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Neanderthals could speak, but why is it really a problem?

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Neanderthal/John Gurche

From ScienceDaily:

humans like to think of ourselves as unique for many reasons, not least of which being our ability to communicate with words. But ground-breaking research by an expert from the University of New England shows that our ‘misunderstood cousins,’ the Neanderthals, may well have spoken in languages not dissimilar to the ones we use today.

Notice how the wording suggests that Neanderthals wre not really human but could speak anyway, so humans are not unusual. That, of course, is the driving force behind much modern Darwinism.

To many, the Neanderthal hyoid discovered was surprising because its shape was very different to that of our closest living relatives, the chimpanzee and the bonobo. However, it was virtually indistinguishable from that of our own species. This led to some people arguing that this Neanderthal could speak,” A/Professor Wroe said.

“The obvious counterargument to this assertion was that the fact that hyoids of Neanderthals were the same shape as modern humans doesn’t necessarily mean that they were used in the same way. With the technology of the time, it was hard to verify the argument one way or the other.”

And just because they had feet doesn’t mean they could walk either, right?

So why was it thought anyway that Neanderthals could not speak even if they had the apparatus? Because built into Darwinian evolution theory—and a crucial part of the theory, to say nothing of its attraction for so many people—is the idea that there are graded species of humans, of slowly increasing degrees of intelligence (the ascent of man). The “subhuman” position must be filled somehow if Darwinism is to rule. If Neanderthals are not the subhumans in the “ascent of man,” who gets the job?

Here’s how some people have filled the gap.

Of course, we could say humans are unique and we don’t at present have a good account of that fact. But people who could do that would just not be celebrating Darwin Day and misrepresenting Abraham Lincoln to make him sound like a convinced Darwinian.

File under: “Darwinism warps the mind.” Upgrade disk for more storage.

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Comments
Words are nothing more then segregated combinations of sounds. Its not impressive people using words. Parrots do it quite well. Any creature could talk, I think, like us. the reason they don't is they are too dumb. Our speech is not much different then cat sounds. In fact the reason we write is based on the conclusion we use just a few sounds. We just mix and match with our great memory. languages is not a big intellectual feat. Neanders never existed. They were hill Celts and Germans and others only. If they had the complex thoughts then they were using sounds to express the thoughts. These researchers don't understand what language is. I can tell.Robert Byers
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Make that similar OR reminiscent of . . . -QQuerius
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Maddening spin doctoring similar reminiscent of Monty Python's Dead Parrot skit (http://www.youtube.com/watch?v=4vuW6tQ0218).
However, it was virtually indistinguishable from that of our own species.
I'd guess that this means that the Neanderthal hyoid is well within the range of modern humans.
This led to some people arguing that this Neanderthal could speak,” A/Professor Wroe said.
Really? And who might those people be? Ones with functioning synapses, perhaps?
“The obvious counterargument to this assertion was that the fact that hyoids of Neanderthals were the same shape as modern humans doesn’t necessarily mean that they were used in the same way.”
Oh, so they're the same shape now. And this apparently must be an important example of structures that evolve identically in parallel to completely different ends. The H.sapiens hyoid evolving to facilitate speech, while that of H.neanderthalensis evolving to facilitate the choice of not speaking . . . or perhaps aiding in cracking mussel shells.
With the technology of the time, it was hard to verify the argument one way or the other.
But even if H.neanderthalensis did have cell phones, we would have no way of verifying whether they could figure out how to use them. If not misrepresented in ScienceDaily, Professor Wroe seems to be in complete denial. This parrot is dead. It's not resting, pining or stunned. It's dead! -QQuerius
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