1st page
Progressive Thinkers as of 12/1/2022
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As a follow-up to the 1st preface (even though I am extracting it from what is now the 3rd installment of this series), because it is important; let me include the idea of a scenario in which human migration out of Africa appears to be an expressed parallel to the development of the human brain. In this idea the projection map displays the world as we might view the brain from the back of a person's head, which details a triune concept of the brain into the typical divisions of:
- Reptilian, Limbic, Neo-cortex (both hemispheres)
- Hindbrain, Midbrain, Forebrain
- Reptilian, Old Mammal brain, Cortex
- Reptilian, Old Mammal brain, New Mammal brain
While it is not customary to divide the two hemispheres with the labels of old and new mammal brains, I use it to distinguish the idea related to what I believe is an early growth pattern which causes the Right Hemisphere to assert itself a bit and jut forward of the Left Hemisphere. Using the term "Cortex" for both is not a good idea in the present case, but I could use the terms Neo-cortex and Old Cortex. In any event, so long as you understand what I am doing and why, there is no reason to not permit me a bit of latitude in the use of labeling. Also, I am combining the Reptilian and Limbic systems since both are primary functionaries while the Hemispheres are "higher" functionaries. But let us look at development another way so that you won't think I'm trying to "put one over on you" as if I don't take time to read about brain development:
...The head end of the neural plate becomes expansive even as it closes into a tube. This brain region continues to surpass the spinal cord region in size. Three enlargements are prominent: ("prenatal development." Encyclopædia Britannica.)
- Forebrain- The forebrain gives rise to two secondary expansions:
- Telencephalon- telencephalon outpouches, right and left, into paired cerebral hemispheres, which overgrow and conceal much of the remainder of the brain before birth.
- Diencephalon-
- Midbrain (also called Mesencephalon)
- Hindbrain- The hindbrain produces two secondary expansions called:
- The metencephalon-
- The myelencephalon-
Here is the legend to be used for the following image:
- The Limbic system (also known as the Reptilian Brain) displayed lower on the page and situated toward the birth of humanity in Africa (as is the present consensus among many researchers).
- The Right Hemisphere (also known as the Old Mammal Brain.. by my rendering) indicated by the Right side of the page towards Asia which is East.
- The Left Hemisphere (also known as the New Mammal Brain) indicated by the Left side of the page towards Europe (and eventually the New World) which is West.
If you look at the other images referencing the slight jutting forward of the right hemisphere and recall that I have already mentioned an earlier right hemisphere cerebral blow flow to the right hemisphere followed some time later by the left hemisphere, this too coincides with human migration which was not totally absent when the largest portion was towards the East, and then increased later on in history. If there was a greater development in the right hemisphere for humanity early on, this may have influenced an inclination to migrate to the right out of Africa towards the East... (such as eventually into China), and also may have been influential in the development of a tonal language base (if not a proto-tonal language), prior to the later development of a non-tonal language base with which the "later-born" Europeans came to adopt such as in the Indo-European language family. If we can at least give the idea the benefit of a doubt for the moment, then we might also be open to the plausibility that since the right hemisphere was an earlier born "Big Brother" (or sister) and its attributions may have a shorter life span (if humanity, or the brain or human consciousness as we know it has a shelf life), then the later born Left Hemisphere "Little Brother" (or sister) may live just a bit longer. And though some might want to argue that the difference in developmental "ages" is fractional, this fraction might well turn out to be a long span of time seeing as how long the superior development of China (with its tonal languages) were around quite awhile before the European collective of non-tonal languages even came on the scene with any sustaining influence either in cultural development or the modicum of some writing and communication skill equal to that of the advanced Chinese.
