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CHAPTER 1: the continuity paradox (What is the Paradox of Continuity? (Is…
CHAPTER 1: the continuity paradox
What is the Paradox of Continuity?
Is the theory that proposes that the language is no more than an evolutionary adaption, one of a kind
So the language cannot be as novel as it seems.
There are two different ways evolution can produce novel elements
Recombination
of existing genes in the course of normal breeding
Mutations
that affect genes directly
Absolute novelties are impossible
The gap between language and animal communication
The calls or signs of other creatures usuall occur in isolation from one another
There is nothing in any animal communication system related to
grammatical items
Units in animal communication systems do not correspond with uunits that compose human language
Animal communication is
holistic
Language talks about
entities
and
things predicated of entities
and laguangue also posses flexibilty
when species had adcquired some entities it needed only to atribute states of actions to those entities and it would the already have the essencial subject-predicate core of languague.
Language might have been formed by adding states or actions to entities that were acquired, and by that, all other properties could be subsequently added
The nature of representation
anything that we or any other creature perceive is a representation
a representation does not have to be perceived by any kind of discrete or conscious agent, and it also cannot stray too far from reality
evolution provides creatures with representational systems that are just about good enough for their immmediate evolutionary needs
Representation and continuity
no plausible ancestry for language can be found in prior comunnnication systems, and evolution needs an ancestry, so if there is to be continuity, it must rely in something else than communication
communication ≠
language
before language is used communicatively, it has to establish what there is to communicate about
concepts might be innate or acquired
concepts cannot be transmitted to off-spring, but can be transmitted through mutation by responding cells that activate avoidance behaviours