All language subtitles for Butterfly.Effect.S02E12_English

- [Male Narrator]
1984, the Vatican.

Pope Benjamin II has failed.

Surrounded by his few
remaining faithful,

he can only
acknowledge his defeat.

After five years
of bitter fighting,

Protestant forces have
succeeded in overwhelming

the armies of the Holy See.

The Vatican has just fallen.

When they emerged
in the 16th century,

the antiestablishment
ideas of the Protestants

were brutally stifled
by the Catholic Church.

Secretly, century after century,

they grew underground,
safe from repression,

spreading through all
levels of society.

In the 20th century, they
became sufficiently powerful

to oppose the Catholic armies.

The great war of
religion then broke out.

But none of this ever happened.

In 1455, a tiny grand
of sand will lead

to the invention of
the printing press,

and the dissemination of
ideas throughout Europe.

Our history is no more than a
series of incredible events.

Every one of us can
influence its course.

(dramatic music)

The most infinitesimal
of our decisions

can influence the
future of humanity.

To know the past is
to foresee the future.

1438, Strasbourg.

Witnesses spot a
mysterious machine

hidden at the back of a
certain Gutenberg's workshop.

15 years later, to
general stupefaction,

Gutenberg publishes the first
book ever printed, a bible.

1517, Martin Luther
produces a mass printing

of his 95 Theses

denouncing the excesses
of the Catholic Church.

These three intimately
connected events

are key moments in the
birth and in the development

of the printing press.

It will revolutionize
European society.

Present-day Iraq, a little
over 5,000 years ago.

In this vast, fertile territory,

humanity is on the point
of entering a new age.

They have just invented writing.

This revolution is
driven by necessity.

The appearance of
the first cities

forces the people to
manage their food stocks,

settle conflicts.

Writing allows them to
keep a note of exchanges,

to record events.

Humanity is writing
itself into history.

From the third millennium BC,

all the great cultures
of the Middle East

adopted some system of writing.

At first, this is only
a few signs or symbols.

Then the systems diversify

according to the
writing medium used.

In Mesopotamia, scribes
punched clay tablets.

The Romans used wax tablets,

the Chinese bamboo
or tortoiseshell.

To defeat time, they carved
the history of the gods

and the pharaohs into
the stone of obelisks

or the gold of
funerary chambers.

Placed end to end, the
sheets of papyrus form rolls

that can reach 30 meters
in length, called volumena.

The Greeks use them to
relate their epic adventures.

They say that under
Julius Caesar,

the Library of Alexandria
had 700,000 of them.

The Romans also
used wax tablets,

the Chinese bamboo or
tortoiseshell, then paper.

The invention of the
sturdy parchment,

made of skin and not vegetable,

enables better
conservation of writings.

The codex is soon preferred
over the voluminous scrolls.

Forerunner of the book, it
introduces the notion of pages

that need to be turned.

In the Middle Ages,
the manuscript book,

consisting of bound
and indexed pages,

is considered a
priceless treasure.

In scriptoria scattered
across Europe,

armies of monk copyists
reproduce not only
biblical texts,

but also the ancient
works of Plato,

Aristophanes, and Hippocrates,

letter by letter.

Century after century,

by copying texts from
one medium to another,

their painstaking labor
allowed countless works

to come down to us.

All the texts that
were not regularly

transferred to new media

were lost forever.

- [Female Narrator] Welcome
to the memory of humanity.

Here, we can control time,

analyze and compare
billions of events,

and alter them to rewrite
history endlessly.

All the events in our history,
however minute they might be,

are memorized and
interconnected.

It only requires
one to be changed

for all the others to
be shaken to the core.

Man has been using
spoken language

for more than 100,000 years,

but has only been writing
for some 5,000 years.

Writing means transcoding
language in a visual form,

drawing the word.

There are several
systems in existence.

Hieroglyphs consist
of using a symbol

for each word,
person, or notion.

Therefore, it requires
an enormous number

of different symbols
to represent the world.

