The Symbolic Primate. How language and culture made us human

Humans diverged from our closest relative, the chimpanzee, about seven million years ago, a relatively short time from an evolutionary point of view. Biological continuity with the chimpanzee is evident in many physiological and behavioral aspects; equally evident is the cognitive gap between the two species. In this talk I will attempt to outline the process of hominization based on data from paleontology, genetics, bioinformatics, neurobiology, anthropology and linguistics. I will argue that the key point of this process is the development of a symbolic communication system that gave rise to language and culture, thus changing the rules of biological evolution, which became co-evolution of genes and culture.

 

Emisión vía Zoom   ID: 416 064 2441     Código: 590179 

 

 

Date: 
26/11/2020 - 19:00
Speaker: 
Pablo Rodríguez Palenzuela
Filiation: 
ETSIAAB-UCM


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