The Evolutionary Paradox of Human Language

Why are we so much chattier than other species? Madeleine Beekman has a surprising answer: blame the babies. Madeleine is professor emerita of evolutionary biology at the University of Sydney, and in her new book, The Origin of Language: How We Learned to Speak and Why, she explains that due to a series of evolutionary accidents, human infants were born so helpless that survival depended on coordinating care. Language, she argues, evolved as a kind of project-management system for baby-rearing. In other words, we didn’t start talking because we were geniuses; we started talking because we were exhausted parents.

📱 Follow The Next Big Idea Daily on Apple Podcasts, Spotify, or wherever you listen

📩 Want more bite-sized insights from the best new nonfiction delivered straight to your inbox? Sign up for our Book of the Day newsletter