PART ONE: LUCY TO GILGAMESH
The Evolution of Imagination
Introduction
In the introduction, Watson would say what’s his purpose of writing Ideas, and explains some of the theories of the history of ideas as well as the different concepts of ideas and inventions. There are some things to keep in mind:
“Intellectual history is very far from being a straight line – that is part of its attraction.” (page 2)
“This is perhaps the most important lesson we can learn from a history of ideas: that intellectual life – arguably the most important, satisfying and characteristic dimension to our existence – is a fragile thing, easily destroyed or wasted.” (page 2)
“I have treated language as an idea, because language reflects the way that people think, and the ways in which languages differ characterize the social and intellectual history of different populations. In addition, most ideas are conceived in language.” (page 7)
“The conception of the eternal world of ideas also gave rise to two further questions: why is there any world of becoming in addition to the eternal world of ideas or, indeed, the one Supreme Being – why, in effect, is there something rather than nothing? And second, what principle determines the number of kinds of beings that make up the sensible and temporal world? Why is there plenitude? Is that evidence of the underlying goodness of God?” (page 8)
“My aim throughout has been to identify and discuss those ideas and inventions that have had a long-term influence on the way we live or have lived and think.” (page 11)
“Intellectual history is very far from being a straight line – that is part of its attraction.” (page 2)
“This is perhaps the most important lesson we can learn from a history of ideas: that intellectual life – arguably the most important, satisfying and characteristic dimension to our existence – is a fragile thing, easily destroyed or wasted.” (page 2)
“I have treated language as an idea, because language reflects the way that people think, and the ways in which languages differ characterize the social and intellectual history of different populations. In addition, most ideas are conceived in language.” (page 7)
“The conception of the eternal world of ideas also gave rise to two further questions: why is there any world of becoming in addition to the eternal world of ideas or, indeed, the one Supreme Being – why, in effect, is there something rather than nothing? And second, what principle determines the number of kinds of beings that make up the sensible and temporal world? Why is there plenitude? Is that evidence of the underlying goodness of God?” (page 8)
“My aim throughout has been to identify and discuss those ideas and inventions that have had a long-term influence on the way we live or have lived and think.” (page 11)
Chapter 1. Ideas Before Language
“This outline of man’s earliest lifestyle is conjectural. And to dignify the practice as an ‘idea’ is surely an exaggeration: this was instinct at work. But scavenging, unromantic as it sounds, may not be such a bad starting-point.” (page 20)
This chapter is an introduction to the world of ideas and goes into an exploration of the possible first ideas of man. The main contestant for the first idea is bipedalism, which led to many other discoveries that ended up transforming man into what we now know. Other important discoveries were meat-eating, which led to changes in brain size and the creation of artifacts like hand-axes, and the invention of fire.
Then, Watson explains the importance of art in the development of ideas through cave paintings, Venus figurines, split houses, sexual imagery, textiles, and other rituals.
“This complex structure, in which people were required to predict the behavior of others in social situations, is generally regarded as the mechanism by which consciousness evolved. In predicting the behavior of others, an individual would have acquired a sense of self.” (page 22)
The primitive mind is said to have been composed of three types of intelligences: technical (producing stone tools), natural history (understanding the lanscape and wildlife around him/her), and social (the skills needed to live in groups). (Theory by Steven Mithen)
As we will see in the future chapters, these intelligences evolved to allow man be capable of surviving and adapting his environment. In this development, Merlin Donald has identified three transitions from the primitive to the modern mind (covering 400,000 to 50,000 years ago):
1. ‘Episodic’ thinking (short-term responses to the environment, memory for specific events in a specific context)
2. ‘Mimetic’ thinking (intentional mime and imitation, facial expression, mimicry of sounds, gestures, etc.)