In the next image we see the mountains of the continents outlined. The need to mention it not only in the case where to the East is also the rising sun that was no doubt once conjectured by primitive peoples as a god but also figures into the creation of the Christian Trinity and direction towards which Islam faces for prayers; but also is the direction (in conjunction with ideas about reaching upward towards the light and some god... or the god's supposed domain); where we see a peak or crest configured as pyramidal structures by some cultures. Hence, we have the three items of an Eastwardly trek, the (Solar-god) light imagery, and an upward momentum to reach a "higher truth", a "higher consciousness", a "higher position", etc... It is of interest to note the mountain regions in the path of a developing and migratory humanity. If mountains or hills are not available as symbolic representations of an underlying consciousness seeking to achieve some semblance of a "higher" place, position, achievement, then such peaks can be constructed such as in the development of different types of human-made mountains called mounds or pyramids. The idea of a triangular shape in the "mind" of a primitive consciousness seeking some higher "point" can be seen in the development of triangular arrow and spear heads as well as the triangular boomerang used by Australian aborigines, but (curiously) not developed by any other cultures. In addition, we see a mechanized model of a triangle being used to reach a "higher power" in the development of the V-8 engine block being today replaced in many cases with a v-6 engine to reduce the cost of gas by making lighter (but less sturdier) vehicles. Alternatively, the "3" is a cognitively equivalent expression of the highest point achievable (yes... in a primitive cognitive sense). However, it suggests human cognitive development... that is, human consciousness, may be ripe for a developmental shift into another layering which is a higher level of consciousness, just like those who came after the earlier primitive peoples that worshiped multiple gods.
Mountain peaks are still used today as a means of expressing one's "higher" power of physical and mental prowess, an in a symbolic fashion, become their own god-like image on Earth for such an achievement as climbing the Himalayas (Mount Everest), or flying the highest kite, or making it to outer space, or beating someone at some exercise, some event at which they are viewed as the "top" person, top player, top leader... etc. A people living near a mountain peak do not need to create artificial peaks in the form of pyramids, mounds or other "high" structures. Pyramidal structures are apparently in regions where mountains may be at a distance too far to travel in order to practice some "attendance to a higher consciousness power". A contemporary substitute, just as it has been in the past, is the use of some drug which alters the mind and provides an illusion of achieving that beyond one's normal self. Thus instead of an expedition to climb a mountain whose diminished oxygen can create light-headedness, some have chosen to "take a trip" and get light-headed by way of some drug-induced artificiality which provides a semblance of the same state. And yet, why is the human body seeking such out? If not a mountain expedition or some pharmaceutical, then by way of a religion-concocted medium to reach a particular "higher" level of communication with a particularized (religion-named) entity which exploits this recurring theme of behavior to seek a "higher consciousness" or some equivalent? What is the environmentally influenced biological (and bio-chemistry) mechanism prompting such an impulse?
Like other high peaks in the (Himalayan) region, Mount Everest has long been revered by local peoples; its most common Tibetan name, Chomolungma, means "Goddess Mother of the World" or "Goddess of the Valley." The Sanskrit name Sagarmatha means literally "Ocean Mother." Its identity as the highest point on the Earth's surface was not recognized, however, until 1852, when the governmental Survey of India established that fact. In 1865 the mountain—previously referred to as Peak XV—was renamed for Sir George Everest, British surveyor general of India from 1830 to 1843. ("Everest, Mount." Encyclopædia Britannica.)
As for the Christian Trinity as having its roots in "pagan" solar worship; one needs to imagine a time in the deep primitive past (what people in the future will say about us), when the developing mind of humanity was beginning to develop a trek of consciousness and saw the Sun rise from what we call the West, though primitive peoples most likely did not describe it in the same manner. Like the minds of children anticipating the arrival of a father figure, the Dawn fulfilled this spot in a developing awareness. The Noontime (which is much larger than just "high noon") was called something to the effect of an equivalent "sun", which later on became transformed into "son". And as for the Holy Spirit or Holy Ghost (depending on your religious persuasion), the former frightening spirits and ghosts of an approaching twilight were at some point defined as being good, because it "followed" two figures (the father and the son) when they came home each day. Hence, the ghosts and spirits once interpreted to be a potential evil were transformed into a spectral echo or shadow which became personified by being included in the pantheon of solar events. The next image describes the effects of the sun during its three "moments" or "phases". However, in order to better appreciate what I am saying, the reader must somehow be able to image a very primitive retile-like minded person concerned primarily with self-preservation in a world that... to a developing consciousness, may have at first been seen as a singularity, but as the brain/consciousness developed, the mind was opened up to new experiences a person of today might well describe as intermittent epiphanies... out of which eventually developed the notion of seeking a way to gain such a higher consciousness by way of an increased apperception.
