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    Natural selection acts on reproductive success, not lingu... — Carmelics
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    Challenges→Natural selection might have built a specialized language faculty containing inborn knowledge about language.

    Natural selection acts on reproductive success, not linguistic competence per se, making the fitness link indirect and underdetermined.

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    1 reason for
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    Reasons For

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    Reason for
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    • 1.Many traits enhancing linguistic ability (long childhood, neoteny) evolved for other adaptive pressures, not language specifically.
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    • 2.Reproductive success depends on hunting, coalition-building, and status—skills only indirectly aided by linguistic competence.
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    • 3.Language could be a byproduct of selection for general cognitive flexibility rather than a direct fitness-enhancing adaptation.
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    Reasons Against

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    Reason against
    ?
    • 1.Communication ability directly affects mate choice, alliance formation, and offspring survival—making fitness linkage quite direct.
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    • 2.The universal, species-specific nature of language suggests strong selection, not mere byproduct status from other pressures.
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    • 3.Even 'indirect' fitness effects compound across generations; small communication advantages accumulate into significant selection pressure.
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    Consciousness & Mind1 linkedPhilosophy of Language1 linked

    Related

    Communication ability directly affects mate choice, alliance formation, and offs...Even 'indirect' fitness effects compound across generations; small communication...Language could be a byproduct of selection for general cognitive flexibility rat...Many traits enhancing linguistic ability (long childhood, neoteny) evolved for o...
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    Natural selection might have built a specialized language faculty containing inb...Reproductive success depends on hunting, coalition-building, and status—skills o...The universal, species-specific nature of language suggests strong selection, no...

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