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First language gene discovered
BBC News ^
| 14 Aug 2002
| Helen Briggs
Posted on 08/14/2002 11:30:16 AM PDT by sourcery
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1
posted on
08/14/2002 11:30:16 AM PDT
by
sourcery
To: Ernest_at_the_Beach; Libertarianize the GOP; Free the USA
FYI
2
posted on
08/14/2002 11:30:52 AM PDT
by
sourcery
To: sourcery
Rush it to Ozzie Osborne, STAT!
3
posted on
08/14/2002 11:35:19 AM PDT
by
APBaer
To: sourcery
Coming to a pet store witin our lifetimes... Bio-engineered talking pets.
Cats will be smart-asses, I just know it...
4
posted on
08/14/2002 11:39:35 AM PDT
by
DWSUWF
To: sourcery
A "mistake" in the letters of the DNA code causes a rare disorder in humans marked by severe language and grammar difficulties...
To: sourcery
What does the Farsi gene look like?
6
posted on
08/14/2002 11:43:43 AM PDT
by
Consort
To: *crevo_list
Bump.
7
posted on
08/14/2002 11:44:44 AM PDT
by
Junior
To: sourcery
In a related report, researchers announced the discovery of something that they are calling the "if you don't know I'm certainly not going to tell you" gene. This gene, present only in women, is responsible for the belief that men can understand what they are saying even when they haven't said anything at all.
"We believe this discovery will lead to real breakthroughs in inter-gender communications." said one male researcher. A second female researcher had no verbal comment , but dismissively rolled her eyes and scowled. There was no further comment on what this supposed to mean.
8
posted on
08/14/2002 11:49:26 AM PDT
by
tcostell
To: DWSUWF
talking pets Talking cats? Talking dogs? What would they talk about?
Dogs, maybe. "Dinnertime, isn't it? We should eat soon, or right now."
Cats, maybe. "I see dead mice."
Goldfish, maybe. "Blurp."
To: Jimer
un"zip"ed?
To: sourcery
Too bad Lassie and Arnold Ziffel missed out on this.
11
posted on
08/14/2002 11:53:17 AM PDT
by
Consort
To: DWSUWF
Cats will be smart-asses, I just know it... And dogs will sound like James CarVile in the presence his Master.
12
posted on
08/14/2002 11:58:28 AM PDT
by
js1138
To: sourcery
"Changes to two single letters of the DNA code arose in the last 200,000 years of human evolution. "They eventually spread throughout the human population along with our unique capacity for speech."
OK, help me out here. The entire human race is descended from the one individual who experienced this random mutation that enabled speech? Or did the random mutation suddenly start occuring willy nilly in scads of different individuals from whom all of humanity is descended?
I can't really buy either scenario.
13
posted on
08/14/2002 12:12:21 PM PDT
by
Don Joe
To: js1138
But I thought that Serpent Head already WAS a talking animal....
To: RightWhale
"...Talking cats? Talking dogs? What would they talk about?..." You've gotten it right... They'd talk about simple things, straightforward comments and questions probably centering on food and sex for the most part.
Sadly (for humanity) they'd probably end up somewhere comfortably near the top of the lower third of mankind's verbal ability bell curve.
15
posted on
08/14/2002 12:13:26 PM PDT
by
DWSUWF
To: js1138
"...And dogs will sound like James CarVile in the presence his Master..." I seem to have touched a nerve...
My kid's Corgi will sound like Sean Connery in his prime.
16
posted on
08/14/2002 12:15:52 PM PDT
by
DWSUWF
To: DWSUWF
Sean Connery in his prime. Sean IS in his prime. Ask a woman.
17
posted on
08/14/2002 12:29:19 PM PDT
by
js1138
To: Don Joe
Each individual has many ancestors. You have two parents, 4 grandparents, and 2^N ancestors N-generations removed. With N > 33 (33 generations back), 2^N (the number of ancestors N generations removed) is larger than the total number of humans currently alive. Obviously, it is not possible that each person currently alive has a set of ancestors that is disjoint from that of anyone else. We all share many common ancestors--and the degree to which we share common ancestors increases with each step back into the past.
So it is quite possible that we all could have inherited the same genetic mutation from the same common ancestor who lived 200,000 years ago (that's about 8000 generations ago). If the mutation in question made either survival, or the likelihood of having children, significantly greater, then it is almost certain that we would all by now have inherited this mutation. Linguistic ability definitely aids survival, and also makes one more attractive/acceptable as a mate.
18
posted on
08/14/2002 12:32:07 PM PDT
by
sourcery
To: DWSUWF
One clue as to what animals might talk about: consider what they seem to understand of speech already. Or see old Gahan Wilson cartoons of "If dogs could speak."
Dog barking: "Bark . . . bark . . . bark."
Dog speaking: "Hey . . . hey . . . hey."
To: js1138
"...Sean IS in his prime. Ask a woman..." LOL!
You're probably right.
20
posted on
08/14/2002 12:36:49 PM PDT
by
DWSUWF
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