ElShamah - Reason & Science: Defending ID and the Christian Worldview
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ElShamah - Reason & Science: Defending ID and the Christian Worldview

Welcome to my library—a curated collection of research and original arguments exploring why I believe Christianity, creationism, and Intelligent Design offer the most compelling explanations for our origins. Otangelo Grasso


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Language: The origin of language

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1Language: The origin of language Empty Language: The origin of language Wed 27 Nov 2013 - 2:38

Otangelo


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How could consciousness, logic and language evolve from matter?

https://reasonandscience.catsboard.com/t1334-the-origin-of-language#6045

How is it that matter-created minds start to think and comprehend math and calculus, and language, using the laws of logic, also in abstract ways, recognizing beauty, and solving problems? Perception, understanding, and evaluation of things adds a quality beyond and absent from natural physical matter and states, and can, therefore, not be reduced to known physical principles.

1. Human minds using objective logic exist. Logic is changeless and static. It is a law, upon which valid thought and communication depend (The Law of identity, the law of non-contradiction, and the Law of the excluded middle) Only a mind, conscious, able to use language and communicate, is able to recognize and use logic.
2. These laws exist and are true, independently of if a physical universe exists, or not. Neither can their origin depend on an evolving and changing universe, otherwise, they would also be subject to change. If thought and Logic come from proteins, chemicals, and neurons, then laws of logic would be different for everybody since no one has the same chemical and neurological patterns. Cosmic, chemical or biological evolution is not able to create something which is substantially different: A mind, using logic. If you split the brain you don't split abstract thought. That is evidence of dualism.
3. The laws of logic are also not merely human conventions. As W.L.Craig puts it: Any attempt to take the laws of logic as just human inventions is bound to assume the laws of logic themselves and so to be self-defeating.
4. The only plausible explanation for the existence of human minds using logic is that there is an uncreated,  pre-existing eternal mind, capable of using language, communication, and objective logic, which created the physical universe, and contingent humans with minds using logic, created upon God's image. 
  
1. Logic and its laws are absolute, conceptual truths and do not require the existence of the universe. Without laws of logic, we could not make an argument. We can make an argument. Therefore, there must be laws of logic.
2. All Communications require: The speaker's intentionality who sends a Message, sentences, and the recipient of the message  The process of decoding, sorting and analyzing information, and language (sentences, words, letters) takes place.  Logical processing, establishing the Truth, storing information or conclusion.
3. Any language or mathematical expression or communication is impossible without the Laws of Logic: Law of identity: A = A. The law of non-contradiction A is not B. The Law of Causality in Communication: Speaker, Sentence (Message), and Listener (receiver)
4. Conclusion: No one can deny the necessity of Logic, derived from the existence of God, the Eternal Mind, and none of us can communicate rationally using Logic while denying Logic.

To explain the origin of life, which then would produce consciousness, and then the comprehension that math drives the universe, and data life, and using advanced language and logic to describe those states of affairs, with matter as the starting point, as the origin of that directionality, is irrational to the extreme. A predating step is missing. Instructed specified values set the right forces and masses from the selection of an infinite set of possibilities, creating atoms, and upholding their stability through the laws of physics.  

Robert T. Pennock (2001): "All historical, observational, testable, and repeatable examples PROVE information and operational functionality come from intelligent sources."

Life only comes from life. Consciousness, from consciousness. The ability to use language and logic, from genitors with the same ability. It has never been demonstrated otherwise. Therefore, it is rational to conclude that at the bottom of the chain, there is a rational agent with volition, that set all in motion. The universe, the laws that govern it, the right forces and masses that make up atoms and matter, life, consciousness, language, the recognition of the laws of logic, and comprehension.

There is also no physical principle that should give us the notion that our lives have purpose, meaning, value, and that we ought to live following certain moral standards and behaviors. Molecules simply don't care about such things. Then why should we, if we are the product of molecular accidents, and swirling electrons? 

Flowering plants of the genus Musa will always only generate Bananas.  Citrus species will always only produce citrus fruits like Orange, lemon etc.
Only an intelligent mind, capable of logical reasoning, is an adequate cause to create other minds able to reason. If we as humans possess the capability to intellectually understand and to know, then the cause must have the same or better capabilities of the same sort.
Arguing that matter can produce a mind, consciousness, intelligence, and the capability of logical reasoning is special pleading.

Logic exists in the realm of the mind. It is not made of physical stuff. It is transcendental, universal, and invariant, and based on axiomatic rules. Rational discourse and valid thoughts succeed only when logic is applied. Logic is the basis of thought and interrelated with conscience. How could non-reason produce reason? Non-logic produce logic? How can we know that the law of contradiction is true? that a lie cannot be true?  Math and abstract numbers which do not stand in a cause-effect relation exist in the realm of the immaterial. How can the mind develop knowledge about these things? How could it evolve and create the ability to learning about numbers and calculus? How could it even begin to understand that one stone could be mathematically added up to a second one, resulting in two stones? For us, this is obvious and easy. But for an ignorant, recently emerging mind without experience and knowledge, only self-awareness?

In order for our reasoning process to be trustworthy and valid, it would have to be the result of a rational creation process of the creator of man.  If apples cannot produce bananas, how could unanimated matter produce logic and that reason discover physical truths which involve complex math and metaphysical truths which are essentially non-materialistic? Naturalism is like someone sitting on a branch of a tree and saw it off. Atheism is self-defeating. Atheists argue about being right based on a thinking process, which has no foundation or validness to be trustworthy if its origin is not rational.

Only the believer in a rational God, which is the ultimate source of rationality and intelligence, and created humans in his likeliness, equipped with the same ability of reason, logic, sound thinking process and able to reach metaphysical truths can trust his mind, because he believes to be the result of a higher mind, which has all these faculties in a perfect, superior manner.

When did supposedly the mind start to recognize its self-existence? When did matter become conscient, and starting to think? Our sensory organs receive information and transmit them to the brain, where it is somehow perceived by the mind. How could the mind have processed its surrounding and make sense of it without the physical mechanisms in place? How is physical sensory information transformed in perception of the mind and understanding?  How could a conscient mind transition to a thinking process without the existence of language? Further, in order for communication between two individuals to begin to exist, there had to be a common assignment of meaning and common understanding of words and their meaning. How could that agreement be formed and be done without a pre-existing language to come to that common agreement? Agreements require pre-existing language based on pre-existing agreement of meaning of words. How language could have gotten " off the hook" by natural evolutionary means is hard to fathom. Actually, I think we can reasonably say, it's not possible.   Einstein describes this as an unbridgeable Gulf, that cannot be crossed. Great minds like Planck did hold that the mind precedes matter. Evidence points to that scenario.

As Dembski wrote: Provided the proposition, together with its competitors, form a mutually exclusive and exhaustive class, eliminating all the competitors entails that the proposition is true. As Sherlock Holmes famous dictum says: when you have eliminated the impossible, whatever remains, however improbable, must be the truth. This is the ideal case, in which eliminative inductions, in fact, become deductions. The problem is that in practice we don't have a neat ordering of competitors that can then all be knocked down with a few straightforward and judicious blows.

There is nothing ridiculous to believe in the Genesis account. God created man and woman fully formed, and the tower of Babel made God have some fun.....

Chomsky insists that
"mid-century studies based on the evolution of language from apes to humans only “bring out more clearly the extent to which human language appears to be a unique phenomenon, without significant analogue in the animal world."

Without laws of logic, we could not make an argument.
We can make an argument.
Therefore, there must be laws of logic.
While this argument is circular, it is a non-fallacious use of circular reasoning. Since we couldn’t prove anything apart from the laws of logic, we must presuppose the laws of logic even to prove they exist. In fact, if someone were trying to disprove that laws of logic exist, he’d have to use the laws of logic in his attempt, thereby refuting himself. Your non-Christian friend must agree there are certain standards that can be proven with circular reasoning.

The basic presupposition—God exists and has revealed Himself in His inerrant, authoritative Word—is the ultimate standard. Presupposing God exists to argue that God exists is a reasonable circular argument because without the God of the Bible, we have no basis for assuming the laws of logic and their properties, let alone absolute morality or the uniformity of nature.

Human Language: The Homo Homolog
https://reasonandscience.catsboard.com/t1334-the-origin-of-language



Different regions of the cortex are responsible for different brain functions. The division is not precise — there is some overlap — but the cortex is often divided into four lobes , each lobe having a distinct functional responsibility.

Language and logic use very different set of activations in the brain. 1  

Comparison of inference and grammar trials for logic arguments isolated a different network than the one uncovered by the same comparison performed on linguistic arguments. Inference on linguistic arguments activated regions typically reported for linguistic processing tasks. On the other hand, logic inference did not recruit the latter areas but rather a network of regions highly similar to that reported in previous studies of deduction with sentential connectives and quantifiers.

