Book Description
"It's the animal in us," we often hear when we've been bad. But why not when we're good? Primates and Philosophers tackles this question by exploring the biological foundations of one of humanity's most valued traits: morality.
In this provocative book, primatologist Frans de Waal argues that modern-day evolutionary biology takes far too dim a view of the natural world, emphasizing our "selfish" genes. Science has thus exacerbated our reciprocal habits of blaming nature when we act badly and labeling the good things we do as "humane." Seeking the origin of human morality not in evolution but in human culture, science insists that we are moral by choice, not by nature.
Citing remarkable evidence based on his extensive research of primate behavior, de Waal attacks "Veneer Theory," which posits morality as a thin overlay on an otherwise nasty nature. He explains how we evolved from a long line of animals that care for the weak and build cooperation with reciprocal transactions. Drawing on both Darwin and recent scientific advances, de Waal demonstrates a strong continuity between human and animal behavior. In the process, he also probes issues such as anthropomorphism and human responsibilities toward animals.
Based on the Tanner Lectures de Waal delivered at Princeton University's Center for Human Values in 2004, Primates and Philosophers includes responses by the philosophers Peter Singer, Christine M. Korsgaard, and Philip Kitcher and the science writer Robert Wright. They press de Waal to clarify the differences between humans and other animals, yielding a lively debate that will fascinate all those who wonder about the origins and reach of human goodness.
Customer Reviews:
Plausible.......2007-09-19
This is a very short book. The main essay has just about over 50 pages. The rest is introduction, some responses, and a closing statement.
Who says that important books need to be long? Possibly it is not all that important, but the main idea is new to me, therefore I am glad that I picked it up, after a recommendation in Der Spiegel.
Let me also say, I don't find the main hypothesis really compelling, in the sense of thoroughly thought through and explained. But I think it is plausible, and as I had been used to think in different directions and categories, this is a new paradigm for me.
Simply put, FdW challenges the conventional view that morality is part of civilization, that morality is a 'veneer' over our animal core, which is generally assumed to be selfish and immoral. He rejects the view that mankind developed as individuals and then became socialites, requiring rules for co-existence. Rather, homo evolved as a social animal and started his career on Earth with a set of rules for social life. I.o.w., the whole question how a human society without a creator can have morality, is superfluous, baseless, a waste of energy.
On the way to this hypothesis, FdW gets into arguments with the 'selfish gene' theory and with the Dawkins direction of neo-Darwinism. My suspicion is, that this conflict is as useless as a goitre (as we say in German). I don't think that Dawkins really meant the gene to be literally 'selfish', hence let's drop this linguistic bickering. (However I am too lazy to look it up in Dawkins.)
Only 4 stars, not because it is not important, but because it remains below its potential. The discussion part is not always to the point.
I am tempted to give an extra star for the foto of Georgia admiring her own reflection in the camera lens. But maybe an Oscar is more appropriate?
Welcome new perspectives on moral theorizing.......2007-09-06
This book is an interesting confrontation between primate research and professional moral philosophers. The aim is to discuss De Waal's attack on `veneer theory', the idea that moral behaviour is not really grounded in our nature but just a thin cultural overlay, but the discussion quickly becomes way more general.
In fact, we quickly see familiar dividing lines appear. Some, like Korsgaard, see morality as based on reason alone, and therefore purely human. Others, like De Waal, see it as primarily based on inborn capacities like empathy, and maintain that we share a lot of our morality with primates.
The truth is probably somewhere in between. Actually almost all the contributors confirm this in some way, but this is obscured by the fact that the authors do not seem to be able to agree on the meaning on the word`morality'.
Semantic confusion and untenable extremes: Nothing new in the world of discussions of morality then? What does make this book interesting, is that this time the discussions are informed by empirical evolutionary research, which means that even the philosophers have to keep their feet on the ground. Apart from the ape-stories being interesting to read, the result is a welcome new perspective on existing moral theories.
Critically Important Research.......2007-08-25
Teleologically oriented theologians and pompous philosophers need to read this book. New empirical research offers dramatic insights as to the how's and why's of the bilogoical origins of human values and morality. The more this book is read and digested, the faster the phony televangelists will disappear from popular and uninformed culture.
