• yesman@lemmy.world
    link
    fedilink
    English
    arrow-up
    26
    arrow-down
    27
    ·
    2 months ago

    Only humans have language. Inter-species communication is nothing special. Rattlesnakes are named for their ability to communicate cross species.

    • na_th_an@lemmy.world
      link
      fedilink
      English
      arrow-up
      4
      arrow-down
      1
      ·
      2 months ago

      A rattlesnake can certainly communicate using sound, but is that language? Bright colors can communicate ideas of “do not eat this” across species as well, but they wouldn’t fit my mental model of a language.

      • shneancy@lemmy.world
        link
        fedilink
        English
        arrow-up
        4
        arrow-down
        1
        ·
        2 months ago

        what is language than making sounds to convey meaning and then decoding said sounds to understand their meaning

        human language is incredibly complex but a bee just buzzing a particular buzz that means “bear nearby” counts as a valid form of linguistic communication imo