Yes, humans win over animals because we have language. We’re the only species that acquires it automatically, and we have a big pile of adaptations that make language work better and that use language to support other functions. Why are we acting surprised about this?
Sorry, I couldn’t get what do you mean by “We’re the only species that acquires it automatically”. Does it mean human beings have language skills by birth and other animals don’t?
What I mean is that humans reliably acquire language skills just by being around people who’re talking, without needing an explicit effort to train them. We are, in effect, primed to learn language; and while it’s not quite accurate to say that we have language skills by birth, it is true that many of its structural aspects come automatically just from the way human brains develop.
Yes, humans win over animals because we have language. We’re the only species that acquires it automatically, and we have a big pile of adaptations that make language work better and that use language to support other functions. Why are we acting surprised about this?
Sorry, I couldn’t get what do you mean by “We’re the only species that acquires it automatically”. Does it mean human beings have language skills by birth and other animals don’t?
What I mean is that humans reliably acquire language skills just by being around people who’re talking, without needing an explicit effort to train them. We are, in effect, primed to learn language; and while it’s not quite accurate to say that we have language skills by birth, it is true that many of its structural aspects come automatically just from the way human brains develop.