Being Human Language Essay

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In Being Human by Richard Gross, one of the most common claims for human exceptionalism is language. Human language has surpassed any kind of communicative behavior carried on by other species. The power of spoken language is what makes us humans and what differs us from other living organisms. The complexity of human language involves learning the components of symbolic elements certainly not learned in other species’ communication systems. Non-human brains are simply not structured to develop language like humans do. Their brains lack abstract thinking and understanding of symbols. The language in humans has unique characteristics that mature and develop distinctly from other species.
Per Gross, “Postnatal structural …show more content…

However, there is a significant difference between the hoot of an owl or the grunt of a pig, and a human standing in front of an audience reciting a piece. The enormous difference between human language and animal communication nevertheless remains. Unlike humans, animals do not have a special region in the brain devoted to language. They possess a much smaller brain and lack the ability to speak the words they may think. Although, some animals are capable of understanding. For example, dogs can learn to respond to commands and signs. Other animals can even be trained to use minimal portions of human sign language. Dogs and some animals can be trained to do certain things and can convey ideas of danger or food but still cannot use language to communicate. The cognitive intelligence of animals is quite different unlike that of …show more content…

Being able to “understand and define ourselves through participation in dialogue with others in a linguistic Community” is what makes us characteristically humans (14). Humans are meant to be born into a world of language, which carries the meanings of the complexity of terms used. Through language, humans operate within a culture that helps create self-interpretations and understanding of each other as human beings. Language among humans is so diverse that anyone can communicate in a variety of ways. There is no area of experience that is regarded as incommunicable, though it may be necessary to adapt one’s language in order to cope with new models of thought within a

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