CHAPTER 5
Language and Human Destiny…
There is a familiar situation in our daily life-living. When something becomes so universally commonplace and inevitably optionless, there is an innate tendency for this to be oversimplified, rundown and even disrespected. The languages we speak, have probably acquired this unfortunate distinction of being so unavoidably everywhere and always; yet reduced to a highly neglected and even abused entity.
It is painfully deplorable situation that the language, the words, the expression and communication through structured acoustics of mouth, seem to have become very restrictive as they stand vitiated and neglected; probably lost their primary purpose. We all are so used to speaking and writing as medium of communication that though we know, yet we seldom give it a serious thought that contemporary state of languages as means of communication may have become reasonably crippling, doubtful in its utility and therefore restrictive for the way we accept ourselves and the world. The hypothesis is – human languages, as they stand and prevail in contemporary Times, are essentially stupid-hypocritical and therefore may well be looked upon as possible element of trouble in our life-living wellness and excellence. Or, the languages may itself be the reflection of some big time trouble with consciousness, humanity and its contemporary cultures.
To make it more straight and simple – Human languages probably are not as good and useful a means of communicating and understanding Reality; both inside us and outside. There probably is this need to question the very utility of languages as vehicle of consciousness and cognition. It is probably also therefore important to deliberate the need for humanity to revisit this whole issue of language as predominant medium in our culture; if not the only one. The need for an alternative platform, other than the current languages, is also on the anvil. Let us check out the hypothesis and deliberate all possible aspects of the idea.
A wise person said, thousands of years back, ‘Silence probably was our original design; the only true purpose of sound is music – the language of consciousness. Syllables as vehicle of intent and reality is patchy design, hence accident-prone. It should be only sparingly and very diligently used.’ In contemporary human world; probably many hundred thousand years after the primitive human language was evolved, it shall surely be declared the worst stupidity, if we say that languages we speak today are probably one of the worst ‘entropic’ elements in human evolution; especially the evolution of human consciousness. But, if we think over its impact on human lives, comparing ourselves with rest of the millions of living species on Earth, we may admit that language no doubt was critical and yet hugely ‘entropic’ emergence in the evolution of humans; especially the human consciousness.
No doubt, this aspect of human life-living has not been seriously deliberated upon so far. This probability of the correlation between language and consciousness creating a major trouble-tree for human societies and cultures requires deep study and scientific enquiry. What we are doing here is simply attempting to accept a possibility that human language is probably a very entropic (given to dysfunction and destabilization) element in the evolution of human consciousness. This very hypothesis is required before we conclude this eBook, as language as vehicle, as carrier or broadly as ‘Media’ of intent and reality of consciousness and cognition is what we have relied upon so far, to communicate about so many crucial aspects of Reality. We are inquiring into the everythingness of languages as it shall facilitate our understanding of what we have deliberated so far in this eBook. Languages happen to be a very powerful and entrenched ‘media’ of the very critical Media of consciousness and a rather critical tool for unraveling and understanding Reality. Science lays reasonable emphasis on evolution of language as it believes, much of the theories and hypotheses are metaphoric in nature and as language evolves and improves, so do the metaphors and hence improved understanding of Reality.
Here, it is also important to say that humans know it very well that apart from the languages we humans designed and use for speaking and writing; there are other languages in our natural milieus, which some call as ‘natural languages’. So, we must also deliberate about these natural languages and their utility, when we are talking about human languages and their entropic impact on consciousness. This shall help in our quest for an alternative to the languages we may look for.
Moreover, some philosophers have already made it clear that human languages are not the only medium of consciousness, cognition and thoughtfulness. Their assertion is that consciousness and thoughtfulness of human mind is very well possible without human languages as alternative ‘natural languages’ fill in. It must also be mentioned here that the languages we speak and write are not the only set of languages humanity has created. Our complex cultures have many meaningful, beautiful and versatile alternative languages of understanding and expressing consciousness and its thoughtfulness. And, as we talked earlier, science has successfully decoded the Language of Life – the entire 3 billion DNA bases, which constitute our genome – the Book of Life. This is the innate language of chemicals at molecular and cellular levels. Then, there is this beautiful language of mathematics, which physics heavily relies upon to unravel and explain Reality. Many believe mathematics is innate language of cosmos. We shall talk about all these in this chapter. This may facilitate understanding of many aspects of Reality, when we deal with the probable entropic influences of mainstream human languages.
