THERE IS THE POSSIBILITY WE MIGHT BE LESS ENLIGHTENED

[BigJohn]

There is the possibility we may have been fooling ourselves when it comes to enlightenment.

I base this on the realization that science claims tonal languages use both sides of the brain whereas English, a non-tonal language, uses only one side of the brain. There are some languages that are tonal such as mandarin, but for the most part, most languages today are non-tonal.

In the past some important languages were tonal such as Koine Greek. It also appears ancient Sanskrit was tonal along with Paleo and Old Hebrew. But today, there appears to be less and less tonal languages.

QUESTIONS:

Being tonal languages use both sides of the brain and we, for the most part, speak English which uses only one side of the brain, does this put us to a disadvantage which restricts and limits are ability to grasp enlightenment?

Why did Koine Greek, which was tonal, get surpassed with modern Greek?
Is this an example of regression on humans?

The same can be asked about ancient Sanskrit, Paleo and Old Hebrew.

[wstein]

If you are trying to "grasp enlightenment" through language, you are unlikely to get very far no matter how much brain you use.

[inavalan]

Do you think that singers are more enlightened? I don't.

There are more effective ways of lowering the frequency of your brainwaves, and improving your brain-hemispheres' synchronization. The best way I know is by changing your attention focusing from a narrow-objective mode, to a diffused-immersed mode, a.k.a. open focus.

Of the paths to enlightenment I'm familiar with only one is knowledge based, and even then the concepts are very simple. The others are devotion, action and meditation. So no, I don't think tonal languages bestow any particular advantage.

Also when thinking about the language aspect and effective communication and dissemination of knowledge throughout a society at large and its trading partners, I'm thinking tonal languages are most likely a distinct disadvantage. Unless I'm mistaken it seems to me they are more difficult to learn at a later age and hence diminish some of their utility as an effective means of mass communication and especially in the non-spoken realm where local oral tradition is far less important.

That's probably the reason they are falling to non-tonal languages.

[BigJohn]

Originally Posted by JustASimpleGuy

Also when thinking about the language aspect and effective communication and dissemination of knowledge throughout a society at large and its trading partners, I'm thinking tonal languages are most likely a distinct disadvantage. Unless I'm mistaken it seems to me they are more difficult to learn at a later age and hence diminish some of their utility as an effective means of mass communication and especially in the non-spoken realm where local oral tradition is far less important.

Tonal language use both sides of the brain.

If a person is only using one side of their brain for communication, are you saying they have the advantage over a person who is using both sides of the brain in communication?

Why does it appear that tonal languages appeared first and then non-tonal came on the scene? That seems to be the opposite of how you would expect languages to evolve.

Originally Posted by BigJohn

Tonal language use both sides of the brain.

If a person is only using one side of their brain for communication, are you saying they have the advantage over a person who is using both sides of the brain in communication?

Why does it appear that tonal languages appeared first and then non-tonal came on the scene? That seems to be the opposite of how you would expect languages to evolve.

I'm not a linguist so I don't know, but I'd imagine each one has advantages and disadvantages. I will point out one of the most non-tonal languages, English, is a very dominant language.

Something else that occurs to me is if tonal languages require more of the brain's processing power then perhaps they are a less efficient means of communication.

[BigJohn]

Originally Posted by JustASimpleGuy

Something else that occurs to me is if tonal languages require more of the brain's processing power then perhaps they are a less efficient means of communication.

Studies have indicated being able to use both sides of the brain in language gives the person an advantage. That is why Chinese who speak mandarin ( a tonal language) have an advantage over non-tonal speaking people.

[Shivani Devi]

I shall start by saying.. admitting that I don't understand what a "tonal language" is and what a "non tonal language" is and what areas of the brain different languages use...perhaps you would be so kind as to explain this and to cite scientific studies showing functional MRIs of those who use a "tonal language" as compared to those who do not?

