(no subject)
Wednesday, June 6, 2007
There are no handles upon a language
Whereby men take hold of it
-Carl Sandburg, “Languages”
__________
A child sits wide-eyed, absorbed by the color and motion of the large and limitless world in which he lives. The voices of his parents fill his ears, heard at first as unintelligible strings of sound without pattern or order. Amazingly, within a brief span of time, he has learned the connection between these random sounds and the objects that fill that boundless world around him. Not only does the child understand what is said to him, he is also able to produce new utterances; he is able to communicate. The feat of language acquisition, overlooked by most because of its universality, represents one of the most intriguing and remarkable cognitive developments of a human being. In all normal cases, acquisition is effortless and requires no instruction (though some parents try, usually futilely, to speed up the process by providing it). Most parents never explicitly explain the details of sentence construction or the method of forming the past tense, and yet children become full fledged, animated speakers of the ambient language.
Whereas the acquisition of language by a child can easily be observed, the development of a philosophy of life cannot. Yet as children grow, surrounded by countless speakers and opinions (often expressed by seemingly meaningless comments or even by a lack of comment), they acquire a life philosophy - with implicit, often unidentified principles - by a means similar to the one involved in language acquisition. At a young age, children do not yet have the cognitive capacity to critically examine and judge the opinions of their elders or of society. In order to live successfully and happily, young adults must examine their convictions and determine by what method they were acquired, whether it was a rational process of logic and proof, or a process of absorption, without question, of the “ambient” philosophy.
Just as it is nearly impossible to live without language, so it is impossible to live without a philosophy of some kind. But whereas all languages are equally effective, all philosophies are not. The difference lies in the purpose of each. Language allows us, mentally, to identify and retain concepts; it allows us, socially, to communicate. Any language will do (though the Parisians may not agree). The purpose of a philosophy, to determine the way we live our lives and ultimately allow us to achieve happiness, is not accomplished by all philosophies. As evidence, observe the many people who experience no physical harms and live superficially comfortable lives, yet are unsatisfied. Thus, while we can happily blabber away in English or Italian or Urdu, we cannot happily live with any random set of values and principles. Whereas the decision to study a second language is one of personal preference, the decision to adopt a “second” philosophy is often one of critical need.
There are no handles upon a language
Whereby men take hold of it
-Carl Sandburg, “Languages”
__________
A child sits wide-eyed, absorbed by the color and motion of the large and limitless world in which he lives. The voices of his parents fill his ears, heard at first as unintelligible strings of sound without pattern or order. Amazingly, within a brief span of time, he has learned the connection between these random sounds and the objects that fill that boundless world around him. Not only does the child understand what is said to him, he is also able to produce new utterances; he is able to communicate. The feat of language acquisition, overlooked by most because of its universality, represents one of the most intriguing and remarkable cognitive developments of a human being. In all normal cases, acquisition is effortless and requires no instruction (though some parents try, usually futilely, to speed up the process by providing it). Most parents never explicitly explain the details of sentence construction or the method of forming the past tense, and yet children become full fledged, animated speakers of the ambient language.
Whereas the acquisition of language by a child can easily be observed, the development of a philosophy of life cannot. Yet as children grow, surrounded by countless speakers and opinions (often expressed by seemingly meaningless comments or even by a lack of comment), they acquire a life philosophy - with implicit, often unidentified principles - by a means similar to the one involved in language acquisition. At a young age, children do not yet have the cognitive capacity to critically examine and judge the opinions of their elders or of society. In order to live successfully and happily, young adults must examine their convictions and determine by what method they were acquired, whether it was a rational process of logic and proof, or a process of absorption, without question, of the “ambient” philosophy.
Just as it is nearly impossible to live without language, so it is impossible to live without a philosophy of some kind. But whereas all languages are equally effective, all philosophies are not. The difference lies in the purpose of each. Language allows us, mentally, to identify and retain concepts; it allows us, socially, to communicate. Any language will do (though the Parisians may not agree). The purpose of a philosophy, to determine the way we live our lives and ultimately allow us to achieve happiness, is not accomplished by all philosophies. As evidence, observe the many people who experience no physical harms and live superficially comfortable lives, yet are unsatisfied. Thus, while we can happily blabber away in English or Italian or Urdu, we cannot happily live with any random set of values and principles. Whereas the decision to study a second language is one of personal preference, the decision to adopt a “second” philosophy is often one of critical need.