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Big Money and Little Israel: The Racial Roots of a Rabbi’s Risible Rhetoric
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<blockquote data-quote="$lave" data-source="post: 1431" data-attributes="member: 1"><p>Absolutely fascinating. And utterly immoral. That’s how I’d describe an experiment that’s been performed several times down the centuries. Or so the stories go. Maybe the stories are wrong. Maybe no powerful ruler has ever ordered a group of babies to be raised in isolation by silent nurses, so that he could discover whether language is acquired or innate, and perhaps learn the true mother-tongue of mankind. But Herodotus <a href="https://infogalactic.com/info/Language_deprivation_experiments" target="_blank">says that</a> the pharaoh Psamtik I (664–610 BC) tried the experiment and concluded that Phrygian is our <a href="http://infogalactic.com/info/Proto-language" target="_blank"><em>Ursprache</em></a>. Later historians say that Holy Roman Emperor Frederick II (1194–1250), King James IV of Scotland (1473–1513), and the Mughal emperor Akbar (1542–1605) tried it too.</p><p></p><p><strong>Tongues and hands</strong></p><p></p><p>Only Psamtik and Akbar may really <a href="https://infogalactic.com/info/Language_deprivation_experiments" target="_blank">have done so</a>, but they wouldn’t have discovered the true and original language of mankind if they did. The evidence suggests that children raised like that can create a true spoken language among themselves, but it won’t match any existing or historic language. An <a href="https://infogalactic.com/info/Nicaraguan_Sign_Language" target="_blank">entirely new sign-language</a> appeared like that when deaf children were brought together in schools for the first time in Nicaragua. So yes, language is innate to human beings. It’s coded in our genes and it will emerge <a href="https://dictionary.cambridge.org/dictionary/italian-english/ex-novo" target="_blank"><em>ex novo</em></a> even if children are raised by silent and unsigning adults. But how is language coded in our genes? How did it evolve? I think those are two of the biggest scientific questions, up there with “Why is there something rather than nothing?” and “How does consciousness arise from unconscious matter?”</p><p></p><p>And maybe the evolution of language is the biggest scientific question of all. After all, language is the most important aspect of human behavior. It defines us and has empowered us in all our achievements. We’ve conquered the earth and begun to understand the universe with two small and feeble body-parts: our tongues and our hands. Mathematics is essential for true scientific understanding, of course, but mathematics wouldn’t exist without language. Nor would any kind of civilization or any kind of genuine culture. So everything comes back to language. That’s why, as I said, it would be absolutely fascinating to study a language that was created by children in isolation. But it would be utterly immoral to run an experiment like that, so we’ll have to go on wondering what such a language might be like.</p><p></p><p><a href="https://mindseyemag.com/magazine/big-money-and-little-israel-the-racial-roots-of-a-rabbis-risible-rhetoric/" target="_blank"><strong><em>Read More</em></strong></a></p></blockquote><p></p>
[QUOTE="$lave, post: 1431, member: 1"] Absolutely fascinating. And utterly immoral. That’s how I’d describe an experiment that’s been performed several times down the centuries. Or so the stories go. Maybe the stories are wrong. Maybe no powerful ruler has ever ordered a group of babies to be raised in isolation by silent nurses, so that he could discover whether language is acquired or innate, and perhaps learn the true mother-tongue of mankind. But Herodotus [URL='https://infogalactic.com/info/Language_deprivation_experiments']says that[/URL] the pharaoh Psamtik I (664–610 BC) tried the experiment and concluded that Phrygian is our [URL='http://infogalactic.com/info/Proto-language'][I]Ursprache[/I][/URL]. Later historians say that Holy Roman Emperor Frederick II (1194–1250), King James IV of Scotland (1473–1513), and the Mughal emperor Akbar (1542–1605) tried it too. [B]Tongues and hands[/B] Only Psamtik and Akbar may really [URL='https://infogalactic.com/info/Language_deprivation_experiments']have done so[/URL], but they wouldn’t have discovered the true and original language of mankind if they did. The evidence suggests that children raised like that can create a true spoken language among themselves, but it won’t match any existing or historic language. An [URL='https://infogalactic.com/info/Nicaraguan_Sign_Language']entirely new sign-language[/URL] appeared like that when deaf children were brought together in schools for the first time in Nicaragua. So yes, language is innate to human beings. It’s coded in our genes and it will emerge [URL='https://dictionary.cambridge.org/dictionary/italian-english/ex-novo'][I]ex novo[/I][/URL] even if children are raised by silent and unsigning adults. But how is language coded in our genes? How did it evolve? I think those are two of the biggest scientific questions, up there with “Why is there something rather than nothing?” and “How does consciousness arise from unconscious matter?” And maybe the evolution of language is the biggest scientific question of all. After all, language is the most important aspect of human behavior. It defines us and has empowered us in all our achievements. We’ve conquered the earth and begun to understand the universe with two small and feeble body-parts: our tongues and our hands. Mathematics is essential for true scientific understanding, of course, but mathematics wouldn’t exist without language. Nor would any kind of civilization or any kind of genuine culture. So everything comes back to language. That’s why, as I said, it would be absolutely fascinating to study a language that was created by children in isolation. But it would be utterly immoral to run an experiment like that, so we’ll have to go on wondering what such a language might be like. [URL='https://mindseyemag.com/magazine/big-money-and-little-israel-the-racial-roots-of-a-rabbis-risible-rhetoric/'][B][I]Read More[/I][/B][/URL] [/QUOTE]
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