Our primary attention, to begin with, is that we need to unravel some crucial aspects of this correlation and connection between language and entropic propensities of consciousness and cognition. Why? Because, language is primary and predominant medium of our expressions and communication and therefore, all Reality, whatever it may be, is largely understood and expressed through this media of language. As most of us are happy with the way we go ahead with our languages, most of us shall feel that languages are hugely facilitative. We also boast of our linguistic faculties and why not as we feel, only humans have this distinction and intelligence. Rest of all other organisms does not have this facility. But then, this in so many ways is also hugely restrictive. This sure has its debilitating impact on our consciousness and cognition – the way we are and the way we actualize Reality.
For example, a growing child may be told that the universe is so colossal that it’s two ends are almost 90 billion light years apart. Great, the young person surely gets this feel of the vastness but how big he or she shall accept it in his or her consciousness and cognition is uncertain. Why? Simply because the vastness of universe may have been told to him or her as 90 billion light years but we all know, it is never ever physically measurable for anyone and therefore, the actual vastness of universe shall always remain an abstract Reality for we all. Somehow, an abstract registry of Information in the brain states may have weak or conflated recall and therefore, the actual feel of the information may never be the same for the person in repeat use. The language facilitated a Reality but only added abstractions. This abstraction therefore becomes subjective cognition for each consciousness and in turn lands as ‘seed’ of many more abstractions to come.
Not only the objective Reality of science, but almost every speck of Reality stands as abstracted and therefore land as subjective perception. The moment a Reality is communicated, there almost always shall be a gap between the expresser and the receiver. Not only the language, but all Reality has to ride through the media of body-mind. And, as we all know, ‘Media is the Message’, it is therefore a definite certainty that a reality expressed through language shall be necessarily subjective on both ends – the dispenser as well as the receiver. The metaphors the language shall create in two different mind consciousnesses may never be same. The metaphors the two mind shall use may also never be same.
For example, a woman may ask her lover, ‘How much you love me?’ Now, the lover knows it perfectly clear that he loves his beloved truly but he simply cannot state the Reality of his cognition in humanly designed words, without touching the abstractions. If he says, ‘I love you very much’, his beloved may be disappointed and may feel he does not love her enough. He has to therefore adorn his expression with frills of abstractions to make his beloved happy, even while his conscious positioning and cognition remains the same. So, he shall say, ‘I love you as much as is water in oceans and stars in sky’. This may make his beloved happy but we all know it is an abstraction. The metaphors may have worked magic for the moment but it has added loads of entropic propensities for future, for the man-woman intimacy. Moreover, a cunning man, who actually does not love his beloved, may only say flattering words in most bejeweled language and using stupendous metaphors, yet never truly love her. Still, the woman shall continue to believe that her man loves him so very much. It is because, we all are used to accepting ‘worth and utility’ in metaphors of language but seldom in the ‘media of consciousness’ of a person, who uses them. Probably, there is no way one can express the ‘Intent’ in any other media than languages. This however, may very well be labeled also as a slavery of humanity. Intent must never be slave of languages we use for communication. The ‘media’ must always service the master, never slave the master.
It is very commonplace with languages. Almost everyone subconsciously accepts the restrictiveness and inefficacy of languages in communicating the true and right intent. Subconsciously, we all even begin with a doubt, if we listen something said, which does not fit into our own subjective sense of proportions and righteousness. We often encounter a situation in our life-living when we see someone saying to other, ‘Do you mean what you are saying?’ Or, ‘Do you understand what you are saying?’ Even, the doubt remains on our side. We say the same about ourselves, ‘Do you understand what I said?’ Etc. What does this mean? They point out to our subconscious mind creating the probability that first, we may not actually be aware of the meaning conveyed to someone to whom we speak and secondly, we may not actually be able to convey the true and right meaning from the choice of words and syntactic presentation we make while speaking. Subconsciously, most of aware people understand that language is metaphor or representation of some reality inside our minds, which the former may not truly and rightly portray. Doubtfulness is on both sides – minds of both speaker and listener!
What we wish to point out here is this dualism, conflict and resultant debauchery, which language innately or subconsciously occasions and invites. It has its entropic impact on human consciousness and cognition. Cyclically, the debauchery and deception of consciousness has their impact on languages we speak. This entropic cyclicality of embedded propensities multiplies in cultures and we can clearly witness in contemporary human milieus that growing complexities of life-living has withered the sanctity and sanity of languages hugely. This in turn has vitiated the sanity of consciousness and cognition as both are supposed to be ‘synced realities’. This we shall elaborate to understand and scientifically hypothesize a linkage between language and entropic propensities of consciousness-cognition.
