BHP Lesson 24: Symbolic Language

Can you imagine a pink elephant? Even though you’ve never seen one, it is possible to conjure up an image in your head. Humans are unique in their ability to imagine things that don’t exist and never will. It’s all thanks to the power of symbolic language. 

Driving Question: What makes humans different?

  • We know from Jane Goodall’s work that chimps display emotions like humans, and that they’re even capable of acts of violence. We even know that some species, like apes, dolphins, and elephants, can recognize themselves in a mirror! Animals have the ability to communicate, through calls and sounds. It seems like we have a lot in common with the rest of the animal planet. So what is it that makes us distinctly human? What separates us from other species on the planet?

Word of the Day: Symbolic Language

  • Symbolic language: A form of communication that uses symbols. 
  • Symbolic language is much more powerful than communication by other animals because it can convey much more information, much more precisely. It makes collective learning possible because it allows humans to share huge amounts of accumulated information from generation to generation.

Lesson

  • Go to Khan Academy and watch the video Early Evidence of Collective Learning.
  • Professor John Shea will help us navigate the question What makes humans different? Listen for Professor Shea’s explanation of how language plays an important role in this distinction. Why is symbolic language such an important part of the distinction between humans and other species?

Historian’s Journal Prompt

  • How do you see people innovating in the age of the coronavirus pandemic?
  • Collective learning allows us to improve upon old ideas. We innovate based on the discoveries that came before us. Find an example of human innovation building upon old knowledge. Perhaps you’ve read stories about how to make your own mask at home. Have you heard about the world champion archer who converted his archery business to make respirator masks? He went from bows and arrows to medical equipment! We might be witnessing collective learning at its finest.  
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