This is an interesting article about a parrot that has very acute language abilities: http://news.bbc.co.uk/2/hi/science/nature/3430481.stm It just makes you wonder about human intelligence and consciousness. I have often thought as to why animals like chimps or gorillas haven't developed more sophisticated abilities for language or problem solving as humans. Richard Leakey's and Roger Lewis's "Origins Reconsidered" believe that Australopithecus had a greater social demand than chimps or gorillas. That statement is extremely subtle. Let me explain; most believe that the incentive for language in human beings was an advantage in hunting. But if you've seen the Discovery channel you may have seen the documentary about the wild African dogs. The documentary showed the dogs hunting down an elk; one of the dogs starts to jump in a very awkward manner. The dog was creating a distraction while the other dogs creped up on the prey. The dogs don't use language to organize this effort yet each dog knows when to take on a role. So language is not a necessary element to be a good hunter. So what other incentive could have propelled humans to expand upon animal calls? The fact that humans are extremely social is a key factor in my humble opinion. In fact the need for high socialization is not to improve hunting skills at all. Close relationships in primate societies actually protect members from other hostile members. What makes humans better problem solvers maybe a subtle emotional predisposition that makes us obsess longer on an objective. This obsession has a draw back, while we would obsess to make better tools we also obsess on hurting or hating our enemies. What makes us geniuses also makes us devils! So language provides a means to solicit protection from hostile members. Imagine a chimp that has just been abused by some other member or members, it goes crying about but can't explain what had just happened to it. If an Australopithecine figured out how to use the behavior of calls for describing an action and then applied a tense context to it, then it could explain what had happened to it in a situation where it was abused. By just using an extrapolation of the use of calls a simple proto language emerges. The fact that humans can hate with such indifference maybe the catalyst that spurred our need for language. By having a high degree of danger associated with social isolation, those australopithecines that used the proto language would have better abilities to exploit relationships than those that didn't. The capabilities of the parrot described in the article demonstrate that simpler brains are capable of language, only an incentive is needed to develop it. I think its funny that the diabolical side of humanity may very well have been the key to our expanded intelligence. Of course such hatred is too dangerous today and perhaps even obsolete, but then...Do you remember the movie "Clockwork Orange"?

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