From Signal to Symbol Quotes

“Our deep-time ancestors very likely had the genetic resources needed for formal quantitative reasoning, but without the cultural invention of numerals and a umber line, those resources could not be exploited. The same may be true of language. The central role of cultural learning in the construction and transmission of language (qua social phenomenon) is enough to show that the use of language depends on cultural scaffolds, not just appropriate genetic potential.”
― Ronald J. Planer, From Signal to Symbol: The Evolution of Language

“The elaborated kinship systems of ethnographic report impose steep linguistic demands. These systems feature a small set of basic kin terms: “mother” and (typically) “father”, “husband”, “wife”.”
― Ronald J. Planer, From Signal to Symbol: The Evolution of Language

“Humans became able to move much more freely through the landscape because their support networks were more stable over time. These supportive relations between groups made it possible for sapiens to colonize forbidding environments with very limited foods supplies, supporting only very small residential groups. A band of a family or two would not be stable over the long term, without support from a wider network. While small groups can penetrate harsher environments, they need social risk management. They need to be able to reconnect at times of need.”
― Ronald J. Planer, From Signal to Symbol: The Evolution of Language