Egyptian scribes needed
to memorize a great number

of different hieroglyphs.

The invention of the
alphabet is a revolution.

Describing sounds
and not notions,

this phonetic system
means one can form

any word, any idea.

The alphabet is a code.

We encode when we write,
we decode when we read.

More complex to master, it
is also much more powerful.

It enables the transcoding
of any language.

However, all these systems
have the same Achilles heel.

If for one reason or another
the code is forgotten,

it is then impossible
to decode the texts.

This is what almost happened
with the Egyptian hieroglyphs.

(chattering)
(bell chiming)

(medieval music)

- [Male Narrator] Mainz, 1450.

Johann Gensfleisch,
known as Gutenberg,

has a meeting with
a businessman.

Although from a wealthy family,

he needs funds to complete
his grand project,

which is a jealously
guarded secret.

He doesn't know it yet,

but he is about to turn
history upside down.

Gutenberg was born around 1400,
in the small town of Mainz,

in the Holy Roman Empire.

His father is one of
the town's leaders,

so his family is
secure from want.

But Gutenberg is not
a man to be contented

with a private income.

Obsessed by engineering
and mechanics,

he loves manual
activities and crafts.

Perfecting mechanisms
and new designs

seem to particularly
stimulate
his inventive spirit.

In 1428, he leaves
Mainz for Strasbourg.

He quickly finds associates

to develop several small,
profitable businesses.

All these very different
experiments provide him

with a sound knowledge of
working gold and metal,

but, hidden away at the
back of his workshop,

he keeps his secret
project to himself.

However, one day, some
people claim to have spotted

a sort of machine.

They describe
something technical,

made of metal that
can be taken apart.

Apparently, it is
driven by a press.

The inventor quickly
shrouds himself in mystery.

There's no point in having ideas

if others steal them from you.

But Gutenberg cannot carry
the project by himself.

He needs help, and
above all, money.

(dramatic music)

He must run the risk of
discussing it with a
financier.

He turns to his associates,
among whom Andreas Dritzehn,

who dies before he was able
to see the completed work,

but not before having invested
a large sum of money in it.

The dead man's
brothers immediately

try to seize the
precious machine,

bringing a lawsuit
against Gutenberg.

In 1448, the inventor
returned to Mainz,

for the work is not finished.

Everything remains to be done.

Gutenberg, an
excellent engineer,

needs craftsmen,
experts in their fields.

More seriously,
materials cost a fortune.

At the time, paper itself
is a rare commodity.

He needs fresh money.

So he takes the risk
of presenting the idea

to a second person, Johann Fust.

The businessman
believes in the project.

He decides to back Gutenberg,

who immediately gets
back to the task,

the development of the
first printing press

with movable letters.

(eerie music)

- [Female Narrator] We have
just reached a turning point.

A turning point is a key event,

a crossroads in our history,

where the world swings
one way or the other.

Alone, Gutenberg can do nothing.

By associating with Johann Fust,

he gains the financial
piece that enables him

to devote himself
100% to his project.

Without that, he
would've been constantly

lacking the materials and
the indispensable skill.

It is nearly certain
that the adventure

would've halted there.

The printing press would've
been developed by somebody else,

but probably years later.

Like many another inventor,

Gutenberg would've
emerged ruined.

His case is comparable to that

of Larry Page and Sergey Brin,

two 20th century
American students.

Their aim was to create a
new Internet search engine

more powerful than
any in existence.

Having exhausted
their own resources,

they managed to find
a financial partner.

A few years later,
they create Google.

Today, this mechanism
is being challenged

by the system of
participatory financing

known as crowdfunding.

Internet users can now
finance all sorts of
projects,

but the risk is high.

Their secret must largely
be revealed to all.

(dramatic music)

- [Male Narrator]
The work begins with

the meticulous
carving of a letter,

imitating the writing
of the period.

Once hardened, it becomes a
highly resistant steel punch.

