Human language is one of the most distinctive behavioural adaptations on the planet. Languages evolved in only one species, in only one way, without precedent, and without parallel. Hundreds of millions of years of evolution have produced hundreds of thousands of species with brains, and tens of thousands with complex learning abilities. Only one of these has ever wondered about its place in the whole scheme, because only one - through its language - evolved with the ability to do so. This book aims to alter the understanding of what it means to be human: "the universe isn't a soulless, blindly spinning clockwork, but instead nascent hear and mind".
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Terrence Deacon's The Symbolic Species begins with a question posed by a 7-year-old child: Why can't animals talk? Or, as Deacon puts it, if animals have simpler brains, why can't they develop a simpler form of language to go with them? Thus begins the basic line of inquiry for this breathtakingly ambitious work, which attempts to describe the origins of human language and consciousness.
What separates humans from animals, Deacon writes, is our capacity for symbolic representation. Animals can easily learn to link a sound with an object or an effect with a cause. But symbolic thinking assumes the ability to associate things that might only rarely have a physical correlation; think of the word "unicorn," for instance, or the idea of the future. Language is only the outward expression of this symbolic ability, which lays the foundation for everything from human laughter to our compulsive search for meaning.
The final section of The Symbolic Species posits that human brains and human language have co-evolved over millions of years, leading Deacon to the remarkable conclusion that many modern human traits were actually caused by ideas. Deacon's background in biological anthropology and neuroscience makes him a reliable companion through this complicated multidisciplinary turf. Rigorously researched and argued in dense but lively prose, The Symbolic Species is that rare animal: a book of serious science that's accessible to layman and scientist alike. --This text refers to an out of print or unavailable edition of this title.
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As our species designation-sapiens-suggests, the defining attribute of human beings is an unparalleled cognitive ability. Read the first page
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As our species designation-sapiens-suggests, the defining attribute of human beings is an unparalleled cognitive ability. Read the first page
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9 of 9 people found the following review helpful
By A Customer
Format:Hardcover
This is probably the best book for general readers on the evolution of the mind currently available. Contrary to Steven Pinker's "The Language Instinct," you won't find any talk of "mentalese" or innate grammar here- as Deacon points out, saying that grammar is innate doesn't solve any problems, it just sort of pushes the problems to the side. Deacon focuses on the learning strategies (specifically, the ability to learn symbolic reference), as the basis for the evolution of language and the human brain.
Deacon does not believe that language emerges from a human-only increase in "general intelligence," which is sort of the folk psychology idea for the emergence of language- our bigger brains just made us "smarter," in some ill-defined way. The idea that intelligence and langauge are separate entities is made clear by Williams' syndrome, a clinical condition where the patient has a normal use of grammar and a superior vocabulary, but is severely retarded on most intelligence tests.
Anyone who takes Linguistics 101 (or tries to learn a second language) in college is amazed by the complexity of language. It amazes a lot of people that children are able to learn something so complicated so easily, but adults (who are more intelligent, also in an ill-defined sense) find it very hard to pick up a second language. Even animals and computer algorithms, who are better than children at learning complicated sequences of actions in order to gain a reward, cannot pick up language. Deacon explains this remarkable fact by presenting his ideas for how one learns symbolic reference, a kind of learning strategy different from any other in evolution, a learning strategy that sets humans apart. To tell you anymore then that would ruin the book, you'll have to pick it up for yourself.
Deacon's greatest gift is explaining brain evolution from the bottom level (changes in genes) and from the top level (environmental changes) with equal clarity. In doing so, he bucks both evolutionary psychologists who downplay environmental factors, as well as standard social scientists and laymen who do not understand the Darwinian evolution of the brain. The result is a natural explanation of the evolution of language.
As many others have pointed out, this book is a first step. A more technical book devoted to understanding the ability to learn symbolic references based on Deacon/Peirce's ideas would be really great. Maybe I'll sit down and write it myself.
Keep 'em coming, Terry!
3 of 3 people found the following review helpful
By A Customer
Format:Hardcover
There can be little doubt that Terrence Deacon has written an original and thought-provoking book. However, general readers, such as me, will find it very challenging because of its highly technical content. Be prepared for hard work in trying to fathom Deacon's very well developed thesis.
3 of 3 people found the following review helpful
By A Customer
Format:Hardcover
The highlights of this book were the profound insights that literally transform how you see the world. One example is his view of language as something that has evolved to be learnable by the average two year old. Another was the idea of language as a "virus". His structure of icons, index and symbols is itself a powerful virus that I found difficult to stop applying to everything I have recently read. I loved the enthusiasm of his style ,but did think he could have integrated the physiological aspects more effectively as Gerald Erdelman did in Brilliant Fire...On balance one of the growing list of superb Neo Darwinian contributions to a new world view.
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Most Recent Customer Reviews
4.0 out of 5 stars
A promising approach towards modelling both evolution of language and...
In essence, the book is useful as a guide across various studies in evolution, biology, linguistics, etc. Read more
Published on 19 Nov 2009 by Berazhny
4.0 out of 5 stars
Still a must-read
Ten years old now, but still a must-read for anyone with the vaguest interest in human evolution. The book is divided into three parts - on language, the brain, and evolution. Read more
Published on 18 Jun 2007 by Mr. G. P. D. Ingram
5.0 out of 5 stars
A intellectually stimulating and scholarly approach
I don't know enough to quibble with Deacon. I'm sure there must be something to criticize but I can't find it. Read more
Published on 21 April 2000
4.0 out of 5 stars
Brilliant. Buy this book now.
It was worth getting an atlas of neuroanatomy to make sense of this book, sometimes now I can feel my cerebellum working (the high speed computer running offloaded routines), and... Read more
Published on 12 Dec 1999
4.0 out of 5 stars
a must read for anyone intrested in linguistics
i found this book very intresting. The most important part of this book is the argument against universal grammar. and is the best against it i have saw so far. Read more
Published on 4 Jun 1999
5.0 out of 5 stars
Very important
The evolution of symbolic capacity is too important to be left to the neuranatomists. This isnot to play down Deacon's impressive book. Read more
Published on 22 Nov 1998
5.0 out of 5 stars
The Symbolic Species is truly remarkable!
I had the pleasure of taking language evolution with Prof. Deacon this past Fall semester. In the course, we examined many critical aspects of the language origins controversy. Read more
Published on 11 Feb 1998
5.0 out of 5 stars
If you must read one book about the evolution of language...
Human language is a subject of great interest to everyone, but knowing its origin and biological framework is almost intractable owing mainly to the fact that there is only one... Read more
Published on 1 Dec 1997
5.0 out of 5 stars
What leading scholars say about THE SYMBOLIC SPECIES
I edited THE SYMBOLIC SPECIES when I was employed atW. W. Norton, and no book I worked on in my fourteen years at Norton ever received so many enthusiastic comments and reviews... Read more
Published on 1 Oct 1997
5.0 out of 5 stars
"Selfish Gene" for the 90s?
I'm cheating a bit since I'm only about 150 pages into this book. But I can't restrain myself any longer! Read more
Published on 22 Aug 1997
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