Running, swimming, and and even cooking are activities that are natural for the human body, as its form is suited to carry out these functions. Yet, what actions are “natural” for us one may ask? According to the Merriam Webster dictionary “natural” is, “...being in accordance with or determined by nature” or “having an essential relation with someone or something”(Merriam Webster Dictionary). Is the ability to use a computer, a technology, a natural function for the human form or something that mankind adapted to? Logically speaking, humans possess the abilities to use a computer before they even existed. All able-bodied humans are endowed, to some extent, coordination which allows us to control our movements specifically (in the case of writing, our hands and fingers). The movements needed for writing were present within humans before the invention of writing instruments, making it natural. Thus, writing should not be looked upon as unnatural if it is viewed from a scientific viewpoint. Yet, in Adler-Kassner’s and Wardle’s Naming What we Know, it is argued that, “... writing is not even inevitable” (Dryer 53). Those who believe writing is not a natural phenomenon fail to consider form versus function within the realm of evolution, undermining their argument as they fail to consider the evolution of mankind's form and intelligence in usion.
The function of homologous structures must be analyzed in regards of whether or not writing is natural. A homologous structure is when, “different animals have bones that appear very similar in form or function and seem to be related”(yourdictionary.com 2016). For example, the thumb is can be considered a homologous structure. When comparing humans and pandas, “...the human thumb is homologous to the first finger in pandas” which allows both species to have a firm grip (Understanding Evolution 2019). The panada uses this grip to forage while humans use this grip for a variety of purposes, including typing and holding a writing instrument. If the definition of natural, aforementioned, is taken into consideration with homologous structures, one realizes that the environment influences the role of a structure’s function. Humans originally used the thumb to hunt and gather, but then it was used to fit other functions. One of the oldest cave paintings is in Bulgaria in which the, “...cave walls are adorned by prehistoric cave paintings that date back around 8000 to 4000 years ago” and were painted with bat feces (http://www.oldest.org 2017). Although researchers can only speculate as to why early humans felt the need to document events; they did irregardless. In order to do so, they used “tools” (in this case bat feces) to do so, which required the usage thumbs to pick up said tool. Symbols or pictures in this case, can be considered to be a pathway to writing, as both involve the usage of “tools. However, Dyer argues that, “...symbols can do many things… but they cannot ‘record’ speech or thought into their original forms they translate speech and thought into inscriptions” (Dryer 53). Yet, according to the definition of natural this does not make writing an unnatural phenomenon, as this is merely the relationship humans have with writing. To claim that it is unnatural is to deny the function of the thumb as discussed above. Yet, Dryer ignores this function of writing which starkly contrasts Brooke and Grabill’s claim that writing is a technology. Since Dyer believes writing is unnatural then he must hold technology is also unnatural.
Brooke and Grabill, featured in Naming What We Know, claim that writing is a technology, thus this debunks Dyer’s claim that writing is unnatural. Brooke and Grabill claim that, “...[t]he tools we use to produce writing...and those media where writing takes place... are all a part of...writing as a technology”(Brooke and Grabill 59). Technology can be seen as as part of human evolution as intellectually mankind creates these inventions and then utilizes their bodies to interact with these technologies. If writing is a technology then, “[j]ust as other species form part of the environment that exercises selection pressures on a given species, so do competing technologies form part of the selective environment that determines the evolution of a given technology” (Brooks 69). Following this logic the evolution of writing can be thought of in terms of the tools used to create the written word. The cave drawings, previously discussed, were formed with an object found within nature, but humans have progressed to other writing tools. For instance, the quill pen was used, pencils, and now keyboards are used to write. These innovations drove the evolution of writing.
Writing evolved simultaneously with mankind, thus in this sense it is ingrained within human nature. To call writing unnatural is to deny that it part of our cultural and intellectual evolution. As Brooke and Grabill denote, “...the impact of technology on the making of meaning has never been more visible, socially and culturally” (Brooke and Grabill 59). Contrary to Dyer’s conclusions, Brooke and Grabill demonstrate that technology, i.e. writing, is needed to convey meaning. Although Dryer claims that writing cannot perfectly convey the author’s true thoughts and meaning, its imperfection is no reason to call it unnatural as writing assists in establishing a sense of order due to its permanent essence. According to the law of entropy, “...the energy put into preventing disorder in one place simultaneously increases it somewhere else” (Real Clear Science 2013) Writing can increase the stability of social structures as it offers a pathway of communication, hence functioning as mankind’s efforts (i.e. energy) to prevent chaos. Yet, as humans attempt to establish this order the threat of miscommunication arises. For example, one could miss for a week resulting in their grade dropping to a C. However, since extra credit was completed, the grade is raised to a B. This report card is then mailed to your mother who is confused as to how your grade is that high. Report cards are a form of writing that adds structure the education system as it serves as a record of a student’s grades. In this scenario, the report essentially followed the law of entropy as it was sent out in an attempt to establish order, but ultimately confused your mother. Writing follows the law of entropy, a universal phenomenon, once again supporting the idea that writing is natural as it it bound to the scientific laws of the universe.
Works Cited:
Reproductive Isolation, Understanding Evolution , evolution.berkeley.edu/evolibrary/article/analogy_06.
“7 Oldest Cave Paintings in The World.” Oldest.org, 13 Nov. 2017, www.oldest.org/artliterature/cave-paintings/.
Brooke, Collin, and Jeffrey T Grabill . “1.9 Writing Is a Technology through Which Writers Create and Recreate Meaning.” Naming What We Know: Threshold Concepts of Writing Studies, University Press of Colorado, 2010, pp. 58–61.
Brooks, Harvey. “Technology, Evolution, and Purpose.” Daedalus, vol. 109, no. 1, 1980, pp. 65–81. JSTOR, www.jstor.org/stable/20024649.
Dryer, Dylan B. “1.6 Writing Is Not Natural .” Naming What We Know: Threshold Concepts of Writing Studies, University Press of Colorado, pp. 52–55.
“Natural.” Merriam-Webster, Merriam-Webster, www.merriam-webster.com/dictionary/natural.
“RealClearScience - Entropy: Universe Tends Toward Disorder.” RealClearScience, 21 June 2013, www.realclearscience.com/lists/10_greatest_ideas_in_the_history_of_science/entropy_universe_tends_toward_disorder.html.
Trigger, Bruce G. “Writing Systems: A Case Study in Cultural Evolution.” Norwegian Archaeological Review, vol. 31, no. 1, 1998, pp. 39–62., doi:10.1080/00293652.1998.9965618.
“Where Would We Be without Thumbs?” ISHN RSS, ISHN, 28 Jan. 2014, www.ishn.com/articles/97847-where-would-we-be-without-thumbs.
YourDictionary. “Homologous Structure Examples.” YourDictionary, 28 July 2016, examples.yourdictionary.com/homologous-structure-examples.html.