Re: Fwd: Did language drive society or vice versa?

From: Robin Faichney (robin@faichney.demon.co.uk)
Date: Wed May 10 2000 - 08:57:14 BST

  • Next message: Chuck Palson: "Re: Fwd: Did language drive society or vice versa?" 

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Date: Wed, 10 May 2000 08:57:14 +0100
From: Robin Faichney <robin@faichney.demon.co.uk>
Message-Id: <200005100757.IAA00674@faichney.demon.co.uk>
To: memetics@mmu.ac.uk
Subject: Re: Fwd: Did language drive society or vice versa?
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    Chuck wrote:
    >
    >"Wade T.Smith" wrote:
    >
    >> On 05/09/00 09:42, Chuck Palson said this-
    >>
    >> >the study of the evolution of life is about improbable things. Just
    >> >because it happened once doesn't mean it will happen again.
    >>
    >> There is a lot of activity around Harvard these days with animal language
    >> studies, but not to discount your statement.
    >>
    >> I do wonder, however, if such an animal as the human could happen any
    >> other way than through language? I am assuming, with all seriousness,
    >> that the physical reality of the universe precludes telepathy.
    >
    >I'm not sure how to take your statement. But Wilson at Harvard would
    >certainly agree that the appearance of homo sapiens took some improbable
    >events to happen. After all, when we look at the complexity of an
    >evolutionary product, part of our wonder is produced by seeing how totally
    >improbable things get linked together in the process.

    The effects of evolution appear improbable to us, but they occurred
    on a timescale that is beyond our ken. As I'm sure Wilson, Dawkins
    and Dennett would all very readily agree, given enough time, almost
    anything is possible. And if such events were *really* improbable,
    why did they happen? Divine intervention? 

    -- 
Robin Faichney

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