The principal elements of human linguistic capacity are embodied by structures proximal to the left sylvian fissure. In contrast, logic inference (compared with its grammar baseline) produces no activation in the language areas. Logic inference is associated with the activation of regions that have been linked to goal/subgoal processing in tasks requiring multiple steps and embedded operations.

There are overlapping network regions associated with increased cognitive load, working memory, and executive processes.  The role of language in logic is limited to decoding arguments into a format suitable for inference and then encoding the result of inference back into language.





Language: The origin of language S0cMwac


Language: The origin of language Langua10

When Ardipithecus ramidus, our ancestor, split from Pan troglodytes, our common ancestor with apes, the mindless brain neurons went through a genetic mutation, and suddenly produced by accident a mind with conscience. It suddenly plopped into existence. And so, language and logic. First rudimentary and limited, but it gradually evolved, and the young mind began to ask itself: Where am i? Who am i? And discovered Math, and began doing simple calculus. Like        1 + 1 = 2. And here we are.  Makes sense ?!

1. https://www.ncbi.nlm.nih.gov/pmc/articles/PMC2718391/



Last edited by Otangelo on Fri 22 Jul 2022 - 15:08; edited 22 times in total

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Otangelo


Admin



Human Language: The Homo Homolog 1

https://reasonandscience.catsboard.com/t1334-the-origin-of-language

Editor's note: In his new book Evolution: Still a Theory in Crisis, Michael Denton not only updates the argument from his groundbreaking Evolution: A Theory in Crisis (1985) but also presents a powerful new critique of Darwinian evolution. This article is one in a series in which Dr. Denton summarizes some of the most important points of the new book. For the full story, get your copy of Evolution: Still a Theory in Crisis. For a limited time, you'll enjoy a 30 percent discount at CreateSpace by using the discount code QBDHMYJH.
Our own kind, Homo sapiens, slipped suddenly into being on the rich, game-laden African grasslands of the late Pleistocene, and spread rapidly over the next 200,000 years to every corner of the world. Here was the greatest of novelties, a new type of being -- for the first time a creator and molder of the world -- a speaking and thinking being, knowing, insightful, artistic, and religious. As well as a hunter, here was a storyteller, a mystic, a seer, and a dreamer. Nothing before in evolution had hinted at the possibility of such a novel organism. The radical nature of this mysterious happening, and the unprecedented intellectual advance it entailed, is shown graphically in the marvelous frescoes of cave art of the upper Paleolithic in Europe.
One of the most curious features of human evolution, and one that poses at the outset an intriguing and still unanswered challenge to the Darwinian and functionalist narrative, is the fact that all modern humans share the same higher intellectual capabilities. This means, incredible though it may seem, a brain capable of the intellectual feats of an Einstein, a Newton, or a Mozart must have already emerged in our last common ancestors more than 200,000 years ago. Such intellectual abilities seem absurdly powerful, beyond any conceivable utility for hunter-gatherers on that ancient savanna, and hence beyond any functionalist explanation.
As Noam Chomsky recently commented: "[Alfred Russel Wallace] recognized that mathematical capacities [for example] could not have evolved by natural selection; it's impossible because everybody's got them, and nobody's ever used them, except for some very tiny fringe of people in very recent times. Plainly they developed in some other way."1
From an evolutionary point of view, the origin of man's higher intellectual abilities is one of the greatest of all mysteries, of all facts to be explained. It would certainly seem, in light of these preliminary observations that the origin and evolution of our intellectual powers must have involved causal factors beyond natural selection.
Some of our mental abilities and emotional traits are certainly shared to some degree by other species, but language, as Chomsky comments, is without any homolog in any other species.2 Language is a Type-defining homolog, restricted to an individual species, and like other such homologs, it is not led up to by any empirically known sequence (e.g., starting with simple "grunts and gestures" and progressing though more and more complex communication systems till we reach human language). And again, no plausible hypothetical evolutionary series has ever been proposed. Thus, just as in the case of other defining novelties, the evidence is consistent with a saltational origin.
Because of the lack of homology and the lack of plausible adaptive evolutionary steps, the origin of language remains an abiding mystery. In two final articles in this series, we'll look at other aspects of this mystery.


http://creation.com/origin-of-language

The best-known linguist of the twentieth century, Noam Chomsky, though an atheist, has consistently maintained that there is no connection;  and that, as Descartes (not surprisingly) insisted long before him, language is “species-specific”, and must have originated in humanity through some genetic input. To this extent, trans-speciate evolution seldom came into the picture in linguistics.

In fact, Chomsky insists that mid-century studies based on the evolution of language from apes to humans only “bring out more clearly the extent to which human language appears to be a unique phenomenon, without significant analogue in the animal world.”


http://www.apologeticspress.org/apcontent.aspx?category=9&article=1351

References:

(1) Noam Chomsky, The Science of Language: Interviews with James McGilvray (New York: Cambridge University Press, 2012), 15.
(2) Chomsky, The Science of Language, 47; Marc D. Hauser, Charles Yang, Robert C. Berwick, Ian Tattersall, Michael J. Ryan, Jeffrey Watumull, Noam Chomsky, and Richard C. Lewontin, "The Mystery of Language Evolution," Frontiers in Psychology 5, no. 401 (May 7, 2014).

1) http://www.evolutionnews.org/2016/04/human_language102580.html



Last edited by Admin on Sat 19 Jan 2019 - 10:42; edited 7 times in total

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Otangelo


Admin

THE EXPRESSION OF THE EMOTIONS, how did they emerge?

https://reasonandscience.catsboard.com/t1334-the-origin-of-language#6054

That question has entertained Darwin and colleagues, and they published a book on the topic:

Darwin, C. R. 1872. The expression of the emotions in man and animals. London: John Murray.
http://darwin-online.org.uk/content/frameset?itemID=F1142&viewtype=text&pageseq=1

smiling
scowling
crying
laughing
anger
sad
happy  
thankful
doubtful
confident
smiling
satisfied
apathetic
depression
stress
fear

What emerged first: The WILL to express these emotions and actually to have them, or the physical facial capability to do so ????

There is not only an interdependence and irreducible complexity in biological and biochemical systems, but the Body-mind is interwoven,  they form a unity, but are separated entities at the same time !!  The body-mind relationship is truly one of the great mysteries of science.

Language: The origin of language Uc6C561

https://reasonandscience.catsboard.com

4Language: The origin of language Empty Re: Language: The origin of language Mon 16 Jul 2018 - 12:06

Otangelo


Admin

Quantum physics points to the fact that matter is an illusion, but everything is energy. Atoms are energy in action, and energy is an expression of the mind, which holds all matter together:

Nothing exists outside of the Mind! God is Mind. Matter is an illusion of Consciousness.
https://reasonandscience.catsboard.com/t1380-what-comes-first-mind-or-matter#6038

What comes first, mind or matter?
https://reasonandscience.catsboard.com/t1380-what-comes-first-mind-or-matter

Near Death experience , evidence of dualism
https://reasonandscience.catsboard.com/t1284-near-death-experience-evidence-of-dualism

The Mind is Not The Brain
https://reasonandscience.catsboard.com/t1662-the-mind-is-not-the-brain#2581

Consciousness is a quality of the mind. The mind can only express itself through language.

How could logic and language evolve from non-language and non-logic?
https://reasonandscience.catsboard.com/t1334-the-origin-of-language#6045

THE EXPRESSION OF THE EMOTIONS, how did they emerge?
https://reasonandscience.catsboard.com/t1334-the-origin-of-language#6054


What emerged first: The WILL to express these emotions and actually to have them, or the physical facial capability to do so ????

There is not only an interdependence and irreducible complexity in biological and biochemical systems, but the Body-mind is interwoven,  they form a unity, but are separated entities at the same time !!  The body-mind relationship is truly one of the great mysteries of science.

https://reasonandscience.catsboard.com

5Language: The origin of language Empty Re: Language: The origin of language Mon 12 Oct 2020 - 10:53

Otangelo


Admin

Language evolution has been mainly approached through the evolutionary notion of function. As language is routinely used in human communication, the natural assumption is that the function of language is communication. As a consequence, theories of language evolution have centered on scenarios that try to explain the kinds of selection pressures that could have triggered the emergence of this rather remarkable communication system. Inevitably given that communication is the epitome of a social phenomenon, these scenarios have been “social”1. However, seeing language as a system of communication and proposing that it has evolved as a system of communication (i.e., seeing language as being a system of communication in the strong sense) rather than being merely used in communication.

