I had never realized just how intricate and specific animal communication could be. The studies on bees and songbirds proved very different but also much more reliant on genetic bonds than human communication. Perhaps the biggest question is one that cannot be so readily answered; how then did humans develop such complex language capacities? (both body and spoken) How is it that we are the only higher primates that have developed this ability? Though it isn’t impossible to communicate and teach some language to our closest ancestors, how did we flourish in it? I took note of the higher instance of left hemisphere brain development, different social constructs and a larger brain, however we have come a long way in our language development in a very short amount of evolutionary time. We came from the same Earth just as bonobos and apes have, yet we have developed a much more complex structure of living. It would be interesting to see the effects on higher rates of interaction between such animals and humans. Could the great apes develop language at a faster rate? Would this be ethical? (as opposed to just leaving them in a natural setting.) -Leslie
I felt like this was quite a topic to discuss, and Kemp and Smith had a lot to say. Being someone whose only knowledge of this topic comes from "Magic School Bus," I found this essay to be QUITE informative. I would say that the portion on bees and their dances was the most interesting to me. I never would have thought that a small insect could complete a highly calculated dance, which would lead fellow insects to food, and survival. I also enjoyed the beginning portion about form, display, and context. I felt like this really served to help me understand that animal communication has the capacity for structure, and that other animals of the same species can understand animal movements and sounds and respond accordingly. I didn't ever think that an animal's instinct for communication and signalling could be even remotely as complicated as Kemp and Smith postulated.
This article made me feel more prepared for my own presentation, which is on the topic of linguistic roots. This more thorough study into animal communication will be incredibly helpful in my efforts to put my paper together, so I am glad I got the opportunity to take a look at it before my work was due! I think it will serve as a very helpful tool in discussing some of the helps and downfalls of animal linguistic research, so I look forward to having a fairly well-rounded presentation. Kemp and Smith had a lot of great ideas and information, and I am happy to have completed my reading of their essay in its entirety.
I had never realized just how intricate and specific animal communication could be. The studies on bees and songbirds proved very different but also much more reliant on genetic bonds than human communication. Perhaps the biggest question is one that cannot be so readily answered; how then did humans develop such complex language capacities? (both body and spoken) How is it that we are the only higher primates that have developed this ability? Though it isn’t impossible to communicate and teach some language to our closest ancestors, how did we flourish in it? I took note of the higher instance of left hemisphere brain development, different social constructs and a larger brain, however we have come a long way in our language development in a very short amount of evolutionary time. We came from the same Earth just as bonobos and apes have, yet we have developed a much more complex structure of living. It would be interesting to see the effects on higher rates of interaction between such animals and humans. Could the great apes develop language at a faster rate? Would this be ethical? (as opposed to just leaving them in a natural setting.)
ReplyDelete-Leslie
I felt like this was quite a topic to discuss, and Kemp and Smith had a lot to say. Being someone whose only knowledge of this topic comes from "Magic School Bus," I found this essay to be QUITE informative. I would say that the portion on bees and their dances was the most interesting to me. I never would have thought that a small insect could complete a highly calculated dance, which would lead fellow insects to food, and survival. I also enjoyed the beginning portion about form, display, and context. I felt like this really served to help me understand that animal communication has the capacity for structure, and that other animals of the same species can understand animal movements and sounds and respond accordingly. I didn't ever think that an animal's instinct for communication and signalling could be even remotely as complicated as Kemp and Smith postulated.
ReplyDeleteThis article made me feel more prepared for my own presentation, which is on the topic of linguistic roots. This more thorough study into animal communication will be incredibly helpful in my efforts to put my paper together, so I am glad I got the opportunity to take a look at it before my work was due! I think it will serve as a very helpful tool in discussing some of the helps and downfalls of animal linguistic research, so I look forward to having a fairly well-rounded presentation. Kemp and Smith had a lot of great ideas and information, and I am happy to have completed my reading of their essay in its entirety.