Comments on: The “Language Gene” Turns Ten http://blogs.discovermagazine.com/loom/2011/10/17/the-language-gene-turns-ten/ A blog about life, past and future. Written by DISCOVER contributing editor and columnist Carl Zimmer. Sat, 26 May 2012 01:25:59 +0000 hourly 1 http://wordpress.org/?v=3.2.1 By: The need to communicate leads to the development of language « The k2p blog http://blogs.discovermagazine.com/loom/2011/10/17/the-language-gene-turns-ten/comment-page-1/#comment-64478 The need to communicate leads to the development of language « The k2p blog Fri, 21 Oct 2011 06:23:25 +0000 http://blogs.discovermagazine.com/loom/?p=5088#comment-64478 [...] The origin of language was once a forbidden subject and in 1866, the Linguistic Society of Paris went so far as to ban debates on the subject – because it was considered too speculative to be a subject for serious people. But I find the subject fascinating. When and how language developed remains a mystery. But with communication and language being such a clear measure of the distinction between humans and other primates, it seems obvious that there must be some genetic basis for this difference. The “Language Gene” Turns Ten [...] [...] The origin of language was once a forbidden subject and in 1866, the Linguistic Society of Paris went so far as to ban debates on the subject – because it was considered too speculative to be a subject for serious people. But I find the subject fascinating. When and how language developed remains a mystery. But with communication and language being such a clear measure of the distinction between humans and other primates, it seems obvious that there must be some genetic basis for this difference. The “Language Gene” Turns Ten [...]

]]> By: miko http://blogs.discovermagazine.com/loom/2011/10/17/the-language-gene-turns-ten/comment-page-1/#comment-64300 miko Tue, 18 Oct 2011 21:46:30 +0000 http://blogs.discovermagazine.com/loom/?p=5088#comment-64300 Most importantly, we've learned a few things about FoxP2 that underscore the idea that there is not and could not be any such thing as a "language gene" in any biologically meaningful sense. <strong>[CZ: Indeed. Hence the quotation marks in the headline]</strong> Most importantly, we’ve learned a few things about FoxP2 that underscore the idea that there is not and could not be any such thing as a “language gene” in any biologically meaningful sense.

[CZ: Indeed. Hence the quotation marks in the headline]

]]> By: Razib Khan http://blogs.discovermagazine.com/loom/2011/10/17/the-language-gene-turns-ten/comment-page-1/#comment-64298 Razib Khan Tue, 18 Oct 2011 20:51:08 +0000 http://blogs.discovermagazine.com/loom/?p=5088#comment-64298 still remember where i was sitting when i first heard about foxp2.... still remember where i was sitting when i first heard about foxp2….

]]>