Language

When I observe my kids learning to speak and write as they grow older, I am reminded of the importance of language for humans. Language allows humans to express their needs and wants, to work together toward a common goal, and to record and transmit information across generations. There is a debate as to whether people are born with the biological hardware to learn languages or whether they learn languages starting from a clean slate. Either way, the fact that we can learn languages is itself interesting.

The other day, my wife went to her "kickboxing" class, and my son asked his older sister, "Is mommy going to kick a box?" I said no, she was not, and that she was instead going to a class that teaches people how to do exercises called "kickboxing." Slowly, through trial and error at times, we learn a language.