Comments for HENRY http://henry.simon.net.nz Rampaging across the world of human evolution for, oh, a good 18 months now.. Sun, 20 Jul 2008 23:13:00 +0000 http://wordpress.org/?v=2.7-bleeding Comment on A Look at Linguistic Evolution by Richard http://henry.simon.net.nz/stories/2008/07/13/a-look-at-linguistic-evolution/#comment-1318 Richard Mon, 14 Jul 2008 16:52:35 +0000 http://henry.simon.net.nz/?p=651#comment-1318 Sorry, got cut off. Must have fallen asleep under the pressure of the sheer brilliance of my ideas. So start again: To attempt to attach linguistics to Darwin’s coat tails - is doomed, because languages evolve, certainly, but not through the same mechanisms. Chance biological mutations can be dealt with, by invoking statistics, to smooth the path. You have written a very good paper on the 'punctuation' of language changes. Couldn't these be related to specific people movements when archaeology gets sophisticated enough to detect them in detail? Sorry, got cut off. Must have fallen asleep under the pressure of the sheer brilliance of my ideas.

So start again:

To attempt to attach linguistics to Darwin’s coat tails -

is doomed, because languages evolve, certainly, but not through the same mechanisms.

Chance biological mutations can be dealt with, by invoking statistics, to smooth the path.

You have written a very good paper on the ‘punctuation’ of language changes. Couldn’t these be related to specific people movements when archaeology gets sophisticated enough to detect them in detail?

]]> Comment on A Look at Linguistic Evolution by Richard http://henry.simon.net.nz/stories/2008/07/13/a-look-at-linguistic-evolution/#comment-1317 Richard Sun, 13 Jul 2008 12:48:57 +0000 http://henry.simon.net.nz/?p=651#comment-1317 This is yet another attempt to bring linguistics into the fold of real science. It's rubbish. Darwin didn't invent evolution; he discovered Natural Selection. There's nothing natural about selection in languages. People actually have to invent new words or phonetics - perfect example of Lamarckism. And there's absolutely no guarantee that anyone's children will inherit their parents' way of speaking, and keep it. If a new smart guy rolls into town, they'll copy him. They might use their parents' accents, handed down to them, (phonetical genetics) when they adopt the new words (mostly) or they may adopt a phoneme totally unknown before. What is interesting here are the 'genetic' phonemes. If you can't distinguish between L and R (because your parents didn't, and nurtured you so), then you're going to adapt that ubermensch American phrase to: Light Onnn..!' In short, your parents hand on, by nurture, not nature, most aspects of your language. This "genetic tree" works very well in the Austronesian languages of Polynesia, only because each island settlement led to another, totally isolated (no smart guys coming in). And that's why those 'genetic trees' of Austronesian languages always head towards Polynesia (the easy bit) and totally ignore the 95% of Austronesian speakers left behind. To attempt to attach linguistics to Darwin's coat tails This is yet another attempt to bring linguistics into the fold of real science.

It’s rubbish.

Darwin didn’t invent evolution; he discovered Natural Selection.

There’s nothing natural about selection in languages. People actually have to invent new words or phonetics - perfect example of Lamarckism.

And there’s absolutely no guarantee that anyone’s children will inherit their parents’ way of speaking, and keep it.

If a new smart guy rolls into town, they’ll copy him.

They might use their parents’ accents, handed down to them, (phonetical genetics) when they adopt the new words (mostly) or they may adopt a phoneme totally unknown before.

What is interesting here are the ‘genetic’ phonemes. If you can’t distinguish between L and R (because your parents didn’t, and nurtured you so), then you’re going to adapt that ubermensch American phrase to:

Light Onnn..!’

In short, your parents hand on, by nurture, not nature, most aspects of your language.

This “genetic tree” works very well in the Austronesian languages of Polynesia, only because each island settlement led to another, totally isolated (no smart guys coming in).

And that’s why those ‘genetic trees’ of Austronesian languages always head towards Polynesia (the easy bit) and totally ignore the 95% of Austronesian speakers left behind.

To attempt to attach linguistics to Darwin’s coat tails

]]> Comment on Gotta have more orange juice by Richard Parker http://henry.simon.net.nz/stories/2008/03/07/gotta-have-more-orange-juice/#comment-1316 Richard Parker Thu, 10 Jul 2008 08:48:46 +0000 http://henry.simon.net.nz/stories/2008/03/07/gotta-have-more-orange-juice/#comment-1316 Going through your category on 'bongo-bongo-ism', which I suppose you mean to apply as a general catch-all for 'European attitudes towards strange habits indulged in by exotic peoples' I came across your perplexity about Trukese sex positions. All is explained at: Primate Sexuality: Comparative Studies of the Prosimians, Monkeys, Apes, and ... Googlebooks http://tinyurl.com/5egs3w top right hand of page 113 with photos of orang utans in flagrante delictu. It's face to face upright copulation, or woman on top, nothing like the enjoyably perverted practice I was looking forward to finding. It's very much the norm here in Bongo Bongo, where I live. Going through your category on ‘bongo-bongo-ism’, which I suppose you mean to apply as a general catch-all for ‘European attitudes towards strange habits indulged in by exotic peoples’ I came across your perplexity about Trukese sex positions.

