There is a time between elephants we call the "Elephant Reunion." These creatures travel miles to see their relatives, bellowing at a quarter mile away. When they finally unite, liquid drips from their temporal glands, their tusks intertwine, and their ears flap (PBS). These elephants, along with many beings in our Animal Kingdom, display emotion. Feelings aren't unique. Monkeys use small sticks to remove insects from holes. Tools aren't unique. All animals reproduce; sex isn't unique. The only truly different human quality is the written language. So, to be human is to communicate in a written language.
The moment we began to write was the beginning of our separation with the natural world. However, the writings worked together with nature. The glyphs were visual depictions of what the first writers saw. Slowly, however, the written language digressed into the Greek alphabet. This alphabet had no almost no relation to the natural world, taking language to a new place (Shlain). The symbols didn't relate to what they described. This began to dominate language. Now, our written world has a natural separation from the natural world because of our obsession with language.
Our biggest flaw as humans is what defines us the most. We have separated ourselves so far from any point of nature/language combination that the two can't live in tandem any longer. Language dominates nature, not respecting it. It's impossible for us to combine these two aspects. It's lodged so deep, even in our brain make up, that nature and language are natural enemies. Our brains are so language oriented that we have lost some emotions and thought processes that separate us. We are so rational and left-brained dominant that some feelings and ideas can never be regained, like acceptance of spoken word as completely functional. I pity the right hemisphere and nature's defeat; they deserve more recognition. And, it won't get any better until our material, overly-logical world progresses so far that only complete regression would save us. We have discovered what it means to be human: language. Now, we need to discover what it means to live like an animal, harmoniously with nature.
I am confused by how you defined a human. It appears to me that you are saying that humans were not humans until they developed a written language, and that humans must by definition separate themselves from nature. I cannot agree that humans are defined by their development of a written language as there are still places in the world today where tribes of humans live with no written language, but yet we still consider them to be human. I would also classify poetry as a form of art in which nature is respected, which combines the written word with nature. Nature in my opinion has not been defeated either, as people still die and natural disasters can still conquer a city faster than a war. I do agree that western cultures have separated themselves from nature to a great extent but there are many other cultures in the world that have not, however these cultures have not advanced.
ReplyDeleteMy question is what do you define as language? Is it when words form or when the first cave paintings appeared? The humans began to gather and travel in packs before the artwork appeared. Traveling in packs is not unusual for animals, yet the distinct ways of doing things may have turned animals into humans. That could be the breaking point of a higher species.
ReplyDeleteAlthough I found some of your earlier statements a bit... aggressive, I was able to understand your point of view. It totally makes sense to me how you can say writing is the largest separation between animals and humans. I think that the relationship is more complex and needs more exploration because, in my opinion, some animals may be more talented than humans at many aspects. However trivial a skill may seem, on the scale of evolution of the earth, a small talent could evolve more than we may expect.
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