1,871 views

20:11 L

Watch
- Search Videos
  
  Advanced search »
- Submit a New Video
Discuss
About
- Try clicking on the various channels to see videos posted to that channel - if you're into music you can click the Music channel to get more music sifts - go on and explore! Use the "hotness" when you have opened the channel link to get videos that have gotten a lot of votes, or use "newness" to have a look at the new sifts.
  When browsing sifts you like, have a look at the Related Posts list to see other related videos, click the tags under the video title to see more sifts tagged with the same tags or have a look at other sifts from the same user in the More Posts By list. If the sifted video is in a play list, have a look at the play list to see other interesting videos the Sift users have linked together.
  Enter the Sift Lounge to chat with online sifters about anything and everything, or read interesting posts in the Sift Talk forum.
  The Top New Videos list is always full of interesting, current videos. It is always recommended that you have a look through the Top New Videos, but also have a look at these:
  - Upcoming Unsifted Videos - active video submissions that neither are published to the front page nor archived to the submitter's personal queue
- Have you seen a really funny, surprising, scary, interesting, cute or in any other way extra good quality video?
  Post and share it here - VideoSift is the best video aggregator on the Web, where we share, discuss, promote, and interact with the best videos out there on the web. Post it here, and share it with the large community of video-interested users. And - you are guaranteed to find more very good videos here already!
  Mind you, we only share videos you discover that someone else has made; if you "self link," by posting a video you have made, have posted or have interests in, you risk the ban hammer - read the posting guidelines before posting. The sift is NOT for promoting your own videos - it is for sharing videos others have made.
  Submit a Video Now »
Login

TED: Mark Pagel: How language transformed Humanity

submitted by DerHasisttot

1 decade 2 years 9 months ago

I don't agree with his conclusion, but everything else was fine.
Biologist Mark Pagel shares an intriguing theory about why humans evolved our complex system of language. He suggests that language is a piece of "social technology" that allowed early human tribes to access a powerful new tool: cooperation.

3 Comments

darkpaw02 says...

He said that chimpanzees cannot learn from each other, which is not true.

http://www.janegoodall.org/media/news/difference-learning-sexes

Yep. He said a bunch more crap too. The only thing I like about this is that I've never heard the evolution of language as a tool explained.>> ^darkpaw02:

He said that chimpanzees cannot learn from each other, which is not true.
http://www.janegoodall.org/media/news/difference-learning-sexes

darkpaw02 says...

I don't know that he is giving enough credit to non-human animals on that either.

I reckon a good part of the evolution of language in humans and human ancestors would have been well before we had complex tools. It's not such a big jump from a wolf "saying" "Hey guys! Look! The rabbit's over here!!" to a bipedal ape being able to say "see Ugg? hit rock with rock". There's no way in hell that the early humans who could make those near-perfect arrow heads would go visit another tribe and give them a lecture about flint-knapping techniques.

Discuss...

🗨️ Emojis & HTML

Enable JavaScript to submit a comment.

This website uses cookies.

This website uses cookies to improve user experience. By using this website you consent to all cookies in accordance with our Privacy Policy.