Did evolution "discover" the need for communication based on ecological pressures, or it "stumbled" upon it by mutations, which were selected, because they conferred selective advantages?

https://reasonandscience.catsboard.com

Otangelo


Admin

The origin of speech, by evolution, or design? 

https://reasonandscience.catsboard.com/t1334-language-the-origin-of-language#8230

Gutsick Gibbon (Erika) & Sy Vs Maddox & Otangelo | ID Vs Evolution Debate  23 de dez. de 2020
https://www.youtube.com/watch?v=QELXaAyegrI

In the 1860s, both the British Academy and the Société de Linguistique de Paris warned their members not to discuss the origins of language, because the topic was so seductive —and so speculative—that it spawned endless, futile theorizing. More than a century later, Noam Chomsky, the most influential linguist of the last 50 years, wrote that language evolution and the brain mechanisms underlying it “appear to be beyond serious inquiry at the moment.” For a long time, researchers treated language ability as some sort of “miracle,” says neuroscientist Michael Arbib of the University of Southern California (USC) in Los Angeles. The new lines of evidence remain indirect, leaving plenty of room for interpretation—and conflict. “If you want a consensus, you won’t get it,” says cognitive scientist Philip Lieberman of Brown University. With no fossils of speech, the origin of language remains “a mystery with all the fingerprints wiped off,” says brain scientist Terrence Deacon of the University of California, Berkeley.   

Speech demands extraordinarily fine and rapid motor control. Elaborate movements of the larynx, mouth, face, tongue, and breath must be synchronized with cognitive activity. 4

1. Human speech and communication depend on nine principal factors that work in an interdependent fashion:

1. Consciousness & memory
2. A language,
3. The entire system and mechanics of human voice production and control,
4. The lungs serve as the bellows, providing the source of acoustic energy for speech production.
5. The nervous system links the mouth, face muscles, ears, lungs, the vibratory and resonating system to the brain.
6. The brain to a) receive the signals from the ear for speech interpretation, b) control and coordinate all organs involved in speech,
7. The ability to the expression of emotions through the face and body gesticulation 
8. Muscle actions in the head, neck, chest, and abdomen, precisely coordinated by the brain.
9. Audition through ears to receive the sounds  
10. The four processes used to create speech: respiration phonation, resonance, and articulation

2. This is an irreducible, interdependent, integrated complex system, where all nine parts and organ systems play an essential role. The removal of any will compromise significantly, or turn entirely impossible the ability of speech and communication. 
3. Since individually, there would no use or compromised limited use, the individual parts that contribute to speak could/would not be able to evolve in a slow, gradual, evolutionary process. Therefore, the capacity of humans to talk and communicate was with high probability designed.


1. Existing fundamentals—space, time, mass, charge can’t explain consciousness and memory, which itself is something fundamental, and essentially different than physical things. 5

2. The lowest level to have language consists in the utterance of words, the joining of words to make sentences, and the last, the composition of text, and a common agreement of meaning of words and grammar.  There are hierarchies, each level of which relies for its workings on the principles of the levels below it. Four levels make up a spoken literary composition. The lowest level is the production of a voice; the second, the utterance of words; the third, the joining of words to make sentences; the fourth, and highest, the composition of the text. Making sentences requires “putting things into an extremely plastic order determined by a conceptual structure.” Imitation is the way babies learn their first words. And it’s the only way a common meaning can emerge for an abstract symbol, a phenomenon that linguists call “parity.”
The principles of each level operate under the control of the next-higher level. That means, either the four levels are fully functional from the start, or there would be no human language at all. The voice produced is shaped into words by a vocabulary; a given vocabulary is shaped into sentences in accordance with grammar, and the sentences are made to convey the ideas of the composition. Voice production leaves largely open the combination of sounds into words, which is controlled by a vocabulary. Next, a vocabulary leaves largely open the combination of words to form sentences, which is controlled by grammar, and so on. Consequently, the operations of a higher level cannot be accounted for by the laws governing its particulars on the next-lower level. One cannot derive a vocabulary from phonetics; one cannot derive grammar from a vocabulary; correct use of grammar does not supply the content of a piece of prose.

3. Mechanics of human voice production and control  includes:

The mechanism for generating the human voice is an interdependent, integrated system consisting of the lungs, the vocal folds within the larynx (voice box), and the articulators.
The vocal fold vibration, which is amplified and modified by the vocal tract resonators (the throat, mouth cavity, and nasal passages). The resonators produce a person’s recognizable voice. And the vocal tract articulators (the tongue, soft palate, and lips) modify the voiced sound.
Furthermore, speaking and singing involve a voice mechanism that is composed of three subsystems. Each subsystem is composed of different parts of the body and has specific roles in voice production.
1. The air pressure system, that is, the diaphragm, chest muscles, ribs, abdominal muscles, and Lungs provide and regulate air pressure to cause vocal folds to vibrate.
2. The vibratory system, consisting of the Voice box (larynx), Vocal folds. The vocal folds vibrate, changing air pressure to sound waves producing “voiced sound,” frequently described as a “buzzy sound”.
3. The resonating system, which is the local tract: throat (pharynx), oral cavity, and nasal passage. It changes the “buzzy sound” into a person’s recognizable voice.

Both the arytenoid and thyroid, cartilages sit on top of the cricoid cartilage and interact with it through the cricoarytenoid joint and cricothyroid joint, respectively. The relative movement of these cartilages thus provides a means to adjust the geometry, mechanical properties, and position of the vocal folds. The three-dimensional airspace between the two opposing vocal folds is the glottis. The glottis can be divided into a membranous portion, which includes the anterior portion of the glottis and extends from the anterior commissure to the vocal process of the arytenoid, and a cartilaginous portion, which is the posterior space between the arytenoid cartilages. 2

The muscles of the mouth, the tongue, and throat. Furthermore, the nervous system which connects these parts with the motor cortex, located in the frontal lobe which takes information from Broca's area and tells the muscles of the face, mouth, tongue, lips, and throat how to move to form speech. This is the physical-biological part.

4. The lungs serve as the bellows, providing the source of acoustic energy for speech production.

5. The nervous system links the mouth, face muscles, ears, lungs, the vibratory and resonating system to the brain. That includes the Trigeminal Nerve, Facial Nerve, Hypoglossal Nerve, Vagus Nerve, Glossopharyngeal Nerve, Vestibulocochlear Nerve, and the Intermediate Nerve. 6

Language: The origin of language 412

6. The brain to a) receive the signals from the ear for speech interpretation, b) control and coordinate all organs involved in speech,
When the ear receives information from someone speaking, then the auditory cortex not far from the ears processes that information. A system of regions towards the back and middle of the brain help to interpret the information. This includes the angular gyrus in the parietal lobe, Wernicke’s area, insular cortex, basal ganglia and cerebellum. These regions work together as a network to process words and word sequences to determine context and meaning. This enables our receptive language abilities, which means the ability to understand language. Complementary to this is expressive language, which is the ability to produce language. To speak, we must think of words to convey an idea or message, formulate them into a sentence according to grammatical rules and then use our lungs, vocal cords and mouth to create sounds. Regions in our frontal, temporal and parietal lobes formulate what we want to say and the motor cortex, in our frontal lobe, enables us to speak the words. Brain-imaging methods have revealed that much more of our brain is involved in language processing than previously thought. We now know that numerous regions in every major lobe (frontal, parietal, occipital and temporal lobes; and the cerebellum, an area at the bottom of the brain) are involved in our ability to produce and comprehend language.

There are two pathways that connect the auditory cortex to the frontal lobe, each pathway accounting for different linguistic roles. The auditory ventral stream pathway is responsible for sound recognition. The auditory dorsal stream in both humans and non-human primates is responsible for sound localization. In humans, this pathway (especially in the left hemisphere) is also responsible for speech production, speech repetition, lip-reading, and phonological working memory and long-term memory.

Following regions work together as a network to process words and word sequences to determine context and meaning. 

Language: The origin of language 1311
Broca’s area contributes to verbal fluency. It can be divided into two functional units.
Area 44 is involved in phonological processing and in language production
Area 45 is involved in the semantic aspects of language 
Wernicke’s area has  three sub-areas:
The first responds to spoken words (including the individual’s own) and other sounds.
The second responds only to words spoken by someone else but is also activated when the individual recalls a list of words.
The third sub-area seems more closely associated with producing speech than with perceiving it.
The temporal pole Area 38 is a paralimbic region involved in high-level semantic representation and socio-emotional processing.

Language: The origin of language 1411
The supramarginal gyrus is involved in phonological and articulatory processing of words
The angular gyrus (together with the posterior cingulate gyrus) seems more involved in semantic processing
The auditory cortex lets us recognize sounds, an essential prerequisite for understanding language.

Language: The origin of language 1511
The posterior terminal portion of the superior temporal sulcus provides access to meaning.

