Grooming, Gossip, and the Evolution of Language

What a big brain we have for all the small talk we make. It's an evolutionary riddle that at long last makes sense in this intriguing book about what gossip has done for our talkative species. Psychologist Robin Dunbar looks at gossip as an instrument of social order and cohesion—much like the endless grooming with which our primate cousins tend to their social relationships.

Apes and monkeys, humanity's closest kin, differ from other animals in the intensity of these relationships. All their grooming is not so much about hygiene as it is about cementing bonds, making friends, and influencing fellow primates. But for early humans, grooming as a way to social success posed a problem: given their large social groups of 150 or so, our earliest ancestors would have had to spend almost half their time grooming one another—an impossible burden. What Dunbar suggests—and his research, whether in the realm of primatology or in that of gossip, confirms—is that humans developed language to serve the same purpose, but far more efficiently. It seems there is nothing idle about chatter, which holds together a diverse, dynamic group—whether of hunter-gatherers, soldiers, or workmates.

Anthropologists have long assumed that language developed in relationships among males during activities such as hunting. Dunbar's original and extremely interesting studies suggest otherwise: that language in fact evolved in response to our need to keep up to date with friends and family. We needed conversation to stay in touch, and we still need it in ways that will not be satisfied by teleconferencing, email, or any other communication technology. As Dunbar shows, the impersonal world of cyberspace will not fulfill our primordial need for face-to-face contact.

From the nit-picking of chimpanzees to our chats at coffee break, from neuroscience to paleoanthropology, Grooming, Gossip, and the Evolution of Language offers a provocative view of what makes us human, what holds us together, and what sets us apart.

What a big brain we have for all the small talk we make. It's an evolutionary riddle that at long last makes sense in this intriguing book about what gossip has done for our talkative species. Psychologist Robin Dunbar looks at gossip as an instrument of social order and cohesion—much like the endless grooming with which our primate cousins tend to their social relationships.

Apes and monkeys, humanity's closest kin, differ from other animals in the intensity of these relationships. All their grooming is not so much about hygiene as it is about cementing bonds, making friends, and influencing fellow primates. But for early humans, grooming as a way to social success posed a problem: given their large social groups of 150 or so, our earliest ancestors would have had to spend almost half their time grooming one another—an impossible burden. What Dunbar suggests—and his research, whether in the realm of primatology or in that of gossip, confirms—is that humans developed language to serve the same purpose, but far more efficiently. It seems there is nothing idle about chatter, which holds together a diverse, dynamic group—whether of hunter-gatherers, soldiers, or workmates.

Anthropologists have long assumed that language developed in relationships among males during activities such as hunting. Dunbar's original and extremely interesting studies suggest otherwise: that language in fact evolved in response to our need to keep up to date with friends and family. We needed conversation to stay in touch, and we still need it in ways that will not be satisfied by teleconferencing, email, or any other communication technology. As Dunbar shows, the impersonal world of cyberspace will not fulfill our primordial need for face-to-face contact.

From the nit-picking of chimpanzees to our chats at coffee break, from neuroscience to paleoanthropology, Grooming, Gossip, and the Evolution of Language offers a provocative view of what makes us human, what holds us together, and what sets us apart.

Publishers Weekly

There is no denying that Dunbar (The Trouble With Science) makes something of a splash in the field of evolutionary psychology when he argues that the main impetus behind the evolution of language is the human need to gossip. Of course, readers should not be fooled by the seemingly flip use of the term 'gossip,' since Dunbar's gossip refers to any type of social conversation. For Dunbar gossip constitutes the linguistic equivalent of grooming, the means by which primates, especially chimpanzees and baboons, establish relations within a group. Dunbar checks into research in the fields of cognitive psychology, primatology, endocrinology, linguistics, and neurology to argue that the growth in the size of nomadic human groups (from the 40-60 for apes to about 150 for our human ancestors) and our neocortex best explains the development of language. In Dunbar's formulation language performed the important function of holding these large groups together by substituting the energy-efficient "vocal grooming" for the more time-taxing physical act. With vocal grooming, early humanity could now move in larger groups, which afforded them protection from predators, and still have time to gather food over large areas. Concisely and clearly written for lay readers, Dunbar exhibits a gift for argument and explanation most science writers would give their right hand for. And while the penultimate chapter overreaches in its sociobiological claims, explaining in evolutionary terms phenomena that seem more cultural and economic in origin, one still admires Dunbar's ability to synthesize research in so many fields without taxing our interest.

Robin Dunbar is Professor of Psychology at the University of Liverpool.