Editing Symbolic communication (section)

=== Historical development of symbolic communication ===
{{See also|Communication#Written_communication_and_its_historical_development|label 1=Written communication and its historical development}}
The origin of symbolic communication remains a controversial open problem, obscured by the lack of a fossil record. However, it has been speculated that 1.9 million years ago, [[Homo erectus]] began the use of [[Gesture|pantomime]] to communicate which allowed our ancestors to transmit information and experiences.<ref>{{Citation|last=Shea|first=John J.|chapter=Language and Symbolic Artifacts|pages=84–109|publisher=Cambridge University Press|isbn=9781316389355|doi=10.1017/9781316389355.007|title=Stone Tools in Human Evolution|year=2017}}</ref>

The transition from [[Indexicality|indexical]] to symbolic communication is therefore a key evolutionary change because it may signal the [[origin of language]]<ref>{{Cite journal|last1=Christiansen|first1=Morten H.|last2=Kirby|first2=Simon|date=2003-07-01|title=Language evolution: consensus and controversies|journal=Trends in Cognitive Sciences|volume=7|issue=7|pages=300–307|doi=10.1016/s1364-6613(03)00136-0|pmid=12860188|s2cid=73331|issn=1364-6613}}</ref><ref>{{Cite journal|last=Ivic|first=Milka|date=2005|title=Ray Jackendoff: Foundations of language. Brain, meaning, grammar, evolution, Oxford, 2004, Oxford University Press, 477s|journal=Južnoslovenski Filolog|issue=61|pages=213–215|doi=10.2298/jfi0561213i|issn=0350-185X|doi-access=free}}</ref><ref name="Kronenfeld 622">{{Cite journal|last1=Kronenfeld|first1=David B.|last2=Donald|first2=Merlin|date=1993-09-01|title=Origins of the Modern Mind: Three Stages in the Evolution of Culture and Cognition|journal=Language|volume=69|issue=3|pages=622|doi=10.2307/416718|issn=0097-8507|jstor=416718|url=http://www.genling.nw.ru/Staff/Psycholinguistics/Precis.pdf}}</ref> and symbolic thought.<ref name="Kronenfeld 622"/><ref>{{Citation|last=Deacon|first=Terrence W.|chapter=Beyond the Symbolic Species|date=2011-11-11|pages=9–38|publisher=Springer Netherlands|isbn=9789400723351|doi=10.1007/978-94-007-2336-8_2|title=The Symbolic Species Evolved|volume=6|series=Biosemiotics}}</ref><ref>{{Cite journal|last1=Grouchy|first1=Paul|last2=D’Eleuterio|first2=Gabriele M. T.|last3=Christiansen|first3=Morten H.|last4=Lipson|first4=Hod|date=2016-10-10|title=On The Evolutionary Origin of Symbolic Communication|journal=Scientific Reports|volume=6|issue=1|pages=34615|doi=10.1038/srep34615|pmid=27721422|issn=2045-2322|bibcode=2016NatSR...634615G|pmc=5056373}}</ref><ref>{{Cite journal|last=Nieder|first=Andreas|date=2009-02-01|title=Prefrontal cortex and the evolution of symbolic reference|journal=Current Opinion in Neurobiology|volume=19|issue=1|pages=99–108|doi=10.1016/j.conb.2009.04.008|pmid=19447604|s2cid=206950249|issn=0959-4388}}</ref>

A study conducted in the 1980s by [[Giacomo Rizzolatti]] on [[Macaque|macaque monkeys]] discovered a class of neurons later known as the [[mirror neuron]]s which are activated in response to different actions whether the actions are carried out by ourselves or others. It is one of the neural bases to of connecting to others. These mirror neurons are also known to be activated when “symbolic” representations of actions such as mime, speech and reading are experienced. This allowed our ancestral primates to learn and transmit basic forms of symbolic representations to communicate.<ref>{{Cite journal|last1=di Pellegrino|first1=G.|last2=Fadiga|first2=L.|last3=Fogassi|first3=L.|last4=Gallese|first4=V.|last5=Rizzolatti|first5=G.|date=1992|title=Understanding motor events: a neurophysiological study|journal=Experimental Brain Research|volume=91|issue=1|pages=176–180|issn=0014-4819|pmid=1301372|doi=10.1007/BF00230027|s2cid=206772150}}</ref>

Skills such as hunting, and crafting could then be taught [[Mimesis|mimetically]]. The use of pantomimes also allowed them to describe the past, present and future allowing them to reenact events outside of their immediate context. Over time, the amount and complexity of pantomimes evolved, creating a sufficiently mimetic language which allowed the Homo erectus to create a culture which is similar to that of modern humans.

Written communication first emerged through the use of [[pictogram]]s which slowly developed standardized and simplified forms. Shared [[writing system]]s were then developed leading to adaptable alphabets.