True Left

Becoming Neolithic in words, thoughts and deeds

Abstract

How did people come to ‘think Neolithic’? While there has been considerable progress in reconstructing the environmental, economic, technological and social changes associated with the transition from mobile hunter-gathering to sedentary farming and herding communities, we remain limited in our understanding of how Neolithic culture in its most profound sense arose. I suggest that the formation of new words required for that new lifestyle was as much a driver as a consequence of the Neolithic transition, illustrating this with a sample of Neolithic innovations from the southern Levant that appears likely to have required new words. Such words, I argue, helped to establish new concepts in the mind, shaped thought, influenced perception and ultimately the human deeds in the world that left an archaeological trace.

Introduction

I wish to draw attention to the wordsmiths of the Neolithic transition: those people within the Epi-Palaeolithic and early Neolithic communities who invented the words required for the new sedentary and farming way of life that was consolidated around 10,000 years ago. Such word invention might have been deliberate or accidental, made by children playing or by figures of authority. We simply do not know. But my proposition is that such words not merely aided communication but enabled new concepts to become established in the mind, which then shaped thought and influenced the manner in which the world was perceived. As such, they were as much a driver as a consequence of cultural change from the Palaeolithic into the Neolithic, and beyond.

Entire article: https://journals.sagepub.com/doi/10.1177/1469605318793958



Is it a mere coincidence then as humanity struggles with growing tribalism in modernity human-beings have become increasingly bad listeners?

Examples:
You’re a Bad Listener: Here’s How to Remember What People Say

We come into conversations with our own agendas and low attention spans, but if you want to build better relationships you need to master active listening.

https://getpocket.com/explore/item/you-re-a-bad-listener-here-s-how-to-remember-what-people-say?utm_source=pocket-newtab

Is it surprising that Westerners are bad listeners considering the "white" tribalism they spread around the world via Western colonialism?

Listening Is Critical in Today’s Multicultural Workplace
https://hbr.org/2011/03/shhh-listening-is-critical-in

Is it coincidence that as America has become increasingly Western via the U.S.A. that Americans have become terrible listeners as well?

From Talk Shows to Offices, America Lacks Good Listeners

America has become a nation of blabbermouths. Too bad nobody's listening.

https://www.wsj.com/articles/SB868485047507123500

Words, thoughts, and deeds: