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from Part V - Language, Our Greatest Gift
Published online by Cambridge University Press: 16 September 2023
On our Earth the dividing line between animals and humans is determined by the ability to speak. Assuming that evolution is the only manner by which complex biological structures can arise in our universe, the exobeings of any exoplanet must also have arisen through an essentially similar process of evolution as we humans have.
Language separates us from the rest of the animal world1 and makes us what we are, beings who live in intricate social networks, with considerable cognitive powers and the ability to convey knowledge from one generation to the next and thus build up vast bodies of knowledge which extend far beyond what a single individual could achieve in a lifetime. All this is possible because we can formulate our thoughts in language which others can then understand and engage in exchanges.
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