Language: The origin of language 1611
The triangular and orbital portions of the inferior frontal gyrus also play a role in semantic processing

Language: The origin of language 1711
Lastly, a number of researchers now reject classic locationist models of language. Instead, they conceptualize language, and cognitive functions in general, as being distributed across anatomically separate areas that process information in parallel (rather than serially, from one “language area” to another).

https://thebrain.mcgill.ca/flash/a/a_10/a_10_cr/a_10_cr_lan/a_10_cr_lan.html


7. Science lists 27 different kinds of expressions of feelings and emotions: admiration, adoration, aesthetic appreciation, amusement, anger, anxiety, awe, awkwardness, boredom, calmness, confusion, craving, disgust, empathic pain, entrancement, excitement, fear, horror, interest, joy, nostalgia, relief, romance, sadness, satisfaction, sexual desire, surprise. 
Emotions can be combined to form different feelings, much like colors can be mixed to create other shades. There are smooth gradients of emotion between, say, awe and peacefulness, horror and sadness, and amusement and adoration. Emotions are rich and nuanced.
Intelligence is intertwined with Emotion. Intelligence, feelings, emotions are intertwined and connected with the human body which responds to the way we think, feel, and act. 3

8. Muscle actions in the head, neck, chest, and abdomen, precisely coordinated by the brain.

9. Ears to receive the information

10. Respiration phonation, resonance, and articulation
First, we use respiration or breathing. This is the energy behind our speech what's amazing is that our inhale to exhale ratio at, rest is about 50/50 or forty to sixty percent. For speech, our inhale to XL ratio is 10% to 90% meaning we inhale 10% of our capacity and then exhale 90%. How does this work in order for us to speak and sing we need a lot of air to support our long sentences. Normally exhales our passive but for speech and singing, it becomes active. Our diaphragm becomes involved and it pushes up and our abdominal muscles contract to help force the air out. 
We phonate our throat to create sound. Phonation is accomplished by alteration of the angle between the thyroid and cricoid cartilages (the cricothyroid angle) and by medial movement of the arytenoids during expiration
The next process that happens is the intonation or voicing every person has a pair of vocal cords or vocal folds are above the trachea which are above the lungs vocal folds when pushed together and have air from the lungs forcing them open will vibrate at a very fast rate and that's what creates sound. What makes you sound like you is much more than just your vocal folds once the sound is created it will flow up through cavities in your head one is your throat one is your mouth cavity and one is your nose or nasal cavity you can manipulate these spaces to change how you're voicing sounds. 
The last process that creates speech is articulation. Articulation is how we shape the sound with our mouths to create words it's when the parts of our mouth or articulators  touch or articulate with each other the main articulator is the tongue some others are the lips the teeth cheeks and the palate 7

1. https://voicefoundation.org/health-science/voice-disorders/anatomy-physiology-of-voice-production/#:~:text=Resonance%3A%20Voice%20sound%20is%20amplified,lips)%20modify%20the%20voiced%20sound.
2. https://www.ncbi.nlm.nih.gov/pmc/articles/PMC5412481/
3. https://reasonandscience.catsboard.com/t1662-dualism-the-mind-is-not-the-brain#8190
4. https://sci-hub.ren/10.1126/science.303.5662.1316
5. https://reasonandscience.catsboard.com/t1662-dualism-the-mind-is-not-the-brain
6. https://www.verywellhealth.com/cranial-nerves-anatomy-4780532#vestibulocochlear-nerve-cranial-nerve-eight
7. https://www.youtube.com/watch?v=11xf89bXaCg

Language: The origin of language Voice10

Language: The origin of language Speech10



Last edited by Otangelo on Wed 29 Dec 2021 - 19:55; edited 18 times in total

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7Language: The origin of language Empty Re: Language: The origin of language Tue 22 Dec 2020 - 2:39

Otangelo


Admin

One of the things that most distinguishes us from primates is the ability to speak.

The crucial changes that laid the groundwork for language ability occurred in brain circuits connected with the basal ganglia, subcortical structures involved in movement. In his view the basal ganglia is the “sequencing engine” that makes combinations— both verbal and gestural— possible. Many other brain areas, including those responsible for articulation, hearing, planning, and memory, had to develop to support language. Making sentences requires “putting things into an extremely plastic order determined by a conceptual structure.” 1

Phonemes reflect instruction sets for commands in the motor cortex that ultimately control the muscles that move our tongues, lips, jaws, and larynxes as we talk.  Humans are unique among extant species in the animal kingdom. From the anatomy of our vocal tracts to the complexity of our brains, humans have the ability to communicate like no other species on Earth. 2

In the human body, the lungs serve as the bellows, providing the source of acoustic energy for speech production. The supra-laryngeal vocal tract (SVT), the airway above the larynx, acts as the pipes, determining the formant frequencies that are produced.

Humans have a unique anatomy that supports our ability to produce complex language. The elastic recoil of the lungs provides the necessary acoustic energy, while the diaphragm, intercostal muscles, and abdominal muscles manipulate how that air is released through the larynx, a complex structure that houses the vocal cords, and the supralaryngeal vocal tract (SVT), which includes the oral cavity and the pharynx, the cavity behind the mouth and above the larynx.

When air from the lungs rushes against and through the muscles, cartilages, and other tissue of the vocal cords, they rapidly open and close to produce what’s known as the fundamental frequency of phonation, or the pitch of a speaker’s voice. The principal sounds that form words—known as formant frequencies—are produced by changes to the positions of the lips, tongue, and larynx.

In addition to the anatomy of the SVT, humans have increased synaptic connectivity and malleability in certain neural circuits in the brain important for producing and understanding speech. Specifically, circuits linking cortical regions and the subcortical basal ganglia appear critical to support human language.


1. https://sci-hub.st/https://science.sciencemag.org/content/303/5662/1316?maxtoshow=&hits=10&RESULTFORMAT=&searchid=1&FIRSTINDEX=0&volume=303&firstpage=1316&fdate=//&tdate=//&resourcetype=HWCIT
2. https://www.the-scientist.com/features/why-human-speech-is-special--64351

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8Language: The origin of language Empty Re: Language: The origin of language Wed 23 Dec 2020 - 5:13

Otangelo


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Language: The origin of language 510

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9Language: The origin of language Empty Re: Language: The origin of language Wed 23 Dec 2020 - 14:45

Otangelo


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Following regions work together as a network to process words and word sequences to determine context and meaning.

Language: The origin of language 1311
Broca’s area contributes to verbal fluency. It can be divided into two functional units.
Area 44 is involved in phonological processing and in language production
Area 45 is involved in the semantic aspects of language
Wernicke’s area has  three sub-areas:
The first responds to spoken words (including the individual’s own) and other sounds.
The second responds only to words spoken by someone else but is also activated when the individual recalls a list of words.
The third sub-area seems more closely associated with producing speech than with perceiving it.
The temporal pole Area 38 is a paralimbic region involved in high-level semantic representation and socio-emotional processing.

Language: The origin of language 1411
The supramarginal gyrus is involved in phonological and articulatory processing of words
The angular gyrus (together with the posterior cingulate gyrus) seems more involved in semantic processing
The auditory cortex lets us recognize sounds, an essential prerequisite for understanding language.

Language: The origin of language 1511
The posterior terminal portion of the superior temporal sulcus provides access to meaning.

Language: The origin of language 1611
The triangular and orbital portions of the inferior frontal gyrus also play a role in semantic processing

Language: The origin of language 1711
Lastly, a number of researchers now reject classic locationist models of language. Instead, they conceptualize language, and cognitive functions in general, as being distributed across anatomically separate areas that process information in parallel (rather than serially, from one “language area” to another).

https://thebrain.mcgill.ca/flash/a/a_10/a_10_cr/a_10_cr_lan/a_10_cr_lan.html

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10Language: The origin of language Empty Re: Language: The origin of language Wed 23 Dec 2020 - 18:24

Otangelo


Admin

Mechanics of human voice production and control include:

The air pressure system
The diaphragm
The chest muscles
The ribs
The abdominal muscles and lungs 
provide and regulate air pressure to cause vocal folds to vibrate

The vibratory system 
The Voice box (larynx)
The Vocal folds. 
The vocal folds vibrate, changing air pressure to sound waves producing “voiced sound,” frequently described as a “buzzy sound”.

The resonating system, which is the local tract: 
The vocal folds within the larynx (voice box)
The articulators
The vocal tract resonators (the throat, mouth cavity, and nasal passages). 
The vocal tract articulators (the tongue, soft palate, and lips) modify the voiced sound.

The muscles of the mouth, the tongue, and throat.

The mechanism for generating the human voice is an interdependent, integrated system

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The origin of speech, by evolution, or design? 

https://reasonandscience.catsboard.com/t1334-language-the-origin-of-language#8854

In the 1860s, both the British Academy and the Société de Linguistique de Paris warned their members not to discuss the origins of language, because the topic was so seductive —and so speculative—that it spawned endless, futile theorizing. More than a century later, Noam Chomsky, the most influential linguist of the last 50 years, wrote that language evolution and the brain mechanisms underlying it “appear to be beyond serious inquiry at the moment.” For a long time, researchers treated language ability as some sort of “miracle,” says neuroscientist Michael Arbib of the University of Southern California (USC) in Los Angeles. The new lines of evidence remain indirect, leaving plenty of room for interpretation—and conflict. “If you want a consensus, you won’t get it,” says cognitive scientist Philip Lieberman of Brown University. With no fossils of speech, the origin of language remains “a mystery with all the fingerprints wiped off,” says brain scientist Terrence Deacon of the University of California, Berkeley.   