Let us propose the idea that early humans developed a number-symbol consciousness prior to a number-quantity consciousness we call counting. In the development of a counting scheme there was a serialization we can generalize by using a three-patterned expression such as 1 stop, everything beyond either had not reference or was thought of in terms of "a lot" or many. Then the concept of "2" followed by stop came about (perhaps by way of simple pairing), and anything beyond it... if this was the case, was viewed in a similar fashion as heap, pile, a lot, or many. (Whatever language equivalency we want to use to describe a view of multiplicity that could not be or was too difficult to be counted). Hence, I use the phrase "1- 2- Many" (or One- Two- Many) as a generality in describing early human counting efforts using an arithmetical serialization. Yet, the point I want to make is the we see a cognitive expression of singularity, dichotomy and plurality... with the "plurality" sometimes interchanged with a specificity such as "3" or third, or thrice, or trinity, or triplet, etc., though some today may want to use some symbol beyond the 3 as their final conceptualized position.
What I am trying to lead up to is the idea of layering in human consciousness following a three-step model. This explains (and I will mention this in a later page), why we see an earlier culture worshipping multiple gods. No matter how we may denigrate their activities by calling them Nature worshipers, pagans, animists, or simply ignorant peoples who didn't know any better; what we see is that they reached a culmination of their efforts to reach a higher being, a higher consciousness expressed as a multiplicity, a plurality. The next generation or let us say phase in human consciousness began its trek in a "1" position, whereby instead of repeating the former cognitive orientation of believing in a plurality of gods, they tossed this out and claimed there was only one god. The history of China does not provide us with an indication that it practiced a singular or monotheistic religion. It never crossed their minds in terms commensurate with the monotheism of Indo-Europeans. This is important to note. Because there was no obsessive singularity, their "cognitive count" developed a rather elaborate and sophisticated "number 2" ideology in the form of a yin/yang duality. Did the Chinese jump over the "1" cognitive count, or was it such a short development period they could proceed to the next cognitive count stage?
In contrast, the Indo-Europeans had a "cognitive count" which obsessed on the "1" in such forms as "the chosen people", all the tribes joined as one nation, the one (all powerful, all knowing, all seeing) god... which was born in desert climates and created three monotheistic religions noted as Christianity, Islam, Judaism. The "2- cognitive count" was not as pronounced as it was in China, and occurred largely in embellished, camouflaged or secret society orientations. (Mathematics has its origins in such a past and reveals this by harboring a dominant underlying two-patterned structure of ideas such as add/subtract, multiply/divide, rational/irrational numbers, 2-sides to an equation, etc...). However, despite China's later attempts to develop a bona fide "3-cognitive count" philosophy by the adoption of the I-Ching ideology with (false) triads, the West embraced a greater effort towards establishing a "3-cognitive count" as displayed in multiple types of three-patterned orientations (even though one may find multiple "threes" in Chinese activity):
- Mythology (3 fates, furies, gorgons, etc...)
- fairy tales (3 bears, 3 pigs, 3 billygoats gruff, etc... significantly less seven-patterns)
- Indo-European social stratifications (See Trifunctional Analysis of Georges Dumezil)
- 3s in the story of Jesus (3 Wise Men- English)
- 3 types of mysticism in the history of Judaism: the ecstatic, the contemplative, and the esoteric. Although they are distinct, they frequently overlap in practice. ("Judaism." Encyclopædia Britannica.)
- 3 (pilgrim festival: Shalosh Regelim) occasions on which male Israelites were required to go to Jerusalem to offer sacrifice at the Temple and bring offerings of the produce from their fields. ("Pilgrim Festivals." Encyclopædia Britannica.)
- 3 fingers of the right hand are used to eat with remains a common practice among those in the Middle East. (The left hand is dirty, supposedly because it is used to wipe one's butt with.)
- 3 first Roman tribes were probably ethnic in origin and consisted of the Titienses (Tities), Ramnenses (Ramnes), and Luceres.
- etc...