All I can understand about this, is that Egyptian Hieroglyphs are symbolic and therefore, regions of the visual cortex must have been stimulated more...like our ancestors who drew on cave walls.

That being said, we are indeed "less Enlightened" than our pre-antedeluvian ancestors because the Indus Valley Script still remains undecyphered and how that script travelled from there to Easter Island or vice versa is anybody's guess.

I have watched many videos about how the Voynich Manuscript has finally been decoded...all different translations of the same text so all I can say I "yeah...righty oh...okay then...whatever..."

Then, there are the similarities between the language spoken in Cameroon vs Tamil language...so are we still doing "Out of Africa"? or is it now "Out of Kumari Kandan"? as Tamil scholars are now suggesting?

So, I decided to stop my studies into ancient languages once I got to "Linear B" of the Mycenians/Minoans because I could not take the origins of the Brahmi Script back any further than that...I lost the scent.

I don't know what side of the brain I am using when I read Sanskrit...mostly the prefrontal cortex, I guess because I then need to translate it into English, my "mother tongue" before I can understand it...a barrier to learning any foreign language...or so I have heard.

However, when we were more "Enlightened", we were able to do stuff like vitrify granite, make things like the Antikithera Device, use solar powered weapons, levitate monoliths weighing 1000 tonnes (looking at Baalbek)...we could do things 10,000 years ago that all of our "modern technology" today CANNOT do..

What happened with all that?

Originally Posted by Shivani Devi

I shall start by saying.. admitting that I don't understand what a "tonal language" is and what a "non tonal language" is...

Do you mean aside from a tonal language having multiple meanings for the same word depending on the tone it's spoken? That's the extent of my understanding.

Originally Posted by Shivani Devi

However, when we were more "Enlightened", we were able to do stuff like vitrify granite, make things like the Antikithera Device, use solar powered weapons, levitate monoliths weighing 1000 tonnes (looking at Baalbek)...we could do things 10,000 years ago that all of our "modern technology" today CANNOT do..

What happened with all that?

Maybe Crazy Hair Guy from Ancient Aliens has it right? LOL!

That is maybe it wasn't us who accomplished all those extraordinary feats?

[Shivani Devi]

Originally Posted by JustASimpleGuy

Do you mean aside from a tonal language having multiple meanings for the same word depending on the tone it's spoken? That's the extent of my understanding.



Maybe Crazy Hair Guy from Ancient Aliens has it right? LOL!

That is maybe it wasn't us who accomplished all those extraordinary feats?

I always have to laugh when I see Georgio Tsoukalos.

Oh my dear.... between the "Crazy Hair Guy", "The Two C*cks" viz Graham Hancock and David Wilcock, the one guy whose name I can never remember...Zecheriah Sitchin (there, I remembered it), the one who first started it when I was 12 years old..Erich Von Daniken (I must have watched "Chariots of the Gods" a dozen times as a child...totally spellbound by it), Michael Cremo who moonlights as a Hare Krishna devotee in his spare time, David Hatcher-Childress...who first introduced me to the architecture of South East Asia and the lost Cham civilization and writes a lot about ancient flying vehicles called "Vimanas"...David Icke who puts so much emphasis on the reptilians controlling the world I just cannot take him seriously anymore...

Suffice to say that archaeology is an all-consuming passion of mine...that...and crop circles. I am a woman obsessed with all of this.

I still toe the "scientific liine" though...I don't believe in the current scientific explanations for most of these things, but "aliens did it" is also too much of a "leap of faith" for me to accept either.

I guess this is why "mysteries" ARE "mysteries" because there isn't any logical explanation that we can understand with our current level of understanding..and this stimulates me mentally...just like how Quantum Field Theory does.

Thanks for also explaining what a "tonal language" is.

We also have a similar thing called "homophones" and yup, if modern spelling is anything to go by, I learned that the contraction of "you are" is "you're" and not "your".... however, since the invention of the internet, that no longer applies and all of the grammatical rules of the English language has flown out the window...but that is a discussion for another day.