On Thurs 13 March 2008 9:55AM Arlo writes to Steve, Platt: [Steve] Language implies communication between individuals and can't be invented by a single person. [Arlo] Seems rather obvious, doesn't it? [Platt] I wonder what linguists say about the origin of language. [Arlo] There are many theories, as in any field. The one I find most promising (indeed, the one that begins with "shared attention") is Tomasello's account in "The Cultural Origins of Human Cognition". Check here (http://www.2think.org/humancognition.shtml) for a synopsis. For Tomasello (and this is where I think it ties very smoothly into Pirsig), symbolic activity (social activity) derives from a very particular neurobiological configuration that evolved over millenia of early-human existence. Like carbon's "feature" that DQ "latched onto", this neurobiological feature provided man with the ability to share his attention, something previously unavailable to man's behavioral repertoire. And, like carbon's bonding feature, this neurobiological component evolved for likely entirely different reasons (there was not a grand design to plan man's ability to use language), but became the springboard for DQ in the biological-social evolutionary leap. Because we can point to specific biological patterns that led into the formation of the social level, I think this evolutionary point-in-time captures the Biological-Social division completely. Hi Arlo and all, IMO there are no straight lines in nature. However I view the laws of nature deviation belongs to that view. Rather than ³shared attention² or ³conspecifics² I envision a force that goes in a different direction. As a choral singer I am always going flat and I don¹t know it. There are two irregular intervals in an octave that require added attention. Whatever my metaphysics it requires a hell of a lot of attention to sing in key. The piano has no problem. The octave is a law of shocks, something must be added to go in a straight line. Air, Impressions, Attention, or a Piano may keep me within the octave. I suspect Pythagoras knew that. The first individual who drew the animals on the cave wall must have been very lonely in his awareness of himself no matter how beautifully he expressed himself. Joe
On 3/13/08 9:55 AM, "Arlo Bensinger" <[EMAIL PROTECTED]> wrote: > [Steve] > Language implies communication between individuals and can't be > invented by a single person. > > [Arlo] > Seems rather obvious, doesn't it? > > [Platt] > I wonder what linguists say about the origin of language. > > [Arlo] > There are many theories, as in any field. The one I find most > promising (indeed, the one that begins with "shared attention") is > Tomasello's account in "The Cultural Origins of Human Cognition". > Check here (http://www.2think.org/humancognition.shtml) for a synopsis. > > For Tomasello (and this is where I think it ties very smoothly into > Pirsig), symbolic activity (social activity) derives from a very > particular neurobiological configuration that evolved over millenia > of early-human existence. Like carbon's "feature" that DQ "latched > onto", this neurobiological feature provided man with the ability to > share his attention, something previously unavailable to man's > behavioral repertoire. And, like carbon's bonding feature, this > neurobiological component evolved for likely entirely different > reasons (there was not a grand design to plan man's ability to use > language), but became the springboard for DQ in the biological-social > evolutionary leap. Because we can point to specific biological > patterns that led into the formation of the social level, I think > this evolutionary point-in-time captures the Biological-Social > division completely. > > Moq_Discuss mailing list > Listinfo, Unsubscribing etc. > http://lists.moqtalk.org/listinfo.cgi/moq_discuss-moqtalk.org > Archives: > http://lists.moqtalk.org/pipermail/moq_discuss-moqtalk.org/ > http://moq.org.uk/pipermail/moq_discuss_archive/ Moq_Discuss mailing list Listinfo, Unsubscribing etc. http://lists.moqtalk.org/listinfo.cgi/moq_discuss-moqtalk.org Archives: http://lists.moqtalk.org/pipermail/moq_discuss-moqtalk.org/ http://moq.org.uk/pipermail/moq_discuss_archive/
