09:14.229,0:09:16.840
Or he hit it so hard[br]and the ball stayed in a roof,

0:09:16.864,0:09:18.992
or he tries to say that,

0:09:19.016,0:09:21.007
that your childhood is still happening,

0:09:21.031,0:09:24.362
the child you were is still with you.

0:09:25.245,0:09:28.454
You are all your life put together,

0:09:28.478,0:09:30.345
your whole life is with you.

0:09:30.369,0:09:33.133
The little child, the teenager you were,

0:09:33.157,0:09:34.439
the one you are,

0:09:34.463,0:09:37.486
the one you want to be[br]or you are afraid to be.

0:09:37.510,0:09:39.273
Accumulated time, that's what we are.

0:09:39.297,0:09:43.492
And the thing that let us[br]sense that is the language.

0:09:44.670,0:09:45.710
Now.

0:09:49.790,0:09:53.484
Something really important

0:09:53.508,0:09:56.222
that I believe is the way we...

0:09:57.743,0:09:58.810
Well, let's see.

0:10:00.138,0:10:01.281
I'll tell you something.

0:10:01.305,0:10:02.572
Why do I know this?

0:10:03.611,0:10:05.632
I talk about aphasia.

0:10:05.656,0:10:08.117
It happened to my mom.

0:10:10.662,0:10:15.025
And her illness made me[br]notice that language

0:10:16.697,0:10:19.156
is something you can't take for granted.

0:10:19.180,0:10:22.777
Language is a gift

0:10:26.009,0:10:32.580
that we have to make real,[br]apply it, enjoy it, take care of it.

0:10:32.604,0:10:34.099
Excercise it.

0:10:38.028,0:10:42.864
And think that we are all the time[br]crossed by speeches of others.

0:10:42.888,0:10:46.200
I mean, TV, education, family,

0:10:46.224,0:10:50.246
all the time they are trying to tell you

0:10:50.270,0:10:52.960
what you should think

0:10:52.984,0:10:58.770
and the only way to know[br]what you do think is by saying it.

0:10:58.794,0:11:01.964
What would you say about that?

0:11:01.988,0:11:03.939
Because if you don't speak,

0:11:03.963,0:11:07.230
there's a risk that somebody[br]will speak for you.

0:11:08.947,0:11:12.443
And to say your version of things,[br]you don't have to be a writer.

0:11:13.757,0:11:17.699
You can do it talking to other people,

0:11:17.723,0:11:19.983
writing a journal that nobody will see.

0:11:21.086,0:11:24.761
You can write a blog,[br]or have a twitter account, whatever.

0:11:24.785,0:11:27.126
The important thing is that it is yours.

0:11:29.976,0:11:34.889
All our brain energy can be there,[br]in the tip of our tongue.

0:11:36.441,0:11:40.668
We can use the language as a weapon

0:11:42.244,0:11:43.664
or we can use it

0:11:45.076,0:11:49.861
like a hand that goes through the dark

0:11:49.885,0:11:52.552
to reach out to someone, to communicate.

0:11:53.853,0:11:59.236
Each of us has to discover

0:11:59.260,0:12:02.188
our own verbal power.

0:12:03.172,0:12:04.972
Nobody can do that for you.

0:12:06.013,0:12:07.475
Like a Jedi Master would say:

0:12:08.886,0:12:11.608
"May the force of language be with you".

0:12:12.474,0:12:13.951
Thank you very much.

0:12:13.975,0:12:16.975
(Applause)