Daniel L. Everett
- Published in print:
- 2016
- Published Online:
- May 2017
- ISBN:
- 9780226070766
- eISBN:
- 9780226401430
- Item type:
- book
- Publisher:
- University of Chicago Press
- DOI:
- 10.7208/chicago/9780226401430.001.0001
- Subject:
- Anthropology, Social and Cultural Anthropology
This book discusses the unarticulated unconscious and tacit knowledge, termed “dark matter of the mind,” which underlies and enables verbal communication. Humans, when they speak or interpret, make ...
More
This book discusses the unarticulated unconscious and tacit knowledge, termed “dark matter of the mind,” which underlies and enables verbal communication. Humans, when they speak or interpret, make use of a wide variety of skills and distinctions, in grammar, phonetics, organization of information by importance, and assumptions taken for given, for example, which compose this dark matter. The book’s contention is that this unconscious knowledge is not a product of innate human psychology, but rather of cultural influences and experiences. The book draws on the author’s experience attempting to translate the Bible and its cultural context for the Pirahãs in the Brazilian Amazon as a missionary activity. This missionary activity was hindered by a large number of underlying, largely unspoken, assumptions on the part of the American author on one side and the Pirahãs on the other which it impossible to translate the New Testament in such a way that it would be accessible for the Pirahãs in the same way that is to Americans. The author’s experience as a missionary, along with other studies of cultural conditioning, confirms an understanding of the individual which echoes the Buddhist concept of Anatman, which asserts that there is no innate human nature, but only the self which is entirely composed of memory and experience.Less
This book discusses the unarticulated unconscious and tacit knowledge, termed “dark matter of the mind,” which underlies and enables verbal communication. Humans, when they speak or interpret, make use of a wide variety of skills and distinctions, in grammar, phonetics, organization of information by importance, and assumptions taken for given, for example, which compose this dark matter. The book’s contention is that this unconscious knowledge is not a product of innate human psychology, but rather of cultural influences and experiences. The book draws on the author’s experience attempting to translate the Bible and its cultural context for the Pirahãs in the Brazilian Amazon as a missionary activity. This missionary activity was hindered by a large number of underlying, largely unspoken, assumptions on the part of the American author on one side and the Pirahãs on the other which it impossible to translate the New Testament in such a way that it would be accessible for the Pirahãs in the same way that is to Americans. The author’s experience as a missionary, along with other studies of cultural conditioning, confirms an understanding of the individual which echoes the Buddhist concept of Anatman, which asserts that there is no innate human nature, but only the self which is entirely composed of memory and experience.
Daniel L. Everett
- Published in print:
- 2016
- Published Online:
- May 2017
- ISBN:
- 9780226070766
- eISBN:
- 9780226401430
- Item type:
- chapter
- Publisher:
- University of Chicago Press
- DOI:
- 10.7208/chicago/9780226401430.003.0001
- Subject:
- Anthropology, Social and Cultural Anthropology
This book discusses the unarticulated unconscious and tacit knowledge, termed “dark matter of the mind,” which underlies and enables verbal communication. Humans, when they speak or interpret, make ...
More
This book discusses the unarticulated unconscious and tacit knowledge, termed “dark matter of the mind,” which underlies and enables verbal communication. Humans, when they speak or interpret, make use of a wide variety of skills and distinctions, in grammar, phonetics, organization of information by importance, and assumptions taken for given. The book’s contention is that this unconscious knowledge is not a product of innate human psychology, but rather of cultural influences and experiences. It draws on the author’s experience attempting to translate the Bible and its cultural context for the Pirahãs in the Brazilian Amazon as a missionary activity. This activity was hindered by a large number of underlying, largely unspoken, assumptions of American author on one side and the Pirahãs on the other which it impossible to translate the New Testament in such a way that it would be accessible for the Pirahãs in the same way that is to Americans. The author’s experience as a missionary, along with other studies of cultural conditioning, confirms an understanding of the individual which echoes the Buddhist concept of Anatman, which asserts that there is no innate human nature, but only the self which is entirely composed of memory and experience.Less
This book discusses the unarticulated unconscious and tacit knowledge, termed “dark matter of the mind,” which underlies and enables verbal communication. Humans, when they speak or interpret, make use of a wide variety of skills and distinctions, in grammar, phonetics, organization of information by importance, and assumptions taken for given. The book’s contention is that this unconscious knowledge is not a product of innate human psychology, but rather of cultural influences and experiences. It draws on the author’s experience attempting to translate the Bible and its cultural context for the Pirahãs in the Brazilian Amazon as a missionary activity. This activity was hindered by a large number of underlying, largely unspoken, assumptions of American author on one side and the Pirahãs on the other which it impossible to translate the New Testament in such a way that it would be accessible for the Pirahãs in the same way that is to Americans. The author’s experience as a missionary, along with other studies of cultural conditioning, confirms an understanding of the individual which echoes the Buddhist concept of Anatman, which asserts that there is no innate human nature, but only the self which is entirely composed of memory and experience.
Daniel L. Everett
- Published in print:
- 2016
- Published Online:
- May 2017
- ISBN:
- 9780226070766
- eISBN:
- 9780226401430
- Item type:
- chapter
- Publisher:
- University of Chicago Press
- DOI:
- 10.7208/chicago/9780226401430.003.0011
- Subject:
- Anthropology, Social and Cultural Anthropology
This chapter takes up the question of human nature from both a biological/behavioural perspective and the perspective or a shared innate knowledge which informs the human experience. It maintains ...
More
This chapter takes up the question of human nature from both a biological/behavioural perspective and the perspective or a shared innate knowledge which informs the human experience. It maintains that a biological/behavioural description of human nature is possible while rejecting the possibility that human nature could be described from the second perspective. The author also examines the ways that Christianity, Islam, Hinduism, and finally Buddhism conceive of human nature, and how these religious conceptions relate to idea of psychic unity or innate knowledge. Buddhism, the author argues, puts forward an account of human nature which seems plausible. In this account, the core of human nature is the collection of thoughts, feelings, perceptions, and interpretations which the human has experienced or formulated.Less
This chapter takes up the question of human nature from both a biological/behavioural perspective and the perspective or a shared innate knowledge which informs the human experience. It maintains that a biological/behavioural description of human nature is possible while rejecting the possibility that human nature could be described from the second perspective. The author also examines the ways that Christianity, Islam, Hinduism, and finally Buddhism conceive of human nature, and how these religious conceptions relate to idea of psychic unity or innate knowledge. Buddhism, the author argues, puts forward an account of human nature which seems plausible. In this account, the core of human nature is the collection of thoughts, feelings, perceptions, and interpretations which the human has experienced or formulated.
