[EMAIL PROTECTED] writes:
Steven Pinker makes a fine case for language being largely instinctual. Is
language selfish? I realize one can choose to make an argument that it is,
but those arguments look like round pegs being pounded into square holes, as
far as I'm concerned. I'd throw out other examples, but I suspect we'd end
up arguing about the definition of instinct -- and I think most people
define instincts as the selfish things we do in spite of knowing better...
;-)
Instincts are the things we do based on "programming". Much behavior is
instinctive. Not just the bad stuff. Love sharing care for children etc. are
all instinctive. Language is certainly an instinct. Matt Ridley makes the
point that we surely have more not fewer instincts. Think of a computer. The
programs are its instincts. Is a computer with more programs more or less
complex than one with fewer? Our instincts give us the ability to learn and
to behave in very complex ways