In thinking of the "3", Indo-Europeans and language, I came across a reference about early Germanic groups involving a "threes" repetition that the then Germanic groups were using. Whereas I could have focused just on the representation of the "threes" references, I provide a bit more of the larger article in case some reader is interested and would not take the time to pursue it. (Comparing the crude culture of the Germanic peoples to the more developed culture of the Romans and than contrasting both to the superior culture of the Chinese, gives an indication of how we might measure the development of the human brain, if the foregoing idea has any merit beyond a mere exercise in the correlations being suggested for consideration):
By the time of Julius Caesar, Germans were established west of the Rhine River and toward the south had reached the Danube River. Their first great clash with Romans came at the end of the 2nd century BC, when the Cimbri and Teutoni (Teutones) invaded southern Gaul and northern Italy and were annihilated by Gaius Marius in 102 and 101. Although individual travelers from the time of Pytheas onward had visited Teutonic countries in the north, it was not until the 1st century BC was well advanced that the Romans learned to distinguish precisely between the Germans and the Celts, a distinction that is made with great clarity by Julius Caesar. It was Caesar who incorporated within the frontiers of the Roman Empire those Germans who had penetrated west of the Rhine, and it is he who gave the earliest extant description of Germanic culture. In 9 BC the Romans pushed their frontier eastward from the Rhine to the Elbe, but in AD 9 a revolt of their subject Germans headed by Arminius ended in the withdrawal of the Roman frontier to the Rhine. In this period of occupation and during the numerous wars fought between Rome and the Germans in the 1st century AD, enormous quantities of information about the Germans reached Rome, and, when Tacitus published in AD 98 the book now known as the Germania, he had reliable sources of information on which to draw. The book is one of the most valuable ethnographic works in existence; archaeology has in many ways supplemented the information Tacitus gives, but in general it has tended only to confirm his accuracy and to illustrate his insight into his subject.
Tacitus: (n full Publius Cornelius Tacitus, or Gaius Cornelius Tacitus, born AD 56 - died c. 120
Roman orator and public official, probably the greatest historian and one of the greatest prose stylists who wrote in the Latin language. Among his works are the Germania, describing the Germanic tribes, the Historiae (Histories), concerning the Roman Empire from AD 69 to 96, and the later Annals, dealing with the empire in the period from AD 14 to 68.)
Tacitus relates that according to their ancient songs the Germans were descended from the three sons of Mannus, the son of the god Tuisto, the son of Earth. Hence they were divided into three groups—the Ingaevones, the Herminones, and the Istaevones—but the basis for this grouping is unknown. Tacitus records a variant form of the genealogy according to which Mannus had a larger number of sons, who were regarded as the ancestors of the Suebi, the Vandals, and others. At any rate, the currency of these songs suggests that in Tacitus' time the various Germanic peoples were conscious of their relationship with one another. While individual Germans in Roman service would sometimes refer to themselves as Germani, the free Germans beyond the Rhine had no collective name for themselves until the 11th century AD, when the adjective diutisc (modern German deutsch, "of the people") came into fashion. The meaning of the word Germani and the language to which it belongs are unknown.
The principal Germanic peoples were distributed as follows in the time of Tacitus. The Chatti lived in what is now Hesse. The Frisii inhabited the coastlands between the Rhine and the Ems. The Chauci were at the mouth of the Weser, and south of them lived the Cherusci, the people of Arminius. The Suebi, who have given their name to Schwaben, were a group of peoples inhabiting Mecklenburg, Brandenburg, Saxony, and Thuringia; the Semnones, living around the Havel and the Spree rivers, were a Suebic people, as were the Langobardi (Lombards), who lived northwest of the Semnones. Among the seven peoples who worshiped the goddess Nerthus were the Angli (Angles), centred on the peninsula of Angeln in eastern Schleswig. As for the Danubian frontier of the Roman Empire, the Hermunduri extended from the neighbourhood of Regensburg northward through Franconia to Thuringia. The Marcomanni, who had previously lived in the Main valley, migrated during the last decade BC to Bohemia (which had hitherto been occupied by a Celtic people called the Boii), where their eastern neighbours were the Quadi in Moravia. On the lower Danube were a people called the Bastarnae, who are usually thought to have been Germans. The Goths, Gepidae, and Vandals were on the southern Baltic coast. Tacitus mentions the Suiones and the Sitones as living in Sweden. He also speaks of several other peoples of less historical importance, but he knows nothing of the Saxons, the Burgundians, and others who became prominent after his time.
By the end of the 3rd century AD important changes had taken place. East of the Rhine there were three great confederacies of peoples unknown to Tacitus. The Roman frontier on the lower Rhine faced the Franks. The Main valley was occupied from about 260 by the Burgundians, while the Agri Decumates (of the Black Forest region) were held by the Alemanni. The Burgundians appear to have been immigrants from eastern Germany. The Franks and the Alemanni may have been confederacies of peoples who had lived in these respective areas in Tacitus' day, though perhaps with an admixture of immigrants from the east. The peoples whom Tacitus mentions as living on the Baltic coast had moved southeastward in the second half of the 2nd century. Thus the Goths now controlled the Ukraine and much of what is now Romania; the Gepidae were in the mountains north of Transylvania with the Vandals as their western neighbours.
