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John Maynard Smith - The phenomenon of sign language in children (91/102)

920 views · Published 23 January 2017 · 1:00 · Indexed 31 October 2026

Channel: Web of Stories - Life Stories of Remarkable People · 2017 · Science & Technology

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To hear more of John Maynard Smith’s stories, go to the playlist: https://www.youtube.com/watch?v=0b0Nm_L3TKg&list=PLVV0r6CmEsFzJSvAc4MBuUP_GrjO1lLHp

The late British biologist John Maynard Smith (1920-2004) is famous for applying game theory to the study of natural selection. In 1973 Maynard Smith formalised a central concept in game theory called the evolutionarily stable strategy (ESS). His ideas, presented in books such as 'Evolution and the Theory of Games', were enormously influential and led to a more rigorous scientific analysis and understanding of interactions between living things. [Listener: Richard Dawkins; date recorded: 1997]

TRANSCRIPT: One of the most remarkable phenomena, I find fascinating to read about, are these sign languages that deaf children will evolve almost for themselves. I mean, it's not that some adult dreams up a sign language and then teaches it to deaf children, it's that deaf children evolve sign languages among themselves by passionately wanting to communicate. And these languages have a syntax, I mean, they're really complex... they're real languages, they're not sort of just a collection of meaningless signs or... and it's one of the things that makes me... persuades me that we really do have a kind of drive, an inner set of genetic mechanisms causing us to develop, and learn, syntax and grammar and language. But it could well be that for a time we spoke largely in gesture, we didn't have to use our voices at all - I don't know.

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