The early history of written language

Reading Proust and the Squid was quite an eye opener for me as far as the history of all written language. I have never before had a lesson on just how written language started. I do find this subject to be quite fascinating, and I am amazed at human kind’s ability to develop something so complex.

I believe that our society today simply could not be what it is today without written language. The majority of the wealth of knowledge that is contained in humanity is recorded in written language, and while quite a bit of communication in our culture is conducted orally, I believe an overwhelming majority of communication that occurs globally is done in written language. There are many circumstances where we see communications in written language and we don’t even realize it. For example, I am writing this blog entry on the 2^nd floor of the Compton Union Building at Washington State University beside the stairwell. As I take a look around my surroundings, I see signs all around me that communicate important information. I see a sign in front of me that announces that the room in front of me is the “Senior Ballroom”. Behind me is a similar sign that denotes that the room is the “Junior Ballroom”. Across the space I see a sign telling me that I can find an Automated External Defibrillator nearby. I am composing this blog entry in written English. Written communication has become an indispensable part of our culture, our technology, and our civilization.

All of what I just wrote makes me amazed at the humble beginnings of written language. From the early representations of goods for market, to the early pictograms that were made by the Sumerians, it took humanity thousands of years to develop this kind of language that persists. What is amazing as well about Proust and the Squid is that the piece describes how human brains did not come pre-disposed to reading. In my ignorance, I believed that human brains already had the capacity for written language that was waiting to be tapped through the development of written language. By reading this piece, I learned that the action of reading in the human brain evolved through the use of pathways that were actually designed to recognize patterns and shapes, and to associate them with meanings. While this makes sense from an evolutionary standpoint for such actions as recognizing predators, recognizing footprints for tracking game, or recognizing a good place for cultivation, it did not occur to me that these same circuits could allow for something as complex as written language.

What does make sense about this process is that written language took thousands of years to evolve from simple tokens that represented goods for trade to the earliest complex written language. As a psychology major, we learn a lot about the brain’s processes and neural plasticity. It’s clearly this that allows for the brain to take on these new processes. In addition to a pre-existing brain’s ability to modify itself and create new processes, subsequent generations of persons who learned to read would develop increasingly more complex cognitive processes and brain structures that would allow for reading, as the brain would develop new structures that would allow for these new processes and genetics would pass increasingly more powerful brain structures to subsequent generations.

With respect to the author’s view of the future, I believe that his concern for the civilization’s ability to read and write falling to the wayside is hugely unjustified. If anything, I grow concerned for our civilization’s ability to carry out interpersonal communication. Increasing uses of technology make it easier to communicate with one another, both orally and over written (textual) language. This all comes at a cost, however. All of these technologies that allow for us to communicate at a distance makes it easier to forego interpersonal communication in favor of an e-mail or text message because it is more convenient. In my opinion, interpersonal communication is something that will never be completely replaced by technology. Additionally, in my opinion, interpersonal communication always has been and always will be a favored communication medium for sensitive or personal subjects where the message that is being conveyed may be misinterpreted or may become muddled.

Learning about the history of the human civilization’s use of written language was enlightening, and very informative. It has been interesting learning about where written language comes from, and where it has been. What also excites me is the idea that my generation is continuing to write the history book about the evolution of written communication through the digital age. I’m glad to be able to make my contribution to the cause, by writing this blog.