Researchers at the Max Planck Institute in Germany have determined that we're all mutants. Specifically, they've found the gene that mutated thousands of years ago that gave rise to language skills in humans.
This validates what Stephen Pinker has been saying for years: that humans have an innate instinct for language. The mutation may also help explain some aspects of ancient human history (such as why all other proto-humans died off around 200,000 years ago).
Stay tuned for next week's genetic discovery, when the gene that keeps white men from having a sense of rhythm is discovered!
A gene supposedly for fine mouth control isn't a gene for language, any more than the gene for detatched earlobes is a gene for jewelry. Think about it.
Re:Pinker et al
ziggy on 2002-08-15T22:10:20
Yeah, well. The overbroad hyperbole sounds so much more interesting than the facts.:-) Overstated or not, a gene that can be dated to a significant and heretofore unexplained landmark event in human evolution is certainly interesting. It'll be doubly interesting if further research can make that grandiose claim stick.
Re:Pinker et al
Theory on 2002-08-15T23:39:57
I heard tell that a few years ago, someone gave a presentation at an Anthropology conference criticizing the hypothesis that, because earlier humans couldn't make certain sounds, that their language wasn't evolved enough and it led to their being overwhelmed by H. sapiens better able to make a full range of sounds. The presentation was a good critique, but the upshot was at the end, when the presenter revealed that he had used words containing only the sounds that the so-called proto-humans could make. No one had even noticed that his speach was limited.