3. ‘Mythic’ thinking (language, an escape from the nervous system)
“This (eruption of the Mount Toba volcano at 71,000 years ago) would have been followed by a period of severe competition of resources, resulting in rapid development among very disparate groups, fuelling innovation.” (page 33)
“What can be certain of, however, is that none of the complex art, and the ancient ceremonies that surrounded the painted caves, could have been accomplished without language. For Merlin Donald the transition to mimetic cognition and communication was the all-important transformation in history, but the arrival of spoken language was hardly less of a breakthrough.” (page 38)
This chapter is an introduction to the world of ideas and goes into an exploration of the possible first ideas of man. The main contestant for the first idea is bipedalism, which led to many other discoveries that ended up transforming man into what we now know. Other important discoveries were meat-eating, which led to changes in brain size and the creation of artifacts like hand-axes, and the invention of fire.
Then, Watson explains the importance of art in the development of ideas through cave paintings, Venus figurines, split houses, sexual imagery, textiles, and other rituals.
“This complex structure, in which people were required to predict the behavior of others in social situations, is generally regarded as the mechanism by which consciousness evolved. In predicting the behavior of others, an individual would have acquired a sense of self.” (page 22)
The primitive mind is said to have been composed of three types of intelligences: technical (producing stone tools), natural history (understanding the lanscape and wildlife around him/her), and social (the skills needed to live in groups). (Theory by Steven Mithen)
As we will see in the future chapters, these intelligences evolved to allow man be capable of surviving and adapting his environment. In this development, Merlin Donald has identified three transitions from the primitive to the modern mind (covering 400,000 to 50,000 years ago):
1. ‘Episodic’ thinking (short-term responses to the environment, memory for specific events in a specific context)
2. ‘Mimetic’ thinking (intentional mime and imitation, facial expression, mimicry of sounds, gestures, etc.)
3. ‘Mythic’ thinking (language, an escape from the nervous system)
“This (eruption of the Mount Toba volcano at 71,000 years ago) would have been followed by a period of severe competition of resources, resulting in rapid development among very disparate groups, fuelling innovation.” (page 33)
“What can be certain of, however, is that none of the complex art, and the ancient ceremonies that surrounded the painted caves, could have been accomplished without language. For Merlin Donald the transition to mimetic cognition and communication was the all-important transformation in history, but the arrival of spoken language was hardly less of a breakthrough.” (page 38)
Chapter 2. The Emergence of Language and the Conquest of Cold
“The acquisition of language is perhaps the most controversial and interesting aspect of early humans’ intellectual life. It is, so far as we know, and together with mimetic cognition (if Merlin Donald is right), the most important characteristic that separates Homo sapiens from other animals…an understanding of the invention and evolution of language is fundamental.” (page 39)
As the quote above mentions, this chapter would be an exploration of the invention and evolution of language. Also, we would see the relation that the ‘Conquest of Cold’ had with language. The main topics of this chapter are the size of early groups, the development of hunting tools, the invention of ‘tailored’ clothing, some proto-languages (proto means origin or first), sinodonty, the language gene, Nostratic and other mother tongues, the first sounds, the first words, and possible the first writings.
As the quote above mentions, this chapter would be an exploration of the invention and evolution of language. Also, we would see the relation that the ‘Conquest of Cold’ had with language. The main topics of this chapter are the size of early groups, the development of hunting tools, the invention of ‘tailored’ clothing, some proto-languages (proto means origin or first), sinodonty, the language gene, Nostratic and other mother tongues, the first sounds, the first words, and possible the first writings.
Chapter 3. The Birth of the Gods, the Evolution of House and Home
“As we have seen, for Merlin Donald the great transformation in human history was the change from episodic thinking to mimetic, because it allowed the development of culture, ‘the great escape from the nervous system’…For most archeologists, however, humans’ ‘greatest idea’ is far more down-to-earth practical notion. For them, the domestication of plants and animals – the invention of agriculture – was easily the greatest idea because it produced what was by far the most profound transformation in the way that humans have lived.” (page 53)
The main topics of this chapter are the domestication of plants and animals, the increasing control of fire, the cultivation of cereals, some drawback from agriculture, sedentism, the first houses, the first use of clay, the transition from stone to pottery, the use of megaliths, stone temples, copper smelting, the use of bronze and iron, and the use of daggers, mirrors, and coins, and finally the intellectual impact of money.
