The brains of deaf people are different, because they depend on
different parts, use & develop different areas.
There's really not a lot special about human vocal range. Every
now & then some researcher pees himself over "Discovering"
that a monkey or something can achieve similar or in many
cases the same vocalizations. No, what makes our speech, our
language special is the brain.
Oh, okay, we also control our breath but it's primarily the brain
that matters here...
There are birds that famously mimic human speech. None of them
can hold a conversation. None of them can tell you what they think
of your new hat, or what they did yesterday or their favorite color...
In order to develop something as complex as speech you need both
capacity and selective pressure. The capacity came with Aquatic
Ape. With an abundance of "brain foods" the brain was free to grow
to whatever it's maximum capacity was... and to grow even larger
just as soon as new mutations allowing it had cropped up.
Hunting, yes, does present a scenario where cooperation and hence
communication are necessary... "Necessity is the mother of invention."
It's also a driving force of evolution. Because, it DESELECTS individuals without a mutation.
See, it's not enough for a beneficial mutation to spring anew. Even if
it's better, if everyone else is "Good enough to get by" they will utterly swamp the new mutation.
Communication would make for more successful hunts thus more
food, larger populations. But, fishing is also a form of hunting. Driving schools of fish inland, for example. It requires the same cooperation
and is aimed toward the same goal: Food.
Humans are social animals. Even if all they did was refine this, divide
up tasks, communication would be a powerful advantage. Not
necessarily within a group by BETWEEN groups.
The advantage would be between groups. In other words, Group-A
is more successful and supports a larger population than Group-B.
Then when conflict or mating occurs all advantage goes to Group-A
for developing to the cooperation i.e. communication...
It's a better model then tramping across grass trying to run down an
animal to exhaustion...
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