[Peptobismol]

However, the ability of a child to learn and speak the language taught by his/her parents at home and/or teachers at school in itself is an evidence of cerebral endowment of the child. While a family dog or cat may have learnt the meaning of a few basic commands given in a particular language, they will never be able to learn and speak the language of the house in their entire lives. The reason is simple, biologically dogs and cats do not posses the required cerebral endowments to learn and speak human languages. For them, the question of developing a structured language, maintaining it and keeping it alive for future generations as a medium of communication as well as the means of cognition transfer may never arise. It is true that the ability to "speak" may be taken as a valid measure of limited cognitive development. However, cognitive development is a rather superflous term here; a more precise term might be cognitive processes . According to Wikepedia, these cognitive processes include "memory, attention, perception, action, problem solving and mental imagery." Now, enhanced language skills might aid one's memory, attention, perception and mental imagery. Problem-solving is a dfferent matter. Alreadty neurological science has drawn the conclusion that the right hemisphere of the brain is responsible for such endowments as reading, writing, and oral communication (all of which are based on a firm grasp of language . However, the left hemisphere of the brain is responsible for abstract problem-solving. So very clearly one can see that [b] simply acquiring language skills by themselves does not in any way, except perhaps at the barest minimum - which would be crude memory at best (one could remember in one's native language as opposed to a foreign tounge) - does not increase one's skill in approaching logical problems. There is a simple reason for this. Common language by itself is simply too imprecise. The languages utilized by science and mathematics require the utilization of the left hemisphere of the brain . Some might even take exception with the use of the term "language" in the latter regard. Mathematics, at the pure level, has more to do with identifying patterns. The pattern is independant of any language description. G.H. Hardy says that these patterns create their own reality. By looking at the extreme case of the autistic savant (http://www.guardian.co.uk/weekend/st...409903,00.html) one can see that is indeed true.

If there is any reason to write anything down in mathematics, it has to do with the limited memory of humans, as well as the fact that mathematics serves a practical function as well. Science, of course, is largely applied mathematics. The utilization of mathematics is there simply to ensure consistency.




Therefore, a child learning to speak a language is a first major step in the journey of his/her cognitive development, which is initiated by his/her parents or guardians using a language they learnt from their parents or guardians. The level of success in the rest of the child's cognitive journey would depend on the availability of valid information and knowledge at that time and in that language, combined with the cerebral endowment of the child to acquire further new and advanced knowledge as he/she grows up. No cognition survives unless it is transferred to, or exchanged with, family members, friends, colleagues and/or other members of society, the same way the past generations did, forming a feedback loop, which is entirely of different nature than the two illustrated and mentioned above. Again, cognitive is too broad a term. One must refer to the specific cognitive process within the following: memory, attention, perception, action, problem solving and mental imagery. I have already made the case that simply acquiring language skills will not in any way improve one's reasoning (logical) abilities. Only experience at pattern identification and pattern manipulation, both of which require no language skills whatsoever, will improve one's logical abilities. An excellent example is Stephen Hawking. Before the onset of illness, Hawking had refined his problem-solving skills (by problem-solving I mean mathematical and scientific ability) to such a tremendous extent, that when his ability to communicate with others was severely curtailed, his ability to reason nevertheless remained intact. Yet more proof that the left hemisphere and the right hemisphere serve two distinctly different functions, and that language is no barrier to the function of the left hemisphere.


Thus, it is the succession of cognition transfers that forms the foundation of cognitive development of a child; and all cognition transfers necessarily depend on the level of evolution of the language being used at the time, which itself depends on the cognitive and cerebral endowments of the past generations and the level of evolution of the language being used at that time. The evolution of common, crude imprecise language that by modern standards, decades of education serve to rectify.

A grown-up human may have a priory knowledge of 5 + 7 = 12, but he/she may entirely lack the knowledge or ability to solve an algebraic equation, which a child of 12 or less may well be equipped to solve it simply because he/she learnt it at school. The cognitive process being exploited here is memory.


This is a clear example of cognition transfer, which is only possible through a structured language. One does not need necessarily need a language to count. Counting is probably an instinctual process. Example, if a female dinosaur had five eggs in the nest, she will know she has four eggs in the nest. If seven more eggs are laid, she will know she has twelve eggs in the nest. I doubt if the dinosaur is capable of any "structured language", however I am sure she will notice if an egg is missing.


