(no subject)
However, I have a gut feeling that the reason we're so communicative is that we are, at a very fundamental level, a communication phenomenon: that is, our actual sense of conscious identity emerges from the internal use of our language faculty to bind together our stream of cognition and create an internal narrative. Internally, language allows us to codify our memories and provides us with a toolkit for symbolic manipulation - it's a very important component of the "theory of mind" which allows us to anticipate the behaviour and internal thoughts of others. And it also extends our awareness beyond the reach of our own sensory organs by allowing us to use others as proxies.
Language is a multi-function tool: it's not just a dessert topping, it's a floor wax too.
- Charlie Stross
Language is a multi-function tool: it's not just a dessert topping, it's a floor wax too.
- Charlie Stross