Excellent .......2007-07-29
I do not have the required background knowledge to really make a judgment as to the fundamental claim here i.e. that moral behavior, including decision-making is not an exclusively human prerogative but in fact is the natural condition of a wide variety of species for whom cooperatrive and and altruistic behavior can be collectively advantageous. De Waal's critique of what he calls 'veneer theory' the idea that human morality is a thin layer which comes over and above our fundamentally aggressive, selfish nature is I believe, even when one considers humans in isolation, quite convincing.
He brings certain evidence and examples to show that other species' outside the human, including such stereotypically cruel and mean creatures as wolves engage in mutually advantageous group behavior. The question however of the degree of conscious decision involved in this is one not really solved here. Clearly the human capacity for language- use and symbolic - communication extends not only modes of cooperation, but complexities in consciousness. One feels that deliberation and decision in human action work in ways other animals cannot come close to.
Our hertitage deepens.......2007-06-10
Succinct, quotable, accessible and scholarly ( in the best sense!)- Dr De Waal never disappoints.
Book Description
How Humans Evolved uses the broad perspective of behavioral ecology, drawing on Robert Boyd's expertise in evolutionary theory and Joan Silk's specialty in primate behavior in a uniquely integrative text
Customer Reviews:
Excellent Text!.......2007-10-12
This is a textbook that I actually enjoyed reading from cover to cover. It is an excellent introduction to evolution, primatology, and anthropology. Highly recommended for either the undergrad or the layman.
Best Textbook in a long time!.......2007-09-21
This textbook perfectly outlines each chapter. The author states the important points before going into depth. If you find yourself reading a textbook for class and having to re-read over and over again because you keep zoning out, this book really helps. I found it to be very interesting and a helpful study tool.
Excellent.......2007-05-06
Presents material in an interesting, concise, and easy-to-read format - excellent choice for biological/physical anthropology students!
Terrific introduction to the study of human evolution.......2007-03-18
This is a terrific introduction (a textbook) to human evolution. It is written in a very accessible fashion--not just students but those in the larger public interested in the mechanism and products of human evolution will find this a useful volume.
The first part, of course, focuses on the evolutionary process, with a nice introduction to adaptation by natural selection and to genetics. Other introductory chapters introduce readers to the nature of species, phylogeny, and the synthetic theory of evolution. The discussion is well written and understandable. There are many examples to illustrate key points.
The next section explores primate evolution and behavior, to provide context for understanding human evolution and behavior. The chapter on the evolution of primate social behavior is especially helpful. Next, the authors take a look at the evolutionary lineage of humans, from primates to early hominids, to the genus Homo, to Homo sapiens. The text goes on to examine how language evolved, as well as evolution in modern humans (e.g., genetic diversity, the human life cycle, human behavior, and mate choice and parenting).
All in all, a nice introduction to the study of human evolution. Well worth taking a look at. . . .
Required textbook... but not bad reading.......2007-02-03
The book's authors cover some difficult material with excellent exapmles to help clarify main points. As far as a textbook goes, this was decent reading.
Book Description
In this highly original work, one of the world's most distinguished child psychiatrists together with a philosopher at the forefront of ape and child language research present a startling hypothesis-that the development of our higher-level symbolic thinking, language, and social skills cannot be explained by genes and natural selection, but depend on cultural practices learned anew by each generation over millions of years, dating back to primate and pre-human cultures. Furthermore, for the first time, they present their remarkable research revealing the steps leading to symbolic thinking in the life of each new human infant and show that contrary to now-prevailing theories of Pinker, Chomsky, and others, there is no biological explanation that can account for these distinctly human abilities.
Drawing from their own original work with human infants and apes, and meticulous examination of the fossil record, Greenspan and Shanker trace how each new species of non-human primates, pre-humans, and early humans mastered and taught to their offspring in successively greater degrees the steps leading to symbolic thinking. Their revolutionary theory and compelling evidence reveal the true origins of our most advanced human qualities and set a radical new direction for evolutionary theory, psychology, and philosophy.
Customer Reviews:
Emotions plus a desire to interact plus evolution = language.......2007-02-11
When asked to cite what he believed but couldn't prove, Dan Dennett responded by saying that language was required for consciousness.
Interestingly Dennett's view easily harmonizes with strong trends in contemporary wisdom. The larger view is that there is something particular and special about humans and their capacity for language that is materially different than what evolutionarily has preceded them.
