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The idea that recursion was the key mutation that led to language is not doing so well lately. It turns out that non-human animals already can produce sequences
by canjobear 6y ago
The idea that recursion was the key mutation that led to language is not doing so well lately. It turns out that non-human animals already can produce sequences with recursive structure [1]. It's also not clear that all languages have nested recursive structures.
[1] https://advances.sciencemag.org/content/6/26/eaaz1002.full https://advances.sciencemag.org/content/6/26/eaaz1002.full
- andrewflnr 6y agoThe hypothesis here is quite a bit more nuanced and specific than that. As a laymam, I found it worthwhile to read the whole article. In the course of making its case it touches on many fascinating topics. I found the case quite compelling, though I can't rule out that someone more familiar with the facts can poke holes in it.