By the year 500, the Angles and Saxons were in England and the Franks controlled northeastern Gaul. The Burgundians were in the Rhône valley with the Visigoths as their western neighbours. The Ostrogoths were established in Italy and the Vandals in Africa. In 507 the Franks expelled the Visigoths from most of the Gallic possessions, which had stretched from the Pyrenees to the Loire River, and the Visigoths thereafter lived in Spain until their extinction by the Muslims in 711. In 568 the Lombards entered Italy and lived there in an independent kingdom until they were overthrown by Charlemagne (774). The areas of eastern Germany vacated by the Goths and others were filled up by the Slavs, who extended westward as far as Bohemia and the basin of the Elbe. After the 8th century the Germans recovered eastern Germany, lower Austria, and much of Styria and Carinthia from the Slavs. ("Germanic peoples." Encyclopædia Britannica.
One of the problems I have encountered while starting a first page in a series is that I keep adding to it. One idea after another comes to mind as I re-read a section and begin to compile some alternative suggestion to myself or even some intended rebuttal as I persist in using a "Devils Advocate" approach to my own efforts. Whereas an initial page would be much easier if I were to concentrate on the ideas of others focused on a particular (that is, "specific") genre of Language study, or were writing a Master's thesis of another persons ideas through a method of condensation and bullet referencing of particular points to be stressed which indicates I have "mastered" some concerted level of understanding their idea; it is not the case when one is working in the area of generating original ideas for which materials do not exist so that I can merely submit them without an attendant rationale for inclusion in the proposal of a new idea. Whereas I do include the studies of others, it is only as a reference to support a theme I am trying to stress. If by chance I likewise support their work, then touché, we have both benefited.
Imagine if you will Thomas Edison trying to write about the light bulb while it was still a beginning notion. Unless he could present a relative model to at least provide a reader with the gist of his proposal, no matter how much material he gathered to be used in an eventual experimental effort might well be viewed as junk by those who are prone towards not saving anything. Since they have no use for it at the moment and do not have the vision to look past a short moment in their life, all of it is a nightmare, though to a hoarder it is gold, though most hoarders (as hoarders) don't have any creative impulse to serve them functionally in making used of the gathered materials other than perhaps to sell them as raw materials. If Da Vinci or the Wright Brothers, or Tesla, or even Einstein was of a mindset to throw out ideas that could not be used for a moment's interest, we would not have their accomplishments, though someone at sometime may have duplicated them in some fashion. Much like the idea that a monkey placed at a typewriter would eventually come up with the works of Shakespeare if given enough time and enough environmental incentives, which doesn't really say much for creativity if the people engaged in such just happen to be the one setting at the typewriter or easel or workbench when the roulette wheel of a chanced-upon event takes place with them in a position to be recognized for the otherwise random occurrence; in such a scenario befitting a happenstance realization of some fortuitous expression... none of which might be labeled a language, though some new word or idea or equation might well be coined.
All the more difficult is it for a person writing a poem who may say that it is not until they sit down to write or initiate a few lines that the idea for a continuation may spring upon them in a flash, flurry, or even multiple false starts for some. While this first page was begun (at this point) 22 days ago, it has grown to several more pages which I have broken down into successive pages due to the length. However, I am glad I did not rush or I might have missed some views that have taken on a voice of their own. Not so much as an echo which some ideas undoubtedly are, but as a return call from the wilds of one's imagination that has had to learn how to be left open for even the slightest vagary of some nuanced reciprocation that may at times prove to be the sound of a charging rhino! HA! Or head-hunters who smile and dance about you all the while imagining you as a well-cooked stock of beef. And yet others are like wanting to ford a stream only to find that the only conveyance is a scorpion who promises not to sting you... and yet does anyway because it is in their nature... which I am using to speak of ideas which can lead one into dead ends or quick sand. Nonetheless, it is all language... that very funny behavior humanity has come to rely on but does not know its origin or think too much about the fact that many languages have come and gone along with their primary cultures civilizations. Thus, one must wonder how long it will be or by what event(s) all present day languages will be cast aside.
