Information, The Hidden Side of Life

1Human and Animal Communication

We, modern humans, find ourselves swimming in an ocean of information. If we were to get out of town to escape from the hubbub our fellow beings create, it may not be calm that awaits us in the forest. The forest has its own din, unceasing and of countless types. This is nature speaking to itself. Now, why should there be so much information being circulated, and so much time and energy being used up? This chapter discusses these questions, starting with the human case before going on to other languages in nature.

1.1. Language, that amazing thing

There are several ways in which Homo sapiens stand out from other species. Humans are bipeds, masters of fire, practitioners of art, makers of tools and weaponry, live well past the age of reproduction, impose rites of passage on each other between the stages of their life and so on. The human being is unique for many of these reasons. We differ from other primates in that we do not suffer from hirsuteness, and we walk on our rear limbs. However, there is another difference that, though rarely mentioned, is perhaps the most fundamental and the least anecdotal: Homo sapiens are information specialists. That is what this chapter is about, and we will also consider why this is the case.

Scientists of the 19th Century understood that Homo sapiens had not been created apart from other living beings, but was simply one among several species. Some, however, did not give up trying to find reasons for upholding ...