When hammered into a
softer copper matrix,

the punch creates a
character in relief.

This is then placed in a mold

into which is poured
a very precise alloy

of lead, tin, and antimony.

When repeated, this
operation is able to produce

thousands of
identical characters.

We then move to the next stage,

composition of the page.

The characters are set out,
one by one, line by line,

to form words,
sentences, paragraphs.

Spaces are carefully
calculated
so that each line finishes

exactly at the
edge of the column.

The frame is then bolted,

the characters coated
with a black, greasy ink,

skillfully blended to
be neither too liquid,

nor too sticky.

A sheet of damp paper is
then placed on the characters

beneath a press.

All that remains
is to work the arm.

It's as simple as that, but
somebody had to think of it.

In a few hours, two
craftsman complete a task

that would've taken a monk
copyist several weeks to do.

A revolution.

And yet, Gutenberg
invented nothing.

The press was already
used in winemaking,

alloys and molds
in goldsmith work,

while movable characters
already existed in Asia.

Gutenberg's genius was to bring
all these elements together,

divert them from their
original use, improve them,

and orchestrate them
like a musical conductor.

He is the originator
of a process,

certainly the most important
of the whole millennium,

mass printing.

Gutenberg not only set up
the entire production method,

but he also applied it
to an economic model,

production of cheap books
rapidly and in quantity.

And for this, we can say that
Gutenberg was a visionary,

and this vision will be
crowned with success.

In 1454, after 21
months of production,

a masterpiece emerges from
the Fust-Gutenberg workshops.

The bible, known as
the Gutenberg Bible,

is the first printed
book in history.

The 180 copies of the edition
are said to have required

232,000 pressings,

and the print
quality is so perfect

that it still amazes today.

- [Female Narrator] To invent.

An invention is a long process,

relying upon the research
and progress of other people.

This long work always starts
with a series of setbacks

that hamper motivation
and sow doubts.

Then, logically, if
you haven't given up,

you begin to see the first
halting, fragile results.

By perfecting the
method, polishing it,

you may then manage to adapt
the invention for the market.

It is often only at this stage

that you know if the
initial idea was a good one,

if all the effort
was in vain, or not.

It all starts from an idea,
an intuition, a vision.

Gutenberg imagined
more than a machine.

He saw a global concept that
would democratize reading.

In the 20th century,
Steve Jobs didn't merely

solder components together,

he imagined a world
where every home

would have a computer
that was both friendly

and instinctive to use.

Today, Elon Musk, head of
Tesla Motors and SpaceX,

is inspired by a vision
of a future world

directed towards progress
and sustainable development.

Our world will always
need visionaries.

- [Male Narrator] 180
copies were published.

The Gutenberg Bible
is an undeniable

technical and artistic success,

the irrefutable proof
of enormous expertise.

But financially,
it's another story.

Fust, the businessman, invested
a huge amount of money.

He expects a return
on his investment.

All the searching and
perfecting the method

was a financial abyss
that sales do not fill.

The relationship between the
two men rapidly deteriorates.

They become suspicious
of each other.

That's when Fust decides
to take legal action.

He states that his investment
was in fact a loan,

and demands repayment
with interest.

Overall, Gutenberg ends
up losing this case.

Even though he avoids
financial ruin,

he loses part of his
workshop and equipment.

But above all, he sees his
former associate and financier

turn into his main competitor.

Because Fust, although chastened
by the Gutenberg adventure,

has no intention of
abandoning printing,

which he knows is
revolutionary and promising.

More seriously, he
forms a new association

with the inventor's
former apprentice,

the talented Peter Schoeffer.

It's a harsh blow.

However, Gutenberg
will continue his work.

For him, quantity
comes before quality.

The revolution is underway.

The printing press will take off

and conquer the whole of Europe.

In the 15th century alone,

15 million copies will
come off the presses.

In the following century,
it's 100 million.

Although the first
printed book was a bible,

this new technology
will win over everyone,

including
antiestablishment minds.

