Werner30.12
Implications of Evolutionary Theory for Human Homosexuality
The differences are seen even in language. For example, swearing, unlike other language capacities, has its origins in the phylogenetically older sub-cortical parts of the brain. Brain-damaged individuals may lose their capacity for virtually all language, but still retain the ability to swear (Pinker 1994). Psychoanalysts (e.g. Arango 1989) and anthropologists (Duerr 1993) have taken advantage of this phenomenon in order to analyze the sources of our most powerful emotions. In the case of dominant / submissive relations our swearing vocabulary is rich and revealing. Primate mounting behavior is revealed in expressions like "he wants our asses," or "up yours!" (The use of these "symbolic" expressions of dominance may be found in primates as well. Enmoto (1990) reports the case of one male bonobo expressing its dominance over another by using a gesture normally used to solicit sex from an estrous female.)
