We humans have evolved into quite strange beings. Whatever happens in the future is unlikely to be any odder than what has already happened in the past. We differ from other animals in that we cook our food and wear clothes. Other unusual characteristics are a tendency to kill eath other, and a mild preference for making love face to face. But perhaps the most important distiguishing feature is human language. This extraordinary system allows us to communicate about anything whatsoever, whether it is present, absent, or even non-existent.
Nobody has ever encountered the bizarre delights of this fictional land. Yet we have no difficulty in understanding these lines written by the comic writer Spike Milligan. This is quite strange, compared with the communication systems of other animals, which are mostly confined to messages about everyday events, such as food, danger, mating and territorial fights.
