Detachment

Hypothesis: the more flexible cognitive control needed for the use of communicative gestures and language emerges - on one plausible account - with a dampening of emotional/motivational reactivity - related to activation of the limbic system and the amygdala perhaps. Similarly - and this is the hypothesis - this may be required for the ability to perceive objective states of affairs and their causal relationships: to adopt a 'rational stance' with respect to both mental and physical dynamics perhaps. Evidence for the former - Buttelmann et al.'s Encultured chimpanzees imitate rationally 2007 paper. In the wild they do not, while Orangutans do - why. The authors suggest: "orangutans are calmer and more observant than chimpanzees, or less governed by a need to get food rewards as directly as possible."

"Adult humans understand...that actors perceptually monitor the overall situation asthey pursue their goals, and choose plansof action that fit the opportunities andconstraints of the current situation; that is to say, they understand others' intentional actions rationally". This ability may exist in humans as young as 12 months. This is what Orangutans also seem able to do in the wild, and enculturated chimpanzees can do too!