The Limits of Ape Communication

Koko the gorilla knew over a thousand signs, but she never actually spoke a language.

We confuse communication with language all the time. Koko could signal she was hungry or

sad, but she couldn't string sentences together with grammar. That is the secret

sauce only humans have. We are born with a brain wired for syntax.

We tried teaching apes for decades, and even with their brains physically changing from the

training, they never got past the level of a two-year-old. It turns out biology has a strict deadline,

because if you miss your childhood window to learn grammar, that door shuts forever.