Speech demands extraordinarily fine and rapid motor control. Elaborate movements of the larynx, mouth, face, tongue, and breath must be synchronized with cognitive activity. 4

1. Human speech and communication depend on nine principal factors that work in an interdependent fashion:
1. Consciousness & memory
2. A language,
3. The entire system and mechanics of human voice production and control,
4. The lungs serve as the bellows, providing the source of acoustic energy for speech production.
5. The nervous system links the mouth, face muscles, ears, lungs, the vibratory and resonating system to the brain.
6. The brain to a) receive the signals from the ear for speech interpretation, b) control and coordinate all organs involved in speech,
7. The ability to the expression of emotions through the face and body gesticulation 
8. Muscle actions in the head, neck, chest, and abdomen, precisely coordinated by the brain.
9. Audition through ears to receive the sounds  
10. The four processes used to create speech: respiration phonation, resonance, and articulation
2. This is an irreducible, interdependent, integrated complex system, where all nine parts and organ systems play an essential role. The removal of any will compromise significantly, or turn entirely impossible the ability of speech and communication. 
3. Since individually, there would no use or compromised limited use, the individual parts that contribute to speak could/would not be able to evolve in a slow, gradual, evolutionary process. Therefore, the capacity of humans to talk and communicate was with high probability designed.


Parts that work in an interdependent manner to produce speech: 
1. Existing fundamentals—space, time, mass, charge can’t explain consciousness and memory, which itself is something fundamental, and essentially different than physical things. 5
2. The lowest level to have language consists in the utterance of words, the joining of words to make sentences, and the last, the composition of text, and a common agreement of meaning of words and grammar.  There are hierarchies, each level of which relies for its workings on the principles of the levels below it. Four levels make up a spoken literary composition. The lowest level is the production of a voice; the second, the utterance of words; the third, the joining of words to make sentences; the fourth, and highest, the composition of the text. Making sentences requires “putting things into an extremely plastic order determined by a conceptual structure.” Imitation is the way babies learn their first words. And it’s the only way a common meaning can emerge for an abstract symbol, a phenomenon that linguists call “parity.”
The principles of each level operate under the control of the next-higher level. That means, either the four levels are fully functional from the start, or there would be no human language at all. The voice produced is shaped into words by a vocabulary; a given vocabulary is shaped into sentences in accordance with grammar, and the sentences are made to convey the ideas of the composition. Voice production leaves largely open the combination of sounds into words, which is controlled by a vocabulary. Next, a vocabulary leaves largely open the combination of words to form sentences, which is controlled by grammar, and so on. Consequently, the operations of a higher level cannot be accounted for by the laws governing its particulars on the next-lower level. One cannot derive a vocabulary from phonetics; one cannot derive grammar from a vocabulary; correct use of grammar does not supply the content of a piece of prose.
3. Mechanics of human voice production and control  includes:
The mechanism for generating the human voice is an interdependent, integrated system consisting of the lungs, the vocal folds within the larynx (voice box), and the articulators.
The vocal fold vibration, which is amplified and modified by the vocal tract resonators (the throat, mouth cavity, and nasal passages). The resonators produce a person’s recognizable voice. And the vocal tract articulators (the tongue, soft palate, and lips) modify the voiced sound.
Furthermore, speaking and singing involve a voice mechanism that is composed of three subsystems. Each subsystem is composed of different parts of the body and has specific roles in voice production.
a. The air pressure system, that is, the diaphragm, chest muscles, ribs, abdominal muscles, and Lungs provide and regulate air pressure to cause vocal folds to vibrate.
b. The vibratory system, consisting of the Voice box (larynx), Vocal folds. The vocal folds vibrate, changing air pressure to sound waves producing “voiced sound,” frequently described as a “buzzy sound”.
c. The resonating system, which is the local tract: throat (pharynx), oral cavity, and nasal passage. It changes the “buzzy sound” into a person’s recognizable voice.
Both the arytenoid and thyroid, cartilages sit on top of the cricoid cartilage and interact with it through the cricoarytenoid joint and cricothyroid joint, respectively. The relative movement of these cartilages thus provides a means to adjust the geometry, mechanical properties, and position of the vocal folds. The three-dimensional airspace between the two opposing vocal folds is the glottis. The glottis can be divided into a membranous portion, which includes the anterior portion of the glottis and extends from the anterior commissure to the vocal process of the arytenoid, and a cartilaginous portion, which is the posterior space between the arytenoid cartilages. 2
The muscles of the mouth, the tongue, and throat. Furthermore, the nervous system which connects these parts with the motor cortex, located in the frontal lobe which takes information from Broca's area and tells the muscles of the face, mouth, tongue, lips, and throat how to move to form speech. This is the physical-biological part.
4. The lungs serve as the bellows, providing the source of acoustic energy for speech production.
5. The nervous system links the mouth, face muscles, ears, lungs, the vibratory and resonating system to the brain. That includes the Trigeminal Nerve, Facial Nerve, Hypoglossal Nerve, Vagus Nerve, Glossopharyngeal Nerve, Vestibulocochlear Nerve, and the Intermediate Nerve. 6
6. The brain to a) receive the signals from the ear for speech interpretation, b) control and coordinate all organs involved in speech,
When the ear receives information from someone speaking, then the auditory cortex not far from the ears processes that information. A system of regions towards the back and middle of the brain help to interpret the information. This includes the angular gyrus in the parietal lobeWernicke’s areainsular cortex, basal ganglia and cerebellum. These regions work together as a network to process words and word sequences to determine context and meaning. This enables our receptive language abilities, which means the ability to understand language. Complementary to this is expressive language, which is the ability to produce language. To speak, we must think of words to convey an idea or message, formulate them into a sentence according to grammatical rules and then use our lungs, vocal cords and mouth to create sounds. Regions in our frontal, temporal and parietal lobes formulate what we want to say and the motor cortex, in our frontal lobe, enables us to speak the words. Brain-imaging methods have revealed that much more of our brain is involved in language processing than previously thought. We now know that numerous regions in every major lobe (frontal, parietal, occipital and temporal lobes; and the cerebellum, an area at the bottom of the brain) are involved in our ability to produce and comprehend language.
There are two pathways that connect the auditory cortex to the frontal lobe, each pathway accounting for different linguistic roles. The auditory ventral stream pathway is responsible for sound recognition. The auditory dorsal stream in both humans and non-human primates is responsible for sound localization. In humans, this pathway (especially in the left hemisphere) is also responsible for speech production, speech repetition, lip-reading, and phonological working memory and long-term memory.
Following regions work together as a network to process words and word sequences to determine context and meaning. 
Broca’s area contributes to verbal fluency. It can be divided into two functional units.
Area 44 is involved in phonological processing and in language production
Area 45 is involved in the semantic aspects of language 
Wernicke’s area has  three sub-areas:
The first responds to spoken words (including the individual’s own) and other sounds.
The second responds only to words spoken by someone else but is also activated when the individual recalls a list of words.
The third sub-area seems more closely associated with producing speech than with perceiving it.
The temporal pole Area 38 is a paralimbic region involved in high-level semantic representation and socio-emotional processing.
The supramarginal gyrus is involved in phonological and articulatory processing of words
The angular gyrus (together with the posterior cingulate gyrus) seems more involved in semantic processing
The auditory cortex lets us recognize sounds, an essential prerequisite for understanding language.
The posterior terminal portion of the superior temporal sulcus provides access to meaning.
The triangular and orbital portions of the inferior frontal gyrus also play a role in semantic processing
Lastly, a number of researchers now reject classic locationist models of language. Instead, they conceptualize language, and cognitive functions in general, as being distributed across anatomically separate areas that process information in parallel (rather than serially, from one “language area” to another).
https://thebrain.mcgill.ca/flash/a/a_10/a_10_cr/a_10_cr_lan/a_10_cr_lan.html
7. Science lists 27 different kinds of expressions of feelings and emotions: admiration, adoration, aesthetic appreciation, amusement, anger, anxiety, awe, awkwardness, boredom, calmness, confusion, craving, disgust, empathic pain, entrancement, excitement, fear, horror, interest, joy, nostalgia, relief, romance, sadness, satisfaction, sexual desire, surprise. 
Emotions can be combined to form different feelings, much like colors can be mixed to create other shades. There are smooth gradients of emotion between, say, awe and peacefulness, horror and sadness, and amusement and adoration. Emotions are rich and nuanced.
Intelligence is intertwined with Emotion. Intelligence, feelings, emotions are intertwined and connected with the human body which responds to the way we think, feel, and act. 3
8. Muscle actions in the head, neck, chest, and abdomen, precisely coordinated by the brain.
9. Ears to receive the information
10. Respiration phonation, resonance, and articulation
First, we use respiration or breathing. This is the energy behind our speech what's amazing is that our inhale to exhale ratio at, rest is about 50/50 or forty to sixty percent. For speech, our inhale to XL ratio is 10% to 90% meaning we inhale 10% of our capacity and then exhale 90%. How does this work in order for us to speak and sing we need a lot of air to support our long sentences. Normally exhales our passive but for speech and singing, it becomes active. Our diaphragm becomes involved and it pushes up and our abdominal muscles contract to help force the air out. 
We phonate our throat to create sound. Phonation is accomplished by alteration of the angle between the thyroid and cricoid cartilages (the cricothyroid angle) and by medial movement of the arytenoids during expiration
The next process that happens is the intonation or voicing every person has a pair of vocal cords or vocal folds are above the trachea which are above the lungs vocal folds when pushed together and have air from the lungs forcing them open will vibrate at a very fast rate and that's what creates sound. What makes you sound like you is much more than just your vocal folds once the sound is created it will flow up through cavities in your head one is your throat one is your mouth cavity and one is your nose or nasal cavity you can manipulate these spaces to change how you're voicing sounds. 
The last process that creates speech is articulation. Articulation is how we shape the sound with our mouths to create words it's when the parts of our mouth or articulators  touch or articulate with each other the main articulator is the tongue some others are the lips the teeth cheeks and the palate 7


