Various eggheads on the origins of language

Link: Edmund Blair Bolles's blog summarises the answers a bunch of scholars gave to the question:

If we shipwrecked a boatload of babies on the Galapagos Islands—assuming they had all the food, water, and shelter they needed to survive—would they produce language in any form when they grew up? And if it did, how many individuals would you need for it to take off, what form might it take, and how would it change over the generations?

The question, and the answers, come from a new book about the origins of language. There's nothing approaching a consensus amongst the answers. It's interesting stuff, and Bolles's comments are excellent as well. Highly recommended reading.

Via Cognitive Daily.