126 - Simon Prentis - How Language Made Us Human

Two for Tea Podcast

General Visit Simon’s website for information about him and to buy his book ‘SPEECH! How Language Made Us Human’: https://www.simonprentis.net/ Follow Simon on Twitter: https://mobile.twitter.com/memesovergenes References Two for Tea interview with Sean B. Carroll: https://soundcloud.com/twoforteapodcast/77-sean-b-carroll-revolutionising-our-understanding-of-evo-biology The Sapir-Whorf hypothesis (linguistic relativity): https://en.wikipedia.org/wiki/Linguistic_relativity Simon’s Areo article on Ukraine and the United Nations: https://areomagazine.com/2022/03/25/ukraine-why-arent-we-talking-about-the-un/ Timestamps 00.00 Opening and introduction. 2:25 Simon reads from his book ‘SPEECH! How Language Made Us Human’. 13:00 Animal sounds vs. human language. Simon’s theory of the key to and origins of language: the “digitisation of noise.” 17:25 The evidence for Simon’s theory. 22:07 Nature and language as digital; an analogy with DNA and evo devo. 26:04 The revolutionary power of language for humanity. Iona reads from Simon’s book—language as an act of transportation, both connecting us with others and distancing us from the immediate basis of experience. Plus: the dangers of being trapped by language (“the trap of identity”, “the trap of culture”, etc.) and a Babylonian diversion. 37:27 Japanese enka music and Jero, the black American enka singer: a cautionary tale against feeling one’s culture is special and unique. This is true at the individual level, too. This is an illusion caused by language. Further discussion and examples of this illusion and how it (sometimes dangerously) misleads and divides us. The artificiality of culture: our natures are all calibration, stemming from language and culture. Simon’s Japanese experience. 49:48 Simon’s views on the Sapir-Whorf hypothesis (linguistic relativity). 55:01 The power of music and its (lack of?) relation to language. Did language drive the growth of the brain? 1:04:36 Do books offer a kind of vicarious experience? Can we really communicate experience and thought to others via language? Is the world headed in the direction of a universal culture (but not a monoculture!)? 1:07:06 Using language and argument instead of violence. Is democracy an evolutionarily stable strategy? How do we apply this at the global level, not just the national level? Why the United Nations fails at this. 1:14:04 Last words and outro.