Two individuals interacting through the use of vocalized reverberations that are recognized as containing a code of sounds that both understand. When you think about speech it is amazing that the grunts we emit induce reactions from those we want to impact in some way.
 |
| Green Turtle's never have goop on the rear of their shells |
i don't know if any of the rest of you
have ever done this but when i was young maybe seven or eight i would
say a word to myself over and over. i'd repeat a word say...ant... for
instance...ahhhnnnntttttt. i'd watch ants going about their business, trekking along in single file, bumping heads with ones going in the
opposite direction and say to myself ahhhnnnttttt. i'd say it slowly
over and over while i was leaning over watching them and think about the sounds and wonder how in the world
ahhhnnnntttttt ever came to be the sound we use to indicate an ant. i'd repeat color sounds, sounds for objects, all sorts of things and
never be able to understand why that particular sound became
responsible for identifying something we take for granted. i still
don't completely understand how we originally agreed that certain
tonal articulations had any meaning at all.
 |
| Hawksbills always seem to have goop on the rear of their shells |
Apparently i'm not alone. Linguists,
anthropologists, philosophers, evolutionary biologists and psychologists have all wondered how
human language developed. Those that follow the Bible believe that
Adam was the first human to speak a designed language that was later
scattered into separate languages at Babel by God. Chomsky a linguist
at MIT thinks we may have a “language center” in our brains that
enables the youngest child to acquire language innately. Others think
the evolutionary tweaking of a few genomes way back when is the only
thing separating us from the animals.
 |
| Moray body language |
The Oxford English Dictionary has
almost 176,000 words in common usage, 47,000 words in it are obsolete
and 9,500 are derivative. No one really knows how many words the
English language contains because it adds and subtracts them
constantly based upon usage. It is thought that English has more
words than other languages because of the addition of Latin and
French after the Norman invasion in 1066.
 |
| Atlantic Ray trying to get away |
The difference between us all lies not in our understanding but in our vocal projections.
Since we attach different meanings to sounds we can't always speak to
each other but we can understand every human on the planet through
their body language. All humans recognize laughter, sadness,
puzzlement, distress, arm signals, head nods, gestures and pictures
that we draw. Travelers, even without knowledge of the language of
the country they are visiting can get their needs met through sign
and body language. We can communicate on an elementary level at all
times no matter who we are with.
 |
| Can you read his body language? |
Conversation can be verbal or
non-verbal and both methods or a combination of the two clue us in to
the intentions of those we interact with. Sounds may convey meaning
but the way you look, listen, sit, move or react can give a much more
in depth message. You may be trying to convince someone of one thing
while your body language is sending a mixed message. If the two
aren't working together the receiver of the information may have his
or her doubts.
Today on the island we all got the
horrible news that the oil refinery is closing. Everyone is talking
about it and most of it is negative. Lots of people will be loosing
their jobs and moving off island to find work. Everything will be
affected, housing, gasoline, schools and all the business's that worked directly or indirectly with the refinery.
St. Croix has experienced ups and downs
through out its entire human history and this will not be the worst
thing that has ever happened on the island. Over time we have had
earthquakes, hurricanes, tsunami's and declining economies brought on
by the demise of the sugar industry, aluminum, rum and now oil. At one point in the 1600's all residents were ordered off. In
the future it will be something else that will crash and burn...those
committed to St. Croix will stay and those that can see no new future
here will leave.
My advice is wait and see how things
shake out. Some other company could make a bid for the refinery, Hess
may decide to re-open if market conditions change and there could be
better days ahead. One just never knows. When the refinery in Aruba
closed they focused on tourism and the island is now one of the top
destinations. Sometimes when things go bad it becomes an opportunity
to create something new and better.
Conversation on the streets will be
full of melee, take it with a grain of salt. Don't make decisions
based upon other people and don't bolt just because everyone else
thinks that is their only option. People will continue to live and
work here for eons to come regardless of the Hovensa closing.
No comments:
Post a Comment