It would take, I believe, an advanced two-, and more likely, a three-year-old, to be able to put those cards in the correct order

Jackie, you are absolutely right. My wife runs a preschool and even she is astonished at how difficult it is to get three year olds to recognise this kind of sequencing. An interesting point is that the powers that be (they who set "desirable learning outcomes") place sequencing under mathematics along with bigger, smaller, in front, behind etc. I guess I understand that now, having had some time to get used to the idea, but it puzzled me at first. Your illustration of babies use of syntax - I hadn’t noticed that, they do get it right don’t they, but it still seems to be learned behaviour, not some kind of genetic inheritance

Looking at the Darwinesque(?) aspect and just thinking aloud, children have a strong innate drive to communicate and we are told that females, because of the left brain, right brain thing, are naturally better at some types of communication (maybe all types?) than are males My personal experience supports that, which leads me to accept that a natural variation exists at a basic level. (Trying hard not to be provocative here and recognising that these are extreme generalisations and sensitive areas!). So if one were to accept that, connected in some way with X and Y chromosomes, there is in-built variation in the natural ability to communicate then, since variation carries with it the potential for improvement, it should be possible for that ability to improve. Improve to the degree suggested by Mr Ridley? I don't believe so. If, as he postulates, literacy became the prime measure of sexual attraction, with consequent impact on successful reproduction for the literate, surely the result would be to strengthen that natural ability to communicate so that improved literacy came along as a spin off. I don't think the ability to communicate better necessarily indicates an increased IQ (look at some of our politicians) which might lead to children regularly learning to read at eighteen months. But even if it did, wouldn’t that still be learned behaviour, not innate?

dxb