Many people in the course of their individual interests unknowingly pursue a study of language. Since it is necessary to know the language of a given workplace, or a given social crowd, or even a given family (and extended family with in-laws); a person studies expressions and the 'expressions' of implements (such as tools, equipment) and clothing which are a part of the larger ensemble of a "behavioral speech" pattern that one must mimic so as to be a part of a given language group— or be accepted only in terms of an allowed distinction such a worker does for a plant manager, business owner, customer, police officer, utility meter reader, etc... However, it should also be noted that a person can practice an individual language study of different social groups and make some effort to imitate them such as when one takes on the trappings of those at a sporting event, musical concert, State Fair, Carnival, attending school classes, art show, horse racing, pool hall, etc., though everyone in a particular group appears to be talking the same language... yet not always using the same definitions or referencing the same descriptions as an outsider may initially think.
Some people study multiple types of social languages and aren't even aware they are doing so (such as when over-hearing a conversation of a different language while shopping), or how easily they can move from one social-group language to another. An unrealized preference for a given language group may be indicated by the frequency of their appearance in such situations; which might earn them a label as being a fanatic... such as a sports, religious, or music fanatic, unless the word "Nerd", junkie, druggie, drunk, gang member, whore, pimp, etc., is tacked onto them openly or quietly by others. Anyway, most of us study multiple types of languages by having different interests which may or may not be shared by those who frequent our respective social sphere... such as adults not being privy to the idioms sometimes used by teenagers or those engaged in competitions involving Chess, the Rubik's cube or building some secret invention.
While some may not think their different interests have a different language, it is only because they are not sensitively aware enough to recognize subtleties of expression to the point of a conscious acknowledgment. They may or may not come to use a larger group-generated lingua franca in any or all situations because they have a limited repertoire of friends who share in their particular polyglot model of dialect... thus making detection of their vocal and other forms of expressive behavior all the more difficult for them to be objective about. In any respect, the languages (jargon, idioms, etc...) of different occupations and lifestyles can be just as different as language distinctions made between cultures (if one is not routinely in their presence) and can be generalized into an idea as representing an individualized study of different interests of Language that a person may or may not come to specialize in and overlook they have gravitated towards the usage of a single language and its adhering group. With this in mind... let us say that a person may knowingly or unknowingly be studying Language, but...:
- ...Not necessarily as a Linguist who studies languages in an effort to learn how to read, write and speak one or more languages, and who may also play the role of being an interpreter and translator.
- ...Not necessarily like a Linguistics expert who studies languages for the intricacies of structure and usage as a psychological manifestation of a behavioral ability characterized in the dichotomous formula of a nature/nurture controversy of which one might cite Noam Chomsky and Steven Pinker.
- ...Not necessarily as a Philosopher of Language, but as generalist-philosopher; where the first is quite formal and the second is informal; though the two often intersect to produce a third kind of practice if an idea is proposed accompanied by suggestions for experimental testing of a language idea.
Once a person comes to the realization that they study and have been studying language under the label of some other subject, they then come to realize they have also been practicing fledgling types of Dictionary and Encyclopedia constructions. While for some such constructions are small such as notes on paper napkins, in the margins of books or even some journal where comments are placed either routinely or off-and-on; others use different methods and mediums such as musical sheets, sketch books, architectural models, crafts models, arrangements of items in cupboards, tool boxes, etc., as their mode and manner of compilations which may never be "translated" into some other language like words, math equations, piece of sculpture, etc... Then again, there are those who pursue some writing craft and may pursue some publishing effort... after which, if accomplished, a series of books (if not plays or movies) may be the medium in which ideas are thrust open and may serve to provide a means for increasing one's objectivity and knowledge so that a furtherance of some internalized but as yet unexpressed idea, feeling, or even indistinguishable "presence", can make its way to a full fruition of expression. And yet, most people do not get published just as most people who try out for a position on a sports team are not selected and most people who try to "make it" to some realization of stardom or academic, or political or business or religious or artistic or mathematical or scientific, etc., recognition... do not achieve such a position. Some on the other hand are recognized for some contribution after they have passed from this world. And others who might have provided a step forward in some field of endeavour never get the chance because of an accident, disease or war, like the many young men who held such great promise in the Large Wars and smaller battles in which they participated for whatever rationale was generated during their era.
