In four billion years, the line of descent that has become animals has progressed from random atomic attractions to extremely intricate and complex life forms possessing magnificent abilities to move, gather food, avoid danger, build shelter, find mates, and interact socially. And all of that activity is directed by elaborate nervous systems that typically have specialized nerve centers called brains that process and record sensory system input and direct action ranging from breathing to coordinated movement.
Brains consist of some of the most complex matter we’ve ever observed. They’re so remarkably proficient that the tiny brain of a mosquito coordinates all its activities; including finding food, shelter and a mate; and detecting and avoiding physical threats, such as the swat of a hand, while stealing a meal. And all of the activities a mosquito engages in is orchestrated by a brain smaller than the head of a pin.
Today, humans are relatively brainy, having slightly larger brains than other animals in proportion to body size. Not coincidentally humans also have greater reasoning ability. And it’s not surprising that people have large brains, after all, man’s intellect allows him to rule the world. Of course, that hasn’t always been the case. Long ago, there was something that triggered unusual mental development in man’s ancestors, and people have long wondered what that impetus was. Was it something in the water, was it stone tool usage, or was it a spontaneous genetic mutation? The answers to those questions are no, no and no. Many have suggested that tool usage required additional thought, spurring increased brain activity and growth. And that’s partially correct, but not in the manner of tool many have suspected.
Together with close relatives like chimpanzees, humans have throat and mouth structures that allow a broad range of vocalization, and in turn, a very large range of oral communication. After separating from their primate cousins, man’s ancestors developed progressively more elaborate vocal communication. Of course, mankind was by no means the first to communicate. Language such as the song of a bird, the deep bellow of a bullfrog, and chirps of crickets are just a few examples of the varied communication all around us.
Animals the world over have long communicated by using visual, aural, chemical and physical cues. Honeybees even appear to use a complicated form of dance to communicate within their complex society. And in the vast, open oceans, songs of whales can be heard for miles as they talk, or sing, to each other. Like the songs of birds, people don’t know what whales are saying; if they’re communicating detailed information or just rudimentary identification and emotion. But some animal language, like the warning growl of a dog, while not communicating a great deal of information, is so clear it’s unmistakable.
Today people communicate with many animals, though mostly with companion animals. Seeing-eye dogs are but one example of animals that understand some of what we say, and they, in turn, can communicate warnings of danger and other useful information back to people. It’s childishly simple for humans not to readily realize the degree of meaningful communication in the broader animal world. Collectively, however, humans have raised the art of communication to a higher level.
And, as with many advancing skills, language greatly expanded man’s capabilities, including more mental processing accompanied by increased brain size. Not only does language require significant mental effort to use, language is the switch that turned the brain “on,” it was the impetus of higher thinking. Language is nothing less than the key to reason and the very form of complex thought.
That may sound like an incredible assertion, but it’s quite true and simple; without language mankind would have very little reasoning ability. To understand a mind without human language is to understand the mind of an infant or another animal. Human thought is actually represented by internal verbalization. People think by talking to themselves. We ask ourselves why and how, and then answer the question in our minds. Language enables another layer of mental activity beyond emotion, monitoring and acting. It would be fascinating to observe a real-life Tarzan; someone that grew up without contact with other humans; if for no other reason than to gauge how much reasoning capacity is now genetically imbedded in the human mind or developed in the womb, and how much results from the environment in which we’re raised.
From before birth human brains are processing electrical impulses into memory. That is, nerve connections are formed in the brain that correspond with specific sensory inputs. People learn through memorization and mimicry. Language is so ingrained in personal development that it actually forms the thought process. How long can one go without talking to one’s self? A reader might repeat that question, taking time for the words to impart meaning. Can one think about something without talking to himself, solve a problem without verbalizing it internally, or perform any manner of reasoning without saying a word in his mind? Upon examination, it becomes apparent that human intellect is synonymous with language. Without language, people couldn’t solve complex problems, nor collaborate with others to share knowledge and overcome even greater challenges.
Early humans weren’t first to communicate, they weren’t the first to develop a verbal language, but by advancing it to the point of deliberate reason they set themselves apart. It wasn’t the use of physical tools that distinguished humanity; it wasn’t bipedalism or opposable thumbs that gave rise to the kingdom of man. Language, the source of man's prosperity, power and glory, is the difference between people and our fellow earthlings. Mankind didn’t ascend to the throne by using a simple stone tool like an otter cracking a shell. To point, a spider’s web is much more exquisite and sophisticated than an early human tool such as a club or hammering stone. What man invented was the inventor’s tool, it was the creator’s vision, even quite literally the lord’s law. With language, man had a tool that could create other tools, like a flowering vine bearing fruit and reproducing, growing ever larger. With language man has conveyed the most powerful tool of all, the object that both enslaves and liberates, the idea.
Man’s ability to unite a nation abodes in the realm of the power of language. So too does the ability to add to the sum of knowledge. Individuals share and combine their knowledge with language. And generation after generation leaves an ever-growing foundation of knowledge for the future to build on. Idea upon idea has been added to man’s pyramid of knowledge; layer by layer, day by day, and year after year. The process of making fire is a power of language. As is the role of the wheel, the turn of the plow, the strike of the hammer, the temper of steel, the flight of rockets, the splicing of genes, and even the formidable power to destroy much of life on Earth.
Like the first bird soaring on the wind, or the first tetrapod climbing onto land, humans may be first to reason with language but will be joined by others. Time permitting, others will understand as we do. Time permitting, they will. But that precipitates a big question: how long life can continue to advance. Man’s greed and cruel nature threaten to undo hundreds of millions of years of development. Of course, possessing language doesn’t guarantee equality, but possessing language would allow the transmission of knowledge that could give rise to equality. However, like any tool, language can be used for good and it can be used for harm. What gave man dominion over the Earth has enabled people to rule with a wicked hand. Sadly, man has been a very unjust lord. Woe to the rest of life on Earth that man has been first to master technology.
Even with advanced language and reasoning abilities, humanity’s nervous system is very similar to those of the rest of the animal kingdom. And one of the primary functions of any nervous system is the sensing of injury to the body. Other animals feel pain as people do; unfortunately, they almost invariably feel much, much more pain. In everybody from worms to whales, and from elephants to ants, pain hurts.
The fact that pleasure is good and pain is bad, is an undeniable universal truth; and pleasure gives life meaning. Therefore, helping others is right and hurting others is wrong.
There we have it, the keys to life can be summed up in a couple of sentences. And helping, not hurting, our fellow Earthlings, should be the first thing that we teach our children. Because everybody deserves to be treated as they treat others, at least, as they treat the innocent. So justice is simply to Do Unto Others As They Do To The Innocent.
Why is that not common knowledge, and why don’t we live like that? Because people don’t want to do what is good and fair, people don’t want justice. At heart we’re still an exceedingly selfish species, and selfishness is the root of evil. Even billions of years of evolution haven't overcome our cruelty, nor the greed underlying our motivation. In this age of information, with the wealth of the world's knowledge at our fingertips it's a condemnation that not only do we not want to do what's right, the average person doesn't even know the difference between right and wrong. And the fact that people go their whole lives not knowing what should be obvious and they should have been taught from the earliest age; that helping others is right and hurting them is wrong; is due to pervasive, even institutionalized effort to rationalize greed and cruelty.
True worth is one's effects on others; the way a person treats the innocent says all that's needed to know about him or her. Only those that see the world through the eyes of others can see the truth, the rest are blinded by their own perspective. And just as we have a responsibility to keep the innocent from harm, there is no greater accomplishment than bringing happiness to those that deserve it.