Many species develop concurrently, each with their own survival instincts. Humans, and their survival instinct of language, are just one branch of the evolutionary process rather than a pinnacle rung.
Holding the belief that we can, or might someday communicate with animals creates empathy, which leads to humane treatment of animals. A belief that animals cannot communicate with us due to inferiority leads to a sense of dominion over them.
This is also a pattern of belief and behavior that is seen with regard to humans who are perceived to have inferior languages or grammars. They are somehow less human, and therefore less deserving of humane treatment.
Pinker states that it is ridiculous to attempt to teach human language to animals. They are not biologically configured for human speech or sign. They have no need for human language as a survival mechanism. He then questions, even if it were possible to teach human communication to animals, what might they tell us?
On the other hand, the study of existing...
Language Is Arbitrary As you are reading these words, you are taking part in one of the wonders of the natural world," begins Steven Pinker's The Language Instinct. (Pinker, 3) In other words, it is a wonder that the human mind is able to create, from need and cognitive structure and instinct, a morphological structure of communication that can change over time from context to context, yet still be understood. It is
Learning language is not much different from learning other skills, but it can be a highly complex process. For example, if human beings did not communicate using complex systems of language but instead relied on simple nouns and verbs, we would all sound like what we imagine "cave men" sounded like. "Food good," and other simple sentences do not demand mastery of grammar and in theory, such simple languages could
BARBIE AND GIRLS' BODY IMAGE Motherese across Cultures Jack Sprat MOTHERESE ACROSS CULTURES MOTHERESE ACROSS CULTURES Motherese across Cultures Motherese is the universal, infant-directed speech that seems to come to women on instinct when they have a preverbal baby. Some people discourage speaking in "baby talk," because they think that children can't possibly learn good English if they are not spoken to in good English. However, there is a lot of qualitative and quantitative research to
Language Power and Language The concept of power has been examined closely by many philosophers throughout human history. These philosophers have different ideas of what power is, but they all, in some way, believe that the concept of language is central to power. In On Violence, Hannah Arendt quotes several such definitions. She says that power may be "making others act as I choose," "to command and be obeyed," or "the instinct
vocabulary we have does more than communicate our knowledge. It shapes what we can know. Evaluate this claim with reference to different areas of knowledge. Response Question: Does vocabulary limit what we can know or limit what we can express? The sentiment, "the vocabulary we have does more than communicate our knowledge. It shapes what we can know" expresses only a partial truth. The vocabulary we have only shapes what we
totalitarian regime, the first instinct for a lot of people is to keep their heads down and try to go about their lives as best they can. There is a good case to be made for this -- no good comes to people who are paid a visit by the likes of the Stasi or NKVD. Yet, there is something about non-resistance that is inherently wrong. In 1978, Vaclav
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