1. [url=https://voicefoundation.org/health-science/voice-disorders/anatomy-physiology-of-voice-production/#:~:text=Resonance%3A Voice sound is amplified,lips) modify the voiced sound.]https://voicefoundation.org/health-science/voice-disorders/anatomy-physiology-of-voice-production/#:~:text=Resonance%3A%20Voice%20sound%20is%20amplified,lips)%20modify%20the%20voiced%20sound.[/url]
2. https://www.ncbi.nlm.nih.gov/pmc/articles/PMC5412481/
3. https://reasonandscience.catsboard.com/t1662-dualism-the-mind-is-not-the-brain#8190
4. https://sci-hub.ren/10.1126/science.303.5662.1316
5. https://reasonandscience.catsboard.com/t1662-dualism-the-mind-is-not-the-brain
6. https://www.verywellhealth.com/cranial-nerves-anatomy-4780532#vestibulocochlear-nerve-cranial-nerve-eight
7. https://www.youtube.com/watch?v=11xf89bXaCg

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12Language: The origin of language Empty Re: Language: The origin of language Sun 19 Dec 2021 - 15:30

Otangelo


Admin

God reveals Himself to us through the languages implemented in nature

In nature, it is language that specifies structure. The origin of:

- The language of mathematics
- The language of genetics
- The intra and extracellular signaling languages
- The languages in epigenetics
- The languages in animal communication
- The language of humans
- Boolean logic in gene regulation
- Logic in human communication

how is it best explained: by cosmic, chemical, and biological evolution, or design? 

The universe, the physical laws, and matter have a description of themselves that can be expressed in the language of mathematics.

Cells have a codified description of themselves in digital form stored in genes and have the machinery to transform that blueprint through information transfer into an identical representation in analog 3D form, the physical 'reality' of that description.

According to the naturalist perspective, these self-replicating cells became an agglomerate of socializing cells, creating another higher language to process information, based on communication through signaling. They started to talk to each other using sophisticated signaling networks.

Not enough, they started to differentiate, giving rise to a multicellular organism, creating tissues, organs, organ systems, and bodies that could sense the environment.
And they created an additional 45 different languages, used to orchestrate cell differentiation, cell migration, cell adaptation, a protective immune system, and the ability to adapt to different environmental conditions.

Here, they also advanced by applying logic during gene expression, and smart as they are, programmed using boolean logic, the software, to select the right genes, to be expressed at the right time during development.   

And last not least, this complex agglomeration of self-replicating cells created neurons, tiny computers, then created a brain, and that brain created another emergent property, called consciousness, and another language, based on words and using logic.

Since that was not enough, the organism created sense perception. It created hearing, seeing, smelling, tasting, and feeling. 

Different degrees of communications were implemented in the natural world. Animals use courtship calls. Dolphins use echolocation to hunt prey. Trees talk to each other through pheromones and other scent signals. 
Animals use visual or acoustic communication, chemical signals, magnetic field orientation, etc.

Then, man evolved from lower primates. The human conscious mind was able to evolve using language, to detect, and describe itself, and its environment. Amazing.

Able to discover and describe the mathematical language used to create the laws of physics, atoms, the genetic language to make living cells, epigenetic languages to make multicellular organisms, itself, and even to philosophize how all that was a product of a fortunate accident. That was an unfortunate accident. That it was able to come to false conclusions, based on wishful thinking. Putting will ahead of reason.

Obviously, the language of mathematics, genetics, epigenetics, boolean logic, human language, and the logic applied to the human language, could only be the product of a pre-existing mind, using its innate eternal language and logic to create things similar to himself.

Whenever there is a mechanism implemented that is able to process information, it has to be implemented by consciousness using intelligence.   All of reality has linguistic underpinnings which point us to the God of the Bible, the God who speaks things into existence.

Ten times in the Bible’s first chapter we find the phrase: “And God said …."
In the beginning, was the Word, and the Word was with God, and the Word was God. In him was life. Through him all things were made; without him, nothing was made that has been made.
Consciousness came first and is fundamental.  That a living being, conscious and able to communicate with words using language and logic, was able to instantiate all language systems described above using language. We call it God. The God of the Bible.  I AM. An eternal being, superintelligent and conscious. We are his thoughts. All started from the mind of God.

That higher conscious being instantiated also communication with his creatures. Us. God talks to us, and we can talk to him. He has expressed his love through Christ, and we can love Him back, believing, and obeying Him.

Isn't that awesome?!!

1. Almost everything that we as humans accomplish, that is distinguished from the non-human world, involves and depends critically upon language-based interactions, specifications, and plans. The meaning conveyed by language plays a critical role, representing, determining, and shaping things that we invent. Language involves the assignment of meaning to otherwise meaningless symbols to form a vocabulary. It also involves a set of rules by which elements from the vocabulary may be joined together to create more complex meaning-bearing messages. We use that vocabulary of words to which distinctive meanings are assigned together with a set of rules for joining these words to form more complex meaningful structures, in order to create complex things for specific purposes. Software and hardware shapes the world around us in tangible and powerful ways.
2. Analogously, in the natural world, we observe that everything is underpinned and based on language. Mathematical language to instantiate an orderly universe, genetic languages to create life, intra, and extracellular signaling languages and epigenetics to create multicellular organisms, Boolean logic in gene regulation, animal and human languages to establish communication using logic.
3. Meaning itself is non-material. Concepts are non-material. Expressing meaning and concepts using language demands a non-material source. Information transmission using language requires a material carrier, so there is interdependence. It logically follows that the natural world requires a mental source.

David Attenborough: It seems to me that the natural world is the greatest source of excitement; the greatest source of visual beauty; the greatest source of intellectual interest. It is the greatest source of so much in life that makes life worth living.
Me: Glory to the one that invented, and instantiated it, and gives us the gift to experience it.

A LINGUISTIC ARGUMENT FOR GOD’S EXISTENCE
https://www.etsjets.org/files/JETS-PDFs/58/58-4/JETS_58-4_771-86_Baumgardner&Lyon.pdf

Decoding reality - Information is fundamental
https://reasonandscience.catsboard.com/t3035-decoding-reality-information-is-fundamental



Last edited by Otangelo on Sun 19 Dec 2021 - 16:20; edited 3 times in total

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13Language: The origin of language Empty Re: Language: The origin of language Sun 19 Dec 2021 - 15:42

Otangelo


Admin

1. Almost everything that we as humans accomplish, that is distinguished from the non-human world, involves and depends critically upon language-based interactions, specifications, and plans. The meaning conveyed by language plays a critical role, representing, determining, and shaping things that we invent.  Language involves the assignment of meaning to otherwise meaningless symbols to form a vocabulary. It also involves a set of rules by which elements from the vocabulary may be joined together to create more complex meaning-bearing messages. We use that vocabulary of words to which distinctive meanings are assigned together with a set of rules for joining these words to form more complex meaningful structures, in order to create complex things for specific purposes. Software and hardware shapes the world around us in tangible and powerful ways.
2. Analogously, in the natural world, we observe that everything is underpinned and based on language. Mathematical language to instantiate an orderly universe, genetic languages to create life, intra, and extracellular signaling languages and epigenetics to create multicellular organisms, Boolean logic in gene regulation, animal and human languages to establish communication using logic.
3. Meaning itself is non-material. Concepts are non-material. Expressing meaning and concepts using language demands a non-material source. Information transmission using language requires a material carrier, so there is interdependence. It logically follows that the natural world requires a mental source.

