How Unique You Are! -Conclusion of Unequaled Communication Skills

Chimpanzees have been taught some limited sign language, but their use of it is essentially limited to simple requests for food or other basics. Having worked to teach chimpanzees simple nonverbal communication, Dr. David Premack concluded:  "Human language is an embarrassment for evolutionary theory because it is vastly more powerful than one can account for." 

We might ponder: 'Why do humans have this marvelous skill to communicate thoughts and feelings, to inquire and to respond?'  The Encyclopedia of Language and Linguistic state that "[Human] speech is special" and admits that "the search for precursors to animal communication does not help much in bridging the enormous gap that separates language and speech from non-human behaviors." Professor Ludwig Koehler summarized the difference:  " Human speech is a secret; it is a divine gift, a miracle."

What a difference there is between an ape's use of signs and the complex language ability of children!  Sir John Eccles referred to what most of us have also observed, an ability "exhibited even by 3-year-old children with their torrent of questions in their desire to understand their world." He added:  "by contrast, apes do not ask questions about the meaning of life.

Next time: How Unique You Are! -Memory and More

From the book Is There a Creator That Cares About You?