In the conundrum of the slow lumbering gait of evolution, archaeologists and anthropologists discovered our human ancestors defied logic without rhythm or reason, apparently skipping several plateaus on the known progression scale. The foremost evolutionist, Stephen Jay Gould states it this way; “The universals of language are so different from anything else in nature, and so quirky in their structure, that origin as a side consequence of the brain’s enhanced capacity, rather than as a simple advance in continuity from ancestral grunts and gestures seems indicated.”
The Brain's Talent
The complex internal mechanisms to create speech are not evident in any other species except humans. Terrance Deacon in his book, The Symbolic Species: The Co-Evolution of Language and the Brain noted; “It is one of the most distinctive behavioral adaptations on the planet. Languages evolved in only one species, in only one way, without precedent.”
The movement to stand upright may have its origins in the process, but the innate ability of thought to speech, distinct from all other forms of life, there are no reasons, only theories.
Consider what tends to be done without notice; reading and comprehending any given written word on a daily basis. The use of the brain in translating thoughts to speech and being understood is the intricate features of the brain’s left frontal cortex,(known as Broca’s area) and the posterior part of the temporal lobe, (known as Wernicke’s area). In 1861, Broca noticed that damage to the left frontal cortex, left a patient the ability to understand language, but caused the disability to speak it. Wernicke realized in 1876 that damage to the temporal lobe caused the loss of understanding the language even though they could speak, the patient made little made sense.
Deacon continues with; “In order to speak a word that has been read, information is obtained from the eyes and travels to the visual cortex. From the primary visual cortex, information is transmitted to the posterior speech area (which includes Wernicke’s area). From there, information travels to Broca’s area, and then to the primary motor cortex to provide the necessary muscle contractions to produce sound.”
A dry definition for the why of the capability, yet offers very little for the occurrence of its purpose. When groups formed together for survival, the community needed this essential ability to communicate. For example, how many mothers warn young children from fire? Some views contend that language development came from the woman. But would the distinction and division of labor be anywhere near a priority as modern viewpoints propound and attest as gospel? Division would hardly constitute a viable sequestering of the sexes from each other, for knowledge of gathering together in the first place insured protection and the continuity of survival.
The Bible's View
Yet, Creationists and Christian religions with their essential belief of the Bible’s teachings, precludes and dismisses the need of arguing and compounding theories on fruitless speculations when the answer is perfectly clear; “In the Beginning Was The Word. And on the sixth day God created man in his own image, male and female he created them and saw that it was good.”
According to the eminent linguist Norm Chomsky: “The development of language is a mystery, “The fundamental failing of naturalistic theories is that they are inadequate to explain the origins of something so complex and information-rich as human language, which itself is a gift of God and part of man’s having been created in his image.” Also the beginnings of multiple languages from the scripture verse regarding the Tower of Babel. This resulted in accordance to God’s original plan for the population to inhabit the whole of the earth grouped by the separate language of each tribe.
Arguments can tend to the emotional and quickly descend into arrogance of opposing beliefs, the believer and the scientific presumption—resolving nothing on the common illustrious gift of speech.
The Mystery of Homo Sapiens, Alan F. Alford
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