Waking Life 9/8/09

Language is something that although may be different depending on the country, is universal. Everyone has means to communicate. Without language, we would be very isolated individuals. The exercise we did in class was the perfect display of this. The first example was the most simple; draw a box, and the student drew a box. But then it got more complicated, like draw a home, it was a box with a roof, a few windows and a sun, exactly what you’d expect to see. The last task was to draw something (not in the English language). Once it was described to him, he executed it well. This exercised demonstrated the importance of language and communication. The student was able to follow the instructions he was given and draw everything on the board until he was given the directions in Spanish. Then he was unable to draw the object. It was the same directions, but in a different language. This made the two students unable to communicate. Language is bigger than just communicating because it is part of our culture and the way we live. In the clip from Waking Life, the woman says that she believes language came out of the frustration of being isolated and the longing for human connection. This is exactly how language budded because if we still had no language today, it would be a lonely and simple place.