This book is a breath of fresh air for its helpful insight that humans are not materially different from what preceded them just more articulated in their thought processes and means of communicating them.
In seriatim the book traces infant development for the capacity of spoken language and compares that developing capacity with different species of animals within the animal kingdom. In a way, it's kind of reminiscent of the old medical school "ontogeny recapitulates philogeny." For those lucky enough not to have experienced medical school, the famous saying refers to the similarity between developmental stages of an unborn fetus and the various lifeforms in the animal kingdom. For example, the fertilized zygote resembles a one celled organism. The early developing fetus resembles a fishlike creature and so on.
In this book, needless to say, the more articulated the comparison being made between the infant's developing speech capacity, the more the authors will be inclined to use a more evolutionarily complicated life form.
Significantly the authors use the similarities between humans and other animals to highlight their basic likenesses which according to the authors subsist in their mutual emotive acquisition of knowledge. In this sense, this book is like Read Montague's Why Choose this Book wherein Montague merged Alan Turing mechanistic reasoning with emotive values to create an up to date model of cognition.
Again, these features are all welcome.
Where I think the authors falter is later in the book when they try to apply their theories to group dynamics. But even so the book remains healthy food for thought and welcome insight if only for the knowledge that when we visit the zoo, the animals looking back at us are really not that much different at all but certainly not lacking consciousness just because they don't speak out language.
Seminal Book Connects Speech, Cognition, and Autism.......2005-10-18
Since the research that supports the theory proposed by these authors is so thoroughly documented, it may prove too technical for the average reader. Still, the insights are stupendous and easily verifiable by anyone with good parenting skills. The fact that, when applied to people with autism, the results are outstanding and highly unusual, tends to validate their theory.
I found the book easy to skim and love the diverse perspectives of each author and contributor.
Now I wish someone would put all this together with another book, somewhat related: Nicholas Ostler's _Empires of the Word: A Language History of the World_. In this book, the author summarizes how various languages spread, supercede others, dominate, or suppress other languages, how they are learned, how creole and pidin languages develop, the structure of various languages, etc.
Perhaps if all these authors got together with someone else, they could explain how various languages shape cognition and even, perhaps, perception, framing the world as each person sees it, and maybe how various cultures tend to see it, based on the language in which they think.
In some languages, the verb comes first and in others, last. In some languages, adjectives come before nouns and in others, after. In some languages, nouns can be feminine, masculine, or neuter. In others, there is no neuter. All of this must shape how humans see things and think--at least as much as emotions do, if the theory these authors propose is accurate.
I heard a report on public radio about how, when people who speak Japanese view a picture of a tiger in a jungle, the parts of their brains that get stimulated are the parts that are viewing the jungle. When English speakers view the same picture, the parts of their brains that get stimulated are the the parts that are viewing the tiger. I don't know how they measured this and I don't know if language has anything to do with it, but it certainly seems to be a nurture, not nature thing.
The world is evolving and there is so much more to be understood about where we came from that may have implications about where we're going.
This book helps move us forward on that journey.
The antidote to rationalism & genetic determinism!.......2005-04-04
At last, a worthy antidote to the noxious trend that explains all human consciousness and behaviour by the evolution and activities of the brain alone! Cognitive science, evolutionary psychology, and neurophilosophy, while adding complexity, have embraced the assumption that basically posit life unfolding entirely as evolving, interacting genes. This book reminds us that opposition to such genetic programming need not imply mysticism, idealism, or anything "spooky". Greenspan and Shanker stand for the predominance of cultural learning passed on generation to generation, its content always changing and never complete.
A second theme of this book is that it supplies strong evidence that rationality and cognition are not opposed to emotion but are in fact the fulfillment of the emotional education hopefully received by every healthy child. To think is to emote, but it is refined emotion that functions in a controlled manner. This is an antidote to the Cartesians, Freudians, and perhaps even Piagetians who have insisted that, developmentally, the rise of reason in maturity overcomes primitive or childish emotional drives.
It should be noted that such emotional learning is assumed to have culturally evolved over millions of years, with reversals here and deadends there. Each generation passes on its cultural truths primarily through the interactions between infant and mother or other primary caregivers, but each generation also may contribute in subtle ways to this body of learning or, on occasion, subtract from it. Each child is thought to recapitulate in its developmental process in a matter of years or months the learning it took culture millions of years to learn the first time. Language is the primary example here.
