"The First Idea: How Symbols, Language and Intelligence Evolved from Our Primate Ancestors to Modern Humans," is a book by professors Stanley Greenspan and Stuart Shanker. Their hypotheses assert that our ability to use symbols and language depends on specific types of nurturing interactions and other cultural practices have been passed down and thus learned anew and further developed by each generation, dating back to prehuman and even nonhuman primate cultures. I spoke with Professor Shanker about these and other topics.
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