Why Are Writing And Language So Weird? | The Odyssey Online
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Why Are Writing And Language So Weird?

My daily thought process on a common form of communication.

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Why Are Writing And Language So Weird?
Google

Writing is an extremely weird thing to me. If you really think about it a bunch of people gathered together and decided that certain things will be called a certain thing and then making the written version has to look like how the word sounds so that we can communicate that certain thing. Way back when in primitive caveman days we didn't have all of this language. But humans developed at a rapid rate and we began to learn how to communicate with more than odors and interpretive actions. I can just imagine the first cavemen pointing and grunting different sounds until they all jump for joy in celebration of each other’s newfound intelligence. And as time moves on we had put more and more structure into this form of communication. We as a whole race spent years and years developing a different form of communication that completely defies the laws of nature. This isn't natural. Like stated before, as animals we were intended to communicate through odors and interpretive actions. The fact that we created an entirely different system of communication that even other species can understand is so weird!

You know what else is weird? The fact that we have different languages. This kind of also goes back to the roots of our evolution. Animals in certain regions have distinct features about them, no matter how small, that separate them from others. And if those animals were to try and move to another location with similar animals they would be shunned. BUT with language we have broken that barrier. Everyone accepts everyone, especially if you know the language. However, I'm kind of weirded out by the idea that there are different languages. Were other humans aware that other humans were making different languages? Were they made at the same time? How did they communicate before translators? These are the questions that haunt me. ANYWAY, writing along with talking is a universal and everlasting form of communication. From Egyptian Hieroglyphics to contemporary English novels, words inscribed on something seem to last forever. And that’s something else that’s weird. So now we are imprinting our language onto objects for other future humans to be able to read and understand and now we have people from the past communicating with people of the future! Writing and language in all of it’s entirety is weird, but awe-inspiring. Think about it: if we as a species could completely change nature in the way we communicate, what other amazing things could we possibly do? It’s a fun thought.

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