25
2.2.2 The mental gap is within our species
The aim of this section is to briefly argue that WHuLa is the key characteristic of
H7kya and therefore the mental gap is within our species; Darwin’s continuity
hypothesis is sound despite recent challenges (e.g., Penn et al 2008; Premack 2007).
WHuLA is the novel result of the combination of two considerably earlier
human traits: speech and external representations. Its unprecedented power stems
from the combination of speech’s compositionality with the potential permanence of
external representations. Its continuous development, along with communication and
appropriate corresponding species actions, eventually led to the era of the
cumulatively artificial. Figure 2 depicts the both the ultimate causes of WHuLa and
the key relations among the requisite abilities and tools that contribute to the ever-
increasing development of human-made structures and systems.
WHuLA
Communication
Species actions
KR schemes
Cumulatively
artificial.
Figure 2. The becoming of modern humans. Symbols are explained in text.
The processes involved are extremely complex with several multiple, time-
dependent and intra-species interactions. Some of them operate in ontogenetic time,
some in phylogenetic time (the double arrow in Figure 2 stands for reminding us of
the significance of such interactions). The following paragraphs intend only to clarify
and strengthen my claim rather than describe the posited process in any detail.
I start with a terminological point. I take writing to be a human communication
system that uses conventional visible marks. This is essentially Gelb’s (1963)
definition of writing and is substantially different from Diringer’s (1968 p. 8)
definition: [w]riting is the graphic counterpart of spoken language.” For the latter
notion I use the abbreviation WHuLa.44 Furthermore, I assume that writing has a
psychological basis and an artefactual existence.45
It is widely agreed, especially in the linguistic and anthropological communities,
that ‘human language’ is the defining characteristic of Homo sapiens (e.g., Sapir
1929; Deacon 1997; Donald 1991). Because of the established historical, functional,
and biological priority of speech over written language (Lyons 1981), the former is
subsequently considered the original defining characteristic.
I stated my disagreement and claim earlier. Here are the reasons for it. WHuLa is
transforming human mind and human society in ways that speech is, in principle,
unable to do.
Skepseis (definition-7) can be expressed in oral, sign, or written form. In the first
two cases they are either lost in the air or, at most, they may affect the state of a
close-by listener or recipient. The third case has a unique characteristic though:
relative permanence. Written skepseis are a sort of a neural fossil. They may well
outlive the person who expressed them.
In the era of the exclusively natural mind, individuals -even with the help of
complex speech- were extremely weak in terms of short-term memory although,