Niches of the Mind;The Brain and Language :: Intellect Evolution Essays

Niches of the headThe Brain and LanguageAs the story goes, creation is characterized by refinement and contraction, disorder and order, haphazard change and selection. It is observed in ontogenesis how random change and disorder have brought about, from the scraps floating in a puddle on archeozoic earth, the fantastic diversity and incomprehensible complexity of life. The counterpart to this is death, making space for the new and guiding changes in the ageing through selection. What can this story tell us about the evolution of homos, and our most distinguishing trait our ability to tell stories?The human intellect is widely understood to be that which distinguishes us from other beasts. Mayr tells us that the rapid straits expansion that took place in Australopithecines and early Homo is correlated with twain factors a change in hominids niche, moving from the trees to bush savanna, and the development of speech. (p 252) This see attempts to summarize some current expl anations of the relationships between language and the brain in human evolution, and relate them to another characteristic of humans correlated with the human intellect- our social complexity.Symbolic intercourse is by no means control to humans, or, for that matter, to the most complex organisms. Most fairly social animals have a range of about fifteen to thirty-five physical displays or c everys. As far as we know, cuttlefish, related to squids, have about the same size repertoire size as non-human primates do. (class notes Ling. 101) The evolution of animal communication is thought to have occurred through ritualization of previously existing behavior (class notes Ling. 101) In most animals, communicative displays are innate, that is, genetically determined. This is not at all the case in humans human language is learned. Yet a few of the main things that distinguish human language from other animal communication, namely grammar and syntax, are argued by some linguists to be i nstinctive. (Pinker)In humanitarian to the lack of syntax, grammar, and a large lexicon, other animals, including higher-order primates, lack a exceedingly developed theory of mind the ability to conceptualize others knowledge, beliefs, intentions and goals (class notes Ling. 101) For a prospicient time the increase in brain size was seen as organism correlated with the increasing complexity of tool technology in Australopithecines and early Homo. This theory is loosing popularity due to the observance of widespread tool use in other primates, and is giving way to theories in which the main thrust is raise social complexity.