How Language Began | Dan Everett | TEDxSanFrancisco
Language, we can say with some confidence, was the greatest “technological” breakthrough of the Upper Pleistocene. It gave rise to a vastly more complex social life, a societal memory of cultural advances conveyed by word of mouth across generations, and a growing division of labor within society.
Jeffrey D. Sachs • The Ages of Globalization: Geography, Technology, and Institutions
In the past, when trying to explain how our ancestors developed, we have often focused on a source of energy or a physical technology that aided their progress – for example, the invention of the wheel, the discovery of coal or the arrival of the plough. But what about the social technologies that helped organise us in pursuit of common goals by en
... See moreDavid McWilliams • Money: A Story of Humanity
Based on discoveries of ancient hyoid bones, which are the bones that provide support for the larynx and anchorage for the tongue and other muscles required for speaking, researchers believe that as long as 300,000 years ago our ancestors had the ability to speak as we do now.
No other primate has a larynx low enough to produce sounds as complex as ... See more
No other primate has a larynx low enough to produce sounds as complex as ... See more
Sally Mallam • The Evolution of Storytelling
In the past, when trying to explain how our ancestors developed, we have often focused on a source of energy or a physical technology that aided their progress – for example, the invention of the wheel, the discovery of coal or the arrival of the plough. But what about the social technologies that helped organise us in pursuit of common goals by en
... See more