It also needs to be understood why we are attempting to unravel a probable linkage between languages we speak/write and possible vitiation and debauchery of human consciousness and cognition. Essentially, when we seek to unravel and understand Reality, the only possible medium to do that is our body-mind plexus. There may be loads of already existing information and knowledge about Reality but all these shall be processed only by an individual body-mind plexus, through the agency of consciousness. From scientific perspective, this ‘Agency’ is a huge factor in propagation of Reality for individual as the agency is an emergent-transient Media. That is probably why when theoretical physicists express about Reality, they sort of bypass the agency by using the language of mathematics. Most scientists believe language of mathematics has been unraveled, like reality itself and not created by humans. However, we sure do not wish to go into the details about the possible conflation of agency and its metaphoric propensities in language of mathematics too. Anyways, mathematical communication; that too the hugely complex and difficult communication about Reality is beyond average humans. Even scientists admit the dualism involved in mathematical expressions as it may prove something right and real but still elude simple understanding. Philosophers at least, are never sure of the finality of mathematics as the language of reality expressions.
Interestingly; may be tragically too, the consciousness shall process vast majority of things that comes to it through the media of languages we speak and write. This is facilitative, yet hugely restrictive too. Primarily because, language is also a ‘representation’ of some innate reality and that too perceived through the agency of mind consciousness. So, a Media using another Media and both media are essentially creating a metaphor or representation of some innate information. That is why it is relevant to have a feel of how troubled exercise it is to communicate; especially about knowledge of Reality. When we are into an enterprise of languages and words – reading and writing about Reality; we must have this debilitation in the back of our minds. This sure can be facilitative enough to counter or balance the restrictive nature of this enterprise. We are not into mathematics; we are worse off using artistry of media to understand the science of Reality! Hoooof…!
There have been studies that have already sought to establish a possibility that contemporary human consciousness could evolve primarily because of the complexities of language humans could master, which no other species on Earth have. Many however, do not agree to this hypothesis as consciousness, even language is not exclusive to humans, even while we can say language in its current complexities is. Moreover, even among humans, it is hypothesized that consciousness happened to humans, before they could devise and design languages. The Reality however may be a mix of both. The cyclicality and dialectical element is too evident to be denied. There cannot be a denial that human consciousness and its evolution to current state was influenced big way by emergence of languages. Probably gradually, if not at a certain stage of evolution, human brain could evolve the brain plexus; especially the very human thing we know as prefrontal cortex, that facilitated creation of language. The Broca’s Area of brain, which is considered responsible for facilitation of languages, evolved in the cerebral cortex. This in turn probably unleashed such development in brain states, which may have worked as catalyst for evolution of consciousness in a certain way and in its current complexities. Therefore, both Media of consciousness and language interacting in dialectical cyclicality and evolving in sync with each other!
This possible linkage and probable impact of languages in consciousness requires deep studies and scientific enquiries as it shall help human life-living wellness and excellence in a profitable way. What we are attempting to hypothesize here is the probability that emergence of language had entropic impact on consciousness and it probably added critical energy to vitiation and debauchery of human consciousness; if not being the sole element of the troubles that followed after consciousness was installed. If this hypothesis is accepted, it shall add new dimension to the way consciousness and cognition are viewed and accepted in contemporary times. This shall definitely alter how and what we think of and accept ourselves as and how we perceive Reality.
This we shall deliberate in coming paragraphs and shall attempt to establish this hypothesis that languages are critical elements in entropic character of consciousness. It is only natural that while exploring this linkage between language and consciousness, we also shall need to understand basics about the idea and evolution of consciousness as well as the languages. However, before everything; before we even begin to delve into all these; as we said at the very start, when the contemporary utility and usefulness of languages as medium of communication itself is under doubt, it must therefore be kept in mind that this entire exercise in this eBook is being done with a medium, which is probably not as useful and ideal as we are used to think and accept. This acceptance of ‘restrictive’ possibility of languages shall help.
There is difference of opinion as when language developed and how it began to evolve. Some may limit it to 10,000 years whereas some date it back to two million years. We do not need to go into all these. We focus on the possible process of critical elements in the long evolution of humans to arrive at how and why language emerged, instead of when it emerged. At the outset, we also need to accept that as there is no definitive theory about emergence of languages and its linkages with consciousness, we can only do what we may term as scientific philosophization. This means; we shall use available scientific facts to philosophize about a probability, which may be as objective and logical as possible. This we shall do with utmost care to all available facts and theorizing.
Somehow, there are related scientific facts, which have emerged and continue to surface as humanity advances in knowledge about brain plexus and its working. As we are essentially interested in possible linkages between consciousness and language, anything related to brain’s structural and functional reality shall be only helpful in our enterprise of scientific philosophization. This too we shall do with utmost care and adherence to objectivity and logicality.
