Evolving evolution

During the inception and conclusion of the book of Beresheet, discussion of Darwinian evolution often surfaces. Darwin was aware of the principle of abrupt evolutionary change, in his discussion of the natural selection of the species, but it was only a half century ago that language scientists recognized its importance. Noam Chomsky in his book “Language and Mind” comments:

“There seems to be no substance to the view that human language is simply a more complex instance of something to be found elsewhere in the animal world.

This poses a problem for the biologist, since, if true, it is an example of true ‘emergence’ — the appearance of a qualitatively different phenomenon ...”

Language, as viewed by Chomsky, is not the result of gradual evolutionary refinement, but rather an abrupt change, referred to in mathematics as a step function. Human language is a drastic leap from the primitive communication gestures and noises of the higher primates. With millions of dollars of government funds, psychologists and linguists using standard language training procedures in human family habitats were unable to teach chimpanzees to talk or to understand relatively simple sentences. In a subsequent set of investigations Philip Lieberman in his book “The Evolution of Uniquely Speech, Thought, and Human Selfless Behavior” concluded that the chest position of the human laryngeal vocal tract, the dimensions of the oral cavity in which the tongue is housed, and the shape of the human tongue enable only humans to produce the precise articulatory movements of the thousands of different speech sounds in the languages of the world. Were the language centers of the human brain a part of the brains of the higher primates, they would still be unable to produce human speech. That language and speech are singular human properties indicate that Darwinian principles of evolution fall substantially short when employed to support the position that humans are merely a final evolutionary byproduct within the animal kingdom. The possession of human language and human speech indicates an abrupt, special and unique creation. These thoughts were with me as I left services, singing to myself Chazak, Chazak, Vinitchazaik. (Be strong, be strong and may we be strengthened.)

Harris Winitz, Ph.D.
Professor Emeritus, UMKC
Kansas City, Mo.