Why bother to speak?

My new book 'Virtue signaling' includes this essay. It's available now on Amazon: amzn.to/2PTe0NH
How did language evolve? The key problem comes from signaling theory: if other people are sharing useful information, it's useful to listen to them. But what are the evolutionary payoffs for sharing useful information in the first place? This video explores why people bothered to say anything true, useful, or interesting to each other -- given that most other species don't.
PS apologies for the background noise in some of this video; we'll be more careful in future!
These arguments about the evolution of language are also featured in my book 'The Mating Mind': amzn.to/2GQ2DAI
For early access, exclusive content, & eccentric minds, join my Patreon Culture: / geoffrey_miller

[@mrbeety]

"Who you are speaks so loudly that I cannot hear what you are saying." The great Ralph Waldo Emerson understood this intuitively. =)

[@noragrets5553]

I go days without speaking.. it’s great 👍🏽

[@loopuleasa]

Thank you maestro

[@simongregory3114]

Female birds don't sing? I never knew this!

[@Babesinthewood97]

But we can also lie and decieve with our language

[@bradbecker4297]

Have you heard of Graham Hancock? Intelligent history seems to keep going further and further back. Maybe his insights could help with some of these questions.

[@andrew.r.lukasik]

Thank you. Very interesting question.

[@Kurtlane]

I wonder why he didn't mention that language is very helpful in survival of a tribe. Early human tribes were almost always made of relatives, so genetic benefits are obvious. Moreover, where a tribe survived and prospered, so would the individual members, and their genes. Many animals, from prairie dogs to apes, have specific signals for danget: "snake," "leopard," "hawk." It would be even better to be able to say "leopard in the bushes" or "leopard on the left." Moreover, some animals, such as lions, set up elaborate traps for the hunted animal before a hunt proper begins. They do it without language, but here too language can offer greater opportunities. Overall, I don't think there was a single reason for.human languages to form. It was a combination of various reasons, some sexual, some not.