The authors find little evidence that such central things like language or personal memory are innate to the human brain. The nature-nurture debate becomes appropriately complexified. The big difference here - the antidote to genetic imperialism - is that it is shown that experience more determines genetics than genetics determine experience.
Greenspan and Shanker list 16 stages of individual f/e (functional/emotional) development, plus a timeline of 12 steps for the f/e evolution of human cognition. The neologism "meme" is thankfully not used, though they see human behaviour and the quality of conscious experience arising from culturally transmitted learning. They cite Terrence Deacon approvingly, so it must be guessed that the authors accept structural brain adaptations occurring along with the slow invention of formal language structures. They don't deny the brain's influence, but it is only part of the dance duo with learning, and in this book it clearly is not leading.
However, the authors seem more comfortable in their specialties - Greenspan with studies of infant care and autism, Shanker with Wittgensteinian pretense speaking for the symbolic activities of certain bonobo. They spend less time on the slow discovery of speech, symbolism, and thought in the human species than they do on its rapid appearance in individual upbringing. They seem to accept too early and gradual an origin for formal human language, not being critical enough of nonhuman communication or of early paleoanthropological finds. As a result, all prehistoric discoveries are treated as proof of the presence of abstract ideation. It is not noted that the islands of discovery that seem to indicate a very early emergence of symbolic interaction are just that, islands. There is (as yet) no indication that such activities were carried on anywhere else in the succeeding millennia. Nor do authors deal with early humanity's immersion in the sacred; language is accepted as being invented to meet functional needs and for the pleasure of communicating.
Another hesitation is that the first two parts of the book have all the juice. Greenspan and Shanker lay out their case in the first 184 pages, leaving the rest for sometimes excruciating exegesis or jumps into global recommendations. Indeed, they emphasize so strongly "the hand that rocks the cradle rules the world" that they have added a hopeful final chapter to guide us all toward Global Interdependency through the education of emotional response in every child's first year. Alas, we have many hurdles to overcome before every child on the planet can receive the loving interactive attention that will lead it to the authors' highest stage of development in old age: "...true wisdom free from the self-centered and practical worries of earlier stages" (p. 91) and a peaceful world in general.
Optimistic? Sure, but this tome is still highly recommended for its important defense of culture and learning.
One last thing: There's 504 pages in the book, not 320 like Amazon.ca states.
Emotion plus evolution has produced language.......2005-03-04
The 'First Idea' is long and tedious. I suspect 300 of the 450 pages are unnecessary. Despite this, some of the insights are well worth the effort one must invest to push through the book. The first 100 pages have all the meat. The next 200 are optional. The last 150 are counter productive.
The book proposes a theory by which language emerges from the innate human catalog of emotional states instead of 'logic'. Rather than argue language was 'built' as a 'logical' solution to a dangerous world, they argue that language is a technique for managing or 'avoiding' catastrophic emotional reactions. According to the authors, the caregiver - infant pair who can 'dance' their way through unexpected and frightening events without panic, survive and thrive. They do this by developing a shared set of gestural/auditory icons representing past, present and future emotional states. By shifting rising catastropic emotions like fight and flight out of the 'present state' and into 'icons of the dance', the pair can modulate emotional extremes.
Think about it. Could 'emotion' be the bedrock of logic?
Thinking about this, I was immediately struck by my inability to clearly describe 'emotions'. Are there 2 emotions? 4 emotions? 8 emotions? The shortest list of 'emotions' is binary: fear and anger. A slightly longer list includes 6 emotions: happy, angry, surprise, disgust, fear, sad. Once you get in the mood, the list can get pretty long: Acceptance, Anger, Anticipation, Boredom, Disgust, Envy, Fear, Guilt, Hate, Joy, Jealousy, Love, Remorse, Sorrow, Surprise, Curiosity, Fascination, Confusion, Anxiety, Bewilderment, Frustration, Chagrin, Despair, Hope, Satisfaction, and Confidence. And, there are a variety of emotions which are hard to encapsulate in a single term: 'it is finished', 'I know that', 'I understand'.
