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Elaboration 4.3
In the case of one of Russell's absurdities, the reader is reminded
of his schooldays. As schoolboy, doing an exam, one has to answer a
question naming the two divisions of a subject. Due to nervousness
or bad preparation, one knows only one of them, and makes up the
second in such a way that it seems not, but is exactly the first.
Asked: 'What are the two functions of language?' it is then as if
Russell answers?"Language has two primary purposes, expression and
communication". It is obvious, that communication is exactly the
same as expressing one's mind (feelings, ideas, opinions, notions
and other synonyms). The correct answer, the one that the teacher
would have given, should be: 'The two purposes of language (in man)
are a) a tool for thinking, and b) a tool for communication. The
first one is by far the most utter important one. In a (theoretical)
Avignon or Aveyron child, one that has been reared by wolves,
outside a glimmer of external intelligence, it is without doubt that
it would have formed thought-symbols for the objects and activities
in its environment. They would be clumsy symbols, true, but without
it he could not think. In the same way have born blind and born deaf
people totally different internal ideation, though, they learn to
use standardized speech sounds or letters. The secondary function,
communication, came into being and was steadily improved only AFTER
an internal language had developed. Phylogenetically then, there was
first an internal, personal, idea-syncratic (idea is idio) language
in use for thinking. Then, the early invention of man was developed,
the first standardization, the first intelligent act (co-operation).
It was found that alongside the idea-syncratic systems, there was a
possibility to standardize sounds and gestures (physical entities)
as an intelligent extension of the naturally grown standards of
crying, laughing, growling, the baring of teeth, etc. Of course, the
system was based on the pair, on the pulse, on sound/no-sound, i.e.
on a steady rhythm of repeated pairs, of marking time, and on tone,
which is also pulse, rhythm. (The difference between tone and rhythm
is solely in the frequency, like the radio/light waves are only in
frequency different). When this lingual system became more and more
complex (is refined), it came as a shock to the mind that thinking
in that language was a considerable improvement of the former clumsy
method of thinking. Man, then, as we do still, started thinking in
words. There, unfortunately, it stopped, just one step over random.
Today, there is little serious effort to improve the primitive,
inconsistent, stupid system, and certainly there is little
enthusiasm for improvement. G. B. Shaw, it is said, instituted a
reward for persons who did significant work in merely a tiny facet
of cleaning up (rationalize) language, namely the phonetic writing
of the spoken sounds. I do not know if ever the reward was given
out. The two functions of language remain however, first to work
with ideas, and second to communicate ideas. As honest scientist I
would say: it need not be the truth about language, it is only a
better theory.
Next: Elaboration 4.4
Up: Elaboration 4
Previous: Elaboration 4.2
Ven
2007-09-11