Deacon takes an evolutionary perspective on how human brains diverged
from the brain development trajectories of other primates and mammals.
The discussion covers much ground -- from neuroscience to linguistics to
semiotics (Peirce) to social influences (Vygotsky).
His argument -- that it's not size of the brain but functional distributions
that matter, and that
it's not that other species' weren't lucky enough to become humans, but
that humans (and their symbolic predilections) represent a peculiar,
anomalous, and highly effective accident of evolution -- is
sound. And the breadth of scientific detail he brings to this argument to
support it is truly staggering.
Play, viewed from a Deacon-esque perspective, is one of the expressions
of our peculiar symbolic neurological wiring. The capacity to formulate
symbolic systems that are "about" something, in a variety of media, is what
makes
us human -- and it's also this symbolic orientation that, he argues, gives
many of us the impression that our "spirits" will live on even after our
bodies die. Anyway, for those who haven't checked this book out already,
I highly, highly recommend it.
Louise