Teleology & evolution: Vocal cord development (Introduction)

by David Turell , Sunday, December 11, 2016, 15:52 (2698 days ago) @ dhw

DAVID: Current research on monkeys, using special x-ray video techniques, finds that monkeys have the facility to speak with their current anatomy if they only had a brain to employ the ability. They don't:

http://medienportal.univie.ac.at/presse/aktuelle-pressemeldungen/detailansicht/artikel/...

dhw: Unfortunately, I couldn’t gain access to the whole article, but I must once more thank you for your integrity in presenting evidence that runs contrary to your own theories. Throughout this particular discussion, you have emphasized the enormous physical changes needed for human speech. You argued that God must have preprogrammed or dabbled such changes, and I argued that the need for new sounds would have triggered the cell communities to make the changes. If this latest research is correct, we were both wrong. It would seem that the need for new sounds (engendered by our enhanced consciousness giving us access to so many more aspects of the world around us) simply triggered far more expansive use of existing vocal mechanisms. An important contribution to the case for common descent, though of course it does not solve the mystery of our enhanced consciousness.

Don't jump to conclusions. We are not 'both wrong'. It is true this research shows monkeys could speak if they had the brain power. But in human evolution marked changes in the anatomy of the vocal tract preceded the use of language as the brain enlarged. One must pay attention to the sequence of evolutionary events.

As for your difficulty to get to the website, it appears to be a problem in this website. When I return to my entry the site appears easily. I have had problems in past entries to have sites reappear. I've alerted Neil to the problem earlier this week with an example but he has not responded as yet.