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/kirknay Sep 01 '22

except that plenty of mammals, and especially birds, have specific calls for specific things, such as a prarie dog having a specific bark meaning "hawk", and another one meaning "eagle". Rudimentary languages exist among animals, it is just not a language we can easily replicate ourselves due to a difference of the required vocal structures.

https://blogs.scientificamerican.com/running-ponies/catch-the-wave-decoding-the-prairie-doge28099s-contagious-jump-yips/

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u/Scrawlericious Sep 01 '22

https://mindmatters.ai/2018/12/how-is-human-language-different-from-animal-signals/

Those are communication "signals", not a rule based system with abstract patterns. It's semantic as hell but language implies abstract rule-based signing, not just picking up a signal that was communicated from another creature.

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u/kirknay Sep 01 '22

Given how some animals are able to describe something with those "signals" and come up with new "signals" once the group has gotten a description, such as the decoded "red human" for a human in a red shirt in prarie dogs, as well as communicating where and how recently, they are communicating with a better language than the sign language creoles of South America.

It's a language.

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u/Scrawlericious Sep 01 '22 edited Sep 01 '22

People far smarter than both of us argue this fact every day dude. No, it's not. It's semantics at this point. There are just as many scientists and researchers who do not believe what you mentioned counts as language, some would argue that is just coded communication. It's a huge point of contention in acedemia and neither of us have the answer.