Babel

I have this idea that each of us, as humans, have within ourselves our own ‘language‘; our own form of unabated abstractions. Abstractions made possible over an evolutionary pathway embedded in our neural networks millions of years old throughout our entire body, some networks being older than trees. Stretching all the way back to the cretaceous period. Written language however is much more recent. It is hard to tame our individual abstractions in words but the more you are a student of history the better you are at it. Just as how structures of our unconscious are predicated on millions of years of survival adaptation by our ancestors, so does the structures of our consciousness are predicated on ancient stories. Humans are highly social creatures and one means by which we achieve levels of social complexity not seen anywhere else on the planet is by our use of language. In this case I would like to focus on written language as being the most refined of abstraction; by that I mean it is more explicit, specific and compact. What is written must ultimately be unpacked by the reader so it could be again embodied in its more abstract form. If it is that each of us has within ourselves, our own ‘language’ embodied by our evolutionary-historic-heritage then it means that without translation every one outside ourselves are simply babbling. Or in other words, we are each trapped in our own heads, unable to understand each other.

Given our shared evolutionary history as homo sapiens it seems plausible that there must be some unity within our languages, both unconscious and conscious. To this end we tell stories, our attempts at remembering the distilled portions of the human experience. Collective our written stories can be said to represent a meta-story that can be distilled by those that have plunged into the depths of the human psyche, taken the history of the world upon their shoulders and brought it to the surface as words. One story written by people who have done this is ‘Tower of Babel’. It is a story of language and in some way, a glimpse into the possibilities of the ultimate understanding of each other.
In the aftermath of a second creation or rather a massive destruction of human kind, the sons of those chosen to be spared in the destruction spread out into many nations. They however spoke one language since they all came from the same family. As the population multiplied the people started to talk of building a great city. It was to be a City of Man, an eternal monument to themselves with a temple reaching to the heavens. It was the one city to bind mankind together, to prevent them from scattering all over the world. Even if they had gone far they could look to the heavens and behold the temple of man. The best techniques were then used to begin building such a city. During the construction, the deity of those people descended from the heavens to take a look at the city they were building. The deity seemed pleased that the people were so united but disappointed that this was the path they choose. The deity was concerned that nothing would be restrained from man that they can imagine to do if left unhindered. So it was that the deity decided to destroy the city and confound the language of man so they all spoke different tongues. Man was then scattered all over the Earth which ended not only the building of the city but also any aspirations to build such a city. So it was that the City of Man became a City of Confusion – Babel.
I’ve always wondered what would motivate the telling of such a story, so much that it was passed down for generations. Was it an ode to the diversity of languages? A song that told the tale of the unitary origins of man, mirroring the unitary origins of language; and how the destructive forces of nature gave rise to both, the diversity in man and in language. Was it a warning? A warning to not attempt at rivalling the powers of your deity; of rivalling the powers of nature.  Was it a cautionary tale? A tale about the potential of man if left unrestrained and united among themselves throughout the Earth; that such a state may lead to their own destruction. Certainly, opinions about the nature of their deity would inform one’s interpretation of the story and the questions one may ask. On the other hand, I care only to ponder upon the nature of man since such a story was written by men for men. Was this story a comedy or was it a tragedy? Clearly if one is the champion of confusion then the story would be a comedy- the hero being the deity that destroyed the City of Man; the city being the villain. If one is a champion of understanding and unity, the story is a tragedy – the villain being the deity that destroyed the City of Man; the city being the hero that was defeated. Either way one chooses to frame such a story, the outcome is the same. A land of confusion left with men scattered all around the Earth, unable to understand each other.
Since we exist in a world where each of us is separated from another by innumerable things, trapped in our own worlds of perceptions and abstractions, what is it that you imagine? Do you seek to escape into another’s world; or raise an army to invade and unify all worlds under your own Kingdom?  Or is it that you seek to be a traveller of worlds? Whatever it is you desire one thing is so far obvious, you must learn the language of others to accomplish it. You must tame the abstractions of others so you can understand them; whether for peace or for war. Whether you wish for unity or plurality of worlds, language is a tool of surety.  Now, in this state of division that man currently exist within, I wish to share something in my own language; the language of philosophical abstraction. I shall tell you why I choose to relay the story of Babel.
Within each of us exist our own worlds, and whatever motivations we each have for leaving our worlds, we must all at least traverse through this world. The world in which you sit and read; the world in which I sit and write; the world of the Earth. It is on this Earth that man was born, the world that all men share. We can see some of this world as it is through the clouds of our perceptions from our own worlds but lest we leave our own worlds entirely to inhabit this one, we can’t see it for all it is. To abandon our worlds for the sake of inhabiting the Earth is akin to abandoning the self but most importantly, it is a return to a more primal place; a place where all human kind inhabited once, before they were dispersed into consciousness. The language of the Earth is unconscious, it is a language older than man, it is an embodied language; the most abstract of languages. To inhabit the Earth is to be one with this language, to learn its ways, to be creatures of the earth. The first men learnt this language well from the Earth and so they were Children of the Earth; all human kind Earth’s children. With the language of this world, mankind built their towers and sailed to the heavens where they looked back at the pale blue dot of the Earth. Earth became the eternal city then, the city that bounded all of mankind together, a light in the void that symbolises the unity of mankind as they venture out onto innumerable worlds. I have chosen my words so I may conjure within you the most abstract of language so we may speak between worlds.   I seek an audience with the Children of the Earth so I may ask of them questions.
In the generations to come as our star ships descend from the heavens upon new worlds, will man be a destroyer of cities? Will we be a force of nature that willingly creates confusion? Will we be translators of languages and champions of diversity? Will our story be a comedy or a tragedy?  As you who reads, encounter the worlds of others what is it that you imagine if left unhindered?
I have decided that I prefer to build cities!