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    If UG were a product of natural selection, we would expec... — Carmelics
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    Challenges→Natural selection might have built a specialized language faculty containing inborn knowledge about language.

    If UG were a product of natural selection, we would expect clear homologs in closely related primates, yet no such faculty has been identified in chimpanzees.

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    1 reason for
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    Reasons For

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    • 1.Natural selection typically produces homologous structures across related species; absence of UG homologs suggests non-gradual evolutionary origin.
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    • 2.Chimpanzees lack recursion, displacement, and other core UG properties despite 6 million years of separate evolution, suggesting UG isn't a refinement of ancestral primate communication.
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    • 3.Most complex biological systems show clear precursors in related species; UG's uniqueness demands explanation beyond standard evolutionary mechanisms.
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    Reasons Against

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    Reason against
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    • 1.Absence of evidence isn't evidence of absence; primate communication systems may harbor UG properties we haven't yet identified or adequately tested.
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    • 2.UG could evolve from non-linguistic cognitive capacities (hierarchical planning, social reasoning) already present in primates without requiring homologous communication structures.
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    • 3.Selective pressures on human brains differed dramatically (social complexity, teaching, tool use); different selection pressures produce phenotypic divergence even from similar substrates.
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    Consciousness & Mind1 linkedPhilosophy of Language1 linked

    Related

    Absence of evidence isn't evidence of absence; primate communication systems may...Chimpanzees lack recursion, displacement, and other core UG properties despite 6...Most complex biological systems show clear precursors in related species; UG's u...Natural selection might have built a specialized language faculty containing inb...
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    Natural selection typically produces homologous structures across related specie...Selective pressures on human brains differed dramatically (social complexity, te...UG could evolve from non-linguistic cognitive capacities (hierarchical planning,...

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