Evolution of Language #2: One Explanation

In the previous blog in the series, we saw all the difficulties in explaining the evolution of language. Now to one possible explanation, from A Brief History of Intelligence by Max Bennett.

 

The book goes into a seemingly unrelated topic, altruism. In all species, one can see altruism towards kin (children, siblings etc). Many species also show reciprocal altruism (you scratch my back, I scratch yours). Humans go far, far beyond both. People help strangers without any expectation. They give to charity and do philanthropy. At the same time, as a species, we can be outrageously cruel. Only humans do genocide, wipe out entire groups.

 

Back to the topic of language:

“It is not a coincidence that our language, our unparalleled altruism and our unmatched cruelty all emerged together in evolution: all three were, in fact, merely different features of the same evolutionary feedback loop.”

He elaborates.

 

Language may have started off as intended only for communication between parents to children. Quiet, danger. Fruit, there. Mom, here. No complicated grammar, but you can see the advantages of this getting started. Once started, being a social animal, it would have helped groups to assign common labels to certain objects and actions. There, you wait. We drive deer there.

 

Groups, while advantageous in many ways, create the problem of cheaters – individuals who don’t contribute but share the spoils anyway. Being able to identify them is important obviously, even better if that info can be shared with others. If enough members feel someone is slacking off, they will kick him out. Cheating now carries a risk, thanks to the ability to communicate within a group. Conversely, if the fear of cheaters has now reduced, there is more trust to cooperate. Altruism within the group leads to positive feedback about the individual, with benefits in one’s social hierarchy. Feedback loops. 


But all of the above is now limited to members of one’s own group. The desire and incentive to punish cheaters is, as we saw, is almost a necessity for the group to be beneficial. The seeds of cruelty to others were now sown. Outsiders, those not a part of one’s group, are rivals for resources. Competition turns to dislike, dislike to demonizing and unimaginable cruelty.

 

That is what Bennett meant by language, altruism and cruelty being intertwined in evolution.

 

Note: Not everyone agrees with this theory, so feel free to agree or not, but it does answer a lot of the challenges to explaining the evolution of languages in the earlier post.

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