When Was Talking Invented? A Language Scientist Explains How This Unique Feature of Human Beings May Have Evolved
Homo sapiens conquered the world thanks above all to its unique language.
Yuval Noah Harari • Sapiens
This ability to speak about fictions is the most unique feature of Sapiens language.
Yuval Noah Harari • Sapiens: A Brief History of Humankind
Our earlier ancestor Homo erectus evolved about 1.5 million years ago. As the name implies, erectus was the first hominid to walk upright, leaving arms and hands free not only for carrying and toolmaking but also, importantly in this context, for making gestures. We know that the earliest portable representations of the human figure were created by... See more
Sally Mallam • The Evolution of Storytelling
“Early linguists, as well as the Kabbalists, believed in a fictional language called the tongue of Eden, the language of Adam. It enabled all men to understand each other, to communicate without misunderstanding. It was the language of the Logos, the moment when God created the world by speaking a word. In the tongue of Eden, naming a thing was the
... See moreNeal Stephenson • Snow Crash: A Novel
Biological evolution takes time, because it requires biological generations; the unit of reproduction is the mortal and replicating creature. Once the naked ape starts talking, however, “the unit of reproduction becomes”—in the words of anthropologist Gary Clevidence—“the mouth.” Information and complexity burgeon and replicate so fast that the pri
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