GRAMMAR AND SYNTAX

Grammar and syntax are the problem.

A few pages ago, we outlined the trajectory of human communication, starting with the oral tradition, moving thru the pictorial tradition, and we left off when we started to draw alphabetically.

When we had a written alphabet, then we had what we call language.  The distinguishing characteristic of language is grammar and syntax.

The power of this newly developed language tool was, of course, logic.  The ability to control the syntax of our clauses and phrases then allowed us to plan and forecast.

With syntax, we eliminated completely our need for pictorial understanding.

With the power of syntax, we were able to fine tune our collective actions.  Syntax enabled organization.  The more we acted as a cohesive unit, the better the result.  And the better the result, the greater import we gave to syntax and grammar.

One might say that the essence of our culture lies in our grammar.  A misplaced comma can nearly mean the beginning of the collapse of Western Civilization.

We protect our language with great care.  We monitor the changes to our language constantly.  An overriding cultural goal is to maintain the widest shared understanding of our language, lest the language loose it’s organizational power.

So it is no surprise that the SAT is, for all intents and purposes, literal.  It is no surprise that the most drawing that any of us does is putting alphabetic characters on paper.

The re institution of the pictorial so that we come full circle is a goal of these pages.

More on the cultural battle between the visual and the literal can be found here and here.