Most people are forgotten for their small and even larger deeds unless some form of tangible remembrance is made of them such as by a painting, sculpture, book, movie, or other project taken on by those who think their efforts in doing so are worthwhile. And yet, given enough time, even most of theses may be forgotten in the dustbin of history. Nonetheless, many do make a difference to one or more others and we should thank them for their efforts, but as yet, I know not of any holiday which recognizes them even if there is the recognition of the unknown soldier such as in the ceremonial tributes at the Tomb of the Unknowns. Nations remember their soldiers but not the many millions who have contributed their creativity, talent, energies and even selfless charitableness without which a nation can never be as great without its working class backbone. Being recognized by having one's name placed in a historical register such as Who's who may seem to satisfy some that deserving people are recognized, but this model of language is a silent one; easily overlooked, but could easily be a part of a Nation's honorary thankfulness, however it may be celebrated from one culture to the next.
Indeed, let us observe how many quiet languages come and go from public view, as did the celebrations once practiced by ancient cultures. And if we are to characterize languages as an emergent property of change, of development, of evolution; then is there a more advanced model we should seek out, or just let Nature take its meandering course— where even the respective languages of all the many life forms is undergoing change, though some patterns appear to remain? And what are those expressed patterns? If we say that the recurrence of plant and animals cells is a language of expression used by Nature, why then does it persist in using them with the same pattern(s) (albeit with the occasional experimentation to develop something new, something different which we call a mutation); that might easily be subjected to a numerical representation? Why the same recurring types and number of organelles in plant and animal cells, though as "expressions" they have individual differences as one might notice between the language of a child and the language of an adult? Or should one react negatively to the suggestion that Nature is engaging in a Language in such a manner, because we prefer to recognize what is meant by a language only in terms of human behavior, because humanity is to be viewed as superior in every way? How dare I then to suggest the triplet code and its recurring presence is like a repeating utterance exhibited by an infant, because DNA is a model of superiority, just like humanity is and just like the proposed god of humanity is also. What sacrilegious nonsense! How dare anyone take the word language and extend it to incorporate a larger identification! Even though math equations are sometimes referred to as expressions, individual repeating number patterns found in Nature, much less all subjects are not to be included in such a distinction, or they might then acquire an identity like a slave of some former civilisation who recognized a Free-man but rarely a Free-woman.
No! No! No! say they who study formalized language inquiries. Individual repeating number patterns will never be freed from their shackles of being defined less than logical (mathematical or philosophical), less than rationality, less than science, less than some important distinction of humanity communicating recurrences of Nature in such an unrecognized manner, and thus less than human. Recurring number patterns in different subjects are just that, little more than like any other plant, insect or animal in the Number Kingdom. There is no biology or psychology here. Just beasts of burden like all human slaves were once interpreted as being. Numbers are ignorant individuals! The numbers are savages!... unless properly schooled to express a culturally accepted airs of dignity and charm and utility in the service of a master Mathematician whom they must be apprenticed to. They are not educated like those which are refined and found in the social graces of a Math Equation. No! Individual number patterns have no place in the grand stately palace of Mathematics! Recurring number patterns in all subjects are not slips of the tongue, are not projections of internalized re-occurring observations of a reality humanity is refusing to acknowledge like so many religious orientations have a history of doing so. No! Let us spit on those who practice such an art akin to any and all that have corrupted our young. Let us throw rocks at them and if need be, subject them to a dunking while sitting on a toilet, or tied to a stake for burning or whatever socially acceptable public or private torture we think befits the crime of thinking alternatively from standardized conventions; which keeps current high priests of academia in their posts and ensures an ever increasing cost of membership for those who are expected to have our approval and designated degree... though it may turn out to be more worthless than toilet paper.
The study of language is fascinating because (with respect to my interests) it not only permits the researcher to examine, but speak of and correlate a wide breadth of information... since all subjects exhibit some model of language in words, symbols, illustrations, gestures or the absence thereof. Yes, even silence can speak volumes, with or without stars out of which multiple anthropomorphic guesturalizations have been surmised into human-related figures → and then they into tales → and then used by multiple people to coin personalized references which may never breech the silence of their own minds, but affects them nonetheless. Some may even think that it is through constellations and other sky or space-bound phenomena that a supposed creator figure or some entity referred to as "The Universe" or "The Cosmos" speaks directly to humanity because humanity deems itself worthy enough to be communicated with... if that is at all what is taking place.