If this long list were not confusing enough, there is the common distinction between 'feeling' and 'emotion'. Many use the term 'emotion' to describe 'that which is remembered about a feeling'. Others reverse this, calling 'emotion' the precursor to 'feeling'. Personally, I prefer calling 'emotion' primordial or instinctive, something that emerges from the deepest aspects of our souls. In my view, 'feelings' are the memories of 'emotion'. It is just my vocabulary, and many may use an entirely difference scheme for describing what they experience.
Thus, the assertion that 'language is rooted in emotion' is hardly helpful unless there is a detailed treatment of what the authors mean by 'emotion'. Such a discussion will not be found anywhere in the book's 450 pages.
As I understand it, the authors are arguing that language emerges from the 'dance' infant and caregiver join. The 'dance' is composed of rhythmic 'action' and 'absorb reaction' states which both infant and caregiver cooperatively alternate between. This dance is initiated by the baby when he instinctively seeks to capture the attention of the caregiver by offering a 'stimulus' (crying, smiling, etc.). If the action (a smile) captures the attention of the caregiver, a 'happy' exchange can ensue (the dance). If the baby cannot capture the attention of the caregiver, it will often increase the energy of the stimulus (smile becomes vocalization, becomes crying, etc.) until exhausted or entirely frustrated. The authors suggest this pattern is inate to all human infants (and most mammals). Further, if the infant demonstrates limited interest or capacity for this dance, there is probably going to be an IQ or psychological problem exhibited in later years.
Given this 'dance' which infant and caregiver engage in, language is seen as a refinement which allows greater control of both external 'reality' and internal emotions. Just as ballroom dancers will learn specific 'moves' and then sequences of moves, there will naturally emerge collaborative patterns which represent or symbolize emotional states. Sequences of these states can elicit predictable 'new' emotional states. Memorizing 'moves in the dance' involves defining boundaries and key signals. The process forms the foundation for memorizing words. The pattern of the dance becomes the 'sentence'.
In terms of the caretaker's interactions with babies, the dance is memorized and eventually develops the pair's ability to negotiate undesired or unexpected experiences in life without catastrophic emotion (fear, anger, despair, etc.). The catastropic emotions close out an opportunity for cooperation. The non-catastrophic emotions include joy, curiosity, acceptance, anticipation, etc. If cooperation is essential for the survival of one or both partners, the management of emotional states are all important.
All this is outlined within the first 50 pages, and it represents an interesting proposal for the evolution of human language. Unfortunately, the following 350 pages of supporting arguments are tedious. In particular, the authors repeatedly refer to a table of `functional emotional developmental levels':
1. Shared attention and regulation (from birth)
2. Engagement and relating (2 to 4 months)
3. Two way intentional emotional signaling and communication (4 to 8 months)
4. Long chains of coregulated emotional signaling, social problem solving and formation of presymbolic self
5. Creating representations, symbols or ideas (18 months on)
6. Building bridges between ideas, logical thinking (2.5 years on)
7. etc.
This developmental pattern (the Affect Diathesis Hypothesis) is then the scaffold from which `an explanation of everything' is constructed. We wander through a recap of 2 million years of human evolution, the evolution of societies, and the necessary admonitions for saving humanity from itself. None of these were particularly interesting.
A new theory of human development.......2005-01-03
How did symbols, language and information evolve from primates to modern humans? In The First Idea: How Symbols, Language, And Intelligence Evolved From Our Primate Ancestors To Modern Humans, collaborative co-authors Stanley I. Greenspan and Stuart G. Shanker move beyond the nature/nurture debate to provide a new theory of human development: that the critical step in symbol formation, language and thinking isn't genetic, but a learned capacity dependent on nurturing interactions and cultural practices passed down between generations. Evidence from their own research and collaborations with others provide the backbone of a fascinating discourse.
Book Description
How can an infinite number of sentences be generated from one human mind? How did language evolve in apes? In this book Donald Loritz addresses these and other fundamental and vexing questions about language, cognition, and the human brain. He starts by tracing how evolution and natural adaptation selected certain features of the brain to perform communication functions, then shows how those features developed into designs for human language. The result -- what Loritz calls an adaptive grammar -- gives a unified explanation of language in the brain and contradicts directly (and controversially) the theory of innateness proposed by, among others, Chomsky and Pinker.
