GRADE: B
Professor Lappin
Psychology 115a
Sept.4th 2000
Thought Paper on Jacob Bronowski
Chapters 1-3
In Jacob Brononski’s book, The origins of Knowledge and Imagination, he has several interesting points that he discusses. In chapter one, Bronowski discusses sight and imagination. He indirectly states that a person that does not have sight in their eye, can have no imagination, no vision of what he/she wants to do with their life. He then moves on to the second chapter, and brings up the topic of communication in a very intriguing way. He writes on different animals, and how they communicate and what factors might influence how and what they communicate. He then goes on to relate this to humans. Then I went on to relate it to me, in my own experiences.
In the first chapter, Bronowski, talks of sight and how it is so important to humans, as a source of knowledge. He goes into detail, and writes, "Almost all the words that we use about experiences of the kind that go into visions or images are words connected with the eye and with the sense of sight. "Imagination" is a word which derives from the making of images in the mind," (p 10). In other words, he is saying that you have to have sight to be able to imagine, to dream. How can this be? I strongly disagree with this statement. Not only was Helen Keller, blind she was also deaf, and she said something to the extent of "You do not have to have sight to have vision." I have no way of knowing because I am neither blind nor have I ever be blind. However, I have a friend that is blind. One day he told me that he wanted me to describe what I look like. I started by using words and did an okay job. He then told me to come over in front of him, and to put his hand on my face. Then with slow movement he started to trace my face. His hand moved up the left cheek, across the forehead, and then down the right cheek. His fingers then drifted across my chin back up the left side of my face to my left eye. Then they came down my nose, and across my lips. He then said to me, " I don’t know if this is really what you look like, but I know what you look like in my world." The image my friend had of me might not be correct image, but in his imagination that is an image of me, and he is blind. He has never been able to see, and he imagined what I look like. I think Bronowski, either forgot about touch or does not give the power of touch the credit it deserves.
In the second chapter, Bronowski discusses communication. He writes of Baboon colonies, and how they send a guard to the outskirts of the camp. "And when you hear a baboon make that barking sound which says, "Danger," all the baboons go on scattering without ever any thought" (p 28). He then discusses how humans have to pause and think about the information that was just told to him/her. The reason for this is because "We are able to separate information from emotional content, or affect, when we interpret or frame messages" (p31). After I read that, I could not agree more, with the fact that as humans we depend so much on our emotions to express how or what we need, feel, or the mood we are in. If I was to talk to a friend person to person, and he said to me, "Hey Jerk." By his facial expression, the tone of his voice, etc., I can factor that in to my decision on what he really means. Is he serious or joking? Now if he e-mailed this to me I would be as dumbfounded as you are in trying to figure out if my friend really thinks that I am a Jerk or not. Bronowski writes, about how animals can not make the distinction, and this is what has made our civilization so advance.
While Bronowski, has some ideas that I do not agree with in the slightest, he also has opened my eyes to issues and ideas that I have never thought about. Now that I am in college, I am feeling the effects of the lack of emotion that comes across that e-mail message, and I know now why it is harder to figure out the messages’ meanings. As for my friend Will, he will always be able to imagine what I look like along with everybody who crosses his path. By the way my friend that said, "Hey Jerk." was just kidding. I know you wanted to know that.