> Indeed, the biggest take away from this book is the unremitting emphasis
> on the social -- on social relations -- in the development of language
> and speech. Even in her chapters on research on the brain and on the
> following chapter on genetics, which I'm just now reading, what you are
> confronted with is the fact that you can't understand any of this
> without considering the effects of our social environment on the brain
> and genetics. (basically, from what I get on the genetics chapter, which
> I haven't finished, is that the idea that we have a blueprint for a
> genome has been tossed, even though it was the dominant view just five
> years ago. But again, book's at work, so I might need to revise that.)
I have to say that's my initial reaction to Michael S's precis about "what's in the head that enables us to speak". What's fundamental to the development of language is its role in social relations, not what's in our heads. My fondness for late Wittgenstein is definitely showing here!
Miles