Different in degree or kind; language (Introduction)

by dhw, Sunday, December 21, 2014, 13:36 (3625 days ago) @ Balance_Maintained

DAVID: A group of experts despairs of every finding evolutionary reasons for human language. There is no evidence of how it appeared or evolved. Animals communicate but not anything close to our level. we are different in kind.-http://journal.frontiersin.org/Journal/10.3389/fpsyg.2014.00401/full#h9-We build houses, and birds build nests. We build planes, and birds fly. We build schools, and birds give one-to-one tuition. We build farms and abattoirs and shops, and birds hunt. We use words, and birds whistle and sing. All organisms use the tools at their disposal, and because we have extraordinary brains, we have created enormously complex means of fulfilling our needs (which in themselves, I agree, have become increasingly complex, far in excess of those of our fellow animals). Language is one of them. If you define it as words and syntax, then yes we are unique. If you take it as means of communication, then most species are unique. Bacteria, ants, crows, snakes and elephants all have their own languages, but what does that prove? That 3.7 billion years ago your God preprogrammed all the different bird, insect and animal languages into the first cells, but inserted extra special programmes just for us humans? Or do you think your God stepped in later to give extra special language lessons to us? Ah, no, because in your latest theory, God doesn't dabble. Perhaps you could just briefly explain once more why it is so important for you to make this distinction between degree and kind.
 
TONY: Well, at least from a biblical perspective, language is part of how we were designed. Apparently "let us make them in our image" included the ability to communicate and speak in a common language with our designer, because, as the story goes, humans communicated with him directly via spoken word in the beginning.-I'm not quite sure what “in the beginning” implies. According to Genesis there was only one human language to begin with, but now there are estimated to be well over 6000 in use. So either God understands people's prayers in 6000-plus different languages, or we can no longer communicate with him directly. You seem to be implying the latter, which would make a mockery of most church services, let alone those individuals who believe they have direct access. Or have I misunderstood?