David Attenborough: It seems to me that the natural world is the greatest source of excitement; the greatest source of visual beauty; the greatest source of intellectual interest. It is the greatest source of so much in life that makes life worth living.
Me: Glory to the one that invented, and instantiated it, and gives us the gift to experience it.

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14Language: The origin of language Empty Re: Language: The origin of language Fri 28 Jan 2022 - 0:57

Otangelo


Admin

Pedro Tiago Language evolution and complexity considerations: The no half-Merge fallacy November 27, 2019

We think that decomposing the species-specific trait of modern language into a mosaic of less exceptional ingredients, each with its own evolutionary trajectory, is the only way to open inquiry into its emergence to empirical investigation.

https://journals.plos.org/plosbiology/article?id=10.1371/journal.pbio.3000389

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15Language: The origin of language Empty Re: Language: The origin of language Tue 1 Feb 2022 - 14:50

Otangelo


Admin

God reveals Himself to us through the languages implemented in nature

In nature, it is language that specifies structure. The origin of:
- The language of mathematics
- The language of genetics
- The intra and extracellular signaling languages
- The languages in epigenetics
- The languages in animal communication
- The language of humans
- Boolean logic in gene regulation
- Logic in human communication
how is it best explained: by cosmic, chemical, and biological evolution, or design?
The universe, the physical laws, and matter have a description of themselves that can be expressed in the language of mathematics.
Cells have a codified description of themselves in digital form stored in genes and have the machinery to transform that blueprint through information transfer into an identical representation in analog 3D form, the physical 'reality' of that description.
According to the naturalist perspective, these self-replicating cells became an agglomerate of socializing cells, creating another higher language to process information, based on communication through signaling. They started to talk to each other using sophisticated signaling networks.
Not enough, they started to differentiate, giving rise to a multicellular organism, creating tissues, organs, organ systems, and bodies that could sense the environment.
And they created an additional 45 different languages, used to orchestrate cell differentiation, cell migration, cell adaptation, a protective immune system, and the ability to adapt to different environmental conditions.
Here, they also advanced by applying logic during gene expression, and smart as they are, programmed using boolean logic, the software, to select the right genes, to be expressed at the right time during development.  
And last not least, this complex agglomeration of self-replicating cells created neurons, tiny computers, then created a brain, and that brain created another emergent property, called consciousness, and another language, based on words and using logic.
Since that was not enough, the organism created sense perception. It created hearing, seeing, smelling, tasting, and feeling.
Different degrees of communications were implemented in the natural world. Animals use courtship calls. Dolphins use echolocation to hunt prey. Trees talk to each other through pheromones and other scent signals.
Animals use visual or acoustic communication, chemical signals, magnetic field orientation, etc.
Then, man evolved from lower primates. The human conscious mind was able to evolve using language, to detect, and describe itself, and its environment. Amazing.
Able to discover and describe the mathematical language used to create the laws of physics, atoms, the genetic language to make living cells, epigenetic languages to make multicellular organisms, itself, and even to philosophize how all that was a product of a fortunate accident. That was an unfortunate accident. That it was able to come to false conclusions, based on wishful thinking. Putting will ahead of reason.
Obviously, the language of mathematics, genetics, epigenetics, boolean logic, human language, and the logic applied to the human language, could only be the product of a pre-existing mind, using its innate eternal language and logic to create things similar to himself.
Whenever there is a mechanism implemented that is able to process information, it has to be implemented by consciousness using intelligence.   All of reality has linguistic underpinnings which point us to the God of the Bible, the God who speaks things into existence.
Ten times in the Bible’s first chapter we find the phrase: “And God said …."
In the beginning, was the Word, and the Word was with God, and the Word was God. In him was life. Through him all things were made; without him, nothing was made that has been made.
Consciousness came first and is fundamental.  That a living being, conscious and able to communicate with words using language and logic, was able to instantiate all language systems described above using language. We call it God. The God of the Bible.  I AM. An eternal being, superintelligent and conscious. We are his thoughts. All started from the mind of God.
That higher conscious being instantiated also communication with his creatures. Us. God talks to us, and we can talk to him. He has expressed his love through Christ, and we can love Him back, believing, and obeying Him.
Isn't that awesome?!!

1. Almost everything that we as humans accomplish, that is distinguished from the non-human world, involves and depends critically upon language-based interactions, specifications, and plans. The meaning conveyed by language plays a critical role, representing, determining, and shaping things that we invent. Language involves the assignment of meaning to otherwise meaningless symbols to form a vocabulary. It also involves a set of rules by which elements from the vocabulary may be joined together to create more complex meaning-bearing messages. We use that vocabulary of words to which distinctive meanings are assigned together with a set of rules for joining these words to form more complex meaningful structures, in order to create complex things for specific purposes. Software and hardware shapes the world around us in tangible and powerful ways.
2. Analogously, in the natural world, we observe that everything is underpinned and based on language. Mathematical language to instantiate an orderly universe, genetic languages to create life, intra, and extracellular signaling languages and epigenetics to create multicellular organisms, Boolean logic in gene regulation, animal and human languages to establish communication using logic.
3. Meaning itself is non-material. Concepts are non-material. Expressing meaning and concepts using language demands a non-material source. Information transmission using language requires a material carrier, so there is interdependence. It logically follows that the natural world requires a mental source.
David Attenborough: It seems to me that the natural world is the greatest source of excitement; the greatest source of visual beauty; the greatest source of intellectual interest. It is the greatest source of so much in life that makes life worth living.

Me: Glory to the one that invented, and instantiated it, and gives us the gift to experience it.

https://reasonandscience.catsboard.com

16Language: The origin of language Empty Re: Language: The origin of language Fri 15 Apr 2022 - 18:49

Otangelo


Admin

If we were descendents of apes, and chimps were our brothers, then why do we not see a closer, more advanced communication system of chimps and apes in general? Like transitioning to use more and more words ? Language is irreducible. The laws of logic and the laws of thought are irreducible, and language, and these laws, are interdependent, and irreducible. Either one fully understands and applies the laws of logic in communication, or the use of words will always just result in sentences that are gibberish. One would have to learn from scratch by common agreedment a full set of words, and their meaning, and be able from scratch, to fully apply ALL the laws of logic, and the laws of thought. And one would need all the 9 principal factors that work in an interdependent fashion:

The origin of speech, by evolution, or design?
https://reasonandscience.catsboard.com/t1334-language-the-origin-of-language#8230

1. Consciousness & memory
2. A language,
3. The entire system and mechanics of human voice production and control,
4. The lungs serve as the bellows, providing the source of acoustic energy for speech production.
5. The nervous system links the mouth, face muscles, ears, lungs, the vibratory and resonating system to the brain.
6. The brain to a) receive the signals from the ear for speech interpretation, b) control and coordinate all organs involved in speech,
7. The ability to the expression of emotions through the face and body gesticulation
8. Muscle actions in the head, neck, chest, and abdomen, precisely coordinated by the brain.
9. Audition through ears to receive the sounds
10. The four processes used to create speech: respiration phonation, resonance, and articulation

How could consciousness, logic and language evolve from matter?
https://reasonandscience.catsboard.com/t1334-the-origin-of-language#6045

1. Human minds using objective logic exist. Logic is changeless and static. It is a law, upon which valid thought and communication depend (The Law of identity, the law of non-contradiction, and the Law of the excluded middle) Only a mind, conscious, able to use language and communicate, is able to recognize and use logic.
2. These laws exist and are true, independently of if a physical universe exists, or not. Neither can their origin depend on an evolving and changing universe, otherwise, they would also be subject to change. Cosmic, chemical or biological evolution is not able to create something which is substantially different: A mind, using logic. If you split the brain you don't split abstract thought. That is evidence of dualism.
3. The laws of logic are also not merely human conventions. As W.L.Craig puts it: Any attempt to take the laws of logic as just human inventions is bound to assume the laws of logic themselves and so to be self-defeating.
4. The only plausible explanation for the existence of human minds using logic is that there is an uncreated, pre-existing eternal mind, capable of using language, communication, and objective logic, which created the physical universe, and contingent humans with minds using logic, created upon God's image.

https://reasonandscience.catsboard.com

17Language: The origin of language Empty Re: Language: The origin of language Mon 25 Apr 2022 - 3:20

Otangelo


Admin

Did matter produce consciousness, that suddenly recognized language, using the laws of logic, to start thinking about how matter became conscious?

How is it that matter-created minds that started to comprehend math and calculus, and language, using the laws of logic, abstract thought, and beauty, able to start thinking?

Did matter have emergent properties to become alive, to evolve into multicellular organisms, evolving neurons, that evolved and became conscious, starting to use language and somehow recognize the laws of logic and start to philosophize about how matter became conscious?

Speech demands extraordinarily fine and rapid motor control. Elaborate movements of the larynx, mouth, face, tongue, and breath must be synchronized with cognitive activity.

