SmitaRanjit

Dr.BeckyBoesch
HumanNature
15November2013
Journal#5

FirstJournalEntry:
Thebrainisthecenterofthenervoussystem.Itcontrolsallofyourbodysfunctions
suchasbreathing,walking,talking,etc.Itsbasicallythecommandcenterforyourbody.
Withoutthebrain,yourbodywouldntfunction.Yourmindallowsyoutothink,tofeel,andto
knowfromrightandwrong.Yourconsciousnessallowsyoutobeawareofyourselfand
yoursurroundings.TheSecretsoftheMindvideohelpedmeunderstandthatourbrain,
mind,andconsciousnesscanbedeceived.Forexample,themanwithonearm.Hefelt
paininhisamputatedarmeventhoughitwasnolongerthere.ButwhenV.S.
Ramachandranusedthemirrortogivetheillusionthathisamputatedarmwasthereagain,
thepaingraduallydisappeared.Bytrickinghismindthathisarmwasthere,hispain
receded.Thisshowsthatone'smindcanbedeceived.Fromtheshockofsuddenlylosing
hisarm,hismindstillwantstobelievethatitsstillthere.Although,consciouslyheknowshe
doesn'thavethatarm.Hismindhastrickedhimselfandhisbrainintothinkinghestillhas
thatarm.Whenthemirrorwasusedtoshowthathisarmwasthere,eventhoughitwasnt,it
trickedhismindandbrainintothinkingitwasthere.Oncebelievinghisarmwasthere
again,hismindletgoofthepainhefeltasifitwasstillthere.
Inthecaseoftheblindman,hecouldntseephysicallybuthecouldseeconsciously.
Hecouldseemovementbuthecouldntdecipherwhattheobjectwas.Myquestionis,what
didthatmovementlooklikeforhim,ifhecouldntseetheactualobjectthatwasmoving?
Whatwouldhesee?Forme,itshardtoimaginewhatthatwouldbelikeseeingmovement
butnotseeingtheactualobject.

SecondJournalEntry:
InEhrlich,Ithoughttheconceptofinnategrammarrangparticularlytrueaboutthe
evolutionoflanguage.Theconceptisthatpeopleareprogrammedwithabasicsetof
rules,orconstraints,thatunderliethegrammarsofalllanguages(Ehrlich142).More
specifically,childrenarebornwithabuiltinunderstandingofstructuredependence
(Ehrlich142).Whenchildrenarestartingtotalk,theydontlookforthemeaningofevery
singleword.Rathertheyfocusonthestructureofthesentence.Theyhearhowtheirparents
talk,andjustfromhearingandcopyingtheirparents,theycanlearnhowtotalk.Although
littlekidsearlyonmighthavesomegrammaticalerrors,theyquicklylearnandtheydont
makethoseerrorsanymore.Thestructuredependentlanguageruleisgenetically
predisposedandthuschildrengraspitveryearlyonintheirlifeandtherefore,dontmake
asmanygrammaticalerrors.
InTattersall,theconceptthatlanguageinvolvesdissectingtheworldaroundusinto
ahugevocabularyofsymbolsthatarethencombined,accordingtorules,tomake
statementsnotonlyabouttheworldasitisdirectlyperceived,butalsoasitmightbe
(Tattersall214),Ithoughtrangparticularlytrueabouttheevolutionoflanguage.Without
namesforthings,ourbrainswouldbeoverloadedwithinformationandwouldntknow
wheretoputit.Withnamesforthings,wecancategorizeitandthusitseasierforour
brains.Wethenusethosesymbolsornamesforthingsandputthemtogethertoforma
sentenceandfromthat,languageiscreated.Withoutsymbolsandnamesforthings,it
wouldbeimpossibletothinkandhavethoughts.Weneednamesandsymbolsorthingsin
ordertocreatesentencesthathavemeaning.