What Makes Us Human in the Eyes of Hayakawa?
The first thing that Hayakawa thinks makes us human is our ability to tap into other human’s nervous systems using sounds and literature. Because of this we were able to build onto previous knowledge, survive in difficult situations, and evolve into advanced society with urban centers and the whole nine-yards.
The second thing that makes us human is our ability to read, interpret, and create symbols. We have symbols for all aspects of life; a life without symbols in this day of age would impossible. The human ability to make sense of symbols is the most important characteristic of our human identity. No other animal (besides octopi) can look at a map and visualize the territory or see a red light and decide where to stop.
The Last thing that makes human is our ability to analyze data and make inferences and judgments from it. Most other species of animals probably cannot make judgments about things or have informed opinions about the things around them. Basically arguing is the last thing that makes us human.
(I Personally think it is our bipedal gait that makes us human. Walking on two feet caused chemical changes in our heads, a transformation to a scavenger lifestyle that involved tool making and advanced thinking, and other physical changes that made it possible to communicate with sounds, to use symbolism, and to analyze data.)
Chapter 2
What are maps and territories? Maps are a representation of a real thing, a symbol. Maps can be transformed to fit a particular need or function. They are man made and are interpreted by the human. Territories are the reality that maps are trying to represent. The map would be the drawing of the fire and the territory would be the real fire.
Chapter 3 What does slanting do to reports, inferences, and judgments? What happens to the "original story"? Slanting makes reports, inferences, and judgments bias. Slanting is basically lying without actually lying; giving only evidence that supports your claim, making the story more opinionated than a report. The “original story” becomes distorted to fit the person’s beliefs about the story.
How does the author use of real-life examples? The author uses real-life examples to explain the difference between judgment and reports. He uses the example of the witness and the Defense-Attorney, and the story of Jack having the keys as an example of how judgments are unreliable and need to be justified. He also uses his experience to explain how some things are truly widely indisputable by talking about measures and numbers.
The first thing that Hayakawa thinks makes us human is our ability to tap into other human’s nervous systems using sounds and literature. Because of this we were able to build onto previous knowledge, survive in difficult situations, and evolve into advanced society with urban centers and the whole nine-yards.
The second thing that makes us human is our ability to read, interpret, and create symbols. We have symbols for all aspects of life; a life without symbols in this day of age would impossible. The human ability to make sense of symbols is the most important characteristic of our human identity. No other animal (besides octopi) can look at a map and visualize the territory or see a red light and decide where to stop.
The Last thing that makes human is our ability to analyze data and make inferences and judgments from it. Most other species of animals probably cannot make judgments about things or have informed opinions about the things around them. Basically arguing is the last thing that makes us human.
(I Personally think it is our bipedal gait that makes us human. Walking on two feet caused chemical changes in our heads, a transformation to a scavenger lifestyle that involved tool making and advanced thinking, and other physical changes that made it possible to communicate with sounds, to use symbolism, and to analyze data.)
Chapter 2
What are maps and territories? Maps are a representation of a real thing, a symbol. Maps can be transformed to fit a particular need or function. They are man made and are interpreted by the human. Territories are the reality that maps are trying to represent. The map would be the drawing of the fire and the territory would be the real fire.
Chapter 3 What does slanting do to reports, inferences, and judgments? What happens to the "original story"? Slanting makes reports, inferences, and judgments bias. Slanting is basically lying without actually lying; giving only evidence that supports your claim, making the story more opinionated than a report. The “original story” becomes distorted to fit the person’s beliefs about the story.
How does the author use of real-life examples? The author uses real-life examples to explain the difference between judgment and reports. He uses the example of the witness and the Defense-Attorney, and the story of Jack having the keys as an example of how judgments are unreliable and need to be justified. He also uses his experience to explain how some things are truly widely indisputable by talking about measures and numbers.
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