1. Human speech and communication depend on the following principal factors that work in an interdependent fashion:

a. Consciousness & memory
b. A language,
c. The entire system and mechanics of human voice production and control,
d. The lungs serve as the bellows, providing the source of acoustic energy for speech production.
e. The nervous system links the mouth, face muscles, ears, lungs, the vibratory and resonating system to the brain.
f. The brain to a) receive the signals from the ear for speech interpretation, b) control and coordinate all organs involved in speech
g. The ability to the expression of emotions through the face and body gesticulation  
h. Muscle actions in the head, neck, chest, and abdomen, precisely coordinated by the brain.
i. Audition through ears to receive the sounds  10. The four processes used to create speech: respiration phonation, resonance, and articulation

2. This is an irreducible, interdependent, integrated complex system, where all nine parts ( a to i) and organ systems play an essential role. The removal of any will compromise significantly, or turn entirely impossible the ability of speech and communication. In the same sense as hardware and software are interdependent, so is speech, which requires the physical parts, and consciousness at the same time.

3. Since individually, there would be no use or compromised limited use, the individual parts that contribute to speaking could/would not be able to evolve in a slow, gradual, evolutionary process. Therefore, the capacity of humans to talk and communicate was with high certainty designed by a creator that himself has the same capabilities.

The origin of speech, by evolution, or design?
https://reasonandscience.catsboard.com/t1334-language-the-origin-of-language#8230

How could consciousness, logic and language evolve from matter?
https://reasonandscience.catsboard.com/t1334-the-origin-of-language#6045

https://reasonandscience.catsboard.com

Otangelo


Admin

Language: From Divine Creation to Complex Human Communication

Language is a complex system that allows for communication and the expression of ideas, emotions, and information. It comprises several key components, each playing a crucial role in successful communication. 
Language forms an interdependent system, with each component playing a critical role in the overall functionality of communication. This complexity and interdependence present challenges to understanding the gradual evolution of language. Following are factors essential for effective language use:

Phonology: This is the study of the sound system of a language, including the rules for combining and using sounds to form words. Phonology helps in distinguishing meaning between words and phrases through different sounds.

Morphology: This component deals with the structure of words and the rules for word formation. It includes the study of morphemes, the smallest units of meaning or grammatical function in a language.

Syntax: Syntax involves the rules and principles that govern the structure of sentences in a language. It dictates how words and phrases should be arranged to convey clear and coherent meanings.

Lexicon: The lexicon of a language is its inventory of words and expressions. This includes not only the words themselves but also their meanings, spellings, and pronunciations.

Semantics: Semantics focuses on the meaning of words, phrases, sentences, and texts. It studies how language conveys meaning and how linguistic expressions relate to the world.

Pragmatics: This aspect of language involves the use of language in social contexts and the ways in which people understand and produce language based on their intentions, the context of the conversation, and the knowledge of the participants.

Logic: Language logic refers to the principles of valid reasoning and argumentation. It helps in structuring sentences and arguments in a way that follows coherent and rational patterns.

Discourse: Beyond individual sentences, discourse involves the structure and coherence of longer texts or spoken interactions. It encompasses the use of language across multiple sentences to construct meaningful and cohesive narratives or conversations.

Prosody: This relates to the rhythm, stress, and intonation of speech. Prosody adds another layer of meaning to language, indicating questions, emphasis, contrast, and emotions, among other nuances.

Non-verbal cues: Body language, facial expressions, gestures, and other non-verbal forms of communication play a significant role in conveying meanings and intentions beyond words.

For successful communication, a minimal set of vocabulary and concepts is also necessary, often referred to as a linguistic "core" or "basic lexicon." This set would include:

Basic nouns: Essential objects and concepts relevant to human life (e.g., food, water, family, home).
Pronouns: For referring to people or objects without naming them.
Key verbs: Actions and states that are universal (e.g., to be, to have, to go, to come).
Adjectives: Basic descriptive words (e.g., big, small, good, bad).
Numbers: At least a basic set for counting and quantification.
Conjunctions: For linking phrases and ideas (e.g., and, but, or).
Prepositions: Indicating relations in space and time (e.g., in, on, at, before, after).

This foundational vocabulary allows for the description and discussion of most everyday situations and objects, forming a base from which more complex ideas can be built.
- Numbers: At least a basic set for counting and quantification.
- Conjunctions: For linking phrases and ideas (e.g., and, but, or).
- Prepositions: Indicating relations in space and time (e.g., in, on, at, before, after).

This foundational vocabulary allows for the description and discussion of most everyday situations and objects, forming a base from which more complex ideas can be built.

There are several key barriers:

Co-evolution of Components: The components of language, such as phonology, morphology, syntax, and semantics, are deeply interwoven. Changes in one aspect can significantly impact others, suggesting that these components may have co-evolved in a tightly knit manner. This interdependence complicates the understanding of how language could evolve gradually, as changes in one domain necessitate simultaneous or closely successive changes in others.

Lack of Fossil Records: Unlike physical traits in biological evolution, linguistic elements do not leave direct physical traces. This absence of fossil records makes it challenging to trace the gradual evolution of language. While we can infer the presence of language abilities from anatomical features (like the structure of the vocal tract in hominids) or from artifacts that imply symbolic thinking, direct evidence of language use and structure is elusive.

Cultural Transmission: Language is not only biologically inherited but also culturally transmitted. This dual mode of transmission complicates the picture of language evolution, as cultural innovations can spread and change rapidly, independent of biological evolution. Distinguishing between what aspects of language evolved due to biological adaptations and what aspects are purely cultural accumulations is challenging.

Bootstrap Problem: Language requires a minimum complexity to be functional. A system of communication that lacks syntax, semantics, or a sufficient lexicon would be severely limited in its expressivity. This raises the "bootstrap" problem: how a primitive form of language could be useful enough to provide a selective advantage, and thus evolve into more complex forms. The gradual evolution of language must account for how these rudimentary forms could have provided sufficient communicative power to be beneficial.

Symbolic Representation and Abstract Thought: Language allows for the communication of abstract concepts and not just concrete, immediate experiences. The evolution of this capability involves not just the development of linguistic structures but also the cognitive capacity for abstract thought. Understanding how and when our ancestors developed the cognitive abilities to use symbols abstractly and to conceptualize things not immediately present is a significant challenge.

Feedback Loops: Language evolution is characterized by feedback loops where linguistic innovations can affect cognitive and social structures, which in turn influence language use and development. For instance, the development of complex syntax could enable more intricate social interactions and cultural practices, which would then create a context for further linguistic complexity. Disentangling these feedback loops to understand the directionality and causality in language evolution is complex.

Plasticity and Adaptability: Human language is highly adaptable, capable of rapid changes and innovations. This plasticity means that languages can adapt to new social, environmental, and technological contexts without necessitating biological changes in their speakers. This adaptability can mask the evolutionary pathways that led to the current state of language, as recent changes may not reflect the long-term evolutionary trends.

These barriers make the gradual evolution of language a complex puzzle, involving the interplay of biological, cognitive, cultural, and environmental factors.

While scientific explorations often focus on evolutionary theories and the gradual development of language capabilities in humans, an alternative perspective considers the accounts of creation as found in Genesis. This viewpoint offers a different understanding of language's origins, aligning with the belief in a purposeful creation by a divine being. In the creation narrative, the inception of language is an immediate and complete act by a Creator endowed with consciousness, intelligence, and the ability to communicate. This Creator, using the Word or Logos, brings the universe into existence, underscoring the power and centrality of language as a foundational element of reality. The same narrative posits that humans were created in the image of this Creator, imbuing them with similar faculties, including the capacity for language. Humans were endowed from the outset with a fully developed ability to communicate complex thoughts, emotions, and abstract concepts. From this perspective, the challenges associated with understanding the gradual evolution of language—such as the co-evolution of language components, the lack of fossil records, and the bootstrap problem—are addressed by the notion of instantaneous creation. In this event, all components necessary for language and communication were provided in their complete form. This approach outlines that the physical aspects of language, such as the anatomical structures enabling speech, and the cognitive capabilities for understanding and producing language, were created simultaneously.

Furthermore, the creation account encompasses not only the physical but also the spiritual and mental dimensions of language. It suggests that language is more than a mere tool for communication; it is also a reflection of the human capacity for reason, creativity, and communion with the divine. This perspective implies that the origin of language is intertwined with the very essence of what it means to be human, created with the ability to name, describe, and steward the world. In this view, language is not merely a product of gradual biological and social evolution but a gift imbued with intentionality and purpose. It serves as a bridge between the Creator and creation, enabling humans to engage in complex social structures, cultural development, and personal relationships. This holistic approach to the origin of language emphasizes the profound connection between language, thought, and the human spirit, suggesting that the capacity for language is intrinsic to the human condition, as designed from the beginning.

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