First, we talk about the emergence of language and a possible interpretation of it in terms of its impact on consciousness. It is more widely believed that emergence of language was also evolutionary, linked with gradual and progressive evolution of human brain states. It sounds more logical and appropriate with known evolutionary details that humans evolved languages as their brain evolved and gradually developed or altered those necessary pathways, which facilitated language emergence. Therefore, it suggests, a correspondence and correlation of consciousness with linguistic skills is widely accepted now.
Secondly, it is general acceptance that language evolved less out of recreation but more out of necessity. It was primarily a survival need and not just for personal enjoyment. When early humans opted for a settled life and quit wandering option of gatherer and hunter life, they desperately required language as tool of social exchange to optimize survival potentials. There are loads of details into this evolution of languages but we are not going into that. Our concern is to propose a hypothesis that primary and primeval language emerged after human consciousness had evolved enough to have a reasonably complex consciousness, probably far better than any other animal. Secondly, as languages emerged as survival need; it necessitates to hypothesize that language mechanism in brain states therefore was more entrenched and interconnected to vast parts of the brain plexus. This science has proved as we know, linguistic expressions has linkages all throughout the brain circuitry. This hypothesis lends credence to a probability that languages are as complex and emergent process of information processing as consciousness. Therefore, a possible neuro-chemical need for both being synced and symbiotic!
Before we proceed to next level deliberation about linkage of consciousness and language, two important facts must be aligned to this very process. First, there is now a general understanding of how human brain is able to communicate and express thoughts or reality through languages. Essentially, as we all know now, all realities, which may look to exist outside in the expansive milieu, are essentially an imagery of a ‘map’, which our brain creates, based on information supplied by five sensory organs, mixing it with already existing memories of past experiences stored in different brain states. Therefore, essentially, all reality is an analogue of the map of the same, which our brain creates within the mind plexus. This must always be accepted when we deliberate on languages.
Language, as we speak and write, are therefore also an analogue of the same map, which our brain states create and the consciousness accepts as reality. There is a reality of a fruit with a particular color, shape and aroma and our brain maps it all for us. This imagery or map is then assigned a specific sound of syllable, which we can recall as an Apple. Therefore, apple is just an analogous representation of the map, which the brain states have. Language therefore is essentially linked to consciousness. If there is no imagery in the consciousness domain, there is no analogue and therefore no language. Language learning of kids is also part of this linkage – first the reality is mapped into brain states through the five senses and then the imagery created is assigned an analogue of syllable. The grammar has the same trajectory.
Therefore, the first important derivation from this linkage of consciousness and language is the primacy of consciousness in the entire scheme of things. The primary situation or requirement is the clarity and veracity of the mapping or imagery of a reality in the brain states so that the consciousness has near perfect or optimal cognition of the reality itself. Then comes the skill set to match this imagery or map of the reality in cognitive layers with an appropriate and perfectly communicable analogous syllable as well as right grammar. Therefore, there is this two-layered ‘analogue’ mechanism or what we have earlier deliberated as ‘metaphor-building’ – the consciousness creating an analogy or metaphor of an external reality and then this having to match to another analogy or metaphor of sight-sound symbols of the same reality. The cognition of reality in consciousness comes first; then comes the language and finally it transcends down to motor skills for appropriate behavior/action. All three aspects in different brain states need to be precisely and impeccably evolved and matched for communication to be right, true and useful. The optimality of linguistic communication is always precariously poised as it is cooperative function of different brain states and therefore seemingly susceptible to entropic eventualities.
It may sound interesting that whatever communication happens in brain states as part of the language processing, it is essentially neural and bio-chemical. They are the building blocks of consciousness as well as languages. They create the metaphors and analogues for both domains. We also know, the same building blocks are used for communication of information at molecular and cell levels. It is interesting to know if the molecular and cellular level communication of neuro-chemical elements do not usually err and get vitiated; how possibly they may do when it comes to consciousness and languages. Can we say; it is primarily because molecular-cellular level communication is not emergent and not linked to external information and consciousness and languages are? We do not need to get into this conundrum!
Here, we shall understand through an example, how a troubled situation with cognition and language can unleash a big entropic scenario in life and living. We shall talk about this ‘entropic’ aspect later in detail but here an example shall help in understanding why we are saying that language is probably an entropic influence on consciousness, in the long chain of human evolution.