It is of value for us to take a short walk on the contemplation of animal signaling in terms of vocal behavior:
Signal design rules ("animal communication." Encyclopædia Britannica.)
The diversity of animal communication signals is enormous. Each signal is assumed to have converged on the form that is best adapted to transmitting the type of information conveyed by that signal in a given social and environmental context. The form of a signal is therefore affected by its modality, the habitat through which it must be transmitted, and the social function it serves. This fact first precipitated a search for general principles of signal design in the 1960s, when American linguist 1) Charles Hockett and American behavioral biologists 2) Stuart Altmann and 3) Peter Marler attempted to come up with lists of design features that could then be used to characterize any type of signal. Once the design feature requirements, or rules, for a given type of signal had been established, the specific mechanisms for satisfying the rules in each modality could be used to determine whether signals serving the same social function in different species exhibited the expected similarities in signal form.
A minimum list of six design features seems to be sufficient to characterize most signals:
- Signal Range: The range of a signal is the distance that the signal must be transmitted, which is in turn determined by the typical distance between sender and receiver for the social context in which the signal is given. Signal range can be optimized by adjusting amplitude, intensity, hue, size, concentration, and signaling location, depending on the modality.
- Signal Location: The ability of a signal to be located specifies the degree to which the location of the sender, the receiver, or some external object needs to be encoded in the signal.
- Signal Form: The form of the signal and the directional capabilities of the receiver's receptor determine how easily the sender's position can be estimated, and some modalities have better mechanisms for pointing toward a referent than other modalities.
- Signal Cycle: The duty cycle of a signal is the relative amount of time that the signal needs to be on versus off. Some types of signals require on times that are much longer relative to other signals, and the duty cycle can be optimized by adjusting signal duration and repetition rate.
- Signal Identification: The identification level of a signal determines the number of different units that must be distinguished by unique signal variants. Identification levels, listed in order of increasing number of variants required, include species, sex, age groups, colonies, family groups, and individuals. The larger the number of variants the signal must encode, the more complex the signal form must be to generate these variants.
- Signal Modulation: In contrast to this between-individual level of variation, the modulation level specifies the degree to which the signal must vary within an individual. Some signals need to encode graded levels of information, whereas other signals need to encode discrete, presence-or-absence information.
- In addition, the form-content linkage specifies the degree to which the form of the signal is linked to its information content. Signals that indicate what the sender is likely to do next are limited to forms that are functionally linked with the subsequent action, whereas signals that indicate location and identity can have more arbitrary forms.
However, we could readily sum up the foregoing with three identifiers:
- Who (what) is it?
- Where is it?
- How (when/why) to respond (flee, freeze, fight)?
If we keep a study of language limited to speech sounds used for communicating (primarily among humans)... whether intentional or not, we can define what a letter, word, sentence, paragraph, chapter, story, and book are. In a basic Arithmetical sense, it's either an act of addition or multiplication, because thinking in terms of subtraction or division leads us into a field of discussion that may involve metaphysics. For example, to think that a sentence is the product of a subtraction implies some previous situation of "more" that has been reduced. Yet, if the sentence is not removed from a paragraph, do we say that the paragraph to speak of was working in the background of one's mind and we simply configured the resulting sentence by an unrecognized algorithmic process involving a larger set of sentences which are generally generated in the background and we routinely choose one without an awareness of doing so? As you can see, the same notion can apply to the use of a "division" concept.
Another way of stating the foregoing is to think that of the sentences one chooses or the ideas brought forward, they already existed in one's mind and we merely extract one from a list of alternatives. Unless one of course wants to think in terms of a container full of words like a cup of dice that are randomly thrown forward (into consciousness) and if we're lucky, instead of the routine combinations which most people get, we have the appearance of a novel combination... and this is a behavior which some people seem to generate more often than others in similar situations of behavioral activity... or that they have learned how to manipulate themselves and/or their environment in or to increase their chances of being what someone may call lucky and others call skill, talent, genius or what-have-you.
Date of (series) Origination: Monday, November 21st, 2022,... 6:00 AM
Date of Initial Posting (this ): 14th December 2022... 9:27 AM, AST (Arizona Standard Time); Marana, AZ.