SEAM
25th October 2012, 14:09
Among many thoughts, he asks us to look at his latest book, entitled:
If You've Forgotten the Names of the Clouds, You've Lost Your Way : An Introduction to American Indian Thought and Philosophy
The Video:
http://www.youtube.com/watch?feature=player_embedded&v=xNUm3wOAHq4
Video Source: http://www.youtube.com/watch?feature=player_embedded&v=xNUm3wOAHq4
An excerpt from his book:
Once a language is written down, it’s speakers suffer immediate consequences. One of the first casualties is memory - as soon as you can write something down, the power to remember goes quickly. Also lost is much of the richness and expressiveness of language.
Ironically, not only does creativity and expressiveness suffer once a language becomes a written language - it also becomes easier to lie. When a story or account is written down, history for example, it becomes the accepted version of truth no matter how false the information, or how biased the source. People who live in the oral tradition, however, have to be able to remember what they said. The only way to be sure of this is to tell the truth. Liars are frequently found out because their stories are inconsistent - when they’re not drawing on truthful memories, they frequently can’t remember what they said. The stories of liars become inconsistent with the accounts of others. Lying just doesn’t work when you’re face to face with oral tradition. Writers, working alone, sometimes under a pseudonym, or even anonymously, are not really accountable. They can write anything they want without regard to fairness or truth.
In the Lakotah language, the language of the central plains of North America, there are 52 different kinds of clouds that we have names for. With that knowledge and wisdom, by recognizing the often subtle differences between types of clouds and their characteristics, we can accurately predict the weather up to two days and nights in advance.
Hence the name of our book, “If you’ve Forgotten the Names of the Clouds, You’ve Lost Your Way”.
For purchase here:http://www.amazon.com/Youve-Forgotten-Names-Clouds-ebook/dp/B007V91ENK
If You've Forgotten the Names of the Clouds, You've Lost Your Way : An Introduction to American Indian Thought and Philosophy
The Video:
http://www.youtube.com/watch?feature=player_embedded&v=xNUm3wOAHq4
Video Source: http://www.youtube.com/watch?feature=player_embedded&v=xNUm3wOAHq4
An excerpt from his book:
Once a language is written down, it’s speakers suffer immediate consequences. One of the first casualties is memory - as soon as you can write something down, the power to remember goes quickly. Also lost is much of the richness and expressiveness of language.
Ironically, not only does creativity and expressiveness suffer once a language becomes a written language - it also becomes easier to lie. When a story or account is written down, history for example, it becomes the accepted version of truth no matter how false the information, or how biased the source. People who live in the oral tradition, however, have to be able to remember what they said. The only way to be sure of this is to tell the truth. Liars are frequently found out because their stories are inconsistent - when they’re not drawing on truthful memories, they frequently can’t remember what they said. The stories of liars become inconsistent with the accounts of others. Lying just doesn’t work when you’re face to face with oral tradition. Writers, working alone, sometimes under a pseudonym, or even anonymously, are not really accountable. They can write anything they want without regard to fairness or truth.
In the Lakotah language, the language of the central plains of North America, there are 52 different kinds of clouds that we have names for. With that knowledge and wisdom, by recognizing the often subtle differences between types of clouds and their characteristics, we can accurately predict the weather up to two days and nights in advance.
Hence the name of our book, “If you’ve Forgotten the Names of the Clouds, You’ve Lost Your Way”.
For purchase here:http://www.amazon.com/Youve-Forgotten-Names-Clouds-ebook/dp/B007V91ENK