With the ability to process intricate thoughts and emotions as well as create a written language, we as humans become unique from all other living beings. Over time, we have distanced ourselves more and more from the animalistic characteristics we once possessed in favor of an ordered society. Yet this distancing does not mean there are no longer similarities between humans and animals. Both humans and animals reproduce, live in groups with those similar to them, and have a form of communication. It is the human being, though, that has advanced throughout time with the help of a higher level of thought, emotions, and language.
For reproductive purposes, a man and a woman are necessary to keep the human race thriving. The man generally provides the woman with food, shelter, and protection from dangerous forces, which enables the woman to give those things to her child in turn. Men are considered the logical left-brained ones, while women are the emotional right-brainers. These two ways of thinking combine to create a deeper understanding of the world. The father teaches us skills such as hunting and the mother enriching our expressive side. The combination of men and women’s ways of thinking enrich our world and our ability to be our unique creatures.
Although art is right-brained activity, there are also left-brained ways in which it can be approached. If an artist carefully plans what they are going to create and uses a logical approach to how and what they are creating, he or she uses the left side of the brain. The right-brain approach entails a more free-form style based on a feeling. Both styles are able to produce incredible pieces of work that evoke an emotional right brained response.
The Creative Impulse states, “Our insistence on cognitive knowing may already have robbed us of some of our capacity for being human.” Sadly, this is true. As the human brain has developed, many have forgotten the old ways of living. The invention of writing stopped the use of cave paintings and story telling to retell a group’s history. There was little need to tell the stories because they existed in a form that could change hands even after a person passed away. With this transition came a lesser connection to the spiritual world. The trances people once underwent that lead to the creation of the cave paintings no longer transpired. While writing has made communication much simpler, it has put a damper on art today. The Australian Aborigines are the some of the only people who live in a world similar to how it was thousands of years ago. Their art it of animals because they feel a connection toward them and believe that if they paint an animal it will secure the population so they can hunt it. Although we have dominated Earth with our writings, the combination of writing and art separates humans from animals as we think and feel in a complex manner.
I dare say, as a most sophisticated cave-dwelling feline, I believe you have done an excellent job throughout these paragraphs in describing the human condition as it applies to all areas mentioned. It would appear you have taken a very literal approach to explaining each aspect of human existence, and I find that refreshing. Throughout these posts, I have seen a plethora of explanations based on the mental or spiritual separations that define the human race. To see solid roles and the way humans fill them defined as separating factors was something I did not expect, yet thoroughly appreciated.
ReplyDeleteWhen explaining the Creative Impulse quote, I hit upon a point of contention. You state within your post that "As the human brain has developed, many have forgotten the old ways of living." Who is to say that the present way of living is not all that it means to be human? To state that humanity is being lost as measured against the old ways is, in my opinion,an inaccurate statement, shackled to the past. The human condition is continuous, and was never complete at any one point.
All in all, a pretty pawesome post. you should feel good about this right meow.
-CaveCat