We all expect others to be true and honest with us. No doubt, honesty is cardinal to the very sanity and system of human culture. However, it is also a tragic but true fact that most of us are always doubtful of the honesty of all others. This suggests; average person believes that people have this ability and inclination to ‘fake’ a reality or a situation. Most of us know that this probable dishonesty or faking is possible primarily through language. Most of us believe that even while someone is faking, other natural languages, which we have, probably cannot fake and are not amenable to conscientious dishonesty – like we say, he told all lies but his eyes betrayed him. It means, humanly designed language is amenable to conscientious as well as non-conscientious faking and dishonesty but natural languages may not be.
Here comes the role of Agency, which we talked about. As three different brain states are involved in language communication – conscious part, language formation-perception part and motor skill part; the Agency of subjectivity and personality of an individual stands vulnerable to altering any of the three states for personal profitability in milieu-specific communication of societal exchange. Honesty itself is a metaphor; a sound that represents a larger and emergent reality of all three associational parts of the brain states standing in symmetry of linearity. This metaphor is always susceptible to the maneuverability of Agency.
We are however, not talking about this conscious dishonesty or faking. We are more inclined to understand the subconscious or unconscious dishonesty or what we can term as non-conscientious dishonesty – the dishonesty or faking, we may not or do not do intentionally, still, they happen. This somehow is the larger trouble of humanity. Humanly designed language has the same level of culpability, as it is in the case of non-conscientious dishonesty. In non-conscientious dishonesty, natural languages also end up as equal culprits. Let us talk about it.
Scientifically, it is accepted that human brain is not a single organ like liver, kidney or heart. Rather, it is a cooperative of different brain parts, which evolved in different Timeline, in the long span of evolution. It is therefore an acceptable hypothesis that any reality, which the brain maps inside its plexus, has to be a complex process of cooperative mechanism of the brain states, in which millions of neurons participate, synchronizing a complicated process. Different brain parts process information from five different sensory organs. Then, it is also correlated, co-opted and conferred with memories of experiences, stored in different plexus of brain. The memories, which are stored as experiences, work as antecedents, shaping up the map of a reality the brain creates. There are different shades of emotions and feelings, which also influence the experiences and in turn the memories of past encounters with related antecedents. Given the complexities, the information processing and metaphor-building mechanism of brain states involve, it is evident how almost impossible it is for the emergent-transient Agency of self or ‘I’ to be singularly objectively one entity. All these complex processes seem very different from molecular-cellular level information processing. Also, we all know how this agency of ‘I’ is always in constant interaction with ever-changing external as well as internal milieus. This itself is the seed-situation for non-conscientious dishonesty of the Agency of self or ‘I’. Languages we speak are probably only the Accomplish-Media of the primary culpability of Agency of ‘I’.
In one word; when brain states create a Map of a Reality inside its plexus for representing an analogous or metaphoric imagery of the reality outside; it is a hugely complex process of entire brain states, which work as cooperative. No doubt, this entire process has to be very subjective as it involves personal body-mind plexus and its very personal-subjective experiences and their feelings. It is only natural that this imagery of a reality; this map of a reality or a situation, shall be different to different people. Different individuals are born with dissimilar brain types and also evolve in their own personalized ways in different localized milieus, within a society; making their Agency very dissimilar to others. This Opens Up The First Gateway Of Entropy. The primary element of subconscious or non-conscientious Faking or Dishonesty comes in the form of the probability that a person may never actually 100 percent map or image a reality or a situation in his or her brain states.
Secondly, the bigger challenge is to have a 100 percent analogous language structure to express the reality, the imagery or map of which the brain states have created. Here again, it has to be mentioned that there is wider consensus among scientists that in construction of language too, almost entire brain plexus has to work as cooperative to meaningfully and accurately communicate the reality or situation, the imagery or map of which the brain states have created. This naturally requires not only reasonably good preparation of a person in linguistic artistry – the dictionary as well as the grammar but also sound practice of synchrony and symmetry of his or her brain states. It is never easy. We all know very well as how an average person stands rather under-prepared for good language quality. It is only natural that an average person has trouble expressing the reality or a situation, through languages in 100 percent veracity and exactness. Another Entropic Gate Is Created and another element of subconscious or non-conscientious Faking or Dishonesty comes in.
Thirdly, we all know it very well that the words in the dictionary or syntactic symmetry of grammar are only the bare basics of language. Language is perfected and acquires its true utility when it is juxtaposed with tone, tenure, rhythm, emphasis and many other small details in the expressional finality. A small sign or symbol like a coma can very well alter the ‘intent’ of the expression or the embedded message. The rules of grammar and word meanings as singular and objective system of expression constitute only ‘half part’ of