More involved and advanced mathematical treatments, scientific works and other intellectually demanding professions will require advanced level of conceptual grasps that can be conceptualised and/or symbolised and then expressed for normal usage as well as for formal cognition transfers, which requires a language that is evolved enough to do just that. If the language is not evolved enough to serve that need, further refinement of the language is warranted. The society that does precisely that, reflects the cognitive and cerebral endowments of the society. It was more likely the evolution of the left hemisphere of the brain, as opposed to the right hemisphere of the brain, that is responsible for the increase in cognition, as per the most primitive man, compared with successive lines of his descendants. Primitive man will understand that rubbing two sticks together will create enough friction to start a fire. He may also possess such mental capacity to attempt the same with other materials (refine the process). However, it is unlikely that primitive man cared why or how the fire was started; he was indifferent to any molecular structure, neither did he concieve of producing fire on a large scale. Neither did he to think to write the manner of producing the fire, as it was such a simple process. Only successive lines of his descendants accomplished this feat, based largely on evolution of the left hemisphere of the brain. [/quote]

However, the switching of a language to the one with rich vocabulary and in which more valid information and knowledge are available and that which aids in enhancing and acquiring new and advanced knowledge may play a major role in shifting the course of cognitive development of a society, as English did for the past generations of India, it currently does for the present generations and it may continue to serve that need for the future generations too, killing most Indian languages over the time. Language is as much a cultural phenomenon as it is a measure of cognitive development. It can be said that in like anywhere else for a long time, education was restricted to a select few. The rise of free public education has only been made possible as a result of mass-scale industrialization. I fail to see any shift in cognitive development, other than the use of a computer, which most jobs require these days. Despite the advent of free public education, the vast majority of any total non-homogenous population do not
pursue lucrative professions, which, incidentally, require high levels of problem-solving skills, e.g. engineering and medicine. The majority simply learn an array of specialized skills (book-keeping, power-point presentation, etc.) that are not very different from what they might have pursued before the advent of free education). What is the difference between a farmer keeping track of his crop yield, and deciding how much to sell at the market, than an accountant or broker? The average individual who goes to university to study accounting or become a broker does so largely to become familiar with the situations he may encounter. In theory, he could learn all such skills at the job itself; however, it is more cost-efficient for a large bank or corporation if this individual has a theoretical idea of what he will encounter (and possible solutions) while on the job. Now, there is nothing wrong with these professions. However, I am simply saying that if the introduction of English made such a vast impact on the cognitive development of the total population, then the great majority should be pursuing lucrative fields that promise high dividends, as that makes the most economic sense. Of course, the tacit assumption is that this "cognitive development" would include problem-solving (reasoning and logic skills), which I do not think is the case.



For a civilisation to come into being and develop, interaction between the intellectuals and general public, no matter how significant or insignificant it may be, is inevitable and this is a fundamental ground upon which the formation of any society can be based. Based on the above four categories of human conducts, the following four sets of social interaction process that can take place among the people can be identified. That is not the case at all. As I have already stated, modern public education is a very new development. No ancient civilization that I am aware of had any system in place in which all were required to go to school.



- The power of language reflects people’s ability to form clear and strong concepts, which in turn depends on the quality of interaction process that is operative among the group of people at a given period of time-frame. The interaction process is not necessary, although it can be
beneficial. Many of the greatest ideas simply arise spontaneously, as a result of sub-conscious pondering.


- The level of evolution of language directly reflects the quality of cognitive endowments of the society that speaks that language.
The vast majority of the population of any civilization contribute nothing to any famous achievements that that civilization may be responsible for. This is true of the ancient times as well as the present. It is simply a fact that most people, to a certain level, prefer to avoid abstraction. Whether the abstraction is in the form of a poem or a complex mathematical theorem.


- Language forms the fundamental base of human cognitive process, which develops and evolves over generations and centuries depending on the existing communicable thoughts and knowledge. What the modern educational system has shown is that the brain, at least not yet, is not necessarily wired for abstract thinking, but must usually be trained for such a task. Simply learning to read and write does not do the job.