“Much more controversial, however, are the reasons for why agriculture developed, why it developed then, and why it developed where it did. This is clearly of major importance in understanding mankind’s mental development.” (page 56)
It’s very important to remember that agriculture had many externalities in the way man thought. It affected religion, social relations, trade, the development of artifacts with new materials, etc.
The main topics of this chapter are the domestication of plants and animals, the increasing control of fire, the cultivation of cereals, some drawback from agriculture, sedentism, the first houses, the first use of clay, the transition from stone to pottery, the use of megaliths, stone temples, copper smelting, the use of bronze and iron, and the use of daggers, mirrors, and coins, and finally the intellectual impact of money.
“Much more controversial, however, are the reasons for why agriculture developed, why it developed then, and why it developed where it did. This is clearly of major importance in understanding mankind’s mental development.” (page 56)
It’s very important to remember that agriculture had many externalities in the way man thought. It affected religion, social relations, trade, the development of artifacts with new materials, etc.
Chapter 4. Cities of Wisdom
“The reason for this remarkable burst of creativity is not hard to find: civilization, as we now call it, occurred only after early man had begun to live in cities. Cities were far more competitive, experimental environments than anything that had gone before. The city is the cradle of culture, the birthplace of nearly all our most cherished ideas.” (page 73)
…
“In the classical definition, civilization consists of three or more of the following: cities, writing, the specialization of occupations, monumental architecture, the formation of capital. But this, while not wrong, ignores the underlying principle. Sometime in the late fourth millennium BC, people came together to live in large cities. The transition transformed human experience for the new conditions required men and women to cooperate in ways they never had before. It was this close contiguity, this new face-to-face style of cohabitation, that explained the proliferation of new ideas, particularly in the basic tools for living together – writing, law, bureaucracy, specialized occupations, education, weights and measures.” (page 74)
“It was thus in these first cities that LU, human beings, discovered a genius for art, literature, trade, law – and many other new things. We call it civilization and we are apt to think of it as reflected in the physical remains of temples, castles and palaces that we see about us. But it was far more than that. It was a great experiment in living together, which sparked a whole new psychological experience, one that, even today, continues to excite many more of us that the alternatives. Cities have been the forcing houses of ideas, of thought, of innovation, in almost all the ways that have pushed life forward.” (page 96)
In this chapter, the main topics are the importance of the first cities, the development of temples and temple cults, the origins of writing (tokens, Vinca marks, scripts, pictographs, names and lists, creation of syllabary and then alphabets), the first schools, the first archives and libraries, the first literary texts (Gilgamesh), the wheel, the domestication of horses, the impacts of war in life, and the first law codes (Hammurabi).
…
“In the classical definition, civilization consists of three or more of the following: cities, writing, the specialization of occupations, monumental architecture, the formation of capital. But this, while not wrong, ignores the underlying principle. Sometime in the late fourth millennium BC, people came together to live in large cities. The transition transformed human experience for the new conditions required men and women to cooperate in ways they never had before. It was this close contiguity, this new face-to-face style of cohabitation, that explained the proliferation of new ideas, particularly in the basic tools for living together – writing, law, bureaucracy, specialized occupations, education, weights and measures.” (page 74)
“It was thus in these first cities that LU, human beings, discovered a genius for art, literature, trade, law – and many other new things. We call it civilization and we are apt to think of it as reflected in the physical remains of temples, castles and palaces that we see about us. But it was far more than that. It was a great experiment in living together, which sparked a whole new psychological experience, one that, even today, continues to excite many more of us that the alternatives. Cities have been the forcing houses of ideas, of thought, of innovation, in almost all the ways that have pushed life forward.” (page 96)
In this chapter, the main topics are the importance of the first cities, the development of temples and temple cults, the origins of writing (tokens, Vinca marks, scripts, pictographs, names and lists, creation of syllabary and then alphabets), the first schools, the first archives and libraries, the first literary texts (Gilgamesh), the wheel, the domestication of horses, the impacts of war in life, and the first law codes (Hammurabi).