Customer Reviews:
The Biology of Language.......2007-08-09
In his 1998 book "Consilience: The Unity of Knowledge," biologist E. O. Wilson argues that all of the sciences fit together in a hierarchical structure. Physics forms the foundation of the edifice of science. Chemistry builds on physics-theories in chemistry must be consistent with what is known in physics, although phenomena may arise at the chemical level that are not necessarily predictable from physical laws. Likewise, biology must be consilient with chemistry, and psychology with biology. Wilson goes on to argue that no real progress will be made in the social sciences until the biological underpinnings of human behavior are recognized.
This is a stance that many social scientists would disagree with. Indeed, the so-called Standard Social Science Model argues that human behavior is not limited in any way by biology. Hence, social scientists need not take any of the natural sciences into consideration when building their theories.
Early in the development of generative linguistics, the general expectation was that this approach was consilient with biology and psychology. Chomsky talked of an innate language acquisition device and critical periods, and he argued that universal grammar was hard-wired in the brain. Furthermore, transformational-generative grammar was intended to be a psychological explanation of language processing, and it produced hypotheses that were testable by the methods of the newly developing field of cognitive psychology. However, after successive failures to confirm the predictions of generative linguistics, Chomsky and his followers retreated to the safety of the Standard Social Science Model.
However, minority of linguists has held on to the belief that, if linguistics is to be a legitimate science, its theories must be psychologically and biologically plausible. One such linguist is Donald Loritz, who, in his 2002 book "How the Brain Evolved Language," builds a strong case for the consilience of linguistics with biology.
A major issue for linguists attempting a brain-based explanation of language has to do with the distinction between parallel and serial processors. The brain is a massively parallel computational device. Although its processing speed is slow, the brain can accomplish complex computations quickly because it divides problems into component parts that are each processed simultaneously. Most human-made computers, on the other hand, are serial processors. They solve problems on step at a time, but because their processing speed is so fast, they can far outperform brains on many tasks.
Language is clearly a serial process. Phonemes are produced (roughly) one at a time; word follows word, sentence follows sentence. Yet, if serial-processed language is produced by a parallel-processing brain, then there is a gap that needs to be explained. In principle, a parallel processor can mimic a serial processor (and vice versa), and it is a general assumption among cognitive psychologists and artificial intelligence researchers that this is what the brain is doing when it processes language. However, Loritz challenges the need for positing a virtual serial processor in the brain. Instead, he argues that, even though language is a serial process, it has features that could only arise if it were produced by a parallel processor.
Take metathesis as an example. Metathesis is the switching of two elements in a series, and it is a ubiquitous phenomenon in language. Metathesis occurs at the phonological level in historic sound changes in words, such as "three" and "third," where the "r" and the vowel switch positions, and it also occurs in dialectal variants, such as those who say "ax" for "ask." The bulk of spontaneous speech errors involve metathesis, as for example the legendary spoonerism "our queer old dean" for "our dear old queen." We also find metathesis at the level of syntax, as for example in the inversion of subject and verb in questions and in the repositioning of agents and patients in passive sentences.
Metathesis has long been recognized as a serious problem for a serial language processor. In short, there is no way for a process that produces elements of a string one at a time to metathesize those elements. Generative linguists have proposed various transformation and movement rules to account for metathesis. However, it does seem strange to posit rules for producing errors. Furthermore, Loritz argues, all types of metathesis can be accounted for without the need for extra rules if we assume that language is processed in parallel at the level of the brain. In sum, language has a serial structure because of production limitations, namely that the speech organs can only produce one sound at a time, and not because it is processed that way in the brain.
Loritz's thesis is essentially this: language has exactly the kind of qualities we would expect if it were learned and produced by the cerebral cortex. In the middle chapters of the book, Loritz discusses adaptive resonance theory, a model of how the cerebral cortex stores and processes information. These chapters are laden with mathematical formulae and complex diagrams, and the lay reader will want to skim or skip these chapters. But in the final chapter, Loritz ties this all together with a compelling argument for what he calls adaptive grammar--a linguistic structure that is determined by brain structure.
Another interesting idea that Loritz presents is the role of the cerebellum in language production. The cerebellum is an evolutionarily ancient system in the brain, and it is responsible for coordinating fine motor activity, especially those requiring rhythmic movement, such as walking. Although it has been known since the last half of the nineteenth century that the cerebral cortex is involved in language processing, evidence for a linguistic role for the cerebellum is quite recent.