In 1517, Martin Luther
publishes his 95 Theses

denouncing the abuses
and deviations of
the Catholic Church.

He is not the first
to ideologically
oppose the Holy See,

but clearly the first
to take advantage

of mass production printing.

More than 300,000
copies of his writings

will be disseminated
in this way.

His ideas will
spread across Europe

like a trail of gunpowder.

This is the origin
of the Reformation,

of the birth of Protestantism

that will change
the face of Europe.

- [Female Narrator] The
democratizing of knowledge.

The printing of
thousands of books

will automatically
reduce their price.

Knowledge will emerge
from the great libraries,

the universities,
and the scriptoria,

and will move into
bookshops and businesses.

The major beneficiary
is the Church,

which discovers an excellent
way of spreading the Gospel

on a wider scale.

But it also enables
large numbers of people

to consult books that
were inaccessible before.

A critical mind is born.

Opposition is no longer
confined to a geographical
area,

but becomes widespread.

Without modern printing,
it is almost certain

that Protestantism would've
remained on the sidelines.

Our Internet plays
the same role today.

New ideas flash across the
globe at lightning speed,

and are reproduced
in infinite numbers.

The walls of our world
are suddenly torn down.

The wind of renewal
and knowledge born
in the 15th century

is again blowing in the 20th,

and does not seem
about to die down.

(soft piano music)

- [Male Narrator] 15
million copies printed

in the 15th century,
100 in the next,

and one billion in the 18th.

Gutenberg'vention
changed everything.

Our relationship to
culture and knowledge,

our critical mind,
our place in society.

We turned into demanding people,

thirsty for knowledge,
curious about everything.

The 20th century witnessed
other revolutions in its
turn.

With the enormous advances
made in microcomputing,

humanity was catapulted
into the digital age.

The Internet changed everything.

(pulsing music)

We now live in a world where

the lightning evolution of
communications terminals

and the proliferation
of networks

are such that exchanges
have become instantaneous.

Books have dematerialized,
libraries, digitalized.

Knowledge stored online,

and memory achieved in
connected databases.

If we had to digitalize
all the knowledge created

from the dawn of
humanity up till 2003,

it would represent five
billion gigabytes of data.

In 2010, this amount is
reached in just two days.

Every user is now author,
composer, director.

Every minute we
produce 350,000 tweets,

50 million SMS, and
200 million e-mails.

Our society is collapsing
under an avalanche of data.

This tsunami requires the
organization and management

of the Internet.

Like the medieval codex
with its page numbers,

search engines help us
find what we're looking for

in this digital ocean.

For a given question,
an algorithm suggests

a selection of answers
in a preferential order.

But how far are these
engines influenced

by economic or
political parameters?

In an age of fake news,
it is now the user's task

to distinguish true from false.

Our brain no longer needs
to remember everything,

but it must now be
suspicious of everything.

But that is another story.

- [Female Narrator]
The average lifespan

of an inscription on stone

is of the order of 10,000 years.

On parchment,
around 1,000 years.

On film, 100.

Vinyl, 50.

Today, we are stocking
exponential volumes
of information

on media that will certainly
not last longer than 20
years.

Never in the history of humanity

have we stored so much
knowledge
on such fragile mediums.

Equipment breaks
down very quickly,

or becomes
technologically outdated.

Will USB ports still
exist in 100 years?

Will the JPEG compression
codex still be used

so that our grandchildren
can see all the photos

we take with our cellphones?

This is the reality.

Currently, we have
no technical solution

to guarantee the
preservation of our knowledge

beyond a few years.

We envisage computer museums,

Noah's Arks containing an
example of every computer

kept in its original
condition with no updates.

At exorbitant cost, we are
managing to encode DNA strands

that could stock
immense amounts of data,

but the only viable solution
is to copy our entire
knowledge

regularly onto new formats,

rather like the monk
copyists of the Middle Ages.

It seems as if yet again
we need another visionary.

(dramatic music)