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Solved Precis

2002

Original Passage

'The official name of our species is homo sapiens; but there are many anthropologists who prefer to think of man as homo Fabcr-thc smith, the maker of tools It would be possible. I think, to reconcile these two definitions in a third. If man is a knower and an efficient doer, it is only because he is also a talker in order to be Faber and Sapiens, Homo must first be loaquax, the loquacious one. Without language we should merely be hairless chimpanzees. Indeed, should be something much worse. Possessed of a high IQ but no language, we should be like the Yahoos of Gulliver's Travels- Creatures too clever to be guided by instinct, too Self-centered to live in a state of animal grace, and therefore condemned forever, frustrated and malignant, between contented ape hood and aspiring ‘humanity. It was language that made possible the accumulation of knowledge and the broadcasting of information. It was language that permitted the expression of religious insight, the formulation of ethical ideals, the codification to laws, it was language, in a word, that turned us into human beings and gave birth to civilization.

Title

Language: The Foundation of Civilization

Solved Precis

While humans are classified as Homo sapiens (knower) or Homo Faber (tool maker), a superior definition is Homo loquax (talker), as language enables both knowing and doing. Without language, humans, though clever, would be frustrated, self-centered, and malignant. Language was credited with enabling the accumulation and broadcasting of knowledge, the expression of ideals, and the codification of laws. In essence, language was the factor that transformed us into human beings and initiated civilization.