>>Language actually is the most efficient of these "death barrier crossers". However, language need not be _spoken_, it can be gestures, i.e. sign language. Or it could be a form of "written", but non- alphabetical language, as in abstract use of material objects as the symbolic elements, tokens. Anyway, my hypothesis suggest spoken or sign language had to be very early at the origin of our species, because, story tellikng would be the most effective death barrier crosser.<<
Well have already had the discussion about language being both arbitrary and motivated, with motivation often stemming from how interconnected 'speaking' a language is with our bodies and our gestures. I would suppose in the oral tradition stories crossed individuals, generations and the death barrier because they were enacted and remembered and then enacted again. And enactment might include verbal explanation in narrative form, drawings in the dirt, dance, chanting and song--and cave paintings. I wonder how much practical knowledge survives because we have supplemented our abilities with literacy. But on the other hand, how literacy (and now literacy on computers) means the death of oral traditions (certainly ones that go beyond families into a tribal or nation level). Also, do you think other animals have an ability to use language across generations? It has been noted how groups of animals within a species will display their own 'culture'. CJ _______________________________________________ Marxism-Thaxis mailing list Marxism-Thaxis@lists.econ.utah.edu To change your options or unsubscribe go to: http://lists.econ.utah.edu/mailman/listinfo/marxism-thaxis