Spoken language output involves a rhythmic pattern of beats or stresses, although the precise pattern varies somewhat from language to language. The neural organization of the cerebral cortex allows for fast, flexible learning and remains relatively plastic through the entire life span of the organism, but the cerebellum, on the other hand, is a slow learner and becomes set in its ways early in life.
This difference in learning styles is relevant to second language acquisition. It is generally agreed that children are better second language learners than adults, but Loritz points out that the real difference is in the fine points of pronunciation and morphology. Loritz argues that these require input from the cerebellum, which, once set early in childhood, cannot easily adapt to new patterns. Thus, while the flexible cerebral cortex learns the second language's general rules of pronunciation and grammar, the finer points are beyond the grasp of the inflexible adult cerebellum.
"How the Brain Evolved Language" is a tour de force of scientific consilience. Loritz brings to bear evidence from computational science, micro- and macro-neuroanatomy and evolution to provide an explanation for the structure of language that is firmly grounded in what is already known in the natural sciences. The book is thought provoking and a must-read for anyone interested in language issues.
Loritz & Hawkins' On Intelligence.......2005-02-22
When I first read this book (or attempted to read it) a few years back, I got bogged down at several points in the mass of detail Loritz presents. I "finished" it, but I can't say I understood it. Loritz's narrative started off engagingly enough, and he sprinkled humor throughout the book in an effort to keep it light, but there was an incredible amount of detail. In retrospect, Loritz prepared the reader for every new concept, but he rarely says anything twice, so again and again I found myself having to go back to understand how I got to the current page. Loritz made a big deal about Stephen Grossberg, so I looked at some of his publications. They were even harder to read, but between the two of them I began to get a clearer notion of how brain and language might fit together, and after much rereading, I think I've got their basic arguments straight.
Then, a few weeks ago, I read Jeff Hawkins' book "On Intelligence". Hawkins presents many of the same arguments that Loritz and Grossberg do, but while Loritz presents them in intricate contexts of language and biology, (and Grossberg presents them in differential difference equations!), Hawkins (or maybe his professional science co-writer, Sandra Blakeslee) presents them in the context of more everyday experiences.
I wish I had read Hawkins first. It would have made Loritz and Grossberg so much easier. Loritz loses a star in my book because I didn't "get it" the first time, but if you harbor a suspicion that the brain has something to do with intelligence, if you read and liked Hawkins, and if you have any special interest in language at all, then you should read this book. There is definitely a "new" model of intelligence out there (is the neocortex really "new"??), and these books are definitely onto it.
A deeper understanding of how the brain learns language.......2000-07-12
If you've ever wondered how humans are able to learn, this book is for you. Even thought Don Loritz's book concentrates on language learning, the same cognitive model can be extended to learning in general. From the inner workings of a small set of neurons to the combined computational power of potentially billions (or more) neural connections, he builds on solid brain science and biology. Unlike other authors who approach neural network research from a purely engineering perspective, Loritz approach is grounded in physiology, and his assertions are largely supported by what we know about the brain's structure and how the emergent properties of mind are formed. I would highly recommend it: it's a nice change from the myriad of books which posit how the brain/mind work without even mentioning the word "neuron."
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- Roark's Formulas for Stress and Strain
- Scientific Computing
- Speaking of Slavery: Color, Ethnicity, and Human Bondage in Italy (Conjunctions of Religion and Power in the Medieval Past)
- Surgical Pathology Dissection: An Illustrated Guide
- Sustainable Energy: Choosing Among Options
- The Active Side of Infinity
- The Anatomy Coloring Book (3rd Edition)
- The Apocalypse Code: Find Out What the Bible REALLY Says About the End Times . . . and Why It Matters Today
- The Complete Art of War (History and Warfare)
- The Design of CMOS Radio-Frequency Integrated Circuits, Second Edition
Books Index
Books Home
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- Journey Of Souls: Case Studies of Life Between Lives
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Ethics & Morality
| Philosophy
| Nonfiction
| Subjects
| Books
Moral Minds: How Nature Designed Our Universal Sense of Right and Wrong
The Evolution of Morality (Life and Mind: Philosophical Issues in Biology and Psychology)
Our Inner Ape
The Altruism Equation: Seven Scientists Search for the Origins of Goodness
Evolution for Everyone: How Darwin's Theory Can Change the Way We Think About Our Lives
