There has been much debate among scientists regarding the reason for humankind's big brain. Or at least big compared to our body size and compared to all the other mammals.
Some argue it was because of our use of tools. Some say it was because we lived in so many different environments that we had to learn to be creative, and that required lots of computing power. A growing number are starting to agree it was our need for language that drove our increase in brain size.
That then begs the question, why did humans develop a need for a rich and detailed spoken language? Every other animal on earth does just fine without it. Why are we so special?
When you think about language as a tool, it might be easier to understand. What do we use this tool for? Chopping down trees? Language may be the most versatile tool ever.
Most would say the purpose of language is to communicate information. Pure data, or streams of instructions and directions. How to get home, or find that great hunting spot.
Lately, many psychologists have started to wonder if language is really meant to be used to persuade others. To get others to go along with us. To convince our buddy to throw his spear at the mammoth, and risk getting him in trouble, rather than us.
If you could imagine remembering your first cries as a baby, were you merely letting those around you know that you were wet? Or were you attempting to influence the actions of those around you?
When you look at language from this perspective, it starts to make sense that persuasion is at the heart of all our communication. Our boss, our partners, our kids. Unless we are sports reporter giving the details of that days match, we are attempting, at some level, to persuade others.
So it naturally follows that if you are going to persuade somebody, you'd better get pretty good at it. With all these people walking around trying to persuade each other into their own way of thinking, you may as well learn how to get the upper hand.
One easy way to persuade others is to elicit and leverage the criteria of others. This means find out what is important to them, and show them covertly that they can achieve that by doing what you want.
Of course, it goes without saying that this is best done from a win-win mind set. If you set out to take advantage of people, you probably won't come out very well in the end. But when you make sure everybody gets their needs met, you can quickly become pretty persuasive.
Some argue it was because of our use of tools. Some say it was because we lived in so many different environments that we had to learn to be creative, and that required lots of computing power. A growing number are starting to agree it was our need for language that drove our increase in brain size.
That then begs the question, why did humans develop a need for a rich and detailed spoken language? Every other animal on earth does just fine without it. Why are we so special?
When you think about language as a tool, it might be easier to understand. What do we use this tool for? Chopping down trees? Language may be the most versatile tool ever.
Most would say the purpose of language is to communicate information. Pure data, or streams of instructions and directions. How to get home, or find that great hunting spot.
Lately, many psychologists have started to wonder if language is really meant to be used to persuade others. To get others to go along with us. To convince our buddy to throw his spear at the mammoth, and risk getting him in trouble, rather than us.
If you could imagine remembering your first cries as a baby, were you merely letting those around you know that you were wet? Or were you attempting to influence the actions of those around you?
When you look at language from this perspective, it starts to make sense that persuasion is at the heart of all our communication. Our boss, our partners, our kids. Unless we are sports reporter giving the details of that days match, we are attempting, at some level, to persuade others.
So it naturally follows that if you are going to persuade somebody, you'd better get pretty good at it. With all these people walking around trying to persuade each other into their own way of thinking, you may as well learn how to get the upper hand.
One easy way to persuade others is to elicit and leverage the criteria of others. This means find out what is important to them, and show them covertly that they can achieve that by doing what you want.
Of course, it goes without saying that this is best done from a win-win mind set. If you set out to take advantage of people, you probably won't come out very well in the end. But when you make sure everybody gets their needs met, you can quickly become pretty persuasive.
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