All is explained at:
Primate Sexuality: Comparative Studies of the Prosimians, Monkeys, Apes, and … Googlebooks
http://tinyurl.com/5egs3w
top right hand of page 113 with photos of orang utans in flagrante delictu.

It’s face to face upright copulation, or woman on top, nothing like the enjoyably perverted practice I was looking forward to finding. It’s very much the norm here in Bongo Bongo, where I live.

]]> Comment on Gotta have more orange juice by Richard Parker http://henry.simon.net.nz/stories/2008/03/07/gotta-have-more-orange-juice/#comment-1315 Richard Parker Thu, 10 Jul 2008 08:47:15 +0000 http://henry.simon.net.nz/stories/2008/03/07/gotta-have-more-orange-juice/#comment-1315 Going through your category on 'bongo-bongo-ism', which I suppose you mean to apply as a general catch-all for 'European attitudes towards strange habits indulged in by exotic peoples' I came across your perplexity about Trukese sex positions. All is explained at: Primate Sexuality: Comparative Studies of the Prosimians, Monkeys, Apes, and ... Googlebooks http://tinyurl.com/5egs3w It's face to face upright copulation, or woman on top, nothing like the enjoyably perverted practice I was looking forward to finding. It's very much the norm here in Bongo Bongo, where I live. Going through your category on ‘bongo-bongo-ism’, which I suppose you mean to apply as a general catch-all for ‘European attitudes towards strange habits indulged in by exotic peoples’ I came across your perplexity about Trukese sex positions.

All is explained at:
Primate Sexuality: Comparative Studies of the Prosimians, Monkeys, Apes, and … Googlebooks
http://tinyurl.com/5egs3w

It’s face to face upright copulation, or woman on top, nothing like the enjoyably perverted practice I was looking forward to finding. It’s very much the norm here in Bongo Bongo, where I live.

]]> Comment on The Singing Cavemen by Richard Parker http://henry.simon.net.nz/stories/2008/07/04/the-singing-cavemen/#comment-1308 Richard Parker Tue, 08 Jul 2008 22:45:15 +0000 http://henry.simon.net.nz/?p=647#comment-1308 Actually, not so silly. But perhaps their explanation for their findings was, ie imagining people clambering around caves like wingless bats, echo-locating. These two papers have just come out, suggesting there IS something in the reverberations and pitches produced at certain points in stone structures (natural or contrived): Tse'Biinaholts'a Yalti (Curved Rock That Speaks) http://tinyurl.com/5axdeo Ancient Architectural Acoustic Resonance Patterns and Regional Brain Activity http://tinyurl.com/327p4e Both come from a new journal whose first issue is free. The second paper is more 'scientific' in that it actually shows evidence of brain changes at a certain pitch. I wonder what the pitch is for Gregorian chants? They were certainly devised to introduce brain changes. Actually, not so silly. But perhaps their explanation for their findings was, ie imagining people clambering around caves like wingless bats, echo-locating.

These two papers have just come out, suggesting there IS something in the reverberations and pitches produced at certain points in stone structures (natural or contrived):

Tse’Biinaholts’a Yalti (Curved Rock That Speaks)
http://tinyurl.com/5axdeo

Ancient Architectural Acoustic Resonance Patterns and Regional Brain Activity
http://tinyurl.com/327p4e

Both come from a new journal whose first issue is free.

The second paper is more ’scientific’ in that it actually shows evidence of brain changes at a certain pitch.

I wonder what the pitch is for Gregorian chants? They were certainly devised to introduce brain changes.

]]> Comment on Lost tribe, not so lost by The Motivation Behind the Uncontacted Amazon Indians « Anthropology.net http://henry.simon.net.nz/stories/2008/06/23/lost-tribe-not-so-lost/#comment-1307 The Motivation Behind the Uncontacted Amazon Indians « Anthropology.net Mon, 07 Jul 2008 22:33:04 +0000 http://henry.simon.net.nz/?p=636#comment-1307 [...] the ‘uncontacted’ people from the Brazilian-Peruvian Border? Well a couple weeks ago, Simon from HENRY, shared link that I think some of you maybe interested in. The link I speak of is this news piece, [...] [...] the ‘uncontacted’ people from the Brazilian-Peruvian Border? Well a couple weeks ago, Simon from HENRY, shared link that I think some of you maybe interested in. The link I speak of is this news piece, [...]

]]> Comment on The Singing Cavemen by Simon Greenhill http://henry.simon.net.nz/stories/2008/07/04/the-singing-cavemen/#comment-1306 Simon Greenhill Sat, 05 Jul 2008 02:48:11 +0000 http://henry.simon.net.nz/?p=647#comment-1306 Thanks for the comment, Sciphu. I agree - I hope the real research hasn't just relied on this argument. There are plenty of other possible explanations why they chose those spots: chance being the big one. One that occurs to me is that the more resonant locations might be the bigger caves... where you can stick lots of cave paintings. --Simon Thanks for the comment, Sciphu. I agree - I hope the real research hasn’t just relied on this argument. There are plenty of other possible explanations why they chose those spots: chance being the big one. One that occurs to me is that the more resonant locations might be the bigger caves… where you can stick lots of cave paintings.

–Simon

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