That’s it. That is the extent of unassisted communications, which I define as communication without invention. You could even make the argument that both the physical and emotional forms of indirect communication discussed above are inventions – the idea that you don’t have to perform the act to communicate the act seems a pretty simple distinction. As long as we know that it is not, we can probably save ourselves some quibble-time by grouping them as unassisted communication.
This seems a good point to move to the TECHNOLOGY of language. The processes of an invention – the steps you follow to implement it, the materials you use, etc. – is by definition the technology of that invention. If you haven’t already figured out why I bring this up, it will likely become clear fairly soon.
One can only imagine how our ancestors transitioned from the types of communication we’ve discussed to language. So far what we’ve discussed were ways of communication that likely involved imitation of the sounds, appearance and actions of those things we were trying to describe in an attempt to evoke an image of that thing in someone else’s mind. Who knows how long we existed in that state. Remember, we didn’t know what we were missing but I imagine communication was slow and difficult. All it really takes to start, though, is to agree among the individuals in your community that sounds will mean certain things. Simple, eh? Actually, it likely happened very early on at the most basic of level as the community started to adopt shortcuts in their efforts at unassisted communication. The need for communication efficiency – i.e. protecting your community, trying to tell the story of the hunt or the battle, etc. – was likely what drove us to the first languages. There were probably just about an many languages as there were small communities at first. At some point, people either realized or perhaps it was simply a fact that a better language toward the simple end of a language could make a real difference. Speed of learning, speed of actual communication, richness of communication, variety of meanings that can be conveyed, etc. are all factors and there are likely many more if you care to dig.
Now imagine a scenario – a community is in the process of being “convinced” to use one language over another. It could be through conflict or it could be that the leaders of the group realized that they could be more effective in some way by using another language. Parents and children and grandchildren and neighbors and their families have grown up using one language. Now someone comes along and says the technology you were using is not good enough and we want you to start using the new technology. Even though this is simply a new twist on the same fundamental technology, IMAGINE THE CONTROVERSY! “I hear that the kids will be able to communicate things that they won’t be ready to communicate until they are much older,” and “If they learn this technology, our kids will be able to communicate with the kids across the valley, and you know what those kids do, don’t you?!” I could go on, but I hope you get the picture, and the picture is the same (similar) again and again throughout history. I’ll try not to do this to you again, but I hope you’ll carry this with you – our situation with “THE INTERNET” is not new. It is unique and different, but so were the other inventions that caused varying levels of social turmoil. The turmoil may indeed have been either good or bad, healthy or unhealthy, and there is a good chance that how each individual (was) prepared for it and how they approached the change made a difference in the outcome. These new technologies probably won’t go away and we haven’t seen the last of them, so the best thing is to learn to use them to our advantage – right? Well, I guess you don’t have to, but I will say that I believe you would be missing one heck of an opportunity (along with attendant risks of course).
Anyway – back to the story line. We’re still in pre-history, right? Probably. At some point people began passing down history through the spoken word and we have at least vague outlines of a few that may have been enhanced to some degree or another (Homer, etc.). History, culture, etc. was certainly passed from generation to generation (to generation…) somehow. There are still some fairly significant things missing but I plan to try to get us back to the present fairly quickly.
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