
The Family That Couldn’t Say Hippopotamus - BIackSwan
http://nautil.us/issue/24/error/the-family-that-couldnt-say-hippopotamus-rp
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gumby
This article doesn't really debunk the chomskian hypothesis that language
reflects deep structure in the brain; it simply refutes the more naive
characterization that there is a "grammar gland" in the brain (which, to be
fair, isn't even what Chomsky says).

To use a computing analogy, the fact that most networks are big-endian doesn't
mean that there is something inherent about big-endian layout; it simply
reflects the neoteny of networking (when most of the old time machines were
big endian). But traffic analysis at higher levels can teach us something on
how computing networks are organized today... which is a combination of what
humans want and what machines are capable of.

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charles2013
as a layperson, i have a hunch that language first developed as a defense
mechanism against predators, and continued (perhaps more rapidly) with the
proliferation of hunting weapons and methods.

an article/thesis from last year claims to have decoded gibbon vocalizations
for distinct predators, as well as what the predators were doing [1].

and a while back i remember reading a theory that consumption of animal-based
protein increased the brain size of early humans.

barring a monolith [2] my guess is that crude hunting tools provided more
brain food for less work which, in turn, led to the development of more
sophisticated tools and hunting methods.

so if the presence of predators caused early humans to develop simple words
and grammar, perhaps a better-fueled brain, as well as the desire to teach and
learn better tool development/use and hunting methods, expanded and improved
this early grammar into something that could be used to communicate (e.g.)
abstractions.

as a layperson, this process would seem to involve more than the mutation of
one gene (e.g. FOXP_{2}), it would seem to involve lots of stuff: chemicals
related to fear, stress, changes in diet, group dynamics, and so forth.

[1]
[http://search.library.wisc.edu/catalog/ocn888412908](http://search.library.wisc.edu/catalog/ocn888412908)

[2]
[https://www.youtube.com/watch?v=mM6OIlreneA](https://www.youtube.com/watch?v=mM6OIlreneA)

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peter303
The Neandertal race supposedly has the modern form of this gene.

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voidz
I think they're having a mother's day sale, too. I think it because they threw
it right in my face. Didn't read the article though, I don't like it when
offers get thrown in my face. But maybe that's just me.

~~~
anc84
You might like
[http://thosefuckingpopups.tumblr.com/](http://thosefuckingpopups.tumblr.com/)
or it might just make you more angry.

~~~
voidz
Haha. Well kind of. But honestly, the thing that really made me laugh was when
I noticed that we now get the best of two worlds; the only thing that really
annoys me other than popups is profanity in titles and URLs. So just for that,
here's my upvote: you properly nailed it. +1

