Different in degree or kind: Egnor's take (Introduction)

by dhw, Wednesday, September 28, 2016, 12:45 (2978 days ago) @ David Turell

DAVID: No, species had to appear with the anatomic changes first. All the fossils we have show jumps in the changes from earlier to later forms. With the new modifications the new species would then learn to use them. First anatomy, then more advanced speech. - You say this great authority, but I do not follow your logic. Why should the anatomy not have changed as early humans strove to find new sounds with which to express new observations and thoughts? Would you claim that your God turned fins into legs and THEN legged fish stepped out of the water and learned how to walk? Is it not possible that finned fish explored dry land, and THEN their fins evolved into legs? I see no reason at all why you should reject the possibility that the need for something (or the quest for improvement) can generate change, as opposed to your God making the changes in advance and then the organism learning how to use them.
 
dhw: All of this makes nonsense of the claim that evolution cannot explain language: it is a perfect example of evolution at work: in this case, the physical form adapts itself to new requirements as part of the drive to improvement.
DAVID: Our advanced language did not require just the anatomic changes of our oral parts, but the development of a brain large enough to handle the complexities of spoken, written and read language. H. sapiens had the big brain 200,000 years ago and the oral parts, and then had to learn how to use them to reach the sophisticated language we have now. Tools first, application second. - Exercise can change the body and the brain. You have no evidence whatsoever that the tools did not come into being as a response to a need for change - as opposed to preparation for something your God wanted to postpone for 150,000 years (though you have now conceded that human language must have started in much simpler form 200,000 years ago). Of course it has grown more and more sophisticated as more and more phenomena required more and more sounds. That's evolution for you.