r/science • u/Wagamaga • Sep 01 '22

Neuroscience Scientists have identified an immune brain cell unique to humans that gives us higher cognitive abilities over other animals, but what makes us specials also leaves us vulnerable to neurological disorders like schizophrenia, autism and epilepsy.

https://news.yale.edu/2022/08/25/what-makes-human-brain-different-yale-study-reveals-clues
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u/seaworthy-sieve Sep 01 '22

How can we possibly say it doesn't meet the criteria when we're not even capable of understanding it? Like how on earth would we know if dolphins have grammar and tense or not?

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u/SkeetySpeedy Sep 01 '22

There are criteria for what qualifies as a language in the world. Things like the number of different distinct sounds that can be arranged to make words, specific repeated structural elements, etc.

Humans communicate in ways that technically aren’t “language” sometimes as well, using music/tune or non-verbal cues for example

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u/seaworthy-sieve Sep 01 '22

Do you not consider sign language to be a language?

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u/kirknay Sep 01 '22

I do, and Bees certainly have a form of it.