Why Language Is All Thumbs


	Why Language Is All Thumbs

wildcat

3-22-2008 7:06 AM

455 views

tags:

toolmaking, evolution, brain, language, thumbs

wildcat says:

a book review worthwhile reading

2 Comments |

Add a Comment

3-22-2008 1:00 PM

XsarA

.....
; it was no longer doomed to die with the brain that conceived it
......

sounds good !!

3-23-2008 8:52 AM

papananook

Without language we are worthless.

Login to Comment. Not a member yet? Sign up

View the Top Clips from March 22, 2008

Embed This Clip In Your Site...

<div style="margin: 12px 0px; font-family: arial; color: #333333; background: #ffffff; border: solid 4px #e5e5e5; width: 100%; clear: left;"><div class="CM_CTB_Content_Wrap" style="margin: 0px; padding: 0px;background-color: #ffffff;"><div style="border-bottom: solid 1px #dcdcdc; white-space: nowrap; margin-bottom: 8px; background-color: #eeeeee ;background-image: url(http://www.clipmarks.com/images/source-bg.gif); background-repeat: repeat-x; height: 24px; line-height: 24px; vertical-align: middle; padding-bottom: 4px; color: #666666; font-size: 10px;" ><a href="http://clipmarks.com/clip-to-blog/" title="see clips that are hot right now"><img src="http://content.clipmarks.com/blog_embed/771b5fc8-f199-4c1f-b838-9e3986d4fb5a/90CC8991-AF1C-4EE8-A24B-A1C5D0D0D4F9/" alt="" width="19" height="19" border="0" style="vertical-align: middle; margin: 0px 4px; display: inline; border: none; float:none;" /></a>clipped from <a title="http://www.kurzweilai.net/articles/art0712.html" href="http://www.kurzweilai.net/articles/art0712.html" style="font-size: 11px;">www.kurzweilai.net</a></div><blockquote style="text-align: left; padding: 0px 8px; margin: 4px 0px 8px 0px; background: transparent; border: none;" cite="http://www.kurzweilai.net/articles/art0712.html"><DIV class="TeaserText">Toolmaking not only resulted in tools, but also the reconfiguration of our brains so they comprehended the world on the same terms as our toolmaking hands interacted with it. With mirror neurons, something entirely new entered the world: memes--a far more effective and speedy method for pooling knowledge and passing it around than the old genetic way.</DIV></blockquote><div style="height: 2px; font-size: 2px; background: #dcdcdc; border-bottom: solid 1px #f5f5f5; margin: 2px 4px;"></div><blockquote style="text-align: left; padding: 0px 8px; margin: 4px 0px 8px 0px; background: transparent; border: none;" cite="http://www.kurzweilai.net/articles/art0712.html"><P><SPAN>Excerpted from</SPAN> Thumbs, 
              Toes, and Tears, <SPAN>Walker & Co. 
              2006. Published on KurzweilAI.net March 4, 2008. 
Reprinted with permission.</SPAN></P></blockquote><div style="height: 2px; font-size: 2px; background: #dcdcdc; border-bottom: solid 1px #f5f5f5; margin: 2px 4px;"></div><blockquote style="text-align: left; padding: 0px 8px; margin: 4px 0px 8px 0px; background: transparent; border: none;" cite="http://www.kurzweilai.net/articles/art0712.html">We are—all of us—freaks of <A class="thought" href="javascript:loadBrain('Nature')">nature</A>. We don’t generally 
              see ourselves this way, of course. After all, being <A class="thought" href="javascript:loadBrain('Human')">human</A>, what 
              could be more ordinary than a human being? But it turns out that 
              our personal (and biased) impressions that we are unremarkable simply 
              don’t stand up against the plain, <A class="thought" href="javascript:loadBrain('Object')">object</A>ive facts.</blockquote><div style="height: 2px; font-size: 2px; background: #dcdcdc; border-bottom: solid 1px #f5f5f5; margin: 2px 4px;"></div><blockquote style="text-align: left; padding: 0px 8px; margin: 4px 0px 8px 0px; background: transparent; border: none;" cite="http://www.kurzweilai.net/articles/art0712.html">The way 
              we walk, for example, teetering on long, paired stilts of articulated 
              bone, is unique among <A class="thought" href="javascript:loadBrain('Mammal')">mammal</A>s, and as preposterous in its way as 
              elephant trunks and platypus feet</blockquote></div><div style="margin: 0px 6px 6px 4px;"><table style="font-size: 11px;border-spacing: 0px;padding: 0px;" cellpadding="0" cellspacing="0" width="100%"><tr><td style="background:transparent;border-width:0px;padding:0px;">&nbsp;</td><td align="right" style="background:transparent;border-width:0px;padding:0px;width:107px" width="107"><a href="http://clipmarks.com/share/90CC8991-AF1C-4EE8-A24B-A1C5D0D0D4F9/blog/" title="blog or email this clip"><img src="http://content8.clipmarks.com/images/c2b-foot.png" border="0" alt="blog it" width="107" height="17" style="border-width:0px;padding:0px;margin:0px;" /></a></td></tr></table></div></div>

Clipmarks: Home; New Clips; Top Clips; Dashboard

Popular Topics: News; Life; Science; Technology; Entertainment

Get Started: Sign Up; Install Clipping Tool; How Clipping Works; Clip-to-Blog™; ClipSearch

Tools and Resources: FAQ; ClipWeek; Top Clippers; Top Tags; Site Map

About Clipmarks: About Us; Contact; Blog; Copyright; Privacy; EULA

Search Options

Related Clips

More clips from wildcat

Today's Top Clips